Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for being with us today. We’ve got a great sermon for you called “Don’t Tell God.” What does that mean? God loves it when you talk to Him.

He loves it when you communicate with Him, and you ask Him to provide for you. When you ask Him to give you things in your life, you need to ask for blessings. We have a sermon about that—“Ask For Blessings.”

God not only loves to hear from you, though. He wants to hear from you. He wants you to be in a relationship with Him. God wants to communicate with you. He not only wants you to be talking to Him. He wants you to listen to Him. God wants to talk to you.

He wants it to be a dual relationship, not just like a one-way thing. Because if it’s just a one-way communication, you might as well just talk to the walls. No, God wants it to be a two-way street.

Let’s go to Ephesians 6:18. Ephesians 6:18: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” All right.

What does this mean? Well, first of all, it says, “And pray in the spirit.” So, if you don’t know how to pray in the Spirit, it is time right now for you to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. What does that mean?

It means right now, be baptized in the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name. Receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit come upon you and fill you, let you speak in tongues—receive a heavenly prayer language so that you will be able to communicate and pray in the spirit on all occasions, in Jesus’ name, right now. Amen.

Speaking in tongues is your way of communicating with Jesus. A little side point right now is when you have that prayer language inside of you, you are able to pray in the spirit at any time on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Yes, you may not understand what you are saying because it’s the spirit interceding with groans that words cannot express. In addition, what’s going on? When you pray in the spirit, it’s like a code.

You see, when you pray, if you pray in your native language, the demon, the demonic realm is here. We are here on Earth. Demons are also here on Earth. They are here in like the stratosphere or the–or first layer of Heaven.

The heavens, as it’s referred to as the sky, the heavens—like the Old Testament says—in the heavens. Above that is God and the angels and the–and where people are and where we are.

And then, of course, you can continue going on different layers, and you have the throne room, etc. And so when you pray in your native language, you are praying, you have to get through not only the Earth and anyone that can hear your prayers here, like demons or–and then through the next layer, your communication needs to go through there.

And so we have an instance in the book of Daniel. He prayed for three weeks—21 days. He was praying, and the angel says, “We heard your prayer on day one. We heard you, and I was coming to you, but I was delayed for 21 days until the archangel Michael came and helped.”

What had to happen there? Well, the angel came from Heaven, had to break through the demons, and they were trying to delay the angel, and they were–they were almost too strong for him or her, the angel of the Lord. And what happened?

The Archangel Michael came, helped the fight, boom, the angel got through to get to Daniel. So when you pray in tongues, in your native prayer language, in your prayer language, that is a language between you and God. No one else can understand that. So it’s like a secret code.

Your prayers go directly to–to that–to–to where they need to be. They can’t be intercepted. They can’t be delayed. Now, when you’re praying in tongues, can the angels still be delayed when they’re coming to you? Well, that depends.

You see, if you are following God, the Bible says that the angel of the Lord encamps around you. Meaning that when you are–are praying in tongues, these angels can hear it right away, and they get to work right away. They understand what it is because it is an angelic language.

And so yes, maybe some would be delayed, or maybe some would be hindered. But when it is in the language of angels, the demons do not understand it. And so they don’t know how to prevent or how to stop those angels from hearkening to the word of the Lord.

The same thing happens when you pray Scripture. If you pray Scripture, the Bible says angels hearken to the word of the Lord. This is the word of the Lord.

When you pray this, when you read verses and–and pray them as prayers and combine that with praying in the spirit, it’s an unstoppable force. Those angels get to work right away, all around you. But let’s keep going.

Don’t tell God. And see, when you’re praying in–in your prayer language or you’re praying the Bible, you are not telling God. You are not imposing your will upon Him, but you are praying His will. You are praying what He wants to be done.

He still wants you to bring all of your concerns to Him. There are many verses that tell you to bring everything to God. Let’s go to First Peter 5:7. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Let’s go to Psalm 55:22. “Cast your cares on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” Cast it all on God. Whatever your cares, your troubles, your burdens are, cast it on Him because He wants to carry them for you.

The Bible says He daily bears our burdens. Meaning that eventually you shouldn’t have to cast them on the Lord because He’s already bearing them for you.

How do you get to that point? Abide in Him. He is the true vine. You abide in Him. He abides in you. He daily bears your burdens for you. And oftentimes your provision comes before you even know you need it.

And then you’re praying in the spirit on all occasions. You’re not praying for things for yourself. You’re just praying for the spirit, which is whatever is needed at that time. You may not even know you’re needing it.

You might be praying for something, for a blessing, for a need that you don’t even have yet. And it could be like in that example of Daniel. What would happen if, when you’re praying in your prayer language, in the spirit, on all occasions?

