Ron Dunn Podcast - Campus Crusade Training - Key to Miracles

Episode Date: June 12, 2024

Ron leads a training for Campus Crusade staff and preaches out of John 14:10-12.

The Gospel of John, chapter 14, and I'm going to read verses 10, 11, and 12. Jesus, speaking to His disciples, says, Believe us thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me. Or else believe me for the very works' sake. Jesus says you can believe that the Father is in me because I say it.

Or you can believe the Father is in me because you see it. If you're not willing to believe it because I simply say it, all you have to do is to observe it and you can see it because the only explanation for what I've done is the Father. Now, any time that there is any other explanation for our ministry, something's wrong. Our ministry needs to come to the place where the only way to explain it is God. If your ministry and my ministry, if your life and my life can be explained on human terms,

then something is lacking. And so Jesus says, it's obvious. The only explanation for what I've done is the fact the Father dwells in me. Then he says in verse 12, verily, verily, that means I really mean what I'm about to say. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works are the miracles, the works that I do shall he do also. And greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father. In the life of every man and woman, there resides the potential of two fantastic things. Number one, in the life of each person here this morning, there is the fantastic, unbelievable potential of equaling the works of Jesus.

Number two, there is the unbelievable, fantastic potential of not only equaling the works of Jesus, but exceeding the works of Jesus. It seems to me that this verse, verse 12, is one of the most fantastic promises that Jesus ever made as a matter of fact if it wasn't in the Bible I wouldn't believe it Jesus is simply saying this he that believeth on me

the works that I do he shall do also now you know that's enough to put you on shouting ground. I mean, just to be able to duplicate, just to be able to reproduce, just to be able to equal the works of Jesus. But yet He goes on and He says, But, and greater works, greater works than these shall He do. Because I go to my Father.

I've been bound. I've been limited by time and space. I'm going to my Father. The Holy Spirit is going to come and dwell in you. I'm going to dwell in you through the Holy Spirit. And I want you to know that what I've done, you're going to be able to do, and even greater, greater works than these shall you do, because I go to my Father, and I will send upon you the promise of the Spirit. I will be there. I will be dwelling in you. I will no longer be limited by time and space.

I will no longer be limited by one human body. And the works that I do, you shall do also. And greater, greater works than these shall you do. Because I go to my Father. Do you believe that? Well, it's true whether you believe it or not. But there's only one problem. It's not working. You see, the promise that Jesus makes here is not made to super saints. It's not made to extra spiritual people. Notice to whom the promise is addressed. He that believeth on me.

He that believeth on me. The youngest Christian, the oldest Christian, the newest, he that believeth on me. The works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do. Now there have been men in times past that thought that meant that we would build greater

organizations than Jesus built. I think Jesus started out with 12 and ended up with 11. I'm not certain about the figures there, but He did have 120 waiting in the upper room, and that, I guess that's all right, but that's really not much for three and a half years of ministry, especially when you're the Son of God who has the Holy Spirit without measure. It sure seems to me like in three and a half years of ministry, having the Holy Spirit without measure,

never committing a sin, always doing that which was pleasing in the Father's sight, you could certainly accumulate a lot more than 120 disciples. Well, Jesus said, you'll do greater works than these. And so his little organization was not much to boast about. And so men today look around and look at their gigantic organizations and their mammoth denominations with all of the money and all of the institutions and said, man, we've exceeded, we've exceeded the works of Jesus. Look at this organization we built. Well, I don't think that's what Jesus meant because the mafia has done that.

IBM has exceeded the works of Jesus as far as organization is concerned. Other men have said, well, what Jesus is referring to here is influence. And as the Christian church grows and expands and gains respectability, it'll wave a wand of influence. And it's true that the church today has a great deal more influence than the New Testament church. Their influence level was nil. They had no influence. I mean, they were the cast off of the world. They were the garbage of society, Paul says. They had no influence. But I don't think what Jesus is referring to here is influence. You see, we have mistaken influence for power. I mean, the early church didn't have enough influence to keep Peter out of jail, but they had enough power to pray him out. We have a great deal of influence today, but we don't have a great deal

of power. Well, then others come along and they say, well, Jesus didn't really mean what he said and he didn't really say what he meant. And we are not to expect God to work today as he worked then. I don't get that out of the Bible. I get it from pastors who are trying to explain a decadent ministry. I get it from professors who are trying to save the face of a modern church, but I don't get that idea from the Bible. You see, if I were to walk into a room when I arrive home tonight, if I walk into the room and flip on the light switch and nothing happens, it'll be ridiculous for me to say electricity is a failure.

