TD Jakes - Prayer Partners - Part 1
Paul, the brilliant intellectual apostle, humbly admits "we know not what to pray for as we ought," showing that even the sharpest minds face uncertainties in life and prayer, limited by experiences and needing vulnerability to partner with divine help.
What drew me to the text is for Paul to say, "We know not," we do not even know what to pray for, we do not even know what to pray for. If I told you how many times I walked in the hospitals where people were on life support and I did not know what to pray for.
It is not that I wanted them to die, but I am not sure that I wanted them to live hooked up to ventilators and respirators, and cannot breathe, and I am not sure that I wanted to wake them up to more Alzheimer's.
Uncertainties in Life and Prayer
And I am not sure that a baby whose heart and liver and lungs are born outside of its body, that I want it to wake up to more pain. And we know not what to pray for about the marriage, we do not know what to pray for.
You are single and you do not know whether to ask for a companion or not. You are scared to ask for a companion, because all your girlfriends got one and they are trying to get rid of them, and you do not know whether you are better off by yourself or with somebody.
Oh, come on, talk to me, I dare you to be real with me, I dare you to be real with me, I dare you. We know not. Maybe I am better off by myself, maybe I could do it, but maybe I can do bad by myself, maybe I do better alone, and I do not know what to pray for.
The Humility of Not Knowing
I do not know what to pray for. I am telling my children what they ought to major in, but now the rules have changed and I am not sure what I had in mind for them is right.
And I am not sure that it is any of my business what they do in the first place because they have reached an age that they have the right to be wrong if they want to. We know not.
This humility is exacerbated by the contradiction that it comes from an intellectual. The Apostle Paul is one of the most intellectual contributors to the New Testament, he is in part selected because he is an intellectual, he is absolutely brilliant.
Paul's Intellectual Brilliance
He speaks in a multiplicity of languages, so God can use him in various countries because he is bilingual. Concerning the law, he is zealous. He is a Hebrew of Hebrews, he is from the Tribe of Benjamin.
He is a descendant of Saul the king, he has all kinds of power, his pedigree includes being a Pharisee. He is blameless regarding the law, he is respected by the most intellectual crowd.
You know how deep you are about who hangs around you. He is respected by the upper echelon of the intellectual influences of his society, he has been trained at the feet of Gamaliel.
Paul's Profound Contributions
He is able to articulate the word of God in a multiplicity of languages. That means that the ships could not sail any place that Paul could not speak. Paul was bright, he was brilliant, he was profound, he was prolific.
He is the primary contributor to the New Testament. Most of our theology of the New Testament church comes from the Pauline epistles, he is a major contributor of the New Testament.
Of which Romans is the caveat of all of his literary wonders. And his splendiferous ability to articulate wisdom in coherent ways has given us much of the truth that we hold today.
The Contradiction of Paul's Humility
How could Paul, as big as his head is, acquiesce to the statement, "We know not," when everything about Paul was what he knew? You must understand, the finite mind, the intellectual mind is deceitful.
It has been so successful that it can create arrogance, the brilliancy of it. The brilliancy of the human mind is the jackal's speed, it is the gorilla's strength, it is the leopard's leap, it is the lion's roar.
Our defense in the jungle is the creativity and the brilliancy of the human mind. I do not have the teeth of the panther, I do not have the strength of the gorilla, I do not have the speed of the cheetah.
The Mind as Survival Tool
But to compensate for all of that frailty, He gave me a brain that is brilliant and intellectual. And if there is anything on yourself you are to feed, it is your mind, it is your mind, it is your mind.
People can only enslave you if you do not feed your mind, that is why they do not want you to read, because the more you read and the more you feed your mind, the possibilities become amazing with feeding your mind.
I run for my body, I read for my mind, I pray for my soul. Now, there is a workout plan for you, until every part of you has exercised, mind, body and soul.
The Power of Thinking
And you are no stronger than the way you think, the way you survive in the jungles of life is the brilliancy of your intellectual capacity to be able to articulate and enunciate plainly and succinctly your creative influence.
