Joseph Prince - How To Pray When You Have No Prayer?

TOPICS: Prayer

You know, we are now past the point of the half-year mark, and it's good for us to stop and contemplate on what God has spoken to us early this year. When I first preached that sermon, the very first sermon of the year, as our custom is, we will share the theme of the year, and more than one time, God has spoken prophetically through an earthen vessel. You know, one thing about us is that we are earthen vessels. Now, we come in all shapes of earthen vessels, in all beautiful colors, but we are still earthen vessels. We are not the glory, we are not the power, but God puts his glory and power in earthen vessels. The problem with us is that we want to be the power, we want to be the treasure, but God says, "No, I have put my treasure in earthen vessels". So God says, "You be earthen. You will always be earthen," amen, until Jesus comes again and we have a brand new body.

But meanwhile, when you pray, sometimes you find that your outward man has doubts. Don't put up your hands. And yet you pray in faith, yet you're having doubts in your mind. That's the earthen vessel that's having the doubts. And yet the prayer, the power flows through and the person is healed. Many a times, you're gonna say, "You know, the following thing to remember before you pray for the sick is that make sure you are in that zone where there's no fear, no doubt, you know, before you lay your hands". But the truth is that you will always be the earthen vessel and the power will always be of God. And when things happen, always remember that you can be persecuted, all right? That's your earthen vessel suffering the persecution. "I didn't like what he said. That's not fair". You're being persecuted, maybe even unjustly. But you're not forsaken. There is, like, a buoy on the inside, you know, the buoy in the sea, to warn people that there are rocks around.

So the buoy always floats. No matter how much you try to push the buoy down, the buoy floats, amen? There is something in you when the devil and the outward circumstances try to crush you, I'm talking about believers, you always float on the inside. That's the treasure. You do your best to be as miserable, to cry as much as you can, to be depressed over the situation, like you did before you were saved, but now it's different. You try your best to be depressed, and you can't be fully depressed. You try to... oh, you know, but you are sad and yet there is a joy. And now you are puzzled because you are cast down but you're never knocked out. You know, it's like this tension of daily living because once you're saved, God has put his Holy Spirit in you, you have the eternal life of God in you, amen?

Now, we are actually in a way, continuing our teaching from last Sunday. Remember, Jesus stood, or rather, sat down, at the Mount of Olives? And four of his disciples, Peter, James, John, and Andrew, came to Jesus and asked three questions, because earlier on, Jesus with the disciples passed by the temple, the temple that Herod built, and the disciples were commenting on how beautiful the stones were, and Jesus said, "Mark these stones. There will not be one stone left upon another". That was about early A.D. 30s. In A.D. 70, General Titus of the Roman Legionnaire came and conquered Jerusalem. Jesus prophesied that Jerusalem would be under the foot of Gentiles until the times of Gentiles be fulfilled. So in A.D. 70 they came in and conquered Jerusalem and scattered the Jewish people, took them captives. Many of them were scattered all over the world. Even Singapore, we have Jewish people. For 2000 years they've been scattered. And Jesus says they will be, Jerusalem will be under the foot of non-Jewish people, non-Jewish conquerors, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

In 1967, in the Six Day War, unparalleled in history, except for Joshua, in the book of Joshua, Joshua took Jericho in 6 days. Beyond the 7th, it was theirs. It was a 6-day war, and in 6 days, Israel took back more land than they previously had. So when the enemy attacked them, they pushed back. They got back the enemy's land. Of course, by treaties and all, they have given back the land. The thing is this, the world was oblivious to the fact that divine history was in the making. Jesus's words were being fulfilled, yet you cannot say that this is the times the Gentiles being fulfilled because Jerusalem, the Temple Mount proper where the temple stood, is still under Gentile control, non-Jewish control. And that's something that Israel allowed. Even though they conquered Jerusalem, they got back Jerusalem, East Jerusalem, which were never theirs, and for the first time in 2000 years, Jewish feet are walking in the premises of Jerusalem.

Their father David made it the capital of Israel and that's why this small piece of land, I'm telling you, is the hottest property in the news. Jesus, God's Son, came and died just outside the gates of Jerusalem. God has chosen the city of Jerusalem, and Jesus says when the fig tree which is Israel blossom or bring, shoot forth leaves, this generation that saw 1948 when Israel came back as a nation, they saw 1967, the Six Day War, will not pass away 'til all these things be fulfilled. And Jesus was saying that at the Mount of Olives. Imagine the Son of God, the son of a carpenter in the natural, he's considered the son of a carpenter, illustrating the history of Europe in the end times that goes all the way to our time. He talked about the signs.

But remember that Matthew 24 and Matthew 25, the Discourse on the Mount of Olives, the Mount Olivet Discourse, is not about the church. The church is not there. It's about Jewish people. He's talking to Jewish people, amen? Ours is in John 14 where Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me". And Jesus says, "I will come again and receive you unto myself". Now, this was a private interview with his disciples in the Upper Room. The crowd wasn't there. So to the church, the church was a mystery, all right? To the church, Jesus said, "I will come and receive you unto myself," amen, but for the crowd, he's talking about the abomination of desolation which is the Antichrist. He's gonna appear in the rebuilt temple. But for us, he tells us he will come and receive us unto himself, not even heaven. Receive us unto himself. Heaven is not heaven without him. Can I have a good "Amen"?

Now, the First Coming, Israel was under attack. In Old Testament you find Jerusalem being attacked again and again and again because the devil does not want the Savior of the world to be born in that place. As long the Jewish people are not in control, the prophecies of the Old Testament cannot come to pass. The prophecy God, in the first prophecy was God told Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, "Your seed", God told the woman, "Your seed". Now the woman don't have seed. It's the man that has the seed. So God was prophesying a virgin birth. "Your seed will crush the serpent's head. And when it becomes a dragon," oversized serpent, "you will crush him".

In the book of Revelation is a dragon. That serpent has grown, amen? But God says, "This seed will crush the serpent's head". Then the war began. The devil heard that so he thought it was the immediate sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and the moment he saw that God favored Abel, he had Cain kill his brother. And on and on and on. The moment the devil realized a deliverer was coming to release Israel from bondage, he didn't know who it was. He didn't know that his name was Moses, amen? So Pharaoh had all the babies, the Jewish babies, killed. Why? The fear. Now we understand that. But finally, when Jesus came, even when Jesus came, Herod had all the babies under 2 years old, which Jesus would have been by then, had them killed. Jesus, of course, he and his parents, the father had a dream. They left for Alexandria. I believe it's Alexandria. The Bible says Egypt.

