Ron Dunn Podcast - How to Pray for the Lost

Episode Date: October 16, 2024

Ron preaches from Ezekial 22 and establishes further why our praying should be based on the word of God. Prayer enables God to do things he would not otherwise do.

Open your Bibles now to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. The book of Ephesians chapter 1, and I'm going to begin reading with verse 15 and read through verse 23. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 15 through 23, and this is a continuation in the series of messages on intercessory praying, intercessory praying, the ministry of intercession. First chapter of Ephesians, we'll begin reading with verse 15 and read through the 23rd verse. Ephesians 1. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, in order that you may know what is, number one, the hope of his calling, number two, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and number three, and important for our message tonight, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he

wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality in power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Jesus Christ has two bodies. When he was born in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago, the Bible says that God had prepared a body for the Lord Jesus and that Jesus occupied that body for one purpose, and that was to

do the will of his heavenly Father. In that body all the authority of heaven and earth and all the power of creation resided. And Jesus Christ walked the face of this earth doing miracles and glorifying his Father. And in the body of Jesus dwelt the power and the authority of God. And through the instrument of that body, he did his work. Now Jesus has another body and that body is this church. And every person who knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is a member of that body. He is a part of the body of Christ. Jesus is the head and we are the body. He is the sovereign. He is the Lord. He is the master. And we are the instrument of his doing. We are his body. And it is important and imperative for us to understand tonight that the present body of Jesus, that is his church of which every saved person is a part, has the same power and the same authority that resided in that first

body that Jesus had when he walked on the face of this earth. I do not believe that there is any more scriptural truth that is so much neglected and so much unknown as this one about which we're speaking tonight on the authority of the believer and especially in the matter of intercession. And I feel that before we get very deep into this matter of intercession that we must first of all come to understand and realize the authority of the Christian because nowhere is this authority of Jesus needed more certainly than in the matter of intercession. We're going to be seeing later on

that when a Christian takes it upon himself to intercede, that is, to place himself in the position of being identified with a person's needs, with his agonies, with his sorrows, and standing between that person's needs, with his agonies, with his sorrows, and standing between that person's needs and Almighty God. That person who lays down his life for his brethren, that person who goes to God pleading with God on the behalf of other people, that person who takes the position and practices the ministry of intercession more than ever needs to know his authority in the

Lord Jesus Christ. I've had a thrilling time studying the prayers of intercession in the New Testament and in the Old Testament, and I've come to this one conclusion, that no great intercessor ever came to God as a beggar. They actually just didn't ask, they commanded and they demanded of God. And I've noticed this one characteristic. All the great intercessors in the Word of God prayed from a platform of assurance, authority, and confidence. They did not come to God half-hearted and apologetic and filled with doubt and uncertainty. They came to God with a note of assurance and authority.

You need to know this. You need to be aware of your authority in Christ if you're going to intercede. Because as you pray, Satan is going to attack you. We're going to be seeing, as I said later on, how desperately Satan tries to prevent us from praying. I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but prayer is warfare. Praying is work. Prayer is conflict. And Satan will try to do everything in his power to discourage you from praying.

And when we come to realize what we can ask for in intercession, listen, in a few weeks we're going to be talking about how to pray for the lost and actually claiming lost people in prayer. And when we come to understand what it really means to pray for the lost, you're going to have to first of all be assured of your authority in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm convinced that one reason so many Christians live in defeat is because they don't know the authority they have in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're not aware of this tremendous authority. So I want to repeat tonight that every Christian sitting in this place tonight has the very same authority that the Lord Jesus Christ had when he was here on earth

and that he has tonight as he sits beside the right hand of the majesty on high. Every born-again believer, every child who knows Jesus, every woman, every man that knows Jesus has the same, the identical authority that Jesus Christ himself has. God gave it to us, and he meant for us to know it, to recognize it, and to exercise it. Now, I want to say three things about this authority that the believer has, and we're slanting this tonight into the area of prayer and intercession, the authority of the intercessor.

First of all, I want us to notice the origin of our authority. The origin of our authority. Look at verse 19 in that first chapter. Paul is praying that we might have the eyes of our understanding open. And that's my prayer. And I prayed this afternoon that God, His Holy Spirit, would open the eyes of our understanding tonight. Because I cannot convince anybody this evening of their authority in Christ.

