I would be remiss if I did not say welcome to all our visitors. I see quite a few of you. Welcome. I want to say to my wife. Oh, I know, I know. Thank you for hanging with me. Thank you for sticking by me. Thank you for hooking up wires and everything else you do. This woman can do anything. Thank you to my family, my children. Yes, you. Thank you for being patient with Daddy. I know Daddy's been away working hard, but thank you for understanding. I got you. Thank you, Miss B. for helping with the family and helping my wife teaching our children. You ready? Luke, the 11th chapter, 11 through 13. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, Will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then being evil, hmm, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask it? I wanna speak to you again and again from the last sermon title. This is part two, Praying to God the Father, part two, amen? The second half of the series. Let me give you a brief review. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. So Jesus told them how to pray, but he gave them what we know is called the Lord's Prayer, amen? Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. May your name be reverenced as holy. I'm praying that everyone that speaks your name or even thinks of God will not think of him in a casual way. Amen? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I agree with God that everyone must do the will of God. Amen, when we pray that, we're praying that everyone must do the will of God. We're praying that everyone who is created, everything that's created must do the will of God. The angels bow down before God. They see him on his throne. They have an understanding that we don't have. They understand that it's best to just do what God says. Amen? They can see God. We cannot, but the angels know better. Thy will be done, amen? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. But then, as I pointed out last Sunday, it spoke of, Jesus said, give us this day our daily bread, which means that we can ask God for what we need, amen? Jesus wants us to ask God for what we need, amen? This prayer that God gave them is basically a foundational prayer, amen? It's a good biblical start, but Jesus knew that he not only needed to give them the right words to pray, but also help them to have the right attitude when they pray, amen? And give them the right perspective on who they were saying those words to. Amen? When you have the right perspective of God, when you know who you are to God, that changes the way you pray. Amen? That changes what you ask for. Amen? That changes how often you pray. Amen? That changes the level of intensity when you pray. Jesus said, I'm going to show you how to pray. Jesus, how should we pray? Well, it's not just the words that you pray. It's having the right perspective on who, what does he mean by our God who are in heaven? Do you know the kind of father that you have? Is your perspective right? on the father, our father who art in heaven. Do you know who you're actually talking to? When you pray, are those just mere words? Remember I told you last Sunday, it could just be routine, something we say, but it's a real heart understanding of who we're dealing with. When we say our father, do we have the right perspective on who he is? Amen? So Jesus knew that he needed to help them with that, just like he needs to help us with that. So he told them a story, remember? And I preached it all last Sunday. I don't have time to go through it. all today. You can listen online, or you can check the radio station, KDYA 1190 AM on Sunday mornings, or you can get the CD in the back. We'll have a media center back there in just a minute. We'll be just throwing CDs to you. Okay? All right. All right. But the story was basically, it went like this. Help me Holy Spirit. You have a need. And your need causes you to have to go to your neighbor's house. Because you need some bread. You ran out of bread and you've got guests that have showed up at what time? 12 midnight. Amen? And you don't have what you need to give them. You don't have any bread. You can't serve them because they served, they showed up at 12 midnight. And so you then go to your neighbor's house because there's no Walmart, there's no 7-Eleven, there's no convenience store. These are biblical times. Amen? So you go to your neighbor's house at midnight and you tell him, I need you to wake up. And not only get some bread out of the cupboard, because that's sale by now. There are no storage containers. I need you to get up and make me some bread. At what time? 12 midnight. Which means he has to wake up his whole family because, again, they sleep in a one-bedroom house, one room, basically. It's one room. They're all up at the top floor of that one room. It's midnight. And so, because of the Jewish culture and what they had learned in the Old Testament and what they had to do, hospitality was the duty of the Jews. It was sacred. Okay? It was a serious thing to offer people help in their time of