What Jesus Said About Prayer

Want to start this class by looking at an

AMAZING PRAYER PROMISE

John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye

shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

A FEW DAYS AGO: In Chapel talked to you about

CONDITIONAL PROMISES.
I said: Nearly every promise in Scripture has one or more
CONDITIONS attached to it.

THE PROMISES OF GOD are NOT AUTOMATIC:

Many times He Says: If you do this then Ill do this

If you fulfil YOUR PART God will always do HIS.

Whenever you see a PROMISE with the word IF.

STOP AND LOOK FOR YOUR PART! (There`s God`s Part /
Your Part)

GODS PART: Ye shall ask what ye will and it will be

done unto you.

Sound good to anybody?

YOUR PART:
1.) If you ABIDE IN ME.
That is: Be IN Christ be saved.

2.) And MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU

THEN You shall ask what you will

WHAT DOES HAVING THE WORD IN YOU have to do

with it?

a.) Faith Comes By Hearing

If you have the Word in you / Youll have Faith IN YOU

b.) A second reason I suppose is this:

If you Know His Word Youll Know His Will.

Important cause John said:
1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that,
if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
Well then what if you DON`T ask according to His Will?

How are you going to know His Will?

Well, His WORD is His Will.

THE PLACE THE WORD HOLDS IN PRAYER

Mark 4 - Parable of the Sower - v. 1414 The sower soweth the word.
15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown;
but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh
away the word that was sown in their hearts.

16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground;
who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with
gladness;
17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time:
afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's
sake, immediately they are offended.
18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear
the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and
the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it
becometh unfruitful.
20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as
hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold,
some sixty, and some an hundred.

The first thing I want to get here, as we study this parable, is...

(1)

THE SUBJECT Of His Sermon.

Suppose YOU missed church (YESTERDAY)

ASK YOUR FRIEND Whatd he preach on?
Well Thats the QUESTION: Were going to ask.

What did Jesus PREACH ON, in this chapter?

HINT: (NOT GROUND!)

See, sometimes I think weve studied this parable from the
negative for so long, that we missed entirely what Hes
talking about.
We focused so long, on the different kinds of ground that
FAILED that we lost the message of the sermon.
The subject isnt the different kinds of GROUND the
SUBJECT is the Word.
The SOWER SOWS THE WORD.

Lukes account says this:

Now THIS is the POINT of the STORY the SEED IS THE
WORD OF GOD.

SUBJECT: Wasnt Ground that failed it was SEED that

was SOWN.
(FOCUS ON THE WORD!)

(2) HIS MAIN POINT

I MEAN: you could say a LOT of things about the Word!
What SPECIFICALLY: Is He trying to show us about the
Word?
What Hes trying to do is: To show us how to USE Gods word,
to RECEIVE Gods BLESSINGS.
See, heres where a lot of FOLKS have had a problem.
THEY SEE all these promises in the Word
HEALING, PROSPERITY, LONG LIFE, A GOOD
FAMILY

They see the Promises on the page.

They just cant figure out - how to get the Promises off the
page, and into their lives!
(Like one guy said: I know God said Hed heal! I just cant
figure out how to get Him to do it! Can anybody relate?)
Thats what Jesus is about to show us!

So, weve got the SUBJECT Hes preaching on the Word.

Weve got his MAIN POINT Hes showing us how to use the
Word to receive Gods blessings.

(3) THE PROCESS - In other words,

How does it work?

Lets pick this up in Verse 26
26

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast

seed into the ground;
27

And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should
spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
28

For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then
the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
29

But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the

sickle, because the harvest is come.

In those few short verses, Jesus showed us how to GET THE

BLESSINGS OFF THE PAGE AND INTO OUR LIVES.

Take a closer look

Verse 26 - SO IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD

IN OTHER WORDS: THE WHOLE KINGDOM OF GOD
WORKS ON THIS ONE PRINCIPLE
Its as if a man should cast SEED into the ground.
Now (in this parable), Jesus is COMPARING the way THE
WORD WORKS, to the way a SEED WORKS!
(Its the same operation! They both work the same way!)
So, how I thought wed go at this, is to look for a few minutes, at
how a seed works.
If we can understand how a SEED works, then well
AUTOMATICALLY understand how the Word works, since they
both work the same way.