Oh, Ben Franklin got shocked for nothing. It was all a waste. Electricity is a failure. No, I know got shocked for nothing. It was all a waste. Electricity is a failure. No, I know immediately when I walk in the house, turn on the light switch and there's no light. I know immediately there's something wrong with my part of it. I haven't paid the bill. There's a burned out circuit, a burned out bulb. I know there's something wrong with my part of it. If you get in your car this afternoon, turn on the ignition switch and nothing happens, you're not going, and I realize I'm on the ignition switch and nothing happens, you're not going to... And I realize I'm on shaky ground here with this illustration.

You're not going to say, well, the automotive industry is a failure. We all ought to go back to horses and buggies. No, you know immediately that there's something wrong with your part of it. Now, I want to tell you something. When I come to a promise in the Word of God, and yet that promise is not being fulfilled in my life,

I don't say, well, Jesus must not have meant what He said. I do not interpret the Bible in the light of my experience. And what a great many people are doing today is interpreting the Bible in the light of their experience. And they're dragging the level of the Word of God down to the level of their experience. When the opposite ought to be true, we ought to be interpreting our experience in the light of the Bible. And I want to tell you something this morning.

If my experience, if your experience isn't corresponding to what the Bible says, then there's something wrong, not with the Bible, but with your experience, with my experience. How is this to be done? Jesus says, we shall equal and exceed the works of Jesus. Well, I wrestled with this some time ago because I'm committed to believe the Bible. So I had to believe it, but I had to also find out a way. God never asks us to do anything without giving us the way to do it.

And then I did what Jesus told us to do in another place. He said, continue ye in my word. And I decided to continue in the word of God, and I read verse 13. You know, it's an amazing thing. I've read this passage a hundred times, and I want you to know that verse 13 always follows verse 12. Never any deviation from that. So I just continued in the Word.

You know what the first word of verse 13 is? If you're reading out of the King James, it's the same, and it's the same in the Greek text if you're reading out of that this morning. The first word in verse 13 is A-N-D, and, and. Now, when you're reading and you start a sentence and it begins with the word and, that immediately tells you that what you're about to read is connected to what has just previously been said. And the two must go together to make a complete thought. Now listen,

never take as a complete text a verse that begins with the word and, because it's not a complete text. Because what has gone before must be tied in in order to complete it. And so I went on and read verse 13. And I saw that word, and Jesus now is going to connect the thought. You will equal, you will exceed the works that I have done. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And the disciples' eyes must have opened a little bit wider and incredulity must have spread over their face because Jesus repeated it in verse 14

He said, and I like the way Williams translates it, yes I repeat it if ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it. Now I want to share with you what is a conviction of mine. I believe that Jesus intended the greater works to be done in answer to believing prayer.

We've been talking about fruitfulness. I want you just to look across the page now to John chapter 15, the verses 7 and 8. He says in verse 7, if ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. Fantastic promise. If you're abiding in me and my words abiding in you, ask whatever you wish. Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Now notice verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples. Now I want us to do a little bit of exegesis on verse 8. You must get the connection. He says,

Now, if you just read that casually, it seems that he's saying this. Here is what glorifies my Father, that you bear much fruit. Now, it is true that bearing much fruit will glorify God, but that is not correct exegesis of that verse. The little conjunction that is a translation of a Greek conjunction that means in order that and always refers to result, to purpose. Here is what Jesus is saying.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. In this, in this what? In this of asking what you will and it being done. In this is my Father glorified in order that you may bear much fruit. All right? How can I bear much fruit?

He says the Father must be glorified if you're going to bear much fruit. How is the Father glorified? When you abide in me and my words abide in you, you have then the ability to ask what you will. And when you ask what you will, it is done unto you. And in this is the Father glorified because then there's no doubt as to who produces the fruit. God gets the glory and the credit.

