The Missing Peace

Why God Says No

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Jason Bradley (Host), Nadine Joseph-Collins PhD

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Series Code: TMP

Program Code: TMP000005A


00:34 Hello, and welcome to The Missing Piece,
00:36 my name is Jason Bradley.
00:37 And our primary host for this program
00:39 is Dr. Nadine Joseph-Collins.
00:42 Nadine enjoys sharing her experiences of faith
00:44 and answered prayer with others
00:46 with the sole aim of empowering and inspiring them
00:50 to want to have a more effective prayer life.
00:53 Before we jump into today's topic,
00:55 let's have a word of prayer.
00:57 Dear heavenly Father, we thank You
00:58 for the opportunity we have to commune with You.
01:02 We ask for Your presence to be with us.
01:05 We asked for the presence of the Holy Spirit
01:07 to lead, guide, and direct our conversation.
01:10 And please help this program to be a blessing to all those
01:14 who are viewing it.
01:15 In Jesus name we pray, amen. What is our topic for today?
01:20 Our topic for today is why God says no?
01:25 I remember I had a little problem saying no.
01:28 When others would come to me with
01:30 what they brought to me as a perceived need,
01:33 it was a little challenging for me to say no to them.
01:36 And at some point, at one of my jobs
01:39 we had resident psychologist,
01:41 who was also a very good friend.
01:43 And one day we had a little session,
01:45 and the whole aim of that session
01:46 was the help me to learn to say
01:48 these two words effectively, no.
01:50 Later on when I was in college
01:52 one of my colleagues said to me,
01:54 "You know, Nadine, no is the word
01:55 in the English vocabulary, you know."
01:58 And so no is a response that most people dread hearing.
02:04 I would recall in my own experiences,
02:06 times when I would have gone to friends
02:08 or present a need to somebody that I had at the time
02:13 and I would either get that no response
02:15 or get no response at all in terms of them
02:18 not saying no,
02:19 but they just not replying to your requests.
02:22 In either of these cases to me is the same thing, it's a no.
02:25 And I remember the hurts and the embarrassment,
02:27 sometimes even feelings of rejections
02:29 associated with getting that no response.
02:33 So it is something that
02:34 most people really do not like to hear.
02:37 But here today, we are going to be examining
02:39 why God actually says no to our prayers.
02:43 And because there are only three recorded instances
02:46 in the Bible
02:48 where God actually answered no to people.
02:51 So there were like two in the Old Testament
02:54 and one in the New Testament.
02:55 And the first one is when David's baby died,
02:57 and that's recorded in 2 Samuel 12.
03:00 Then we see in 2 Chronicles 28, when David had asked
03:04 God permission to build the temple.
03:06 And God said to him, "No, you won't build a temple,
03:09 your son will do it."
03:10 And then in the New Testament, we see the story of Paul
03:15 requesting for God to remove that thorn in his flesh.
03:19 Whatever that thorn was we don't know.
03:21 But in 2 Corinthians 12:8,
03:23 he asked God to remove the thorn in his flesh
03:25 and God did not remove the thorn in his flesh.
03:27 So here we are seeing that the majority of the times,
03:31 God would have answered people,
03:33 that's about 3 times out of 100 times.
03:36 And there we have seen God answering
03:38 these prayer requests with a yes most of the time
03:41 because we see these exceptions.
03:43 And so we want to know, "Hey, how can I get
03:46 a better track record in my prayer life?
03:47 How can I get a track record where God answers me,
03:50 you know, with more yes's than no's?
03:52 But before we could even get there,
03:54 we need to examine why He says no in the first place
03:57 and that's what the purpose of this program is today.
04:00 So in as much as we hate to be told no when we pray,
04:03 I believe to an extent that God Himself
04:06 would prefer to answer us with a yes,
04:09 and we need to see why we get these no's.
04:12 And when we look at Matthew 7:11,
04:15 the Bible says, "If you, then were evil,
04:17 know how to give good gifts to your children,
04:20 how much more will your Father
04:22 who is in heaven give good things
04:24 to those who ask of him!"
