Too Low For a High Horse

Too Low For a High Horse

by Tommy Tyson

Transcribed from the original recording; may contain errors.

This is the day that the Lord hath made. Will you respond to that? Again. This is the day the Lord has made. Since they were cutting up again. This is the day the Lord hath made. Has there ever been such a day that He didn’t make?

Wonder why we don’t rejoice in it. Let us pray. We thank You, our precious God and King, that we live in the day of the Lord. That this is Your day. This is the new day. And that You are making all things new. How we rejoice in what You’ve done and are doing in our midst. We see the reflections of Your light and love. We sense rough edges being cut away. We sense new challenges. New visions. New ways to love and to learn. We thank You, Lord Jesus, we thank You for letting us sit now at Your feet and be instructed of the Holy Spirit. For Your glory and the good of all. Amen.

After I say what is on my heart to say this morning, I’m going to ask Thelma if she will come, and maybe share with you a thought or two that’s on her heart about witnessing or living it out when you get back home. And then go right into the sharing session from there. Oh, and thank God for the Smucker sisters. I just saw you. So good to see you, Isabel and Christina. Is your mother with you?

Thank God. Thank you for coming. Do you have a word before I speak? Just beloved sisters that I’ve known for a number of years, and I’m sure many of you have. The family is one of the great families of all time, as far as I’m concerned. Not to smudge their lights, but to thank Jesus for their faithfulness to Him. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the church at Rome, in the eighth chapter of that letter, makes this tremendous statement. He says, “We know not how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit helpeth our infirmities.” And He prays with a language and in a way that cannot be uttered. And he goes on to add, “Who knows what is in the mind of man save the spirit of that man? Likewise, who knows the heart of God save the Spirit of God,” and the Holy Spirit prays according to the will of God. Prayer is not our business primarily. Prayer is God’s business. Prayer is the work of the Lord. Prayer is not something we do to get God to work.

Prayer is something the Lord does that allows us to be involved with Him. We pray because our Father prays. That’s the only reason for prayer, is that we are cooperating with our Lord. Prayer is never a means of trying to change the will of God. The will of God does not need changing. It’s perfect. Prayer is a way of discovering the will of God and of releasing that will in terms of the world order. And so the great prayer is the Holy Spirit within you. This is one of the many necessities and blessings that related to being filled and led by the Holy Spirit, is that we might learn to pray. That we might learn to pray in the Spirit as the Spirit prays through us. Realize this. In any time your heart is tendered and turned toward God, the Holy Spirit has already done a work within you. He it is who prepares our hearts and gives us a desire to pray. This is the work of the Holy Spirit and causes us to cry out. This is the reason, one reason. The Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit is the one who turns our hearts to accept that which He has already prepared for us. It’s marvelous when you see this.

For one thing, it shows you how much faith God has in you. And that is, He has selected as His prayer partner. That’s wonderful, isn’t it? That you are God’s prayer partner. You know, a lot of times we think we can’t pray because we don’t have a partner.

Well, here the Lord is saying, “Will you be my prayer partner? Will you be quiet before me? Will you come into this inner sanctuary?” And you know, I was reading a few weeks ago where Jesus said, “Straight is the way and narrow is the gate that leadeth into life, and few there be that find it.” Now, I had always had this in my mind related to outward issues, and I’m sure it does. But as I read it this time, this line of thought began to come to my mind: where is this narrow gate? Where is this straight way about which Jesus is talking? What gate is it? And where is this life that leadeth into life? And it began to dawn on my consciousness that He’s talking about this inner sanctuary where in His throne room lies. You know, the throne of God, the tabernacle of God is with men. And in the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus moves the throne of God to the heart of the indwelled believer. That’s where the throne of God is. The kingdom of God is the rule, the sovereign of God. That’s what a kingdom is, the exercise of the sovereign rule of the king. And Jesus said, “My sovereign rule, the place where I reign, is on the inside of you.”

