and in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. But we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness,
or wicked spirits in high or heavenly places. Take unto you
the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate
of righteousness, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace, Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And
take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. Praying always, with all prayer
and supplication, in the Spirit. and watching thereunto, or in
prayer, with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints. And for me, praying for me that
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which Paul says,
I am an ambassador in bonds or in prison. Pray for me that therein
I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." Tonight's message
concludes this thing of the armor of God. I hope you have received
something of a blessing from it. I sure couldn't leave off
this important part here in verses 18 through 20, prayer. I have continually, over and
over again, quoted what our Lord said when he said, Without me,
you can do nothing. Nothing without me. So that makes
prayer doubly important, doesn't it? Because what is prayer but calling on Christ for help?
calling on our Heavenly Father. That's what prayer is, principally,
chiefly, as well as thanksgiving. And then calling on our Captain,
the Captain of our salvation, to help us, to fight for us,
to arm us. We're talking about this armory,
and we need him to arm us. We need to have him girt us with
the truth and put on us this breastplate and shod our feet
and so forth. So that's what prayer is, the
principle. It's to call on him without whom we can do nothing.
Right? You understand that? You understand
the importance of prayer. And it's no wonder that we are
exhorted throughout the scriptures this same thing. Pray always. Pray without ceasing. Don't quit. Keep on. And as I quoted to you
from Luke 18, Our Lord gave that parable that men ought always
to pray. Now, we've looked at this subject
of prayer several times together, since I've been here, and will
several more times, the Lord willing, because it's such an
important subject. Prayer. This is an important subject,
and I've got a book in my library that's called The Philosophy
of Prayer. It has some good things in it, but prayer is not a philosophy. It's the breath of a believer. It's the life breath of a believer. Prayer is the communication of
a Christian with his Christ. That's what prayer is. Prayer
is the communication of a Christian with his Christ. The Word of
God is the communication of Christ with the Christian. The Word of God is the communication
of Christ with his followers. Prayer is our communication with
him. You see? This is how he speaks
to us. He doesn't speak to us audibly
in prayer. In other words, when we pray
to him, he doesn't answer us out loud, he answers us through
this. This is how he speaks to us. Well, how do we speak to
him? Prayer. Prayer. All right, we
need this. I need this, and I know you do,
too. Two main points to this message,
and we're going to look at it through these verses. Two main
points. Number one, the manner of prayer,
and number two, the matter of prayer. the manner and the matter
of prayer. This manner of prayer, look at
it again, verse 18. Paul says, "...praying always."
The frequency of the manner of prayer is frequent. Men ought always to pray, pray
without ceasing, it says. Be instant, Paul said in another
place, in prayer. Be instant. That means always
be about it, instantly praying. Now, this is a foreign subject
to an unregenerate person. I'm not talking to them, but
this is a foreign subject. This is really a foreign subject
to a mere professor of religion. To the true child of God now,
one who is acquainted with the person of Christ, one who knows
this person, he'll be talking to them. He'll just be talking
to them. The mere formalist of religion
will go about his little form of prayer, but the child of God
will be daily talking to his Lord. The true child of God will
be walking in the Spirit, talking to his Lord. It's his natural
strength. In a way, you can't teach this. Instead of saying, Rick, why
can't you teach this? But it's necessary nonetheless.
It's as natural as birth to the child of God, talking with his
Heavenly Father. It's not duty, it's not a chore,
it's not a ceremony. It's a heartfelt desire, and
it's instinctive, spiritually instinctive. The frequency says
we ought to always, and that means just what it says. So that brings me to the next
point, the manner of prayer. In order for us to pray always,
that certainly means we can't be on our knees all the time,
doesn't it? something other than the posture
that we're in. Right? It must be something other
than the posture that we're in. In order to pray always, it must
have something to do with other than the posture, the position,
or the method that we use. So what does prayer really have
to do with? good for you." One of the men
mouthed, The heart, the heart, the heart. One old writer said, It's better
to have a prayer without words than words without heart. Or
a heart without words than words without heart. You see, the form
is not that important, really. The form that prayer takes is
not that important, except maybe in private. We saw that in our
study in the book of Acts, how they did get on their knees at
times, but I don't think we need to make a big show. As a matter
of fact, our Lord, we're going to see that in Matthew 6, where
he warned us to make sure we don't do this thing of prayer
to be seen. But the form is not important,
but the heart is. Oh, the heart is. The heart sure
is. And really, words aren't that
important. The words we use are not that important, except we're
not asked to consume things on our list. Turn over to Romans
8 with me. Words are not that important. Words are not that important,
but the heart is. You know, I believe a man can
come in the name of Christ without using it. Huh? It must be so, because the
opposites, every time somebody uses in the name of Jesus, that
doesn't mean they're coming in the name of Christ, does it?
