Joseph Prince - How the Gospel Changes Your Prayer Life
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.
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? I asked him yesterday, what message should I preach tomorrow? I already got my message ready. He looked at me. For the first time he says, «Paul. Preach on Paul». Usually it’s Elijah, Jonah, you know, Moses. First time he says Paul. And I was planning to touch on what Paul received from the Lord.
Do you know there was one time Paul, you know who got saved first? Peter got saved first, or Paul got saved first? Remember, or you all don’t talk to me? Peter got saved first or Paul got saved first? Who got saved first? Peter, right? All right, for the British friends, Peter. Peter, okay, Peter got saved first, Paul got saved later. In fact, after Jesus died and rose again, Paul got saved. He was knocked off his high horse, literally, on his way to Damascus, right? And the Lord appeared to him from heaven.
So, Peter was familiar with the earthly Jesus, but Paul, his first encounter with Christ is the glorified, ascended Christ, okay. So, watch this now, what constitutes not walking according to the gospel? I wanna show you something that seems so mundane but is put there in the gospels for all of us to see, or rather in the letters of Paul. It’s an occasion where Paul, who was saved after Peter, rebuked Peter. Paul rebuked Peter. Wow! On what occasion? Did Peter commit some major sin? Was he watching porn? Was he slapping someone? What did he do? What did he do? Did he slap his mother-in-law because she got healed? What was the problem here? It was over food.
Let me read to you the story, all right. Galatians, and then we’re gonna see the truth here. «When Peter came to Antioch,» now Paul is writing, «when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, Peter ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterwards, when some friends of James,» James is a Jewish leader in Jerusalem, all right. And he’s a brother of Jesus, natural brother. «Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s» what?
«Hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, 'Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? You and I are Jews by birth, not 'sinners' like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.'»
Is it clear? And in the King James, I like the King James. Instead of, «Not following the truth of the gospel,» he says, «but when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel». «Walked not uprightly». This is more accurate because in the Greek, it is the word… walked not uprightly, is the word orthopedos, orthopedos. Orthopedic, where we got an English word, orthopedic. Your legs walking. So, literally, they walk not uprightly. What is walking uprightly according to the gospel? This is important, you know, there’s a promise in the Old Testament that says, «No good thing will God withhold from those who walk uprightly». «No good thing will God withhold from those that walk uprightly,» right?
So, what is walking uprightly today? Walking according to the truth of the gospel. Acting like you are righteous when you pray, amen. I’m not talking about self-righteousness. Self-righteousness comes when you don’t accept the righteousness that God gives, so you have to self-manufacture the righteousness, which is what a lot of sinners are trying to do. God hates self-righteousness. This is walking uprightly, believing that you are loved, believing that all your sins are forgiven, believing that when you pray, you are so near to God. And that when you pray, it’s as if Jesus is praying. That’s praying in Jesus’s name. That’s walking uprightly.
Now, today when you pray the Old Testament prayers, «Oh God, oh Lord, hear my prayer, Lord, hear my prayer, Lord,» it’s really abomination, why? You’re acting like you’re a sinner, crying to God for mercy. Now, I’m not saying that we don’t receive mercy. The Bible says, «We come boldly to the throne of grace, that we obtain mercy and find grace». There’s still mercy and there’s still grace for us today to find. And our daily needs, necessities and all that, we still receive that. But I’m saying that what you are before God is that you cannot get any closer to him than you already are in Christ, amen. Isn’t that good?
Now, I wanna wrap this up by showing you something. There’s this confusion. Today we are preaching sin to the Christians, to the believer, to the righteous ones. And then there are messages that’s meant for the sinner, we are preaching to the believer. So, the believer never gets out of this sin-consciousness. We’re preaching the law to the believer. «By the law is the knowledge of sin». And the believer never rise up to their potential. This is very important that you get this. The Bible says that, «Once Jesus’s sacrifice worked at the cross». How many believe his sacrifice worked once and for all?
The Bible says it worked by one sacrifice. Hebrews 10:11, «Every priest stands ministering daily offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin». In the Old Testament, «The priests are standing». Say, «Standing». «Stands ministering daily». Say, «Daily». «And offering repeatedly,» say, «Repeatedly». «The same sacrifice, which can never take away sin. But this Man,» Jesus Christ, «after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,» say, one sacrifice for sins forever three times, come on. One sacrifice. Even though you say it three times, okay, it’s one sacrifice only. Don’t forget, it’s one sacrifice for sins for how long? Forever.
So, compared with ministering offering repeatedly, Jesus only had to offer one sacrifice. And the effectiveness is forever. Instead of them standing daily, he sat down. His work is finished. So, the result is what? Go back to verse 1. The Bible says, verse 1, «The law, having a shadow of good things, and not the very image of the things, can never with those same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect,» perfect in terms of conscience. «For then would they not have ceased to be offered». In other words, if those sacrifices in the Old Testament work, if the blood of bulls and goats work one time, there’s no need to offer them repeatedly. «But because the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins,» right?
