The Power of Intercessory Prayer - 5/17/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

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with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

>> He is worthy of our thanks. Amen.

Praise. Praise the Lord. We appreciate

that tonight. If you have a Bible,

invite you to turn with me back to the

book of Mark this evening. Mark, chapter

number nine. When you find your place,

if you can and able, if you would stand

on reverence to the reading of God's

word, Mark, chapter number nine,

Mark chapter number nine. We'll begin

reading uh in verse number verse number

20. Mark chapter number nine

verse number 20 the Bible says and they

brought him brought him unto him. When

he saw him straightway the spirit tear

him and he fell on the ground and

wallowed foaming and he asked his father

how long is it ago since this came unto

him? And he said of a child and of times

it have cast him into the fire and into

the waters to destroy him. Notice this.

But if thou can't do anything, have

compassion on us and help us. I'll be

honest with you, you don't have to go

too far in this life to get to that

point.

>> You're right.

>> Was thinking about that today. You know,

you say, "Preacher, where's their faith?

Where where is their faith?" Well, you

just get in a bad place.

>> You're right.

>> You'll be asking the same question.

Amen.

>> Notice the text. The Bible said in verse

23, Jesus said unto him, "If thou can't

believe, all things are possible to him

that believeth." And straightway the

father of the child cried out and said

with tears, "Lord, I believe, help thou

mine unbelief." When Jesus saw that the

people came running together, he rebuked

the foul spirit, saying unto him, "Thou

dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee,

come out of him, and enter no more into

him." And the spirit cried and ren him

sore and came out of him and he was as

one dead in so much that many said, "He

is dead." But Jesus took him up by the

hand and lifted him up and he arose.

When he was come into the house, his

disciples asked him privately, "Why

could not we cast him out?" Notice Jesus

response. And he said unto them, "This

kind can come forth by nothing, but by

prayer and fasting." Our Father, I come

before you tonight and I ask humbly,

Lord, that you would help us. But I

realize, Father, we're nothing without

thee. And Lord, in myself, God, tonight

I have no hope. But Lord, my hope is

anchored in the blood. And Lord, I thank

you for the fact tonight, God, that I'm

not going to heaven based upon my own

works or my own merits, but Lord, my

faith and trust in the finished work at

Calvary. That is the gospel that you

came, you died, you rose again, that you

live forever more. And I trust that.

Thank you for that fact tonight. And

each person in this building who is

saved by the grace of God, that's how

they'll make it into heaven. And Lord,

we all bless your name tonight for that

promise. God, we ask humbly that you

would help us, Lord, as we deal with

these verses tonight. Give us wisdom and

discernment, Lord, to know what to say

and what not to say. And I pray that you

would speak to us and through us tonight

and get all glory unto yourself and for

what you do. Well, thank you for it

because we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

And amen, you can be seated. Thank you

for standing this evening. Now, of

course, we dealt with the beginning

portion of this text this morning

concerning this young man possessed with

a demon. And we left off really with

verse number 19 of the text. And I

didn't really say a whole lot else about

that, but I I want to lay this out to

you once again concerning this instance.

Now we realize the state of this young

man, the position that he is currently

in, the possession of the spirit that he

has in this text and the pain that he is

experiencing. We laid that out this

morning and talked about how that this

demon had brought this young man to a

place of confusion. He was under

complete control. He had been corrupted

and ultimately was going to be consumed.

And the fact of the matter is, I didn't

say much about it this morning, but that

was you and I before we got saved. Amen.

We were under the control of the devil.

We are we were corrupt by nature. David

said in sin did my mother conceive me.

And so we are corrupt by nature. And out

of that we were left to be consumed

because the wrath of God abides upon

those who are lost. And I notice in this

this text, we notice this young man

Jesus response here in the text to this

whole crowd that's around him is this in

verse 19. Notice his answer. The Bible

says he answered him and said, "Oh

faithless generation, how long shall I

be with you? How long shall I suffer

you? Bring him unto me." Now, there's a

lot of conjecture in the text about who

he was talking to. Some say that he was

talking to the scribes that were

mentioned there earlier in the text in

verse 14 that they were they're arguing

with the disciples. And we know tonight

that the scribes did not believe

anything Jesus had to say. They just sat

around and wasted time arguing about

things that really they didn't even know

about anyway. And you know what? That's

what I've come to find. People that want

to argue most of the time don't really

know what they're talking about. Amen.

