In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of communion with God. He explains that communion allows for a two-way conversation between man and God, even when one may not know what to say or how to pray. The speaker encourages listeners to establish a relationship with God through prayer, as it is a life-changing experience that knows no boundaries and is all-powerful. He also mentions the current crisis of the AIDS epidemic and highlights the need for individuals to stay connected to God in order to navigate through difficult times.

Greetings, my friend. It's certainly a joy and a privilege to be back with you again this month. I am presently here in my office early on Wednesday morning, getting ready to leave today to head to St. Clair, Missouri for a meeting, and then on to the convention where I will be preaching on Tuesday at a very special occasion, and the fact that this is the first time an evangelist of my particular involvement has been invited to preach at a Southern Baptist convention, and it's certainly a joy. And in fact, today on this particular tape, I'm just going to share with you some of the things that I'm going to share with the people there, and in that I'm going to share with you these things. I'm just, I'm not going to try to preach the sermon, but I'm just going to share with you some of the things that's on my heart about what I want to say there. I believe it will be help to us all. I'd like to just go back to the matter of the last tape or two that I sent. The tape before last, I just got down, right down to where I was physically and shared with each one of you where I stood physically, and many, many, many of you have written and responded and just said how much you appreciate getting to know where I was physically, and I think picking up something of where I was spiritually out of that testimony. And what I felt is that I would love to take you, my friends, many of you very, very good, personal, long, long time friends that I, you know, know in a very personal way into this environment with you, with me, and that way let you enter into the experience, and watch God work and bring me through this. I wouldn't have done that at all. I wouldn't have involved you if I hadn't thought the Lord was going to bring you me through it. In fact, it's been a very unique experience thus far in that I have shared this so openly my children have always seen me as the man who would walk out of the room, so to speak, and say, I'd say, God said, and then God would bring the thing through to pass, and they never saw the conflict of getting to that time where God would really give me the assurance that things were coming through, and they would be all right, and all that. But since Manley Jr. and Deborah, our daughter, work here in the office, they have got a different view of me, and they have seen that regardless of how long you walk with the Lord, that when crises come, you go through that struggle of coming to that place where God really speaks to you, and where you have peace in your heart, and that you're assured that the will of God is being done. And so it's been quite interesting for me to watch their reaction to me as I have included them into this experience. And so that's really what I have wanted to do with the many of you out there on the tape ministry, because I just felt like it would be a good experience for you to enter in with me on this. Now, I left you last, and that really is taped before last, at the point that I was really in a struggle, the kidneys were deteriorating, and that I was headed for several things. One is that God could instantly heal those kidneys, or just stop the deterioration, and that I would go on. Or that I would have to go on a dialysis process, and that would create a big problem, because I would have to stop the ministry, in a way, the ministry as it's going on today. I had never had any intentions of stopping the ministry, period, but as far as me traveling, and doing it at work as I'm doing now, you know, that on the dialysis machine would be almost an impossibility. So this was creating a big conflict with me. And of course, a kidney transplant, and just to drop in and have a transplant today or tomorrow is not that easily done. So I just left you at a real spot of conflict, and many people have responded by praying, and many have responded to the fact that they realize that this is calling for a new commitment of faith in trusting God for extra finances and such, because of the added expense that a lot of things are, that will be incurred, you know, because of me having to go so much to doctors and so forth. So it's been quite interesting to watch how God has blessed, and I mentioned about a number of people, God raising up some to be real intercessors, and some have really stepped forward at this point, and indicated their position on that, and then some, I think, have stepped forward and taken on that identity of an intercessor, but they have not let me know about it. But it is amazing. You can almost tell the days in which some people just really pray for you, and especially that's been so in the last month. Now, I just praise the Lord for the way things are happening. I was under a real battle until about two weeks ago. Now, that's from the time I'm making this tape. By the time you get it, by the time you receive this tape, it will probably be about four weeks ago. It'll be about two more weeks before you receive this particular tape. But I was able to look into each facet of possibility. Many people have written