He links His kingdom, His ruling and reigning kingdom, to the inner life of man. So that straight way, that narrow gate, is an inward way. It’s an inward gate. And it’s on the inside of you. And as you come to the gate of His throne, on the inside of you, that throne room, no one else can go through it but you. There’s a place on the inside of you where no one else has ever been except you and the Lord. He’s a jealous God. He will not allow anyone else there but you and Him. You have to lay aside everything that’s fallen to His kingdom. It’s a narrow gate. It’s a straight way. You just have to forget all other ties. You have to really forget all kinds of family allegiances. You have to forget denominational loyalties. You have to forget national barriers. You have to forget color and culture backgrounds. And come just like a little child. This is the place of the little child. When you come on the inside and let the Spirit say, “Abba.” And as you come in, it’s a low gate I found. You can’t get in it on a high horse.

It’s too low for a high horse. You get off the high horse to get into this gate. Get on the low horse. Get on the mule. Get in the Spirit of a servant. And as you come in, you’re already low, so He has a footstool. That’s your seat. That’s my seat in the throne room. It’s a footstool. It’s at His feet. And you come in and sit at His feet. That’s the straightway, the narrow gate that leads into life. And you sit there at His feet, beholding Him in His glory. And as you behold Him, by revelation of the Spirit, He crowns you. He shares His crown with you. Isn’t that amazing? You mothers ever share a rolling pin with your daughters?

Jesus shares His crown with us. But do you know what He crowns you with? The psalmist tells you. He crowns my head with loving kindness and tender mercy. One sure sign that you’re in the throne room. One sure sign that you’re in the throne room. One sure sign that you’re in the sovereign reign and rule of God is that you’re crowned with loving kindness and tender mercy. You just want to forgive everybody. You want to set everybody free. You’ve got so much mercy, that’s grace that’s greater than all of our sins. You don’t want to bind anybody. You want to say to everybody, “Here’s the key, if you’ll take it and open the door.” That tender mercy. Don’t you love the word tender?

Loving kindness and tender mercy. Now when you use that word tender for me, my mind goes back to boyhood days. I’ll just have to describe this one for you. Some of you folks will not know what I mean. But down in eastern North Carolina, as I came along as a little boy, my first memory is we didn’t have refrigerators at all. In fact, not much electricity in that rural area at that time, before REA. And on Saturdays, my mother and daddy would sometimes go to the grocery store. Sometimes we, once in a while, would not have fried chicken on Sunday. Sometimes my daddy would buy some steak. Buy round steak. Well, we didn’t have this, you know, grass-fed western beef. We had local beef that was pretty tough.

So, my mother would take this piece of round steak and go to the chopping block in the kitchen and get a hammer. And she would beat that steak. And I’d say, “Mama, what in the world are you doing?” She’d say, “Son, I’m making it tender.”

Povera. Tender. The hard place is taken out. Tender mercy. Does that mean the stones have been taken out? All stony places. When anybody comes to your mind, do you feel a hard place? Better watch your throne room. It can’t stay there. You’ll be pulverized.

He crowns your head with tender mercies. Because He takes out the heart of stone and puts in the heart of flesh. Now, this has to do with prayer. Throne room praying. Sitting at His feet. Beholding Him in His glory. And I’m discovering that as I move in the Spirit, that often, and most often, my prayer time is, first of all, one of quiet adoration and praise. Of awesomeness. You know, the more I walk with the Lord, the more I stand in holy awe. I stand in the wonder of the majesty of His radiant splendor. I stand in the wonder of His patience with the ways of men. I stand in wonder at His longsuffering with us and all mankind. I stand in awe at His plan and purpose concerning the human race. I stand in awe at His own name. I stand in awe at His own wonder when I begin to get something of the reflection of the love God has for His church. The people of His own name. The more I walk with Jesus, the more in holy awe I live. This is prayer for me. To come into the straight way, the narrow gate, and sit. And ask the Holy Spirit to drop the scales from my eyes. And let me behold Jesus.

