A City within the city

This is the budget that happened since we spoke to you, and Heidi will come and do that really quickly.

So today we start a new series. It's called…

Huh.

Oh, but what happens if we keep going this way?

Gosh, all of you will have to do this.

Okay.

Do you want to try it?

No?

Hey, Prosper won't have a problem.

You've got some special skills, man.

Okay, so today we start a series called

A City Within the City.

Derek, you just got it?

A City Within the City.

So in every city wherever there's a church, the church is actually a city that God is constructing.

And we read about it in Psalm 48. So if you want to go to Psalm 48 first,

I'll read from the passion translation.

Passion translation.

Psalm 48.

Here's what it says.

There are so many reasons to describe God as wonderful. So many reasons to praise him with unlimited praise.

Zion City is his home.

He lives on his holy mountain, high and glorious, joy-filled and favored.

Zion Mountain looms in the farthest reaches of the north, the city of our incomparable king.

This is his divine abode, an impenetrable citadel, for he is known to dwell in the highest place.

See how the mighty kings united to come against Zion.

Yet when they saw God manifest in front of their eyes, they were stunned.

Trembling, they all fled away, gripped with fear.

Seized with panic, they doubled up in frightful anguish like a woman in labor, pains of childbirth.

Like a hurricane blowing and breaking the invading ships, God blows upon them and breaks them to pieces.

We have heard about these wonders and then we saw with our own eyes.

For this is the city of the commander of the angel armies.

The city of our God, safe and secure forever.

Pause in his presence, Selah.

Lord, as we worship you in your temple, we recall over and over your kindness to us and your unending love.

The fame of your name echoes throughout the entire world, accompanied with praises.

Your right hand is full of victory.

So let the people of Zion rejoice with gladness.

Let the daughters of praise leap for joy, for God will see to it that you are judged fairly.

Circle Zion, count her towers, consider her walls, climb her palaces,

and then go and tell the coming generation of the care and the compassion of our God.

Yes, this is our God, our great God forever.

He will lead us onward until the end, through all time, beyond death and into eternity.

Now go to Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Hebrews 12. 22 onwards.

Hebrews 12.

22 onwards.

Again, reading from the Passion Translation.

Hebrews 12. 22 onwards.

By contrast, we have already come near to God in a totally different realm, the Zion realm.

For we have entered the city of the living God, which is the new Jerusalem in heaven.

We have joined the festal gathering of myriads of angels in their joyous celebration.

And as members of the church of the firstborn, all our names have been legally registered as citizens of heaven.

And we have come before God, who judges all and who lives among the spirits of the righteous,

who have been made perfect in his eyes.

And we have come to Jesus, who established a new covenant with his blood, sprinkled upon the mercy seed,

blood that continues to speak from heaven, forgiveness, a better message than Abel's blood, the Christ from the earth, justice.

So in every city where the church exists, even if the church does not know it, in every city,

there is another city, which is us that God is building.

There is a city within the city.

That's the series we'll stay on for the next little while.

So within every city, within the city of Richmond, there is a city.

And every church can claim this.

But often we are like Jacob, who did not know that he was in the presence of God.

In the same way, we are not aware.

So we are to be a city.

We are to be a city within this city.

We are to be a city within this city.

And this is why Jesus in Matthew 5.14, what does he say?

You are the light of the world.

Can you read it, Matthew 5.14?

Matthew 5.14.

Matthew 5.14.

Here's what it says.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand.

And it gives light to all the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see you and your good works,

and give glory to God your Father, who is in heaven.

So we are to be a city within the city, and we are to be a city of light and of goodness.

City of light and of goodness.

Why?

Because something has to blaze amidst darkness, sorrow, and evil.

This is one of the reasons God places churches in cities.

You know how many people it would have taken to save Sodom and Gomorrah?

How many righteous would it have taken?

Ten. Five.

What is it, five or ten?

Ten?

Would it have taken ten to save Sodom and Gomorrah?

Because God places churches in cities so that the city can be preserved,

and the city can be made a place where things begin to once again turn around.

