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We'll begin our Sunday morning service by singing song number one hundred and sixty seven all hail the power of Jesus name again at a song number one six seven Lord of all, pray for the Lord your God the death can drown him, Lord of all. He shows his seed of his grace, he grants him from the fall. Hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all. Hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all. Let every kindred, every tribe, on this terrestrial wall, to him all majesty, us right and crown him, Lord of all. To him all majesty, us right and crown him, Lord of all. Just what's more, that with God, their sacred grow, he at his feet may fall. We'll join the everlasting song and crown him, Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song and crown him, Lord of all. Our great savior, in the song number one six one. Hail, he forms us, hail, he, my savior, makes me whole. Hallelujah, what a savior, hallelujah, what a friend. Take me now, we keep, we are, he is bring me to the end. Jesus, Lord, the strength in me, stand behind myself in him. Tempted, shy as sometimes may be, my strength, my victory wins. Hallelujah, what a savior, hallelujah, what a friend. Take me now, we keep, we are, he is bring me to the end. Jesus, Lord, our help is strong, while the billows warmly hold. Even when my heart is breaking, he, my comfort, helps my soul. Hallelujah, what a savior, hallelujah, what a friend. Take me now, we keep, we are, he is bring me to the end. Jesus, Lord, our guide in me, while the tempest still is high. Storms of power help me guide your chase, lead my violent fears, my pride. Hallelujah, what a savior, hallelujah, what a friend. Take me now, we keep, we are, he is bring me to the end. Jesus, I do now receive him more than only hear my heart. He hath granted me for witness, I am his, and he is my. Hallelujah, what a savior, hallelujah, what a friend. Take me now, we keep, we are, he is bring me to the end. As we are making our way through a Bible study in the book of Genesis, we'll be in chapter 31 this week. There's our church-wide and regional sowing times listed below that, as well as the salvations and baptisms. And just a quick welcome to any visitors we might have in the church this morning. As you might have already noticed, we're a family-integrated church, so we do keep the families together here. We don't separate children from their parents. And right here, of course, we have a mother-baby room in the back. If that's needed for mom to step away and to change the diaper or whatever it might be, that's back there. And then also, we do have a bathroom here for the ladies. Typically, it's just for the ladies. However, I'll say this as nicely as I can, we've lost the queen bed yet again for the exterior bathrooms. So that's like the fourth or fifth time I think that's happened. So it's getting kind of weary some and kind of embarrassing, frankly, to have to call the landlord repeatedly and say, We've lost the king. We've lost the king. Thankfully, they haven't been charging us. In the release, it states, I can believe they can charge 50 or more dollars for these keys. They're proprietary keys, and you just can't go down to Ace and copy these things. So it's a big deal when the key gets lost. It makes it very difficult. For me, thankfully, they've been kind enough to mail them to us in the past, not maybe drive across town to pick up the key. So again, I'm trying to say it as nicely as I can, but I'm also trying to emphasize the fact that we need to break this habit. And I haven't even brought it up to the landlord yet. And frankly, I don't know what it is I'm going to do about the key. I'm wondering if maybe we need to have a dedicated person here, an usher who can open and close doors after them at some point. I'm open to suggestion. But for the time being, we're just going to have to go ahead and let the men use the ladies' restroom. So we're going to have an all-gender bathroom here at Baconwood Baptist Church. And by all gender, I mean both of them. The two genders that there are, that's all of them. So they're going to go ahead and use that, and that's fine. We'll figure something out moving forward. Other than that, just a quick reminder also that baptisms can be performed before or after really any of our services. So if there's anybody here today or at any of our services that needs to be conscriptionally baptized, and we haven't been baptized after having been saved and we haven't been immersed in water as divine speeches, then we can certainly do that for you after any one of our services. So with that, I'll do it for announcements. Let's just go ahead and sing one more song before we get into preaching this morning. All right, if you could please open up your songbooks to song number 43. We'll be singing song number 43, we're marching to Zion, and then song number 43. We laugh upon the Lord and let our joys be known, Joy in a starless field, joy in a starless field, And thus so round the throne and thus so round the throne, We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, And those we used to see, who never knew our God, The children of the heavenly one, the children of the heavenly one, They speak their joy so proudly, speak their joy so raw, We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, The hill of Zion deals with a thousand Saviour streets, Before we reach the heavenly front, before we reach the heavenly front, We'll walk the golden streets, we'll walk the golden streets, We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, And let our songs abound in every tear we try, We're marching through Emmanuel's ground, We're marching through Emmanuel's ground, To swear the world's our rise, to swear the world's our cry, We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, We're marching the words to Zion, the beautiful city of God, Now is Jesus just trying to be some hyper motivational speaker here? Or does he literally mean this? Or is this a challenge that we need to take God up on in some way in our lives? If there was a genuine need for a mountain to be removed, God would move it. But what is it that you really need God to do in your life? What way do you need God to really move the proverbial mountain in your life? What is it this morning? And I'm sure any of us has to think very long or very hard about what that is. So the question would be, well, have you prayed about it? Have you taken that to God in prayer earnestly? Look at Matthew chapter 7 verse 7. We have the promise of prayer this morning. Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. You know if we figure out what it is that we really need from God, What would really benefit us as fathers, as mothers, as parents, as husbands and wives, as Christians, as God's people, If we really figured it out, what it is that we needed from God to do in our lives, And we prayed and asked for it, God would do it. God would help us with that. If we went and asked, it would be given. If we knocked, it would be opened. If we sought, we would find it. For everyone, verse 8, that asketh receiveth. And he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. God's not partial. God's not show favoritism. Anyone who's coming to God sincerely, any child of God that comes to him, And is praying earnestly for those things that he has need of, God shall answer that prayer in some way, shape, or form. Now it might not always be something as dramatic as a mountain being removed And cast into sea or to yonder place. It might be something much simpler than that. It might be God perhaps maybe just giving you some wisdom out of the word of God And how to fix the situation. Look at verse 9, he says, What man is there of you, who if his son ask bread, he shall give him a stone? So he's using the analogy of a parent, right? That's how he's saying, you know, which God is our father. If we're born again, if we're saved, you know, God is our father. So he's using that relationship, that earthly relationship, to illustrate this truth When it comes to our relationship with God. He's saying, which of you would, if his son, his child came and said, Give me some bread, would give him a stone? You know, that would have to be somebody who's very cruel, right? We all have a very, you know, God-given natural inclination as parents To give our children those things that he have need of. But again, notice what the child's asking for here. Something that's actually needed. Sustenance, bread, right? A daily need. You know, he didn't say, which one of you having a child came and asked him for a brand new, souped up, you know, What is it, you know, Bentley or something? I don't know what the kids are driving today, what all the kids are, you know, the cool car. Oh, oh father, give me a McLaren. You know, it's probably not going to happen. But if you prayed and said, God, give me the wisdom to, you know, fix my hoopty or whatever, God would probably help you with that. Hey God, you know, whatever it is, you know, and I'm just using this as an illustration. You know, God, you know, will give us the things that we actually have need of. He says, if a son comes to you and asks bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, he'll give him a serpent? Actually give him something that's harmed him and is dangerous to him? If then he being evil, man, Jesus was mean, just straight up called you evil. If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to you, under your children, how much more shall your father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? He's saying, look, you're a human being, you're a sinful creature, and even you understand that you give good things under your children. You give your children those things that they have need of when they ask him. How much more so would God, who is good, who is far greater than any of us, would give us those things that we have need of? He's not some cruel, distant father. If you would, go to 1 John, chapter number 5. You know, the reason why we don't have our prayers answered often is because we're not even praying for the right thing. We don't even know what we ought to pray for sometimes. And we thank God for the Holy Spirit who takes our moanings and our utterings and brings them before the throne of God and says this is what he means. This is actually what he needs for it. Look at 1 John, chapter 5, verse 14, and this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. Oh, it sounds like prayer is just a self-fulfilling prophecy then. Well, I can see where people are kind of coming from with that, but here's the thing. It's a big if there, if we ask. The problem is not that God doesn't answer prayer. The problem is that people don't pray. People go without, they don't have the things that they need because they don't pray. And if we really stop and think about it, that's crazy. It's ridiculous. It'd be just as ridiculous, it's even more ridiculous than if a child who knew mom was just in the next room and had a whole loaf of bread, several loaves of bread, and she would just freely give out bread. In our house it's bread and tortillas, right? Often you'll see my kid just walking on a rolled up tortilla. They've got to get those carbs in when they're little. Do you need a tortilla? Yes. They'll just come and ask for the tortilla. It'd be just as ridiculous if my kids just sat in the living room, you know, their stomachs just gnawing at their spine for hunger, and knowing that mom has a stack of tortillas, she's got a whole loaf of the Sarah Lee