Huh? That man who truly is trusting Christ and leaning to him and
looking to him and looking for his acceptance with God based
on Christ alone, that's how he comes every time. He might forget
the mouth of those words. Probably won't. But he might. Does that mean he's not coming
in the name of Christ? No. So you see, words aren't
that necessarily important, are they? If we feel like we have
to say the same word, that's using vain repetitions, isn't
it? All right, words are not that
important, but this is. The reason words are not that
important is look at Romans 8, verse 26. The Spirit helps our
infirmities, but we know not what we should pray for as we
ought. James said that at times we ask
amiss. We pray for something terrible,
and we just shouldn't have prayed for that. Now, what he means
there, we ask the mess to consume it on our own lot. We don't know
why your children, all their lives, have asked you for things
that they didn't need. Right? They come to you, and
you hear them, but you don't necessarily grant that request.
Right? We're the same. We don't know
what we should pray for. We don't. But the Spirit does.
He knows, and he makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. And God, who searches the hearts
and knows the heart, he knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
because he makes intercession for the saints according to the
will of God. And like little children, we
don't always know what to ask for. So it's more important that
we just ask. that we call upon our Father
and we come to him to communicate, he'll teach us in time and he'll
answer it. In the text, it says, keep your
place for the Romans, Abe. Look at the text again. Here's
the manner of prayer. It says, Pray in all ways, with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. See that? Praying in the Spirit. What does that mean, praying
in the Spirit? This is the manner in which we
are to pray. I've already said, from the heart, haven't I? Christ
said that in John 3. He said true worshipers worship
the Father in spirit and in truth, or from the heart, in sincerity.
This thing of the Holy Spirit is what he's talking about, capital
S. Notice that? It's a capital S there. The Holy
Spirit. What does that mean? We'll turn
back to Romans 8 again. Praying in the Holy Spirit here,
what he's talking about is praying under the influence of the Holy
Spirit, or with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. We just read
that. Under the influence, or with
the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Now, what does that mean? How
is that? Well, and this is very, very
important. The scriptures say things like
this, don't grieve the Holy Spirit, quench not the Spirit, doesn't
it? You've read those. You've heard
them. Grieve not the Holy Spirit, quench not the Spirit. That means
don't ignore his leadings. Don't ignore his leadership. We certainly can't do that and
then start asking for things if we ignore him like a child
would ignore the leadership of their parent, the teaching of
their parents, and then go asking for things. Don't think that
that man will receive anything. That's a double-minded thing.
Don't think you'll receive anything of the Father. David said in
Psalm 66, listen to this, Psalm 66, verse 18, he said, If I regard
iniquity in my heart, thou wilt not hear me." Have you ever read
that? Nancy, have you ever read that?
What that means here, that doesn't mean that we're always going
to be sinners. We always come as sinners, just
as I am, without one plea. We're sinners. In my hands, no
price I bring simply to We always come to Christ, come to God as
sinners. It's not like we need to cleanse
our heart from all sin. We can't do it. It says, don't regard iniquity
in your heart, and the Lord won't hear you. That means that I shouldn't
have a mind, a heart, and a desire toward some evil thing, and then
a mind, a heart, and a desire toward some evil thing. immediately
expect the Lord to be waiting at my beckoning call. See what
he's saying there? Do you understand that? To have my mind, my heart, my
desires set toward some evil thing, quenching the spirit,
ignoring the spirit, grieving the spirit, have my mind and
my heart on something I know, I don't need it, it's wrong for
me, yet keep asking the Lord. Don't expect to be heard. Romans
8. The Lord said, How much more
shall the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask him? We're talking about praying in the Spirit, aren't
we? He says, How much more shall
the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him? James said, You have not because you I know what we need. We need to pray in the Spirit,
we need the Holy Spirit, we need the assistance and leadership
of the Holy Spirit. Let's read it, then. We should
seek the Holy Spirit. Read on, verse 5, Romans 8. They
that are after the flesh do mine of things of the flesh, proclaiming. Those that are in
the flesh, that's what they're after. At that time, we get in
the flesh, too, and that's what we're after. And he says that
we are to mortify the members of the flesh, the
deeds of the flesh, and so forth. But David, after the Spirit,
what are you after? What is it you're after? Leadership and
guidance, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the things of the
Spirit. What do you want? Things of the
Spirit. What are the things of the Spirit? I immediately thought
of this. Yes, that's right, John. This
side's doing well. John, see, I thought about this.
