                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                    Prayer That Is Pleasing To The Lord!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plain Text File + Related Bible Study + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright +
                               Cover Letter
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

By David Wilkerson
February 12, 1996
__________

          I want to talk to you today about a kind of prayer that
          is most pleasing to the Lord. You see, not all of our
          praying blesses the heart of God. Yet, with the help of
          the Holy Spirit, I trust that what I share with you
          here will change the way you pray - from now until
          Jesus comes!

          I have no intention of complicating prayer. It has been
          made too complicated already by well-intentioned
          teachers who have turned it into formulas, strategies
          and theatrics. Some Christians literally put on combat
          boots and uniforms to dress the part of "prayer
          warriors." Others attend prayer meetings where they are
          given "prayer guides," booklets that tell them how to
          fill up the hours they'll be there.

          I am not condemning any of this. But I would like to
          show you the kind of praying I believe pleases the Lord
          most. Actually, the kind of prayer that most pleases
          God is very simple and easy to understand. It is so
          simple, in fact, a little child can pray in a way that
          pleases Him.

          Let me begin by saying, I believe most Christians want
          to pray. At one time in our walk with the Lord, we all
          prayed with some consistency. But after a while, many
          believers quit. And now they are convicted by their
          prayerlessness.

          The disciples said to Jesus, "...Lord, teach us to
          pray..." (Luke 11:1). They would not have asked unless
          they had wanted to learn. And I believe that most who
          are reading this message would love to be faithful in
          prayer - but they don't know how. The problem is, they
          simply don't understand the purpose of prayer. And
          until they grasp this vital purpose, they will never be
          able to maintain a fulfilled, meaningful life of
          prayer.

          Many Christians pray only out of a sense of obligation.
          They think of prayer as something they are "supposed"
          to do. They tell themselves, "Others around me are
          always praying. And the pastor is always provoking us
          to pray. Besides that, the Bible calls for prayer. So,
          I have to pray. It's just the Christian thing to do."

          Others pray only when tragedy strikes or when a crisis
          befalls them. And they do not pray again until the next
          difficulty comes along.

          Beloved, the church will never understand the
          importance of prayer until we grasp this foundational
          truth:

                      -------------------------------

                         Prayer Is Not Just for Our
                        Own Welfare or Relief - But
                       For the Delight of the Lord!

                      -------------------------------

          Unless these two elements go together, we do not have a
          foundation upon which to build a prayer life. Prayer is
          not just for our benefit - but for the delight of our
          God! We are not just to intercede for things we need,
          but to ask for the things He desires.

          Christians can be very self-centered and selfish when
          it comes to prayer. Often we go to the Lord only to
          unburden our troubles and sorrows to Him - to seek a
          supply of strength for the next battle. Of course, that
          is Scriptural; we are invited to come boldly to God's
          throne of grace, to find mercy and help in our times of
          need. He has told us to cast all our cares upon Him.

          But our praying is not complete - it is not prayer that
          is most pleasing to the Lord - if we do not understand
          God's need! Whereas we seek relief and help from the
          Lord, He desires fellowship with us - intimacy and
          communion.

          Our primary purpose in praying ought always to be
          fellowship with the Lord. After all, He already has
          made every provision for our daily needs:

          "...Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat,
          or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye
          shall put on.... Behold the fowls of the air...your
          heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better
          than they?

          "...your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of
          all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
          and his righteousness; and all these things shall be
          added unto you. Take no thought for the morrow..."
          (Matthew 6:25-26, 32-34).

          "...for your Father knoweth what things ye have need
          of, before ye ask him" (verse 8).

          God is saying to us: "When you come into My presence,
          focus your attention on fellowship with Me - on getting
          to know Me. Don't let your focus be on material things.
          I know what your needs are. You don't even have to ask
          - I'll take care of them all! Just seek Me. Let us
          enjoy sweet communion!"

          Yet, how much of our prayer time is spent asking God
          for a better job, a better home, food, clothes and
          other necessities? If most Christians subtracted such
          petitions from their prayer time, there would be little
          or no prayer left!

          Perhaps prayer is a burden to you. Do you pray mostly
          out of a sense of obligation? Is prayer boring to you?
          Is it more of a duty than a pleasure?

          So few Christians enter God's presence with delight,
          simply for the pleasure of His company. Some think of
          it only as "work" - labor, exertion, effort. Yet, when
          we commune with a dearly loved one here on earth, do we
          think of it as work? No - that is a pleasure to us! If
          you are happily married, you don't think of your times
          of intimacy with your spouse as "work."