And so there is they're arguing here. We

could say that he was talking to them

because indeed they were faithless. We

also could say that he was talking to

the disciples in the text because we

know the Bible literally tells us that

this man brought this boy to his

disciples. And what did he say? They

could not cast him out. Well, you

understand that Jesus has just given

them power over all unclean spirits and

over devils and serpents. Amen. And he

has given them power over this very

instance. And for some reason, this one,

they could not cast him out. And so, we

could say that he was talking to the

disciples. But I've noticed this in the

text. Now, you may disagree with me this

evening, but that's okay. I want you to

stay with me and notice what's what the

terminology is used in verse number 19.

Notice the first three words of verse

number 19. Say them with me, church.

What's your Bible say? He answerth him.

And so, you know who he's talking to?

He's talking directly to this father in

the text. The Bible says in verse number

17 and 18 is the plea of this father in

the text recognizing that his son is in

a bad way. He re reveals the fleshly

pain. He reveals the family problems and

he re reveals what he feels like is

going to be the future position of this

boy for the rest of his life. He is

looking at spending the rest of his life

in a place of complete and total

possession by this demon. And Jesus says

this in verse 19. He answerth him and

saith, oh faithless generation, how long

shall I be with you? How long shall I

suffer you? And then he says this, bring

him unto me. And so we can make the

argument this evening that he is talking

to the father in this text. But this is

what we can agree on tonight. There is a

problem of unbelief in all three

parties.

>> You're right.

>> Amen. The father in the text, we're

going to deal with that in just a

minute. He's having trouble believing.

The disciples obviously are having

trouble with their faith because when

they came to this young boy, they wanted

to cast him out. But you know what? They

weren't able to. And so, you know what

that brought to them? That brought a

problem of unbelief. And we know the

scribes did not believe. Amen. And so we

would agree tonight Jesus really is

dealing with the entire amount of people

around him. And the Bible says this that

the young man is brought to him in the

text. And we consider his harm, how it

was it was described. It was displayed

and it was unto destruction in the text.

But I want you to notice the hope here

in the text of this father that's

mentioned. Look what your Bible says in

verse number 22. He's describing there

the destruction of times it has cast him

into the fire and into the waters to

destroy him. But notice that next

phrase. But if thou can't do anything,

have compassion on us and help us. You

see this man in the text, we know he

doesn't have much faith in this text.

But I'll say this, he had enough faith

that when the disciples couldn't cast

him out and the scribes were murmuring

against him and his son there was

wallowing on the ground in pain and

misery, his problem was big enough and

his faith was bold enough that he stayed

around long enough for Jesus to come by.

Amen. AND LET ME JUST SAY THIS TO YOU

TONIGHT. BOY, I FEEL SOMETHING ON THAT.

HEY FRIEND, WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO

DO AND EVERYTHING'S FALLING DOWN AROUND

YOU, YOU JUST WAIT UNTIL JESUS COMES BY.

AND WHEN HE DOES, BUSINESS WILL PICK UP.

AMEN. I notice in the text, the Bible

says the hope of this man number one is

seen in the request for his ability.

Look what he says. If thou can't do

anything, he looks at Jesus. And we know

his faith is weak according to the text

because he's just watched the disciples

try and fail. And these disciples are

disciples of who? They weren't just

disciples of John, but these were Jesus

disciples. Amen. And they couldn't come

through in the text. And so he looks at

Jesus and he says, "If you can do

anything, let me just say this.

>> He can do anything."

>> Amen. He's calling on the ability. And

we know it's in doubt, but he's still

asking his for his ability. Not only is

he asking for the ability of the Lord to

show up, but he's asking for the

affection from the Lord. Notice that in

the text, if thou can't do anything,

look what your Bible says. Have

compassion on us,

>> Lord. Would you please, Lord, if you're

able to do anything, would you just have

some mercy? Would you just have some

grace? Would you just have some

compassion on us? Why is that this man

recognized that why this boy, the reason

this boy was in this shape was because

of sin? Amen. And it may not have been

his sin, but you understand it was

because of sin that this boy was in this

shape. And you understand if God does

anything for us, IF GOD HELPS ANYBODY

TONIGHT, WHETHER OR NOT you've got

cancer or whatever else it is, it's

going to be his compassion, if he

REACHES DOWN AND TOUCHES YOUR LIFE.

