This sermon emphasizes the importance of boldness in our culture, clarifying that boldness is not about being aggressive but about standing firm in truth. It highlights the specific prayers that God answers, particularly prayers of repentance and seeking to know God. The sermon delves into Acts 4, showcasing how the disciples prayed for boldness in the face of persecution and how being filled with the Holy Spirit is essential for boldness. It also stresses the significance of fasting to starve the flesh and be filled with the Spirit, enabling effective and bold prayers that move the hand of God.

The prayer God answers, the prayer God answers, and we are actually talking about boldness this morning. Boldness is something we need in our culture, and boldness doesn't necessarily mean go scream in the face of protesters or get upset. I'm not talking about boldness because people would say that they are bold. So what does boldness mean? What's the definition? And when we pray, there is a certain prayer that God will answer. God will answer certain prayers. Well, Shane, how do you know? And sometimes he says yes, sometimes he says no. But there are certain prayers. If a person says, God, I don't know you. I'm humbly submitting and repenting this morning. I need to know you, God. I need to know that there is a creator. I need to know your son. And he will answer that prayer. He's not going to say let me get back to you next week. Let me check my schedule. Let me see if you're sincere. He will answer that prayer. And throughout the Bible, we see there are prayers that God answers. Now, well, should I move? Should I sell my house? Should I work here? Should I do this? Sometimes we're left waiting. And that's often God uses that waiting time to strengthen us. But there are prayers that he will answer. If you have your Bibles, you can turn to Acts 4 verse 15. Acts 4 verse 15. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, now remember, a few of the disciples had just got arrested. A person was healed, God forbid, and the religious leaders were upset. How was this person healed? In Jesus name. Uh oh, you just started a controversy there. So now the religious leaders are upset. And they pulled these few disciples aside. And they're putting them, they're really putting them under pressure to talk and to give like an interrogation. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, so that the, I believe it was Peter, one of the other disciples, they were in this council. And these religious leaders said, okay, leave this room now. And then they conferred among themselves saying, what shall we do to these men? For indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem. And we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name. What are they trying to do? Silence the voice of truth. That's always the plan of the enemy. See, people, a lot of people don't realize that the importance of speaking God's truth, or having God's truth available, or the Ten Commandments in our schools. Did you know they used to be in our schools? And to have God's Word everywhere. And to have actually the pulpits are vitally important for the condition of our nation. Because they speak the voice of truth. And that's why they'll want to silence that voice. Silence any message of God. And anything you can do, remove these aspects of God and His Word and silence that voice. So they were trying to silence the voice of truth. And that is nothing new today, is it? There's nothing new at all. They're trying to silence the voice. And this, I'm just for a few minutes, bear with me. I've been tired of being called a racist and a sexist and a discriminatory person on Facebook. And, and it's, it's like, we just want God. We just, we just want God. And a famous quote keeps coming to my mind, in times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. So when there is deceit out there, and I'm not going to talk about parties necessarily or who got elected, but just overall, that what we're seeing in our nation, be careful where you're getting your information from. Be very careful where you're getting your information from, because the enemy 2,000 years ago wanted to silence the voice of truth. What does he want to do now? He wants to silence the voice of truth. And how do you, what is in the truth? The media, the pulpits, any way you can get truth out there. So you look at a lot of the media, and what they're actually doing is they're fueling hatred. They're fueling racism. They're fueling all these other things. Can you imagine if CNN and Fox News and Drudge Report, all these, oh, man, there's, there's love taking place. And this is happening. And well, what a wonderful time. It's utopia. And oh, that would just change the hearts of the people many times. So where we're getting information from, trying to silence the truth, I just want to just give me a few minutes on these points that I think a lot of people are wanting somebody to say something. But when it comes to, let's say, for example, war, we are not warmongers. Speaking the voice of truth, you look at Romans 13. You look at God has given the government to be a tear to those who do evil. We love refugees. We love the sojourner. We love the immigrant. As