need. So when they showed up at 12 midnight, you had to do something. Something had to be done. So you go to your neighbor's house. But the Word of God said the door was shut. Mm-hmm. And you come to the door and the door is shut because my family is sleeping. Amen? And at this point in time, we learned that when you came to the door, that was a very bold thing to do. Amen. The story we found out that the neighbor told him, go away. Handle your own business, bro. I can't help you. OK, leave me alone. Trouble me not. Amen. I cannot get up and make you some bread. Are you out of your mind? Who would do that? Amen? And at this point in the story, we learned a very interesting word. Not opportunity, remember, but importunity. Importunity. And let's look at that real quick before we move down. Luke 11, eight through 10. Jesus says, and I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is friend, even though he will not do it because he's his friend or he's his neighbor, yet because of his or your importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needed. That word importunity means bold, shameless persistence. is to ask God for something big. Don't go ahead of me. Ask God for something big. To ask something big without any shame, without any concern for how inconvenient it may be. Amen. Bold, shameless praying. Amen. I was careful to tell you last week that when you do talk to God this way, it's not without respect. Amen. It's not disrespectful praying. We don't curse God out. We don't yell in a way to where we, you know, we have no reverence for him. I told Pastor Daniels that I preached that. He said, you're right, you're right, you're right. That is exactly the right attitude. And to warn them about reverence is good, he said to me, and I thought this was funny. He said, because if I catch somebody yelling and cursing at God, I just kind of take a step back. Whatever is about to happen to you, I don't want it to be around me. Amen? But you can still be bold. and reverent, amen? It's coming to God and saying, God, I know you hear me. I need your help. And I need your help right now. If you don't come through right now, God, I'm not gonna make it. God, I know you hear me, amen? There's nothing wrong with coming to God that way. And we went through a bunch of scripture to show that this is biblical and this is what is actually pleasing to God. He is pleased when we pray. with boldness, without shame. Amen? When we pray like we know who we are. When we pray like we know the kind of good father that we have. Amen? All right. Then Jesus says this, and I say unto you, and it shall be given you, verse nine, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen? Amen? I want you to ask yourself a question. Is that really true? Do we believe that we can ask God, that we can knock, that we can seek, and that he will answer prayer? Do we really believe that? Huh? Then Jesus says this, verse 10. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. He's reiterating. And he that seeketh, mindeth. And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. This means ask God and keep asking God. Be persistent. This means pray and don't give up. Sometimes we give up, we come into a little bit of opposition, we just, well, maybe God is not saying that. Well, maybe, I don't know. And we give up too easily. God's saying, keep praying. Be persistent, be bold, keep knocking. Lord, I know you hear me. I know you hear me. shameless, bold, persistent, consistent prayer. Amen? So then Jesus says this, just to make sure that we have an understanding of who our father really is, that we have the right perspective on his character. Verse 11, if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, Will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? Basically, will God, your heavenly father, give his children that belong to him something that will not help them? No. Will God give you something that will trick you? No. Will God give you something that will destroy you? No. No, no, once again, do you know who you're talking to? Is it just words? Do you believe that you will actually receive what God wants to, come on, come on. What will that do to your prayer life when you know that God loves you? when you know that you are a child of God? How often do we just kind of do drive-by prayers? No, no, no. Or do we sit in the presence of God and wait for Him to do something, expecting Him to do something, believing that we shall receive? Jesus ain't knock. He said, I dare you. Knock. Knock. Ask. Seek. Here's the point. If this man will give his neighbor bread because he is so shameless and persistent, amen, what will God give you because he loves you simply because of the perfection of Jesus Christ and how Jesus Christ, not me, not myself, not I, how Jesus has made me lovable, huh? Jesus died on the cross for your sins. When you believe and you turn from your sin and you trust in Jesus to save you, then you are at that point right with God, made right with God. So Jesus again, Jesus rose