AMEN. He's asking for the ability, but

he's also asking for the affection of

God. Look what he says. If thou can't do

anything, have compassion on us and help

us. You know what? Sometimes that's all

you're going to be able to pray. That's

>> right.

>> Matter of fact, it's a prayer I pray

quite often. Lord, would you just help

me?

>> Right?

>> You know what he's asking for? He's

asking for aid,

>> right?

>> Lord, I can't do it. And you know what?

In all of that unbelief and all of that

doubt, we're going to deal with it in

the text here. You know what? This man

does something that many of us in our

life have failed to do. Come on.

>> And that's intercede,

>> right?

>> On behalf of his son. I notice this in

the text. We notice this man's hope here

in the text. But notice the help that

comes. And I want to preach for just a

little while on that subject on the

power of intercessory prayer. Notice

what happens in this text. This man's

faith here is failing. It's fleeting.

And really, if we want to talk about it,

it's very fleshly at this point in time.

He is looking at Jesus and he's just not

seeing much hope, but he knows what he's

heard and he's just going to trust what

he's heard because he's not seen Jesus

do anything at this point. Amen. But

Jesus has a word for that. Amen. And let

me just say this. If you're waiting on

something, you need to be waiting on a

word from God. Amen. If you're waiting

for an answer, your faith is weak. It's

fleeting. And really, at best, sometimes

it's just a fleshly hope that you have.

You just hold on because help's on the

way. Amen. Notice what he says here in

the text that Jesus looks at him in

verse 23 and Jesus said unto him, "If

thou cast believe, all things are

possible to him that believeth." AND YOU

SAY, "PREACHER, HOW IS IT THAT THIS man

intercedes on his behalf?" Well, notice

Jesus first of all points out to him the

possibilities that are present. Look

what he says. He says, "If."

>> You know what if means? There's a

possibility. Right?

>> But what's the if hinging on? Look what

he says. If thou can't believe,

>> right?

>> Come on.

>> You know what he didn't say? He didn't

say, "Well, if I can do it this time,

>> right?

>> If I can handle this one, this one might

be too bad."

>> Yeah.

>> If I can take care of it, let me see if

I can get all my ducks in a row. HAS

ANYBODY HEARD THAT? IF I CAN TAKE NO, he

said if you can believe.

>> That man looked at him and said, "If you

can do anything, Jesus said, don't worry

about that. Can you believe? Amen. Can

you believe? If you can believe, what

does he point out in the text? HE SAYS,

"WHAT, CHURCH?" ALL THINGS. You're

>> right.

>> All things. You know, ALL THINGS MEANS

means everything. Amen. It means all

things. Jesus said, "If you can believe,

ALL THINGS ARE WHAT, CHURCH?" POSSIBLE.

AMEN. POSSIBLE. THE POSSIBILITIES

LITERALLY IN THE TEXT ARE ENDLESS. Jesus

says, "IF YOU CAN BELIEVE, YOU

UNDERSTAND." AND HEY, THE PROBLEM'S not

with my ability, BUT THE PROBLEM IS WITH

YOUR ABILITY TO BELIEVE. AMEN. AND

HERE'S WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO IN YOUR

LIFE AND MINE. IT'S NOT A PROBLEM OF

GOD'S ABILITY, BUT IT IS A PROBLEM OF

WHETHER OR NOT we will believe him.

Amen.

>> We've got to believe. He points out the

possibilities. And you say, "Preacher, I

still don't see the intercession." Well,

note not only the possibilities in the

help, but note the prayer in the help.

Notice the verse again in the text.

Verse 24. And straightway the father of

the child, what you Bible say? Cried

out. Notice this. And said with tears,

Lord, I believe.

>> You know what I don't see in this

prayer. He's not saying, Lord, would you

help my son?

>> He's not saying, "Lord, would you fix

this problem?" You know what he's doing?

He's putting his faith,

>> you're right,

>> in the Lord himself

>> personally, positionally, and

singularly,

>> right?

>> Think about this. All right. He says,

"Lord, I believe." What's he believing

in? He's not so much concerned about the

healing

>> as he is concerned about the man that's

standing in front of him.

>> What's he believing in? He's not

believing in the healing possibility,

but he is believing in the holy power of

the Lord Jesus Christ. And his prayer

expresses his faith. He said, "Lord, I

BELIEVE. LORD, I TRUST YOU." BUT NOTICE

WHAT HE SAYS. "HELP thou my unbelief."

