Too Proud To Pray For Her Own Headache

Too Proud To Pray For Her Own Headache

by Tommy Tyson

Transcribed from the original recording; may contain errors.

Father, we want to thank You for the honor of letting us come, really getting to know You, and getting to know one another in fellowship with You, Lord Jesus. We thank You for all that has gone to prepare this place for us. We thank You for the preparation of those who committed themselves and their lives, their substance, to make this possible. We thank You, Lord. We know, just as Nadine has told us, that You desire to do a new work in our midst. And we would lay aside preconceived ideas and offer ourselves unto Thee a living sacrifice to be filled with and led by the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, that You might have preeminence in the all of us. Thank You, Lord. Lord, just let the love of God be shed abroad in every human heart. Thank You for ministering to the needs of every one of us here, from the youngest to the oldest, all the rest in between, Lord. Letting each one of us partake freely and fully of Thy mercy that has been prepared for us in Your own wisdom. God, me now, in saying the things that need to be said in the best possible way, for Your glory and the good of all. Amen. Amen.

I would rather than… you know, I love to preach. And I don’t apologize for preaching. But I’m willing for the Lord to make these sessions more than just a one man’s kind of preaching. I’m quite willing for it to be a lot of dialogue, talk back, and that sort of thing as we move along. For instance, if I raise a point that sparks something within you, and you’d like to share something that comes, just raise your hand. I’ll recognize it. If you want to ask a question about what I meant, raise your hand. And I’ll say it again in a way that will confuse you just as much.

Let’s just learn together. None of us are here to try to sell anything, promote anything. We’re here to be honest in our response to Jesus, and let Him manifest Himself in a way that pleases Him. And if it pleases Him, it better please us, hasn’t it? And so I just want you to feel free. If there’s any of you who don’t… you know, if you don’t feel at home, then I want you to know I know how you feel.

I often get that way where I feel so strange. I don’t happen to feel strange tonight. And I do praise Him for that. But a lot of times I feel so strange as I enter into a new group. And some of you may feel, wonder why in the world I’ve been here. Well, don’t figure it out. You can’t. The Lord will show you why before these days are over. And always it’s something different and more wonderful than you could ever imagine. One reason that we have come here is for the Lord Jesus to really possess us more completely than He’s ever done. You see, the Father is really moving rapidly in these days to bring into focus His eternal purpose concerning man. I didn’t read the scripture deliberately tonight because I’m going to paraphrase the scripture from Ephesians, the first chapter, where it says that from the foundation of the world God has chosen us in love that we should live in His constant care and keeping, and that God has foreordained from the foundation of the world that all human history will find its consummation in Jesus Christ. You know, that’s glorious, isn’t it? That the God of this universe who fashioned these beautiful Sierra Madre mountains, I guess that is mountains, isn’t it?

Who fashioned these beautiful mountains here, who put these morning glories blooming around Cuernavaca with the bougainvillea and all the rest, this glorious God of the universe has an eternal purpose in His heart for each one of us individually and all mankind collectively, and that purpose has never changed nor will it ever change. And everything God has ever done or is doing or will do is dedicated to this purpose. And that purpose is to conform you to the image of Jesus.

Now that’s glorious. That God intends that you shall be like Jesus. Now you may not like that, but God does. Sometimes I don’t like it. I do love Jesus, but I don’t always want to be like Jesus. I see a lot more love in Jesus than I want to have. I sure see a lot more patience and long-suffering than I want. I see a lot of things in Jesus that I’m not prepared to take. And so I have to get honest and say, Lord, there’s something within me reluctant to go Your way. Would You show me what that is? Would You help me to open that door and break down that barrier? And you know, God doesn’t use just some things. God uses all things to work together for our good as we are called according to His purpose. God will use everything in your life for good if you will let that be used to help you to become more like Jesus. Some of you have a husband that doesn’t understand you. Don’t get rid of him.

Use him for God. God, how can You use that thing? How can You use that man to help me to be more like Jesus? How can You use my wife to help me to be more like Jesus? How can You use my preacher? Don’t fire him. Don’t get the bishop to move him. Lord, how can You use my preacher to help me to be more like Jesus? Lord, how can You use this business to help me to be more like Jesus? Gil Luke’s asked that question. And Gil Luke’s found some answers along that line. I’ve met a lot of people who’ve done business with Gil Luke and who have really seen Jesus in that man. Just as a down-to-earth businessman answering the question, Lord, how can I use this business here in Arlington to really be more like Jesus? And you know, when you start asking yourself that question about life, you find yourself beginning to fit into the eternal purposes of God. For God has not just left us a pattern whereby we are conformed to His image. Do you know really how this takes place? He’s on the inside of us doing the work Himself. He’s actually reproducing Himself from within us by His Spirit. That’s how God does it. Jesus is really here within and without, by and through the Holy Spirit.

