Receiving in prayer and a gracious spirit (2)

[Choir singing] [Speaker 1] Searching for his conduct and love for each other in the inner world of the family that must be protected. Guard the inner world of the family. These are words of wisdom and searching for the righteous sense of sound and technological... we will be blessed and encouraged. [Speaker 2] The spirit for all you are and all that you are. We bless your holy name, our Father. We thank you as we connect with everyone here. Lord, as we connect with all who are here, those present as well as online, Lord, meet each and every one of us at that point of our need. Thank you, Eternal Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Last week we began the topic "Receiving in Prayer and a Gracious Spirit." Receiving in prayer and a gracious spirit. We took our text last week from the scripture, the Lord's Prayer. We noticed that in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray. He was speaking generally on prayer. We noticed that in the Lord's Prayer, the Lord said, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Then we noticed in that prayer, when he finished teaching them how to pray, in the first part, he spoke concerning receiving the ask for forgiveness because we are blessed. He said, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." In our text of consideration last week, Mark 11, that was what we were looking at. We took it from Mark 11:25. It says to give to the Lord's name. I'd like us to take a quick revision before moving on from that sermon. The sermon was Mark 11:15-17. It said that Jesus went to the temple. He said his house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations, but they have made it a den of robbers. Then we moved from there to where he was talking about the act of prayer. After the fig tree that he spoke to was cursed, the fig tree withered and the disciples were shocked. He said, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. And whenever you stand to pray, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses." The matter of prayer to the matter of forgiving again. And that was the matter we raised last week, that you must understand that when you come to the place of prayer, that platform we call the platform of prayer is actually a platform that was made available by the graciousness of God. If God was not gracious, there would not be a platform for prayer. It was because God chose to die for our sins and bring us close to himself. That is why we can come to the place of saying, "Father, we come to thank you, hallowed be thy name." It was because Jesus created a new and living way by his death. Hebrews 10:12 says, "But this man, Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. From that time waiting till his enemies are made his footstool." For by one offering, he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Then it says, "But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after he had said before, 'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them.'" Then he added, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Why are we able to come to God? One, because somebody created a new and living way by his flesh, by his death. The platform that we call prayer, that we talk to God and God answers us, was back to his mercy. If God did not forgive us, the platform of prayer would not be available. It was the graciousness of God that created the platform for prayer. Therefore, anybody who does not have a gracious spirit cannot maximize that platform of prayer. That platform is a platform that was made available by the graciousness of God. So when a man comes to that platform, what do you expect the man to do but to forgive? Because God forgave, that is why that platform is available. If God did not forgive, the platform of prayer would not be available. That's why Jesus said in Mark 11:25, "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe and you will receive them. However, when you stand to pray, forgive." Because you cannot operate prayer optimally if you don't have a gracious spirit. That was what we established last week, that there is a connection between receiving in prayer and having a gracious spirit. If there is somebody who is mean in spirit, who holds things in their heart, who holds things for what they have done, who holds things for an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, you can never ever maximize the platform of prayer. You will not enjoy that platform. You will not get results out of that platform. There is a connection between you and somebody you refuse to forgive in the place of prayer. And so, anybody who does not forgive cannot receive from God. Let's go to Hebrews 4:13. It says, "And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Jesus is our advocate with the Father. So when we come to prayer, it is back to his merit. It is not back to your shortcoming. It is back to his merit. So when you come praying, it is not back to anything you have done. It is back to the merit of our Son, Jesus. And if you want to obtain mercy and you want to find grace to help in time of need, you must be merciful. If you want mercy, you must show mercy. The answer to prayer is mercy. Every answer to prayer is back to God's mercy. Everything we want from prayer, everything we seek, whether for our situation, for our businesses, for our marriages, for our health, the answer is back to God's mercy and God's grace. So anybody who does not have a gracious spirit can never maximize the place of prayer. He cannot get results in the place of prayer because the answer that comes to prayer is on the basis of God's mercy through the intercession of the Son of God. So when a man does not have a gracious spirit, he cannot demand mercy. He cannot demand grace. