And He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby so that I may preach there also, for that is what I came for.” Now, it switches from the ministry of healing and demonstrations of power and signs and wonders to what we all know is the priority: proclamation. And how well is that going to go for any of us without prayer? I want to be very careful with what I say. You can teach a parrot to speak sound theology, but it doesn’t mean that any of it has impacted him.
Let me say something else, and this is hyperbole—it’s a bit exaggerated, but I want you to see the main point. I have two young men in front of me. Both of them have the same sound theology; both of them speak the same. One of them got it from reading all the best systematics, and the other got it from reading the Word of God and then comparing what he learned to other books. I can tell the difference.
Look, it’s not just about knowledge, even the good knowledge that I found in many of the systematics. It’s about the Bible. The Bible is the living Word of God—it is alive, supernatural, and transformative. And yes, I love the Puritans and the Reformers, and John Gill, and so many others, but their writings are not the same. They’re just not. And so, you must spend time with Him.
Now, before I go on, I want to say this: someone who hasn’t worked out for 20 years comes to my garage and says, “Brother Paul, I want to work out with you, and I want to do everything you do.” The next day—well, the next month—they can’t walk. They’re like a spider that’s been stepped on. They’re so sore that they’re never coming back again. Now, why did I give you that illustration? If you’re sitting here tonight and you’re thinking, “I neglect the Word all the time. I neglect prayer all the time. If I even read a chapter a week, it’s amazing. And I’m always on the run,” I don’t want you, first of all, running out of here thinking that God has scolded you terribly and is waiting to judge you. I want you to know that what I’m speaking are words of love.
Secondly, I don’t want you going home or getting up tomorrow morning and reading 35 chapters and trying to pray for two hours, because it won’t last. It never lasts. What I want you to do is start where you are. I want you to go back to your pastors or go back to other men or women and say, “Hold me accountable. I have seen that this is absolutely essential, and I need help until I get moving in this.” If, next week, you are reading one chapter a day every day and praying for 10 minutes, it’s still better than the zero of this week. Grow. Talk to your pastors. Talk to other men. Make commitments with each other to get in the Word of God and study it. Make commitments to pray. Make commitments to simply walk with Him in communion, and everything in your life will gradually begin to change, and He’ll become real. He’ll become real.
