<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

ABC Prayer Crusade

Glenn Coon

Youth Asks, God Answers

1-Our Humble Lord

2-Our Prayer-answering Lord

3-Our Problem-solving Lord

4-Our Joyful Lord

5-Our Protective Lord

6-Our Delivering Lord

We have some more questions. In fact, I don't know whether we have 200 questions here or not. So you can imagine that we just have to choose about two or three questions in each session, which can represent many, many of the other questions you see. And we're gonna ask the first young person to come up with a question that somebody, I don't know who, who wrote it out, but somebody did. Here's a question, I don't like your name. Kurt. Kurt. K i r k K u r t. Kurt, where do you live? Kurt, In Clearwater. Do you, I've been looking, do you ever since you came in, I kind of fell in love with you. What's a question? How can you do new math problems with an old math mind? How about that? Isn't it? I think Kurt, that's a good question, don't you? Yeah. Alright, thank you. And we'll, we'll put another question in with it and then we'll try to answer them all in one Other kids seem to get good grades. I can't, what should I do? And what is your name? Holly. Holly. Oh, it's Christmas. It's just over, isn't it? Yeah, we, I like to play with names. See, I tell people my name is Coon. I tell my wife is my pet Coon and we have a 35 foot motor home. I call it our hollow log. We have a lot of fun. Would you read that again? I, I've forgotten now what it was. Other kids seem to get good grades. I can't. What should I do? Thank you. Thank you Holly. Thank you. And that and one more question that the three off to pretty well represent this area I think. And what is your name, sir? Raven. Well, you know I've met you before back in 1980. You remember in, you remember back in December 29, 8 19 80, 19 80. Yeah. We were there in the in in the church in Tampa. You remember we had questions and answers at that time. Oh yeah, I Remember now. Would you read the one, Pastor Coon, this distraught student says that algebra is difficult and ask you how he should pass his grade. Good, thank you. Thank you so much. Well, let me tell you how the Lord helped me. I was 16 years of age, had two brothers. The three of us were studying algebra. The teacher of first year algebra was himself studying second year algebra, but he didn't know first year algebra. At the end of the first six weeks we had an exam, you know, and in that, in those days you had to get about 75% to pass. But when our grades came back, our examination, one of my brothers had a grade of 16%, the other had zero and I had 16%. Between the three of us, we had 32% algebra. My two brothers dropped algebra and I didn't have sense enough to, so I called on the teacher to come up one evening and he spent the full two hour study period on one problem and didn't get it when he left my room. You could imagine how I fell if a teacher can't get it, how can I? I slumped down on my knees and in the background of my thinkings, I recall now was a promise. Matthew Seven. Seven. Anyone remember what it says as and it shall be. And I told God that my future in algebra was finished unless he came to my rescue. But somehow I just had a childlike faith that he would, because I'd had a lot of answers to prayer before that. And I lived in a family where dad had all kind marvelous answers. So I just naturally believed, climbed into bed and immediately God gave me a dream that I was working on this problem that the teacher couldn't get. And in my dream I saw where the teacher made the mistake. I'm telling you the truth. And I corrected it in my dream and immediately got awakened me that it was still fresh in my mind. I seized my pencil and paper and did it and was perfect. Now that's the kind of God we have. He's interested in x the unknown number. I was so thrilled I took it to school the next day. Perfect. And that was as though God was saying, every time you're in trouble and you don't know which way to go, you can call on me. Psalm 50 15, call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you, you shall glorify me. I went on through the year and I passed that miserable algebra. And you know what it did? It gave me confidence to know that I could pass other miserable topics. For instance, subjects for instance French. I took French later on under a New England there. Now you know our New Englander friends where we say, remember they say remember beautiful where we say Isaiah, they say, Isaiah beautiful. But when I was taking French, I didn't know whether whether it should be ah or R because she would say, ah, when it should be R. And she say R one should be R. And I was fit to be tied, but I remembered that I had met God at X. Do we deserve answers? No way does God treat us as we deserve. No way He treats us as we need. Right? Again, I fell on my knees and I said, Lord, this French is all French to me. I