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all right amen so this morning preaching about the subject of prayer how to get your prayers answered what the Bible says about prayer I know it's not everybody's favorite topic you know but it's something that we all need it's it's extremely necessary the Bible says that we're to pray without ceasing I remember my first trip to Japan was in 2011 after the earthquake you know we we've got sent on an aircraft carrier to kind of so they could the government could half-life us from the radiation that we were exposed to and they dropped us off in the most southern tip of Japan in a little town called Sasebo and while I was down there I was walking around town one day and I don't know what it is about that town they're just a little bit more rural or conservative Japanese style right now these I guess I called the monks that these guys were these lampshade hats and they just stand on the corner there's like mumbling these prayers I guess right I remember just watching this one guy I mean there was a period like he was at a mall just watching him he's like just mumbling stuff and in praying and I'll never forget it after his crowd stopped I was watching him I don't know why but just people watching guy pulls out a cell phone and it's like texting I just thought it's weird but the guy that I was with you know was a you know you're a Christian type right and he's like well you know what they do have pray without ceasing right it's not what that's talking about you know so in his mind he's like you know that's how we should be that we should always be praying I'm like so what we should just stand on the corner and just be praying about random things and never go to work never live your life never raise your kids never do anything and he's like well that is what the Bible says I'm like get out of here okay so there's a lot of what I'm trying to tell you this morning there's a lot there is a lot of misconceptions out there regarding prayer and we're gonna debunk some of them this morning so I've got several statements for you this morning have I've got you know some points but it's not like usual we're just gonna look at a lot of different things they all kind of point back to what we're about to focus on here so if you would look at verse number seven first Peter chapter four verse seven and say why preach the sermon well your answer is right here in this verse it says but the end of all things is at hand be therefore sober and watch unto prayer and so Peter's telling us he's like hey look you know the end is coming right bad things are about to come on the earth and that was in his day so how much closer are we to that now in 2019 soon to be 2020 right so we can see right off the bat in this verse here we see the reason for prayer and that's because troubles coming right he says but the end of all things is at hand he says so be therefore so for that reason so because the end is coming for that reason we need to be sober right obviously talking sober from alcohol but sober from pride sober from yoking yourself up with the world right we need to be of a sound mind so he's talking about here and he says and watch on to prayer so this is a continuous thing that we're supposed to do right we're supposed to be instant in season out of season one preaching but we're also supposed to be instant in prayer right there's a brother that used to go to sure foundation and I think he goes to faith for it now but you know he's he's known for like you know when he needs help like he'll he'll call somebody like right on the spot like hey I got I got a problem could you pray for me real quick you know that is somebody there you know he called me several months ago and wanted me to pray for a situation with him and I was just like that's somebody who's watchful into prayer you know who takes it serious he's like you're like the sixth guy I've called you're the only person's answer I'm like gee thanks but it just just kind of it kind of kind of stuck with me you know I'm like wow that's that's how how we need to be as a church right that's what we need to be like and so you can see that we need to be aware we need to have understanding understanding the times that we live in there's a lot of perils that are coming you know our government is unstable in case you didn't know that right the world that we live in is unstable and it's all for a reason right this chaos has been caused for a reason and we know that the end result is to get the Antichrist to take over we know that the spirit of Antichrist does work but there's a remedy we could still have peace in this life we can still have victory we could still have you know joy even amongst persecutions and so that's what we're gonna look at this morning now look at verse number eight and he says and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves for charity shall cover the multitude of sins you can see that word a lot in the Bible the Bible says that the fervent prayer of the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much so what does that word fervent mean well it means intensity urgency that's what it means we're supposed to be intense we're supposed to have a sense of urgency regarding charity which is love and action right not just being like hey be warm and filled have a nice day you know you ever go soul-winding and it's raining out and somebody's like stay dry you know that's not charity okay that's just basically faith without works that's what that is just hey I hope you have a great day but you really don't care we're not supposed to be like that we're supposed to be fervent and charity meaning love and action means we're supposed to take care of one another right brotherly love this is something that's missing in today's society right because the Bible tells us that in the last days people are going to become lovers of their own selves that includes Bible believing Christians why because most Christians today would rather spend their time in the world then spend their time reading and meditating on the things in this book and that will hinder your prayer life I promise you we're gonna take a look at that look at verse number 9 says use hospitality one to another without grudging right we should be willing to lay aside the little minor grudges and the things that we don't agree about as a church did you know that we're supposed to be hospitable to each other look at verse 10 he said as every man hath received the gift even so minister the same one to another as good stewards in the manifold grace of God turn to first Timothy chapter number two so we're supposed to be fervent towards one another in prayer in charity in all manner of love towards the brethren so real quick if you turn to first Timothy chapter two I'm just gonna go over a different kinds of prayer here just a little overview first Timothy to look at verse number one this is what Paul's telling Timothy he says I exhort therefore that first of all supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men right so we just read in first Peter that we're supposed to pray for one another but we should also pray for all men and he's gonna tell us why in a couple verses but he says I exhort therefore so Paul showing his his earnest desire right here the sense of urgency to Timothy that hey he's like hey I'm exhorting I'm trying to motivate you right because things are coming on the earth because there's problem because persecutions are gonna come so I am exhorting you he's like that first of all supplications which what does that mean that's another just an earnest pleading sincere sincere desire right we're not supposed to just be vain be like I'll pray for you and then you don't pray for somebody right we're supposed to make supplications meaning honestly and with intensity going forward and praying for one another right so he's saying with supplications prayers right all kinds of prayer somebody says hey look you know I've got an ailment I've got something going on with me I've got a family problem would you pray for me we're supposed to pray for them says intercessions now we're not Catholic here he's not talking about going into a booth with some pedophile priest and confessing your sins you're not gonna find that anywhere in the Bible we know that Jesus Christ is the mediator between man and God and that's what he's referring to here and he says and giving of thanks be made for all men you say well I don't like certain people that's fine we all there's all kinds of people that we don't like you know we ought to be thankful for because we can learn from those situations right so he's saying hey don't let that bother you you know a lot of times like I've said in the past you know the reason why Christians lose their joy is because you give it away willingly right but if we could just learn to be thankful for all men even the people that give us trouble right we make supplications we make prayers you know you're gonna grow and you're gonna learn from those problems you know the person that pesters you at work or the neighbor that you don't get along with you know there's there can be good and wisdom that comes