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. You come boldly to the throne of grace because we have a high priest who is sympathetic with our weaknesses. He understands the things we are going through, our challenges, our failures. Because we have a high priest who is sympathetic with our weaknesses, so as we approach God, we must have a gracious spirit towards people. Anybody who cannot breathe in the positive of humanity is not a candidate of prayer. He cannot enter the place of prayer because prayer is on the basis of God's high priest interceding on our behalf. Anybody who does not show mercy, anybody who does not bear with the limitation of fellow men, is not a candidate of prayer as far as I am concerned because the answer that comes to prayer is on the basis of God's mercy through his interceding son. So when a man does not have a gracious spirit, he cannot be a man that can receive from God. Let me show you something. I want to tell you about the connection between having a gracious spirit and being in the light of God. Even though you see prayer as a duty, you also need to see it as a light of God because God's presence is light. If we are born of God, then we must walk in the light. If you are born of God, then you will not continue in sin. You cannot continue in sin. If you are continuing in sin, you are not born of God. He who continues in sin is of the devil. Am I correct? So when you act in wickedness, you are not born of God. As you have been shown the high priest in the heavens, walking in forgiveness, walking in tenderness, walking in light, God is light. If anybody claims to belong to God and walks in darkness, that person is a liar. So if you are walking in bitterness, this humanity that you are talking about, you are in darkness. You are walking in darkness. You need to understand this matter of bitterness. It takes you back from the throne of God. Vengeance is for me. If you have anything against anyone, so that your Father can forgive you. Receiving in prayer is preparation for walking in light. When you stand to pray, forgive. If you want results, you must have a heart to forgive so that your Father can forgive you. Getting an answer to prayer is back to God's forgiveness and God's mercy. Therefore, come in the throne of grace. What is this throne of grace? What is this mercy? If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So as you are praying, you are praying in light. Let me tell you something. If you are not merciful, you cannot be in light because light represents God, and God is light. So if you want God to answer you, you must also be merciful to others. Let me read from Ephesians 5. Let me explain the matter of light. Ephesians 5:1. "Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." So anybody that says they are born of God, having a high priest in the heavens, but they are living in wickedness, uncleanness, they don't know what they are talking about. You cannot be in God. I want to tell you what I'm talking about. You cannot be someone who is born of God and walking in darkness. People who act in bitterness, whether in their offices, in their communities, in their families, people who act in bitterness out of people's shortcomings, people who are oppressive in the place of authority, out of the shortcoming of other people, those people are never going to attend to prayer because everything God does, whether in our lives, whether in this kingdom, is back on the foundation of mercy. You cannot find grace in the throne of prayer if you don't have a gracious spirit. You cannot. That's the challenge. But as he went to stand in our weaknesses, because the matter of human weaknesses, Jesus went to stand for it as the high priest. Let no man deceive himself. Because of the spirit of God, the spirit of God is the spirit of holiness. When you say you have faith in Jesus, it means you have received his grace. So you become as he is. Therefore, you must mimic him. But look at what it says now in Ephesians 5:8. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore he says, 'Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.'" So see that? It says that you walk in light. God is light. So you walk in light. Now, if you act in bitterness, if you act in oppression, if you act in covetousness, if you act in wickedness, all these things which are works of darkness, don't pretend as if you have an inheritance in God because you don't. You don't have an inheritance in God. You can't. Anybody who is oppressive to humanity, who wants to take advantage of other people's life, please, those people are not going to enjoy prayer because the answer to prayer is back on the foundation of the high priest that is interceding. Everything you are imagining, everything you are praying for, everything God is doing in your life, is back on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross. That is our merit. That's why we come to God. That's why we can call on him as Father. Not because we are good, but because Christ has become our merit. He took our place, he took our cross, and he gave us his merit. However, it does not mean that as we know this fact, that we can become as God wants. No. What God expects is that as you walk in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, having confidence to come through the blood, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin. Which means as we walk in the light, you are going to encounter people. You are in light. And so as you encounter people, they're going to offend you. They're going to step on your toes. They're going to lie. They're going to do all kinds of things that God expects you to tolerate. Listen to me. The reason why some people cannot enjoy this kind of prayer is because they don't have a gracious spirit. If you don't have a gracious spirit, you cannot operate optimally in the throne of grace because the throne of grace is a place for the sympathetic. And it is for people that are also sympathetic. He said when you stand to pray, you must forgive. I explained last week that that forgiveness is magnetic. Magnetic. What is it that attracts the magnet? Anything that is metal. Is that not? What is metal as far as this magnet is? It's metal. Anything that is