white bread, just sitting there on the counter, and that all they'd have to do is go and ask and say, mom, I'm hungry, can I have some bread? And she would just say, yeah. Want some more? We'd say, what's wrong with you? Son, what's wrong with you, daughter? Why haven't you just gone and talked to those people who can give you those things that you need? But you know, that's exactly what we do as Christians, as God's children. We have some great need in our lives. We need help with our finances. We need help in our marriages. We need help in our child rearing. We need help in our walk with God. We need help in all these different areas. And God's saying, I'm ready, willing, and able to help you if you ask according to my will. And yet we don't ask. That's a big if. That if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. It's not that God has gone deaf. It's that we've gone mute often. And we know that he hear us, excuse me, and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him. Look, the first point I'm making this morning is the promise of prayer. The promise of answered prayer. And if we spend time praying and knowing it is what we ought to pray for, which is a big reason why people don't pray, because they don't really want to know what it is that they should be asking for sometimes. But if we go ahead and go through that, and I'll get more on that later, and we actually sought God to actually start to move and do things in our lives, that'd be amazing. It's more amazing, it's more, and every bit as profound as some mountain being cast into the sea. To think that God, in heaven, cares about little old us. So much so that he'll see, even take care of those little things that we have need of. Those little things that we worry about, those little things that God would freely just provide for us. That's the power of prayer, which is my second point, the power of prayer. You know, because God is powerful, and because God does answer prayer, that makes prayer a power of prayer. That makes prayer a powerful thing in our lives. It's a source of power in your life. That's what prayer is. If you would, go to James, chapter number five. James, chapter number five. You know, I was reading this story earlier in my devotions this week, and it's a story we're all familiar with, and probably, you know, one we've read several times over, and it's a story of Elijah and the false prophets of Baal, where he goes and he confronts the prophets of Baal. He gathers them all together before the children of Israel, and he challenges them to that great, you know, pray-off, if you want to call it that. Right, where he says, you build your altar, and you pray unto Baal, and you do all your sacrifices, and you call on Baal, and you offer, and I'll call upon the Lord God afterwards, and we'll see who the Lord God is. And of course, if you know the story, the Bible talks about how the prophets of Baal, you know, they prayed all day, and they were cutting themselves, and they were moaning, and Elijah's mocking them, and saying, hey, you know, cry, cry, maybe he's sleeping, and peradventure, he's on a travel, he's gone somewhere, and you've got to get his attention. And they're going through all this show, and they're making this big deal out of prayer. Of course, they're praying to a false god, a god that doesn't even exist, and nothing happens. And then if you know the story, it says that Elijah goes and tells them, okay, build the altar, he assembles the stones, and then he pours three barrels of water on the sacrifice, just so the people would know that when that fire came down from heaven, and God answered the prayer, that it wasn't some trick, that, you know, he didn't hide like a, you know, some C4 in there or whatever, he didn't, you know, stick a, there wasn't a wick running out, you know, into some tinder. He has them three times, just doused the whole thing, so much so that the water fills up the trench. And if you remember, he prays that prayer, and the fire of God comes down from heaven, and it burns up the sacrifice and the stones and licks up the water that's even in the trench. And all Israel says, the Lord, he is God. You know what I find most interesting in that story, as amazing as that is, what an exciting story it is, is his actual prayer. Because the prophets of Baal, they're praying all day. I mean, if you read the story, they're cutting themselves, they're doing all kinds of bizarre things, trying to get, you know, Baal's attention, who's not real, he's not paying attention, he doesn't even exist. But when Elijah prays, it's not some big show, and I was, you know, reading this again in my devotions, I thought, I wonder if he even prayed loud enough for the children of Israel to hear him. And he may have, I don't know. But I wonder just how meek and quiet a prayer it might have been. Maybe it was just under his breath. Maybe it was just loud enough just between him and God. Because it says in verse 36, and it came to pass at the time of the offering, the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came here and said, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known unto this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and thou hast turned their heart back again. Two verses. Two sentences. A brief statement uttered from the mouth of Elijah, and it says, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. It wasn't some big showy prayer. Jesus taught that we ought to go into our closets and pray, and our Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward us openly, to not be as the hypocrites are, which like to pray in the streets and like to sound a trumpet when they do their alms. They like to be seen of men. You know, it's these sincere, meek, quiet prayers that God will answer. That's