You don't have to turn. You thought about it, I'm sure.
John 16, it is. Christ said when the Holy Spirit
has come, he says that he will guide you into all truth and
not speak of himself. Whatever he shall hear, that
shall he speak. He will show you things to come. He'll take the things of mine. So what things of the Spirit
are they? They're either at the Spirit.
Do you mind the things of the Spirit, or the things of the
Spirit? Things of Christ. Things that have to do with knowing
Christ, winning Christ. That's what Paul said. I'm getting ahead of myself. Read on down through here, verse
11. Now, it's the Holy Spirit of God. that raised up Christ from the
dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Holy Spirit that dwelleth
in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh
to live after the flesh. We die daily. We must be dying
to the appetites of the flesh. If you live after the flesh,
you'll die. If that's what you're after, you'll die with it. But
if you through the Holy Spirit and leadership of the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. As many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Is that
what you want? So what should we be praying
for? Leadership of the Holy Spirit, shouldn't we? Lord, help me,
lead me, guide me, make intercession for me, dear Holy Spirit. Make
intercession for me, the things that I should pray as I ought. You follow me, you're with me.
This is important, this is so vital. So to be in the Spirit,
to be in the Spirit is to have the things of Christ on your
mind. Paul said, was Paul in the Spirit? Paul said, here's
what I want, here's what I want, here's what I'm going to pray
for. that I might win Christ and be found in him, that I might
know him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his second.
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead, I'm going to press," he said, toward that mark, the prize,
the high calling of God in Christ. Barbara, that's the things, that's
the things that we need to desire, don't we? That's the things we
need to be about. That's the thing. So if we really
desire to be in fellowship with our God and be heard by him,
learn of him, know Christ, learn of him, pray for the Holy Spirit's
leadership and his guidance. Now back to the text again. That's
what it means to pray in the Spirit. Did you get anything
there? Huh? Did you get anything out
of that? Pray in the Spirit, pray always? Pray in spirit,
under leadership, guidance and direction of the Spirit. I've already said this in principle,
but we must certainly always come to God. When we pray, the
veil is drawn where we can come into the holiest of holies. You
know what Hebrews 9 talked about? We have access, free access. Hebrews 10, as little children,
we've been given the spirit of adoption whereby we can come
unto the Holy God and call him Father, call upon him. Christ
said, he hears you, he's your Father, call upon him. Come on
in with boldness. with a heart with full assurance
of faith. Come on in. We're not coming
to Mount Sinai that's burning and shaking and says, do not
come, stay away. We're coming to Christ God who
says, come, come, come unto me. Come, we can come. But we dare
not come without blood. We're coming in the holiest of
holy, but not without blood. We never come That means without
faith in Christ, looking to him, an eye to him, faith in him,
pleading his blood and his righteousness with his mind. And that in the
name of Christ. You remember how many times our
Lord said that? That whatsoever ye ask the Father
in my name, and what that means is to have the mind of Christ.
What was the mind of Christ? Well, Christ said, Not my will,
but thy will. Didn't he? His will and his mind
were to the glory of God. Oh, this is what I want. I'll
just be honest with you, dear Lord, this is what I want, but
nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. I don't want
what is not chiefly for your glory and my good and the good
of others. That was my other point along
that line. The name of Christ is to pray for the good of others
and your own spiritual good. This brings me to my second point,
the matter of prayer. Look over Philippians chapter
4, just a few pages. Philippians 4, the matter of
prayer, what to pray for, what we're to pray for. What are we to pray for? What are we to pray about? Look
at Philippians 4, verse 6. It says, Be not careful, or be
not full of anxious care about anything. Be careful for nothing,
or full of anxious care about anything, but concerning everything,
take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Tell it to
him, the psalm says. Tell it to him. Cast all your
care upon me, Christ said. I care for you. Cast it all upon
me. Every bit, every little thing.
It's not little, a thing. Cast it all upon him. He cares
for nothing but in everything. See the sense there? In everything,
by prayer and supplication. Make your request, and with thanksgiving,
let your request be made known unto God. So, we come to God,
what are we to pray about? Everything. Everything. In everything. As our little children, we encourage
our little children to come to us in everything, don't we? Huh?
