JESUS PRAYED FOR ME
Tonight, on this second watch night, we greet you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. We count it all joy that the LORD has watched over us and has counted us again among the living. We give honor tonight to GOD, to the highly esteemed pastor of this great church, Pastor Myers, and to all of the officers, members, visitors, and friends. I believe that on last night I became caught up in my emotions that I completely overlooked protocol. But Romans 13:7 tells us to render honour unto those to whom honour is due. Therefore, we honour all of you.
On last night we began these series of messages centered around the theme verse, which is Philippians 1:19. The King James Version of this verse is printed on the front of your program. But on tonight, I want to read and share with you the New Living Translation of this verse. The verse reads as follows: “For I know that as you pray for me and as the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will all turn out for my deliverance.” (Read twice)
On last night, we looked at the “For I Know” section of this passage and established that knowing something means to believe something. And from Romans 10:9 we established a message by asking the question, “What Do You Believe.” On tonight, we’d like to proceed a little further in our study and look at the section that says “as you pray for me.” So if you have your Bibles tonight, we would like for you to turn with me to the Gospel according to Dr. Luke:
Text: Luke 22:31-32
31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Subject: JESUS PRAYED FOR ME
About a month or so ago at New Jerusalem, the choir began to sing a song with the lyrics, “Somebody prayed for me; had me on their mind; took the time and prayed for me. I’m so glad they prayed. I’m so glad they prayed. I’m so glad they prayed for me.” Have you heard of this song? The song goes on to say that my mother prayed for me; my father prayed for me. And yes, even JESUS prayed for me. It is a high spirited type of song, but I had never envisioned or thought of this song as a shouting song until that day. Because on that day, we got to singing that song and all of a sudden the next thing I knew there was some shouting going on. There were some hearts touched by the spirit of the LORD and we personally realized and understood that our own personal successes, our own personal achievements, even our own personal well-being can be directly contributed to the prayers of somebody else. Have I got a witness?
You see, there were times when we didn’t know anything about praying for ourselves. We didn’t know anything about sending up some timbers and expecting a blessing. We didn’t know why grandma would go into that old hallway closet and shut the door behind her and stay in there for a little while. And some of us still don’t know.
We go to bed and don’t praise God for letting you make it through the day. You don’t get up in the morning and just thank God that your bed was not your cooling board. Am I right about it? You eat breakfast and don’t pray. You eat lunch and don’t pray. You eat dinner and don’t pray. And all the while you haven’t choked on a fish bone. You haven’t drank any deadly poison. And it has nothing to do with luck. And it sho’ nuf has nothing to do with you. But somebody took the time and got down on their bended knees and prayed to GOD on your behalf. Have I got a witness?
Yes, somebody prayed for you. This type of prayer is called intercessory prayer. The word intercessory is a derivative of the word intercession, which is "an entreaty in favor of another, especially a prayer or petition to God in behalf of another.” In other words someone else steps in and talks to God on your behalf. It’s almost like when you have job references or credit references who will step in and say a little something on your behalf that will benefit you.
And the first thing that we must note is that intercessory prayer is a selfless act. It is something that is done solely for somebody else. There is no personal benefit or gratification that comes from it. There is no pay for praying for somebody else. There are no awards or accolades for praying for somebody else. And yet, it is our duty and responsibility as Christians to pray for somebody else. James 5:16 tells us to pray one for another. And if the Word of God says it then we should do it. Am I right about it?
It is when we pray for somebody else that we let God know that it’s not all about us. You know how it is. Some of us think that the sun needs to rise and set on us. We think that we are all of that and a bag of chips and every body needs to know about it. It’s always me, my, and I. Look at me and how good I look. Look at my house and see what I have done. Look at what I have accomplished all by myself. We never give anyone else any credit. And we don’t even give any credit to GOD. We are selfish.
And our selfishness does not just stop with our prayer life. We are selfish in giving back what we know is owed to God. We are selfish in giving some of our time and our service to the LORD. We are selfish on the job. We are selfish in our homes. We are selfish in our relationships. We are just plain old ordinary selfish. And we don’t care about anybody, but ourselves.
But when we you stop in the middle of our day and recognize that there are others who need us to pray for them, it is then that GOD will start to move in your life. Can I get a witness?
If you don’t believe me ask old man Job. We all know the story of Job; of how he had everything going his way. But then Satan came into the picture. And God allowed Satan to take away everything that Job had. He even took the lives of his 7 sons and 3 daughters. Not only that but Job’s whole body became covered with boils. Oh can’t you see the hurt and the pain that Job must have been in. How much agony he must have been suffering through.
But look at how God works. Job 42:10 says the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. Despite his own problems and condition, Job prayed for his friends. Despite the pain that raced through his body, Job took the time to pray for somebody else. Despite his heart being broken from the loss of his family, Job still put self out of the way and prayed for his friends. And don’t you know, that it was at that point the Bible says that God turned the captivity of Job. In other words, enough was enough. And what I like about is that not only did he turn Job’s circumstances around, but GOD gave Job double for his trouble. For in that same 10th verse, the Bible says that the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
If you are going through heartaches in your life, start praying for somebody else. If you are going through the strain of a bad relationship start praying for somebody else. If you don’t know how you’re going to make ends meet; don’t know how your car note and your house note are going to get paid. Stop worrying about yourself and start praying for your friends. Because if you pray for your friends, GOD will turn around your circumstances; He’ll free you of your captivity; and not only that, but he’ll give you double for your trouble. Is there any body here, who is ready, willing, and able to receive double for your trouble, let me hear you say yes!
