Participants:
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201918S
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00:14 ♪♪ >> Welcome, and thank you 00:22 for joining us on "It Is Written Canada." 00:24 It was a glorious morning. The rays were shining 00:27 into our SUV, and my daughter and I were 00:30 on our way to an appointment. 00:31 I was driving her, and we were just chatting away. And it was all too soon. 00:36 We got her to her appointment. And she had to get out of the vehicle. 00:40 And as I let her out of the vehicle, I just felt so lonely. I don't know what it is, 00:47 but I just hate being alone. And so I just wanted to get rid of the silence. 00:53 And so I went to reach for the radio to turn it on, and I was like, "Ah. 00:58 I can't be tempted to do that. I'm going to do something else. I'm going to pray." 01:01 So I decided I was going to pray out loud. And so I started praying out 01:06 loud to the Lord, and there I was driving down the freeway, just looked like 01:09 I was talking to myself, probably, to other people. And I was praying to God. 01:14 But as I was listening to myself, I started to realize 01:18 there was something different. When I was talking to my daughter, I had no problem 01:22 with my communication, but talking to God, it sounded more like a to-do list. 01:27 And as I was going through my to-do list with the Lord, I just stopped, and I said, 01:33 "God, what's wrong with me? How come I can't talk to You like I talk to my daughter, 01:39 like I talk to my wife, like I talk to my friends?" And I just had a very, very 01:45 distinct thought in my head -- "It's because you have a problem with friendship." 01:51 And I was like, "Lord, what do You mean I have a problem with friendship?" 01:54 And it wasn't a condemning voice. It was more 01:56 of an inviting voice. So I said, "Lord, show me. Show me how to open up. 02:02 What's wrong?" And the Lord just gave me this impression that it's 02:06 because I have been hurt by other people, that I have -- I keep people at arm's length, 02:11 and that I was keeping God at arm's length. And so I said, "Lord, 02:15 I don't want to do that anymore. Show me how to open up to You." And He said, 02:19 "You're doing it right now. Now you're opening up to me." And so I started to just talk 02:23 to God and share with Him. And it was so exciting because after that I wanted 02:29 to go home and read my Bible. I wanted to talk to God further. I wanted to spend time alone 02:35 with Him and really open up my heart to Him. And so we've been talking 02:40 to Gem Castor, and he's here with us again. And he's been talking to us 02:44 about prayer and how prayer is a relationship. It's like the breath 02:50 of the soul. >> That's right, Michael. It's like a two-way 02:54 conversation, like a dialogue. As talking to God and Him talking to us through His Word. 03:01 >> Amen. >> It's not a monologue, and so many times we do it 03:05 like that, like Mike was saying with the to-do list, or we pray when there's 03:11 an emergency or we urgently need Him. But that's not 03:15 what prayer is about. Prayer is about having that friendship 03:19 and that relationship with God. So, Gem, why don't you tell us about your prayer-room 03:25 experience? >> So, like what you've said, that's how I prayed before. 03:29 I gave God not just my to-do -- my shopping list and my laundry list. 03:33 [ Laughter ] 03:34 All the time that we are having a good time, a blessed time, 03:39 we forget about Him. But when it's a difficult time, 03:42 we remember Him. 03:45 But for me, it happened quite an unusual way because in my downtime, 03:50 in my depressing time, I kind of shut God off. So, I was -- I turned away 03:56 from God. I even pointed my finger to God. I said to Him, 04:01 "Is this what You do with people who give their heart to you?" So I kind of have 04:07 a cooling-off moment with God until one person somehow invited me to attend this faith camp. 04:13 And my friend from Jesus for Asia is the one who's organizing this. 