In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the need for a transformation in our hearts, minds, and spirits. He prays for God to plant a new heart in him and to give him a renewed mind and spirit. The speaker then focuses on the Lord's Prayer, specifically on the phrases "give us, forgive us, lead us, and deliver us." He warns against turning our relationship with God into a predictable and empty repetition, and instead encourages a genuine and spontaneous connection with the Holy Spirit. The sermon concludes with a prayer for God's kingdom to come into our lives and for His will to be done.

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other takes are available by writing World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. I'm going to speak this morning a message entitled, When Prayer Touches Glory. When Prayer Touches Glory. If you go with me to the book of Matthew chapter 6 and just leave your Bible open there, we'll go there momentarily. Pastor David sends his greetings. This morning, I don't have the specifics on numbers and the pastor's conference and the crusades. All I have is that they have gone beyond expectation. The Lord's presence has been there and Bettina told me last night that they have experienced the holy hush in the meetings just the way we have here at Times Square Church. And very unexpected, but producing incredible results in the spiritual realm. And we just thank God for that. It's marvelous to hear that the Lord is working the same way there that he does in our midst here in New York City. All of our visitors, welcome to your Education Annex and Main Sanctuary. Please take time to fellowship with us after the service today. We'd like to give you a gift and a reminder of your visit here. I need your prayer today. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, God, for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for strength and power, Lord, that only you can give. Lord, this message came from you and it comes back to you to honor you. Lord, it honors you when it finds a resting place in the minds and the hearts of your people. I ask first and foremost that this message may find its resting place in my life. Lord, that you would lead me and guide me and take me into that place of prayer where you want me to go. God, take this church, take all of us, Lord, all who desire to pray. Lord, who want to be a people of prayer. You said it is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer. Lord, we have to cry out again as your disciples did and say, Lord, teach us how to pray. Lord, we see in the scriptures incredible, marvelous answers to prayer. And God, we want to move in that dimension. And we thank you, Lord, that you're going to do it. You're going to open something from your word today. You're going to further your kingdom. That is the cry of our heart today. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Lord, let your kingdom come into our lives, into our hearts with great power. I thank you for the ability to speak this. I thank you, Holy Spirit, for taking me beyond, far beyond any natural ability, natural thought. And God, giving me the words and the ability to speak them in a way that people can understand. That your truth may live in our hearts and that we may become a people who honor you in this final hour of time. God, I thank you for it from the very depths of my heart. In Jesus' name. Now, I want to take time today to talk about why so many Christians don't pray. If there is a battle in the church, I think it is above all other battles. Yes, we have battles. There are battles of immorality. There are battles of mental torment. Now, many of these are sin battles. But in the spiritual realm, probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest battle that faces every Christian is the battle to pray. It is an absolute battle. There is no doubt about it. You can go to a football game and have no problem at all cheering and clapping and paying attention and talking to everybody. But go into the prayer closet. Bow your head and close your eyes and all of a sudden you realize that there is a force without and within. There is a dual battle as it is trying to shut the Christian down from prayer. Trying to stop that very lifeline, that very channel of God's lifeline that conclusively is proven in the Scriptures. It is not an arguable point that the power of God and the leading of God is interconnected to prayer. The devil will do everything he can to cut the prayer line. Your communion with God, that intimate communion that opens up the realm of God, that nothing but prayer will... You can study the Bible from now until Christ returns. You can be knowledgeable. But if that knowledge and that study does not bring you into a life of prayer, then you will just be a knowledgeable but a powerless person in the kingdom of God. Able to expound on truth, but having no sense of the power that you are expounding on in your own life. Always learning, but never coming to that intimate knowledge of what it is that God has been revealing to us through His Word. I want to tell you, I'm going to try today to explain why churches don't pray. I think the blight, as it is in almost all, not all, thank God, but almost all, perhaps that which is called by the name of Christ today in North America, in the church doesn't pray. You'll find socials, you'll find bake sales, you'll find entertainment nights, you'll find bowling, you'll find sports nights with screens brought into the church, you'll find all kinds of entertainment, but very few prayer nights anymore in the house of God. I'm believing as we open our hearts and honestly, it's going to take an honesty today, in my heart and in your heart, God's been speaking to me all week, been leading me, been giving me some incredible experience in prayer. I'm not going to maybe share on it, but the Lord has so touched me this week. And I'm believing that God is going to move all of us forward if we have hearts to be moved forward. Luke, when he's writing his gospel in chapter 11, verse 1, said that Jesus was praying in a certain place. And when he had finished praying, one of his disciples