again and he's ever living and sitting at the right hand of the Father and guess who he's representing? Me and you. Did you get that? He dies for your sins. Clip out your whole record, rises again, goes to the right hand of the Father, showing that God is pleased with the work of salvation that Jesus Christ has done on the cross. And who is he representing? Me and you. Me and you. So, how bold will you pray? knowing that you have access to God's best. Because of what Jesus Christ has done, what will I ask God for? How do I approach God? Do I approach him like, oh, I don't want to bother you. I know it's, I don't know if you had a rough week. I don't know what you've been holding together and dealing with. I know it's been tough out there. I watch CNN, Lord. I know. I know. I just want just a few minutes of your time. I just want to, if I could sneak this prayer in and then I'll get out your way. No, no. That's the wrong attitude. That shows somebody who has no clue of who God really is and how God feels about those who he has saved and called his own. Amen? So pray like you know who you are. That's this first part. Now we are children of God. Now we are the children of God. Pray like you know who you are. Ask God to do big things. I said last week, don't ask him to do something you can do for yourself. And I say that carefully because there's not much we can do without God. But at the same time, don't ask God for the small things because you're insulting him with small prayer. Ask him for something big. Obviously, God knows how to answer prayer. Obviously. Look up. Look at the ceiling. That's nice. I'd be mad for all that. I was just like, we need some place to go. The Lord prompted me. No, no, no. What do you want? Ask me. Ask me. God answers prayer. He answers prayer. Yes, he does. So now here's where we left off. And this is where a boatload of theology comes in. You ready? Luke 11, 13. If ye, then, being evil, wow, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit, and then I'm gonna learn this, to them that ask him. What does that mean? First part, if ye then, talking about everybody but himself, being evil, not just doing evil, In a state of being, if I'm being something, I can't really stop myself from being what I'm being. It's not a occasional thing. This is a state of being. That's a hard thing he's saying for all of us who have spiritual egos. He's saying, if you being evil, Amen? Not just doing evil, but being born with a sinful nature. Huh? Know how to give good gifts unto your children. Jesus is making a comparison here. Human parents that are evil, who try to give good gifts to their children, that's one side, compared to a perfect heavenly father who gives his best to his children. Are you hearing me? People see me sometimes and they say, well, Pastor Jamie, they see me with my kids, they say, you're a good father. Man. And I would say, probably by human standards, I would say that I'm not so bad. I personally believe I still have a lot of work to do. And then there's a lot of things I still got to work on. But the deal is, I'm growing. But even though they would say I'm a good father, my point of view is, my point is this, I'm not as good as the father. You feel me? I see what you do, Patrick. I mean, you look, I mean, you're there for your children. Yeah. That doesn't mean I'm the father. Amen? So I know how to give good gifts, good gifts to my children. Amen? I still have work to do. But as a father, I'm still, as a human being, I'm still carrying around this human nature. Come on, let's be real. Let's be real. I'm still carrying around sin. I deal with sin. Even saved folks, just in case you didn't know, struggle with sin. And if you say that you're not, you're lying. And that's a sin. Pastors struggle with sin. Big time evangelists struggle with sin. Big time bishops I got 30 passes underneath, so what? You still struggle with sin. Now, here's the point. The love I have for my children, I want to say is a great love. The love that women have for their children, great love, but it's not perfect love. No, no, no, no. From time to time, my children may ask me for something. And I give it, but maybe I shouldn't. See, my love's not perfect. Mommy, I need some Nikes. You don't need Nikes. Mommy, I need some Air Jordans. You don't need Air Jordans. You want Air Jordans. You don't need them. Amen, what you need is air. You don't need Jordans. We need air. But you don't need air, Jordan. Pray to the Lord. Let's get that straight. Maybe what I gave wasn't best for them. Maybe I gave it at the wrong time. Maybe I gave it in the wrong way. Maybe I gave a certain amount, but it was the wrong amount. There's all these maybes, because I'm not the father. You understand what I'm saying? Yes. Parents, do you understand where I'm coming from? Amen. Aunties, uncles, do you understand where I'm coming from? Grandmothers? You feel me. OK. I'm not human. I mean, I'm human. I'm not God. Amen. That's the problem. I don't have all knowledge. Okay? I don't have all wisdom. I