Praying His promises
Category: Faith & Trusting God
Key Passage: 2 Corinthians 1:20
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: June 7, 2024
Your Bible, if you would, is 2 Corinthians chapter one. Aren’t you glad our debt is paid in full? Praise the Lord for that, and a great message in song. Last week we started this series on prayer.
I said just a brief thing last week that I think I ought to say again: we kind of separated God’s will into two sections. I’m just trying to explain the truth in the Bible. One we call the unconditional will of God. That is when something is going to happen no matter what you do—the unconditional will of God.
I mean, it’s kind of like the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. That’s going to happen. Whatever we’re talking about, it’s going to happen. It’s the unconditional will of God. God is going to see to it that it happens. All right? Over here, there is sometimes what we’ll call the conditional will of God. It’s the will of God, but there are conditions attached to it.
He’s not willing that any should perish. He wants everybody to get saved, but that doesn’t always happen. There’s a condition: they must look to Jesus Christ and call on Him, put their full faith in Jesus to be their eternal Savior. If they don’t do that, they won’t get saved. There’s a condition. In prayer, the Bible says you have not because there’s a condition to some things. Matthew says He gives good things to them that ask Him. There’s a condition to it. So some things God would like to do, God would like to happen, but there’s a condition: you must pray and ask. You’re not going to twist His arm and make Him do something; He’s God. But often God wants you to come to Him, and there are many, many wills or promises conditional if you’ll claim those promises. That’s what we’re looking at today: Praying His Promises. That is the title today: Praying His Promises.
We’re going to start in 2 Corinthians chapter one and verse number 20. Would you please stand, if you are able, just in respect to the Word of God? 2 Corinthians 1 and verse number 20 of God’s Word, 2 Corinthians 1, verse number 20. If you’re there, would you say, “Hallelujah”?
Verse number 20, the Bible says, “For all…” That’s amazing to me. For all. Did I read that right? Does it say “all” right there? Yes, “For all the promises of God in Him, that’s in Jesus, are yea.” And in Him, amen. So be it. Unto the glory of God by us.
Now we’re going to focus just on that one verse right there. Would you read it out loud with me? By the way, I appreciate that you have your Bible and you’re looking in the Bible. That’s a good thing. Let’s read that verse number 20 out loud together. Here we go. First Corinthians 1:20. Here we go:
“For all the promises of God in Him are yea. And in Him, amen, the glory of God by us.”
Good. Let’s go to the Lord in a word of prayer as we get started. Father, Lord, I pray You would make the verse come alive. Lord, even now I realize there’s truth we won’t be able to cover in this verse. But, Lord, the truth is that You want to allow us and lead us to point out. Father, I pray You to take them and drive them deep in our hearts. Lord, I do ask, Father, help us to claim the promises of Your Word more, Lord, more because of this morning, Father. Would You do so, please? And we’ll thank You and brag on You and praise You for what You do, Lord. And we ask for these things in the name of Jesus. We pray, amen.
I have someone here to help me with illustrations. This is Bell right here, all right? And this is our little Yorkie. I’ll want to say “Hi, Bell” out there. Her ears perked up on that. Now, hopefully, Bell will help me illustrate something here, all right? You never know when you get in front of people. I’ve used her for other illustrations, but never for this before, so we’ll see. Just see if she’s listened to me or not, you know.
In the morning time, really any time—and I shouldn’t say the morning, any time—if I use a couple of words, her ears will perk up. She knows it, and she will not leave me alone until I fulfill those words. Some of you have dogs that are already shaking your head, “Yes.” Let me see if she’ll do it. Bebe, be able to put you down. Hey, Bebele, Bebele, hey, Bebele, hey, Bebele. Let me see if we can keep her over here. Bebele, you’ll go bye-bye? You’ll go bye-bye? Hey, you’ll go bye-bye-bye? You’ll go bye-bye? Go bye-bye-bye. She is. She said, “I don’t need you to go bye-bye.” She noticed the word. She said she’s going to go bye-bye’s on her own. When I say “bye-bye” around the house, she will follow me around the house everywhere I go. She’ll scratch on my leg. If I lay down on the couch, she’s going to be up on the side of the couch, scratching at the couch. She’s going to follow me everywhere I go. If I say that in the morning time and I still have to go shave—I do brush my teeth, believe it or not, I do—if I do that, she’ll follow me. She just… once I said it. Every once in a while, we’ll say the word “bye-bye” when we’re buzzing around, and she’ll, you know, you know, she shouldn’t have said it, you know. Yeah, Tammy just said it.
