Pastor Harry Pitts teaches that prayer and humility unlock the champion God placed in each believer. He points to Jesus praying all night before choosing the twelve, Daniel praying three times daily under a death sentence, and Paul's teaching that God's grace is sufficient in weakness. Consistent prayer and staying small in your own eyes are the simple steps that release spiritual maturity.
Chapters
Our hearts will be set on fire to see Jesus magnified, Father God. Bless me, Father God, to be used of you, to have the right attitude, Father God, that I decrease So that Jesus will be heard and seen will increase. This we say in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen and thank God. Amen. Praise God. Thanks once again for Pastors Harry and Pastor Tracy for allowing me the opportunity, by the grace of God, to be used of the Lord. Because we can't do nothing without Jesus and the Holy Spirit giving our impartation. Amen. And it's so good to see our brother Richard. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Praise God. Praise God. Hallelujah. Amen. I'll tell you, the Lord is so simple. It's just, it's just, you have to, you have to Bioscientists has messed up somebody's brain to miss it. Amen. God, man, he's so simple and so purposeful, uh, in knowing what he says and what he has for us. And, and Satan just can't stand it because once we see it, receive it, understand it by the grace of God, yes, he knows we'll walk in it and we'll be victorious. And he can't stand that part. One of the— the Lord showed me a long time ago that one of Satan's greatest fears is for a person to become born again, give their heart to the Lord, and then catch it. Catch what the will of God is all about, what the Word is all about. And this is the underlying part, enjoy it. When you catch it and enjoy it, Satan says, oh no. He started putting a contract on his imps and said, why'd you let this brother— why'd you let that man get so happy in the Lord? Now I can't get him out. Goodness gracious. Go sit in that corner. Don't talk to me anymore. You supposed to keep that man from getting happy about the Lord. So praise God. We like to have a little fun in in the house of the Lord. Amen. The Bible says laughter works like a medicine. Amen. Let go of that bursitis and that arthritis. Amen. Jump and shout a little bit. Amen. The title of this message today— we won't keep you very long— is Consistent Prayer and Staying Small in Our Own Eyes Helps Release the Champion Inside. Amen. One more time: Consistent Prayer and Staying Small in our own eyes helps release the champion inside, part 2. Amen. Father God has given us a very simple message, and this is— like I said, no, nothing earth-shattering. It's very easy to follow. Amen. Amen. And we're going to delve right into it. Let's start This lesson begins with the importance of keeping regular in prayer. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Prayer to the Heavenly Father shows us our constant dependence on the Father, our constant submission, our need for submission. rational intimate intimacy, our source of strength. We see that coming through prayer. Yes. Our way of getting projects and events done for him and our needs and our wants being met. Let me say that again. Prayer to the Heavenly Father shows us our constant dependence on the Father. Amen. It shows us our submission, our rational inter— relational intimacy, our source of strength, and our way of getting projects and events done for him and and our needs and wants being met. Right. Amen. The Lord showed this to me a long time ago, that we can use a parent by principle. Not that a parent is like God, because the Bible says his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, his ways are higher than our ways. So I'm not putting a parent in the level of deity, being equal with God, and not but the principle of the parent's love. Now, what we just read, we said that God wants us to be dependent on him. Now, how does that compare to a parent? It makes so much practical sense. When you have your very own son or daughter, she's 5, 6, he's 7 or 8, do you want that son or daughter going to your neighbor's house, getting all their needs met? No. No. No. Exactly. Does this make any sense? Yes. You want that son and daughter what? Depending on who? You. That's right. That relationship builds that way. Yes. The son and the daughter sees that God, that father, mom and dad are great. The intimacy— they want to come to dad and mom because they're seeing all their needs being met. They have a bedroom. They have food in the pantry. They have food in the refrigerator. They have Kool-Aid in the refrigerator. Amen. A little iced tea. Amen. Praise God. They can go to the TV in the den and with the remote control go look at the football game. That says, way to go, Dad, you're number one. I'm going to get you a good Father's