don't have all power. Because if I had those things, that would change what I do for my children. I'm going somewhere. Hang with me. God is 100% of all those things. Never lacking anything, not in small increments or a combination of a percentage. He's 100% good. He's 100% perfect. He's 100% righteous. He's 100% full of wisdom. Amen? He's got it all. All the power, all the knowledge. He knows the end. I'm from the beginning. He knows where it started, how it's going to end up. He knows all those things. He's a perfect father. We can't match that. Amen? So, I know how to give good gifts to my children with my simple nature. The question is here, what would a perfect God give? What would a perfect father give? What would be his gift? Huh? Matthew 7, I believe it's 11. Don't turn to it, trust me, it's there. It's the twin scripture here. It says that we know how to give good gifts, but the Father will give good gifts. But here, Luke records it here in the 13th verse. What does he give? God gives the gift that you need the most. The perfect gift. And the gift is not a what. The gift is a who. Who does he give? Well, how much more shall your heavenly father give? What? The Holy Spirit to them that ask. Now let's be very careful here because we've run into a little theological situation here. This doesn't mean that believers, because he's talking to his disciples, which means that this is referring to believers, amen? This doesn't mean that believers get down and foam at the mouth and roll on the floor until they get the Holy Spirit. No, no. It doesn't mean that if you're already saved that you should ask for the Holy Spirit when you already have the Holy Spirit when you get saved. Watch this. When Jesus spoke these words to the disciples, the Holy Spirit had not been given yet. Okay? We should not pray today for the Holy Spirit for those of us who are believers to be given to us as an indwelling person because he comes to indwell us at the time of our conversion. Very clear? Everybody understand? Can I move on, class? As believers, we don't pray for the Holy Spirit. Okay, however, as post-Pentecost believers, amen, it is necessary for us to pray for the Holy Spirit in other ways. So what does Jesus mean here? Well, we should pray that we would be teachable by the Holy Spirit. That we should be guided by the Holy Spirit. Wake up. that we should be empowered by the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit, watch this, that we already have. Are we listening? Amen. Is that good theology, David? Amen. It means this. We have needs, so God gives us what we need the most. And what we need the most is the Holy Spirit. He is the gift. Amen? This was always in God's plan. Let's go back. Isaiah 44 and three. Turn to it in your Bibles. When you have it, say amen. Let me just read it. Isaiah 44 and three. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy offspring. What is he talking about? Well, Ezekiel 36, 25 makes it more plain. Ezekiel 36, 25 through 28. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness. From all your idols, I will cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. Amen? Verse 27. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues. And ye shall keep my judgments and do them." Not just memorize them. Not just keep them as in know them. The Pharisees knew them and they killed Jesus. That's not the point. You will keep my judgment and you will actually do them. Think of that. Wow. Verse 28, and ye shall dwell in the land I gave your fathers and ye shall be my people and I will be Your God. New Testament, Ephesians 3, 20. Ephesians 3 and 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. So the gift from God is the Holy Spirit himself. You need comfort? He gives you the comforter. Do you need help? He gives you the helper. Amen. Do you need to know the truth? Huh? I'll send the one who will lead you and guide you into all truth. Uh-huh. You need power? For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love. Power and sound mind. Amen? Uh-huh. You need wisdom? Just ask God. He wants to give it to you. Anxiously wants to give it to you. Amen? The Holy Spirit is the gift. Who is the wisdom? Him. Who is the help? Him. Who's the comfort? Him. Who's the power? Him. Who is He? The Holy Spirit. Amen? If I need some money, God doesn't give me some cash. He gives me the bank. You understand? That's the idea. Okay? I'm not going to give you the things that come from him. I'm going to give you the one who possesses all of those things. And he lives inside of you. And the believer already has him. Stephen. What happened? Remember when he was debating against the people and they were about to stone him? His accusers could not stand up to him. Why? Because he was full of the Holy Spirit. So who was arguing? I taught you this. Not Stephen, the Holy Spirit. Now, if you're like me, you need to walk in the Spirit. You need to live in the Holy Spirit all the time. I just need him to take over. I have issues. I don't trust myself. Amen. So let's