It is not about how pretty your selfie is, it is not about how many followers you have, it is not about how many friends you got. I want to know, how deep do you think, how far down can you go, how deep is the well of your capacity toward brilliance?
Not just degrees, because you can have degrees and still be stupid, I am talking about intellect, I am talking about intelligence, I am talking about God gave you a bright mind to compensate for weak legs and short teeth and no roar.
Respecting the Mind
You roar with your mind. When I wrote the book, "Disruptive Thinking," I wrote it because it is all about how you think, it is all about how you think.
It is not just about biceps and triceps and quads, it is about how you think. "As a man thinketh, so he is." It is with the mind that we serve the Lord. Lay your hands on your head and say, "Lord, touch my mind."
That is my weapon, that is my tool, that is my defense, that is my survival mechanism, that is how I operate, intelligence. Intelligence, it has created the wheel, it has crafted weapons, it has tamed horses.
Achievements of Human Intellect
It has trained camels, I am talking about the mind. It has created steam engines, it has built stage coaches, it has melted metals, it has rose chariots, it has built automobiles, it has cured diseases.
It has built homes, I am talking about the mind. I am talking about the mind, it has created aircraft, it has developed telephones, it has built homes, it has done amazing things, it has developed Morse Code.
Radios, televisions, it has done heart surgery, it has replaced organs, it has developed stem cells, it has harnessed energy, it has created spaceships, it has developed technology, it has created the metaverse.
The Mind's Vast Potential
It has monitored algorithms, it has split atoms, and so much more, I am talking about the mind. I am talking about the mind, I am talking about the mind, I am talking about what is in between your two ears.
Your intellect, your ability to reason, your ability to speak, it is powerful. Paul is an intellect. Look at your neighbor and say, "I am an intellect." I want you to respect me for my mind.
You telling me how you feel about me, but until you respect my intellect? I am going to always feel disrespected. You can use nice words to describe me, but if you do not respect my thoughts, I will lose self-esteem.
Building Confidence Through Respect
Respect the thoughts of your children, it is how you build confidence in them, by listening when they speak teaches them to have a respect for their own opinion. Your mind is everything, your mind is important, your mind is significant.
Do not let anything tear down your mind, do not let anybody destroy your mind. I do not care what they call you, I do not care what they bring up, I do not care what they say about you.
The devil is a lie, you are what you think you are. Touch three people say, "Get it in your head, get it in your head, get it in your head."
Paul's Humble Admission
Paul is intellectual, Paul is powerful, Paul is brilliant, Paul respects cultures, Paul has written books, yet he limited intellect in one powerful, prolific statement that requires humility.
Watch this. It is humbling for a brilliant man to say, "We know not." It is important that you know what you know, but it is more important that you know what you do not.
If you know what you know, but you do not know what you do not know, you are still going to mess up, there has to be a humility to keep you from the arrogance of worshiping at the shrine of your own opinion.
Limits of Experience and Exposure
After all, intelligence is colored by your experience, whatever you experienced in life becomes your intelligence, whatever you read becomes your intelligence, you can only rise to the height of what you have been exposed to.
If you have not been exposed to certain things, you cannot do certain things. If you have not been exposed to sushi, you say, "I do not like sushi," when, in fact, it is a result of your exposure.
If you have not eaten Japanese food, you will get in a Japanese restaurant and ask for a fork because you have not been exposed to it. We tend to avoid what we have not been exposed to.
Paul as Prayer Warrior
So intelligence is limited to experience and exposure. That is why Paul said, "We see through a glass, darkly," because you can only see through the prism of your experiences, so, what you call intelligence may not be facts, it may be perspective.
There is no question that Paul, in spite of his intellect, is a prayer warrior, he has modeled prayer for us. Paul is so powerful that he has raised people from the dead.
Paul was preaching his intellect, and a man fell asleep and fell out the window, and Paul walked down the steps and raised him from the dead, and came back upstairs and kept preaching.
Humility Opens to Partnership
He has escaped prisons, he has survived stonings, he has endured shipwrecks, he has taught us to, "Pray without ceasing," he has taught us to, "Pray one for another." All of this is done through the intelligence of prayer, and yet, he says, "We know not."
