What Is Prayer by Ed Pruitt

Luke 11:1-4

What Is Prayer?
Sunday A. M.
Pastor Ed Pruitt
Amarillo Church of God

Again this morning we praise the Lord from the depths of our heart and thank Him for the privileges that’s ours.

This great work of salvation God has wrought we are happy millionaires and we have riches that the world would like to have, really needs, but they are in darkness.

Too many cases the God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not.

Lest the light of this glorious gospel should shine unto them.

So you and I stand in a very particular position as the body of Christ.

The church of the Living God, if this blindness is ever lifted off the minds of people that fail to believe it will be lifted off by you and I.
AMAN

We want you to see this morning Church of God you are in a position where you go far beyond the preaching.
AMAN!

You are in an effective position God has put us in and we need to feel keenly that responsibility of living out the message as never before.

We do are best when we come to you and each Sunday to listen to the Lord, I know that some of you might think that we have kind of gone to seed, talking about prayer so much.

But I am still convinced yet this morning that prayer is the greatest need that we have among us.

Week after week we have found in God’s word what can happen and what will happen if God’s people will only get to praying!

Really get to praying!

Turn with me to Luke the 11th chapter

Let’s turn to the Lord in Prayer

Father we thank thee again for every privilege and every blessing we have been made to enjoy.

My God how we thank you for the great blessings that we’ve received in turn for our sins, our failures, our mistakes our shortcomings.

My God our weaknesses, my Lord and our selfishness, how thankful we are for your goodness shown forth unto us.

And oh Lord we have one desire this morning, one great deep desire to do a more positive work for thee.

Our deep burden is to see the Church of God arise and do a greater and mightier work than she has been.

And we pray Lord that you will stir our hearts that not a one of us will feel at ease in the position that we are in.

But my God you will so stir us that we will begin to go for deeper depths and higher heights and greater breadths in the Kingdom of God.
Now Father teach us this morning that out of Your Word we realize this morning Lord that only the Holy Spirit can take the things of Yours and show them unto us.

So we pray that thy sweet Holy Spirit, My God will unfold the portions of your word that will be a blessing to our hearts this morning.

My God and let it so move upon us that the effects of it will be long lasting.

Lord let it be such a deep work that we will never get over it, in Jesus Name
AMAN!

Luke the 11th Chapter, we started 3 Sundays ago going back to the 65th Psalm and 62nd Psalm there we found that God is the Confidence of all the earth.

And then we found that He is a God that hears our prayers.

We went on and found Power Belongs to God, the Psalmist said that he heard it once, yea twice he heard it that Power belongs to God.

And then we begin to nail it down to you and I that, that which belongs to God belongs to us because we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

And then we have found in God’s Word that all of these riches that are there for us, my friends, God has ordained that we gain them only one way.

By prayer! Aman!
And we can just boil it down this morning even as James has been teaching us by his inspired gospel that the reason that we have not is because we ask not.

Now this morning we want to study a little bit from the Word of God, several scriptures are on our heart just studying about prayer.

Somebody might say that this thing of dealing with prayer is such simple teachings.

Well I know that is but the more that I seek the face of God the more that I am held right around this area of what prayer really is!

Aman!

I dare say that most everyone would say that they know what prayer is, but we want to see what prayer is by the Word of God this morning!

Luke the 11th chapter
We are going to read the first four verses,
Luke 11:1-4
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Now I want to say again this morning that this prayer was a prayer that the disciples was taught before Pentecost, before the Kingdom came with power.

I want to nail it down again, nowhere after Pentecost do you see where God would even mention for His disciples to pray for forgiveness of their sins or even ask for their daily bread.

Come on, from the Act’s on, when the Kingdom comes, you Seek first the kingdom and He adds all of these things!

Let’s read it Matthew 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

See a different experience comes, but we want to go right back to the simple teachings of Jesus about prayer, there’s some truths that shine forth here that we want to consider this morning.

The disciples my friend, I have said many times ask the Lord, teach us to pray!

And nowhere in the Word of God did he teach them to preach or sing and nowhere did they ask Him to teach that, they said Lord, teach us to pray!

I want to start out again this morning by putting prayer in it’s rightful place and I just honestly confess I would rather be a good prayer than anything else!

I want to say right behind that, that more is accomplished by prayer, than ever will be by preaching.

And preaching without prayer amounts to nothing!

So when we get right back to the thought of prayer this morning were still dealing,
My friend, with the greatest gift, the greatest privilege the greatest work, the most powerful work and I am afraid in too many cases the most lacking work there is among us!

Prayer this morning is everyone’s privilege!

Prayer this morning is the privilege of every child of God!

Now not everyone of you is given other gifts, no not everyone
of you is called to preach, or to operate in some of the other gifts that God gives within the body of Christ.

But my friend the gift of prayer is the one that given to every child of God, AMAN, it’s the greatest privilege gift and it’s the one that’s most needed.
AMAN!

I am not wasting your time when I talk about prayer.

I repeat this morning that no Christian grace is more neglected than the privilege of Prayer!

And because of it we see sad condition’s worldliness, apathy, indifference, spiritual weakness and we could go on with a great catalog of things that can only be really laid to one place,

My friend the lack of real prayer in the life of God’s people!

I am here to say it this morning just like I said before, if you can get a people praying, it will put an end to all trouble in a church.

Not only will it put an end to problems in the church it will also put an end to the problems in your everyday life!

When you get people praying it will put an end to heresy, false teaching.

When you can get people praying, God will fill every position that needs to be filled in the church.

You won’t have to have committee meetings and vote people up and down and fuss around if we can just get people to praying!

When you can get people praying, you will be able to fill every seat in this church!

A praying man will never cause anyone any trouble.

You never will have any trouble with praying people!

You will never have any trouble with anyone that you find truly living a life of prayer and truly living for the Lord.

I am telling you that the devil is working divisions among God’s people as never before!

It’s hard to find congregations where there is the real unity among the hearts of even them that is coming in one building and worshipping together, that there should be AMAN, a unity that God will look on and be pleased with in too many cases it is not found.