from all of that and that's what he's telling him so he says in verse 2 for Kings and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty now here's where the Fox News guys are gonna say see you have to pray for Trump no matter how you feel you know you have to and okay I amen let's pray for let's pray there if he gets impeached he gets impeached thy will be done you know after that impeachment ruling the other day I was in people's houses I didn't hear a word about it I think I was telling brother David on Thursdays I didn't hear anybody talking about it which is weird because everybody you know watching Fox News around here well it was Friday so I think the shock just took a couple days it was Friday you know everybody is like guess what I'm like what still our president you know and people are this is on people's minds around here and there's people on both sides I've seen there's people that are worried that he's gonna get impeached and we're gonna lose all the rights I'm like do you do you not realize he's trying to take your rights right now he's trying to make it illegal for you to speak against Jews right trying to make what we preach out of the Bible illegal right I mean the guy supports pedophiles he supports sodomites look if God removes him from office amen I'm not gonna pray that God keeps him in there hey Lord your will be done not mine not ours let's not let that stuff bother us I mean he's a wicked devil right he is a liberal he is a liberal you know I'll never forget it we knocked on this lady's door several months ago and there's a first thing out of her mouth was do you support Trump and we're like no and then she's like okay well you know like you're like that she that took her by surprise you know but that's all the people care about what do you support I'm ready for or against him you know that's ridiculous if the guy's wicked but I wanted to tell this lady look he supports the same things that you do he supports taking rights from the man and giving them all to the Beast same thing Obama right they have the same master so but hey we should still pray we should still pray look at verse 3 he says for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who will have all men to be saved so he's saying hey pray for the leaders right wife so that we can continue to go out and preach the gospel without you know without problems right I don't want them to take away our rights cuz it's just gonna make it harder that doesn't mean we're gonna stop right but we want the laws that are in place in this country like the Boise soliciting ordinance to be upheld by the police officers so we should pray that they see that and the God would open up their eyes to their own laws hey law enforcement officer I have the law here can you please abide by it you know are you gonna be like these stupid cops up in Washington say I'll just take you to jail I'll just lock you up and let the judge sort it out you know I've had that said to me before you know we should pray against that mentality right that's what he's talking about here pray that we could lead a quiet and peaceable life that we could go forth in this crooked and perverse nation and have some success that's the type of prayer that we should be praying for our leaders not that oh I know you love God I mean I Donald Trump and I know that Paula White's your Pope you know let's let's just pray for them no she's a devil she's a divorced devil she's not a pastor she's a ho that's what she is she's a skank she's a devil and a beast right that's what she is and that's who he looks to for his of you know his authority or his spiritual guidance you've got to be kidding me so verse 4 again he says who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth this is the goal right look God wants us to pray for people to be saved this is why we pray before we go out soul winning why we pray when we're done is so that God will lead us and give us boldness and opportunities to reach people verse 5 he says for there is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus so there that takes the confessional booth out of the picture right right off the bat right verse 6 who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time verse 7 weren't you I am ordained a preacher and an apostle I speak the truth in Christ and why not a teacher of the Gentiles and faith and Verity verse 8 I will therefore that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting right now you read first Kings chapter 8 we'll talk about it in a little while you know Solomon lifted up his hands nothing wrong with lifting up your hands in prayer but the Pentecostals they'll take this verse and say well see you if you're not raising your hands and waving them around during the songs and throughout the other church service well you're not really serving God that's not really what he's talking about here right think about it he says without you're supposed to lift up holy hands right so how do you get your hands holy because we're all sinners we have to have the new man first of all you have to be saved but furthermore you know you you need to be separated from the world right your hands do work so when you're a worker of righteousness you say I got the new man I'm serving God I'm going to church I'm reading my Bible I'm doing what's right now you have holy hands and you can lift those up right you can lift those up to God in prayer and like I said you know God answers the prayers of Saints we're gonna we're gonna get into that momentarily so I just wanted you to see that as an introduction turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 2nd Corinthians 12 so there's a lot of stuff to be prayed for right we need to pray for the people that are in authority so that we can lead a quiet and peaceable life we need to pray that people will get saved we need to pray that God will lift the veil up you know off of all these people that go to these liberal churches around here they're just getting brain fogged like you wouldn't believe I mean you know that that's definitely a battle here it's a battle in this whole country is not just Boise so you there in 2nd Corinthians chapter number 12 when I start talking about how to have an effective prayer life because this morning you know there's there's what how many Mormon tabernacles or churches are in this place is one on every street right think of it and they're having their services or whatever right now they're praying there's Catholics going on there's a what is this idea piscopalian Presbyterian Church same thing as a Catholic Church right over here no different right create Church no different there's churches all over this place this morning as we speak and guess what they're doing they're praying but you know what the prayers aren't gonna get heard they're not gonna get answered if anything does get answered more than likely it's just a coincidence all right so as Bible Believing Christians we need to learn how to have our prayers effectively answered so number one here's just a statement for you prayer wasn't designed for us to be comfortable all the time prayer wasn't designed for us to be comfortable all the time right the next several verses we're gonna look at are gonna explain this and I know this is probably going against what you maybe have thought or been taught you look God wants us to have peace and comfort but you know yay all who shall live godly in Christ Jesus are gonna suffer some persecution right and you know what if you study the word prayer prayed praying in the Bible especially in the New Testament you're not gonna see a huge emphasis on people praying for healing I'm not saying we shouldn't pray for healing we've done we've prayed for people to be healed and we will continue to do that and God wants to heal people right but that's not the main focus you see I think Christianity today has that backwards right we're supposed to pray for all manner of things but you know what we shouldn't just have the main focus on physical healing and you're probably thinking you know I don't agree I don't believe that I'm gonna show you I'm gonna prove that to you you know if there is one story there's a couple but there's in the Old Testament who's heard of King Hezekiah we talked about him several months ago when we did our Old Testament study well he's probably one of the only people you're gonna find it besides Paul that really you know earnestly prayed that he would be healed and God did give him 15 more years but Hezekiah was a selfish person I mean think about it when Isaiah told him hey your children are gonna be made into eunuchs when the Babylonians come in here he's like well tough on them he's like hey well is the word of the Lord spoken you know at least I've got peace basically I'm paraphrasing but you know he's like basically I have peace in my day and so what I want to do now is I just want to show you some examples of Paul I mean Paul is a person that dealt with infirmities he was a person that was shipwrecked he got beaten I had all manner of problems as a result of working for Christ as a result of preaching the gospel so let's take a look at some of these things so look