Called to be spiritual stretcher-bearers

I invite you to open your bibles to the chapter of Mark, the gospel of Mark, chapter 2, how sweet to be in the presence of the Lord, right? Well, if that is the case, we do not leave the presence of the Lord, what is more, I believe that God has some beautiful purposes tonight, and as Pastor Omar shared, we talked, but even in that conversation, look, it was one of the elements of That conversation was, Pastor Omar knows, if the Holy Spirit wants to do something else, I always make that clarification, as a good son of a Pentecostal father, amen we are open to that.

And so I say now, we depend on the Spirit of God, even at this moment, particularly with what we have in mind. How many here a few weeks ago, what's more, it was during our Holy Week celebration, and the Lord blessed us in so many ways, all that week, and that Wednesday was such a blessing for me to be here sharing with you, in a moment in the service, oops, did I touch that? How sensitive is that? Well, amen, at a moment in prayer, the Lord gave me this phrase that I shared with you, that the Lord had called us to be spiritual stretcher-bearers, and that began a moment of intercession, in which we, the Holy Spirit, urged us to bring it to others, as if we were carrying them.

In other words, extend our hands to the altar and symbolically leave our loved ones at the feet of the Lord. Now, that image was not made up at all, we are going to explore it tonight, and as we explore it, the goal is for us to be more effective intercessors, the goal is to explore, where this idea comes from, of being spiritual stretcher-bearers of bringing others to the Lord, and if the Lord has called us to that, what are the principles that can help us to be better spiritual stretcher-bearers, where does this idea come from?

There you go. There it is, okay. My brothers, I don't know how many of you have seen this image, maybe you can't see it so clearly from there, but these figures are not angels, you see very well, they are four men who have just opened the roof and one on each side with a rope, going down, this paralyzed man, with a bed and everything at the feet of Jesus. Jesus had to be a tremendous preacher, if they do this to me, maybe Pastor Omar wouldn't mind this, if they do that to me, I forget about it and everything, but that was it, Jesus was waiting for these guys, he was waiting for this man, that was God's purpose.

We are going to read this biblical passage to you, and you will tell me, Pastor Samuel, you say that today's message is about intercessory prayer, but prayer does not appear here. Where is prayer spoken of in this passage, and in what sense are these people intercessors? But we are going to see that spread throughout this history are the principles of intercession, amen. Let's read my brothers. Mark chapter 2, from 1 to 12, Lord thank you, we follow you before your presence, now open our hearts, and help us Lord to bring others to your feet, so that there you can do the work that in your heart you want to do among our means, in the name of Jesus.

Jesus entered Capernaum again, after a few days, and it was heard that he was in the house, and immediately many gathered, so that there was not even room for the door, and he preached the word to them. He returned to Capernaum again, he was preaching, he was healing the sick, word spread, and many came, approached him. Then some came to him bringing a paralytic, who was carried by four. And since they could not get close to Him because of the crowd, they discovered, that is, they opened, they made a break in the roof, from where it was and making an opening they lowered the bed on which the paralytic lay. "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven."

There were some of the scribes sitting there, most of this message will be based on what we just read in verse 5, but there is so much more, this opened up an opportunity for the glory of the Lord to be displayed in a special way here. "Some of the scribes were sitting there, pondering in their hearts why he speaks like this, he says blasphemies. Who can forgive sins but God alone. And Jesus knowing that they pondered in their hearts in this way, he said to them: why Do you ponder in your hearts like this? What is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to tell him, get up, take up your bed and walk? So that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic, I say to you, get up, take your bed, and go to your house.Then he immediately got up and taking up his bed, he went out in front of everyone, so that everyone was astonished and glorified God and said, never We've seen such a thing."

By the way, that last verse for me, I believe that is the goal of what God wants to do through the congregation of Judah and through the church. God willing that every Sunday or every time someone passes through the doors of this church, they leave here declaring, Father, we have not seen anything like it. God moved in a unique way, we have not seen anything like it. God was glorified in a tremendous way. Brothers, I believe that this is based on a people that knows how to intercede. And this story helps us a lot about intercession. I want to share three principles with you, and as Pastor Omar said, we are going to put these principles into practice tonight.

