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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Praying The Word, Part One | Nancy Dufresne | Prayer Conference 2021 | Murrieta, CA
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Nancy Dufresne
Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Turn with me tonight to Ephesians Chapter one. Ephesians, Chapter one. And we've seen that God is in these meetings taking us back to the basics. And I. I want you to know we never outgrow the basics. We never spiritually develop beyond the basics, because the basics are our foundation for advancement. And so we revisit them because it's necessary to go further, to know that our foundation can support going further. You know, when they build a home and they pour that foundation, every time that home changes hands, that foundation is reexamined. And you don't buy a home, a bank won't fund a home, that the foundation hasn't been evaluated because the home is no better than the foundation. And I tell you what, we never get beyond the basics. Yes, God will bring us into more, but it's the foundational truths that support all of that. And so we're thankful for the opportunity to go back and revisit our foundation and make sure that those basics are in place. Amen. And that they're fortified. We were talking last night, and we went off of it, and I'll just quote it to you, but we started with John 17:8, when Jesus said, for I have given unto them the words that thou gave us me. And they received them. And we talked about the importance of those words because Jesus gave us words while he was on the earth. God gave us words through the Old Testament prophets and those who. Moses, and the different ones that told the people the mind of God and wrote that. So we had those words. Then Jesus came and brought words. But after Jesus left, words weren't done. He gave words. In the epistles, we have further recording of the words. And so when we. The more we look at those words and study those words, the more we'll move into Amen. And so, as we're doers of these words, they bring results. And the words have to be mixed with something. They have to be mixed with faith in them that hear them. Amen. And so it's not just showing up that makes the words work. It's mixing something, mixing our faith. So when we look in the epistles, we find scattered throughout prayers, Paul, recorded prayers, different ones, recorded prayers. And these are words. These are words that were given us not by Jesus, but. Or through Jesus, but by Jesus, through these men. And so we must treat them as we would treat any other words that Jesus spoke, right? And so the more we pray these prayers that are recorded in the New Testament, the more light we're going to get about what those prayers hold for us and hold for those that we pray them for. And we don't have to come up with a more unique, special wording than what is already recorded. Now, don't misunderstand me. We will always pray things that the Spirit gives us in prayer, but we should always begin with the recorded prayers of the epistles, because that's the launching pad for greater utterance in prayer. Amen. So I want us to look it came into my heart for us to look at these prayers because people will veer from praying these if they don't understand what's in them. They'll just think that they just sound like, you know, a foreign formal way of speaking, you know, especially if you're reading a King James. And so people will depart from praying these and they get away from the meat of what the words that Jesus gave us through these men who recorded the prayers that we want to make sure we're addressing in our prayer life. So Ephesians chapter one, and I'm going to read this passage, then we'll go back and look at the verses individually. Ephesians 1:15. And Paul, of course, writing says, wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe. And then he goes on and tells us what that power worked. What did that power work? It raised Jesus from the dead, seated him above, far above all principality and power. So it's talking about resurrection, power, throne, seating power. And so let's go back to verse 16, and I want us to just tear this apart and let's look at what is the weight of what these words carry. And the first phrase in verse 16, he said, I cease not to give thanks for you. This is huge to having your heart engaged in praying for someone. Be thankful for them. Be thankful for the privilege of praying for them. One of the things and Pastor Debbie and I were talking about it, Pastor Debbie Simons and I were talking about it today just Quickly touching on it. And we were talking about that. Paul was talking about that those who are widows are to give themselves to prayer. Why? Because without certain distractions, there is a place you can move into that the body of Christ needs, the earth needs, and it's your prayers. And I told her, I was telling her about Sister Carmen Lively, who is Dede and Stephanie's mom, and she was part of this congregation. And she went home to be with the Lord. She stepped over there, and when she got there, Ed was there and he said to her, it's not time for you to come yet. And she argued with him. She said, but I want to stay. And he said, no, it's not time for you to come. And she kept arguing. And so Jesus stepped up and he said to her, I want you to go back and I want you to pray. And these are. He gave her three things specifically to pray. And number one, and these are things I pray because this is what Jesus told her. If it worked for her, it'll work for me. And he said, I want you to pray that the congregation would get it. They'd just get it. What's that mean? That they'd get who they are, what they have, and what they can do in Christ, who they are in Christ. They would get it. And said, second, I want you to pray that they would be in unity. And third, I want you to pray that the revelations that belong to this era would come. See, Jesus was sending her back for the honor of praying. And so anyway, so she did come back. And she. She lived a short time after that. Then she went home to. To heaven. But we see this, the honor of getting to pray. And he said, Paul said, I cease not to give thanks for you. Thanks. Think about it. This shows the mindset that we should hold toward one another. Thankful. Thankful that we get to be in the body together. Amen. Paul was grateful for the people that God had joined to his life. He was grateful that they received what God had given him. And he recognized they. The place that they held in his life simply because God is the one who connected them. When God connects you, it doesn't matter whether their personality suits you or not. It's not about personality. It's about a divine connection. We may not be best buddies and hang out every Friday night, but you are still joined to my life. And I'm thankful for that. And I honor that. And I will not abuse and misuse the that and vent on you and get upset with you and just go talk against you. And no, I Cease not to give thanks for you. And this is how his mindset in his heart started in lifting them up. Gratitude for them. Not gratitude for what they could do for him, but gratitude for them. For think of it. The greatest people in the earth are God filled people. And we sit