I am here to tell you that we can preach until were blue in the face but brother if we can’t get people down to business really praying, we’ll never see it cleared up.

So I say that this morning that if we lay a foundation the cry of our hearts should be, Lord teach me to pray!

I don’t know about yours, but the cry of my heart is,

Lord teach me to pray!

Now I want to get right to the point about prayer this morning,

That which is called prayer right in the assembly of people that claim to be God’s people many times, is a million miles away from what the Bible teaches, or calls prayer!

This is the reason that people need to be taught about praying and prayer, why?

They think that they are praying!

I am not trying to find fault with anyone, I just want you to get results from your effort’s when you pray make it count!
If I can nail down this one fact this morning, I’ll be satisfied.

Prayer is asking, for something definitely from God!

And I just want to hold that one thought, you may think that prayer is a whole lot of other things, but by the Bible, prayer is asking.

Prayer is not first of all praise!

Now come on, I’ll pull the bible on you,

You can praise, praise, praise and you haven’t done a bit of praying!

How many times have you been in a church and had the preacher call on someone to pray and all they do is thank God and give Him Praise!

Praise is one thing, but it’s not prayer!

Holding right to the bible, prayer is asking.

Prayer was given to us because we are needy creatures, were dependent creatures and God is the one that can give us help, and prayer was ordained that we would be able to ask!

So prayer is not praise!

I know that the bible said let everything that has breath praise the Lord, but nowhere does it say let everything that has breath, to pray because some people can’t pray!

The deepest sinner there ever was can be thankful, he can praise God, but prayer is not praise!

Prayer is not adoration, we ought to have deep adoration for God, and we ought show it, but prayer is not adoration!

Prayer is not meditation, and this is a bad one today, there are a lot of people today that think that they are praying just because they are thinking!

Meditation is one thing, Psalm 1 tells us that our meditation ought to be in God’s law and it is necessary to meditate, but meditation is not prayer!

Humiliation is not prayer!

Humiliation is necessary, humiliation is a necessary preparation for real prayer, but humiliation is not prayer!

Many revival services have begun with the preacher preaching on a text from 2nd Chronicles 7:14,
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Now humiliation has got nothing to do with praying, it is getting in shape to pray!

Thanksgiving, oh how necessary it is to be thankful and give God thanks, but thanksgiving is not prayer!

Philippians 4:6
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Thanksgiving my friends is something else all together.

Now we just want to deal with the thought this morning.

And I think that it will help you to understand more about getting your prayers through and getting an answer if you can find this truth and lay hold of it this morning that asking is prayer and prayer is asking!

And that’s all prayer is!

Now I knew that, that would be a little upsetting, it don’t need to be.

Now let’s go right to the bible we have got a lot of scripture this morning, I hope you have your bibles with you.

Matthew the 7th chapter, we want to study and see what prayer really is.
Matthew 7:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

We want to study and see what prayer really is.
Prayer is asking!

Now what does it say, ask and it, shall be given you.

Now what we are trying to do is clear up some things on the reasons why our prayers are not answered.

What’s it? What you ask for!

There is a false teaching and a modern conception going around to day, that God answers all prayers but He don’t always say yes, He might say No, or He might say MABEY.

You find one scripture in the Bible where He say’s that.

And because we have been taught that traditionally,

That God might say yes, He might say no, He might say MABEY,

After we get all done praying and say what we want then we add on however not my will but thine be done, and say that we are praying like Jesus did.

Now wait a minute,

Jesus knew the Will when He said that,

He wasn’t praying because He didn’t know the Will,

Come on we misuse those scriptures when we pray and don’t know what the Will of God is so for a release we say just your Will be done Lord.
AMAN!

Jesus knew the Will of God before He come down from heaven,

He knew it when He was in Gethsemane,

He knew what the Cross was, He wasn’t ignorant of the Will.

He wasn’t in darkness to what to pray about and hooked on the end Your Will be done,

Come on, but people use that today, Aman let’s get right down to Bible facts, because it takes such little effort,

I have been teaching you that praying is hard work, because it takes some effort to find out the Will of God,
And I can give you Bible to tell you that God don’t even hear you unless you ask according to His Will.

Come on, we just don’t want to take any effort to fast and pray and sweat to find out the Will of God, then Pray according to His Will, so we just Pray a short prayer and say if it is your Will Lord.

A prayer like that God doesn’t even hear it.

It isn’t even down in the book of life, I can prove to you God doesn’t hear a prayer like that.

Why?

When you put ( if ) on it, there is no faith.

When you put an
( if ) on your prayers it throws all faith out the window.

You may think that this is terrible, but God in His scripture is teaching us how to pray and if there is anything that I want to know is how to pray!

Not just enough to get people praying, but people that know how to pray, praying.

No I want to nail it down and the word of God will back me up, Thank God I have got good footing.

Prayer, real Prayer is asking!

Listen, Ask and IT shall be given you, now I know there is someone here that will need to say, now that just doesn’t mean just what your asking for will be given.

Well, lets read and see, would you take the word of Jesus,

Ask and IT shall be given you, SEEK and ye shall find, KNOCK and IT shall be opened, for everyone that asketh receiveth.

Now come on, isn’t that different than what the preachers have been teaching,

You don’t always get what you ask for, sometimes God say’s Yes sometimes He says No and sometimes He says Wait a while and sometimes He says Mabey,

Now you read that scripture to me where God says that.

I am reading to you what Jesus teaches about prayer!
Aman!
I’ll show you where faith has gone to, God bless your hearts, our prayers are so wobbly, that God won’t even recognize them.

Like I have said before, that if God hears your prayer 1st John the 5th chapter, you have the petition for what you ask!

You have the very thing that you ask for, not something else!

And I know that there are a lot of people that say, oh you can’t tell me that you always get just what you ask for.

Listen to me were going to study and find that we need to know more about this asking.

We ask too carelessly!

We ask so carelessly that we are not convinced ourselves that God would do it for us.