All right, let’s try something else. Here’s another word that I think… as long as she doesn’t go bye-bye’s on her own right now. Hey, Bebe, you want a treat? You want a treat? Bebe, you want a treat? Bebe? You want a treat? Bebe? You want a treat? Tell me. Oh, tell me. You want a treat? Tell me. Tell me. You want a treat? Tell me. Tell me about it. She’ll follow me until I give her a treat. Let’s sit here. A treat? I won’t say anything for a while. Oh, no, she’s got… they haven’t got any treats, but… You know a treat? She got her a treat. She got her a treat. I should have gotten her two treats. She’s on it. Should have gave her a little piece. All right, let’s give her a hand. She’s done. She’s done got the treat. Thank you, baby. Now, here’s my thing. She’s done got her treat. You go bye-bye? You go bye-bye? You go-go-bye-bye? Let’s give her a hand.
Now, the reason why I do that is because did you notice once I say those words, those ears perk up? She will not leave me alone until I fulfill the promise.
Notice what he said there in that verse, verse number 20. He says, “For all the…” What’s the next word? “…promises.” Now look, in prayer, it is so important that I’m always looking and listening for promises. Can I say a word here? It’s at the end of the year. We’re nearing the beginning of the new year here. Can I say a word? A little commercial break for reading your Bible through next year.
Now here’s the reason why I say that: because the thing that’s so good about it is you’re going to be in your Bible every day. And even if you want to read a couple of verses, I’m fine with that, but it’s such a good thing to prod you a little bit to be in your Bible every day. Can I be honest? Someone recently had read their Bible through one year—I can’t remember, 45 days, 90 days, I think it was 90 days—but very short. The rest of the year they didn’t have a goal, and they said my, really, my Bible, really, my spiritual life kind of, boom, breathed in.
Now, here’s the thing: you might say, “Well, I don’t understand everything I read.” You’re not going to understand everything you read, but you will get some nutrients, I guarantee you, from the Bible. But here’s the thing: as you’re in the Bible, you’re reading the Bible, you see a promise right there. Your ears perk up, man, you write it down, get your cards out. “I got me a promise.” And you begin to claim that promise in prayer.
Now, it’s so important that you and I, if we’re going to be effective in our prayer calls, that we are always claiming the promises of prayer. You always got your ears listening in. It’s amazing. Bell can be on her pillow, half asleep. She snores, by the way. She’s over there like that. And I’ll say, “You want a treat?” She can be dead asleep out of that dream. I mean, she heard the word “treat.” And when Christians get that way about the promises of God, the Bible, man, your ears perk up, and you say, “Whew, I just seen something. I need that right there.”
Now, here’s your shame: In our day and time, so often, because we’re not in God’s Word, we don’t know the promises. And sometimes, sometimes we even claim promises that are not true. We heard somebody else say something, and sometimes it’s not even in the Bible or it’s twisted. And we can’t accurately claim the promises of God because we’re never in the Bible. There’s something to the saying about God’s Word: that’s where we get His promises.
You say, “Well, I’m not real good at reading.” I encourage you just try to read a little bit, but go to church. He said in Titus 1:3, “manifested”—it means He’s an open door, letting you look in; He’s made it open. He’s manifested His Word, for all the promises are through preaching. And sometimes you hear some preaching, and someone will mention a promise or something. You say, “Hey, man, I want to take that home. I need that promise right there.” And you keep that thing and you claim that thing in prayer. That’s so vital.