And I warn you in advance, some of the things we're going to be talking about, you're going to have to fasten your seatbelts or you're going to be talking about, you're going to have to fasten your seatbelt or you're going to fall out. It's going to be hard for some of us to really believe that God has placed this kind of authority in us. And so if you're going to see this tonight and accept it and exercise it, the Spirit of God is going to have to open your eyes. And so this is what Paul is praying for, that the eyes of our understanding might be enlightened so that we might know, in verse 19, what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, now notice,

when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. God has raised Jesus from the dead, which is the evidence of his authority, and has seated him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, which is the seat of all authority. All right, now notice, skip over to chapter 2, verses 5 and 6. Even when we were dead in sins, he hath raised us up together with Christ. Just as God raised Jesus out of the grave, so God has raised us up together with Christ. Don't miss that little preposition, with. We have been raised with Christ.

Identification, union with Christ. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. All right, chapter 1, verse 19 says that God has raised up Jesus and has set him down in the heavenly places at the right hand of the majesty on high. What a position. What a position. He is seated at the source and the seat

and the origin of all authority and all power. Where does that leave us? The Bible says that God has done the same thing with us that he's done for Jesus. Have you ever noticed that as you read the Gospels, that God treats us just like he treated Jesus? That the Holy Spirit does everything for me that he did for Jesus? And God treats us just like he treated Jesus. He raised Jesus from the grave and set him down in the heavenly places.

He does us the same way. Why? Because we are identified with Jesus. And God has said, I'm going to give you everything I gave Jesus. I'm going to do for you everything I've done for Jesus. This is why Paul says in Romans chapter 8, that if the spirit of him which raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he also shall quicken your mortal bodies. Everything God did for Jesus, he's going to do for me.

He's already done for me. And so God has exalted Jesus and he sits tonight in heavenly places. Would you like to be there? You are. He's not talking about heaven in verse 6. Now we preached about this about a month ago. Let's go over it again.

He's not talking about the future. That's a past tense he uses. He hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I am sitting where Jesus is sitting tonight. Spiritually, in the eye and the mind of God. And that's all that matters anyway. I have the same position tonight that Jesus Christ has. I am seated, I've already been seated in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. Now we've been

talking a lot lately about Christ being in us, and that is a blessed truth. When we come to see that we are in union with Jesus, and that's one of the key phrases of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, that we are in union with Jesus. But listen, when we say that Christ is in us, that's only half of it. That's only part of it. Christ is in me tonight. He Himself constitutes my very life. Christ, the Bible says, is my life.

I have no life of my own. That died when Jesus died on the cross and God made it real when I trusted him as my Savior as a nine-year-old boy. And so Jesus Christ, through his Holy Spirit, came to indwell me. He is my life. Christ in me is my provision for every need.

Christ in me is my provision for every need. Christ in me is my provision for every need. Everything I need, Jesus Christ is in me to meet that need. And there is no demand made upon my life today that is not at the same moment a demand made upon the life of Jesus in me. Christ in me is provision for every need. But that's only half of it. The other half is I am in Christ. I am in Christ. Now listen, don't think that those are the same. I've talked to some people who thought that was just another way of saying the same thing. Uh-uh.

No. Christ is in us. That's provision. We are in Christ. That's provision. We are in Christ. That's position. We are in Christ. How safe. How secure. What an atmosphere. What an environment. What a place to live. What an address. I'm in Jesus. I'm in Jesus. Where are you tonight? I'm in Christ. He's in me. You talk about double security, double indemnity. That's it. I'm in Christ. He's in me. Total identification, 100% union with Jesus. It's great tonight to know that Christ is in me. That's provision. But I want you to know something, friend. You are in Christ. You are in Christ. And where is Christ? Where is Christ? He is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. And you're in him.

That means you share that place of authority with Jesus. And the origin of our authority is our union with Jesus Christ. Brother, when God plugged me into Jesus, all of a sudden all the power and the authority and the life and that mighty current that flowed through the majestic person of the Lord Jesus Christ became part and parcel of my own life. That's authority. I have that authority because I am in Christ.

I want you to look at that 23rd verse of chapter 1. Well, let's begin with verse 22. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things, what? To the church. Notice that 23rd verse. Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Oh, I wish tonight I could plumb the depths of that statement. I have wrestled with that statement all week long, and I still yet just can't get hold of it. It's just too

big for me to grab. The church is his body. Now notice, his body, this church, which is the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Jesus Christ fills everything. He's the fullness. He fills everything. He has all power and all authority. He fills everything. Well, I'd like to see Jesus in his fullness. Do you suppose tonight that we could see Jesus, all of his fullness? Do you suppose we could see all the

power and authority and magnificence of Jesus concentrated in one spot? Yes. Where do I look? Look at the church. Look at the church. Look at the church. Look at the body of Christ, that mystical body of Christ, because in that church you will find the one spot where all the fullness of Jesus Christ is made evident and displayed. This church, if you're a member of this church, I'm not talking about having your name on the roll, I'm talking about having your name in the Lamb's Book of Life, you can be a member of MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church

and not be a member of his body. You understand that, don't you? But if you're a member of his church by faith in Jesus, a blood-bought member of his church, you have been born again into the family of God. You are in Christ Jesus. You are a part of his body, and his body is the fullness of God.