the power of prayer. Prayer's a powerful thing. I mean, look how simple a prayer Elijah prayed. And God literally set fire down from heaven. And what a sight that would have been to see this huge pillar of fire just come down and light it up. But it was a simple prayer. It wasn't a showy prayer, but it was an earnest prayer. And what was the motive behind the prayer? Show all these people how bad I am, Lord. No. Let them know that I am thy servant and turn their heart back again. Right? That's him praying according to the will of God. Let me pray those things that would be pleasing to God. Just like a parent is glad to give their children the things that they have need of. You need bread, you need food, you need sustenance, great. If my kids came in and asked, you know, I'm hungry, give me, you know, sour patch kids or whatever that is. You know, just give me, give me licorice all day. The parent, any good parents can say, no, you can't have candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They're going to give those things that they have need of. When our kids come and ask us things that we have need of that are according to his will. Lord, let them know I'm your servant and Lord, turn their heart back again. God says, I'll answer that prayer. I'll set fire down. Look at James chapter five. Did I have you go to James? James five verse 13. Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. And that affliction we know that could be an physical affliction, could be a spiritual affliction, could be an emotional affliction. What difficulties do you have? What are you struggling with? What's the answer? To go down to the psychiatrist and get some pills. You know, the solution to my problem is in the bottom of a bottle. Wrong. The solution to your problem is to pray. That's what the Bible says. Is any afflicted? Let him pray. Is any married? 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. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if you have committed sins, that shall be forgiven. Now let me just go ahead and clarify this real quickly. I believe what James is referring to in verses 14 and 15, rather, is when people are on a, it's like a literal deathbed situation. I don't think, you know, I'm going to go ahead and pray over this. Okay? Because it says if the Lord shall raise him up, and this is a very serious, grievous thing that this person is going through. It's not the point I'm trying to make here. Look at verse 16. And this is, I'm going to get more into the prevention of prayer. This is going to lead into my next point. Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The effectual, it's fervent, and it's the prayer of a righteous man that availes much. If we're living according to God's word, if we're walking with the Lord, if we're doing the things that we ought to do, if we're obeying God's commandments, if we're praying according to his will, God will hear our prayers and we'll have those things that we have need of. Because we'll be praying the right kind of prayer. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, and it shall be given him. And a breadeth not, as James says elsewhere. You know, if you just need wisdom, I just need wisdom, Lord. Go ask God for it. And then he cites Elias here. He talks about Elijah. You know, Elias is the Old New Testament name for Elijah that we just read about. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are. Well, of course, God's going to answer the prayer of Elijah when he's challenging the prophets of Baal. He's Elijah. He's a prophet of God. And yet, James in the New Testament is using his as an example for us to prayer. He says, no, Elijah is a man like me and you. He's a person who is subject to like passions such as we are. He goes through the same things that we went through. He went through the same things that we go through. He has the same shortcomings and faults and the same struggles that we went through. But it says if he prayed, then it might not rain. And it rained not on the earth by space of three years and six months. And he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. I mean, Elijah was a guy who could literally control the weather. And that's an example to us today. I'm not saying we're going to change the weather. Although, you know, I've heard people say and pray things like, you know, we were on a job and I prayed and asked God to not let it rain and the storm went wrong. I don't know, you could say it's a coincidence. But then again, you never know. But the point is this, is that Elijah was a man like us. He's a man of subject of like passion such as we are. The difference is, is that he was a righteous man who prayed fervently and had effectual prayer. Why was his prayer so important? Why did it make a difference? Because he was a righteous man. And look, we could all be just as righteous as any saint in the Bible. If we're saved and we have the Holy Spirit and we have the Word of God, you know, we could all just start living for God any time we wanted. We could all, you know, if we're in sin, if we're backslidden, you know, at any time, any one of us, you know, we're living for God. If we're in sin, if we're backslidden, you know, at any time, any one of us can just go boldly before the throne of God to help find grace and comfort and help in time of need. We can boldly, we have access, we can ask God for the forgiveness of sins and it shall be given unto us. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Look, that door's open 24-7 to any of God's children. And we could all start living for God and living righteous lives and living godly lives any time we want. We could become righteous people and have our prayers be fervent and effectual and they would avail much in our lives and lives of others. That's the promise and power of prayer, folks. It's real. The problem is is that people don't pray. You know, and I just, I would ask, you know, if you believe this this morning, if you believe in the promise of prayer, if you believe in the power of prayer, what mountain do you need moved this morning? What's the mountain that you need moved? Is it a literal physical mountain? Probably not. But I guarantee you there's probably some struggle in your life, there's some difficulty that you're going through, there's something that you need from God this morning and you could have it if you'd pray for it. My last point is the preventions of prayer. The preventions of prayer. Here in James, go to chapter number four. James chapter number four. Look, it's not that prayer isn't real. It's not that answered prayer doesn't happen. It's not that prayer isn't powerful. It's not that we don't have the promise of prayer. The problem that we don't have, the things that we have need of, is because we do not ask, because we do not pray. What is it that causes a person not to pray? Look at James chapter number four, verse one. From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence even of your lust that war in your members? You lust and you have not, you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, you fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. People want things and they go to great lengths. I mean, they're fighting, they're struggling and they never get what they need. They're coveting and they're desiring. They don't get what they really need and you don't have anything because they don't ask. You have not because you ask not. You ask and you receive not because you ask amiss. You don't ask for the right things. I prayed God would just wipe out my debt overnight and he didn't do it. He must not care. What you should have prayed is God give me the wisdom and ability and the strength and the fortitude to work hard. I mean, that's what, you know, that's what Moses reminded the children of Israel. It is God that giveth thee power to get thee wealth. He's the one who'll give you wisdom and knowledge and understanding if you go and ask for it, give you the physical strength that you need day by day to go out and earn a living. You have not because you ask not. You ask not. You ask. Well, I did pray and you receive not because you ask amiss The biggest problem is that, the biggest prevention rather of prayer is that one, we don't ask and when we do, we're asking for the wrong things. But I think one of the main reasons why people don't pray is because prayer is very introspective. Prayer will make you start to look within. When you're, you know, and it seems kind of counter too because you think about prayer, well, you're asking God. It sounds like, you know, you're asking God of things. If you really understood and were sincere in prayer, you would start to think about the things you're going to utter before a holy God. You know, if we got in the practice of prayer, getting down on our knees, getting down on our faces before a holy God and actually thinking about what it is we're about to say to God who's in heaven, the thrice holy God, the most high God, we'd probably be pretty careful about the things that came out of our mouth. We'd probably start to think about should I even ask for that? What is it that I really need? One of the powers of prayer is that it makes us turn within and start to really search our own hearts. You know, God is the God that tries the reigns and the hearts. He searches the heart, the Bible says. Prayer's introspective, and I think that's one of the major preventions of prayer. People know this about prayer. They know if I get serious with God, if I really start praying, God's going to put his finger right on this. We don't even have to think that long about it. God's going to go, you need to deal with this before you ask for anything, right? Just like our kids. Hey, can I have, well, have you done X, Y, and Z? No. Well, go do X, Y, and Z and then come back and talk to me. You know, can I have some kind of sweet treat or whatever? It's like, well, have you eaten your vegetables? You know, kids want dessert. Well, have you eaten the greens that I gave you? No. Well, go eat your greens and then come back and we'll talk. And we know this. This isn't a mystery. It's simple. This is why it's a prevention of prayer because people would rather just suffer. People would rather just go without. People would probably just rather grit their teeth and white-knuckle it through the Christian life and receive nothing from God than actually deal with their sin, than actually deal with the things that God wants them to deal with. That's what a lot of Christians would rather do than pray and change. Because it'll cause you to actually look within and examine your relationship between you and God. Prayer is introspective. I'll just read to you from Philippians chapter 3. It said, let us therefore, as be perfect, be thus minded. And if anything, and if anything, you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. You know, if there's something in our life that is at odds with God, if we're not right with God in some way and we pray and we start seeking the Lord and meditating and things of that, God will reveal it to you. God will show that to you. The problem is that a lot of times we would just rather not know what that is. We'd rather just ignore it so that we can consume it upon our lusts. And I think a lot of times, one of the major things that we might find if we went through that process of prayer and were sincere in prayer, one of the major things, and I'm not saying this, because as I was writing a sermon it just jumped out to me, how often prayer and forgiveness go hand in hand. You know, one