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Watch 2024-2025 online sermons » Joseph Prince » Joseph Prince - The Key to Praying Bold Prayers

Joseph Prince - The Key to Praying Bold Prayers


Joseph Prince - The Key to Praying Bold Prayers
TOPICS: Prayer, Boldness

There’s a woman of Canaan… say Canaan. Jesus went up to the north, near the sea coast, near the Lebanon area, where Tyre and Sidon was. The Bible says Jesus went to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon are two very famous cities, and a woman from that area, she was a Canaanite, a non-Jew. Not just a non-Jew, a Canaanite is under the ban of a curse. Noah cursed Canaan specifically. Noah, when realizing that Canaan uncovered his nakedness, he cursed Canaan and said, «Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be».

And Israel was called to execute judgment on the Canaanites. The Canaanites were introducing them to all kinds of idolatries and all kinds of perversions and abominations, and God commanded the Israelites in the Old Testament to judge the Canaanites. Now, the thing is this. This is a Canaanite woman, and she came to Jesus. And the Bible says this, that she said, «Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me, for my daughter is severely demonized». The word «severely» is there. She says «greatly» in the King James. Your New King James is «severely tormented by a demon». So she has a daughter that’s demon-possessed, and she came to Jesus and says, «Son of David, Lord, Son of David»!

Now, she’s coming on pretense that she’s a Jew. She’s not a Jew, she’s a Canaanite, but she knew that the phrase, «Son of David,» can only be used by the Jews. Now, understand this. God’s salvation plan is for the whole world, «For God so loved the world,» not just the nation of Israel, «that God gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life». But God must first keep his promises to all the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to all the promises he made to the nation of Israel. So, when he sent Jesus Christ, he sent Jesus to Israel to fulfill the promises made to the fathers, amen.

So when Jesus came, before he died on the cross, his salvation was only for the nation of Israel. And all the miracles he did was specifically, mainly, for Israel, but there were Gentiles who got healed and received, and we will show you why. It was not their time. This Canaanite woman came to Jesus pretending to be a Jew, and she said, «Lord, Son of David». Son of David is a phrase used by the Jew on their Messiah. Now, for us, we got saved receiving Jesus, believing in him as Savior, but the Jew gets saved in believing him as the Messiah, the Son of David. Are you with me so far?

By the way, that’s why we only have… out of four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we only have two Gospels that talk about his genealogy, all right? Matthew and Luke. Matthew emphasizes Jesus’s kingship as a Jew, the King of the Jews, amen? Whereas Luke’s Gospel proclaims Jesus as the perfect man, the Son of Man. His manhood is called upon. And that’s why in Luke, his genealogy is traced all the way to Adam, the first man. Whereas, in Matthew, the gospel, the genealogy of Jesus in chapter 1 is traced all the way to, chapter 1 of Matthew, verse 1, «The generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham». But again, the chronology is not right, right? David came after Abraham, not Abraham after David, and yet it says, «The Son of David, the Son of Abraham».

Why David came first? Because David was God’s appointed king, and from David’s line will come Jesus Christ. And the Gospel of Matthew is about Jesus as King of the Jews, so it’s about the Son of David, Son of Abraham. He is a King, and he is a Jew from the line of Abraham, ooh! Okay, never mind, let’s go on. All right, so here we have a situation. The woman came, pretending that she is a Jew, calling him by the Jewish title, «Son of David, have mercy on me». God cannot bless you on a pretense. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, he bears witness with the truth.

So the Bible says, «The Lord answered her not a word,» not a word! And she came after the Lord, and his disciples says, «Lord, please send her away, she’s troubling us». And she kept on telling the Lord, «Son of David, Son of David,» and then the Lord said this. «I’m not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel». You heard that? «I’m not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,» because at that point in time, in his earthly walk, he came for Israel. If only Israel had believed, all Israel would be saved and Jesus would be ruling in Jerusalem today, mmm? And Jerusalem is becoming a hot topic again, because when Jesus comes back, his Millennial Rule, after the Rapture there’ll be seven years of tribulation on earth, and then he’ll come back to rule, and where he’s going to rule from? Jerusalem.