And this is the bottom line with every

intercessory prayer. You don't miss what

I'm going to say. The bottom line with

every intercessory prayer is that phrase

right there. We are willing to believe,

but we're only willing to believe so

far.

>> Right?

>> You say, "Preacher, I believe to the

end." No. What you'll find is you, if

you travel that thing far enough, you're

going to find a doubt somewhere. All

right.

>> Amen.

>> Every word belief is, unbelief is going

to be accompanied somewhere.

>> You say, "Preacher, but I thought that

I'm supposed to fully believe and fully

trust in the Lord." Well, you understand

your flesh.

>> Amen. And you are. Amen. You're to trust

in the Lord with all your heart and lean

not to your own understanding. But at

your very best, you cannot. You will

never completely, FULLY, 100%, TOTALLY

PLACE IT ALL ON GOD UNTIL you get to

heaven.

>> That's right. Amen.

>> What your job is to do is to place every

bit of it that you can on him.

>> Right.

>> Amen. What does he say? Lord, I believe.

You're going to have to help me though

with what's lacking.

>> You're right.

>> And so this intercession here begins.

What does he recognize? He says, Lord, I

believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Well,

he recognizes the power of God is

greater than his unbelief.

Think about what he's saying. Lord, I

believe you can do it. Just not sure if

you will.

>> Right.

Lord, I I believe that you can handle

it, but I'm just not sure if it's going

to happen the way I want it to. See,

here's here's where those unbeliefs come

in. You're

>> right.

>> Every one of us have got situations in

here. Things that we're praying about,

people we're interceding for. I hope you

do. Amen. If you don't, you're not

living by the book. Amen.

>> But if you do tonight, here's what

you're going to find. Every one of those

situations, there's going to be a a a

skiff of unbelief.

>> You're right. traces of unbelief found

throughout that. You know what you got

to do? You got to get rid of those

things

>> one by one because you know what the

stronger belief is. It doesn't change

the power of God, but it makes the

effectiveness of of it a lot greater.

Amen. You can't you don't affect the

power of God. But I'll say this, if I

you give me five people who really will

believe and trust the Lord and do their

best to get the unbelief out of the way

and the doubts and the fears and the

failures and all that out of the way,

we'll have five people that'll turn the

turn Stokes County upside down. Because

here's what'll happen. You'll forget

about everything else in life.

>> You're right.

>> You won't be concerned about the people

around you. Cuz here's what happens.

Faith is affected by everything that

surrounds you. The people, the places,

the problems, everything. And the more

that you get out of that, get out of

that your get that out of your life, the

more effective you will be.

>> You're right.

>> And pray. And this young man, this man

in the text, he gets help because Jesus

reveals to him the possibilities. He

makes his prayer and is founding his

faith upon the power of God. Notice the

text in verse 25. We see the hope. We

see the help. Notice the holy. You

understand your prayer is worth nothing

if it's not done to the Lord. Right?

>> There's people that pray every day, but

you understand that if their prayer is

not made to God,

>> their prayer is not made upon proper

terms. Because you know, David said, "If

I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord

will not hear me."

>> Right?

>> So, if you come to him on his terms, and

you pray his way, amen, show me now thy

way, his will first. Amen. Thy will, thy

will be done on earth as it is in

heaven. Then that's a prayer that God

will hear. But I notice in this text,

look what's mentioned here. I'm

butchering this, but it's all right. The

holy here, what does the Bible say about

him? Well, there's a charge that's

given. This man simply believes and he

makes his prayer upon the possibilities

of what God can do based upon the power

that he has expressed to him. And Jesus

gives a charge in verse 25. What's the

charge to? It's a charge to this dumb

spirit. Look what the Bible says. When

Jesus saw that the people came running

together, he rebuked the foul spirit,

saying unto him, thou dumb and deaf

spirit, I charge thee, come out of him,

and enter no more into him. You know

what this what Jesus has done in a

moment, he has brought deliverance to

this young boy.

>> Right?

>> What nine disciples could not do, what a

whole multitude and a father could not

do, Jesus did it in one word. And what

does that represent to us? It represents

his power over this spirit. Now, I want

you to I want you to get this. I'm going

to move through this quickly, but I

don't want you to miss this. All right.

Jesus charges this spirit. The spirit is

commanded to exit, but he's also

commanded that he's never to enter

again. Notice that. Enter no more into

him. So, he has been changed eternally.