Christians, we love it, love them. But we also know that there are certain things in place. And I liken it to when a mask falls for oxygen in an airplane, the parent puts the mask on first and then helps the child. So if we have things that are detrimental to the entire nation, we've got to step back and say, okay, how can we do this the right way, and the God way and the good way? So it has nothing to do with hate. Now, of course, we hate those in the LGBT community. That's coming out now. It's a sexist, racist, you know, homophobic. No, no, we love those. We love those caught in any type of sin, because all of us can relate to being caught in sin. But when there's an agenda to try to push things on kindergarten kids and kids in school, the church has to say, no, not on my watch. So that's the thing. We love the people, but we can't allow an agenda that's trying to be pushed. So be very careful in this area. And what we're really seeing is a lot of these people, and I'm just going to say it as it is, is we've become used to handouts, free phones, free food, free everything, and they don't realize that it takes hard work. Hard work is biblical. If you don't work, you don't eat. So see, it's okay to take a biblical position and say, listen, handouts are okay for those who need it. It's there for that reason. We need to help those. But for the vast majority of people, that's why they're upset, is because they see handouts are coming, and now I've got to work a little bit. And work, hard work is good. It's biblical. Never ever forget that. If I could tell young adults, this one thing would be this, work hard while you're young. Learn a good hard work ethic. Learn what character is. Learn it's hard going to bed tired because you're sore. It's good to work hard. So all these accusations that are being thrown out there, we cannot simply fall into the trap of the enemy. And I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I think it's important that some of us are reassured and motivated and encouraged. And the whole idea with racism. I encouraged a person yesterday, I might be going out to Simi Valley, a friend of mine that I've known for years, that there's no uprising of racism. Where's this coming from? The media. If somebody did a hate crime under Obama, they're going to get in trouble the same way they do it under Trump. There's not this rise of racism. Racism has always been here. But the church comes alongside and removes that racism and shows what love looks like. And it works both ways. Just me and Morgan, we were with a few people on Lancaster Boulevard Thursday, around 830 in the morning, this car comes, or 830 at night, this car comes driving by and says, cuss word beginning with F, I'll leave it there. And then says Trump at us. I'm like, if that's not stereotyping, I don't know what is. Are you aware of the Electoral College? And are you aware of who California voted for? But see, it goes both ways. Now I've got to walk to my vehicle. And I'm a little shaken. I'm a little like what, what's like, but see who's fueling that? Who's fueling that? It's all being fueled. It's hate. No, no, no, it's not true. Be very careful where you're getting your information from. So see, I'm not endorsing anybody, I'm showing you that this is fueled by the enemy. He's going to fuel these riots, he's going to fuel these charges of race, all these different things. And that's what we're seeing today. Choose hope, not fear is what we must do. So they were trying to silence the voice of truth. That's what's happening now. That was happening back then. And then we get to verse 18. So they called them and they commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God you judge. Now that's somebody filled with the spirit. If law enforcement comes and says don't ever talk in the name of Jesus anymore, I can I imagine most people say, Okay, I'm sorry, sir, close the door and like they might Facebook something and be upset, but they're not going to, they're not going to confront that person. But that's what and we think we have a difficult. Look at, look at this time, they couldn't even talk about Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people, since they all glorify God for what had been done. For the man was over 40 years old, whom this miracle of healing had been performed. This man 40 over 40 was laid at the gate beautiful for many years collecting alms collecting money. The Peter and John said, I don't have any money to give you. But in the name of Jesus, get up and walk. And in that name of Jesus, that man believed in a great miracle was done and it confused the religious leaders. But the one thing we can pull out of here is this. This is one example of when to disobey the government. Oh, did he just say that? What about Romans 13? Yes, we submit to the authorities, we obey the government, you don't blow up abortion clinics. That's not a good idea. That's not that's not biblical. It's we don't endorse anything like that. We're to love and to follow the laws of the land. But when the laws of the land say I can no longer worship God or follow him or talk about Christ, then that kingdom law of following God supersedes our earthly responsibility as citizens. So go to