of the biggest hindrances to prayer is people who do not forgive. And I don't want to take all the time to make all the connections, but if you just pay attention to your Bible reading, how often in the same context, the same chapter, the same passage, Jesus often will talk about prayer and then forgiveness. They're so connected. I mean, it's in our text this morning if you want to go back to Mark 11. Just for review, he said in Mark 11, verse 22, Have faith in God, for verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast in the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass. He shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you that whatsoever you desire when you pray, you receive them, and you shall have them. What a great and powerful promise of the word of God. But notice he kind of gives this, and he says, and now that I've got your attention, and now that I've mentioned to you this amazing thing about moving a mountain into the sea, and now that Jesus has your attention, he says, now let me talk to you about something that you really need. Verse 25, and when you stand praying, forgive, forgive, for if ye have ought against any, excuse me, forgive if ye have ought against any, that your Father which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. You know, if we really started praying, you know, there'd probably be a lot of things that would come to our minds and come to our hearts where we would say, man, I offended God there. Ooh, when I said that, when I did that, when I went there. There would be so many things that we'd probably get convicted about. There's so many things that, you know, and we'd say, man, I really need God to forgive me here. You know, a lot of our time and prayer might be spent saying, Lord, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me, Lord. And we need that. I mean, Jesus didn't say that just because, you know, it sounded good or whatever. He's saying, look, you have need of forgiveness because you're a sinner. And that's true for all of us. And that's why he says, when you stand praying, forgive. A lot of times that's when God starts to deal with us about things. You know, the way you're treating so-and-so, the things that you're doing, you know, if you have ought against somebody and you haven't forgiven them, God might put his finger right on it and say, you need to forgive. Look at verse 26. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father, which is in heaven, forgive you your trespasses. I don't want God angry. I don't want God being upset. You know, and that's why, you know, people who pray, people who love God are very forgiving people often. They're the ones that can let things go. They're the ones that can just, you know, look over transgression. They can just forgive and forget. They seem to be the people that have the easiest time. Probably because, and not because there's some spiritual giant, in prayer, so much time in prayer where God is dealing with them about things that they're realizing that, you know, I need to be forgiven for so much. Let me just go ahead and forgive all these other people. And I understand people can do people wrong. I get it. People can be very malicious. People can be very evil towards one another. But it's not every day. Think about the things we get sometimes so offended about that other people do. Cut me off in traffic. Oh, you don't say. What a Greek tragedy. Right? I mean, someone should make a movie out of that at the time you got cut off in traffic, right? That happens often. I mean, good night. We've probably cussed a blue streak at people over what they've done in traffic. And it's like, is that even that big of a deal? But then we compare that to some of the things we've done, and we all know what it is, what we've done and haven't done, the good that we've left undone, the evil that we have done. You know, we know the things about our own hearts and our own minds and our own sins that are far worse than anything anyone's ever done to us. Even if we haven't done them, we've thought about it. And we have so much more need of forgiveness from God than anyone has probably need of forgiveness from us. And I don't think it's any coincidence that when Jesus brings up prayer, He immediately goes into teaching about forgiveness. And again, pay attention to your Bible reading. You'll see that happen repeatedly. In fact, we're going to look at another passage here. I should have had to keep something. I don't know where we were earlier. I don't know when Matthew, but if you want to go back to Matthew, hopefully your muscle memory's worked up a little bit this morning, Matthew chapter number six. Be keen to yourselves. If your brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if you repent, forgive him. And if you trespass against thee seven times a day, and seven times in a day you turn again unto these saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. And the apostle said unto him, Lord, increase our faith. At least they're being honest. And you know, this is often the reaction you get from some people, not a lot of people, but from time to time, or their take on forgiveness is different. But I like the apostles here. Well, you know, Lord, increase our faith. Let's just be real. It's hard to let things go. And I'm just reading to you, verse six. And the Lord said, if you had faith in the grain of a mustard seed, you might say unto the sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea and it should obey you. So he's talking about forgiveness over and over, folks. This is one of the major preventions of prayer, is people don't want to forgive. And they know if they got serious about their prayer life and actually started asking those things that they have need of and making those petitions