So, Augustine actually wrote a book on the two cities, and the way he framed it is,

there are two cities, in any city there are two cities.

One is formed by love, and both these cities are formed by love.

Only they are formed by two loves.

One is the earthly love of self and the contempt of God,

and the other is the heavenly love for God and the contempt of self.

In every city this exists, in every city.

And these two cities are constantly at war with each other.

They are at war physically sometimes, they are at war philosophically,

they are at war spiritually, they are at war culturally.

This is our present situation too. It's always like this.

Any questions before we go further?

I mean, this is important to understand that in the city is a city, and you are that city.

It's two different cities, two different intents.

One is light and goodness, the other one is darkness and evil.

And the light and goodness is supposed to change the darkness and evil.

Any church that laments the condition of the city is a church that has lost its saltness.

The intent of the church is, yes, it may be dark and evil, but I was part of that once,

and I have been redeemed and brought into light.

Therefore, it is my turn now to go and pay it forward.

How we pay it forward is different, different skills, different giftings, different things that we do.

The reason God has put us all together, and when you look at each other,

you realize how different you are from the person sitting next to you.

When we come with diverse gifts, by the way, Vignesh got a job, eh?

Sere still holds the record. What were you, two years?

Fifteen months. That's almost two years.

Thirteen months. Beat you hollow, man.

James, no, James was different circumstances.

It's like he didn't make the playoffs kind of thing.

Those are different. James was because he couldn't work because of his visa.

Otherwise, the fellow works like crazy.

Yeah. So we must realize that we are a city within a city.

Is there a struggle with that? Is it easy to grasp?

Is it hard to receive, believe?

Everyone can claim it. I mean,

it's like the different parts of my body. It's one body, but each one may serve a different function.

But there is a city within every city, and it is the city of God.

And the city of God is where he dwells, and he dwells here.

He has a government here. He knows how to run this place. There's an order to it.

There are resources to it. There are angelic armies. There are goals.

There are things that need to be achieved. There are projects.

There are things that we do for profit. He's a God who does things for profit.

This is the only city or club that exists solely for the benefit of its nonmembers.

This club called Christianity exists exclusively for the benefit of its nonmembers.

The intent is, can we get ones who are nonmembers to become members?

Does it apply to the body or to any case of individualism?

Yeah. Claim it where?

Individualism.

Yeah. So how the city works in the larger city is when you go to work at City Hall,

and she goes to work at a business, and she goes to work in a school, and he doesn't go to work.

It doesn't matter that Aaron is working or not working.

The moment we enter the larger city, we are now representatives of a city within the city.

Do you know that when, I think it was Brutus, after murdering Caesar, Brutus escapes,

and he goes to Philippi, and he hides in Philippi.

And Caesar, Augustus Caesar comes to the gates of Philippi, and he begins to say to Philippi,

listen, hand us Brutus, and we will spare you.

Keep Brutus hidden, and we will destroy this city.

And so they hand Brutus over.

And Augustus also says to Philippi, you hand us Brutus, and we will reward you.

And here's the reward. We will give you Roman citizenship.

Brutus is handed over. Augustus gives Philippi Roman citizenship.

Now remember this. Philippi is in Greece.

And in the middle of Greece now is a colony that is Roman.

Their architecture began to take on Roman bits.

Their clothes began to take on Roman fashion.

Everything about this little city in the rest of Greece began to look Roman.

Now you understand why Paul, when he writes to Philippians, writes saying,

do you not know that your citizenship is not here? Your citizenship is in heaven.

He knew that the Philippians would get it because they now had dual citizenship.

It was the most coveted passport in those days, Roman passports.

And Greek don't get Roman passports, but in the middle of Greece was now a city that held Roman passports.

It's the same principle. In the middle of Greece was a Roman city.

In the middle of every city is a city run by God.

And so what we take out of here is actually representative of a city that is within,

that has been given a different citizenship, that operates by a set of different rules,

that is actually a place where people can come and taste imperfect taste,

but imperfect taste of the kingdom to come.