among that. We fellowship among that. We're joined to that. And that needs to mean something to us. The greatest people you could be around in life, it's not the people who know their profession the best. The people who have the most money, the great greatest people to be around are God filled people. God filled people. God filled people. Those who are temples of the Holy Ghost. Amen. That means we regard one another not because you're perfect, but because you're God filled. God lives in you and yet that makes your value immeasurable. And so we're grateful for you. Amen. Praise the Lord. So when God directs you to a local church, he is directing you to a company, a congregation of God filled people. And you need to be grateful that you have a belonging there. Heaven knows where you fit best. Heaven knows where you will hear what your life needs. That's why he directs us in what church to attend. And when God directs us there, we need to be grateful. And we're not fault finding there. We're not critical there. We are thankful to be there. Amen. And we don't treat that place lightly. We honor and we value and protect that place in our life. When God directs us somewhere, we're not authorized to dismiss that direction. We can't decide, well, I don't like that church. I'm going to go this church. You know why people don't like where God put them? They weren't grateful. They weren't grateful that God found a place that they fit. And we are fitly joined together. That means you will only be joined where you fit. And God is the one who directs your fitting. Not only that, Paul started the prayer. I cease not to give thanks for you. That's a flow of love that will keep our. That will keep us in the love walk flow. Right. Congregations are to be thankful for one another and for the privilege of congregating with others who love what you love and honor what you honor. Because at work they don't. At your workplace they don't. So don't be impressed with people who make money who don't love what you love and don't honor what you honor. There's a difference between them and the body. Amen. Don't give more respect and honor to your boss. Than you give to one another in the body of Christ. Yes. Respect your boss. I'm not saying don't. I'm saying that the highest respect, the highest honor belongs among God's people. Amen. Be grateful for where you belong. The earth is full of people who don't care about you. These people care about you, and that needs to matter to you. And you don't dismiss it because you got touchy over something or got your feelings hurt. Amen. The earth is full of people. They don't care, and they would violate you in a moment to get something for themselves. Amen. I don't care for the phrase I got hurt in that church. I don't care for that phrase because every one of us are growing, every one of us are developing, and every one of us could be hurt if we wanted to just because we've got flesh. But when you're grateful for people, you're not easily hurt by them, no matter how they may misspeak. If you will understand someone's heart, you can overlook wrong, natural things. You know, you better learn that that's the only way you'll stay in a marriage. You have to understand someone's heart, because people can say things in a marriage to one another that really isn't representative of their heart. But when you know their heart, you overlook things and you dismiss and you just keep going. You remember those of you that are married, remember when you first got married and your first argument was, oh, my.
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Pastor Noel
Gosh, he said this. He doesn't care.
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Nancy Dufresne
She said that she didn't notice. You know, all this stuff. And by the 30th year, you go, what? You're so practiced at ignoring what doesn't matter because you know that in their heart, you fit. That's the way you have to be in a church family. You don't even. You just dismiss the surface stuff. They looked at me wrong. So what? So what? So what? No one in the church will treat you as bad as those in the world will treat you. The world will, and they won't even. They didn't apologize to me. The world won't apologize to you. Go out, hang out with them. They won't apologize to you for how they treat you. I mean, you think I thought this was about prayer? Pastor Nancy. Well, If God directs you to a church, that's the place he's appointed you to grow up. And you won't grow the same somewhere else in a church of your own choosing. You just won't. Amen. On occasion, there may be times and things that transpire in a church that bring harm to the testimony of Christ. But we aren't to take offense at that. Just follow what God tells us to do in the midst of that. Amen. You know, Adam was placed in the right place. God put him in the garden. God put him there. And he did the wrong thing in the right place and had to be removed from the right place. And it's so important for us that when God puts us somewhere, that we do the right thing there. And the right thing is we're grateful. We're grateful. We're grateful. We're not looking. We're not looking to find fault with people. We're not looking to be critical with people. Amen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. You can see the difference in the lives of those who love and honor their local church and those who don't. You can see how that plays out in their families, how that plays out in their homes. So Paul said, I cease not to give thanks for you if you're thankful. If you say, father, I thank you for my whole church family, you will not pick up a criticism against them. When the devil offers you a critical thought, you won't pick it up because you've already picked up gratitude. Amen. Being grateful is a shield to offense. So he said, I cease not to give thanks for you. The next thing he says, making mention of you in my prayers. Notice this phrase, my prayers. So we know this. Paul had a routine of prayers. He had certain prayers that he offered on an ongoing basis. He said, my prayers. So then he said, making mention of you in my prayers. Don't get the idea that the only prayers that are effective are long. Because he said it's a mention. Now, don't misunderstand me, there are times that a mention won't do. You've got to spend depending on what the need is, what the directive of the Holy Spirit is, that you may spend some time praying about something. But don't assume that to pray for one another, it's going to take the good part of your day. So you're just going to dismiss it and not do it because it's going to take too much time here. Paul said, I mention you, you can mention one another on the way to work. You can mention your church family as you're diapering your babies, as you're cleaning your house, you can make mention. Amen. And if you make mention, but you don't release, but you release faith, a mention is enough. You can pray all day long without faith. And it'll never be enough. It's not about how long you pray. It's what do you release when you pray, what do you believe when you pray? Amen. Verse 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Look at this word that stands out to me. The Father of glory may give, give, give. The spirit of wisdom, the spirit of revelation is