persecution in China, go to the underground churches, you will see them not conforming to what the government says in this area, because we have to worship God. I have to declare his name, I have to declare his truth. As a matter of fact, that's what martyrdom is. A person is killed for proclaiming the truth. That's what a martyr is. They are they are killed because of believing in the truth and proclaiming the truth. So this is one area if the government ever comes for this example, perfect example. It's already starting now with with the Supreme Court, allowing gay marriage, you know, you have to recognize it's a law of the land. Okay, it's a law of the land, they can they can go to the court. But asking to use the church and asking a pastor to, to have a service like this and to bless this type of union, that's where we have to say, I can't, I can't do that. I know the court says this. But as a, as a believer in Jesus Christ, I cannot participate in that type of event. So you say it lovingly, you say it boldly. But you cannot allow that. Or don't talk about Jesus, don't mention his name. And they told me that when I prayed at Michael Antonovich's office a couple years ago. And I Oh, okay, why am I even here then? In the name of whoever, you know, but I gave a brief thing on American history and said in your precious name of your precious son, we you know, and they didn't like that. Michael, I'm sure and I'm not talking about his staff in general, but the city of Los Angeles. They're not real big fans of these types of messages. Just case you know, Los Angeles City is, is a I just found out we're going to be maybe California is gonna be a separate nation now and Cal, Cal exit, California is exiting from the union and that will not happen. But you know, if and again, guys, I'm not trying to poke fun. I'm trying to show you that this is ridiculous. And there comes a time when we stand up against things that are wrong. And we sit we say that this is not happening on my watch. We cannot allow these things to happen from gay marriage to abortion, two different things we that God's law God's rule supersedes that. Now be careful, though, I've known people have been thrown into jail because they say the Bible says don't pay taxes. And that's that's not biblical either. That's Caesar render to Caesar the things that are Caesar. So we don't we and I'm not advocating any type of revolutionary movement. I'm just saying when the government tells me to no longer speak in the name of Jesus Christ and do not stand for the things of God, I need to retire a prayer for boldness. Here's what the disciples did instead of getting haughty instead of getting arrogant, instead of just getting lazy, they went back and they prayed. Verse 23, and being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all the chief priest and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. So basically, they're acknowledging, they're saying, God, you did this, you set them free, you're healed this man, you set the disciples free, you are the God, the God that governs the universe, the God that governs the affairs of men, your servant, David said, why did the nation's rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. So they saw this fulfillment, I believe, in Psalm 2, I think it is right after Psalm 1, blessed is the man who walketh not in the council, the ungodly, it goes on to say the wheat is like chaff blown away by the wind. And then it says, why did the nation's rage and plot a vain thing against Christ and his anointed one? So what we have to do the prayer that God answers in order to pray that prayer, you always you have to reinforce who God is in your life. Because the media and Facebook is going to not reinforce who God is. And they're going to create that fear frenzy and all this, right, all this stuff. So you have to reinforce who God is. That's what they did. Why are they praying that? Lord, you are God, you made heaven, you made earth, you made the sea, you made everything. You made heaven, you made the earth, you made the sea, everything is in your hand. I just every time I watch and listen to like biochemistry, quantum physics, it just amazes me how good God is, and how the finite the DNA code and and how it it works its way and creating life and then the life begins to form and the and from the eye to the heart to the lungs, everything just, it's amazing. And then that, as I mentioned before, the sun was just a little bit 1% closer to the earth, this would be a volcano, earth would be about 1% further, and this would be an iceberg, everything is just meticulous, and perfect. And you remember who God is, that's the God who we serve. So if you're upset, who got an office, or if you're upset, who's not, the God is still on the throne. This isn't the time to sit back and rest on our laurels. This is the time to go forward in the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember who God is. He might have granted us some some amnesty, and our nation being judged and opening a door for the church to get back on track and fill with the Spirit of God again. And you know what, I know, gosh. But I hear it a lot. And maybe and maybe it needs to be said, but people say, how could you and I