for those desires that they have and seeking God and praying according to his will that God is going to start dealing with them about their sin and one of the major sins of prayer. Matthew six, verse one. Look at here. Well, let's just, for sake of time, you know, we probably should read. He's teaching about prayer, you know, but look at verse 14. And if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. You read the rest of Matthew six, those verses leading up to this, verse 14, it's prayer that he's talking about. It's no coincidence that as soon as he gets done talking about prayer in Matthew six and Mark 11 where we are and elsewhere in the scripture, Luke 17, every time practically Jesus is bringing up prayer in the same breath he's mentioning forgiveness. You say why is it that people don't have the things that they need because prayer is introspective. What is a major preventative to prayer because people know when they pray they might realize how much they need to be forgiven of God. They might realize all the sins that they're guilty of. They might realize all the offenses they've caused against God. And they'll say well I need that forgiveness and God will say well I'm glad you're here to ask you but you also need to forgive other people. Go to Colossians three, I'll wrap up there, Colossians chapter number three. You know, and I'm just gonna quote some more scripture here. Where it's just how we treat the brethren, how we treat other people in prayer just go hand in hand. First John three, I'll read to you as you go to Colossians three. He says in verse 16, Hereby I perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good and seeth his brother have need and shut up his bowels of compassion and truth, and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things, but beloved if our heart condemn us not then we have confidence towards God. So he's talking about hey, we know the love of God because he laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. We should not shut up our bowels of compassion. He's talking about how we treat our brethren. How we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. You want your prayers answered? Be careful how you treat other people. Be careful how you treat the brethren. Forgive. You want your prayers answered, keep his commandments. Keep his commandments. God is not some spiritual vending machine, folks. If I spend 15 and a half minutes every day in prayer, and I just run down the clock, I'll build up enough credit with God and then I'll start getting, that's not how it works. If we want our prayers answered in those moments that we have in the morning or whenever it is that we do our praying, a lot of it's going to hinge on how we behave throughout the rest of the day. Just like our kids. It's the perfect analogy. It's the perfect illustration. If our kids are misbehaving, they're not going to get what they want. Well, they might get what they need, but it's not going to be what they want. Which is a great philosophy on parenting. You either give them what they want or give them what they need, and I recommend the latter. But he's saying, look, whatsoever we ask, we receive of him. Why? Oh, because God's just this big teddy bear who just wants everybody to like him. God's Santa Claus where he's just doling out gifts in heaven. No, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. You know, we get to the end of the day and we can look back and say, man, I resisted temptation. I watched the words that came out. I was thinking about the word of God. I did those things which are pleasing in his sight. I have confidence that when I go and pray, I'm not going to have to spend my entire prayer time asking for forgiveness. I have confidence I'm going to be able to do things that I have need of and God's going to grant me those things because I'm going to know how to pray according to his will. Not only that, you can pray for other people. I don't know what to pray for. Get a list of the people in your church and start praying for them. Teach us to pray, Deacon. Step one, carve out some time. Start with five, 10, 15 minutes. I don't care. And if you can't think of anything to pray for, just start praying for other people. I don't have to pray for them. Just pray God blesses them. Prayer is one of those things that the more you do it, the better you'll get at it. The more you'll understand it. You could sit there. It's like driving. My kids are always studying my driving. They haven't begun to critique it yet. Maybe they are. I don't know. They're probably just not bold enough to say anything. Dad, that light was yellow. Where was the blinker, Dad? But they think, oh, I could do that. Every kid goes through that. They see the foot going on in the gas. They see the foot on the brake. They see the wheel. It's a blinker or two. Like, what's the big deal? Right? And it's not like, okay, just throw them the keys. Let them drive. It's like, no, I actually need to go learn the rules of the road. You've got to learn the laws, learn etiquette. Right? You've got to learn and you actually, you could sit there and study it until you actually get down, until you actually get behind the wheel and feel what it's like to go down in a hunk of steel at 50 plus miles an hour, what it's like to just be hurtling yourself down a freeway separated by a line of paint. You know, that's what's, you and eternity are, it's like a four inch strip of paint that's keeping you alive. Right? But my point is that's how you learn, by doing, right? Well, I don't know how to pray. This is a good thing to ask. Lord, teach us to pray. Oh, I'm not, do you think God's not going to answer that prayer? That's, look, that's one of the main needs that we have in the Christian life. Probably a lot of us could