04:19 And this person, who is a very nice lady, asked me to read out in the prayer room. 04:24 And I'm thinking, "I don't want to be in the prayer room right now. 04:27 I don't even want to talk to God." And then she gave testimony 04:31 of how people were moved by hearing the testimony in the prayer room. 04:35 Instead of spending only 5 minutes, they spent 3 hours. And then there's another girl 04:40 who's 16 years old who spent 8 hours in the prayer room. I'm thinking, "This is horror 04:44 for me. And I don't want to be in the prayer room for, like, 04:49 even an hour, even 30 minutes," because, before, my prayer life was just like 5 minutes 04:55 for the whole day, total. The moment I got up, the moment I eat my breakfast, 05:00 lunch and dinner, and the moment I sleep, that's 5 minutes total. And for me, 05:08 to be in the prayer room was like a torture. But one thing happened. 05:14 While I was there, kneeling down with my niece and that lady and me -- 05:19 And I praised God that there's just the three of us. The moment I began praying -- 05:23 And I did not even want to pray. I was just praying for the sake of praying. 05:28 And we have a very short -- what's this? -- conversational prayer, like one-sentence 05:36 or two-sentence prayer. It's not a long prayer. It's not a long list of prayer. 05:40 And we started out with praise, thanking God or praising God for what He has done. 05:45 And I did not realize, the moment I prayed a second prayer, 05:48 that I have not really acknowledged Him in my life. I did not really thanked Him 05:54 in my life. All the things that I'm giving him are just problems, 05:57 but I've never acknowledge Him. The first two prayers that I prayed broke my heart. 06:04 I was sobbing. I was sobbing like a little child. 06:09 And then I realized, "Wow. I have built that wall between me and God." 06:14 And I thought right now that all of us have built this wall, and I think all of us need this. 06:22 And the Holy Spirit could not work in our hearts if we still have these walls. 06:27 So after that experience, I could not wait. I went one person to another. 06:33 I mean, you know me. I'm not a shy person. I'm quite shameless. 06:38 So I went from one person to another, and I asked them, "Hey, have you been 06:42 to the prayer room? Have you been to the prayer room?" 06:44 And I did not want my experience to be, like, exclusive to mine. I want them to experience, 06:50 and this is one thing with God. The moment we taste Him... >> Yeah. 06:54 >> ...the moment we experience how good He is... >> Yeah. 06:56 >> ...we cannot keep it to ourself. >> Yeah. 06:58 I always think of it as a restaurant. You go to a good restaurant, and 07:02 you eat the food, and you say, "Hey, I have no problem sharing that with someone else." 07:06 I can easily tell them, "Hey, this was a great place. Go and eat right over there." 07:10 And so now you're sharing because you have tasted and seen, as the Bible said, 07:15 that the Lord is good. And now you're saying, "Hey, go over there. 07:19 Eat a good meal." Right? Yeah. >> And it's not a duty. 07:22 >> No. >> It's a privilege. >> It's a privilege. 07:24 >> It's something that you're excited for because you've experienced 07:27 something that's delicious. I don't know if it's just a Filipino thing. 07:31 It should be our thing. Like, the moment you taste something, you cannot keep it 07:35 to yourself. >> Of course. >> And this is the reason 07:37 why this is the thing that fires me up, that encourages me, 07:41 that inspires me to do this prayer ministry because I know the Lord did not just heal me. 07:47 The Lord restored me. >> Yeah. >> The Lord somehow inspired me. 07:50 The Lord somehow put me back together again... >> Yeah. 07:54 >> ...in His presence. And that's why, right now, everywhere I go, I'm just 07:58 so excited to share to people. >> Yes. >> And seeing people see it, 08:02 it's just mind-blowing. It gives you that desire to seek more of Jesus. 