Like if you were to come home and I would say, let me make you chicken korma,

it would be very imperfect, but you would get a taste of chicken korma, or you will get a taste of chicken.

But the point is this, that the church is supposed to be an imperfect taste of the kingdom to come.

And so we can never do stuff like, oh, the church should be out there, not in here.

The church should be in here and out there. If it ain't in here, it's useless out there.

But in here, I mean, we need to gather like this.

Gathering at Starbucks and sharing a scripture isn't church.

We need to gather like this. From here, you know, even when the temple was built, you know how it was built?

They would cut the stones in the quarry and then they would bring and put it together so that it would form.

There's always two things to the city. We are built up here so that we can be sent out there.

The worship happens here so that the city is affected.

Most other religions know this. If you think that calling out to their gods five times a day does not affect people, atmosphere, rules, religion, norms,

if you think it doesn't affect, then either we are foolish or they are foolish.

Of course it affects.

Everything about Christianity is supposed to be like this and then...

Nothing is supposed to be like this.

Go ahead, Vinny.

I was seeing a lot of people, including the government and also some individual group, whatever, like that.

They think Christianity is kind of like...that is a culture and they don't really accept it.

Look at the people on the media. I was feeling so sorry for the people because the temple they are achieving is already out of date.

Yeah, and so now it's our responsibility, it's William's responsibility, and my responsibility, to get an accurate understanding of who Jesus is

and not just preach it, but first live it.

Like I said earlier, the good news and the good works have to go together.

Good works actually authenticate the proclaiming of the good news.

I'm amazed at what Jesus says. They shall see your good works and they shall glorify the Father.

Catholicism did so well in all parts of the world because the first thing that they would do as soon as they went into any country

was they would establish schools and hospitals.

The government there would give them prime land, prime property that even today is at the center of the city.

Once they established good works, everything would open up for them.

Smart.

So these two cities are constantly at war, physically, spiritually, culturally, philosophically, and this was true of Goshen too.

Remember Goshen in Egypt?

Little group of Israelites in a little area called Goshen in Egypt, everywhere else things are going wrong, while in Goshen things are going right.

Things must be distinct here as compared to the rest of Richmond and the rest of the world.

We must have a distinct identity because of the presence of God in our midst.

And when that does not happen, we must do everything in our power to ready ourselves so we can access everything that Christ is.

Everything that the communion is supposed to do for us should be ours and never back off from that.

Let not time become your enemy.

Always make time an ally, saying, but I know God is true, therefore it has to.

And so in here people should come and see what it is for someone who just lost a dad or mom to be hopeful and joyful.

In here someone should come and see someone who lost their job or has been without a job for 13 months and 15 months.

And yet they don't look like they hate people, hate the government or hate God.

Someone should come in here and see that people trust God every day for healing, getting up tomorrow and saying today might be the day because I know Jesus Christ heals.

It's strange, eh? We're not talking about triumphalism here. We're talking about living God in our midst.

Someone should be able to listen to, send story and say, Gosh, how do you forgive?

That's what makes us distinct.

This kind of a city, no human hands can build.

The only one who can build a city like this is God in our midst.

And he is. And those nail scarred hands are good building hands, man.

That's what I hope the van will be known for. Oh, there comes that van.

There are those people. Which people? Those people that are strange and different.

Who are they? Don't know their names, but they're Christians.

There are some distinctives that we should remember. What makes us distinct is these three things.

Light is a natural result.

Light is a natural result of one, the nature of Christ in us.

Two, the work of the Spirit through us.

Three, the nature of faith from us.

Light is a natural result of these three things.

The first thing is the nature of Christ in us.

It says in Ephesians 3.16, and this is a beautiful prayer to pray.

Ephesians 3.16 says, Oh God, I'm praying to you and I ask that you would grant me through the Holy Spirit,

divine power that will strengthen my inner man out of the wealth of your glory.

Rephrase, Oh God, I know you are very rich.

