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PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT SERIES
ENLARGING OUR CAPACITY
THROUGH THE PRAYER OF DESIRE
Let us start with Solomon's encounter with
the Lord as found in First Kings 3: 3 - 5. It says and Solomon loved the
Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed
and burned incense at the high places. Now the king went to
What we are going to consider in this
chapter is the part in prayer that God plays in revealing His will, and the
part that we play in asking from the Lord. And there seems to be a balance
involved with freedom. For example, if we pray for God's will and what God's
will is for our lives. Although God may specify His
will in certain areas, He gives room to move about within the circumference of
His will in our lives. In other words God does not determine His will for our
lives in an over powering way where you have no more freedom but just to merely
yield and function like a robot before God. Where He would
ask you to function in a certain area right to the details of your life.
He will tell you on such a day such an hour what to wear what to say. You got
completely no more decision making in your life when you come into God's will.
As we grow in Christ this sort of balancing between doing God's will and yet at
the same time the having the freedom to carry out His will is quite not so easy
to maintain.
From time to time Christians swing to the
extreme. In their desire to yield to God's will they yield totally and they
thought that they have heard God in certain areas where it was not God but more
themselves. Because those areas begin to control them until the liberty of the
spirit is lost. And obeying God becomes bondage rather than a liberty that set
us free. On the other hand there ware many who try to seek God's will and do
God's will but it is not God's will. They don't seek God at all. They are doing
their own will. So we have this balancing act of knowing God's will and yet
knowing the freedom He gives us within the circumference of His will.
Let me give a few examples here. For
example we know that there are certain times and certain seasons when God does
specifically ask you to say the right word and wear certain clothes. He may
tell you specifically to say such a word to this person. I want you to visit
this person and this is what I want you to dress up as. We see that in the Old
Testament where He said that to the prophets. But lets
not take those incidents that are special and make it the common. The danger
comes when we take those special and make it the common. And we thought that is
yielding to God. No, those are what I call special occasions where God does in
His relationship with us. There are times when He would give you specific words
and specific functions. But outside of that He gives you the freedom within His
circumference. And so Christians oscillate between this extreme and that extreme
trying to do God's will. Sincere Christians seeking to do God's will oscillate
between the two. At one point they yield until they
thought their impression of God is God control every second. Then over to this
other extreme we are not sure now how much freedom we actually have in God. The
true balance statement is that God has His will in our life but there is circumferences within His will that you could have the
liberty to decide. God will honor your decision and work along with you. In
other words He plan but He doesn't plan that detail to control you. He plans
enough to guide you into the best He has for your life. After all what is the
purpose of God's plan but to give us His best?
Can
you imagine parents planning for their children? They will not plan in such a
way that is controlling. For example you are going to take your children out.
You may plan a general outing, a picnic or something. You are not going to plan
the moment you arrive there at four thirty. This is what you are going to do.
At four thirty five this is what you are going to do. Can you imagine if they
go there for that kind of picnic? They wouldn't enjoy themselves. It is not a
picnic where every minute is controlled. They will plan this is the place now
within the circumference of the picnic there are certain rules. Don't wander
into the forest without permission. But outside of that they are free to roll
about. They can choose to play on the seesaw or on the swing. They got a
certain freedom given to them. Although there is a direction yet there is a
freedom. That's a little small tiny way we are trying to illustrate God's love
for our lives and how He plans for our lives.
We are trying to strike a balance so that
we could understand God further. And understand in our prayer relationship with
God that there are certain areas that He plans. He gives us His will. He
reveals us His will but beyond that marvelously He gives total freedom of
choice. He could choose and call you to be a prophet. But you choose whether
you want to be single measure or double measure. Could you imagine that it was
Elisha who chose the amount of measure he wanted? In Second Kings chapter two
Elisha was following Elijah all the time. And after following through all those
four places crossing the Jordan, Elijah turn to Elisha and said ask what you
will. Now that was God speaking through Elijah. The moment he asks, Elisha knew
what he wanted. He knew he was called to be a prophet. There is no doubt about
that. That was God's will. But how anointed a prophet was his choice. Some
people think that God plans to such details that you got no more freedom of
choice. When you understand God, He plans general things. They are quite
specific but yet there is a freedom you could move within the boundary of His
circumference. Elisha could have just said I want to be just like Elijah. And
that would have been it. Whose choice was it? It was Elisha's choice.