You're

>> right.

>> Amen. As long as eternity stands, that

spirit will never enter into this young

man again. Is anybody in the building

tonight? Note, not only the the charge,

but notice the change in verse 27. Bible

said in verse 26, "And the spirit cried

and ran him sore and came out of him and

he was as one dead in so much that many

said he is dead. But Jesus took him up

by the hand and lifted him up and he

arose." This boy got delivered. But you

understand he got restored.

>> You're right.

>> Amen.

>> This spirit's destroyed him.

>> But when Jesus grabbed him by the hand,

you know what he did when he raised him

up? The Bible says he arose. And that

implies more than him just standing up.

>> You're right.

>> There was perfect healing here.

>> That's right. You see, Jesus was able to

charge the spirit. He was able to change

the sun. But you know what? He he didn't

he didn't miss in this opportunity.

He gives a challenge. Notice the text.

Verse 27, Jesus took him up by the hand

and took him by the hand, lifted him up,

and he arose. Verse 28, when he was

coming to the house, his disciples asked

him privately, look at this, why could

not we cast him out?

>> Now, doesn't that sound a whole lot like

the confusion that was present in the

text before? Right. Amen.

>> This young boy, his whole family's

confused. Now there's deliverance. He's

took taken care of the spirit. He's

taken care of the son. And so the

father's prayer has been answered in the

text. But there's still people here that

have unrest.

>> You ever been like that?

>> You ever watch somebody get saved or

watch somebody get help and you stand

back and look at that and you're

scratching your head.

Jesus did that, but what did I have to

do with it?

You say, "What do you mean, preacher?"

Well, have you ever prayed for somebody

for a long time? This ain't selfish,

okay? It's just the way the flesh is.

Have you ever prayed for somebody for a

long time? You want to see them get

saved and you're praying that God will

give you the opportunity to lead them to

the Lord. The next time you see them,

somebody else has led them to the Lord.

>> And in your flesh, your first response

is, "Well, wonder if that was my prayer

or not."

You say, "Preacher, what does that have

to do with the text?" Well, these boys

realized they didn't do anything.

>> You're right.

>> But let me give you this.

If these boys had cast this devil out,

you know what? They hadn't really done

anything either.

>> You're right.

>> Amen.

>> Come on.

>> Think about this with me. Every other

devil that they cast out, you know what?

What name they did it in?

>> The name of Jesus.

>> But they asked Lord in the text, look

what the Bible says. Why could not we

cast them out? You know what the problem

is? They're confused because of their

what? their pride.

>> That's right.

>> They don't understand it. Look what

Jesus, he gives them their clarity in

verse 29. Boy, there's a lot in this

verse. Look what he says. And he said

unto them, "This kind can come forth by

nothing but by prayer and fasting." Now,

there's a million questions that flood

my mind when that when I read that

verse. Was it the intercessory prayer of

the father that allowed this son? Was

was God waiting until the father

believed for this son to be healed? was

God. Why did God not allow the disciples

to do that in this text? Why did it take

Jesus here in the text? I'll say this

tonight, and this is the conclusion I

came to in studying this. I don't, you

know, we we would think, you know, is it

a specific demon? Look what he says.

This kind can come forth by nothing but

by prayer and fasting. Is this demon

just worse than all the rest? I really

don't think so. Amen. Jesus fended off

the devil with the word of God.

>> He didn't employ no supernatural

methods. So, I don't believe it was a

specific demon. I don't believe it was

the level of the son's defilement. I

don't think that it had so much to do

with this son was just so far gone. He

was so young and he'd been in it so

long. I don't think that's what it does.

You understand? It takes the same effort

to save any sinner that gets saved.

>> You're right.

>> It takes the same blood. It takes the

same sacrifice. It takes the same

effort. It's by grace through faith. And

every sinner, young or old, rich or

poor, bad or good, has to GET SAVED THE

SAME WAY. AMEN.

>> So I don't believe it was the level of

the son's defilement. I don't believe

his specific demon. But I really believe

in the text when Jesus points out it

goes back to what I dealt with first in

the text. I think it goes back to the

lack of their spiritual devotion.

And you know what I believe tonight? I

believe what the great preacher said

days gone by. He said this. Every

failure is a prayer failure.

