Living in the Miraculous — David Wilkerson

This message is one of the Times Square Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the Sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P .O. Box 260, Linnville, Texas 75771 or calling 214 -963 -8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends.

Father, I pray that your unction, your anointing be upon me tonight to deliver this precious word. I pray that every spirit of the enemy, every lying spirit, every prince of poverty and power of darkness be cast out.

We take your authority and your dominion so that the word can be ministered in life. We thank you for your power, Jesus. Break loose in the preaching of the word tonight. Lord, there are people who need to hear this word.

The Book of Acts and the Miraculous Life of the Early Church

There are people, Lord, who do not pray whatsoever. And they'll never move into the realm of the miraculous until they learn to pray. God convict us of our prayerlessness. Holy Spirit, touch me tonight.

I need your touch. I need your divine strength. In the name of Jesus, amen. Friends, I can't read the book of Acts without feeling very much ashamed. I'm ashamed that we don't live up to what I read in this book.

Even the laven like Stephen and Philip who waited on tables were so full of the glory of God. They performed miracles. They stirred entire cities. And how does anybody read the book of Acts without that wonder and amazement at how they were able to get a hold of God and He moved in such miraculous ways in them and among them?

You read this book of Acts, it's so thrilling. You hear of angels appearing. The angels come right into the jails, knock off their chains, pick them up, and they say, follow me, and they go walk right through.

The gates open of their own accord. The angel just walks toward them and the gates open. We hear of angels walking among them. We hear of mighty visions, clear, detailed visions. Cripples are healed and go leaping through the temple.

Peter is so full of the Holy Ghost. The Bible said the sick were brought out in the streets, in their beds, in their couches. So the shadow of Peter just touching them, they might be healed. That's found in Acts 5 .15, if you don't believe it.

Just in his shadow, there was such faith and expectancy in the city of Jerusalem. The Bible says there were special miracles recorded here. And God brought special miracles by the hands of Paul so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

Now, I've received in the mail from, quote, healing evangelists, little pieces of paper designed like a cloth. I've had missionaries send me a pile of dirt. I mean, evangelists send me a pile of blessed dirt.

There's every kind of gimmick. This is not a gimmick, folks, in this book of Acts. I mean, this man had faith. He prayed over those handkerchiefs and aprons and they laid them out on some demon-possessed.

Those demons would flee. There was something here in the book of Acts that we've not discovered. The houses in which they prayed were literally shaken. Now, I wouldn't want God to shake this theater. It's too old.

Literally, I don't know if it could stand it, but they literally were shaken. I mean, they were so miraculously under the power of God they survived shipwreck and stonings. Paul was once stoned and taken out of the city for dead.

He gets up and walks away and holds another revival meeting. Now, even when they were stoned like Stephen and were not rescued from it, it was so miraculously stoning that the heavens opened and Jesus appears standing before them all.

He sees an open heaven. Now, why don't we live like that? Why don't we see the book of Acts coming to life? I'm not talking about what we call miracle services today. I get these brochures and these posters, signs, wonders, and miracles.

Come see the great man of God. I'm talking about a miraculous way of living. Not just preaching, but a miraculous way of living. Friends, God hasn't changed. We have. God is more concerned. He's more willing to give us today than He was then.

But there's an idea in the land today that goes something like this. We don't need this kind of thing today because we're more educated today. We're a little more intelligent. We have more revelation knowledge.

And they needed those miracles because God was establishing the church. And He had to have them to establish the church. What I want you to know, friends, if they needed it then, we need it now all the more.

We need it all the more. If the establishment of the church needed the power of the Holy Spirit and miracles, the closing day of the church needs it even more. Do I have to remind you what we're facing today?

Apostasy, Deception, and the Need for Spiritual Urgency

Do we have to talk about the evil men waxing worse and worse according to Scripture? Sin abounding many times over. Seducers being increased. Violence breaking out on all sides. Hell has enlarged its borders.

Demons have come forth like a flood. There's apostasy. We're living in what the Bible calls the great falling away. We're in the middle of that right now, the great falling away. Satan and his angels are coming pretending to be ministers of the gospel.