given. It's not earned. You can study and study and study, but without the spirit of wisdom and revelation, you're going to be lacking some things. And this is something that's given and it's given into your spirit. So when it's given, it dawns on your spirit. It's not something you've simply arrived at through your study. This is a whole different level of light, a whole different flow. And notice what Paul said. He said that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you. So he's letting us know that the spirit of wisdom and revelation can be given at the request of someone else. He's requesting it for someone else. So when someone lacks the spirit of wisdom and revelation, God permits you to request on their behalf the wisdom and revelation that they are lacking. Because many times, because they lack it, they don't even know what they lack to ask. So sometimes those of us who have gone through maybe certain things that we're seeing them go through, we know what they need to get through. And it's not always just somebody encouraging you. Sometimes, I mean, you understand, they have to know. They have to get revelation of what it means to hold fast. Father, teach them what that means, you know. So we see this, that Paul is permitted to ask on the behalf of someone else, that the spirit of wisdom and revelation be given. They didn't earn it because it's given. So you can ask it for someone else. Amen. And not only that, it takes wisdom to apply the revelation, right? So he joins here, the spirit of wisdom and revelation. You can't live off of someone else's revelation. You got to have your own. That means it's imperative that we all have this spirit of wisdom and revelation. Spirit and wisdom of revelation about what? The knowledge of Him. The knowledge of Him. Everyone must get that knowledge, that spirit of wisdom and revelation about the knowledge of him. Amen. So what is that? That knowledge of him, who you are in Christ, what that means, what that Understand what that, what understanding that brings. And all a minute can do is tell you the revelation he has. But in telling you his revelation does not make that your revelation. That's what you need to understand. Just hearing someone else's teaching does not make that your revelation. Revelation is given. It has to be. It has to dawn on your spirit. Amen. I remember years ago, there was something that happened when we had our church in Tulsa and a staff member had come and toward leadership had been so inappropriate, disrespectful, dishonorable. And I remember when that happened, and I said to God, I was taken aback by it because I was just raised. You didn't talk to someone in authority like that. And I said. I remember saying. I said, God, I said, I'm so caught off guard by that, because anytime you walked up to their car, you heard a certain preacher, a faith preacher, their tapes going. You called them on the phone, you could hear the tapes going in the background. And I said, I'm just stunned that this behavior has come out of this person that has listened for hours and hours of the that. And I said, I'm just shocked by that. And he said, God said this to me. He said, because you can't live another man's revelation. He said, he's just listening to another man's revelation. You can listen, listen, listen. Doesn't make it mean that it's been given to you. Amen. The devil would love for it to just land in your ears and never in your spirit. Because then people think that they think more highly of themselves than they ought and they think they're further along than they are. It's very difficult as a pastor to help those who think they're further along than they are because they don't listen, because they think they already know. Praise the Lord. You know, a heavyweight champion, he has a trainer that instructs him in that training. But the instruction doesn't turn him into a champion. He's got to get in the rink. He's got to get in the rink. And he doesn't win because he's been instructed. He wins because he applied the instruction skillfully. A minister is the trainer, so to speak, training you. But what we say to you is not your victory. You've got to work that word for yourself. It has to become revelation to you. Dad Hagin said, my revelations are not yours. He said, all I can tell you is what the revelation I learned, but it's still not yours. That doesn't make it yours. It has to be given. Praise the Lord. Then the next phrase, it says, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, verse 18. The eye of your understanding, or another translation says the eyes of your spirit needs to dawn on. Your spirit needs to see something. You need to see some things with your heart. The eyes of your understanding, your spirit being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe when these things dawn on our spirit, we aren't in the dark anymore. We aren't bumping into the wrong directions, taking wrong paths because the light comes. So this shows us. It says here that the eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, that you may know what does he want us to know? This is the knowledge of him that we need to have the spirit of wisdom and revelation about. What is it? It shows in this verse 18. The knowledge of him that we need is that we may know what is the hope of his calling. What is that? That's who we are in him, what we're born for and the purpose of our life. Then the next phrase, this is the next knowledge of him that we need, that we may know what is the riches of the glory of his in inheritance in the saints. Look at the phrase the riches of the glory. The riches of the glory. The riches are in the glory. He wants us to know that flow. That we would know, that we would know what belongs in that glory, what's part of that glory, and that we understand that and that we see that when we're faced with something, that we see what the glory holds for us instead of seeing what the test holds for us. Amen. That we may know what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. So he's basically saying this. The inheritance that is ours as saints holds all the riches for your life. And so this phrase is basically what is it? That we would know what we have. That we would know what we have. That Heaven has withheld nothing from us, that we can live there before we go there, just simply because our inheritance brings Heaven here. Then the next phrase of the knowledge of him that we need, that we may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward, who believe this means so that we can know what we can do because of who he is in us, not just what we can have, but what we can do, what we can do in the face of opposition, but also what we can do to be a blessing to someone else and to help them. This is, as we said, compared to when he talks about in this phrase that you may know what is exceeding greatness of his power to us. Would who believe. Then he goes on and talks about that power that raised Jesus from the dead. He didn't compare this power to creation. He didn't compare this power to what parted the Red Sea. He compared this power to what raised Jesus from the dead. And he said, that's the power that's to you in the direction of those who believe.
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Pastor Noel
Amen.