Now, did Jesus’s one sacrifice for sins forever purified us once and for all? It worked! How many say it worked? We should have what? No more sin-consciousness. Am I reading a different Bible? Are you all seeing what I’m showing? Are we reading the same Bible? It’s the Bible, right? So, it seems that under the New Testament, God is saying by realizing that by walking in no more sin-consciousness, you are actually giving tribute to what Jesus did, am I right? But under the Old Testament, for a sinner, he starts boasting. «You know, I’m okay. I don’t need Jesus. I’m pretty okay. I don’t think I’m a great sinner or whatever,» you know, then you bring the law, you bring the law in. He said he never committed adultery. You tell him, has he lusted for a woman? He says he’s never committed murder. You bring in, has he ever hated? Am I right?
«By the law is knowledge of sin». So, under the law, it’s true. You’ve gotta make people sin-conscious before they realize their need for the Savior. And that’s the purpose for all the prophets in the Old Testament, bringing people to the end of themselves. Jesus’s sermon also, some of his sermons here and there, you can see that he’s bringing them to the end of themselves. Under grace to have sin-consciousness is to say, «The payment has not been made». Let’s just say, you owe Pastor Gabriel $100,000. I don’t know how he gave you in the first place. I don’t know if he had that kind of money or not, all right. This is just an illustration. Please don’t come to him, okay, after this.
One hundred thousand dollars. You owe him $100,000, and you can’t pay him. Actually, you meant to pay him, you meant well. You thought the ship would come in, the business would come in, the, you know, but it didn’t. The ship had a shipwreck. Something happened. Your ship didn’t come in, okay. There’s no money now to pay him on the deadline. So, when you see him in the mall, what do you do? You avoid him, right? Amen, if he goes, you are in the gents and he goes in the gents, you run out from the cubicle and you go into the ladies, right? I mean, you try to avoid him as much as you can, right? You avoid him, am I right? Why? Because there’s debt on your conscience. You are conscious of your… he reminds you of what? Your debt. Are you listening?
You know why the world is… they don’t acknowledge God. Some of them don’t wanna talk about existence of God. Because to talk about God means to talk about your sin. So, they don’t want to acknowledge that, amen. Because God reminds them of their sin. It’s instinctive. To see Pastor Gabriel is to remind you of your debt. And then one day, you didn’t know this happened. A billionaire, he hears about your predicament. Now, he’s loved you, and in fact, he knows your father and respects your father very much. And your father helped him many years ago. So, anyway, you do not know much about him. And he paid your debt. He comes to Pastor Gabriel and says, «How much does this guy owe you»?
And Pastor Gabriel says, «$100,000». «Here,» he writes a cheque for $1 million, and he’s a billionaire. He writes a check for $1 million! «Now, I’m in a hurry. I gotta go to Paris. I gotta fly in tonight. In fact, I’m a bit late. I gotta rush off». So, he sends Joseph Prince to give you the message that your debt has been paid, all right. «Joseph, go tell this guy who owes him money, all right, his debt is paid». So, here I am, okay, I go to you, okay. And I say, «This guy,» right? The billionaire. «You heard this billionaire»? «Yeah, yeah, I heard of him before». «He says he knows your dad. In fact, your dad helped him many years ago. He was really very grateful. He heard about your predicament and told me that». «Oh what did he do? He’d pay»? «He’d pay? I think he paid. Maybe he didn’t pay. He could have paid, but maybe he didn’t pay everything. Maybe he paid some, your past, but not your present. I don’t know what it is, but I think something like, I heard the word paid, lah».
Now, what is that called? Lousy communicator, right? So, the problem today is that in the pulpit we have a situation whereby, you know, it’s not a clear message. It’s not a clear clarion call, right? Trumpeting the forgiveness of sins and the perfection of Jesus’s work. So, let me ask you this, is your debt already paid? In reality, is it paid? Yes, but because of my communication, the way I talk to you, will you still have debt on your conscience? Yes. So, whenever you see Pastor Gabriel, what do you do? You run off again into the ladies’s toilet.
Now, is it paid? Is it paid? It’s paid! It is paid, right? Yes! But the communication didn’t come across. So, you still have debt on your conscience. Then he sends one day, he calls up and asks Pastor Lawrence, «Did pastor deliver the message»? «Oh, I was there, it wasn’t very clear». You pay for everything and said, «Not only I paid, I gave Pastor Gabriel $1 million». Pastor Lawrence says, «What»? And Pastor Lawrence went straight to you, right? Said, «Hey bro, you know what happened? Not only he paid, your sin debt is paid, your money debt is paid. It’s not only paid, he gave a million dollars»! You say, «What? For my $100,000, he gave a million dollars»? He said, «Yeah»!
