Glad Tidings Spring Convention A2 — David Ravenhill

Where you come forward to the microphone and he says I've studied all sorts of prayers. But he said many times if somebody's over in the corner sort of praying and the muffled and they you know They're down on their knees, you know, it's hard to agree.

Intelligent, Scripture-Based Agreement in Prayer

We need to Agree in prayer and so he would teach people to come up to the microphone and many times they would take a portion of scripture maybe read it and then on the basis of that scripture, they would bring it before God and So you'd have you know wonderful promises from the Bible and they wouldn't just rattled it off sort of verbatim.

They'd say God you promised in the last days to pour out your spirit upon all flesh. And so Lord on the basis of that promise We're asking you to rend the heavens and pour out your spirit upon all flesh Lord.

Come and visit our community common logistic, you know meet with us Lord. We need your presence you said Lord when your presence comes the mountains tremble at your presence and and so on and it was very intelligent praying and Wonderful wonderful prayer meetings to be in and so we've got to learn again how to how to pray the first Area I want to deal with and that this really is only a sort of a to sort of jump-start you so to speak in other Words don't be bound by this.

But I find there are many many people for instance. I had a businessman in my church in New Zealand who Came to me one day and he said David, you know, he said I struggle in the area pray. He said, you know, I he said I can get maybe five minutes in prayer, maybe ten minutes and then he said I Lose concentration.

I don't know what to pray about anymore and so on. And so I gave a little bit of this teaching. He came to me a couple of weeks later. He said, you know, I am praying now consistently 30 and 40 minutes a day.

And he said I find I can just fill up that time. No problem whatsoever. And he said my prayer life has just increased from five to ten minutes, you know to 40 minutes. And so the first one is worship.

Worship Before Petition

We mentioned this the other day. But Luke chapter 17, in other words when we come into the presence of God, we need to spend some time just Worshipping God himself not just coming with a whole sort of shopping list.

I mean, that's the Lord's prayer our Father which art in heaven. What hallowed be your name before it's my before my will and my bread and or our bread and so on. It's just magnifying the Lord for who he is in Luke 17.

We have a little story here that I've used on many times verse 7. It says which of you having a slave plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field. Come immediately and sit down to eat.

Will you not say to him prepare something for me to eat properly clothed yourself serve me until I've eaten and drunk and afterwards. You will eat and drink. He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded does he so you too?

When you've done all these things which are commanded you say we are unworthy slaves. We've only done that which we ought to have done now notice. Here is a master which of you having a slave so he's the master and that slave is doing two things two activities.

He's plowing or he's tending the sheep now. There's two major realms of ministry. One is evangelism. That's the plowing out there passing out tracks or whatever it is plowing. You know knocking on doors witnessing and so on.

The other is tending the sheep that which pertains to the body of Christ we are his sheep and It's the you know the marrying and the burying and the counseling and the visiting and the you know Befriending people and teaching them and so on so forth tending the tending the flock take heed to yourself the Bible says and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you an overseer and This slave then comes in at the end of the day and He's no doubt weary and tired and exhausted and wants to sort of kick back and his master says hey before you do anything else come immediately.

Sit down and eat. Oh, sorry. Yeah when he is coming from the field Says come and sit down and eat. But will he not say prepare something for me to eat properly clothe yourself and serve me. Until I've eaten and drunk and afterwards you will eat and drink now here is he comes in again.

He's been out in the sweltering heat or the you know the cold Miserable rain or whatever and the first thing his master says is listen go and clothe yourself properly wash up clean up. And so on come into my presence and minister to me.

I've got needs. I need to eat. I need to drink. I need to partake of that which you can give me and then take care of your own needs now I think you know I'd be a little rebellious at this point. I think I say listen master I mean these are your sheep, and they're cantankerous.

I mean they broke out again today. They're always fighting among themselves, man. I've had a rough day. You know plowing you know I did it. You know give me a break. I mean I've been out there serving you all day long.

That's your field your problems, and I've been doing all of that hard work. You know I mean, and you're asking me now to you know. Give up my my own food and taking care of my own needs and spend time you know.