Every failure in your life, every

failure in my life,

>> every time we fall, every time we

stumble, every preacher, every teacher,

every husband, every wife that falls

into sin, you know why they do that?

Because they failed in prayer.

>> Now notice this in the text. What does

Jesus say to them? He said unto them,

"This kind can come forth by nothing but

by prayer and fasting." Now is that is

that question is that personal to them?

I think when we step back and look at

this as a whole, I think there's an

application we need to understand. The

clarity that Jesus give number one is

based upon their devotion. Look what he

says. This kind can come forth by

nothing but by prayer and fasting. Now

what is prayer and fasting? Prayer is

communication with God.

>> And fasting is loosing things from your

flesh so that you can communicate with

God. So what is that telling us? Jesus

is basically saying this. This is only a

problem God could solve.

>> Right?

>> Basically what I believe is Jesus had

given his disciples this power to cast

out demons. But you know what? They'd

become prideful in that.

>> You're right.

>> They'd done it so many times. They'd

seen God bless. They'd seen God help.

Jesus had to let them fall flat on their

face one time so they could realize it

ain't got nothing to do with them.

>> You're right. You know what will happen

to you? You'll sing the same song 25

times. Amen. And you'll do it good every

single time. But if you get lifted up in

pride, God will let you get up, forget

the words, forget how to play it, forget

how to do all of that just to keep you

humble.

>> I can preach a sermon 10 times and God

bless it all 10 times I preach. But you

know what? If I get confident in my

ability and not his anointing, Amen. You

know what he'll do? He'll let me get up

here and stumble all over myself because

the desire is founded upon my pride and

not the furtherance of the gospel. You

see these disciples in the text, they

couldn't cast them out because maybe

they were too busy strutting around

sticking their chest out.

>> That's right.

>> Amen.

>> You know what it did? It cut them down

the sides.

>> Amen.

>> You say, "Preacher, what does that have

to do with intercessory prayer?" You

know what the number one Listen to me.

You know what the number one reason why

people do not intercede for others is?

It's pride.

>> It's pride. You say, "How is that,

preacher?" Well, let me just say this.

Okay. You think because everything's all

right in your life that God will just

bless them just because you're all

right.

>> You said, "Preacher, I don't really

think that, but you do it."

>> Come on.

>> Isn't that interesting? Why is it that

we can go days and not pray for people?

>> You're right.

>> Well, everything's okay in my life. You

know what that is? That's pride.

>> That's selfishness. And Jesus says to

them in the text, look what the Bible

said. This kind can come forth by

nothing but by prayer and fasting. It

has to do with our devotion. Let me ask

you, how's your devotional life?

>> Come on.

>> I'll be be fair with you tonight. Mine

needs growth.

>> You know what? If you're honest, yours

does, too.

>> Amen. It needs growth. It needs work.

But I noticed this. This devotion life

comes by one thing. And I feel like all

my messages are so redundant. But I just

believe that's because it's the Bible.

Amen.

>> Amen.

>> You know what it comes back to? Comes

back to a decision.

Notice the text. He said, "This kind can

come forward by nothing but by prayer

and fasting." You know what prayer and

fasting require?

A choice,

>> right?

>> A choice for you to find a place where

you can talk to God.

>> You're right.

>> And a choice for you to refrain from

things that would hinder you from

talking to God.

>> And I'll say this tonight, and I've

already pointed it out. When Jesus said

it can come forth by nothing by nothing

but by prayer and fasting, it has to do

with our devotion to the Lord. It has to

do with our decision to turn to the

Lord. But it ultimately has to do with

the fact that he is the only one that

can do it.

>> You're right.

>> You see, here's the thing about it.

There's some things in our life that

we're not going to be able to fix.

Matter of fact, most things in our life

we're not going to be able to fix.

>> But there's also things in your life

that God could fix.

>> That's right. But it's not his will for

you to know whether he wants to fix it

or not.

>> You're right.

>> And you know what? That's the hardest

thing for us to come to grips with.

>> Amen.

>> The unbelief of that man when he was

concerned about his son. You know what

his unbelief was? Whether or not it

would really happen.

>> You're right.

>> And here's what it comes down to in our

life. All right. Intercessory prayer is

going to come back to this one truth.

It's it's us deciding to be devoted

to the Lord regardless of the outcome.

>> You're right.

>> That's good.

>> As long as you have an effect in mind,

as long as you have an outcome in mind,

as long as you have some preset method,

preset ending to the problem, the

situation in your life, you will never

intercede for somebody else.