What are the principles that we can put into practice tonight? First of all, principle number one glory to God. In intercessory prayer, we give others our turn to let others carry Jesus. In intercessory prayer, we pass up our turn, our opportunity to be blessed. That is the basics of intercessory prayer, to let another be blessed. You know when I read this story, I have a fairly active imagination, and first of all my brothers, it says that this paralyzed man was carried by four men, but it doesn't say that it was only four men who accompanied him, or carried him, or even it doesn't even say We do not know for sure how long these men knew this paralytic, or how they got there, or what were the circumstances that caused these men to carry this paralytic to Jesus.

It may be that like many paralytics this was the paralytic they knew in this village of Capernaum. And he didn't have a chance to get to Jesus. And it may be that this man, seeing these men coming to the house where Jesus was ministering, perhaps these men came out to this house at first with their own ideas, and their own agendas, and their own needs, and this is the point. Each of us have our own needs. We each have our own agenda. And that is the temptation. All of us can spend our entire lives just asking Jesus for our needs. We can dedicate every morning in devotion just asking for ourselves.

There are some brothers who have a gift of intercession, amen brothers, they have a special blessing, which for them is the opposite, it is difficult for them to ask for it, do you know people like that? That for them prayer is intercession, and it is difficult for them to ask for themselves. But I think that most of us are different. The vast majority of us are, if we found out that Jesus came to the village, is in our neighborhood, our wish would be, now I won the lottery, now I know, that my prayer will be answered. Now I am going to present to the Lord what I wanted Him to do for me for so many years. What if these men on the way to this house with their ideas, these friends maybe sharing, I have this request and I know that the Lord Jesus is a great healer, and I know that He has power from on high, and can you do this this for me. They pass in front of this man, and at the moment they hear a voice, hey, my brothers, where are you going, we are going to see Jesus. do me a favour? As you can see, it's a bit difficult for me to get there. They give me a ride, a pull? As they say there in your country, they give me a ball, they give me a rabbit. Do me a favor, do me a favor.

Sometimes we load people asking for help. In intercessory prayer, many times you are going to carry people and we do that all the time. Sometimes we carry others because they asked us to carry Jesus. The apostle Paul had no asking for ball, or ride. He ended each of his letters asking for a ride, asking for prayer, asking for intercession. Brothers, do not be ashamed to ask others for prayer, and do not deny prayer to those who ask you. That's so common, something like it happened tonight, and brother please forgive me, I don't even want to look over there. But praying here alone, a brother called me, this is the most common thing in God's people.

He simply called me and shared a request that he had in the name of the Lord, and in the name of Jesus I had the opportunity to carry him at the feet of Jesus tonight, and ask the Lord for this brother's request. And praying for him, the Spirit of God revealed other things to me, and in a way perhaps to bless this brother in unexpected ways. And that happens when we carry others at the feet of Jesus. Sometimes we carry people asking for help, sometimes we carry people who can't or maybe don't even want to go to Jesus on their own. Do you know people like that?

These are spiritually paralyzed, spiritually paralyzed, they are people who, as a servant of God, know that what this person needs is Jesus. But they don't have the capacity for some reason. Perhaps it is that they have been so hurt, the enemy has darkened their mind in such a way, that they do not have the ability to go to the Lord on their own. Or perhaps, you talk to him about the Lord, and perhaps you have tired of talking to him about the Lord, or inviting him to church, or even asking him if he allows you to pray for him or her, because they answer you in a different way. negative. Maybe you know a person or two like that?

What the enemy wants to convince you is a hopeless case, don't believe it, that's a lie from Satan, because even in the last instance, you still have a weapon stored, still, you still have a weapon, you can load, want it or not No, whether I ask you or not, give you permission or not, alone with the Lord, you can charge that person to the Lord. What's more, let's take a moment now, close your eyes, someone like that comes to mind, a hopeless case, look, don't talk to me Samuel, now, that's great for you, that's great, but leave me alone, respect my position. Amen I'm going to respect you but you know what? I'm going to carry you before the Lord.

