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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000712S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B712 - P.U.S.H. 00:20 Dr. Byrd: Let us go and get in the Word right now. First Samuel, chapter 1. 00:28 I am going to read from King Jame's version. I got twenty verses to read 00:31 but I got time today. Hallelujah. We are going to preach the Word of God. 00:35 Hallelujah, I have got time. Verse number 1, 00:38 The Word of God says to us, 00:40 "Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, 00:49 the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. Verse 2, 00:55 "And he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah 01:00 and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children." Verse number 3, 01:04 "And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. 01:12 And the two sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there." Verse number 4, 01:19 "And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons 01:25 and her daughters, portions. But unto Hannah, he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah. 01:32 But the Lord had shut up her womb. Verse 6, "And her adversary also provoked her sore, 01:38 for to make her fret because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, 01:44 when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she wept, and did not eat. 01:52 Then said Elkanah, her husband, to her, 'Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? 02:03 And why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?' 02:10 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. 02:14 Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. And she was in bitterness of soul, 02:21 and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore." But the bible says, "And she vowed a vow, 02:27 and said, 'O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, 02:32 and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, 02:38 then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.' 02:44 And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. 02:51 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. 02:59 Therefore, Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, 'How long wilt thou be drunken? 03:06 put away thy wine from thee.' And Hannah answered and said, 'No, my lord, 03:10 I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, 03:16 but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: 03:21 for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.' Then Eli answered and said, 03:28 'Go in peace. And the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.' And she said, 03:33 'Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight.' So the woman went her way and did eat, 03:40 and her countenance was no more sad. And they rose up early in the morning 03:45 and they worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah. 03:48 And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 03:52 Wherefore it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, 03:59 that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked him of the Lord.' 04:08 " May the Lord add a blessing to the readers, the hearers, and the doers of His Holy Word. 04:12 Today I just want to preach on a simple subject to each and every one of you. 04:15 Those who are watching today, I just want to preach the sermon title, Push. That is all, 04:20 just push. P-U-S-H. Just push, that is all I need you to do today. 04:23 And by the time we get to the end of this message, somebody, you better be pushing in the name of Jesus. 04:27 Push, Father in the name of Jesus through the intercession of the Holy Ghost. O, 04:31 God, we have seen You, we have felt You, we have experienced Your power. 04:35 Lord, we need a word from You right now. If we do not hear from You, what will we do? 04:40 So speak to Your people today. Speak over the airwaves. Speak through the television. 04:45 Speak through the computer. Speak through the laptop. Speak through the iPads. 04:49 Speak through the cell phones and smartphones today. Lord, speak, we pray. God, 04:56 we promise You we are going to push today. Be with Your people. When the apeal the time comes, 05:03 move by Your power. Sprinkle out, Your grace. Have Your way, O God. Remove me, remove all of me, 05:08 and maybe less of me and more of You. And we will be careful to give You the praise and the glory. 05:13 Forgive me of my sins, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Push, push. 05:20 We have come to the fourth and the final message. 05:23 In our series on women in the Bible in harmony with National Women's History Month. Today, 05:29 we talk about a woman that we all know. Her name is Hannah. 05:36 But our Text starts talking not just about 1 woman, but 2 women. Hannah and another woman named Peninnah. 