And from within us, as we yield to Him, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, learning to live in union with Jesus, every experience of life, as we yield to Him from within, will tend to make us the fulfillment of God’s purpose, and that is to be like Jesus. You see, that’s why day and night are the same to Jesus. Victory and failure are much the same. God uses your failures as much as He does your victories. You know, God has used my failures so much. I’ve had more of them. For instance, I fail as a father. Any of you have children?

I take it most of you fellas do have children. Well, you know what I mean. I’m the only man I’ve ever met who hadn’t failed as a father are those fellas who don’t have any children. I’ve so failed my children, except Joyce.

And I wanted to run. I wanted to apologize. I wanted to get at their feet and say, I’m sorry you’ve had such a, you know, a poor daddy in the world. But you know, God has taught me so much through my failures, and has redeemed those failures, and somehow used them to make the children love me more, to help Francis to be more patient with me, and to help me to stay at His feet more. It’s beautiful to see the way God will even use your failures and turn them into victories when you turn them over to Him. See, where is it in your life that you really are struggling? There especially, God wants to work, to help conform you to the image of Jesus. Now, in moving with Him this way, I’m going to talk very elementary tonight. In fact, all my talks will be elementary. I don’t know how to talk otherwise. But in terms of moving this way in the Spirit, there is a basic consciousness that God wants of us, and that is in terms of experience. God wants us to know Jesus from within us.

You know, that’s where He’s really relevant, you know. It’s wonderful to see Him everywhere. But the one place where it’s really relevant, but is on the inside of you. And that’s where Jesus really wants us to come, there from within us, to know that the Lord of the universe is on the inside of us by His Spirit, never to leave, never to forsake. And He wants us to live in that consciousness of abiding union with Him. To know who you are in Him. To know who He is in you. You know, it’s fabulous. And I’m going to relate this to prayer, because so much of what we’ll be doing here is in prayer. But you know, when you come to pray, have you ever stopped to think of your… What level of consciousness you’re on? If you’re not conscious of the presence of Jesus, you’ll not even have faith to ask God to heal your headache. You know, you’ll pray for… Oh, sure, let’s ask God to take care of earthquakes.

Please do, Lord. You know, that’s very, very, very much with us. And take care of all, you know, all these other disasters. But, you know, when it comes right down to where I am right here, right now, if I’m not conscious of Jesus, I somehow will feel that I don’t have a right to ask Him for something for myself. I remember one day I was with a prayer group, and it was just a beautiful experience. It was in a local church instead, rather than CFO, this particular time. And there was a precious little old saint sitting across the prayer circle from me.

And so we were just going around making our requests and sharing with one another. And so as we got to her, she said… My head is hurting me very badly this morning. But she said, I don’t want to be selfish.

I’d rather pray for the needs of the whole world. And you know, saints you can be honest with. You know, you really… So I laughed at her. I said, you proud thing, you. You little old dog. You want to dump the whole world on God, and you don’t believe He can take care of your headache.

What kind of inconsistency is that? And yet, somehow, that’s the way we pray when we’re not aware of Jesus on the inside of us. See? But when I know Jesus is in me, that means my body is the temple of His Spirit. That means it’s important, because it’s His.

It means that my thoughts are important, because it’s the way He thinks through me. It means the circumstances of my life are important, because it’s the way He works through me. And I found that as I have moved in the prayer life of the Spirit, one thing the Holy Spirit does is to help create a consciousness within me of who I am in the Lord. And you know, He uses the Bible to do this. Have you ever done this with your Bible study? I mean, your personal devotion. Pay attention to what the Bible has to say about who you are. Who are you in Jesus?

