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Men. The part of the verse that I wanted to look at first was verse one where the Bible read, and he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. And the title of the evening sermon is Men Ought Always to Pray. Men Ought Always to Pray, and he uses this word end sometimes in the Bible. When you look at the word to this end, it's like, what's the goal? What's the purpose? The reason this parable was brought forth is to try and inspire us to pray more. So let's go through this parable quickly. It says in verse two, saying, there was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither a guarded man. Now, the thing about parables is they're not always perfect, because in this parable, he's using this judge to represent God. Now, does God have the fear of the Lord? Obviously, we see that the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, had the fear of God when he was on this place. So not every part of a parable is going to fit perfectly. And when God tells us, hey, this is the goal of the parable, then that's what we should abstract from the parable. Because if you're trying to just get, what's all the cool things we can abstract from this parable, you're going to get some weird ideas about God, okay? He's using an unjust judge in this parable. But that's not the point. What was the point? For men to pray. So let's keep reading. It says in verse three, 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, but afterward he said within himself, though I fear not God, nor a guard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them. I tell you that he will avenge them speedily, nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth. So what can we learn from this parable? Well, we see that even an unjust person, someone that's not godly, someone that doesn't fear God, he doesn't even like people. He only likes himself. This guy doesn't regard man. He could care less about this widow. But just with the constant being asked by this widow, he relents. He just wants to get her off his back. He just wants to grant her petition, so she'll stop asking him. And he's saying, you see how this unjust judge will grant petitions unto those that ask? The same way, God, how much more will grant your petitions when we ask him? We see when you read the Bible, the Bible constantly emphasizes the fact that God wants to answer your prayers. God is ready to answer your prayers a lot of times. The problem is people don't pray. And when it comes to prayer, if you do it biblically, it's coming from a place of faith. Because if I go in my closet and I just start praying, it would be pointless if I didn't actually believe that something could be fruitful from them, that God would actually grant that petition. Or let's say I don't even believe that God exists. Praying would seem inconceivable. It wouldn't make any sense. But obviously, having faith in the Lord and knowing that the Lord wants to answer my prayers, by my faith I go to him and petition and I ask him for different things. Go to Luke chapter 11. The Bible emphasizes this point. Why? Because there's a tendency for men to not pray. There's a tendency for you to put it on the back burner. To think, yeah, does it really matter? Do I really need to pray? Is it really going to accomplish anything? Should I get on my knees and pray for this situation? But we see God is constantly giving these type of parables because he wants us to always be praying. Praying every single day. The Bible says in verse Timothy 2, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. The Bible says, hey, you know when you should pray? All the time. You know where? Everywhere. The Bible just emphasizes prayer as a big subject in the Bible. Look at verse 5. And 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. For a friend of mine is in his journey, has come to me and I have nothing to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not. The door is now shut and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give them. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity will he rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and him that knocketh, it shall be opened. According to the Bible, the reason why we don't have things that we need is because we don't ask. Because we're not praying and seeking God to give those things for us. And I like this word in verse 8. It says importunity. You say, what does importunity mean? It's persistence, especially to the point of annoyance. This guy is just like, please give me bread. Hey, my friend's coming. Please give me bread. And he's like, I'm not going to answer it because he's my friend. I'm just tired of knocking on the door. Sometimes you got knocking doors to do soul winning. They're not answering it because they want to. They're like, quit knocking on my door, man. Go somewhere else. And we see the same thing can be applied with God in the fact that when we pray earnestly, when we're praying with persistence, when we're constantly coming to God in prayer and it's according to his will, he's going to answer that. It doesn't say maybe. It says, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Now go to Matthew chapter number 6. What's the main reason that people do not have the things that they need? Because they're not asking for them. You have not because you ask not. The reason why you don't get things from God is because you're simply not asking. Now some people, they think, okay, sweet. I'm going to go home tonight. Mercedes, five car garage. I can't wait. I got a big list. Me and Santa Claus, we made a list