But see that's worship. Worship is coming in before God and ministering to him alone. Now those of you who are married and chances are most of you are you know what it's like. When you know you can be out doing the lawns and painting the house and all the other things and you know.

Serving your wife so to speak. I'm not saying she's the boss. We better be careful here, but but you know. Ultimately she just wants you Darling sit here and talk you know turn off the TV a minute. You know let's let's just talk right.

And there's nothing like that quality time of just being there with your beloved. That's worship. Where we forget about the sheep we forget about all the other things. The ministry and we just come into the presence of God and we feed him so to speak.

Just get down and we worship pick up a guitar or whatever. You know just get down on your face and begin to magnify the Lord. That's the the first thing that we should do in prayer at least some time during our prayer time.

My father used to tell the story. I doubt if this has ever been published, but he was a good friend of A .W. Tozer and Tozer used to say to my dad. He said listen Len if you're ever in Chicago. Just drop by the office anytime and He used the expression let your hair down.

Meaning you know just been let's just talk as friends. And my dad said he went to his office one afternoon about two o 'clock in the afternoon. He said Tozer was getting up off a mat. He said just sort of a threadbare a little mat that he had that he used to lay on and pray.

And as they were talking Tozer said to my dad. He said you know Len. He said I came into this office this morning. And he said I got down on that mat. I forget what time was eight or nine o 'clock or something.

He said I was gonna have a time of prayer, and he said when you knocked at the door. He said you know I haven't done a thing as far as prayer all I've done is worship. From eight or nine o 'clock in the morning till two in the afternoon all I've done is worship.

Talk about a man that knew God just got down, and he was so fascinated if you like by the the majesty of God he began to contemplate his wisdom and he began to contemplate again on his. The power of God, and you know the handiwork of God when I consider the heavens the work of your hands you know.

His mind just began to you know. Think of God in all of his splendor and his majesty. I remember Jack Hayford talking about those four and twenty elders there in in Revelation where it you know it talks about them falling down before the throne and saying holy.

Holy holy, and then they come up, and they you know cry holy, and then they bow down again, and then they come up and he said As Hayford said he said listen that wasn't some sort of mechanical thing that these beings You know just sort of were programmed.

You know to just go like this all all day long. He said no he said every time they would lift their face. They'd see another Facet if you like of God's character God's nature the manifoldness of who God is and it will cause them to bow down again and Tozer obviously had learned something about the true art of worship and If you read his books you know that he was a man that knew God.

Why. Because he spent hours in the presence of God just thinking and musing and meditating on the greatness of God. And the psalmist again did that you know when I consider the heavens not when I just look up at the heavens.

You know what I begin to think of them, and I begin to think of. You know your incredible power to make all these things. I was in New Zealand just a couple of weeks ago, and there was a gentleman there.

And I wish I'd have written down the notes, but he talked about the vastness of the heavens. It was absolutely amazing. You know that. That the very closest galaxy to us the very closest star how many multiplied Millions of light-years away it is just to the closest one and then he said there are literally Millions and billions of galaxies, I mean you know the vastness of the heavens.

It's unbelievable. We look up a little Milky Way and We can't even fathom that and yet it goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on you know and God created all those and Isaiah says you know he calls them all by name.

You know not one of them is missing. I mean, that's the God that you and I have and then we think God you know you able to answer my prayer. You know. It's incredible. So we need to you know we need to just muse again on the vastness of God the greatness of God.

Get a I mean not that we'll ever Comprehend God. We never will. We can't reduce God down to you know the size of our own little brains. But you know that there's so much. He sits above the vault of the earth.

The Bible says he reduces rulers to nothing. He can speak concerning nations. To pluck them up and to destroy you realize America. I mean he can speak like that concern the nation's. God has got his storehouse.

The Bible talks about God's arsenal. You know he doesn't have atomic weapons, but he's got rain. He's got sleet. He's got floods. He's got fire, and he can use those things. You know and the most advanced weaponry in the world.

You know all it would take is a major hailstorm, and it could just blow the whole thing apart or whatever you know cause a flood. I mean you know. There's all sorts of things God can use the snow. You know it's part of God's weaponry according to the the Bible.