I look over in Colossians, and I discover that Jesus Christ was the fullness of the Godhead, that in Jesus Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When Jesus Christ walked here on the face of this earth, somebody could have said, Show me all the power and authority of God in a concentrated form. And somebody could have said, There it is, Jesus.

Now remember what we said, everything God does for his Son, he does for me. Everything God does for Jesus, he does for us. And so when Jesus was here on earth, all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily. Now Jesus Christ has ascended to the Father on high. now all that fullness dwells in the church of Jesus Christ. So I share in his power and I share in his authority. That is the origin of our authority in Jesus, in him. Now let's look at the outreach of this authority. The outreach of this authority. How far does this authority extend? Now this is where you really need to fasten your seat belts and grab on. Because if you really understand now what he's going to be talking about,

you're going to see the most magnificent thing you've ever seen. Look in verse 21. The Bible says that God has exalted Jesus and set him down at his right hand in the heavenly places. Verse 21, far above. Not just a little ways above. There's not just a little space between Buddha and Jesus. Jesus isn't just a little bit better than Confucius. He isn't just a little bit better than others. He is far above.

There's an ocean between Jesus and everything else. Far above all. A-L-L. Not a few. All. Principality and power and might and dominion. Paul says, if I have left anything out, and every name that is named,

you name anything you want to. Just name it. Name something. Name a power. Name a force. Name an authority. Name anything. And Jesus is far above all of it. Name something. Name a power. Name a force. Name an authority. Name anything. And Jesus is far above all of it, not only in this world, but in the world to come. That includes

everything. Paul said, if I have left anything out, you just name anything. You name anything. And I'm not confining it just to this world, that world that you cannot see, that world to come, everything, his authority extends over all things and hath put all things, A-L-L, not just a few, all things under his feet. The outreach of that authority. I want to say to you tonight that the authority of Jesus Christ, which you and I as his followers share, that authority extends to anything that's named. You name anything.

You name anything. And that authority extends to that in this world or in the world to come. You name any problem you have. You name any temptation you have. You name any battle you have. You name any weakness you have. And I want you to know tonight you have authority over that in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the devil has buffaloed some of you tonight into thinking you have to put up with a lot

of these things and you're living a life of defeat because somehow you have the idea you just have to grin and bear it and get along the best way you can. I've said it quite a bit lately and I'm going on to say it until we all understand it and come to believe it. You don't have to put up with anything outside the will of God. You do not have to tolerate one thing outside the will of God, whatever it is. You have authority over all things. Now I want to slant this right now to this matter of prayer. And there are three areas in which the believer has authority in this matter of praying. The first two I'm going to mention very briefly,

and the third one I want us to spend a little bit more time on. First of all, the Christian has the authority to approach the presence of God. The authority of access. The authority of access. Listen to what the writer says in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Underscore that word boldly.

Let us therefore come boldly. That word means with assurance. That word means with assurance. Listen, do you want to learn to pray tonight do you want to learn to intercede tonight then you must understand that you have authority to approach the presence of God anytime you know the reason some of you don't approach the presence of God because you're a slave to your feelings and your emotions

you say well I just don't feel like I'm getting through. Whoever said feelings had anything to do with it at all. You need to claim your authority. And I know tonight by the authority of the Word of God that when I bow my head and I lift my heart to God in prayer, at that moment I am at the throne of grace, whether I feel it or not. I just hope the Lord will keep on delivering me from being a slave to how I feel. Some of you don't pray because you don't feel like praying. That's the devil.

That's the devil enslaving you to your feelings and your emotions. Some of you can't really pray unless you really feel the presence of God. Listen, I'd love to feel the presence of God all the time, but the Bible never said one thing about my feeling the presence of God. I come into the presence of God, and I claim that I'm in His presence on the authority of God's Word. Somebody says, well, I'm so unworthy. I'm so unworthy. I read a good definition of humility the other day.