You have such a tremendous wealth of glory as in your attributes are so splendid.

So I'm asking that given that you're so glorious, could you by your Holy Spirit,

strengthen my inner man with divine power?

Could you please do that?

And then you go to Ephesians 4.24 and it talks about the inner man.

It says your inner man, everybody here who is born again,

your inner man is made in the image of Christ in holiness and in righteousness.

Crazy.

It says your inner man as in Pawan's inner man, my inner man,

Prosper's inner man, Reni's inner man is actually reformed, remade, renewed in the likeness and image of Jesus Christ.

Like it was done in Eden, so it has been done again.

In true righteousness and holiness.

Just like Jesus formed Adam, so he reformed my inner man.

Just like he made Adam in his image and likeness, he made my new spirit in his image and likeness.

Just like he made Adam pure, so he has made me righteous and holy.

And then he says, now that you have this, can you also ask the Holy Spirit to give you divine power to live it out?

That's what he's asking in Ephesians 3.16.

Now that you know Christ lives in you, now that you know you have a new spirit,

can you ask the Holy Spirit to give you divine power to strengthen you so that you can live it out instead of living by the soul?

So that's one set. The next one, the work of the Spirit, Isaiah 61, 1-4.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

Light is natural when we begin to let the Spirit of God work through us.

Working through us, I mean, if I want to get that tambourine, I'll have to walk towards it.

It doesn't matter how wonderful the Holy Spirit is.

Holy Spirit, please give me that tambourine. Please give me that tambourine. Please give me that tambourine.

Nothing is going to happen.

One of you may take pity and bring the tambourine to me, but otherwise it requires going out.

And it requires going out, and it requires risk.

Isaiah 61 is impossible without risk.

Isaiah 58, 6-12 is impossible without risk.

Isaiah 58, 6-12 says, hey, what kind of fast do I want of you?

To undo oppression, to rebuild the ruins, to be repairers of the breach in Richmond.

And then the third one, the nature of faith from us.

The nature of faith from us.

Light cannot shine in a dark place till there is faith.

Light did not shine in a dark place in Genesis 1, 1, till God spoke.

And with His words, He created light in darkness.

The principle is still the same.

The nature of faith from us.

Any questions on that before we move on?

Okay.

Yeah. You and I can talk about that. Yeah. We'll talk about that later.

So then one of the things we need to realize is once we realize we're a city inside a city,

this city is full of only three types of people.

And you possess all three types. It's three types that are in you.

And we take after our king. He was a prophet, he was a priest, and he was a king.

Our equation or our DNA is exactly the same.

In the city, our kings, priests, and prophets, and they exist in all of us because Christ exists in all of us.

What does a king do? The king has the ability to let the rule, his benevolent rule, now spread into the city.

Kings have the ability to counter opposing forces and powers that put people into bondage.

That's what kings do. What do prophets do?

Prophets begin to speak and reveal the will of God in the largest city.

What else do prophets do? Prophets stand for justice and do acts that will bring justice

because any prophetic without a desire for justice will always fall flat.

And what do priests do? Priests intercede. They pray for people. Why?

Because they can access the throne of mercy and grace.

When the church begins to condemn the city instead of accessing the throne of mercy and grace for the city,

the church abrogates its actual responsibility.

That's one of the things that we have to enter into is how do we intercede for the city?

How do we intercede for the city?

No. They're all present in us. Christ is present in us. He is prophet, priest and king.

And so these qualities already exist. These qualities of learning how to rule benevolently,

as in discharge His rule in the city, to speak and tell people about what He's up to,

to be able to intercede for people. They all exist in us because Christ exists in us.

City within a city. And we'll repeat it again and again and again until it won't leave us.

Go to Isaiah 62, verse 6 and 7. Isaiah 62, verse 6 and 7.

Isaiah 62:6 Isaiah 62:6

Just want to start on what intercession will look like. Isaiah 62, verse 6 and 7. Isaiah 62, verse 6 and 7.