So the devil, I can understand the devil attacking before Jesus came, but after Jesus has died for our sins on the cross, rose again for our justification, representing us as high priest at the Father's right hand, our altogether lovely one, there's a lovely man in heaven. We have one of our own there, representing us. Don't forget a high priest is not there for God's benefit. He's there for our benefit, amen. Like a member of parliament, all right? He's there representing us to the country. He is not there representing the country to us, amen. A prophet represents God to the people. He brings forth the Word of the Lord, but a priest represents the people to God. And God says, "If your priest is good, I accept you. Your priest is bad, I reject you".

Jesus Christ is our High Priest forever. That's why "As he is," not as you are, "so are you in this world". God doesn't assess you like that. God says, "As he is, so are you in this world". Can I have a good "Amen"? So it's not about you. It's about Jesus. But the thing is that after Jesus has come, why is the devil still, you know, hell bent on destroying Jerusalem? 'Cause now the devil knows Jesus has prophesied that he will return to Jerusalem to rescue the Jewish people, rescue Israel, because of their special covenant through Abraham, their father, many years ago. And God will rescue them from the nations this time. So we know there'll be allied nations that will come against Israel.

Ezekiel 38 tells us Russia will come down. Now, I don't think it's the same battle, it's a different battle, and I don't think that the players are the same either. I believe that there's a mixture, but Russia will come down. You know when Ezekiel prophesied about Russia, it was just small tribal breakaway groups. They were not a superpower. So prophet Ezekiel who lived before Jesus came to earth in the Old Testament, he prophesied and saw our times. Amazing, isn't it? Early this year, not knowing what's gonna happen, when I preached my first sermon, I talk about "Put your eyes on Israel". Did I? Now, you know, Israel will have its fair share of troubles as usual, but not the troubles that they have seen this year. This year, they have had one after another and the bombs that fell into Israel is not in the hundreds, but now in the thousands. We have a short excerpt just to show you what happened.

This year, keep a lookout, a sharp lookout, like no other year, this year. Keep a sharp lookout on Israel. Look at what will happen in Israel. Major things. I don't see this year, and I'm not here to discourage you, but let me just tell you this. I see a year where there's a lot of chaos, all right? A lot of mayhem this year.

Now, all that was before, firstly, the month of January. If you remember, the month of January was relatively peaceful. No attacks on Israel, no planes crashing. So God is speaking early. So we wonder sometimes, when you hear a sermon, you cannot test the sermon until more than half a year has passed. And I'm talking about this year, okay? How can you tell whether a person is speaking for God? See, all we are, just delivery boys. The thing is this: you can say all you want about my teaching on grace, you know, and some leaders, some pastors, even, some other ministers whom I respect, they may come against grace, but let's see the authenticity of your ministry by speaking things before it happens, 'cause in the Bible it says that this is a sign of a prophet, that whatever he says, it comes to pass.

Now, having said that, I am not a prophet, okay? Okay? I'm still involved in non-prophet ministry, okay? So we have another one we're gonna show you now, same message. And in this message, I talk about a virus that's coming. So the entire thing had been prayed through. I prayed, I always pray before I preach that I will not just speak scripturally, but I'll speak as the oracles of God. It's important to be scriptural in your teaching, but there are those who preach scripturally but no one is hearing God. It's important to speak as the oracles of God. And even when I was praying, I was still prophesying and here is a sample of it.

That you would keep disease and sickness and the noisome pestilence far from us and regardless of that strain of virus, Lord, that is coming, whatever strain of virus this year, that you will keep your people immune. That you will keep your people, Father...

Thank you. See, the strain of virus that's coming this year, now, will we have seen Ebola at the time? Am I right? So, as I was praying, I saw that strain of virus that's coming, that will start moving out from a certain location and I started praying against it. Now, that's how you pray. When you pray, prayer become exciting when you find that God is leading you to pray things and even the details, let the Lord lead you. Like, you're praying for your daughter, for example. You pray for your daughter and you pray the same prayer: "Father, I pray that you give me daughter wisdom. I pray that you give my daughter success. I pray that you give my daughter good friends," you know? But it's still general.

But sometimes when you pray, God may lead you to pray like this, and she might be going through this at this time, you do not know: "Father, in Jesus's name I pray, that you'll guard her emotions that is fluctuating at this time. I pray that you'll bring her tranquility and peace that is from the Holy Spirit that will garrison her heart and emotions. Give her your wisdom, Lord, I pray, to know the difference between her spirit and soul. I pray, Father, for a revelation to come". So if God leads you, you'll find that every time you are praying, there's an "Amen". And people that pray in a group, there's also a corresponding "Amen" in the hearts of others when they're praying by the spirit, okay? Now I bring you to the third thing which is my message today, all right? There's something else in that sermon that I said that I want you all to listen to, okay.

Just like the children of Issachar, all right, they understand the times and seasons. And please, you know, your greatest enemy will be what you did last year that worked, okay? Do not be comfortable with what has worked, because this year, God will bring you to areas where you are not comfortable. When I say you're not comfortable, it is not comfortable to your flesh. But God will expose you to areas where you're not comfortable, not strong in, not talented in, not gifted in, so that you will see his fresh supply in all these new areas. And you become stronger in all these new areas. I prophesy to you that this year, God will expose you to areas whereby it is not comfortable to your flesh, but it is really good for you.

In fact, it is God loving you because God is strengthening you and you find yourself, for example, you ask, "Why am I always exposed to bad drivers? I don't understand. You know, somehow they will find me. I can drive in Changi, and they'll find me. I will be in Jurong, all right, near a factory, a remote factory, and these bad drivers will find me. I can't understand," all right? Feel loved. I said feel loved. There are higher hands leading you and there's loving eyes watching you. He's leading you, guiding you, and he will not expose you to your natural strength and your natural capacities to handle a problem where you're comfortable.

You say, "I've got no problem with this". Like a footballer, "I've got no problem playing futsal. It's a smaller field, that's all," you know? God will not expose you to things like that where you are strong in. This year, he will expose you more and more to areas you're not comfortable in the flesh. But believe me, when I say this, when you look back, you wouldn't have it otherwise, because now you are stronger in those areas. You see, grace is supplied, but if you are constantly exposed to areas you're already supplied, you're not opening yourself to greater supply, and therefore, there is no growth, okay? Can I say that? All right, please understand it began already. Some of you had that yesterday. You're wondering, "Why did this happen to me"? You are loved, all right? You are maturing. God is growing you.