And folks, on the judgment day it's going to be interesting to find out how many undiscerning Christians have been sending money and following evangelists who have come as angels of light to deceive, if it were possible, even the elected chosen of God.

The Bible said that the devil will bring forth preachers of the gospel who will be appearing as angels of light. But they're angels of darkness. They're under demon powers. Abortion has filled the land with blood guiltiness.

Parents are molesting their own little children. The newspaper today said one child a day is now being murdered through molestation. Even the babies are being molested now. Right out of the crib. Our young people are spinning out of control.

Cocaine and crack. Heroin. Into our schools with devastation. Turning 15-year-old kids into killers and thieves. There's all kinds of new diseases like herpes and AIDS that my generation knew nothing about.

And folks, we need more of Jesus. We need more of his power. We need more of his miracles manifested among us today than any time in history. But we've not been willing to pay the price. The apostles knew the price and they gladly paid it.

Prayer as the Source of Miraculous Direction

First of all, God moved miraculously in the first church because they were given to prayer. They had given themselves to prayer. Now the book of Acts is actually about holy men who knew how to move God through prayer.

My message tonight is about prayer. About prayer. I'm going to tell you right up front. Now whether it was in the upper room, whether it was in prison, they prayed. If they were in some secret hiding place away from the authorities, they prayed.

If it was Simon's house in a street called Straight, they prayed. They prayed in the morning. They prayed at the noon. They prayed all night. They prayed without ceasing. Cornelius, the Bible said, prayed always.

They prayed on rooftops. They prayed on seashores and temples and deserts. They prayed everywhere. Unceasingly, the early church was a church of prayer. They spent hours and days shut in with God until they received very, very clear direction from God.

I'm amazed at the detailed guidance that the children of God had in this first church. What incredible specifics they got from God. I want you to go to the ninth chapter of Acts. You have the book of Acts open.

Go to the ninth chapter. And I want to show you something thrilling. How detailed, specific God got with his people when they prayed. Ninth chapter. Let's begin reading at the tenth verse. Acts 9, verse 10.

And there was a certain disciple of Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire of the house of Judas.

For one called Saul of Tarsus, and behold, he prayeth. And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. I want to stop there for just a minute.

But I want you to listen to the details. Look what it says. God says, first of all, go. And then he names the very street. It's called Straight. Do you see that? The street's called Straight. He's directed to the very house.

He's told the name of the householder. Simon's house. Street called Straight. And he's even told that there's someone there by the name of Saul of Tarsus. He's even given the name. And also, God says, I've talked to him, and he's seen you coming in and laying hands on him.

How would you like to get directions like that? And here's a newborn baby, Saul. And God is saying to this young man, to this young convert, he's just been saved a few days. And the Bible... Why would God speak so clearly to Saul, only three days old in the Lord?

And he's saying, you go into Damascus, and he'll be told you what to do. And he goes, and he's on his face. And he's seeking God. And God says to this baby convert, Saul, I'm going to send a man to you, and his name is Ananias.

Now how would Saul know there's an Ananias in the city? It is in Damascus. And you're going to see him coming. And he's going to lay hands on you, because Saul was blind at this time. He said, he will lay hands on you, and you will be healed, and he'll tell you what to do.

He'll tell you. He's going to give you directions. So Saul goes into this room. Now why would God speak like that? Well, look at verse 11. The last four words. Behold, he prayeth. What was Saul doing those three days and three nights?

He was not eating. He was not drinking. He was fasting, and he was praying. And here's how he got this detailed direction from the Lord. You know, this is so very important. Look at verse 6. Well, let's try verse 4.

He fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? Who art thou, Lord? He even names him. And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.

Because Jesus said, if you persecute the church, you're persecuting me. Now I'll tell you something, any time the devil persecutes any one of you, he's persecuting Jesus, because we're his body. And he trembling, who are you, Lord?

And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. He trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will you have me to do? The Lord said to him, arise, go to the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Arise and go. Now look at me, please. The Holy Spirit, as soon as he was saved, said, go pray. That's the message. Go pray. Go seek my face. Learn to wait on me. Show me that you want more of me. And I want you, no directions came, no vision came until after he prayed.