          How many marriages have been ruined by a mate who
          thought of intimacy only as duty? There is a generation
          of older Christian women who taught their daughters
          that intimacy with a husband was only a difficult,
          burdensome duty. They considered it to be work, an
          obligation, with no delight at all.

          Yet Christ likens His relationship with His people to
          that of a husband and wife - and the Bible says Jesus
          delights in us! The fact is, a husband's pleasure in
          enjoying intimacy is not simply the satisfaction of his
          own needs. No - his real pleasure is in the joy of
          knowing his wife shares his delight. He says in his
          heart, "She really wants to be with me. I'm first in
          her heart - I'm everything to her!"

          She is not reluctant to enjoy intimacy with him. She
          doesn't see it as a duty or obligation. Rather, she
          delights in him. And when he reaches out to her, she
          reciprocates by reaching out to him. They delight
          equally in each other.

          We know the Lord delights in His people. The Bible
          tells us: "How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love,
          for delights!" (Song of Solomon 7:6).

          And David said, "...he delivered me, because he
          delighteth in me" (Psalm 18:19).

          Can you imagine the Lord being exuberant with delight
          over His children? That is the picture Scripture gives
          us. Our God delights in us!

          Yet, do we delight in Him? The Bible tells us the Lord
          should be our delight:

          "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give
          thee the desires of thine heart" (Psalm 37:4).

          "...I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and
          his fruit was sweet to my taste" (Song of Solomon 2:3).

          Now, delighting in the Lord doesn't mean simply being
          gleeful or happy in His presence. I asked the Lord what
          the expression "delighting" means. He answered:

          "David, delighting in Me means simply being able to
          say: 'I would rather be with Jesus than with anyone
          else on earth! I prefer His company even over that of
          my spouse, my family, my friends. I prefer Him over all
          celebrities, world leaders, famous people, even great
          men and women of God. I would rather spend time with
          Him than with anybody else. He is my delight!'

          "It also means being able to say, 'I long to be shut in
          with Him - because He is the only One who can satisfy
          me. All others leave me empty and unfulfilled. No one
          but Jesus can touch my deepest needs. And I rush to Him
          as often as I can!'"

          Indeed, Jesus is waiting for us with every resource -
          everything we need for comfort, strength and power.
          Yet, often we either sit and brood in His presence, or
          we rush off to phone a friend to try to find help. Can
          you imagine what that must do to His heart?

          Our "delighting" is something the Lord recognizes in
          us. He knows when we are drawn to His presence. If we
          truly delight in Him, everything that hinders us from
          coming to Him will bother us. We'll grow lonely,
          heartsick for Him, knowing that nothing else can touch
          or fill that deep spot in our hearts. No prayer can be
          wholly pleasing to Him until He is assured we come to
          Him because we prefer Him. He wants to know that above
          all else!

                      -------------------------------

                      Coming to the Lord With Delight
                      Does Not Mean We Cannot Come to
                        Him With Sadness and Grief.

                      -------------------------------

          Keep in mind my definition of "delighting in the Lord"
          - that is, preferring to be with Him above all others.
          This gives new meaning to our times of being sad,
          downcast, heavy-hearted, confused. To whom do we run in
          such times? Whose company do we prefer then?

          Hannah is an example of a woman who came daily into the
          Lord's presence. She came to the temple sad of heart -
          weeping, with a sorrowful spirit.

          "And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the
          Lord, and wept sore" (1 Samuel 1:10).

          Hannah shared her husband with another wife, Peninnah,
          who had borne several children. Hannah had remained
          barren, and Peninnah harassed her about it day and
          night. Scripture says this woman "provoked (Hannah)
          sore" (verse 6), making her life miserable.

          Now, Hannah was dearly loved by her husband. But even
          he could not comfort her nor abate her sorrow. He said
          to her, "...am I not better to thee than ten sons?"
          (verse 8).

          Yet Hannah must have thought, "You don't understand. I
          have a need you can't meet!"

          So Hannah stood before the altar weeping, sorrowful,
          with a deep groaning in her spirit. She testified to
          Eli, the priest:

          "...I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I...have poured
          out my soul before the Lord....out of the abundance of
          my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto" (verses
          15-16).

          Hannah was not afraid to come into the Lord's presence
          with her sadness. In fact, in her sorrow she preferred
          His company. Yet many believers today simply will not
          come into God's presence because they are sad,
          downcast, weeping, broken, going through trials. They
          say, in essence, "I don't want to offend God by coming
          to Him this way. I'll wait till I'm happy and joyful
          before I come into His presence."