at verse number six 2nd Corinthians 12 look at verse 6 he says for though I would desire to glory I shall not be a fool for I will say the truth but now I forbear lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be or that he hearth of me verse 7 at least I should be exalted above measure or and at least I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to be buffeted or to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure so what Paul saying here he's like hey look I've done a lot for Christ and people have seen that you know he had a lot of revelations he had done a lot of miracles he had done a lot of things that could possibly lift up his ego and cause him to fall into pride and God's not going to use somebody that falls into pride so the result of that and to keep him humble he says I received a thorn in the flesh and you're gonna see that Paul prayed to have this removed and do you know what Christ answer was you know my grace is sufficient for the look at verse number 8 it says for this thing I besought the Lord thrice meaning three times that it might depart from me right now look at verse number 9 it says and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me so you see the lesson that Paul learned right he's got these infirmities he's got this messenger from Satan who's buffeting him who's constantly stirring up the Jews and and causing you know all kinds of problems causing him to be beaten causing him to live a kind of a miserable life you know when you when you really get down to it and he asked God three times what does God say he says no so first of all you need to understand that when you pray and ask God for something you get your answer immediately it's either gonna be yes no or not now or maybe something to that effect but he says you know hey my grace is sufficient for thee you need to go through this sometimes God may be letting you go through an infirmity through a sickness why so that you can keep pushing forward and other people can see the glory of Christ in that situation so while I'm trying to tell you this morning is that the bulk of your prayers it you know when you study the subject out in the Bible it's not centered around physical healing right and so here's another statement that you could apply to your life and that is you know we need to be focused on the eternal not the temporal okay and I'm not saying you shouldn't pray to get healed physically but I am saying that when you study this out in the Bible that's not the main focus you know and a lot of people oh I don't like that I mean there's churches all over town right that come come to our Wednesday night healing service you know we're gonna dump oil on everybody and we're gonna pray for them you know and by the way we'll talk about that in James chapter 5 you know most of the time when people want to get anointed with oil they only want you to rub a little bit you know where it hurts and then have the elders pray well when you study out people got anointed with oil like Jihoo I mean that stuff ran from the top of his head all the way down to his toes right they dumped like you know you know how like when people win football games and they dumped the that's kind of like how I view it it's not not quite the case but you get on saying I mean they anoint you the whole body with oil I had a pastor one time that had this this couple that was visiting and you know they were all done up you know dress real nice you know look look like they're good fundamentalists and they approached him and said hey you know we want you to James five us he's like James five you what's that well you know my wife's neck's been hurting right back here and we want you to pray for and anoint her with oil so he's like alright gets this big thing of olive oil and he gets all these towels and they're like what what are these towels for and he's like well we're gonna an anoint her with oil you know wait a minute these are new clothes she's like I spent a lot of money to keep my hair like this can't you just rub some he's like that's not in the Bible you want to be anointed we're gonna anoint you we're gonna do this thing biblically okay and she's like you know just just forget about it we'll just maybe do it another time see what I'm saying so you need to learn what the Bible is talking about here all right you know there's a lot of misconceptions out there I'll just rub a little bit of coconut oil on here and have the the elders of the church pray so what it says you know you want the oil you're getting anointed you're getting dunked you can to get that oil dumped on you but I don't know why I went off on that let's see here verse number 10 therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak then I strong God's people today are really missing the boat on this you know when we get into pain or we get into distress we get into situations immediately we want to see comfort right because that's the society that we've grown up in that's so we've built hey you got this problem pop this pill drink this drink you know grind up these vitamins and chug them you know 18 times a day I'm not saying that there you can't find nutrition I'm not against that all I'm saying is hey just realize you may be going through an infirmity you may be going through a trial because God wants to show you his strength that's what I'm trying to tell you turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 5 and go and while you're turning I'm just gonna explain this thorn in the flesh thing here because I've heard a lot of goofy stuff about this I've heard that Paul had a rare disease it was only available back then and and usually when that type of stuffs being taught the preachers like well if you study you know the Foxes Book of Martyrs or you study Church the Church Fathers basically what they're saying is if you study it deep like I have in the other languages which they don't speak by the way you know you'll learn that Paul really had this rare disease it was only known to the to the Greeks and he caught that and it made his eyes swell up and it made it so it felt like he had thorns so he might have had like a type of shingles or chicken pox or something like that somebody's talking about okay that phrase a thorn in the flesh you can find that in Numbers chapter 33 you can find it in Joshua 23 you can find it in Judges chapter number two right well God said hey if you don't get these people out of here they're gonna become thorns in your sides they're gonna become thorns in your eyes they're gonna become a problem right and so Paul's saying hey I have a messenger from Satan somebody who's been buffeting me right and think about it every town that Paul went to what happened somebody stirred the Jews up the synagogue of Satan well who's over the synagogues at this point now well it's Satan what's he doing he's got his messengers following Paul harassing him he's get you know he's about to get stoned and we're gonna take a look at that here in a moment what would I have you go 2nd Corinthians 5 yeah keep your place there and go to just go to Acts chapter 14 and then we're gonna go to Galatians real quick I just want to show you this go to Acts chapter number 14 since I'm rap since I'm rambling about this might as well just take you there Acts chapter 14 let's take a look at this deal here with Paul so Acts chapter number 14 look at verse 19 Acts 14 look at verse 19 it says and there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people in having stoned Paul drew him out of the city supposing he had been dead now look at verse number 20 how be it as the disciples stood round about him he rose up and came into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby now go to Galatians chapter number 4 Galatians chapter number 4 so you see what's going on here I mean do you think that Paul had some infirmities after getting stoned I mean could you just sit down and just think about this for a second think about somebody throwing rocks at you stoning trying to stone you to death right these things are hitting you do you think some of them probably hit his eyes some of them probably hit his face I mean this guy's in pain right this was a result of that thorn in the flesh the person that's following him around stirring people up causing trouble okay now I just thought this was interesting here Galatians chapter 4 let's see where is this at here look at verse 13 so he goes to Derby that's the city in Galatia look at verse number 13 so he says you know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first and my temptation which was in my flesh you despise not nor rejected but received me as an angel of God even as Christ Jesus verse 15 where is then the blessedness you spake of for I bear you record that if it had been possible you would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to me you wonder well why did he say that I think it's probably because he went there after getting stoned you had infirmities you know if you get stoned with rocks you're gonna have health problems okay but does he just say we have to stop I can't go on anymore no he rose up and said let's go right let's go preach the gospel