I really don’t think we’ve started praying until we are more aware of the presence and power and purpose of the Lord than we are the problem or person or need about which we’re praying. As long as we’re more conscious of the problem or the person or the need out here, our prayer life will be spiritual gossip. We’ll be analyzing the whole problem to the Lord. “Lord, let me tell you about this.” As if He didn’t know. So much of our prayer life is informing the Lord. And I don’t really think that’s prayer yet. I think that’s, you know, just getting out some dirty linen. And maybe that’s necessary sometimes before we’re ready to pray, if that’s what’s bugging you. But as soon as you can, forget about the needs and problems that are really haunting you. And get your mind fixed on Him. Now, He knows how to use you to minister to these needs. It’s not that God doesn’t care about the needs. But He doesn’t want us binding people to the level of our little minds. Because my needs are just symptoms. And if you pray for me on the level of my obvious needs, you’re always on the surface out here somewhere. Those needs have root systems that have to do with real spiritual issues.

Jesus knows what those issues are. He doesn’t just want to take care of symptoms. He wants to reach in and take out by the root every divisive factor within me. All of that basis of fear within me. All that basis of jealousy and strife within me. And He knows where exactly to put His finger. A friend of mine, well, he studied… He’s a licensed osteopath. But I don’t know what he practiced, whether he’s a chiropractor or osteopath by practice. But one thing that he does in ministering, he ministers through the feet.

He’ll rub the bottom of your feet, you know, and punch it. “And this hurts?” “Yes, that hurts.” “Well, hold it just a minute,” he says. And he’ll study where he’s got his finger. Then he’ll put his finger up here in your back somewhere. Start manipulating. Then he’ll go back and put it… “No, that feels good now.” And he just works in these nerve centers. And wherever they’re sore, he knows what that represents all over your body. It’s amazing what God has tied up in the feet.

It’s just wonderful. Jesus sat at people’s feet. Wonder why. Could it be because He knew some things? He may have revealed the fact that if you really want to get into a person’s life, you get in through the feet and not through the head.

We knock heads, don’t we? Jesus sits at feet. But here’s this nerve center. And it’s that way spiritually. The Holy Spirit knows how to put His finger on a sore spot. And then reflect the real issue involved. But we don’t know how to minister this way. We minister on the level of symptoms until we get divine revelation. So when you begin to pray, don’t ever start your prayer time. I say don’t ever. I don’t think I’ve ever been led to start my prayer time just on the basis of running to the Lord and analyzing needs. But I first of all am led to enter into praise and adoration, thanksgiving, and high worship in my heart. Now another thing that I found about this, when I began to worship this way before the Lord, this person will come into my mind. Well, I used to, you know, say, “Get out of my mind, I’ll worship the Lord. Now run along.”

But I don’t do that anymore. If I’m sitting before the Lord and all of a sudden Jerry comes in, I don’t say, “Jerry, you just stay out there.” I say, “Geraldine, come on in and have a seat and be quiet if you will.”

And I share my praise with you at His feet. Then I say, “Lord Jesus, thank You for letting Geraldine join us. Do You have anything in particular that You can do for Geraldine through me? Is there some reason for her coming?” And sometimes nothing comes to my mind. Sometimes you get the idea, well, Geraldine is under a cloud this morning, a little worried about something. You know? So I don’t say, “Lord Jesus, I pray that You might…” No. I just speak to Geraldine by faith, through the Spirit. And if you hear me praying when I’m alone, you might think I’m really nuts. And I might be. It doesn’t matter. But I just speak. “Geraldine, I bless you in the name of Jesus this morning. And I reach out by faith and remove that cloud that overshadowed you. And my sister, I bless you with the light of His love. You can just stay or you can go as you please, but you’re free.” You know, that sort of thing. Then I just go back to worship. I’m His prayer partner. I can’t change people, but He can. I don’t know how to minister, but He does. And so as people come to my mind this way, in my heart, I just refer them to Him as He would share with me.

