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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Jesus Longs To Answer Prayer | Nancy Dufresne | Sunday's Online Service | 5.24.20
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Well, turn with me, if you would. I want you to go with me, if you would, in your Bibles to Psalm chapter 78. I'm going to do something maybe a little bit different sermon wise, just simply because there are some things that I want us to not let go of, some light, some revelation that God has brought in times past. And I want to rehearse those things. Several months ago, God spoke to me and he said, I want you to be sure that you tell more of the stories and testimonies of your life and of your husband. And the reason God wants us to continue to hold to and tell our testimony to others is because there are answers in our testimonies for other people lives. And testimonies are so important because we think, well, I need to hear the Word, but can I tell you this? The Word is a record of testimonies. What about the woman with the issue of blood? It was her testimony of healing that became God's Word. And he included that in the Holy Scriptures. Because we can look back at her testimony. No, all the circumstances may not be the exact same of our situation that it was in hers, but we can see truths revealed, we can see steps to be taken. And if we'll take the steps that she took, we'll get the results that she got. And so it's so important that we always continue to hold to and repeat testimonies. Now, not only repeating your own testimonies, but what about the testimonies of somebody else? If there's revelation in light in those testimonies, they should be held to. Just like the woman with the issue of blood. We often tell her testimony when we're believing for our own healing, when we're believing for our need for our own lives to be met, we will rehearse her testimony because revelation belongs to us no matter whose life it came through. And so today we're going to touch into some testimonies of the past. I want to read to you out of Psalms chapter 78 and verse 1 through 7, it says this, Give ear, O my people, to my law, so we could say to his Word, incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old. The amplified says that a parable is something that important truths are uttered through. So Jesus of course, taught by parables because tucked away in that parable was the answers that many of the multitudes that they would need to hear. And so he says, here, I will open my mouth in a parable and will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us. Now listen to this. Our fathers told us the word was recorded because somebody told somebody else. And it's so important that we tell it to those coming after us what God has already done for us. Now, verse four says, we will not hide them. What is these, these parables, these testimonies of God? We will not hide them from their children, but showing them to the generation to come, the praiseworthy, the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done. So God is telling us the things he's already done. We need to be talking about that. The things that he's worked in our lives and answered in our lives, we need to be talking about that because somebody else is going to hear their help in that story. Verse 5 says this. He established a testimony and appointed a law in Israel. Now notice he made this a law. It wasn't just a suggestion, it was a law. What did he make a law? He commanded our fathers that they should make known. They should make them known to their children. And the generation to come might know them. And even the children which should be born who should arise and declare them to their children, that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. So notice this. This says that God declared it a law that you have to take the praiseworthy deeds that God has already done in your life and pass them on to somebody else. Because in doing that, it says in verse, it says in verse seven, they will be able to set their hope in God. It's gonna affect their faith. It's going to affect what they believe. And so that's what God said to me. He said, I want you to make sure to share more stories and testimonies of your life and your husband's life, but not only that, of anybody's testimony that God has used in a strong way in our lives. I mean, I talk about dad Hagin's stories because he was our spiritual father. Those testimonies, Dr. Lester Sumrall was our pastor. We talk about his testimony. We don't let those things go because the revelations for everyone. And even though they're not here, the revelation still holds the answers we need. You know, people say, well, you know, those people, you know, they don't live here anymore. Well, the woman with the Issue of blood doesn't either. And we still rehearse what she received. All those that we talk about out of the word, Paul and Moses and all these different ones, they aren't here either. But the revelations, the light that came through their lives is still something we need. So I encourage you, go back, repeat over and over again the testimonies of what God has done in your family, in previous generations in your family. Maybe some of you have a great spiritual heritage to where you have grandfathers and grandmothers and mothers and aunts and uncles that God has moved through in strong ways. You need to hold to their testimonies because it's going to anchor you when you're faced with. With opposition. So I'm going to make sure that I share some of these things with you and keep them in front of you. Find your answer in them. I'm not just reliving a memory. I'm giving you a setting where revelation is held. You know, God said something to me years ago, a couple years ago, he said, what you rehearse, I repeat. So if we will tell it, he will repeat it. I remember maybe a year or so before my husband went home to be with the Lord. God spoke to him, and he said, you need to tell more about the time I paid off your building, because if you'll talk more about it, I'll do more of it. And so even though he went home to be with the Lord, I still talk about that because I want God to do more of that. So it's in keeping with what we read there in Psalm 78. Why does God want these things told to not only those around you, but to children, your children to come and future generations? Because God will repeat it. He will do and move in their lives. Maybe not in the exact same detail, but they'll all still receive their help and the answer they need. I was reading, and