          We're accustomed to going before the Lord corporately
          with hand-clapping, praises, joyful worship. But this
          account of Hannah makes it clear we're to come to Him
          even in our saddest moments. And, as Hannah was in
          intimate prayer with the Lord, He spoke peace to her
          heart:

          "...So (she) went her way, and did eat, and her
          countenance was no more sad" (verse 18).

          This passage tells me: "Don't hide from the Lord. Don't
          run anywhere else. Run straight into His presence, and
          weep it all out before Him! Tell Him everything you're
          going through. Let Him have all your sadness."

          Yet we all tend to shy away from the Lord during our
          sad times. I recently had a time of unexplained
          sadness. There was no real reason for it; it was just
          one of those heavy times I couldn't understand. I
          hesitated to go to prayer that morning, thinking, "I'll
          wait till this evening. Then I'll be okay. I can have
          my time with the Lord then."

          But the Holy Spirit prompted me to turn to the book of
          Nehemiah. As I read chapter 2, I saw something I hadn't
          seen before. This chapter contains an encouraging story
          for all who come to the Lord with a heavy heart.

          Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. He tasted
          the wines before they were brought to the king's table,
          making sure they weren't poisoned. Over time, Nehemiah
          became a trusted servant to the king.

          Now, Nehemiah had received a report from his brother
          Hanani that Jerusalem was in ruins. The population had
          been decimated, the people were in terrible straits,
          and conditions were worsening daily. This tore at
          Nehemiah's heart. He loved Judah and Jerusalem - and a
          sorrow and sadness began to grip him. Scripture says:

          "And it came to pass...I took up the wine, and gave it
          unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his
          presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy
          countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is
          nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore
          afraid..." (Nehemiah 2:1-2).

          You must understand - people were forbidden to come
          into the king's presence with sadness, especially if
          they were court employees. Nehemiah knew this could
          have cost him his head, and he was terribly fearful.

          But the king was moved with compassion when he saw the
          grief of Nehemiah. Scripture tells us he gave his
          downcast servant a leave of absence. He also gave him a
          letter of credit, opening the royal treasury to him.
          Nehemiah then received from the king the desire of his
          heart - permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the
          temple and city walls!

          Here is my point: If it were possible for Nehemiah to
          go into the presence of a pagan king with a sad, heavy
          countenance, and yet find favor, compassion and
          blessings beyond imagination - how much more will King
          Jesus show compassion to each of us His children in our
          sadness, lifting our burden and supplying our need?
          Would a pagan king show more mercy to a downcast
          servant than our all-merciful Savior and King would?

          Perhaps at this point you are confident you love the
          Lord and delight in Him. You have learned to run to Him
          just for the pleasure of His company. And in your
          wonderful times of intimacy with Him, He lifts all your
          burdens and floods your soul with peace, joy, assurance
          of His love.

          But is that the end-purpose of prayer? Is it to give us
          ecstasy - to provide us with rest and peace? No! There
          is much more to this matter of praying in a way that's
          pleasing to God:

                      -------------------------------

                         If We Are Going to Pray in
                       A Manner Pleasing to the Lord,
                      We Must Learn to Pray Through!

                      -------------------------------

          "Praying through" is a term coined by the early
          Pentecostals. To some it meant simply staying on your
          knees until you were assured you had an answer from
          God. To others it meant continually coming back to the
          Lord until you had the answer in hand. (This was also
          called "persevering in prayer.")

          As a young boy in those early camp meetings, I heard
          people testify, "I'm going to lay hold of the horns of
          the altar - and I won't let go until God answers!" Yet
          I don't believe that is the truest meaning of "praying
          through."

          You can be shut in with the Lord on the Mount of
          Transfiguration, delighting in His presence. You can
          spend quality hours, even days, with Him, glorying in
          sweet communion. You can have all your needs met. Your
          heart can be totally satisfied. His presence can heal
          you, lift you, empower you, strengthen you.

          But what happens when you leave that hallowed place of
          intimate communion? You may rise up from your knees
          only to go back to a crushing situation that has not
          changed. You can see the devil waiting there for you,
          ready to throw the same problems and emptiness at you.
          I ask you: What good is it to get the glory on the
          mountain if it won't see you through your battle?

          Let me explain what I believe is meant by "praying
          through." The phrase means simply this: The strength,
          power and encouragement you receive from the Lord while
          shut in with Him must see you through the trials ahead!
          The victory you get in the secret closet has to give
          you victory on the battlefield.