>> You're right.

>> True intercession sounds like this.

Lord, I don't know what you can. I don't

know what you're going to do in this

situation, but I know whatever needs to

be done, you can do it, and you will do

it in your time if you want to.

>> Right?

>> But Lord, here's what I'm going to trust

in. Not the situation,

not even your ability, but I'm going to

trust in the fact that you know best,

>> right?

>> And that at the end of the day, the

choice is up to you, but I'm going to do

what I can. You're

>> right.

>> And you know what you can do? You can go

to God each and every day

>> and say, "Lord, I don't know what they

need,

>> but Lord, you do."

>> And Lord, the outcome is up to you.

Whatever you want for them,

>> I want you to get the most glory.

>> And you know what you'll find is when

you pray that way for somebody else,

you'll start living that way yourself.

>> Right?

>> You'll do things that you never did

before. Let me say this. You'll have a

hard time talking about people that

you're interceding for.

>> That's right. You'll have a hard time

getting in disgruntled arguments with

people that you're praying for. You're

going to have a hard time fussing and

fighting with people that you are

interceding for on their behalf. And you

know what it comes back to? It comes

back to a decision to be devoted.

>> And you know what happened in this text?

This father made a decision and God

blessed it. And the disciples, they

didn't even get to see that personally.

This father prayed for his son. God

answered his prayer in one moment. You

know what? I don't know what those

disciples did, but I'm going to say they

probably said something.

>> You're right.

>> But you know what is we can pray. We can

pray. We can spend days, weeks, and

hours in prayer, but if a motive's

wrong,

>> you're right.

>> If if if we go about it with an idea

that we're going to get some kind of

glory out of it.

>> Come on, preacher.

>> You might as well just mark her down.

God's not going to operate in that

reality.

>> You're right.

>> Why?

>> He don't work to suit your fancy.

>> You're right.

>> He don't work to suit my fancy. Amen.

>> And you got to live your life in such a

way that says, "Lord, I'll do whatever

you ask."

>> You say, "Peach, I got people in my life

that I'm trying to intercede for, but

what I'm finding about them is is when I

pray for them, God's showing me things."

Well, you just keep praying for them.

You keep letting God show you things,

and one of these days, he'll get

everything out of you so you really can

pray for them. That's

>> right. Come on.

>> You start praying for other people that

God would help them stay humble. You

know what? You might find you might need

a good dose of humility yourself. Amen.

You start praying for other people that

they be pure and they dress right and

act right and live right. What you'll

find is that God will show up in your

life and say and put your put his finger

on some things in your heart that's not

exactly right. I'M SAYING FRIEND THAT'S

THE WAY IT WORKS. WHEN WE INTERCEDE FOR

OTHERS, GOD THE FATHER, HIS SON is

interceding for us and the HOLY GHOST OF

GOD WILL SPEAK TO OUR heart even about

things in our own life.

>> That's right. But here's what we do. A

lot of times we say, "I I don't know

about that.

I I I'm not like that."

>> We'll pray for it because we see it in

them.

>> Come on.

>> It's like Jesus said, we we want to deal

with the moat that's in our brother's

eye.

>> Yeah.

>> When we're trying to look around the

beam,

>> we want to deal with the thorn that

they've got in their eye when we've got

a 2 by six.

You know, I think if we had a revival of

oldtime repentance,

>> forgiveness, repentance, and just church

people getting right with one another.

That's

>> right.

>> It ain't no telling.

>> You're right.

>> What God will do.

>> There's no telling. You say, "What does

it start with?" It starts with

intercessory prayer.

You're not going to be able to pray for

somebody that you ain't forgiven.

>> You're right. This is super practical

and super simple and I feel really

stupid for saying all of it, but the

truth is it's what we need more than

anything else. It's what I need and it's

what you need. And if we'll live it out,

God would do there's no telling what.

>> You're right.

>> If you've not forgiven somebody, you'll

find yourself not being able to pray for

them.

>> You're right.

>> If you're bitter at somebody, you'll

find yourself not being able to pray for

them. And God will say, "Look, you going

to have to fix that.

>> You have to fix that. You may think your

devotion life's all right. go to spend a

little more time in and what you might

find is it needs some work.

>> Right.

>> I'll be the first to say tonight, oh me,

we need it.

>> You're right.