Since were not convinced ourselves that God would do it, we hang on if it be your will.

Whenever we say if it be your will were saying in so many words, it might not be!

When we do this, we throw ourselves right into confusion, and we don’t know whether to look for it or not!

And all the devil has to do is just move in with a whole train load of doubt, in two hours, and you settle it right there that it wasn’t Gods Will.

I have to do without it,

And were doing without millions of things that we could be blessed with because of our doubt!
Now I know that there are people out there that will say that the Bible don’t just give you what you ask for,

Now just you doubters out there wait a minute and let’s go and see what the Bible has to say about this!

Let’s read the scripture, Matthew 7:7-8 and let me wait while you turn to this in your own bibles because I want for you to follow along with me as I read it!

Ask and it shall be given to you, Seek and you shall find, Knock and it shall be opened, ( now listen closely, He gets very specific here ) for everyone that asketh, receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Somebody might say that don’t say that you get specifically what you ask for,

What man is there of you if your son asks for bread, you will give him a stone, now what’s He teaching, now what’s He teaching, He is teaching one truth, that you get what you ask for!

Come on, come on, come on, the devil has shipped us off!

He has bought in unbelief and causes us to settle for something less!

We ask for bread and we get a stone and then we say that it wasn’t the Lord’s will to give us bread!
The devil told you a big lie!

Jesus said if you ask for bread you will never get a stone!

You will get bread when you ask for bread!

This is what it say’s!

Now come on I am not after you, God bless your heart don’t look strained at me,

I have told you before that you must not allow the devil to move into these services when God sets up an idea for you to grow to and stretch up to the devil will be right there to condemn you because your not already there!!

Don’t let that devil do that, no sir if the Word of God finds you short, say thank God I see my position and I will work to reach that ideal.

I want you to see this morning that God doesn’t want this thing in the minds of His people, that it’s ifs, and mabey and could be’s.

We need to know that what we are asking for before we ever pray!

We need to know that’s God’s Will for us to have it and we will teach you how to know the Will of God and then when you ask, hold right there.
Lord I said bread!

And when the devil comes around and says He isn’t putting out bread today, He isn’t giving nothing but stones, look right back at that old devil and say Lord I said bread!

God delight’s in seeing people that take that kind of faith in Him!

And I repeat God delight’s in seeing people take that kind of faith in Him!

I am telling you that Jesus was teaching a very specific truth, that when you ask for one thing, He won’t give you something else.

And never let the devil slipshod you around and cause you to come short of receiving what God burdened your heart to lay hold of.

Aman!

Somebody said that you just can’t nail it down that close, well I am not nailing it down, Jesus did!

In John the 16th chapter these are very familiar scriptures, and we will have more to read out of that 7th chapter of Matthew, let’s go to John 16:24

I want you to see my friend that prayer is asking!
Hither-to have you asked nothing in My name, ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full!

Brother I am here to tell you that we are doing everything that we can to pump up joy around the Church of God and get people to get happy and enjoying themselves.

But I am still on a bible foundation that there’s nothing that is going to make God’s people as happy as getting back on praying ground where they know how to pray and start receiving what they ask for.

You wont have to ask for Holy Ghost prayer meetings where bursting testimonies come forth that shake sinners right out of there seats!

Now let’s just face it, if you will be honest with me this morning and I believe that you will be honest.

Way back in your mind or in your sub concise mind or somewhere in your heart or life.

There’s depression and a depressed feeling because you haven’t got in the past a few things that you sought God for.

And everyone of them is avenues in which the devil can work in your life to knock you out completely.

In James the 4th chapter and the 2nd verse,
You have not because you ask not!
In Matthew the 21st chapter the 22nd verse listen to Jesus it’s red letters in my bible Jesus speaking!

And all things, and all things what soever ye shall ask in prayer believing, you shall receive!

He isn’t afraid to just throw it out all things!

You will receive it He said!

John 14:14 I want you to see that prayer is asking,

If you ask anything, in My Name, I will do whatever is best for you, it may not be that, it may be something else, hunh?

What will He do? What will He do?

I know that you don’t believe that, it’s almost too good to believe.

And it’s almost too hard to believe, that if you ask anything, in His Name believing.

That anything is modified by the word believing, if you can truly believe it, I’ll do it!

We could go on and heap scripture on top of scripture that teaches that prayer is asking, well someone might well Brother Pruitt the Lord’s Prayer that you took as a model here where He first taught the disciples even before the Kingdom come.
He taught them there how to pray it wasn’t all asking.

I ask you to read it again, every verse in there is asking!

Every verse in it is asking! Prayer is asking!

You have got to believe that our minds have been confused in the past to what prayer is!

Did you ever hear people say that they want to have a prayer meeting and not ask God for a thing.

Well you didn’t have a prayer meeting, you might have had a praise meeting, but you didn’t have a prayer meeting, because you never started praying, until you started asking!

Prayer is Asking!!

You might say oh Brother Pruitt in the disciples where they ask Jesus to teach them to pray, it isn’t all asking!

Well let’s look right here since were in Matthew back up to the 6th Chapter or we can go to our text Luke the 11th chapter they both tell the same thing,

Let’s look at the Lord’s Prayer again Matthew 6:9 I want you to see that when Jesus taught prayer it was all asking,

After this manor therefore pray ye,
Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name,
Somebody might say, that’s no request, it certainly is, what does it mean Hallowed be thy name?

Hallowed be thy name if you will take it apart, Aman! Merely means this, Lord, help me to reverence your name and never take it in vain!

That’s a request!

Hallowed be Thy Name!

Let’s read right on, Thy Kingdom come!
Is that a request?

Thy Will be done!
Is that a request?

Give us,
Is that a request?
Forgive us! Lead Us! Deliver Us!

Every statement is a request.
It’s asking!

Every statement that He taught in that prayer, is a request.

It’s asking!

I want you to see that God commands in His word, He teaches you in His word to ask!
There’s places in the Word where He said to ask largely!