A year or two ago, I don’t know, I was preaching a little bit about the family, I think, and I just said something in passing about, for years, I used to claim a promise from the Bible for my kids where it says, “If I’m thirsty and hungry for God, He’ll pour out His Spirit on my seed.” Man, I can’t think of anything I’d like better than the Spirit of God upon my kids. They need that. I mean, I know who their dad is. They got a lot of bad genes in them, you know what I’m saying? Unfortunately, my son just said amen to that right there.
I just kind of said that in passing in the message. And a lady in our church, Tara Shank, her ears perked up. She came to me after that service, I think. She said, “Pastor, what was that promise?” And I said, “Well, you know, if you’re thirsty for God, God says He’ll pour out.” And she said, “Where’s that at?” I think it’s in the book of Isaiah. I couldn’t find it. She said, “Pastor, you better give that to me right now.” She said, “If you don’t, I’m getting my husband Jim after you. He’s big.” Jim came over and put a gun to my head: “Where’s that promise at?” Now, I’m being facetious. That all didn’t happen. She was proper and all of it.
Honestly, very thankful. I think it was the next day or two, whatever, I had to look it up. It’s Isaiah 44:3. But I was glad there was a mom in her church who was listening in. And when she heard a promise that she can claim to God in prayer for her children, she’s on it. See, I’m not going to forget. I’m not going to let… I need something for my son. And when we get like that in our prayer calls, it’s, “Hey, I found a promise from God’s Word, and I’m going to claim it.” That’s what God wants. Listen, God honors His Word. God cannot lie. Are you all with me out there? And when I claim the promises of God and I’m reading the Bible, “Hey, pray for them. Lord, I need some peace in my life.” And I’m going to be reading the Bible. I’m going to be listening to preaching on the internet or somewhere. “Father, would You give me a promise that I can claim?” That’s how God’s will often gets fulfilled: somebody claimed His promise.
All the promises of God—let’s talk about how vital they are. I’ve been wanting this for a while, and I think my wife had it made for me: a Bible verse, Luke 11:13. It is usually in that room right there; we go pray right before service. Well, I actually go back there and see if there are any donuts left over from Sunday School. Y’all think we pray, but we go eat whatever is left over is what we do back there. Sometimes, perchance, we might pray. And I want this promise there because it says, “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?” We studied about it in Sunday School, hopefully in your class if you follow the regular curriculum. And often I’ll say, “Hey, Lord, that verse on the wall there—we need Your Spirit to minister to people. And You said if we ask, You’d give it to us.” And I’m glad, “If ye then be evil,” because I’m far from perfect. I’ve got a lot of issues. I figured my wife or son or somebody would say amen right there, you know. My daughter-in-law… John’s pointing my daughter-in-law now. But He put it in, and I can claim that.
Now listen, when you learn in your prayer closet, with God throughout the day, say, “Hey, Lord, You said so and so in Your Word, and I’m not trying to be mean and disrespectful, but God, I need that. You said it, and I believe what You said. I’m going to claim that promise.” Amen. That’s how you have an effective prayer life.
There have been many a time, many a time, money’s been tight. I know none of you are ever out there like that. I know you always have plenty, plenty of money. I understand that. But everyone, you know, in the past, we’ve been there before. And there’s been many a time. But I honestly went to the Lord and said, “Now, Lord, You said over there in Malachi 3, ‘If I tithe, You’ll open up the windows and pour out a blessing that I cannot contain/receive it.’” And I’ve told the Lord many times, “Lord, I’ve got a lot of room to receive a lot more money,” you know. That doesn’t necessarily mean just money there, but that’s the promise. And I’ve claimed it many a time. And listen, that’s what the Bible is speaking of: the promises of God. And I’ve got to claim that, and I’m looking for them. And once God said something, you’re not going to leave Him alone. You’ll follow Him around the house. You’re going to be after Him and say, “Lord, now You said that right there.” He didn’t say it by coincidence. He didn’t say it just to fill up all 66 books. He knows what He said and meant what He said. That’s how I’m going to have an effective prayer life.
Anybody ever need strength out there? Well, yeah, just strength. You have just drag, I can’t even hardly make it through the day. Hey, it’s a wonderful promise: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.”