do a comparison and then we're gonna start wrapping this up. If you have the spirit, you'll live like the spirit. If you don't have the spirit, you won't. There is no gray area. Everybody understand? If you have the spirit of God, you'll live like God. If you don't, you won't. Galatians five, give me 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? This is how we know, you ready? I'm gonna briefly go through this. If you're in your flesh and you're not in your spirit, this is more than likely some of the things that you're doing, amen? Adultery. Cheating on your spouse. Trying to make somebody your spouse who ain't your spouse. Amen. Cheating on your marriage. Amen. Fornication. Having sex with people who are not your spouse. Uncleanness. That's moral evil sensuality. Amen. Lasciviousness. Shameless conduct without restraint. You're just all over the place and nobody can pull you in. Amen? Idolatry, serving fake gods, or worshiping, more specifically, the devil. Amen? Witchcraft, that's where we get our word, pharmakia. Putting spells on people, being under a spell, putting something in somebody's drink. Drugs, that's where we get that from. Being on drugs, getting somebody else on drugs, you laid out, they laid out. All right, hatred, having strong feelings of malice towards people. I just can't stand you. Variance, discord, and quarreling. Always got to have the word, the last word. I got to say what's last. I can't let it go. I'll quarrel with you all the time. Emulations, that's jealousy. Wrath, outburst of anger. Your anger is not under management. You need management for your anger. Your anger needs to sign a contract and be put in check. Amen? You need a manager. Strife. Selfish ambition. I got to be number one. I'm always thinking about how I'm going to get over. How can I be the best? How can everybody knows me? How can I be on the top? I will do whatever I can to get on the top and I don't care who I affect or who it hurts. I'm selfishly thinking about myself all the time. What I'm going to do, what I'm going to be. I can't think of anybody else. I can't help anybody else. Why? Because I'm always thinking about me. Selfish ambition. Sedition. This is very popular nowadays. Separations caused by disagreements that have nothing to do with biblical separation. I leave my church because of my preferences. Ain't got nothing to do with the Bible, what is it? I just don't like how they do this, that, and the other, and I'm going to separate. Seditions, amen? Not because of compromises in the Word, I just have preferences. That irritates me. Amen? Heresies. You make up stuff about God and you teach others the same thing. You make up lies and then you form groups. Huh? And you teach those people those lies. Heresies. Huh? Some of these newer churches nowadays, they don't know what they're doing. Stuff is not in the Bible. It's not the truth. It's lies. Amen? Endings. Okay? I can't stand to see God bless somebody else. Amen? Murders, killing folks, drug wars, turf wars. We see it all through Oakland. You know, shot somebody because they walked down the wrong street. Crazy. Drunkenness. We know what that is. Intoxicated by drink. The toxic version of yourself is always on display. We always see you. You got something in your hand. You're always drinking. You're showing your toxic self. Isn't that an interesting word? I had to look this one up. Revelings. Revelings are riotous gatherings for entertainment purposes, accompanied by drunkenness. And you're laughing, but you've been there. I didn't know that the club was in the Bible, but that's what it is. I gathered with my friends, and we're going, yeah, I'm going, girl. You going? I'm going, girl. Yeah, we're going. And what are we going to do? We're going to get there. We're going to turn the music up, and we're going, hey! Hey! And there's about 20 of us in there, surrounded by hundreds more. It's called reveling. That's the club. Wow, Kim. Yeah, it's in the Bible. Nothing new. Nothing new. So he says, in all such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now for the opposite. You ready? But the fruit of spirit is love. God is love. I'm trying to be like God. Whatever God is trying to do, however God expresses himself, that's what I want to be. For further understanding of that, go to 1 Corinthians 13. You'll see the whole breakdown of that. Love. Joy. I'm content with what God has decided. I'm not mad about what he's decided. I'm content with what God decided. That means that my emotions are all over the place because I have joy. Amen? Peace. I'm at peace with God. I'm at peace with the real Christians who are of God, but I'm not at peace with everything and everybody. That's a real clear understanding of peace. Amen? Long-suffering. Patience with unfavorable circumstances and patience with unfavorable people. You might know them. People that take patience. Amen? Gentleness, kindness towards others. Goodness, I'm available to do something good for you and not just myself. Faith, I trust in God to do