Kenneth Copeland - Pray and Listen
Now, in this sixth chapter of John, "After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude..." We have a very small multitude in here. "A great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence or where shall we buy bread, that these may eat"? Simple question. "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little".
He's waiting. He's waiting for the answer. "One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many"? So the barley loaves, don't get that they're like this? No. If you look that up, they're just small crackers like a Triscuit, they're minis, small fish. Now my dad and I used to go fishing and we would take some crackers and a can of sardines. Some people don't like sardines, and I happen to like them and roll that can back and all is well. But you're sure not going to feed 5000 people to that. "Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand".
The man sat down in number about 5000. So in talking to Rick Renner about this and he said that the research shows that there are at least 40,000 people there that day. And he said there was anywhere from 15 to 20000 around him all the time everywhere he went. "And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world".
He didn't do it for the proof. He did it to feed the people. But nobody listened. They had their hearts in mind on the size of that crowd. You can see one and they're out in the middle of nowhere and these people are hungry. And so but the miracle happened in their hands, he gave it to them. He said, "You feed them". Amen. So what do you think he prayed? Oh God, bless these little fish, bless these little crackers and the hands that caught the fish and the hands that made the crackers. No, no. Increase. Blessing and increase. He blessed it. The blessing was the first thing a human ear heard in the book of Genesis. Hallelujah.
Now, we were just in East London, South Africa. André was praying. I want to show you some pictures here in a moment. I was there at the beginning of it and we had anyway, he kept telling me, Oh, now I can go back for it. At that time, his ministry invested a million rand into the Citation X that we were believing for. So it was about 2005 because we took delivery of that airplane in 2006. Now, this was the beginning of it. And that's André there on the right. He's driving me around, showing me what is going to happen and how this is going to turn into that. And this is going to be a great big dome. And there's something I saw the other day. If you say so. Okay. And I said, "Where's the money going to come from"? He said, "I kept praying and I heard the Lord say, 'The money's in the floor, the money's in the floor..."
Look at that. The money is in the floor. So you're not through praying until you listen. Philip didn't listen. The money's in the floor. The money's in... And André said, "Is there gold under there or something"? It was better than gold. So when they took out that first floor, the seventh floor looked like that. That is an extremely rare African pine. It is against the law to even cut those trees anymore. They make gorgeous furniture. They make the finest guitar frets in the world. The money was in the floor. And I want to show you now, look at the flatbed truck full of it. The old floorboards packed, stacked and ready for transport to Cape Town. I said, "André, how much was it"? He said, "More than enough". I was there and dedicated it. I want you to see the real thing here. There we are.
Now, that was an old sheep barn and the money was in the floor. The money was in the floor. So it is important to listen in any area of offerings. Gloria and I learned early on to listen, but my first faith project was a pair of socks, you know, and I mean, when I left home, I didn't run out of socks. I just go get my dad socks. But that didn't work anymore and I needed some socks. So I decided to get them by faith and to listen and listen and listen and know how to do this. So that's the way it began. But then we began to listen all the time, and we started out listening to tapes all the time, day and night. And at the time that this all occurred, the two of us being scriptural illiterates. I said, "Gloria, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they all tell the same story". She said, "Yes. Isn't that wonderful"?
So that's where we began. But we were listening to those tapes. I mean, night and day. We didn't have time for television, we didn't have for anything. Our faith was growing and we really didn't pay much attention to it. But I noticed we would be gone a week and come back. I go to study hall and ORU was one of the first colleges in the country to do this, and this goes all the way back. They didn't even have digital, just this old telephone dial kind of thing. Like that. So you go in there and put a headset on and you could dial up a number and I could get my lectures and listen to them, and I could listen to him three or four or five times if I needed to. And that's the way we began.
So it became very, very important to listen. Well, I didn't understand why I had professors that would come into the study hall and I'd pulled my headset off and they'd say, "Kenneth"... This man had been in the ministry longer than I was old. Would you agree with me about some...? Would you pray concerning this or concerning that? Could you do this? Sure. They came to me one day and said, "God has taken his hand off of Brother Roberts". What are you talking about? We went back for the Abundant Life magazine and some of these people had lost their healing. Let me ask you, did he heal them? "Well, no".
