1 00:00:00,615 --> 00:00:03,077 I think what the Lord has directed me to, 2 00:00:03,147 --> 00:00:06,056 and many of you don't have a Bible, and that's fine... 3 00:00:06,231 --> 00:00:08,857 Most of you probably know this verse already, 4 00:00:09,005 --> 00:00:12,748 It's in Jeremiah, the 33rd chapter, in the 3rd verse 5 00:00:12,765 --> 00:00:15,610 and what strikes me about this verse is that 6 00:00:15,959 --> 00:00:18,866 we are encouraging you to pray... 7 00:00:18,946 --> 00:00:21,712 we encourage our families to pray, 8 00:00:21,726 --> 00:00:24,866 we encourage our churches to be fervent in prayer 9 00:00:24,866 --> 00:00:28,483 But here, the Lord Himself is encouraging us to pray. 10 00:00:28,483 --> 00:00:32,661 This is the Lord's encouragement for us to pray. 11 00:00:32,661 --> 00:00:36,343 We should know our God is sovereign. 12 00:00:36,368 --> 00:00:40,602 He is all powerful; He calls the end from the beginning, 13 00:00:40,623 --> 00:00:42,786 He ordains the end... 14 00:00:42,786 --> 00:00:46,200 But He also ordains the means to that end, 15 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,224 And the means to the end, one of the means is prayer... 16 00:00:50,224 --> 00:00:54,812 it's fervent, effectual, constant prayer of the saints. 17 00:00:54,821 --> 00:00:57,251 If God's going to do something, He's going to 18 00:00:57,251 --> 00:01:01,043 move His people generally to pray before He does that. 19 00:01:01,045 --> 00:01:03,188 In the 32nd chapter here, 20 00:01:03,188 --> 00:01:06,188 God is promising Jeremiah some things. 21 00:01:06,188 --> 00:01:08,071 Jeremiah is shut up in prison. 22 00:01:08,071 --> 00:01:10,117 He is promising him that He is going to 23 00:01:10,117 --> 00:01:12,332 take the people of Israel into captivity, 24 00:01:12,332 --> 00:01:15,856 but also there in verse 37, He says "I'm going to gather them 25 00:01:15,856 --> 00:01:18,933 back out of those countries, whether I have 26 00:01:18,933 --> 00:01:21,963 driven them in My anger, and My fury, and My wrath, 27 00:01:21,963 --> 00:01:23,712 I'm going to bring them again into this place, 28 00:01:23,712 --> 00:01:25,802 I'm going to cause them to dwell safely 29 00:01:25,802 --> 00:01:28,868 and they shall be My people, and I will be their God 30 00:01:28,868 --> 00:01:32,286 and I will give them one heart, one way that they may 31 00:01:32,286 --> 00:01:36,657 fear Me forever, for their good and their children after them, 32 00:01:36,657 --> 00:01:39,323 and I will make an everlasting covenant with them." 33 00:01:39,345 --> 00:01:43,792 Wonderful promises that are promised to you and I as well. 34 00:01:43,792 --> 00:01:47,982 So, Lord, how are You going to do this? 35 00:01:47,988 --> 00:01:50,907 He opens up chapter 33, he's still in prison, 36 00:01:50,907 --> 00:01:53,036 The Lord comes to Jeremiah again and He tells him 37 00:01:53,036 --> 00:01:55,212 how He's going to do this, 38 00:01:55,212 --> 00:01:57,761 and here's the verse, verse 3 of chapter 33, 39 00:01:57,761 --> 00:02:01,243 He says, "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, 40 00:02:01,243 --> 00:02:05,744 and show thee great and mighty things that you do not know." 41 00:02:05,744 --> 00:02:08,006 I'm going to show you great things. 42 00:02:08,006 --> 00:02:12,023 I'm going to show you hidden things, that you don't yet know. 43 00:02:12,034 --> 00:02:15,866 This is how I'm going to answer My promise to you. 44 00:02:15,866 --> 00:02:18,195 These hidden things. 45 00:02:18,231 --> 00:02:20,809 So, He commands us to pray. 46 00:02:20,809 --> 00:02:22,134 "Call unto Me." 47 00:02:22,134 --> 00:02:24,066 This is encouragement for us to pray, brethren. 48 00:02:24,075 --> 00:02:25,423 "Call unto Me." 49 00:02:25,423 --> 00:02:28,097 Can you imagine, the Almighty God, the God of Heaven, 50 00:02:28,097 --> 00:02:31,076 the Sovereign One, the Eternal One, Jehovah God, 51 00:02:31,115 --> 00:02:34,558 the self-existent God speaking to you and saying, 52 00:02:34,558 --> 00:02:36,872 "Call unto Me." 53 00:02:36,872 --> 00:02:39,137 And we might bring this to our level... 