          Think about it: What exactly did you get from your time
          of prayer, if it wasn't something that could see you
          through the battle? Was yours a "completed" prayer? You
          see, "praying through" means waiting for the completion
          of your prayer - that is, for total completion. Many
          Christians see only half-answered prayers - because
          they don't allow what they received from the Lord in
          prayer to carry them through their trial. Indeed, many
          sincere prayers have been wasted, aborted, lost -
          because they were not "carried through" in this way.

          How many of us have gone to the Lord in prayer,
          unburdening our hearts to Him - and afterward were
          lifted out of a pit, our joy restored, our faith rising
          up? The first thing He tells us in our time with Him
          is, "Don't be afraid. I am with you." He settles our
          spirit, bringing us rest and peace. And we go out of
          His presence feeling strong, ready to fight the good
          fight.

          But what happens the next day, when a trial arises? How
          do you react when your circumstances begin to fall in
          on you? Do you collapse after only a short while?

          Many of us get discouraged when our circumstances don't
          change after much prayer. We believe God for a change -
          and, indeed, many times He does bring one about. But in
          the times when He doesn't, we often go from a wonderful
          mountaintop experience straight into a battle - and we
          fail miserably!

          Beloved, prayer is not finished - it is not "completed
          prayer" - until it sees you through to the other side
          of your trial. We have not "prayed it through" until we
          have "lived it through" - that is, lived through our
          trials by the strength we received in God's presence.

          God fully intends that what He gives us in prayer will
          fully supply us with everything we need for our battle.
          He wants to give us something powerful enough to see us
          through any situation - to place us above the battle!

          I must confess, this is where I fail most in prayer. I
          have known and enjoyed the ecstasy of intimacy with my
          Lord; He has become my delight. I know what it is like
          to run to Him with heaviness, sorrow, tears flowing -
          and to experience His awesome touch, filling me with
          peace and relief. But when I face the next trial or
          crisis that comes along, all of my peace and joy seem
          to evaporate. I discover I have not yet prayed through!

          Has this ever happened to you? Perhaps you went to
          church and were blessed, coming out of the sanctuary
          with a sense of power and anointing. Yet, when you got
          home, you got into an argument with your spouse. Then
          you went to work on Monday, and everything went wrong.
          Where, at that moment, was the joy, peace and rest you
          got from being in the Lord's presence not long before?
          Your prayer has not been prayed through!

          Somewhere between the glory and the crisis, we lose
          everything we gained during our intimacy with the Lord.
          So, how can we keep it? What can we do to see our
          prayer through to a triumphant conclusion?

          I have prayed about this continually because of the
          many Christians everywhere who are hurting so badly.
          Our ministry receives between 30,000 and 40,000 letters
          a month from our readers - and I have never heard of
          such pain as I now read in these letters.

          Many Christians are suffocating from a loneliness that
          is so bad, they can hardly see themselves through a
          day. Others are suffering through all kinds of marital
          and family problems. Pastors are grief-stricken over
          all the hurting people in their congregations.

          As I read of such grief, I have to cry out to God,
          "Father, I can't write a message that will add to their
          burden. Please, Lord - what am I to say?"

          The answer I received is the message I am writing to
          you today: The Lord wants you to receive something from
          your intimate time with Him - to have a power and
          authority that will carry you through your trials. He
          wants you to pray through them completely!

          "But how?" you ask. "How can I maintain the victory I
          receive in my prayer time with Him? How can I take it
          through to the other side of the battle?"

          There are two things we must do to pray through our
          trial:

                      -------------------------------

                       The First Way We Learn To Pray
                          Through Is by Listening!

                      -------------------------------

          Most Christians don't listen to God. They go to Him
          only to talk! Yet the Scriptures reveal that any person
          who was ever used of God learned to remain in His
          presence until hearing from Him. Scripture makes it
          clear the Lord wants to talk to every one of us:

          "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying,
          This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the
          right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isaiah
          30:21).

          I heard of a little girl who was dying of leukemia. As
          she neared death's door, she struggled with the thought
          of dying. Yet one morning, when her mother came into
          her room, the girl was all aglow and happy. "What has
          happened to you?" her mother asked.

          The little girl answered, "An angel came to me and said
          I was going on a trip. God came and took my hand and
          walked with me through a beautiful garden. He told me,
          'You're coming here tomorrow, to be with Me.'"

          God spoke to that little child - and took all the pain
          and fear from her heart! When she left to be with Him
          the next day, she had total peace.

          Tell me - when you are intimate with Jesus, do you
          receive such direction from Him? Does He tell you what
          to do - and when and how to do it? Some Christians
          don't believe God does this. But Jesus says, "My sheep
          hear my voice...and they follow me" (John 10:27).

