2819 Church - Now We Have Access | Genesis 3:8-13 | Milton James

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

In this uncompromising standalone message, Elder Milton James calls us back to the life of prayer and dependence that Jesus modeled throughout His earthly ministry. Through Christ, we have ACCESS to the Father and have been invited into constant holy communion with Him, yet sin, distraction, busyness, and self-reliance can cause us to neglect His presence and drift from the intimacy He desires with us.

Y'all can be seated. Thank you, Trey. Thank you, worship, team. God bless you all. Good morning. Y'all happy to be in the presence of the Lord today, back in his house today. Are y'all happy for the 4,800 souls that were saved, baptized, turning, turning, no going back for them.

And no going back for you. No turning back for you. My name is Milton James. I'm one of the elders here. I have the honor to stand before you today in this standalone message. Pastor Philip has tapped me for such a time as this. I just want to welcome all my guests, all the guests from all around the world and all the digital disciples. We want to say welcome y'all.

Welcome to the overflow. Welcome to everybody. Just welcome y'all. And we welcome to the unbeliever, the one that is still trying to figure out the claims of Christ. the one that's still struggling with the, is, is Jesus credible? Or is all this other stuff credible? We welcome you. We ask that you just keep coming.

We ask that you with a sincere and open heart. I saw a video, a man, he said he's going to follow Jesus and live like Jesus for 30 days. He was an atheist. He said, but I'm going to do it with a clear and open heart, a genuine heart. a genuine heart with no bias. And he ended up giving his life to Christ after their 30 days. So let that be your testimony, the one that is wrestling in his soul. We are a house of prayer, presence, and proclamation.

We will stand on that until the Lord Jesus comes back. And we also would like to honor our lead pastor, Philip Anthony Mitchell. The title of this message today is, now we have access. now we have access. Pray with me as I pray for you. Holy Father, how great thou are. Thank you that we have a place to worship your holy name under your mighty pavilion. Holy Spirit, have your way in this place.

Help me. Help my mind. Help my emotions. help my understanding. Give me revelation from on high, God. I need you, Lord. I am just a broken jar, Father. Without you, I am nothing.

I cannot do nothing. The knowledge I have is limited, but you have all knowledge, Lord. I just ask that you will just pour that out on your people, God. Help me in this moment. None of me and all of you. Have your way in this place.

Have your way in my heart. Have your way in the hearts of your sons. and daughters, that it would be good ground, that you will be magnified and glorified in all that we do today. Help us to love you more, Holy Father. Help us to honor you more, Holy Father. Help us to depend on you more. And pray this over your sons and daughters, even myself, Lord. Step in and have your way. glorify your name and your name alone. My name means nothing. We love you.

We honor you. It's in Jesus' name, I pray. Jesus name. Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Malacah, thank you, sir. Beloved family,

um, back when I was, uh, newly born again, uh, my stepfather, his name was Ernest. Ernest Odom, Jr.

He was a good man, a godly man. He really showed me what a godly man should look like. And we used to just sit and just talk about the Bible, sit and just talk about life. We just commune on the regular. And unfortunately, me and Ernest's relationship, kind of faded away. I cherish this relationship so much.

And it was nothing that I did, nothing that he did. It was just, we all know, we've had good people in our lives. We had godly people in our lives. And just over time, we seemed to just start drifting away. We just start just a separation of time and space and activities. Things was going on in his life and things were going on in my life. life and slowly but surely the cause started getting further and further and further apart.

Even now, it's still, as you can see, still bothers me a little bit that that relationship is no more. It was just a season. But I thank God for that relationship because it's stewarded in me on a godly path on how I should approach the Lord, how I should love the Lord, how I should obey the Lord, and trust what he is doing in me. And just like our earthly relationships that we cherish so much, how much more should we cherish our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? God has established a way that we can continue to be in constant fellowship with him,

constant communion with him, and that is by prayer. just like our earthly relationships and we drift apart, God has established prayer that we do not drift apart. He's placed his spirit in us so that we cannot drift apart. Even though we may feel that, he is always there. We rely on our own wisdom. We stay busy with work and entertainment and we neglect prayer. Some of us don't pray because of doubt and weariness.