You ask what you will, it shall be done unto you. And this is my Father glorified, in order that, so that you can bear much fruit. Now there is an inseparable connection between fruitfulness and prayerfulness. Now look at verse 16. Jesus connects them again. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it. Now you'll notice there are two that clauses in that verse.

Jesus said, you've not chosen me, I've chosen you and I've ordained you. Why? For two reasons. Number one, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and it'll be permanent. And number two, that you shall ask whatever you will in my name, and it shall be done. The commission of the Lord Jesus Christ is twofold, like Siamese twins, inseparable. He said, I want you to be fruitful, but being fruitful means that you must be prayerful. And the way that you and I are to be able to equal and exceed the works of Jesus is through a life of believing prayer that results in fruitfulness.

Well, you don't have to go very far to see how this was illustrated. Not long after this, on the day of Pentecost, in one fell swoop, they both equaled and exceeded the works of Jesus. The most Jesus gathered on the day of Pentecost was 120. And Peter stood up and preached and gave an invitation and had 3,000 souls saved. In one day, in one day, Jesus' works were equal and exceeded. Why don't you back up and you'll see that that Pentecostal sermon was preceded by ten days of waiting and praying.

These all continue with one accord in prayer and supplication. Now get this, they prayed for ten days, preached for ten minutes, had 3,000 souls saved. We pray for ten minutes, preach for 10 days, have 30 souls saved, we say, it's Pentecost all over again. I challenge you to study the book of Acts, and you'll find that every forward thrust in evangelism in the book of Acts was preceded by a spirit of prevailing prayer. And I tell you, the one thing that we are not doing

in the Christian ministry today is praying. Oh, we'll get all of our little plans together. You know, we'll have our recipe for success and we'll mix it all together. Then we'll add a dash of prayer for favor and ask the Lord now, Lord, if you'd just be so pleased to bless what we've planned and what we've programmed.

Listen, prayer is not preparation for work. Prayer is work. Prayer is not substitution for work. Prayer is work. And if you ever learn how to pray, you'll discover that prayer is the hardest work you ever do. It's easier for me to share the four spiritual laws than it is to really pray. It's easier for me to preach than it is to pray. It's easier for me to visit than it is to pray.

You know why? When I preach, it's a person-to-person encounter. When I visit, it's a man-to-man encounter. When I share the four spiritual laws, it's the man-to-man encounter. But when I pray, it is a man-to-God encounter. Brother, I've got to be right with Him. I can preach without being right with God. I know I've done it.

I can lead people to faith in Jesus Christ without being right in my fellowship with God. I've done it. But I cannot really and truly pray and prevail in prayer without being right with God. Now, I want to take this verse 13 and I want to share with you and truly pray and prevail in prayer without being right with God. Now, I want to take this verse 13 and I want to share with you

four things about this matter of prayer. And I'm calling this message, if you like titles, The Key to Miracles. Because as one translation has it, Jesus says, the miracles that I do, you should do also.

And I tell you something, fellas, there's not a thing wrong with any of us here this morning that a miracle wouldn't cure. And if you're like an average fella, anything less than a miracle won't help. And I tell you, this is a miracle-needy world. You say, what's a miracle?

To me, a miracle is just Jesus coming on the scene and doing what He's always done. There is no difficulty, no obstacle on your field of service that a miracle wouldn't cure. And the key to it, Jesus says, Whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. All right, number one. First of all, whatsoever is the measure of our prayer. Well, Lord, what can I pray for? How much can I pray for? Jesus says, whatsoever, in verse 14, if you shall ask anything

in my name. You know, I'm impressed with the fact that when Jesus encourages us and commands us to pray, He always uses limitless language. He never sets up any boundaries. For instance, in Mark 11, 24, He says, What things soever you desire. When you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them. Jeremiah 33, 3. By the way, that's God's phone number, J-E-R-3-3-3, if you ever want to get a hold of Him.