Praying is asking!

Let me push it a little farther than that!

Praying is asking, that model prayer is a petition all the way thru,

Every statement is asking and prayer according to Jesus is asking seeking knocking and one who really prays expects to receive,

And if you don’t get up from prayer, definitely expecting to receive you haven’t prayed.

Somebody said what did you say?

I said prayer is asking, seeking and knocking, and one who prays is expecting to receive.

There is two Greek words used in the new testament that are translated ask, (eprotao ) is one Greek word that is translated ask, it means inquire or to ask a question.

But ( aiteo ) everywhere prayer is mentioned in asking this Greek word is used and it means to crave or desire or have a burden for.

So when he uses this Greek word here in Matthew and the other scriptures when he says ask,

My friend it’s not asking to find out whether you can get it or not,

It’s not asking as you ask a question but my friend it’s asking with a deep desire a craving, a burden to have it.

I say that when we ask in the right way we can have faith and we can raise up and know we are going to receive it.

It what ? What we ask for!

Many conditions, see, lot’s of people can’t see anything else about seventh seal light is seams, but some little portion of the Revelations.

But friend I want to tell you something, seventh seal light is mearly letting the light of God shine on our true condition pointing out traditions that we’ve carried over.

Bringing us back my friend to the very way that the morning time church lived and existed and give us the power with God they had.
AMAN

It’s sad to say, but it is true, that modernists today do not believe that prayer really changes things.

Now I want to show you how prayer got in the position that it’s in,

Come on, all religions, or most all, I don’t know of any right now that I could recall to you that don’t pray!

But my friend, the modern man, in religion today, don’t believe that prayer really changes things!

They do not accept the plain teachings that prayer is asking and the answer to prayer is receiving, what you ask for!

And if you didn’t receive what you asked for, you didn’t get an answer!

Now come on, I don’t believe it! well you don’t believe what I taught you all ready, He said ask and you shall receive!

Receiving that which you ask, is the answer!

But prayer has been modified, coming up thru the dark ages, you know as well as I do that prayer has become a ceremony.

You don’t have to travel far, all you have to do is travel around and attend a few funeral services,

Even if you have never been in a church service, you will see the man in black read his prayer.

Beautiful words put together like you never heard before,

Telling of the greatness of God, and His creation and His wonderful salvation, and to make it real emphatic, my friend, they will have an organ play behind him or an orchestra, play soft.

Now come on, and after it is all said and done there is no real asking of God for anything, because they don’t believe that God really answers prayer like the Bible says it does!

Now you don’t need to tell me, I’ve read too many of their books, I know how they come right out strong, and tell you they don’t believe that God answers prayer.

And some of this can be carried over into our midst, we think that is very sanctimonious on Sunday morning for somebody to say a beautiful prayer, with music behind us, and then we find out that the rest of the service is a drag, because we never even prayed!

Somebody said, don’t you think that the music is all right?

Well, I’ll put it just as simple as I know how, I don’t think that a woman standing at the meat counter giving her order to the meat man, needs somebody to fiddle behind her.

While she says, I need this, and I need this, and I need this, in fact it would confuse me if I was that woman!

Now come on, let’s just own ourselves, we aren’t going to get any help, we don’t own ourselves, we like everything beautiful too you know, real ceremonious, and sanctimonious.
AMAN
Oh how touching if somebody can really word a prayer.

I heard a preacher friend of mine tell a story about a man that had money, and that man had heard a Church of God preacher who could pray like know one that you had ever heard pray before,

He would take you clear up to the stars and all the way back down to hell, and back up and all around, and cry while he was praying, he could really tear you up with his words,

But he didn’t do any praying in all of it, just making beautiful statements.

And the man with money said that he would hire the radio station if that man would pray everyday over the air waves, he said that he wanted the whole world to hear this man pray.

Beautiful, Beautiful, his prayers were beautiful words but he never asked God for a thing all he did was put together words that made beautiful statements.

Come on were dealing with facts here, the bum on the street that begs for some spare change doesn’t need music playing for him to be able to ask you for that!

Or did you ever hear one of them say, isn’t it a beautiful day, thank God for the sunshine, could you slip me a little change for coffee.

Now come on, let’s get to where praying really is!

Praying is asking!

AMAN!

Were in no way taking away the need for adoration, thanksgiving, all of these things, glory to God but I am saying that we need to know what praying is, where does prayer begin?

Where does prayer begin?

And you will find out my friend, when we boil it right down to the bible where prayer begins, that much of the time that’s been put in, in what we think is praying, is thanking God, praising God, adoring God,

And we hook about a minute and a half prayer on the end telling God what we need.

Really need!

I want to say that modernists don’t believe that prayer changes things and friend that’s a spirit.

Modernists don’t accept there own testimony by there books,

They do not accept the plain bible teaching that prayer is asking, and the answer is receiving!

Now what do they teach?

They teach that prayer is largely mediation and communion.

That has nothing to do with asking!

That teaching might not be strange to you because some of that is taught around the churches right here in Amarillo.

One leading modernists, and I’ll not give you his name, but he is a leading modernists in the realm of Protestantism,

He says in his book made this statement and I quote ( there are some who still think a prayer in terms of childly supplication to a divine Santa clause, that gives good gifts to his children.

But he said that there is no truth in it, prayer is mearly fellowship and communion with God )

I quote him, they have given up the thought of definite answers to prayer!

Some have gone so far to say that the day of miracles are over, don’t look for them, well friends, if the day of miracles are over

I am late, I am late getting out of this world cause I am going to be gone before the day of miracles is over!

There’s been a greater attack, I have told you before, and I want to say it again this morning.

That the battle of Armageddon, when we get right into the core of it, and you know what it is , a battle between truth and error, right and wrong, a battle between spirits, if you please,

And when we get right into the core of it my friend, there’s more fighting, real fighting done right at this point over the thought of real praying, than anything else!

Friend, if the devil can sell us on the thought that today prayer is just communion with God, it is just fellowship with God, and that we don’t need to expect definite answers.