I so often go back to so many of Kenneth E. Hagin's books, because, of course, as I said, he was our spiritual father. And even though he's not here, the revelation that he brought is still alive and still working and moving in these materials. And so I constantly go back to them. And there are some of these that have stood out to me in a particular way. And I'm going to take a segment of time today in this service because I'm going to read a good portion of a chapter that was in the book. I believe in visions. So dad Hagin had a period of years that I believe it was eight times Jesus appeared to him over a period of seven years and talked to him. And dad Hagin recorded those experiences in the book called I believe in Visions. And so he has a chapter that. It's chapter five of that book, and the title of that is I have come to answer your prayer. So I'm going to read this passage, and then I'm going to take some time and teach on it, because this testimony holds answers for us. Dad Hagin writes. He says, at the close of my message one night in a service, a spirit of prayer descended upon the congregation, and we all gathered around the altar to pray. We prayed for quite some time. After a while, I got off my knees and sat on the steps to the platform. I was sitting there with my eyes open, singing in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance, when suddenly I saw Jesus standing about three feet in front of me. He said these words, I have come to answer your prayer. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I had been praying for some time for my wife, who had a goiter. It was growing larger and larger until now she was having choking spells. From the time we were first married, I had sensed in my spirit that my wife would die at an early age. Now, see, when he says that and he senses that, don't think that God was sentencing her to an early death. His spirit was picking up something of the spirit realm. And it wasn't God who authored that. And so he was perceiving that there was an assignment against her life so that she would die prematurely. So that's what he's sensing. It wasn't that God sentenced her to a premature death. He said I had sensed in my spirit that my wife would die at an early age. And I thought that perhaps this time was approaching. I prayed all that night. I prayed all one night about this and said to the Lord, I have obeyed you. I have done your will. I have left my church and my family and have been in the evangelistic field for many years. My wife has stayed at home and has been faithful to raise our children. I'm still a young man because at that time I was in my 30s and we had been married for many years. He said, please let me keep my wife. Well, how many of you know when he's saying that? He's not saying that God's going to take her from him. He's saying, help me to release my faith. Teach me what I can do, to cooperate with you so that my wife's life can be spared. So in this. So he knew that he's telling this is how he had prayed. So when Jesus showed up, he knew that Jesus was referring to this thing that he'd been talking to him about. So in the vision, the Lord said to me, I have come to answer that prayer. Tell your wife to be operated on, for she will live and not die. Although I hadn't mentioned it to my wife, I had felt all along that if she were operated on, she would die. She later told me that she had known for several years that she would die when she was operated on for that goiter. But the Lord said to me, she will live and not die according to the natural course of events. Without divine intervention, she would have died. But I have heard your prayers and I have come to answer them. She shall live. Then Jesus said something that absolutely melted me, and I've never been able to forget it. He said to me, I did this, son, just because you asked me to. You don't know how I long to do for my children if they would only ask me and believe me. Many times they beg, they cry, and they pray, but they don't believe. And I cannot answer their prayers unless they have faith. Because I cannot violate my word. But how often I long to help them if they would only let me by taking me at my word and bringing me their problems, trusting me to undertake for them Again. He said to me, tell your wife to be operated on. She will live and not die. And with those words, he disappeared. Even though the doctors were greatly concerned about my wife's condition, My wife and I had great joy through it all because we knew the outcome in advance. What a great testimony. Are you kidding? To let these things be forgotten. What is taught through this experience that dad Hagin had. Now, I want to take some time and I want to break this down because I want us to get more understanding of some of the things he said. So I'm going to bring out several different points. I'm going to read again this one paragraph especially, because this is. I'm going to point to other things. But this one paragraph stood out to me so much that I want us to camp on it for a little bit. Jesus said, I did this, son, just because you asked me to. You don't know how I long to do for my children if they would only ask me and believe me. Many times they beg and cry and pray, but they don't believe. And I cannot answer their prayers unless they have faith. Because I cannot violate my word. But how often I long to help them if only they would let me by taking me at my Word and bringing me their problems and trusting me to undertake for them. So let's go back to a few of these phrases he said. Jesus said, I long to do for my children if they will only ask and believe me. So know this. His longing to do for us shows his depth of interest. He's interested. He wants you to have every single need met. You know, sometimes we will, if I could say this, measure our needs. We'll call some more important than others. But you know what I've seen about God, those things that we would call least important, he still shows complete interest in. And I want you to know it's not just the big things in life. He's interested in every single, single facet of your life. I cannot begin to tell, just as I was raising my children when my children wanted something, how many times I saw God move in their behalf because he heard a child's request, you don't have to be an adult paying taxes with a driver's license and have your house falling apart before God takes notice. He longs to do for you over the big things and the little things. Because his longing is not just toward one facet of your life. His longing is toward every facet