God says in Jeremiah 33, 3, call unto me, and I'll answer thee. And do what? And show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Do you know what the connotation in the Hebrew of that knowest not is? I will show thee great and mighty things which cannot be fenced in. He said, if you will call on me, I will answer you you and I will do such things so that nobody will be able to fence in your ministry that the boundaries of your ministry the effectiveness of your ministry

will be limitless things that cannot be fenced in whatsoever whatsoever I love that little chorus that we sing once in a while thou art coming to a king large petitions with thee bring for his grace and power

such that none can ever ask too much. I want to tell you something. Some of us pray as though God has just declared bankruptcy. And I believe that sometimes we're living in the suburbs of blasphemy when we pray for so little and ask for so little. I believe that God is honored and glorified by the bigger we ask. Limitless.

When we started our intercessory prayer ministry several years ago, I made two rules. Number one, I said God will hire and fire. If somebody joins the intercessory prayer ministry and signs up for it, and I don't think they ought to be on there, I'm not going to touch it.

Lord, you do the hiring, you do the firing. I've never gone to anybody in my church and buttoned the hole and said, hey, man, we've got a bacon hour. Would you pray? They'll do it if they want to. But I said, we're not going to hire, and we're not going to fire.

We had some that joined the prayer ministry at first that I had some doubts about, but they dropped out after a while to do more practical things. But the second rule I made is this, that whatever request comes in, it'll go on the list, no matter how big it is.

We're going to put it on there. You know what one of the first requests was? A little boy, I think he's about two years old, somehow had gotten hold of a bottle of Lysol or something like that. I can't recall what it was, and had drunk it. Parents called up, and they said, we're at the hospital, the doctor says he will probably die, but if he lives, he'll be blind.

They said, and this was a request, pray for complete healing. I said, and this was the request, pray for complete healing. I said, Lord, you know, if we could just start out with something easy. Here I'd been preaching a series on the power of prayer. Honestly, I'll confess. I know a confession's good for the soul, but it's bad for the reputation. But I'll confess to you this morning. Here's what went through my mind. but it's bad for the reputation. I'll confess to you this morning. Here's what went through my mind.

I said, those folks are so enthused and excited. They believed everything I told them about prayer. I said, they're going to get in there and pray and that boy is going to die and they're going to be discouraged. Isn't that something? Went ahead and put it on there. 24 hours later, parents called up and said, Praise the Lord, the baby is completely healed.

The doctor said it's a miracle. No ill effects. Well, God taught me a lesson. I was finishing this message and walked down. A lady came up to me. She said, Pastor Dunn, you made a mistake in your sermon. I said, oh, I'd be glad to know what it is because I don't want to make it again. She said, you preached that we can ask anything, that it's limitless, that there's no limit. She said, you forgot one thing.

The Bible says if we ask anything according to His will. She said, there's a limit. It must be according to his will. I said, well, you're right and you're wrong. I said, let's suppose you were praying for something. You found out it wasn't God's will. You wouldn't want it then, would you? Of course, I had her you know she had to say well sure if it wasn't God's will I wouldn't want it I said you see it's limitless because everything you need

to live your life and exercise your ministry is found within the boundaries of the will of God you need never go outside the will of God there ain't nothing out there for you. All right. First of all, whatsoever is the measure of our praying. Number two, Jesus said,

if you shall ask anything in my name, in my name is the means of our praying. Now, three times in these chapters, Jesus uses this expression, asking in my name, asking in my name, asking in my name. Now, I, for many years, did not understand what that phrase meant. I knew it was extremely important because Jesus kept emphasizing that prayer to be answered had to be asked in his name. I did know this. I did know that it did not mean just a simple formula tacked on to the end of a prayer. So I began to ask the Lord to show me what it meant to pray in the name of Jesus. Let me share with you two things that happened that helped me

to understand what it meant to pray in the name of Jesus. Number one, several years ago, I have three children and my brother and his wife had at that time only one child. They have twins now. They caught up with us mighty quick. But at that time, they had one daughter. I had a daughter and two sons. We were visiting them in Greenwood, Arkansas, and we went to the Sebastian County Fair.