Now, here’s the thing: the promise is if I wait on Him, that He’ll be like an eagle. An eagle stretches his wings—he has those long wings—and the wind comes. He doesn’t have to [flap]; he just stands up, and the Lord just lifts him up. And God’s saying when you wait on Me… Well, there’s a lot to that. I often think of it like a waitress or a waiter. You go to Cracker Barrel, and they say, “What would you like to drink?” And you say, “Sweet tea,” or you say, “That orange crush soda you have there.” Nobody? on that one there, you know. Or if you’re trying to get a little fat, you know, like me, I’m talking about here, you say, “I’ll take some water with lemon.” Yeah, well, some of us are there. And they say, “Well, what would you like to order? Can I get you more of that? Do you want to eat more of that?” You know? And they’re waiting upon you.
When you go to God and say, “Lord, I wait on You. I’m so weary, I’m so weak,” and You said, “If I wait, You’ll renew my strength.” Lord, is there something You want me to do? Sometimes He might say, “Won’t you thank Me for a while or praise Me for a while?” He might tell you to go help someone else, but “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” And when you claim those promises, He was talking about all promises. In your bulletin, there’s a whole sheet there full of prayer promises—that inside little insert there—but you’re always looking for it.
Now look. All right, you’re looking at the sheet. Now look. Okay, put the sheet back in there, please.
Sometimes around the house, I’ll tell Tammy, “Tell me, don’t go by.” We were just talking, “You’re ready to go? You want to be ready to go by, whatever,” you know? And Bell will hear that, and I’ll say, “Oh, man, shouldn’t have said it.” Did you give Bella a treat? Oh, if she had, and Bella’s here, and I’m like, “Oh, man, I shouldn’t have said it.” And for once in a while, in my weak, fleshly state, I don’t like it when Bell takes me up on it. But for the most part, I like it. It gratifies me a little bit when I say “treat” or “bye,” and she believes me. I try to fulfill it when I tell her, and I try to do it. And God likes it when you claim His promises, too. God doesn’t have a weak, human, fleshly nature like I do.
When God says something, you say, “Hey, You said…” If I come to You about everything, I pray, and I don’t worry about it, and I give You thanks, and I spend time with You—the next verse, You said, “I’ll have peace that passes all understanding in my heart and mind through Christ,” and I’m going to claim that promise. That doesn’t bother God. God doesn’t say, “Oh, I don’t know if I can fulfill that promise.” God says, “That person believes My Word.” It likes faith. I mean, remember the old song, “Faith is the key that unlocks the door”? You remember that song? I remember that song. Yeah.
Hey, faith. And when I claim His Word, His promises by faith, He likes that. I hope you get a vision. I’m not saying I’m there, but let’s just imagine for a little bit if you… I want you to dream about yourself. What if you got an effective prayer life? I wonder how that would affect your children. I wonder how that affects your neighbor or your spouse, or how would it affect your finances if you had an effective prayer life. That’s what God, that’s what Jesus earned for you on the cross of Calvary: the right for you to come to the throne of grace and you obtain mercy, find grace—remember last Sunday. But you finally say, “Lord, now You promised something.” And God said, “I like it. You believe what I said, My Word.”
Sarah, she’s 22 now, and she is maybe teaching. Somewhere around 12 years ago, she was just a 10-year-old girl, and she had a bike. I believe I remember right, the chain was loose, and the chain was coming off from time to time. And she had told me about it. And could we just, Brother Mark, Martin, can we just get air flowing? Just get flowing. We won’t turn the air conditioner on. But her chain was coming off, and she told me about it. I said, “Sarah, I’ll fix your bike. I’ll fix your chain,” you know.
Man, I got busy. Went off to work. I hadn’t fixed her chain. Now, there was a boy in the neighborhood—I believe that’s a little sweet on my daughter; I’m going to kill him, you know. No, I’m joking. He wasn’t a bad boy. By the way, I’m glad he’s not a bad boy, but he doesn’t serve God, so I’m glad my daughter didn’t accept him, if you will. But a man, a boy in the neighborhood, he said, “Hey, sir, your chain keeps coming off. I’ll fix your bike.” Now, Sarah’s just a little girl. He said, “No, my dad said he’ll fix it.” He said, “No, no, no. Has your dad fixed it yet?” “Well, no, no, no, no.” “Well, no, your dad’s busy. He’s not going to fix your bike.” Sarah said, “My dad’s going to. My dad said he’ll fix it.”