together. Look, Jesus Christ is not Santa Claus. And we see the problem is mostly you don't ask. But then there's a problem. You don't really know how to ask. You don't know what to ask for. But look at Matthew chapter number 6 verse 5. Let's learn about some bad praying. Because not all praying is good. Look at verse 5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. If the purpose of your praying is to get the praise of men, then you already got what you're trying to get for. The prayer has to be in faith. So if I get up here and just have this long prayer in front of you, oh, I'm so godly. Look at my prayers. Look, I'm not going to get anything that I'm asking for. I already got it. People think I'm so godly or whatever. That's how these Catholic priests, they go out in the public square and they make these prayers. Look, that's their reward. But if you go privately to pray and nobody knows it, not a single soul, then it's going to be in faith. Because to do that repetition or to do that exercise when nobody knows would clearly be of faith. And that's what God wants to honor. That's what God wants you to do. Look at verse 6. But thou when thou prayest, enter in thy closet, and when thou shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. So according to the Bible, the majority of our prayer should be in secret. Now I'm not saying it's wrong to pray publicly. We pray here at the church. We pray when we go out to dinner. There's times to pray publicly. But the majority of your prayer life should be done in secret. And that's going to be of faith. Because if you don't have faith, you're not going to pray. If you don't even believe that anything's going to happen, why would you waste your time? So we see the reason why people are going in secret and praying is because they have faith. But what did Christ say? When I return, will there be faith in the earth? Will men have faith? Now let's keep reading here. Look at verse 7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Now let's understand this because we learned about the word importunity. So I believe what the Bible's clearly teaching is that we should go to God in prayer constantly, lots of different times. But in a single prayer, I don't need to sit here and just be like, Red Corvette, Red Corvette, I want a Red Corvette, Red Corvette. Or even a vain repetition could be something that is biblical. Catholics will say, you know, the Lord's Prayer 50 times. And they think, oh, just because I said it 50 times, I'm going to really get it. Look, Christ already knows what you need before you ask Him, is what the Bible says. But we should go to Him constantly. We should be constantly coming to Him and praying to Him and getting our petitions heard. But look at verse number 8. Be not therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask Him. I believe we should be very direct in our prayers. Just tell them exactly what you want. And we see, it's not like, oh, I just got to say it over and over, this chanting, this spell, this magical thing. Look, sometimes you don't even know how to pray. The Bible says in Romans chapter 8, you don't have to turn there, but it says, likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. According to the Bible, there's sometimes we feel like we need to pray about a certain situation, but we don't even know what to say. It's like, God just help this person, just bless this person, or be here in this situation. You don't even know what to say, and the Holy Ghost can make intercession for you with words that you can't even utter, with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now, some people have this stupid false doctrine that's like speaking in other tongues. They have this prayer language where they say, oh, I speak an angelic tongue to the God. It's like, no, that's just gibberish. You look like you should go to the insane asylum. And this verse in the King James Bible proves that false. All the modern versions take it out or change it, but it says, groanings which cannot be uttered. Let me help you with that. You can't make that sound. It's saying somehow the Holy Ghost is making intercession. You can't make that sound. It's not a special prayer language, my friend. It's the fact that you pray and you don't really even know what you're saying, and the Holy Ghost is like, hey, this is what he's saying. Think about it this way. My two-year-old, okay, or three-year-old now, I say this. There's lots of times he asks me a question, and I have no idea what he's asking, because he just can't speak that well. But my wife knows exactly what she's asking for, and she'll just tell me. I'm like, I don't speak his language. But it's with words that he can't even say or pronounce right. And that's what I think of when we pray to God. There's certain times we don't even know exactly what to say, but the Holy Ghost is like, hey, this is what he's meaning. This is what he's really trying to pray for, and it makes intercession for us. So whenever we're praying, it's not like these special words. We see, we might not even use the right words, but the Holy Ghost will make intercession for us, so we should just be direct with God, this is what I'm needing. This is what I'm trying to pray for. This is what I'm trying to ask for. Look at verse number 9. We see he starts off prayer, teaching his disciples that he should give glory and honor to God. And he's saying, our Father, he's talking to the Father. Now I've got to hammer this oneness junk for just a second. Isn't it interesting that in this phrase, he says, hallowed be thy name. Now if you're going to say, hey, we want