Book of Mark

Mark Finley: Jesus is praying for you. Whatever struggle you are going through, whatever challenges you face, Jesus is praying for you.
Guest (Female): This is Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message, Mark. Enjoy, and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with Hope Lives 365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: The winds of change were blowing across Eastern Europe. Country after country was falling like leaves falling from the trees in autumn, falling from that totalitarian regime of communism. Country after country was coming to the point of democratic freedom. I remember those years very well. I was preaching in October in Hungary of 1989 when a thousand people marched in the streets chanting for freedom. But there is an untold story of that march for freedom and that deliverance from the totalitarianism and the dictatorial autocratic nature of those communist regimes. There is an untold story that has come to light after the fall of communism. The symbol of the communist regime was the Berlin Wall, and it was in 1989 on November 9 that the Berlin Wall fell. In 1982, a 46-year-old Christian pastor by the name of Christian Fuhrer began a series of meetings in his church called prayers for peace. And during that period of time, people began to gather at the Nikolai Church in Leipzig, Germany, to pray. At first there were just a very few people that prayed, 10 to 15, but the group began to grow. And they knew that if God did not answer their prayers, there was no hope for freedom in Eastern Europe. Other churches joined in that prayer movement. On November 9, 1989, 2,000 people gathered in the Nikolai Church. Each of them had candles in their hand that were called candles of peace. When they left the church, they were shocked that there were 8,000 people in the courtyard of the church and in the streets with candles. Others began to join them, and across Germany, 1 million people marched. They marched for freedom. Now, I want to read you Christian Fuhrer's words as he reflected on leaving the Nikolai Church. And here is what he said: "So we were absolutely terrified of what might happen. The police had not been briefed for this possibility, candles and prayers. Had we thrown stones, they would have known what to do. They would have attacked, but the tanks had no choice but to withdraw without a single shot being fired. We had the sense that something extraordinary had happened, but we really only understood the enormity of it later. Thousands of people with candles, people who never met before suddenly a family. They laid their candles at the feet of the armed soldiers and police. The steps of the Stasi, the secret police building, were filled with candles. The organization that spied on, abused, and sold people out now was awash with candles. It looked like a river of peace and light. When more than 2,000 of us came out of the church, I will never forget the sight. Tens of thousands more waiting outside the square. They were holding candles. When you hold a candle, you need both hands because the wind will blow it out. So you cannot hold a candle and a stone or a club at the same time. Then the miracle occurred. The spirit of Jesus, the spirit of non-violence, took hold of the masses. And what resulted was peaceful violence. The army, fighting battalions, and police were drawn in. We began to sing, we began to pray, and the wall came down. The story of the fall of the Berlin Wall is the story of earnest intercession. It is the story of prayer. When you pray, walls break down, the walls of difficulty between husbands and wives break down when you pray. The walls that separate people break down when you pray. The walls of evil habits break down when you pray. The chains that bind us are severed when you pray. The jails that hold us open their doors when you pray. When we pray, God breaks down walls in the community, and the spirit of God brings people. Now, there are three things about intercessory prayer. First, intercessory prayer is biblical. Second, intercessory prayer is powerful. Third, intercessory prayer to be effective must be personal. Let's study these three things. Intercessory prayer is biblical. Take your Bible, please, and turn to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians the first chapter. Here in Ephesians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Ephesus. Ephesus is a city of 150,000 people. It's a city that is known for the goddess Diana, so it's a pagan city. It's a city that is multicultural. It's a city that's extremely rich. It's a city that's materialistic. It's a city that's highly educated. It has the Celsus library that actually has a form of air conditioning to keep the mildew out of the books, and they had 12,000 books in the library. It's a city of prostitution and immorality. It is a city that is known for the arts. It has the Odeon Theater and the Ephesus Colosseum. So to that large, metropolitan, cultured city that has a thriving Christian church, the Apostle Paul writes. Ephesians chapter 1, you're looking there at verse 15 and onward. "Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." Paul says, "I am not with you. I am traveling, but Church at Ephesus, you are on my mind. Church at Ephesus, you are in my heart. I am praying for you. Intercessory prayer is biblical." Now, what was Paul praying all about? He says verse 16, "I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." What does he pray