You see, if God says, “I know what’s going on and I know what’s going to happen and I know this and I know you, and I know your choices and so I, I know and I’m preparing the way for you,”—like the Bible says,

“I go before you. I prepare the way for you. I will never leave you nor forsake you”—and so if God is preparing that for you, and He says in two weeks or in three weeks you are going to need a new job because something’s going to happen, and your company is going to downsize, and you will be a part of that.

And so you’re praying in your prayer language and all of a sudden there is a battle going on, and instead of waiting to pray when that happens in English or in your native language and then having to wait for the angels to break through for 21 days like Daniel, if that is in–in fact, the case that could happen in you.

This is a hypothetical example, but just think how powerful this is. When you pray in the spirit, you are praying things you don’t even know yet.

Now, of course, hopefully you can dive into the word and ask God to reveal those prayers to you and–and help you understand them. And sometimes you will, but oftentimes you could be praying for things that haven’t happened yet.

So, in that example, if–if in three weeks you’re going to need a new job, but you’re praying now in the spirit, you might be praying now for that new job. In three weeks, when it happens, you might get laid off and have the new job in the same day.

But if you didn’t pray in the spirit, you’d be waiting, going through life, all of a sudden you get laid off. Now you start praying for a new job. And if it took that angel 21 days to get here to give you that new job, you’d be without work for 21 days.

Think how powerful it is to pray in the Spirit on all occasions. That’s just one hypothetical example. Yes, we could find Scripture to support it, but–but let your mind think like that and dive into the word.

What God doesn’t want is for you to tell Him what you want Him to do. Because that is trying to impose your will on God. He wants you to do His will. Remember, you’re not living your life. You are living a life for God.

It’s not “I’m going to live my life for God.” No, you are living a life given to you by God for God through Jesus Christ.

It says in Galatians, “All things come from the Father,” but it comes through Jesus. People say that all the time. “Oh, so and so’s off living their best life,” or “I’m glad you’re living your best life,” or “I’m living my best life.”

All that is foolishness. It is definitely not biblical. So, when you hear that, re–rebuke it right away. Get it out. Take that thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. No, you are never to live your best life.

You are to live a life that is best for God, for His will here on Earth, doing what? Sharing Jesus, making disciples, taking ground, and building the kingdom. That is what we do. God doesn’t want you to tell Him.

So, don’t tell God what you want Him to do. It’s great to pray and to ask God for things and to cast your cares on Him, but He isn’t going to give you something that will hurt you. He loves you too much for that. So, you need to ask God for the right things.

We have a sermon on that: “Ask God For The Right Things.” He has a plan for your life. Your life has a purpose. That purpose was divinely ordained. You just need to step into it and follow it. There is a calling.

There is a calling, a plan, and a purpose for your life. We have an entire playlist filled with sermons about how you can find and discover and walk into and step in your calling. If you ask for something that is outside of that plan or that purpose, then you are not going to get it.

It’s plain and simple. If you say you want to do something, but you’re asking for something else that’s outside of that purview, it’s not going to happen because it’s not going to be good for the will of God.

Like if you say, “Well, I’m married, God, but I’d really like to have a few extra virgins around or a few extra women around on the side because I have a higher sex drive than my wife.” That’s not going to happen. That’s outside of God’s will.

If you say, “Well, God, I have a house, and I have everything I need, but I’d really like to have a second car, like a luxury vehicle, maybe get a Jaguar or um a Porsche for like the weekends.” That’s not something that you need.

Now, could you get that? Yeah, that, that might be an extra blessing because that’s not something sinful. But in the first example, God would never give you something like that. He’s never going to provide a sinful thing.

You might say, “You know what? I really want uh–a $500 bottle of whiskey, God, if you could give me that.” No. On Earth as it is in heaven, God will give you heavenly things. Seek heavenly things. What does Jesus say?

“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. All these things will be given to you as well.’’ Not all these sinful desires. No. Remember what James says. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask for wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

So, you’re not going to get sinful things. God loves you too much to hurt you in that way. God has a plan, and He knows the details of the plan. So, plan with God. We have an entire series, or it’s a bunch of sermons, a playlist on planning, making plans, knowing God’s plans.

Check that out on our website or in the card above. You see, when you ask God, instead of asking Him for specific things, ask Him for generalities. Don’t tell Him what you need because He knows what you need. He knows your heart. He knows what you need even before you ask Him.

Does that mean you aren’t to pray? No, you need to be praying in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. And what, what does the rest of that verse say? “And always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people,” or in some versions, the saints.

Who are the saints? That’s the Christians, the body of Christ. So, you need to be praying for others more than you pray for yourself.

Now, I know that could be kind of hard and difficult, but if you pray Scripture and you pray blessings in Scripture, you can be praying for both yourself and others at the same time. Like, for example, the verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Pray that.

“Father, I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Help me do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Help others do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Help us do all things through Christ, who strengthens us, who gives us strength.

Help us seek the strength in Christ.” You see what I’m saying? You can take a verse and pray that verse for your whole situation. And what are angels doing right now? Hearkening to the Word.