Well, the only thing I could come up with, I thought, well, the same unbelief that got them sick in the first place get them again. Well, I was, you know, a clean sheet of paper where the Lord was concerned. So I was learning to listen, pray and listen. Pray and listen. Pray and listen. And I had to learn how to do it. So I started with that pair of socks. I had such an outstanding experience the night before I registered. Then the Lord got that through me in such a booming way that it became a powerful thing to me. And I learned that I was hearing here and not here.
So I would hold something here and get my attention here. So and listen here and I do this still today. I walk in my closet, I have a walk-in closet. I go in there and I didn't always have that. But I'm increasingly blessed today. And I say, "Father, should I wear this suit"? Yes, sir. Or no, sir. Yes, sir or no sir is about all you can handle unless you get into unless you get into a conversation, which that happens occasionally, but and just stand there. Stand there until it settles in here.
I remember John Osteen saying, the most important thing that I have ever learned is that God is smarter than I am, and he already knows the beginning from the end, he's the alpha and the omega, he's the A and the Z, and all in between. He already knew it and he's already in the future because he's the one that knows when the resurrection is coming. He's the only one that knows it. He's the only one that knows exactly how long our star is going to last. Our sun, he's the only one that knows, he created it. What a God we serve. And he's so way ahead of us. Then think about. Think about how he has to slow down to even communicate. So we pray and we listen.
Father, we thank you tonight. You are the God that's more than enough. You are El Shaddai. The forever God and the wonders of it all. Oh, Lord, I'm so hungry. I don't know much. But what little I do know has made me hungry for more. Glory to God... To hear more and see more into the Spirit".
Yes, I am in the future and my desire is to see to it that you don't have to struggle. I've done the struggling for you, whatever you're going through, I've been there. Whatever you've not seen, I know. And as time progresses, I will reveal these things to you. If you will take time to be still and know that I'm God. And on the throne of the universe is a huge responsibility. And I'm still searching to and fro across the earth to find those who will seek my face and to know my name. And as I find those people, I will show them things they know not of. And I will teach them things that which they have never heard. And as you go on through life, I'll show you things and insights and concepts and ideas from my Word and from my creation. I'll show you wonders and these things please me, saith the Lord, for I'm very, very pleased with my children as they walk by faith and become hungry for my Word and hungry to know my face and to see me in everything that they do and everything they hear.
So give me praise and honor me and I will continue to pour the wisdom that has come through the ages. I will pour those things into your heart and into your mind and show you things. Take the time to be still. Listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me early in the morning, when you first wake up, I will reveal myself to you. I will reveal myself to you in my book. And you will come to that place if you know me through my Word, then you can have a place that's more intimate with me than with any person on the earth. For I love you. And all that I have belongs to you. And I want you to have all of it. And I want you to have it in abundance. And it'll come through and it'll settle down on you. And it will seem like as the anointing grows and your ears are open to me, my ears are always open to you. But in those quiet moments, it will seem like someone has just put a warm coat over your shoulders in a very cool evening and there I will be. And there I am. This place tonight... If you could only see the angels in this room. The prosperity angels, the healing angels. So, Father, we give You praise and thank You, in Jesus' name.
So give me praise and honor me and I will continue to pour the wisdom that has come through the ages. I will pour those things into your heart and into your mind and show you things. Take the time to be still. Listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me early in the morning, when you first wake up, I will reveal myself to you. I will reveal myself to you in my book. And you will come to that place if you know me through my Word, then you can have a place that's more intimate with me than with any person on the earth. For I love you. And all that I have belongs to you. And I want you to have all of it. And I want you to have it in abundance. And it'll come through and it'll settle down on you. And it will seem like as the anointing grows and your ears are open to me, my ears are always open to you. But in those quiet moments, it will seem like someone has just put a warm coat over your shoulders in a very cool evening and there I will be. And there I am. This place tonight... If you could only see the angels in this room. The prosperity angels, the healing angels. So, Father, we give You praise and thank You, in Jesus' name.