That we can’t get specific in our praying and expect God to get specific in His answering.

Friend if the devil has sold us on that, our power line has been clipped!

Our express line is clipped! AMAN

The devil has cut us off from our resources of power and strength and victory, he has robbed us of our joy.

Why?
It’s asking, defiantly asking and defiantly receiving what you ask, that makes your joy full!

And when that don’t happen your joy is lacking.

Lacking.

This same unbeliever that we talked about just a minute ago, and I quote him again,

( he says that he does not believe, and he thinks that it is the height of ignorance for people supposedly saying that they operate faith in a so called divine Santa Clause that gives you good things when you ask Him )

See that is 100% refutal of what Jesus said in the 7th chapter of Matthew.

If you being evil know how to give good gifts, how much more will your Father give good things to them that ask Him?

This same unbeliever, and I might throw in, that he denies the virgin birth.

He don’t believe that either.

He said that prayer is just friendship with God and spiritual fellowship,

Now listen to him I am quoting him, by prayer we don’t really get things from God,

Through prayer we just have communion with God and that makes us stronger to get them for ourselves or able to do without them!

Now that is prayer, one of our religious leaders that highly acclaimed in our nation.

Now come on, you don’t believe it that way, I know you don’t!

But that spirit, that spirit and that teaching is having it’s effect, and unless the spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against that enemy, he’s coming in like a flood today.

Somebody says, I don’t think that he’s coming in like a flood,

Then how come more people aren’t getting definite answers to what they are praying for?

I say that this kind of teaching makes prayer mearly an exercise for spiritual fitness.

A lot of teaching go’s like that, you got to pray everyday to stay spiritually fit.

Where did you read that?
Come on, it’s a spiritual jogging, come on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
you have got to do it to stay spiritually fit!
Now where did you ever read that in the Bible?

That if you don’t pray every day you won’t stay spiritually fit?
AMAN!

Prayer is asking! and the answer is receiving, from God!!

I say, this kind of business, I thought today, when I read that fellow I looked in that book again I wanted to get those words and write them down and just get them like they were so I didn’t miss quote him.

And I thought, Lord if that’s prayer just spiritual fitness,

AMAN not able to get specific about asking anything from God or not looking to get it and all praying does is just strengthen me so I can go out and get it myself,

Or it gives me enough understanding that I am willing to resign and give up and not cry if I don’t get it.

I thought my Lord what good does it do for us to pray!

And the only the only thing that I could liken it to is when you go down to Wal-Mart and you see the little horse’s that you put a quarter in and the children get on, you can get on one of you want to.

And when you get on it, it will gallop just like a real horse make your coat tail go, and mess your hair up.
But there is only one thing wrong with it after you take a long ride, you get off right where you get on!

And that’s what that kind of praying does, you get off right where you got on.

Come on, you come out of the prayer chamber just exactly like you went in!

Burdened down, heavy, no answer, you don’t know a bit more forsure that your going to get anything than you did before you prayed.

My friend, this is not what Jesus taught about praying!

And I say again, Lord teach us to pray!

This modern idea of prayer is as far as it can be from Bible teaching,

The Bible speaks of prayer, My friend and when it speaks of prayer I want to say it again, it means asking, and receiving what you ask for!

Back to Matthew the seventh chapter, I read it once and I am going to read it again and then were going to start on some other scriptures,

Jesus give us examples you know He knew that we wouldn’t understand this truth!
And He was the greatest teacher that there ever was, He taught such simple method’s that were easy to understand, he knew that we would have trouble getting a hold of this.

He knew how the devil would fight us right in these last day’s so He gave us examples of prayer.

I want you to look at something, I want to repeat if you will look at Matthew 7 verse 7 through 11, I want to read it again,

He said ask and it will be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it will opened unto you, everyone that asketh, receiveth!

Now you think of that, everyone that asketh, receiveth!

Now we have got to begin right now to boil this down and get a hold of this thought, that if we didn’t receive there is only one reason for it, we didn’t ask right !

Because everyone that asketh right, receiveth!

But see how the devil has twisted this around, many times we didn’t ask right and we didn’t receive it.

And that mean old devil turned right around and threw the blame on God, and told us that it wasn’t God’s will for us to have it!

Now that isn’t the truth of the matter, you didn’t ask right.
See it is very easy, and I know I mentioned this earlier in the message, but it is very easy to live lacks a daisy and with apathy and indifference and go through a form of prayer,

And it is very easy because you don’t know the will of God to just stick on the end of your prayer, if it be Your Will Lord, if it be God’s Will I”ll get it.

No you won’t.

You will never get nothing on a prayer if it be Your Will.

AMAN, AMAN, AMAN, you have got to know, got to know

I can jump ahead just a little bit on not getting an answer, do you know why more of your children are not saved, or your relatives saved,?

You kill it all when you pray if it be Your Will Lord, save my child.

How in the world can we pray in the name of one who proved that it was God’s Will for that child to be saved, by giving His Life on Calvery and shedden His Blood,

How can we pray that way when the Word of God said, it’s not God’s Will that any perish, it’s God’s Will that everyone comes to repentance and we pray and say if it be Your Will Lord!

God doesn’t even hear that prayer!
Now let’s go just a little farther, and I say He got specific, verse 9,
What man is there of you, who if his son asks bread, now come on here we are his son’s asking, will you give him a stone?

Or if he asks a fish, would you give him a serpent ?

If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father in Heaven give good things to them that ask Him!

Now I want you to see how specific He got,

Somebody said well Brother Pruitt does it actually say that you will receive what you ask for?

Back in Luke the 11th chapter where we took out text from we read down through the 4 verses, and Jesus helps us there.

And you can read in luke and find that every verse in that prayer that Jesus taught the disciples, was a petition, asking for something.

Deliver Us, Give Us, Forgive Us, Lead Us,

Now He didn’t stop there He knew we would be having trouble laying hold of this, so He said in verse 5 he begin to set forth some lessons for us.
And He said unto them, which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, friend, lend me three loaves.