08:07 >> Yes. >> And now I could see it in places where I go, 08:11 in Australia, in Malaysia, in Indonesia, in India. At GYC, a generation of -- 08:19 Just imagine young people, young people at the age of, like, 15 or even 14 or even 08:24 younger than that, to even adults coming together, praying together at 6:00 a.m., more than 08:30 1,000 people gathering together. And some people will tell me, "Brother Gem, 08:35 I only signed up for this just for the prayer room." Just imagine that. 08:39 >> Wow. Yeah. >> Seeing the joy in their faces, like, 08:43 every prayer session, every day. And we even have, like, an all-- not an all-night prayer, 08:49 but a midnight prayer this last GYC starting from 10:30 to 12:30 in the morning. 08:56 >> Wow. >> And we ended not 12:30. We ended like 10 minutes 09:00 before 1:00. And when I ended, the young people were telling me, 09:04 "Why did you have to end it?" And there's one person who I met, like, a week after, 09:09 like two weeks after, he said, "Gem, I'm sorry, but I hated you during that time when you ended 09:14 the prayer room experience." I said, "Why?" He said, "Because that 09:17 was the most amazing, powerful experience I've had, and you have to end it." 09:21 >> Wow. >> And I told that person, "I have to lead another prayer 09:24 session at 5:45 in the morning." >> Yes. >> Seeing this just brings 09:29 so much joy in your heart. >> Mm-hmm. >> And back home, Philippines, 09:33 they start at 5:00 in the morning, 5:00 in the morning, coming together, 600-plus 09:38 young people coming together and praying together. And one person asked me, 09:43 "So, Gem, why do you have to do it every day? Why do you have to do it 09:47 every day? Isn't that enough that you have prayed and the Lord has heard 09:52 and answered your prayer?" And then this beautiful thought came to me, 09:56 and there's this beautiful quote that says, "Prayer is the breath of the soul." 10:00 >> Yes. >> It's like air. >> Yeah. 10:02 >> It did not say, "Prayer is the bread of the soul." You could live, like, 10:06 how many weeks or even a month without eating? >> Yeah. 10:11 >> You could live without water for how many weeks? But you could not live 10:15 without air... >> Yeah. >> ...for just minutes. 10:18 >> Yes. Yes. >> And then I remember, if we live by faith, 10:21 it's like living by prayer, living by air. >> Yes. You have to do -- 10:26 >> And the breath that you breathe yesterday will not be useful for the air 10:32 that you breathe today. >> No. >> Yeah. Yeah. 10:36 >> Every day, we have to get a new baptism of the Holy Spirit, be filled by the Holy Spirit, 10:42 like a fresh breath every single morning. >> Yes. 10:48 >> Amen. >> We're going to take a little break now. 10:50 We're going to talk further about this topic after this. 10:56 [ "Satisfied" plays ] ♪♪ 11:06 ♪♪ >> ♪ All my life long, I have panted for a drink ♪ 11:19 ♪ From some clear spring ♪ That I hoped would quench the burning of this thirst ♪ 11:29 ♪ I felt within >> ♪ Hallelujah ♪ I have found him 11:38 ♪ Who my soul so long has craved ♪ ♪ Jesus satisfies my longings 11:49 ♪ Through His blood, I now am saved ♪ ♪ Feeding on the husks 12:00 around me ♪ ♪ Till my strength was almost gone ♪ 12:07 ♪ Longed my soul for something better ♪ ♪ Only still to hunger on 12:19 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ I have found Him ♪ Who my soul so long has 12:28 craved ♪ ♪ Jesus satisfies my longings ♪ Through His blood, 12:37 I now am saved ♪ [ Instrumental break ] ♪♪ 12:57 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:25 ♪♪ >> ♪ Well of water ♪ Ever springing 13:41 ♪ Bread of life, so rich and free ♪ ♪ Untold wealth that never 13:52 faileth ♪ ♪ My redeemer is to me >> ♪ Oh, hallelujah 14:05 ♪ I have found Him ♪ Who my soul so long has craved ♪ 14:15 ♪ Jesus satisfies my longings ♪ Through His blood, I now am saved ♪ 14:29 ♪ Through His blood, I now am saved ♪ 14:36 ♪ Through His blood, I now am saved ♪ 14:51 >> "Satisfied" was the name of that song. Jesus satisfies my longings. 