came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray. Now, I'm sure that they were familiar with prayer, because prayer, of course, was part of the religious life of Israel. You went into the temple, you prayed, you recited prayers, and there were manners of praying, there were learned forms and traditions of prayer. And I'm sure they were familiar with these, but when they heard Jesus pray, there was something in that prayer, there was such an intimacy, it so defied all form and tradition that they had learned. It so seemed to live in another realm that they were unfamiliar with, that when they heard him, and when he was finished, it's almost as if they didn't dare interrupt him. He was in such intimate communion with his Father. And it was so real, and it was so powerful, and it was so life-giving. And every man standing back, perhaps, and listening would know, would instinctively know, this man, even at this point, if they didn't fully comprehend who he was, they would look and say, this man has something with God that we lack. All of our attendance, and all of our repetitious prayers, and all of our service in the house has not brought us to where he is. And they knew that an intimate link that he had with the Father was the very source of the life and power that was flowing through him. Because out of the prayer closet he would come, and they would walk with a man who was just walking down the road, people would just leap out, desperately touch him, and be instantly healed. There was a virtue that was otherworldly, that was continuously just flowing out through him. But that virtue was maintained by that communion that he had with his Father. Lord, they said, teach us to pray. And I can't help but wonder if there was a momentary reluctance on Jesus' part, as he knew that how many would take his words into, and make them into another one of many repetitious religious formulas. This is what the human nature wants to do with God. We want to turn God into someone predictable. We want to turn our relationship with God, and that's what humankind has always done, into something that runs by the clock. Into something where it ends up, if we allow it to degenerate, our service to God becomes nothing but empty repetition. Coming into the house of the Lord, we begin to run it by the clock. We begin to look and say, I wonder why we're late getting started. I wonder why the choir sang five minutes more than they should. There's no sense of spontaneity. There's no allowing the Holy Spirit to move anymore. Everything is empty repetition. And that's exactly what we will do to our relationship with God. If we don't have someone more powerful than us to come, and constantly turn us and correct us, this is the direction that all of humankind will take our relationship with Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 6 gives us the fullest account of the heart issues that Jesus was trying, at least, to convey to those who would join with Him in like-minded prayer. Now, in verse 7, He said, When you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do. For they think that they shall be heard, for they are not speaking. Now, folks, if you're coming into the house of the Lord, into a prayer meeting, and all you do is say the same phrase for 45 minutes, something is wrong. Something is wrong in your prayer life. If you go into your prayer closet, and you've got, every day, same words. You know, vain repetition is not just memorizing the Our Father. Vain repetition is coming in with the same list, saying the same words. Could you imagine being in a marriage like that? Where your husband or wife came home every day, and sat down at the table and said the same thing to you every day? The same words, day in and day out. Can you imagine having your children come home from school, and say, what kind of a day was it today? You're interested in their lives. You want to have some input. You want communication. And every day, they sit down and say the same thing to you. Day after day after day. You think your child is mentally ill after a while. And yet, we seem to have no difficulty praying like this. And the longer you pray, the more we're able to add to our praises. And so the longer they get, and so they become just emptier and emptier repetition, because quite often, there's really no heart in it. It's just an empty, repetitious formula. But Jesus now is talking about something else. He said, don't be like them. Verse 8. For your Father knows what things you need of before you ask Him. After this manner, pray. Now, He wasn't telling the people, here's a prayer to memorize. And just say this about 15 times a day, and everything will be okay. This was not the intent. He was trying to show something of the heart, as always, when He was teaching. Our Father. He said, now we start with this. In other words, He's saying, I want you to know, it's important to know, when you go to prayer, that God is for you and not against you. He's no longer the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or someone else's God. He's now your God. And He's your Father. And He created you. And many of you have not known a good fathering relationship. But God says, even in spite of that, I want you to come into my presence and know that I am good. I want you to understand that I gave you life. And it's my desire to have my purpose for you absolutely fulfilled. I am not against you when you come into the prayer closet. I am absolutely for you, even if you are falling short of what I have designed your life to be. You don't have to come in and hang your head. If you are a Christian, if you want to live for me, the Lord would say, if you want my glory in your life, you walk in and understand that I'm your glory and the lifter of your head. I'm not your condemner. There's another that condemns you, but one day he's going to go into an everlasting pit of fire and be judged forever. Our Father, He said, which art in heaven. Now, in other words, the ways of God are higher than our ways. He lives in a place other than we are. He dwells in eternity. We live in time. He sees the whole picture. We see only a little wee part. He is absolute strength and all glory surrounds