So the woman is pretending, and she came after and just, you know, keep on, you know, pursuing Jesus. And disciples, «Send her away,» and the Lord says, «I’m not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel». The Lord showed me this. If he answered a word to her, you know what it will be? A rebuke. Because a Canaanite, based on her own title, she has no title to the Lord, so the only thing the Lord can say to her is what? Condemnation and rebuke. It was the mercy of the Lord he didn’t say a word. Love the Lord. Then he says, «I’m not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,» now she’s changed. She dropped the Son of David, she’s desperate. She dropped the Son of David, she stopped pretending and says, «Lord»!

Now, everyone can claim him as Lord. She dropped the Son of David, «Lord, please help me,» and the Lord turned to her. It wasn’t time to help the Gentiles, it wasn’t the Gentiles’s time, but the Lord gave her a loophole. The Lord says, «It’s not right to take the children’s bread». Now, I’m going to tell you something, okay? If you lived during the time of Jesus, and in the Old Testament, you know what the Jews called us… call us? Dogs, what a compliment. We all, Jews called us dogs, okay? Gentiles are known as dogs. But Jesus, this is what Jesus said to her, now, Jesus turned to her and said, «It’s not right to take the children’s bread,» Israel’s bread, «and to give it to the puppies».

Literally, it’s not «dogs» in your Bible. King James says «dogs,» New King James says «little dogs». It’s the diminutive term of the word «dog,» which is a puppy. «It’s not right», Jesus gave her a picture, a domestic picture, to help her. «It’s not right to take Israel’s bread, the children’s bread, and to give it to puppies». You see how humble did she want to get? Because right now, she has no title to him, so she dropped her position, her pretend position as a Jew, and then she went lower and says, «Lord, help me». Then she went lower and says, «Yes, I agree, I’ll take my place as a puppy, but even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table».

Then Jesus turned around to her, «Woman, great is your faith. For this saying, go your way, the devil has gone out of your daughter,» amen. She went back and found her daughter lying completely well, peaceful, the demon is out. So what happened here? Jesus gave her a loophole, all right? But she says, «Yes, I’m willing to take my place. I’m willing to be real, I’m willing to take my place,» and the Lord says, «That’s it, you got it». You see, in essence, he’s telling his disciples, «Look, I cannot bless her», when he didn’t say a word and they said, «Send her away, send her away,» the Lord is saying, this is what the Lord showed me, he’s in essence telling them, the disciples, «I cannot bless her on a pretense, but neither can I send her away without a blessing,» so he gave her a loophole.

What I’m saying, church, is this. We cannot pretend to be what we are not, that’s hypocrisy. Can you understand that? Look up here. When you are a sinner, don’t pretend to be righteous. We tell you, Jesus died for sinners. «Oh, that’s not me». Hey, bro, the Lord loves you, amen, he died for your sins. «Well, I didn’t sin much, lah». Well, you broke all the Ten Commandments. «No, I didn’t». Well, you have committed adultery. «No, I’ve never slept with any woman except my wife». Well, have you ever lusted for a woman? «Don’t talk about that». Well, according to Jesus, that’s adultery, amen. «I’ve never committed murder».

Well, have you ever hated someone in your heart? Or you wish the guy who cut in front of you will perish somewhere, hit a tree or something like that? Well, according to Jesus, that’s murder. «Well, don’t talk about that, Pastor». No, actually, all of us are great sinners, we all broke the Ten. I said we all broke the Ten. God never gave the law to justify men by. God gave the law, but by the law is the knowledge of sin, not holiness. Are you listening, people? By the law is the knowledge of sin. It’s sad when you see people taking verses out of its context and saying that, you know, Jesus taught us that you must love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength.