to give honor and glory and set apart your name, but we're not going to use it, he actually does use it. Our Father. Who is he praying to? The Father. God the Father. And he's saying, hallowed be thy name, Father. And we see every time that Jesus Christ prays, who does he pray to? The Father. He prays to our Father. And even in the New Testament, if you study the Old Testament, we never learn about God the Father or that name. Jesus Christ declared that name unto us. And in the New Testament, John chapter 17, he says he's declared thy name unto us. And what is it that we pray? We pray to the Father through Jesus' name. That's why you'll see a lot of people pray in the name of Jesus. Why? The Bible teaches us that we pray to the Father through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our propitiation to the Father. And we see we're giving glory and honor to the name of the Father. Look at verse 10. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. When we pray, our prayers should be in line with God's will. Now you say, how can I know if it's in line with God's will? Well, what does the Bible say? If the Bible is teaching what you're trying to pray for, it's according to God's will. If it's not, then it's not. And the Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So if you don't have a verse to support your prayer, it's not a faith. We have our prayers of faith because we have a promise in the Bible. Hey, why did I pray a salvation prayer? Because it tells me whosoever believeth in them should not perish but everlasting life. I believe that. So I'm going to pray according to that. I'm going to call upon his name in faith. Why? Because the Bible told me that if I call upon his name, I'll be saved and I believed that. But you know what? The Bible doesn't say, you know, hey, I just have faith that I'm going to get a red Corvette. Oh, what verse is that? I couldn't remember that one. Now it's not to say that there aren't carnal needs that we can pray for. Look at verse 11. Give us this day our daily bread. According to the Bible, we can't ask for carnal things. We can pray for our job. We can pray for our daily food. We can pray for our clothing. We can pray for these things, but you can also find verses in the Bible that talk about that. And you know, having food and clothing, we should be content with those things. So when we direct our prayers to God, we see he's asking for a few different things. He's first glorifying him, then he's asking for his will, then he's asking for his carnal needs. And yes, it is okay to ask for carnal needs, but it still should be according to God's will, not to our own selfish lusts and desires. Look at verse 12. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. We see it's important to have forgiveness. The Bible says if you were to come to the altar with a gift and remember that your brother had ought against thee, that you're supposed to leave your gift at the altar, go first and be reconciled unto thy brother, and then come and offer your gift unto God. God's not real interested in giving you forgiveness when you're holding and harboring bitterness against your brother, against your sisters. We see God gets really angry with that. If you want God to forgive you, you must forgive others. Because he's like, well, honestly speaking, I have to forgive you a lot more than you're going to figure, brother. So you need to forgive your brother. Verse 13. And he does not have temptation but to live from the evil of thy kingdom, for in the glory of all men. It's been said that we pray that God not bring us into a place of temptation. We forgive by cynicism. For if you forgive men, there's trespasses. Heavenly Father, I'll forgive you. If you forgive men, there's trespasses. Neither will your father forgive your guest. So you forgive this thing. You say, hey, I'm really going to be bitter against this person. Well, God's going to be bitter against you. You say, hey, how come this situation is resolved for me? Well, why don't you first reconcile with your brother, then go to God in prayer. Now let's go back to Luke chapter number 5. Or go to Luke chapter number 5. Let's see a couple more things about prayer. Christ gave us a model prayer, but I do not believe that we need to go around just chanting the Lord's Prayer. That's not what God really wants us to do. He wants to make our petitions from our heart, the situations that are going in in our lives. And there's a lot of things to pray for, but we see that Jesus, he prayed all the time. Look at verse 16. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed. There are times when Jesus Christ on the earth, he just goes off and prays. Because it's that important. It's that big of a deal. The Bible emphasizes prayer. Go to chapter 6, look at verse 12. And it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. We see Jesus Christ is our perfect example. This guy is praying all night to the Father, making his petitions known. Look at chapter 9, look at verse 27. Chapter 9, look at verse 27. But I tell you the truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God. And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings. He took Peter and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistening. The mount transfiguration, how does it start? Jesus Christ praying. And we see Jesus Christ is our perfect example. He constantly went and isolated himself to pray because it's very important. Go to chapter 19. So we see Jesus prayed many times in the Bible. If we study throughout his ministry, he's constantly praying. Now when he's out in the wilderness, he doesn't