go home and pray, Lord, just help me to pray. Lord, help me to just make a habit out of prayer. Lord, teach me how to pray, just how to do it, just how to start doing it. And God will answer that prayer, God will answer that prayer to you. And look, that's the kind of stuff that'll actually start to move mountains in your life. You start putting that into practice, you start doing that, I guarantee you'll come to a point where you'll look back and say, wow, God moved. God answered this prayer, and this prayer, and this prayer. Powerful. Look at Colossians chapter number three. He said in verse 12, God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which you also are called to one body and be ye thankful. One of the biggest hindrances to prayer is people don't want to be convicted of their lack of forgiveness. And I only bring it up because of how often it's just so closely related to prayer. When Jesus is talking about prayer, in the next breath he's talking about forgiveness. Paul said in First Corinthians chapter number 13, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I become a sounding brass or as a tinkling symbol. Oh, I get down on my prayers and I pray these eloquent prayers. I use the these and the those and I'm not against them. It says thee and thou, it's fine. We get our King James speech going on. I have all these eloquent, moving prayers that would just bring people to tears. I have the gift of prosperity and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains. Oh, I have that faith, the grain of mustard seed. I could remove that mountain. But if I have not charity, I am nothing. Again, you see where it's just related to prayer. Having the love of the brethren, having love in your heart, having forgiveness, having long suffering, compassion, tenderness towards other people, that is something that is closely related to your prayer life. It has a direct impact on it. And he said, look, if I had all faith, I could remove mountains. If I had that faith but I don't have love, then I'm nothing. It doesn't profit anybody anything. You know, that's where we're at in the scripture this morning is just a little teaching on prayer. You have the promise of prayer. It's real. The promise of answered prayer. If we ask those things that we need, ask for those things that we need, God hears us. If we ask according to his will, and again, it's not some name it claim it thing, but if we pray according to his will, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him. We have the, that's a powerful thing to know that prayer will be answered. The right prayer. If it's coming from the right place, but look, none of that happens if you don't pray. The power of prayer means nothing. The promise of prayer means nothing if prayer is prevented, if you don't pray, for whatever that reason might be. Look, if we don't want to pray because we don't want God to deal with us I mean, that's, you know, that's a, that's a, that's like a two-fold punishment. One, you're not going to get the things that you need. And two, you're not going to deal with things you need to deal with. And you know, God's still going to try to get your attention one way or another. But, you know, hopefully that'll encourage people to pray this morning. Take advantage of prayer, folks. It's real. There's power in it. You can change your relationships with other people. You know, you might, you might never have need to move a mountain, but I guarantee you have needs that you need to have met. And it might even be needs that only God can meet. It's real. You have that opportunity. Take advantage of it. And when you go to pray, be mindful of the things that God might bring to your heart and mind. And be ready to forgive and the opportunity that we have as your children to come before a loving and caring and holy God. A God who knows that we have needs, Lord. That we have needs as human beings, as sinful creatures, Lord. We have sin that needs to be forgiven. We have spiritual needs, physical needs, all kinds of needs, Lord, in our lives. Lord, the world is looking for answers in places that they'll never find them. And Lord, we have access to the throne of God. I pray you would help us to avail ourselves of that, Lord, and be willing and able and ready to deal with whatever it is that needs to be dealt with in our own hearts and our own minds so that we can have those things that we need. We ask these things in Christ's name, Amen. All right, we'll go ahead and sing the song number 41. Please open up your handles to song number 41. We'll be singing song number 41, sweet and by and by, and then the song number 41. Here's the land that is swearer than day, and by faith we can see it afar, for the Father waits over the way to prepare us for the day. For the Father waits over the way to prepare us for the day. For the Father waits over the way to prepare us for the day. For the Father waits over the way to prepare us for the day. For the Father waits over the way to prepare us for the day. For the Father waits over the way to prepare us for the day. For the Father waits over the way to prepare us to dwell In the sweet by and by We shall meet on that beautiful shore In the sweet by and by We shall meet on that beautiful shore We shall sing on that beautiful shore Love, my love give us the h parental blessed We shall be on that beautiful shore, In the sweet, blind mind. We shall be on that beautiful shore, To our bountiful Father. In the sweet, blind mind. We shall be on that beautiful shore, To our bountiful Father alone. We will offer a tribute of praise, For the glorious gift of His love. And the blessings that follow are given forth, In the sweet, blind mind. We shall be on that beautiful shore, In the sweet, blind mind. We shall be on that beautiful shore.