Thoughts on Faith and Prayer (Video) — Carter Conlon

Thank you. God bless you again. And I pray that that be really a prayer in all of our hearts. God, you would open up my eyes in wonder and show me who you are. That's really what you and I need to see at this time.

Hearing the Voice of God

I'm gonna share with you a couple of thoughts before we pray again. This segment of our prayer meeting is usually called thoughts on faith and prayer. And if I were to give a title to what I'm about to share at this point, it would be called it's time to hear the voice of God.

It's time to hear the voice of God. If you have a Bible with you or some kind of an app on your phone, you can turn to Romans chapter 13 in the New Testament. Romans chapter 13, one of the books of the apostle Paul.

And I'd like to pray with you before we begin. So father, thank you God with all of my heart tonight for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord that you have the ability to take the words that are written in the pages of this book called your Bible and make them live in our hearts.

For your word is a living word. It's not just words that give us increased understanding, but your word has the power to raise us from the dead, has the power to give us sight, has the power to set us free.

Your word has the power to give us a brand new life and meaning on the earth. So God tonight, I'm asking Lord that you would stretch your hand out through the internet to those that have joined with us to pray from all over this world.

And Lord, would you do the miraculous tonight? Would you move mountains? Would you set people free? Would you raise up the lame? Would you give strength to those who feel dead? God, we're asking you in Jesus name to do that which only you can do for the honor and the glory of your name.

Prayer Requests and the Call to New Life

And we ask this in Jesus name, amen. Let me read to you a couple of just three prayer requests which are representative of many of the hundreds that have come in throughout this weekend, throughout this evening.

For example, this is Jane from Kampala, Uganda. I'm trying, but pray that I take the leap of faith that I need to get truly born again. So Jane, I'm gonna pray for you tonight. I'm gonna be talking to you directly in just a few moments that not only would you take the leap, but God would do something miraculous in your life and that you would truly be born again as is the desire of your heart.

We'll talk about that in just a moment. Another person from New Mexico says, I'm so broken and have an addiction. There seems to be no hope for. Now that's not true, first of all. Where Christ is, there is hope.

There's no prison door that can hold you if the hand of God is on you and the voice of God is calling you. Please, Lord, heal me, rescue me, help me. Pray for me, please pray for me. So we're gonna pray for you tonight and we're gonna believe for an incredible miracle in your life in New Mexico.

And from Spring Valley, New York, I haven't been able to sleep for almost three months. Anxiety and depression have been crippling me. I feel like giving up. You know, for you in New York, in Spring Valley, this might be the best night of your whole life if you will let God touch your life the way that I believe that he wants to do.

Romans 13 and Awakening from Spiritual Sleep

Now here's what the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 13, beginning at verse 11. And do this. Knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

So in other words, there are people who have not taken seriously what Christ has had to say to you, the call of God on your life. You've not taken it seriously and you've, in a sense, you were marginally awakened to it but you kind of fell back asleep again and you've never really grasped perhaps the fullness of what it is that God wants to do for you and wants to do in you.

He goes on to say, the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

It's time to hear the voice of God and for those who can hear it tonight, this is an incredible moment in the history of this world because I believe over all the storms and all the trials and all the difficulties and all the sorrows, all the depression, all the anxiety, all the trying to be better and unable in our own strength, something is rising above all of it and it's the voice of God calling you.

He's calling you. He's calling you by name. Whether or not you can hear it tonight, Jesus Christ is calling your name. I'm speaking to somebody at home. I'm speaking to people in their living room. I'm speaking to people who are gathered together in small groups or large groups.

You have laid down in a place of weakness, in a place of confusion, a place of entrapment, far too long and we're living in a moment in time and in history when above all the storms that are coming against you, the voice of God is rising up and one more time calling you.

Lazarus and the Call from Death into Life

Firstly, he's calling people out of death and into life. The story of Lazarus in John chapter 11 talks about a man who just simply died and people gave up all hope for him. His family gave up hope, his friends gave up hope.

The only thing left was a pile of weeping. He was in a very dark place and there was a big stone rolled in front of him and that's the way some of you might feel tonight. That's the way you might feel in Kampala, Uganda this evening.

You feel like, God, I have no hope. The people who know me don't have hope for me. I've lost hope for myself and I'm living in a very, very dark place and it seems like there's no way out. The stone in front of me is too thick, it's too heavy.

I can't move it. I'm tired of trying. I can't go forward. And suddenly, suddenly, Jesus comes into your situation and he first says these words, roll away the stone. Now, he is so anxious to get to you and to have you know what eternal life is all about that he will command everything, no matter how thick or how deep or how long it's been there or how permanent people say it is, the very first thing he says is roll the stone away.