Isaiah 62:6 Isaiah 62:6

On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen. All the day and all the night they shall never be silent.

You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem

and makes it a praise in the earth. Amazing, eh? God is literally saying, listen, I dare you, give me no rest.

I post you on the walls of Richmond. Give me no rest. Start asking. Start praying. Give me no rest.

Tell me silent. Night and day.

Jesus interceded when He was on earth and if you check Hebrews 7.25, He's still doing that for us.

So what does the word intercede mean? Two meanings to it. One, to strike against. Two, to come between and entreat or cry out.

Two, to come between and entreat or cry out. That's what it means. Both words. It has two sides to it.

So in a sense, intercession is engagement. On one hand, we are engaging with God first.

On the other hand, we are engaging, after we engage God, we are engaging the enemy and enforcing Christ's victory.

It's both. It's both.

But here are some fundamentals when it comes to intercession. Please don't forget this because intercession can go completely warped

and super religious and very Christian but not God. These are some fundamentals that we have to keep in mind.

Please don't forget this. One, intercession, I'll just call it I, is still coming out of a unique father-son operation.

It's coming out of father-son intimacies. Please don't lose this. Please don't lose this.

You lose this, it'll look amazing but it'll suck and it'll stink. I've seen this in India. I've seen this in the Middle East

where intercession is almost like Luke 18, knocking on the doors of an importunate judge who is unwilling to relent.

That's not intercession. Lose the father-son operation that comes out of father-son intimacies and it will look amazing.

It will look like books written in the old. It will look like, oh, carry on the Lord, my brother, but it will not be actual intercession.

I would suggest to you that when Jesus went up the mountain to pray a whole night before he chose his disciples,

he was in saying, oh God, I hope I get it right. Oh God, please make sure you pick 12. Oh God, I implore you.

No, he must have been discussing. So what do you think about Judas? And the father will reply, he's going to betray you.

You still want him? Yeah, I do. John, the father will say, but isn't he too young? That's exactly what I want him for, father.

I want to train him. He'll last forever. He'll go to the island of Patmos. Peter, oh my God, Jesus would have told him.

He puts his foot in his mouth every time he speaks. But the father says, but I know that boy. He's going to work out.

These are father-son operations that come out of father-son uniquenesses. We lose that. We lose intercession.

I'm emphasizing this because I know what intercession can begin to look like. How we got to break that.

Anytime, anything Christian does not come out of a father-son relationship. It is no longer Christian.

When Jesus talks about the importunate widow and how importunate judge and how the woman goes appealing and he says, my God, I'm tired of you.

You're veering me out. I'll grant you your request. You should read the rest of the lines. It says in Luke 18, eight, Jesus says,

if that is the case with an importunate judge, don't you realize that I will do it for you much more speedily.

Intercession can turn into resentment against a stubborn God.

Intercession does come with emotions, but the emotion should be the result of your heart bearing a burden,

either for the one you're interceding or your heart bearing indignation against injustice and against the enemy.

Any emotion that comes from any other place will eventually besmirch the face of God.

There were times when I would return home from doing things in Vancouver and I'd get home and my mom and another lady,

really both of them were very nice. My mom was definitely nice and the other lady was also nice.

And I would come home and by the time I enter the corridor, I could hear loud wailing.

Man, it was like someone had died and you would go open the door and it would be my mom and this lady just wailing away and crying.

Sometimes for me, sometimes for Dawn, sometimes for Derek, definitely for Derek, but they would be wailing and crying.

And you would think to yourself, why? And I would go and say, I mean, why is it that you have to cry so loudly?

Why is it that every time you pray, you have to cry so loudly? Can't God do this without you crying?

And that would always end up in an argument which I would lose.

But the point is this, I'm not saying emotions should not come, but emotion should be a result of the burden or the indignation.

If not, it begins to turn against God.

Even when he's crying in the garden of Gethsemane, he still maintains the father-son relationship.

And he says, father, not my will, but yours be done.

Guys, what I'm saying here is going to be so not well received by many, but I really don't care because it is biblical and it comes from the father-son equation.