Him. We are just a little puff of smoke, as it is the writer James says in the New Testament, that appears for a little while and then vanish into thin air. But He is in heaven and He is for us. Hallowed be thy name. God is holy. Marvelous, wonderful God. An incredible thing to think that this holy God was so infinitely higher, infinitely more glorious than fallen man. The creation that sinned against Him in the Garden of Eden. Incredible to think that this same God would come to send to us and become a man. He would be born of a virgin. He would walk for 33 years suffering the foolishness of humanity fallen all around Him. And instead of judging humanity, He would go to a cross and take upon Himself your failings and mine, that you and I might be brought back into right relationship with Him in time and also throughout all of eternity. My God, holy is Your name. Marvelous is Your name. Wonderful is Your name. This is not a formula. Jesus said this should be in your hearts when you come into the prayer class and say, My Father and my God who gave me birth, who redeemed me from my sins, who lives in a place so much higher than where I am momentarily confined in this human body. Holy is Your name. Wonderful is Your name. Marvelous God that You would come down and become a man and redeem me from the power of hell and sin. That You would give me a newness of life and write my name in the Lamb's book and give me an assurance that I'm going to not only live with You, but I'm going to rule and reign with You for all of eternity. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. After understanding who God is, knowing where He dwells, knowing what His heart is, Jesus said this should be the cry of our lives. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Not my kingdom, O God. Your kingdom. Not my will, but Your will. O God, all I will succeed in doing is make a mess of my own life and I will even make a mess of Your kingdom. O God, You've got to come and plant another heart in me. You've got to give me another mind. You've got to give me another spirit. You've got to touch me, O God, and let Your kingdom come and let Your will be established in my life. Then verses 11-13. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. There are really eight words I want to focus on. And it's just this. Give us. Forgive us. Lead us. And deliver us. Jesus said these things ought to be in your heart. Pray like this. God, You are wonderful. You are awesome. You are merciful. Your kingdom is above mine. Your will should be the highest attainment in my life. Give me. Forgive me. Lead me. Deliver me. Because all I need comes from You. Everything I will ever desire comes from Your hand, O God. And You freely have said You would give it to me if I would ask You for it. So, O God, You said I should ask if my joy would be full. Lord, I come and I knock and I ask. You said I would receive. Give me. Forgive me. Lead me. Deliver me from evil, O God. For Thine, He said, is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Yours is all that will last. Yours is the kingdom. Not mine. Not earth. This earth is going to be dissolved one day, the Bible says clearly, by fire. It's going to be melted down. The whole universe is going to be folded and put away. And all things are going to be recreated. The only kingdom that is going to remain is the kingdom of God. Yours is the kingdom. Not mine. Not my objectives. Not my desires. Not my plans. Not my ambitions. God forbid that I should use You to further my own kingdom. It's not my kingdom. It's yours. I have abdicated the throne of my life when I came to Jesus Christ. And now I belong to Him. It's His kingdom now. And yours is the power. The power to change. The power to live a new life. The power to be all that God has called me to be. The power to call things that are not as if they are. The power to go where I could never go and be what I could never be. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the power. And yours is the glory. Now the word for glory is doxa. In the Greek it means... Now this is my definition because it's an extremely long definition in the Greek concordance. But this is what it means. It means the sufficiency of God Himself. Which He places within those who are His. To make them into all that He has called them to be. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the power. And yours is the all-sufficiency. You are everything I need. Because not only do you call me. But you come and plant within me yourself. You give me of yourself and you make me all that you've called me to be. In other words, I have a destiny. It was marked upon my life the day that I was thought of in the mind of God. God had a destiny for my life. Yes, I'm a free will agent. I can choose to move in that direction or I can move away from it. Bringing nothing but disgrace and discredit to His name. But I have a destiny. And the destiny is to be part of His kingdom because it's the only one that lasts. The destiny is to touch Him and to begin to understand His power. And the destiny is to have that release of God's power in my life. That I might become everything that He has destined me to be on this side of eternity. You see, the Bible says the man who's in sin falls short of the doctrine. He falls short of the glory of God. Because sin cuts him off from the life-giving influence of God. Therefore, it's undebatable that you can't live in sin and know the glory of God. It's impossible. It's foolish to think so. Foolish to think you can come in this house and be still doing things you know the Bible says you're wrong. And somehow know the glory of God. You cannot know the glory of God. Your prayers go nowhere. You'll never touch the glory. Now, the glory is that inward power of God. It's that presence of God. It's that inner strength that comes from God Himself. You'll never get it anywhere else but from God. You'll never get it from study. You'll never get it from church attendance. You'll never get it from meaningless, repetitious prayer. You will not get it from someone else laying hands on you. You only get it from God. That's why in the end times, Jesus said there are going to be foolish