They’re saying, “Okay, give him some strength. Let’s go.” They’re saying, “Who else is around him? Okay, give that person. Okay, get–get here. You go here. You go here.” They are getting to work, hearkening to the Word of the Lord because when you pray Scripture, there is power.

What does it say? There is power in the name of Jesus. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Word made flesh. When you pray Scripture, you are praying Jesus. Think about that.

So don’t tell God what you want. Don’t tell Him your will. Ask God to grant you characteristics and traits, and strengths. Let’s go to a few verses here, Psalm 119:125.

Psalms 119:125: “I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.” You could pray that. That’s praying for discernment. Ask Him to give you qualities and spiritual growth.

Ask for His guidance and for His will to be done. Colossians 1:9: “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.”

Okay, think about that. If that’s you and you’re telling someone else, “Hey, since I heard about you, I have not stopped praying for you.” “Praying what?” “That God would fill you with the knowledge of His will through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.”

What a powerful prayer. You can pray that right there. That God would fill people around you with the knowledge of His will. You struggle with someone, you have an argument with them, pray for them.

Pray that God would fill them with all the knowledge that the Spirit gives, with all the wisdom that the Spirit gives, with the knowledge of His will, of God’s will. Not that they would do what you want them to do, that they would do what God wants them to do.

How powerful would that be? Let’s go to Philippians 1:9-11. “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

What a powerful prayer. Pray that. That –that person would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. That means that they would no longer be ignorant, that they would know the will of God, that they would understand the will of God, and that they would do it, that they would be able to discern what is best, and that they would be pure and blameless.

You are praying sin and evil out of their life with that verse. And angels are getting to work. So pray that when you have struggles or fights with other people, or when you get into arguments with others, or when you don’t get along with them. Pray these verses.

When you ask God for heavenly things such as these, you will have much more satisfaction than if you ask Him for earthly things. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Ask God for those heavenly things. Ask Him. Pray those verses. And if you forget them, go to our website, go to the YouTube description, you can click on the verses, you can–you can search them, you can pray those Scriptures for others.

Remember what Solomon asked God for. Solomon didn’t tell God. So you don’t tell God. Don’t tell Him what you want. Don’t tell Him what you want Him to do. Instead, ask for godly things. What did Solomon do?

He asked for wisdom, and look how things turned out for him. Let’s go to First Kings 3:9: “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

Isn’t that amazing? Solomon didn’t ask for wealth or riches or victory over his enemies. He said, “Give your servant.” So he’s asking, he recognizes he’s a servant, a discerning heart.

Some translations say, “A wise and discerning heart to govern your people to be able to distinguish between right and wrong.” There are many verses in the Bible that you can pray for others and yourself.

You could pray that for someone else. Give them a wise and discerning heart so that they would know right from wrong. You have somebody at your work or someone at church, even, or someone in your–your neighborhood that just doesn’t know right from wrong, that is constantly trying to do things uh shady or cut corners.

Pray, “Father, give them a wise and discerning heart that they would be able to distinguish right from wrong.” Pray that verse over them. Angels will get to work. It may take some time for that person to finally concede and give up their will, but they need to turn to God and repent.

Pray these verses for others. There are so many more out there. Dive into the Word of God and pray Scripture. Pray in the Spirit on all occasions. Let’s pray.

Father, thank you so much for this message, “Don’t Tell God.” Help each and every person watching and listening to recognize this, to start to dive in, to pray in the spirit on all occasions.

To pray in the spirit for lengths of time, 30 minutes a day, 90 minutes a day, three times a day, five times a day, to never let more than an hour go by without uttering a few words in the Spirit. That they would continually seek you.

That they would pray Scripture, that they would memorize these verses, and constantly be praying them. Even when they see something in–in the checkout line at the grocery store, someone’s being unfriendly, someone’s being a bad word, that they would instead of getting anger or instead of thinking those negative words or calling them names in their mind, that they would take those thoughts captive, make them obedient to you, and pray Scripture over them.

Father, give that person a wise and discerning heart to know right from wrong. When they’re driving in traffic, that’s when a lot of bad things can happen. That when these things happen, that they would be praying for those people.

Father, help that person distinguish right from wrong. They just blew a red light. Father, give them a wise and discerning heart. Show them you. Help them repent and turn to you. Give them verses to memorize.

They can put them on their dashboard. Help them turn to you and dive into this, take hold of this so that they would know that it is so important to pray Scripture, to do Scripture, to share Scripture with others, and to pray in the spirit on all occasions, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

I hope that this has inspired you. I hope that you really take this seriously. Take that tip. Write some verses on sticky notes.

Put them on your dashboard. And when things happen in traffic, people cut you off, they blow stop signs, they run red lights—whatever—that you look at that verse and you pray it over them because the Word of God is alive and active.

It has the power, dividing the soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It will work. Let it change you. Let it transform others. Have a great week, and God bless.