Now
that is one example where God could call you to be other areas of ministry,
apostle, pastor, evangelist, teacher or prophet. And we have the impression
that if God wants to give me that kind of anointing and if it is His will for
my life I will have it. And some of us are waiting on God and say, "God
please reveal to me whether it is your will for me to have double measure of
that." God is not going to reveal to you because that is the part that is
going to be dealt by your own desire rather than by God. That's going to be
affected by you rather than from God. God would say whatever you could believe
for go for it. So that put a limit back on us. God is saying how big is your
cup? Is your cup one measure, two measures, or three measures?
So lets understand this about God. Otherwise you know what will
happen. A lot of Christians are putting back on God things that they must make
a decision themselves. When God is asking us to make the decision, we are
saying God you make the decision. If God does He will end up controlling our
lives and areas that He would rather us to have exercise
our freedom of choice.
Remember when the apostle Paul talks about
the gifts of the Spirit. In First Corinthians chapter twelve he list all the
gifts and then he says covet earnestly the best gift. He used a very strong
word. The word covet is normally used in a negative sense of coveting after
something wrongly. But now he use it positively he says covet after the best
gifts. Now if the gifts of God were just one hundred percent dependent on God
that verse becomes redundant and unnecessary. If it were God who determine one
hundred percent Paul should not have said that. He would have said seek God in
what He wants you to do in your gifts. It would have then been very wrong for
us to covet even gifts. But because it is what I call a dual system that God
works on. Partly him, partly us, there is His will and
within the circumference He expects to covet, to desire after the best possible
and to move into that area.
So remember there are a lot of things when
we talk about God's calling. You could be called to be an evangelist and it is
your decision. But it is your decision to determine how many measures you want
to function in. You want to be a one-talent evangelist or five-talent
evangelist does not depend on God, but depends on you. How much you are able to
believe God for.
Let
me give another scripture. In the book of Second Samuel chapter twelve, David
had sinned against God and committed adultery with Bathsheba and here comes Nathan the prophet. Bathsheba was expecting and Nathan
said this to David in verse seven. Nathan said to David you are the man.
Thus says the Lord God of
God
could call you into the business world with the anointing to spoil and to be an
end time financier. And you will be thinking well if it is be God's will I
would receive this amount of wealth. Friends it is not if it be thy will. If
that is your call and you determine God's leading you in your life. How much
you are to have is not so much if it be thy will but it is according
to your faith be it done unto thee. How much faith can you believe God for?
If God
calls you to be a soul winner an evangelist, do you realize that the number of
souls you can believe God for does not necessarily depend on God as much as it
depends on your faith to believe God for? If God calls you to be a pastor, how
big a church you plant to a certain extend depends on
God's call on your life. But on the other side it depends on your faith level
and your ability to exercise faith to believe God for how big a church you
want. And that is the thing I am talking about God's people oscillating between
this and that. On one hand they look so holy and so yielded. They said if it is
God's will for me to plant a church for a thousand, I will do it. Come on there
are millions and millions who are lost. If every pastor thinks small it is finished.
I sense in my spirit and I know that part of it is the leading of God. But the
other part is the development of my faith.
If
God can call you to be a prophet, it is you who determine whether you want to
function in one measure, two measures, or three measures. God call you to be a
pastor. That is His will. Within the circumference of His will, your faith
level will determine the size of the church you can plant. That's astounding to
people but that is true. Your own faith level, your own character, ability and
your personal development determines your ability to handle the number of
people rather than God. One day when all of us get back before the throne of
God and we are answerable and accountable to God, then we will realize that
where we are, a lot of it, is determined by our own asking and our own faith
level rather than on God.
So remember and understand this truth that
there is a certain circumference that you could move in. You are given total
freedom within the circumference of God's will. You are not outside of God's
will. You are still within God's will. You are given a great measure of freedom
within that.
If you are in the business realm, remember
how big a business you can build for God is not so much determined by the
prayer if it be thy will let my business to prosper. If God calls you to
be an end time financier the limitations to it is your faith level. Whether
your faith level and your ability is capable enough to handle a city wide
business, a country wide business or an international wide business is more
your faithfulness and your ability and your faith level. These are the
astounding things from God's word.
You realize that there are a lot of things
that are actually on this area in my asking that I have put in that area for God's
decision. Lets see two camps here. On my right is God
deciding. On my left is our deciding. And there is a harmony between the two.