(A) ITS THE NATURE OF A SEED TO PRODUCE... BUT

IT WILL ALWAYS PRODUCE AFTER ITS OWN KIND
(Now, what do I mean: Its the NATURE of a seed to produce?)
Well, suppose you went down to SAFEWAY, after class, and
bought some CORN SEED. And, went home, and planted it in
your garden.

You wouldnt have to worry that: That seed wouldnt know

what to do, once it was planted!
(That little seed, isnt going to get in the ground, scratch its
little seed-head, and say, Whatd they put me in here for? It
sure is dark!.)
No! That seed knows exactly what to do! AND IT GOES
RIGHT TO IT!
So... ITS THE NATURE OF A SEED TO PRODUCE... BUT IT
WILL ALWAYS PRODUCE AFTER ITS OWN KIND.

Theres NEVER going to be a time, when you plant CORN in

your garden, and reap CARROTS.
(Or, you plant carrots, and reap BEANS!)
No. Everything produces after its own kind!
agree?)

(Everybody

Now, lets take that SAME PRINCIPLE, and apply it to the

Word.
Suppose you want a Healing for your body. Where do you go?
You go to the HEALING SCRIPTURES! Thats HEALING
SEED!
(Change forever: WAY YOU LOOK AT YOUR BIBLE!
This is not a Book! Its a seed bag!)

HEALING
SEEDS)

SEEDS,

PROSPERITY

SEEDS,

WISDOM

Now, remember I said some people say, I know God heals, I just
cant figure out how to get Him to do it!
The truth is: Hes already done it!
2 Peter 1:3-4 According as his divine power hath given ...
(Past, present, future)
... HAS ALREADY GIVEN US EVERYTHING THAT
PERTAINS UNTO LIFE
Does Healing pertain unto life? Good marriage? Money?
(Hes already given you those things but Hes given them to
you in seed form (v. 4)

Now, just like that CORN SEED has WITHIN ITSELF the
power to produce more corn...
The HEALING SCRIPTURES in the Bible, have WITHIN
THEMSELVES the POWER to produce a HEALING in your
body. See...

Luke 1:37 - (Amplified) - says: No word of God is void of

power.
(The word void means empty. So, lets read it that way: No
word of God is EMPTY, or WITHOUT POWER!)
See, what God has done is: Hes taken His Word, and FILLED
IT with His power!
Hes taken the SALVATION SCRIPTURES, and filled them
with the POWER TO SAVE!
(Healing, Prosperity, Wisdom)
So, where do you go to GET A HEALING? You go to the
HEALING SEED!

THINK: YOU HOLD IN YOUR LAP THE POWER TO GET

WANT YOU NEED FROM GOD!

ILLUSTRATION: What would you think of a guy who owned a

seed store, and sat around crying because he had no corn?
(Whats the matter?) I want some tomatoes! Look at me
look at the store Isnt this your store? PLANT SOME!
(Brings me to the second point)

(B) IN ORDER FOR A SEED TO PRODUCE ANYTHING,

IT HAS TO BE PLANTED!

Now, thats obvious to us, in the natural! But, how many of us

MISS IT, in the Spiritual!
(Natural Illustration: Wouldnt set it on your bedtable!)

Verse 26 - So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man should take the

SEED of Gods Word, and plant it in the ground.

Now, whats the ground that we PLANT the seed into?

THE HUMAN HEART. (v. 15 Satan cometh immediately ...)
So, we could read Verse 26, this way: So is the kingdom of God,
as if a man should TAKE THE WORD, and PUT IT IN HIS
HEART... Thats where your healing BEGINS!

(C) A SEED, WHEN IT IS PLANTED, WILL GROW!

(Theres a GROWING TIME, in the LIFE OF A SEED!)

Lets go back to our natural illustration, for a moment.

You never go out, in your garden, plant a corn seed one day, and
harvest a CORN CROP, the next. (Do you?)

No. It takes TIME to GROW! (The same thing is TRUE with

the Word!) - (v. 26b)
And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast
seed into the ground;
27

And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should
spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

See, theres a GROWING TIME, with the Word, after youve

PUT IT IN YOUR HEART!
Theres a time where that seed MATURES, and grows
inside you!

WANT A HEALING? WHAT DO YOU DO? Put HEALING

WORD in Put in!
WHEN THE WORD ON THE INSIDE, GETS STRONGER
THAN THE SICKNESS ON THE OUTSIDE, THE
SICKNESS WILL DROP OFF!

All right. Lets take the next step. (Heres where the success
and the failure of the GROUND comes in!)