Humility is not whipping yourself. It is forgetting yourself. And you know, some of us mistake humility for whipping ourselves. Well, I'm just so unworthy. I'm just so unworthy. Listen, whoever said your worthiness got you into the presence of God anyway, the next time you're in the throne room, I want you to look down and I want you to see the floor on which you're standing and you you will discover it stained with blood.

Friend, you approach the presence of God on the authority of the shed blood of Jesus, not on your own goodness or worthiness. You forget about your worthiness. Sure you are unworthy, sure you are, but Jesus isn't. We approach the throne of God by his shed blood. And out here the devil can come to me and say, oh, you know what a louse you are and you know you're not this and you're so unworthy you ought not to come boldly.

Listen, I've come boldly to the throne of grace because his blood has been shed and I have authority to approach the presence of God because of the shed blood of Jesus. That shed blood of Jesus gives me access. Listen, that's the most marvelous thing. Man, you've got immediate access to God. Just like that. A thought, the time it takes to think it, you're in the throne room. And you have an audience with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And you can bring anybody and anything you want to that throne room with you.

The believer has authority to approach the presence of God. Secondly, the believer in prayer, the intercessor, has authority to appropriate the promises of God. Authority to appropriate the promises of God. The Bible is full of promises. I don't know how many there are. Somebody says it's over 400, and somebody else says it's 1,600.

I don't know. I've never counted them, but I know this. I'll tell you what I've discovered. I've discovered there is a promise of God to meet every need I've ever had. Did you know that? God hasn't left anything out. I've been doing a great deal of reading lately on prayer and then reading other books that

men have written on prayer. And you know what? A great many people, they play down the idea of coming to God to get things. They kind of push over into a low form of prayer this idea of coming to God and asking for things. They say the main thing about prayer is the good you get out of it. And it makes you feel better. And you have a spiritual uplift. And you're not supposed to come to God and just ask for things,

and you're not supposed to expect God just to give you everything, and the main thing about prayer is it just does you so much good. Well, I believe that. I believe it does me a lot of good. But, you know, I was reading through the New Testament this week and I didn't find any place in the scriptures in the New Testament where we were told to pray because it made us feel good. I never have found that. I've never found that. Every promise and every command and every scripture that has to do with prayer says you come and pray because that's the way you'll get what you want and what you need.

I haven't found a single verse. Now, maybe there's one I've missed, and if you know of one, you come and show it to me. And that's fine. But if there are so few that I've missed it, man, most of the verses, if there are some that teach that, the majority of the verses, the overwhelming evidence is that God wants us to come to him and he encourages us. He whets our appetite.

He dangles the bait in front of us to come because he said this is the way you'll get things. And I'll tell you something else I discovered. I discovered that every time Jesus commands us to pray and gives us a promise of prayer, he always tells us to come expecting large answers. Did you know that? Listen to some of the words.

God uses every universal word in the English language to try to get this idea across. Whatsoever, whosoever, wheresoever, whensoever, everything, all. Those are the words he uses. Whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you have them and you shall have them. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.

Over and over again. Ask and it shall be given. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened. Because to him that keeps on asking, it shall be given. To him that keeps on seeking, it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened. Because to him that keeps on asking it shall be given, to him that keeps on seeking it shall be opened, and to him that keeps on knocking it shall be opened." Every prayer promise that Jesus gave us had attached to it large blessings. Large blessings.

Listen, you have the right, you have the authority to go to God and claim and demand that God keep his word. You're to approach the throne of grace boldly. Let me read a verse over in Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45, 11, listen. Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and his Maker, ask me of things to come concerning my sons, Now notice this,

And concerning the work of my hands, command ye me. Does that sound like the way you and I pray? Lord, if you don't mind, maybe perhaps, hope so. He says, concerning the work of my hands, command me. I read over there where Elisha told the Lord to blind their eyes. He didn't ask and didn't plead and beg.

He said, Lord, smite them and blind their eyes, appropriating the promises of God. But you know, it's the atmosphere of this age to teach us not to expect too much from God. And I've discovered that God never disappoints us. He gives us exactly what we expect. I told a prayer meeting group Wednesday night that I was reading through Hebrews 11 over and over again in the wee hours of the morning the other night, and all of a sudden it came

to me. And I wrote it down on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget it, it came to me that I, in all of my schooling, and I do not say this to criticize the school, maybe they taught it and I just missed it, but I cannot recall in any of my college and any of my seminary ever being taught to expect the miraculous in my ministry. I was taught that the success of my ministry would depend upon how well I trained and how well I prepared in my skill and my ability and what I was able to get the folks to do in the Lord's work, and the success depended upon that. I cannot ever recall being taught over and over again, having this pounded into me,

that the ministry is a supernatural, miraculous work, and you expect the supernatural. So we just don't expect it. Listen, you have the authority tonight to appropriate the promise of God, because the promise of God is the pledge of God. And if God breaks one of his promises, he ceases to be God. You have the power. All right, the last thing. We have the authority to apply the power of God. Now, I don't want you to miss this. You have the authority.