of your life, big and small. And so this is one of the things we need to meditate on and get real. If it pertains to me, he's interested. And that is so huge for you to understand. If it pertains to you, Jesus is interested in it. Don't you. Don't you dismiss him from something in your life because you think it's not big enough for his notice. He notices the big, he notices the small. And he wants to answer and help you in every single facet. So I love this phrase when he said to dad Hagin, I long to do for my children. Now notice this. If they would only ask me and believe me. So notice. He doesn't move for us just because we have a need. We have to ask. The Word says that God knows what we have need of even before we ask. But notice this. Just because he knows what we have need of, he won't move until we ask Him. The reason is, is he never intrudes into anyone's life uninvited. He will never move for you without your permission. He knows what you need. But just him knowing what you need does not mean he has your permission to help you. You know every unsaved person in the world. God knows what they need, but he cannot force salvation on them. Of course, he makes it available to Them it's available to everyone, but he will not force it, although that's their greatest need. You can have a great need, but if you don't ask, he will not force his answer on you. And this is huge for you to understand because people will sit back and think, well, he knows I have need of it. He'll just give me the answer. Not if we don't ask. What did James say? James made this statement. He said, we have not because we ask. Not. So notice this. Just because you have a need does not give God permission. Now don't misunderstand me. He longs to fill that need. But he doesn't have your permission unless you ask Him. And asking is one way you release your faith in his ability to provide for your need. So Jesus said to dad Hagin, I long to do for my children if they would only ask me and believe. So listen to this. We not only have to have a need, we also have to have faith. Everyone in the world has a need, but not everyone gets their need answered. It's not enough to have a need. You have to have faith. Because Jesus doesn't answer needs, he answers faith. And that is so huge for people to understand. People, their religious mind will sit back and think, well, I have a need. So he'll answer me. He answers. He doesn't answer needs. He answers. And this is what he said to dad Hagin, I long to do for my children if they would only ask and believe. Now I want to remind you, what does it say over? In Mark 11:24, Jesus made a statement, Mark 11:24, therefore I say unto you what things soever you desire, when you pray, believe. Couldn't we say it this way? When you ask, believe. Because in prayer you're asking something many times. So he says, when you pray, believe. So notice Bible praying is always joined with believing. If it's not joined with faith, it's not Bible praying. It's just emotional praying. It might be, you know, just a natural man praying, but Bible praying always has faith joined with it. And this is one thing he reiterated when he appeared to dad Hagin. He said, I long to do for my children, but if they would only ask me and believe. So that's what Mark 11:24 tells us. Now notice dad Hagin had a need for his wife's healing, but if he hadn't released faith, she would have never been healed just because she had that need. And you may have a need, but if we don't release our faith, we still won't receive our need met. Jesus went on and said to dad Hagin, he said, I long to do for my children if they would only ask and believe. But notice the next phrase. He said, but many times they beg, they cry and they pray. So see, now notice, prayer is a spiritual act, but it's not a Bible act if it doesn't have faith joined to it. Bible praying has faith connected here. He's rebuking the kind of behavior that won't get his help because he can't give help to people that just beg, cry and pray. Now they're praying, but they're begging. They're not believing, they're crying. What's he talking about? They're in their emotional arena. You know, you can feel really strongly about something. But just because you cried doesn't mean he heard you. You have to have faith. Just because you cry doesn't mean he's going to move for you. He said. He told dad Hagin, I cannot violate my word. What's his word? That when you pray, you believe. You have to believe. Why? Because crying is not faith. Now, there have been times, and I've seen this in my husband's healing ministry. I see it in my own ministry when I'm on the road traveling. Sometimes people will come into our services. They haven't been taught the Word. Some have. They know how to come and receive when you're having a healing line. Others don't know. Maybe that's their first service. And you'll see them. They'll come up in the line and they're just. They're crying. But you can tell it's not out of faith. It's not out of expectation. It's out of desperation. They are so afraid. If this doesn't work, I'm at the end of my rope. If I see someone crying like that, I've got to stop them from crying because I can't get the anointing into that. I've got to bring them into a place of faith because it's believing that the anointing can enter into our need. But if they're crying, they're in desperation. You can tell they're overworked emotionally. They're just crying because maybe they've gotten a bit bad report. I'm not making light of that, but I just know this. Jesus said they beg, they cry and they pray. But he says, but I can't help them. See, it's not begging, it's not crying. It's believing. And so we have to make sure that even if, you know, I'm not saying that everyone who cries is in unbelief. But I'm saying if you're not careful, you can be in the emotional arena, a mental arena, and you can get overworked and you can wail. But I tell you, just big crying will not be the release of faith. And this is what Jesus was correcting and pointing out. Believe that God's power goes to work for you the moment you pray. That's what he means in Mark 11:24. What things ever you desire when you pray, believe. What are you going to believe? You're going to believe the moment I released my faith, power started moving in my behalf. You don't have to believe that the answer manifests. You have to believe the power began working in your behalf. God's not asking you to believe that something has manifested that hasn't, but he is saying that you have to believe that power is working on your need. And if you'll keep