For a friend of mine in his journeys has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.

And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed,

I can’t rise up and give thee, I say unto you though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend,

( now come on, this does away with this modern idea, that we are just a friend of God. and we just in communion we have prayer, and spiritual communion and fellowship,

Jesus teaches us in this lesson a very specific truth, what is it? here is a man you have gone to bed and got all of the kids in bed with you, and oh what a time you had getting them to sleep.

Now I don’t guess any of you have ever had any trouble getting kid’s to fall asleep, but let me tell you there will be night’s when the kids will get scared and they will have trouble going to sleep

and the last thing that you want is someone to come to your door and start knocking and asking you for bread, just when you get them to sleep.
Someone hollering hey, hey, hey, Joe, and you say hush, I just got my kid’s to sleep and I don’t want you waking them up,

And he says, but I just had a friend come and we don’t have anything to feed him and I have got to have three loaves Joe
shut up, shut up, shut up,

I can’t get up I had a terrible time getting the kids to go to sleep, were all in bed I can’t get up!

Oh come on Joe lend me three loaves!

Now Jesus is teaching us about prayer!

And the friend didn’t quit, he just kept on pounding, hey!

And Joe said stop your are going to wake the children up, and the friend said I don’t care if I wake your children up and your wife too, I am going to have bread!

And Jesus made it plain, not because he is your friend, because a thing like that, can bring a friendship to an end between men.

AMAN,
He may have been a friend before that night but a quarter after 12, he wasn’t no friend, but why did Joe get up and give him the bread?

See in the beginning he only wanted to borrow the loaves, but Joe gave him the bread,
Why?

Not because he was a friend, but because of his importunity, hanging right on, this is what I have got to have!

And I wish to God that I could get this one point instilled in the heart of one person here, until you would take a hold of a promise and hang onto it, even if you wake the whole church up, stir it up,

AMAN until you have a tumalt here, hang on until you get what you need.

God taught us that lesson for one thing, to teach us my friend, that if we will importune, hang to what we need.

Don’t be satisfied with the devil coming around and saying I can’t give you three loaves, would you take a loaf?

I want three! God loves that !

First of all He wants you to know what you really need when you come, and then hang to it and don’t take no for an answer!

Somebody said, will God do it?

He tells you right there. If that man give up, not because he is a friend, because he wasn’t his friend anymore.

That guy hollering at the door at midnight had wrecked there friendship,
AMAN!
People do come to visit at strange hours, don’t they?

But brother because he just wouldn’t quit,

I can just see old Joe telling his wife Nellie, He’s got both of us woke up, he’s going to have the dog barking shortly, go get him them loaves, there isn’t no other way of getting rid of him!

He’ll be here at daybreak if we don’t give them to him.

Now what was Jesus trying to teach us, he first taught us that God is going to give us what we ask for, but the devil is going to try and talk you out of it!
AMAN!

Even friends sometimes will try to talk you out of what you want, but if you importune and hang on, God will give to you.

I repeat again in the lesson the guy only wanted to borrow, he said lend me three loaves, but that fellow was so glad to get rid of him he said take them, you don’t have to pay them back, I’ll give them to you, just get out of here!

AMAN!

Well somebody says that isn’t what he means, now listen, verse 8, Luke 11 and verse 8 and then were going to move on to another,

I say unto you though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs!

And I say unto you, ( here is the lesson ) this is still in red letters, I say unto you, ask it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you,

for everyone, ( somebody said, you can’t just say that it happens that way everytime, that’s exactly what I am saying, AMAN

I won’t even let the devil steal one ninth of a percent!

I mean everyone, come on now the devil would like to damper it down this morning, well you can’t say everybody gets it, well let’s read it from the Word of God,

Everyone that asketh receiveth, he that seeketh findeth, to him that knocketh, it shall be opened, if a son shall ask out bread of any of you that is a father will you give him a stone.

Here it comes again.

Now God might not answer the way that you ask, he may send something else, now is this what He is teaching?
And somebody will say, oh that’s just good common sense.

Well you better get rid of some of your good common sense, it isn’t as good as you think it is.

And it is too common to be good!
AMAN!

See we just don’t believe the Bible we just fix it up according to circumstances, we fix it up according to traditions, we fix it up according to our ideas, because the plain way that Jesus said it is too strong!

Everyone,

Verse 10 says that, Everyone that asketh, recevith, he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened, if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will you give him a stone.

I ask you what He is trying to teach us!

Or if he asks a fish will he give him a serpent or if shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?

Friend, the lesson was on asking.
Now over in Luke the 18th chapter, I know that these are familiar lessons and I got a ways to go yet.

In Luke the 18th chapter, three scriptures ought to be enough, but Jesus is teaching us one truth above everything else, hold on to what you ask for.

Is this what He is saying?

See we’ve been too easy in the past to back off and take a second best,

Aman!

We’ve had things fixed in the apex of our minds that God and I want to repeat, has 3 ways of answering, yes, no, and wait a while.

Well you tell me where do you read that in the Bible?

I am telling you my friend, if there is any one thing Jesus teaches us in these lessons, is that we will get what we ask for.

And if we don’t get what we ask for we need to go back and get our asking straightened out!

Luke the 18th chapter,
And He spake a parable unto them to this end, ( now what’s the reason to this parable, what’s the end to it )
That men ought always to pray and not faint in there praying, not give up, whatever you start on stick to it!
AMAN,

Make sure what you are starting on is right, make sure that you are in the Will of God, when you ask, and then stick to it!

Now come on, men ought always to pray and not faint, and here’s the lesson,

There was in a city a Judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: ( that’s just about as hard a circumstance as you can come up against,

How would you like to change a man’s mind like that, that had no fear of God and didn’t regard man?

And back in that time, women were clear out of the question, there was no regard for them, especially coming to a Judge.

Ester was Queen, but she was afraid to step before her husband, and ask a request, for the Jews until she got the Jews, here we go again, to pray and fast one day,

Then she said I will go before the King he will change his mind, and he had just put out a fresh decree, but after they had prayed, thank God she went before the King and he said I’ll do it for you.