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Nancy Dufresne
We need the spirit of wisdom and revelation about all these things that we're done struggling, we're done walking in the dark. We're done with just floundering in life. So we need to pray this for one another. Why? Because we are fitly joined together. And it matters that you are given the same thing I'm given about the understanding of this, because then we can go further together if we're all walking in what we've been given. Amen. So when you pray this, realize this holds so much. And people will many times overlook these prayers because to them they don't understand the revelation of what is being articulated. Then let's go to another one. Maybe tomorrow night we'll go to Ephesians 3, but I want us to look at Philippians chapter one and verses, and I'm going to read out of the Amplified on this passage. You know, when we have greater understanding of what is being talked about in these verses, we pray them with a We pray them differently. We pray with a greater expectation. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 9. The Amplified says this of course, this is Paul again. He said in this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight, that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment, so that you may surely learn to sense what is vital and approve and prize what is excellent in a real value, recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences. And that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless, so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach the day of Christ, not stumbling, nor causing others to stumble. May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness, of right, standing with God and doing right, which come through through Jesus Christ the anointed one, to the honor and praise of God, that his glory may be both manifested and recognized. Huge. Verse 9. Let's look at it. And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more, no matter how well we are developed and walking in love. There's further development that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its full development in knowledge and all keen insight that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment. So our prayers will work to help affect the prayer life, the love life, the love walk of someone else. If someone is struggling in their love walk, our prayers will assist them. Instead of getting ticked off about that they don't walk in love. We're authorized and privileged to be able to assist them. Father, I pray for them that their love would abound because the love won't just make it easier for you, it's going to make it easier for them because that love boomed, reigns back and blesses their own life. Amen. Remember John and I'll just read this to you for time's sake. John 13:34 Jesus said, A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you. So my example of love is your directive. You love the way I love, so that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. So we are to love as he loved. We are his love representatives in the earth. We're taking his place in love in the earth now. Verse 10 so that you may surely learn to sense what is vital and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value, recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences. I've talked to pastors through this season, this Covid season, and different pastors were a little bit surprised. And I can understand it that there were times we were not allowed to gather. And then when it came time to gather, people that could would not. They lack this. They're not learning to sense what is vital. When they put work above other things, their profession, they're not. They have things out of order. This is a prayer to help people keep things in order in their life. Because when they get out of order, then the devil has an entrance to start affecting the different arenas of their life. The only thing that's going to bring a man into greatness is the plan of God. Your job won't bring you into greatness. Your income won't bring you into greatness. Your education won't bring you into greatness. The plan of God brings you into greatness. So what is vital? Paul said, I pray that they would learn to sense what is vital. What's vital. The plan of God that's vital and everything else in my life and every other arena is Feeding toward that. Amen. That's what we're to prize. That's what is of real value. Because not only will it bless your life, it blesses other. The plan of God is not just your blessing, it's the blessing of others that that plan makes you.
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Congregation/Prayer Group
That's right.
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Nancy Dufresne
When people realize and make the plan of God their purpose for their life, they have a life that bears much fruit. Because we will all stand before Jesus and he's going to say, what'd you do for me? Well, I worked hard, I paid my mortgage. He said, that's not for me. Amen. Praise the Lord. I heard dad Hagin make a statement once. He said, I live every day aware that one day I will stand before Jesus and answer for what I did today. He said, I live aware of that. What's he saying? This is what Paul prayed. That you would learn to sense what's vital. These things are what's vital. Difficulties fill the life of believers when they're not mindful of God's plan. They marry anybody they want to marry. They take any job they want to take. They live anywhere they want to live. They buy anything they want to buy. They go anywhere they want to go. They watch anything they want to watch because they're not mindful of how that's going to affect the plan of God. They make decisions apart from having a regard for God's plan. And we can pray for them, Father, help them to see the greatness of your plan. The. The devil's offering and he's bidding high for their attention to go to their job and their profession. And I'm going to tell you something that's going to be. He was talking about budget busters. I'm going to bust you something else here. You are not put on this earth to put your family first. Many put their children first above the plan of God. They put their children. I mean, they will. They'll put their church second to be at every childhood function. That's fine to be at childhood functions so long as you have them in their proper order. The plan of God comes first. Not whether your child got to be in gymnastics, piano, singing, voice dance, and made straight A's so that you could look good. Because I want you to know a lot of parents put pressure on their kids so the parent can look good. They're not thinking about the child they're thinking about so they can go tell, my child makes straight A's. Sorry, yours doesn't. I'm just saying there are people that. That is what's vital to my children are part of the plan of God. They are not the plan because they're going to grow up and leave your life and have children. And you'll have to remind them to call you. They'll forget you diapered them. They'll forget you went without so they could have that toy they didn't need. Thank God for children, thank God for family. But they are not the center, the plan of God for my life. They are part of the plan. And if we train our children right, they run in the plan of God with us, but they are not the focus. There's your Buster. In John 4:34, and I'll just read it to you. Jesus said, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me me and to finish his work. So the thing that sustained Jesus when he was surrounded so many times people were trying to take his life. So many times they were trying to set him up for failure. So every day, I mean, just every day, there was opposition trying to. Trying to diminish him in the sight of the. Of the people. But the sister that made him untouchable was he stayed with the plan. Stayed with the plan. I'm just fulfilling the plan. What was vital to him, he says, my meat, the thing that nourishes me, the thing that sustains me, is to do the will of him that sent me. This is what's vital. And there's a lot of people who don't see it because they think that their family is vital. They think that their job is vital. The plan of God is what's vital. And if we'll attend to the plan of God, it will bless the family, it will bless the job, it will bless everything, every other arena of your life. I always taught our. I always taught our sons that when because Ed traveled so much of the time in the earlier. Well, the last 10 years, him and I would travel a little bit more together. But in the first, I would say 20 years of our marriage, we were together a quarter of the time. That means he wasn't there when the kids were having certain events and certain things. But I never allowed them to feel cheated because the plan of God fulfilled never cheats a family. And I didn't teach them, oh, honey, I'm sorry your daddy's not home on your birthday. It don't matter what day. We'll celebrate when he gets back. You see, it's a way you present things as to whether your children ever grow up and value these things or not. Because if you treat spiritual Things and the plan of God, like it took something away from your family. Took something away from family time. What about family time? In the church, people talk about, well, family time. And they go to the movie or they sit and watch a movie at home. Well, what's wrong with seeing your children, Your children sing. You raise your hands and worship God and dance in the Holy Ghost. What about that family time? The plan of God never subtracted from my family. In fact, it blessed my family. And I didn't treat. I did not expect my husband to be a husband like everybody else has husband. He didn't have to be home for him to be a good husband. He had to be obeying God to be a good husband. The way to keep your family safe is be where God told you to be. I try to keep you here and it'll make us unsafe because you're here instead of out doing what God told you to do. And I understood that. I loved the work of God. I loved the plan. Plan of God. Put that love for the plan of God in your children. Because Jesus said, my meat, the thing that sustains me and nourishes me is doing the will of God. And because he did the will of God and made that the vital focus of his entire life, no demon could touch him.