can never do it unless you help me. But he helped me in algebra. That was a miracle, wasn't it? And now I believe that God would come to my merry rescue. What is the A of prayer? Ask what to be a prayer. Believe. Believe whom God believe. What about God believe that he'll keep his word. Believe that he loves us. He gave Jesus to die for us. Doesn't that prove love? And you know, the Lord helped me to get right through French. I negotiated it and came out with a passing grade. And you know that I said, Lord, you've done it for for algebra, you've done it for French. And then I got into the worst thing in the world, general history, the most miserable general I'd ever known, general history. And I hated it, you know, to tell about a certain general came up on a hill. He came up on the south side, another man with his army came up on the west side. I didn't care whether they came up on any side. What did I care whether they came up on the south side of the west side, fuey. But I wanted to pass general history. I'd spend two hours and come down with a big fat D. But the Lord that helped me miraculously through algebra and French would help me in general history. Amen. Amen. And as I was praying to the Lord how to do this, and let me back up a minute. The teacher himself scared me half to death. He had serpents eyes, he had a long neck, big ears and serpent eyes. And when he'd look at me, I forgot everything I had ever studied about history. It was current events as I looked at him instead of history, man that look. Whew. So I went to God in prayer. You know what the Lord impressed me with? You don't have to spend two hours on general history, spend about 40 minutes. And when you do it, forget how that teacher looks. He looked like Lucifer at his worst. Forget how he looks. Concentrate and and Philippians 2, 3 13 came to me. This one thing I do, don't think about anything except what you're studying. Ask yourself the question, what is this particular chapter all about? And what are the subdivisions all about? And put your mind on there. And I studied 40 minutes instead of two hours and came down with good passing grades. I said, thank you Lord, you've taught me. And then I learned a wonderful secret. I found that a lot of the other boys in the academy had not learned what the Lord had taught me. Because sometime before that the Lord had taught me a very important lesson. As a student in school, I had made the mistake of falling in love with a girl by the name of May. She was a beautiful redheaded girl. And I had made this mistake of thinking that girls in books can mix. I was quite a scholar at that time. I was in the third grade and every time I'd look at my lessons, I'd think of me. But the Lord sent another boy along to take me out of my life. And now I didn't have to worry about me. But the next year I went to another school. Mae wasn't there, but Louisa was there. Oh, she flashed one smile and I was captivated. I would try to study my lessons and I'd think of Louisa two times, two equals Louisa grammar sweetheart, Louisa geography, the map of Louisa. She has it all. And so all while I was studying I was thinking of Louisa and I didn't know it. And one day this teacher said, Glen, is there something wrong with your eyes? I knew there was nothing wrong in my eyes. My eyes were enjoying what they saw. And she looked at me and I thought, what me? And I felt like I wish I could sink right down through the floor. And about that time, thank the Lord for good parents. I heard my mother say to dad, she said, you know, I'm puzzled. I don't know what to do about Lester. That's my brother. He is fooling around with the girls. But she said, Glen, he would never do a thing like that. I'd written notes, barrels of notes, you know, barrels of size. And one mother said, I never worry need to worry about Glen. Right? Then I decided that I'd finish my books first. So when I got into this academy age, I found that I shouldn't do what I saw other boys doing. They would see a girl going down the street, they put one eye on the girl and the other one on their book and they'd become cross-eyed, you know? And I thought, you don't get it that way. So I said, thank you Lord. And then when I got into college, I had Greek that was all Greek, but the Lord that I had met at algebra and he worked a miracle, the Lord that I met at French and he'd worked a miracle, the Lord that I worked at general history and he worked a miracle. He would help me with Greek. And the Lord taught me how I could get A's and B's in Greek. Isn't it wonderful? So Janet, would you sing for us one more of your compositions? And what is the title of it? May I ask? Help me Lord, That there it fits. Help me Lord. Thank you. Okay, Let me get tuned up Here. Alright, while she's tuning up, how often do we have to tune up in our spiritual lives every day. And when we get tuned up in our spiritual lives, it gives us what