people running around looking for oil. And those that were wise and had oil said, Well, we can't give it to you. It's not ours to give. You have to go and get it for yourself. Man without God is by himself in his own nature a religious fool. Man is a religious fool. It's true. You leave man alone without God, he will develop his own religion. He will worship his own shoes if you leave him long enough apart from the Lord. That's what he will do. He will become a religious fool. But there's religious foolery in all of us. It's important to understand that. When we understand these things, it causes us to begin to flee these things that rob us of the life of God. Now, what is a religious fool? Now, first of all, a religious fool is a man who supposes by all the meaningless repetition that he gathers to himself that he's become acceptable with God. He supposes that meaningless and repetitious church attendance is devotion to God. He goes to church. Sometimes he goes to church more than anybody else. But it's meaningless. He's not progressing in grace. He's not growing in the knowledge of God. The doctrine, the glory is not part of his life. He's not growing in grace from image to image and glory to glory. The kingdom is not coming. The will of God is not being established. All he's doing is going to church. But he supposes by frequent attendance, this is devotion, but it's just really another form of vain repetition. He supposes that meaningless singing is worship. Sings songs really not believing them in his heart and thinking this is worshiping God. He supposes that meaningless repetition is prayer. Goes to a prayer meeting, puts his head down, and then prays like he's a marathon runner. Never stops talking for five minutes to one hour straight. Just yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak. Thinking this is prayer. No times of quietness. No understanding the mind of God. No sitting quietly in the presence of the Lord. No letting the Holy Ghost reveal now the mind of God. No agreeing with God as it is. Most of the prayer is about himself because the whole focus is on himself. He supposes that meaningless good intention is commitment. Coming to God, always promising God to do better. Promising God that he's going to change in this area and that area. And he supposes this is a commitment to the work of God. But it's really meaningless. Psalm 14.1, please don't turn there. David said, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Now, we quite often associate this scripture with an atheist. But that's not what it's talking about. You see, the fool can say with his lips, I love Jesus. But David said in his heart, he says there is no God. It's not so much what he says with his lips. The fool can be attending God's house every week. He can even be in the service here at Times Square Church this morning. He could have sung the songs of Zion. He could have bowed his head and at least pretended to be part of the prayers that have been offered from this platform. But in his heart, he says there is no God. Now, in his heart, he really doesn't believe that God is. He really doesn't believe that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. He really doesn't believe that God is master of his circumstance. He really doesn't believe that as a Christian that he's required to live for the purposes of God. He doesn't believe it. He lives as if there is no God. He lives as if he came to Calvary, repented of his sin, and now is free to pursue his own agenda for the rest of his life. He says in his heart there is no God. He says in his heart, I am so blessed, I can now add Christ to my list of accomplishments. I now have heaven, I have my cake now, and I can eat it too as well. There is no God who requires holiness of me. There is no God who requires a change of heart. There is no God who fights my battles and brings me into the miraculous. There is no God who has an intended purpose and plan for my life. He sings with his lips, but in his heart he says there is no God. He doesn't really believe that God is. He doesn't really believe that God will reward those who diligently seek him. The greatest reward that you and I could ever know is the actual presence of the living God coming within our lives. There is no greater reward than to be in his presence. There is no greater reward than to daily live in the miraculous. There is no greater reward than by God's grace to be taken out of the bondages of sin and to be brought into the places that only God can take you. There is no greater reward than to have your mind expanded and have your heart enlarged. To become like David the king when he was a young boy running into the valley to face every giant that defies the armies of the living God. There is no greater reward than to know his presence. There is no greater touch than to come into the prayer closet and know that you are talking with God and that God is able to talk to you. The man who doesn't really believe there is a God lives. He tries to pray in his own strength. He tries to live to himself. He tries to live for God, but he can't. Mark, go with me to Mark chapter 14. Mark 14. He makes promises, but he can't keep them. Mark 14, 27. Jesus said to them all, All of you shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. But after I am risen I will go before you into Galilee. Now, Christ is saying, listen now, God has spoken something. And because he spoke it, it's going to happen. That's incredible, because it's a two-sided coin. In this case, God has spoken about the weakness as it is of humanity, without the doctrine, without the glory of God coming to give him the strength, the enabling strength he needs to live for him. He said, tonight, the shepherd is going to be taken away. And you will all run because it's written. And it's written because you have no strength without God. You have no power, you don't understand his kingdom. But Peter said to him, although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus said to them, verily, I say unto you this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, you shall deny me thrice, or three times. But he spake them more vehemently. If I should die with