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Pastor Noel
Amen.
- [42:31]
Nancy Dufresne
Why are people's lives sometimes so affected by different tests and trials, Just one tragedy after another after another? It's because you're touchable. Why? Because you're in a. You're in a. You're untouchable territory. The plan of God is. Makes you untouchable. Yeah. Opposition comes, but it cannot have its end result on you because it sits on your territory. You're the Virginia God said to me years ago, he said, make my people to know that long life is connected to my plan. The book, My Time in Heaven by Richard Sigmund, he recorded this. He said of the time when he was up in heaven, he said a book was opened unto me. And Jesus said, this is my plan for your life. So it was recorded in a book. And Jesus said, this is my plan for your life. I will honor it as long as you honor it and live under my Father's demand for your life. Listen to that. A lot of Americans don't like the word demand. Bless God, we're free. You can't demand anything of me. Listen, we've been bought. We don't belong to ourselves. We belong to another. We have been purchased. And the one who purchased us has demand over us. And he is a loving, a Loving father, that everything he demands is for our benefit and for our good. When God takes, tells us to do something, it's not optional. Learn that people treat anything God tells well, you know, I know God told me, you know, not to marry that one or date that one. But you know, I like them. I'm in love. When God says something, it's not optional. It's a command. It's a command. Amen. Praise the Lord. Soldiers. Soldiers don't have. Soldiers don't have the last word. Soldiers with the last word hold toothbrushes and clean latrines until they learn that the last word got flushed. Then Richard Sigmund goes on with this, my time in heaven. He said, this is what God prizes, the serving of others, number one. Number two, those who are absolutely truthful and honest. Why? Because God can only work through truth. God's not going to work through anything less than truth. So when we stay and order our lives in the flow of truth, then we're in the flow that God can move through. Number three, those who pray before making decisions, doing what God wants. And number four, those who pray and seek God in all things and obey him. So he made this statement after being in heaven. He said, this is what God prizes. Number one, the serving of others. Number two, those absolutely true to and honest. Number three, those who pray before making decisions, doing what God wants. Number four, those who pray and seek God in all things and obey him. Then Paul goes on in verse 10, and he says this and that. You may be untainted. Now this is a prayer. That you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless. So that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach the day of Christ. Look at this. Not stumbling nor causing others to stumble. So notice this. How we choose to live affects others. That's why we have to pray for one another. If you're driving in a car and you're driving down the wrong lane, you're going to affect somebody. And everyone in your car is in the wrong lane. Not just you, everyone. When you're not fulfilling the will of God, it's not just you that's not fulfilling the will of God. Your family are passengers in the vehicle of your life. And when you take your life off course, theirs is off automatically simply by being connected to you. So it does matter. How we live affects others. God holds us responsible for what our actions did for someone else's life. Listen to that. God will hold us responsible for how our actions affected someone else's Life, we'll answer for it. And this is what Paul says pray for Pray for people that they may live in a way that they're not stumbling or causing others to stumble. The life. Then he tells us what kind of life will keep us from stumbling and keeping us from being a stumbling to someone else. The untainted and pure and unerring and blameless life. That's why he said pray for them that they be this, because that's what's going to keep them from stumbling. Now, verse 10 of the Let me read verse 10 of the King James, because that was the amplified the King James says this that you may approve things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. Notice he did not say that you may be free from greed, covetousness, anger. He said that you may be sincere and without offense. He singles offense out among all the things that are wrong that he could have singled out. He singles out offense. Why? Because it's our offenses that cause others to stumble. Amen. Turn with me, if you would, to Mark chapter six. Mark Chapter six. I want you to see something. Mark six. And this talks about when Jesus was in his hometown. Mark Chapter six and we'll look at verse three. And we're not going to read the whole passage just for time's sake. And you know that he tried to minister the same. His heart was that this city received his hometown what other cities had received. And it says in the last half of verse three Mark six, Verse three. And they were offended at him. And Jesus said unto them, a prophet is not without honor, but but in his own country and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty works, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them, and he marveled because of their unbelief. Notice the three words that run together. Offense, dishonor and unbelief. Offense, dishonor and unbelief. When someone's offended, they've also moved into dishonor and unbelief. To be offended, you can't be in offense and honor. You can't be in offense and faith can't do it. So anytime you're offended, you just became dishonorable and you moved into unbelief. Because we have to love by faith. We have to walk by faith. We have to do things by faith, not by sight, not by feelings. And when you start living by feelings, you become offended. And it takes faith to get past your feelings. I mean to choose to Live by faith. I'm going to live by faith. I'm not live by feelings. Amen. So notice this. It says, jesus, could there do no mighty work? Why? Because offense put them outside of the reach of power. Offense put them outside of the reach of a Savior. Offense put them outside of the reach of the Holy Ghost and outside the reach of the Word. You say. Well, no, it just says that they're offended at him. Yeah, but he is the Word made flesh. So you get offended at him. You're offended at the Word. He's anointed with the Holy Ghost. So when you're offended at him, you're offended with what he's anointed with. Amen. Offense is so dangerous because nothing can reach you of good when you're in offense. And Paul said, pray, pray for one another that they be without offense till the day of Jesus Christ. They don't have any day on this earth that they can have that. Offense is so dangerous, so dangerous to the believer's life. The thing about offense is it is never content to live alone. It's got to get a company, it's got to tell somebody. It's got to get someone else on its team. Why? Because it has no foundation under can't stand alone. When you're right with God and you're doing what he says and nobody is agreeing with you, you can stand alone because you're on the Word, you're