We have been praying and praying and praying and praying and praying and praying. And we still had not received. And unfortunately, that pushes us in a place of hopelessness and we feel like there's no point of prayer. Shame and guilt from our own sins keeps us away from praying. We feel like we are unworthy. to pray. We feel like that's why sin is so dangerous. That's why we got to hate sin. It keeps us away from prayer. The holy communion that God has established. Like nothing can break that relationship. Even right now, everybody's sitting in here. Right now, you can say, thank you, Lord, and hears you. You can say, I love you, Lord, and he hears you. And the more we continue to cultivate that, the more we are in holy communion with that, the more he will reveal himself to us. And the more we will trust him and be dependent on him.

And there are times when there is just spiritual opposition. Yeah, demonic forces is keeping you from praying. Demonic forces is keeping you from praying. That's why it's so dangerous to play with sin. We open the door for demonic forces to keep us out of the presence and out of the will of God. It's dangerous. It's dangerous. When we understand prayer goes beyond simply asking for things, and it really is a two-way street for our communion and our relationship with him, we will start taking it more seriously.

And we ask ourselves, what happened to fracture? this relationship. Genesis chapter 3, verse 8 to 13 is what happened. Jesus Christ. Genesis Chapter 3, verse 18 to 13. And they heard the sound of the Lord, God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you? And he's saying that to us today. Where are you? And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. He said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I command you not to eat from? The man said, the woman who you gave me,

she gave me the fruit of the tree and I ate. And Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done. The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. This, this monumental disaster is what fractured the relationship between man and God. This is why we have problems frame. The sin in our life, this is why everything is fractured. Like everything I just explained to you, this is why, because of the fall of man, because of sin, we don't pray. And we don't pray. But the communication line is always open. It's never blocked. It's always open. Always. No longer will God walk with us in the cooler today. No longer will a holy God come down around sinful men. This is why it's hard to pray. This is why we are destroyed.

when we pray. This is why everything that we try to do, distractions, work, family, all this stuff piles up in our lives and it overtakes us and we neglect to pray. What I want to do today is I want to walk through

Jesus' prayers. And actually, as I was looking through this, I didn't even realize how much Jesus prayed. I was like, good God, Jesus prays. No, let me, we're going to walk through it. We're going to walk through it. We're going to walk through the gospel of Luke.

Starting in Luke chapter 3, verse 21. It's extraordinary. It's, oh, man, I wish I had the words, man. It's just such a beautiful thing to see the Lord Jesus Christ commune with his father. As I was studying this, I was. like, man, my prayer life got to get better. My prayer life got to get better. My communion with God got to get better.

I thought I was doing good. No condemnation, but I did. I thought I was doing good until I started reading Jesus' prayers. I said, God, help me. Help your elder do better than this. I want to commune like Jesus communes. This is the whole purpose why the Lord put this on my heart. to share with you today.

It's not a matter of condemnation. It's a matter of intimacy. Like, if you're lacking, listen, family, if you're lacking intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty. If you feel like you're lacking in intimacy, lock in Luke chapter 3, verse 21 and 22. Now, when all the people were baptizing,

Yeah. Now, when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were open and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased. I didn't read this. I don't know how many times and I never saw that Jesus prayed in his baptism. And that should tell you and I, whenever we start any public ministry, we should be praying and we should be getting affirmation. We should be praying first affirmation from God. God is calling me to do this. Then we get affirmation from our spiritual authority. Jesus had spiritual authority. This is my son who I'm well pleased. He's saying, go start your ministry.

