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Each and every one of you here let's please take our hymnals please and turn to hymn number 217 You're really gonna have to amp up the volume tonight and Make up for those who are absent so 217 let's sing it out nice and loud on that first verse. I am so happy in Christ today hymn number 217 sing it out on this verse I Am so happy in Christ today That I go singing along my way Yes, I'm so happy to know and say Jesus included me, too Jesus included me Yes Included me when the Lord So ever Yes When the Lord's ever so ever He I Read But when I read it, I always say Jesus Jesus Yes Oh When the Lord said Ever Oh They're calling home Gee Me When the Lord so ever Me Jesus included me When the Lord said He On the last now Freely country where's the soul to throw Oh with what joy they my heart Well Jesus included me, too So ever Me And thank you for this church And I pray that you fill us with the Holy Spirit tonight Lord and give us ears to hear the message that's preached And I pray you bless our singing And heal everybody who's sick and we love you and pray in Jesus's name Amen up a few pages to number 221 Him number 221 a child of the king number 221 Father is rich houses and lands over 221 singing on this verse now my father is Rich in Houses and lands he hold the world World in his hands of Rubies and diamonds of silver and gold Its covers are full He has riches untold I'm a child a child With Jesus my savior I'm a child the king my father's own son the savior of man once wandered on earth as the poorest of them but My That we When he comes by and by I'm a child With my Savior I'm a child the king I once was an Outcast stranger on earth By choice By birth Dump it my name Mention a robe and a crown. I'm a child I came with Jesus my savior. I'm a child A tent or a cottage. Why should I care? Building a palace for me over there Though I'm a child I'm a child My savior I'm a child My good singing At this moment we're gonna go through the bulletin so if you have your bulletin Great if you need a bulletin go ahead and raise your hand and the ushers would get you a bulletin as soon as they can If you have a bulletin go ahead and open it up on the upper left hand corner is the service times right below that It's our soul winning times at the very end salvation is the path distance for the year on the upper right hand corner It's an announcement about the home school field trip to out of Africa Wildlife Park It's gonna be on Thursday, February 18th All fwbc home school children between the ages of 5 and 18 are invited along with one parent Chaperone and younger siblings both parents of families with six or more children are welcome to attend Please use the following address that's given right there and please arrive at the parking lot of the park By 930 a.m. Those planning to attend must must RSVP with mrs. Forte no later than Monday February 15th Be sure to include the number of adults and children along with their ages No outside food is allowed inside the park where concessions are available and below That is the Bible memory passage for the week and on the back of your bulletin The coffee and tea station is reserved for adults Please do not allow your children to help themselves to everything that's over there You know because children love to lick sugar and everything else. Amen Don't be the one Please continue to pray for the expectant ladies and the upcoming events are right there Take a look at them when you get a chance and now let's just count the soul winning numbers for the week So if you got somebody saved on Thursday, February 11th, go ahead and raise your hand Five Anybody else Friday any salvations two Any more salvations for Friday Saturday what do you got three? I see a hand in the back. I See a hand three awesome. Thank you. Any more salvations one? Oh No Any more salvations for Saturday and today Salvations for today, I guess we'll start the very back 16 1 4 And Scott 3 did I miss anybody else? Alright keep up the good work with so winning and with that my friend you're up All right, we're gonna sing he is mine if you don't have a sheet of that him, please raise your hand We'll sing it on that first verse long before the fall of man God designed a master plan He is my let's sing it on this first verse together now Long before the fall of man When he exchanged the sinner for a sinner swan Jesus left his throne on high Came to earth to plead and die He said father not my will but thine be done He is mine He is mine I am blessed beyond all measure He is mine I have part and full and free through the blood shed for me Say forever I shall be He is mine I Through God's mercy and his grace He's prepared for us a place words can not Let's you We will praise the perfect plan King of kings the great I am He has made the joys of heaven ours to share He is mine He is mine I am blessed beyond all measure He is mine I have part and full and free through the blood shed for me Say forever I shall be He is mine Amen your hymnals please turn to hymn number 208 Hymn number 208 grace greater than our sin Hymn number 208 Singing on that first verse marvelous grace of our loving Lord number 208 Marvelous grace of our loving Lord Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt Yonder on Calvary's mount out poured There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled Grace grace God's grace Grace that will pardon and bless within Grace grace God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin Sin and despair like the sea waves cold Threaten the soul with infinite loss Grace that is greater yes grace untold Points to the refuge the mighty cross Grace grace God's grace Grace that will pardon and bless within Grace grace God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin Dark is a stain that we cannot hide What can the mill to wash it away Look there is hoeing the crimson tide Wider than snow you may need to lay Grace grace God's grace Grace that will pardon and cleanse within Grace grace God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin Marvelous infinite matchless grace Freely bestowed on all who believe You that are longing to see this face Will you this momentous grace receive Grace grace God's grace Grace that will pardon and cleanse within Grace grace God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin Amen, at this time we're going to take the offering So if you have your Bibles please turn to Matthew chapter number six Matthew chapter number six is about the very recent scriptures Matthew chapter number six Matthew chapter six the Bible reads Take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven Therefore when thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee As the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets That they may have glory of men Verily I say unto you they have their reward But when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth That thine alms may be in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly And when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets That they may be seen of men Verily I say unto you they have their reward But thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door Pray to thy Father which is in secret And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly But when ye pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do For they think that they shall be heard of their much speaking Be not ye therefore like unto them For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him After this manner therefore pray