that switch of faith turn on, before long it will manifest, it will show up in the natural. You believe in the spirit realm, you lay hold of it with the hand of faith. You believe that you believe it's completed in the spirit realm. I mean, when you release your faith, you are so certain I'm healed. It's not because my body shows me, but because my faith in God's word assures me you're not. Even though it hasn't manifested, you can still believe that the power is working. Right now it's working in my behalf, it's working to get the finances I need, it's working on my children that are away from God. It's working in my body, it's working in my home. The moment you put the moment you release your faith, you have to believe that power goes into action for you at that moment. Now you need to understand this. God's power can be felt, but God's power can be unfelt. If you don't feel power, you don't have to wait to feel power before you believe power's working. Faith believes that the power of God is working even when you don't feel anything. So this is what Jesus was basically saying, is that people, because when they beg and they cry, they don't feel anything, so nothing happens. Well, you have to believe whether you feel anything or not, that power is working the moment you release your faith. And I don't know about you, but to me that's comforting that I don't have to wait to feel something before I believe that God's power goes to work for me. Now, dad Hagin went on and made. Excuse me. Jesus went on and made this statement to dad Hagin in this experience. He said, I did this just because you asked me to notice this. We don't have to earn his help. We get his help at the asking. It's available for the asking. We're not earning his help. And this is where a lot of people miss out on receiving their help because they think they have to earn something from God. It's available for the asking, not for the earning. We don't have to beg and cry. And as I said, as James said, we have not because we ask not. And then it goes on. And it says here, he made this statement to dad Hagin. He said, how often I long to help him them if they would only let me. Ah, they don't realize begging and crying, getting into the emotional arena is not letting him. He said, I long to help them if they will only let me. Then he tells us how we let him help us if they would let me. By taking me at my word, bringing me their problems. That means not worrying about them. If you're bringing him your problems, you tell to him what is on your heart. You tell him what you're facing and you say, father, I thank you for undertaking for me. Jesus, thank you for undertaking me. So I'm going to leave it in your hands. And from here on out, I'm just going to thank you that you're working on it. That's called letting him. You don't take it back if you start worrying you're taking that back, back from his hands. So we let him by taking him at his word. You know, dad Hagin used to make this statement. He said when something would. A big problem would come up and people would say to him, what are we going to do about this? What are we going to do about this? He said, we're just going to act like the word is true. What's he mean? We're going to take God at his word. We're going to believe that whatever God says is, is. We're going to take him at his word. So let's let Jesus help. He wants, and he longs to help you no matter what your situation is, but he needs your cooperation. He cannot work in our behalf without our faith. And our faith is simply us giving him permission to work. I don't know about you, but this thrills me. He longs to help me. Amen. Receive his help by releasing your faith in that. Amen. Hallelujah. So we're talking about an experience that dad Hagin had. Dad Hagin was facing a situation in his life where his wife was going. She needed an operation to be operated on. And I tell this story of Kenneth Hagin because he's our spiritual father, and there's answers in these testimonies. And that I want to get into your life. And his wife, years ago, when they were in their 30s, she was diagnosed with a Gordon. It needed to be operated on. But he said he sensed in his spirit that if she had the operation, she would die. She sensed the same thing. So he's praying for her that endeavoring to exercise his faith over that situation so that that situation can be turned around. And Jesus appeared to dad Hagin on one occasion. After him praying about this situation, Jesus appeared to dad Hagin. And I want to read this section again to you. And then we're going to address some of the other things that Jesus said to him in this vision that Jesus had. Now, this is recorded in dad Hagin's book, I believe in visions. It's under chapter five. But Jesus said to dad Hagin, he says, I've come to answer your prayers, meaning to rescue his wife from a premature death. And then Jesus said, I did this, son, just because you asked me to. You don't know how I long to do for my children. If they would only ask me and believe. Many times they beg and cry and pray, but they don't believe. And I keep. I cannot answer their prayers unless they have faith because I cannot violate my word. But how often I long to help them if they would only let me by taking me at my word and bringing me their problems, trusting me to undertake for them. So we see this. Jesus longs to help us, but unless we release our faith, he can't help us. Our faith is us giving him permission. And so he said, if they would let me help. Letting him help means, number one, taking him at his word. And then he said, also bringing me their problems. Don't take your problem to your spouse and dump it on them. Don't take your financial problem to your boss and dump it on them. How many times people will. They'll run into a financial problem and they'll try to go to the boss and put pressure on them to get a raise. Well, as Christians, we need to be putting our pressure on the Word, not on people. The pressure. You put pressure on the Word, you release your faith on the Word. I tell you what, the Word will come through for you. And so many times people don't take their problems to God, they take their problems to their spouse, they take their problem to their boss, they take their problem to relatives and look to their relatives to bail them out. And when they do, they say, God's not helping me because we haven't taken our problem as we ought to Him. And so we are so used to discussing them and conversing and telling it over and over. And if I could say this, it's a danger to be someone who vents all the