We cannot circumvent the system. God has established this system. He established it to cultivate your heart so you don't crush his sons and daughters in the process. I was talking to elder this week about this. And like those three years at victory before I became an elder, I said, without those three years of serving, putting up flags, being an usher, being a leader over the ushers, being an armor bearer, being a leader over the armor bearer, being a squad leader, being in a squad, serving, getting up 4 a.m. on logistics, set up and breakdown.

If I would not have took this process, I would not be here today. Now, I could have been here today, but I would have damaged so many people. I would have damaged so many people. because I aborted the process and did it my way because I had gifts and talents. It's dangerous. Christ got affirmed. Prayer marks his dependency on the Father. Even in his affirmation, even in his public ministry, he's still depending on the Father.

The Godhead, the Holy Trinity on earth at one time. established him to do such a work as this. Luke chapter 5 verse 16, Jesus withdrawing to pray alone. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray if God in the flesh had to step away. If God in the flesh had to step away, how much more do we have to step away? to a desolate place. A desolate place. Like go somewhere private and be with God Almighty. We are missing out on so much of that great intimacy. Just like I was talking about my stepfather, like how much that grieve me. It should grieve us just even all the more that we miss out on the Lord God and what he has to say for us. We're frustrated. we're confused, we're distracted, we're angry, but we have to spend time with him. It is a great communion. It is great intimacy.

He will reveal himself to you. But we have to follow the process on how Jesus did it. We have to stay in communion with him. We have to do it. It will benefit you. It will benefit God. It will benefit the ministry he has called for you to do. You cannot do ministry without the Father.

Jesus prioritized communion with the Father over ministry. Jesus prioritized communion with the Father over ministry. You did not rush Jesus when he went to be with the Father. They used to ask, where did Jesus go? I don't know where he's at. And he would just show up. Why?

Because now he is full of the Father. Now he is full of wisdom. Now he is full of truth. Now he is full of revelation. Now he is ready to go and do ministry. How much more you and I, us being sinful creatures, how much more should we be in the

presence of the Holy One before we do any ministry. And I know you're a better person when you go in the presence of the Lord. You are better. I know my best days is when I really labor and spend time with the Lord. Those are my best days. Say that again. Would you say great? It's great asleep too.

Prayer was not occasional for Jesus. It was his rhythm. like prayer for Jesus was like air that we breathe. Prayer for Jesus was like the air that we breathe. He's not going to do anything without communing with the Father being in his presence. Luke chapter 6, verse 12 through 16. Man, this blew me away. In these days, he went out to the mountain to pray.

Watch this. And all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them 12, whom he named apostles. Simon, whom he had named Peter and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Althea, and Simon, who was called the zealid and Judas, the son of James and Judas Iscaria, who became a traitor. When was the last time you prayed all night? Major decisions. Listen, God did tell you that. Major decisions should be soaked in prayer. You need to be ravenish about hearing from the Lord.

You need to be like a dog on a bone like, I got to get it. You got to go after it. Jesus prayed all night before picking the disciples. prayed all night, picking the disciples. We have major decisions to make and we won't labor in the presence of the Lord and we won't wait. We won't depend on him. We won't rely on him. Jesus did not choose leaders casually.

Jesus did not let people be close to him casually. He's praying about everything. He did not let people be close to him. him casually. Father, is this person supposed to be in my life? Father, is these people supposed to be leaders? Father, father, father, he did nothing casually. It was always in prayer. Us, all the more, we should be, all the more, we should be, we should be crying out for him all the more. Lord, show me, tell me. me help me I need to know I don't know what to do Lord show me tell me help me all the more and Christ is just this is the model of Christ's setting for you and I to follow so that we can

be successful in this life he's not just doing this for himself even though he is the son of God he's still and always model dependencies the Father's will. Are our prayers lining up with the Father's will? Are our prayers aligned with the Father's will? Luke chapter 9, verse 16. Jesus prays before feeding the 5,000 and taking the five loaves and the two fishes. He looked up to heaven and said, a blessing over them.

Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, except before the crowd. Jesus always acknowledge the Father. Jesus always sees him as a provider. Jesus always sees him as the one who knows all things. Are we seeing God as the one who knows all things or do we know all things? Do we feel like we can control our lives and control the path of our lives or do we trust the father? Are we dependent on him?

Your prayer life shows if you're dependent on him. I'm trying to awaken you right now. No condemnation. But just like as I was reading this, it awakened me, man, I have to seek the father's face more. Before miracles, signs and wonders, Jesus prayed. Bread, fish and bread to feed 5,000 people. Father, I know you provide all things. I know you can do all things. Feed you. Feed you. your sons and daughters. I know it. It's just, it's a lack of trust in us. It's a lack of trust in us. But thank God for who he is. Thank God that he is a good father. Thank God that we really are little children. And as long as we stick our hand up to hold his hand, he will continue to lead and guide us. Thank God. Thank God. Luke chapter 9, 1st, 18, and 20. Now it happened that he was praying alone.

Who, Jesus. The disciples were with him and he said, asking them, who do the crowd say that I am? And they answered John the Baptist, but others said Elijah and others that one of the prophets of old has risen. Then he said to them, but who do you say that I am?

And Peter answered, the Christ of God. Prayers will prepare for revelation. That's why we pray before every meeting. That's why we pray for every spiritual care. That's why we pray for everything because we need spiritual revelation from God. Not my faulty wisdom. That's why we pray before these gatherings. We need revelation from God.

Like right now, while the scriptures are being read, revelation from God. is going to you. Not me. I'm just the vessel talking. Revelation from God and the Holy Spirit. That's why we pray. That's why we seek his face. That's why we want his presence. That's why we run after him. I didn't even realize how much Jesus was praying. Chapter 9, verse 2836. I mean, just, we in chapter 9. He didn't pray three times. We need out of chapter. He didn't. Now about eight days after, after these saying he took with him, Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, who Jesus, and as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered.

And his clothes became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke. of his departure, they came and spoke about the cross and the resurrection and his ascension, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now, Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep. I'm guilty. The man of God, I text you four in the morning. You better be ready.

The man of God, I text you three in the morning. call you three in the morning. Eldar, you praying. No, sir, I'm not. No, sir, I'm not. Our lead pastor is serious about seeking the Lord's face because he knows the value. It's so valuable. The communion with the Lord thy God.

It is so valuable. Like we're missing out on so much because we won't lay before him. And we won't even trust. that he will do it. Like, like, come on, we got to, we got to depend. Jesus is depending on the Father. I got to go.

We got a lot to walk through. Now, Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep. But when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tense, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah, not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them. And they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

And a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him. And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they have seen. Prayer is connected to revelations of Christ's glory. Like you will fall more in love, more in all, more in wonder, the more you spend time in holy communion with Him.

the more you pray. Prayer is just not just you doing all the talking. It's you talk and the Lord talks back to your soul. Sometimes I'll sit there and just hug my Bible. And I'll be like, Lord, I just want to be close to you. I just want to feel your presence. My soul is at ease. I just need rest.

And I'll just sit there. And majority of the time, he'll just send me to a scripture. And I'll go to that scripture, I'll read that scripture. And then it's like a light bulb will go off. And then stuff will just start flowing out of me. Lord, I pray for the nations. Lord, I pray for our persecuted church. Lord, I pray, God, that you will help the people in Pakistan.

When you help these people that are dealing with natural disasters, floods and earthquakes, God. It will just start flowing out of you. Luke chapter 10, verse 21, 21 and 22. In the same hour, he rejoiced. Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. It said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me. by my father and no one knows who the son is except the father or who the father is except the son. That's just how much they are being in communion. You cannot tell the difference between the father and the son. All an example for you and I. We are more conformed in his presence. To whom the son chooses to, no, up, I'm skipping.