Oh the POWER there is in prayer, getting it fixed and settled, lets read it now

There was a judge that feared not God neither regarded man, there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him saying, and I know that there is deep truths in this parable,

And I am not going to venture into any of them I just want to hold to one thought, that Jesus is telling us to hold on to what were asking for,

Avenge me mine adversary, and he would not for a while but after he said within him self though I fear not God nor regard man yet because this widow troubleth me I’ll avenge her lest by her continual coming, she wears me plum out.

Now here’s the lesson, and the Lord said hear what the unjust judge says?

Man if an unjust judge says that shall not God avenge his own elect which cry night and day unto Him, though He bear along with them.

I tell you that He will avenge them speedily never the less, when the Son of Man cometh shall He find faith on the earth?

What kind of faith?

That kind that holds right on, to what you went after.

The kind that holds right on to what you went after.

My friend, there’s actual cases of prayer mentioned in the New Testament, I could add them up this way, there’s 34 special prayers given in the scripture and every one was answered just like they prayed.

Some body said, what about the apostle Paul, well get into that next week.

There was a reason that he wasn’t there, His prayer wasn’t answered, He prayed 3 times the wrong way, He had a weakness just like we have, we don’t know how to pray as we ought!

It was Him that said it, and He didn’t say you don’t know how to pray as you ought, He said we don’t know how to pray as we ought.

And we don’t know how to pray as we ought yet!

That’s why we need to be taught.

Too much praying amiss as James said, now let’s check it here in the 18 chapter of Luke we just go down a little farther, verse 9.

And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted themselves that they were righteous and despised others, two men went up to the temple pray,
One a Pharisee the other a Publican, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself and that’s as far as it got,

God I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortionist’s, unjust, adulteress, even as this publican, I fast twice in a week and I give Tithes of all that I possess, he never asked for one thing.

He had it all and for that reason he didn’t pray.

Let’s go a little farther, and the Publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven and smote his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

Aman, What was it?

I am talking about specific prayers, that got specific answers.

Very specific prayers, that other fellow went all around the bush telling what all he had done and telling what he could do and how blest he was, he never got a thing.

But this fellow smote his breast and said Lord, I need help, could you save, could you be merciful to me a sinner?

He went to his house justified, free, a specific prayer, and a specific answer.
In Matthew the 14th chapter and the 30 verse, we could just jump around here and look at some prayers, I want you to see this asking, and the answer is receiving,

Matthew the 14th chapter and the 30th verse I never read these verses about Jesus walking on the water.

A preacher friend of mine told a story about a young minister that had come to him with a question along about resurrection and he said Brother Wilson did Christ come out of the grave in His glorified body?

And Brother Wilson said yes, He came out of the grave with His glorified body.

Well he said, did He have flesh and bones?

And again he said yes, He had flesh and bones.

Well he said I want to read a scripture to you, and he read where the disciples was in the upper room and the door was bolted and the windows bolted and Jesus walked right through the wall.

But He had flesh and bones brother Wilson, can you tell me how He walked through that wall?

And Brother Wilson said you had better set down, you can’t take it standing up, you set down a I’ll tell you.

So the young minister set down.

And Brother Wilson said do you want to know how He walked through the wall?

He’s God, He walked on the water even before He died, come on, there is no walls to Him!

Come on the light and darkness is just the same, there is no walls, we forget that He is God!

Now here He came walking on the water, and you will find if you don’t mind studying that everytime that He done these wonderful feats, was after an all night prayer meeting.

The disciples left Him and started to row across the sea and He was on the mountain in prayer.

And later on in the night He decided to catch up with them so He just started walking out across the waves, land and earth is the same to Him, see you just don’t understand that, you don’t understand God!

If you could understand God then cancer wouldn’t be any harder for you to believe than for Him to heal a tooth ache,

Come on, the land and the sea is the same to Him, He can walk on water just the same as you can walk on earth.


He came walking out there and they thought that He was a
ghost and Peter said no, that’s the Lord!

Lord is that you?

Yes this is me Peter, what are you doing walking on the water?

Oh I never thought anything about it. Well Lord if that’s you tell me to walk!

Come on, come on, I am talking about prayer and answer.

There he went right out onto the water and started walking towards Jesus, but then he looked down at the waves, he got his eyes off of Jesus and he went down.

Now come on, I want to show you how God wants us to pray,

Now when Peter was going down, he didn’t say Lord it’s a beautiful sun set, the waves are five feet high, my this is a terrible sea, if he had gone through all of that he would have drowned,

All he had time to get out was, Lord save me!

And Jesus reached out and took him by the hand and lifted him up.

Asking is praying, and receiving is the answer!

Mark the 10th chapter, I know that these are familiar lessons but I want you to look at them, we could go on and on with them, pictures of them in the scripture, over and over.

Matthew the 15th chapter, let’s see which one do we want to look at?

I have got this kind of confidence in God’s word, just this simple teaching going over God’s word will drive unbelief from the minds and hearts of everyone that’s willing to let it go,

And give you faith.

Faith comes by hearing and by the word of God.

Do you know one of the ways that the devil works today?

I have to overcome this all the time.

Oh you don’t want to do that simple teaching before the saints of God, they know how to pray.

Oh you don’t want to do those simple teachings of mear conversion, people know how to get saved!

Faith commeth by hearing.

The devil knows that.

Aman he will fight the preacher, he will fight you on repeating, he will fight you on coming over again and again on the simple teachings.

Why?

Faith comes by hearing!

In the 10th chapter of Mark
were talking about definite prayer and definite answer let’s read starting with the 46th verse through the 52nd verse.

Mark 10:46-52
46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,(don’t faith commeth by hearing) he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.

50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Now I want you to get the picture.

That blind man according to history set there day after day and he wasn’t setting out there to get healing, he was setting out there to gather a few pence.