04:26 So He does not really like to say
04:29 no to His children unless of course,
04:31 when He does tell us no, He knows what's best for us.
04:34 But then why do we have a track record that is not like
04:37 what we see in the Bible.
04:40 What are we doing "wrong" or what can we do better.
04:44 These are some of the things will be examined
04:46 in this program and future programs.
04:48 So EM Bounds a prolific writer on prayer,
04:51 he puts it this way, and I like that,
04:53 he says, "God's willingness to answer our prayers
04:56 exceeds our willingness to give good
04:59 and necessary things to our children,
05:02 just as far as God's ability, goodness, and perfection
05:06 exceed our infirmities and evil."
05:09 So we know for sure that God does not take pleasure
05:12 in a sense to be telling His children
05:14 no when we present this request to Him.
05:16 It is His desire to say yes to us,
05:19 but obviously there is something
05:20 that we are not doing right in order for us
05:22 to be able to pray in a way
05:24 that will have Him say yes to us.
05:26 And, you know, when He says no sometimes like
05:29 you're saying it's for our benefit.
05:31 like if I say we pray for the certain car
05:35 like the super fast sports car,
05:37 me personally I want to Maserati,
05:40 but we pray for this super fast sports car,
05:44 and God knows that if we get that car
05:47 we're going to step on that gas
05:49 and put that gas or accelerator all the way down
05:54 and we might get into an accident
05:55 and kill ourselves.
05:57 Well, that's not what He has for us,
06:01 and so He might say no to that plan.
06:03 Or we might pray for something
06:06 and it might end up leading us outside of the ark of safety,
06:11 meaning we will be lost as a result of it.
06:14 We pray for a couple million dollars,
06:17 and then we lose our dependence on God,
06:19 and we end up lost.
06:20 So like you're saying He knows the bigger picture,
06:23 so those no's can be a blessing.
06:25 And that is why we need to understand the principle
06:28 of why He says no.
06:29 And that's what we're going to discuss today,
06:30 the principle.
06:32 What is it in principle that causes God
06:35 to not respond to us in the way we desire Him to respond to us?
06:38 There's a principle in the Bible
06:40 that we're going to examine today
06:41 because God presents Himself as approachable.
06:45 He wants us to feel comfortable coming to Him.
06:48 And He assures us no uncertain terms
06:50 that He really want to answer us when we call.
06:53 And we can look at that in Matthew 7:7-10,
06:56 you see because there the Bible says
06:58 from the New Living Translation,
07:00 "Keep on asking, and you will receive
07:03 what you ask for.
07:04 Keep on seeking, and you will find.
07:06 Keep on knocking, and the door will be open to you."
07:09 It goes on to say, "For everyone who asks,
07:11 receives.
07:12 Everyone who seeks, finds, and to everyone who knocks,
07:16 the door will be opened.
07:18 You parents, if your children ask
07:19 for a loaf of bread,
07:21 do you give them a stone instead.
07:23 Or if they ask for fish, do you give them a snake."
07:25 Of course, not, so I like that translation
07:28 because it makes it so real.
07:30 So here we are given assurance from God,
07:32 a reiterated assurance
07:34 that God really does want to answer us with yes,
07:37 yes responses.
07:38 God does the want to set us up for no's.
07:40 He takes no pleasure in that kind of thing,
07:43 in our sufferings, in our pains,
07:44 in our disappointments.
07:46 When we believe, "Oh, I went to Father
07:47 and ask Him something and He didn't respond to me,"
07:49 there's no pleasure in that.
07:50 So why are we getting all of these no's?
07:53 And that's where we need to head today.
07:57 So the biggest reason, or the fundamental reason,
08:02 or the principle upon which we need
08:05 to examine our prayer lives
08:06 and that no track record is for us
08:09 to look at the issue of self.
08:13 Somewhere we really do not like to go
08:15 because surely God does not have to say yes
08:18 to our prayers every time we pray.
08:21 And the occasional no's are really for our good.
08:25 So He really does want to set us up.
08:27 But there is a problem, the problem is simply self,
08:30 the premise upon which we can
08:32 begin to change our track record.