for? Verse 17: "that the God of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." Paul says, "I am praying that your heart would be open. I am praying that your mind would be receptive to the word of God." Verse 19: "and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power." Paul says, "I pray that the mighty power of God will flow into your life as the result of my prayers." As you pray for a son or daughter, you pray for this son or daughter that may not know Christ, that the mighty power of God will flow into their life. As you pray for your community, you pray that the mighty power of God will come down in that community, that hearts and minds will be opened to the gospel. Now, if isn't Christ doing everything He can for your son, your daughter, your husband or your wife, your neighbor before you pray? Is Jesus limited to our prayers? Isn't Christ doing everything He can for the Holy Spirit to work with that person before you pray? Isn't Jesus doing everything He can to send angels to them before you pray? If Christ is doing everything He can before I pray, why should I pray? For this reason: In the great controversy between good and evil, in this cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan, there are ground rules. And one of the ground rules is this: God does not violate our freedom of choice. So God is doing everything He can before we pray. But when we pray, God can turn to Satan and says, "Look, although I am doing everything I can to win that person, I respect this brother, this sister's freedom of choice to pray for them. And the river of the water of life from heaven's throne will be poured out through them to touch that son or daughter in ways that could not be touched if they did not pray." As we pray, we open the channels of blessing for God because just as God respects their freedom of choice, He respects our freedom of choice. In the book Great Controversy, page 525, I read these words. "It is God's plan to do in answer to the prayer of faith what He would not do did we not thus pray." Intercessory prayer is biblical. The Apostle Paul prayed for the churches that he often left behind. Philippians chapter 1. Paul is imprisoned in Rome. He's in a dark, dirty, dingy, damp dungeon. But on his heart and in his mind is a congregation he's left behind. Philippi was a very difficult evangelistic assignment for Paul. There was no Christian congregation in Philippi. The woman out by the little river called Lydia, the seller of purple, and her family were converted. An African slave girl was converted. A Philippian jailer, a Roman was converted. And from that so diverse group, a very wealthy woman from Europe, an African slave girl, and a Roman middle-class Centurion, the Christian church was formed. Paul ended up in prison. He ended up being beaten, back bloodied. He was hastened out of town. But he never forgot Philippi. He left a small team of Bible workers there. And when he was in prison in Rome, Paul prays for the church there. Philippians chapter 1, verse 3 and 4: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making request for you all with joy." All through the New Testament, we find the Apostle Paul praying, interceding, earnestly seeking God. He believed that God would do something through intercessory prayer. But then Paul asks them to pray for him.
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Mark Finley: But then Paul asks them to pray for him. And his request seems rather strange until you understand the background. Philippians chapter 1, verse 19. Paul is an old man now. His hand is shaking. There are deeply etched lines upon his face. His hair is gray. His body is weak and frail. He is in prison, and he is cold. He is shivering in prison. He is hungry. Verse 19: "For I know that this, that's my imprisonment, will turn out for my salvation through or because of your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Now, don't miss that. It's a rather strange text. Why does Paul say, "I know that my imprisonment, I know that this suffering I'm going through will turn out for my salvation because of your prayer"? Wasn't he already saved? Wasn't he the mighty apostle of grace? The word here for salvation is the Greek word "soteria." And another, another translation for the word "soteria" is the word healing or therapy. So the text could read this way: "I know that my imprisonment, my trial, my difficulty is going to turn out for my therapy or my spiritual healing because you're praying for me." Whatever challenge your husband is going through, whatever challenge your wife is going through, whatever challenge your kids are going through, whatever challenge your neighbors are going through. As we pray for them, that challenge then does not become a burden that crushes them, but through our prayers, that challenge becomes therapy. That challenge becomes healing for them, and God uses the very difficulty thing that they are going through because we are praying for them to bring spiritual healing to them and spiritual growth to them. Intercessory prayer is biblical. Secondly, engaging intercessory prayer is powerful. Particularly when groups of people pray together. Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12. Intercessory prayer is biblical, intercessory prayer is powerful. James had been beheaded by Herod. After James is beheaded by Herod, Peter is thrown into prison. And the church says, "We are not going to allow Peter to be in prison alone." So Acts chapter 12. Verse 5: "Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer." What kind of prayer, everybody? Spasmodic prayer? Occasional prayer? Once in a while prayer? What does your text say? "Constant prayer was offered to God for him by whom? By the church." So as the church is meeting in corporate prayer, those prayers ascend up into heaven. And Jesus turns to one of the angels and He says, "Go down there and unlock the prison doors and set Peter free." So the angel comes down. The prison cell is illumined with the glory of God. The prayers of the church are answered. And Peter is set free. He's led through the streets by the angel, comes to the very house that they are praying. Acts chapter 12, he knocks on the door. They do not know their prayers are answered. Verse 12: "So when he considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered praying." As Peter knocked on the door, Rhoda gets up. She must be a teenage girl or something, late teens, early 20s. She runs to the door. She recognizes Peter's voice, but she does not even open the door because she's so excited that prayer has been answered. She runs back and says, "Church, we've been praying for Peter, and our prayers are answered." They say, "Oh, that couldn't be Peter. He's in prison." They did not even sense the miracle power of God when they prayed. When you pray, it's powerful. For the last 50 years, my wife and I have been traveling the world in evangelism. One of the most difficult evangelistic meetings we ever had was in Papua New Guinea. There were riots in the streets before we got there. Cars were burned in the streets. The government put a curfew on from 7:00, 6:00 at night to 6:00 in the morning, which meant we could not have our meetings in Sir John Guise Stadium. We began to pray. We sought God earnestly. Monday curfew, Tuesday curfew, Wednesday curfew, Thursday curfew. Parliament was meeting Thursday night. We said on Thursday morning to our staff, "Set up the stadium." They said, "But there's curfew." We said, "There's no curfew in the day. We got a thousand people that are praying. Set up the, set up the stadium." They did. I woke up Friday morning, ran to get a copy of the national newspaper. And here it is, the copy of the national newspaper. It says this: "Curfew eased for SDA rally." Headlines of the newspaper. Then it goes on to say, "An estimated 100,000 people are expected to pack the stadium tonight. The Prime Minister will address the nation and introduce Pastor Mark Finley." 100,000 people came out to the stadium. Next night on the newspaper live from PNG. Here is a picture of the crowd, 100,000. God does something when we pray that He would not do if we did not thus pray. Sometimes the answers to prayer are so amazingly dramatic. In that series, 100,000 people came night after night. The first appeal, 10,000 made decisions to be baptized and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, when we pray, God does something special. I've seen Him do it again and again and again. We were in Russia, holding meetings in the Olympic Stadium. Going to have a baptism of about a thousand people. We couldn't do it in the city, so we were going to take them out to a lake. I needed a place for people to change, and we wanted to have a tent. No tents could be found. We said, "Wait a minute. There was a little tiny ad in the newspaper that said that the military was selling tents, but they were going to sell these tents and from a military hospital, but we didn't have any idea where that hospital was in Moscow. No idea." There must have been 15, 20, 30 hospitals in Moscow. So we got on our knees and we prayed. We said, "God, we do not know where that tent is. This is a city of millions of people. No way we can find that tent." "But God, you know where that tent is." "I know, Lord, you are going to help us find that tent. We have to find that tent. It's a Tuesday. We need it immediately." So I said to my staff, "Look, you guys go out and rent a cab and find that tent and come back in two hours with it." They said, "Pastor, but we do not have any idea." I said, "But God does. Go find that tent for me." They went out, hired a cab. They are driving around Moscow. They have no place, no idea where to go. An ambulance went by them when the red light. My colleague said, "Follow that ambulance." They followed that ambulance through the narrow streets of Moscow. It came to a hospital, open the, they opened the gates. It was a military hospital. Within two hours, we had the tent. Intercessory prayer is biblical. Intercessory prayer is powerful. And for intercessory prayer to be effective, it has to be personal. Take your Bible, please, and turn to the book of Luke. We are looking at Luke chapter 22. Our model in intercession is Jesus. Intercessory prayer becomes effective as it becomes personal. Intercessory prayer is biblical, intercessory prayer is powerful, and to be effective, intercessory prayer must be personal. We are looking there at Luke 22, verse 31 and onward. Jesus speaks to Peter. Now, Peter has just made this statement about being so committed to Christ that he would never deny Christ. And so here, Jesus speaks to Peter. Verse 31: "And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.'" Now, notice verse 31. It's easy to look over the text quickly: "Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you." Now, here is my question: Who was Satan asking for Peter's soul? Who? Do you think Satan came to Jesus and said, "Now, Jesus,..."