I mean amazing isn't it who God is? But anyway, we need to spend that time in in worship. The father seeks those that will worship him the Bible says. And so we need to spend time the first and greatest commandment obviously is that shall worship for they go.

So worship I would put as number one the rest of these don't need to be prioritized necessarily, but the next thing is the word. The psalmist prayed open my eyes Psalm 119 verse 18 that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Receiving God’s Word With Understanding

In other words when we have a time a devotional time We need to ask God speak to me. And I think that the primary way that God speaks and obviously there are many many ways he can speak through dreams and visions and so On and so forth, but the primary way God speaks is through his word the entrance of your word.

You know your word is a light to my feet a lamp to my path. It tells me right and wrong it exposes Pitfalls and so on and so forth so Lord open mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

In other words the psalmist David obviously could read and we can prove Conclusively from the Bible that he could see because he you know it was his sin with Bathsheba that got him into all that trouble.

But he's saying Lord open my eyes in a different dimension obviously I can read your word, but look I need to Understand the spirit behind it you know the old hymn writer says beyond the sacred page we seek thee Lord our spirits pen for thee the living wood and.

And so we need to spend some time Luke 24 verse 45 it says he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. We need to ask God to open our minds. Otherwise. It's just a dry historical record a lot of people read it that way.

It's just a you know record of a bunch of Jews in the Old Testament that you know we have nothing in common with they Didn't have mortgages. They didn't have this and that the other thing and you know I mean if we read it that way It's just a history book, but no the Bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God.

It's profitable these things that were written of for time were written for what our instruction. And so all of those sayings have an application to your life and to my life and as we read them We say Lord.

No, what are you trying to say to me here behind this story? You know there's a personal application here, and so there's the past application of the word of God. There's the present. There's the sort of prophetic.

There's different Applications of the word and we need to understand those it's not just that that happened in the Old Testament. And it's irrelevant to me. No these things that were written of for time were written for my Example or our instruction upon whom the ends of the age have come.

I Have it at the back there my latest book that just came out about a month ago, maybe a little more five weeks ago now and It's called they drank from the river and died in the wilderness some of you may have been put off by the title.

It has nothing to do with anti river, but as you know the river is the big. The big thing these days you know river conferences all over the nation and the move of God that we're Experiencing is being called the river.

We have songs about the river you know and I Was sitting in an assembly God church in Sacramento about two years ago now and a very very lively church I mean they had banners they had dances. They always I mean it's just vibrant with with sort of worship and praise and everything else and just prior to going into that meeting I was sitting and I was thinking about rivers.

I was thinking about all the rivers in the Bible and Thought of the river you know flowed out of the Garden of Eden brought life to the surrounding area. And you know the Garden of Eden really being the first tabernacle in the in the Bible.

It was a dwelling place of God, and it only had one entrance the entrance was on the east and when man sinned of course He no longer had access in the presence God. He was driven out, and then there was a flaming sword that Corresponded to the if you like the brazen altar and and so on and but out of it again Flowed a river and then the Ezekiel from the throne of God the river Came forth and you know waters up to the ankles up to the loins and waters to swim in and wherever that water went.

It brought life and in Revelation the same thing from the throne of God there in Revelation 21. Again the river and on either side of the river. You know the trees have brought healing to the nations and so on and so forth and so I was just musing on all the Rivers in the Bible in a very positive sense and the Holy Spirit just said to me.

And I say that That I'm one of those people you know I very seldom hear the voice of God that sort of clearly but The Holy Spirit said what about 1 Corinthians 10? And all of a sudden I found myself quoting 1 Corinthians 10 About the children of Israel you know where Paul says you know I don't want you to be ignorant brethren that all our fathers were under the cloud all passed through the sea.

And then it says and they all drank from the same spiritual Rock. That was following them and that rock was Christ. Then the next verse says nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased they died in the wilderness and the Holy Spirit said they drank.

From the river died in the wilderness. That's the title of the book and I realized that the million people came out of Egypt and a million people partook of the river of God and it says that that river was Christ.