08:35 In our prayer lives
08:37 is to have a deeper understanding
08:38 of Galatians 2:20.
08:41 Okay.
08:42 So you see there in Galatians 2:20,
08:43 the Bible says, "My old self has been crucified.
08:47 It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
08:52 So I live in this earthly body
08:54 by trusting in the Son of God who loved me
08:56 and gave Himself for me."
08:58 This here, that text Galatians 2:20,
09:02 is what needs to transform
09:04 the prayer life of every Christian,
09:07 the issue of self.
09:08 Clearly here when we look at this text,
09:11 an operation is taking place.
09:13 I, Nadine, I am crucified with Christ.
09:17 It is no longer I who live.
09:19 So if I am dead, Christ is now living in me.
09:23 So when I go to pray, who's praying?
09:27 Is it Nadine or is it the Spirit of God living in me?
09:33 And that's where the operation needs to take place
09:37 because the thing is self seems to be the biggest hindrance
09:40 that we have in having our prayers answered.
09:44 Self is the biggest hindrance that we have
09:46 in getting more yes answers to our prayers.
09:48 It is the very tool that the enemy uses against us
09:52 when we go to pray
09:54 because the truth is self can never pray
09:57 in the will of God.
10:00 You know, we have a tendency to block our own blessings.
10:04 You know, we pray for things but we're not living
10:08 according to the Word of God.
10:10 You know, it's like, and I'm not saying
10:12 we as in you and me
10:13 but just people in general will pray for something
10:18 but can block their own blessings.
10:20 I remember when I was in the world,
10:22 like if I prayed for something or whatever
10:27 where I wasn't really having that walk with God,
10:30 like that because I was out there,
10:33 I was seeking to do my own will,
10:35 and when I would do so like, a lot of things
10:38 weren't going right for me.
10:40 And that's because I was blocking my own blessings.
10:42 I was serving myself as opposed to God.
10:45 Yes. And that's what self...
10:47 When we go into God with self,
10:50 our track record will look a lot like
10:53 what many of us experiencing sometimes,
10:54 all of these no's, and these no's and these no's
10:57 because we are praying in self.
10:59 And that's why Paul says in Roman 6:6,
11:01 "That old self was crucified.
11:04 For we know that old self was crucified,"
11:06 he said, "So our bodies no longer ruled by sin
11:10 because it's done away with
11:12 that we are no longer slaves to sin."
11:14 And when we are praying in self we are really praying,
11:17 really on to our own selves or not unto God.
11:20 Because Roman 6:6 is clear,
11:21 "It is no longer ruled by the flesh,"
11:23 because self is really the desires of the flesh,
11:26 the desires of our hearts, the things that we think
11:29 that we want, right?
11:31 So we are no longer ruled by that,
11:33 so the desires and wants are no longer
11:35 ruled by the things of the flesh,
11:37 the lust of the eye.
11:38 And to break it down for our viewers,
11:40 it will be these things that we believe to be needs
11:43 and wants, and these things
11:45 that we think would be good for us
11:46 and we are praying in accordance
11:48 with those things.
11:49 The text really commands every Christian
11:51 to really examine this self so that we can see that
11:55 when we go to God in self.
11:58 Our prayers cannot be answered
12:00 because self is always going to be at odd with God.
12:04 Now we are going to look at that more,
12:05 self is a dangerous problem.
12:07 You see even on a personal level,
12:09 just you and I,
12:10 and let's see we have a few other friends here,
12:12 and each of us come here clothed in self.
12:14 We go to church, let's go to church now.
12:16 So I come to church clothed in self,
12:18 you come to church clothed in self,
12:20 other people come.
12:21 We are always going to clash
12:23 because the self in me will clash with the self
12:25 in you will clash with the self in somebody else.
12:27 And that's how we continue to have problems
12:29 in our churches, in our families,
12:30 in our marriages, in our relationships
12:33 because self is clashing with self.