ye Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever Amen For if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses Moreover when ye fast be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance For they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast Verily I say unto you they have their reward But thou when thou fastest anoint thine head and wash thy face That thou appear not unto men to fast but unto thy Father which is in secret And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth Where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal For where your treasure is there will your heart be also The light of the body is the eye If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness No man can serve two masters For either he will hate the one and love the other Or else he will hold to the one and despise the other Ye cannot serve God and mammon Therefore I say unto you take no thought for your life for what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink Nor yet for your body for what ye shall put on Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these Wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness And all these things shall be added unto you Take therefore no thought for the morrow For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof Brother Daniel, would you pray? Dear Father in Heaven, please bless Brother Segura as he preaches today Please give us all ears to hear and to receive wisdom We pray in Jesus' name, Amen Alright, Matthew chapter number 6 The verse I want to focus on is verse number 6 that says But thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet And when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret And thy Father which is in secret shall reward thee openly The title of my sermon is this Getting Paid to Pray Getting Paid to Pray If you got your Bibles, please go to 1 Samuel chapter number 12 verse 20 1 Samuel chapter number 12 verse 20 Go ahead and just go there You know, so what I want to talk about today is prayer of course But I want to motivate you guys to pray more Because in 2021 we need more prayer But you know what, we're going to need more prayer as time goes on Not less prayer, we're going to need more Bible, more church We're going to need to serve God a whole lot more You know, if we're going to succeed down the road Because the world is going to get a lot harder It's not a secret like the Bible says That things are going to get worse and worse towards the end It's going to be a tribulation like never before It says the evil men are going to wax worse and worse The love of men is going to get colder and colder So we shouldn't be surprised if the soul winning gets a little harder every single year Amen? But that's why we got all these cool trips You know, to these small towns, right? To Mexico and everything else that we do We're going to have to figure that out, amen? You know, but right here it clearly shows in Matthew 6, 6 That look, God's going to reward you when you pray It's never in vain When you do it in secret, obviously we do pray sometimes publicly We pray before the service, you know, that God will bless it You know, but primarily our prayers should be done in secret And everything you do in secret like it says right there God will reward you openly in this life and the next See, we're going to find out how much you pray in the next world for sure Maybe not in this world, but in the next one we are going to find out how much time you spend in prayer And it does amaze me, we get calls once in a while People struggling with sin, you know, asking for tips on how to overcome sin And one of the questions I like to ask them, well let me just simply ask you this How's your prayer life? You know, when was the last time you prayed? This is what they usually say, I can't remember I don't know, you're right, I need to step that up And it's not a shocker You know, it's not a shocker when people call, hey, I'm struggling with sin Yeah, I'm reading my Bible maybe How's the prayer? How's it going? Do you have a prayer life? You know, are you disciplined? You know, do you have something going for you? Because let me make it very clear, we need it And not just that, it's a commandment Let me just read a verse really quickly Luke 18, 1, this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking He says, and he spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought to always pray and not faint God wants us to always pray and not faint Never quit is what he's saying And this isn't a suggestion from Jesus This is him telling you to do it This is the order, you know, from our captain of our salvation Go ahead and look at 1 Samuel 12, verse 20 It says, and when Samuel had caused all the tribes I'm sorry, and when Samuel said unto the people, Fear not, ye have done all this wickedness ye turn not aside from following the Lord Here's Samuel trying to get the nation of Israel to get right with the Lord, to stay right with the Lord So he says, ye turn not aside from following the Lord but you serve the Lord with all your heart and turn ye not aside, for then shall ye go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver for they are vain, for the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake because he has pleased the Lord to make you his people Moreover, as for me, this is the prophet of Israel as for me, God forbid, meaning I hope I don't do this that I should sin, sin against the Lord and ceasing to pray for you So he's saying, look, it is sin for me to cease and what is sin? Transgression of the law Breaking God's commandments So as God's people, it's the same thing for us If we stop praying, guess what? There's going to have to be some confession as soon as you start praying that you haven't prayed before You know, Lord forgive me for not praying yesterday the day before, or whatever Or if you happen to pray in the morning and you mess up in the afternoon Lord forgive me for that sin I committed this afternoon Constantly keeping your heart clean Constantly keeping it nice You know, so the Lord will be happy with you You know, I heard this illustration You know, it's a whole lot easier to keep the kitchen clean after you eat than when you eat and you neglect the kitchen How's it going to look after a week or two? How easy is it to clean a kitchen, ladies after you've been kind of letting it go for a week, two weeks, three weeks, a year? Try 20 years See, when I started going to church they asked for volunteers one day and I jumped at the opportunity to serve them I was a new Christian, I was excited Started going to this church I became a Baptist And then they had volunteers, I'm like, I'll do it And guess what it was for? To clean the kitchen And I'm thinking, how hard could it be? The kitchen? I can do that It was very, very difficult to clean that kitchen They specifically wanted me to clean the stove And my wife was there It took us hours to clean that stove And people would walk in and they're like, oh, that's a messy stove and walk right out They were not thinking at all as far as helping us out And my fingers got so messed up It took weeks for the black you know, whatever it was that I was cleaning It took, it seemed like forever for it to just go away My fingers were all black, we didn't use gloves I was just scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing trying to get that stove clean But I got it clean, amen I got that clean But you know what is the same with sin? You let it go, you don't confess it God, purify my heart, clean my heart, forgive me You know, keep me