And then the powerful vision of what he was to do. He learned at this time to lean on the Lord, to get the leading of God. Saul didn't need a counselor. Now, there's nothing wrong with going to somebody for counseling.

He needed no prophet to show him what to do. He needed no word, a special word. I can't tell you how many hundreds and hundreds of people have come to me saying, I have a word for you. Now, if it's from God, I thank him for it.

Nine out of ten times, it's somebody who's just very overzealous and wants God to bless me or something, and they give me one. Because in one day, I can get ten different words conflicting one with another.

So either they made a mistake or God did, and God doesn't make mistakes. And I'm not putting that down. But the Lord said, I will show him. I'll show him. I can picture a fundamentalist preacher coming in, and Saul was on his face before God, and he's weeping, and he's moaning, and he's crying, Oh God, Jesus, reveal yourself in me, not just to me.

Because later, Paul was to say, The Lord revealed himself in me. Not to me, but in me. And there's a difference of having Jesus revealed to you and in you. And he's praying, Lord Jesus, reveal yourself in me.

And here comes this fundamentalist preacher. And he walks in there, and he sees Saul weeping, and he takes him by the shoulder. He said, Young man, don't you know that since you've been saved, there's a dying world out there?

They're going to hell. And you need to get out there, because God's plan for you after salvation is witnessing evangelism. Now, you know we believe in that. But I know what Saul would have answered. This preacher comes in, because you see, there's some people believe that the only purpose of God in saving Christians is to make witnesses out of them.

Well, that is true. We're all witnesses, but there's something comes before that. You better not go out and be a witness until you do what Saul did. You shut yourself in with God and learn to hear his voice.

You learn to hear his guidance, so that you don't need a counselor, you don't need a prophet, you don't need anything but this book and you're bare knees. Now, God does use people. We're not putting that down, not at all.

But this fundamentalist, I'm sure Saul would say, is your name Ananias? No, sir? Well, then I'm waiting, sir, for a man named Ananias, because I had a vision. He said, you had a what? I had a vision. He said, well, while you're here having visions and waiting on the Lord, souls are dying out there.

I'm glad Saul wasn't saved in 1988, because we would have gotten a hold of him, and we'd have turned him into a media hype. I mean, we'd have had him writing a book, we'd have had posters, and we'd have had preachers all over America inviting him to their church to tell this fantastic testimony.

I'm glad the Lord said, go to Damascus and hide. Go and pray. And I can just hear Saul say, well, brother, I can't help it, I heard God. I saw Jesus, he appeared to me. Can you imagine telling that to some people today who believe the miracles are over?

I've seen Jesus. Now, folks, this is all in the day of grace. This is all since the cross, the very day in which you and I live. And Saul just says, brother, I can't help it. The Lord told me, I had a vision, I know the man's name, I know what he's going to do when he walks in here, and I know he's going to lay hands on me, and my eyes are going to be open.

Say what you will, I'm waiting. Oh, thank God for that kind of a convert. Thank God for that kind of a backbone. Can walk down to this altar, get saved, and God says, go home and pray. Go home and get a hold of Jesus until you know his voice.

Until nothing can shake you. So that any preacher, any prophet, anybody can come and say, well, that's not the way I see it. You say, well, I heard from Jesus. He talks to me. He talks to me. Does Jesus talk to you?

He talks to me. Here comes, he leaves and before Ananias gets there, here comes a charismatic prosperity success teacher. And he says, Brother Saul, I want to give you an autographed copy of my latest book, Covenant Rights.

And I'm not being facetious. This is the way American people think. It's stupid. You're weeping. I heard about how God touched you. You've been saved. Thank God. You don't have to cry anymore. I would that you so prosper be in hell.

Saul says, well, dear brother, I don't know what you're talking about. Is your name Ananias? No, it's not Ananias. I'm waiting for Ananias. God told me he's going to come in here. And this brother says, hey, wait a minute.

You're just a baby Christian. I've been walking with God for years. I've got revelation knowledge. You need to sit down and listen. Saul says, I don't know what you're talking about, brother. And I love you, but I'm telling you, God came to me.