God is growing you. So, this last part here is what I just wanna tell you. Whatever you are going through this year and you say, "Well, Pastor Prince, I claimed Psalms 91, you know, and I still didn't get promoted. You know, somebody else who is younger than me got promoted. I cannot understand that. I claimed faith, I claimed this, I claimed that". You see, one thing to always remember is this: we're not here to use God. We are here for God to use us, amen. See, the one with the lesser understanding cannot use the one with omniscience. The one with the omniscience and the one with the almighty power should be the one directing you because he knows the end from the beginning. And though some things are not comfortable to us in the flesh, but the more we do it, you know, it's like my little boy, he doesn't wanna eat some things that I know is good for him, you know? And we have a video of him taking, I think he was only 1, just past 1½ years, and he tried his first ice cream, you know? Just a taste, and his face went, "Eughh".

I like to show him that 10 years after, all right? So every time we're exposed, the first time we're exposed to things that now we like, you know, we didn't like it. It was uncomfortable in the flesh. You see, those prisoners of war during World War II, I watch documentaries, and even on the island of Okinawa, they were hiding in the caves for the longest time. They'd been hearing evil things, evil reports, about the Americans and the Marines and all that. "They'll kill you," but actually the Marines came with compassion. They had food for them. They had water for them. And yet, lies had been told, and the moment they came out, many of them came out, all right, women and children, and they'd been inside there for months on end. The moment the sun hit them, they went back into the familiarity of the bondage.

So, many believers, they don't understand, you know, some people say, "I'm a free thinker". No, you're just a dark thinker. Everything you think is dark thoughts. You don't even realize. You know, Jesus says, "If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed". True freedom is when you meet the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. He's the one that will emancipate you completely. But we can come to a place where we are comfortable with our bondage. Turn to your neighbor and say, "Are you comfortable in your bondage"? Then when we are comfortable, you know, I tell you something about bondage. The human resilience is amazing. You know, a human being can be in bondage, all right, and they can adapt, they can do a lot of things except to call upon God. You know, we can do a lot of things, amazing things. I mean, we can run around like a chicken whose head just got cut off, you know? Have you seen a chicken's head lying around one corner, and the chicken is flapping around, another corner?

I have, as a young boy, you know, growing up in Malaysia. I was born in Singapore. I'm a Singapore citizen, but I thank God for Malaysia. That's my boyhood country. And I got a chance one time of seeing my neighbor decapitate a chicken head. I was fascinated. And I saw the head on one side, and the poor chicken is still running around, flapping his wings. The poor guy doesn't, you know how dumb chickens are? They don't even know when they're dead. He was still flapping around, headless. And I feel like saying, "Die, for goodness sake, you must be suffering. Die". Poor chicken. He didn't get a revelation that he's dead. And maybe, that shows revelation is not of the head. And after for a while, his heart says, "You're dead," then he fell, you know? But the devil wants you in darkness. He wants you familiar with your darkness. He wants you to enjoy your darkness. He wants you to find your way in your darkness. He wants you to adapt to your darkness but don't go out. He will say your world is very big inside the cave. It's not.

By the way, every sin, even adultery, makes your world so much smaller. You have to plan before you go out. You have to plan the rendezvous. You have to plan everything. Your world becomes very, very, very, very small. Preach it, Pastor Prince. That's good preaching, man. But we can be in bondage and we are still so strong, you know? It's amazing how Israel, for 135 years, I calculated, from the year that Joseph brought them at the request of Pharaoh, Joseph had favor with Pharaoh. You see the civilization of Egypt and the triumphs of Egypt was because there was a Jewish man at the Egyptians' right hand. His name was Joseph. And he invited his family so at the time, the Bible says, all right, the souls that came in, about 70, and then they grew, the 12 patriarch, 12 sons, they grew, they grew, they grew and multiplied, and the Bible says they multiplied more than the Egyptians. Favor on God's people.

Then the Bible says there arose a pharaoh who knew not Joseph and this pharaoh was advised by his men saying that, "Look, these people are multiplying like fishes. It's time for you," by the way, that's the way they speak, you know, when old grandfather Jacob blessed his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, he crossed his hands and his hand is supposed to come on the oldest, all right, the oldest one. But his hand crossed and blessed the younger one. Through the cross, he, Jesus, who deserves all the blessings, took my place at the cross. And I who deserve all the curse, got all the blessings. Because God crossed his hands. That's the love story of the gospel, amen? So the father crossed his hands, and Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, and one of the blessings is this. In our English Bible, it says, "May your descendants grow like a multitude," but in the Hebrew it says, "May they swarm and teem like fishes".

Now, that is some fecundity. That is some growth, I'm telling you, amen? Like the fishes, may y'all... are y'all ready, those of you 50 and above? Come on, I'm gonna pray a blessing. You're the one. Okay, amen, come on, people. God will renew your youth. You know, there's a blessing for God's people. Psalm 103 says, "God satisfies your mouth so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's". "Like the eagle's". You know, some birds go through molting, where their old feathers are plucked out, okay, and they wait, hallelujah, they wait upon the Lord until new, sprightly, shiny wings spread out, and then they fly into the thunder, into the rolling clouds. They are not afraid. And now there's a wonderful combination, new body, old mind. Oh, this one is powerful, man, powerful. So God says, in Psalms 103, "He will renew your youth," not like the cockroach, but "like the eagle's". Aren't you glad, people?

Turn to your neighbor and say, "I'm seeing it happen already, just this last minute," hah-ha. Okay, so they were in bondage, people, 135 years in bondage, and it's amazing that there's no record of them complaining at all. We can be so used to our bondage that we stop complaining, but something happened, you know, and you ask the question the first year, "Aren't these God's people"? By the way, the story happened after Abraham, okay? A number of years after Abraham, about 400-over years after Abraham, so, to be exact, 400 years, 450 years, God gave the law, 300-over years before Abraham, okay, Abraham to the bondage in Egypt, but God has promised Abraham that "To your seed, I'll give this land, and those that bless you, I'll bless. Those who curse you will be cursed". Country, nation after nation has conquered the Jewish people, and every one of them have disappeared.

I'm not gonna focus on that so much. I'm bringing you to the story right now where "A pharaoh rose that knew not Joseph," and he start thinking that these people are teeming like fishes. "I gotta stop this". Made them slaves. But year one, they didn't even call upon their God or their covenant. Year two, again, the same thing. The oppression and the rigor of hard labor was taking its toll. Five years after that, ten years after that, hundred years after that, they'll still not, they were... I mean, it's amazing how the human strength is even in suffering. There is something about God. God wants you to say, "I cannot," before God says, "I can for you," and I can read, I tell you stories of people that cannot stop smoking, and they read my book, "The Power of Right Believing," and then they realized... I'm gonna read one right now that just came in, and I just read this yesterday. He doesn't mind me sharing his name, but I'm just gonna use his first name, Gary, from Mississippi, USA.