not metal can it stick? It cannot stick. Even though that platform is magnetic, what is on this place that when it draws it will not fall, must be metal. The same thing in the atmosphere of prayer, of receiving answers, of communicating with God, that place is an atmosphere of grace, where God wants to show mercy. Anybody who comes to that place must be merciful and gracious in heart, or else they cannot stick here. What happens is they fall off. They cannot be there. Receiving in prayer and a gracious spirit. This is what I have for you today. Any man without a gracious spirit can never maximize the platform of prayer. You can't get results on that platform. Even though the atmosphere here is full of grace, if you are not gracious in heart, you cannot stick here. What happens is you fall off. We have a high priest that we can come back to. If you don't show mercy, you don't have anything to show to the high priest in your prayer. He has offered sin for your sins and for the people, but there is no showing that God has mercy. So as you go, one thing you remember always is what was the motive? To sympathize or to drag? To forgive or to judge? There is no high priest that can go there because God wants to communicate. He wants to show mercy. He wants to show grace. No man can go there if you don't have a motive to be gracious. The Gospel says that God has mercy on the Christ. That's the mindset of the prayer. Because God was merciful. Let us go. What can we do? But God who is rich in mercy. He is rich. That is the old manner of salvation. He does not treat us as we deserve. What did Jesus do? He stood for humanity. He stood for God. He stood in the house of God in the midst of humanity. At some point if you come to know the love that is beyond understanding, a point will come that you will begin to desire to become like him. But as of now, you are not going to represent the high priest and be oppressive to people. Some of us represent God, we think we represent God, but we are misrepresenting God. We are misrepresenting our Father. We are misrepresenting our fellow Christians instead of acting for God. No, what you are doing is misrepresenting God in bitterness, in revenge, in misinterpreting our people, in acting towards our people. Let us pray to the Father. You must have a gracious heart. That's why I'm telling you this, to have a gracious heart like Jesus Christ. To have a heart of mercy. To have a heart of grace. To have a heart of goodness. That is what God wants. No other thing. That's the message of the apostle. That's what he was talking about. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, our prayer, our situation, Jesus only God can open it to clear. That is the Gospel. If I'm going to tell you how to be like God, then I'll say imitate your Father. Look at what he happened to us. He forgave us and he brought us close to himself because he was merciful. That's the mindset of our God. That's what we understand. Don't be the kind of man that is gracious to yourself but you are not gracious to another person. Because what is manifest is light. Because Christ is what is light, what is grace, what is light, and what is love. However, however, listen to me. It does not mean that as we know this light, what is light and what is grace, we have become perfect candidates. No. Man at his best is still man. But I want to show you as he is, as he is there, that he has forever sanctified. We need to keep coming, back and back, back and back, because he has done something. Hebrews 7:25, but this person, because he continues forever as he is there in the light, what happens? He has fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin. Which sin are we talking about? The sin that we are in today. So today as we are in sin, there is no prayer again for my soul to go to heaven. Sin as we are, we lie. So we go there as he said, that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Because every day as you walk in the light, as you are moving in light, you are going to encounter people. You are in light. And so as you encounter people, as you are moving in light, Jesus stood as the high priest. He knows our shortcomings. He understands our limitations. He's been through it all as a man. He took our place. So as you walk in the light, so that those sins do not stop God from allowing you to enter because we have a high priest in the holy places. He understands our failures. He has offered sin for our sin and for the people, but there is no showing that God has mercy. So as you go, one thing you remember always: what is the motive? To sympathize or to drag? To forgive or to judge? There is no high priest that can go there because God wants to communicate. He wants to show mercy. He wants to show grace. No man can go there if you don't have mercy. If you don't bear with the infirmity of fellow men, you don't stand a chance in the place of prayer. You don't. That is very clear. But as you go into the Gospel, the mind of Jesus Christ, he was sympathetic with our infirmities because there was mercy for the whole human race. He stood. He stood. That is the high priest. The people who think they can enter without their merit, if you think your merit can earn you anything, so to the high priest you don't pray. You have offered sin for your sin and for the people, but there is no showing that God has mercy. So as you go, one thing you remember always is what was the motive? To sympathize or to drag? To forgive or to judge? [Speaker 3] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission work. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; adolescents and singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; family life seminars, regular school outreach, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us on our location: Light Camp, by the first bridge, Igbore community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ijede road, Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 080-3386-1136, 070-3361-3848. God bless you all.