That's happening to somebody tonight. The Lord Christ is saying roll the stone away that stands between me and my son or me and my daughter, whoever you are, roll that stone away. Now, at this very moment, you're seeing just a little bit of light come into your situation.

A little bit of hope is coming into your heart and you're wondering, is it possible, is it true that my life can be changed? Is it true that I can get out of this darkened place and come into a place of life and light?

And suddenly, you hear the son of God calling your name. I don't know what your name is tonight, but God knows your name. And I'm telling you on the authority of his word, he's calling your name. He's calling you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

He's calling you out of death and into life, out of sin and into forgiveness, out of powerlessness and into the power of a new and endless life that he's willing to live out inside of you. Now, listen to me tonight, Jane in Uganda.

Salvation by Grace Through Christ's Atonement

You don't do this in your own strength. He did it for you. You couldn't get to God, so God came to you. He came to this world as a man, Jesus Christ, because we and you couldn't get back to him in our own strength.

He walked among us for 33 years. And then at the age of 33, unjustly accused, he went to a cross, suffered a horrible beating and a very excruciating painful death and shed his blood to make a way for you to come back to God.

You see, it's not something you do, it's something he did. On your part, all he asks you to do is believe that he took your place on that cross. He paid the price for your sin, for the wrong that you have done against God and against your fellow man.

He went to the cross and an innocent man took your punishment upon himself. You deserved to be eternally separated from God because the Bible says the wages of sin is death. But the second half of that verse is the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And so now he's calling your name, Jane. And the question is, what will you do with that call? You see, you don't have to take a leap of faith. You don't have to get up and do something. You don't have to try.

You simply believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for you and took your place. Admit your condition. Admit that you're a sinner. Admit that you can't save yourself. Admit that your life has fallen far short of what it should be.

And as such, you're destined to spend an eternity apart from God, but also believe that God so loved you that he sent his son to you to die on the cross that you don't have to be separated from God for eternity.

He paid the price for your sin so that you can come home to God again forever. And not just have the assurance of heaven, as wonderful as that is, he also promises that you will have a full and meaningful life here on the earth while you live here.

A life that is lived for him, not by your strength, Jane, but by his strength. His Holy Spirit, when you open your heart to Christ, will dwell inside your physical body. And the promise of God is that you will become a new creation, a new person.

The old things in your life will pass away. They lose their power source. And all things in your life will become new. And then the scripture says not only to admit you're a sinner and believe that Christ died for you, but confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord.

This is not a private thing, this is a public thing. You simply say, Jesus, I've decided to follow you. I'm not ashamed of you because you're not ashamed of me. And I will confess your name before my friends.

I'll confess your name before my enemies if necessary. But I will tell everyone what you have done for me. See, that's responding to his call, calling you out of death and into life. You know, the scripture tells us that when Jesus Christ died, he cried out with such a loud voice that even a hardened Roman soldier who had seen a lot of people die, took a step back and said, truly, this was the Son of God.

Now, in part, I believe it was because he heard a cry like he'd never heard before. Nobody had ever cried like that. And that cry that came from the heart of the Son of God on the cross just before he gave up his life was for you.

Your name was in that cry, Jane. You were part of that cry. It was a cry that can only come from the heart of God. That's how much God longs for you, how much God loves you, how much he wants to bring you home, to live with him for all of eternity.

So for those who can hear tonight, it's time to step out of death and into life. It's time to step out of that place of darkness and weakness because God made a way for you. He rolled the stone away when Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead.

The stone that separated you from God was removed and he called you. You know, it's so sad to think that so many people receive that call, but they just don't get up and they just don't come out of darkness.

Isn't that sad? A lot of people will stand at the throne of God one day and realize that they heard his voice, but for whatever reason, they chose to just simply push it away. But talk about a time now that we're living in and we know in our hearts that we are very close to the return of the son of God.

Spiritual Paralysis and the Command to Rise

If ever there was a time to hear his voice and respond, it's now. He's also calling people who know him out of spiritual paralysis. There was a man in the Bible in John chapter five who laid down, for 38 years he was lame, and he laid down daily by a pool of water where people went to be healed.

And every once in a while, the scripture says an angel would stir the water and whoever got in first would be healed. But he couldn't get in because he had no power to get in. And it's like, it's a type of a person that just maybe you're listening tonight and say, well, God, if you'll just stir me, I'll be healed.

If you'll just somehow stir the word of God so that I can understand it or get into it or whatever. And you're looking for some mystical experience to get you out of your paralysis. You're looking for something supernatural.