And then as He shares, I move accordingly. And you know, it’s amazing the way that He leads to this. You’ll begin to get ideas. Somebody will come to your mind. And you’ll find that He’ll put certain ones. I never keep a written list anymore. When you say, “Will you pray for me?” I’ll listen. If you’ll notice, I’ll just, you know, not five minutes, but I’ll just turn it right in. “Will you pray for me?” And as I hear, “Yes, I’ll talk with the Lord about that.” That’s what I’ll say to you. If I’m not sure I’m to keep praying for you, “Yes, I’ll talk to the Lord about that.” But if I hear an inward click, “Yes, I’ll pray for you.” Now, I’ll pray at that moment. I’ll just refer it. “Lord Jesus, I’ll take this person in prayer as You guide me.” Because He said, “If he that would ask of you, turn not away.” And I’m not going to turn anyone away that asks me to pray for them. I’m going to pray. But I may only pray that one time.

It may not be, you see, that He is warning me to be your minister. My ordination has to be in the Lord. So does yours. And so I refer you to the Lord. Then I say, “Lord, in any way that You want to continue to use me for this person, I give myself to You on this behalf.” And the Lord will give you certain ones. He’ll keep bringing them to your mind. And as you sit in prayer, you’ll get an idea. And this has happened so many times. It’s amazing how big my phone bill is, but it’s the Lord’s bill, not mine. And He pays it and I don’t. And I’ll get an idea. This person needs a word this morning. I’ll go to the phone and call. For instance, this happened just about three weeks ago. A precious friend came to my mind. I went to the phone and called. And her daughter answered the phone. I said, “Is your mother home?” “Yes, she’s upstairs in bed.” “Does she have a phone by the bed?” “Yes.” “Would you tell her to pick it up?” And this lady picked up the phone. The minute she heard my voice, she began to cry. She said, “Tommy, I just told my husband, called his name, that if he didn’t mind, go find your number and let’s call you and get you to pray for us.”

There it was. We had prayer right on the phone. The Lord just… Now, I’ve had this to happen I don’t know how many times. Just as you sit in prayer, you don’t have to worry. The Lord knows how to pray. He knows who to bring to your mind. And as you do, let Him share with you what He has in mind. And you just begin to release the thought of God. Listen to the thoughts that come concerning a person. It doesn’t take a genius. It just takes a child of God. And you can’t pray effectively in the Spirit without reading the Bible. If you pray in the Spirit, the Spirit uses the Bible in His prayer. He really does. And the more of the Word of God you know, the better you’re going to be able to be used in the Spirit by prayer. I don’t care what your… I do care, but regardless of what your theory of the Bible might be, I want to tell you it’s the Holy Spirit’s workbook. It’s the Holy Spirit’s workbook. And if you’re going to pray powerfully in the Spirit, He’s going to keep you in His Word. And to the degree that you know the Word of God, to that degree you are growing in your prayer life if you let the Spirit use.

And the Holy Spirit will begin to give you these great affirmations. He’ll begin to give you these great concepts. I’ve shared this with a few of you, but most of you have forgotten and some of you never heard it. Because it happened since I was in Ohio last. I was in this beautiful little suburban church in a certain town and went to a prayer group one morning and we were meeting in a home. There were a lot of young adults there. You know, sometimes I get loving enough to be right forthright.

But in this prayer group that morning as I walked in, it was all a buzz. They were telling one another what they thought about a lady who lived down from the parsonage, who had been separated from her third husband, and who had, at whose house they’d seen cars at unusual hours, and they were really discussing ways of running her out of the community. And so after they got through discussing her and sharing with one another their own ideas, I got a little forthright. And I said to this prayer group, “You’ve been so free sharing with everybody what your ideas are about her. I wonder if God has an idea concerning this girl.”