necessarily have a closet. So he's just going off and secluding himself, going off to a mountain or going off in the wilderness or going off over here and he's praying to the Father and asking petitions of the Father. What about church? Look at Luke 19, verse 46, saying unto them, it is written, My house is the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. The church is supposed to be a place where we come to God and we pray and make our petitions known unto God. This is supposed to be a place of prayer. Go to Acts chapter number 1. Acts chapter 1, the Bible says in Luke 21, Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. The Bible hammers praying. I mean, it's just pray always. Pray without ceasing. Pray night and day. Just pray, pray, pray. And if we were to be honest with ourselves, this is probably one area where we most struggle. I mean, it's hard to find the time to pray. And I believe it's because of lack of faith. But when we read the Bible, it can encourage our faith. It can encourage us to pray more. We can increase our faith. And when we increase our faith, it can help increase our prayer life. You say, why are people not praying? Because of the faith. The faith meter's dropping. If you knew God's going to give you whatever you ask for, you're not going without hesitation to ask for it. You're going to be asking for it. The problem is, is we have low faith levels. And when we have low faith levels, we're not asking God for as many things. Look at Acts chapter 1 verse 14. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. So we see they're all together and they're praying. Look at chapter 2. Look at verse 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine of fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. We see again, they're getting together in the early church. What are they doing? They're praying. We see the house of God is a place of prayer. Go to chapter 6. Look at verse number 3. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. You know, the early apostles, they had a lot of things to take care of. They had a lot of people being added to the church. They had a lot of daily administration to do. And they said, it's not right for us to forsake prayer to do these daily administrative tasks. We need to just hire other people so we can be continually praying to God. This tells me that prayer is extremely important. The importance of prayer. Men ought always to pray. Now let's keep going through our Bible. Look at chapter 10. We're just kind of taking a journey through. I'm leaving out so much. I mean, you just take the word pray and look like in a concordance. I mean, it's like hundreds and hundreds of times in the Bible. That's not even to mention all the times the Bible used the word ask. You know, what does pray mean? Ask. There are so many times in the Bible that mentions prayer. Look at Acts chapter 10 verse 1. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band. This is not like where they play music. A devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming into him and sang unto him Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, what is it Lord? And he said unto him, thine prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. You say, where do my prayers go? A memorial before God. If you could see the memorial of your prayers, maybe it'd cause you to pray a little bit more. But we see when Cornelius, he's constantly praying so much that there's just this huge memorial and God's like, we got to answer this guy's prayer. This guy's praying always. We're just going to send Peter straight to this guy to get saved. We're going to send Peter right to this guy's house. He's going to hear the gospel firsthand from Peter himself. Why? Because he prayed always. Because he continued in prayer. Go to chapter 12. Look at verse number 5. Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing. Peter ceasing of the church unto God for him. And what happens? An angel just comes in, kind of wakes him up, and they just start walking through the jail cell. And they just walk out and then he comes to the prayer meeting. He's knocking on the door. They're just still praying for him. And they're like, hey, I think Peter's outside. And they're like, let's let him in. At first they didn't believe, but then they're like, let's let him in. They just pray until he gets out of prison. But we see they were constantly in prayer. Go to Romans chapter number 1. Say, why do you just keep showing us verses? Because I want you to realize it's important. Just open your Bible. Let it fall open. It's constantly hammering. We need to pray. We need to pray continually. Look at Romans chapter 1 verse 9. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit and the gospel of the Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. Go to chapter 12. Go to chapter number 12. Look at verse number 12. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. Instant. He's just ready to pray at a moment's notice. Whenever he's in a situation and he needs something from God, I'm just going to continue. I'm going to be instant in prayer. I'm going to go straight to the Lord in prayer. Whenever you're in struggle, whenever you're in affliction, whenever you need something, going instant to the Lord in prayer. Don't we sing songs like that? Go to Ephesians chapter number 6. I'll read for you 1 Thessalonians 3 says, night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith. 1 Thessalonians 5 17, pray without ceasing. 