Day gift. That relationship Can you see the principle? Amen. The parent wants the child dependent on him. That's right. They don't want you going to another, uh, person. Amen. Seeing their needs being met. Yes. Does that make any sense? Yes. Same as the Father. Yes. Father God wants us dependent on him. Yes. No one else. It builds that relationship. It makes us want to say, hey, God, it's only you. Right. Yes. After you've been through several storms and whatnot, and you've seen the Lord, the good Heavenly Father, deliver us from that, we say, God, it's only you that's my source. That's right. I only get provision from you, and I'm thankful for it. You're my protection, and I'm thankful for it. You're my source of needs being met, and I thank you for it. When I'm down, you're the one that brings me up, and I'm thankful for it. That's what God wants to see, for you and I to see him as being dependent on him, that he meets all of our needs. Amen. Jesus was our model example for making time to pray to the Father. We're going to use a few examples with Jesus and Daniel's prayers. Starting with our Savior's length of time in prayer in 2 different situations. Jesus in the book of Matthew chapter 14— so we can go to Matthew chapter 14. Amen. Amen. Out of the ESV, then. English Standard Version, verse 22. Matthew 14, verse 22. Amen. Amen. This is after Jesus has fed the 5,000 besides the women and children, which potentially could have been 15,000 people that could have been fed by the fish and the loaves of bread. Amen. Amen. Immediately, verse 22, Matthew 14, verse 22. Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, the other side of the lake, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on a mountain by himself to what? Pray. When evening came, he was there alone. It doesn't take a rocket science. We don't have to have a degree from Georgia Tech to know that the evening means later or later on in the day. Amen. That the sun is going down. Amen. We're about to crack a code. The scene how long Jesus was approximately praying here. Amen. Amen. The Jews and the Romans, their time sequence span for the nighttime— the Jews had 3 watches to divide the night. The Romans had 4 watches to divide the night. And because the Romans were in control Of the government, quite naturally that the Jews followed the Romans' way. Amen. It's just like our government. We have daylight saving times and we have early morning time. Amen. We spring forward and we fall back. Amen. We go by the government's time. I don't make up a time and go to my congressman and say, "Hey, I got a new time." Say something. They say, God, get this idiot out of my office. We've been doing this for years, for decades. You're under our government. You don't have your own government. So the Jews were up under Roman rule. Amen. Yes. The first watch, if you want to take note, the Romans had a time span dividing the night into 4 watches. The first watch was 6 PM to 9 PM. Amen. Amen. The second watch was from 9 PM to 12 AM. The third watch was from 12 AM until 3 AM. The fourth watch was from 6 PM to 9 PM. Amen. Amen. The 4th watch was 3 AM to 6 AM. Amen. Now according to Matthew 14, verse 23 through 25, praise God, let's read this. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came— this is when the Lord began. And when did we say the first watch was? 6 PM to 9 PM. The second watch is from 9 PM to 12 AM. The third watch is from 12 AM to 3 AM. The fourth watch is from 3 AM to 6 AM. Going back to the scripture. When evening came, when Jesus started praying, he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the— what? Fourth watch. What is the time span for the fourth watch? 3 AM to 6 AM. My Lord. 5:14. The pastors, Harry and Pastor Tracy, want us to be educated. Amen. Amen. Praise God. The 4th watch of the night, he came to them. So Jesus finished in the 4th watch of the night. He came to them walking on the sea. Let's look at the time span. Jesus went up nearby to the mountain in the evening and finished the next morning during the 4th watch time. If Jesus started prayer around 6 PM— remember we said the first watch was 6 PM for the Roman time span? Yes. Amen. And finished around 3 AM. He prayed approximately 9 hours. If he finished closer to 6 AM, Jesus would have prayed approximately 12 hours. Come on. My Lord, as well as my Savior. Yes. We see how serious Jesus took that communication. Is this making any sense? This is why we should appreciate Jesus Christ and all that he did for us. He didn't take this lightly. Your soul, your soul, your soul, Pastor Pitts' soul, and my soul, he took seriously. Started praying in the evening at the first watch, ended at the fourth watch. could potentially— could have been anywhere from 9 to 12 hours praying for you and I. Amen. Amen. Because of you and I, we see the same diligence given to the, uh, prayer of