haven't voiced much who I voted for, or gloating on anything. But how could you, you know, want somebody like that in office? Look at this foul mouth, look at this thing. And I often compare it, do you want Winston Churchill or Adolf Hitler? I mean, those are, Winston, and I'm not joking, Churchill, scotch drinking, foul mouth, cigar smoking, but he led Europe through a very turbulent time against an evil dictator. So you see, God uses Cyrus, God uses Hezekiah, God uses Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. God uses people according to His will. God, you are great. We give you all the glory and all the credit to what you have done in our nation and through your church. So you remember who God is. That's your key to a bold prayer is you remember who God is. For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant your servants that with all boldness, they may speak your word. You better pray this prayer right now. You better pray this prayer in this season of turmoil, because boldness is how you get through it. You either have fear and timidity or boldness. That's how a believer lives. They are bold. Yes, it's getting difficult. Yes, it's getting challenging, but we are going to be bold for the cause of Christ. That's the prayer that God will answer. He said, look at their threats. Now, the context is persecution. The context is persecution. So this fits really well. And grant your servants that with all boldness, they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant, Jesus Christ. God showed up. God showed up here when they prayed for boldness. Now the word boldness, parousia, it's what in the Greek, it's parousia. And it's an interesting word. It means frankness, candor, and courage. Frankness, candor, and courage. And we might say, well, what about those people on TV causing all this, these riots? I think they have frankness, candor, and courage, don't they? Well, I didn't finish the rest. Frankness, candor, and courage produced by the Holy Spirit. That's boldness. Boldness is the opposite of fearfulness. To be bold implies a willingness to get things done despite the risk. So when somebody's filled with the Spirit, as I talked before a few weeks ago, boldness is a byproduct. You're filled with the Spirit. You're not filled with fear. You're filled with the Spirit. You're not filled with being timid. You're filled with the Spirit. You're not filled with concern. You're filled with boldness. See, that's what we need right now, because if Christians were bold, I don't mean arrogant. I don't mean condescending. I don't mean mean, but to stick by the truth and say, listen, we love you enough to tell you the truth. I'm being candor. I'm being direct for a purpose, because it's boldness. Now, there's a time to put on the gas, but there's also a time to put on the brakes. And you know who you people are. I'm probably on your side. There comes a time we just need to shut our mouth, and the best thing we can do is just pray and seek God, because we will excuse arrogance with boldness. Have you ever heard this, just arrogant, mean, I'm just passionate? No, you're not. No, no, you're not passionate. You're arrogant. You're mean. You're condescending. So boldness is directed by the Holy Spirit. And actually, that goes two ways. It's not just speaking the truth. Boldness is stepping up hospital homes, going to those, and going out of your comfort zone, being bold for your faith, and saying, Lord, I don't know what you're doing, but I'm stepping out, and I'm being bold. I'm going to serve in this area. I'm going to help. So boldness affects all different types of areas in our life. I'm scared, and I'm paralyzed are not formulas for success when praying, unless you recognize that you are scared and paralyzed, and you tell your loving Father, God, I'm paralyzed, I'm fearful, I'm concerned, I'm worried. That's okay, because then you're getting it out, basically repenting, and saying, God, help me in these areas. That's because the enemy is going to use fear. And that's what they really have. That's how they silenced the pulpits over 50 years ago, something called the Johnson Amendment that came out saying you can no longer talk about these types of political hot buttons. You can't endorse anybody, you can't say anything from the pulpit, or you'll lose your 501c3 status. And then you look back, you can go back as far as the Revolutionary War, and you look at all the different sermons preached on hot button issues. Why is that? Because the pulpit would set the tone for the nation. The pulpit would open God's word says, here's what God's word says. You've got hundreds, if not thousands of churches doing that. Of course, you want to silence that. I think it was Lyndon B. Johnson, who was beaten by somebody because of nonprofits. So he wanted to silence the nonprofits. And that's, that's one of the things they do. And churches were scared. They go, I don't want to lose my 501c3 status. Because, well, I've been asked that quite often, that's the best thing to do is budget your money. So if you ever do lose your 501c3 status, you can still function as a church. You have to live below your means, just like you tell, we tell our people to do. The church has to follow that same