imprisoned and he's going to
be executed. James had been put to death and
Herod wanted Peter put to death next when he saw how it had pleased
the people of Jerusalem. And so Peter's in prison and
we read in verse 5 of Acts chapter 12, Peter therefore was kept
in prison but prayer was made without ceasing of the church
unto God for him. Now, the only other time this
word translated without ceasing is used in the scripture, it
is fervently. The church was praying for Peter
fervently and without ceasing, and their prayer was answered.
We read in verse six, and when Herod would have brought him
forth the same night, This was the night before his execution.
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. Now, this was not his
nature. He was a very impetuous man and
a very emotional man. But here we read where the night
before his execution, he's sleeping like a baby between two soldiers. Now, why is that? The church
was praying for him. He didn't have this natural ease,
but the Lord answered the prayers of the church and there he lies
asleep the night before his execution. And then the Lord miraculously
delivered him in answer to the church's prayers. Let's go on
reading. Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains
and the keepers before the door kept the prisoners. And behold,
the angel of the Lord came upon him and a light shined in the
prison. And he smoked Peter on the side
and raised him up, saying, arise up quickly. And his chains fell
off from his hands. And the angel said unto him,
gird thyself and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he
saith unto him, cast thy garments about thee and follow me. And
he went out and followed him and wist not that it was true
that which was done by the angel. but thought he saw a vision.
He didn't know whether he was physically experiencing this
or seeing it all in a vision. He wasn't sure. When they were
passed the first and second ward, they came into the iron gate
that leaded them to the city, which opened to them of his own
accord. It just mysteriously opened. Well, not mysteriously,
the Lord opened it. The Lord opened it. No men helped,
the Lord opened it. And they went out and passed
on through one street and forthwith, the angel departed from him.
And when Peter was come to himself, he said, now I know of a surety
that the Lord has sent his angel and hath delivered me out of
the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people
of the Jews. Now the church is still praying
for him. They do not know at this time
that the prayers had been answered And when he'd considered the
thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose
surname was Mark, where many were gathering together, praying. Now this Mark is the Mark who
wrote the book of Mark. He was at Mark's mother's house. And this makes me think of family
mercy. Sometimes the Lord only saves one individual out of a
family, some, a couple, and sometimes whole families. The church is
praying at John Mark's mother's house, praying for Peter. Verse 13, and as Peter knocked
at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken named Rhoda.
She came to answer the door. And when she knew Peter's voice,
she saw their prayers had been heard. And she was very excited
and she was so excited, she didn't even open the door. She went
back to tell the church who was praying, our prayers have been
answered. Peter is here. Now let's go on reading. And
when she knew Peter's voice, she opened off the gate for gladness,
but ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate. Now this
is what they were praying for. This is what they desired to
see. And they said unto her, thou art mad. You're crazy. You're insane. We don't believe you. Now this
is what they were praying for. The Lord answers their prayer.
She comes to tell them Peter's out here. And they said, you're
mad. We don't believe that. But she
can constantly affirm that it was even so. Then said they,
it's his angel. It couldn't be him. It is his
angel. Now they pray for this very thing. The Lord answers their prayer
and they don't believe the Lord has answered their prayer. Now
to be quite frank, things were no different than today. This kind of illustrates the
way we are. We believe God answers prayer. I have no doubt I could say to
every believer listening, do you believe God answers prayer?
Oh yes, I believe God answers prayer. We believe he has the
power to do anything that he wills to be done We pray, he
does what we ask, and we cannot believe it. Isn't that just like
us? It couldn't be him, it must be
his angel. Verse 16, but Peter continued
knocking, and when they had opened the door and saw him, they were
astonished. They were amazed. They obviously
were not looking for their prayer to be answered. They were on
some levels, and on some level, they weren't. But he beckoning
unto them with a hand to hold their peace, declared unto them
how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said,
go show these things unto James and to the brethren. And he departed
and went into another place." Now, I would like to attempt
on saying something about prayer. I've entitled this message, Prayers
Made Without Ceasing. Now, when David described the
Lord, he said in Psalm 65 verse two, O thou that hearest prayer. What a name for our God. O thou
that hearest prayer. I wanna read you these words
from the Lord Jesus in John chapter 14. He said, beginning in verse
13, and he's saying to his disciples, whatsoever You shall ask in my
name. That will I do that the father
may be glorified in the son. If you shall ask anything in
my name, I will do it. Now you can't really understand
that without some understanding of the gospel. He hears prayer
for Christ's sake. We come in his name. We don't
come in our own name. We don't come pleading our own
merits. We don't come pleading our own
righteousness and say, Lord, hear this prayer because I'm
praying it. He hears prayer for his name's
sake. When we pray in his name, we
are saying, hear this prayer for his sake. Hear this prayer
as he presents it to you. It's the gospel in reality. Let me read you a passage of
scripture from Daniel chapter nine. This is Daniel praying.