Some things God decides and then over His major decision, within His major decision
are little minor decisions that He gave it to us to decide. It is a wheel
within a wheel, a frame within a frame. So our framework and decisions are
within His giant frame work. And what has been happening is a lot of people
have taken the decision in this area and transferred it to that area. And for
their whole life for ten, twenty years, they are still asking God if it be
thy will when they should be growing in their faith level, growing in the
word of God and building themselves up. Growing in their
character. Growing in their ability to handle bigger
and bigger things for God. See all the time we delegate it to God's
responsibility when it was ours. The problem is we do not understand the
harmony between God's decision making and our decision making and it’s a
co-operation together.
We see that it is God's will that Solomon
be king. But within that favor Solomon could either be a wise king, a middle of
the road king or a bad king. Its more his decision
than God. Praise God that he asked God for wisdom. And he became a wise king
within God's framework. Some of those things in our lives that we have
relinquished to God's decision should actually be taken back into our
department. It is our responsibility and our hard work to build it into our life
through prayer. To a certain extend the anointing we function in, the faith
level we function in determines the extent of the materialization of those
desires. That's where we want to come right down to the roots of this decision
making process.
Of course we cannot ask and receive
something if you don't desire it. You will never get it if you don't desire it.
And sometimes you don't desire it because you have taken it from your personal
department and placed it on God's department when it should remain in your
personal department. And as a result you never even thought of desiring it. You
just relinquish it to God. When it should have been you to nurture the desire
and build it in and grow it forth. So it all rests on that tiny little word
desire. Desiring earnestly before God.
After outlining the major out line I am
now zooming in to this tiny area here. There is this major area where God
decides. There is this smaller area
within God's framework where we are given our freedom to make decision within the
circumference of His will. And we are
teaching within this little circumference how we can grow to move into the
fullness of the liberty that God has for us., how to
grow into that. And that's the one key word desire. We need to nurture that
desire. Feed it with the word of God.
The bible says in Mark 11: 24 What
things so ever you desire when you pray believe that you have received them and
you shall have them. What things so ever you desire. If you do not desire
them earnestly, expectantly, fervently, you will never get it. In this realm here and not in the other realm of God's will.
There are some prayers that you pray what I call the prayer of dedication. If
it is an area that covers God's decision making then the prayer of dedication
comes in. But if the prayer that is within the realm of something you know what
is God's will for your life but only what extent and how much, then you know
now it is resting more on you than on God. Then within that framework it is not
so much dedication but it is more of your faith level,
development, desiring.
Notice how much when the bible talks in
that area it emphasizes on fervency and on desire. James 5: 16 The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much. Notice it mentioned effective fervent, hot with desire. Not
just slipshod prayer but fervent prayer. Prayer that is
having a predetermined goal. You cannot say you have a red hot desire
for something if you don't have a goal. How can you really say you fully desire
something when there is no goal? Desire implies a goal that is set. You are willing to sacrifice anything to
achieve that goal because your desire for it is greater than your desire for
other things.
The
reason why the body of Christ is not getting it is because they have
relinquished what is its responsibility to God's
responsibility. Now we should learn to take that into our own
responsibility and realize that we have to develop that fervency. We have to
develop that earnestness and a great desire. Like Paul says covet earnestly. If
Paul says covet earnestly the best gifts, he puts the responsibility on us than
on God.
Lets look over at Hebrews 11:6 But without
faith it is impossible to please Him. For who comes to God must believe that He
is. And that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Diligence
implies planning. You can't be diligent in something if you don't plan and you
are not systematic in it. When we say somebody is diligent, we are saying that
when it is raining that person is still doing the job. When the hot sun comes
out and is literally baking him, that person is still doing the job. That’s
what we call diligence. Diligence is being unaffected by circumstances. But
rather its effects comes from your inside. And it says
God rewards diligence.
So lets understand
our relationship with God. There is a circumference that we can move in. There
is a freedom given to us. He doesn't take delights in controlling our lives
until we become robots. He wants living creatures to respond to Him. Let me
tell you in heaven you have some freedom as to what to wear. Roland Buck in His
book Angel on Assignment, he talks about the angels. How the angels sometimes
come with different garments. To a certain extent is our freedom whether you
want the manifestation of certain things in our lives. And we build it into our
life rather than God. God has His will but within the boundary it is our
decision. And it all boils down to desire in our lives. The desire must be
fervent and it must be diligent.
Realizing that it is our responsibility
you know what you want. For example if God has called you to be a pastor. And
always you have been praying to God,"God do you want me to be a pastor of
a small fifty member church or not?" Of course less people is asking God,
"Do you want me to be a pastor of a hundred thousand member church?"