Now, we hadn't been there long before we realized that the kids weren't at all interested in the prize pig or calf. What they wanted was those rides. So the rides were 10 cents apiece. Being very efficient as I am, I just went and bought a whole roll of those dime tickets, a roll of red tickets, 10 cents apiece. And this was the way we organized this little troop. I would stand at the entrance of every ride, and as the kids would come by, they'd hold out their hand, and I'd tear off a

ticket and give it to them, see? Very efficient. And so we were standing at the entrance of the tilt-a-whirl. So here comes Rebecca, my brother's daughter. She holds out her hand. I tear off a ticket and give it to her. Here comes Kimberly, my daughter. She holds out her hand. I tear off a ticket and give it to her. Here comes Ron, my boy. He holds out his hand. I tear off a ticket and give it to her. Here comes Kimberly, my daughter. She holds out her hand. I tear off a ticket and give it to her. Here comes Ron, my boy. He holds out his hand. I tear off a ticket and give it to him. Here comes Stephen, my other boy.

Holds out his hand. I tear off a ticket and give it to him. Right behind Stephen comes a boy I've never seen in my life. He's holding out his hand. You know what I did? Well, I pulled those tickets back. That boy wasn't about to get one of my red tickets. I didn't know him, never seen him before. And, you know, he just stood there looking at me with those big old sad eyes holding out that hand. Well, Stephen, who never met a stranger, stopped and turned and said,

Dad, he's my friend. I told him you'd give him a ticket. He hadn't been there ten minutes, but here's his friend. He said, I told him you'd give him a ticket. You know what I did? Fellas, those tickets cost a dime a piece. I don't care if they'd cost a dollar a piece. I tore off that ticket

and I gave that boy a ticket in Stephen's name. That boy had no right to a ticket. He had no claim on me. But my son said, Father, I told him you'd give him a ticket. Would you give it to him? I will. You know, God taught me something. I can go to my Heavenly Father today. I can say, Heavenly Father, Jesus said that if I'd ask you, you'd do this. And I'll tell you,

the Father will move heaven and earth in order to honor the name of His Son. That's praying in the name of Jesus. There was another little incident that helped me to understand what it meant to pray in the name of Jesus. I usually will pray around midnight. Wife and the kids were in bed and everything was quiet. And you know, I don't know why it is, but there seems to be, you know, one place where you can pray better than anywhere else, you know. It seems as though God sanctifies that as an altar. And there was a green velvet chair in our living room.

And I don't know why, it just seemed like my knees fit real good on the carpet there. And it just seemed the perfect place. And that's where I'd always pray. Well, I came that night about midnight to pray. And as I said the other day, it had been one of those days that, you know, a pastor will run from but finally catches up with him one of those non-spiritual days you know where you have to do all of these little tiddly-biddly things you didn't want to do I hadn't had time that day to spend alone with the Lord I hadn't had time to make a visit I hadn't

shared the Lord with anybody I'd really just been in my office all day long writing letters and, you know, picking up paper clips and doing things like this. All of those little things that have to be done. And I'll tell you something. I went to my knees that night at midnight and I never will forget the first words I said was this. I said, Lord, I know I don't have any right to ask you for anything tonight.

I came to the Father feeling guilty and unworthy because I realized that day I had not done anything spiritual. I had not served Him as I felt I should have. I had not prayed. I had not studied the Word. I had not witnessed. I said, Father, I know I don't have any right to ask You for anything tonight.

And it seems as though the Father said, Well, son, let's suppose that your day had been different and you had risen, say, at 5 a.m. and spent the first three hours in the Word. You'd spent the next three hours on your knees praying and interceding. And then you'd gone out that day and led ten people to Jesus.

He said, Would you feel more like praying then? I said, I sure would, Lord. And the Lord said, son, you're praying in your own name. He said, if you had prayed 10 hours today and read your Bible 10

hours and it led a thousand people to Jesus, you wouldn't have any more right to ask me than you do right now. And you know, while I was there in the throne room, I looked down on the floor and I saw again that it was covered with the blood of Jesus. And that I never come into the presence of God, and God never hears me because of what I have done or because of what I am. It's always because of