12:36 But if we look at a different picture,
12:38 where I am dead
12:40 and the Spirit of God is living in me
12:42 and you are dead and despite of God is living in you,
12:44 and if we look at every other person,
12:47 talk about church members,
12:48 family members, and so on, and we are all dead,
12:50 and the Spirit of God is living in us,
12:52 when we come together we are going to get along
12:55 because the spirit of God
12:56 will get along with the Spirit of God.
12:59 So if self is causing these problems
13:00 in our personal relationships, you could imagine the havoc
13:03 it's causing in our prayer lives.
13:06 Because we are going to God,
13:07 asking Him to bless and sanction things
13:10 that are inconsistent with what He wants for us,
13:15 and that's really where we really want
13:18 to look at going today,
13:19 so we cannot go to God clothed in self.
13:22 When you think about the day you wake up
13:24 and you have not consecrated yourself to God,
13:27 sometimes you look back on that day
13:29 and you say, "Did I behave that way?"
13:32 And that is because I was clothed in self
13:35 or you were clothed in self.
13:36 But the days when we are in Christ
13:38 and we look back, we can see
13:40 how our behavior didn't reflect Him
13:42 because it was just self being edified on the days
13:45 when we have not given.
13:46 And I'm saying on the days because we realize that
13:48 if I pray to die to self today,
13:51 it's not going to cover me for later or tomorrow,
13:54 it is a daily thing,
13:55 every day we have to die to self
13:58 and allow the Spirit of God to live in us.
13:59 Yeah, and when we look at God and we look at Christ,
14:04 I mean, He's selfless,
14:06 like everything about Him is selfless.
14:08 He came into this world
14:10 and devoted His life to service.
14:13 You know, He sacrificed His life.
14:16 When you look at the cross and the things
14:17 that He endured for us,
14:20 that was self sacrificing, selfless love.
14:24 Now the devil on the other hand is selfish
14:27 and he seeks to exalt himself.
14:29 You know, he wanted to be above God,
14:32 he wanted to be worshipped and everything like that.
14:35 So I like what you're saying about
14:37 how we have to die to self
14:40 because even in our prayers
14:42 we can pray selfish prayers with those motives,
14:47 you know, with messed up motives.
14:48 And that's exactly where I was going
14:50 because you see the thing is
14:51 when we go to God praying in self,
14:53 we pray the most selfish prayers.
14:55 For example, we will say to God,
14:57 "Bless this relationship."
14:59 Even though I know for example
15:01 that you said I should not be unequally yoked.
15:03 So we want to go ahead and marry somebody
15:05 who is not of the same faith
15:06 and then we ask God to bless that.
15:08 I like that, so basically it's like we pray and say,
15:13 "God, I'm seeking your will,
15:17 really here's what I want is this."
15:19 Okay, if your will disagrees with mine
15:22 I'm going to go with this, I want this,
15:24 I want You to accept my will.
15:26 Basically is what those selfish prayers are,
15:29 that's the wrong way to pray.
15:31 Yeah, and we're going to touch on that.
15:33 What we're really doing is asking God to bless
15:36 or confirm to our will.
15:39 So this selfish person is saying,
15:40 "Lord," it's almost like saying,
15:41 "Father, I'm going to have this pork,
15:43 so bless it, so I can eat it."
15:45 So we ask him to bless jobs even though we work on Sabbath
15:49 and we have not had the courage to tell our bosses,
15:50 "Hey, I'm a Seventh-day Adventist Christian."
15:53 We ask Him to bless our kids
15:54 even when they're living outside
15:56 of what we have taught them and what we want,
15:59 know that God wants them to do, but we want them to prosper
16:02 even in the thing that doesn't honor God.
16:04 And sometimes we even go as far as asking Him,
16:07 and it's the weirdest thing, because I said it one day,
16:10 presented in the church on prayer,
16:12 and I apologized after
16:14 but got confirmation about that.
16:16 I was presenting and I'm saying
16:17 you know sometimes we go as far as asking God
16:21 to breakup somebody's marriage
16:23 so that we can be blessed with their spouse.
16:26 And I thought where did that come from?
16:28 And then after when the pastor and I was praying,
16:30 you know, we broke out into sessions.
16:32 And I said to pastor,
16:33 "I apologize, I have no idea where that come from."