straight Hey, it's going to get dirtier and dirtier It's going to be harder to clean it once it's defiled, amen You know, but we see Sam is saying, look I'm not going to sin against God by failing or ceasing to pray for you And we need to do the exact same thing We need to make sure that we don't go days You know, days without prayer You know, this one said, or there's a saying that says, hey, seven days, you know, without prayer makes one week And we're not talking about the number, amen We're talking about you spiritually weak Not that, hey, seven days without prayer equals a week, like in a week You know, one week of the month or whatever It will make you weak as you go without prayer We need it, pray for power Pray for the fullness of the Holy Ghost You know, but like I said in Matthew 6, 6 You know, God will reward you openly So that should be some motivation to pray It's never in vain And realizing that God will always answer your prayers better, better than you expect Better than you ask See, we'll get into that later But a great example is Solomon Go to 1 Kings, you're right there in 1 Samuel Just go to the right, 1 Kings chapter number 3 Just go ahead and go to 1 Kings chapter number 3 Meet me in verse number 5 While you go there, I'm going to read from Luke 11-9 It says, and I say unto you, Ask and it shall be given you Seek and ye shall find Knock and it shall be opened unto you John 14, 12 says this Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also in greater works than me and indeed shall he do because I go unto the Father and whatsoever ye ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son 1 John 5, 14 and this is the confidence that we have in him That if we ask anything, anything even a Ferrari, hold up, I didn't say that Even a big house, a mansion, I never said that But it's a grand million dollars If I ask him if I'm going to receive it Hold up a little bit, all right All right, let me get a little bit more clear The Bible says, and this is the confidence that we have in him That if we ask anything, according to his will he heareth us I don't know if it's his will Well, just pray, you'll find out How am I going to find out if you get it or not That's just how it is But you're right there in 1 Kings Let's look up a perfect example that a man that prayed in secret but yet was rewarded openly And I recommend we aim to be like this man And this is Solomon It says in 1 Kings chapter number 3 In Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon And he said unto thy servant David my father Great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and of rightness of heart with thee And thou hast kept from him this great kindness that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father I am but a little child I know not how to go out or come in And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen A great people that cannot be numbered for multitude Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people that I may deserve between good and bad For who is able to judge this that is so great a people And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing And God said unto him Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked for thyself long life nor hast asked riches for thyself nor hast the life of thine enemies but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart so that there was none like thee before thee neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee and I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked for riches and honor so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days Talk about a heavy, heavy reward Heavy reward He was rewarded openly Became the richest, wisest man on the planet How spread the word of the Lord Got a lot of people to believe on the Lord It says in Psalms 55 17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray So that's a good tip Aim for three times a day I know that's a tip the pastor gives people It's like look if you haven't started your prayer life Aim for three times a day You know when I get on the phone with individuals I'm like look aim for 8am Aim for 12 Aim for 8pm 10pm If you skip one you skip two chances are you'll get number three If you don't get them then you know what keep going at it Practice makes perfect amen That's all you can do Just keep on practicing Keep on perfecting your discipline Keep discipline yourself But pray, pray I mean here's somebody who's saying hey Morning night and noon I am going to pray And that's a great way to start out And a great example of this was Daniel If you have your Bibles go to Daniel chapter number six Go to Daniel chapter number six While you go to Daniel chapter number six It says rejoice evermore Doesn't get any more simpler than this Verse 17 three words Pray without ceasing And everything give thanks Why? For this is the will of God In Christ Jesus concerning you But that's for us as well It's not just for that individual or those individuals God wants us to be thankful people Romans 1 what was the first thing they did They became unthankful God forbid that God's people should be thankful God forbid that God's people should become unthankful This morning we have so many things to be thankful for We have a lot of benefits that we receive from the Lord daily On my way over here my wife I didn't see her text You know I stopped answering texts while I drive It's not becoming a good habit to continue But she texted me I didn't see it until I got here She's like hey FYI there's an accident in the southern Be careful And sure enough I already came across it You know but hey that could have been me You know I'm on my way to church You know that could have been me I believe God protected me You know so it can happen You know it can happen when you may get into an accident And once again God will protect you He'll take care of you You know but pray without you know Pray without ceasing keep doing it as best you can You're right there in Daniel chapter number 6 One of my favorite stories remember we just read in Psalms I just read to you in Psalms 55, 17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray And you know what I've noticed that a lot of statements in the Bible You know a lot of statements in the Bible You'll end up finding stories of people that actually did those things So here's somebody who's praying hey morning night and noon And then we see an example of somebody that's actually doing it And that's Daniel Let's take a look Now when Daniel knew that the writings were signed He went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber Towards Jerusalem He kneeled upon his knees three times a day And prayed And gave thanks before his God As he did a fourth time This was a habit that he built I bet you he got there by practicing Practice makes perfect He disciplined himself to become this individual That three times a day Three times a day And you know what We're probably going to go through a similar thing It's going to seem like hey the world's going to get wicked They're not going to love Christians down the road So of course you know why is he praying three times a day So that he can be successful in those trying times You know during his time it wasn't the best time to be alive But I'm pretty sure praying helped Because praying produces peace You know just like Stephen in Acts chapter number 6 His face was like the face of an angel You know that guy was full of faith That guy was full of wisdom So it's not a coincidence You know God will give you what you need And he knows that we all need power We all need peace