doing what God said and you don't care whether 10 side or 500 side or no one sides. You're not contending with flesh and blood. Because when you're obeying God, you can stand alone in the face of any opposition. But when you're offended, you can't. So you start spreading that to try to get people with you so that you can feel correct. Because people think, if I can get more to agree with me, that makes me correct. And that's the danger of offense, is it won't. It can't live alone. It's got to bring some. It's got to spread that offense and tell it and bring others into it. And Paul, it's so interesting to note, of all the things he could have singled out, this is the only time we see him single something out like this, that you be free from offense. Amen. Praise the Lord. Verse 11, verse 11, Philippians 1. Back to verse 11. And then he prays as the amplified May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness, of right standing with God and right doing which come through Jesus Christ. The Anointed One, to the honor and praise of God that His glory may be both manifested and recognized. So know this. We're made righteous, meaning we're right with God. We aren't right because we did everything right. We're right because Jesus did everything right. So when you go to receive from God in the midst of. Of what you haven't been, what you haven't done comes up, you have to remind that opposition. I'm not righteous because I've done everything right. I'm righteous because it's a free gift from the One who did everything right. It's his righteousness I stand on, not my own. So I do have a right to be at the throne and to receive what I need from the throne. Amen. Now, because we are right with God, and look at the phrase fruits of righteousness, that we bear fruits of righteousness because we're right with God, we have access. We have access to what those who are not right with God don't have access to. And what does God want us to do with our righteousness? He wants us to take advantage of. Of coming to him and laying hold of things on the behalf of others and bless their life. Amen. Come boldly to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. And he expects us to take our standing with him not just for ourselves, but to be a blessing on the earth. Amen. That we bear fruits of righteousness and our life shows we're living righteous, we're producing fruit that shows that we're right with our Father. Amen. That means healings are happening and miracles are happening. Things are. Answers to prayer are coming because I'm right with God and there's fruit in my life to show that I'm walking that righteous life. The biggest, one of the biggest things the devil will throw at you to make your prayer life ineffective is the righteousness issue, the righteousness issue? Because he wants you to draw back every time you go to recession. He wants you to draw back, draw back, hesitate, doubt, pull back because of what you didn't do. You remember the woman who dad Hagin talked about that there was a minister's wife. She was dying in a terminal condition and she was, of course, bedridden. And Mom Hagin and dad Hagin went to their home and stayed in their home. And they spent hours a day praying. They would pray through the night. A couple, you know, a couple of them would sleep. A couple of them stay up and pray, and they prayed around the clock for this pastor's wife, she was within days of dying. And dad Hagin said after several days they'd been there, he says, I've never prayed this long in my life without getting an answer. And he said, it seems to me we're working on the wrong end. We're working on the sending end, and we need to be working on the receiving end.
- [57:12]
Pastor Noel
He.
- [57:13]
Nancy Dufresne
He said, we've been trying to get God to send when we need to be receiving what he sends. So they went in around her bed, and while they were praying, he said, let's just go in there and just work on the receiving end, receiving the healing, receiving the power of God for her. And he said, while they're in there, he said the word of the Lord came to him and said, go stand at the foot of the bed. And he just kind of bypassed that. And again, he didn't do it. And the word of the Lord came to him and said, go stand at the foot of the bed and call out the spirit of doubt and the spirit of fear. I believe it was. And he didn't do it. And so Mom Hagin came and stood by him. And in the Spirit, she spoke in tongues, but he heard it in English, which was, go stand at the foot of the bed. And he heard in English what she spoke in tongues. So he did it. And he. Well, he. Before I missed the vital step. Sorry. I'm telling it like my mama told a joke. She always told the punchline and then forgot to tell the joke. And then she goes, oh, I can't remember. Okay, we kind of could tell that. But when dad Hagin said, we need to work on the receiving end, not the sending end. And they went to. They went in the room, and that's what they're going to do. And they were saying this. And this woman was saying. And he said this to this woman, we're just going to work on receiving instead of sending. And she started crying and she said, I know it's. I know it's me. And she started crying. He said, what do you mean, know it's you? And she said, you know, there's so many times I failed the Lord. I should have done this. I should have done that. And he said, sister, that's not it. He said, we've all failed the Lord. That's not it. See, her sense of unrighteousness was going to cheat her out of her miracle. Unrighteousness will work to cheat you out. This is why we pray that people see that they are righteous. Pray for this. Because when they don't know their righteousness and we're not bearing fruits of righteousness, that the devil's stealing and wreaking havoc in their homes and in their life and their health and their finances and their marriage, so we're to pray, and we're to bear fruits of righteousness. So he spoke, you know, for the spirit of fear and doubt to come out and said, it flew out like a bird. And the husband said, I felt something fly out the window. It was tangible in the spirit realm. And she was raised up, and they went out in the backyard and ate watermelon together. But see, that sense of unrighteousness that tried to come up at the last minute right before her deliverance? Right.
- [60:12]
Pastor Noel
Yeah.
- [60:13]
Nancy Dufresne
Was going to rob from her. That's why we pray. Bear fruits of righteousness. Amen. How much we can help one another. How much we can help. And we don't need to come up with our own prayers. These are packed full of what we need for victory. Now, don't misunderstand me. The Holy Ghost may give you something specific that's targeted for a person's need, but until you know what that is, this is where their help is. And when you pray this, if something more is needed, the Holy Ghost will give you more words to articulate in their behalf and to pray in their behalf. Amen. And so when we pray the Word, the more we understand what is offered us as we're praying, it helps us to engage our hearts in a whole other way. Amen. Stand with me to your feet today. Father, we're so grateful, so grateful, so, so grateful for your word.
- [61:12]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you, Father.