For 16 years, I suffered from drug addiction. The guilt, condemnation, and shame that resulted from losing my family, friends, pharmacy license, and livelihood held me captive. I used drugs to silence my conscience. I was in and out of rehab, jails, and prisons, and I prayed to die. Then, one day, three years ago, I started watching Pastor Joseph Prince on television, and my life changed. I discovered that the blood of Jesus has already purged my conscience. From then on, I kept listening to the grace message every day, sometimes up to three to four times a day. I have been set free from drug addiction for two years now. I also have my family back and a chance to get my pharmacy license back as well. I am so thankful for your ministry.

You know, the thing is this, people, all right, to God be the glory, amen. It's amazing how strong a man can be, even under extreme pain and distress. He refuses to call upon God. And God works with the weak. God works with the insignificant. There's a man called Gideon. He says, "I'm the least in my family". Finally, God told him, "You have to cut down your army. Thirty two thousand won't cut it because if I give you the victory, your people will say, 'Because of the might of our army.'" And God narrowed down his army to 300. That was the original 300, 300 against "A multitude," the Bible says, "no one could number". No one could number. It's there. And the victory was gotten by a earthen vessel with a lamp in it, a shofar, a trumpet, and 300 of them will sound off the shofar around the mountains of these armies that no one can number, and then, altogether, break the earthen vessel. The light shines, and the enemy is defeated. That's amazing. They start fighting among themselves.

Now, whoever heard of this? Use a least in the family, a least tribe Manasseh, amen? Use earthen vessels and trumpet to fight. Yo, come on. But God loves. You see, Bible says the Christ crucified is greater than the wisdom of men. Hey, why do you think? Why do you think? When you look at a skull, a skull of a human being, what does it tell you? That a skull tells you that's the end of all human wisdom or human intellect or human reasoning. Your destiny, if you're using your reasoning to say, "This book, ah, you know, it has errors, you know"? Who are you to stand in judgment of this book? This book judges you. You don't judge it. You can say, "Well, you know, it got many errors". I know you have not read it. I know you do not know what it says, and yet you're pronouncing judgment on God's Holy Spirit-breathed book. You are exalting your intellect, and people tell you, "Oh, you all exalt the Bible".

All right, you tell them, "You exalt your intellect," amen. We want our life to be governed by God's Word. And, you know, the end of all your intellect is the skull. Everything is hollow. Why do you think Jesus died at the place called skull, "The place of skull"? Christ crucified is greater than the wisdom of men. Comes to an end. So God's ways is always... you know, the doctor says, all right, "This is impossible with medicine". God loves it. God's economy is opposite. It took five... there are two feeding of the multitude. It took five loaves to feed five thousand. Another incident, it took seven loaves to feed lesser, four thousand. In other words, the bigger the people, the lesser the resources. We think, "More people, greater resources". God's economy is opposite. "Bigger the problem, easier for me".

Someone, say, "Can you please pray for me? You know, I got this disease. The doctor says incurable, and one in five in the world have this disease," and all that, you say, what? "That means it's really hard". He say, "Yeah". Oh, perfect setting for God. That should be your mentality. Can I have a good "amen," people? But they came to a point, 135 years, year after year, and, finally, Exodus 2, the Bible says, "Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning". What did God hear? Their groaning. People groaning doesn't sound great. Groaning doesn't sound like a perfect prayer. Groaning doesn't sound like a pretty prayer. Groaning. Everyone's groaning, "Ohhh". Groaning is out of pain. "God heard their groaning," and watch this, "and God remembered". What? And I preached on this, some of this truth that God revealed to me many years ago.

Now, this is something that I didn't get from any book or whatever. When God first showed it to me, he gave me this title. "Just a Groan Will Reach the Throne". And I preached that in 2004. You still remember? And it's amazing, this is not tongues, by the way. They were not speaking in tongues. And I thank God for speaking in tongues. But I'm telling you that when you go down really deep, God uses a prayer that's so powerful that God says it makes use of man's utter need of his goodness, his love, and it makes nothing of man's eloquence and his right phraseology, all right? It just makes use of his instinctive reaction to pain, stress. Groaning here can be a groan or a sigh. God remembered his covenant. Prior to this, it seems to imply that God had a covenant with them, but it wasn't activated until they groaned.

Now, please don't put prayer there. It says more than one time it's a groan. If prayer was the main player, it will be prayer mentioned more than once. It's groaning, people. Sometimes, you look at your rebellious son. You don't know what else to do. You've prayed and prayed and prayed. Sometimes, when you think of him, just go like this, even when you're driving. "Lord Jesus," the sigh is more powerful than your pretty prayers. I'm telling you, people, there is something here we are missing. It's something that is not taught, why? Because if you don't understand grace... you see, people wanna be strong. God wants you to be weak so that his strength can flow through your weakness. "My strength is made perfect in weakness". We always wanna be the treasure in the vessel. We don't wanna be the vessel. And God will keep you as a vessel.

Now, understand, the treasure is there. Yes, you are the righteousness of God in Christ, and, please, when you say, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ," please finish it properly. Don't just say, "I'm righteous". Say, "I'm the righteousness of God in Christ". You are nothing apart from him. Always remember, salvation is a person, okay? All right? It is not an "it" you got, and then Jesus is far away. Some people think of salvation like this. They think of salvation, people, they think of salvation as something sent from Jesus. You know, it's like your friend lives in America, all right? Your friend sends you a parcel, something you really, really like, okay, and it's very expensive. He sends you from America a parcel. When you receive the parcel, there's a smile on your face. All right, your friend's name is there. Now, your friend didn't come. Your friend sent you the parcel, but you are happy.

Some people think of salvation like this, they think salvation, God sent from heaven. Jesus smile at you. Said he did everything. He died, he paid with his own blood for the forgiveness of all your sins, amen, to make you a child of God, to make you righteous. He sends you this righteousness as a parcel apart from him. No, no, no, a million times no, it is not like this. "Then what is it like, Pastor Prince"? Watch this, Jesus walked out of Jericho one day, and there was a short man who was a tax collector, despised by society, and he was up on a tree, and the Bible says in Luke 19, "Jesus says, 'Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house,'" scandal of grace. And the people all murmured when Zacchaeus came down. Jesus even knew his name. He was the crook of that place. Jesus says, "Zacchaeus, come down. I must stay at your house". The necessity of love and salvation for Zacchaeus. The only time Jesus... Jesus is always very cool. You notice that? The only time he tell you, "Make haste," you make haste to be saved before the door of the ark closes.

