Seeking to Know God in Prayer as Young People and Not Just Serving

We need to go back to the fundamental principle, that is, how many years did Jesus wait in heaven before coming to earth, while watching the creation of his hand in such darkness, abuse, destroyed by Satan? He waited 4,000 years. And then, it says, in the Father's time, he came to this earth, born of Virgin Mary. But then, how many years he would wait before he would go and talk to even one person about the kingdom of the Father? 30 years.

But I would say this to you with an absolute certainty. Do you know that 90% of young people who went out as missionaries to do something for God, 90% of them didn't make it, and they backslidden, and they no more walk with God? I challenge you to study this. One denomination lost over a billion dollars in the history of creation of missionaries who had their education, their anthropology, their interviews and everything, they couldn't survive.

What is wrong with us? What is the problem? So your question is the question everybody is asking. The young person wants to do something. A young kid, 20-year-old, 21-year-old, don't have an experience of at least spending an hour on his face before God, and cannot say no to lust and sin and boyfriend and girlfriend, and do not spend time meditating and being alone with God, don't have even one clue about spending a week in fasting and prayer.

It's all a joke. What is the difference between that and Peace Corps people or somebody selling shoes and socks and building a business enterprise? And I'm saying this to you. I've been doing it for 40 years.

I have seen not one or two young people that started with such enthusiasm. They are brainwashed with the American pragmatic thinking. God wants to do great things through your life, and you can do something significant.

We misunderstand temperament and skill and abilities as anointing and call of God. This is a horrible mistake, and the reason I'm saying this to you is this. We need to see young people go to the whole world, the Muslim countries, to the unreached and the needy and the poor, but I'm telling you I'm more troubled and concerned about the pragmatism in missions that God has nothing to do with it.

What they need to be told, Jesus would spend 30 years suffering in the flesh, learning obedience, so he can lay down his life, three years, and finally embrace the cross. And Moses, with a deep commitment, it took 40 years for him to understand the ways of God, because children of Israel, it says in Psalms, they wanted to know the great miracles of God, but Moses said, God, I want to know you. And God showed his deeds to the children of Israel, but his ways to Moses.

So I'm telling you, when you have 65-70% divorce rate in the evangelical Christianity, with all the stuff going on, what do you think is wrong with us? We do not know, we do not fear God, we just simply think we are almighty, and he's helpless, we have to go and rescue the world. I think the number one thing to do, give these young people a chance to learn what it means to be alone and silent and seek God, not for power to do great things, but grace to know him.