how did he get like that is it just him was he supernatural no these things are written so that we could be like that as well right do you see what's going on here though his he rose up and he wasn't like just pray for me that I can get healed from these wounds before I go preach no I mean he might have said something like that it doesn't record it he just says you know what we're gonna go I can still think I can still walk I can't see very well cuz I got my eyes are swollen but I'm gonna go preach the gospel and so him and Barnabas they get up and they go and they get to Galatia and they're like probably looking at this guy like what's going on here don't look like he came from New Life Church you know it don't look like it came from the liberal churches that we have here you know what's going on with you and they're so happy that he's there telling them the good news right the good news of Jesus Christ hey you don't have to work anymore and they're so excited at this point they're like hey we would even give you our eyeballs if we could because we see you have an infirmity and I've heard also pastors say well you know that thorn in the flesh that like shingle type disease that was only known back then because remember I have hidden secret knowledge right he like that causes eyes to be puffy like an allergy and so that's why they wanted to give him their eyeballs there's look dude there's no evidence of that in the Bible we saw he got stoned in Acts chapter 14 gets up and he goes to Galatia to preach okay and so if you study these things out it all makes sense right he had an infirmity from getting beaten right and he's not like hey feel sorry for me hey pray for me now should they have prayed for him where do their people praying for him of course of course right but that's not the focus the focus is getting the gospel out and this is the truth that people do not like to hear today this is a hard saying because we're look I grew up you know going to churches and stuff you know randomly and it was always about the here in the now you know pray for if you the focus is always you got to get better now well guess what that's not what the Bible teaches let's take a look at that 2nd Corinthians go back to chapter number 5 second Corinthians chapter number 5 you know how you get to this point is by understanding what I'm about to show you okay by sacrificing the temporal and having your focus on what is eternal that's the only way you could act like Paul look I'll be honest if somebody's telling me right now I'd be like I need to go to the hospital I'm not going to Caldwell you know the pupusas aren't that good right we've got some work to do here 2nd Corinthians 5 look at verse 1 he says for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens you see where his focus is do you see how he's trying to exhort the Corinthians here he's like hey look don't be so focused on your physical house here your current body verse 2 for in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven and so that's the question for you this morning do you groan earnestly do you have this desire to be clothed upon with the new you and your new body if you do guess what you're gonna be a super warrior for Christ just like Paul was but if that's not your mentality then guess what you're gonna abide in flesh you can have more wood hay and stubble at the judgment seat of Christ first three if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked for we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened not for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up in life look guess what this flesh this old man's got a parish flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God the Bible says right which by the way also proves that this repenting of your sins garbage is false what good is that gonna do flesh and blood can't go to heaven you have to get the new body right and we need to keep that as the main focus of our Christianity every person in here you need to make this your life you need to have this earnest desire and that's how you get to the level of Paul because look I'm telling you what did we open up with because the end is near we need to watch unto prayer right the end is coming look the days of Paul people being persecuted in stone and physically abused they're knocking on the door right now these times are coming they may not come in our life and I'm not trying to scare you too much but you know what our children are probably gonna have it worse than we ever did and it's our job it's your job it's our job as a team to make sure that they stand strong like this because persecution is gonna come you know the Antichrist will come someday you know what and before he comes you know I don't think he's gonna have to change that much I think that you know a lot of these laws that are that are being submitted for consideration you know to the Senate and all this stuff you know sooner or later that a lot of them are gonna get passed they're gonna tell you hey you have to inject this crap into your kids you know you're gonna have to not say these certain things you can't go to church we'll take everything from you look we're gonna keep on going strong we just needed but we but now is the time while we still have a little bit of freedom now's the time not only to pray but to strengthen ourselves right so that we can do these great exploits in the end times verse number five now he that wrought us for the self same thing is God who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit right be glad about that be glad you've got that down payment of the Holy Spirit you're sealed into the day of redemption verse 6 therefore we are always confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord and this is why knowledge is so important you see how that can help and aid you and guide you and make you a good Christian understanding hey we're just absent from from the Lord right now but verse 7 for we walk by faith not by sight a lot of people have it backwards today they want to walk by sight and not by faith and I'm not saying that those same people aren't saved it's just that we've got it backwards in this country right because we're taught to glorify self we're taught to lift up self we're taught to lift up what we can do for you know for ourselves right that's why you know when kids go to public school the teachers are what do you want to be when you grow up you can be an astronaut you can be anything you want that's not true not everybody has the same intelligence level not everybody has the same physical attributes not everybody in here can be as big as Arnold Schwarzenegger you know even with steroids okay look there are some people that have different gifts and all I'm trying to tell you is look we need to walk by faith not by sight you know it doesn't matter don't believe the lie oh you can be whatever you want no you can't you need to be what God's designed you to be and you need to be desiring to get your new body and guess what what you do down here on this earth decides what that thing's gonna look like don't forget about that you're gonna spend more time in that than you ever would in this body so just keep that in perspective that's gonna help your prayer life it's gonna help your Christianity it's gonna help everything all around I turn to 1st Timothy chapter 5 1st Timothy chapter 5 we're almost done with this this this idea here at this point why turn there I'm just gonna read for you 2nd Timothy 4 20 which says Erastus abode at Corinth but trophum trophimus have I left at my lead him sick you know I think it's interesting the Paul's like hey you know I left trophimus the Ephesian at my lead him I left him there sick now how come he doesn't make a big deal and say you need to pray that he's healed why is that because that's not the focus the focus isn't on the temporal it's on the eternal it's on the eternal that's what it is that's what we just read in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 that's where your focus that's where your energy needs to be Paul's understanding that any and that's not in there just for a coincidence don't just gloss over that think about that right need to learn how to pray you need to learn what to pray for all right and the focus of your prayer shouldn't be on the here in the now all right look at the 1st Timothy 5 look at verse 23 same concept drink no longer water but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and then often infirmities so for their physical infirmities like hey take some medicine you know drink this wine he's not talking about alcohol that's not going to help you out right and even doctors today know that if you got ulcers and you got problems that's not what's gonna solve it okay we that's another sermon for another day but he's like hey stand around in a circle and you know and just pray until he's healed and then write a check for a thousand bucks to me and all the stuff that the Pentecostals do you see what I'm trying to say here this isn't what's important he's like you're sick take some medicine and get to work get your butt back to work quit feeling sorry for yourself quit being