14:56 Through His life, I now am saved. So, Gem, you've been 15:01 talking about how God has been there for you and how he has satisfied 15:07 your longings for food, for travels, for enjoyment through sharing the message 15:14 with people around the world. And you're sharing it right now with us, 15:18 and I thank you for that. But God hasn't only taken care of your needs. 15:23 He has also used you to take care of the needs of others. So, you want to talk about that? 15:29 >> Well, God has been so good. Like, seeing what the Lord is doing in our lives -- 15:33 >> Yeah. >> Although I was thinking before the missionary work, 15:38 like, "How am I gonna survive?" And then the Lord is somehow taking me out of that thought, 15:46 that he's not just capable of providing for you. >> Yes. 15:50 >> There's a lot of things more that you can do with God. >> Mm-hmm. 15:53 >> The Lord is expanding our thoughts, that the more we focus on ourselves, 15:57 the sadder we get. >> Ah. >> It's -- We were born, 16:02 we were made, we were created to share... >> Yeah. 16:05 >> ...to share what the Lord has given in our lives. And I believe that beautiful 16:10 quote or that verse that says, "The more you give, the more you'll receive"... 16:13 >> Yes. >> ...which is so true because the principle of heaven is give, 16:16 give, give. >> Give, yeah. So, you live to give. 16:19 >> You live to give. >> And by giving, you're living. Yeah. Truly living. 16:22 >> Yeah, and that's the only way to live... >> Yeah. 16:25 >> ...by following what heaven has been asking us to do. >> Yes. 16:28 >> So, seeing what is happening in the Philippines -- There is this group. 16:32 It's like the GYC... >> Mm-hmm. >> ...the Generation of Youth 16:35 for Christ, but in the Philippines it's called the Philippine Youth for Christ. 16:38 >> Okay. >> And back in the Philippines, it's even quite challenging 16:42 because, you know, Philippines is a third-world country, so not much young people 16:48 could afford to go to conferences like this, especially if you're -- 16:54 like, registration fee is not the usual thing that they could afford. 16:59 You've been to the Philippines. >> Yes. It's very expensive. I mean, for them. 17:04 >> For them, it's expensive. >> I mean, the average professional person over there 17:07 is making like $300 a month. >> Mm-hmm. >> Right? That's not very much. 17:11 You can't really go to a conference on that. And then if you're not earning 17:15 a professional salary, then you really can't afford anything. >> But these young 17:20 people are wanting to go. >> Yes. >> Like, the regular 17:23 registration fee for youth conferences, even if it's like $3, 17:26 that's too much. And our conference fee is $35. >> Wow. Okay. 17:33 >> That's... >> That's over their head. >> ...over their head. 17:35 >> Yeah. >> And seeing how these young people sacrifice. 17:39 >> Yes. >> They will go do extra jobs, like, even do caroling or 17:45 serenading -- you were in the Philippines -- serenading just to earn extra for them to go. 17:50 They will gather up empty water bottle, plastic stuff. They'll go to -- waste 17:57 and gather scrap metals... >> Yes. >> ...just to be 18:05 in the conference. And some of them do not even have, like, a round-trip ticket. 18:10 The only have one-way ticket, and they go there... >> Wow. 18:13 >> ...hoping that the Lord will provide. And the Lord just honors 18:16 the faith of these young people. And seeing this dedication, your heart is moved. 18:22 And I bet that God's heart is moved as well. >> Yes. 18:26 >> I know for a fact that the moment we put in such effort to know the Lord, 18:31 to give our all to the Lord, the Lord is moved by it. And the Lord is blessing them. 18:35 >> Yes. >> Like, testimony after testimony. 18:37 Like, young people will tell me, "Guro Gem, do you know that I came here with nothing? 