Father, and no one knows who the son is except the father or who the father is except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. Jesus thanked the father for revealing revelation to little children. It's going to be, no, it's not going to be, he will not reveal it too proud and the self-sufficient. How can he reveal revelation knowledge to you when you already think you know it all? When you're already using your gifts and talents out of his will, how do you think God is going to talk to you? If you're out of the will of how Jesus started his earthly ministry, how Jesus did his things lined up with the father, how Jesus prayed, how Jesus even had joy that the father's plan is much greater than my plan, that he will reveal himself to little children and not to the ones who know it all. spiritual understanding is a gift from God. It's a gift from God.

Jesus rejoices in the Father's wisdom and sovereign plan. He rejoices. Let's go Luke chapter 11, verse 1 through 4. Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. And when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. As John taught his disciples, and he said to them,

when you pray, say, Father, hallow be your name. your kingdom come give us each day our daily bread and forgive us of our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us and let us not lead us not into temptation father prayer begins with relationship with god father who we praying to the father hollow be your name your name is holy your kingdom come we pray for god's rule and reign be on the earth as it is in heaven. Give us each day our daily bread. We depend on God for everything. Everything. And forgive us of our sins. We continually need mercy and forgiveness. We continually need mercy and forgiveness. For we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Forgive people that have sinned against us.

Pray, man. God, help us. Pray for the people that have sinned against you. And lead us not into temptation. We ask God for spiritual protection from demonic forces. We ask God to protect us even from our own sin. Protect us from demonic activity. Protect us from our flesh that we will not be led away into temptation. Luke chapter 22 verse 31 Luke chapter 22 verse 31 and 32 Simon Simon who behold Satan demands to have you that he might sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you but I have prayed for you but I have prayed for you that but I have prayed for you he's praying for you and I It's such a great joy. This would encourage me so much. It's such a great joy to know that Jesus Christ is praying for me. I pray for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthened,

who, I just breathed by that. I just breathed by that. And when you have turned again, and when you have turned again, that means you're going to, Peter, you're going to get back up. You're going to fall, but you're going to get back up. when you have turned again, you and I, we're going to fall. But thanks be to God. We got a high priest in heaven that constantly goes to the Father on our behalf.

So when we fall, we're going to get back up and we're going to go the right way. When we fall, because we're going to fall. Strengthen your brothers. Tell your brothers. Encourage your brothers to get up and go. Satan is asking to sift every one of you like weed. But the powerful thing about that is that Satan has to go to Christ. Y'all, no, no.

Satan just can't come and terrorize and harass you. He has to go to Christ. I want to sift them like weak. Okay, you do your thing, but I'm going to pray for them. Jesus is praying for each and every one of you. You will not be sifted as wheat. You may go through the trial, but he's going to deliver you. Christ's prayers is much greater than any demonic force, any situation, any hardship, any unbelief, any doubt, any sin.

He is praying for you. It's praying for us. We cannot lose. Do you see that? We cannot lose. No matter what it looks like on this earth, we cannot lose. We have God almighty pleading on our behalf. Father, look after my sons and daughters, my brothers and sisters. They are about to go through this trial, but protect their faith that it will not fail, that they will get up and they will be stronger than they. ever and they will turn and they will help their brother and help their sister to come out of the darkness and we will usher you into their marvelous life. You will be with me. He's praying for us. He's in us. He's around us. Like what should we fear? What should we fear? What should we fear? Jesus intercedes for his people before your trial. Like, man, this should shift our hearts.

Like, when we fall into hardship, automatically we should revert back. Jesus has prayed for me to go through this. When we fall into hardship and we will fall into hardship, I want you to default your heart. Yes, shed tears. Yes. be upset. Yes, go through all the emotions. Go through all of that. But when you come to the end, Jesus has prayed for me that I will endure. Jesus has prayed for me that I will endure. Jesus is walking with me through this that I will endure. We got to remember that, man.

Peter's restoration was connected to Jesus' prayer. I was thinking about this like, because Jesus never prayed for Judas. But he prays for Peter. Scriptures even teaches. He said, it's only one that I have lost. And that was the one destined for destruction. So you have to remember. When we go through hardships in this life, we have to remember when we get down on our knees.