And the boy… If I understand it correctly, he got her bike; he was going to fix her bike. And Sarah took a stand, and she said, “My dad said he’s going to fix my bike. I’m going to fix that bike,” or she said, “He’s going to fix it.” And when I got home, I heard all about that. I went outside automatically. I’m fixing the bike. I’m going to fix that bike. “Get out of here, kid. This is my daughter,” you know.
God likes it when you say, “My dad said such and such.” “God, You said, ‘If I seek first Your kingdom, then all these things will be added unto me.’” And God, You said that. I’m going to claim that promise right there. And the devil will come along—the enemy, if you will—and he’ll say, “Well, God’s not going to take care of you.” And sometimes you’re going to say, “No, my dad said it. I believe my dad’s going to do it.” That’s how you pray effectively: claiming the promises of God. God likes that. He wants it. See?
Now, just a couple things out of this verse. Go back over there to 2 Corinthians 1, verse number 20. Let’s just get a couple things. First thing we notice: He said, “For all the…” What’s the next word? “…promises of God in…” What’s the next word? “…Him.” That’s Jesus. In Jesus, in Him, they are yea.
Now, the church provides medical insurance for myself and Brother Anthony and our families, whatnot. And I’m very thankful for that. It’s a blessing. And I can go to the doctor or something, and they say, “Well, sir, do you have insurance?” And I can say, “Yes, ma’am, yes, sir, I do.” And I can pull out that card there. Mine is Farm Bureau Health Plan or UMR. And I say, “Yeah, I do.” And here’s the thing: I have benefits because of that right there. In fact, when we got it, or the church got it for us, they sent us a booklet, and I can open that booklet, and it’s got all kinds of benefits in there. Does it cover this? Does it cover that? I can look in there and say, “Man, it’s on my benefits. Does it cover ingrown toenails? Does it cover facelifts? I need that,” you know? That’s a joke, okay?
All right. Now here’s the thing: I don’t pay for it. I appreciate the church pays for that for me. But the church pays for it and provides me with insurance. I have a lot of benefits because of that. Now here’s my thing in that: Jesus pays for my benefits in prayer. When I got saved, I got a badge, if you will, through Jesus’ shed blood. I can enter; He’s my Great High Priest, remember last week? I can say, “Hey, I got some benefits because Jesus purchased them for me.” And I can go say, “Hey, Father, I need some things here. I need some work done,” if you will. And I’ve been looking—listen, I’ve been looking to find out my benefits, my promises. See, now, I don’t have those promises because I’m somebody or something. I have them all: “The promises of God in Him.” Jesus pays for my insurance. So I got all the promises of God in Jesus are yea. I mean, I’ve got the card because I’ve accepted Jesus’ shed blood as the atonement, as a payment for sin. So I have a lot of benefits through Him. By the way, if you’re saved, you do too.
Now here’s the thing about that: Not only does Jesus—not only does He—He purchased our insurance, our right to pray. That’s what it means when He says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye, through His poverty, might be rich.” Right? That’s what He’s saying. I purchased you the card, the benefits.
Now, not only did He supply my insurance, but He is also my PCP. I said, “Preacher, what is that? Does that mean drugs or something?” You know? No, I’m not talking about LSD, all right? It means Primary Care Physician. Now, many of you know in our modern day it is not quite as bad as it was 10 years ago, but if you want to have anything done—I need some more blood pressure medicine. I need to go see the back doctor. My back is hurting. I need to go see the knee-ologist or whatever his name is that works on knees, all right? I need… I got sinus problems. Who’s the… I mean, who’s the doctor, ear, nose, and throat doctor, you know? You go see them, the snot doctor, or whatever his name is now. I hope there’s not an ear, nose, and throat doctor in here. I thank God for those people. They’ve helped me greatly. But anyway, if you go see those specialists, you know, they’ll tell you so often you need a referral from your primary care physician. So I have to go back over here and see him. He says, “Yep, your knee is messed up. You need to go see the knee-ologist.” Right? You all with me? It seems like whatever you need, you got to go through your PCP. You got to get referral. You got to get approval. You got to get approval.