And they said, “Tommy, of course God has an idea. He has an idea concerning everybody.” Well, I said, “Suppose then, instead of inflicting on her and on God the benefits of our partial thinking, why don’t we go to Him whose mind is complete. And when you get an idea that you think is good enough to come from God, why don’t you speak that out and let’s release God’s mind to this girl. But until we do, let’s not say a word.” We went into the silence.

At first it wasn’t creative silence. It was confused hush. But the longer we sat, the clearer it got. And then I heard someone say, “I hear the words of Jesus when He said, ‘Where are thou to accuse us, woman? I don’t condemn thee. Go and sin no more.’”

Then somebody else said, “I see Him stretched out between heaven and earth and hear Him praying, ‘Father, forgive her, she doesn’t know what she’s doing.’” And then someone else said, “I remember where it’s written, ‘Herein God commended His love toward us, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly.’” And we just sat as a prayer group and released this mind of God. Listen until you get an idea that is in keeping with the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. It may be judgmental. God judges His people. It may be a thought that cleanses and cuts away. If you love enough, you can afford to think God’s judgmental thoughts. It’s not judging with unrighteous judgment. See, God’s judgment is always vindicated in the release of His people. It’s not just closing your eyes to darkness, but it’s judging with righteous judgment that sets free and makes whole. So may get these lot of thoughts sometimes, but even so it’s with the purpose of redeeming the person. God never uses His knowledge to hurt a person. God always uses His knowledge to heal a person. Now if we won’t accept the healing, that’s our fault, but God never uses His knowledge to hurt you. Don’t be afraid of what God knows about you.

Let me just share with this wonderful because it helped me a great deal. Some time ago, you know, a few years ago, when the Buddhists were in Vietnam were setting fire to themselves. I think it happened several occasions there a few years ago. One morning as I came in to breakfast and had the morning newspaper with me, which I’ve overcome. I’m waiting after breakfast now.

I listen to the family now. You know, that’s been a real joy too. It’s amazing how much they say when you listen. And how little you don’t think they’re saying when you don’t listen. But anyway, I opened the paper and it showed where one of these Buddhist priests had poured all over himself and set fire to his body. And I read it. I looked at Francis, you know, and I said, “Darling, look at there. When have you seen a Christian with that kind of dedication?” She looked right straight at me and said, “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one.”

You know, willing to really die for what you believe. And then I went on a little sermon deal, you know, and preached about undedicated Christians, uncommitted Christians, all that. How we really need to get on fire for the Lord. And then after breakfast, and I got into my study, I heard this thought. Now reflect a minute. Compare this Buddhist priest pouring oil on himself and setting fire to himself. Compare that with Calvary.

And as I held the two together, I saw that this man gave his body to be burned that in the light of the burning, the sins of his enemies might be seen. I saw that this Lamb of God gave His life an offering that through His death, the blood of His enemies might, I mean, the sin of His enemies might be covered with His own blood.

Why do you see the needs in others? To bind them or to cover them? You can see needs as long as you cover them with the blood of Jesus. This is prayer life of the Spirit. See all the needs He’ll show you. But there’s grace that’s greater. There’s grace that’s greater. And so you give your mind to the Lord and think His thoughts. And you really haven’t started praying for a person until you have the mind of God concerning that person. Otherwise, instead of praying for them, you are praying on them. P-R-E-Y.

Do you pray or prey? “Teach us to pray.” P-R-A-Y. So we give ourselves to the Lord. And this means you have to die out. You die out to your little mind, your little attitude. Your little concepts. In order to be born of His great mind, of His great love, of His great attitudes. And you begin to reveal Calvary. Now, another thing I’ve discovered about prayer, that it has to do with the vision of the heart.