When Jesus walks up to the man and says, do you want to be whole? It's really no more difficult than that. Do you want to be whole? Immediately the man says, well, I have no man to put me in the water when the water stirs.

And we always come up with these excuses and reasons why we should just lay down in our pain and shouldn't be healed when he's simply asking him, do you want to be healed? And then suddenly he looks at him and says, stand up, take up your bed and walk.

And it's time now for you to hear the voice of God. There's people been coming into this prayer meeting for five, six years now, and you're still laying down in your pain. It's time for you to get up.

It's time for you to take up that place that you've laid on in your spiritual paralysis and simply get up and start to walk with God and put that old place under your arm as this man did and start walking around and telling people what Jesus has done for you.

Get up by faith and start walking with God. Get up by faith. Get up out of that place of paralysis. Get up out of that place of pain, that place of listening to voices that tell you, you can't, you're too weak, you never will, you'll never go anywhere, you'll never become anything.

Jesus is calling you. Get up out of that place. Put that old place under your arm and make it part of your testimony and walk around. Can you see that man? Everybody knew he laid at the pool for so many years, and here he is with his bed under his arm, walking around, telling people, oh, this man called Jesus came and I'd been there for years and years and years, and I'd lost heart and lost hope, and he just simply said to me, get up.

Take up that old place of pain and put it under, roll it up under your arm and just start walking, and I did. So it's time to hear the voice of God. It's time to hear the voice of God calling us to get out of the fear of living for the benefit of others.

Esther, Courage, and Intercession for Others

You see, true Christianity is lived out in the heart of a believer in Christ by living for the sake of other people that don't know the life that we know. That's why we are left on the earth as believers in Christ.

We're not left here just to preserve ourselves, and you see, if that's your heart, then you are just as fearful as everyone else around you today. We see the coronavirus sweeping around the world. We're looking at potential financial collapse in many countries.

We're looking at the wars and rumors of wars, everything that Jesus Christ warned us about. And some people, if your whole reason for living for God has been for yourself, your own peace of mind, your own comfort, whatever it is that you're living for, then suddenly the voice of God is calling you into something deeper, and we've got to break through that barrier of fear.

And you're not the only one that has to do it. Think of Queen Esther for a while. She was called of God to make a difference, called of God to go in to the king at a time when she felt undesired, unlovely, unwanted.

Maybe it felt like she'd failed somehow, and the king no longer wanted her in his presence. But it was at that time that the voice of God came to her and saying, you have been born for a moment such as this.

You see, there are many of us in the body of Christ that we have been born for a moment such as this, but we have to get out of living to preserve ourselves. And we have to live for something higher than just ourselves, higher than our own needs and our own comforts and our own sense of peace in our heart and everything else.

And we have to get up and go into the king and say, I'm here not for myself, but I'm here to intercede for others who have a sentence of death, as in Esther's case, over their lives, and they have nobody to fight for them and nobody to speak for them.

You see, that's the calling of God on the church of Jesus Christ. And that's what will make us a people of power in the last days. So it's time for those of us who are online, self-focused to a great degree, to say, Lord, what would you have my life to be?

And would you help me, as you did with Esther, to rewrite the law of death over somebody into a law of life? Would you help me to send out a message through my life to somebody who can't fight against darkness that they've been given by God the power to fight back, the power to stand up, and not only that, to be victorious?

God, would you help me to come out of darkness? Would you help me to get up from a place of paralysis? And would you help me to go in to that which you have called my life to be? That's the voice of God that needs to be heard in this generation.

We don't have a lot of time for this, my brother, my sister. Remember, our cousin Mordecai came to Esther and said, don't think you're gonna survive because you hide in the house, because you found yourself a nice, comfortable place.

Don't think you're gonna survive because the evil of this time will search you out and find you too as well. You see, if we don't do anything, there's a great statement that was pronounced by a statesman one time who said these words, all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

And that's true. And so the time has come for you and I to hear the voice of God and get up, not seeking to preserve ourselves and do something for somebody else. I know I'm speaking to somebody tonight that's listening online.

The Church's Mission in a Fearful Generation

It's time to hear the voice of God. It's time to start to pray. It's time to get out from old ways of living and old bondages and old wounds. Realistically, my brother, my sister, are we just gonna lay down and moan for the rest of our days at the church of Jesus Christ?

Tell me, how does that bring honor to the name of God? There's some people listening to me tonight, you're looking for that magical cure and the cure you're looking for is just get up, get out and get going.

It's really no more than that. As you start to testify, you watch what God will do in your life. Don't wait until you have it all together because you never will. It's only God that can make you whole and give you a reason to live and a purpose in life.

