Transcription
Throughout his life, the one thing that meant most to Jesus was people. He sacrificed everything to lead them to his Father and to love them, no matter what. Jesus loved everyone. That was what made him so different and so necessary to our lives.
I'm John Oin, pastor of Lake Church in Houston, Texas. Through many years of ministry, we've discovered that there's no greater joy than loving and caring for God's people. That means you, no matter your denomination, race, or walk of life. Your dreams and desires are important to God, and that makes them important to us. We've dedicated our lives to bringing the compassion of Jesus to everyone by building faith in God through the teaching and preaching of his word. Lakewood helps those who have been overcome to be overcomers. We're interested in God's very best for you, so please, just as you are, join the people of Lakewood for the next hour as we open God's word together. At Lakewood Church, we're here for you.
Well, we welcome you today to our telecast. We're so glad you've tuned in. We're glad for all the people here. Give the Lord a good hand clap, would you? Yes! Amen! Hallelujah! We want to welcome you today to television and to the Oasis of Love. And I want to remind you of God's word in Proverbs 4:20. "My son, my children, attend to my words." And you know what I was thinking about? If you've ever been in the service, a lot of men here have been in the service. When a sergeant, a lieutenant, a general, whoever came by, man, you stood at attention. Well, the great Commander of the Armies of Heaven is telling you to attend to his word. Yes! So when he says attend, then you ought to attend more than when anybody else says anything. Jump to attention because he said, "Attend to my words, incline your ear, let them not depart from your eyes, keep them in the midst of your heart."
Did you know God's word is full of promises? Anything you need is in here. If it's for a wayward child, he promises your household. If it's for any kind of a need, he'll supply all your needs. If it's for salvation, he is a "now" God. Now is the day of salvation. Yes! If it's for healing, "I am the Lord that healeth thee." God said he hastens his word to perform it. So whatever you need, you keep it stored in your heart. Don't let your eyes depart from it. Incline your ear and keep it in the midst of your heart, 'cause you'll need it someday. And and it's there, and he's there. And all the people said, Amen! Amen! And I tell you, don't she's getting worse. She can preach, can't she? Praise the Lord!
You know, the Bible says, "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate therein day and night." "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." And we're going to teach the word of God today. Sing about the word of God today. We're going to be talking about calling upon the name of the Lord, and our God will answer our cry. Amen! Oh, I tell you, we have a mighty God. Yes! We have a God that can do wonderful things. Everybody say, "This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I am what it says I have. I am what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. I can do what it says. Today I will be taught the word of God. Today I will be taught. I boldly confess. My mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. I am about to receive the incorruptible, indestructible, ever-living, ever-seed of the word of God." I will never be the same! I shout it out! Never! Never! Never! I'll never be the same! In Jesus' name! Amen! You may be seated.
We're reading from James chapter 5. It says, "Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing Psalms. Any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church. Let them pray." Notice how much he talks about prayer. "Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Say, "I am the righteousness of God." Say it again, "I am the righteousness of God." The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And the Amplified says, "makes tremendous power available."
Then it talks about Elijah. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Now, you know, we sometimes we just kind of make these people like Elijah so big and so, uh, inhuman that we don't even think they're in the same class as we are. I remember going to the Vatican, and in the Vatican, they have the great Apostles up there so big and so great that you get the impression that they're greater than the ordinary human being. But I want to tell you, they're just like you and I. They're just ordinary people. And Elijah, God is clearly saying here that Elijah is just an ordinary person who suffered like trials and tribulations that we suffer. And he prayed. One thing about it, no matter what kind of a situation you're in, you can pray.
And we're talking about prayer. Television audience, Jesus said, "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." And the disciples said when they saw Jesus pray, they, and he finished, the Bible says they went over to Jesus and said, "Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples to pray." Well, I believe every pastor ought to teach the people to pray. I think people ought to pray. God is a God who answers prayer. We are not alone in this wicked, dark world. I know AIDS are everywhere, but we can pray. I know drive-by shootings are prevalent, but we can pray. I know gangs are everywhere, but we can pray. I know the world is getting darker, but we can pray. Thank God we have a God who answers prayer. And he said through Jeremiah to Jeremiah, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show you great and mighty things which you know not."
