Episode Overview

Title: Approaching God In Prayer | Joel Siegel | Mississauga, Canada | Monday AM | Miracle Crusade
Date: October 2, 2023
Host/Preacher: Joel Siegel (Guest Minister, Dufresne Ministries)
Theme:
This episode, delivered as a morning Miracle Crusade message by Pastor Joel Siegel, centers on how believers approach God in prayer. Siegel explores common struggles Christians face with feelings of unworthiness and distance from God, and outlines a biblical, faith-filled path to bold and confident intimacy with the Lord, rooted in the finished work of Christ. The episode concludes with a powerful time of corporate prayer and physical healing ministry.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of "Approach" in Prayer (00:09–13:00)

• Personal Anecdotes: Joel opens with humor and personal stories to build rapport, notably his intimidation around Brother Kenneth Hagin, despite close proximity through ministry.
• Key Point: Many believers, even long-time Christians, struggle to confidently approach God, often due to inner feelings of inadequacy or spiritual "distance".
  • “People, believers, even born again folk, even some who have been in church for years and years and years, they have issues approaching God.” (08:00)
• Illustration: The analogy of approaching a mentor or leader (Brother Hagin) and the resulting missed opportunities for interaction mirrors how many miss closeness with God due to fear or intimidation.

2. Understanding Our Access to God (13:00–31:00)

• Scriptural Foundation: Hebrews 4:14–16 and Hebrews 10 emphasized.
  • “Let us therefore come boldly unto...not the parking lot of grace...but the throne of grace.” (21:46)
• Obstacles to Approach:
  • Over-awareness of personal shortcomings.
  • The enemy’s lie: “No one's ever dealt with what you’re dealing with before.”
• Christ’s Empathy: Jesus, as high priest, has shared in all our temptations, and is qualified to be our representative.
  • “He dealt with it as a man. He overcame it. And you and I can defeat it.” (17:00)

3. Boldness and Confidence in Prayer (31:00–39:00)

• Contrast to Old Covenant:
  • Old Testament worshippers kept their distance from God because of unworthiness.
  • Under Christ, believers are invited to enter the holiest place, "face to face" with God.
  • “You and I can have boldness to enter into the holiest. The holiest. This is the place of complete face to face with God.” (39:00)
• Means of Access: By the blood of Jesus, not personal merit.
  • “He's gifted us what the Bible calls the righteousness of God. God’s own righteousness. He gave that to us so we could boldly come.” (42:00)

4. Dealing with Inferiority, Guilt, and Condemnation (48:00–59:00)

• The Conscience Problem: Guilt from past mistakes, feelings of unworthiness, or condemnation block intimacy.
  • “Your conscience—that’s the problem. There’s where you deal with feelings of guilt.” (53:00)
• The Solution:
  • Focus on what Christ did, not on personal failures.
  • “The more you look at what he did, the more you'll stop seeing what you did.” (56:00)
• Faith Response: Don’t wait for feelings to change; step forward in faith, looking to Jesus’ finished work.
  • “You can’t just sit and wait for feelings to change. You've got to, by faith, start to draw near and keep drawing.” (57:00)

5. Assuring Our Hearts, Effective Prayer (59:00–67:00)

• Key Text: 1 John 3 – Our hearts must be assured to pray confidently.
  • “If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatever we ask, we receive...” (64:30)
• Quote:
  • “You’re not even ready to pray until you’ve dealt with this inferiority, this condemnation, these feelings of guilt.” (64:30)
• Encouragement: All believers, regardless of their past, have the same access to Father God as Jesus does, by faith and by the blood.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Boldness:
  • “Let us therefore come...come boldly unto...the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 reference, 25:00)
• On Distance from God:
  • “I always felt like I’m an outsider. I wasn’t raised in this. Therefore, I’m an outsider. And I may never just be—distance. You hear that? Distance.” (15:30)
• On Moving Beyond Condemnation:
  • “Don’t let anything that has happened allow what has happened on the cross to be diminished.” (23:00)
• On Worthiness:
  • “You couldn’t be any more worthy than what his blood’s made you. So this is yours.” — Joel Siegel, [approx. 76:30]
• On Receiving:
  • “There’s not supposed to be this bingo card thing of, ‘You win some, you lose some.’ ... Every time’s a winning number. Every time’s a winning card. Every time. We ask, we receive because we keep his commandments...” (67:00)
• On Praising God in the Morning:
  • “Can God do stuff in the morning service? He’s a morning God. You might not be a morning person, but he’s all right in the morning.” (79:03)

Important Timestamps

• Approach in Prayer and Opening Analogy (00:09–12:50)
• Personal Story: Distance from Spiritual Authority (Brother Hagin) (12:51–16:00)
• Scriptural Teaching: Hebrews 4 (16:00–25:00)
• Illustration: The Parking Lot versus The Throne of Grace (21:46–29:00)
• Old Testament Access vs. New Testament Boldness (31:00–42:00)
• Addressing Guilt, the Role of Conscience (48:00–59:00)
• Assuring Our Hearts—1 John 3 (59:00–67:00)
• Corporate Guided Prayer (57:49–68:54)
• Healing Ministry: Shoulder Miracles (72:13–90:00)

Ministry & Miraculous Moments

Guided Corporate Prayer (57:49–68:54)

• Joel Siegel leads the congregation in a declaration, emphasizing faith-based identity:
  • “Father God, I’m so grateful…that your love caused you to send Jesus, that he died for me…” (58:00)
• Encouragement to receive and pray in the spirit. Prompt for those who have never spoken in tongues to step out in faith.

Healing Ministry—Physical Miracles (72:13–90:47)

• Joel ministers healing to attendees with shoulder pain and limited mobility.
  • “There’s an anointing here for that... I know you might not be able to raise your hand … but stand up if that’s you.” (72:13)
• Multiple testimonies: restored range of motion, immediate improvement, evident joy.
  • “Is that better than it was before? … What could you not do before? … None of that.” (74:00–76:00)
  • “He gets all the glory. My. Which … yeah, it’s already in you. It’s already jumped right in you when you walked up here. Go ahead, give movement to it.” (78:34)
  • “God is so good. Well, he’s not just a front-row God, right? I mean, he’ll get in the chair with you wherever you are.” (86:28)

Overall Tone & Takeaways

• Tone: Warm, humorous, encouraging, faith-building. Joel is transparent about personal struggles and persistent in pointing listeners to their identity in Christ and the sufficiency of His work.
• Takeaway: Every believer, regardless of background or past, is fully welcome and called to draw near to God with boldness—because of Christ’s righteousness, not their own. Guilt and inferiority are to be replaced by faith in the finished work and present access. Miracles and intimacy flow from this faith-filled approach.

For First-Time Listeners/Attendees

• If you’ve ever felt distant from God, or struggled with feelings of guilt in prayer, this episode offers both personal empathy and strong biblical teaching on confidently approaching God.
• The demonstrative healing ministry in the latter segment underscores that this is not merely doctrine—it is an invitation to practical, tangible experience with God.

Listen for:

• Encouraging, memorable analogies that make spiritual concepts relatable.
• Repeated scriptural affirmations about the blood of Jesus and our access to the throne.
• Lively, expectant ministry moments where miracles happen before listeners' eyes.

Relevant Scriptures Covered:

• Hebrews 4:14–16
• Hebrews 10:19–22
• Romans 8:1
• 1 John 3:18–22

Summary prepared for listeners seeking to apply the principles of intimate, confident prayer and living in the reality of Christ’s finished work.