This generation needs us as the church of Jesus Christ. They live in darkness, they have no hope. They're being overpowered by their enemies. Fear is gripping the hearts of men, women and children. And it's up to you and I as the body of Christ to stand up now in the power of our God.

Take God at his word, receive the salvation he offers, receive the healing he promises, receive the calling he says will make a difference, not just for us but for the lives of other people and begin to walk in it.

It's time to hear the voice of God. We've heard a lot of voices in a lot of places saying a lot of things, but it's time now to hear the voice of God. And so I'm speaking to you tonight. I'm speaking to you under the unction of the Holy Spirit.

I'm speaking to you what God has put on my heart to say to you. Now it's up to you. You can choose to lay in darkness. You can stay there if you want. You can choose to lay by the pool hoping for some mystical experience to heal you.

You can choose to try to preserve yourself in the palace or you can hear the voice of God and get up and make a tremendous difference in the lives of other people in this generation. And let me tell you, that's where confidence comes from.

That's where faith comes from. That's where courage to face the storms comes from. When you and I get up empowered by the spirit of God and say, Lord, I'm going with you. I don't care who goes, I'm going with you.

I don't care who laughs. I'm getting up and taking up my mat and I'm walking with you. I don't care if it costs me everything. I'm going into the king for the sake of others who have nobody to fight for them.

When you've given me a voice, it can make a difference. And by the grace of Almighty God, that will be you and that will be me. I am speaking to the army of the Lord tonight. I'm speaking to soldiers, men and women of God.

I'm speaking to evangelists that don't know what they are yet. I'm speaking to people who are going to make a difference in this society. God is calling you. God's voice is calling you across the waves, across the storm, into your darkness, at places of your paralysis.

God is calling you into something that only he can do in your life and through your life. And by God's grace, we will get up and we will follow. By God's grace, we will make a difference. By God's grace, we will pray and see hell brought down and heaven raised up.

By God's grace, we will stand against every weapon of hell that's formed against not only us, but men and women and children that have nobody to fight for them. By God's grace, we'll see a spiritual awakening in our nations again.

By God's grace, we'll see our children praising God instead of being confused in their schools. By God's grace, by God's grace, by God's grace, we will pray again as a nation. By God's grace, righteousness will prevail and flow like a mighty stream.

By the grace of almighty God, we will rise. We've laid down too long. We've sat in darkness too long. We've drawn back for too long and now it's time to get up. It's time to pray. It's time to believe God.

It's time to walk in victory. This is the call of God for your life. I'm challenging you, my brother, my sister, get up and start walking with God and do it tonight. Don't wait for next week. Don't deceive yourself into thinking some mystical experience is going to make a difference when he's already calling you.

Oh God, he's calling you. He's calling you. I can see you rising up. I can see you in your living rooms. I can see you. I can see you in your loneliness. I can see you. I can see families standing to their feet.

I can see people rising up and accepting the call of God. Start to preach with unction and power and authority and watch what God will do through your life. So Father, thank you. Thank you that in spite of all the voices that are speaking in this generation, all the confusion that's trying to cause your people to run in circles, in spite of all the negativity that's all around us, there is one voice that rises above every other voice.

One voice that has the power to save, the power to heal, the power to commission. One voice that is eternal. Every other voice will fade. Every other voice will perish. Every other voice will die. But one voice lasts forever.

And God Almighty, I want to hear no other voice from this day forward in my life. I want your voice to speak to my heart, your voice to guide my family, your voice to guide my footsteps, your voice to be so intertwined with mine that it will cause darkness to be pushed back and life and light in Jesus Christ to be brought forward.

That's the cry of my heart. And tonight, my brother, my sister, I'm gonna pray that you will stand in your living room, wherever you are. I'm gonna ask Pastor David Hamm to come and close this meeting tonight with prayer before we sing one last song.

A Declaration to Follow Christ and Live for Others

But I'm gonna ask you to stand up where you are. Every man, every woman who wants to be used by God, stand up wherever you are, whatever circumstance, whatever church, whatever group, whatever place, stand to your feet and make this declaration.

I hear the voice of God calling me. I will not live in darkness any longer. I will not try to do what God's already done for me. I will not lay down and nurse my wounds for the rest of my life. I'm getting up and I'm gonna start walking with God.

I will not be quiet and live for myself. I'm going to live for the benefit of others by the power of Christ within me. This is a declaration I want you to make tonight. Make it with fervency and then start speaking the name of Jesus as soon as God enables you to, the very first chance.

And I don't care if you feel healed or not. You start telling people, I am free from the chains of my past. I'm free from the darkness that once held me. I'm free from the despair that wants to eat my soul.