Here’s a good thing about it: Jesus has provided my insurance. He’s also… He’s also my primary care physician. He’s a living Word, and here is the written Word also. And He said, “Look, man, I got the benefit.” I’ve gone and seen Jesus. He’s given me permission, Father. I believe it’s His will, and I need the surgery. I’m talking about how to have an effective prayer life. I’ve read it over there, and You said it: “That will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusts Thee.” And Lord, I’m doing my best to keep my mind stayed on You. I’m trusting in You. You said that, Lord. Now, I need that, and that’s Your promise. And I’ve been to Jesus about it. I got His permission. And Father, You’ve got to give me that perfect peace. You follow me out there? That’s how you have an effective prayer life.
It doesn’t bother God when you claim His own words. He likes it. My son, my daughter believes when I say I’m going to fix the bike. They just believe it no matter what the devil says to them. They have faith, and faith unlocks the door. You all with me out there? Prayer. God’s given you many rights through Him as Jesus. And sometimes you’ve got to spend some time in the throne of grace.
When I needed nose surgery about a year ago, my nose had been broken three times. You would think after 27 years I would learn to duck quick enough, you know—it’s how long I’ve been married—what I’m trying to get at there. Basketball and prior surgeries is what has happened to my nose. I went to the specialist, specialist said, “Oh my goodness, you need surgery. There are a lot of problems up there,” you know. I can feel it. I can’t sleep. And I snore so loud my wife, you know, she’s going to sleep next door if I keep this setup. You know, got to do something about it. I’m joking to everybody.
And he said, “All right, go see my scheduler. She’ll schedule it. I mean, you need it. I got the benefits.” So I’ve been checking it all out. And the doctor said, “I need it.” And he said, “Go to a scheduler, and she’ll schedule it.” So I went and saw her. And she said, “I’ll schedule it as soon as you get approval from insurance.” She said, “I’ll put it all in. It’ll be a process if it’s taking longer. It’s probably your insurance.” It took longer. I called the insurance, and they said, “We haven’t got anything from the scheduler.” I called back the scheduler and said, “Hey, they haven’t got anything.” Oh, I said it in. I called the insurance back, and they said, “Oh, we haven’t got it in.” I called back the scheduler, and she said, “Oh, we’ll make sure it gets in.” I said, “All right, I’ll call back the insurance people.” And they said, “All right, it’s approved.” And the scheduler went back, “It’s approved. We haven’t got it yet.” You’ll get it. I made sure they got it. You got a schedule. They’ll always schedule it. And finally, man, I had to kind of twist the scheduler’s arm behind her back. I said, “Brother Jim, this guy of a gun is going to come see you.” I didn’t say that, but pretty close to that. And finally, she scheduled it. And praise the Lord, my nose is much better a year later.
Now, sometimes in prayer, God wants you to spend some time with Him. If you haven’t listened to it, you were sleeping last week, go back and listen to it online, YouTube online last week. Hey, you got access to the throne of grace. You obtain mercy, but you’ve got to find the grace. You got to spend some time in the prayer room. And Lord, I’m saved, I’m Your child, I’ve been checking the benefits. Would You schedule this? Saying, I’ll go back to the end, and sometime, you’re going to have to spend a little time with your Heavenly Father claiming His promises. But He likes it when you believe His Word. He ears perk up for the Lord.
Now let’s get one last thing, and we’re done. We’re already… well, we never run out of time. Amen. We’re on His schedule. But let’s go back over here to verse number 20. Second Corinthians 1:20. Help me out. “For all the…” What’s the next word? “…promises of God in Him are yea. And in Him, amen.” Jesus is amen. Unto the glory of… What’s the next word? “…God by us.”