We all need patience You know we all need joy We all need pleasure He's going to give it to you But sometimes hey we have not because we asked not right It just happens You know so if you ever Bible go to Luke 11 Go to Luke 11 I'll just read a few more verses about prayer Here's Hebrew 13 18 Hey we don't take this for granted This isn't a joke to us This is something serious to us This is important This is part of our success That people are praying for us Not just ourselves praying for ourselves But hey we want you guys to help us and pray for us for success Hebrews 13 pray for us For we trust we have a good conscience And all things willing to live honestly Let me read some verses about Jesus' prayer life He was hard core about prayer If you know what I'm talking about Let me give you some examples Jesus came up into a mountain A mountain apart to pray He knew look most people are not going to go up a mountain And chase me down Whatever they want from me You know what if it's obviously easy They'll come to me and kind of hinder me But he knew I have to make time I can't be so busy in my day You know casting out devils healing blind people Raising up dead people I can't get so busy Because people are going to suck my time I got to break off I got to break off And if Jesus Christ needs it Who are we to say we're alright You know yeah yeah you know if I get to it Great if not whatever If I pray today I pray today That wasn't Jesus Christ's attitude He's like I got to get away Up the mountain That's what it's going to take I'm going up that mountain So nobody follows me because they'll be too tired to get up there Mark 1 35 And in the morning In the morning rising up A great while before day It says rising up a great while before day He went out and departed to a solitary place And there prayed Luke 5 16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness And prayed He's escaping He's like I need to break away right now Looking left looking right I need to get with God I need to talk to the father I need to get with him I need to get with him I need to get with him I need to get with him Luke 6 12 And it came to pass in those days That he went up into a mountain to pray and continue Look at this All night in prayer to God No sleep all night Man that is hardcore That is hardcore I don't know if you guys ever done it I've never done it To be praying all night Man I think he's kind of giving us a heads up Hey prayer is important Amen Luke 9 28 Come on guys let's go pray Where are we going Jesus? Into a mountain He's like we're going up the mountain Up the mountain to pray And look I went to the Barnhart trail Who's ever done the Barnhart trail? That's where we shot one of the episodes In our Landmarks episodes If you haven't subscribed please subscribe You know but it wasn't that easy It was like an hour and a half of straight walking up You know so then I ended up going back Cause we left some we thought we left some microphones You know with our SD cards I said hey I got to go back But you know what I couldn't really remember Quite well where it was So I took my older son with me Cause he was there the first time Then my other kids they didn't know what they were getting themselves into They begged me to come I'm like okay you want to come I'll take you They regretted it They're like we're not going up there anymore And it took us two hours to get back to the car We're up in the mountain It took us two hours to get back An hour and a half to get up there And then I got one more episode Episode ten with Pastor Mejia I need some b-roll who wants to come Not I That's alright I'm just ripping up my kids You know hey it's the volunteer army right now I may force you guys later But we got to go this week to get some b-roll So they want none of that They had enough the first time around But let's take a look at Luke 11 And look why am I preaching on prayer Hey Jesus taught on prayer He taught his disciples to pray You know they never asked them Teach us how to cast out devil Jesus You know Jesus can you teach us how to heal blind people You know it's like hey Jesus teach us The only thing you see them saying Lord Teach us to pray as John taught his disciples That means they were very impressed by how Jesus prayed They were super impressed They're like hey I want some of that And sometimes I wonder like how could they not know how to pray Had they not read Psalms Psalms is like a gigantic prayer book What is that? Break their teeth oh Lord Send them straight to hell There's a lot of prayers So I'm wondering like man did they not read the book of Psalms But I guess they felt like hey we want to know one thing Hey are we doing this right Are we praying correctly You know teach us these things Let's take a look And it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place When he ceased one of the disciples said unto him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples And he said unto them When you pray say God will be thy name Thy kingdom come thy will be done As in heaven so in earth Give us day by day our daily bread And forgive us our sins For we also forgive Everyone that is indebted to us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil And that's just it you know Quickly that's how you pray If you're trying to remember that You know who's ever heard of the high five prayer Who's ever heard of that Where you use the fingers to remember You know certain parts Like for example the thumb right It starts with T You know this is something you can google on the internet So just to kind of remember alright you know I want to pray and have like a complete prayer You know well obviously based on what Jesus did You should have a time where you're thanking God So the thumb is to remind you to thank God And the little pointer finger Is time to remind you to praise God And then the middle finger the index finger Is a time to start to say God I'm sorry You know I index I'm sorry Forgive me you know Be merciful to me The ring finger that's a time to start requesting things for God God you know help me with this help me with that You know and then the pinky finger That's a time to ask God for protection Ya'll never heard that before? Well now you know Remember thumb thank God Pointer praise God Index finger I'm sorry God Ring finger God I need this And the pinky finger protection God hey protect me Lead me not into temptation But deliver me from evil Got it? Just move on Alright more scripture on prayer And so while you have your Bible Now go ahead and go to James 5 Go to James 5 James chapter number 5 I'm going to read from 1 Timothy 2 1 It says, Exhort therefore that first of all Supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks being made for all men For kings and for all that are in authority That's our pastor That could be our governor That could be our mayor That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life In all godliness and honesty For this is good and acceptable On the side of God our Savior Who will have all men to be saved And to come unto the knowledge of the truth For there is one God and one mediator Preacher and an apostle I speak the truth in Christ And lie not a teacher of the dentures and faith and verity I would therefore that men pray everywhere Lifting up holy hands Without wrath and doubting Notice holy hands And we'll get to that in a second Hinder sister prayer we'll get to that in a second But this is what I'm talking about Good Christians, here's a benefit Straight to God, anytime, any place, anywhere Back studying Christians Stop, you need to confess