And I must tell you tonight that if you plan on praying for somebody else, the first thing that you should do is get your own righteousness together. For the Bible tells us to seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. See you need to know and understand to night that it’s okay to be righteous. Don’t worry about somebody calling you holier than thou, you continue to seek God’s righteousness. Because if you line up under the righteousness of GOD, then there is nothing that you pray that won’t be heard. For the Bible says that the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous man avaiileth much. It accomplishes much. It achieves much. And I don’t know about you, but I want my prayers to be heard by God. I want my prayers heard and not falling on deaf ears.
But I must warn you. When you start getting closer to God. When you start walking with Him because you want to and not because you have to, that’s when the devil will come around and dangle temptation in your face. And we might as well be honest with ourselves, a lot of times in our own lives, the reason that our prayers are not heard is because of the stain of sin. Have I got a witness?
If we were to be honest I believe that we would all confess that the biggest hindrance to a Child of God is dealing with our sinful nature. If it weren’t for the sinful nature that we have, our walk with the Lord would be tremendous. It would be fruitful. It would be dynamic.
But the problem is that sin will cripple a Child of God. You see, we would be all right if it weren’t for sin. We would have more spiritual power if it weren’t for sin. We would have greater depth of relationship with God if it weren’t for sin. We would have spiritual power seen and unseen if it weren’t for sin.
Sin is a crippler. It makes dynamic personalities into dropouts. It makes mathematic geniuses into numbers runners. It makes great preachers into great prisoners. It makes youth with potential into potential drug addicts. It makes choir members into pew members. It makes holy housewives into unholy women. Sin is equal opportunity. It does not recognize social status. And it touches all economic levels.
The apostle Paul said that when I would do good, evil is present with me. And I have discovered that even the best believer, even the best Chrisitian is able to sin. Donnie McClurkin sings the polular song called “We Fall Down.” This song is popular because we can identify with the song. It says that We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down.
And got up.”
And allow me to suggest tonight that sin will cause you to fall. And the penalty of sin for a Child of God is not separation from God in relationship. But its separation from God in fellowship.
Jesus told a story of a young man who left the security of his father’s home. Y’all know the story, he went into a far country, spent all that his father had apportioned to him, wound up working in a hog pen and when he “came to himself,” he returned back to the Father’s House. And his father welcomed him back with open arms. But even between the time that the young man left and returned, he was never labeled as an “un-son.” In other words, he never stopped being his father’s son. Have I got a witness?
When he left home, he was called son. When he came back home, he was still called son. Ain’t the Lord Alright. However, the fellowship - the sharing and the nurturing, the exchange of conversation – were all disturbed until he returned home. Oh I wish I had some help up in here.
And I would have to say tonight that when a Child of God goes out and gets lost in sin - you never stop being a “man of God.” Nor do you stop being a “woman of God.” No, you never stop being His child. But the fellowship is disturbed. When the fellowship is disturbed - you can’t hear what God is saying. When the fellowship is disturbed - you can’t recognize what God is doing. When the fellowship is disturbed - you can’t appreciate what God is giving to you. When the fellowship is disturbed - you can’t applaud the goodness of God. When the fellowship is disturbed - you can’t celebrate how awesome God is. And right here tonight, somebody in this place knows that your fellowship with God was disturbed this week. As a matter of fact, it was disturbed so much, that you are sitting here tonight and can’t feel anything right now.
Worship is worthless to you. Praises are just loud noises to you. Lifting hands is only a waste of time. Preaching is a loud speech bordering on hurting your ears. And it’s all because your fellowship has been disturbed.
Sin will disturb your fellowship, but I want you to know tonight, that you are not alone.
Adam was given dominion and blessings - but sin came a calling.
Abraham was given the Promises of God - but sin came a calling.
Moses was given leadership of a nation - but sin came a calling.
Noah was given humankind’s second chance - but sin came a calling.
David was promoted from the pasture to the palace - but sin kept right on calling.
Jonah was given a call by the Lord - but sin came a calling.
Paul was given missionary assignments - but sin came a calling.
And somebody here tonight has been given blessings by the LORD, but Satan is dangling sin in front of your face.
God is giving you more and more. God is blessing your life. God is doing great things in your life. You’re better off now than you ever have been - but Satan, that old devil, is trying to get to you away from God.
Oh Lord
I know you think you’re Superman. I know you think that you’re a Wonderwoman. But don’t you remember, even Superman lost his strength, when he came in contact with Kryptonite. Am I right about it?
And I don’t care who you are - Satan will find and exploit your weakness. Yes, he will.
If you’re a man whose weakness is women - Satan will find out.
If you’re a woman whose weakness is alcohol - Satan will find out.
If you’re a man whose weakness is lying - Satan will find out.
If you’re a woman whose weakness is gossip - Satan will find out.
If you’re a man whose weakness is gambling - Satan will find out.
If you’re a woman whose weakness is women - Satan will find out.
If you’re a man whose weakness is thieving - Satan will find out. If you’re a woman whose weakness is slick haired men - Satan will find out.
But I stopped by to let you know tonight that although the fellowship has been disturbed, you ought to thank God, that it has not been destroyed. God is able to restore you to the joy of His fellowship. Ain’t the Lord alright. God is able to give you peace in your heart again. Oh Lord.
Jesus is able to intercede on your behalf. For the Bible tells me, in our text tonight that Satan desired to have Peter, but JESUS stepped in and prayed for His child. He told Peter, I prayed for you so you won’t fail. And my brothers and sisters whatever it is that’s pulling you down, I want you to know tonight, that you won’t fail, because JESUS prayed for you. Ain’t the LORD alright.
But there’s still one thing that JESUS told Peter to do. He told Him, to that when he received his own conversion, he ought to stop and strengthen the brethren. In other words, Peter needed to stop and help somebody else out. Ain’t the LORD alright.
And even now, we ought to help somebody else, by bowing down on our knees and crying Father I stretch my hand to thee……..