our Lord and Savior when he went to pray all night to the Heavenly Father before choosing the 12 disciples among other disciples. Now there were more disciples than the 12 that we know of famously that followed Jesus. Amen. Amen. It even says in scripture that Jesus was buried in a tomb of a disciple. Praise his holy name. Now let's go, uh, look at this in Luke chapter 6, starting at verse 12. Luke chapter 6. Go to verse twelve. Amen. When everyone get there, say amen. Luke chapter six, verse twelve. Again in the ESV, English Standard Version. Praise God. Six. Luke, verse 12. In these days, he went out to the mountain to pray. Now that's another thing to preach on, the mountain. In the Old Testament, some of the prophets went to the mountain. In the New Testament, Jesus went to the mountain. Yes. Praise God. That's another different lesson. Amen. And all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came— now, all night we say they went by the Roman rule. That could have been from 6 PM, anywhere from 6, in between 6 and 9 PM, to 3 AM or 6 AM in the morning. And when he came, he, uh, continued in prayer to God. And when— verse 13— and when he, uh, and when day came He called his disciples and chose from them, meaning more than 12. He chose out of the midst of the, uh, the disciples whom he named apostles. Now, why was this so important for Jesus to be praying all night? God gave us a brain. Amen. Amen. And we're about to get to it. Amen. We're trying to crack the code. Pastor Pitts is very diligent on us. Amen. Being diligent in the word. Don't let things go, go over our head or go over things too fast. Amen. That we'll miss a point. That's right. He chose his closest inner circle of disciples because There were other disciples beside the famous 12. This decision needed heavy, uh, some consecrated prayer. Why did it need heavy consecrated prayer for him to pray all night? Because since he knew— Come on. They would have to be willing— Come on. To die— Yes. For the gospel's sake and God's will. Now let's go over this carefully. Now, there was more than 12 disciples, right? Yes. What did Jesus have to do in prayer? Go before the Father. May have called each and every one of those people's names out. What about this person, God? What about Jeremiah, God? What about Judas, God? What about Joseph? God, what about Simon? God, God had a dialogue, not a monologue. A dialogue is a conversation between 2 or more people. A monologue is just you doing all the talking. Is this making any sense? Jesus had to be diligent. God, I need to hear from you. What about Simon? What about Josephus? What do you have to say, Father? Come on, it takes some time. Yes, sir, because God— Jesus knew they were going to have to be willing. Yes, sir, to die, go all the way for the sake of the gospel. Is this making any sense? Yes, sir. So Jesus did not take it what lightly? Wow! Wow! Is this making any sense? Consistent prayer. Consistent prayer. This decision once again needed heavy consecrated prayer since he knew that they would be willing to die for the gospel. Once again, Jesus. could have spent 9, 10, to 12 hours in dialogue, prayer with the Heavenly Father, talking to him, listening, asking questions concerning this important decision. Amen. He needed to make sure once he got those 12 that they were going to be what? Rock solid. And we see that majority of those disciples, they did die as martyrs. Stephen stoned to death. Peter hanged upside down, willing to die. Jesus knew that by spending time with the Father. Glory. Guess what, what it becomes on our pastor, Pastor Harry and Pastor Tracy? At nighttime in the closet. What about so-and-so? Can we raise him or her up to this position, Lord? They got to hear from the Father. They can't take it lightly. They don't need to put someone in position around the money. They got sticky fingers. Praise God. Got the finger over here, then the hand behind the hat going out the door. Got glue on there. Pastor Tracy said, "What's that green paper hanging on your hands there, brother?" It's on the toilet tissue. Praise God! Stop for a minute. Let me see that toilet tissue. I never seen toilet tissue like that before. Praise God! We gotta have a little laugh. Amen. Praise God. Hallelujah. We have turned our attention to Daniel now. Reading from Daniel chapter 6. Let's go to Daniel. Praise God. Amen. Said, I haven't seen toilet tissue like that before in my life. Lord have mercy. Either you lying or they brought out a product just yesterday. Amen. Praise God. Procter& Gamble didn't let us know on that one. Hallelujah. Daniel chapter 6, starting in verse 6. Amen. When you get there, say amen. Give him one every one time to get there. Daniel chapter six, starting at verse six, and we'll go back up to some earlier verses after we read a certain portion right here. Daniel chapter six, starting at verse six. Then