05:48 Hannah and Peninnah, two women, are married to one man, Elkanah. Do not get it twisted today. 05:58 Polygamy was practiced in Bible times, but it is not supposed to be practiced today. 06:03 The Bible is clear that you are to be the husband of one wife. 06:07 I wish I had a witness in this place. When God created Eve, He took one rib. One rib out of Adam's side. 06:16 Which means you can not go around with a slab of ribs, are you hearing what I am saying? 06:20 One rib means one rib, but Elkanah has two ribs. Hannah and Peninnah, 06:28 and there is a problem between the two because you can not have two cooks in the kitchen. 06:33 Are you hearing what I am saying? But it is not so much the existence of Peninnah that is bothering Hannah, 06:41 but it is the blessings of Peninnah that are bothering Hannah 06:45 because Peninnah was blessing Elkanah with children and Hannah was not. 06:52 Hannah did not have that blessing because the Bible says the Lord shut up her womb. 07:01 Not the devil, not a doctor, not a nurse, not a pill, not a medical defect, not a birth defect, 07:15 but the Lord shut up her womb. God in His Divine Purpose has created a Divine restriction on Hannah's life. 07:26 This is not the devil's doing. This, my friend, is the Lord's doing. The Lord has shut up her womb. 07:36 So my question today is, what do you do when the one you are praying to has hurt you? 07:42 What do you do when the one whom you seek a solution has created the problem in the first place? 07:50 What do you do when the one whom you serve is in conflict with the one who is serving Him? 07:59 But not only that. Elkanah, Hannah's husband, can not understand why she is so depressed. 08:07 He does not understand why she was so unhappy, why she can not eat, why she has no spring in her step. 08:15 The Bible says he is a wealthy man, he has given her everything she has want of nothing. 08:22 She has a nice house. She has nice clothes. She has nice furniture. She has a nice robe. 08:29 She has nice sandals. She even has a nice donkey to ride, but she is still unhappy 08:36 because the Lord has shut up her womb. Year after year the Bible teaches that she goes to the Temple 08:42 and she prays for a child. "Lord, give me a child. God, please give me a child." But no child. 08:52 You see in Hannah's day, for a woman to be barren meant that she was useless. She was worthless. 08:58 She was not loved by God, which is why year after year Hannah went to the Temple to pray, 09:03 plead and beg for a child but God has shut up her womb. But not only has God shut up her womb, 09:14 God allows Peninnah to be in the same house, and God in his permissive will, opens up her womb. 09:22 He allows Peninnah to have baby after baby after baby and this provokes Hannah. 09:30 Hannah says, "I am a woman just like she is. 09:36 I am a woman just like Peninnah and we have been with the same man, so it can not be him, 09:47 it must be me." Now Hannah has this woman in her house who taunts her, who provokes her, 10:00 who picks at her and she says to her, "I can have it but you can not." You see friends, 10:10 you can deal with Peninnah when she is out of sight and out of mind. 10:14 But how do you deal with Peninnah when she is sitting up in your house? 10:19 I wish I had a witness in this place. 10:21 How do you deal with Peninnah when she is working in the same office as you are. 10:27 How do you deal with Peninnah when she is sitting down a pew from you? 10:33 How do you deal with Peninnah when she is in your class? When she is on your dorm wing? 10:39 People who have negative energy, people who have what you want. And if we are real today, 10:45 it gets on your nerves when you see other people blessed and you are not. God, what is wrong with me? 10:53 They are married and you are still single. They have a five-bedroom house 10:57 and you have the one-person-bedroom apartment. They have the 2021 Mercedes Benz 11:03 but you are driving the 1990 Volkswagen Bug. They got the job and you did not. 11:09 They got the promotion and you did not. They got the scholarship and you did not. 11:14 They got the fellowship and you did not. They made the A and you did not 11:19 and the Lord will use the Peninnah's in your life to provoke you. 11:25 But I have learned in my life, I got a birthday coming up next month, 11:29 and I have learned in my life that sometimes God will bless people around you to make you pray. 11:35 He will bless people around you to make you fast. Sometimes, 11:38 God will put people in your life to provoke you because God is trying to save you. 11:43 I need you to understand this today friends because there is somebody right now, you are mad at God, 11:47 you are angry at God. You are bitter at God because you ask, 11:51 "Why does it seem that everyone else's program is working but not mine? 11:56 Why is everybody else's career taking off but not mine? 12:00 Why is everyone else getting the blessing but I am not.?" Well maybe, just maybe, friends of mine, 12:06 God is trying to get you to a point of total dependence upon Him. Where your money can not buy you out. 12:14 Your degree can not think you out. Your charisma can not charm you out. Your family can not bail you out. 12:22 So when you do come out, you know it was not your family. You know it was not your friends. 