time, meaning you tell the problem over and over. You've already told them, but you're telling them second time and you're telling them a third time. Venting is not faith. Venting means you haven't taken it to God yet. When you take it to God, you leave it there and say, he's working on it. He's working on it. And worry is you taking it back from him, back into your own hands. So this is why Jesus said, I long to do for my children, but I can't because they won't let me. They won't give it to him and then walk off and leave it with Him. Now, once you give it to him, once you lay your need on him and you say, I cast this care on you. I bring this need before you, I expect you to meet it. You walk off and it's not. You're not ever worried about that need. But from then on, you still have to have faith. You still have to expect. And this is what you're saying, father, I thank you. You're working on it. The answer's mine now. I thank you that that power is working in my behalf. So although we drop and leave our need with him, we. We keep praise in our mouth. It's so important. You can't just be mindless. You can't walk off and forget it and never talk to him about it again. You have to continue bringing it before him in praise. Not in request, but in praise. And so this is what he said. I long to help them if they'll only let me. And then he tells us how to let him, by taking me at my word, believe that what he says is true. Number two, bringing me their prayer problems. Number three, trusting me to undertake so we can lay in bed at night and go to sleep going, while I'm sleeping, he's working. While I'm sleeping, he's working on that business deal. While I'm sleeping, he's working on that part of my body that hasn't been working right. While I'm sleeping, he's Working on my wayward children. That's what it means. Believe that he's undertaking. And so this is why Jesus said why many aren't receiving what they should receive. Worry is a sign that you're not letting him help you. He wants to help you. He longs to. Years ago, my husband and I were in St. Petersburg, Russia, preaching to a precious congregation there and several ministers. There were probably about 15 ministers or so that were with us. They traveled with us over there. And it was my night to preach. And I preached a sermon called the Sin of Worry. So many people don't really recognize that worry is a sin. They think it's an option, but it's a sin. Why? Because Jesus said, take no thought for your life. That's worry. He's saying, don't worry about your life. Take no thought for what you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, what you're going to, clothes you're going to put on. In Matthew chapter six, he states that, so I'm teaching on this that night, on the sin of worry. I sit back down after my sermon, and this holy reverence comes over the whole congregation. There's probably about 900 people or so in that service that night. And I mean, the entire building went perfectly quiet. My husband had always taught me, usually when there comes that holy reverence in a service like that, he said, usually it's because Jesus has come into the service. I mean, that he has himself walked in. Well, we got up and we closed the service, but that reverence was still there. And so we walked out of the sanctuary. We went downstairs to where they had the hospitality room. As we're walking down the stairs, one of the ministers that's with us starts crying profusely. So we go into the hospitality room. We're sitting there, and this minister comes up to me and said, pastor Nancy, while we were walking down the stairs, he said jesus was standing there at the stairway. He said tears were running down his cheeks. And he said, how I long to do for my people, but they won't let me because they're worried. And he said, worry is the primary reason that keeps me people from receiving my blessings. Now, see, that he was weeping shows his intent, his intense longing. You know how heartbreaking it is to a parent when they see their child going the wrong direction, struggling and suffering. And a parent walks up and says, I can tell you how to quit this problem. I can tell you the answer to this. And they think, nope, I know it all. They won't listen that parent goes away heartbroken sometimes, probably weeping because they know they're going to have to learn the hard way. They won't listen. When you don't listen, you don't receive help. Listen to His Word. Let him work for you. And as a parent, you can get so disappointed that your children won't allow you to help. How? That's what Jesus feels, a longing to help. And tears were running down his face because he longed to help. But as long as we're worrying, we're basically saying, I'm working on it, not you. I'm trying to fix it. I don't trust you can. And this is what Jesus told Dad Hagin. He said, how I long to help them if they'll only let me. Just know this. Every time you worry, you quit letting him help them. You so worry's a sin. Then we say we're done with it. How do you know if you're worrying if you're thinking about it? So it's so important to have a disciplined thought life because an undisciplined thought life can keep him from helping you. If you're worrying, he can't help now. If he said that, let him undertake now. Notice first, Peter 5. 7 says, casting the whole of your care, all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns once and for all on him. For he cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. What's he mean, once and for all? That means if you have this financial need, let's say you need $5,000 and you need it immediately. Instead of worrying about it, wringing your hands about it, talking about it over and over at the dinner table, you take it to him and it says here, it says, you cast it on him once and for all. What's that mean? Once you give it to him, don't walk off and pick it back up. You take it to him and you leave it there once and for all. Don't pick it back up again and start handling again. Because anytime you take it back through worry, through having a dinner conversation about it, what you're doing is you're not letting him help you. And his longing goes unsatisfied and your need goes unmet. So it's so important that we're going to cast that care over on him. Because if it's in his hands, he can work on it. If it's in our hands, he can't work on it. How many times can you help somebody fix something when they're the ones holding it? You cannot. If somebody needs your help, they've got to put it in your hands. I mean, an item, let's say somebody broke