these high officials and Satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, O King Darius, live forever! All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and satraps, the counselors and the governors, are agreed that the king should establish An ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any god or man for 30 days except ye, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now we'll read earlier, these people came to King Darius to bring this decree up for him to do because of their jealousy. Because Daniel was a man with an excellent spirit. Amen. He was doing things correctly and rightly, and it got King Darius's attention. The Bible says, know those who what labor among you. Pastor Tracy and Pastor Harry must know the attitude, what position they got us open up to. The heart. To say, come closer, brother. So I need to do surgery. See what's in your heart. I smell the cologne. I see the white teeth, but I don't see what's in their heart. Hallelujah! I gotta know what's in there. I gotta know I can trust you with the people. I don't need you to be destroying the souls of people as they come into church. Amen. Praise God. That's right. Verse 8. So now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that, uh, so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians. which cannot be revoked. Amen. Amen. Verse 12. Then they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction, O king, did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within 30 days except to you O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. The king answered and said, the thing stands fast according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked. Amen. Amen. Then they answered and said before the king, Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you. O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition 3 times a day. Daniel was consistently praying. Yes, he didn't care about that injunction. Why would this man be willing to risk his life knowing— that's good stuff, man. Yes, my Lord as well as my Savior. Yes. Because in spending that quiet time with the Father for all the time and years that he has, it developed what? Trust. Yes. Once you trust someone with all your heart, anyone else that come to distract that trust don't mean anything to you. That's right. The civil rights leaders, they would not have continued on in the civil rights movement unless they trusted in going to a living God. Unarmed, peaceful protests, knowing that their lives were in danger. They wouldn't have kept on going unless they knew that a living God was hearing their prayers and it was going to change the destiny of civil rights. Amen. They had trust in God during the civil rights movement. Yes, that's right. Is that making any sense? Yes. There's no way in the world you're going to be growing up, uh, with the potential of being shot, having the German Shepherds biting you all over the place on your body, water hoses just, just plunging water all over you and whatnot without you knowing that a living God was hearing your prayer and he was going to change history. Amen. Amen. Let's go to verses 1 and 3 in the same chapter to see why these satraps and these counselors and governors Came to do this thing. Starting at verse 1. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom, and over them 3 high officials. Over these 120 satraps, there were 3 people that was over them. Of whom Daniel was one. My Lord as well as my Savior. To whom these satraps should give an account. These satraps have to give an account to Daniel so that the king might suffer no loss. It means, uh, King Darius saw something in Um, uh, in Daniel that he didn't see in the others. He knew that he could trust him. That's right. He knew he could do the job. That's right. He know— he knew he was solid. Amen. Verse 3: Then this Daniel became distinguished. That's a key word— became distinguished. Darius said, I'm sitting on my throne, okay, I see Daniel, I see this man is real. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you see what I'm saying? I see this one knows what he's doing. I can trust him to be over some leadership. I can trust him. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because what an excellent spirit was in him. My Lord as well as my Savior. That's one thing that we have before us in Pastor Pitts and Pastor Tracy—an excellent spirit within them. Amen. Amen. That's why they were hating him. Was in him, and the king planned to what set him over the whole kingdom. Oh my goodness. The greedy satraps, the corrupt satraps, the governors, the prefects and counselors, they could see that. They knew it was coming. They could see the writing on the wall. King Darius likes this man. King Darius say, hey, I can— this is the one I want to set up, uh, to be the successor. Wow. The one that I'm going to put over the kingdom. Those who've been given half service, marginalized attention to detail. Yes. They're being angry. They're being jealous. Wow. What's one of the principal foundations of jealousy? 