It wasn't a normal river in fact the only way that river was River came into being was when Moses struck the rock and it was symbolic again of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not glorified the Spirit was not given because Jesus was not glorified.

Jesus had to be struck if you like Jesus had to be crucified before the Spirit of God was released you know and. And so here is a supernatural river and the Bible calls it a river like the ocean depths.

I mean it wasn't just a little babbling brook. You've got a million at least a million people some say up to three million people and then you've got all their Livestock even if they only had five a piece and most of them would have you know 30 or 50 or whatever so you put all those mouths together if you like human and animal but you've got maybe 15 30 million people or not people but bodies that needed to be Quenched with thirst and you realize that's the city what the size of Los Angeles or something like that Chicago, New York.

I mean that's a huge water supply. Incredible water supply that came out of rock and the Bible says it was like the ocean depths. You know it's a colossal thing but it all came from the rock and that rock the Bible says was Christ and so they partook of the Supernatural power and provision of God and yet only two out of a million made it into the promised land.

And the Bible says these things were written for our instruction upon whom the end of the earth have come. Why. They got involved in immorality they got involved in adulteries. They got involved in all sorts of things even after partaking of the river and so the river does not immunus.

From tests and trials and problems and so on you see a lot of people have got this idea. You know if I can only go to such and such a meeting get zapped all my problems will be solved. No. Not necessarily.

Thank God for the river. Thank God for the touch of God, but there's still we've got to overcome. It's going to be temptations. It's going to be temptations to idolatry to immorality to Complaining and murmuring and and so on the end to not in what because of unbelief and yet they were surrounded by the supernatural.

Surrounded by the supernatural day after day after day after day after day. So you know we need to say Lord open my eyes, and I may understand your word Lord. How does this apply to me. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 6 it says the letter kills the spirit gives life.

Again, just the letter itself, and I realize in the in a literal sense. It's talking about the the letter of the law. But you can also take it like just the Word of God in that sense the letter kills the spirit gives life.

We need to ask God For a quickening upon his word. The next one is wisdom. Now obviously these things you know the Spirit of God. Maybe sometimes we'll just have a spend an hour in worship other times.

We may just spend time reading the Word of God as God begins to speak to us and unfold Things and as we come across promises. Just you know it's a we just Voice them up to the Lord as well as we're musing on a portion of scripture, and we apply it you know.

Seeking Wisdom for Life and Ministry

Other times again, we may find ourselves just praying for wisdom. It says Proverbs 4 and verse 5 and also verse 7 with all of your getting get wisdom or acquire wisdom. With all the things that you seek for Wisdom the Bible says is the principal thing by wisdom.

The house is established by understanding the rooms are furnished. I Prayed for many many years Lord. Give me wisdom. Paul says he was what a wise master builder. We need wisdom how to build what goes first what goes next and so on just as you do in the natural.

You know you don't put the roof on before you lay the foundation. You know I don't think so anyway. You know there's there's a certain order if you like and I believe in the purpose of God. There's a certain order and so we need to pray God.

Give me wisdom and Again wisdom is the principal thing. James says if any men lack wisdom what let him ask of God who gives Liberally, so it's not something that God is reluctant to sort of dole out to us.

He's liberal. He's lavish. We say oh give me wisdom wisdom in in my marriage wisdom with my children wisdom on the job wisdom. You know we need wisdom. Wisdom is what you do with knowledge. We can have knowledge, but how do you apply that knowledge?

And so we need the wisdom of God. The Bible talks about the the wise woman builds her house the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. We need to know how to build a house and The only way we can do that again is through wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 9 verse 14 talks about the poor wise man who delivered the city by his wisdom and Then if you want the ladies get equal Chance there. 2nd Samuel 20 verse 15 we have the wise woman who spared the entire city.

By throwing was a Jezebel down you know, but she's she saved the city by her wisdom and so wisdom can save. You know an entire city the wise men. The poor wise men and that interesting. Didn't have anything as far as Money, but he had wisdom.

And it was his wisdom that brought about the salvation of his city all right the next one is warfare. Now these are just various things that we can concentrate on in prayer and sometimes if you're beginning And you have not developed a real Prayer life, then just write them down.