you, I will not deny you in any wise. And likewise, the scripture says, also said they all. They all said the same thing. They all said, oh, even if we die with you, we will not betray you. And here they are, thinking that in their own zeal, they can actually defy the word of God. It's an incredible thing. You know, when I look at this, I see the other disciples had a choice. They could agree with Jesus or agree with Peter. And they made the choice and they agreed with Peter. Jesus said, you are going to flee, and Peter said, never. And now they have a choice. Do I agree with God's word, or do I agree with what someone else is saying? And so they made the choice to agree with what Peter was saying. And you know, the end of the story, later that evening, or very shortly after, when all the leaders and rebels came to arrest Jesus, they all fled. They all forsook him. The man who doesn't fully believe that there is a God who has a legal right to his life tries to pray and falls asleep. Again, Mark 14, 36. Christ has now gone into the Garden of Gethsemane preparing to go to the cross. And he said, I'm a father. All things are possible to thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt. And when he cometh, he findeth them sleeping. And he said to Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The Spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. And again, he went away and prayed and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again. For their eyes were heavy, and neither wished they what to answer him. They didn't know what to say. He invited them in, but they had no power to pray. You see, because in their mind and in their heart, they were not yet where Christ is. Then he came to them the third time and said to them, sleep on now and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Now, he wasn't telling them to go back to sleep because in the next verse he says, rise up and let us go. So, you look at it initially, it seems to be almost a contradiction. Now, when he said it is enough, in the Greek text it means there's no further direction on this subject are needed. You have been taught a lesson here, and there's no need for me not to teach you anymore. You have now seen it's impossible to pray for you, to pray in your present condition. You can't pray. You want to, but you can't. And why can't you? It's because you don't understand the kingdom of God. You are not in tune with what God is doing. You're outside. You're still living by your own plans. You're still thinking you can stand. You still have in focus your own objections. You have a sense of direction. You have a sense of what you're going to do, but you've not touched heaven yet. And because you've not touched heaven, you don't know the mind of God. And not knowing the mind of God, you have not tapped in yet to the power of God. Your prayers have not touched glory yet. And I've shown you now, I've taught you. I've brought you to the place of showing you your powerlessness. So many places, so many churches today, they've abandoned prayer for this very reason. They're sleepy. They come to pray, and they can't pray. And unless somebody is leading them, someone zealous, they can sort of lead them into a sense of prayer. They can't go. There's nothing in them to pray. They fall asleep. Their heads are heavy. They go home at night. They know they should pray. They bow their head before God. They can't stay awake. There is a reason. There is still such a large element of self-will. There's still such a desire to build another kingdom. Not the kingdom of God. Still such a reliance on self. As yet in their heart have not come to that place of saying, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. God, what's your will for my life? Where do you want me to go? What do you want me to become? What would you have me do? How would you have me glorify you on this earth for the rest of my life? There are not very many that pray like that anymore. Yes, in days of old, we read biographies of great saints of God. Every one of them prayed that way, because that's how they became wonderful living testimonies of the Lord. But we live now in a generation where a prayer meeting is just coming to ask for things. For every man to further his own agenda. Bless my job. Bless my business. Bless my house. Bless my car. Bless my physical body. Give me this. Give me that. Just a great big grab-bag gift meeting. That's why eventually people just get tired. There's no light there. There's no power there. There's no glory there. There's no doctor there. Nothing there honors God. And the meetings are limited to such absolute mediocre testimonies of God. That people who have at least a half-thinking mind walk away eventually saying there's nothing here. Testimonies. I've been in prayer meetings where testimonies are about driving downtown and getting a parking spot. You know, folks, God has something bigger for our lives than getting a parking spot. I prayed in the morning and I drove down to Kmart and there it was. Glory. No, that's not glory. That's just a parking spot that happened to be there when you got to Kmart. Now, I'll tell you why people can't pray. And I believe you're going to see it now. Go to John 17. Hallelujah. And this is the very essence of what the Holy Ghost gave me to speak on. John 17 is a prayer. The whole chapter is a prayer. And it's a prayer that is prayed just prior to the cross. The garden and the cross. It's an intercessory prayer for the disciples and for you and for me. It's a marvelous prayer. We could speak for a month, I'm sure. The Holy Ghost, if He were to illuminate this chapter and open it up, we would see such marvelous things in this prayer. It's a prayer that Jesus publicly prayed to His Father. Not only for those He was praying for, but for you and I. In verse 20, He said, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word. That's also for you and me. This is a prayer that Jesus uttered prior to the cross for you and for me. Verse 22. He says, And the glory which you gave me I've given them. Now that word glory is the same word. It's doxa. That means the power. The power, God, my Father, that you've given me. To be