16:35 He said to me, "Don't worry," I'm Dr. Nadine,
16:38 "It's okay, because right now we're dealing with a case
16:41 right here in this church
16:42 where somebody is asking us to pray
16:44 that God would break up somebody's marriage
16:46 so that she can get the husband."
16:48 And so the thing is these are selfish prayers,
16:50 and we literally go to God
16:52 asking God to do these crazy things.
16:54 So could you imagine if God had to conform
16:56 to the will of our selfish nature,
16:58 what our prayer lives would be like?
17:01 And so these selfish prayers are the prayers
17:03 that we do not want to pray,
17:05 that's why we need to ask God
17:07 to remove self from us every day.
17:10 And when we are about to pray, definitely we do not need
17:14 to be praying in our own will,
17:15 that is why the spirit of God needs to be imposed.
17:18 The Spirit of God needs to be living in us.
17:21 And that is the fundamental upon
17:23 which we need to really build our prayer life
17:25 because selfish prayers will always be against
17:30 what God wants for us because the Bible says
17:34 that we are enemies of God, we are at enmity with God.
17:37 In fact Romans 8:5 says,
17:39 "Those who live according to the flesh
17:42 have their mind set on what the flesh desires,
17:45 but those who live in accordance with the Spirit
17:48 have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."
17:51 So that is why we kind of pray in self
17:53 because self will pray to want the things of the flesh.
17:57 Self will pray to want the things
17:59 that are not of God,
18:00 but when the Spirit of God is living in us,
18:03 we are going to be praying in accordance
18:06 with the Spirit of God that is living in us.
18:09 Because Romans 8:6-8 says,
18:11 "The mind set on the flesh is death,
18:15 but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
18:17 because the mind set on the flesh
18:19 is hostile toward God
18:21 for it does not subject itself to a law of God,
18:24 for it is not even able to do so."
18:26 This is powerful.
18:28 It says, "It is not even able to do so
18:32 but those who are in the flesh,"
18:34 and those who are in the flesh, "cannot please God."
18:37 So when we are going to pray, if self is alive,
18:41 we cannot pray in the way that God would want us to pray
18:45 because we are not even able.
18:46 The Bible says, the mind set on the flesh
18:49 is not even able to do otherwise
18:52 because all we are going to be seeing
18:54 is the things that we want.
18:55 Our selfish motives will be pushed there
18:58 because our minds are set on the wrong thing,
19:00 but when the Spirit of God is living in us,
19:02 of course, our prayers are going to be different.
19:04 And so this is what we need to really focus on
19:06 when we talking about developing that
19:08 wow prayer life.
19:09 We cannot develop a wow prayer life
19:11 if we want to hold on to self.
19:14 We can't develop a wow prayer life
19:15 if we want to hold on to the things of the flesh.
19:18 We want to hold on to our own ways.
19:20 We are not willing to allow God to live in us,
19:22 it cannot work like that.
19:24 We can't serve two masters. No we cannot.
19:27 That's why Paul says in Romans 7:18,
19:29 "For I know that nothing good dwells in me,"
19:33 remember that text?
19:34 "That is in my flesh
19:36 for I desire to do what is right,
19:37 but I am not able to carry it out."
19:40 So just imagine if we translate these texts
19:43 into our prayer life,
19:44 we cannot trust ourselves to pray
19:46 because the sinful nature wants to do evil all the time.
19:50 That's our nature which is just the opposite
19:53 of what the Spirit wants.
19:55 And that's what Romans,
19:56 in fact Galatians 5:17 talks about.
19:59 "The Spirit gives us desires to do things that are opposite
20:03 of what our sinful nature desires,"
20:06 and that's why we need the Spirit of God living us
20:08 so that our desires can be different,
20:10 so our taste buds can be different,
20:13 because our natural inclination
20:14 is to want things that are not of God.
20:16 Our taste buds are marred, they are messed up by sin.
20:21 But now when the spirit of God is living in us,
20:23 He gives us new tastes, He gives us new desires
20:26 so that when we come to Him what we are asking
20:29 for will be totally opposite
20:30 to what naturally we would like or naturally we would want.