- [61:16]
Nancy Dufresne
Jesus, we thank you for these words, the words of these scriptures that we read, these Ephesians prayers, this prayer that is recorded in Philippians. Thank you for these words. We receive them and we see them as addressing the needs in the body of Christ. So, Father, we pray these tonight for one another. We pray them even for ourselves. We pray them for the body of Christ at large. We pray it for all believers. So just repeat this after me. Father, I give thanks for my brethren, so grateful to belong to the body. And I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto them the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened, that they may know what is the hope of your calling, what the riches of the glory of your inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of your power. To us who believe.
- [62:49]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you for it.
- [62:51]
Nancy Dufresne
That they would know all that's already theirs, that they would live it and that they would minister it.
- [63:01]
Congregation/Prayer Group
I thank you for it, Father.
- [63:04]
Nancy Dufresne
Now, Father, we also pray that their love, their may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight. That their love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment. That they may surely learn to sense what's vital and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value. That they would recognize the highest and the best and that they would distinguish. That there's a moral difference. That they may be untainted and pure, unerring and blameless. So that their hearts may be sincere as they approach the day of Christ, not stumbling or causing others to stumble free from offense in every single arena of their lives. And may they abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness through Jesus Christ. To your glory and praise.
- [64:33]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you for it, Father.
- [64:36]
Nancy Dufresne
Hallelujah. Instead of fussing with your spouse, pray it. I know that there were times that when I would. I always. I prayed for my husband. But there were seasons when I would, say, spend hours praying for him in the spirit. And I noticed that how different life was for him during those times. It's like it helped him to receive. It put him in a receiving place. And things that if he. If you could tell that he was dealing with pressures of certain things, it would seem like he would walk free from all that. We are able to do far more than we ever imagined through our own prayer life for others. Amen. I think we have so limited what we think we can do on the behalf of someone else. No, we can't do everything, but we can do far more than we've imagined with our authority to bring blessing. Amen. Hallelujah. Father, we're grateful. We're so, so grateful. It's a privilege. It's a privilege to pray for one another. Father. It matters to us how our brethren go. It matters to us that they succeed. It matters to us that they experience the best that you have. And we thank you, Father, for allowing us to be a part of. Of the blessing of God moving in their life. Hallelujah. Just raise up your hands and worship him. We worship you, Jesus. We worship you, Jesus.
- [66:25]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We worship you, Father. We glorify you.
- [66:35]
Nancy Dufresne
We thank you, Father. Pastor Michelle Steele. Come out here, love. Just come here. Father, I thank you for the next thing that you have for her.
- [66:51]
Congregation/Prayer Group
I thank you.
- [66:56]
Nancy Dufresne
For that which is. Has been dormant that it flows freely, that it comes to the surface and that great skill. Great skill. Great skill in that impartation.
- [67:16]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Father, we thank you for it. We thank you for it.
- [67:20]
Nancy Dufresne
Pastor Jennifer Kamirlove.
- [67:25]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you for it, Father.
- [67:28]
Nancy Dufresne
We. You thank.
- [67:28]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Thank you for. We thank you for that.
- [67:38]
Nancy Dufresne
The ability to accelerate, the ability to pick up the pace.
- [67:45]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you for it, Father. We thank you for that impartation, the grace of that. We thank you for it, Father. We glorify you.
- [67:54]
Nancy Dufresne
Thank you.
- [67:55]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We glorify you. We glorify. We glorify, Father. We glorify you. We thank you, Father.
- [68:05]
Nancy Dufresne
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
- [68:07]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Just reach up your hands and worship him tonight. We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father.
- [68:21]
Nancy Dufresne
Thank you. Oh, Father, we pray we lift up the acceleration. The acceleration. The acceleration. The acceleration. You know, in years past, we could take several years to build a building. We don't have that time now. We're gonna have build multiples at the same time. Everything's gonna have to have an accelerated pace. Yeah. And the way that the only way acceleration can happen is what Pastor Noel was talking about this morning. Fullness, full of the word, full of the spirit. The fuller we are of the word and the spirit, the quicker we can go, the quicker we can go. God said to me, while we were sitting around the dinner table, we were over in St. Petersburg, Russia, and God said to me, he said to go further in the spirit. Pray more in the spirit. So all these things have to be in place for us to accelerate and go further. Because I don't know about you, I don't want this error passed to the next generation. I. I don't. I don't want it to be that way. I want. I want to go full force. And part of that is being able to keep pace with the planet, keep pace with it. Father, we. We look to you, minister, just raise up your hand. Everyone raise up your hand. But, ministers, the grace for. To accelerate the grace to accelerate the grace to accelerate the grace to accelerate.
- [70:07]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Father, we thank you, Father, for the.
- [70:09]
Nancy Dufresne
Grace to accelerate the grace to accelerate the grace to accelerate the grace to accelerate the grace to accelerate the grace to. Ah, ah. Make no small plans on the house. No small plans. And you got to get out of certain regions that will limit plans. You know, only certain territories can accommodate certain plans. The grace to accelerate the grace. The grace to accelerate.
- [70:42]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Father, we thank you.
- [70:44]
Nancy Dufresne
Grace to accelerate.
- [70:45]
Pastor Noel
Ah.
- [70:47]
Nancy Dufresne
Ah.
- [70:49]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you.
- [70:50]
Nancy Dufresne
Different man, a different man. A different man. A different man, a different man. We thank you, Father, for the Grace.
- [70:57]
Congregation/Prayer Group
To accelerate Ah, we thank you, Father.
- [71:00]
Nancy Dufresne
For the grace the grace Ah we We thank youk for the grace the grace to accelerate, Father Picking up the pace Picking up the divine pace.
- [71:15]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you, Father, for it we thank you, Father for it we thank.
- [71:19]
Nancy Dufresne
You for that Grace to accelerate the grace, the grace we thank you for.
- [71:24]
Congregation/Prayer Group
It, Father we thank you for it, Father the grace to accelerate we thank.
- [71:28]
Nancy Dufresne
You.