Do you know why less people ask? It is because less people has
the faith. But more people are asking God do you want me to pastor that one
hundred-member church? Why is it that so many people
seem to have it confirmed that God wants them to pastor that small church.
Because that’s the normal faith level that people have rather than God. If God
calls you to pastor a church, your faith level determines the size of that
church. It is God who determines which country, which city. But outside of that
the size is yours. God says according to your faith be it done onto you.
The funny thing is after you have done something, people will look at it and say God wants you to
do that. You ask Cho Yonggi twenty years ago whether it was his desire or God
desire. He will tell you it was his. But today when he has finished everybody
look at him and say God has chosen him before he was born. He never said he was
where he was because God chose him to be that way. You ask any businessman who
is successful. Who has built an international business with turnover of
millions of dollars. And a lot of people will say God
chose him. But you ask that businessman he will tell you hard work,
determination and desire. None of them will tell you it was the grace of God. I
was born this way. Most people take that kind of mindset because of pure laziness of justifying
their inactivity. I am where I am because God wants me to be just under one
coconut tree. Excuses sort of encourage laziness.
Several hundred years ago Christianity fell
into a kind of
double predestination. They say if God wanted to save the heathen he will save
them. If they were predestined to be saved, they will be saved any way without
us. That kind of philosophy has caused thousands to died
without hearing the gospel. Today we look back at Christianity a few hundred
years ago, we realize those guys were wrong. We have
to go out. We have to preach. God has commanded but error has crept in our
decision. Lets take what is our responsibility as our
responsibility.
Desire has to be there. And as we pray to
God the utmost realization and development of your desire is where it consumes
you. And it will be shown in two ways. How much you desire something will be
shown in two ways. Just two tiny little words. Number
one tears, number two fasting. Why do people cry? Lets
talk about natural tears. We cry when something affects us that has a lot of
meanings to us. In the natural when something means a lot to you. The absence
or present of it can make you laugh or cry. To some people it may be different
things. Our tears come when something we treasure touch us. We don't cry over
things that don't touch the depth of us. Remember I am not talking about onion
and crocodile tears. Even those expert mourners. You
know there are expert mourners. They have it in the bible in Mark chapter five.
Those guys were expert mourners. Do you the secret in how they cry. The skill
in crying is this. When it came time to cry, they would try to think of the
saddest thing possible. Things that will make them cry. So they will focus on
it. This was their secret. It is called the reverse form of visualizing. Every
one of you here could cry if you if you could recall with vivid clarity
something that made you cry long ago. Of course its
not good if it is an area that is not good.
Just let the Blood of Jesus cleanse it. Forget those things behind
pressed on those that are ahead. We realize that tears play an important role.
It seems so important to God. Tears are an expression of our desire.
Lets look at Second Kings 20: 5 Return and tell Hezekiah
the leader of my people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of David your
father: "I have heard your prayers. I have seen your tears; surely I will
heal you. God says I saw your tears. God saw the agony of his heart. When
you build everything into one area, your desire is so great that tears can
come. Every part of His spirit, soul and body was into that area. And that
brought the tears and God says I saw those tears.
Let turn to the book of Psalms 56:8 You number my wanderings. Put my tears into Your bottle. Are they not in your book? God count the
tears that drop from your eyes because they are the expression of the totality
of your being in a certain subject. God keeps them in His bottle and He writes
them in His book. The things that really affect you are the things that can
make you cry. So we are talking about tears in the spirit realm. And how when
you are affected in the things of God it can really make you cry. The ministry
of God must be sown in tears and then reaped in joy. For it is in a broken and
contrite spirit that God dwells in.
Jesus sowed His ministry in tears. I am
not talking about your lack of joy. Sometimes even though you were weeping over
certain things in prayer the joy is still there. But because you are giving
your heart to that prayer you are moved with compassion. Jesus built His
ministry in that area. Hebrews 5: 7 who in the days of His flesh when He
offered up prayers in supplications with human cries and tears to Him who was
able to save Him from death and was heard because of His godly fear. Jesus not
only did it at
Paul's ministry was sown in tears. In the
book of Acts 20: 31 Therefore watch and
remember that for three years I did not cease to warn every one night and day
with tears. Do you realize the extent of what he is talking about? For
three years he spoke to them and he warned them every day. And the bible says
with tears. Can you imagine a man crying everyday for three years? That was the
apostle Paul In Ephesus. You don’t see it in Acts
nineteen because its not mentioned. Acts 19 just
mentioned how Paul rented a school of one Tyrannus. And he was there for three
years. Look how powerful was his ministry. The handkerchiefs and aprons healed
the sick, cast out devils. Paul says he won with tears everyday. Because he love God so much and he love them so much that when he was
telling them his love flow out. See he was deeply affected by the ministry he
carried. It was not just something you do when you feel like it. It was
something that involved a quality decision. He also mentioned in Acts 20:19 Serving the Lord with all humility and with many
tears and trials. He knew what a contrite spirit was.