self-centered and just work because by doing so now you're showing the power of Christ now Christ can use you because you're weak that's basically all I'm trying to say I mean think about it when Jesus prayed he said you know if possible you know he's I pray that this cup should pass for me but if not thy will be done not mine that's the same situation that we're reading here in 1st Timothy chapter 5 you know basically I could imagine Paul would probably tell him you know sure go ahead and ask God to heal you you know there's nothing wrong with that he can do that but don't let that be a hindrance to your work and why I've still got you here turn to Psalm chapter 66 so now we're gonna kind of shift gears a little bit and kind of look at how a little bit further on how to get our prayers answered and why are you turning to Psalm 66 I'm gonna read James 4 3 which says he asked and received not because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lust so when people get around they say you know I pray for me that I get over this cold or that I get over this minor ailment or this infirmity what is your motivation behind that is it so that you can go jet skiing is it so that you can do more physical things here on earth or is it really to work for the cause of Christ and comfort there's a big difference there and God knows the heart and so you know when when people sit around you know I just pray that I get over this whatever it is so that I can continue doing my you know earthly stuff which is just gonna perish guess what you're asking a miss that's not wise and I look again I know this isn't popular some people don't want to hear this but this is Bible this is what it is Psalm 66 look at verse 16 you want to get your prayers answered learn not to ask for things to consume upon your lusts look at verse 16 come and hear all ye that fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my soul a couple things from this here do you fear God if you do your prayers are gonna be answered people that don't fear God guess what God obviously hears what they're saying but it counts for nothing God does not hear the prayers of the heathen you don't have to turn there just listen to this John 9 31 now we know that God heareth not sinners but if any man be a worshipper of God and do with his will him he hearth his will is that you would be saved so you hear that right you do his will you get saved now you have the ability to have your prayers answered so the Mormons that are praying today to Russell Nelson and to you know this the spiritual brother of Lucifer their prayers will not be answered this building right back over here that whatever it is that Episcopalian Presbyterian Catholic Church prayers aren't getting answered because most people in there are not saved right it says at John 9 now we know that God heareth not sinners look we're all sinners so how does God hear us because we have the new man right that's what he's talking about because we have the new man you know it in further context here he's also saying that God doesn't hear the prayer of the reprobates you know these pedophile priests and these pedophile Baptists these pedophile anybody God doesn't hear their prayers not one bit he does not regard him he's not gonna give them what they want just keep that in mind because of the world today will tell you well God hears everybody he loves everybody you know you just know the only prayer he's gonna hear from a heathen is Lord save me I believe that you died and rose again on the third day save me that's the prayer that he's gonna hear from the heathen so all this stuff that you know old Trumpy boy is doing with Paula White and they're praying they've got you know they're all their Pentecostal buddies up there God's just laughing he's mocks at him it's foolish let's not that man think that he's gonna be heard for as much speaking because he won't look at verse 17 he says I cried unto him with my mouth and he was extolled with my tongue verse 18 if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me this applies to the heathen but it also applies to the believer the backslidden believer if you are a believer and you are regarding iniquity in your heart you can rest assured your prayers will not be answered you cannot serve God and mammon you can't live in the world and then be like oh Lord proud you know and you pray for something pray to heal this and that you're not gonna hear that it's what it says if I and who's writing this is this not David if I was David saved yes he was if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me you know that God will turn his ear away from you so you better learn not to regard iniquity in your eyes why we preach hard against sin this is why this country is in the perils that it is because people neglected this many years ago save people our fathers our forefathers neglected this wisdom they said we're not gonna preach hard on sin because it doesn't bring people in the result is that God stopped hearing their prayers and now we have to rebuild but you know what we will rebuild and praise God we're gonna do we're gonna be the ones that does these great exploits in the end times because we're gonna learn how to pray we're gonna learn not to regard iniquity in our hearts look at verse 19 but verily God hath heard me he hath attended to the voice of my prayer blessed be God which hath not turned away my prayer nor his mercy from me don't think just because you say that God will always give you what you want you do not have a spiritual visa card that you could just swipe anytime you want it doesn't work like that there are requirements God is serious and he wants his people to be separated to be sanctified from the world all right turn to Colossians chapter number one the next thing I want to look at here is this idea that the bulk of our prayers should be towards others I'm not saying you shouldn't pray for yourself because you should right you should let your requests be made known unto God you should pray without ceasing but I will tell you the bulk of your prayers should be for other people and by doing so by doing so you will get your prayers answered right look at verse number 9 Colossians 1 9 he says for this cause we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding we should all be praying for each other everybody in this room to be filled with knowledge to be filled with wisdom to be healthy right all of that stuff but we need to pray for each other I think we need to use these communication cards a little bit more and get some prayers down here so we can fill up that sheet I really think that and look I'm with you I don't like putting stuff on there I this is a result of me I'll tell you I went years without putting stuff down you know on the communication card but that's my own foolishness you know studying this stuff out it has brought this back to my attention you know the best way to get your prayers answered is to pray for other people because that's gonna keep you low that's gonna keep you humble right where God wants you I mean think about that putting other people's needs above your own okay look at verse 10 that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and increasing and knowledge of God strengthened with all my according to his glorious power unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness turn to James chapter 5 look there's three verses here you say I don't have anything to pray about look read these three verses again later on and you'll have plenty to pray about everybody in here needs knowledge everybody in here needs wisdom everybody in here needs to be strengthened everybody in here has problems on some level right there's always stuff to pray for see you there in James chapter 5 I mean think about this right Moses you know when when his sister got leprosy from the Lord because her and Aaron were running their mouths about his wife what was Moses's response like yeah get him you get him right that's some siblings in here right everybody's got siblings that goes through that right but Moses said no pray he's like I'm gonna pray for her that's what his first action was he prayed to God not to destroy her is that your attitude is that my that's the attitude that we need to have right that's that's Bible that this is biblical Christianity Moses prayed for his sister right after she received judgment from God you know we can do the same thing and I said I was gonna bring Solomon's prayer up right first Kings chapter 8 the wisest man that ever lived you know how he prayed he lifted up his hands towards heaven in front of all the sight of the people he wasn't ashamed to pray he had no shame about it right but guess what he spends the first I don't know first four or five verses Halloween God's name and giving him the glory giving him praises right and then he says Lord please have respect unto my prayer and then he goes on to pray for the house that they just belt he goes on to pray for all the people in Israel that they wouldn't fall he goes on to foresee that they will turn their backs and he says even then Lord please allow them to come back allow them to be restored this is the