something and you can put it back together, you can maybe glue it, whatever, take steps to put it back together. But if they won't get it out of their hands and put it in yours, you can't help them. That's what Jesus is saying. People don't let me because they keep it in their hands. So I'm going to tell you this. If you cast a care over on the Lord, the devil's going to tempt you with that worry to take it back. So what do you do? You have to answer that and say, no, I put it in his hands and he's working on it. He's working on it and I'm going to let him work on it. I'm not going to take it back and keep him from working on it by me worrying about it. Now that's one of the main points in that passage that I wanted you to get out of that testimony that dad Hagin got that Jesus longs to help, but if we're not in faith, we hinder him from being able to help us. Now another thing that Jesus said when he appeared to dad Hagin about his wife's condition, Jesus first, when the first thing he said to him, he said, I have come to answer your prayer. So notice this, Jesus showed up and worked in response to dad Hagin's prayer. What if he hadn't prayed? What if he had just gone to the doctor? What if they had just gone to relatives, gone to just people, other people's counsel? What if he hadn't talked to God about it? So notice this, Jesus didn't show up because he had a need. Jesus showed up because dad Hagin talked to him. How important so many people are in the habit of talking to other people about the problem and not talking about to God about it. So Jesus said, I've come to answer your prayer. Notice this, Jesus did not initiate the rescue for dad Hagin's wife. Dad Hagin initiated it. Jesus might not have ever said anything to him about it. So many times people think, well, God knows I have a need. Absolutely he knows you have a need. But just because he knows you have a need does not mean he's gonna make a step toward your answer. You have to talk to him and release your faith. He said, I've come to answer your prayer. He didn't say, I've come to answer your need. He said, I've come to answer your prayer. So don't. Sometimes it's so easy that we can be thinking about a need that we have so much that we realize, hey, I haven't even prayed about this. I've just thought about it and I've conversed about it and I've told everybody I know about it. But we have to make sure we talk to him about it. Because dad Hagin prayed about his wife's condition, Jesus was able to intervene. Jesus wants to intervene when people pray. There are many things that can be changed. He's letting you know. He was letting us know through dad Hagin's experience because you prayed now something can be changed. Don't just accept things as they are. Sometimes they can be changed. If you'll talk to God about it, if you'll pray about it, things can be changed. Amen. And I would say this. Our faith will work further than we ever dreamed it will work. It can accomplish more than we ever realize it can accomplish. And dad Hagin did not just pray about the and then walk off and forget it. Dad Hagin kept bringing it before God. Not in worry, but in faith. Expecting God to intervene, expecting Jesus to do something. Now this is a really unique experience in this sense of that. Jesus appeared to dad Hagin. Most of us are not going to have that. But if we'll pay attention to what Jesus said when he did appear to dad Hagin, then we'll know how he'll respond to us if we will do what he did and said in his word. Mark 11:24. What things, soever you desire when you pray, believe, believe. That's exactly what dad Hagin did. He kept bringing it to God in faith, talking to God about this situation that he knew in his spirit his wife was going to die prematurely if she had this operation on her goiter. He's trying to get that changed. He keeps talking to God about it. Quit accepting things when they can be changed. If they can be changed, get them changed. Don't wait for God to change it. God's allowing you to initiate that change. He invited dad Hagin to basically initiate that change by just saying that healing belongs to us. He didn't have a special word from God. If you'll talk to me about it, I'll rescue your wife. God didn't even say, say anything to him about the wife. Dad Hagin was the first one that brought it up before God. So many times people are sitting back and waiting for God to bring it up and he's waiting for you to bring it up. If it means Something to you, bring it up. And so this is what Jesus said. I've come to answer your prayer. Could I say this? Many times, people quit too soon. They quit too soon. They quit if something doesn't change. They just give up on it or accept it. Dad Hagin would not accept. Now, he sensed for years that his wife was going to die prematurely, but he wouldn't accept that. No, it's not God who was going to allow her to die. He just knew there was an assignment against her life that the devil had formed. And he knew that anything that anything we're going to receive help from God on, we're going to have to release faith. What was that situation? Waiting for someone's faith to show up to get that thing changed. And so dad Hagin's faith showed up when something needs changing. Don't give up, don't quit too soon. Now the next point that dad Hagin tells in this experience is that when Jesus showed up and said, I've come to answer your prayer. Dad Hagin then stated what his prayer had been. His prayer was, father, I've obeyed you. I'm traveling, I'm preaching. I've left my family to travel and carry out your will. My wife has paid a price. She stayed at home raising our children. But basically what he said this, I've obeyed you and done your will. Notice this if we're in disobedience. It's going to be real hard to plead your case with God when you have a need, if you don't really care what God's will is for your life. And then all of a sudden a need shows up and now you want your need met, but you still don't want to fulfill his will. You're going to have problems with your faith working. Faith works when you're in obedience, not when you're in disobedience. So dad Hagin was pleading his case. In Isaiah, chapter 43, verse 26, it says this put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Declare thou that thou mayest be justified. So notice this. Dad Hagin was telling us that his prayer was he was pleading his case with God. He said, God, I sense that my wife is going to die prematurely. He said, but I've obeyed you. I've carried out your will. So what is he saying? When you're walking in line with the word of