and called and offered a kidney. Of course, that would be subject to the fact that their kidney was a compatible type and so on, but many people have offered. I have had a lot of fun in calling certain people across the country and telling them that I'd been impressed that their kidney was the most sanctified and most effective, and that, you know, I thought they ought to consider it. But it's been a great thing, but there's been a very serious issue with some. The first person in the Newkirks in Ferguson, Missouri, Mrs. Newkirk, offered me a kidney, the first person. And I'll tell you, it was devastating to me, not in the sense that it destroyed me in a sad way. I mean, it just overcame me that a person, lovely person, just loved me so much and loved the Lord so much that they would do that, and that just really got to me. And it really was the one thing that God really used and sobered me up a great deal about this whole matter. Now, a number of people will have written and called and said, I'd be glad to give you a kidney. Now, this is a great potential. It's a great possibility, and it could be one of the answers. And I'm not ruling that out. Now, I realize that from my being so open and sharing with people that several on the tape club got rather perturbed. I said I was full of the devil and everything else because of my attitude about it. But people like that really fascinate me. You know, they usually have not walked where you've walked. And if they have walked through types of suffering, they have actually made their God their slave and delivery boy, rather than submitting to him as their Lord. So, they want everybody to have the same identical experience they've had, and so, which is a very, very, very limited opinion about God. But anyway, most people have really responded in a very positive way. Now, as you know, the Dallas machine, I would have to go on the Dallas machine three days a week for about three and a half hours, three days a week. And that would just knock me totally out, as I mentioned to that. Well, a Christian friend that works in this particular area mentioned to me this method of dialysis called CAPD. And it's a process where you dialyze yourself in a sense that it's basically painless. The only real negative is that you can pick up an infection pretty easily this way. But if you're a responsible person and a disciplined person, this method is ideal for people traveling. And you do have to take a great deal of fluid with you. That is rather, well, awkward to take, because you have to take a lot of it. But the organization that helps you with this method will drop the medication right to the hotel or to the church or wherever you are if they have your schedule. And this will not even hinder us doing our work in Europe, because this method is used over there a great deal more than it is here in the United States. So, it's a lot of interesting experience. So, what has happened? At this point, I am still okay. I am feeling right, feeling strong, and functioning well. And we are taking a blood test every week to see if the blood is being cleansed adequately. And if it gets down to where it's not, then I will go in the hospital for about three days and have a tube placed in my side for this CAPD method. Several doctors have talked to me. They are friends. And it seems to be a very good method of doing business. As far as the matter of having your blood cleansed, I wish I could really tell you about the details of it. It's quite incredible. So, anyway, this has just given me a total new lease on this whole thing. I realize it will be a new dimension of discipline if I go this route, but it will not hinder me at all from functioning, going, preaching, meetings, or anything of that nature. I do think that the Lord wants me to use this to slow down some and do a great deal more preparation, writing, and so on, and putting more stuff on tape. And I do think He wants me to start recording my life story detail by detail on tape. And so we're really headed for some wonderful times. In fact, oh, about the time you get this tape, I possibly will be back in Texas having that tube put in my side if things go according to plans. But the Lord could intervene any moment about that, so I just wouldn't want to write that down is what we're going to do, really. But about the 1st of July, I will be returning from a time where Bill Stafford, myself, and a friend, Skeet May, will have gotten together and put a book together on finances and faith on finances and really making a stay out, but helping the churches come up with financial plans on how to raise money. And we trust in a way that would really honor God. And, of course, there are a lot of groups out there helping churches right now raise money. And I realize that these are good. Some of them have some bad points about them, some of them have some great points. And we're not going to try to destroy these people, but we're going to show that there is a dimension where the child of God can get that is totally a possible area that the churches are not even getting into about raising their finances. So we're going to be writing this book. But we're in the process now of publishing a number of books, and so we're excited about that. Some books that have been out of print for a good while will be put back into print. So we're rejoicing about that. And while I'm on the books situation, we have another little booklet that I want to mention. As I mentioned, one on prayer. Time before last, we have one here now by Oswald Sanders called