12:28 You know it was not your finances. It was not anyone but Jesus who brought you through. 12:35 I am a witness that sometimes God will make you fall straight on your 12:39 back so you can look up to the hills from whence cometh your help. 12:43 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord. 12:49 In this narrative, Hannah stops debating with Elkanah. Hannah stops letting Peninnah get under her skin. 12:58 She gets up and says to Elkanah, "What I need, you do not have. What I want, you can not provide. 13:09 What it takes, you can not afford. So I am going to tell you what I am going to do. I am going to the temple. 13:15 I am going to the church. I am going to seek the Lord. I am calling on His name. I am going to pray 13:24 and pray and pray because something has got to happen. I am going to push. 13:31 I have got to pray until something happens." Let me tell somebody in the name of Jesus today. 13:37 Yes, God is Sovereign. Yes, God can do what he wants, when he wants, where he wants, and how he wants, 13:45 and he does not have to ask you or me for permission to do as he wants but Hanna, wants a child. 13:51 Anybody ever been there? You want something. And Hannah wants a child 13:55 and the only way she knows she is going to get it, she has got to pound Heaven's doors with prayer. 14:01 We have all been in a situation like Hannah where we pray and we pray and we pray over 14:08 and over again for the same thing. And then when it does not happen when we want it to happen 14:14 or it does not happen in a timely manner, come on, you have been there. You are real, you are like me. 14:20 It did not happen when you wanted. It did not happen in a timely manner. We sometimes ask ourselves, 14:23 should we stop praying for the same thing? Should we continue to push? But in the name of Jesus, Yes. 14:34 You have got to still push. in the name of Jesus, you still have to pray until something happens. 14:42 Let me tell you what I have learned about "Push" and what "Push" means. Push means, number 1, 14:47 pray until the answer comes. Number 2, pray until the circumstances change. Or number 3, 14:55 pray until God changes the burden on your heart. Let me say that one more time, pray until the answer comes, 15:03 pray until the circumstances change, or pray until God changes the burden on your heart. 15:10 And I base my synopsis of these 3 things on these 2 texts, I base it on Luke chapter 18, 15:17 verse number 1, where Jesus in a parable, was speaking to the disciples and He said, 15:22 "We should always pray and not faint." And then the Apostle Paul said in First Thessalonians, 15:28 chapter 5, verse number 17, that we have got to pray without ceasing. 15:33 And so I have learned in my life that you got to have pushed prayer. 15:37 You got to have pushed prayer. Pray-until-something-happens prayer. 15:41 Because God honors those who do this because it expresses our complete dependence on Him. 15:47 Prayer is based on Faith in God and repetition is proof of this Faith 15:53 because God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. 15:55 Let me tell you something. I have learned this in my life. 15:59 If God answered every prayer the first time we prayed, we would soon become complacent in our faith. 16:07 But when we persist, when we persevere, when we plead, when we push, 16:16 we realize how helpless we are and how dependent we are on Him. 16:24 Now, there are some people out there who will say that since God knows everything 16:29 before we say it and that everything before we think it, which is true, 16:33 that we should never repeat ourselves when we pray, which is not true. 16:40 You see, we do not pray to inform God of anything. God knows everything, 16:46 but when we continue to pray for the same thing, the Godly desires of our hearts grow stronger, 16:55 and we are reminded, friends of mine, that every day we must be 100% dependent on Him. 17:02 You see, we can not live on yesterday's blessings and we can not depend on yesterday's prayers. 17:11 We have got to keep praying. We have got to keep pleading. We have to keep pushing 17:17 and praying until something happens. So today let us get real, Let us call the roll. 17:23 What have you been praying for that God has not answered yet? Your spouse to come to Christ? 17:30 A family member to be cured of cancer? A friend to be healed of Covid? What have you been praying for? 17:39 Healing from an illness? Victory over a habit? Wisdom to make the right decision? 