some sin Get right with the Lord so he can hear you And it's not just confessing Here's the secret It's confessing and forsaking God I'm sorry, please forgive me Will you continue in sin? Not happening You want to start prospering again? Confess and forsake Hey those are the ones that prosper So how bad do you want God's prosperity? How bad do you want God's power? Well we need to have some forsaking You know and unless he repents Jesus told them in Luke 3 You should likewise perish If you want to continue in sin You want to continue to live wicked Guess what I'm going to have to do? I'm going to have to come down and punish you And that's the facts of life God will give you a long time You know he'll be long suffering towards you Not willing to perish But at some point he's going to have to bring the hammer down If you refuse to repent Saying sorry is not what impresses God Turning, turning from that sin Is where he comes in and says okay You're forgiven now, you're forgiven now What if I do it again? And so what do we see here? Hey pray for the leaders 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 Finally brethren pray for us Once again he's like hey in Hebrews pray for us The apostle Paul talked to the church in Thessalonia Hey pray for us brethren That the word of Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you Doesn't get any simpler than this 1 Thessalonians 5 25 Brethren pray for us That's it that's the verse 1 2 3 4 4 words Brethren pray for us Let's pray for each other Let's just keep praying for each other It shouldn't just be all about you when you pray It should be about hey I know such and such is struggling Lord Help him out You'll be knocking out two birds with one stone and I'll get into that in a second You're right there in James 5 More evidence that it's not just about praying for yourself Yeah you already saw what Jesus says Hey this is how you pray You know lead us not to temptation Give us our daily bread Deliver us from evil You know quickly pray for yourself And then start helping other people Let them give psalms Is any sick among you? Let them call for the elders of the church And let them pray over him Anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord And the prayer of faith shall save the sick And the Lord shall raise them up And if you have committed sins They shall be forgiven him Confess your faults one to another And pray one for another Pray when people are sick That's what we pray for people that are sick We're like Lord heal such and such So he can continue to serve you Once again what's a great benefit of being a good Christian? Prayer is going to get answered Prayer is going to get answered You want to be somebody who's like Man God's not answering my prayers Well what's going on? You know you're basically saying that you're in sin That's just how I see it I would just be like hey I'm just waiting patiently on the Lord You know it's like hey God never answers my prayer Oh man he just confessed to me something that you probably not have noticed But either way let's get into hindrances really quickly You know if you have your Bible and you're still there in James Go to James 4-2 Go to James 4-2 When you go to James 4-2 You know I'll read from Psalm 66-18 One of my favorite verses It just reminds me to keep my heart clean Because I want God to hear me I want God to answer my prayers You go to James 4-2 I'll read from Psalm 66-18 If I regard iniquity in my heart The Lord will Doesn't say might not hear me You know God understands When I think He realizes that You know I'm really a good guy I mean well It's just that this temptation is just too strong for me Whatever it may be You know well He made it very clear He will not answer you And that's a scary place to be where God's not answering you Talk to King Saul when you meet him in heaven What did he just say? The Lord's not answering me And he got worse and worse and worse But if you're right there in James 4-2 He's already having Cannot obtain You fight in war Yet ye have not Because what? Because you're not praying Because ye ask not But hey remember Brothers and girl if I just ask I'm gonna get everything I want Ah no You ask and receive not Here's the key thing Because you ask amiss Hey if you're asking for something that's not good Something wrong If the world is the enemy of God Whosoever therefore be a friend of the world Is the enemy of God And guess what when you're the enemy of God When you're too worldly he's not gonna answer you He doesn't have your back He's there with you Yeah you're sealed with the Holy Ghost But you won't be filled with his power You'll be a powerless Christian Just like Lot No power to get anybody saved Nobody's listening to you You're a mock That's all they're doing Hey are people really going days without praying Yes we get those phone calls I'm struggling with this I'm struggling with that Any tips? I'm like how's your Bible? Well okay how's your prayer? Yeah you're right Been days I don't remember Think about it I don't remember the last time I prayed Must be over a week or something Because even if it was the day before I'd be like yeah well I prayed yesterday in the morning before I started my day Well great now up it up two times In the Bible three times Some people praise the Lord seven times Or atWhat time its you Moses? James reb Cathedral This is the time it up I know you know helps that. I'm going live so song just go sing I'm going to pray All this sacred prayer I'll come live No I'm just singing J? Go do the prayer It says in Jude 1-21, keep yourselves in the love of God. What does it mean, keep yourselves in the love of God? What does that even mean? 1 John 5-3, if you're there, take a look, for this is the love of God. That what? That we keep His commandments. In other words, that you're a good guy, you're a good Christian. You know, keep doing good. You've got a lot of benefits. Don't mess up your name. Don't screw it up. You know? I'm not talking about being perfect, because the Bible says that a just man falleth. If you're a just man, you will fall. So get up, get up, practice and make it perfect. It says he get, he falleth seven times. So yeah, you stumble, get up, you stumble, keep moving, keep serving God. Bottom line, just don't faint, just don't quit, don't cease praying. Amen? Proverbs 24 16, for a just man falleth seven times and rises up again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief. So the first thing that will hinder you is being too sinful, too worldly, love and sin too much. That's going to hinder your prayer life. As you can tell, you're adulterous and adulterous is, knowing that the first of the world is enmity with God. Remember that. The other thing that can hinder your prayers is, is um, having an unforgiving spirit. You don't have to go there. Instead, what you guys can do is just go to First Thessalonians chapter number five, First Thessalonians chapter number five, verse sixteen. Go to First Thessalonians chapter number five, verse sixteen. I'm going to continue to read where it says in Mark 11 25, when you stand praying, forgive, forgive if you ought against any. That's your neighbor, that's your church member, that could be your wife, and we'll get into that in a second. You're like, man, you didn't have a Valentine's sermon this morning, oh, we'll get there. We'll have a little bit of Valentine's time before this is over. We'll talk about love, amen? It says really quickly, forgive if you ought against any that your father also with just in heaven may forgive your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. You