Effective Faith. Effective Faith. And really, what it is, is about, oh, probably 30 pages of statements and short messages about faith. And this man, of course, highly influenced me all through my ministry. And you'll find that a lot of the things you've heard me say I possibly got from some of these ideas. This book has gone through about five or six, seven printings. And some of the titles is What is Faith? Faith in Sight, Faith in Feelings, Faith in Promises, Faith in Work, Faith in Obedience, Faith in Unbelief, Faith in Patience, Faith in Love, Faith in Fear, Faith in Suffering, The Venture of Faith, The Activity of Faith, The Vitality of Faith, The Degrees of Faith, Growing Faith, Faith in Paradox, and so on. I mean, it's really something. Saving Faith, Facets of Faith. So it's quite an interesting little booklet. It's a tremendous inspiration and a tremendous source book. You just, it seems like it, he has put together the very best statements about faith. And so you might like to order that book when you send your gift in for the tape after this. Now, I trust that you're rejoicing with us and you can sense that I'm rejoicing over this matter of the kidney situation, the health situation. And so just pray because the battle is not over. You don't, you don't relax at all until you get home and sit down. And we're not there yet. So I trust that you just keep on praying. Now, this month I want to talk to you about knowing God in prayer. And I want to read several passages of scripture. And if you don't mind, I'm going to read them out of the Amplified Bible. And you of course will understand possibly why after I read these verses. The first verse I want to read is Romans 8 16. The Spirit himself thus testifies together with our own spirit, assuring us that we are children of God. And then the other passage is 1 Corinthians, the second chapter. And then I think we'll start reading, let's see, about the 10th verse. Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through his Spirit. For the Holy Spirit searches diligently. Well, let's back up a verse. But on the contrary, as the scripture says, what eyes has not seen, ears has not heard, and has not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared, made, keeps ready for those who love him, that is for those who hold him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying him and gratefully recognizing the benefits he bestows. Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them, talk about the scriptures, by and through his Spirit. For the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God, the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny, for what person perceives, knows and understands, what passes through a man's thoughts except the man's own spirit within him. Just so no one discerns, comes to know and comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the Spirit that belongs to the world, but the Holy Spirit who is from God, given to us that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly bestowed on us by God. For we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but by, or taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truth or spiritual language to those who possess the Holy Spirit. But the natural non-spiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly, meaningless nonsense to him, and he is incapable of knowing them, are progressively recognizing, understanding, becoming better acquainted with them, because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. But the spiritual man tries all things, that is, he examines, investigates, inquires into question and discerns all things, yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one. He can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or praise or get insight to him, for he has known or understood the mind, the counsel and purpose of the Lord, so as to guide and instruct him and give him knowledge. But we have the mind of Christ. For the continuation of this message, please turn the tape to side two. Now, what I want you to see here is that man, man first can literally know God. In the King James, it says, his spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we're children of God. That's Romans, that eighth chapter. That sixteenth verse, the passage really suggests that a relationship can be established. And, of course, you realize, if you're a Christian, and I feel like most of you are that's listening to this tape, that a relationship can be established, a spiritual relationship. And when I say spiritual relationship, I'm talking about you can become a child of God, a relationship that is eternal, a relationship that is vital, a relationship that is even satisfying, as suggested here. And not only is there a relationship suggested, indicated, but there's a relationship established. Out of this verse, it says, if his spirit bear witness with our spirit, that we're children of God. In other words, there's not only a provision for a relationship, but that relationship can literally be experienced. Like the Bible says, you must be born again. And so you can actually be born of the spirit. And the Bible says, marvel not that I say that you must be born again. You can literally be born of the spirit, just like you were born in the flesh. You can be born of the spirit. And then there can be a relationship expressed, his spirit bearing witness with our spirit, that we're children of God. In other words, the Holy Spirit testifies that we are children of God. We have the assurance. We have literally