God, you have a right to have the benefits of that word moving in your life. Now, I would say this. If a need shows up, you're going to need your faith to work to get that need met, the first thing before you start praying is double check yourself. Am I obeying God's will for my life? Because faith will not work where there's disobedience. We have to be obeying the will of God. I remember dad Hagin telling also a story one time. He was telling about how he was awakened one night in the middle of the night. His son was in the military. And dad Hagin was awakened in the middle of the night and he sensed that God had woke him up because he sensed that his son's life was in danger. So he started praying. And his son later told how his life was supernaturally divinely rescued. Rescued because dad Hagin prayed after he prayed and that his son's life was spared and rescued God spoke to him and said, if you had not obeyed my will for your life, I could not have intervened and rescued your son. Now notice this. God wants to rescue people. He wants to help. But when they're in disobedience, their faith won't work. And if their faith isn't working, then he has no entrance into that situation. It's not that he says, okay, you obey me, so I'll help you. You don't obey me, so I won't help you. It's not that. It's that when we obey, our faith works and he can help. When someone is not obeying what God's told them to do, their faith doesn't work right. And so they're trying to get help. They want help. But sometimes we have to adjust some things so our help can come. And I'm not saying you have to be perfect in everything. I'm saying your heart has to be toward God. Your heart has to. I want to obey God. Yes. No. Everything might not be in place in my life, but my heart is in place. My heart is. I want to do right before God in my spirit. I want God's best for my life. When you're that way, faith can flow, you see. So if you have a need in your life, just double check and make sure that your heart is in agreement, your spirit is in agreement with his will for your life. Because dad Hagin had said, he said, God, I've obeyed you. Therefore he could come boldly and ask for his wife's healing. You see, it's very difficult to be bold before the throne when you know you're not obeying God, when you know you're in disobedience to what he's told you to do. How are you going to come Boldly and say, I need. I believe you for my body to be healed. Or I believe you for finances. How are you gonna do that when you know you're in disobedience? Your own conscience will cause you to draw back. And when your conscience is not clean before God because maybe you haven't been obeying God, your faith is gonna be hindered. Your conscience has to be clear. For your faith to be bold. It must. You must have a clear conscience. That means you must know on the inside of you, I'm doing all I know to do to obey God. No, I'm not perfect at it. No, I don't do it. All right? But my heart is perfect toward it. I'm constantly reaching. I'm constantly addressing myself to cooperate with God. Now, the next thing that I want you to see in dad Hagin, in telling this story out of this book, I believe in visions in, and it's in chapter five. God said to Jesus, said to dad Hagin when he appeared, he said, she will live and not die. He said, tell her to be operated on. She will live and not die. Now, I want you to see this. Jesus appeared to dad Hagen. The natural person would think, well, why don't you just heal her? Well, why are you telling me to have her operated on? Well, see, dad Hagin was. What he had prayed about was that she wouldn't die prematurely. It doesn't say he was believing for her healing. He was praying for her life to be rescued. Now, where Mom Hagin, we don't know. Maybe her faith was toward the operation. That was a victory for their faith to be operational because they sensed in their spirits that if she was operated on, she would die. So it took faith to be operated on. Right. Jesus told them, tell her to go ahead and be operated on. She will live and not die. So notice this. If he said, tell her to be operated on, she will live and not die, they couldn't decide, well, you know what? I'm just going to believe that we won't have to have the operation. That's not what Jesus said. You have to do it the way Jesus told you. So it's so important to not decide the way you want him to rescue you. Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that everyone has to be operated on. I'm saying you have to. What is God leading you to do? Because he's gonna lead you based on what your faith can grab hold of. So don't try to change what you have in your heart that he's telling you to do. He said, tell her to be operated on. She'll live and not die. Well, what if they decide you. You know something? We're just going to believe for her to be healed divinely. We're not going to have the operation. She would have died because he said, tell her to be operated on, she will live and not die. And what a great testimony we got out of that. What help we receive. Amen. So he was guiding her and he was guiding them in how they were to respond to this. And I love dad Hagin said, when she had the operation, he said, even though the doctors were greatly concerned about my wife's condition, my wife and I had great joy because we already knew the outcome in advance. Thank God for knowing the outcome in advance. That's what the Holy Ghost will do. He will show us things to come. Why? So that we can know. Do you know the Word is showing you the outcome in advance? When the Word says, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches. And he's showing you the outcome in advance. Anything. When the Spirit speaks specifically to you and tells you what to do, he is showing you the outcome in advance, you will have to hold to that outcome so that you will not be swayed by what you're going to face. They were facing the doctor's report, they were facing her surgery, but they were holding to wait. Jesus said, she'll live and not die. So you hold what the Word tells you. You hold to what the Holy Spirit shows you. And when you do, you can face any troubling opposition untroubled. Amen. I want to pray for you right now, right where you're at. Many of you have needs. This is being aired all over the world. So many different needs are represented. Let's do what dad Hagin did. Let's take in faith our request to God. So Father, I lift up these precious people. So many different needs represented. And Father, I join my faith with them that right now, right where they're at, as