Peace is a Barometer
Scripture: John 14:27Devotional Series: Sovereignty and Prayer
Teaching: Sovereignty and Prayer pt. 6 (SUN_PM 2024-12-08) by Pastor Star R Scott
Look at Romans 8:26 for just a moment. In the context of these things, all things working together for good, prior to that He’s talking about prayer. He says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our weaknesses: for we know not what we should pray for as we should, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” That’s why I pray in tongues so much. I would say probably eighty percent or more of all of my praying is in the Spirit. Why? Because He knows the will of God. He’s praying the will of God. He knows my heart. He knows my motives. He knows the hearts of all of those that we’re interceding for. There are things that He doesn’t manifest in the lives of others around us. We’re praying that God would just deliver them this moment and God wants them to stay and learn something in the situation they’re in; amen?
When we see these promises that you shall have whatsoever you ask, it’s if we’re asking according to His will, if we’re asking for His glory, if we’re asking— Those are not promises that say I can ask for a million dollars. I’m going to ask God to win the lotto. I’m going to ask God to have somebody to give me whatever it might be. But God does know the hearts of people. I’ve shared that testimony before. I was holding a meeting somewhere and I walked into this place and I happened to look down and this guy had a solid gold watch on and I was admiring it, beautiful watch. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “He’s going to give you that watch.” I responded, “Hmmm.” Now, we were in the middle of great turmoil here in the fellowship at that time. We had some covert stuff going on between the elders. They were wanting to take over the church. Some of you lived through that. It wasn’t the most enjoyable time. I remember asking the Lord, why? Just prior to going into that meeting, the Holy Spirit had spoken to me. I told you the story about what Janet said. I said, “I’m fed up. I’m not going back. I’m going have all of our stuff shipped out here, sell everything. Send us a check and we’ll ship the rest of it.” I got to learn the Samuel thing. “They don’t hate you; they haven’t betrayed you, they’ve betrayed Me,” the Lord said. That’s what He had spoken to me. He said, “You go back and I’m taking care of things.” I came back and, within the first week, we had ten resignations and I hadn’t even talked to anybody. What was happening at this particular moment? The Lord said, “He’s going to give you that watch.” I said, “How? Why?” And He said, “So that you know that that voice you heard earlier is this same voice. I’m talking to you and I’m going to confirm it to you.” I said, “Praise God.”
I’ll try to condense the story. The service started, I preached a real short message because right before I went up to speak, this guy approached me and he said, “I’d like to speak to you after the service.” So, I started the service and said, “God is good; amen? Amen, bow your heads. Father—” But, after the service, he comes up to me. We were talking some and he said, “As soon as I saw you, God spoke to me and He said this. So, I’m supposed to give you my watch.” I said, “Are you sure you’ve heard from God?” That’s always my response whenever I’ve held meetings at different places, when something of that magnitude happens.
I was in Norfolk one time, and after the service, the pastor said, “Can you come to my study for just a moment?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “This was in the offering for you.” It was a diamond ring, an engagement ring. I was already married so I didn’t really—I would guess at that time, back in those days, it was probably worth twenty-five thousand dollars or so, back in the early 1980’s, probably more than that. He said, “This was in the offering for you and I just didn’t want it to get misplaced. I wanted to hand it to you personally.” I said, “Well, it’s my policy at times like this, I would like you to keep it and hold it for at least a week. If there is giver’s remorse, let her have her ring back. If she was just moved emotionally and it really wasn’t God, just let her have the ring back, and we’ll go from there.” She must have had remorse because we never saw the ring again, but that’s just a policy that we’ve always had. So that’s why I asked him, “Are you sure, you sure this is God? Are you sure you want to do this?” He said, “Yeah.” He said I could have the watch or the cash equivalent. I said, “No, the watch.” Then I proceeded to tell him the story and to watch him to be able to rejoice knowing that he had heard from God. So thankful that he was an instrument of God at that time.
When we see these promises that you shall have whatsoever you ask, it’s if we’re asking according to His will, if we’re asking for His glory, if we’re asking— Those are not promises that say I can ask for a million dollars. I’m going to ask God to win the lotto. I’m going to ask God to have somebody to give me whatever it might be. But God does know the hearts of people. I’ve shared that testimony before. I was holding a meeting somewhere and I walked into this place and I happened to look down and this guy had a solid gold watch on and I was admiring it, beautiful watch. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “He’s going to give you that watch.” I responded, “Hmmm.” Now, we were in the middle of great turmoil here in the fellowship at that time. We had some covert stuff going on between the elders. They were wanting to take over the church. Some of you lived through that. It wasn’t the most enjoyable time. I remember asking the Lord, why? Just prior to going into that meeting, the Holy Spirit had spoken to me. I told you the story about what Janet said. I said, “I’m fed up. I’m not going back. I’m going have all of our stuff shipped out here, sell everything. Send us a check and we’ll ship the rest of it.” I got to learn the Samuel thing. “They don’t hate you; they haven’t betrayed you, they’ve betrayed Me,” the Lord said. That’s what He had spoken to me. He said, “You go back and I’m taking care of things.” I came back and, within the first week, we had ten resignations and I hadn’t even talked to anybody. What was happening at this particular moment? The Lord said, “He’s going to give you that watch.” I said, “How? Why?” And He said, “So that you know that that voice you heard earlier is this same voice. I’m talking to you and I’m going to confirm it to you.” I said, “Praise God.”
I’ll try to condense the story. The service started, I preached a real short message because right before I went up to speak, this guy approached me and he said, “I’d like to speak to you after the service.” So, I started the service and said, “God is good; amen? Amen, bow your heads. Father—” But, after the service, he comes up to me. We were talking some and he said, “As soon as I saw you, God spoke to me and He said this. So, I’m supposed to give you my watch.” I said, “Are you sure you’ve heard from God?” That’s always my response whenever I’ve held meetings at different places, when something of that magnitude happens.
I was in Norfolk one time, and after the service, the pastor said, “Can you come to my study for just a moment?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “This was in the offering for you.” It was a diamond ring, an engagement ring. I was already married so I didn’t really—I would guess at that time, back in those days, it was probably worth twenty-five thousand dollars or so, back in the early 1980’s, probably more than that. He said, “This was in the offering for you and I just didn’t want it to get misplaced. I wanted to hand it to you personally.” I said, “Well, it’s my policy at times like this, I would like you to keep it and hold it for at least a week. If there is giver’s remorse, let her have her ring back. If she was just moved emotionally and it really wasn’t God, just let her have the ring back, and we’ll go from there.” She must have had remorse because we never saw the ring again, but that’s just a policy that we’ve always had. So that’s why I asked him, “Are you sure, you sure this is God? Are you sure you want to do this?” He said, “Yeah.” He said I could have the watch or the cash equivalent. I said, “No, the watch.” Then I proceeded to tell him the story and to watch him to be able to rejoice knowing that he had heard from God. So thankful that he was an instrument of God at that time.