attitude that we need to have this is how you get your prayers answered and you know what Solomon wasn't lacking in anything really wasn't lacking in finances definitely wasn't lacking women right we we don't we don't need to subscribe to that well I'm trying to tell you is he never prayed for the riches and the fame but God still gave that to him right I mean God still gave him his needs look your Heavenly Father knows what you need knows what you want to but he's gonna give you what you need as long as you have the right attitude right don't regard iniquity in your heart don't be acting foolish and you'll get your prayers answered so James chapter 5 look at verse 7 be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord behold the husband men waiteth for the precious precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until we receive the early and latter rain be also patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nine again more motivation for us to live right for us to pray establish your heart 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 this is why I read that to you so that you can have the right perspective on life quit focusing so much on the here and the now because you're gonna dip out of this place and you don't know when you could drop dead tomorrow would you be satisfied with what you've done so far for Christ think about that verse 9 grudge not one against another brethren lest you be condemned behold the judge standeth before the door he's not talking about losing your salvation remember James is a book of conduct being a doer of the word it starts off brethren talking to believers right don't ever let some unbeliever throw James at you because it's not geared towards them say you know what this book is not for you right now sir because you're not saved you know I'm sorry I'm not trying to be rude but this is the truth you cannot be a doer of the word because you haven't gotten to first base yet you don't even have that wisdom which is pure you have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ you're relying on your own works to save you and so therefore you cannot see the James 2 is not talking about salvation nor is this talking about you losing your salvation verse 10 take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of prosperity oh I'm sorry of suffering affliction and of patience again we're supposed to look at the prophets and how the how they went through the beatings the stonings all of that stuff all of the persecutions and take that as an example wait what wait a minute I thought we were supposed to be healthy and happy and just live your best life now that's not what he's talking about that's not in the Bible this is the why people don't like sermons on prayer biblical sermons on prayer because it hurts it hurts we all want to be comfortable right we all want to be comfortable but you know what where do you think these prophets were comfortable do you think Elijah was always comfortable you think Elijah was always comfortable was Amos always comfortable no but they kept on working anyways right take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord you speak in the name of the Lord guess what you're gonna suffer persecutions he says take them for an example right so it's a good thing when you suffer for the cause of Christ do you have infirmities as a result of that amen praise God do you have infirmities for anything else praise God keep marching on anyways right take that as an example and of patience verse 11 behold we count them happy which endure but wait a minute I thought happiness was anything here in the now I thought that's why we were supposed to praise so that we could be happy right no that's not what he's talking about behold we count them happy did you know there's a lot of people in the world today that are miserable but they have everything you could ever imagine they've got the three-story house they've got two boats in each garage and RV and then you know they've got everything but you know those people are miserable and they don't even know why that's not true happiness that's falsehood that's fake that's phony that's vain true happiness is working for God true happiness is what you're reading right here you think Elijah is happy right now you better believe he is do you think Paul's happy right now you better believe he is how about you are you gonna be happy when you're in their position when you get your new body or are you gonna be kicking yourself because you didn't do enough behold we count them happy which endure you have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy remember Job's attitude I mean I could preach this for another hour but I'm not going to write just listen to this job 121 and said naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord that was Job's attitude when he lost everything are your trials and afflictions and affirmities as bad as Job's probably not probably not you know was he like oh guys you know pray for me of course he couldn't rely on his friends they were you know not full of wisdom by any stretch of the imagination but nonetheless he was like you know what the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away that's the attitude of the believer that's the attitude that the prophets had that's why these things are in the Bible so that you could keep marching on look at verse 12 above it says but above all things my brethren swear not neither by heaven neither by the earth neither by any other oath but let your yay be yay and your nay be nay unless you fall in the condemnation and this goes along the lines of the teaching about not being double-minded because you're unstable in that regards and God's not gonna hear your prayer look at verse 13 is any among you afflicted let him pray right you can pray for yourself are you flicked to pray then right is any Mary let him sing Psalms is any sick among you let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord right not just a little rubby here right you're gonna dump that oil on you and again really these three verses here verses 14 15 yeah 13 14 15 are a sermon of themselves when we study James we'll talk about this more but we've got to move on here verse 14 is any sick among you let him call for the elders verse 15 he says and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him turn to first John chapter 1 so what is it is it the oil is it the non-gmo oil that saves no it's the prayer of faith I was watching this video the other day I don't know why but it's this guy who got healed by taking these these uh dog medicines I forgot what it's called some long name but the guy got diagnosed apparently with stage four cancer and he goes to the vet and he's like yeah I just got to take care of Baxter here because I'm gonna be gone in a couple months and the vets like well you know what you should try taking these and he gives us a die he's like what do you have to lose apparently the guy is free of cancer today because of it and the FDA is looking into it and you know they it actually made the news so I believe it's probably true but I often wonder you know and I'm not saying this guy is saved I have no idea but the mind does have a lot of power you know the Bible says that the prayer of faith shall save the sick did he just have enough faith that that was gonna heal him and and that's what did it you know when remember when Jesus said hey daughter thy faith have healed thee you know think about that faith has power do you have faith when you ask God for something do you really truly believe that he's gonna give that to you I mean have you checked yourself do you know that you're not asking a miss are you regarding iniquity in your heart if you're not look rest assured you're gonna get it you will get your prayers answered the way you want because you're not asking out of his will but you're there in first John chapter one I just I just wanted to bring this up as well it says I'm gonna read for you James 515 again says in the prayer faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if you have committed sins they shall be forgiven him here's where the people are gonna take you see he lost to salvation you know yeah nope you know he got sick because he was in sin like no that's not what he's talking about at all okay oftentimes when people go get backslidden they get into a lot of stuff that gets them physically sick it's just just reality man or maybe God will cast that sickness on you because of that to get your attention okay look at verse 5 1st John 1 look at verse 5 this then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light in him is no darkness at all verse 6 if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we line and do not the truth so 1st John 5 just like James is talking about conduct talking about fellowship with Christ totally different right but look at verse 7 but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another in the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin that's a fact verse 8 if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us obviously talking about the old man right quick we all have sinned verse 