That's when they get in trouble, is when they keep something to
themselves, and they start mulling and mulling their mind, they're
going to take, and they kind of clam up, you know, and so
forth. We encourage them to come to
us about everything. Just ask, talk to me. Honey,
talk to me. Talk to me. I'll understand you.
I might not give you what you're asking for. I might not tell
you what you want to hear, but talk to me. Okay? Talk to me. Relationships break down and
communication doesn't. So in everything, We can come
to our God with everything, and should. Now turn over to Matthew
6. What are we to pray about? Everything.
How should we pray? Matthew 6, our Lord gives both
the manner and the matter prayer here in Matthew 6, and we've
looked at this together. Let's look at it again. Like
I said, the disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray, and so he does
here. He does here in Matthew 6. Look
at verse 5. Christ says, Now when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are. They love to pray standing in
the synagogues and in the corner of the streets. that they may
be seen of men. Truly, I say unto you, they have
a reward. He said in verse 1, you take
heed, you beware, you go to extremes to be careful not to do what
you do to be seen of men. He said some people like to be
seen praying. He said don't you do it. Thou
shalt not be like those hypocrites, they love to pray." I take very
literally verse 6, he says, when you pray, get in your closet. That doesn't mean necessarily
literally, although that's a pretty private place, but it does mean
be by yourself. I take that quite literally,
don't you? That's what he's saying here. And when you shut the door, you
pray to your Father in secret, not to be seen. Well, how are
those people going to know I'm a Christian if I don't pray? And you're praying to be seen
by them, aren't you? Huh? There's only one person you want
to see you pray, and that's God. Right? And more importantly,
you want him to hear you. You want him to hear you. And if the Father which feedeth
and speaketh, he will reward thee openly." Now, this thing
of public prayer, men, listen up, you men that lead in public
prayer, this thing of public prayer is vital and it's important.
The scriptures are full of it. We've seen through the book of
Acts how they prayed together, not simultaneously, but led in
prayer. This thing of public prayer is
vital, and it's scriptural, and it's important. Do you get a
blessing out of public prayer? When somebody leads in prayer,
do you? Somebody's got to do it, don't
they? I know the Lord blesses men And I've heard women pray at
the table. At the table, that's where they're
permitted to pray there. There's nothing in scripture
that says they can't. But I've been blessed greatly
by men and women who have been led by the Spirit to pray for
me, for us. Haven't you? So public prayer is vital, and
it's scripture, and it's important. So I exhort you not to shrink
from this. We all do. I see you. If I hesitate for five seconds
after reading the scriptures or something, everybody gets
nervous. Is he going to call on me? Remember
I said, I know it. I used to say, what? And consequently,
I never did look up at the preacher. After the last song, or before
the office tour, I wouldn't look up. He'd have to just mow me
down, shake him. Look up here. Come here. Nobody wants to lead in prayer.
Anybody that does doesn't need to. Anybody that wants to lead
in prayer, his prayer won't bounce off the ceiling. He doesn't need
to be up there. But, men, don't shrink from it.
Don't shrink from it. Have you been blessed by Brother
Henry's prayer time? Have you? Have you been blessed
by Brother Rick's prayer time? Have you? Have you been blessed
by Brother Joe's prayer time? I have. Brother Stan and other
men. Sure. Don't shrink from it, men. Don't shrink from it. Don't despise
a day of small things. If I ask you at a whim, at a
venture, if I shoot an arrow at a venture and it hits you,
you can be sure that God Almighty ordained you to pray before the
foundation of the world. And he'll give you the words
to say, and it'll be a blessing to somebody. Let me say this
to you, men, before I get off the subject. If you're going
to lead in public prayer, and this needs to be said, if you're
going to lead in public prayer, if you're praying for everybody,
it goes without saying, everybody needs to be able to hear you,
don't they? We need that. We're praying for
everybody. We're not trying to be heard
or seen, but yet everybody's got to hear us. to enter into
what we're saying, right? If we're praying for everybody,
speak up. That's just a little exhortation
needed. The matter of prayer. Look at
verses 7 through 10. Our Lord gives the matter here,
and he says, when you pray, don't use vain repetitions. We can't
help this. We do. the motions of it. Sometimes
I just think, I don't want to say the same thing over and over
again. You know, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you know, we're such
ritual, traditional people, aren't we? It's better to have a heart
without words than words without heart. That's the part of time
when I have the most trouble, because I find myself using vain
repetition. Don't you? Well, he says, don't do that.
