WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:06.379 How often you have heard the words, fire begets 00:00:06.379 --> 00:00:12.000 fire. And someone has ably written, to bring 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:17.039 fire on earth he came, kindled in some hearts 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:22.640 it is. But oh, that all might catch the blaze 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:30.879 and all partake the glorious bliss. of the heaven 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:38.140 -descended dove, my heart the altar, and I love 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:43.399 the flame. Like everything else in the Christian 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:48.880 life, prayer can become lopsided. You know, sometimes 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:55.259 we get so lopsided in our theology, in our doctrine. 00:00:56.490 --> 00:00:59.590 And sometimes I think that prayer can become 00:00:59.590 --> 00:01:05.049 very lopsided. Prayer is no substitute for work. 00:01:06.590 --> 00:01:11.930 Equally true is the fact that work is no substitute 00:01:11.930 --> 00:01:17.329 for prayer. Prayer is the greatest power that 00:01:17.329 --> 00:01:19.450 God has given to men and women and never forget 00:01:19.450 --> 00:01:26.390 it. Never. There is no greater power that God 00:01:26.390 --> 00:01:34.569 has given to the saints of God than prayer. And 00:01:34.569 --> 00:01:38.849 there's nothing that the enemy of our soul, that 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:43.870 hell fears more than praying men and praying 00:01:43.870 --> 00:01:52.519 women. To live well. One does not have to live 00:01:52.519 --> 00:02:01.640 long. Sometimes a man can live 80, 83, 85 years 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:08.159 on this earth. And when he leaves, he will have 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:15.479 accomplished nothing. He has given nothing. And 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:21.479 he has received nothing. He's received nothing 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:26.800 because he's given nothing. And so it isn't a 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:34.539 matter of how long one lives, but how well one 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:40.020 lives. Remember that. A man only 28 years old 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:47.099 may die 100 years old in wisdom, in the spiritual 00:02:47.099 --> 00:02:50.610 sphere. The richest garments of the soul are 00:02:50.610 --> 00:02:54.250 spun on the looms of prayer, dyed in the travail 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:58.330 that builds up the sufferings of Christ. Oh, 00:02:58.409 --> 00:03:04.250 how those fellow missionaries invade Henry Martin's 00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:09.689 spirituality. And one says of him, Oh, to be 00:03:09.689 --> 00:03:14.889 able to emulate his excellences, his elevation 00:03:14.889 --> 00:03:19.840 of piety. His diligence, his superiority to the 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:24.319 world, his love for souls, his anxiety to improve 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:30.219 all occasions to do souls good, his insight into 00:03:30.219 --> 00:03:35.680 Christ and the heavenly temper. These are the 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:40.419 secrets of the wonderful impression that he made 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:46.759 in India. But Martin says of himself, The ways 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:50.780 of wisdom appear more sweet and reasonable than 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:57.319 ever, and the world more insipid and vexatious. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:04.580 The chief thing I mourn over, he continues, is 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:12.099 my want of power, my desire of spiritual power. 00:04:13.289 --> 00:04:16.689 and the lack of fervor in secret prayer, especially 00:04:16.689 --> 00:04:21.509 when I plead for the heathen. In proportion to 00:04:21.509 --> 00:04:27.629 my light, warmth does not increase within me. 00:04:28.790 --> 00:04:37.069 Oh, the longing in the heart of a spiritual man. 00:04:39.110 --> 00:04:45.089 The longing, the longing. The deeper one goes 00:04:45.089 --> 00:04:50.350 spiritually, the more that one has received spiritual, 00:04:50.750 --> 00:04:56.350 the deeper, the greater will be the desire for 00:04:56.350 --> 00:05:00.569 more and more and more. The longing will be more 00:05:00.569 --> 00:05:09.089 intense than ever before. Know that. By its very 00:05:09.089 --> 00:05:17.589 nature, fire be... Fire begets fire. The scripture 00:05:17.589 --> 00:05:24.389 says, see how great a matter a little fire can 00:05:24.389 --> 00:05:34.129 do. Fire begets fire. Fire can never make ice. 00:05:34.350 --> 00:05:37.949 The devil certainly cannot make saints. Neither 00:05:37.949 --> 00:05:41.589 can prayerless. Men and women produce warriors 00:05:41.589 --> 00:05:46.029 of intercession, and yet one spark from an handle 00:05:46.029 --> 00:05:51.189 may set a city on fire. From one candle, ten 00:05:51.189 --> 00:05:54.910 thousand others may take a light. From the matchless 00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:59.850 prayer of one light, take, for example, the life 00:05:59.850 --> 00:06:05.129 of David Brainerd, outstanding in his field of 00:06:05.129 --> 00:06:09.199 service for the Lord. How many have caught? The 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:18.279 light from his life. Like Carrie. Payson. Oh, 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:23.420 sure. Read the pages regarding the life of God's 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:29.060 precious saints. William Carey. Red Brainerd's 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:31.879 life story. And a dynamo started within the young 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:35.199 soul winner's breast. Finally landing him on 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:41.769 India's coral strand. At the flame of Brainerd's 00:06:41.769 --> 00:06:47.910 molden soul, the candle of Edward Payson's heart 00:06:47.910 --> 00:06:53.589 was lighted under Todd. Thus from just the diary 00:06:53.589 --> 00:07:04.310 of the pain -wracked apostle who served his years, 00:07:04.490 --> 00:07:08.329 his ministry to the Northern American Indians, 00:07:09.290 --> 00:07:12.889 Payson caught the motivating inspiration and 00:07:12.889 --> 00:07:19.949 began at 20 years of age a prayer life that almost 00:07:19.949 --> 00:07:25.110 surpassed that of Brainerd's. To add yet another 00:07:25.110 --> 00:07:32.259 soul to that of Brainerd's great influence. Another 00:07:32.259 --> 00:07:34.899 master of prayer who tuttered into his grave 00:07:34.899 --> 00:07:38.740 at the ripe old age of 29, and we speak of Robert 00:07:38.740 --> 00:07:43.040 Murray McShay. This marvelous giant in prayer 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:47.560 was first magnetized to this greatest of all 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:56.620 human offices. The greatest. The greatest of 00:07:56.620 --> 00:08:02.399 all human offices. That the soul of man can exercise. 00:08:04.939 --> 00:08:11.839 By reading about Brainerd. Your influence. My 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:18.100 influence. Your testimony. My testimony. Your 00:08:18.100 --> 00:08:20.959 prayer life. The result of your prayer life. 00:08:21.100 --> 00:08:26.139 The result of your spiritual influence. Fire 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:31.740 begets. Fire. No man lives unto himself. Know 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:37.860 that. Always remember that. You do not live totally 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:40.559 unto yourself. You have an influence. Every man, 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:49.700 every woman has an influence. Fire begets fire. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:55.659 Another great soul. The great Jonathan Edwards. 00:08:56.750 --> 00:09:03.889 watched Brainerd. As the tides of consumption 00:09:03.889 --> 00:09:12.350 grew greater over Brainerd's body, Godly Jonathan 00:09:12.350 --> 00:09:18.529 Edwards wrote, I praise God that in his providence 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:24.610 Brainerd should die in my house so that I might 00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:28.740 hear his prayer. so that I might witness his 00:09:28.740 --> 00:09:34.399 consecration and be inspired by his example. 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:41.559 And when Brainerd was dying, Wesley, John Wesley, 00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:46.279 was in about the prime of his spiritual conquest. 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:50.679 And listen to that saint of God, John Wesley, 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:55.320 talking to his conference in England. And this 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:59.860 is what they said. What can be done to revive 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:06.659 the work of the Lord where it has decayed? And 00:10:06.659 --> 00:10:11.460 then the rentless, tireless evangelist, who shook 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:16.120 literally three kingdoms, answered his own question 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:23.389 by saying, Let every minister, let... Every child 00:10:23.389 --> 00:10:29.250 of God, let every saint read carefully the life 00:10:29.250 --> 00:10:36.809 of David Brainerd. You know, the true church 00:10:36.809 --> 00:10:42.909 is born from above. And in it, there are no sinners. 00:10:43.230 --> 00:10:49.629 Outside of it, no saints. No man can put another 00:10:49.629 --> 00:10:54.789 man's name on its... member's role. No man can 00:10:54.789 --> 00:11:01.610 cross another's name off that role. This church, 00:11:01.610 --> 00:11:05.870 this glorious body of believers of which, thank 00:11:05.870 --> 00:11:11.750 God, there is still a glorious remnant in the 00:11:11.750 --> 00:11:18.830 world. His church lives, moves, and has its being 00:11:18.830 --> 00:11:24.340 in prayer. And prayer is its sole sincere desire. 