And he says in verse three of Daniel chapter nine, and I set
my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications
with fasting and sackcloth and ashes, I've set my face to seek
the Lord by prayer. Now look what he says in verse
17 of this same chapter, after he's addressed the Lord. He says,
now therefore, oh our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and
his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary
that's desolate for the Lord's sake. Not for our sakes, for
the Lord's sake. Oh my God, incline thine ear
and hear. open thine eyes and behold our
desolations in the city which is called by thy name for we
do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses
but for thy great mercies. Oh Lord hear, oh Lord forgive,
oh Lord hearken and do defer not for thine own sake. Oh my God and for thy city and
thy people are called by thy name. Now I know that my prayer
can only be heard as Christ presents it to the father and he accepts
Christ and he accepts my prayer through his intercession. Prayer
is heard. Listen to this statement. This
is so important for us to understand. Prayer is heard for the same
reason that sin is forgiven. Why is sin forgiven? Ephesians
4.32, Paul said, be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. There's one reason that sin is
forgiven, for Christ's sake. And there's one reason that prayer
is heard, for Christ's sake. Now the church is gathered together,
praying for Peter. What is prayer? Well, it's many
things. First of all, it's the breath of life. It's the result
of spiritual life. Do you remember in Acts chapter
nine, when the Lord says to Ananias with regard to Paul, behold,
he prayeth. Now he'd gone through the motion
many times before, but he was like the Pharisee who stood and
prayed thus with himself. It wasn't true prayer, but now
he is actually praying to the living God. It's an acknowledgement
of the being and the character of God. It is dependence upon
God for all things. Paul said, be careful for nothing,
but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God. Prayer is asking the
Lord to do things for us that we cannot do. Prayer is worship. Prayer is praise. Prayer is praying
for others, intercession. The first time it's mentioned
is in Genesis chapter 20, verse seven, where God had told Abimelech,
you're a dead man for having Abraham's wife, Sarah. And he
said, well, I, I didn't mean to do it. I didn't know she was
his wife. And he said, I know you didn't
know he's your wife, but you're a dead man. I'm going to tell
Abraham, my servant, to pray for you, and then you'll live. Now, he said, he didn't say,
I'm going to have mercy on you. He said, I'm going to have Abraham
pray for you, and then you will live. Prayer is communion with
the living God, where through Christ, by his word, He speaks
to us and we are permitted through Christ to speak to him and to
cast all of our care upon him for he careth for us. And we're
even given this promise in Romans chapter eight, verse 26 about
the intercession of the spirit in our prayers. Paul said, we
know not what we should pray for as we ought and we don't. I never know what I should pray
for. We're so ignorant. We're so stupid.
We try to pray, we present our petitions in Christ's name, but
we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the spirit
itself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot
be uttered. The church was praying without
ceasing in fervency, and God answered their prayer. And when
he did, they didn't believe he did. Question. A question that comes to most
of us at one time or another is, if God is sovereign, why
pray? If God is sovereign, why pray? Well, first, what is meant by
God is sovereign? To say God is sovereign means
that he is in absolute control of everything. Now, let me repeat
that. To say that God is sovereign
is to say that he's absolutely in control of everything. You cannot take that too far.
If there's anything that he's not in control of, he's not sovereign. If you leave anything out and
say, well, God wasn't in control of that, then you are saying
that God is not sovereign. God is the cause of everything. He's the first cause of everything. I don't care what it is. He is
the cause of it. Now we're thinking about coronavirus. That's on everybody's mind, how
it's changed everybody's life at this point. Who's the cause
of the coronavirus? God. is the first cause of the
coronavirus. He's the cause of everything.
Now, there are secondary causes, there are tertiary causes, but
God is the first cause of everything. Listen to this scripture in Isaiah
chapter 45, beginning in verse five. The Lord says, I form the
light, I create darkness. This is Isaiah 45, seven. I form
the light, I create darkness. I make peace, I create evil,
I the Lord do all these things. Whatever happens is his will
being done. Daniel said in Daniel 4 35, he
doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven And among
the inhabitants of the earth, everything that's going on here
is his will being done and none can stay his hand. None can stop
him from doing his will or saying to him, what doest thou? Give
an account of yourself. He giveth no account of his matters.