everything that you called me to be. And to glorify you in the manner you called me to glorify you. The power that you've given me. Your personal presence, as it is, I've given to them. I've made a way. Now Christ spoke about what was coming as if it already was. Because He was firmly intent on the cross. And He knew the other side of the cross was the release of God's glory for you and I. He knew that all around Him was weakness. Surrounding Him were weak people who couldn't pray. Couldn't stand. Couldn't understand. Knew so little about the kingdom of God. Had explanation after explanation. And Christ Himself had to say to them, Are you yet without so... Are you yet of such little understanding? Do you not understand? How many times did He have to say this even to His own disciples? And He says, The glory which you gave me I've given them. That they may be one even as we are one. He was saying, Father, I am one with you. We have one agenda. There is one voice that speaks. There is one pathway. You speak, I speak. You work, I work. I'm in touch with you. You're in touch with me. I know your mind and you've given me your glory. Your glory is manifested in my life. Your power is manifested in my life. Your very heart is manifested through me. Your life flows through me. And now, the glory you've given to me I've given to them. That they may be one even as we are one. In other words, Father, I've now made a way. I'm going to the cross. And they're going to be able to come in. They're not going to be locked out in powerlessness anymore. They're going to now understand your plan. They're going to be grafted in as it is to the very life of God. They're going to know. They're going to understand that your ways are not man's ways. Your ways are higher. Your plans are higher. Your glory is so much greater. And where you will take them is so much farther than any man can go in his own strength. They're going to be invited in now. This was the chief delight of Christ's life. Oh God! God! We've had a plan from before the foundation of the world that I was going to come. That I was going to die. And I was going to make a way that they may come into the Holy of Holies. And no longer be shut out just looking at the light. But the very light would be inside of them. The very glory of God would come into their lives. And they would be transformed before their generation. Transformed as evidence that Jesus Christ is alive. That He is God. They wouldn't need a theory. They don't have to argue the presence of God. The presence of God will be in them. I in them and thou in me. I in them and thou in me. I in them, he said, thou in me. I in them. Thou in me. That they may be made perfect in one. That the world may know that thou hast sent me. And has loved them as thou hast loved me. Hallelujah! Now verse 24 is the key. Father, he said, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. That they may behold my glory which thou hast given me. For thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. Now listen very carefully. Quite often we look at that picture, passage of scripture, and we look into heaven, into the future. And Jesus is saying, I want them to be with me at the right hand of glory. And that's true, he does. But folks, this word in the Greek text is present tense. It's not a future tense. He's not saying, I want them to be with me where I will be. But where I am. He's talking about right now. Right where he was standing. Right as he was praying. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. In other words, it means where I have my being. Where I have my existence. Where I draw my strength from. The source of my life. I pray that they be with me where I am. Where I am. They were around him. They were confused. They were weak. But he said, Father, I pray now that soon they will be with me where I am. It's so important to understand that because he was absolutely in the divine will of his Father. Jesus was in a place where his greatest delight was in fulfilling the will of God the Father for and through his life. That's where he was. John 4.34, he said, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Father, I pray that they may be with me where I am. That their greatest desire, their greatest delight would become fulfilling the will of God for their lives. So many people can't touch heaven. Their prayers have no power because they really don't want to fulfill the will of God. Because the will of God has a cross with it. The will of God sometimes leads where we don't want to go. Takes us where we are afraid. Causes us to become what we have this inward trepidation we could never be. Jesus didn't hop, skip and jump to Calvary. It was a battle all the way. But there was a greater will inside. Fulfilling the will of God for my life. Oh Father, I pray that my church may be where I am. My people on this earth. Those that I'm going to redeem by my blood. I pray, Father, that they may be where I am. I pray that when they come into your house and stand and raise their hands and their voices. That they may be among those throughout history that have raised their voices in the presence of God. And say, thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. In me. As it is in heaven. Jesus was in a place of trust. In the purposes of God and in God's plans for tomorrow. A place of trust. Father, if it be possible. Because all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me. But nevertheless not my will but thine be done. Oh God, I trust you. Because you have a purpose and a plan. To me it looks like pain. To me it looks like separation. To me, there are things about it that are undesirable. But God, I trust you. Because you dwell in heaven. And I dwell on the earth. And you know, you understand the end of the plan that's in your heart. Jesus was hiding from self-promotion. The Bible says when they came to make him king, he hid from them. And so many people today will never touch glory. Because they would allow themselves to be promoted by man. They would fall prey to the praise of man and not the praise that comes from God only. He was in a place of looking beyond his own need. He was in dire need of sincere friends at