Telling The TRUTH
060212 Telling The Truth 28 Minute Program
[MUSIC PLAYING] You're listening to "Telling the Truth" from Triple T. Christian Youth Ministries, "Telling the Truth to and Through Teenagers." Here is Triple T. Founder and President George Dooms. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6, 6, New King James Version. Do you have a secret place, a place of prayer, a private place where you can pour out your heart to the Lord? Find such a place, and go to that place whenever you possibly can. Pray alone. Trust the Lord to then put you in contact with prayer partners, and then pray with people who know the Lord. Pray for people who don't know Jesus, and read the Word of God, and take the gospel to those people. When you pray, believing in advance that you are going to receive what you're asking for, whether it is a serenity of spirit, or it be companions to pray with you, or people who need the Lord. Whatever the need might be, pray expecting God to hear and answer. The faith factor is of the utmost importance when we pray. We need to let God know that we are aware of the fact that he knows everything there is to know about us, and he will hear, and he will answer our prayers. Pray expected. When you pray, make certain that your heart is clean and crystal clear. Be ready to go before the throne of God and listen to his instructions. Matthew 6, 7, New King James says, "But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." In other words, don't pray in front of people to make them think you are wise, or that you have a special insight into what God is about to do, but rather go humbly before the throne of grace. And don't pray over and over and over the same phraseology, but pray specifically if possible by name for folk who need the Lord or folk who need your prayer support. And then pray with utter believers, and be careful as you pray together that you are not boastful in your asking or even in your thinking. But be sincere and open before the Lord, expecting his direct response to your request. Believe and receive. If your faith is intact, when you go before God's throne, you will believe that he is going to hear an answer, and he will. The Pharisees paraded around wanting everybody to look at them when they prayed. God is warning us to do something differently. Listen to Matthew 6, 8, New King James Version. Therefore, do not be like them. For your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. Isn't it wonderful to know that God is omniscient and omnipotent? He knows everything and he is able to do anything and everything that is needed. He knows what you have need of. God's word says, before you ask him. That's a wonderful promise. Before you ask, I will answer another scripture says. So let's go to the throne of grace, expecting God to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, and to be able to receive what he is going to provide as we pray, as we read his word, as we fellowship with other Christians. And then as we take the gospel to people who need Jesus in their hearts and in their lives, what will you do with Jesus, who is called the Christ? Will you share his good news? The death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ that will save anyone who will believe? When the apostles approached Jesus and asked him how they should pray, he then presented what is known as the Lord's Prayer, but more correctly spoken of as the model prayer. Listen to Matthew 6, 9, New King James, as Jesus began his teaching. In this manner, therefore pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. That's the way to start prayers. Pray to our Father in heaven, acknowledging who he is, his holiness, his greatness, his majesty, his hallowed name. And then begin to articulate what's in your heart and watch God not only hear, but to answer your petitions that you make known to him. God loves you and he wants you to love him back. So read his word, talk with him, pray with other believers and represent him to desperately needy people. Who do you know who has a big need to have a change in lifestyle, to have a rearrangement of their total being? They need Jesus, would you go to them and tell them how they can know him? Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7, 7, New King James Version. That's Jesus, A-S-K formula. The wonderful thing about it is it works. Three words spelling ask. First, you ask and it will be given. Then you seek and you will find. And then you knock and it will be opened to you. When you ask, seek and knock, God hears and answers. Are you in tune with him? Are you reading his word? Are you believing the word of God? Do you believe Matthew 7, 7? It's true. Jesus said it and you better believe it. It's the word of God. Not only do you need to read the word of God, but you also need to pray expectantly the way Jesus taught us here to pray and you need to get prayer partners praying with you. First of all, pray secretly in a place where only you and God are meeting together. Then with others, pray with family, friends that you trust, and then make requests that you believe God is going to hear. Jesus gives us the ask formula. And then in Matthew 7, verse eight, New King James Version, he lets us know what happens when we follow the formula. Listen, for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks, it will be opened. There you have the triple promise. Ask and receive. Seek and find. Knock and watch the doors open. God expects us to follow his word precisely. He wants us to have the faith in fact, though we believe what's going to happen when we pray, that he is going to let us receive what we ask for. Let us find what we are seeking for and let the doors open on which we are knocking. It's a way of life. First of all, privately present your heart needs and desires to the Lord. Secondly, bring other people into the picture to pray with you. And thirdly, expectantly go to do whatever it takes to accomplish what God wants you to do for him. Have you asked him what he wants you to do? Are you ready to go wherever he wants you to go? To say whatever he wants you to say, ask, seek, knock. Listen to the promise that Jesus presents in Mark 1124, New King James Version. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. What a wonderful promise. When you pray, are you believing that God is not only going to hear, but answer? Have you found that private place, that special place before the throne of grace that you are about to enter with God as you pray on an altar again in secret and pour out your heart to the Lord? Ask for forgiveness, ask for guidance, ask for direction and ask for what other people need. Pray compassionately and then make your request known to the Lord. And when you have left that private place, have others pray with you and together claim God's promises, believing that he is going to hear and answer your prayers. Read and heed the word of God. Be a communicator of Christianity to people who really need Jesus. There are those out there waiting for you to tell the old old story, the great gospel story so they can be saved. Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m. you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 US 41 North at Booneville and Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for those in first through fifth grades is available in a separate area. For more information, call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. (upbeat music) - Today begins the week of prayer for fair share. We'll be going out across the tri-state God willing through every door that God opens and provides the people, the transportation and all the resources that it takes to go to county after county, to fair after fair and even street festivals like the one coming up in Mount Carmel, Illinois during ag days that will wrap up fair share this summer. It all begins on the 9th of July and it continues through the 11th of August. We'll have people coming from across the country to work with us, to give away free ice water, to take surveys and then to present the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to people willing to listen. And then to those who want them, if they are between the ages of 10 and 19, we'll provide for them a triple T, specially covered copy of the New King James Bible. The Bible lets us know that we are to draw near to God and then he will draw near to you and me. Have you been discouraged or you discouraged today? Listen to Psalm 143, a psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications, in your faithfulness answer me. And in your righteousness, do not enter into judgment with your servant. For in your sight, no one living is righteous. For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me dwell in darkness, like those who have long been dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is distressed. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your works. I muse on the work of your hands. I spread out my hands to you. My soul longs for you like a thirsty land, Selah. Answer me speedily, O Lord, my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me. Let's die be like those who go down into the pit. Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning. For in you do I trust. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk. For I lift up my soul to you. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies. In you I take shelter. Teach me to do your will. For you are my God, your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. Revive me, O Lord, for your namesake. For your righteousness sake. Bring my soul out of trouble. In your mercy, cut off my enemies and destroy all those who afflict my soul. For I am your servant. Then David the king, David the psalmist continues in Psalm 144, beginning with verses nine and he gives us more insights. Listen, I will sing a new song to you, O God. On a harp of 10 strings I will sing praises to you. The one who gives salvation to kings. Who delivers David his servant from the deadly sword. Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners whose mouth speaks lying words and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth. That our daughters may be as pillars sculptured in palace style. That our barns may be full, supplying all kinds of produce. That our sheep may bring forth thousands and 10 thousands in our fields. That our oxen may be well laden. That there be no breaking in or going out. That there be no outcry in our streets. Happy are the people who are in such a state. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. God wants you and me no matter what we're going through to understand he cares. He wants us like David did to just cry out to him and let him know that we know he can take care of these problems, that we do have enemies. We do have difficulties. We do have circumstances that we can't control. Prayer changes things and prayer changes people. One of the great experiences I had in high school was to meet someone who would become later a lifetime friend. His name, Ken Anderson. The time I met him, he was teaching at Wheaton College. And he was working at Babtica Films. He had written a couple of novels. And he was one of the contributing writers to Sunday magazine. And I was getting Sunday because my folks were involved in leadership in our local church. Later, Ken became a very, very special friend. And he spent time with us when we were in Wheaton, Illinois overnighting with us, being our house guest. And then here, again, having that happen more than once. Ken wrote a book. He wrote lots of books, but one was called Bible-based Prayer Power, using relevant scripture to pray with confidence for all your needs. In the inside of this book, beginning early on, he quotes R.A. Torrey, the second president of Moody Bible Institute. The chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer. In his book, Ken introduces steps. He says, "Welcome to steps. New ideas about prayer that are as old as the Bible." Steps formed from the identifying statement that scripture teaches effective prayer strategies. Through investigations and implementation, this new approach has enriched for me the meaning and function of prayer beyond anything I could have anticipated or imagined. It was Alfred Lloyd Tennyson who said, "More things are wrought by prayer in than this world dreams of." And I shall more fully explain steps. Reinforcing your prayers with precepts and promises from the Bible. In the discovery, development, and use of this new method, I have learned two important truths. Ken says, "I have learned what prayer is not. It is not dialing heaven 9-1-1 in times of emergency, imploring