type of concept. Boldness, here's what boldness is. Boldness is faith walked out. I know I need to talk to that person, or I need know I need to do something, or I know that God is calling me to do that. But what does the enemy stop? How does he usually stop most of us, this little guy up here, those fiery darts, that's not going to work. They're not going to listen. They're going to get mad at you. Who do you think you are? You just fell last week. You haven't kicked that habit. And he just uses all this stuff, fear, paralyzing, but boldness lives out. Was Jesus bold? He was the boldest person that ever walked on the planet. He would just stand in front of religious leaders. He'd say, oh, that's wonderful, but you whitewashed tombs. You're like dead men's bones on the inside, but outside you look very clean, you hypocrite. That's enough to get somebody killed back then. He was bold, he was loving, he was compassionate. He was so loving and compassionate, yeah, he caught the woman caught in the act of adultery, he said, go and sin no more. He told another man, go and sin no more. So he balanced love and boldness and truth and grace. It was wonderful to see this plan coming forward. So that's what boldness is. Boldness is faith walked out. Here's what happens. I want my marriage restored. Here is what it will cost me. I want my marriage restored. I'm bold enough. Here's what it will cost me. And if you want your marriage restored, what will cost you normally is the hand over your mouth and your knees on the ground praying and seeking God and being filled with the Spirit. Let him move. Let him do the changing. Let him do the preaching to your spouse. Let him do all the things. You pray and you fast and you close your mouth. Are you bold enough to take that step? I want to be involved in ministry. Here is what it will cost you. I want to be filled with the Spirit. We just talked about that weeks ago. Here's what it will cost you. Boldness. Boldness to go in and possess what God has called you to do. Did Joshua, did it take some boldness to possess the promised land? The more I read Scripture, the more I realize God doesn't give you the promised land. He says go and possess it. Joshua, Moses my servant is dead. Joshua, you go in and you possess the land. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. I will be with you. So he calls us to do things. He doesn't just, here's my ministry. He will tell us to go forward and do things. Lord, I want to speak your truth. I want to speak your truth. How many people say, I want to speak your truth. It will cost you. It will cost you. Oh, don't clap. Don't clap unless you're ready to pay that price. Do not clap because people will hate you. You'll be mocked. You'll be ridiculed. You'll be scorned. You'll be called a Jesus freak. You'll be called a holy roller. You'll be called all these things. It will cost you. And I know a lot of people don't want to pay the price because they don't share hard messages on Facebook. Like, why do I share that stuff? People get upset. Isn't that funny? We'll be very politically, shame I've got 800 friends. I don't want them thinking, well, okay. Thinking what? Dear closet Christian. Now, don't be overly, you know, the overly people, it's like a scripture every other hour and all these in your face things and all this stuff is not help things. It does not help things. Don't put those kind of things on Facebook as believers. You don't say a certain party riots when they lose and another party goes to work. I mean, those kind of things are not, you'll get that later. But I'm seeing Christians put this on there. I'm saying, guys, be careful. Be careful because we're called to be that shining light. We're called to be bold, but not arrogant. We're called to be bold, but not mean. And sometimes boldness means turning down the volume and talking to people and reaching out. Hey, how can I help me understand? Help me understand why I asked the lady on Facebook there to help me understand why you're so fearful right now. And she opened up and I saw that makes complete sense. But let me reassure you, half of America is not are not racist. We are not that you're getting that information. So you you come in you lovingly. And I'm only talking about these issues because unless you were born yesterday, they are everywhere. There it's everywhere. Now there's this there's this fear frenzy, there's this concern, and we need to come in boldly. See, you can live when you Christians are supposed to be full of love and grace. But that also needs to be bold. Because if the truth be told, we want love and grace, but we don't want to be bold enough to offer it. Because Jesus actually said, it's easy to love those who love you. But go and try to love those who don't love you. And that's going to take boldness to reach out to be bold. Hebrews 416, one of my favorite verses about boldness, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in this time. And that's a wonderful scripture. God says that we can because of Christ, we can come boldly through the to the throne of grace, we can come to God's throne, we don't need a mediator, we don't need an intercessor, we don't need all these other things. You don't need to say five