Yesterday, my son and I were playing a bit together, and it was thundering outside, and he looked up. He asked me, "Will it flood"? And I said, "Yes. But we are saved". And then he understand, "Safe in the ark," heh-heh. I said, "Jesus is the ark, son. Jesus is the ark. Doesn't really matter what happens outside. We are safe in the ark". Even when we fall as a Christian, we fall in the ark, once you're in Christ. Don't forget, you're in Christ. So the thing is that, "I must stay at your house". "I must stay at your house". Jesus ate with Zacchaeus and all that. Zacchaeus was so touched that the goodness of God came without asking him to repent because the goodness of God will lead you to repentance. At the end of the dinner, he got up and says, "Half my goods, if I have stolen from anyone, half my goods, I give to", no, he said, "Half my goods, I give to the poor. If I have stolen, I'll repay that person four times over". Jesus answered, "Today salvation has come to this house".

Stop. Did he give him a salvation as a package? How does salvation come to Zacchaeus's house? Jesus is salvation. So Jesus is my righteousness. It is not, "I'm righteous, I'm righteous, I'm righteous, I'm righteous". And you wonder why you fall flat on your face. Then there are those who have confessed it with meaning. "I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus". It's all about him. It's all about him. He is my righteousness. He is my strength. And there are times God allows you to have the failure that you might see it's really not about you. You know, sometimes, you know, some of us, we are saved, like, we are saved. We are preachers's kids, for example, you know? They belong to, their life is all about the church, and all that, and then, at age of ten they got saved, so they start thinking to themself, "Hey, I wasn't so bad. I wasn't a drug addict, you know, I wasn't a murderer, I wasn't a child molester or pedophile. I'm not these kind of people. I'm quite okay when Jesus got me".

These kind of people, after they are saved, they will go through a journey where, at the end, they'll say, "Yes, I'm the chief of sinners," not changing the fact that Jesus is your righteousness, you are you. That righteousness on you is Jesus. And don't you ever forget that. So when you say, "I'm the righteousness of God in Christ," your emphasis should be, "You know, even I can do all things through Christ, and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". You know, it's just like a lip service. Well, those have the Revelation, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". God loves weakness because his grace is drawn to weakness. God loves it, so don't try to adjust your weakness. Allow God's grace to come on it. He is strong, but you are weak. If you try to be strong, he is strong, positive and positive repel. He needs the negative, so will you be a negative?

"And, Pastor Prince, but we must think positive". I'm telling you how to think positive. I am negative. He is positive. And this is thinking positive, okay? So Jesus doesn't bring salvation. Jesus is salvation. Jesus doesn't send salvation, and then he's in heaven. Jesus himself is salvation. And doesn't the Bible say, "When He comes again, for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven". We shared that last week. Again, very easily could have said, "For the Lord shall descend," and they won't do the grammatical structure, they're wrong by saying, "The Lord will descend". No, it's not warm enough for the Holy Spirit. The Lord himself will descend. 1 Peter 2:24, "Who His own self bear our sins in His own body". "His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree". "Himself bore our sins in His own body, His own body that we might live unto righteousness, by whose stripes", so it is himself, it is his body, it is his stripes. So it's one thing to say, "By His stripes, I'm healed," "By His stripes, I'm healed".

This is not mantra that you say it long enough, there'll be some power. It's a revelation, people. "Himself took my infirmities," himself. Jesus walked with the two disciples on the road of Emmaus, and as he walked with them, the Bible says, "Jesus Himself drew near to them," because they were depressed. Jesus... it could've said, "Jesus drew near," and it won't be wrong, but "Jesus Himself". And in the way he brought them out of their despair is to expound things in the scriptures concerning himself. "Don't let your heart be troubled. I will come again and receive you unto," heaven? No, "Myself". We know heaven is there, but heaven is not heaven without Jesus. It's his presence in this church that makes all the difference in the world. You see, it's him. Do you understand that, folks?

Mark, "Then He appointed 12," Jesus appointed 12, 12 disciples, "that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach". Now, "That they might be with Him," we always think that God anoints his disciples so that they can go out and preach, I always hear that. That's why it's important to read the Bible for yourself. Doesn't say that. It says, "That they might be with Him," to live every day, waking up and saying, "Morning, Lord Jesus, another wonderful day together with you," amen? That they might be with him. Number one reason he appointed the 12, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach. Now, and that, that here is hina, hina in Greek is "in order that". "That they might be with him, in order that he might send them out to preach and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons".

In other words, being with him is in order that they can preach, they can heal, they can cast out devils, hallelujah. Don't miss it. In fact, you enjoy being with him. You won't be conscious of how big that sickness is. You will think how big he is, amen? Okay, back to this again. Exodus 2, "So God heard their groaning. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob". It seems like groaning activates the covenant, just a groan will reach the throne. And we think sometimes, "I must get away. I must go somewhere, find a place. I need to pray through. I need to"... No, you feel pain there, you feel like your heart is burdened, groan it out, "Oh, Lord, Lord". Amen, groan, groan! Not now, lah, groan. It will release you from stress. It will release you from depression but even then, this is not the main thing. The main thing is that if you read carefully, it seems like God remembers his covenant when his people groan.

I'm sure you've never heard that. Don't let new things cause you to put up your fences and you stick with that which is familiar. Maybe the lack of results in other areas in your life is the result of not having this new truth, but the new truth must be studied and must be studied in more than one Scripture, okay? So, go to Exodus 6 now. God's talking to Moses and God says, God is talking, "I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom"... Go back to Exodus 2, I forgot to show you something. Exodus 2, "God heard their groaning and God remembered". Verse 25, "And God looked upon the children of Israel and God acknowledged them". Your King James says, "God had respect unto them". So in other words, they groaned, God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and God looked down at them. God acknowledged them. God respected them.

Don't think that God despise your groaning. I know some Christians will say things like, "Well, some Christians and all they do is that they moan and they groan". I think what they mean is that Christians love to complain, but don't use moan, don't use groaning. That is a powerful prayer when it comes from your heart towards God. All right, murmuring, complaining won't help you. Okay, back to Exodus 6, God talking to Moses. "I've heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians kept in bondage, and I've remembered", again, my covenant, "Therefore say to the children of Israel, 'I am the Lord.'" Seven things will happen, seven "I wills" of God.