If my motive is all about me: “Lord, I want my kids to turn out good. Won’t You do something for my kids?” I won’t say it, but the real motive is so I look good. Under the glory of God: “Lord, would You bless my finances so I can go do what I want to, not serve You more? Not the promises so I can have better health, Lord. You got to do something so I can do it and do it all.” I won’t do what James says: “You have not because you ask not. That you ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your own lust.”
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Later on, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake.” Lord, Your promise right there. And I’m not trying to be a belligerent child, but You said it, and I believe it. God, You’ve got to do something about this thing. Lord, I believe it’s the will of Jesus, and I’m asking You over this, saying, “God, You’ve got to do something.” And Lord, it’s not about me. They need that. I need that so I can be more for You. That’s how you have an effective prayer life.
He was a missionary. He was in a country, really a district of a country that was pretty much all Hindu. He said immorality was just rampant, and there were a lot of Hindu spells, just a sad thing. And he, as a little missionary team, were there to reach that area, but they were not allowed in that district, if you will, of that district. The Rajah, he would not let anyone in—missionaries. And they stayed and prayed and looked and worked, and just things weren’t happening.
And there was a conference, somewhat of a Keswick conference. Some of you may know about it. Years ago, he went to this conference, and some of the teams stayed there, and he went to this conference years ago at the conference, and they were like missionaries ministering to the missionaries. And before one of the services, they passed out some letters from the mission field that had gotten to them for the missionaries. And they said, “Now, would you not open those letters until after this service because probably your mind will be on what they say back there and you won’t be able to hear and God work in your heart?” So, would you wait?
And so the missionary said, “All right.” And the preacher—his name was Hubert Brooks—got up and began to preach and teach, and he mentioned this promise. It’s Isaiah 65:24, just a portion of that verse says, “And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer.” That old missionary out there in the congregation, his heart began to say, “Lord, You said right there, ‘Before I even call, You’ll answer.’ Lord, You’ve got to do something about this thing. We’re trying to reach those people that are lost on the way to help. It’s not about me, Lord. Somebody’s got to do something to that district.” God, You said, “Before I call, I will answer.” He was so burdened, praying, praying inside.
The preacher kept preaching. Hubert Brooks mentioned Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as rivers of water, He turneth it whithersoever He willeth.” Boy, that missionary, when he heard that promise, his ears perked up. He told me, he said, “Lord, You said the king’s heart. And that king of this district, he won’t let us send there. God, if his heart is in Your hand, You’ve got to do something about this.” And it’s just… the whole service long he couldn’t let go of those promises. He was burdened. He was just praying, burdened: “God, You said ‘before I call,’ and You said ‘the king’s heart.’”
He opened all the letters, and he pulled the letter out—true story. And he read the letter. It was from his missionary team. And they said, “Hey, good news. The Rajah, the king, he said he’s opening the gate to us. He’s got even a sectional little place where we can have our missionary complex there to tell them all about Jesus.” And the missionary thought, “Man, this letter… it took a while for it to get here.” “Before you call, I will answer,” is what it says in Isaiah 65. And “the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord.” And that’s the promise—just claim it.
“All the promises of God in Him are yea. And in Him, amen, unto the glory of God by us.”
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? You’re there and you say, “Preacher, I’m going to be looking for the promises. If you will, my ears are going to perk up. I’m not going to leave the Lord alone, not in a disrespectful manner, but in a proper manner. I’m just going to be on Him. God, You said it. That’s Your promise. You’ve got to pour out Your Spirit on my seed.” Now I’m going to be looking for the promises of the Lord. God spoke to my heart about that. Would you slip your hand up? Just let your hand up. I’m going to be looking. I’m going to be claiming. I’m going to be looking for the promises. I’m going to ask you, seeking, looking for promises. I’m going to be seeking, looking. I need them. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. God bless you. And put your hands down.