He's God. He doesn't answer to me. He doesn't
answer to you. He's God. God never responds. Everything that's done in time
was decreed by him before time. Isaiah chapter 46 verse 9, remember
the former things of old for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there's none like
me. Declaring the end from the beginning. The end has already been declared
and it was declared from the beginning. Everything that happens
is what he decreed to happen. declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country,
yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass, I have
purposed it, I will also do it. everything. God is in absolute
control of all things. He never responds. He only acts. He never changes his mind. He
never changes anything. Everything has already been determined
by the sovereign God. God being sovereign is simply
God being God. Now, what are we to do? Submit. Be glad it's that way. I love what Eli said when Samuel
said, God's going to kill your two sons. It's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. When Shimei is cursing David
and Abishai says, let me go take his head off. David said, no. The Lord said, curse David. Whatever is happening He is in
control of. And I love that verse of scripture.
And we know, Romans 8, 28, and we know that all things, and
that covers a pretty big area, doesn't it? All things. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. What comfort
there is in that, that God is in absolute control. You know,
the only way you worship God is if you see that he is absolutely
sovereign and there's nothing you can do to get him to respond
to anything you do. He's God. He's in control. You'll only worship a sovereign
God. A God that is not absolutely
sovereign is a non-existent entity. God is God. Everything that takes
place in time is what he has decreed in eternity and that
will not be changed. Then why pray? If everything
is fixed and determined, why pray? Well, here's the first
reason because he tells us to. Luke 18 one, the Lord said, men
ought always to pray and not to faint. Prayer doesn't change
God, but it sure changes us. How we are blessed in being enabled
to pray. Why, when we pray, we're given
such peace, knowing he is in control. David said, with regard
to his prayer, therefore thy servant found that in his heart
to pray this prayer. You know, if you truly pray,
you know that the Lord put that prayer in your heart. You see,
God does what he does through the prayers of his people all
the time. He purposes something. He moves
his people to pray for what he purposes and he does it. Do you know if you're saved,
he moves somebody to pray for you. Somebody prayed for the
salvation of your soul and the Lord moved him to pray that prayer
because he intended to save you. God does what he does through
prayer. Now, I would like to read a passage
of scripture from Ezekiel chapter 36 that emphasizes this so powerfully. In Ezekiel chapter 36, He's making
all these promises of things that he will do. This is one
of those I wills and you shalls in the scripture. And we read
beginning in verse 25, he says, then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you and you shall be clean. I will, you shall. From all your filthiness and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you. A new spirit will I put within
you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I'll give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit
within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And you shall
keep my judgments and do them. And you shall dwell in the land
that I gave to your fathers and you shall be my people and I
will be your God. And I will also save you from
all your uncleanness. And I will call for the corn
and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. And I will
multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field
that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the
heathen. Then shall you remember your
own evil ways. When I do these things, this
is part of this covenant. Then shall you remember your
own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and you shall
loathe yourselves. I'm gonna do this and you're
gonna loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities
and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord, be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded
for your own ways, O house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God,
in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities,
I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste
shall be builded, and the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas
it lay desolate in the sight of all that pass by. And they
shall say, this land that was desolate has become like the
garden of Eden, and waste and desolate, and the ruined cities
have become fenced and inhabited. Then the heathen that are left
around about you shall know that I, the Lord, build the ruined
places. and plant that which was desolate. I the Lord have spoken it, I
will also do it. Now, we've read of all these
things the Lord says he will do. Now verse 37, thus saith
the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house
of Israel to do it for them. I'm going to sprinkle them with
clean water to cleanse them from their filthiness, and they're
going to ask me to do it. I'm going to give them a new
heart, and they're going to say, Lord, give me a new heart. Mine's
no good. All these things he says that
I'm going to do for my people, they will ask me to do it for
them. Now, whenever the Lord intends
to do something for you, he's gonna cause you to ask for him
to do this. Now, here's another example from
the scripture. In Romans 9, verse 11, we read for the children,
talking about Jacob and Esau, being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to
election, might stand not of works, But of him that calleth,
it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it's
written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now these
kids were not yet born. Is there any doubt that they
were going to be born? God called them by name, set
his love on one, his hatred on another, according to his irreprehensible
justice, whatever he does is right. They're not born, they're
going to be born. And you know what Isaac did?
Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren. Now there's no doubt that these
two boys are going to be born, but Isaac and goes and prays
for Rebecca that these two boys will be born. God determined
they would be born. He determined their end and he
moved Isaac to pray for the birth of these boys because their mother
had been barren and had been unable to have children. Now, if my belief in God's sovereignty
causes me to not pray, what's the use? I've not really understood
God's sovereignty. I'm nothing more than a fatalist
waiting for fate to take place. That is not believing God's sovereignty. Now, I want to read a passage
of scripture that I think is so beautiful in Luke chapter
18. I've already quoted the first
verse, but the Lord said this in Luke chapter 18, verse one,
and he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always
to pray. There's your encouragement. And
I love the way he says men. He doesn't say believers. He
says men. Well, I'm one of them. And he
spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always
to pray and not to faint, not to lose heart, not to give up,
saying, there was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither
regarded man. And there was a widow in that
city. And she came unto him saying, avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while. She came and he turned a deaf
ear to what she said. But afterward, he said within
himself, though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming
she weary me. Now, the Lord gives us a parable
to let us know to continually come and ask for that which we
desire in prayer. The Lord gave a very similar
illustration of this in Luke chapter 11 when he was teaching
his disciples to pray. And he makes this statement in
Luke chapter 11. After telling us how to pray,
he said unto them, which of you shall have a friend and shall
go unto him at midnight and say unto him, friend, lend me three
loaves. Now, how are you going to? respond if somebody comes
and knocks at your door at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves
of bread from you. I would say you would get just about as upset
as this fellow got. For a friend of mine has come
in his journey, and I have nothing to say before him. And he from
within shall answer and say, trouble me not. The door is now
shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give
thee. The rudeness of this man for
knocking on his door to get bread. I say unto you, Though he will
not rise and give him because he's his friend, yet because
of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. His shameless persistence. That means after the man said
no, he continued knocking, I need these three bread, these three
loaves of bread, no. Well, he continued knocking,
I need these three loaves, no. Finally, he said, I'm going to
go crazy if I don't get rid of this guy. He gave him everything
he needed. And the Lord is encouraging us
to pray, to be shamelessly, keep on asking, opportunity,
shamelessly, importunity, shameless persistence in asking. Now, somebody
says, well, what's the point if we believe that God is sovereign
and nothing's gonna be changed by our prayers? He says to do
it. And you don't know what the Lord is going to do through your
prayers. You don't know what his sovereign purpose is anyway.
And the thing to do is ask him to do something for you. Now,
I love the passage in James chapter five, where James is speaking
of Elijah praying. And he says in verse 17, Elijah
was a man subject to like passions as we are. And passions are not
good things. He was subject to weakness. He
was subject to fear. He was subject to depression.
Look at the way he responded when Jezebel said, I'm gonna
take off his head, the way he feared and fled for his life.
He was a man just like us, subject to the same fears, the same unbelief
that we are. And he prayed earnestly that
it might not rain. You know who put that prayer
in his heart? The Lord put that prayer in his heart for the accomplishment
of his purposes. 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. Now both those times, the Lord
purposed to do something. He put the prayer in the heart
of Elijah, a man of like passions as us. He's no different than
me or you. He prayed, the Lord put that prayer in his heart
And the Lord answered that prayer, both when he prayed for it not
to rain and when he prayed for it to rain. I believe that prayer actually
lets us know what a believer really is. Now, this is a gospel
issue. This is not just how to get the
stuff you want. No, we're not talking about that
at all. thing of prayer shows us what a true believer really
is. Now I want to go into Matthew
chapter 6 about where the Lord teaches us to pray in Matthew
chapter 6 and we read beginning in verse 5, when thou prayest,
this is the Lord speaking of prayer to his disciples, when
thou prayest, not if you pray, Every believer prays. If somebody
doesn't pray, they don't have the Spirit of God in them. They
don't have life in them. Every believer prays. When thou
prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say
unto you, they have their reward. I can't help but thinking about
People praying in restaurants, they bow their head and they
start praying. And you can't pray when you're doing that.
You can only truly pray in your closet or when you're with other
believers in a church service praying. But going into a restaurant,
what am I doing? I'm praying to be seen of men.
I'm showing them how courageous I am and how I'll pray no matter
whether people make fun of me or feel uncomfortable with me.
That's praying to be seen of men. And the Lord forbids us
to do that. Don't pray to be seen of men,
but thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
you shut your door, pray to thy father, which is in secret, and
thy father, which seeth in secret, shall ward thee openly. But when
you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think
that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore
like unto them, for your father knoweth what things you have
need of before you ask him." Isn't that wonderful? My father
knows what I need before I even ask him. Now, after this manner,
therefore, pray thee. Our father. Not just my father. Our father. A believer is a member
of this great group, our. Those who are in Christ. Those united to Christ. Our father. Not just my father. Our Father. Our Father. A believer is a child of God. Our, a member of the great company
of God's elect, all believers, a child of God. Our Father, who
art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Holy is thy name. Now his name means his attributes.