And Jesus always urged us to pray. The things that are impossible with men are possible with God. And somebody said John Wesley, I think, had said, "It seems that God will do nothing except an answer to prayer." James put it this way: "You have not because you ask not." Jesus said, "Everyone that asks and keeps on asking receives, and everyone that seeks and keeps on seeking finds, and everyone that knocks and keeps on knocking, to him it is opened." Now, that's what Jesus said. And I'll tell you, you just ought to be like a bull. Just get you some scripture and just don't give up, and just, just keep on, keep on asking and asking. Now, one day you will ask so many times, and seek so much, and knock so much, God will answer the door and say, "Okay, after that, you never need to ask anymore. You know you got it. You know you got it."
And and I want to teach you about this asking and receiving from God because all of us, let me see if I'm in the right crowd. How many of you need, need something from God? Put up your hand. And I know everybody on television. I know many of you have great needs out there. Well, now, this scripture here wasn't put in the Bible just because God couldn't think of anything else to put in the Book of James. He, he, he filled it up there because it's important. And, uh, you say, "Well, I wish I had that power like Elijah. I just go out there one day and I decide I'm not going to put up this rain anymore, and I'm just going to use my authority, and I'm just going to say, 'No, I've decided we're not going to have any rain anymore. I just decided that for three and a half years we're not going to have any rain except by my word. I just, I just, I'm tired of getting wet. I'm just not going to have any more of that.'" No! That is what that didn't at all.
Elijah did exactly what you and I have to do. We have to find the word of God and we have to act on the word of God. You see, Elijah had read that scripture over there in the book of Deuteronomy. He was acting on that. That's why he could pray and shut up the heavens. That's why he could pray and he could open the heavens. God said, "If you serve me and do my commandments, I will give you your rain in due season, and your crops shall flourish, and your fields will be fruitful. If you'll serve me." But then he said, "If you turn away from me and you serve other gods, I will shut up the heavens that there be no rain." Now, Elijah wasn't some superhuman being that had more power with God than you have. Elijah simply read the word of God and saw what God said. Israel had been blessed, they had received their rain and their crops and all of that. Now, in Elijah's day, they had turned away and were serving the false god called Baal, and they had forsaken God. And Elijah was stirred up about it. And I can imagine one day he reads the scripture in Deuteronomy over there where God says that, and something turns on, the light turns on him. He said, "Well, God, you said here if they turn and serve other gods, you'll shut up the heavens." But see, God didn't just automatically shut up the heavens. He's got to find somebody that'll take his word and bring it to him and put him in remembrance.
Are you out there? You notice over there in the book of Daniel is a very, very key scripture. It says in chapter nine of Daniel, and you don't need to turn to it. It says Daniel one day was seeking the Lord, and he understood by the books, the Bible, actually, it's in the book of Jeremiah. He said he was reading the book of Jeremiah, and he understood by what he read that Jeremiah had prophesied that Israel was going to be in bondage to Babylonia for 70 years. And Daniel realized the 70 years were up. So when Daniel understood that 70 years was up, he didn't just say, "Well, God, why don't you do it? You said you were going to do it." No! God needs somebody to pray. God wants to save America, but he needs somebody to pray. God wants your children saved, but he needs somebody to pray. So notice what Daniel did. He said, "So I set my heart to seek God to bring this prophecy to pass." Do you understand what I'm talking about? Just because you see something in the Bible doesn't mean it's going to happen. You got to set your heart. Daniel went before God and said, "God, I..." He is not all in the Bible, but I can just hear him say, "God, you said here in the book of Jeremiah, you prophesied through Jeremiah they we're going to be in captivity 70 years. The 70 years is up. Oh God, we've sinned. Oh God, forgive us. Oh God, bring us out. Oh God, do what you said. Your word said." And God did it! I said, God did it!
Now, that's exactly, that's exactly what Elijah did. Elijah found out in the books, in the books he was reading the Bible. It will amaze you what God will speak to you if you'll read your Bible. Somebody said, "Well, I read it every, the first Tuesday of every month." Y'all read your Bible every day. Just underline. You don't need to study it. Read it. Just read it. Just let God talk to you. Now, can imagine Elijah, you know, he's all stirred up about all these false prophets and these, you know, prophets of Baal, and how Israel was bowing down to all those false prophets. His spirit was stirred up. He didn't know quite what to do about it. One day he was reading the book of Deuteronomy over there in chapter 13 or chapter 11 where I read you, and it says, "If you turn and serve other gods, I will shut up the heavens." Oh, he said, "I got it now." So he went out there and he said, "God, I want you to do what you said you'd do. They're serving, they're bowing down to these idols, they're worshiping these idols, and you said you had shut up, you had shut up the heavens." And I declare, oh God, that you will keep your word. And he went to the king and said, "There shall be no rain until I speak the word." What was he doing? He's just simply doing what you and I can do today. He found the scripture and acted on it. He just acted on it because they were worshiping, worshiping idols. And and God said, "If they worship idols, I'm going to shut up the rain." And I'm telling you, it didn't rain for three and a half years.