The Lord spoke to me. I'm waiting for a man named Ananias. He's going to walk in here. I'm going to see. He's going to tell me what to do. All Saul can say is that Jesus talked to me. He told me to wait.

Hallelujah. And one moment later, here comes Ananias. Can you imagine that moment? Saul can't see. But as soon as he walks in the door, I know the Holy Spirit spoke to Saul. Here's your man. And I can hear Saul say, Ananias.

And this brother says, brother Saul. The Lord had already given them the names. And I can see Saul just raising, he's kneeling, raising his hands, nodding, sticking his head out, because he knows what's coming.

And so Ananias walks right over. And you know what Ananias says? Because in a vision Ananias had heard, Go thy way. He's a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. How unlike what's being preached today. I'm going to show him that he's going to suffer for my glory. Ananias lays hand on him and says, Brother Saul, the Lord has shown me you're going to suffer many things.

And I believe Ananias began to enumerate. You're going to be shipwrecked. You're going to be cast in prison. You're going to have converts turn against you. The whole world's going to turn against you.

You're going to be a testimony of the church through all ages. You're going to be a testimony of the suffering power of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're going to fill up the sufferings of Jesus. And then he said, Brother Saul, be healed.

And suddenly his eyes, well, look what the scripture says, Ananias, verse 17, went in his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as Thou camest, he sent me that Thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales and he received his sight and he went forthwith and arose and was baptized. Hallelujah. Well, you know what happened to him from then on, don't you?

He suffered. And he set an example for all of us to follow the glory of Jesus. Then there's a man called Peter. Remember him? Hallelujah. He's praying on a rooftop one afternoon. In fact, it was noon.

Cornelius, Peter, and Direction Through Prayer

30 miles away at Caesarea, there's a man by the name of Cornelius. You'll find this in the next chapter. It's chapter 10. Just flip over to chapter 10. All right. They're 30 miles apart. Caesarea is over here.

And here's a man by the name of Cornelius. The Bible says, look at verse 1. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of a band called the Italian Band, a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which gave great alms to the people and prayed to God.

How much? Continually, always he prayed to God. He saw in a vision about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming into him and saying to him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord?

And he said to him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for memorial before you. Now look at the details. Now send men to Joppa and call for one Simon whose surname is Peter. He even gave him his surname.

He gave him his first name and he gave him his surname because there were two Simons there. God said, I want you to get the right one. He was living, he was staying with Simon. He said, his name is Simon.

Oh, by the way, his surname is Peter. Look at the details. He lodges with one Simon and he goes on to tell him he's a tanner. You go down to this man, he's a tanner, whose house is by the sea side and he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

And by the way, at the same time, these men are on the way. God leads Peter up on the rooftop. In verse 9, you'll see it, on the morrow as they were on their journey, drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.

Now, it was only 30 miles away and so they're getting close to Joppa and while these men are approaching the city, the Holy Spirit just prompts Peter, go up on the rooftop and pray. And while they're approaching the city, he goes up on the rooftop to pray about the sixth hour, it's noontime.

And he became very hungry and would have eaten, but while they were made ready, he fell into a trance. And by the way, you look down to verse 18, or 19, then Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.

Three men. Look at the details again. Isn't that wonderful? He'd fallen into a trance, means he had a vision, and while Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.

Go with them. I've sent them. Now, Peter, look this way please. Peter, you'll find out, goes down to the house of Cornelius, this man who prayed always, continually. Now, think about this. This man is a Gentile.

He doesn't have all of the background of the apostles in Jerusalem, but this man is seeing angels. This man is getting such clear direction. Send three men. Send them up to Joppa. Go to a man's house by the name of Simon, and you'll know him because he's a tanner.

He probably had a sign out there. And he's by the seashore, by the way. And he will tell you what to do. It's incredible the direction that this man got. And Peter, in the meantime, he's praying. And the Lord says, There's three men going to knock on the door.

Just about that time, there's a knock on the door. And I'm sure Peter could have called down to his host and said, Let those three men in. And they look around, and he's up there. No way he can see. Let those three men in.

How does he know? He's a praying man. The Lord Jesus talks to Peter. The Lord Jesus talks to Cornelius. Hallelujah. You see him going down, and you know the great story, the revival broke out. Peter comes on the scene, and he hears the whole story over again.