His name is his sovereignty. His name is his power. His name
is his grace. His name is his justice. His
name is his eternality. Whatever attribute there is of
God is described by his name. And a believer is someone who
worships him for who he is. Hallowed. Holy is thy name. Everything about you is altogether
glorious. A believer is a worshiper. He's
a member of that great group, our, he's a child of God, and
he's one who worships God. And then we read in verse 10,
thy kingdom come. A believer is a subject of that
great kingdom of which Christ is the king of kings and the
Lord of lords. And then he says, thy will be
done. When you pray, pray this prayer,
thy will be done. A believer is somebody who from
the very depths of their heart, they want the Lord's will to
be done. Not my will. You know, I don't
want my will to be done. I know what will happen to me
if my will's be done. It'll end up destroying me. Not my will,
but thy will be done. Whatever your will is, that's
what I want. That's the heart cry and desire
of every believer. Thy will be done in earth as
it is in heaven. Verse 11. Give us this day our
daily bread. A believer is someone who's totally
dependent upon the Lord for all things, even his daily bread.
And forgive us our debts. A believer's a sinner. He knows
he can't come into God's presence without confessing his sins,
saying, Lord, forgive me of my sins. Forgive me of my debts. There's no time in your experience
as a believer when you can come into God's presence and not have
to pray this prayer. Forgive me of my sins. Forgive
me of my debts. I'm a sinner before you. As we
forgive our debtors, not only as a believer who prays for forgiveness
and who is forgiven, but he's somebody who forgives. He actually
says, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And this
is the only part of the prayer that the Lord made any commentary
on. He said in verse 14, for if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly father will forgive you. But if you forgive not men
their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. Oh, forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors. And then he says in verse 13,
lead us not into temptation. I'm so weak that if I'm tempted,
I'll fall. And I ask that I might not even
be tempted because I know where it'll go if I am. So deliver
me from being tempted, but deliver us from evil. Deliver me from
the evil of myself. Deliver me from the evil of the
world. Deliver me from the evil one. I can't deliver myself from
evil. Deliver us from evil. And then he says, for thine is
the kingdom. This is what we're to say. We're
to acknowledge this. We acknowledge this of the Lord. Thine is the kingdom. You're
the king. Your will is done. Thine is the power. Power belongeth
to the Lord. We acknowledge that. We don't
know man has any power and he has all power. And thine is the
glory. All glory goes to you forever. Amen. So we see in that simple
prayer, that profound prayer that the Lord gives us to pray.
When we pray to him who decrees and controls all things, we see
what a believer really is. Now I love what Paul said in
Philippians chapter four, verses six and seven. I hope this will
be helpful to all of us. He said, in everything, by prayer
and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God. And then
he makes this statement, and the peace of God, which passeth
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Now that word surpass, that doesn't
mean that the peace of God is un-understandable. You know,
Ephesians 2.14 says He is our peace. I understand that. He is our peace, our only peace. Colossians 1.20 says, having
made peace through the blood of His cross. I understand that
the only reason that God is at peace with me and I'm at peace
with Him is because of the sacrifice, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Having been justified by his glorious work, having been justified,
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when Paul says the peace
of God that passes understanding, he doesn't say it's just this
nebulous feeling that we have that we don't have any understanding
of. He said, he says, peace surpasses, is better than understanding.
Now here's a real concrete example. I do not understand what God
is doing with the coronavirus. I don't have to understand. I
have peace because he's doing it and he is in control and having
this peace is better than understanding a thing. The peace of God that
is better, that surpasses Understanding. I don't have to understand something,
but knowing God reigns, I have peace. Now here's some great
biblical prayers. We're talking about prayers,
praying to God. Listen to this one. Lord, save me. That's a
great prayer, isn't it? What about this? God, be merciful
to me, thee, sinner. That's a great prayer. And this,
the will of the Lord be done. Now, I hope the Lord will enable
us to pray and not be so unbelieving the way the church was in Acts
chapter 12. The believers praying for Peter,
he's gonna answer your prayer. It might be with a yes, it might
be with a no, but if he says no, it's for your good and his
eternal glory. And however he answers is best. And we have this assurance. If
God be for us. Who can be against us? Oh, what peace we have through
our Lord Jesus Christ, the joy and peace of believing. Let's
pray together. Lord, how we thank you for the
privilege, the grace, of being able to pray to you and make
our requests being made known to you. And to know that you
know what we need and we ask that you would give us what we
need. We don't know what all we need, but we do know we need
thy son. And we need the salvation that's
in him. And Lord, cause us to pray always
and not to faint, knowing that you're in control. Forgive us
of our sins for Christ's sake and bless this message for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray, amen.