When we opened this, we saw that:

ground. (3 bad! And, 1 good!)

There were 4 kinds of

What made them differ?

They all heard the Word! And, when it came down to it
MOST OF THEM RECEIVED IT?

So, what made the difference? Why didnt the first 3 kinds of
Ground produce?
The first 3, HEARD THE WORD, and then, for some reason,
LOST IT!
Satan got the Word out of their heart! And, without the Seed
planted, THERE CAN BE NO HARVEST!
The 1st 3 kinds of ground produced NOTHING. Because, they
LOST THE WORD!

Now, they all fell for different things!

(Satan has 5 different things, hell use to get the Word out of
your heart!) And, it doesnt matter to HIM, which one you fall

for! As long as he can get the Word out of your heart! (Thats
what hes after!)
So, the BAD GROUND WAS BAD, because they lost the Word!
(Okay, lets look at the different kinds of ground.)

1.) BY THE WAYSIDE - MATTHEW 13:19

When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and
understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and
catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which
received seed by the way side.
If Im preaching, and you (for some reason) dont understand it,
Satan will walk by, and go: Thank you!

SO WHAT`S MY JOB?
(Wow, is he ever deep! Didnt understand hardly any of that!)

2.) STONY GROUND v. 16-17

And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who,
when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with
gladness;
And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time:
afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's
sake, immediately they are offended.

They RECEIVED the Word, with GLADNESS. (Happy!)

But, they have no revelation for themselves! (Just believe it, b/c
the preacher said it!)
So, along comes the devil with the first 2 things: AFFLICTION
& PERSECUTION.

a.) Affliction: Circumstances that arise that try to make it

seem like the Words not true!

b.) Persecution: Hostile opposition of people!

really hanging out with that bunch?)

(Youre not

These are designed to get you to say, The Words NOT

TRUE!
Or: Its NOT WORTH IT!
(If he cant get you to deny the truth of the Word then hell
try to get you too busy for the Word!)

(3) THORNY GROUND v. 18-19

And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the
word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it
becometh unfruitful
CARES OF THIS WORLD: Responsibilities too busy for the
Word. Worries!
DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES: Not riches themselves! (Gods
rich, doesnt allow Himself to be deceived!)
LUSTS OF OTHER THINGS: Other things more important!

Thats ALL Satans got!

If you plant Word Dont fall! WORK!
(What if its not Gods WILL?) 2 Cor. 1:20
For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us.

(4) GOOD GROUND

Those on the good ground are those who in an honest and good
heart, having heard the word PROTECT it

(Another translation: They seize the Word, and hold on no

matter what!)
If youll do whats necessary to NOT LET SATAN OFFEND
YOU, and BREAK YOUR FOCUS, then HARVEST IS SURE!

WHY DIFF. LEVELS OF PRODUCTION? (30, 60, 100) THE

LAW OF INCREASE (Mk.

4:24 Amplified).

And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing.

The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you
hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes
back to you..

A REAL LIFE EXAMPLE - Verse 30 - many such parables.

30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or
with what comparison shall we compare it?
31

It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the

earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:

Youll see this sometimes as a pastor.

Some one comes in: Just got back from the doctor.
Horrible Report. (3 months to live.)

As a Pastor: I do the only thing I CAN do. (Scripture.)

(Dont say it outloud: Look at You: I tell you Im dying and
you give me A VERSE?
Whats A VERSE going to do?

Looks so small beside that MOUNTAIN of sickness.

And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or

with what comparison shall we compare it?

31

It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the

earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:

32

But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater

And when the WORD on the INSIDE gets STRONGER than

the SICKNESS on the outside, the sickness will drop off.

33

And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as
they were able to hear it.
34

But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they
were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

PREACHED ALL DAY:

Told the Parable
Explained
Told Many Parables
Expounded ALL THINGS

35

And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them,
Let us pass over unto the other side. (THAT WAS THE WORD
OF GOD!)

36

And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even
as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little
ships.
37

And there arose a great storm of wind, (AFFLICTION

FOR THE WORD`S SAKE) and the waves beat into the ship, so
that it was now full.
38

And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and
they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we
perish?

He`s Just Preached: ALL DAY. (CARES OF THE WORLD

choke

Dont

you care?

39

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,
Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40

And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye

have no faith?

WHY COULD HE EXPECT: Theyd heard the Word but they

let the cares of this world CHOKE UNFRUITFUL!

41

And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What

manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?