Actually, Jesus did not teach that, Jesus answered with that. A question was asked Jesus by one of the lawyer of the Pharisees, asking Jesus, «Which is the greatest of all the commandments»? Then Jesus says, «Hear, O Israel,» that’s how it starts, the greatest commandment, «The Lord your God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This is the greatest commandment, upon this hang all the Law and the Prophets». And the lawyer says, «Well, you’ve answered, Lord, correctly, it’s the greatest commandment».

And then Jesus starts sharing about the good Samaritan. The guy can hardly love his neighbor. Watch this now, watch this. Jesus is not telling us, «Try to keep this». He knows man cannot. This is the greatest of all the law, this is the greatest of all the commandments, and the law is given to show man up, to show men’s sin. So for 1,500 years, under the law, can anyone love God with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind, all his strength? Even the man after God’s own heart, David, failed. So after 1,500 years, God says, «Enough»!

Now, God sent his Son and his Son loved us with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind, all his strength, and gave his life for us, and now we love because he first loved us. So God gave us preachers and teachers, ministers in the pulpit that will open up the love of God to the people, not preaching the law, saying, «You gotta love God, you gotta love God,» but declaring the love of God, unveiling the love of God, and proclaiming the beauties and the glories and the excellencies of our Lord Jesus Christ. That takes the Holy Spirit. To teach do good, get good, do bad, get bad doesn’t take the Holy Spirit, it’s easy to preach that. It takes the Holy Spirit, takes the anointing of God to proclaim the loveliness of Jesus, to elucidate on the grace of God and the love of God, mmh, amen?

So when you condemn yourself… now, this was before you were saved, right? If you’re a sinner, come clean, say, «I’m a sinner,» it’s no problem for Jesus. In fact, you qualify for the Savior, right? Now you are saved, now watch this. This is not a time to look at your phone, you must see, I’ve moved. Now we are saved. Okay, one more time, okay? Okay, this is not move, this is pivoting on the same location. Okay, move, move, okay? So now you are saved by the blood of Jesus. Are you saved? Everyone who is saved, shout, hallelujah! Say, glory to God!

Now that you are saved, what are you? You are now the righteousness of God in Christ, right? Now what’s an abomination now? For you to condemn the righteous, even as self-condemnation. Are you listening? To come to God and say, «God, I don’t ask much, but I have this pain, Lord, it’s been bothering me, Lord. But Lord, if it just please you, Lord, to let a little crumb fall from your table, I’ll take the place of a puppy. No, worse than that, Lord, I’ll take the place of a centipede». And you think you’re being humble, that’s an abomination to the Lord. Are you listening?

You see, today the way we pray is different from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, they prayed to God like the guy who came to God and said, «God, be merciful to me, the sinner». Jesus talked about two persons, one was a Pharisee and one was a tax collector. They both came to God, all right? And they came to the temple, and the tax collector even refused to look up. He says, «Oh God,» notice, «God»? He called God, God. «God, be merciful to me, the sinner». And then these guys, the Bible says, I like it, «He prayed within himself,» like praying to himself, «God, I thank you I’m not like this sinner. I fast twice a week, you know, I do this, I do that,» and the Bible says that this man, the first man, went down to his house justified. But yet, it’s an Old Testament prayer.

Today we don’t say, «Oh God,» today we say, «Father». Today we have a spirit of sonship. Under the Old Testament, they have a spirit of bondage. We have a different spirit, amen, we say, «Father». You know what it means to pray in Jesus’s name? Jesus says, «Up till now you have asked nothing in my name». Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, what does Jesus mean in the Upper Room, when Jesus says, «Up till now you have asked nothing in my name»? Maybe the disciples were praying the Lord’s Prayer every day since then, but yet the Lord’s Prayer, wonderful as it is in its setting, in its time, Jesus himself said at the Upper Room, «Up till now you have asked nothing in my name».

So obviously, the Lord’s Prayer is not asking in his name. «Up till now you have asked nothing in my name,» so all the prayers of the Old Testament is not praying in Jesus’s name. There’s a new kind of prayer that’s coming, that he says, «Up till now you have asked nothing in my name». What is asking in someone’s name? What is doing business in someone’s name? That means you are his representative, right? In other words, when you pray, you must know that you have the same standing as Jesus before the Father. Not only that, you are loved the same as Jesus is loved. The Bible doesn’t say any lesser, you are loved the same way Jesus is loved.