Here comes Cornelius saying, I was praying, and I saw an angel. This angel appeared to me, and he told me, Where you were, to your house number, send three men, and you'd come, and you're here. And the glory of God came down, filled him with the Holy Ghost, and the Gentiles received the Gospel.

Hallelujah. Look at, by the way, do you understand that all through the book of Acts, if you'll take time this next week and just go through the book of Acts, stop and look and be reminded how many times it says, God said to them, or the Lord said to them, the Holy Ghost said to them, or the angel said to them.

All through the book, God speaking, heaven is speaking to his people. Heaven was not closed. They got the clear mind of God. There was nothing flaky about it, nothing fuzzy about it. It was very practical, very detailed, very clear.

But it only came after much prayer. Go to Acts 13, and I'll show you we're talking about much prayer after much prayer. Acts 13, verse 1. Now, there was in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and men which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul.

And they ministered to the Lord and fasted. The Holy Ghost, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, there it is again, the Holy Ghost said. Folks, could you put your finger on that a minute and then look to me?

Look up here. Does the Holy Ghost ever talk to you? I ask you again, does the Holy Ghost ever talk to you? Does he talk to you every day? As they ministered to the Lord. I don't think you're going to hear it parked in front of your TV set.

I don't think you want your unsaved loved ones to be saved if you come to the pastors and say, pray for my unsaved husband or my unsaved children, and you sit there laughing with Cosman, you're going through dynasty and dallasty, and sitting in that front of Phil.

You're not wanting God to save them. You're not wanting God to save them. As they ministered to the Lord and as they fasted, the Holy Ghost spake and said, separate unto me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereinto I have called them.

And when, see, first of all, God speaks to them and then after God tells them what to do, they pray again. And when they'd fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. And so they're being sent forth by the Holy Ghost.

Hallelujah. Sent forth by the Holy Ghost. They fasted and prayed. You know, there's another picture of Paul. He's been captured by the Jews. He's been in the temple and they capture him and they're about to take him away to the castle.

And if you go to Acts 22, Acts 22, I'll show you just one more vignette, one more picture of this before we move on. Acts 22, verse 11. Paul is rehearsing to the Jews what happened to him. Verse 11. Acts 22, verse 11.

And when I could not see for the glory of that light, he's talking about his conversion, and being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came to Damascus. And when Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight.

And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers... I want to show you three things that God spoke to him. God of our fathers has chosen thee that thou shouldest know his... what?

That thou shouldest know his will. Secondly, and thou shalt see that just man. That's a vision of Jesus. And number three, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witnesses unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

Now I want you to look at verse 14. And here's what the Holy Spirit is saying. Here is God's plan for every convert. Everyone who comes to these altars. Everyone who calls himself by the name of Jesus.

You've been chosen that you should know his will. Do you understand it's not God's best, it's not in his plan at all that you go about not knowing his will. That you should know his will for your life.

That you should see that just one. You should see a vision of Jesus and become ever dearer to you. He's not first, he's everything. I say it over and over again. And thou shouldest hear the voice and it says of his mouth, from his mouth.

Not second hand. That you hear his voice directly. He speaks directly from his mouth. Brother, sister, if we don't have a church that learns to hear from his mouth, if we don't have a church that's able to shut themselves in and hear and discern the voice of the Lord, you're going to be torn by every wind and wave of doctrine.

You're going to be cast around, used and misused the rest of your Christian experience. Hallelujah. God's people today could receive the very same clear word from God if there was the same intensity to seek his face in prayer.

I'm going to say it again. We could have the same thing today if we would pray like they did. With the same intensity. Do you know that Christians seldom pray today? Do you know that preachers seldom pray today?

Because we've been taught to take everything by faith. Now listen, we preach faith here. Brother Victor is just about to conclude a marvelous six weeks on the true meaning of faith. The meaning of true faith.

We believe in repentance. We believe in study of the word of God. We believe in walking by faith. But not to the exclusion of prayer. Not to the exclusion of prayer. Obedience, repentance, the word of God, faith and prayer are all a part of the same thing.