Don't use vain repetitions as the heathen do. They think that
they should be hurried for they are much speaking. I used to
study Hinduism. They chanted things over and
over again, just the same thing over and over again. I guess
they thought they would drive God crazy and he would have to
answer them or something. Seriously. They would drive their
little peanut God crazy. That's what they do. He'd say
the same thing over and over again, over and over again, over
and over again. Chant, chant, chant. Well, he didn't say, don't
do that, don't do that. It's the reason my pastor in
his wisdom, many years of wisdom, he said this thing of being everybody
praying one right at the other, everybody praying together. He
said, what do you think we're doing, ganging up on God? Huh? That's pretty good advice, isn't
it? If Stan has something to tell me, and Joe and Stan get
together, and Steve and Charles back there get together and want
to tell me something, they don't all have to come up to me and
say, All at the same time, talk to me, do they? Just delegate
Stan. Have Stan come to me and say
it, right? Is that good enough? That's what this thing of holy
prayer is all about. If one man is delegated, go to
God for us, by the way. ask his blessings for you. That
make sense? I don't know where that old habit
came from, that all right, let's all pray, wabba-jabba-jabba-jabba-jabba.
Or about ten men pray until everybody is fast asleep. One good prayer. It might just
be a couple of good words, right? Lord bless us. Amen. Isn't that
good enough? What more needs to be said? Our
Lord says this needs to be said. Read on, verse 7 through 10.
He says, verse 8, don't be like them. Your Father knows what
things you have need of before you ask. Verse 9, this is the
manner, therefore pray ye after this manner. Our Father which
art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Worship. You don't come
rushing in, asking, asking, asking. The first thing you do is thank,
praise and worship. I think if you do a little bit
of praising and worshiping and thanking, you might even forget
to ask, realizing you have so much as it is. Hey, I don't need
anything else. Amen. What was it I was going
to ask? But there are times when it's
desperate. We don't come to God like he's
some good buddy or flippant little . . . we don't talk to him like
we would our neighbor or, you know, Jesus, like he's our good
buddy. We're talking to the Lord of
glory here. We come reverently and respectfully and fearfully
to fear the Lord's beginning of wisdom. That's how we'll approach
him, fearfully but confidently. And with boldness, or that is,
expecting him to hear it, but do it fearfully or he won't hear
you. Right? Our Father, holy is thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done. Pray for his will, his power
in earth as it is in heaven. Read these verses through with
me, not out loud, but just read them all. Give us this day our
daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation. deliver us from evil. For thine
is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
What do you notice about that? There's one word in there more
than any other. Do you notice it? Smallest word in there. Smallest word in there. Smallest
word in there. That's key to everything he said.
Us. Not me, me, me, me, me, my, my, my, my, my. Give me, me,
me, me, me. Us. Intercessory prayer. That's what he's talking about
here. Intercessory prayer. Back to Ephesians 6, and you'll
see why I went to Matthew 6. And he said there in Matthew
6, he says, If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will forgive you. If you forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses."
He says, pray for others. Look at the text here in Ephesians
6, verse 18. Pray always with all prayer,
that is, praying about everything, supplication in the Spirit and
in his leadership, watching thereunto, always about this thing of prayer
with all perseverance. And supplication for all Saints. See that? Supplication for all
Saints. Intercessory prayer. That's what
the Lord blesses. Do you know that's the type of
prayer that he blesses more than any other? Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who took upon himself
the form of a servant. He never prayed anything for
himself. One time. Don't you recall just one time,
Jeanette, him praying for himself in the scriptures? Huh? Father,
it will be thy will, let this cup pass from it. Nevertheless.
The rest of the time, who was he praying for? Others. His disciples. And he said, the
Father always hears me. Now, are you listening? The Father
always hears me and grants my request. What are you praying
about, Lord? I'm praying for others. You know, this is just the Lord's
way of doing things. He'll bless you when you pray
to bless others. That's just the way he is. That's
the way he does things. He'll bless you when you pray
for the blessings of others. Now, you don't do it for that
reason, but that's just the way it is.
Lord, bless this man. He has needs. Lord, this man is in need. The
Lord will give you an abundance so you can meet that need. That's just the way he does things. Intercessory prayer. I just gave
you the best illustration of our Lord himself. He never prayed
for himself. He prayed for others, and the
Father always heard him. always heard it. That was well-pleasing
to him, well-pleasing to the Father. That's to have the mind of Christ.