Lord Jesus, I know you have prayed for me to go through this. it is to conform me into the image of who you are, to get me stronger in my soul and to have greater dependency on you. We got to get that in our souls and we can't crumble. Yes, cry, share tears. Go through it all. But we cannot crumble. God did not call us to stay there.

He called us to get up. Get up. Get up. He has prayed for me. us. He's got, you got Holy Ghost power on the inside of you. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Dunamis power. The power that destroys like dynamite that change and rearrange. You got power on the inside of you. Get up, man of God. Get up, woman of God. Pray to the one that can do something about it. Pray to the one that can do something about it. Pray to the one that can

do something about. I tell people all the time. Stop complaining. Pray to the one that can do something about it. We think that's weak. That's not weak. Christ, Christ is praying to the one that can do something about it. Peter, I'm praying for you that your faith will not fail. And you just put your name in there. Put your name in there. He's praying for you that your faith will not fail. You're John 17. Yeah, I'm going to slip John in there real quick. Slip John in there. John 17, verse 20, 26. Faith will not fail. You have the Holy Spirit on the inside of you. We have everything in this life to conquer and rule and reign. And we have prayer, the Holy Communion and the intimacy with God. Man, we have everything. We have His Word. We have His Word. We have brothers and, man, we got everything we need to conquer. John 17, verse 20 to 26, I do not ask for these only, but I also, for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.

that they also may be in us, who be in us, us be in the Father, us be in Jesus, us be in the Holy Spirit, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me, I have given to them. The glory that he has given me, he has given to us. I have given to them that they may be one even as we are one. I and them and you and me that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you love me. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundations of the world. O righteous father, even though the world does not know you, I know you.

And these know that you have sent me. I may know to them your name. And I will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. Yes, that's worthy. That's Jesus That's Jesus praying He's praying that His body

His brothers and sisters Sons and daughters Will be in him And him in us That's why it's so damaging to the body of Christ That we bicker so much About secondary issues

We slander each other On social media Like you're not demonstrating the gospel You're destroying the gospel you're destroying the gospel, you're destroying the body of Christ when we always at division with each other. If you are in Christ, if you are in Christ,

why are you keep trying to destroy this unity? The unity that the body has demonstrates the gospel. Like how are all these 6,000 people unified and doing the same thing, loving each other, glorifying God, praying, serving, sacrificing, generosity. We're all doing this as one. This is what Christ is praying for. Unity.

Just like Jesus and the Father, unity and communion, he wants us to be in unity and communion. That we can represent him well. that it will show to the world, Christ is who he says he is. Luke 22, verse 39 to 46. Luke 22, 39 to 46. Watch out Jesus is praying. Watch out Jesus is praying and his suffering.

And he came out and went, as was his custom to the Mount of Olives. And the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation. And he withdrew from them about a stone throw away, knelt down and pray. Saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, ha. Nevertheless.

Nevertheless. Nevertheless. Where is our nevertheless? Where's our nevertheless? Not my will, but yours be done. And there appeared to him, an angel from heaven strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat became like drops of blood falling down to the ground.

And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found him sleeping again for sorrow. because our flesh is weak. Like I'm not knocking the disciples. Their flesh is weak. My flesh is weak. And he said to them, why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Jesus prayed in agony before the cross.

That's why it's okay for you and I to pray in agony for things that's going on in our lives. It's okay. He said to the Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. But nevertheless, but nevertheless, Jesus took on the full horror of the cross, that cup of wrath, cup of judgment, cup of humiliation, cup of suffering. So we cannot say, oh, well, Jesus. had it easy. Paul said that what we go through are light afflictions compared to what Christ had to go through. And if Christ prayed with agony and earnestly so much so that he was

sweating blood, how much more Jesus models honest prayers and perfect submission. Nevertheless, like I don't want to do this. If there are be any other way. Show me now because it's getting close. And I don't want to do this. I don't want a cat of nine tails whipping on my back,