We have the authority to apply the power of God. I'm talking now about the intercessor. The authority to apply the power of God. I'm talking now about the intercessor, the authority to apply the power of God. Now, Old Testament example, Exodus chapter 17. You remember the Amalekites came to fight, and so Moses said, this is the way we'll do it. Moses had the rod of God, you know. The rod of God symbolizes the authority of God committed to the hand of a man. The rod of God symbolizes the authority and power of God delegated to the hand of man. Exodus 17, verse 9, And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him. And he sat thereon, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua

discomfited. Now that's an understatement, isn't it? Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. There you have it. God had transformed the rod of Moses, turned it into the rod of God. That rod of God was the symbol of God's power and authority given to a human being. And every time Moses wielded that rod, he was what? He was applying the power of God. When they came to the Red Sea, he stretched out the rod. What was he doing? He was taking the power of God, which was his, and applying it to that situation, and the waters rolled back. When they came to the rock, he smote the rock and water came out. What was he doing? He was applying the power of God to a needy situation all the way through. All the way through. The rod of God was the authority of God committed

to a man. And when that Amalek came to fight, Moses stood up yonder on the hill. Joshua was down there waging the battle. Joshua is the fellow out doing the preaching, doing the witnessing, doing the visiting. Moses is the intercessor. Moses is the intercessor. He was interceding for Joshua and he held up the rod of God. He applied the power of God to that situation. Don't you wish you had a rod of God like that?

You do. Do you know what our rod of God is? Listen. Our rod is the name of Jesus. Our rod is the name of Jesus. Listen. Mark 16, verse 17. And these signs shall follow them that believe in my name,

shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, and so forth. Wyman translates that, making use of my name, they will cast out devils. Making use of my name. What is our rod? It is the name of Jesus, and that name has been given to me, and I can use it to apply the power of God to needy situations. Jesus said, if you shall ask anything, what? Making use of my name, I will do it. If you shall ask anything, making use of my name. In Acts chapter 3, this is when Simon Peter healed the crippled man,

the man crippled by birth. He was sitting at the gate expecting them to give him some kind of alms and Peter fastening his eyes upon him with John said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them expecting to receive something of them.

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have. Such as I have. Peter says, I have this power. I share this power. Such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Well, some of the people didn't like that, so they asked for an explanation.

Verse 16, Peter gives the explanation. And his name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong. Now, let me read that again, and I want you to notice something. And his name, talking about the name of Jesus, notice this, "...through faith in his name hath made this man strong." Did you get that? It's not simply the name of Jesus that does it. It is faith in his name. It is applying the name of Jesus. It is applying the name of Jesus. Have made this man strong. I want you to know tonight, Christian friend,

that God has given to you all the authority that he gave to Jesus Christ and you have the authority in prayer to apply that power to needy situations. Let me read a couple of more verses. You remember in Matthew 16 when Simon Peter made his great confession at Caesarea Philippi. Verse 18, And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now notice verse 19. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,

and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And again and again in the New Testament, Jesus gives to his followers the power to bind and the power to loose. The power to bind and the power to loose. Now one other illustration. Matthew chapter 17, we have the account here of the transfiguration. And you remember while they were on the Mount of Transfiguration, a man brought his son who was lunatic, demon-possessed, and his disciples tried to cast him out and they couldn't.

In Matthew 10, Jesus had given all of his disciples power to cast out the demons, but here in Matthew 17 they weren't doing it. They couldn't do it. They tried. So in verse 18, Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed out of him and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief. Now notice, for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed,

ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove, and that in the Greek is an imperative, it's a word of command, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing, does Jesus mean what he says, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Jesus said, if you have faith the size of the grain of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move over yonder, and it will do it. Now, I want you to understand that Jesus isn't talking about prayer right there. You see that, don't you? We've always quoted that as a prayer promise. It has nothing to do with prayer. You can use it in prayer,

but he's not talking about praying. Because the man isn't speaking to God. What's he speaking to? He's speaking to the mountain. You don't pray to a mountain unless you're Islam. You can stop talking to God. He's talking to the mountain.