          There is no way through your trial, except to get alone
          with Jesus and cry, "Lord, You're the only One on this
          earth who can help me. Only You know the way through
          this trial. So I'm going to stay here till You tell me
          what to do. I'm not going anywhere until You speak to
          my heart!"

          This is the kind of "praying through" that is pleasing
          to God! It means stopping everything, all activity,
          until you hear His voice. Only then will you hear Him
          speak clearly to your heart: "You've got to make things
          right with this person..." Or, "You've got to make
          restitution here..." Or, "Just stand still till next
          week. Don't get in a hurry. Sit in My presence and
          trust Me..." He will give you clear directions!

          Yet, something even more is needed for us to see our
          prayers through the coming trials - to make our prayers
          complete:

                      -------------------------------

                      The Second Thing Needed To Pray
                     Through Is to Add To Our Intimacy
                      Total Confidence in God's Word!

                      -------------------------------

          Christ is the living Word of God. And when you are shut
          in with Him in prayer, the Holy Spirit will always lead
          you to God's revealed Word. He will build up your faith
          by feeding you from the Bible - even while you're in
          the secret closet! We are commanded:

          "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
          stand against the wiles of the devil.... Wherefore take
          unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able
          to stand in the evil day... And take...the sword of the
          Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:11, 13,
          17).

          Often when you receive specific instructions from the
          Lord, His Spirit will whisper, "Now turn to...",
          directing you to a passage of Scripture. God's Word
          will speak to you directly - telling you how to get
          through your crisis!

          Right now, there are many Christians reading this
          message who simply have to hear a word from the Lord.
          Nobody on earth can help them. There is but one way for
          them to get through their trial - and that is by
          staying in Christ's presence until He gives them
          direction! He must tell them the way through - what to
          do, and when and how to act. His exclusive direction to
          them won't come one minute too early or too late. It
          will all be in the Holy Ghost's timing!

          Dear saint, there is no need for you to worry about
          your trial. God is faithful to respond to your every
          need and request. So, as you go to prayer now, simply
          pray, "Lord, I come now not just to have my needs met -
          needs You have foreseen and are eager to supply. No - I
          come also to meet Your need!"

          We were made for fellowship with Him - even in our
          heaviest times. I ask you: Do you love to be with Him?
          Do you prefer Him above all others? Does your heart cry
          out, "Jesus, You're my everything. You are my soul's
          great pleasure - and I love Your company!"

          God, put in all of us a heart that is easily wooed to
          Your presence. Help us to pray through all our trials
          to completion...to listen closely to Your Spirit in our
          secret time of communion with You...and to put all our
          confidence in Your revealed Word. In these ways, we can
          know our prayers are pleasing to You. Amen!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771, USA.

          This material is solely for personal use and is not to
          be posted publicly on other web pages. The Lorain
          County Free-Net Chapel holds exclusive rights from
          World Challenge, Inc. to publicly post these messages
          on its web page. You are free to download, copy, print
          and distribute this material, so long as you do not
          post it on a different Internet site. You may, however,
          link this site to reference these messages.

                 ------------------------------------------
Plain Text File + Related Bible Study + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright +
                               Cover Letter
                 ------------------------------------------

         Times Square Church Information | New Reader Information

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

COPYRIGHT/REPRODUCTION LIMITATIONS:

This data file is the sole property of World Challenge. It may not be
altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for
circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data
file must contain the copyright notice [i.e., "Copyright  1998 by World
Challenge"]. This data file may not be used without the permission World
Challenge for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This
includes all of its content with the exception of a few brief quotations.
Please give the following source credit: Copyright  1998 by World
Challenge, Lindale, Texas, USA.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       This web site is a service of
                          The Missing Link, Inc.
       Linking Troubled Youth and Adults with Life-Changing Programs
                       Web Site - http://misslink.org
               Chapel Site - http://misslink.org/chapel2.html
  Home of David Wilkerson's Times Square Church Pulpit Series Multilingual
                                  Web Site
             http://misslink.org/chapel/teacher/multilan.html

                                ------------

            Copyright  1998 - The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel
                         North Central Ohio, U.S.A.

                                TOP OF PAGE

           Our webmaster welcomes your comments and suggestions.
              This page was Last updated September 10, 1998.

  Why Revival Tarries/ "Help!"/ What's Here/ Sponsor/ Statement of Faith/
   Bible Study/ Around the Piano/ Bulletin Board/ Library/ Pulpit Series