>> God, help us. Father, every head bowed

and every eye closed tonight, Lord, as

we come to you tonight, I pray, God,

that you would help us. Lord, I realize,

Father, this is a place that all of us

fail.

But God, I see that this man

when he got to a desperate place,

his only hope was you.

And Lord, I'm thankful, Father, that

when his only hope was you, you were

there to help him. And God, I thank you

tonight, Lord, that we can trust you.

We can have confidence in who you are,

Lord, because you'll always do right.

But God, I pray, Father, you'd forgive

me tonight.

Lord, cleanse me, Lord, of the times

that I have failed to pray for others,

Lord, for the days, God, that you've

impressed my heart, Lord, and because of

busyness, Lord, I've failed to get to

that prayer place and intercede on their

behalf.

Lord, because of, Lord, many times my

own selfishness, Father, we miss the

mark. Lord, I've asked you to cleanse me

of that today. I ask you to cleanse me

again. But God, would you help us to get

in a mindset in these days, Lord, to

pray for each other,

God? I don't want to see anybody else

get picked off by the devil. I don't

want to see anybody else, Father, fall

by the wayside. I don't want to see

anybody else get out because of

decisions of their flesh and the enemy

influencing them. God, would you help us

to intercede for each other? Lord, would

you help me as the pastor to pray more

than I've ever prayed before, Lord, for

this church, for these families? And

God, for those that are lost as they

come through those doors, God, I pray

that you would deal with their heart in

such a way, God, that they're not able

to leave. Lord, I realize, Father, Lord,

that many of them, Lord, they don't come

back, Father, because the conviction is

so strong. But Lord, I pray, Father,

somehow someway, Father, that when they

are here, God, that you would help us,

Lord, to be who we're supposed to be

always. God, I realize at best we're

going to fail and stumble, Lord, but we

can do better, Father, tomorrow than we

did today. And Lord, would you help us

to be who you've called us to be?

These are praying tonight.

I tell you what, I know without a shadow

of a doubt,

that if we all prayed the way that we

should,

if we prayed the way that we should, as

much as we should,

I know what would happen.

I don't know how much, but I know what

would happen.

It ain't necessarily a full church, but

I know when we come through those doors,

I tell you, the glory of God will be

dripping off of our face,

the presence of God would be on

on our complexion and in our eyes.

You say, "Preacher, I just don't know

how I can have that." Well, you just

keep praying.

You get on your knees and you pray until

the Lord's cleansed you all out. And you

know what you do? You get up and you do

it again the next day.

You pray until the Lord's cleansed you

out and then you pray for others. And

then sometimes while you're praying for

others, God brings you back to yourself

and you ask for some more cleansing and

then you start praying for others. You

say, "Preacher, that's a cycle." You're

exactly right. It is.

If you want life,

hey Dad, if you want life for your

children, life for your wife,

you'll pray for them.

You'll not just live it in front of

them, but you'll pray for them.

You'll intercede on their behalf

because there's some things you're not

going to be able to protect them from.

But God can protect them from all

things. Because all things are possible

if you can believe. And I tell you,

I can tell you how much you believe by

how much you pray.

You know, I think that's my failure.

Many times we have a lack of faith. You

know where it's manifested? It's

manifested in a lack of prayer.

God, help us to pray.

Be a praying people more than we've ever

been.

Lord, once again,

thank you for the opportunity to come to

you in prayer.

And Lord, I believe the power of

intercessory prayer is still present in

this day and time.

Lord, we say lots of things. Lord, we

say God that, you know, people say that,

you know, you're just not working like

you used to. Father, I really believe

it's your people are not praying like

they used to. God, would you help us to

have a revival of prayer? Help me to

have a revival of prayer.

God, I need this message, Lord. Would

you help me, Lord, because there's

people in my life, Father, that I know

they're just like that young man.

And Lord, I don't want to be your

disciple standing around asking why.

Lord, I want to be asking why that when

I preach, people don't get saved. Lord,

God forbid there ever be a time in my

life where my life hinders people from

getting saved. God, would you please

never allow that?

And Lord, I pray, Father, for the others

in this church. Lord, may we all

realize, Father, that our life affects

those around us and it affects the

services in this church. God, help us to

stay clean and stay close to you. Lord,

I love you and thank you for loving me.

Thank you for this church. Pray you

bless us and help us in the days ahead.

We give you thanks for what you do

because we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.