We've got to bring things back to that one relationship that is critical to our existence.

Everything else is religion. And you must possess a hatred for religion.

Intercession is provoked by God. Like everything else that comes out of a relationship, intercession is provoked by God.

It is initiated by God and it's also ended by God.

Here is a guy on a mountain interceding. Hours have gone by.

His servant is deciding, maybe this is not good employment, I should have done this.

But he says, go up a fifth time, go up a sixth time, go up a seventh time.

And the seventh time, all he sees is a fifth-sized cloud, guys.

But he knows why. Why does he know? Because God is saying, enough, you've gotten what you've gotten, you can leave.

And so he gets up and he doesn't wait.

Here's the thing. You know how normal intercessors work?

I've seen a fifth-sized cloud, I can't leave yet.

Then I've seen a second cloud, I can't leave yet.

And then I've seen a third cloud, I can't leave yet.

And then I've seen a fourth cloud, I can't leave yet.

You know how normal intercessors work? I've seen a fifth-sized cloud, I can't leave yet.

That fifth-sized cloud now has to become something bigger.

No, God says, you're done, leave.

What does he do? He gets into a chariot.

He tells Ahab to get into a chariot and he says, I hear the sound of rain, off you go.

Intercession is provoked by God. Intercession is ended by God.

Intercession requires God to tell you what he needs you to pray.

Intercession is never based on the needs of the people.

It is always based on the provocation of God, who is aware of the needs of the people.

You can cry for the needs of the people, but you will be surprised at how sometimes God is not crying for the needs of the people.

Because he has a completely different solution to it.

It is critical in intercession that I know what God wants.

I may have sympathy for him.

Oh God, please Lord, with prosperity, God's responses, that boy is strong enough.

I know you feel sympathy for him, but here's what I want you to do for him.

Any questions? Push back.

From the Bible, if you can show that it works any other way, then don't go to the Old Testament because they didn't know the Father.

Show me from the New Testament how it can operate any other way than this.

Gosh guys, you have no idea how we need to reshape things.

If we don't, it's going to go the same way it has gone for 200 years.

Here's another thing, and we'll end with this.

Intercessors come in different shapes and forms and can be gifted differently.

Which means then that if I am gifted a certain way, then I am gifted a certain way.

This is so normal, and usually it's with the pastoral.

If I'm gifted a certain way, Jacob is gifted a certain way, and he has certain emotions that come with his way of intercession.

This is so normal, and usually it's with the pastoral.

If I'm gifted a certain way, Jacob is gifted a certain way, and he has certain emotions that come with his way of intercession.

And if he has certain habits that come with intercession, then what happens is this becomes the method that everyone now has to subscribe to.

And that defeats how God wants it.

Because at the end of the day, be it corporate or be it individual intercession, it's again a unique relationship between father and son and father and the corporate son.

Sure, there'll be ways that I may say this is how we should do it today, but look at the different giftings of intercession.

And there are biblical examples for it.

One, some can do lists.

Some can do lists.

I'm fascinated by these people.

I find it super boring to take their church directory and go through six names, praying for them.

There are people that do it so brilliantly.

Other examples in the Bible, Ezra.

That whole book is full of lists.

Either he's listing individuals or he's listing families, and he would go and pray for them.

Some people are good with lists.

Some people are good with lists.

People who pray like this are very faithful.

People who can do lists are usually super faithful, and they have done it for 30, 40 years, man.

Second, some can be called to pray regularly for one person.

Regularly for one person.

Someone who did this in the Bible was Simeon.

He kept praying for the appearance of the consolation of Israel, this Jesus.

Oh God, when? One person.

There are people like that who can spend years praying for one person.

Not just for their salvation.

After they get saved, they move on to something else.

There were two ladies like this when I was not a believer who would fast and pray every Tuesday or Thursday for me.

For years on end, and they would just get news that kept getting worse.

You don't have to laugh, Crossbow.

Until eventually, when I got saved, there were some of the first people I called.