the moment. Many other things personally. But he said to Peter, Peter, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith doesn't fail. You see, he was touching glory because he was looking away from himself. And so many people don't touch glory because their prayers are so self-focused. So self-centered. It's not to say that from time to time we don't have needs and we take them to God. That's a given. But there is a time, if we're going to ever touch the heart of God, that the heart of God is looking away from oneself. I've prayed for you that your faith doesn't fail. Satan has wanted to sift you, but I've prayed for you. I've prayed for you. I've gone in my closet and I've touched heaven. And I've been enabled by the Spirit of God to pray for you. I've seen the battle. And I've entered in and stood in the gap and I've prayed for you that your faith does not fail. And Jesus, lastly, was in a place where he was heading to the cross. Where he's willing to be poured out and to offer a way to forgiveness and freedom and power to the masses of frail and failing humanity all around him. I don't know if there's a point that's more pivotal than this. Everyone was failing him. Everyone around him is going to run away. Judas is going to betray him. You see all the confusion that's all around him. All the failing humanity everywhere. But you see, the heart of God was to come to failing humanity. The heart of God is expressed through Jesus Christ where the Scripture says, this is love. Not that we love God, but God loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He came to us when we weren't even looking for him. He came to us. When we were laying in our failure. He headed to the cross to be poured out so that you and I can have a weight everlasting life. And he said, Father, I pray that my people, my church, may be where I am. Do you want to know why there's no prayer meetings anymore? Because there are hardly any people left that are willing to be poured out. That others may come to freedom in Christ. It's tragic. I feel personally it's catastrophic in the church of Jesus Christ. The God's people gather to be entertained in the midst of a perishing world. It's like dancing on the deck of the Titanic. Those who understand God. Those who can touch heaven. Those that God can take and empower and use our lives for his glory. But it requires something. You see, that's why he could pray. He could pray because he had God's heart. And because he had God's heart, he also had God's power. Oh, Father, he said, I pray that those you've given me might be with me where I am. That they too might understand and partake of the life and power that you've given me. That they might be one with us. That the world might know that you have sent me. That the world might know. That they might see my glory in my church. That they might hear my voice in their prayer. That they might see my power in their lives. That they might feel my compassion in their yieldedness. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory both now and forever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. I pray that they may be one. I pray that they may be where I am. By God's grace, that can become the chiefest delight of your life. To be where God is. I don't want to be anywhere where God is not for the rest of my life. Don't anybody, no clapping please. I don't want to be anywhere where God is not. I don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to have anything that takes my heart away from him. I had the most wonderful time of prayer that I've had in years. I think it was Thursday night or Friday night. I began to pray in my apartment and the Holy Spirit came on me. And I began to wail. A gut wailing. For the people of Africa. It's as if the Holy Spirit took me there. And I saw the hundreds of thousands and millions of souls that are so precious in the sight of God. And he began to give me his heart. Because my prayer had been, Lord, I can't go there if I don't have your heart. You've got to give me your heart. I want to walk beyond a sense of duty. I want your heart. I want to speak through you. He began to unlock to me his glory. You see, that's the duksha. That's the glory. It's God. It's God's thoughts. It's God's heart. It's God's power. The common overshadow. Remove, as it is, our own frailties. And begin to release us into the power of God. So that I can stand in Africa with the passion of God. And it's not a religious thing. It's God. It's his heart. Now, I honestly don't care if I live or die there. Because it's worth it. It's worth it. For every soul that will rise out of the ashes. For every man, woman and child that will find hope in everlasting life in Christ. It is worth it. For every pastor that will be quickened. For every religious worker that will be touched by the spirit of God. It's worth it. Because this is humanity that Christ came for. This is why he went to the cross. We're not called to build our own kingdoms. We're not called to flash around Rolex watches and drive fancy cars. As a sign that God is with us. That is nothing but damnable selfish of western Christianity. It has no place in the kingdom of God. I'm believing God. To the miracles. I'm believing God to set people free. I'm believing God to have his mind and kingdom established in people's hearts and lives. I'm believing God to take a frail vessel and make me what I'm not. And take me where I can't go. And do what I could never do. Because his is the kingdom. His is the power. His is the glory. Both now and forever. I began to wail. Do you want to know why I began to wail? I fear for one thing. I fear for a great judgment that's coming to America. Let me tell you why. The western world is poisoning this part of the world with a gospel that is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. God warns he will never let the poor be touched. He said you enter into the fields of the fatherless, you face the wrath of God. We've allowed these charlatans to rise in our midst who don't know anything about the kingdom of God. Because there have been so few who have been willing to press in and say take my life and use it for your glory. The moment that's in