Jesus. And you know, there are days when I'm not holy, but Jesus is. There are days when I'm not faithful, but Jesus is. And so I come in Jesus' name who is always holy, who is always faithful. That's praying in the name of Jesus. I tell

you when I get down to pray, and never, I don't suppose hardly ever, do I get down to pray, but that there is not someone there in that room whispering in my ear how unworthy I am, accusing me. But I must remember that I come and the Father hears me for Jesus' sake,

not for mine. That's the means of our praying. If you shall ask anything, anything in my name, I will do it. I will do it. Let me give you one more thing of what I believe it means to pray in the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus stands for all that Jesus is and for all that Jesus has done. And when I come to pray in the name of Jesus, I am actually claiming all that Jesus by his life and death has made possible, has bought. It is simply claiming from

the Father all that Jesus purchased and made possible through his death on Calvary. I mention this because I want to relate it to praying for the lost. Some people think that you can't pray for the lost because that's forcing their will. In interceding for the lost, you're not forcing a man's will. You're freeing his will so he can make the right choice. I pray for a lost man. I am simply recognizing that Jesus, when he died on the cross and shed His blood, He purchased and He paid for the sin of every lost man on the face of this earth. And I have a right to ask for that man's soul because in reality, it belongs to Jesus. He bought it lock, stock, and barrel.

I have a right to ask for that. Ten years ago, I was in a revival meeting in Mariana, Florida. It was winter, December, cold and icy in Fort Worth, sunshine and beautiful in Florida. My wife and little boy went to Little Rock to visit her parents while I was away. We joined together and Little Rock came back home. Got back home one evening, oh, freezing cold outside. Walked inside, freezing cold inside. I tried to light the fire, wouldn't light, no gas. I got on the telephone. I called up the gas company. I said, hey, I don't have any gas. We can't light our fire. And that woman said, just

a minute, Mr. Dunn. She came back in a few minutes and her voice was just as icy as the weather. And she said, Mr. Dunn, you did not pay your bill last month and we have cut your gas off. I said, ma'am, you hold on just a minute. I laid the phone down. I went into my desk and began to rummage through the desk drawer.

You know what I was looking for? When you go in to pay a bill, utility bill, they take your money and then they stamp it. And it says paid at a certain office on a certain date. I was looking for that. I knew I'd paid it. You know what? I found it.

I never enjoyed anything in my life. As much as I did walking back to that telephone with that receipt stamped paid in full. And I said, dear lady, I don't think I said dear. I said, I paid my gas bill on a certain date at a certain substation. I have the receipt stamped paid in full right here. You turn my gas on.

And you know what? They did. I tell you, there are times when I'm praying. I'm praying for my family. I'm praying for a lost person. I'm praying for a person who's strung out on drugs. I'm praying for a person who has no use for God. And while I'm praying for him, the devil comes to me and says, hey, he's mine. He's mine. You might as well forget about it. You may as well stop praying. He belongs to me. You know what I do? I pick up my receipt that says paid in full. I pick up this Bible and I said,

you old devil, Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross, shed His blood and He paid for that man's life and soul in full. Here's the canceled receipt. Now you get out of here. I have a right to pray for that lost man. I have a right to ask for his soul because Jesus has paid for it and bought it. Let me mention the third thing.

I'll just mention it briefly. He says, I will do it. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. That's the might of our praying. Now notice he didn't say, I will help you do it. He said, I will do it. You know what the greater works of the believer is? The greater works of the believer is

simply Jesus Christ working through him. He said if you'll ask anything in my name, I will do it. I will do it. He's the might. You know the world is not at all impressed with what we're doing for God. You remember when the spies came to Jericho

and they talked with the harlot Rahab? What did Rahab say? Rahab said, We have heard what great things your God has done for you. And our hearts melted within us and we had no courage. She didn't say, We've been hearing about just, you know, how great you are and what a great work you're doing. She didn't say that. In 2 Chronicles chapter 20, when Jehoshaphat, just by

praising the Lord, had completely defeated his enemies, the Bible says that all the enemies of the Lord heard what the Lord had done for his people. I want to tell you something this morning. The world is not interested in hearing about what you've done for God. They want to know what God has done for you. And the world will sit up and take notice when they see God doing something for you and in you. Jesus said, if you shall ask anything in my name, I, I, I will do it. When a man doesn't pray,

not abiding and not asking, he limits God to his own ability. And God can do no more than you can do. But when I pray, Jesus Christ comes in, takes over, and now God is able to do what God can do. All right, let me finish by this one last thing. That the Father may be glorified in the Son. That is the motive of our praying.