But one day, you know, Elijah had that confrontation up there on on Mount Carmel with all, all those 450 prophets of Baal. And, uh, uh, and so they got up there for a contest. And they said, "Let, let's find out who the real God is." And so they built a sacrifice, you know, and, uh, they said, "Now, the God who answers by fire, he'll be God. You'll be God." And so the prophets of Baal built their altar and they called on Baal, "Answer by fire! Answer by fire! Oh, oh, Baal, where are you?" And Baal didn't answer. And Elijah got to making fun of him. He said, "To cry louder." He said, uh, he said, "Maybe, maybe he's gone on a vacation." And one translation said, and I hate to say this, but it actually says in the Bible, it says, "Maybe he had to go to the restroom." Yeah, that's what one translation says. "Say, why don't you cry?" And then they got desperate. See, they got desperate, begin to cut themselves and to bleed and all of that. And, uh, and you know, they cried until the evening, and no Baal answered. Listen, I want to tell you, you don't turn away to the, to the occult and to the New Age and all of the wizards and the, and all of the, the people that try to, you know, to give you the false devil's power. No! When you need help, they're not going to help you. The horoscope is not going to help you when you're in trouble. No, no. The witches are not going to help you when you're in trouble. No! You got to stay in touch with the true and the Living God. Hallelujah!
And so, you know, they just kept on and on and on, and no, nobody answered. But how could Baal answer? He's dead. He's a stone, uh, idol. How can he answer anybody? He, by the Bible talks about we turn from idols to serve the Living God. Our God is alive! Thank God he's alive! And his word is alive! And so, so Elijah, he let them finish out, you know. And so when it came time for him, he said, "Get the..." The Bible said he repaired the altar. That's the first thing we ought to do, to repair our altar. Then he put all these stones around to represent all the tribes of Israel. And then he said, "Now, put the sacrifice on there." And, you know, I'm sure the prophets of Baal said, "Now he's going to secretly light, light that thing. He's going to send, he's going to light it with some fire." And so Elijah said, "Take all these huge containers of water and pour it over, and then pour it over again, then pour it over again, till the water just surrounded everywhere." No way, no fire, any fire is going to be there. And Elijah cried out, said, "Oh God, let Israel know that you are the Living God!" And I want you to know, fire fell from heaven and licked up the water and consumed the sacrifice. Hallelujah! I'll tell you, Israel fell on their faces before God and began to cry, "The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!" Amen! And, and, uh, and they killed all the false prophets of Baal. And Israel turned back to God.
Now, you see, they have fulfilled what God said in the first part of that scripture. So that's the reason Elijah could look up and say, "Now I'm going to pray, and it's going to rain." How does he know that? Because they've repented. Because they've turned from idols. Because they've turned away from the false gods. Because they've turned back to the God of Israel. Now, with all the confidence in the world, Elijah can go out and say, "Rain is going to come. Rain is going to come." Hallelujah! Because he was simply acting on the word of God.
Now, what you need to understand is, you need to read the Bible until you understand some things from the Bible. A lot of people, you know, they want God to answer the prayer. You don't know one scripture in the Bible. You know, well, you may know "Jesus wept." That's the shortest verse in the Bible. "Jesus wept." Or you may know John 3:16 or something like that. But do you have any, any insight, any scripture about the trouble you're in? Any, any scripture at all? You know, you need to find out what God says. I'm thoroughly convinced that God wants all of our children to be saved. He doesn't want... What I'm saying is, "You shall be believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house." I'm convinced of that. So I can pray earnestly, "All my children are saved." And you can pray earnestly that way because the word of God says that. I'm convinced, and you couldn't beat it out of me with a ball bat, that it is the will of God for us to walk in this body without sickness and disease and aches and pains. You say, "Well, I got plenty of them. I, I, I have to have my share too." But I fight them off. I fight them off. I will not accept them. It's the work of the devil, and I am the body of Christ, and I will not take the works of the devil. That's the reason I number myself among the saved, and I number myself among the healed.