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:30.379 And there is no substitute in any man's life 00:11:30.379 --> 00:11:33.940 for prayer. There is no substitute in the church 00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:40.779 for prayer. As an individual, there is no substitute 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:52.909 for prayer in your life. atom bomb shook Hiroshima, 00:11:53.110 --> 00:11:57.429 so prayer alone can release that power which 00:11:57.429 --> 00:12:04.450 would shake the hearts of men. This culture paganism 00:12:04.450 --> 00:12:08.649 at our doors, those idol temples, those fear 00:12:08.649 --> 00:12:14.610 -gripped, sin -mesmerized millions can only be 00:12:14.610 --> 00:12:22.990 moved to God. as the church is moved of God for 00:12:22.990 --> 00:12:29.409 their lost condition. With every possible guile 00:12:29.409 --> 00:12:34.330 that he knows, Satan would snatch us from the 00:12:34.330 --> 00:12:37.710 closet of prayer, from the life of prayer, from 00:12:37.710 --> 00:12:40.769 the power that there is in prayer. For in prayer, 00:12:40.789 --> 00:12:46.059 man is linked with God. That's your link. That's 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:51.120 my link with God, prayer. And in that glorious 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:56.759 union, Satan is baffled. Satan is beaten. And 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:01.720 well, he knows this. And so, if the closet of 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:07.659 prayer is shut tightly, the mind is invaded with 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:12.240 legitimate cares or with imaginations as big. 00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:19.419 are more real than life itself. Here we need 00:13:19.419 --> 00:13:26.039 to plead our main defense, the blood, the precious 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:31.259 blood of Jesus Christ. We need to plead the covering 00:13:31.259 --> 00:13:35.059 of the blood for our lives, our household, our 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:40.960 loved ones. Another way to offset wandering thoughts. 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:45.360 And to help concentration is to pray audibly 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:51.500 or to give some utterance at least, though it 00:13:51.500 --> 00:14:03.399 may not be loud. After all, prayer is literally 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:11.379 talking to God, our Heavenly Father. When there 00:14:11.379 --> 00:14:15.220 is that glorious relationship, and you can look 00:14:15.220 --> 00:14:17.100 up and know that you have a Heavenly Father, 00:14:17.299 --> 00:14:22.139 and you talk with Him, you don't shout at Him. 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:27.919 You converse with Him. You wait in His presence. 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:32.620 Sometimes you wait silently, for in silence, 00:14:32.659 --> 00:14:37.340 in stillness, there's great power, there's great 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:41.559 energy, there's great force. For in the very 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:46.879 stillness, you're strengthened, not only spiritually, 00:14:47.019 --> 00:14:53.559 but physically as well. Oh, that glorious power 00:14:53.559 --> 00:15:02.419 of prayer. Exceeding great and precious are his 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:08.740 promises. Here we're on concrete foundation. 00:15:11.149 --> 00:15:16.269 Here we're trading currencies with heaven. Here 00:15:16.269 --> 00:15:22.809 God is pledged and longs to hear and honor our 00:15:22.809 --> 00:15:26.750 pleadings. Here we may be engaged in warfare, 00:15:26.769 --> 00:15:31.549 not with God, but against principalities, for 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:36.649 Satan delights in loss no more than In the other 00:15:36.649 --> 00:15:40.129 being, souls of men are his treasures. Damned 00:15:40.129 --> 00:15:43.250 souls, doubting souls, drunk souls, disobedient 00:15:43.250 --> 00:15:46.370 souls, sick souls, religious souls, souls of 00:15:46.370 --> 00:15:50.470 the young, souls of the old, and all souls outside 00:15:50.470 --> 00:15:53.850 the regenerating power of the spirit are mastered 00:15:53.850 --> 00:15:58.590 by Satan, though the degrees of his mastery vary. 00:16:01.370 --> 00:16:05.759 Souls and degrees of spirituality are... special 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:09.820 targets for his fiery arrows, but the shield 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:18.500 of faith, the shield of prayer, the shield of 00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:22.899 love, the shield of hope will brush them all 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:32.559 off and will leave us all unscathed. But remember, 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:39.320 Prayer is not for defense. The shield of faith 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:47.039 is for that. Prayer is our secret weapon. That 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:54.799 glorious secret weapon. We do not conquer Satan 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:59.740 by prayer. Christ conquered Satan 2 ,000 years 00:16:59.740 --> 00:17:09.150 ago. Jesus himself said, I give you power over 00:17:09.150 --> 00:17:12.390 all the power of the enemy. That, my friend, 00:17:12.390 --> 00:17:18.690 is a victory. That is victory in Christ Jesus. 00:17:21.089 --> 00:17:27.529 And in this moment, I pray that you'll catch 00:17:27.529 --> 00:17:33.559 a new insight to the power that there is. is 00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:38.799 in prayer. You cannot live a truly spiritual 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:42.480 life without prayer. You cannot live a victorious 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:53.039 life without prayer. Prayer is the greatest power 00:17:53.039 --> 00:18:05.880 that God has given to men and women. Make this 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:09.180 real to hearts for Jesus' sake. Amen.