Just a little help from the passers by, Aman to get meager help, enough to keep alive.

But my friend he heard the shuffle of the crowd and he asked somebody, who is that?

And they told him that it is Jesus, and he heard that and he begin to holler before Jesus even got close, he begin to holler.

Oh Jesus, thou Son of David have mercy on me, and the crowd said hush your mouth keep still and the more they made noise trying to keep him quite the more he cried.

I am still preaching on getting it fixed and settled of what you want and holding on to it.

And the crowd said hush, but he lifted his voice above the crowd.

Oh Jesus, and I want you to notice that he started saying, I want you to see how prayer must be specific he just kept crying have mercy, have mercy and all at once Jesus stopped.

And brother when you have got faith enough to stop Jesus, you have got it made!

Jesus stopped, and he turned around and said somebody called me.

That’s that blind man over there, and Jesus said tell him to come here!

Man he jumped up and I can see him yet throwing his robe off, now come on, I want you to see that Jesus deals with specific prayer he had been crying have mercy, have mercy.

Jesus said I heard you crying have mercy,
what do you want?

Lord I want to see! Lord I want to see!

All right your faith has made you whole!

His eyes was opened!

Now come on, Your faith, Whose faith? Yours!

Now it’s one thing to hear the bible hear the word of God but you have got to author your own faith.

He didn’t say the faith that I am the author of, come on Jesus is the author and finisher of the faith,

But He didn’t say the faith that I am the author of made you whole.

Your faith, has made you whole!

And thank God he was made whole and he followed Jesus.

Back in Matthew the 15th chapter, I want you to see that this specific praying will reach out to others,

in Matthew the 15th chapter the 22nd verse I am still preaching on laying hold on of that, that which we stand in need of and stick to it.

I could widen out how people today try to cool you down when you put your faith and trust in God.

Matthew the 15th chapter and the 22nd verse.

Now here is a woman that had a daughter just like a lot of mothers have got daughters today that vexed with a devil, the word vexed means troubled,

the devils got a hold of them causing her to do things, that she’s uncontrollable she won’t act right in the home.

I am afraid to let he go out by herself
she’s terribly troubled by a devil, come on, how many mothers have given up today?

They say well there isn’t anything that I can do, there isn’t hardly any use in praying because if that daughter don’t come for help, she can’t get help now that isn’t what the lesson teaches.

Come on, see we get ideas all fixed up we get our theologies all lined up and this is what believe.

And since this is what we believe we don’t pray contrary to it, we had better start praying according to the Bible.

Yes sir, you take hold of God and hold onto God you can get help for your daughter, or your son, or your husband, or your friend, or your whomever!

Even when they are not there and don’t know that you are praying for them!

Well let’s read it now, verse 23( read )
I want you to see here that Jesus teaching again importunity, holding on for that which we stand in need of.

Well first of all when she cried out to Jesus He didn’t answer her, Verse 24 ( read )

Your not of the house of Israel I can not help anybody but the House of Israel right now.

Now that didn’t drive her away, come on that would have drove us away come on, come on well I can’t help you,

I am sorry I just come to help a specific people I can’t help you, that didn’t drive her away.

(read verse 25 ) she got up closer and worshipped Him, my your wonderful, oh how I love you Jesus.
It was getting to Him because He turned to her again and said
(read verse 26)

Man what a blow, the Gentiles were called dogs!

Why did Jesus treat or teach her that way?

He who knows all thing saw that she had faith that would hang right on and He wanted that bunch of unbelieving disciples and the House of Israel what faith really was!

So He just turned the gun on her, He said what are you doing worshipping me?
Your a dog!

And it’s not meet for Me to take the bread, come on, healing is the children’s bread,
it’s not meet for Me to take the children’s bread and give it to the dog’s!

She got down a little lower and said yes Lord, but the dog’s eat crumbs from their masters table, I know that I am a dog, I know that I am a dog!

But your my master, and I am not asking for a whole load of bread, that other fellow wanted three loaves, she said I just want a crumb.

He raised up and said I have never seen such faith in all of Israel, woman!

Let it be to you just like you asked!

And her daughter was made well that very moment!

What’s He talking to us about?

Persistent faith,

Friend just like I have said before, we have got far too many, that when they go to pray they just go window shopping.

They don’t really go after anything, and they don’t bring home anything.

Real praying this morning is not a lovely sedan that God furnished you to go sight seeing in and look all of the beautiful promises of God in and come back empty.

But real praying is taking your truck and backing up to God’s warehouse and knock on the door and say I’ll be here until You load it up!

And come home with a truck load!

God wants it that way!

This is the way that God ordained it to be, men and the devil has changed it.

Prayer is asking, and the Bible has taught us this morning that everyone that asketh, receiveth!

Well someone might say, well when will we receive it?

All right Mark the 11th chapter 24th verse, Jesus put the when in, and next week we are going to study why prayers are not answered if the Lord will help me.

Mark 11:24 Jesus put the when in
Mark 11:24
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Somebody said when?

He put the when in, when you pray!

When you pray believe you receiveth according to God’s word and you shall have it!

Oh dear ones what great things are to be had for the asking!

I hope God will give you a little part of the vision that he has brought across my mind so vividly in the last few months.

What a storehouse of great things that we can have, for the asking!
AMAN!
All heaven lies before the grasp of the asking, all of the promises of God are rich and inexhaustible and there fulfillment are to be had by prayer.

Jesus words were to us this morning all things are delivered unto me, now come on I want to tie a few ends together.

Jesus words were all things are delivered unto me of my Father.
Then Paul came right along speaking to the Church of God at corinith, 1st Corn the third chapter and he said all things are yours and ye are Christ’s!

The very all things that was delivered from the Father to the Son are delivered to you and I through prayer!

There yours!,
AMAN
And all that He wants us to do is to ask for them!

You and I, through Jesus Christ can have everything that the people back in the bible times had, plus much they never even thought about having!

What is Prayer?

Asking!

And what is the answer to prayer?

Receiving!

Let us bow our heads
 

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