I can’t tell you what this means to me. Maybe it doesn’t apply to you. But I think it does. One of the greatest aspects of prayer is the dream life of the soul. The Holy Spirit prays through me down deep within me. I catch prayers going on that really I can’t articulate. Just visions that are so big my little mind can’t quite grasp them yet. And sometimes it feels as if I’m going to burst wide open. You ever feel that way? The root system of God’s love on the inside just seeming to say, “You’re too small. You didn’t think I was, did you?”

“You’re too small. Come on, expand for me. Give me an operating room on the inside of you. Give me an expanse for the kingdom dimensions of my own presence. Give me some working room on the inside of you.” And so as you begin to sit before Him, the Holy Spirit expands your visions by letting you dream great dreams. And you live with those visions. You don’t bring dreams to the word level lightly. Live with your dreams a while. Don’t worry about them. Live with them. Learn to live with your dreams. And live with them a while before you tell them. I’m discovering that this is helpful in my own life. And so as the Holy Spirit creates these dreams, there’s always a reservoir. You know, just like my grandmother. I used to, when we went out to get up the eggs, she’d always leave one.

“Grandmammy,” we called her Grandmammy. “Grandmammy, you left one.” “I know that.” “Well, why am I a grandmammy?” “That’s a nest egg.” You ever hear of a nest egg? Do you know I’ve discovered the Holy Spirit keeps a nest egg? He never empties you dry. Down in the reservoir of His own abiding place, He leaves a nest egg. And sometimes it may be just a dream. But let the Holy Spirit keep a nest egg in the depth of your soul. Have some secrets that you live with. And if you have, if you’ve told everyone you’ve ever known, let Him give you a new one. Live with a nest egg of a dream in your soul. It’s the substance new prayers are prayed with. Just like with the making of the bread, Thelma, they always saved some of the yeast, didn’t they? A pinch of it to leaven the next loaf. A pinch of it to leaven the next loaf. And they kept saving some back. That’s good spiritual insight. Save some back in your prayer life as you sit before the Lord. But I have discovered another thing in terms of this prayer life of the Spirit, that as we see on the inside, God wants us to manifest on the outside. Now, I liken this to the life of Jesus the other night.

But I want to bring it to a close with this. We inevitably get in the kingdom on the outside of us the kind of kingdom that rules in us on the inside. I believe that Jesus Christ is going to return to this world. I just happen to believe in what is commonly called the second coming of Jesus. I know He’s already here by the Spirit. But I believe that He’s coming and I believe in the consummation of this age. Now, some of my friends are prophesying that His coming is imminent. Right at hand. And it may well be. I don’t know. I don’t have any word at that point. But I do know this. That so far as I see it, I’m not ready yet. I’m ready so far as, you know, belonging to Him is concerned. If I were to die today, I want you to know I have the assurance of salvation. Not talking about that. But I don’t really see in kingdom life enough to be able to say, “I’m hereby qualified to sit with Him on His throne.” And I see clearly with God to think God’s judgments. And to rule the nations with… This is what He said He wanted us to do, isn’t it? To sit with Him in His throne.

And to judge the nations. Do you have that kind of capacity? Can you judge the nations? I can’t even judge political parties without reading my own politics in it. You know, as a Methodist, I want to judge the Baptists.

I still find myself bound by all of this. As a Caucasian, sometimes I want to judge my Afro-American friends. I believe that’s just about all gone. But that has been in my heart. I think the Lord has really worked with me on that. And I’m so glad He has. And I’m sure all of us, as members of economic classes, I’ve been a member of the certain one, I want to judge those above me.