Next one.

There are some people who can pray decisively in crisis.

They can intervene in life and death situations.

It's almost like an intervention through prayer.

One of the guys who would really pray well in crisis was David.

When you look at his Psalms, every third Psalm is a crisis.

But he knew how to pray, man.

He knew how to pray.

He knew how to pray, man.

He knew how to intercede when it came to crisis.

These are different ways.

You may have a way. It doesn't mean you get stuck there.

But you need to know that we are all gifted by God to intercede certain ways and then learn other ways.

Another one is...

Okay.

Pardon?

They know what God is saying and how to intervene in the crisis.

So that...

Where there was death, you bring life, Lord.

Where there was fear, you bring courage.

When I was afraid, you were with me.

And you lifted me up.

You lifted me up.

Yeah.

I think I'll respond to you in song from now on.

I should have done it years ago.

Some are appointed to pray for cities and nations.

One of the guys who was good at it was Daniel.

And his prayer, his intercession, not only changed the situation of cities and nations then,

but changed it a thousand years into the future too, which is just nuts.

Intercession may be done now, but it can affect 300, 400 years from now.

Just think of that, guys.

Another method of intercession is when you pray for leaders, politics, or political issues like abortion, like rights, cultural issues.

One of the guys who was very well known at this is William Wilberforce,

who brought about the abolishment of slavery, championed education, and a restoration of moral behavior in public spaces.

He was one... When you read his life story, the guy would spend hours praying.

He was a politician, and one of the first things he does when he decides to go to the South is he says,

I will make sure that I spend an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.

That's how he started off.

Some have the ability to do this.

Here's another one. Some can pray for extended family.

I've met people who prayed for the extended family till everyone got saved.

Everyone got saved.

Not a single person left.

Stubborn grandfather, raised from the dead grandmother who hadn't gotten saved,

children, grandchildren, all of them saved. They just keep at it, eh?

Eureka!

Not waking up.

Extended family.

Next one.

Some persist in praying for physical and emotional wounds and healing.

And sometimes they can do it corporately, too, for large groups of people that are wounded.

How many of you remember Jim Caruso?

Many of you met him at the Young Adults Conference some years ago.

He used to pastor Richmond Pentecostal at one point.

So this is an amazing story.

You want to hear these kind of intercessors?

Jim and his wife live in Langley.

They wake up in the morning, read the newspaper, and they find out that there's this horrible shooting that has happened at Tumbler Ridge.

He can't bear it. He's pacing up and down, doesn't know what to do.

So he decides to do the only thing that seems practical.

He jumps into his car and he drives a thousand kilometers with his wife to Tumbler Ridge.

What's he there for? He's there for only one simple thing.

He wants to go hug somebody and comfort them.

He wants to take away the wound of what has happened in Tumbler Ridge.

He ends up going there, meets a reporter, talks to him, finds people, hugs them, brings comfort to them.

One of his desires was that he eventually get to speak to the parents of the shooter.

Eventually he gets to do that, too.

The strange thing is he does it quietly, nobody knows.

You know how I found out.

Because when Carney delivered the State of the Union in the Parliament of our Canadian State of the Union kind of thing,

he was talking about Canada and how rich the people of Canada are.

And one of the things he said was, I spoke to Jim Caruso, who drove all the way from Langley to Tumbler Ridge,

and all he desired was to hug somebody and comfort them after the shooting.

And I'm thinking to myself, this man drives a thousand kilometers just to do that.

Something immediately triggered in him. None of us thought of it.

For him it was the first thought.

Guys, we are gifted certain ways.

We're not supposed to get stuck in the way we are gifted,

because then we become specialized and Christianity hates, Jesus doesn't like specialization.

But we are gifted, we choose that, and then we fan out to learn the other ways.

Chris, you know Jim?

Yes.

Yep.

Next one.

Some pray for souls to be saved.

Souls to be saved.

And they specifically have this fervency for souls.

And they can pray, sometimes they pray for the Muslim world, sometimes they pray, like Jackie Pullinger.