17:47 Have you been praying for a marriage on the rocks? Recovery from a divorce or separation? 17:54 Have you been praying for a wayward son or daughter? A grandchild who is running from the Lord? 18:00 The ability to have a child? Deliverance from a critical spirit? Deliverance from a negative tongue? 18:08 Have you been praying for people to stop talking about you? 18:11 Have you been praying for Grace to forgive those who have hurt you? Money to pay your bills? 18:16 A job where you can make your ends meet? A job where people appreciate you? 18:22 Have you been praying for the ability to lose weight? A Godly soulmate you can marry? 18:29 Release from depression? Have you been praying and still praying for courage to go on? 18:37 Today, what have you been praying for? That God has not answered yet. Well, 18:42 let me add one more thing to your list. Pray for persistence. 18:48 Pray for the determination to hang on to the Lord until one of those three things happens. 18:53 God answers the prayer. God changes the circumstances. Or God removes the burden altogether. 19:06 I dare you today. 19:09 In the name of Jesus, you have got to P.U.S.H. 19:13 You have got to pray until something happens. Not all of our prayers are answered the first time we pray them. 19:21 Sometimes we do receive immediate answers, but sometimes we got to wait days, weeks, months, 19:32 years before the answer comes but somebody needs to be reminded that delay is not denial. 19:39 You got to keep on praying. You have got to keep on pushing and pray until something happens. 19:45 I am so glad that Hannah, in verse number 9, she keeps on praying. And Hannah pulls herself together. 19:54 She eats and then she says, "I am going to the temple. I am going to talk to the Lord." 20:01 Hannah goes to the Temple. She walks in that nice, that clean, that calm, 20:08 that sedate service with one thing on her mind and that is seeking the Lord. 20:14 And sometimes, when you seek the Lord, you do not care how you look. You do not care how you act. 20:21 You do not care how folks are looking at you but you are seeking the Lord. 20:25 Does anybody know what I am talking about? You come to the altar and you say, 20:28 "Lord, I do not care what anybody thinks. I just need my blessing." 20:32 Hannah comes down to the altar. She steps past the priests and the elders 20:38 because sometimes to step into your blessing, you have got to step beyond some people. 20:43 Are you hearing what I am saying? Eli thinks she is drunk but she does not care. 20:49 She says, "Eli, I am not drunk, but it is my time. It is my moment. It is my hour to be blessed. 21:00 Religion does not hold her back. Ritual does not hold her back. Her denomination does not hold her back. 21:09 tradition does not hold her back. People do not hold her back. She makes a vow to the Lord, 21:18 "Give me a son and I will worship You and give him back to You for the rest of his life." 21:26 Bible says God opened her womb. God blesses Hannah with a child. She names him Samuel which means, 21:38 God is heard, God is listening. And then the Bible says God blesses her with 5 additional children. 21:47 Oh, will he not do it? He may not come when you want Him, but He is always right on time. 21:53 You do not understand what makes some people shout. You do not understand why I get excited when I preach. 21:59 You do not understand why some of these singers, Minister Smith, gets excited while she sings. 22:04 You do not even understand what makes some of you shout in a virtual setting. 22:09 People do not care that you are looking at them funny. People do not care that they are clapping their hands. 22:14 They do not care if they shouting right now back at me at the screen. 22:18 They have been through hell and high water and God has answered their prayers. 22:24 Who am I talking to right now on this virtual stream? You have been through hell and high water. 22:29 You have been shut up. You have been tied down, but now it is time to shake yourself loose. 22:36 Push. Pray until something happens. That when you push, when you pray, let me close out on this. 22:44 When you push, when you pray you have got to move from generalities to specificities. 22:50 You got to tell God what it is that you want him to do specifically about your situation. 22:58 God knows your situation. God knows what you are going through. God knows what you are up against 23:07 but God will not get involved until you ask for it. God will come to your rescue. 23:12 God will answer your prayer. God will do all of that, but he will stay hands-off until you ask him. 23:18 And so I believe today that the Lord is getting ready to help somebody in their situation. 