the assurance that we are saved by the grace of God. Now, the passage in 1 Corinthians 2 indicates that a person that is born of the spirit, the truth, and the work of the spirit can make that man to know in himself. He can make that man to know in himself. Now, I believe that this knowing can take on several dimensions. I believe that what we'll do first is just simply look at it this way. A person that is born of the spirit, you see, the Bible says you can be born of the flesh, and then you're born of the spirit. That person's spirit, God's spirit also, becomes one spirit, will become one spirit. As far as the spirit of man is concerned, he becomes one spirit. Now, when a man's spirit and God's spirit are one, then the spirit of God has the capacity to make the spirit of man to know. Know things like God knows things. Now, you have heard me talk about this before, possibly, if you've heard me preach much. How does God know something? He just knows. He doesn't have to think to know. He just knows. Well, see, when his spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're children of God, we just know. I remember as a little boy something that fascinated me. My mother would indicate that she was having a time with God, very likely it was a time where she'd been in prayer or Bible study or just fellowshipping with the Lord, communion with the Lord, and she'd say, you know, I don't know how to explain it, but I just know the Lord. And then there was a lady that worked for us, every lady, and you'd see her crying, and she said, she'd say, well, I just know the Lord, and he's just being good to me, and he's just making himself known to me. Well, as a little boy, you know, I'd look around to see if he was around anywhere, and I couldn't see him, and I'd ask her, where is the Lord? And she'd say, oh, he's speaking to me in my heart. Well, I didn't see him speaking to her in her heart, but she knew that the Lord was witnessing in her spirit of the things of his provision and the things of his blessings and so on. Now, there's a knowing in your spirit, a knowing like God knows something, and then there's a knowing where you literally understand, because you have had a history with God. You can look back and see where God met with you at this occasion, and you came out of that occasion knowing God a little differently. There was another occasion where you went through a crisis. You came out of that knowing God in the relationship to your experiences, and then there's another level of knowing God, and that is basically through your understanding where you can learn that God is the creator. God is the provider. God is the protection. God is the leader. Just all of the things about God. Tell us to look at that Lord for a moment. This Lord that we want to look at for just a moment is the Lord of the now. He told Moses, he said, tell them I am sent you. Now, you know that's incomplete statement, but you can add anything else that's needed there, and the I am is the ever-present, the omnipresence of God. Can you just comprehend the fact that everything is now with God? You know, it's just unbelievable to take that in, that everything is now with God. Everything. Not only is everything now with God, but he's all-powerful. I mean, there's not one thing in this world that he is subject to. I mean, he is all-powerful. He is not only all-powerful, but he's all-knowing. And you just look around, and you can just see God. You look in your past, even lost people. I can look back even when I was lost, and I can see how an omnipotent God just was there. And then, of course, I look to the witness of the Spirit in my spirit. And the Lord was there, and is there, making himself real, real to my life. Now, this God cannot be slipped upon. This God cannot be surprised. This God cannot be outdone. This God cannot be ignorant of this whole situation. It's all there in him. Before you were substance, he wrote down in a book about everything about you. And then let you come along and become substance. And then you walk through this life as a free person of choice. And you make the very choices, and you fit perfectly, exactly, what was written down in that book. And yet, there's no way that his sovereignty has violated your responsibility. And there's no way your responsibility has violated his sovereignty. That's amazing. That's absolutely amazing to think that God is that big. There's no way that seems like that you and I can even possibly comprehend that kind of God. But he's there. And you know, as you look out there, I'm looking out the window in my office, and I see a tree that's covered with thousands of leaves. And it's my understanding that it's not one of those little leaves alike. No two things alike in the world. He's always original. Can you imagine? God is always original. And it's fascinating to me. But you know, you can know him. The greatest privilege, the greatest blessing, the greatest, oh, the greatest, well, I guess I have to come back to the word privilege. The greatest privilege in the world is the fact that a man can know God. I do not know anything that would equal knowing God. You say, well, the blessings of God, the benefits of God are equal. No. All of those, you can have the blessings without and benefits without knowing him. But you can't know him without having the blessings and the benefits. I think, in my opinion, that this capacity to know God and to know him is the greatest single blessing of man. And then to know him in prayer, you know, just to know him in prayer. This passage