I’ve had very little problem with poor folks. I’ve been on poverty march most of my life. Until I met Jesus, I want you to know that I’m not on a poverty march. For He who was rich for my sake became poor, that through His poverty I might become rich. I just have a different sense of values, that’s all. Glory to God. You’re rich, if you know what richness is. Oh, hallelujah. Come and buy without money. And come and buy that which cannot be priced. Come and buy and get freely from the hand of God. Real riches. Oh, glory to God in the highest. And so I’ve discovered that in this wonderful life of the Spirit, that I have to say, “Lord, I do hunger for Your coming.” I prayed this week with a friend as we knelt to pray. The Holy Spirit whispered through the friend, “Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly.” The bride says come, and so on. They’re from Revelation. And as we prayed that prayer, my heart just leaped up within me. And I prayed it in the Spirit. I do pray for the consummation of our age. I pray for the rule and reign of God in the universe. The one phrase that thrills me more than every other phrase put together, I think, is this one.

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” I can’t pray it without getting goosebumps on goosebumps. It’s thrilling to think about it, to even begin to consider it. But what are you praying? In His kingdom everything belongs to God. You got anything in your name?

To the degree that you own it, it’s outside the kingdom. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that. I got a few things that still belong to me. No, I haven’t. Lord, I’m sorry, I haven’t. I told her. But sometimes I want to have. I don’t right now that I know of. But sometimes I’ve not prepared for this. In God’s kingdom, His power is holy love. His weapons are a sword, I mean, not a sword, but a towel and basin. I still somehow want to punish my enemies. Do you? Something within me at times wants to punish people.

And I haven’t found that in Jesus. He said, “Love your enemies. If one slaps you on one side, turn the other cheek.” And I have a 19-year-old boy whose heart beats with the love of God. And he says, and I believe it’s true, that he’d rather be killed than to kill. So he goes down to the draft board and he shares with them his great concern as a precious tender boy. And says, “I really believe that the Lord wants me to be a conscientious objector.” Well, our draft board, you know, we’re conservative Southerners. They’ve never had a CO in the whole history of the draft board. And they’re not about to have one now, they think. But I believe the Lord’s going to outwit them. But I found when the little boy came back, the young little boy, he’s a 19-year-old man, when he came back and shared with me, there was no bitterness in his heart. He said, “Daddy, I understand. If I were in their place, I guess I’d take the same position. They just didn’t know what I was talking about.” I wanted to say, “Well, I’ll go down and show them what you’re talking about.”

You know, very opposite the thing he stood for. Still something within me wants to deal with my enemies that way. God’s kingdom loves enemies. God’s kingdom, no mud slingers, a lot of foot washers. God’s kingdom. Are you ready to say, “Jesus, come quickly. Nothing belongs to me. It’s all Yours. I’m ready to make a friend out of every foe. I’d rather serve than to be served. I’d rather give than to receive.” This is kingdom living. “Lord, I’d rather turn both cheeks than to pull back a fist. Lord, if one makes me go one mile, I’ll go two.” Boy, if one makes me go one things is going to make me go one. I balk. And I’ll just say to you, you can’t make me do anything. I’m worse than the teenagers.

Teenagers, I know just how you feel when you say, “Can’t make me.” Now, that’s just not the way it’s done. And you’re teaching us a whole lot. We can’t make one another. But we can show one another. And God doesn’t make us. God guides us by His hand. And so I’ve had to learn that. Now, I’ll share and close with this. And I’ve learned it in relationship with a precious 15-year-old boy. He’s our youngest son. He looks like he’s 19. He thinks he’s 25.

And in some areas, he’s much older than I am. I’ll have to confess that. There’s a lot of his mother in him. Thank God. Some of his daddy, too. You know, we had a friend who was, and when Ken was coming through some of his trials, I asked this friend who was very acute and sharp and all that, to sort of observe him and get to know him. And so after we’d gotten together some, I got with my friend and I said, “You’ve noticed, Ken, have you noticed anything that would help me?” He said, “Tommy, Kenneth is doing everything in the world he knows to do to be one of the Tyson boys, which is saying there’s so much of you in him.” And you know that’s the biggest problem with your children. They’ve got a daddy like you. They have a mama like you. That’s their biggest hang-up.