ripping flesh off to expose my muscle and bone. I don't want to be spat upon. I don't want thorns pushing through my skull, scraping my bones in my head. I don't want my beard ripped out. I don't want it. So we have to start seeing our pain and suffering and our agony as light afflictions compared to the cross. True prayers bring out desires under the Father's

will. Nevertheless, Lord, I see this circumstance. I know I have to go through this. If there be any other way, but nevertheless, then you have to remember Christ is. You have to remember, Christ is praying for me. Christ has prayed for me before this circumstance even came to play. Christ has prayed for me. Prayed that my faith will not fail. Prayed that I will come closer to him. Pray that he will strengthen me. We have to believe this. Luke chapter 23, Luke chapter 23, verse 34. By Jesus surrendered, submitted to the cross. Jesus on the cross. Luke 23, 33.30. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And they cast lots to divide his garments. Is that our prayer when people crucify us? Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. When our boss is on our back, Father, forgive him for he know not what he do. You're being crucified by your coworkers crucified on life. Father, forgive them for they know not what. They do. Now, this is the response of Jesus. How much more should we align ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ? Father, forgive them. Think right now. I want you to think right now. Put everybody on your mind right now. That's caused you pain.

Did something horrible to you. We're going to be free people. I'm talking horrendous acts towards you. horrendous acts you, you didn't tell anybody about. You're going to be free right now. You'll say this out loud. Father, forgive them. For they know not what they did. Believe that. Receive that.

If Christ demonstrated that from the cross, if Christ, he fulfilled his own teaching to love your enemies and pray for the people that persecute you. Christ. Luke chapter 23. Verse 46. Christ is on the cross. He's on the cross. Christ is a few inches from his life.

Six hours of more than that all night, beaten and tormented. Now he's on the cross for six hours. And he's still crying out and praying, forgive them for they know not what they do. Luke 2346, still from the cross. Then Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, and to your hands,

I commit my spirit. His death was not defeat, but willing surrender. He remained faithful to the Father to the end. The more we pray, the more confidence we gain to be faithful to the end. Jesus died trusting the Father. Jesus died believing what the Father divine plan was for you and I to be in salvation, be in his kingdom, be saved, be filled with his spirit. Jesus, believe the Father. Luke 24, verse 31, 30, 30 and 31. Now, Jesus has rose from the dead. That's so cool. Like, he rose from the dead. He's just walking around. I mean, like, a lot, he just walking. He's just walking on the road to Amas. just hanging out with his,

with his, brothers and sisters. Like, everything is fine. It's wild to me. Like, he's just so casual about rising from the dead. Yeah.

He's just walking around. Like, like, what? That's mind blowing to me, man. Christ's just walking around. Hey, how you doing, bro? You all right? You good?

Okay. And they're like, they still, they still not recognize. who he is. And he's not, he's not blowing a trumpet either. Verse 30. When he was at the table with them, these are the disciples he was walking with on the road to Amas. They were walking and talking with him and they went to their home. When he was at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them and their eyes were open. And they recognized him. And he vanished from

their sight. I don't know what I would have done. I probably would have tried to grab him, man. He would have been gone. That's, that's, come on, y'all. That's some comic book stuff, man. Come on. Come on.

I mean, I mean, like, for, but listen, man, this happened for real. This happened for real. Like, like, Christ. Like, it's unbelievable, man. This stuff is unbelievable. He vanished before their sight. The risen Christ revealed himself to his people. fellowship with Jesus

open spiritual understanding just like Holy Communion he put them in remembrance of himself so when he broke the bread their eyes were open it was like oh it's Jesus and he was gone that's wild that's wild man

that is wild good God Almighty man I couldn't imagine because they were walking on the road of Mayas and they're talking about what happened Jesus got crucified and they couldn't find his body. And Jesus walking with him like, and they still don't recognize him. I don't know.