harmony. Right? Okay, thank you Lord. What you want me to be? I? The days go by. I know that I the to my searching soul, wouldn't you know, all the time we've together, I still don't understand how you could die a sinful man. But Lord, I thank you with all my Jesus, you save me all the sin. And in my life, you changed my life around you. Turned my world upside down, father Lord, You want me be your And as the days go by, I know that I Die The answers to my searching soul. You so much. Thank you. That's exactly what the Lord is waiting to do. He's waiting to come to our rescue, isn't he? Let me share with you a text on this that is meant very, very much to me through the years. It's second Chronicles, thus the 16th chapter and the ninth verse. And I would like to give you a little background of this text because when I was living in Washington, Washington DC I heard of an outstanding famous evangelist that was to speak at the big Constitution hall. And though I was prejudiced against him, I decided to go down and find what was the secret of the tremendous audiences he had. And you know, when he stood up to speak, this was the text he first read, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. He said, this is a picture of God's eagerness to come to our rescue. God is not reluctant. We don't have to plead with God as though we are trying to overcome his reluctance. We don't have to treat God like the heathen woman does. She'll throw our baby in the mouth of the crocodile to overcome the reluctance and the anger and the vengefulness of her God. We don't have to do that. Our God so loved us that he already has given his only begotten Son. Amen. So I said, isn't that a wonderful picture of God? I had never been impressed with that text before God actually looking all over the world, hoping that somebody will look skyward and say, help me. The Lord was hoping at the age of 16 that I would ask him to help me without algebra, right? He hoped I would do it. He impressed me. The Holy Spirit, look, look up to me. I'm waiting to give you answers. You see. And I want to tell you ever since then, and that happened decades ago, I said, what a picture of God. Don't let anybody ever in this world say that because we don't get answers like we think we should get. Don't think that God is reluctant, he's very eager. And then usually somebody will come along and say, huh, huh. If God is that eager, why hasn't he come along and helped me some? And then I say, here's a text of scripture I hope you'll never forget. It is Isaiah chapter 42, verse 16. And I almost wear this promise out. It says, I will bring the Lord speaking, I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that they've not known. I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do to them and not forsake them. It says in four different ways that when I come to the Lord and ask him to help me, he will help me. But usually in a way I hadn't expected. And because he answers my prayer in a way I don't expect, I'm liable to say he hasn't answered it. Let me share with you a story that I'd like to share with the older people in our regular 90 series. I tell 'em the story of our daughter, Juanita, when she was just a little tight having to do with how God will answer, but he'll answer his way instead of our way. And his answer so much better than ours. I said, one day I came into the front room of my house while wanting to just a little tyke and horrors. My daughter was in process of putting a Gillette safety razor blade in her mouth. Of course she ever found it. I don't know, no. But as I saw her putting that Gillette safety razor blade in her mouth, my heart turned to God quickly and the Lord impressed me, look, your daughter acts like you. And later I learned, the only time I was ever ashamed of her was when she acted like me. So right away, as I saw that razor blade go in her mouth, while her mouth was still open, I did this, Nita, Nita. And she looked at me and did the same thing. I didn't eat that. And I walked very slowly, got my thumb and finger in play, Nita, and I slipped that razor blade right out of her mouth. And when I got it out, I said, Juanita, it'll cut you all off. And she went, somebody asked me the other day, they said, was that a true story? I said, yeah, I don't tell any lies. That's a true story. It happened. What happened? My daughter thought that the razor blade was some kind of a delicacy. Now what did daddy give her instead of the razor blade food? And that brings us to Ephesians three 20. Ephesians three 20 says that God will always give us what we ask for or something better every time, but usually in a way we don't expect. So Ephesians three 20 says Now on hymn that is able to exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think According to the power, that work ethic not. So I'm sharing with people this God will either give you what you ask for or something better and keep saying it