2 people starting at the same line, at the same level. One takes their responsibility seriously. And they're promoted because they're taking their responsibilities seriously, and the other don't see the need for taking their responsibilities seriously, so they give half effort. Right. When a person who has taken the responsibility seriously is promoted because they're taking things seriously, the one who did not take things seriously, even though they started at the same time, gets jealous. Wow. That's right. Is that making any sense? Yes. So those satraps, those governors, those prefects, many of them became jealous and they were corrupt. Yes. Because I saw this man being distinguished. He distinguished himself. How did he distinguish himself? Doing what King Darius was expecting, doing it with quality, doing it with excellence. Am I making any sense? My Lord as well as my Savior. Daniel prayed consistently, and because he prayed so often, he developed an unbreakable trust in the Father from this relationship he gained by spending so much time with the Father. Now let's look at this time span of decree. 30 days. Wow. My Lord as well as my Savior. 30 in the Bible represents maturity and readiness. 30 in the Bible represents maturity and readiness. Joseph began his service to Pharaoh at age 30. We can find this in Genesis 41:16. We're not going to turn there, I'm just giving you the scripture. You can write it down and look at it later. Joseph began his service to Pharaoh at age 30. Yeah. David became king at age 30. We can find this in 1 Samuel chapter 5, verse 4. Don't turn there, you can write it down. And Jesus began his public ministry at age 30. We can find that in Luke chapter 3, verse 23. Let me go over that again. 30 in the Bible represents maturity and readiness. Joseph began his service to Pharaoh at age 30. You can find it in Genesis 41, verse 16. Chapter 41, verse 16. David became king at age 30. We can find that in 1— in 2 Samuel, I'm sorry, in 2 Samuel chapter 5, verse 4. 2 Samuel chapter 5, verse 4. And Jesus began his public ministry at age 30. We can find that in Luke chapter 3, verse 23. Prayer to the Father shows us our constant dependence on the Father. Submission, relational intimacy of our source for our source of strength and our way getting our projects and events done for him, our needs being met. Jesus was our model example for making time to pray to the Father. Let's look at the second part of the lesson for today. We begin this next lesson by stating how King Saul started with the right attitude of being small in his own eyes. Let's go to— let's go to that. 1 Samuel 15, chapter 15, starting at verse 17. 1 Samuel. Amen. Chapter 15. He started out with the right attitude. Amen. Chapter 15, going to verse 17. When you get there, say amen. Amen. Give me 1 Samuel chapter 15, verse 17. Amen. Praise God. And Samuel said, though you are little in your own eyes, which is small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? This is concerning, um, the man of God Samuel was correcting Saul because he was supposed to stop something from happening, um, to a conquest that God told him to destroy everything that was there, the other people that he was conquering. That's right. But he wouldn't do it. He was listening to the people. That's right. The people persuaded him to do something that God told him not to do. Amen. Right. And Samuel said, are you not the king? You are small in your own eyes. That's good. But where's the boldness? When it comes to obeying God, I need that boldness there. What he said, I need you to do what God told you to do. I commend you for being small in your own eyes, but I need that balance of that boldness. But he needed to be brave in obeying God. That's the balance in staying small before God. And maintaining a posture of weakness. Amen. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Amen. When you get there, say amen. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, go to verse 9. Is this making any sense to anyone? Amen. Second Corinthians chapter twelve, starting at verse nine. It reads, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you.'" For my power is made perfect in weakness. God says, "I need you to run out of energy. Do all you do and fail. Give out of breath. Now you're weak. Now let me take over. Let me do the job. You can't do it anyway. My Lord as well as my Savior." Yes, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Run out of energy, run out of breath, turn to me and say, God, I got the point. So Gatorade can't even help this. Hallelujah. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. When Apostle Paul got the revelation, he said, therefore I will boast all the more gladly In my weakness, Apostle Paul said, "I got it now, God. I see what you're saying. I'm gonna stop running this thing. I'm gonna start walking to the next destination. Praise God! Amen. So that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Who can I use for an example again? Once again, 514 Ministries." There is no way all the coverage that this minister is getting in social media and respect over the internet community can be growing like it is by the strength of Pastor Pitts and Pastor Tracy. There's no way. No way. They realize the posture of being weak What is that posture? God, I can't do it. It's not going to get done unless what you do it. Is this making any sense? God said that's what I need to hear. I use you to do my will, not you doing my will through your own effort, through your own strength. Through your wisdom, through your intellect, through your talent, it won't work. Is this making any sense? Praise God! God wants us to stay in a humble mindset that is in Him, that it is Him who does the. Miraculous things through us, not we ourselves. One last lesson, we're going to close out. Numbers chapter 20. We're about to come to a close. Numbers chapter 20, going to verse 8. Numbers chapter 20, verse 8. When you get there, say amen. Amen. Let everyone get there. Hallelujah. Numbers chapter 20, Starting at verse 8. Praise his holy name. Numbers chapter 20, verse 8. Amen. Starting in verse 8, it says, take the staff This is God talking to Moses. And assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation. And their cattle. Now we know by the law of physics and through common understanding that a human being doesn't normally talk to a rock and water comes out. If you see me next week down the road talking to the rock for the water to come out, I don't understand why you're jumping in the car and hit me. And squealing the tires trying to get down the road. Amen. Hallelujah. But in this particular instance, God's like saying, hey, I need the people to see that it's me. Because human understanding, through human rationale, you know that normally a human being does not talk to a rock and water comes out. So that the congregation know it's not you. It wasn't done by your strength. It wasn't done by your talents. Nothing that you have done was able to get water out of the rock. The people would have to know this must be God. Moses, I know this is above your pay grade. We understand this now, Moses. You couldn't have done that. So we know to keep our eyes on who? God, not on you, Moses. Hallelujah! Is this making any sense? And Aaron, your brother, tell the rock before the, um, the eyes of to yield water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle. And Moses took the staff from before the Lord as he commanded him. Verse ten. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Now this is when we get in the way." God told Moses clearly, "Get the people together. When you get the people together, speak to the rock." Moses did part of it. He got the people together, but he said, "You done teed me off one or two times here." So I'm about to let some anger go. Jesus. So Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, hear now, you, you rebels. You done teed me off. I'm letting off some steam right now. God says, now Moses, didn't I tell you to speak to the rock? You staying in the flesh because they got you mad and whatnot. I gave you simple directions. Come on. That's why emotions can get us out of God's will. Is this making any sense? Yes, it is. That's why God has to keep the emotions under control. Yes, Lord. Amen. Assembled together before the rock and said to them, hear now, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of the rock? My goodness. And Moses lifted up his hand and what struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank and the livestock. It's like Congress says, we're so thirsty, we're going to drink the water. We're forgetting, we ignore you, Moses, we're thirsty. But they didn't get the point of seeing God. Getting water out of the rock. They saw Moses with his effort, taking his staff and striking the water. So they're thinking Moses was the one who got the water out of the rock. God says, no, you done messed up the picture, Moses. The people need to see me getting water out of the rock because they need to keep their eyes focused on me, not humanity. They don't need to keep their eyes focused on human— a human being, because a human being can't answer their needs. He can't save them. He can't heal them. He can't open up the blinded eyes. He can't get relationships together. Only I can do that. Is this making any sense? Yes. My Lord as well as my Savior. God does not want our human effort. He told us to believe him to get a project done. Praise God! Hallelujah! Give God the glory. Amen. Let's go. Amen. Thank you, Jesus.