Well, I’m an heir of the promises of God. Well, you know, an heir is someone who has a right to the inheritance. That’s who the inheritance goes to, the heirs. You have a right to it. It’s the children’s bread, you know. Don’t you know that? And so often we don’t, because we’re not aware of Jesus within us. Peter says in his epistle, this is the way we partake of the divine nature: by standing on the promises of God, by really trusting God’s Word for our sins. We partake of Jesus, not in some mystical, beyond this world thing, up yonder somewhere. Right down to earth. That God says, I’m an heir of the promises. Now, look, every time I think about that, I find all kinds of problems. Who in the world am I to talk about being an heir of the promises? I used to hear these great saints, you know, like Glenn Clark, Rufus Moseley, Frank Laubach, all these great saints that lighted our lives with the light of heaven. And I didn’t have any doubt in leaving these men. A little old Rufus, you know, I never heard about Rufus’ walk with Jesus. I knew Jesus there than that man. And boy, when he testified to the power of Jesus, where I knew it was true.

And my heart would burn within me. And I’d somehow, you know, just sit there and draw. And after Rufus would leave, I’d think, Lord, I know that’s real and that’s true. It’s true for Rufus, because, Rufus, somehow your economy, Lord, is a spiritual giant, and You’ve done special work for him. But, Lord, what about for us common folk? What about for us ordinary people? Lord, I would have a life to ask to walk with You like that. I remember the first time I ever read George Mueller’s book on the way God raised that orphanage through him. And I would have that book and my heart burned. And if you haven’t read it, maybe they have it on the book table. It’ll thrill yourself. And the way George Mueller, this man of God, just trusted the Lord in his heart, never asked people for things, he just trusted God. And these orphanages there under his ministry, God just supplied every need. I knew God did it that way for George Mueller. But, Lord, what about us common folk? You know, what about us ordinary folk? And then the Lord began to have to deal with my heart and say, don’t you know that I love you? He’s had to say this to me so many times.

Because unbelief has been written deep within my nature. I can believe God loves other people. That’s one reason I’m sort of an extrovert personality-wise. I carry on all this mess out here to keep you from getting too close to me. You know, I’m afraid if you really know me like I am, you won’t love me.

I just live with that kind of thing. And so I find myself carrying this with God. I don’t want God to really get to know me. If He knew me, He wouldn’t love me. And I feel that way. And so God, over and over, by the Spirit, had to work within my heart and say, how much more do I have to do to wash out this unbelief, and let you know that I love you?

Do you know that tonight? Are you living in that consciousness? As St. Augustine says, God loves each one of us as if we were the only child He ever had to love. How about that? Boy, that’ll make you pray. You know, if you know God loves you, and God has made these promises for you, and God has written this Word for you, and God has poured out His Spirit for you, then what are you doing in the mess you’re in? Get with it. It’s yours. You know, it’s all things in your heart for your Christ. And Christ is God’s. So the Holy Spirit begins to work with us, showing us, not according to our emotions, not according to our imaginations, but showing us by the revelation of His Word who we are. I’m an heir of the promises. I’m the temple of the Spirit of God. I’m a living stone in that temple. I am beloved of God.

How about that? I’m born of the Father. Isn’t that wonderful? I’m led by the Spirit. It’s just wonderful to know these. So, in terms of our union with Jesus, the Holy Spirit starts creating within us. Now, I found for myself, it helps me to confess this, not only in my heart, but it helps me to confess this in my relationship with other people, to really come out in the open. Now, you know, we’ve been so intimidated by the unbelief of the world. When I started walking in the Spirit this way, I was in seminary, Dr. Judd. And I was a little late getting there because I was in the business world before I left there. And the Lord just began to break in on me. I had this breakthrough in the Holy Spirit that came on the seminary. And the Lord taught me to preach. And in seminary, the Lord began to deal with me in terms of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, real union with Jesus. This was strange to me. I was brought up a Methodist. I still am. This was strange to us, United Nations. I didn’t know that in these days. In a week. And the Lord began to break in on me. And I’d start testifying to my fellows and to the professors in the seminary.

I had to do with you. And the fellows, the professors would say, Tom, that sounds like emotionalism. You better shy away from that. I’d say, yeah, it does sound like it. But my heart’s burning. You know, the Lord’s doing something I can’t root for. And, you know, really, He just began to work with me as He brought me to that place of union with Jesus. And I testified. And it was, and it’s not always popular. Some people think you pay for it. When you really let them know that you are an heir of the promises of God, and God is really the one who’s looking after your life, and you’re going to trust Him, you don’t care what anybody says or does or thinks. Some people won’t like that. You know, that’s the matter. And so walking in the Spirit, we have to run that risk. Sometimes members of our own family don’t understand this when we start living the life of the Spirit. And we need to be real understanding about that. And you can expect people to oppose you. Not so much because they don’t love or like you, but because your experience in the Lord is something they don’t understand and it’s a threat to them. So we don’t try to prove anything.