guys should know this already. But to me to repeat things that you already know, it's good. It's good for you, it's good for me, it's good for everyone. You know? There's nothing new under the sun, so if you're expecting me to preach something new, teach you something new, well if I do, great, if not, you know what, I'm still getting a job done to put you in remembrance of these things, to me it's not grievous. You know, to me it's great. So what do we got? Number one, too sinful, too worldly, love and sin too much will hinder your prayers. Number two, having an unforgiving spirit will hinder your prayers. And we already saw how important prayer is, you saw how Jesus prayed, you saw how much the Bible mentioned prayer, praying for one another, praying to the Lord. Another thing, here's your Valentine's message, having an improper husband-wife relationship. It's not worth it, hey, husband's wives, something's going on, get it right, it ain't worth it. You don't get it right, it's only going to get worse. Well he did this, she did this, she said this, he said this. Just got to stop that, quit it, don't let the sun go down upon your wrath, don't go to sleep angry. Somebody step up and say I'm sorry, my bad, you know, even if it's not your bad. Just to diffuse, I'm sorry honey, I'm sorry babe, whatever you use in your house, you know. Why, brothers and girls, listen to this, 1 Peter 3.7, likewise your husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife. And you're not giving honor to your wife when you're calling her names, amen. I'm not talking about picking on her here and there, every man does that, amen. But when you're flat out dogging out your wife, you know, don't do that. You know, it's going to come back to you, you're going to suffer for it. Wives, just be patient if your husband just happened to, you know, be in that mood where he's just making you feel, you know, like the worst person ever. Not that it's happening in my house, but here's the key thing. Giving honor to the wife as unto the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered, it ain't worth it. I want my prayers to be answered, don't you? Can I fight? Hey, get it over with. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry, whatever, just get it, get it over and mean it too guys, come on, sorry, no, honey, I really am sorry. My bad, I'm sorry, I was an idiot, I'm stupid, I can't, I can't, I can't, I'm sorry I said that the food sucks, whatever, you know. Where's dinner ever? I didn't mean that. It came out, it just came out. And it depends on the heart to not speak you through. Get a cookbook, no I'm just kidding, Mrs. Anderson's cookbook on Amazon, no discounts people. Gee, work hard on that, pay double. So what else will hinder you, hinder your prayers? We already saw too sinful, we already saw unforgiving spirit, we already saw an improper husband-wife relationship and another one is when you start to despise God's word. Sunday evening people, no I'm just kidding. Where's everybody at? I guess it's not that important. I'm just kidding, I'm sure people have some real serious legitimate reasons why they're not here tonight, you know, I'm sure they have something that you know the Lord will buy but despising God's word is going to make God quickly say don't talk to me, talk to the hand. How do you know? You guys are there in 1 Thessalonians 5? Simple verses, receive, rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing and everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying. Why? Because it's going to hinder your prayers and look, obviously if people are you know missing that were here this morning, this is not an attack, I'm just poking fun of it. You know, if I offend you, I'm sorry but I'm just being funny, trying to be funny. You know, so don't go around, where were you? Where were you? Where were you? You know, don't do that, we'll get to that later if you see your brother sin, no just kidding. So, how do I get started brothers and girl, you're talking this big talk about we need to pray more. Okay, you got me, Jesus Christ was a prayer warrior like no one else, we get it, he went up to the mountain, he broke away, he did whatever he had to do to get the Lord's attention, to get his Father's attention and get his Father to help him, you know he was trying to constantly have the Father on the side, constantly in communication with the Father. How do we start? Well, like I said earlier, like we always recommend, like pastor tells people, hey aim for multiple times throughout the day, aim for multiple times throughout the day. We already went through the scriptures where it says evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry out loud, aim for it. You miss the morning, you miss the afternoon, hopefully you get the night time. And if you miss all three, try it again the next day. Keep perfecting your skills, your prayer skills, amen, just don't give up on it because God will reward you openly. He will, you know, so keep it going, he'll reward you openly. Psalms 119, 164 says this, seven times a day do I praise you because of the righteous judgments. I'm not asking you to do that, not even close, but man this guy did, he wrote it, that settles it, it's God's word. Seven times, seven times, wow, man that's good. And another thing I recommend, another tip, hey do it in the morning as best you can, do it in the morning. Seek ye first, that's what we read in Matthew 6, seek ye first the kingdom of God. How long, how long? Well look, we all have different goals in life, you know, but I just try to aim for at least five minutes of prayer, at least five minutes of Bible if I'm that bad on time before I even start my day. That's pretty much a chapter in five minutes of just thanking God, praising God, confessing to God, asking God for help, and asking God for protection. Usually it's about five minutes, so aim for ten minutes. And then we'll get into some other tips as well, but how do I, you know, start, it says right there in Matthew 6, 33, if you can't, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Some people, they walk and pray, I think that's great, Jesus did it, you know, they go out for 30 minutes, they come back for 30 minutes, they pray for an hour when they start their day, that's great, if you can do that, do it. You know, some people run and pray, you know, they jog and pray, I'm sure they're not sprinting in prayer, that'd be kind of hard, but you know, sometimes they can jog pretty slow to the point where it's kind of like speed walking, hey, some people do that, you know, they jog for 30 minutes, get a little bit of exercise, you know, trying to cut some weight, whatever the case may be, you know, just go for it, do something, you know, you have to climb a mountain, or get an elliptical to wake you up, I don't know, you know, but starting out, just pray about everything, look at this, Mark 11, 24, therefore I say unto you, what things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and ye shall have them. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Psalms 37, four, thou light thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Philippians 4, six, be careful for nothing but in everything, by prayer's supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Just pour your heart out to him, anything that's bugging you, any issues you've got going on, whatever problems are affecting you, unleash it on God, amen, just let him have it. This is what's bothering me, just let it all go, tell it to the Lord, and you'll be done with it, and I'm sure you'll have the peace of God like it says right there, and that will help you out. Tip number four, the title of the sermon is paid to pray, but I'm not really talking about Matthew 6, six, even though you will get paid like it says, what soever you do in secret, God shall reward you openly, that's not really why I call the sermon paid to pray. Here's the bottom line, we all if we want to, get kind of paid to pray in a sense, here's what I mean by that, I was talking to somebody else and I was just asking, hey, do you get breaks at work? Yeah, I get breaks at work, raise your hand if you get breaks at work, looks like the majority of people get breaks at work, wives, come on, you can take a break too, you know, stay at home wives, you can take a little break here and there, you know, but here's what happened when I started working at age 13, they gave me breaks, you know, I started working at a sports camp, they gave me a 15 minute break, a 30 minute lunch and a 15 minute break, pretty much an hour, you know, and then pretty much I just go home after an eight hour shift. My second job was working at Safeway, I was working at Safeway, you know, not even as a cashier, I didn't have skills to do that, you know, just pushing carts, amen, but they gave me a 15 minute break and they gave me a one hour lunch and a 15 minute break. The next job after that was the military, even in the military they gave us breaks, there's only nine training days, they give us an hour lunch, right brother Nate, right, you just go to the barracks and take a nap, correct, isn't that what we usually did? No? Oh man, that was only me? I was 18, you know, I figured what am I doing, I'll just go home and nap, you know, and then I'll be back in formation, true or false, even during training, they gave us breaks, did they not? Lots of breaks during training, alright guys, take a break, we're gonna eat right now, bust out an MRE, meal's ready to eat and start chewing on it, right? Even in combat, they gave us breaks, I'm in Iraq, we're guarding schools with bombs and ammunition and everything else and we went 50% during the day, meaning half of the squad is on security, half of them are relaxing and eating their meals, night time we go to 75%, midnight to 4am we're 100%, everybody's up, even during combat we got breaks, what am I getting at? Here's what I'm getting at, use some of those breaks to pray and read your Bible, just use one, you know, use one or use two. When I worked over here at Fry's Electronics, you know, five minutes from here, they would give us a ten minute break and a one hour lunch, then a ten minute break, and they didn't include you walking to the break room, they'd be like, hey, once you get to the break room, just integrity, it's an integrity game, you get ten minutes, once you walk to the break room, just sit down for ten minutes, relax, we were on our feet the whole time, you know, I was on my feet from like 7am all the way to 11pm, you know, so they would say, hey, just relax, do whatever you want to do, get something to eat, whatever the case may be, I just read my Bible and prayed, I'm not trying to be holier than thou, but I'm just telling you, hey, I just took the advantage because I wanted to get through the Bible so many times a year, and guess what, you had the same opportunity as well, and they paid me for that break, now you're starting to see the message, paid to pray, now you're getting it, paid to pray, some people get fifteen minute breaks, true? That's like two chapters, knock out two chapters and five minutes praying, bam, easy, easy, I don't think it'll be that difficult, now you're like, well, brother, I don't like hearing my Bible everywhere I go, well, get the app on your phone, I don't even own a Bible, this Bible is Pastor Anderson's Bible, I do all my Bible reading off my phone, you know, and now that the phones are getting bigger and bigger, it's a lot easier to read, my kids have these little smart phones on their wrist, none of them have, you know, SIM cards, so don't panic, alright, you know, none of them have SIM cards, but they can beef up the font, see look at that, look at that, they got their little watches, because I was sick and tired of them leaving their tablets behind, and I'm trying to get them to read their Bible and pray every two hours, you know, while they're getting homeschooled, I'm like, okay, stop every two hours and just read for five minutes, pray for five minutes, just to get them in the habit of doing it, because guess what, once again, we need more prayer, not less prayer, that's just a fact, the world's getting crazier and crazier and crazier, and you know what, if you want to be like Steven, standing strong, with a face like an angel, being tough, filled with the Spirit, it wasn't just by reading his Bible, my friend, I guarantee you, it was through prayer as well, the whole package, like Job, being complete, being perfect, Job knew how to pray, I guarantee you that, and the apostles were like, wow, we want to be like our savior, you know, it's like, hey, teach us to pray, am I doing it right, well, let me tell you what you need to do, praise God, thank God, ask for protection, ask for your needs, your daily bread, and forgive others, you need to be a forgiving person, and say, man, forgiving people is hard, because you don't have a habit of doing it, imagine if you're praying three times a day, morning, night, and noon, Lord, forgive me for being such a wicked person, you're going to be like that guy that says, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner, you're not going to be like the publican, Lord, I'm not, I'm glad I'm not like this church member, did you just see that church member, you see what he's wearing, you know, did you see that shirt he brought in, what, you know, Joe Biden, really, at our church, somebody needs to go talk to that guy, brothers and girls, Joe Biden, really, you want to warn that guy, I mean, wake him up a little, what are you talking about, Trump is just as bad, you know, some people say maybe less, maybe more, I don't care, he's unsaviors, prideful, never commands, all ruining this country, amen, that's why I don't worry about any of that, but that's what you have to do, is just say, try to do your best to just read through the Bible, you know, and I use the olive tree app, who knows what I'm talking about, little green one, has many Bible plans, amazing Bible plans, you know, it has a 31-day Bible plan, that's intense, you know, but it also has a one-year Bible plan, where it's just four chapters a day, four chapters a day, well, if you get up in the morning, boom, you knock out one, you do it for your first break, you knock out two, do it for the lunch, you knock out three, you do it for your last break, boom, you just knocked out your Bible reading for the day, so you can get through it in a year, well, just continue it, every two hours, what's the hurt, what's the big hurt to continue it and do another day, now you're going to finish it twice a year, in 10 years, that's 24 times, you're not going to be a dummy, you're not going to be easily deceived, and it's not easy to mentally enslave somebody who knows the Bible, it's very difficult, people try to say X, Y, and Z, you're like, please, that's not what the Bible says, I know the truth about the sodomites, amen, but all I'm trying to say is, hey, I don't think it's hard to just take one of your breaks and read the Bible, true, and I think we're going to get to heaven and realize how much time we wasted when we could have been reading our Bible, I'm included, I'm