they voice their need to you, I release my faith with them. And Father, we all come releasing our faith, not just speaking our need. Yes, we make our need known, but we release our faith and we believe you for the needs in their lives to receive divine help, divine answers. We thank you. We ask you and expect you to show them what they need to know, that they hear what they need to hear, that they see what they need to see. That the revelation and the light of the Word that they may need, that it comes to them. I Release my faith with them. And I speak to their bodies. I speak to pain. You leave in Jesus name. From the top of their head to the soles of their feet. I speak to pain to leave your body in Jesus name. Someone's being healed right up the back of your neck. If you'll just move that neck around. I mean, not just. Not timidly, not cautiously. Just move that. Just move that neck around. Power's working. There's somebody else that. Your knee is being healed right now. Somebody else. Your elbow's being healed right now. Give action to that anointing. We're not checking to see if it worked. We're giving action to it. Hallelujah. I speak to those bound by fear. You be free in Jesus name. Those that you're tormented in your mind. I speak peace. In Jesus name, Satan, you take your hands off their mind. And in Jesus name. And right where you're at, if that applies to you, say, father, I receive it. I release my faith. You long to help me and I let you help me. Let him help you by believing. He's working. Power is working right now. There's somebody else. He's working right now on your children, grown children that are wayward from God. They're away from God. His power is around them. He's working with them. Receive it. Believe it. Just say, father, I thank you. Instead of worrying about them. Say, I thank you that you're working your powers around my children. In Jesus name. We believe in the power of God. Hallelujah. We believe in the power of God. Father, we're so grateful. We are so grateful. We're so grateful. Somebody's been having problems back in their throat area, in the back part, the back part, right at the upper. At the top part of the neck, but right at the back of the mouth, right in there, all the way back. Somebody's been having ongoing problems. Every bit of that's going right now. Just receive that. Let him work by believing, by releasing your faith. Hallelujah. Somebody else. Your hips have been misaligned and it's caused you a lot of difficulty. Those hips are being realigned right now. In Jesus name. Every bit of that problem is leaving. And you've really suffered extreme excruciating pain because of it. It's caused pain up the back. It's caused pain down the legs because it's thrown off the whole skeletal structure. It's been completely misaligned. And I'm seeing that. I'm perceiving that it's not just a slight misalignment. It is a major misalignment. All that pain goes now. Every bit of that. Every bit of that is made right now. Father, we're so grateful. Thank you so much. We receive it in faith. We believe it. We release our faith. Father, these precious people. Jesus, you're not. You don't. You don't show preference to anyone. Just as you showed up and stood in front of dad Hagin, you said how much you long to do for your children. You didn't just long to do for dad Hagin. You didn't just long to do for Mom Hagin. You longed to do for each and every one of us. And we respond to that longing. No more will we beg. No more will we cry out of emotionalism. No more will we pray without releasing faith. Faith. But we release our faith. We pray, believing. And we thank you that your power is working right now. No matter what is going on in our lives. No matter what's going on in our families, Father, we will go to sleep tonight trusting your undertaking. That while we sleep, your power is working. While. While we sleep, your power is healing our bodies. While we sleep, your power is working in our behalf financially. Causing money, causing business deals, causing customers, causing divine ideas to come. They don't come through worry. They come through trusting. And we say it is our pure joy to trust you. We love your word. We. We trust your word. We hold to your word. And it is our best year yet. We examine ourselves, are we in our faith? And we say, yes sir, we are. Right now we pick ourselves up and we get in our faith. Even if we haven't been in our faith, we're in it right now. We choose to move forward in faith. We release our faith. And we thank you Father, that you're working in our behalf. Father, thank you for this testimony that dad Hagin recorded on our behalf. We see our help and our answers in it. We thank you. We thank you for our help. We thank you for our answers that you're just waiting for our faith. As your word says, this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. So we know this. Our victory is waiting for our faith to show up. So we say today our faith shows up. Right now our faith shows up and we lay hold of our help and answers in Jesus name. We thank you. So right where you're at, get up and do something you couldn't do with your body. Even if I didn't call it out. Release your faith for healing. To operate in that part your body, just put that part of the body to work. You know, Jesus, he was in the temple and there was a man with a withered hand. He said, stretch forth your hand. And when the man did, it says his hand was made whole. It didn't say his hand was made whole, and he stretched it forth. It said he stretched it forth and it was made whole. Notice the order. As the man went to act, the wholeness met him. It wasn't made whole. And then him acted on that wholeness. He acted and then the wholeness met that act. So what I'm saying is, no matter what's been hurting, what's been causing you difficulty in your body, get up and act. Move it. You say, well, I did that just a minute ago and nothing happened. Keep doing it every day. Do it all throughout the day. Violate that thing. Just keep moving it. Just keep moving it. Because that man believe that powers work in the whole time. Power doesn't have to be felt. Power can be unfelt. Just believe it. The moment you believe, power immediately starts working every time, every time, every time. You release your faith. God starts working every time, every single time. And that's what you need to. That's what you need to know and believe and hold to. Hallelujah. Power is available. Help is available. Praise the Lord. We trust you've enjoyed this message. 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