I sense it and feel it more every day than I live. There's only one thing Jesus is interested in. That's glorifying the Father. Only one thing the Father is interested in. That's glorifying the Son. Jesus said, When the Holy Spirit has come, He shall glorify me.

You see, there's a perfect harmony in the Godhead. All they want to do is just glorify each other. I tell you, God's not at all interested in our building a new building at MacArthur Boulevard unless somehow through it He can get glory. He's not interested in me having a hundred additions in the next meeting

unless somehow He can get glory through it. I want to close by giving you an illustration as to why I believe God chooses get glory through it. I want to close by giving you an illustration as to why I believe God chooses to work through prayer. You see, you can't fake an answer to prayer. You just can't fake an answer to prayer. You can fake so many other things, but you can't fake the answer.

And I believe that when you and I pray and God moves in, and I'm not saying now, you understand I'm not saying now that this doesn't mean we sit down over here and don't do anything. You know better than that. But what I'm saying is that when we pray

and we go out in the power of that believing prayer anointed with the Spirit, and then God works, there's no doubt as to who's done it. About four years ago, our youth choir decided to take a youth choir tour to Salt Lake City, Utah. Now, every year, our youth choir goes on a tour like this. They were going to Salt Lake City, Utah, and we determined that it was going to cost $4,000.

Well, we didn't have it. It wasn't in the budget. We didn't have it. Now, I'm embarrassed to tell this to you this morning, and the only reason I do it is to illustrate. It's so embarrassing, but somehow or another, I don't know how it happened. I know better than this. Somehow or another, we decided

that we would have a pancake sale to raise money. Now, I would never have done this if it had been raising money for the budget, but I guess somehow I thought you could do it for the youth ministry, and that's all right, you know, as though they weren't a part of the church. I know better than to make the church look like a carnival. But anyway, we decided that we would have a pancake sale to raise $4,000. Boy, on that Saturday, when I drove up to that church,

I knew we'd had it. Our church is right next door to the Waterburger. Our church sign sported this, what a church. Our young people were out in the middle of the street with these stupid looking shelf hats that Waterburger had given us, holding up cardboard signs, what a pancake, what a pancake. Oh, I tell you the minute I saw that,

I said, Lord, if I knew then what I know now. All of a sudden, it occurred to me. It dawned upon me. What in the world have we done? Well, I drove on to the parking lot, got out, walked into the foyer of the church. We meet in a gymnasium, by the way. And you know, you can do a lot of things in a gymnasium

you can't do in an auditorium. So we just had tables set up. I walked in, in the foyer, there were my deacons in those stupid hats. Men full of faith in the Holy Ghost. There they were cooking pancakes. Of course, I can't blame the deacons. They only know what their pastors have taught them. And that's the truth.

And I tell you, I walked in, and the aroma of Aunt Jemima pancakes and log cabin maple syrup filled my nostrils, and there were a bunch of people in there eating pancakes who didn't want to eat pancakes, but they wanted to help out God. And so we had a pancake sale, and that day we raised $2,000. But I want you to know, from Saturday to Wednesday,

the Lord whipped me all over the place. I stood up before my church Wednesday night and I said, Dear people, as long as I'm pastor in this church, we will never, never, never again do that. I said, the Lord has promised to meet every need we have. He says, ask, ask and you shall receive. My God shall supply all of your needs. What you do not receive, you do not require.

What you do require, you do receive. I said, we are going to ask God and pray and believe God for the $2,000. We're not going to have any more light bulb sales or paper sales or pancake sales as long as I'm pastor. You say, well, preacher, what if you hadn't raised that money?

We wouldn't have gone to Salt Lake City. That may be God's way of telling us we don't need to go. And I've always had a little question in my mind about spending a whole bunch of thousands of dollars to send kids somewhere else to do something there they won't do at home.