God to come to our rescue, solve all our problems, heal, and fortify. Nor is prayer like a letter to Santa." Listing our wants, which God is to promptly provide, plus making known our wishes for His priority attention. And said, "I am learning that when I pray, I become like a lamb in the arms of a shepherd, which is a relationship more intimate than the most enduring of human involvements." It is a kind of fellowship Jesus indicated when in John 15, 4, he said to his disciples, "Abide in me and I in you." This abiding involves basic trust in which my supreme desire is to please Him, even in the requests I make to Him. I desire more to please Him than to seek favors from Him. If my prayers are not answered as I would wish them to be, I can say in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. It was John Bunyan who said, "Prayer opens the heart of God." Ken says, "For many years I struggled with prayer. I knelt by my bed at night, as if that, for a malady, might have virtue of some sort. In later years, I paced back and forth in my room, or went on long walks, during which I tried to pray. I never felt at ease, no matter what position or procedure I used. Time seemed to drag. I often became bored while praying. Once I even wondered if my watch had stopped. Most difficult of all was group prayer. I have never felt comfortable talking to God in the presence of others. Developing a prayer notebook helped a little bit. I was even commissioned to produce a prayer notebook for the small denomination of which I was a member. It was impressively published and I experienced a moment of pride when I first held it in my hands and thumbed through it. I tried to use it, but the old boredom syndrome prevailed and I soon set it aside. Ken continues, "But then the Lord brought steps into my life." By its very format, it vitalized my times of prayer. One, steps is easily understood and an applied procedure. Two, related promises from the Bible reinforce people, circumstances, and needs in my prayers. Three, I pray reverently but informally, enjoying warm rapport with the Lord. You too can benefit from using the steps method. Charles Adams-Burgen said, "Efective prayers are God's promises breathed out of human hearts." Stay tuned because we're going to share some more with you about how you can pray intelligently, expectantly, and watch God work wonderfully to hear and answer your personal prayers and those of others with whom you are praying and answer prayers in behalf of those for whom you are concerned. Now, steps is not a gimmick. It's a tool that can help you, again, more in a moment. Scripture teaches effective prayer strategies. That's what steps is all about. Steps is a new and unique approach to prayer, born out of frustration and ineffectiveness that Christians often experience in their prayer lives. Steps is not a gimmick or an attempt to be clever. It is a new approach for talking to God based on the promise of Jesus in John 15-7. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it will be done for you. As Christians, connect their needs and desires to verses in the Bible. They will begin to enjoy deepening personal relationship with its author. Prayer that is based on the promises and principles of God will help readers experience intimacy with the Lord, have boldness and confidence as they pray, gain answers and understanding and increase their faith. As we go back to the Psalms, let's follow up with the next Psalm that David put together for us to have in God's inspired word. Psalm 145, "I will extol you, my God, O King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of your awesome acts and I will declare your greatness. They shall utter the memory of your great goodness and shall sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works. All your works shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power, to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to you and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, glorious in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. The mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and all flesh shall bless his holy name forever and ever. What a wonderful series of promises this is when we go to the Lord in prayer expecting him to hear an answer. This is, as I said earlier, the beginning day of the week of prayer for fair share. We're asking God to do something special. Tonight we're having hot dog, it's June, a wiener roast, and at 7.27 it happens here at Triple T. Then on June the seventh we will begin the mini camp for travel and tigers training to get ready for fair share. That evening we're having a very special cookout and it's going to be the kickoff of the sizzlin summer and then on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be the training continuing Saturday at 11.30. That is June the ninth. We'll have partners in youth evangelism gathering for lunch with youth workers and tigers, pastors and people and then that Saturday night we'll have tiger testimonies at Triple T at 7.27. During this week of prayer I hope that you will avail yourself of the opportunity to not only pray for your needs and needs of others for whom you're concerned but pray for fair share that God will open doors and He'll provide the people necessary, people willing to invest time and talent and treasure and maybe you'd like to be one of those. You can, if you will, just send a gift to God through Triple T Christian Youth Ministries. Our address is TTT 13,000 that's 1-3-0-0 U.S. Highway 41 North Evansville, Indiana 477-25 and remember $20 will provide a scholarship for one of the tigers in training. Pray and give as God guides you. Christ through you can change the world. Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m. you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 U.S. 41 North at Boondville, New Harmony Road, Midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday a good news club for those in first through fifth grades is available in a separate area. For more information call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org or your free copy of The Telling the Truth newsletter call 812-867-2418 812-867-2418 or write Triple T 13,000 U.S. 41 North Evansville, Indiana 477-25. Tune in to Telling the Truth next week at this same time on This Same Station. [Music]