Hail Marys and pray to the saints, you just come boldly to the throne of grace. And you say, God, we're petitioning you. And it's interesting that we're therefore in that verse, you have to go back, what is he talking about? He says, we have a high priest, we have a high priest and intercessor, who was tempted and tested at all points like we are, yet he is without sin. So because Jesus was tempted, without sin, he knows exactly what we're going through. Now he intercedes on behalf of the Father, so we can go boldly into the throne room of grace and make our request to God and make them be known and say, God, equip me. This is a wonderful concept. Because many times we feel that God can't use me, don't you? Don't I? God can't use me, he's not pleased with me. That is a lie from the pit of hell, because if you're a born again believer and the shed blood of Jesus Christ covers you, you're no different than me. You're no different than me ministering and preaching to people or teaching people or coming along. There's no difference in the kingdom of God. Oh, there's Shane, he's right there with Billy Graham. Billy Graham, this and that, you weigh down, he just looks at the body of believers. Now there's different giftings, different callings that we're responsible for being good stewards, but that's a plan of the enemy to say, God can't use me now, he doesn't love me, he's always done. No, go boldly to the throne of grace, take those thoughts captive, that's what you have to do. When the enemy throws in thoughts, you take them captive, say, God, this is not of you. That's bold. And then God will redirect. And when they had prayed, the place where they are all assembled together was shaken. Can you imagine? I have prayed that a few times. Lord, shake this place. Or our home or wherever, the place was shaken. And I won't get into a lot of detail, but it's interesting when I read a lot of books on revival that even from the 1650s, 1700s, 1800s, that many revivals didn't start by some guy up here like me preaching. Many revivals started in a small prayer room where people said, Lord, bend us, use us, break us. And when God's spirit and power came in that room, that place shook. They record the same thing. I can show you dozens and dozens and dozens. I don't know why, I don't know what that looks like other than the power of God is hitting that place and filling them with the spirit of God in the place. Literally, you can feel the presence of God in a tangible way. And I don't know, it's hard to relate that to people. They don't understand. Unless you've experienced God's presence where you can cut it with a knife. I've been in places where I almost couldn't even get up and preach. The spirit of God was so heavy upon me, I just sat there and weep and weep and weep, and I couldn't get up and preach. And people were all around weeping. What's going on? Oh, that's just emotionalism. No, no, I don't think so. That's God filling his people with his spirit. God, I would pray that he would do that every service. Every service. Well, Shane, why doesn't that happen? Why doesn't that happen? I wish I had the answer. I know a lot of times it's because the pipeline is clogged. The pipeline of communication with God is clogged. And we just, the trickle, the trickling. And I know it's a delicate subject with conservatives and Pentecostals, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the unction of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You know, I just say you better have it. Whatever you want to, you know, I love theology. It's a filling of the Spirit. But you better have it. Are you filled mightily with the Spirit of God? Is the Spirit of God just overflowing from your life? Because if you don't have it, you've got a desire and you say, God, I remember. I remember when I loved your word. I remember when I loved worship. I remember when I loved God's people. Now I've grown hard and cold and callous. God, fill me again with your Spirit and He will shake your life. He will shake your life and redirect you. God answered the filling of the Holy Spirit. Isn't this interesting? They prayed and the place where they assembled was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now, most people, if you're reading through Acts, you can go, wait a minute, wait a minute. They were just filled with the Holy Spirit. A couple chapters later. But remember what D.L. Moody said, we are leaky vessels. We are very leaky. I've got the Holy Spirit running. It's just the world comes on, the Holy Spirit is quenched and grieved. So we're leaky vessels. You've got to sit underneath the fountain of life daily as you're leaking. And that's maybe not a good analogy, but that's what happens is people, you can leave here filled with the Spirit of God. You can be praising. I mean, you can get a mean text message and say, oh, I don't care. You get a mean Facebook message. Oh, brother, I'm praying for you. But you get me on the wrong day. When that feeling of the Holy Spirit is gone, it's Monday afternoon. What happened? We need that feeling of the Holy Spirit. So here's what happened. Yes, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. And I can only surmise, but as life goes on, they're ministering, they're