Jesus isn't saying this is the way to pray. He is talking not about the prayer of faith, he is talking about what? The command of faith. What is the mountain? Well, the mountain is any obstacle, anything that stands in the way of God's work. For these disciples, their mountain was this demon-possessed boy. Now, he had given them the power. He said, listen, you don't have to put up with anything.

If it's not God's will, if it's standing in the way of your victorious life, if it's standing in the way of your being everything God wants you to be, if it's standing in the path of your service for God, you don't have to put up with it. You can say to that mountain of hindrance, that mountain of obstacle, you can say, move out of the way, and it will move. Nothing shall be impossible to you

if you believe. If you believe. Oh, listen. I want you to know tonight that as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have all the authority to apply the power of God to any situation. You don't have to tolerate it.

Do you believe that? Lord, do you believe that? Do you believe that man that's shackled tonight by the demon of drink can take authority over that? Do you believe that fellow tonight who strung out on drugs and can't shake it, do you believe he can take authority over that? I want you to know tonight he has authority over that in Jesus Christ. What is your problem? What is it? You're going to have to follow me now. You're going to have to stay with me because when we get to praying for the lost, you're going to have to follow me now.

You're going to have to stay with me because when we get to praying for the lost, we're going to have to use this. What is the obstacle that stands in the way of winning a man to Jesus? Now, we're talking about intercession. Here's a man that you have been desperately trying to win to Jesus, but there's an obstacle in the way.

There's a mountain in the way. I want you to know Jesus Christ says you can say to that mountain, get out of the way, and it'll do it if you believe. We have the authority to apply the power of God to any situation. Oh, listen. Folks, we've never even dreamed of the authority and the power that God has given to us. Because they're all under your feet because they're under the feet of Jesus. Just under your feet because they're under his feet

and you're his body. And if they're under his feet and you're his body, then that means they're under you. All right, the last thing is the operation of this authority. The origin, the outreach, and the operation of this authority. Back to Ephesians chapter 1. We've been everywhere tonight, haven't

we? Back to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 19. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe? To us-ward who believe. That's it. How does this magnificent power come into operation? By faith. Jesus said, if you have faith

like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Lord, why couldn't we cast him out? Because of your unbelief. Some of you tonight, you don't believe it. You don't believe it. Listen, would you pray and say, Lord, help me to believe.

Lord, help me to believe. Lord, this mountain in my life. Some of you have got marital problems. You've got problems at home. The mountains in your home that keep your home from being spirit-filled. Oh, Lord, give me faith tonight to believe and know

that I don't have to put up with this and that we have authority over every mountain that stands in our way. Listen, God never intended us to be defeated. I don't believe that. I can't find anywhere in the book where God is honored by defeat. God is glorified in his people,

and I don't think God is glorified in a Christian who is strung out and hung up on habits and weaknesses and problems. I don't see how God gets glory out of that. God is glorified when his people are like Jesus, and Jesus exercised the authority that resided in him through faith in his heavenly Father. You have that same authority

and you have that same position that Jesus had. Listen, I want you to know something tonight that when a church wakes up to this, to this truth, to their authority, you're going to see things happen that you wouldn't believe happened a year ago. You're going to see miracles happen.

You're going to see people transform. You're going to see people interceding. You're going to see lost people falling like ripe fruit off the branch. You're going to see miracles in the lives of people once the church really wakes up and exercises the command of faith. You have a rod of God tonight.

It's the name of Jesus. Through faith in His name, applying the name of Jesus, whether you can make the devil flee in the name of Jesus. You can resist and rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus. You can command obstacles to move over in the name of Jesus. You can claim lost people for Jesus' sake and for salvation's sake and see them saved. We've never understood what the name of Jesus is. And I confess to you tonight I just understand about that much and I'm praying daily

Lord show me more. Lord teach me more. Brother I want to go all the way. I want all there is to this business. I want everything God has. I want to know what is mine in the Lord Jesus Christ because when we stand

before him someday when the king comes back he's going to show us all that we could have had and we're going to see heaven jammed and packed with all these blessings that were ours

but were never claimed. I don't want any of them having my name on it. Rather I want to be able to do everything God expects me to do. Man, it's our birthright. Wake up!

Get your chin off the ground. Put your chest out, brother. You are in position tonight with Jesus. You need to claim authority over the things in your life that constitute mountains of hindrance, mountains of obstacles. Our authority in Jesus. Let's pray together.