This seminar has two desired outcomes: 1) We will allow God to use His Word to speak to us, revealing anything that would hinder our prayers, and 2) We will enter into 40 days of intentional prayer for personal spiritual growth and in order to reach five people God has laid on our hearts. The seminar will provide time for reflection on God’s Word, along with inspiring steps to becoming a prayerful, contagious Adventist witness for God, wherever He calls you. 

GC Session 2015: Prayer Seminars

<p>This seminar has two desired outcomes: 1) We will allow God to use His Word to speak to us, revealing anything that would hinder our prayers, and 2) We will enter into 40 days of intentional prayer for personal spiritual growth and in order to reach five people God has laid on our hearts. The seminar will provide time for reflection on God’s Word, along with inspiring steps to becoming a prayerful, contagious Adventist witness for God, wherever He calls you. </p>

<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>

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Esther Knott

Preparing Our Hearts for 40 Days of Prayer

Kind Father in heaven, we're really grateful for your mercy.

We're grateful for your Being with all of us and you brought us safely here to San Antonio for this GC session We ask that the speaker today will be inspired and blessed and that our hearts and minds will be encouraged, inspired, blessed as well.

Be with each 1 here in Jesus' name, amen.

Our speaker today is a friend and that's saying a lot.

If you're listening to someone or you're responding to someone who's a friend, it makes an absolute difference.

This is pastor Esther Ramharak Singh Nutt, and she's pastored for 28 years in Illinois, Maryland, and in Michigan.

She brings a wealth of experience to her role as the associate director of the North American Division Ministerial.

She's also Director of the In Ministry Center located at the Adventist Theological Seminary on the campus of Andrews University.

I met her about 20 years ago, I think, probably more than that, because it was before her daughter was born and then we got to know her, her daughter, well her husband Ron and her daughter Olivia.

So she brings a wealth of experience in a variety of areas.

So we're excited to have her here and we hope that indeed you will be blessed and that you'll share.

What I want to mention is that we have some handouts that we're going to see that you get and we also have this available.

What you'll receive in your hand will also be available online.

So the purpose of that, and we're also being recorded today and that'll be uploaded.

This seminar will not just be available to you who are here, but to people around the world.

So they'll be able to go online if they have that kind of access, and they'll be able to hear this seminar as well.

The next voice you hear will be that of Esther Ramirezg-Nutt.

I really hope that the next voice that you hear speaking to your heart will be that of our Savior through the Holy Spirit.

And the seminar that we're doing is actually 2 seminars.

And the second part is about 40 days of prayer.

And so we want to start with that, preparing our hearts in order that we can participate in the 40 days of prayer.

And for the record, I want you to know, as Don, my friend, mentioned, I am married to Ronald Alan Knott.

People meet me and they think I'm married to Bill Knott.

Bill is the editor of the Adventist Review.

Ron is the director of the Andrews University Press.

You may have heard of the Andrews Study Bible.

Many of you, I see, are nodding your heads.

But it's a wonderful study Bible that I especially like to give to people when I've recently baptized them.

So we baptize someone, we want them to become disciples.

And I love the study notes in that Bible because I can trust them and we want to make disciples.

And 1 of the things that we do when we make disciples is to teach people how to pray, how to become more like Jesus every day.

And that is what this whole focus is about when we come to pray, and especially at the GC session.

There's a quotation that really helped to shape my life, and it says, as long as you are content to live without revival, you will.

As long as you are content to live without revival, you will.

And don't we so often go through our day just being content?

But we, brothers and sisters, must not be content to live without revival.

It's what we need and what God wants to do in our lives.

And I've been reading in the book of Romans, and there are 2 passages that I want to focus some of this on.

Romans 8 verses 1 to 2 and Romans 12 verses 1 to 2.

Romans 8 tells us, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death." And the reason I want to stress the no condemnation is because the first part of this seminar that we look at this morning is going to focus on Christian sins.

I recently had a Bible study with someone and she said, well I don't think that I'm that much of a sinner.

You know, especially as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we're not guilty of the Big 10 as we see them.

We seek to honor God and to love God and to love our fellow human beings.

But part of what we're going to look at today, and I have some people here who are going to be helping me, is that Evelyn Christensen in her book, What Happens When Women Pray, it's also what happens when people pray.

There's no difference whether you're a man or a woman.

When you pray, God answers and he works on our behalf.

But even as we look at Christian sins, I want you to understand how it is that we have no condemnation.

How many of you are from a country outside of North America?

Who does not live in North America right now?

So I need to take some time to help you understand how the American legal system works, because it will help you understand how we can view, how we can have no condemnation because we're in Christ Jesus.

So if you've watched the American television, you might understand a little bit about that.

But in the American legal system, there's a judge who sits up front, and there is a jury, and the jury's purpose is to listen to the evidence that's been presented and then they decide whether the person is guilty or innocent.

There are also 2 attorneys, at least 2 attorneys in the room.

The job of the defense attorney is to try to show the jury why this person should be considered innocent.

I'm gonna put the defense attorney on this side, just from my perspective.

And then there's a prosecuting attorney who tries to make you decide this person is guilty, they deserve punishment.

And then there's the person who's on trial.

So Ruel, I'm gonna pretend that you're the person that's on trial, just so we can have a face.

Just turn around and wave so they see you're the guy that's on trial.

So we're going to have to decide whether or not he is innocent or guilty.

And in biblical terms, we have an attorney who the Bible says that our advocate is who?

Who does the Bible say is the adversary, the accuser of the brethren?

So Satan is the accuser, Jesus is our advocate.

And because we know who Satan, his nature, he is telling the jury all of these things about us, about why we should be condemned, and probably some of the things that he's saying are not true because of who he is.

But as we listen, as Ru-El listens, as I listen and the evidence of my life is brought up, I know that I'm not innocent.

I know that I'm guilty and if the jury had to make a decision about whether I'm guilty or innocent I would stand condemned.

Well, sorry brother but you would be condemned.

I don't know you, we just met, but I know you're not perfect because you're probably like me and you deserve condemnation.

But your attorney, who is Jesus, and it's the job of your attorney to let you know how you can present yourself in the best light.

And he knows that from history, and in American politics, in the American legal system, a lot of it is based on case law, which means precedent has been set.

And because of precedent, that helps your attorney know how to defend you.

So we know from the very beginning of Earth's history that there is a law that says you can choose to have somebody else's record stand in your place.

Instead of the evidence of your life being presented to the jury, you can choose to have somebody else's record stand in your place.

So you want to scan history and say, okay, I want to do that.

Who's got the perfect record so that I will not be pronounced guilty?

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Preparing Our Hearts for 40 Days of Prayer

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