I have heard the voice of God calling me and I'm going with Jesus Christ and I'm going to trust that He will honor His name through my life. David, Pastor David, come lead us in prayer and everyone out there online, you join us and you lift your voice too as well.

And let's pray together and believe God for a great victory.

Prayer for Resurrection Life and Victory

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Hallelujah to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We thank you, oh God, for this word. We thank you for your voice that is calling us unto yourself.

We thank you for your presence in this meeting. We thank you for the word that we have received, a resurrection word, a healing word, a salvation word. Lord, we thank you. We choose to follow your ways.

Lord, our hope is in you. Faith rises up in our heart as we trust and believe in the voice of our Savior. Lord, we thank you for the victory that we have in you. We thank you for the power of the cross.

We thank you for the blood, the blood that heals, the blood that sets the captives free, the blood that still has miraculous power. We thank you, Lord God, for the finished work of the cross. We thank you, Lord God, because we declare victory now in the name of Jesus, for you defeated sin and death.

You defeated every disease. You defeated every plague. You defeated all things, Lord God, and we give you glory and honor. And so we choose to rise up in faith, Lord God. We will not back down because of the facts of this crisis.

We will not back down because of our feelings, but we will rise up because of faith, the faith in knowing that our God reigns, the faith in knowing that our God has the final say, for you are the author and the finisher of our faith.

And we choose to listen to your voice, and we choose to move forward. We will not back down in this hour, despite the ways, despite the circumstances, despite these uncertain times. We are certain of one thing, that we have the victory in the name of Jesus.

And so we will rise up. We will rise up knowing that we have resurrection life. We will rise up knowing that, oh God, you are going to equip us and strengthen us, and we are going to go forward in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, we thank you for your spirit, your spirit that has caused us to stand, Lord God, in the face of opposition. And I thank you, oh Lord God, because this is a great hour for the body of Christ and for the saints to bear witness of the goodness of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And so Lord, we will not be silent. We will arise this very hour. God, I thank you for your word that called us this very evening to wake, to awaken. Oh, sleeper, awaken. Let the dead rise up now, and let the light of Christ Jesus shine upon your people.

Oh God, we are your light. Lord God, I thank you. I thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit. So now, Lord God, may there be, Lord, a great hour of salvation as the saints, as the believers call on your great name, as we bear witness of who you are, as we continue to share the gospel, as we continue to open up our voice and declare the goodness of our Savior, Jesus Christ to our families, to our loved ones, to our neighbors, to our coworkers, to strangers.

Let it be known that our God reigns. Let it be known that our God heals. Let it be known that our God is a victorious warrior and there is salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few.

So Lord God, we are calling the laborers to stand right now. We are calling laborers to respond to the voice of the living God. We thank you right now, oh Lord God. We thank you for prayer. We thank you for your church that has come alive in this very hour.

And although our doors be closed, it is the church, your people, that are now going forth amidst the community in our homes. Lord God, may there be a stirring in the spirit to make the phone calls that we need to make.

May there be a stirring in our spirit to text those that don't know who you are as the living God. May there be a stirring in our spirit that even as we go about into stores that we would declare the name of Jesus Christ to be the one and only true God.

I thank you, Lord God. And we will await and we will go forward in expectation knowing that there is going to be lives changed, transformed by the power of the gospel this very hour. We give you all glory and honor in your precious name, Jesus, we pray, amen and amen, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Praise God.

Thank you, Jesus. Now, before we close in song this evening, I just wanna remind you that we're keeping up with the latest federal and state and city authority communications. You can stay informed by checking our website and social media as well as registering for updates at tsc .nyc.

Now, even though the church building is currently closed, you can join us online every Sunday morning at 10 a .m. and Tuesday night at 7 p .m. for a live stream. We wanna thank you once again for your generosity.

Your giving to us allows the work of the church to continue and provides all of the needs that are here plus much more. Remember, you're still able to give through our website, through our app or the text.

We're back online live for your morning service this Sunday at 10 a .m. Eastern Standard Time. We look forward to you joining us. So everybody online, as we quite often do on Sunday night or Tuesday night when we close out, can you give us a shout of glory online right now?

Can you just give us a shout of glory wherever you are? Thank God, praise God for you. I'm just happy to be alive. I'm happy that the Lord's seen fit to let you and I be born in this generation so that we can make a difference for somebody who needs to know that there is a Savior that died for them and loves them.

So God bless you and we're gonna close with song and then we'll bring the curtain down and we'll see you again Sunday morning, 10 o 'clock Eastern Time. We'll either be here or we'll be somewhere, but we'll still see you Sunday morning at 10 o 'clock.

God bless you tonight.