doing this, they're down maybe a little. Lord, we need your presence. We need your boldness. The place shakes and there's a fresh feeling of the Holy Spirit. Paul says be filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't be drunk, because that's with dissipation, but have a different spirit control your life. Be filled with the Spirit. So to be filled with the Spirit requires emptying and emptying and emptying and being filled with God's Spirit. And it's not just a bold prayer God answers. So God will answer bold prayers. But I want to get back to this point a minute. The pipeline of communication has to be cleared. I just taught Wednesday right here. If you can make it on Wednesdays, we're going through the book of James on James 4.3. You ask and do not receive because you spend it on your pleasures. Boldness is the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit and being filled is a result of being holy and being holy as a result of our daily choices and where our heart is. So you can't it's hard to pray for the boldness and not be filled with the Spirit. I can't pray for glory. Give me boldness to speak your truth. God, give me boldness to speak your truth. I can't wait. I want that. And then I go home and watch reruns of Desperate Housewives and go watch Ouija tonight and then see what Lady Gaga is saying and Beyonce and Jay-Z. I can't do that. I can't do that to be filled with the Spirit of God. That's impossible. You guys don't know who that half the people don't know who they are. That's okay. But you see what I'm saying, right? I can't pray for boldness and then go fill my mind with everything that opposes that boldness. Lord, let me speak your truth. Let me speak your truth. God, please. And then I'm filling my mind with all the things that oppose His truth. So people sometimes, I don't want that boldness, but I don't want to pay the cost. I want that boldness, but I'm not ready to pay that cost. And I'm not going to get off on a rabbit trail, but this is why fasting is so important. Fasting. What you're doing, you're starving the flesh. And I won't get into too much detail, but you realize when you get hungry, you're not really hungry sometimes. You're not going to die. You're not starving of hunger at all. Trust me. Your body, that lust is coming alive and saying, I want another burrito. I want Krispy Kreme and a big cup of coffee. I want Chick-fil-A. I want, I want, I want, I want. And so we've got to eat three or four times a day, don't you, Shane? No. No, your body's, you're not going to die. That's what we think. I'm going to die. And I can't. No, it's a lust of the flesh. A good thing. God-given thing. Thank God for it. But we constantly give into that. I wake up, got to have my coffee, got to have my donut. Three hours later, I got to have that burrito. Three hours later, I got to have this. Four hours later, I got to have a cappuccino, frappuccino, and this. And I've got to have french fries. And it's just, the flesh is dominating and dominating and dominating. And people, I've heard it all month, all month from people, oh, the holidays are coming. That's the worst time for me. You're already going to fail. That has to be, the holidays, you've got to go into the holidays saying, no, no, no, Satan, I'm not filling my flesh with that because when King's stomach dictates, it's hard to be filled with the Spirit. That's why fasting is so important. You tell your flesh, like your kids grabbing the cookies, right? No. That's what you tell your flesh. No, no, no. I'm so mad at you, I'm going to starve you tonight. And what it is, it's a process. This is a serious topic because everybody laughs, but nobody wants to fast. And people are, it changes because you're so filled with the Spirit of God, it's hard to explain it. And I believe there's somebody here from Burbank, from the men's conference at Hume Lake, around here somewhere. There you go, Les, good to see you. But the feedback from the conference has been incredible. But a lot of the guys didn't know, I shared it, is all I brought was some juice and water, never went to the rest, never. I had to fast. I had to starve that flesh and I would get up, I would have tears listening to worship. I was ready to preach, you couldn't hold me back. Where does that come from? Oh, Shane, you're so holy. No, I know Shane Eidelman, lust-filled Shane Eidelman back in the 20s and 30s. And if I feed those desires again, I will not be filled with the Spirit of God. You've got to fast, you've got to starve that flesh, not all the time or you will die. But it's got to be something, and God visited that place, unlike many times that I've seen before, when you fast, when my people fast and put the flesh aside, then you're more in tune with the Spirit of God. So if you want to be filled with the Spirit, you want to clean that pipeline, I would encourage you to incorporate fasting into your life. The desire for pleasure diminishes the work of the Spirit. The desire for pleasure diminishes the work of the Spirit. And I won't tell you how many times up at that conference that the flesh was trying, oh, come on, you did good, you know, at the first service, you can have some now, you know, it's a flesh, it's