9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness verse 10 if we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not let's go back to James chapter 5 so when it says here in verse 15 and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him it's not saying that God took his salvation and charged his account up again no your your sins aren't imputed unto you anymore after you're saved right but you know what your fellowship's affected and that's what he's saying here right we still sin so he's like hey if this is you I'll get you healed as long as you you're humble enough to confess that you're you've fallen you've fallen back into sin look at verse 16 confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that ye may be healed right so when somebody is backslidden the idea is that they come to you and say hey would you please pray for me you know and I'd say don't you don't have to unload everything that you did you know I've had people come up and say hey I you know I did these wicked sins you know can you want me to no don't tell me just let's just pray you know let's just do this part here okay you've obviously confessed to God I'm just going to pray for you and to to help you out this is confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed and then look at the rest of the verse the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much you have to understand this you have to know this prayers have to be effective they have to be fervent with intensity right so when you say you're going to pray for somebody do it and mean it have that charity the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much well there's none righteous no you know the bible says as is written there's none righteous right so what is he talking about here well you have to be saved you have to have that righteousness from God so he says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much and then he gives you an example from the old testament look at verse 17 elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly right same thing he prayed earnestly fervently right that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit and you say well he was supernatural the bible doesn't teach that he was a sinner he was subject to like passions as we are right he was just like us he was flesh and blood he was just a man but his prayer was effective it was fervent and it availed much if you want your prayers to avail much guess what you gotta have you gotta be effective at it you can't regard iniquity in your heart you have to realize what God's will is it's not focusing on what's temporal but eternal and God already knows your needs and he's going to give all that stuff to you when you align yourself with him first look at verse 19 brethren if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him look at verse 20 let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins again people will come here and see lost your salvation no this is the same thing that you read in glations chapter 6 you don't have to turn there but verse 1 says brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such and one in the spirit of meekness right not like job's friends considering thyself lest thou also be tempted so you need to make sure you're strong enough and you're not overtaken with the same fault that that person is so that you can restore that guy first to bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of christ so when you pray for other people like you should right for their faults for their overcomings for for whatever right you're fulfilling the commandments of christ right you're bearing burdens so bearing one another's burdens is part of prayer when you do that that you're you're bear we're bearing each other's burdens so in on verse 19 he says brethren if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him he's not talking about somebody who lost their salvation he's talking about somebody who went backslidden and the way out of that is for us to pray to them or pray for them right verse 20 let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins so they're like see lost your salvation it says the soul went back to the second death did you know that in the bible sometimes it uses the word soul just to describe a person you ever say oh you poor soul you ever heard somebody say that or all these souls do a word study on this on this sometime and you'll see what i'm talking about he's just saying hey you're going to save a person possibly from sinning unto death right look i've there there's you you need to listen to this there are christians out there they get so backslidden they wind up doing stupid stuff sins and wind up dying right so by you reaching out to that person and trying to exhort them praying for them trying to convert them right the effectual of prayer or fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much when you get to that level when you do that you can save that person you can get him back on track and by doing that you're going to hide a multitude of further sins okay that's all he's talking about here so remember how did you say how do you know that well remember chapter one talks brethren right being a doer of the word is christian conduct it's not talking about anything to do with salvation and the death here is just physical it's not talking about the second death there's no mention of hell and here this is in chapter five at all but yet you know people are going to be people and say what they want go to matthew chapter six we're almost done matthew chapter six now the last thing i want to talk about here is the prototype of the lord's prayer we need to learn this we need to learn what this really means a lot of people today think they're going to be heard for their vain repetitions right obviously the catholics they'll do their chanting other religions they've got their chance and their vain stuff that they do but even christians can fall prey to this they think if they just keep asking for the same thing over and over and over again you know often that they're going to get it and and that's not the case you know ask for your you know petition the lord and move on right otherwise it's it's like you're being unstable i mean you ask for him remember that you asked and have the faith that he will grant that to you and guess what you're probably going to get it if you don't ask a mess but anyways look at verse number five matthew 6-5 we need to learn and understand the prototype of the lord's prayer verse five it says and when thou prayest thou shall 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 the reward it's like that guy was talking about in japan you know just you know just doing this bow praying and like playing mario brothers on his phone or whatever you know in between crowds of people coming by that's him that's what the pharisees did and that's what a lot of religious leaders do today look at verse six with thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door pray to thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly so look you don't have to post it on facebook you don't have to make a youtube video announcing to the world that you're praying for everyone okay just pray and do it secretly do it quietly right there's nothing wrong with that that's what look jesus is teaching us hey you want to have an effective prayer life do this look at verse seven uh actually look at verse eight no verse seven i'm sorry but when you pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard of their much speaking you know who this reminds me of and this is i'm going off topic here and i'm sorry but i have to this just something bugs me mike serving pop okay you know this guy if you don't know who he is he's this guy that goes around to different churches and he's got this little robotic skit where he does this dance okay and he goes on stage and he's known for just yelling the name jesus christ just randomly like he's got tourette syndrome and brother mike knows somebody that knows him and sees him regularly around town and that's what he does out in town right at a traffic light he'll just you know if you're looking at him just roll down the road jesus christ that's all he does just yells that over and over again look the guy's a fool and he's a heathen looking for a seven but when you pray he's not vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think they will be heard of their much speaking this guy thinks he's going to be heard by god just because of his vain repetition of the lord's name all he's doing is blaspheming by making god making the name of christ common to men right that's not how we should act and think about the millions and i said millions of so-called christians that support that guy and think that that's okay if you don't believe me go find them on youtube it's not hard just type mike servant i call him mike servant pop because the type of dance he does is called pop locking but um just go on to his videos type a comment down there type a bible verse something about vain repetitions and watch the hate you're going to get that proves my point but he thinks he's going to be heard because