guilty, but I want to kind of end that as best I can, in my life, my kids, everybody, we all know that, hey, we can take a little bit more time, we can cut one of those breaks and use it during my lunch, whatever, you know, just have a war plan, you'll have more success, what I do is I take out my phone, I have a little, in fact, I just got to show you guys, so you see, I'm not just making stuff up, so every two hours, I just click it, got my stopwatch, and I got my Bible, after ten minutes, back to work, back to work, because after two hours, just focusing on videos, man, it's like, oh, man, this is a mental whatever, then when I read my Bible and I do my ten minute break, it's like refreshes me, it refreshes me, and everybody gets a break, do we not, guys, you guys get a break, hey, why can't I have a break too, can I get a break, please, you know, Pastor Anderson obviously doesn't, you know, he's not our taskmaster whipping us here and there, but I do want to pray for you guys as well, you know, I do want to take a little bit of time to pray for you guys, yeah, we're busy, he's busy, he knows what I'm talking about, we're busy, you know, he's like, how did you get everything done, you know, I'm doing like your job, and, you know, I don't know how you did it, I don't know either, but we made it happen, right, and now that I got a good team member, we're going to get a lot more done, for the Lord, for you guys, hopefully we allow you guys to get heavily rewarded, you know, but, once again, Matthew 6, 6, but thou when thou prays, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which is in secret, shall reward thee openly, that's in this life and the next, amen, in other words, you're getting paid to pray, but ladies, stay at home moms, come on, you guys as well, gotta do it, the kids will get you busy, you guys gotta cook, I'm talking to the stay at home moms, you guys gotta cook, you guys gotta clean, you guys gotta teach the kids, it's hard, stay at home moms, that's a real job, believe it or not, even when we were trying to get our house, the loan officers like write down your occupations, whatever, cashier at Fry's Electronics, my wife's like unemployed, the lady, the loan officer literally took the paperwork and says, no, no, no, you need to put stay at home mom, that's a real job, this is the loan officer, scratch out unemployed and put stay at home mom, remember that, where's my wife, can I get an amen, you know, a loan officer, unsafe, worldly, loan officer said, hey, you're a stay at home mom, that's a real job, you need to write that down, you have a real job, not unemployed, because my wife figured, she's not gonna understand, I'll just put unemployed, she's like, oh, no, no, no, scratch that, in fact, here's a new sheet, please put stay at home mom, that is a real job, that's what she said, I'm like, well, that's what's up, so I know even the ladies are working 12, 16, 18, 20 hour days sometimes, because their job is never done, you know, their job is cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, educating themselves, but you have to stop, separate yourself and you gotta read your Bible, ladies, gotta read your Bible, gotta pray, it will benefit your family, it will benefit your marriage, it will benefit everybody, you know, because righteousness and salt is the nation, and how are we gonna make America great again, by getting right with the Lord, that's how you really make it great, not by voting for Trump, there I said it, not by voting for Trump, by you getting right with the Lord as best you can, that's how God's gonna bless this nation, not voting for him or whoever, that's how we get this nation to be exalted by righteousness, and all God's people say, I'm glad you backed me up a little bit, I know, I know, politicians shouldn't talk about it, but either or the Lord, the last tip, so quickly my tips, my tips, really quick tips, once again, hey, gotta be careful being too sinful, gotta be careful being an unforgiven individual, gotta be careful, you know, improper husband-wife relationship, gotta be careful getting sick of listening to Pastor Anderson preach or me or whoever, gotta be careful of that, because people in other nations are like, man, what I will give, to go to faith-forward Baptist church, and then you're here like, man, brother said, girl, really, if I knew pastor was sick, I would just stay home safe from gas, well let's just say you better, your prayers ain't gonna get answered, that's a fact, like whoa, that's not a humble spirit, I'm telling you, whoever gets up here, brother Corbin, Rayman, whoever, you know, people will give anything to be in your shoes, to know that they're going to a church that's a real legitimate bonafide, not these fake, you know, apostate Christianity churches, all throughout Africa, all throughout Mexico, all throughout the whole world, you know, they're like, man, what I would give to be part of faith-forward Baptist church, man, Lord, when is it gonna happen, well, it might happen in the next life for some people in other nations, and you're here and you're just like, really, brother said, girl, all I gotta say is be careful, despite seeing God's word, whoever's preaching it, and the tips, multiple times throughout the day, aim for three, once again, start in the morning, pray about, unleash on God, pray about everything, even if I offended you, pray that God forgives me, and if you can, hey, get paid to pray, right, get paid to pray, get paid to eat, get paid to pray, you know, skip it and just pray, and my last tip, do it every day, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 17, pray without ceasing, let's pray, thank God, thank you for everything that you've done, thank you for your word, thank you for these people, thank you for your faithful ones, dear Lord, we know that life ain't easy, it's very tough, the devil's gonna try to destroy us, you know, but we ask you to give us the power, the peace, the patience, everything we need to get the job done, and help us to be victorious, which you know we will, and Father, we ask you to just bless everyone here, keep them safe as they go home, help Pastor Anderson to be 100% by Wednesday, Father, we know that being sick is a terrible thing, and I pray that him and his family, you know, they're dealing with the corona right now, loss of their smell and taste, I pray that you get that all back really soon, and that you help us to get back to normal, so we continue to fight for you, in Jesus' precious name, amen. Let's take your hymnals and turn to hymn number 321, hymn number 321, where he leads, I'll follow. Number 321, sweet are the promises, kind is the word, number 321, sing it out on this first verse now, sweet are the promises, kind is the word, dear earth more than any message that ever heard, your was the mind of Christ, sinless I see, in the great example is that earth for me, where he leads I'll follow, follow all the way, where he leads I'll follow, follow Jesus every day, sweet is the tender love Jesus has shown, sweeter far than any love that mortals have known, kind to the every one, faithful is he, he the great example is the pattern for me, where he leads I'll follow, follow all the way, where he leads I'll follow, follow Jesus every day, bliss to his loving words come unto me, weary and elated there is sweet rest for thee, trust in his promises, faithful and sure, lead upon the Savior and thy soul is secure, where he leads I'll follow, follow all the way, where he leads I'll follow, follow Jesus every day. Are you guys going to sing it this evening? You