54 00:02:39,137 --> 00:02:40,517 "Give Me a call." 55 00:02:40,517 --> 00:02:41,681 "Call me." 56 00:02:41,732 --> 00:02:44,839 You know I love it when my daughter or my son says, 57 00:02:44,839 --> 00:02:46,879 "Dad, call me. I need to talk to you." 58 00:02:46,879 --> 00:02:49,857 They don't do that very often, but I like that. 59 00:02:49,857 --> 00:02:52,168 This is our God saying, "Call Me." 60 00:02:52,205 --> 00:02:55,141 "Call unto Me and I will answer you." 61 00:02:55,141 --> 00:02:59,178 Not only I will answer you, but I'm going to show you 62 00:02:59,222 --> 00:03:03,308 some great and hidden things that you don't yet know. 63 00:03:03,322 --> 00:03:04,887 Now here we are at this conference, 64 00:03:04,887 --> 00:03:07,244 who knows what the Lord may do? 65 00:03:07,244 --> 00:03:11,027 Often times, seed is sown and it's weeks, months... 66 00:03:11,027 --> 00:03:15,350 even years before the fruit comes forth, 67 00:03:15,356 --> 00:03:18,569 but don't you have an expectation here? 68 00:03:18,569 --> 00:03:20,568 This is what this verse says, 69 00:03:20,568 --> 00:03:23,843 "Call unto Me and I'll answer you." 70 00:03:23,843 --> 00:03:26,505 This should be our expectation as we call upon the Lord. 71 00:03:26,505 --> 00:03:28,640 You're going to answer us, God, You promised. 72 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:33,672 And not only that, You're going to enable us to experience something. 73 00:03:33,672 --> 00:03:36,281 Now we're not here just to go through the motions I hope... 74 00:03:36,281 --> 00:03:38,722 I hope we're here to experience God. 75 00:03:38,722 --> 00:03:40,504 What do we want to see? 76 00:03:40,504 --> 00:03:43,834 We want to see God working in our own lives personally, 77 00:03:43,834 --> 00:03:47,493 We want to make advances; we want to reach higher ground, brethren. 78 00:03:47,493 --> 00:03:51,118 We want to be more faithful than we were when we got here. 79 00:03:51,118 --> 00:03:54,133 We want to go home with our wagons loaded, 80 00:03:54,133 --> 00:03:56,472 and walking in the light that God gives us. 81 00:03:56,505 --> 00:03:59,143 But we want to see this in our families, and in our marriages, 82 00:03:59,143 --> 00:04:00,664 and in our churches. 83 00:04:00,664 --> 00:04:01,862 What a blessing last night was! 84 00:04:01,862 --> 00:04:04,862 Practical, real helps for the people of God. 85 00:04:04,862 --> 00:04:07,496 So, how's this all going to happen? 86 00:04:07,514 --> 00:04:11,038 Well, pray. 87 00:04:11,038 --> 00:04:14,537 "Call unto Me. I'll answer you and I'll show you 88 00:04:14,537 --> 00:04:19,337 great and mighty things that you have not yet seen." 89 00:04:19,337 --> 00:04:21,372 Paul says it this way in the New Testament: 90 00:04:21,372 --> 00:04:23,811 "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 91 00:04:23,811 --> 00:04:25,791 neither has it entered into the heart of man 92 00:04:25,791 --> 00:04:30,699 the things that God has revealed to those that love Him. 93 00:04:30,699 --> 00:04:33,295 Who knows what the Lord may do? 94 00:04:33,295 --> 00:04:36,282 Who knows what great things the Lord is going to reveal 95 00:04:36,282 --> 00:04:40,748 to each of us, through prayer, 96 00:04:40,748 --> 00:04:42,928 through conversations that we might have 97 00:04:42,928 --> 00:04:47,012 with others, through fellowship, through singing, 98 00:04:47,012 --> 00:04:51,444 through encouragements; God breaking strongholds of sin, 99 00:04:51,444 --> 00:04:53,903 God opening eyes... 100 00:04:53,903 --> 00:04:57,497 You know I've had many conversations through the years, 101 00:04:57,497 --> 00:04:59,707 And someone will share something with me, 102 00:04:59,707 --> 00:05:02,977 and it's just like the voice of God has spoken... 103 00:05:02,977 --> 00:05:07,084 I hear. I hear. I understand. 104 00:05:07,118 --> 00:05:11,201 And so, let us pray, brethren. God is encouraging us to pray. 105 00:05:11,201 --> 00:05:15,433 "Call unto Me. I will answer you, and I'm going to show you 106 00:05:15,433 --> 00:05:19,436 great and hidden things that you don't even know yet." 107 00:05:19,436 --> 00:05:22,643 And when we leave here, we go home, next week, next month... 108 00:05:22,643 --> 00:05:24,410 maybe we can raise an Ebenezer 109 00:05:24,410 --> 00:05:27,410 and say, "Lord, You've brought me this far... 110 00:05:27,410 --> 00:05:30,032 and You've used even this weekend, 111 00:05:30,032 --> 00:05:33,032 this conference, these prayer meetings, 112 00:05:33,032 --> 00:05:36,914 these preaching meetings, these conversations, 113 00:05:36,914 --> 00:05:39,914 these times of fellowship... 114 00:05:39,914 --> 00:05:42,829 You've used this to advance Your kingdom." 115 00:05:42,858 --> 00:05:49,321 And it's a very easy verse to remember. Call 333. Jeremiah 33:3. 116 00:05:49,321 --> 00:05:52,008 "Call unto Me. I will answer you and show you 117 00:05:52,008 --> 00:05:55,049 great and mighty things that you don't know."