diminishing. And then, of course, they give you this big welcome basket with every conceivable candy on the planet sitting there on my TV. So I said, I'm moving that in the closet, I'm closing that thing, and I don't want to have anything to do with that. And some people think, well, that's, you know, that's weird, why don't you enjoy yourself? Me enjoying myself is being filled with the Spirit of God. And preaching and seeing men's lives literally changed, and being filled with that Spirit, that's what's important to me. No, I don't walk perfectly all the time in this area, my flesh is just as strong as yours, and I'm getting really hungry right now, as a matter of fact, talking about it. But you've got to tell your flesh, no, no, and the more you do that, what I've learned, and you can probably validate this, when you've got King's stomach under control, you're very self-disciplined in other areas. When you give in to the King's stomach, you lose discipline in other areas. You show me who's strong in the fight against pornography, and I'll show you somebody who's learned to control their lusts. Starting with, you give up to these appetites, you will give up to other appetites. And I want bold prayer warriors, but boldness, you can't just pray that prayer without their paying a cost. And I remember reading Ray Stedman, I don't know if some of you know him, back probably 50s and 60s. Ray Stedman said this about the prayer of many people, it goes like this. Dear Father, I don't want to disobey you, but I must have my own way at all costs. For I love what you do not love, and I want what you do not want. So please, be good God, and deny yourself, and move off your throne, and let me take over. If you don't like this, then all I ask is that you bite your lip and say, or do nothing that will spoil my plans, and let me enjoy myself. That's many times what we're saying in prayer. I know God, you don't desire, I know you desire more of me, but there's something blocking. There's something blocking, I want to clean the pipeline this morning. I want to clean that pipeline this morning. And I'm going to read what I read Wednesday night. Many times when I'm preparing two sermons, they interlap because they go well with each other. But this is from David Wilkerson. Before he died, he said, what's in your life that keeps you from going on in the full blessing of Christ? What is blocking bold prayers? You were doing so well at once. I know you to be a praying people. You labor diligently to do good works, but something is wrong. I don't see you growing anymore. Instead, you've gone back to relying on your flesh. I don't sense the sweet aroma of Christ you once had. Something's hindering you. What could have persuaded you to settle in this condition? Whatever it is, I tell you, it's not of God. Something is clouding you. Something may be holding on to you. I know so many Christians today who once were mightily used of God. These people were devoted, praying, believing saints. But then something happened to them that somehow caused them to be hindered from experiencing the fullness of God. Often that hindering leaven was a single besetting sin. To all such people, Paul asks, what happened? What is hindering the flow of Christ's blessing in your life? What leaven has crept in? A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. And that's what we have to remember as a church. You've got to be loving and gracious, but sin is serious. Sin is hurting our children. Sin is hurting our nation. Sin is leading this Los Angeles County to be one of the highest abuse counties in the nation. Sin is destroying us. And so many people want to play with the very thing that's destroying them. Well, Shane, it's not that big a deal. Well, that's called a besetting sin. And the problem with sin is it doesn't stay still. You say, well, this is a nice little sin. I've got him in control right here. Well, give it a few months. And that thing you have in control will eventually be a monster that is consuming you. That's basically what addiction is. Addiction is when you give yourself up to a habit, and then you become dependent upon that habit or that sin. It's got you, and that's where the word stronghold comes from. It's got you in a stronghold, and it's not going to let go easily. This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. So we've got to clean the pipeline. The reason people aren't praying boldly is because they're not living well. Bold prayers come from seeking God. They come from when repentance takes place. They come when we position our heart with God's. Let me just give you a few examples. When Martin Luther prayed, the church was reformed. When John Knox prayed, Scotland was revived. When John Wesley prayed, America was restored. When George Whitfield prayed, nations were changed. When D.L. Moody prayed, America fell to her knees. When Amy Carmichael prayed, India received the gospel. And so it goes, beginning with the disciples who prayed in the upper room 2,000 years ago. When you pray, and I say this often, you move the hand of God. The dry, dead, lethargic condition of the church simply reflects an impotent prayer life. The church is dying on her feet because she's not living on her knees.