There are two things that we must be aware
very strongly
in the things of and ministry of God. One is an utter consciousness of our
nothingness. The other is an utter consciousness of His presence in our lives.
You can't have one without the other. Katherine Khulman demonstrated great
power yet she always realize that she was nothing. We
need to at the same time know that we are nothing yet at the same time know
that He is our everything and combine the two
together. That’s where a broken contrite spirit comes in. And whenever you
loose your ability to weep before God or to be affected in areas that are
important to God you have grown cold. In society it seems grown up if you don't
cry but not in the
And Paul understood the value of tears.
Remember Paul understood its value, what it signifies. That is why in Second
Timothy 1: 4 Greatly desiring to see you
being mindful of your tears that I may be filled with joy. Isn't that a
strange man? Thinking of your tears so that I am filled with
joy. He was talking about how tenderhearted Timothy was. Let me remind
you the most loving people are people who know how to cry. The hardest people
and the least loving of people are those who never cry. And when you try to
relate to these people you notice something. They are very hard people. They
are not compassionate at all not tender hearted, not kind not generous either.
But the most pliable people are those whose tears flow easily. Yet in the world
a sign of tears is sign of weakness but not in God. We are pliable and yet
solid. God wants us to understand the value of sowing in tears.
For
some people when they pray in tongues, it was like the praying was coming not
from their soul but from their spirit. All you did was to pray in tongues but
because you are pliable the tears formed. You totally had no feeling but you
know that the tears started forming for whatever reason. Let it form. And you
notice that sometimes when you pray even though your feeling is not in yet but
your spirit has got in. And your tears formed your eyes get wet. Let it get
wet. Flow into that and let your heart and soul be pliable to God, easily
molded. And whatever God has spoken in your life, whether in the five fold
ministry or in the business world that God spoke to you, I would definitely say
if you have not reached the point where you could pray and cry over that matter
and weep before God to birth it forth, it has not captured a hundred percent of
your desires. But where you reached a point where you could sow in tears it has
captured your desires. It has captured your soul and your spirit
attention. And you can sow in tears in
the
The other word that we are to consider is
fasting. Sometimes when you are so involved in something that
you forgot to eat. So fasting is also a sign of your zeal and desire for
what God has spoken. If you earnestly desire something and it captures you
fasting for it is easy. But when it hasn't captured your desire, it is very
hard to fast over it. Anything that has become number one important to you is
easy to fast. Anything that has taken that kind of urgency of life and death is
easy to fast. Anything that has taken and captured your very imagination and
your desires become easy to fast. They are the expression of how great the
desires developed in your life. And we have not because we ask not. And when we
ask we must learn to desire the things of God. And unless we desire it earnestly,
the asking part never comes.
Again I say to you if God were to appear
to you tonight and say ask what you will and if your desires are not been
developed in something you would never ask for it. We can let our desires take hold of us and
grow and sow tears into that.
And
tears can break your unbelief. In Mark chapter nine there were many that cried
to Jesus and said Lord I believe help my unbelief and the bible said he cried
tears. Before that he didn't cry yet. When Jesus says all things are possible
to those who believe in Mark nine verse twenty three, the man in verse twenty
four cried out I believe. His unbelief was beginning to break down. His tears
began to flow. Why because everything in him is crying out to God.
Hezekiah cried out with all his might to
God. God changed the prophecy. Can you imagine Isaiah was sent to him and said
prepare thyself to die. And because Hezekiah cried with tears, the Lord said I
give you fifteen more years to live. There is an area of the human free choice
that is powerful if you tap on that. The desire for the right
things of God. So today there are certain things that you are
responsible for. Ask, ask big, ask strong, ask diligently, and ask fervently.
You have not because you ask not. Like
William Carey used to say on his first missionary journey. He says go for the
big things. Attempt big things to God. Ask for the
really big things from God. Go into that and let your faith grow and take root.
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