You know, one day I was so poor. You've heard me talk about poverty so much, some of you grown, when I started on this. But let me tell you something, we were so poor, the poor people called us poor. But one day I got light on the fact that God takes pleasure in the prosperity of his people. One day I found out God said, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine." One day I read a scripture that said, "It is God that gives you power to get wealth." And you know, it takes money to do everything in the world. It takes money to eat, takes money to pay rent, pay utilities, and it takes money to evangelize the world. And, and I got a revelation on the fact that God wanted to bless me financially. And when I got it, I'm telling you, I rose up and claimed what God said about me. And I said, "Devil, I want you to know I'm the head and not the tail. I'm above only and not beneath. And I am, I will lend and not borrow." And I broke the power of poverty over my life.
But, uh, now listen, listen. The reason that prayer worked, and all these prayers worked, is because I found the scripture. I found the scripture. The Bible says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report." And, and all of these things. And then it says in verse six of the 11th chapter of Hebrews, "For without faith it is impossible to please God." Now, what, what's he talking about? Elijah saw the scripture and acted on it. That is faith. And when they complied, he acted on the scripture. That is faith. Now, listen to me carefully. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. It's impossible to please God until you find a scripture and see that scripture belongs to you and act on it. Pray that scripture. Take that scripture in prayer. We're talking about prayer. And say, "God, look at what I found in your Bible." Without faith, it's impossible to please God. For he that comes to God, now talking about prayer, he that comes to God, listen, must believe that he is. But you got to believe more than he is. You got to believe he's a rewarder. I said, you got to believe he's a rewarder. He's not the one stealing and killing and taking away everything from your life. If you're going to get your prayers answered, you got to believe there is a God, and you got to believe he's a good God. He rewards those who seek Him. And notice what it says, "He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Diligently seek Him. That means you search the Bible like silver and gold, and you finally find something. "God, I've got to have something to get me out of this trouble. I want a promise." And suddenly you find something in the word of God, and then you begin to pray, pray it, and act on it. And listen, God will confirm his word. "Has he said it, and shall he not do it? Has he spoken it, and shall it not come to pass?" He watches over his word to confirm it. I'll tell you, God will keep his word. And when we pray his word, his word works.
Did you know there is no limitation to the people who understand what I'm talking about? Oh, you'll have your battles. I have my battles. But I got good news for you. I'm winning! I said, I'm winning! I said, I'm winning! I said, I'm winning! Glory be to God! And I want to develop every person in this church to be a winner and to be victorious in the name of Jesus. It's not some kind of magic formula or special, uh, goody-goody people. It's people who take the word of God and take it to God in prayer and stand on it and chase the devil off. Amen! I tell you, it's wonderful to know how to pray. Prayer is taking God's word to Him. He said, "Put me in remembrance. Declare thou, that you may be justified." In other words, in plain language, he said, "Show me, show me in the scripture, have I promised to do what you're talking to me about? Have you? Are you too lazy to find the scripture? Do you have any?" Thank God I got them. I got them. I said, "God, you got time. Got time. God, I got a lot of them. Put me in remembrance. Declare thou." I'll tell you, God delights for his children to come boldly to the throne of grace, and we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Be praying people. Take God's word. There's nothing impossible to those who will take God's word to Him and stand on it and not give up. God said it, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but God's word will never pass away." And that's the word you're standing on.
You know, I can give you scripture how you can be delivered. How can you can be set free? The Bible says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And you know, you know the Bible's real clear. God is not willing that any should perish. Think about that. God didn't want you to die and go to hell. God would have all men, all women, all children to be saved. And that's what God says. And he just says, "Call, and I'll answer." And, uh, "He that has the Son has eternal life." See, you don't need religion. You need Jesus in your heart. So I just want you to pray this prayer while the audience is real full. Say, "Oh God, I know I'm a sinner. I know it, and you know it. But Christ died for sinners, and I know he died for me and rose again, paid the price for me to be saved. And Lord, I ask you right now, Jesus, come into my heart. Be my Lord, be my Savior. I just give up. I just surrender. Jesus, that's all I can do. Just take me right now. Heaven, make a record this day. Jesus is my Lord, and I'll never go back. I'm determined. I'm not going to hell. I'm going to heaven."