Now, do you have that face, that name in mind? okay. Only, what's more, we're going to take thirty seconds, and carry that person before the Lord, bring him to the Lord. This is what we want, for you to feel, for you to feel the authority that the Lord has given you to be able to do it. Bring it to the Lord, bring that person to the Lord, mention it by name, who is, who is it, Lord, here I bring it to you. It is not a hopeless case, he is yours. You don't know it yet but it is. And the most he needs is you. Take thirty seconds and bring it to the Lord. Take off the blindfold. Let them see you Jesus. Let them know you. Bring them to you Lord. We charge it to you. Amen. Glory to God.

As we pray for this person, keep this in mind. While you bring that hopeless case to the Lord, that paralytic to the Lord, remember principle number two, in intercessory prayer, persistence is worth it. Don't give up. In intercessory prayer, persistence counts. Do not give up. Here I am going to share a testimony of a lost case in my life. Years ago I was praying for my older brother, my brother Antonio, I asked him Tony you don' mind if I tell this testimony to, well, I don't care. But we know, already, the last time I saw my brother by his will in the church, I was a child and he was a young man, that's what they do, many years ago, lots of years ago.

And a year ago around this time of spring, how many of you the Lord has taken out of bed from time to time, the Lord tells you, the alarm sounds and you find yourself in the living room, in a forced vigil with the Lord, and you say good Lord, since you have me here, what do we do Jesus, and of course my instinct, that's why I can preach this to you with such authority, my instinct is to ask, ask and ask for my own requests. But the Spirit of God spoke to me very clearly and said, Samuel, pray for your family, and I began to pray for them, by name, my nuclear family, of course, Lord bless my siblings, I mentioned them by name, my mom, That's what my dad lived for, amen. And I've been praying for him for years.

And for the moment I felt that the Lord gave me again, again, again. And my brothers, I don't know how many of you have had this experience, you pray and pray this first time, and pray the second time, but you feel a void, like an abyss, that the Lord still wants you to fill. And I found myself praying for my family, for them, and for Antonio in particular, until I found myself shedding tears for him. This was about two weeks before Holy Week. On Easter Sunday of the year 2010, I called my brother who is Carlos, who loves the Lord, a servant of God, he was waiting for my call, he was crazy to share this gossip with me.

Crazy, he's just waiting for, "I knew you were gonna call." Of course it's Easter, I'm gonna call. He says, "Do you know who was in church on Good Friday?". And I told him, well I mentioned half the world, and he said, Antonio?, don't tell me. And on Sunday, Sunday, the resurrection Sunday? He was there. And what was it that his in-laws arrived and he was forced?, and he said: "no, he came on his own, he came on his own." I said glory to God, we had a good week. But you know, I didn't even call Antonio, I didn't want to harm him. What's more, six months went by without me raising the issue, because I didn't want to harm him, he was on his own, God did something. Now, he has a long way to go, but he is under the coverage of the Lord.

Brothers, do not give up, with your request. But remember. As you're praying and praying and praying for these people, principle number three, in intercessory prayer, our role is to carry someone to Jesus. You're just an orderly, you're not the doctor. You are the orderly, you are the IMT, you are not the doctor. Jesus will take care of it from then on. Now this is one of the most difficult lessons in intercessory prayer. These people had their agenda, and to them the need for this man was obvious. A paralytic, Jesus is our healer, why not bring him and Jesus to do the work.

What was the first thing that Jesus said to this man, son, your sins are forgiven you, where did that come from? You know brothers, as part of this principle, know this, the result that we ask for may not be what Jesus allows or desires. The result we ask for in intercessory prayer, you praying for others, what you have asked for, may not be what God allows or desires. And that's not to say that Jesus hasn't answered your prayer. On the contrary. Firstly, his job is, we are stretcher bearers, Jesus makes the diagnosis. Look inside this heart, and there are two principles at stake, first, what is the true need of this soul. Which is what you really need and the Lord knows well. Number two, what is it that will bring glory to Jehovah. What is the result, because my brothers, after all, this is about exalting and magnifying the name of Jesus. And the Lord knows what is the result that will best magnify and exalt the name of Jesus. And this was the perfect opportunity, here the Lord hit a home run.