what he promised, and I'm also a person where you can trust me to do what I promise. Faithfulness, meekness, power under control. And I taught about this. I could cut you, but I'm not going to cut you. I can cut you real good, but I'm not going to cut you. Amen? I don't have to go around showing or proving how powerful I am. I have meekness. I have power under control. Now, meekness, as I taught you, has two sides. I'm zealous for the things of God, but I don't have to defend myself. You hear that? Huh? Jesus obviously showed that, didn't he? On that cross, they're spitting in his face, calling him everything but who he is. And he's sitting there when he could have called an angel and wiped out a third of the earth. And he's just sitting there. He's not defending himself. I could, but I'm not going to. That's power. That's power under control. Can I keep going? And then temperance, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and the lusts. So if we live in the spirit, let us walk in the spirit. So when we receive God, we receive his spirits. And if you want to know whether or not you have God, then check what you're doing. Amen? If you're a believer, you already have the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Father's gift. That is his response. You ask God for something, God gives you what you need most. What do we need the most? The Holy Spirit. Now, if you're a believer, you already have him. So what does that mean? That means the things of the spirit. That means the character of the spirit, the responses of the spirit, the mindset of the spirit, the perspective of the spirit, the patience of the spirit. You understand what I'm saying? Huh? All right. Now, give me John 4 10. Remember this, the woman at the well, remember her? She came to get the water from the well. Jesus was there and he was asking for a drink. John 14 says this, Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it was that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked me of him, or asked of him rather, and he would give thee or have given thee living water. What are you talking about? The woman just wanted some natural water. Just like the neighbor just wanted some bread. Just like most of us who want Jesus to fix our immediate problem. Just pay my bills, God. Just get me some chicken every now and then. I need a wife, I need a husband. Get me out of this mess now that I've gotten the wife and the husband. I need a job. Jesus, my children are acting up. Lord, I need three loaves of bread. Or just like the woman at the well. I just need some water. Jesus, give me some water. You ask God for what you need right now. Isn't that what we do? But God said, and there's nothing wrong with that. But God says, I'm going to give you what you need best. Are you listening? God is offering to give you what we need the most in our lives and what we will need for the rest of our lives. And what is that? Himself. Himself. The Holy Spirit. The answer to all of our prayers is the Holy Spirit living and ruling and reigning inside of us. How much more will the Father give, not the stuff, but the Holy Spirit. Amen? Hang with me. When you have a house and you have a house with a sink and the sink is where the water comes out, right? If you need the water, you go to the sink and what do you do? You turn it on. All right? You turn on the water. The water is already there. You don't see the water until you first turn it on. Okay? If you want to drink the water, you need to wash something, you first have to turn it on. Amen? Because the water, as I said, is already there. It's a wonderful convenience that we have now. We don't have to go get the water. Amen? The water is already in the pipes. All we have to do is turn on the water. You don't need to go to the well first to get the water. The water's already there. You just turn on. Same thing with whatever you need from the Lord. He's given us the Holy Spirit. He lives inside of us. Amen? So if I need comfort, I just turn on the comfort. Y'all see, you don't believe me. You don't believe me. You don't believe me. I need help. What do I do? I turn on. How do I turn on? Father, in the name of Jesus, I need help right now, God. I need comfort right now. What do I do to turn on? I get on my knees, and I pray to God, and what is already there, the Holy Spirit, I just turn it on. Help is on the way. Why? Because you already have the Holy Spirit. You already have it. You already have it. You already have it. You already have it. Why? He is the Holy Spirit. Help is on the way. Why? He is the helper. I give much more. How much more will the Father give? The Holy Spirit. Jesus said, if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it was that saith to thee, give me to drink. The woman is having a conversation with God and doesn't even know it. The one who came up with the concept of water. is having a conversation with the woman. And she's suddenly trying to get some water. And Jesus is saying, I made up water. That's who he is. Thou wouldest have