You say, “Preacher, I’m not going to stop claiming them because of what I am and what I think I am. I’m going to go claim them because of Jesus. All the promises of God in Him—I’m going to claim it through Jesus by His power and His blood, what He has purchased for me.” Preacher, I’m going to be claiming the promises through Jesus, going by the way of the cross to the throne room. And God spoke to my heart about that right there. That’s you this morning. Just lift your hand. “Preacher, that’s me.” Oh, praise your Lord. Thank you. Thank you. That’s good. He shed His blood for your salvation and for you to have the right to come to the throne room and claim the promises. He wants you to take advantage of that. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you so very much. You put your hands down.
You say, “Preacher, I’m going to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to me about my motives under the glory of God by us.” Now I’m going to allow the Holy Spirit of God and say, “No, that’s not really about the Lord. That’s about you, that you may consume it upon your own lust.” And preacher, I’m going to allow the Holy Spirit to convict me and grow me in this area of my motives. And God spoke to my heart. “I’m going to allow the Holy Spirit of God to speak to me about my motives.” And God, that’s me right there. I’m going to allow God speak to me about that. Did you slip your hand up? “Preacher, that’s me.” That’s me. That’s me. Oh, God bless you. I’m with you there. We all, myself included for sure. I allow the Spirit of God to guide me in that. Thank you so very much. Put your hands down.
One last question, and we’re done. You say, “Preacher, I don’t know that I have the rights. I don’t know that I have the insurance card, if you will. I don’t know that I’m a born-again child of God. I don’t know that I have that. I’d like to be His child. I’d like to have the card. I’d like to know I have the benefits.” I need to get this thing of my salvation settled. God spoke to my heart about that right there. If that’s you, you slip your hand up. Anybody about that? “Preacher, I need to get my salvation settled. I don’t know I’m a child of God.” Anybody like that? You slip it up.
Let’s go claim those promises. Jesus has given us the right. Let’s let the Spirit of God keep our motives right. Would you stand, please? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Since we’re finished praying, our instruments will play. Would you come and just spend some time claiming the promises of God? Let’s don’t worry about the clock. This is important business. I think of a family that is saved. You just learn to claim the promises. Let’s just go to the throne even now and let’s claim these promises through Jesus. Father, thank You for Your Word, even the promise we preached or studied about this morning. Thank You for that. Help us all to seek and look for the promises and claim them through Jesus, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, with our motives right. Lord, help us to be obedient to You even during this invitation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
If God spoke to your heart, would you come? Don’t wait for anybody else. Come. Just spend some time with the Lord. That’s right. That’s right. Let’s just come and let’s claim those promises. Let’s spend some time with the Lord. Right there where you are, would you bow your head just right there? Just spend some time claiming the promises. Just come and claim those promises. “All the promises of God in Him are yea. And in Him, amen, unto the glory of God by us.” Let the Holy Spirit guide you. Speak to you. Be obedient to Him.
Great preacher, a great preacher, Bobby Robertson. Some of you know who he is. He’s in heaven now, and God used him greatly. He had passed to his church—I think I want to say around, I don’t know, it was 50 or 60 years. He was up in years. He had been through cancer, I think a heart attack, just so many things. And his wife had passed. And he was talking to his son, Steve, and he had cancer again. And he said, “Steve,” he said, “I’ve been wanting to… I think he was wanting to preach… oh, I can’t remember a certain deadline. I can’t remember what it was. He said, ‘I’ve been praying for that.’ He said, ‘But you know, if God answers my prayer, it may become too much about Brother Bobby.’ Everybody called him Brother Bobby. And he said, ‘I don’t want that. I want to be about the Lord.’”
Now honestly, God didn’t honor that prayer. God took him home; he’s in heaven now. But He allowed the Spirit of God to say, “Hey, I want this thing to be about God, not about me.” Sometimes there’s a lot of peace to realize, “Hey, this is not the conditional will of God. This is the unconditional will of God.” I can bring peace through that. A lot to do that under the glory of God by us.
And preachers got to quit because we’ve got to go eat somewhere, right? Amen. And who’s going to go get a hamburger? One hamburger out of this whole place? Fried chicken? Fried chicken? Oh, we got some fried chicken there. And mac and cheese? Pizza. Steak.
Original File: Praying His Promises - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday AM 111019