And he says, for all saints, all saints, do you see that?
All saints. The Church everywhere. We're
not to play favorites. We're not to play favorites. We pray for the Church everywhere. Don't pray for our little group
here and forget about it. We're one body, and that just
doesn't mean us here. It means the Church in Danville,
the Church in Crossville, the Church in Cottageville, the Church
in wherever, right? In Cherokee. We pray for them,
too, everywhere. Listen now, if you haven't been
with me, wake up. Read verses 19 and 20 with me
now, this is all important, and I'll quit. Paul says about this thing of
Perry, he says, Now pray for me, that utterance may be given unto
me, that I may open my mouth boldly. to make known the mystery
of the gospel, that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." Perhaps the most important form
of intercessory prayer that you should practice is prayer for
the preacher. Do you listen to me? Perhaps
the most important form of intercessory prayer, the one you should pray
for the most is the preacher. I'll tell you why. I'm not talking
about my needs, my material needs. That's not what I'm talking about.
That's not what I'm talking about here at all. But to pray for
the preacher that he might have the Lord's leadership, guidance,
direction, wisdom, unction, the word of God upon him, a word
from God to you. Now, listen to me. What things do you desire the
most? In all honesty, what do you want the most? You parents that have young children,
do you want the salvation of your children? Can't you say
that more than anything on this earth other than probably more
than even your own salvation. You desire their salvation. Jeanette,
how are your children going to be saved? Through hearing the gospel. Huh? Where are they going to hear
it? Right here. Pray for me, Jeanette. Do you
see how important that is? What do you want more than anything
else? Deborah, do you want faith? For
what I believe, help my unbelief. Lord, increase our faith. Where
does faith come from, Deborah? The Word, hearing. Faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Look over Romans 10 with me,
and I'll quit with this. Romans 10, and I'll quit. What else do you desire more
than anything else, Dickie? What do you desire more than
anything else? Faith? Can you say this from the bottom
of your heart, you want to grow in grace and knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ? No? Where does that come from? Preaching of the I venture to say that everybody
in here gets more out of these services than you do your own
private studies, do you? Your own private scripture reading
and so forth and worship, don't you? I know it's so with me. That's just the way the Lord
is. He blesses his people in a congregation
where two or three are gathered. personally at times, but we're
sheep, and sheep are gregarious. They congregate, and that's when
the Lord, see, he gets more glory that way, doesn't he? He gets
more glory. You can't just, Barbara, in the
privacy of your home, you see his glory. Well, God gets more
glory and more people see it. Right? to see the glory in my little
study down there, big study down there, and sometimes slip that
high off the seat. Well, it's just not for me. Y'all need to see it with me,
right? We see it together. God gets more glory that way.
Everybody sees his glory that way. Romans 10, we grow in grace
and it comes chiefly through the preached word. Romans 10,
verse 13, it says, "...whose service shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved." How are they going to call on
him who they do not believe? You're going to have to hear
somebody preach him as Lord. You've got to hear the right
one preach, Teresa. A lot of them out there saying Lord, and
they're not preaching him as Lord. They're saying Lord, Lord
with their lips, and they're not preaching him as Lord. You
want to hear it go where somebody is preaching him as Lord, high
and lifted up, and you're in his hand. If you ever hear somebody
preach like you, if you see him as he is, you'll believe. That's
the Lord. How are they going to believe
in him when they're not heard? They're not going to believe
if they don't hear him preach. How shall they hear without a
preacher? Verse 15. How shall they preach except
they be sent? How could a man do this, except
God laid it on his heart? I've done it too many times when
he hasn't, and there's anywhere I'd rather be than here. And you've been here, too, when
he wasn't here, and you'd rather be somewhere else. But there
are times when you know he has been here, and you wouldn't want
to be anywhere So pray, pray, pray, always, our text said. Pray from the heart, pray from
the heart. Pray with a mind to the Spirit's
help. Lord, send your Spirit. Pray
about everything. Don't withhold anything. Pray
it all. Come naked before God. Pray about everything. Open up.
Pray for others. Pray for others. The Lord bless
you. Pray for the preacher. The Lord
bless you. So, brethren, take the whole
armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand. Stand, your lawns girt with truth,
the breastplate of righteousness, your feet shod with the gospel
of peace. Above all, take the shield of
faith, take the helmet of salvation. sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God, and pray always. And all that is talking about
is pointing us to Christ, without whom we can do nothing.