The first "I will," "I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will". Number two, "I will rescue you from that bondage, and I'll redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments". Next, number four, "I will take you as my people, and I'll be your God". Five, "You shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings up from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land," six, "which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you," number seven, "as a heritage," all because of her groan, ah.

That's powerful. Even a sigh. I'm telling you, sigh. You know, Jesus prayed like this, we always think like, You know, we always think power, that's power. No, it's your power. It's your earthen vessel making a lot of noise... Dong-dong-dong-dong-dong-dong. Some people are so strong, you know? They're so strong and silent, they don't even groan. No matter how in pain they are, they don't even shed a tear. God cannot use people like that, because you know why? You are pretending to be the treasure of strength when you're actually earthen vessel. You're about to cry, you're about to groan, about to cry. God won't disown you. God loves it, you know, when you are being yourself. But always acknowledge power is there for your weakness. God wants you to express your heart, that's why ladies live longer than men, statistics. They feel anything, they talk. When we all feel, we all mmm, mmm. Sometimes we don't even groan. Sometimes not even a mmm, we just take it all in. It's not good, people. I'm talking about the... we can talk about the psychological advantages and all that of releasing stress. This is not what this teaching is about. It's talking about connection with God. Are you listening?

Now watch this, Jesus saw a man who was deaf and he had an impediment in his speech. Look at this Mark 7, "Then Jesus prayed for him". Jesus looking up to heaven, he sighed. You know what he sighed? Ah, he's looking up to heaven, ah. It's like all the... sighing is not joy, okay? Sighing is really the sorrow. Only love can identify with people who are suffering. He sighed, ah. I seldom find people who pray for the sick, they sigh, ah. Jesus did. You know, love does that, you know? Love cares for the pain, love takes on that person's sufferings in a sense that, you know, he feels the pain.

You see, you can teach and counsel people professionally, but the Bible says our high priest can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He's not there knowing our infirmities from afar. He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. That's our Jesus. Pure goodness, the world never saw his pure goodness, his beautiful love. "He sighed, and then said to the man, 'Ephphatha, that is, 'be opened.' Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly". I'm giving you this verse to tell you, you know, the Greek word there "he sighed," is "stenazo," all right, stenazo.

Now, watch this, we shared with you about believers are not looking for the Antichrist. We are looking for Jesus in the Rapture, okay, or the catching away, harpazo. You say, "Pastor Prince, the word 'rapture' is not in the Bible," neither is the word "Trinity," but the truth is the triune God, so is the truth of the Rapture. In the Second Coming, his feet will touch down on the Mount of Olives and the whole world will see him, the Bible tells us, most likely on television as well. Now, when it comes to the Rapture, the Bible says it happens in an atomic second. 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15, "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We shall not all die," thank God, "but we shall all be changed". Those who are alive and those who are dead before will all be changed. "All believers will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet," atomic second. "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible. We shall all be changed. For this corruptible," this body that's corruptible, "must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality".

Next verse, "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law". Next, "But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord". And that's the last verse of chapter 15. It's amazing the truth of learning about the Rapture does not make you lazy.

"Therefore" is there because of the truth of our new body. Once we anticipate, we're not looking forward to death. We're not looking forward the Antichrist appearing. We're not looking forward to Russia conquering more nations. We are looking forward to the Rapture, which is the redemption of our body! The only thing that's left right now this side of heaven, the blessing that you and I don't have is the redemption of our body where the Son of God will transform our vile body, our bodies of humiliation into his glorious body. And knowing this truth, some people say, "Studying prophecy makes people lazy". No, therefore because of prophecy, because of knowing about the Rapture, you'll be steadfast, immovable, always abounding. Mmm, are you with me? Are you listening, people?

Now, we go to 2 Corinthians 5. We are winding down. Are y'all sighing, ah? See, you're praying all the time, y'all didn't know, right? Your husband says something, you know, your husband say, "Hey, you know, darling, I just invested some money in stocks again". Then you go, "Ah". That's a prayer. Now, people, I don't know... see you are laughing because it is so funny to us, but the thing is that if you're conscious of the Lord and you are ah, there's a lot that is in that sigh, a lot in that groan. It's a prayer to God because it comes really deep. You see, your prayers are so eloquent I doubt it comes real deep. The deeper it goes is praying in the Spirit but here it's not just praying in the Spirit, it's deeper than that, talking about groanings.

2 Corinthians 5, "For we know," Paul is talking, "if our earthly house". What is our earthly house? Look up, people. Do you know that body is your earthly house? The Bible calls it a tent, all right? The real you is in this body. If my body, my heart stops beating right now, which it won't in Jesus's name, praise the Lord, hallelujah. Thank you with long life he satisfies me, amen. All right so, if my heart beats and it stops, my body drops, the real Joseph Prince, first of all, I step out and because I've been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, sin is no longer the issue, all right, dividing me from my wonderful Father. Straightaway, the first thing you feel is that, "Oh, man, I feel so alive"! I'm not talking about unbelievers, I'm talking about Christian. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Straightaway you see the Lord. Say "Lord, who is that good-looking guy"? "Oh, that's your house, your earthly house". "Wow". "You should see yourself now," the Lord says, "you look even better".

And you know what? You're still unclothed, but you're waiting for your body to come. So those who have died, they're now with Jesus, but they're still not clothed. God's full plan is that God's destiny is that they'll be like Jesus having a real body, but Jesus in his body of the Resurrection could transcend time and space, even matter. He could appear in a locked room before his disciples, and that's why the Lord transforms our bodies in an atomic second, in the twinkling of an eye, so that in the Rapture, no one sees us go up. And you can be in this building, you don't have to say, "Wait, Lord. I'm going up. I'm taking the lift, wait for me". No, no, you'll be transformed you and you transcend matter. Your body is physical, glorious nonetheless, heavenly, eternal, yet it transcends everything on earth. It can transcend matter.

If the Rapture happens right now, and the Rapture, by the way, does not wait for anything to, any sign to be fulfilled. The Rapture is imminent, which means it can happen anytime. And we are the generation that saw Israel come together in 1948 and Jesus said, "This generation will not pass away". I'm telling you, church, before Jesus comes back, keep on saying Jesus comes back. You must know one thing, the Second Coming of Christ is not the Rapture. The Second Coming of Christ is when he comes back for Israel, his feet will touch down on Mount of Olives. The Rapture will meet the Lord in the air. We'll be transformed, bang, we disappear, but the devil has prepared the world already for this disappearance. They will say the aliens came and took them away. They have movies like "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers". They've been kidnapped. The devil is preparing the world, and I tell you something, we live in a world that believes in aliens more and more. "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed," if our body is destroyed.