18:44 And the Lord now has provided a fare for me going back home." >> Wow. 18:49 >> Wow. Yeah. >> And seeing my experiences being duplicated in the lives 18:54 of these young people. And now I could see that God, who provided for this 18:59 little missionary, is capable of providing for the whole young people, 19:03 for everyone. >> Yes. >> And God has been doing 19:07 a lot of powerful things through this youth conference. And imagine -- coming up with 19:15 funding for this youth conference is not easy for Filipinos. 19:20 And we've been trying to do it our way... >> Mm-hmm. 19:26 >> ...the other person's way or man's way, and we've been stressed out. 19:31 Three years in a row, we've been stressed out. And it's funny because every 19:35 time we do conference like this, our VP for finance will not be able to smile 19:41 for the next 2 months. [ Laughter ] I'll tell her, "You know what? 19:46 God will take care of this." And one time he told me, "You're always saying that God 19:50 will take care, but I'm the one who's facing all the problems." [ Laughter ] 19:55 >> Because you were in a deficit. Like, you -- because of -- 19:59 >> We were -- It will take us like 2 months to pay off after the event is done. 20:04 And then three conferences ago, we were up to here. I'm thinking, 20:11 "What shall we do?" So we gathered together. What's the best thing 20:14 that you can do when you don't know what to do? Kneel down and pray. 20:17 >> Yeah. >> And coming together and praying together 20:20 really brings so much peace and so much blessing. There's this beautiful quote 20:25 that says, "The power given will be proportionate to the unity of the members 20:29 and their love for God and their love for one another." And the Lord somehow taught us, 20:34 "Then follow my instruction." And we sought the Lord's leading us, the Lord's guidance, 20:41 and the Lord had us sacrifice our own little amount of money. I'm thinking, "Lord, even 20:47 if You squeeze us dry, we could not even pay one-tenth of this whole conference fee." 20:52 And you know what the Lord did? The Lord blessed the little sacrifices, the little surrender 20:57 that we had. It's like five loaves of bread and two fish. 21:00 But the first conference that we relied on God, absolute reliance on God, 21:06 we were able to pay the whole amount of the conference a week before. 21:10 >> Wow. >> Wow. >> And before, it was two or 21:13 three months after. >> Two months. >> Yeah. 21:15 >> That you were still paying, yeah. >> By the way, we moved 21:18 to a location away from Manila, and this will cost us like 3, 5 times, or 10 times more. 21:23 >> Okay. >> But this time we were able to pay a week before. 21:27 The next year, it was even more expensive because the young people requested, 21:31 "Can we start Monday, not Wednesday?" So when you have longer days, 21:36 the accommodation and all will be more expensive. And we pay our main venue 21:41 $100 per hour. For us, for Philippines -- Here, it's not expensive. 21:46 Back home, it is expensive. It is a total of, like, $30,000 event. 21:51 >> That's a lot. >> Whoa. >> That's a lot for us, 21:53 and we're not soliciting. We're not asking for donation because the Lord compelled us -- 21:57 "I can provide" -- so that next year -- My knees were shaking. I'm thinking, 22:02 "Lord, this is more expensive compared to last year." But guess what the Lord did. 22:07 The Lord had us the amount that's needed 3 months before. >> Wow. Yeah. 22:15 >> Three months before. And this year was the most interesting because last year 22:19 I was afraid, been thinking, "Lord, we don't seem to need You because You already provided 22:24 the amount 3 months before the event," and the Lord gave us 22:27 a new challenge this year. We were short. We were short $4,000 22:34 before the event. We prayed and prayed and asked, "Lord, this your work." 22:39 >> Mm-hmm. >> "You have to do this." And you know what? 22:42 Our monies began to multiply in the envelope. >> Wow. 22:47 >> Like, $40,000 became $75,000. And we could not understand where it's coming from. 22:51 And there is so much needs that we would -- And I'm thinking, "Lord, 22:55 how are we going to do this?" And the Lord kept on reminding us, 22:58 "Absolute reliance. Take my word for it." And we kept on praying, 23:02 kept moving forward. Even -- There's a lot of missionaries that wants to come. 23:06 >> Mm-hmm. >> And we have to sponsor them. And I told them, 23:09 "This is the Lord's money, and I don't know where He'll get it, but He will provide." 