It takes a lot more than a bus ride to make an evangelist out of somebody. By the way, several years ago, our denomination had what they call the New Life Crusade in Japan. And all the pastors and staff members were asking their churches to spend $2,000 or $3,000

to send them over there to join that evangelistic effort. There's a church in Arkansas. Their staff member wanted to go and they said, no, we're not going to send you. He said, why? He said, why should we spend $3,000 to send

you over there to do something over there you're not doing here? I thank God for honest people, honest churches. Well, anyway, that was Wednesday night. Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock I was praying and the Holy Spirit originated

a petition it always excites me because the Holy Spirit always intercedes according to the will of God I know it's going to be answered if I'll just pray and believe it you know what I felt led of the Spirit to ask I said Lord I want you to put it in the heart of one person one person I want you to

demonstrate to this church that we can just pray and believe God and what it took all of that other mess to accomplish, we can do just by trusting you. I said, Lord, I want you to put it in the heart of one person to give that $2,000. Thank you, Lord. Amen. I got up off of my knees trying to figure out who it was going to be.

A fellow over here that was a very well-to-do man, and he had given money before. I said, well, it'd probably be him. And there was a lady that had a great deal of money, and she'd given money to the church before. And I said, it might even be her. I was trying to figure out who it was going to be, you know. That's 3 o'clock. 6 o'clock, I walked into the house. Telephone said, might even be her. I was trying to figure out who's going to be, you know. That's three o'clock. Six o'clock I walked into the house. Telephone rang. I picked it up and on the other end of the line there was a young girl been married about

three months. She and her husband just barely getting by. Both of them having to work and you know how it is. You need money the most and you have it the least. Those setting up your home and they just barely making it. the least, those, you know, setting up your home, and they just, you know, barely making it. She said, Pastor, a year ago I was in an automobile wreck,

and the insurance settled with me for $3,000. I still have $2,000 of that in savings. She said, Today while I was at work, I just felt led of God to give that to the youth tour. But she said, since I'm married now, I couldn't do it without my husband's, you know, feeling the same way. And he just now walked in, and we haven't said a thing about it, but he just now walked in. And he said, you know, honey, today while I was at work, I just felt like God would have us to give that $2,000 to the Easter. Now, I want to tell you something, fellas.

God will always take the route that brings Him the greater glory. If this man over here who was well-to-do had given that $2,000, God would have been glorified because He could well afford it. If this lady over here who had boo-to-do had given that $2,000, God wouldn't have been glorified because he could well afford it. If this lady over here who had bukus of money had given that

$2,000, God wouldn't have been glorified the greatest because, man, there's nothing to her. It's just like the Lord. He reached down and my wildest imagination, I would never pick them. God reached down and picked up somebody that couldn't afford it and provided it.

And he got the great glory. Now, we raised $2,000 by pancakes. We raised $2,000 by prayer. After we raised $2,000 selling pancakes, I thanked Whataburger for the stupid hats. We thanked Aunt Jemima for the discount on batter. I thanked the young people for

giving up their Saturdays to do this. I thanked all the deacons, you know, for doing their part in cooking. I thanked all the members who sold tickets and I thanked everybody. And then I worried maybe I'd forgotten somebody, left somebody out. I thanked everybody I could think of to thank. When we raise $2,000 by prayer, we just thank the Lord and he got all the glory. This is not an isolated case. The church in Titusville, Florida was going

to need $60,000 to send its youth choir to Europe on a tour. They were going to raise money, have some kind of sale. This message I preached at a conference was put on videotape. They had a videotape machine in their church, and he happened to go in one day and listen to this message, and God spoke to him. And he gathered his parents together, or the kids, and gathered his kids together and said, kids, we're going to believe God, we're going to pray,

we're going to trust God to supply the $60,000. Some of them raised canes and said, man, we're going to believe God. We're going to pray. We're going to trust God to supply the $60,000. Some of them raised canes and said, man, we can't do that. He said, come on in here. I want to show you all something on TV. They all sit there and listen to the message on videotape. When it was through, they all determined that they would not advertise and they wouldn't try to pump up or promote or anything. And I'm not against that at all.

This is just the way they did it. They said, we're going to trust God. We're going to believe God and pray. And if He wants us to go, let Him give us the $60,000. I want you to know, that music director told me just a few months ago, he said, we raised $60,000. It came in. We never begged.

We never promoted. We never sold anything. God just miraculously, a thousand different stories, he said, I can tell you, God just miraculously provided the money. I believe prayer works because I believe that the motive of praying is of the Father.