It is through this humility, this small nail hole, "We know not," these three small words open up a gateway to partnership.
You do not partner with people who are good at what you are good at, you do not partner with people to duplicate your success, you partner with people to accessorize your limitations.
Choosing Partners Wisely
So until you know what you know, number one, and then, number two, know what you do not know, you cannot choose a good friend, because you do not have the humility to understand where the void is.
That is how I know you fit, because my down is your up, my out is your in, I am an introvert, you are an extrovert. I can make money but you know how to budget and you know how to manage money.
You pick somebody who is good at what you do not know how to do, and that begins when you stop worrying about your ego and find your humility, because ego-driven people can never say, "We know not."
The Consequences of Ego
We know not. That is why you picked the wrong partners, that is why you are married to the wrong people, that is why you hired the wrong people, that is why you enter into the wrong relationships.
Because you think you know everything, when, in reality, all you know is based on all you saw, and all you saw is not all that there is.
So you think that the world is your world, and you cannot understand the difference between your experience and what is available to you globally.
Vulnerability Invites the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit breaks into Paul's moment at the point of his vulnerability, not at the point of his speech, not at the point of his intellect, not at the point of his power, but at the point where he says, "We know not."
From that point on, the Holy Spirit has found a door. God fills all space. If you create vacuums, God will fill it.
That is why the Bible says that God formed man, and then filled him. Whatever God forms, He fills, because God is not attracted to that which is full.
God Fills the Empty
He told the widow, "Bring me empty vessels, and bring me not a few," because God fills voids, and because you act like you do not have none, you do not get the anointing that you could get, because if you are already full, there is no space left for God to fill.
He told Moses, "Build the tabernacle, and I will fill it with furniture." Any time you create a void, God will fill it.
He told the apostles to, "Go to the upper room, and go empty, and wait, and I will fill you with the Holy Ghost." You gotta be empty enough to say, "We know not."
Be Weak to Receive Strength
Because you sit in church with your legs crossed, trying to be important and impress everybody, you do not get the revival, you do not get the glory, you do not get the anointing, because you are so worried about your image you will not let go enough to say, "I am empty, and I need something else from God."
God wants to partner with you, God wants to come in like a flood. Stop being so strong and be weak for a minute, because God said His strength is made perfect in your weakness.
That the way to go up is to go down. If you humble yourself, I will exalt you. "Cry aloud, spare not," ye inhabitants of Zion.
Travail and Birth
For when Zion shall travail, sons and daughters shall be born. I want to hear Zion travail. Zion, travail, do not hide it, do not bury it, do not cover it up, do not camouflage it.
Open your mouth and God will fill you, open your mouth and God will exalt you, open your mouth and God will intercede.
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is yet near." God said, "I want you to seek Me, I am tired of looking for you, I want you to start looking for Me."
Seek God with Effort
If there is anybody in here that is looking for God, holler right now. When it comes to seeking God, you will do it 30 seconds, but if it comes to seeking a man, you will plot for a month and a half.
When it comes to hunting for a woman, you will get up early, you will go to the gym, you will work out like an animal. God said, "I am jealous, I am tired of you putting more energy into your false gods than you put into Me."
I want you to seek for Me like you seek for your lover, I want you to seek for Me like you are hunting for a job, I want you to look for Me like you look for a house, I want you to put some effort to it.
Shout Unto God
I am going to give you one more chance, open your mouth and shout out unto God. Shout, shout till hell gets jealous, shout like you are tired of being empty, shout like you need a breakthrough.
Shout like you want a door opened, shout like you are tired of being empty, shout. You owe it to yourself to find out what would happen if you entered into partnership with God.
The abundant life comes when you get the hook up. You are trying to do it by yourself so you can impress God, God does not need to be impressed, He needs submission.
Confess Your Need
He needs you to confess, "I am not as smart, I am not sure, I do not know what to do, I need Your help, I need Your strength, I need Your power."
Touch three people and say, "I need it." I am going through a stage in my life that I need it, I am in pain and I need it, I am in trouble and I need it, I am desperate and I need it.
I do not care what I look like, I do not care what I have on, I do not care what they say.