asked me. Thou wouldest have asked me. If you knew who you were talking to, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water. But did you notice that Jesus said, ask? Did you notice he said ask? He's expecting you to ask. Jesus is already known knowing who's going to get saved. Huh? Plan for the beginning of time. He already know. Predestined. That's what we believe, right? And yet he says ask for forgiveness. Yet he says, come to me. I won't cast you out. Come to me. He already knows. Yet he's saying, I want you to ask. Isn't that interesting? What are you going, pastor? Everything that I've needed and everything I've been delivered from, God has caused me to pray for it first. When I'm about to do something that I should not do, When I'm about to say something that I should not say, the Holy Spirit prompts me to pray. And suddenly, the helper, because he's already in the pipes, the key is I turn him on through my prayer. Amen? Suddenly, the helper, who I already have, takes over the situation. And what could have been a disaster, if I stayed in control, is now a completely different situation because the Holy Spirit is in control. Why? Because I'm under his control. Do you see what's happening? But I had to pray. So recently I changed my diet. And it wasn't about eating healthy. No, that wasn't the reason why I did it. The reason why I did it was because of self-control. I would see a cheeseburger and just bow down and worship. Just snicker bars and chips, Fritos, fries, cheese. Can I have more cheese than the cheese you put on it? I just want to be clogged. And I'd see it, and I'd ask for it, and I'd ask for some more on the side. And I just want more stuff. I couldn't say no. My wife is cooking dinner. I have a long drive. I know she's been in the kitchen. And Jack in the Box is two blocks away from the house. I just need, if I could just get one curly fry, just one. Just give me the small pack. What's happening? It wasn't about being healthy. I realized I had a problem. Yes, Pastor Jamie had a problem. He said, Pastor, you don't look like you're big. Doesn't mean I was healthy. But more importantly, the issue is this. I couldn't say no. I couldn't say no. I was being defeated by fried chicken. Smothered chicken. Smother, smother. You don't have enough smother for that smother. Don't be stingy with it, come on with it. Smother. This is uncomfortable for some of you, I see. What happened? The Holy Spirit. But what did I do? He led me to pray. God, I'm going to kill myself if I don't cut this out. I could preach about everything and having deliverance over everything else. And here I am struggling with my plate. I'm going to go to hell over a plate. Come on, this is ridiculous. Help me, Jesus. I don't want to kill myself here. I'll be unhealthy. That's not good. I'm tearing myself. I don't have any energy for my children. It was getting bad. I want to do big things for God, but I can't say no to chicken. That didn't make any sense. What was happening? God told me to pray about it? I realized that what was happening is he was prompting me to pray. My appetite just happened to be the next thing on his list. God's taking territory. Amen? But God made me pray for it first. And my consistent deliverance still depends on me praying. There's a jack-in-the-box right there on the street. I pass that thing every single day. I got to pray. Now, this may be funny to some of you, but this is real media. All right? So I got to pray. My consistent deliverance depends on me praying. He makes a way of escape. I don't know how he does it, but now I have the power to say no. Not one to him that is able to keep you from falling. and it presents you full of everything that I've been delivered from, God made me pray for it first. The answer to my prayer is the Holy Spirit that he has given me. He is the gift. Whatever I need, the Spirit has. Every believer already has it. And he prompts the children of God to open up their mouth and pray for deliverance. Almost done. Have you ever been angry? When you feel that heat rising up and there's a surge of energy bubbling inside of you, even in that moment, the Holy Spirit can intervene. But first, he prompts you to pray. Lord, I need you. Yes. If you don't help me right now, there will be an ambulance outside the church and it won't be for me. Through your prayer, you have access to him. He has access to you. When you're struggling with lust, when you're struggling with anger, when you're struggling with issues, you don't have time to get up and go to the well. You better have that pipeline in you right then and there. I need the water of the Holy Spirit. I need to be able to turn that on right now. I don't have time to get up and do a lot of things. A lot of bad things can happen by the time I have to get up and go to the well. Huh? So here's the question. If you're smart, you'll pray without ceasing. If you're smart, you'll be in constant communication with God, constantly aware of His presence, constantly aware of, okay, is this going to please you? Is this going to please you? What's going to please you? Is it easy for me to constantly pray for money, constantly pray for cars, constantly pray for houses, but will you constantly pray when you're on your date? This church is too big. I had a good time tonight. How about you? Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? In that moment, in that moment, will you pray? In that moment, right? See, you don't have time, Irma, to go to the well. You better have some Holy Ghost in you right then and there. You better have some Word in you right then and there. You see, a lot of folks took it for granted and went to the well instead of just praying. Now you got kids. Girl, I didn't know you was pregnant. Here's Johnny. What happened? Why are you looking confused? able to say, right there and there. I have him. I have the Holy Spirit right there and there. I can call on him right there and there. He will make a way of escape. Brother, you need to take me home right now. What's your name? What's your name? God. OK. You need to take me home right now. I have the Holy Spirit within me. I have access to the Holy Spirit. I know a lot of people who've died, who've made mistakes, completely blown it, messed up their whole lives. Because number one, they did not know who they had. They did not know they had access to him. They did not know that he is the perfect gift. They did not know that they have access to his power. When you need it most, I lost a whole generation of my friends because they did not believe the word of God. They did not do the word of God. They believed in a bunch of seditions and heresies. They did not take God at his word, and they lost their lives at the age of 30. A whole generation, I came back home, I couldn't believe everybody was gone. What happened? They didn't believe God. And some of them, I wonder if they're saying, I can't go that far, but I wonder. But this is the issue. Whatever happened, they didn't pray and turn on that water. No, there's a difference. Amen. Amen. 1 Corinthians 3.16, know ye not that ye are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Romans 8.26, likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. So don't be afraid to ask people, huh? And don't worry about being bold when you ask. The Holy Spirit can take your crazy prayer if it's crazy and shift it. because God is only going to give you what is best. Amen. And as believers, we already have who is best. I'm in here. John 7, 37, 39. John 7, 37, 39. In the last day, That great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. The pipeline is already in you. when you believe you receive the Holy Spirit. But watch this, verse 39. But this he spake, or spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. But the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. But now Jesus is glorified. Amen? He's on the throne. Amen? So here's a question. Do you believe? Really? Do you have the Holy Spirit? Who's stopping you from being you? Are you being led by the Spirit? Are you being led by the Spirit? Even if you get everything you're asking for, after you get whatever represents your three loaves that you feel that you've got to have most immediately, do you have the spirit? Have you repented of your sins? Have you trusted in Christ? Do you know Jesus? Does he know you? Do you think you can navigate this world on your own without any help from the Holy Spirit. Have you been living that way? Huh? Do you have God's best? Even if you get everything you want. One of the scariest things I've seen happen to people is when they get some money. Very scary thing happens is I lived on the road with people for over 12 years that lots of money and I got a bird's eye view of what I thought I wanted to be. Until I saw the end of what was happening and where it all came to and how they live it, how they just could not stop. They had a huge hole in themselves. They're stars now. They're big time now. Everybody knows their name. They can afford to get anything that they want. And they were stuck. They found themselves doing it over, and over, and over, and over again, until eventually they got to the point to where now they don't have any money. Got used up by the devil. Chasing after him instead of chasing God. And there's nothing wrong with having some money. The question is, are you still going to be you with money? Do you have the Holy Spirit? What's going to happen to you if you get everything you want, but you still don't have God's best? My God. My God, you don't want that. 13 again. Luke 11.13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Not asking for Him if you're a believer. Definitely asking for Him if you're not. For those of us who already have the Holy Spirit, ask Him for His thoughts. I will give you the desires of your life. I give you what you should desire. Amen. Because other than that, I'll come up with what I think I should do. And some of that stuff will destroy me. So what I need most, He is the Holy Spirit. He is the gift. Amen.