of his much speaking right and i've heard pastors uh talk about this guy and why they allow him in this church and they said well he's got a great relationship god christ has turned him around you know he's repetitive stands and all this junk and and he's somebody that we should look up to well no he's the example of what you do not want to be because all he is is a vain repetitious fool verse eight be not ye therefore liken to them for your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him so realize this christian as you pray god already knows what you need right right not talking about wants in here either if you want something didn't go get it you know as long as you don't put that above the cause of christ but he knows what your needs are so since he knows what your needs are you should be comfortable with that enough to pray for other people and make the bulk of your prayers about other people verse number nine after this manner therefore pray ye our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name you can see that in solomon's prayer you can see that when jesus prays for us in john chapter sick uh 17 verse 9 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 you see the this here is not these are not words that we're just supposed to vainly repeat he's like hey this is the model right this is the model hey what hollow god's name give him praise give him glory give him things right thy kingdom come acknowledge his power and you know thy will be done right that that's a big principle here when you pray his will over yours his will over ours whatever that is is it afflictions is it tribulations is it trials fine so be it if it's from him let it go let it be because that's his will not it may not be your will but it's his will right verse 11 give us this day our daily bread learn to be content right if we have clothing and raiment we've got food what did paul say just be content with that you've got your needs the rest is just wants right just move forward he already god already knows what you need first well and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors so we need to learn to forgive one another right verse 13 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 then he says for if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you forgive not men the trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses he's not saying that your sins aren't wiped away as far as east is from the west they're not charged to your account we get that we've beat that to death and we will continue to beat that to death he's just saying if you're going to hold something over someone else's head over a brother guess what well then god's going to do the same to you it's not going to hear your prayer it's not going to be effectual it's not going to be firm it's not going to do any good you're going to ask a miss so we say hey put that stuff aside forgive one another and do what i told you to do you don't have to turn there but first timothy 6 8 says and having food and raiment let us be there with content contentment you would be surprised as how better your prayer life will get when you can learn to be content with what you have in fact you might just start seeing some of your wants come to fruition as well so uh real quickly uh go to matthew chapter 26 matthew 26 we're almost done i'm going to skip some of this for sake of time you know the bible's full of stuff that we should pray for you know i mean jesus in matthew chapter 24 you know said hey pray that your flight be not in the winter you know pray for you know if you're your uh new mom and you have to give suck during those days hey pray you know that your flight's not going to be on the winter uh or on the sabbath you know there's a lot of stuff to pray for right tribulations are coming and we need to know that there's no shortage of things that need to be prayed for matthew 26 41 we talked about this last week watch and pray that you enter not into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak and just realize that we all you know battle with the flesh you know so we ought not to compare ourselves among ourselves because the bible says it's not wise so don't ever look at me or look at somebody else and be like oh well i guess god's not gonna answer my prayers because i'm not just like them no you know my flesh is weak just as well as yours is but my spirit's willing and you say well i'm so bogged down in sin right now or whatever it is i don't think god's gonna hear me you know what your spirit is willing you may think you don't have the drive or the energy or the focus to do what god wants you to do but your spirit is willing and that's what jesus is telling us and for that reason we need to watch and pray that's how we started the sermon watch unto prayer why because things are coming on the earth that are horrific and we need to be the ones that are going to be strong we're going to suffer some trouble we're going to get some persecutions we might take some beatings but when the world sees us marching on and preaching and going forward just like paul did you know what they're going to be like you know there is something to that you know because not everybody in the end times is going to be reprobate there will always be people hanging in the balances and they're going to be looking at us to see how we deal with it i can tell you the create church and all these other bozos around here if they don't get their act together when this stuff happens the world's not going to look to them right all they're going to do is just cause more shame in fact to be honest with you by the time that this all comes down they're probably going to have balfamette statues up in their pulpit and just be worshipping the devil straight up i mean that that that's that's what i think so uh let's see here we will close with this here you don't have to turn there i'm going to read for you uh let's see here oh yeah i don't want to i don't want to miss this we did talk about this briefly last week listen to this john 16 26 it says at that day you shall ask in my name and and i say not unto you that i will pray for the father unto you for the father himself loveth you because you have loved me and have believed that i have come out from god so if anybody ever asks you well why don't we pray in jesus name well it's john 16 26 he says at that day you shall ask in my name we used to have somebody that come they came here and you all know who i'm talking about right that seemed to have an issue praying in jesus name that's a problem that's a big problem and don't ever let somebody tell you oh well you know we're just saying a bible we have to pray in jesus name john chapter 16 verse 26 ask in my name so just listen to this here last verse i've got for you romans 8 26 it says likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities so i'm not saying you're not going to be without help regarding your infirmities the spirit help with our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered so understand that the holy ghost does help you when you pray yeah we don't always know what and how to pray for but you know what the holy ghost does and he makes intercession for us it says and he that searches the hearts knoweth what is it the mind of the spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of god verse 28 and we know that all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are called according to his purpose so just realize that right that you have the holy spirit inside of you as a believer you have access to the father this is not something to be taken lightly and if you want your prayers to be effective you need to realize some things this morning right you need to realize first of all don't be asking god for things with an unstable mind because you're asking a miss don't be asking god for things that you could consume upon your lusts because you're asking a miss and don't be regarding iniquity in your heart because god will turn his ear away from you and last but not least don't make it a public show about prayer you know pray you know do these things fervently do them honestly and you're going to see a huge difference look we need to pray for this church all of us do we need to pray that god will soften the hearts of those who we're about to speak to the people out in this community they would come to church they would join us because we need help and this is the will of god by the way that's that you know the will is not just that uh that we would be saved but it's also that we would continue on in all things and the way we're going to do that is through prayer i know this isn't going to you know get us a bunch of views on youtube i don't care about that i care about us and how we're doing does everybody understand that this is important this will change your life i promise you let's power heads and have a word of prayer lord thank you so much for all this knowledge and wisdom that you've given us lord i just pray that everybody in here would take these things to heart lord and that you would continue to uh intercede for us lord and strengthen us and grow this church in jesus name i pray amen