in your mind. God is either A, giving me what I ask for, or he's giving me something better every time. And sometimes instead of answering, instead of answering my prayer the way I ask, he answers it a way that I need. For instance, a, a young man came to us at one of our churches. The pastor had already tipped me off. He said, this young fellow's a skeptic, he hates the ABC's. A prayer. Oh, now he's coming in now. So why don't you talk with him? So the young man sat down, he said, God doesn't answer my Prayers. I said, well, tell me what are you praying for that you don't get answers to? He said, I lose things And I don't remember why I put them and I tell the Lord to help me find them. And he doesn't. Oh, I said, so you're trying to make God a pickup, boy are you? You leave things any old place and expect God to come down from heaven and go around, pick up after you. That isn't God. God knows that you need to learn the lesson better than you need to find what you're hunting for, right? So when I ask God to hear, I said, dear Lord, I don't deserve it. And if I need to learn a lesson more than I need to get that thing, teach me the lesson. He said, I'll bring them blind by way that they knew. Now I'll lead them in past. They've not known. I'll make darkness light before them in crooked things straight. These things I'll do unto you and not forsake you. In nearly every experience of prayer in my life, God has answered me in a way I haven't expected except a prayer for forgiveness of sin. You know? But all the things, finances and other things, almost in every case, he's answering a way I have never expected. And when I get through, I say, isn't that amazing? You know, I used to go down the highway of life as we call it, and I said, now Lord, I'm gonna give you a sign. I'm coming down to the forks of the road. I tell the Lord, I said, now when I come to the forks, if such and such a thing happens, I'm gonna take the right fork. If it doesn't happen, I'll take the left fork. I got it made. And you know what's happened when I got down to where I thought the forks instead of forks, there's five points. Now what are you gonna do? No forks at all. Five points. So every time I find that, I try to kind of narrow God down to my, my creaturely wisdom. He said, look, Glenn Coon, I'll answer your prayer infinitely above what you expect. But don't ever try to limit me. I have something so much better than you ever dreamed of. Isn't that a wonderful savior? And this is what he does. I don't know how many of you've ever read in our little book the ABCs of Prayer about the $6,000 answer to prayer. Anybody ever read it? We have a little book called The ABCs of Prayer. And the book itself is a fabulous answer to prayer. We did it and didn't put it through our publishing houses. You know why we didn't put it through our publishing houses? They knew it wasn't worth anything. They knew they couldn't sell it. And a publishing house doesn't wanna sell something that won't sell. So we went into debt and said, Lord, you'll do what you see best. You know how many we have in print? 94,000 God answered way. We'd never dreamed We wanted our publishing houses to do all of our books. But they knew they weren't. They weren't good literature. So since they didn't do it, the Lord said, I'll do it another way. It's like the, you heard about the bumblebee. The bumblebee cannot fly. You knew that scientifically he cannot fly. His spam is not great enough to take i's heavy body. But the poor Bumblebee never heard about it. So he flies and he goes right along and he does a wonderful, wonderful job at flying Now. So the questions have come in concerning grades. How will the Lord give us a a new math mind when we have an old math mind? Ezekiel 36 26, A new heart. Also, will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you? I'll take away the stony heart of your flesh. I'll give you heart of flesh. So wonderful, Wonderful Jesus, he is my friend. He gave himself to wonderful, wonderful. He is my friend. True. He gave himself Thank You Lord for this group of young people. I see Lord, a deep sincerity in their countenance says, thank you Lord. There are young people sitting right here today who are gonna be used mightily in their witness for Jesus Christ. They're going to lead many people to the love of Jesus. Thank you now for hearing us. In Jesus name, amen. This media was brought to you by Audio verse, a website dedicated to spreading God's word through free sermon, audio, and much more. If you would like to know more about audio verse or if you would like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audio verse.org.

Back to Menu

Series

Youth Asks, God Answers

3-Our Problem-solving Lord

Parent Series

Sponsor

Other Teachings in Series

1-Our Humble Lord

2-Our Prayer-answering Lord

3-Our Problem-solving Lord

4-Our Joyful Lord

5-Our Protective Lord

6-Our Delivering Lord

Sound Doctrine