your heart, you'll see immediately all the rest of this stuff for what it is. You see the self-seeking for what it is and all of the chicanery and foolishness that goes on in the name of Christ. You see it immediately because you are headed for the will of God. And immediately it's open. And you know it. And you see the power of God. Times Square Church, let's not degenerate into religion. Let's not have a fool's religion in this house. Let's continue to pray. Let's have prayer meetings that are filled with the passion and fire of God. Where nobody here has to lead you. The Holy Ghost leads you. Where you and I just simply are touching heaven. We're touching the glory. The glory is touching us. We're touching his mind. His mind touches us. We touch his power. His power touches us. We touch his will. His will becomes established in us. And the chiefest delight is to yield ourselves to the purposes of God. There's no higher calling. There is no other calling. I'd like to sing a song because I really don't know where to go with this altar call right now. We could have the musicians come. Please just remain seated for a moment. Now let the Holy Spirit speak to you. God, I'm asking you that I could want your kingdom first. That you could show in my heart areas where your kingdom has not come. Where I'm still in control. I'm still leading. Lord, help me now to understand your path for my life. Give me your heart for dying humanity all around me. I want to know what it is you'd have me to do and how I may glorify you. Sleepy prayers. Father, we want the prayer meeting to be the strength of this church. The strength of our homes. The strength of our individual lives. That we might be called a people of prayer. Lord, we want to know your will. We want to know what you'd have us to do. Every one, every man, every woman who's come to this altar, oh God, is yielding to you. We want to touch the dopes of glory of God in our prayers. Lord Jesus, it was your wish that we would be where you are. And it was before Calvary. God, I'm asking by your grace that you take me. Take the pastors of this church and the elders and the ministers. The choir, the orchestra. Every person who calls this a church home. Take those who are visiting today from other places. May this be the delight of our life, oh God. That we be yielded to you for your purposes. That your will and your way might be accomplished through us. You said that through this the world would know. The world would know. It's the only way they could ever know. Religion will never reach lost humanity. It has to be your glory in a surrendered people. God, I surrender to you. I surrender, I surrender everything. Lord, I ask you to take it all for your glory. Lord, help me now in this. For I know that my promises are worthless. I need your power. I can't fulfill it without your power. But with you I know that all things are possible. Father, I thank you, God. I thank you, Lord, that you're going to touch us. You're going to cause this house to be a house of prayer. It will be known in all nations as a house of prayer. I thank you that visitors coming to New York will be able to come here to pray. I ask the Holy Spirit today to put an anointing of prayer on this house. That anyone who walks in this sanctuary, even when it's empty, would start to pray. God, there'd be an instantaneous yielding of the heart. An instantaneous desiring of your will. And let it start with us, oh God, today. God, deliver us from empty, bankrupt religion. Deliver us, oh God, from being fools. Singing longer songs and having deeper unbelief grip our hearts. Oh my God, I ask you to forgive America for the wicked gospel that we've exported throughout the world. Forgive us, my God, Jesus, for so staining your name. So disgracing your kingdom. Using you as an avenue to be rich. Oh God, forgive us. God, forgive us. We've been such an incredibly selfish people. We've known so little about Christ. Help us now, Jesus. Holy Spirit, now help us. Help us. God, I have the desire to be poured out, but you've got to come and give me the power. You've got to come and do it for us, Lord. We're not going to be able to do it if you don't do it. You promised us power. You promised us, Lord, that if we would be yielded, we'd be in the place where Christ stood. That we'd know the joys and glory of God. That we'd be one with you. We'd be one. Jesus, I thank you that you made a way for us. Thank you that we don't have to live powerless, selfish lives. Thank you that we can glorify your kingdom. Thank you, mighty God, that you can do exploits through your people. Now open our minds, open our hearts. Expand us, oh God, in our prayers. Take away the dismal, sleepy prayers. And lift us into glory. God, I thank you for it. I thank you for what you're going to do today. I thank you, Jesus. I praise you, God. Lord, we're lifting up this whole house before you. We're lifting up this whole house and asking you to make it a house of prayer. My God, my God, my God. Make it a house of prayer. Lord, let people be commissioned at this altar. Let people be commissioned to nations throughout the world. Let people be commissioned to areas of this city. Let people be given gifts of heaven, oh God. To become evangelists and teachers of the word of God. Let the gifts of the Holy Ghost begin to abound. Lord, you said they'd lay hands on the sick and they would recover. Begin, oh God. Begin to do the miraculous through your church. Lord, as we walk yielded to you with no secondary agenda. My God, come and begin to be God in us. Lord, we ask you to touch this city. Touch this city, oh God. Touch this bankrupt city. Lord God, let your glory come. Let your glory be felt in New York City. Down every street and avenue, oh God. In every borough and every place, let your glory come. The glory of Christ. My God, take us beyond our borders. Jesus, lead us. Holy Spirit, lead us. We cry out, thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Let the kingdom of Jesus come. With great glory. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, we praise you. God, we bless you. God, we worship you. We worship you. We worship you. This is the conclusion of the message.