23:25 I believe that the Lord is getting ready to turn somebody's situation around 23:31 because late in the midnight hour, God is going to turn it around. 23:37 It is going to work in your favor, but he will pass you right by if you are too proud to call on His Name. 23:46 But when you really need the Lord badly enough, when your situation gets desperate enough, 23:51 you are going to get like Hannah and you will go to the Temple and you do not care who is looking at you. 23:56 You do not care who is talking about you. You call on the Name of the Lord. 24:02 Oh, I wish I had a church in this place. I believe somebody will be shouting right now with me, 24:06 but if you are at home, you can sit at home and act like you do not know what I am talking about, 24:11 but your situation has not gotten desperate yet. You have not gotten down to your last dime yet. 24:18 You have not been sick enough yet. You have not cried in the midnight hour enough yet, 24:25 but when you get to that point in your life because if it has not happened it is going to come. 24:29 The old folks used to tell me, "Keep on living. It is going to come," 24:32 When you get where you can not handle it, where you can not take it, where you can not bear it, 24:37 He will help you, but you got to call on Him. You got to push. Let me do this 24:44 and pray until something happens. Let me say this, you do not have to be on your knees every time to pray 24:48 because sometimes when you get in trouble, you do not have time to get on your knees. 24:52 Are you hearing what I am saying? You do not have time to go somewhere by yourself. 24:55 Sometimes you do not have time for a long drawn-out prayer. 24:59 Sometimes you do not even have time to close your eyes. Sometimes you got to pray with your eyes open. 25:03 Are you hearing what I am saying? But you just got to pray and be specific. I am trying to close, 25:08 but my soul is getting happy right about now. Not only must you pray with specificity, 25:13 but you got to pray with frequency. The frequency of your prayers moves God to intercede. 25:19 Thank God when you get up in the morning, but also thank God that you were even able to get up in the morning. 25:25 Yes, your knee is hurting. Yes, your hip is bothering you. Yes, your back is sore. 25:32 Yes, arthritis is in your leg, but you ought to thank God that at least you can feel something. 25:38 Somebody did not get up this morning. Somebody can not feel anything in their limbs. 25:45 Yes, you forgot where you put your glasses but thank God you can still see. 25:50 Let me tell all the senior adults out there today, you may not remember like you used to, 25:55 you may not walk like you used to, you may not see like you used to, but when you really think about it, 26:02 some folk do not have that complaint because the only way not to live to get old is to die young. 26:08 So you ought to thank God for your 70s. Thank God for your 80s. Thank God for your 90s. 26:15 Thank God that you are still around. Thank God that you can still get around 26:21 and when you look back over your life. When you look back over all of your good days. 26:27 I wear your bad days. I will not complain when you look back over your life 26:33 and you look back where you came from. Every time you think about it you ought to tell the Lord, 26:37 "Thank you." I said you ought to tell the Lord, "Thank you." God, you have been so good to me, thank you. 26:44 If it had not been for the Lord on my side, where would I be? God, thank you. 26:50 You would not have the testimony right now if God had not been good to you. 26:53 It was God's power that kept you when the devil was trying to kill you. 26:59 May have been praying the same prayer for a long time but God has answered your prayer. 27:05 Push, I believe I have got a witness that needs to say, "God, 27:08 I do not have the blessing yet but I am going to shout like it. 27:14 God, I do not have the miracle yet, but I am going to talk like it. 27:19 God, you have not opened up the door for me yet but I am going to walk like it. 27:25 I am going to act like it. I have got to push." Ask and it shall be given. Seek and ye shall find. 27:32 Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. 27:34 You got to push and this is the confidence we have in approaching God that whatever we ask we know we have. 27:41 You got push. "If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves 27:47 and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from Heaven and heal their land." 27:53 You got to push the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man and woman availeth much. 27:59 You have got to push Jesus on the main line. Tell Him what you want. Call Him up, tell Him what you want. 28:08 You have got to push. I dare you to push I dare you to pray. I dare you to plead. I dare you to persist. 28:16 I dare you to persevere. You have got to push. 28:24 [END] |
Revised 2021-04-01