20:33 We need to love the things that He loves
20:36 and despise the things that He despises.
20:38 Yes.
20:39 And so many times I see, you know,
20:40 it's just the mercy and grace of God
20:42 that sometimes answers or seem to answer
20:45 what seems to be prayers that did not go with,
20:47 inline with what God wanted us to do.
20:50 I remember one time I was dating a young man,
20:54 and I know you like these stories,
20:57 besides it's a young man, and I remember, at first,
21:01 generally I would go to God first.
21:03 And when we started to date, he says to me,
21:06 "You know, God has given you,
21:07 you know, mind to think for yourself.
21:09 So if you see something good and you can ask Him for it."
21:11 So I went and I started dating him.
21:13 But a few months into it, I found it to be too perfect,
21:16 so I decided to fast and pray.
21:18 And so when I fast and I prayed, I told God,
21:21 you know what is His will for this situation?
21:24 And He said, "Get out."
21:26 And I thought to myself, "Really?"
21:28 Now at that time, I wasn't in love of the guy or anything,
21:31 but because I don't know somehow when God had told me,
21:34 you know, get out,
21:35 then I began to pursue Him more like,
21:37 "Lord, what are you talking about?
21:38 Why I shouldn't have this?"
21:40 And then I began to fight with God
21:41 about our relationship.
21:43 And I fasted and prayed a few months later
21:44 and He gave me the same message again, "Get out."
21:48 And I remember one day when I was going to church
21:51 and a pastor is preaching and he said,
21:53 "If God tells you to give up something, give it up,"
21:57 and it was right on point.
21:58 And I still continued dating him
22:00 until one day a friend called...
22:02 I had fasted for whole week and I said,
22:03 "Lord," I was asking Him to change His mind
22:06 because I'm seeing this guy
22:07 seemed to be an outstanding person and so on.
22:10 And Friday morning, at the end of that week,
22:12 my friend called and says...
22:14 My middle name Ana, so she said,
22:16 "Ana, I was just praying for you
22:18 and God said to tell you,
22:19 He's not going to change His mind."
22:21 So the thing about it
22:23 is sometimes we continue need God for things.
22:25 We are fighting with Him for things
22:26 that He wants us to give up because the flesh wants it,
22:30 but He knows best for us.
22:32 And basically, like that no one in that situation
22:36 or that give this person up,
22:38 and that situation was still a blessing.
22:40 You know, your courtship wasn't a failure,
22:42 it was a success.
22:43 You found out that you guys weren't meant
22:45 to be together for a marriage.
22:47 You know, He could've saved you from something
22:48 that you didn't see down the road.
22:50 Exactly, and that's why
22:51 we cannot trust ourselves to pray
22:54 without the Spirit of God living in us
22:57 because we'll be contending and fighting with God
22:59 for things that really He does not want for us.
23:03 So when Jesus is living in us we do not ask things
23:06 according to the flesh, we'll not ask him things
23:09 that will please the flesh,
23:11 but we are asking Him for things
23:12 according to the Spirit that is living in us.
23:16 And that is really what we really want to focus on
23:19 as believers.
23:20 That's the direction that we really want
23:22 to take our prayer lives in,
23:24 you see, so we need to die to self.
23:27 We need to realize that we need to be dependent on God.
23:31 And the only way that we can have
23:32 that dependence as we looked at in the life of Jesus,
23:35 the only way that we can pray prayers
23:36 that in accordance with what God would want us to do
23:39 is when His Spirit is actually living in us
23:43 because self will always be at war with God.
23:46 We are enemies acquainted by enemies of God
23:48 and anything that we ask in our flesh
23:51 will be something that will be naturally opposing
23:55 to what God Himself would want us
23:57 to actually ask of Him. Yes.
24:00 And we have to spend time with the Lord like
24:02 we have to carve out that time, that time is so important.
24:05 And you know like we had a program on intimacy,
24:10 and prayer and intimacy.
24:12 And I mean in order to have that,
24:14 how do you develop a relationship?
24:16 How do you cultivate a relationship with somebody?