We simply learn to take God at His word and stand on those promises. You know, we learn from other people. For instance, when I hear these people like Rufus and Franklin and Glenn and Starr and so on, I wanted God to do with me what He does for them, you know, just like Him. But it’s amazing. God doesn’t want to repeat Himself. You’re you. There’s nobody else in the whole universe like you. Hallelujah. You know? And God doesn’t want to do in you just what He’s done in me. He wants to fill Himself, fill you with Himself, fill Himself with you in a way that’s unique between you and Him. And so I went through all of this of trying to be another Rufus. I was supposed to be a Rufus. You know, I really know. Boy, I just love Him so much. Lord, go ahead and do it to me just like He did Rufus. And He didn’t. I’ve never met anybody in the universe who’s come to know Jesus just like me. Too bad about that.

You’ve never met anyone who’s come to know Jesus just like you, but we know Him. And we know Him by the power of His Spirit. We know Him through His Word. We know Him through His undeniable presence. And so as Jesus Christ came to live within me in that consciousness, He began to work with me in helping me to live in the consciousness of the reality of who He is in me and who I am in Him. I’m so glad to meet… Do you say Hegel? Hegel. Hegel. I’m so glad to meet Dr. Hegel. I met his dad a few years ago in Mexico City. But prior to that, several years ago, as I was breaking into the life of the Spirit, someone gave me Dr. Hegel’s book on bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. It was strange theology. It didn’t sound like a systematic theology I learned about Bob Fischler.

But I’ll tell you, it did too, because it really, seriously, considered the Incarnation. It was one of, in the end, one of the finest presentations of the real doctrine of the Incarnation I was ever reading. And when Dr. Hegel was talking in that book about Jesus Christ being bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, you know, not just the clothes floating around, but really what would it do? I was experiencing that about me, just about the time I was reading it. And it meant so much to me. But God has wonderful ways of bringing us into this consciousness that Jesus is on the inside of us. And He’s there by His Spirit. He’s there within us as, uniquely, as anything in the world. And we can know Him and start responding to Him in the light of His consciousness. So believe Him. Believe that He loves you as much as He says He does. Start by the, Lord, do You mean You, this is the way You really love me? You love me like that? I don’t understand it, but if You do, get at it. Just love me all You please. Let God love you. Let the Holy Spirit shed abroad in your heart the love of God. Let Him quicken within your consciousness who you are in the economy of His grace.

Rise to the level of sonship and know your inheritance. I was with the group over in Mexico City yesterday and last night. And it was a healing conference with the Catholics. And isn’t it wonderful? Maybe some of you are Catholic. I don’t know. But I grew up in North Carolina where we were afraid of Catholics. You know, I happened to be a Methodist, but that was strong Baptist territory. And boy, I’ve heard so many sermons against the Catholic Church. And it was just amazing. Now, I remember one time I lived in a little town where there was a little Catholic Church between our house and the school. And I’d come up right up to the edge of that Catholic Church and I was expecting some sister to reach in and grab me, you know.

And I had heard, you know, I heard it said in whispered tones. Well, you could say the same thing about most anything. Methodist, Baptist, Baptist, but I was expecting, you know, some sister to reach in and grab me, pull me in and keep me until I was seven. You know, and I just grew up with all that fear. And maybe Catholic children grew up with the fear of Protestants. I don’t know. But I want to tell you that the thrill of my soul is to see the work of the Holy Spirit among the precious Catholics in this world today. I’ve never felt so free in all my life as last night when I preached at that Catholic Church. Man, they were seated all around the altar. Were you there? I didn’t see you, but it was beautiful. And yesterday, during that, we were with mostly priests and sisters yesterday and speaking on healing. And I use the phrase of Jesus, where Jesus calls healing the children’s bread. Isn’t that a description for healing? It’s the children’s bread. And I said to those precious people, can you imagine one of your children coming to the table and feeling as if he had to work for his to tell you? You know, can you? You know, I know, the one thing I’ve noticed about Mexican people, they love their children.

Man, I have never seen anybody in Mexico that doesn’t respond to children. If you don’t love children, get out of this country. You know, you won’t be at home in this country if you don’t love children. This has been thrilled me through and through to see people respond to children. But can you imagine a Mexican child coming to a table and saying, I don’t guess I have any right to ask for a critique?