Notice, he talks about the body like it's not him, because you are in a body. We have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, hallelujah. We have a house, we have a body made in heaven. "For in this we groan," guess what. Stenazo, stenazo, we groan. "Earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven". We are groaning and not only groaning, earnestly desiring. You see, because of lack of teaching on the Rapture, people do not know the importance of earnestly desiring, nor do they even desire, let alone, earnestly, why? I'll tell you something. One of the reasons why there's so much sickness in the body of Christ, one reason is because the Rapture is not being taught. There is something about knowing that you receive a brand-new body that causes even this body to be filled with life. I wish I have time to show you all these things, but actually... Okay, I must show you this passage of Scripture, okay, to bless you so you understand, all right?

Romans 8, real quick. We'll come back to this real fast. Romans 8, talking about groaning. "The earnest..." Now, I love to read this from the King James, the earnest expectation. Every time you see the word "creature", it's creation. "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God". I'm telling you the cows moo, the monkeys swing, the whales sing, you know, and all the different noises that animals make, they are groaning. They are groaning for the manifestation of all of you. Manifestation means that which is invisible become visible, that which is hidden becomes open. They are waiting for that. "For the creation was made subject to vanity or futility, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption". So, all the animal world, all the vegetable world, all the world of no matter how organic the food is, it's fallen. Make sure you pray before you eat. It's the blessing of God on your food that makes the matter.

You see, people say bread is good, water is good, and they are good. Then why must it be the Lord who bless your bread and water and take sickness away from the midst of you, okay? So "Because the creation will be delivered". All right, next verse. "We know that whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now". The earth is groaning. The earth is tilted. At one time, it was straight. Once upon a time, the earth had only one season because it was upright. That's another message altogether. But the earth is groaning. The earth is groaning. That's why there's earthquakes here and there. It's groaning. And it's groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God. It seems like God has subjected this earth to us, amen.

"And not only they," the creation, "but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves". And guess what? That word there is stenazo again. Stenazo, we are groaning, we are sighing, we are groaning, "waiting," for what? "The adoption," the sonship, "to wit, the redemption of our body". We are groaning for the redemption of our body. So I tell you this. You will receive your body on that day itself, when you see Jesus face to face. You will get your body then. But why, then, if you know you're going to get your body, why groan? Why groan for... why waiting? The word "waiting" there, all right, is a earnest waiting, eagerly waiting for the redemption of our body, because it has an effect on your health. If only we preach more on the rapture, you will see people getting more energetic and stronger, renewed in their youth and strength. We're not looking forward, none of the apostles, when they write, they look forward for death, they look forward for the rapture.

Now, Paul himself did say, all right, "I wish I was absent from the body, present with the Lord". Well, I need to hang around in the flesh for you guys. And that's a different kind of devotion, but the general teaching is all are waiting for the Son of God, to wait for his Son from heaven unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you with me so far? Now watch this. We are waiting for what? The redemption of our body, a body that will never grow old, never be subject to sickness and disease. The doctors will never say to you, "Well, your body is aging. You know, your body is..." no longer such things. We'll be forever young, which is quite a long time. Amen. No more growing old, no more death, no more sickness, no more disease, no more bottom, no more sleeping when the pastor is preaching, energetic forever, strong. The whole universe is our playground.

Now, the next verse... before I show you the next, I'm going to show you a verse that'll blow your mind. I don't understand how, I look at many commentaries. They're not able, many of them, are not able to, they tend to skip this verse. They cannot explain it, because many of them don't believe in healing, so they tend to skip this verse. All right? This is the verse. Next one. "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for what we see not, then do we with patience wait for it". Now, we all know that we are saved, not by hope. We are saved by faith, by his grace, through faith. We are healed by grace through faith. But do you know something? The word "salvation," the word "saved" here, the word sozo. Sozo, my friend, is saved, but it's also healed. It's also rescue, a rescue from danger. It is also delivered. Are you listening?

So, many of us think of saved, as in saved from hell, but saved can also be healed. In fact, the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus told her, "Your faith has healed you". In the Greek, your faith has sozoed you. So, I'm telling you this. We are saved, here, I submit to you it's talking about healing, not about our salvation from eternal condemnation. We are healed by having this hope that we're going to receive a brand-new body. We are healed. For the lack of preaching on the second coming, some people say a prophecy is a dangerous place to teach on, but one-fourth of Bible is prophecy. Amen. So, stick to what the Bible says, and don't go anymore. But the more we teach on prophecy, it does something to your bodies while you are waiting. You'll be alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord. Are you listening, people?

Next verse, next verse, please. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities..." This word "infirmities," people? You cannot, you know, I don't care which scholar talk to you about the word "infirmities". This word in the Greek, more than 50% is used 24 times in the New Testament, all right? But I'm telling you about 60 to 70% or even 80% of the time it's used for physical sickness. It's used for physical sickness. And even those areas where they say it's not physical sickness, it's mental weakness, or whatever, I can actually see it as a sickness, as well. So, infirmities, when it says, "Jesus himself took our infirmities," sickness, it's this word that's used in the Greek. So, notice the Holy Spirit helps our sicknesses, our infirmities, "for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us," with what?

Now, many of times we teach this and not wrong for us to do that. We teach this and teach tongues out of this, and it's not wrong. Tongues is a beautiful language. It has its place, but the deeper teaching and the clear teaching of Scripture is that the Spirit makes intercession against your sickness with groanings. When you think about your physical symptoms, you go... And the word "groaning" here is the noun of the verb stenazo. It's teknamos. It's still groaning from stenazo. People, you're allowed to groan. Can you understand, church, what I'm trying to say? I'm trying to say that there is a prayer already, but you want to go into your room. You want to go into your special moment. You want to go into your right, you know, eloquent, pretty prayer. You want to go around doing everything, except to groan, because to grown means I'm desperate. There's only one who can help me. Groan, God remembers his covenant. And by this time, it's a new covenant. Okay?

Then we close with 2 Corinthians 5. Okay, so, people, "In this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven". What is Paul saying? Paul is saying, "Hey, guys, I am so desirous that this body of humiliation be clothed upon by the body made in heaven, a body that will forever be healthy and strong, never grow old, never die, like the body of Jesus when he rose from the dead". Oh, I'm desiring for that body. Are you desiring for that body? And meanwhile, like I said, it has an effect on your health. Now watch this, church. "If indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked". Now, in other words, those who have died in Christ, our loved ones who died in Christ, they are now immediately with the Lord Jesus; but in a sense, they are only spirit and soul there. They are not clothed. They are naked in the sense that they are not clothed with their glorious body yet. We will all be clothed at the same time, when Jesus comes in the rapture. Okay?