It was just a veil. Veil of glory. I don't know. I don't know how none of this work. And they welcome with them. And they were so communal whenever they met other believers, they just welcomed them in and we had dinner. And we talked and when Jesus did that holy communion, remember me.

And he broke that bread. I don't even know how the veil in their soul, revelation, knowledge. And when Jesus recognized that they recognized him, it just vanished. That's power, man. like that's like real resurrection power like like one minute he there one minute he's gone Thomas was was talking about well well I ain't going to believe until I get to put my hand in his side and see the holes in his hand and all that and and Jesus just appeared scriptures say he just appeared in the room and he said put your hand in the side

like he just appeared man like if I'm telling you, y'all would jump ship. Y'all would jump ship. Jesus, in the middle of this aisle, we'd start running. Oh, what? Woo! Because we never, see, the sin, our, this sinful flesh puts a veil up to the glory of God. That's why they always was afraid when they saw angels and spiritual things.

If Jesus showed up right now and this aisle, y'all was scattered. Because we're not used to being in pure glory and holiness. We're not used to being going towards that unapproachable light. And that's what opened their eyes. Luke 24, verse 50 and 53. And he led them out as far as Bethany and lifted up his hands. blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worship him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, blessing God.

Jesus leaves his disciples under blessing and not abandonment. His ascension confirms his exaltation. His triumph, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his triumph over everything and being in his heavenly majesty, him sitting on high, the disciples respond with worship and joy. That's why we always try to encourage you to come in here and worship the risen Savior. Because he is sitting on the throne and he is going to return. Romans 834, Romans chapter 8, verse 34 is not going to come on the screen. I'm not going to read it. I'm just giving it to you. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25 and 1st John chapter 2 verse 1 explains how Jesus is still interceding for his believers.

He is still advocating as a high priest before the father. Like so, if you have nobody praying for you, know that the Lord Jesus Christ is praying for you. Believers should be secure in their souls, that they are being represented at all times to the Father. And because of that, because of all that we just walked through, we have access to him.

We have access that nobody can destroy and that Jesus has established and opened up that we can pray. We can pray. We can pray. We can pray. We can pray. Jesus' prayers show us that prayer is not just asking God for things. Prayer is holy communion with the Father.

Surrender to his will, dependence on his strength, interceding for others, and desire for God's glory. Acts to see God's glory. Jesus prayed in private. He prayed in public. He prayed before major. decisions. He prayed before miracles. He prayed during suffering. He prayed on the cross. And he prayed even in his ascension. And he's praying in heaven. Put up my graphic, please.

And now we have an access. We have a great opportunity. Put up my graphic, please. Now we have an access. We have a great opportunity on October 10th. 10th, 2026, AT&T Stadium, Dallas, Texas, 80,000 of your brothers and sisters. We're going to get together and we're going to pray the heavens down. And listen, just because you're not in a building, participate, man. We're going to have 80,000 in a building. We can have millions around the world. We all could be in unison to the father.

We're going to shake this earth with our prayers. We're going to see miracles, signs, and wonders. Let's not leave here from this day to that day. Pray, man. Pray, man. And when you get stuck, you go back and read about the prayers of Jesus. We're going to shake this world. Satan is going to lose on October 10th, 2026.

He's going to lose big time, because the whole world is going to be against them. My brothers and sisters, are you ready to pave the way for the Lord? Amen. Stand to your feet. Heavenly Father, we have walked through your holy scriptures of prayer. I pray God that it was. instill something in us to have a fervor to pray, a fervor to run after you. A fervor, a fervor, God.

Ernest prayers about everything. Jesus pray about everything, God. Let us be a praying people. And on October 10th, God, we all, everyone around the world, we're going to gather together and pray the heavens damn God. God, that you will shake this earth, do a radical work in your people, God. May they pray more earnestly, God. Not for just things, but to be in your presence and to know who you are.

God bless them and encouraged them. It's in Jesus' name, I pray. God bless you all. Love y'all. Amen.