There's nothing you know unspiritual about opening your eyes and Looking and say well. I'm gonna spend a little bit time Musing on this until we maybe learn to be led a little bit more clearly by the Spirit of God.

But there's nothing wrong. We're just saying listen I need to pray about this area that area and so on and the more we pray and the more it becomes a Habit pattern in our in our life, then the more you know we can Lay aside if you like these elementary principles Hebrews was would call them.

Spiritual Warfare and Persistent Intercession

But the whole area of warfare Ephesians 6 of course it says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and We've got to learn how to wage a good warfare. There are principalities and powers I believe in if you like in territorial spirits because the Bible talks about Principalities a principality is a geographical area that has a prince over it.

I was raised Born in England raised in England and Ireland, but what they call today the UK United Kingdom and The UK is made up of England Ireland Scotland and Wales and Wales. Technically is called the Principality of Wales.

That's its proper title and the prince of that principality is Prince Charles. He is his rightful title is Prince Charles Prince of Wales. You see there was a time when that principality that geographical area had a prince not a king.

But a prince that governed it now obviously it's just a figurehead, but Prince Charles is the one that carries that title. He doesn't have any real authority anymore, but in the spiritual realm there are principalities.

And over those principalities there are prince powers if you like the government under them if you like lesser demonic strongholds. But they're the ones that sort of govern, and they you know work there under the authority of Satan and dominate Certain areas for instance.

In Argentina many many years ago my brother worked with a man who? Broke through I suppose if there was one man that could be attributed with the present-day move of God in Argentina. It was a man by the name of Edward Miller and Edward Miller back in the 50s.

Was a missionary down in South America there in Argentina and Argentina was a very very dark Nation again bound really by Catholicism and witchcraft and Nothing happening in the natural very very little and God spoke to him.

He said there will never be a move of God until the principality over this nation is bound. And he said there is a prince that governs and rules if you like over the same. Peron of course was a president at that particular time and Peron his wife Eva Peron they made the movie about her was into witchcraft and all sorts of things you know.

But God told him to pray and along with some other intercessors. He prayed. I think was eight hours a day for six months or six months. Or Eight eight months six hours a day something like that anyway God says listen if people can work eight hours a day you can pray eight hours a day.

And he began to pray and he put aside all these other activities as a missionary and began to concentrate in prayer and at the end of that period of time in a prayer meeting there was A real just a sovereign breakthrough there was visitations angels came to a Bible school where they were at and Prophetic words were given as to where God was going to move in Argentina and so on and it was a very powerful Move of the Spirit of God my brother went down there in the 60s and sort of the tail end of some of that.

And he said there were literally times in meetings where after two or three songs The Spirit of God would just descend and he said people would end up on their faces before God for hours I mean three four hours, and he said when they got up there were literally pools on the floor from tears.

Where God would use such a deep work of repentance? I mean not sort of the major sins those hopefully were dealt with but attitudinal stuff. God sort of fine-tuning Different things and they would be just weeping in the presence of God you know major thing, but why because all of a sudden there was an open heaven over that area and.

And so we've got to learn how to wage a good warfare. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. It's not flesh and blood. It's principalities and powers. It's spiritual wickedness in high places obviously in this region.

And I know many of you got Catholic backgrounds, and I'm not trying to say anything in one sense. But Catholicism is a is is is full of witchcraft. I say that because if I said to you this morning before coming here that I was in Communication with my dead father you would immediately shoot me wouldn't you you know you say necromancing is wrong.

You know you shouldn't be involved in necromancing and yet in the Catholic faith you pray to the Saints now. We call them Saints and it seems to them you know sort of clear the air that we can you know we don't think of It, but listen.

We're praying to the dead. These are these are ordinary people. That you know have been bestowed by the Catholic Church with sainthood sort of thing. But they're the people and it's necromancing it opens you up to the spiritual dimension.

You know and and so we've got to realize that you know when there's a Concentration if you like of people that are worshipping Saints, and they're in communion with the dead and so on it Establishes something in the heavens and.