Some of you have read a book, Chasing the Dragon.

She used to weep and pray for the addicts in Hong Kong.

And because of her prayer, a strange thing would happen.

These would be addicts who were in triad gangs and were completely undone by heroin.

And she would go pray for them.

And they would, she would pray for them and lay hands on them.

And addicts would begin to speak in tongues and get filled with the Holy Spirit and be delivered immediately.

But the burden was for the addicts, the burden was, oh God, please.

This God is more merciful than you can imagine.

I hate it when I have to go plead with him, beg with him, implore him.

Because there's something about it that destroys my simple son-father relationship.

Because I did not have to do it with my dad, except when I wanted something he didn't want to give me because it was bad for me.

Some pray for the Muslim world.

Some pray for the wall in Berlin and the Iron Curtain to fall.

For addicts in Hong Kong, for Iranians.

Two more and we are done.

Some fight.

Some fight the enemy in prayer.

Some fight or intercede against the enemy in prayer.

And they are able to block, thwart, overcome or shut down.

Demonic activity.

And then the last one, some can intercede.

Some intercede through worship.

Some intercede through worship.

Some intercede through worship.

Like Miriam.

How do you do that?

You have this acute awareness that your dancing, your flags, your instrument playing, your kneeling, your shouts are actually more than what most people may be doing.

It's beautiful when you're aware of it.

Like I met drummers who can drum and they drum not for the music team.

Yes, they do.

But they're not drumming for the music team.

They're not even drumming for the worship band or the worship congregation.

They're drumming because they know that the way they drum is exactly how, at that moment, God needs to hear it.

This is what David did when he started playing the harp.

At the end of the day, find your groove.

Once you find your groove, realize that, okay, this is where I'm gifted in intercession.

But now that I'm gifted in this, let me learn the other ways too.

Because if you don't learn the other ways, you get specialized and specialization is not something one should desire in the kingdom.

Any questions?

Any questions, guys?

I can look at people in this church and I can immediately tell you some that are gifted a certain way.

I know the one that I find groovy.

I know it's a very old fashioned word, but Dillon understands and Mike understands.

And so there are people here that I can tell you will pray a certain way and can pray strong in that track, but doesn't mean you stay in that.

And when it's your track, you'll be surprised that you can spend one and a half hours doing that and not feel exhausted.

Well, I'll ask me to do a list and it's like, now what do I do?

Any other questions?

Okay.

Okay, so either Salome or Shobha can come up and end the service.

If you need prayer, there'll be people here to pray with you.

Lord, our heavenly Father, we thank you for the time you've given us to come in your presence.

Father, we know what we are today is nothing but your grace, Lord.

Father, we know when we are in your fellowship, Lord, there is joy, there is courage, there is strength, Lord.

For you alone are our Redeemer and our Healer.

You know in and out of us, Lord.

Father, you know the desires of each one of us here, Lord.

As we heard the words today, Lord, strengthen us by your words.

Father, we heard that we are a city, Lord.

And we have helped us to understand how important our lives are to others, Lord.

Lord, give us the passion to have concern for others, to intercede for others, Lord.

Intercede in the way that you want us to intercede, Lord.

Father, give us a burden for those who are not knowing, Father.

Give us a burden for their souls, Lord.

Father, we pray for all those who are in need of our prayers, Lord.

There are many who are not having jobs.

There are many who are in a depressed state of mind, Lord.

Lord, I pray that you intervene with each one of them, Lord.

Father, help us to be living testimonies wherever we are, Lord.

Lord, in whatever situation we are, Lord, help us to look upon you alone, Lord.

We commit each one of us into your mighty hands, Lord.

We especially pray for Pastor Jacob, Lord.

As he's ministering your word, we pray that you empower him, Lord.

Let each one of us be strengthened by your word, Lord.

Forgive all the shortcomings in our lives.

Everything we ask in the sweet and matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen. Awesome. Thank you, guys.

Bless you, Salome and Shobha.

One of them will be leaving this room.