No, he knows that’s his bread. It’s the children’s bread. And yet, we come before the Father’s table, things that He has purchased with His own blood, things that He’s prepared for us, and we act like strangers that we don’t have a ride. So Jesus, from within us, says, fear not. It’s the Father’s good pleasure to give. Come on, get with Me. It’s yours. I really love you. I want to give you My Spirit. I want to heal you of your sins. I want to cleanse you of your sins and your unrighteousness. Come on, it’s yours. All things are yours. Know who you are in Me. And so as we come to know this, and I’ll close with this emphasis, as we come to this basic reality of the life of the Spirit within us, Jesus, we discover that our wonderful approach with God is never self-justification, never self-worthiness, always our need and His love. That’s the basis of our walk in the kingdom, our need for Him and His love for us, and that’s why Jesus ministers to us at the point of our need. What is your need? You know, is your name John? You know, what’s your first name? David. David, about the time I was your age, and we call it Sunday school, most of them call it church school now, they would read that Bible lesson where Jesus said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If any man will hear my voice and open the door, I’ll come into it and I’ll sup with him and he’ll sup with me. I used to hear that and the teacher would say, Now, children, where is this door? We look at it and she’d say, It’s the door of your heart. And I think, Lord, I don’t hear You. You know, I try to think out, where was that door in my heart? You know, Jesus was knocking.

And then, I’ve learned, since I’ve come to walk with the Lord, that the door at which He knocks is the door of our need. Whenever you have need, you get up in the morning, your brother’s got your socks.

You know? Well, the temptation is to get mad. You got a need. So, Jesus is standing there and saying, they don’t get mad. Man, love him, tell him you where I saw it. See, that’s Jesus. Same way, yeah? Same way, same way, no, wherever our need is, there Jesus is standing saying, Behold, I stand at this door and knock. And I’ve discovered that our group in the series, our walk in the kingdom, is discovering our needs, opening that door and saying, Jesus, I invite You here to minister to me according to Your need, according to my needs and Your glory. That’s being made night, in your own rest. Does this make sense to you? It’s very elementary and I’m sure below many and most of you, but nonetheless, I need it. So, would you like to talk back any?

Praise God, Brother Kito. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Praise God. Yes, sir. Praise God. Isn’t that wonderful? Ask Him to show you what you have to give, too. And it’s wonderful, too, to really know that. Thank you for sharing that.

Thank you. Maybe we can close out our session tonight by some of us sharing some of the things we’d like to see the Lord do for us individually or maybe in some other area. But do you have anything you’d like to share concerning what you’d really love to see the Lord do in our midst?

Yes. I think it’s great that we hear the word blood and we think of God. And I think when God said for us to love Him with all of our heart, love our spirit and our personality, our thinking and our attitudes and our emotions, and then to love our bodies, which is the Holy Spirit, and then to love others, and then to love ourselves. And I thought, well, oh, my God, there’s such a big Lord, but I don’t even want to love myself. I don’t want to love other people. This is too hard for me. And then I said, how can I do that? And He said, you know how to talk to me? Yes. Well, I am at work and everyone making a sign of myself to me through the power of the Holy Spirit. And search down something in yourself. Search that something in God’s mind that is me. And love that. Just love that little thing. It may be a small thing. It may be so, almost nothing. But it’s bad because mine is bad. Then you will get free. As you can’t do love being in yourself. And love thinking about things that other people meant to you or other things. And it is still going to come. Praise God. Thank you for sharing that, Sister.

Yes, Bridget. I said, thank you, thank God. Mm-hmm. And I pray with me that I can do my response for the… Praise God. Thank you, Betsy. Father, we hear Your word. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our true spiritual worship.

And, Father, we come presenting ourselves through Jesus Christ. And we know that He has made for us the perfect presentation of humanity to God. Lord Jesus, we accept Your offering as ours. Thank You. Thank You. And, Father, we accept the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, through Your Spirit, even now, fresh out of You tonight, to possess us from within and without, to guard and guide, to protect and provide and to use, not only in terms of receiving but giving, one to another, one for another, in response to You, Lord. I thank You for each person here, in this room. You know us by name. You know our needs.

Father, use us for one another, that Your ministry shall be perfected in our midst. And we shall praise You for it. Thank You, Lord. I wonder if, just holding a moment of solid prayer, maybe we couldn’t close with singing, oh, it is Jesus. Yes, it is Jesus. Amen.