that we read says, His spirit bears witness with our spirit, indicating that there's a communion between God and man. Now, to me, of all the definitions of prayer, the word communion is the one word that really expresses to me prayer. I realize there's petition. I realize there's confession. There is praise, intercession, song, supplication. But communion, to me, just sums it all up. It means that man can have God to talk to him, and he can talk to God. Even if he doesn't even know what to say, what and how to do it, his spirit will interpret the attitude of the heart, and that man can have communion with God. You know, you just go, I've been working on this, as I said, I'm not going to preach this sermon to you, but I'm going to work along this line in the message that I will, of course, already be through with by the time you get this tape. But it's amazing. This communion with God just goes all the way through the Bible, experiencing God in prayer by Abel and Enoch and Moses and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and just right on down the line, all the way through the Bible, these men experienced knowing God in prayer. I was thinking about Elijah. I was reading a book the other day about how Elijah had a time with God when he called down the fire of the false prophets, and the fire licked up the sacrifice, burnt the sacrifice up, and licked up water around it. It's just something, how the fire of God never failed for Elijah until he put that last speck on that offering. He just had to put that last piece of sacrifice on that offering, and when it was all on that offering, the fires of God fell. Oh, that's mind-boggling. It's just to think that how he experienced knowing God in prayer, all the way through the New Testament. Look how even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, experienced knowing the Father in prayer. And just look at the disciples. Thorn in jail, the church prayed. Angel of the Lord walked into that jail, led Peter out, right by the guards, the whole business. You just cannot believe it. Knowing God in prayer affects man spiritually. It affects man morally. It affects man socially. It affects man physically. It affects man financially. It affects man in every way man can be affected. Just to know God in prayer is one of the great privileges. All at once, man becomes omnipresent, and man becomes all-powerful, unlimited, not within himself, but in the scope that he cooperates with God to accomplish God's end. Just think about it. Man can just reach out. People can do a lot of things to man, but if man can stay right with God, stay in communion with God, that man is a free man. I mean, there are no jails. There's no dungeon. There is no place anywhere that can stop it. It is an unbelievable, unbelievable time to know God. Well, I just, I tell you, I trust that you know Him in prayer. I really do. If you do not know God, naturally, you need to be born again. But if you know Him, make sure you come to know Him in prayer. It's a life-changing experience to come to know God in prayer. It knows no boundaries. It knows no boundaries. It's all-powerful. So, I trust that someway, somehow, you'll be able to reach out and move with the power and the glory of God in your life. No one can stop you. No one can stop you. You can stop yourself. The devil can't stop you. No one can stop you when you're on your knees. You know, we may need to pray like the disciples. Lord, teach us to pray. Oh, brother man, I don't know how to pray. I don't know if we need to know how to pray as much as we need to know to pray and pray. Like today, we need to ask God to put it in our hearts to pray. And that's the only way you're going to do it. If you just make yourself available to pray, ask God to put it in your heart to pray, He will do this. Now, some of you run out and say, well, I'm just going to start praying. Bless God. I'm going to set me up a time to do it. Now, oh, that's wonderful. That's wonderful, and I hope you can do that, but that won't last. But if you'll ask God to put it in your heart to pray, and you start getting it on your heart, and you start being burdened from your heart to pray, and you cooperate with that burden, I guarantee you, you'll start having a prayer life that will not stop as long as God will keep that there. And I trust that you'll do that, because there's no greater privilege in this world than the privilege of knowing God and learning to cooperate with God to establish God's will in your life, in your family's life, and in the lives of people about you. I trust that God will stir your heart. We're headed into some crisis days. This past week, I have just watched the news till I'm just stirred to the depths about this aid problem. This aid situation is going to change the whole culture of the world. It's not only going to be thousands and millions of people die from it, but it's going to change the culture of the world. It'll be some years before they will get any kind of medicine that will really handle it, and the side is going to be so infected by it, and you just think for a moment if people can get aids from any other method than basically through sex or through blood transfusions, and when it gets to be known that you can get it other ways, it's going to put the whole world in such jeopardy if it's not already there. I asked God, I said, Lord, what in the world is going on? And God seemed to show me that there's one wave of tragedy after another that's always come upon the world to shut man up, for man will have to trust God.