Same cloth. But it goes like this. Why should we pray? Why plead with God when he's already promised it? If he knows what we need, the scripture says, before we even ask, why should we ask? And there are some people that teach today and I know it, I've heard it.

God, for something he's already promised is unbelief, they say. If you go and ask God more than one time, they say it's unbelief. The second time it's unbelief. Because if you believed him the first time, you wouldn't have asked the second time.

And that's wrong. I'm going to show you conclusively from the word of God that that's not true. Not true at all. Do you remember Abraham? Abraham had the promise of becoming a mighty nation. He had that promise locked up securely in his bosom.

God had already made him this promise. Listen to it. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. God had promised to bless everyone who blessed him and curse everybody who cursed him.

Abraham also had great faith, so much so that God counted it to him for righteousness. The scripture says, and Abraham believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. Now look. Here's a man of God.

He's securing the promises, full of faith, yet he runs time and time again to the altar to pray. I'm going to read it to you. Genesis 12, 8. Don't turn there. And he removed from fence unto a mountain on the east side of Bethel.

And there he built an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. Why is he calling on the name of the Lord when the promise is already secured? Why, when God has already said, I count his faith as righteousness, why is he still weeping at the altar?

Again, it says in chapter 13, verse 1 and 4. This is after he came out of Egypt, after the great famine. And Abraham went up out of Egypt. And he was very rich, very rich in cattle, in silver and gold.

And he journeyed even to Bethel unto the place of the altar. And there Abraham called on the name of the Lord. This man has the promises, he has the faith, yet he's clinging to the promises. Because Abraham, and Abraham, as God changed his name to, he valued his communion with God more than all the blessings of God.

And friends, this is the true meaning of prayer. That's why God wants us to keep asking for what he's already promised. It's not that he needs that, but we need that. We need that Holy Ghost discipline.

Because when you get alone with God, you're changing. You keep changing. Every time you shut the door and pray in secret, you are changing. It's impossible for any Christian to be shut in with God and not be changed by it.

And the longer you're shut in with him, the more important he becomes, and the less important the answer becomes. Until finally, you're so enraptured with him, you say, Oh yes, I forgot what I came for.

Oh, that's the way it's been coming. That's how it's been coming in my life. Oh, I thank God for it. There was a time when I was a child in prayer and I would go and say, Lord, Lord, you must, you have to do it.

Now I say, I must have you, Lord. I must see you. Hallelujah. And by the way, by the time probably 50 of those things you prayed for dissolved because when you get close to Jesus, he so purifies your desires, you look at it and say, That was flesh.

You didn't know it until you got in his holy presence and God was remaking you by prayer. Either way, when you pray, you win. You either don't want it or you get it. But you know, atheists, in this matter of prayer, compared to the early church, we're atheists.

Many today look upon secret prayer as hard work, that it's boring, and they do it only occasionally and mostly when they're shamed into it. I'm tired of shaming people into prayer. I don't believe that's going to work.

If it doesn't work by love, it's not going to work by shame. Can you imagine a husband and a wife living in the same house and they don't talk to each other except when they're in public she starts talking to him?

That's public prayer coming to the house of God. You're going to talk to him now that you're in the house of God and you're going to neglect him days on end when you're at home with him? Prayer, hidden secret prayer, is the mightiest weapon God's given His church.

That it's neglected, it's disdained, it's seldom used. By the way, do you remember the prophet who lies up on the mountain? And the Bible says that, in fact I'm going to show in just a minute how he was a man of life passing and he went up on the mountain and he prayed that the heavens would be opened.

He'd already prayed it shut for three years and now he's praying it open and he already had the promise that the rain was coming and he goes up on the hilltop with his servant and God has already given the promise the heavens are going to be opened and he prays and nothing happens.

Nothing happens at all. So he sends his servant the second time and he says, see if you see anything on the horizon. Even a cloud, just the size of man's hand, that's all I'm looking for. I know it's coming but I just need that one little cloud.

He comes back and he says, Elijah, there's nothing there. Nothing there. I mean, not a cloud in the sky. Are you sure it's going to rain? Yes, it's going to rain. And he bows his head between his knees again and he says, Oh God, you promised rain.