Now, next verse. "For we who are in this tent," in this natural body, "we groan," stenazo again, "being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, not because we want to be unclothed," not because we want to die, not because we want to put off this body. See, the thing is that the teaching of Scripture is that don't wait to die. Like this brother just now, right, he prayed to die. God is saying it's not scriptural. God says, and even Paul, Paul says, "not because we want to be unclothed," that means put away our natural body, "but further clothed," we want to be clothed with a glorious body, "that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

Now God who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee". And the word "guarantee" is a down payment. Down payment means I'm coming back for the full possession. So, when you come back for the full possession, you're going to have a brand-new body, a body that's forever. Are you with me? One last, this one. Must end with Jesus, must end with Jesus again. His best friend had just died, one of his friends, I should say. Lazarus. The messenger came to Jesus and said, "He whom you love is sick". That's very smart. He didn't say the one who loved you. "He whom you love is stick". Jesus waited another two days, and finally Jesus went. Watch this. The Bible says, John 11, "Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping," Martha weeping, "and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled".

Now, this is another Greek word embrimaomai, which is another word for groaning, but it's groaning nonetheless. It's a strong groaning. He groaned in the spirit. You see, I think our Savior was thinking death is unnatural. See, when you and I, we attend a funeral, we attend for the living, not for the dead. Because really, that's just a house. The real person is with the Lord. All right, the person that's not saved is somewhere else. But the thing is this. Nobody likes, nobody likes to be reminded of death, nobody. You know why? Because God made you for life. Deep down in you, you know that man is not supposed to die. God himself hates death. The last enemy to be put under Jesus' feet is death. God never meant for man to die. God told Adam, "Do not eat from that tree. The day you eat of it, you shall surely die".

In Hebrew, dying first spiritually. You shall die. Dying, you shall die spiritually, then physically. God hates death. Sin, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So, church, it tells you that Jesus groaned in the spirit, and I believe it's because he remembered. He never made man, all things were made by him, by Christ, and without him was not anything made that was made. He made man to live forever. He never made man to die, but man sinned against God, because God gave man free choice, and free choice is free choice. You cannot manipulate man's free choice. Man chose sin, man chose death.

So, he remembered, and the Bible says he groaned and was troubled. "And Jesus said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, 'See how He loved him.'" Next. "And some of them said, 'Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?' Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, 'Lord, by this time there is a stench.' He had been dead four days. Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?' Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.'"

Now, some people assume that he prayed much earlier, or whatever. I submit to you, "heard Me," usually when this thing comes, it's always in the context or in the same chapter you'll find it. What did he pray? Let's go backwards again. He groaned in himself. Drop down. All right, he groaned in the spirit. Two records of him groaning. That was his prayer. Sometimes all you have is a groan. Release it. Don't be so strong. "I can handle this, I can handle this, I can do it". Cry if you need to, groan if you need to, sigh, let it all out, because God, our Father is a God full of compassion, tender mercies, and kindness. But alas, so many of us are so strong, so strong in ourselves, when we are actually so weak.

So, people, I wish I had more time to share this with you, but I just want to tell you this. I would say that 90% of the church world do not understand this kind of prayer. They will just say, "Are you sure it's in the Bible"? The first time you tell them, and it is throughout the entire New Testament. I can show you other verses, as well. We don't have time. So, people, remember this: when you don't have a prayer, when you don't even feel like praying, and all you have is a sigh, release that. Say, "Oh, Jesus, Jesus".

You might have heard teaching that say there are people who do nothing but, you know, just groan and groan about their problem. They groan to each other. No, that's different. I think they are referring to people who are murmuring; but when you groan to God, wow. Praise to Jesus. I'm at my wit's end. I don't know what else to do. Oh, Jesus, Jesus. Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. I remember one time my child was sick. Jessica, when she was a young girl, about 3 or 4 years old, I bind, I loosed, I claimed Mark 11:24. Nothing seems to happen. I remember seeing over her, her bed. Her body was warm. And all I did was cry. And then deep down inside there was a groan. There was a sigh. And I just let it go. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

A sigh is not pleasant for others to see. Someone groaning is not pleasant for others to behold. It's something very personal. And I just poured out my heart. You know something? That night, the whole thing turned around. And that was years ago when God was beginning to teach me that when man is at his end, God is just beginning. If you are here, today, my friend, and you're not sure that if Jesus comes again and all the signs are showing the world is full of the news telling us everything is now focused on Europe, Jesus talked about that, and Israel. We're seeing that.

Friend, if all that happened, God will remove us before the worse happens on earth, and the Bible calls it the catching away of the church. If you say, "I'm not ready," friend, that's why God brought you here today. You say, "Pastor Prince, I want Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for my sins, to be my own personal Savior and Lord," if that is you, wherever you are now, pray this prayer from your heart, okay? Are you ready? Say this:

Heavenly Father, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that you love me and sent Jesus, your Son, to die in my place as my substitute, the Lamb of God, who takes away all my sin. And now that sin has been removed, and all my sins forgiven: past, present, and future through the blood of Christ, there's no more, any barriers between me and you. I'm greatly blessed. Thank you, Father, for raising Jesus from the dead in a glorified body. And one of these days, Father, he's returning for me, and I'll have a brand-new body. Only you know the time and when he return. I pray, Father, that you will give to all of us an earnest desire for the redemption of our body; and most of all, to see him face to face. In Jesus' name, and all the people said amen.

Friend, if you prayed that prayer, you are now a child of God. Old things are passed away. When Jesus comes, you are going up. I said you are going up. Sin is no longer the issue. Sin has been removed, okay? You are going up. That new body is yours! Amen, praise the Lord. Stand to your feet. All right, church, lift your hands all across this place. Now I'm not gonna groan over you. All right, groaning is a very personal thing. When you pray in public, you pray with understanding, so that people can say amen, all right? Lift your hands all across this place.

This coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of Father Abraham and the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. May all you touch prosper. May your enemies come against you one way, flee before you seven ways. God bless the fruit of your body. All your children are blessed. Stress, depression be far from your house. Worry, concern, and burdens be far from your house. The peace of God garrison your heart and protect your household and all your families. The Lord keep you, preserve you, protect you from every virus, from every sickness, from every disease, and from death itself, until Jesus comes, and we see him face to face. The Lord lift up his countenance on you, grant you supernatural favor everywhere you go, and grant you peace, in Jesus' name, and all the people said amen. God bless you, church.