Because first He could diagnose, God only knows. If this man was a spiritual as well as a physical paralytic, no choice, they picked me up, they carried me, we got to the house, uh it's full, let's go guys, what are you going to do. Sounds like one of our men there at five in the morning. I can't imagine a man from the congregation of Judah giving up. No way pastor. Where pastor, is there a roof? ruuumm, cccsshhh. they look for a drill there we can open it. We have to dig a tunnel, there we will bring you to the feet of the Lord. Perhaps avoiding his eyes. It's where he least wanted to be. And the Lord says look, this is where I want you. There is a place for you at my feet.

How many of us have been the paralytic? Don't raise your hands. How many of us are here because someone loaded us at the feet of Jesus? When we were least capable of reaching it on our own, someone did not get tired until they saw us at the feet of Jesus. And when we found ourselves at the feet of Jesus, his eyes met our eyes, his heart met ours, the Spirit of Jehovah interceding with our spirit, with ineffable groans, and glory to God, here you are, no longer paralyzed, here I'm. Because someone loaded me, someone loaded you, someone loaded us, someone loaded us! Because we were not able to get there on our own, someone had mercy on us, and carried us to Jesus. And this gives glory to Jesus.

So men know, look this is not a healer, it is the son of God incarnate, the son of God among us. My brothers, another example of my family, another anecdote. I think you guys know my dad passed away this December ok real story. Some thirty-five years ago my father had a stroke, overnight, he lost his sight, the danger was that he would lose his life, I was nine years old, they told me about this. And they charged daddy to the Lord. That night they interceded for him, they interceded for mommy, they interceded for my family, Lord, do a miracle, do not allow this, do not allow Pastor Carlos, this is not his time, this is not his time, I know what the doctors are saying, but You are the last doctor, You have the last word.

Pum the Lord answered, there was a miracle. sixteen years ago. My dad again. This time he has a heart attack. My sister calls me, come Samuel, this thing doesn't look very good, it's not known if daddy is going to survive, come here. I get there, this time if I'm there. Again the people going around, praying for daddy, asking for daddy, interceding for him. Once again the Lord performs a miracle for him, he gives him sixteen more years. November 2010, I hear the same news, daddy doesn't look very well, let's pray, and again we surrounded ourselves and came before the Lord, and picked up the stretcher and brought him to the Lord and said, just like you did something thirty-two years Back, sixteen years ago, the Lord said, no, not this time, but Samuel, trust me, I know what I'm doing.

My brethren, to make a long story short, the Lord has done everything perfectly right, perfectly right. My brothers, what matters is your faith, more than the results you are asking for, more than your word, the Lord says "seeing their faith", the people who were carrying this man at their feet, brothers as we can , within you, that faith, is a furnace of power, there is fuel within you, that the Lord wants to unleash. And it does not depend on his words. These people, these intercessors, did not say a word. What they had in common is that they believed that this Jesus they were going to was the son of God, the answer to this person's need. That is the only thing that qualifies them as an intercessor. Then, how do we do. Throughout, praying, we learn to pray in tune with the Spirit of God. This is done with practice, like everything else, this gets perfect with practice.

But while you are praying, we end with these two pieces of advice, first, pray pouring out your heart to the Lord. Brothers, how many of you have realized, there are times that we pray, and there are times that we -pray-, and the times that we -pray-, many times the words are very few. What's more, no matter how passionate your prayer may be, many times there are fewer words, and perhaps more tears. The Lord wants to hear your heart. Number two, learn to pray declaring God's promises. Learn to pray declaring God's promises. Lord You promised, believe in Jesus Christ and you and your house will be saved. That includes my son, wherever he is, that includes my husband, he is in my house, do something with him!

Lord Your word promises, I was young, I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread, do something in this sister, brothers, learn to put God in a bind with those promises, some of the strongest miracles I have seen the Lord to do, it is because I would not dare to pray them unless the background for it was not in his word. Let's stand up for a moment.