John 17, «That thou has loved them even as thou has loved me,» Jesus said. Not only that, you must know you are accepted before the Father with the same acceptance Jesus is accepted, now you are in his name. That’s how you pray. Praying in Jesus’s name is not just punctuating your prayer with «in Jesus’s name,» it is knowing that you are in this place today, knowing God is your Father, it’s a family place. Now, the children’s bread, you are entitled to it, you can eat the children’s bread.

So the challenge we have, when people start, you know, not understanding this, they are saying, «Pastor Prince, you are saying that people have no more sin». No, I didn’t say that. We are not perfect, we are not perfect, there is still a stage of growth. We need to grow, yeah, we need to grow, we need to learn the things of God. We need to know how to conduct our marriages, you know, we need to conduct, we need to know how to, you know, walk the way God wants us to walk. Yes, there’s a growth, but the moment you are saved, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. That is a given, it’s never taken away. And for you to speak disparagingly of yourself, even if saying, «I’m a sinner, I’m just a sinner,» it’s wrong, it’s an abomination!

Any more than when you were a sinner, you say, «I’m okay, I’m all right,» it’s an abomination, it’s not! You need the Lord! Are you with me so far? So hypocrisy is pretending to be what you are not. So the devil will come to you and say, «How can you act like your God hears your prayer? How can you… look at what you just did yesterday, look at what you thought about just now. How can you act like a righteous man? You are a hypocrite»! When actually, hypocrisy is what? Pretending to be what you are not. You are righteous, right? And when you act righteous and act bold, the Bible says the righteous are bold as a lion. When you act righteous and you are bold, the devil calls you a hypocrite. It’s the opposite! In fact, this is hypocrisy.

«Oh God, you know I’m no good, Lord. I don’t deserve any of your goodness and mercy». Now, all that is true, all right? So «God, in your mercy», you got to be careful when you pray and ask God for mercy, mercy, mercy all the time, because you do away what Jesus did. If my son sits at my table and he looks at me, «Abba»? He calls me Abba. «Yes». «Can I touch this bread»? «Eat it». «Can I… through your mercy, can I just bite one bite, one bite, one bite»? I will say, «Darling, come here! What have you been teaching him? Something is wrong, my child is warped».

In fact, I gotta teach my son, and remember to say thank you, all right? Thank the Lord for your food, thank your daddy for the food, right? We gotta teach them thanksgiving. We gotta teach Christians to say thanks, because many of the blessings we get, we don’t say thanks, all right? It’s okay because we know it is our place. Most of your children, they don’t even say anything, right? They come down, they go, «Yeah, food, grrrr,» right? «Mommy, some more,» right? That’s the children’s place. We don’t understand what it means to «pray in my name». «In my name» means my position, my standing, know that you’re loved and you’re accepted with the same acceptance as Jesus, that’s praying in his name. Is this helping you? Hallelujah.

How many of us, we pray, the moment you say, «Father,» you know God hears your prayer? You have the conscience, I have to be careful what I pray because God hears my prayer, he will answer it. Do you feel that way, or do you feel like, «Father? Father? God»? Then we try to impress our friends, «El Shaddai, El Elyon,» you know? Now, knowing the names of God is wonderful, I teach on the names of God. And that’s why it’s the Old Testament names of God that is taught. And I believe that it’s still applicable today, yes, but the name by which Jesus came to reveal is Father.

Like that boy in the video just now crying, «Abba»! That’s a prayer by itself, you know, it goes right into your heart when he cries, «Abba»! My son calls me «Abba,» the reason being because I thought, many years ago when I read in the New Testament, you know, «we have received the spirit of the sonship by which we cry, 'Abba, Father',» I thought that, okay, my son will call me abba, so that next time when he reads the Bible, that portion that says, «Abba,» he will identify me and feel the love of the Father, you know?
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