24:19 By spending time, and getting to know them,
24:21 getting to know their likes and their dislikes.
24:23 Well, all that stuff can be found in the Word of God.
24:26 But if you're not opening it up,
24:28 if it's just sitting there collecting dust,
24:31 you're not going to know what God wants.
24:33 Exactly, and the thing is,
24:37 the reason why we do not spend time with Him
24:40 is because we trust ourselves more than Him,
24:43 because we believe that we know what's right.
24:46 Sometimes we weigh the pros and cons and we make decisions
24:50 and we think you know
24:51 that's a good way to make decisions.
24:53 And I think that the best way for us
24:54 to make decisions is to really be seeking God,
24:58 being at His feet, "Lord, what do you want me to do?
25:01 What will you have me to do?"
25:02 And we're going to focus more on that
25:04 in another program
25:05 because at the end of the day
25:06 anything that I'm going to ask Him,
25:08 as we have already established,
25:09 will be what I want unless I spend time with Him
25:13 to know what He wants. Yes.
25:15 So when you're dating somebody,
25:16 like when we discussed intimacy,
25:17 unless you spend time with them
25:20 you will not know what that person really like.
25:22 You will not know the proclivities.
25:23 You will not know, you know, their preferences,
25:25 their favorite colors, and these different things.
25:28 So when we spend time with God,
25:30 obviously we will know that we need to die
25:33 because we will see that we are so opposed with Him
25:36 that we have nothing in common in a sense
25:38 because I'm sinful and He's all righteous.
25:41 So now we will want to be more like Him
25:44 and we will be desiring to die because we are knowing that,
25:48 "Hey, this relationship can't work
25:49 if I hold on to self,"
25:52 because the two cannot walk together unless they agree.
25:55 And so in order for me to be able to have that
25:57 nice relationship,
25:59 that awesome relationship with God,
26:00 I need to die because we need to agree.
26:02 And I know for sure that if I die to self
26:05 and He's living in me,
26:06 then you know things are going to be better
26:08 so that is why we need
26:10 to really allow the life of Jesus.
26:13 We need to allow, you know His perfect example,
26:15 in addition to the fact that we need for sure,
26:18 we need to die to self
26:19 so that we can ask things to God.
26:22 We need to go to God in accordance with the spirit.
26:25 And so the take away points we can have is that
26:27 there are times when we cannot trust ourselves to pray,
26:30 that's for sure.
26:32 You know there are times
26:33 when we are even too wounded to pray,
26:34 you know that is when we really need to die to self.
26:37 And when we are too wounded to pray,
26:39 it's a good thing knowing for sure that,
26:41 "Hey, the Spirit of God will pray for me
26:44 because the Spirit of God is living in me."
26:46 And it can be a blessing because we are depending
26:48 on the Spirit of God to actually pray for us.
26:51 And we need to also remember that we cannot depend
26:54 on the Holy Spirit to pray for us if self is alive.
26:57 The Holy Spirit will not pray our selfish prayers,
27:00 it cannot prayer our selfish prayers.
27:02 That will go totally opposite to what God would want us
27:05 to pray for,
27:06 so we need to remember these points.
27:09 And I would like us to just say a prayer
27:10 as you know we've spoken about this topic about self.
27:13 Lord, teach us how to die daily.
27:16 May we allow ourselves to live
27:19 and work so that you can live in us,
27:22 that we can remain dead to self.
27:24 Father, we ask that You would keep self under subjection,
27:27 so we can experience a prayer life
27:29 that is effective.
27:31 May we continue to allow You to live in us
27:33 so that our prayer life can take a different flight.
27:36 And the experience and the testimonies
27:38 that the God can be a blessing to us
27:40 and to others we pray, in the name of Jesus.
27:43 Amen. Amen.
27:44 Thank you for that insight that you've provided us with today.
27:48 We pray that you were blessed by today's program.
27:51 Remember that even when God says
27:52 no to some of our prayer requests,
27:54 it's a blessing.
27:56 Be sure to tune in next time when Dr. Nadine shares
27:59 more information to supply The Missing Piece.


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Revised 2018-02-14