Oh, Pastor Lawrence is a good communicator, right? Is it clear? It’s clear, right? Now, are you afraid of Pastor Gabriel? No, you’ll say, «Where is he? Where is he? Where is he»? He has become enriched because of you. Am I right? Am I right? You will seek him out, and when you will see him rise, 'Hey, hey, hey, Pastor Gabriel! Come here, come here, come here, come here! Hey, don’t run off, don’t run off! ' Then you see Pastor Gabriel, he turned around. He said, «Yo, bro, what’s happening»? He said, «I know you, pastor». Hey, you become rich because of me, you know? And he said, «Yeah, lah, I know. Why didn’t you come and tell me»? «I’m not the communicator».
And he said, «Hey, give me a treat, now. At least give me a treat, come on. Not this local hawker center, you know. Just give me nice plush, you know, restaurant, three Michelin, four Michelin stars, come on, give me a treat, at least». You ask for that, right? You’re no more afraid to talk to him, am I right? You’re not afraid to even ask from him, right? You understand, right? Same thing. Do you know, if you know the value of Jesus Christ, that one man, if you know his worth, the intrinsic value he has before the Father, it’s as if God paid, all right, the love of God paid to the justice of God. We owe God because of our sin, we owe God the reverence, the obedience, the holiness, his place as God.
We as the created being, we owe God, we have robbed God of his glory. But instead of that, all right, Jesus came and paid to God because of his worth. It’s a payment of, like, $1,000,000 actually, it’s a bad illustration. He’s worth more than that, you understand? For your $100,000 sin debt. It’s an overpayment. In a sense, God has become a gainer because of what Jesus did. That’s why in the New Testament, it’s much more, much more, much more. What Jesus did is much more than what Adam did. And then, if the truth was preached to us with no ambiguity, clearly, unconditionally, pure, pure gospel is preached, you know what? We’ll go to God with boldness. We’ll come to God and say, «Father, I thank you. Thank you for loving me».
And you won’t come to God with a servile spirit, a servant spirit, you come to God a son. «Abba, thank you. Thank you, Abba. And Abba, while I’m here, Lord, I thank you for that bread, Lord, of healing,» all right. The children’s bread is actually healing, right? For that daughter. «Now, I’ll just take this, Lord, and I’ll just take that, Father». And the more you take from him, the more he’s happy, why? Because «Faith is the hand that takes,» amen. Jesus’s one indictment against his disciples, very frequent on his lips is, «O you of little faith». «O you of little faith». «O you of little faith». Why?
Love is the hand that gives, faith is the hand that takes. Even when you understand this, you’ll be so blessed, you’ll be encouraged. Even his rebukes are encouraging. What does it mean when he tells you, «O you of little faith»? He’s saying, «I’m so full. Why do you take so little from me? I’m so capable, I’m so able. Why do you trust me so little»? Oh, such an encouragement that even his rebukes are encouraging, amen. So, you go to God and you’re not afraid. You say, «God, thank you, Father, for loving me. Father, in Jesus’s name, this coming week, Lord,» you can ask God for anything that you want, amen. And trusting that you are as near to him as Jesus is.
The moment you take your place like a sinner pretending to be humble and that kind of thing, it’s an abomination because you’re pretending to be what you are not. Don’t condemn the righteous. Don’t condemn yourself. That’s an abomination. Have you learned something today? Give God a praise and the glory, amen, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. So, right now, I’m gonna pray a prayer over you right now in Jesus’s name. And I believe that God’s gonna do something great for you this coming week because there’s a revelation that’s breaking forth. I feel it in my spirit, amen.
And the reason you pray is not to get close, you pray because you are close. You are taking advantage of your position of influence even with God, your Father, amen. You’re taking your place as sons and daughters when you pray. When you worship, you are declaring your love and your worth of the one you’re worshiping, because you are close to him. You’re closer than Daniel. You’re closer than Elijah. You’re closer than David. You’re closer than Elisha. You’re closer than Moses. You’re closer than Jonah. You’re closer than anyone in the Old Testament.
And that’s why Jesus says that, «The least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist who is the greatest of all the prophets». Your position is greater than any prophet in the Old Testament. You’re a son. They are servants. The sons of God, use your position right now, amen. When you pray, are you conscious? I want you to practice that right now. Practice the spirit of sonship right now. I’m gonna speak a word to you who are here today and you say, «Pastor Prince, I’m not sure I’m saved. I’m not sure that I’m a child of God».
Friend, you are the very one that Jesus came for. Jesus love you so much, and all you gotta do, just acknowledge, «I’m a sinner». Don’t avoid that. Don’t go through bad experiences to realize finally that you are a sinner, amen. But once you say I’m a sinner, Jesus says, «No problems, I’m your Savior. I came to die for sinners». And that’s how you become born again, that’s how you become righteous. By confessing first. This confessing your sins that, «I am a sinner». So, if that is you right now, wherever you are, pray this prayer with me right now. Say, «Heavenly Father…» pray this prayer with me. Say:
Heavenly Father, I’m a sinner, but I thank you. Christ died for sinners. On that cross, Jesus bore my sins, took my judgment, and died in my place. And you raised him from the dead. Thank you, Father. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and you have raised him for my justification. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’s name, Father, I thank you, amen.