23:13 And we kept on praying. At the end of the event, everything was paid off. 23:18 >> Wow. >> And you know what's amazing? We have an overflow. 23:22 We have excess. And then I called the VP for finance a month ago, 23:30 and I asked her, "Hey, how much is the excess that we have?" And then she said, "Brother Gem, 23:35 you would not believe it. We have an excess of more than $4,500 U.S." 23:39 >> Whoa. >> We were short of that amount, and now we have an excess. 23:45 And she said -- By the way, she is employed in one of the top accounting firms 23:50 back in the Philippines, and she could not balance the whole thing. 23:54 So there's, like, a $3,500 that I could not account. What is the explanation 24:01 for that? Nothing. >> God gave you 24:04 12 baskets of leftovers. >> Yeah. >> It's 12-baskets overflow. 24:09 And this is one thing that I realized. Like, if there's no overflow, 24:14 that's not what God's promised. That's not what -- God's way. It's not God's way. 24:20 If it's God's way, there's always going to be a 12-baskets overflow. 24:24 And I was reminded of this beautiful verse to close. >> Mm-hmm. 24:28 >> It says, "To everyone who offers himself to the Lord for service, 24:31 withholding nothing, is given the power for the attainment of measureless results." 24:36 >> Yes. >> Whoa. >> Yes. 24:37 >> Measureless. >> Yeah. >> So if you could measure it, 24:40 that's not God's way yet. >> Yeah. Well, thank you 24:43 for sharing that with us. And we have come to the end, but we do have an offer for our 24:47 viewers, and if you would like this book, it's called "Satisfied." 24:52 And it's really what we've been talking about, 24:54 how God satisfies our needs. >> Amen. 24:56 >> And if you would like to receive this little book, 24:59 you can just write to us or contact us 25:02 through the information that's on the screen, 25:05 and we'll send this to you absolutely free. 25:08 And we will also pray for you. If you have any prayer requests, 25:11 call us and let us know about those. 25:15 So, Gem, thank you very, very much. 25:17 Would you like to have a prayer for us as we are closing together? 25:22 >> Let us pray. Oh, dear God, loving heavenly Father, you are an awesome 25:26 God, a powerful God, a loving and a faithful God. Lord, I pray that may you 25:32 remind each one of us, may You remind our viewers, our listeners, that You are this 25:38 God that we serve. And, Lord, I ask that You please take us out of our dependence 25:43 upon ourselves and help us to absolutely rely upon You. You gave us so many reasons 25:49 to trust You. So, Lord, please help us to trust You. 25:52 Please pour upon us the full measure of Your spirit, for we ask this in the loving 25:56 name of Your son, Jesus. Amen. >> Amen. 25:59 >> Amen. Gem, thank you once again for coming and sharing with us 26:03 how you absolutely rely on God, and He's such a powerful God in what He has done for you 26:10 and what He can do for everyone... >> Amen. 26:13 >> ...for all of us, even for our viewers. We serve an awesome, 26:17 powerful God, and we just need to absolutely rely on him. >> Amen. 26:22 >> What I have learned from this series of three episodes with you 26:26 that we've spent together is that God wants us to receive much in order 26:31 that we might impart much. >> Amen. >> And so thank you very much 26:35 for sharing that with us, Gem. Friends, as we close off, I just want to remind you again 26:41 of the words of Jesus, where He says, "It is written: 'Man shall not live by bread 26:46 alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" 26:53 >> Canada, all across this vast and diverse nation, people are searching for 26:58 meaning, acceptance, and hope. 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Revised 2020-01-30