- [71:32]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Thank you for it, Father we thank you for it Father. We thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it Father we thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it, Father Father, we thank we thank you for it Father. We thank you for it Father. We thank you for it Father. We thank you we thank you for it Father. We thank you for it Father. We thank you we thank you we thank you for it we thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it, Father the grace to accelerate we thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it, Father oh.
- [72:14]
Nancy Dufresne
We thank you Refreshing divine Divine Refreshing.
- [72:19]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Divine Refreshing for them, Father. We thank you for it, Father. We glorify we glorify we glorify we magnify you.
- [72:36]
Nancy Dufresne
Carry it home Carry it home Put your hands on your husband and there's a grace that'll come on him we.
- [72:41]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it, Father. We thank you for it, Father. We glorify you.
- [72:54]
Nancy Dufresne
Oh, Prophesy more Speak out more. There's more. There's a greater there.
- [73:07]
Pastor Noel
Yeah.
- [73:07]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you, Father.
- [73:09]
Nancy Dufresne
Yeah. More the the utterance gifts More in the utterance gifts because then that then the power gifts. So as you as you flow more in the utterance gifts then Then you'll see more of the other.
- [73:20]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. We thank you.
- [73:27]
Nancy Dufresne
Oh, yeah. Heaven's waiting on those words to be to be spoken Heaven's waiting on those words to be spoken because fulfillment is prepared Fulfillment of the words is prepared they're waiting for the speaking.
- [73:59]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We worship you. We worship you, Father.
- [74:02]
Nancy Dufresne
Let's sing something. Singers.
- [74:19]
Worship Leader/Singer
Somebody pray for me they had me on their mind they took the time and prayed for me I'm so glad they pray I'm so glad they pray Pray I'm so glad they pray for.
- [74:50]
Nancy Dufresne
Me.
- [74:53]
Worship Leader/Singer
My pastor pray for me had me on the mind Took the time and pray for me oh, I'm so glad they prayed I'm so glad they prayed I'm so glad they prayed for.
- [75:23]
Nancy Dufresne
Me.
- [75:26]
Worship Leader/Singer
Somebody prayed for me had me on Their mind They took the time and prayed for me oh, I'm so glad they prayed I'm so glad they pray I'm so glad they pray for me can you sing it with me? Prayed for me they had me on their mind they took the time and prayed for me oh, I'm so glad.
- [76:19]
Congregation/Prayer Group
They pray.
- [76:21]
Worship Leader/Singer
I'm so glad they pray I I'm so glad they pray for.
- [76:30]
Nancy Dufresne
Me.
- [76:32]
Worship Leader/Singer
Oh, they had me on their mind they set aside the time oh, they took the time and prayed for me oh, they had me on their mind they set aside the time oh, they took the time and pray for me.
- [77:07]
Congregation/Prayer Group
Hallelujah.
- [77:10]
Nancy Dufresne
You know, Brother Wigglesworth made the statement. He said every new revelation calls for fresh consecration. And so we consecrate ourselves to more. Amen. To consecrate ourselves so that we can be available. More available. Amen. Praying more. And praise the Lord. Because these are the things that don't just affect the earth. They affect eternity, too, don't they? Hallelujah.
- [77:50]
Congregation/Prayer Group
We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father.
- [77:55]
Nancy Dufresne
We consecrate ourselves to respond even further, to give ourselves to that which is in our hearts. To pray to the Word. And as Pastor Noel preached this morning, just to live full. We all consecrate ourselves to living full. And in that fullness, we bring blessing to many others. So we consecrate ourselves. And we'll never not just sit here as attenders, but will be doers of that. And we thank you that you have given us words. We don't even have to come up with the words that bring help. These words tonight we heard give us direction, but not only that. The Holy Spirit will give us further words if further words are needed. So we yield to those words that heaven has given.
- [79:02]
Congregation/Prayer Group
And we thank you for it. We worship you. We worship you we worship you. We worship you. We worship you, Father. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We glorify you, Father.
- [79:21]
Nancy Dufresne
Praise the Lord.
- [79:27]
Pastor Noel
In my life, Lord Be glorified Be glorified in my life, Lord Be glorified today in my words, Lord in my words, Lord be glorified Be glorified in my words. Today and in my heart and in my heart Glory glorified Be glorified.
- [81:00]
Nancy Dufresne
Today in my ways and in my.
- [81:09]
Pastor Noel
Ways, Lord Be glorified Be glorified.
- [81:32]
Worship Leader/Singer
Glorified today.
- [81:39]
Nancy Dufresne
Hallelujah. Grab the hand of the person next to you and just say this, Father, I'm so thankful for this precious person. It's an honor to serve you with them. Thank you for what they they are in the body, into my life. I love them, I value them. And I thank you for the greatness of your plan to come to pass in their life. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen. Think of it. One man, Jesus, fulfilled God's plan. And what did it do to the earth? Paul fulfilled God's plan. What did it do to the earth? We're still being blessed by that, by his obedience. Every single one of us. God has a plan. Think what it would mean to your church if everyone in the church. I'm talking about your local congregation. If everyone was fulfilling the plan, what would that mean for the city? So now we know the importance. Father. Father. Praying for them to fulfill that plan. Amen. That they would have the spirit of wisdom and revelation. That they would give themselves to what's vital and necessary and important and quit giving themselves to the unimportant in life. Amen. Praise the Lord. Well, you don't want to miss in the morning with Pastor Noel. He'll be back. I don't know. Pastor Ruby may even be give us a little bit of preach before he comes. Hallelujah. It's a privilege to pray for one another. Amen. Hallelujah. Turn to somebody before you're dismissed and say, tonight it's my privilege to pray for you. And you can be dismissed. We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us at defrainministries.org to learn of our upcoming meetings, share your testimony, become a partner or visit our online store. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of Dufresne Ministries.