And so we're battling and you know what that's about battling in this area you know every pastor battles it why. Because it's such a stronghold and you feel it you feel the resistance and. And so we've got to learn somehow how to take authority over that you know the the whole matriarchal System if you like of Mary and.

And praying to Mary and the veneration of Mary and so on and so forth you know all of that brings in. You know a heaviness into an area and so we've got to have wisdom how we deal with it. But we've we've got to wage a warfare.

Revelation talks about there was war in heaven you know Michael and the angels and so on. God is a God of war. He's mighty in battle. We've got to learn to lift up the gates. Praise is a tremendous way of doing that the high praises of God in our mouth what a sharp two-edged sword in our hand to execute vengeance on Kings to bind kings and nobles with fetters of iron.

There's something about warfare praise warfare now. You know we can do it, but the Bible says whatsoever is not a faith. It's sin, and so you know it's not just going through the semantics. It's not just going through actions.

It's got to be faith behind it. It's a by faith the walls of Jericho came down not by marching. See now we have a lot of Jericho marches, but the walls never come down. But it's by faith the walls of Jericho came down.

And so there's got to be faith in what we're doing when we're declaring songs about the blood and so on there's got to be Faith and you know the and and there's a whole realm there that I really don't know if we know a great deal about but I think there can be prayer meetings sometimes where we honestly get into declaring things and and lifting up the name of Jesus as a sort of a weapon of war the high praises and.

And so there's many ways. Obviously through fasting is one of the ways the disciples struggled trying to cast some demons out. What did Jesus say you know basically you know they came rejoicing in fact that they were casting demons out one day.

And then the next day they sort of come back said boy. We had a rough time this morning. Well, they went didn't see the budge at all. He says well. You know skip lunch, and you know dinner and try again basically you know this kind this kind.

What doesn't come out but by prayer and fasting? So there's a place where fasting comes in now if that's true of trying to cast a demon out of an individual. We're talking about a principality. You know and so it's more than just sort of clicking our fingers and saying you know I mean, there's got to be that real concentrated effort and One will chase a thousand what two ten thousand so as we band together.

There's more power and more authority released, but there's this whole realm of warfare. My wife. And I were in New Guinea, and you know that nation is literally bound with witchcraft unbelievable witchcraft that goes on there and It was there that I first got interested in the whole realm of spiritual warfare.

And so we need to ask God God give me wisdom give me understanding give me insight Lord how to how to pray and how to wrestle against this thing and Don't sort of expect you know immediate sort of magical results because you know it's it's it's that persistent praying.

I remember in Kansas City in Kansas City. They've been praying for oh, I don't know how many years when I got there but they have three prayer meetings a day in the church and now they have a 24-hour house of prayer and One of the leaders at One stage is sort of saying God.

You know nothing seems to be happening. We've been praying for years, and then God showed him a picture of a golden chain. And made up of these big links, and he said every prayer meeting God said to him.

It's another link in the chain and when that chain is big enough and long enough so thing I will you know sort of bind. You know the principality sort of thing and so sometimes. It's that persistent praying day after day after day after day after day sort of chipping away.

You know the Bible talks about the cup of the Amorite is not yet full. There are seasons. I don't fully understand all of those things you know the souls under the altar there in Revelation. How long Lord how long how long.

I mean there's a period of time sometimes, but that doesn't mean we give up. You know and just say oh, well God's sovereign. He'll take care of in his own time. No. We've got to pray and I Believe that we can you know prayers like a bank account that we can Invest in and then when the time comes you know we can sort of cash it in and use it you know.

Praying for the World and Those in Authority

All right, the next thing is the world and obviously we've sort of been talking about that, but Matthew 6 and verse 10 pray thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth. Matthew 9 verse 38 pray the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers.

In other words if we Really get into the mind of God. We realize that we have a God that is not willing that any should perish. You know the Bible says pray for all those who are in authority. Why. Because he would have all men to be Saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son. And this whole area of the world we need to pray for it's a God is not willing again that any should perish. And there's vast nations again. You think of places like India and Bangladesh and China and other places the whole sort of 1040 window the whole Islamic world and we've hardly dented these places and We've got to pray God send forth laborers.