That’s their biggest problem. A daddy and mama like you. I’ve discovered this with Ken. But as I moved along with him, I’ve learned so much about prayer. Because here was a boy, and I don’t apologize for being a father, I believe the family is the key unit of society. I believe that the marriage is the outward revelation of the church. I do believe with Thelma that the woman is to the husband what the church is to the Lord. And the husband is to the wife what Jesus is to the church. I believe that’s the whole meaning of Christian, not the whole meaning, but at the heart, the meaning of Christian marriage. This is why as a minister, I marry people. It’s a sacramental act. It’s a visual, outward working out of the mystical union that exists between Jesus and His church. That’s the basis of marriage. And it’s the basic unit of the church. Your church is no stronger than the church in your home.

This is why the church down at the corner has failed, because it failed first in your home. You restore the church in your home. The church at the corner would be alright. I can assure you of that one. You are the church. And your marriage is the revelation of it, in the real sense. And there are eunuchs for the kingdom’s sake. So if God hasn’t given you a husband and wife, that doesn’t mean you’re not the church. He’s got special blessings for you. You’re married particularly to Him. And He has a place for that. And working with my Roman friends, Roman Catholic friends, I’ve seen the gracious calling of God on these boys and girls. Though they did it, a lot of them, just for form, as they’re baptized with the Holy Spirit. And they have the freedom and courage to leave the church and get married. And a lot of my others are saying, “No, I see the real meaning of it now. I’m a eunuch for the Christian’s sake, for the kingdom’s sake.” I have a friend who wrote me out two weeks ago. And he’d been really praying through this problem. One of the sisters who had left, a beautiful lady, and a gracious child of God, loved him dearly. He’s a priest.

And he did her. And he wrote me in the letter, “Hallelujah, Tommy. I’m married to Jesus. You know, this is great.” But in this marriage, as we see this wonderful church, and as God gives us the role of fathers and mothers, don’t apologize for being a daddy. You fail. Boy, you’re a miserable failure. I know because I’m one with you. You failed as a mother. Of course you have. But don’t run around whining, “I’m such a poor mother. I’m such a poor father.” Of course you are. But the reason your mother, reason your father, is that you might show them who their real father is. What the real mother heart of God is. That’s our purpose as parents, is to show them who their real parents are. So don’t apologize for being one. And so as the Lord began to teach me through this young boy, who was rebelling against so much inconsistency in my own life, I’m sure. I began to just said to me, “I’m going to teach you day by day your relationship with this boy. You will not deal with him on the level of your own ideas.” And boy, I had to die out. I mean, do some die out. In many different ways. But the Lord has taught me so much about prayer.

And I just hold this boy before the Lord. And in the midst of all of his needs, in the midst of so many outward problems, you look right beyond the problems, and you see a boy whose heart was yearning for the living God of the universe, and he didn’t know it. And so you stand right there and say, “Lord, he doesn’t know it yet, so I’m believing for him. As his father, You’ve given him to me, and I’m holding him before Your throne. I’m not going to judge him on the basis of his actions to me.

I’m going to judge him on righteous judgment and see him as Yours. And I know as I hold on to him in Your name and believe in him for Your name that he can’t break these bonds of love.” And to stand right there and see one of the strongest, willed, most articulate, most handsome boys you’ve ever dreamed of knowing, to see that old boy begin to melt down, get tender, come right in, and see Jesus establish the sweetest love life between a daddy and a boy you’ve ever dreamed. I don’t care what his problem is, he’s free to call me in his heart and say, “Daddy, I’ve got to hang up.”

And just go ahead and let me have it, not against me, but with me, knowing that I’m standing with, that I can know the worst about this boy, and never have one judgmental thought, but know that he’s God’s child, and that I’m standing in the gap. That’s prayer. Prayer is standing in the gap, and God wondered that there were no intercessors. Let us pray.

Holy Spirit, O Thou precious one, who prays with an utterance beyond man’s comprehension, Thou through whom we become prayer partners with God. Teach us to pray.