1 Timothy 2 verse 1, I exert therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and the giving of thanks be made for all men. Look at Ephesians 6 verse 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there into with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. So I think the Bible is saying praying is pretty important, huh? Go to 1 Peter chapter number 3. 1 Peter chapter number 3. With all supplication in the spirit. Look, this is what's going to preserve your family. This is what's going to preserve our church. And the thing about prayer is none of us knows how much we pray. I don't know how much you pray. I don't know how much your spouse prays and your children pray. I don't know it. The only person that knows it is God, but we're going to see the fruit of prayer. And for our church or for you to have success in your life, we must be continually in prayer, instant in prayer, making it a priority. And it's not something to be done of seeing a man, we don't know. I mean, we can pretty much tell how much you go soul winning, how much you show up at church, right? I mean, you're either at church or not. We can see that, right? When it comes to your prayer life, it's very private, isn't it? So my question is how much faith do you really have? Look at 1 Peter 3 verse 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Now go to Revelation chapter 5. We see here God was ready to answer prayers, but to the righteous, to those that are living right. When you live right, God is more likely to answer your prayers. When you're doing that which is wrong, he's less likely to. Think about the teenager and his parents. The teenager that does what his parents say, more likely to get what his parents, you know, what he asked of them. The one that's disobeying and not cleaning his room and being a jerk. I mean, not going to get his petitions answered. I'm not going to give you allowance money. Go clean your room. Go do what I said. Look at Revelation chapter 5 verse 8. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of olders, which are the prayers of saints. You know, in the Old Testament, they would light incense on the altar. But you know, everything in the Old Testament pictured spiritual truths in the New Testament. The carnal truth of the incense pictures something in the New Testament. What is that? It's the picture of our prayers. It's the spiritual truth that the incense, we don't burn incense on the altar today. What do we do? We go in our prayer closet and we pray unto God and it's a sweet smelling savor that comes unto his nostrils in heaven. That is the incense of the New Testament. Look at Revelation chapter 8. Revelation chapter 8 verse 4. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. When you pray to God, it goes to him. The question is, are you righteous? Are you doing what is right? Is it according to his will? Are you asking? I would like to have some incense going up to God. Because if you don't, then you don't get the memorial. You don't get any prayers answered. So I have identified seven things that we can pray for. Now this is not a complete list. Virtually you can pray for anything. But I have seven things that I identified in the Bible that I think that we should be praying for. Go to Luke chapter number 10. So what have we looked at? Well we looked at it's important for men to pray always. We see Jesus Christ was constantly praying. We see the apostles were constantly praying. We see the Bible is constantly admonishing us to pray. So here is my question. What do we pray for? Well, why don't we pray prayers of faith? What would be a prayer of faith? Finding something in the Bible and then praying for that. So let's identify some things that the Bible tells us to pray for. Look at Luke chapter 10 verse 2. Therefore said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore, the Lord of harvests, that he would send forth labors into his harvest. You know what we should pray for? Soul winners. We ought to pray and get on our knees and beg God to send us more soul winners. You say how come we don't have more soul winners? Probably because we're not asking. Probably because we're not praying for it. If we get on our knees and beg and have all these incense coming up, you think God oh I don't know. No God is ready to give us more soul winners. Why don't we beg and pray for it? Go to John chapter number 17. We'll see that Jesus Christ prayed this prayer. And look Jesus Christ is our perfect example. It says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, finally brethren pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you. He's telling them hey pray for us that we're going to be able to go out and preach the gospel with free course. We're not going to be restricted by the government. They're not going to come round us up. We're going to be able to go out and just publicly preach the gospel without any kind of interruption. We'll have free course. We see we should be praying for soul winning and praying that we have free course. You know America right now, we have free course. But who knows what's going to happen in the next few years? Who knows what kind of leadership could get in place? Who knows what kind of freedoms could be stripped from us? And if we don't exercise our rights now, why would God give it to us in the future? If it's free now, how much less likely would people go soul winning when it's not? And we see we ought to right now pray that God would give us soul winners and free course. Look at John 17, look at verse 18. As thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. Jesus Christ while he was on this earth prayed for you. He prayed for more soul winners. Jesus Christ was asking the Father to give us more people to be sent out into the world to preach the gospel. That sounds like a good prayer. That sounds like something I could get behind and we should pray for. Go view Luke chapter number 2 now. So what's a prayer of faith? Praying for more laborers. It's straight out of the Bible. I mean, it's exactly what God's asking us to pray for. Look at Luke chapter 2 verse 40. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. Now, the Bible says great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Somehow the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a baby. He was literally born of a virgin. And that baby grew. But not just physically. According to the Bible, he grew in wisdom. He grew in knowledge. It's not like Jesus came out of the womb just preaching the Bible. It's not like those movies with the baby geniuses or something. They're like going around. They're so educated. No, he was a normal baby. He was perfect. But he wasn't coming out being different than other babies. He still had to grow. And now, how do we get wisdom? Well, the Bible says that we're supposed to ask for it. Go to 2 Chronicles chapter 1. Now, we don't have a specific time where we see in the Bible Jesus Christ praying and asking for wisdom. But I believe that from studying the Bible, we can understand he probably did. And especially for him to grow in wisdom. But we have an archetype in the Old Testament, someone that pictures the Lord Jesus Christ, who when he's asked by God, hey, I'll give you whatever you want, just ask me, what does he ask for? Well, look at 2 Chronicles chapter 1 verse 7. On that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee. Now imagine God just saying, I'll give you whatever you want, just ask for something. This is like the genie in the bottle that a lot of people think of. What do most people ask for? Money, riches, fame, long life, all those type of things, right? Let's see what he says. And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast showed great mercy unto David my father, and thou hast made me to reign in his stead. Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established, for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this thy people that is so great? And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life, but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people over whom I have made thee king. Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee, and I will give thee riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like. God says, you know what? Because you asked this prayer, you're going to be the smartest man to live. Now, obviously we've borrowed Jesus Christ, obviously he's the Word made flesh, but he's an archetype of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we see what does he ask for? Wisdom. He asks for knowledge. To do what? To judge. Oh, I thought it was bad to judge. No. Jesus Christ said, Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment, is what the Bible says. Judgment just means decision. Don't make decisions. Okay. How's that going to work? I don't even know how to set my alarm for work. Should I even go? What am I going to eat for lunch? Oh, don't judge. You know. I mean, judging is just making decisions. Obviously we need to make constant decisions. You know what? We shouldn't make hypocritical decisions, right? And we should make decisions about ourselves first. We should be focused on ourselves, and all the decisions we make should be in coordination to the Bible. That's judging righteous judgment. Judging to the appearance is what man thinks, flesh thinks. This is how you judge righteous judgment. What does the Bible say? Go to 1 Kings 3. We're going to read the same story, but I like how it's worded in this one as well. 1 Kings 3, verse 7. And now, O Lord my God, may thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am but a little child. I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech please the Lord that Solomon asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment. So, according to the Bible, what is it that Solomon wants? He's asking to understand judgment. He wants to be able to judge rightly. How do you judge rightly? According to the Bible. And look, you would rather have good judgment and no money than have the riches of the world and be a fool. Because you will lose that. That is temporal. But you know what? Someone can't steal from you wisdom. Someone can't steal from you understanding. And Solomon had the wisdom even at this age before this time to say, you know what? There's all these great people. I'm so young and inexperienced. I understand. The only way I can make it is for God to give me wisdom. Is for God to give me understanding. And look, we as flesh and blood, me being a young pastor, I understand there's no way I can make it in the flesh. The only way I can make it is through the wisdom of God. So that's a prayer that I believe we should all pray. Especially in leadership. No matter where you're at, we should pray and ask for wisdom. Go to James chapter number 1. James chapter number 1. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ most likely asked for wisdom. It would make sense that he grew in wisdom. Well, how do you get wisdom? From God. And if he's constantly in prayer, that seems like a pretty good prayer. But you say, well, I would ask for wisdom if God told me to ask for that. I mean, if I was Solomon, I read the Bible story, it sounded like it worked out, so I guess I would ask for it. But the question is, are you doing it now? Because look at James chapter 1 verse 5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and it breadeth not, and it shall be given him. You know what? God did ask you. Hey, ask whatever you want. Ask for wisdom, and I'll give it to you. Here's my question. Are you asking God for wisdom? You say, hey, I feel like I'm lacking understanding. I feel like I'm lacking understanding, and wisdom, and judgment, and discernment. Ask God and he will give it to you. But look at verse 6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. According to the Bible, we must go to the Lord in faith, but if you believe the Lord will give you wisdom through his word, ask of him, and he will give it to you. Now, I'm not saying that you can just, well, I'll just throw this in the fire and just ask God for wisdom. That's not how it works, my friend. Obviously, we need to ask in faith, but when I read the Bible, I'm asking God, please God, give me the understanding and wisdom to know what this is saying. Please teach me the Bible. Please let your Holy Spirit guide me into all truth as I read your word. And we see when you constantly give yourself to the word, when you're meditating upon the Scriptures, when you're praying and asking God to give you wisdom, do you believe that he will? I do. I believe that he will give you the wisdom, not because I'm special, not because of my flesh I'm anything unique, not because of my age, not because of anything but the fact that I have faith that God wants to give me that wisdom. Look at chapter 5, go to verse 13. We should ask for soul winners, but we should ask for wisdom. And we see God is telling you to ask for wisdom, but ask in faith. Look at verse 13. Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. When we have trouble, when we have tribulation, when you have affliction, when you have agony, we should go to the Lord in prayer. Go to Luke chapter 22 now. Is this what Jesus did? Was Jesus Christ ever afflicted? Was Jesus Christ ever in agony? Well look at Luke chapter 22 verse 40. And he was at the place he set unto them. Pray that ye enter not into temptation. Verse 41. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou wilt be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. Jesus Christ, knowing that his hour had come, knowing that he would go through the most excruciating pain ever imaginable, he was in agony. His stomach was turning. You know, just having to go see the dentist makes my stomach turn a little bit. You know, going to the doctor when you have some pain that's before you. The Lord Jesus Christ knew what was about to happen. And he was in agony. And we see, what did he do? He prayed, and the Lord sent an angel and strengthened him. He strengthened him in his time of agony. When we are afflicted, when we are in agony, when we are in pain, pray unto the Lord and ask him for strength. Go back to James chapter 5. We see we should pray for soul winners, we should pray for wisdom, we should pray when we're afflicted. Look at verse 14. 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, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. According to the Bible, when someone is very sick, it's a serious thing, it's not like you have the cough. It's a very sickness. The Bible says that you could ask the elders of the church to come and anoint this person, and pray the prayer of faith, and that person could be healed. That person could be cured of whatever illness or sickness is upon them. But we see in verse 16, it says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. You know, there's profit to being righteous. There's profit to following God's commandments. God wants to answer our prayers, but what happens when we're forsaking all of his laws? What happens when we're going to the Charismaniac Church? They pray a lot. Are they getting their answers prayerred? No. Why? Because they're not righteous. And look, I'm not righteous in the sense that that's what's going to get me to heaven. My righteousness comes from the faith of Jesus Christ, but at the same time I should still strive to be perfect. I should still strive to keep the commandments of God. I should still strive to do that which is right, and when we're doing that which is right, God is more likely to answer our prayers. And if you're a humble person, you will realize that your righteousness matters for others. You say, hey, why should I do that which is right so that I can benefit others when I pray for them? I should do that which is right so that when this person comes to me and is sick and hurting, I can pray to God and you'll say, well this guy's doing that which is right, I want to answer his prayer. Go to John chapter number 11. John chapter number 11. We see that Jesus Christ prays to heal people. Look at verse number 41. Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he had thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto him, Loose him and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things that Jesus did believed on him. So according to the Bible, how did Jesus heal Lazarus? He prayed. He prayed unto the Father, and the Father heard him, and Lazarus was raised from the dead. We see that Jesus Christ is a perfect example. He's doing the same prayers that we see mentioned in the Bible. Now go to 1 John chapter number 5. So we should pray for people when they're sick. We see that it actually can heal people. Now don't get this confused with Mark chapter 16. Some people think that Mark chapter 16 it still applies in modern times that, hey, we can just pick up a serpent and get bitten and we won't be hurt. We can drink deadly things, and we're just going to lay hands on people. Benny Hinn, come on down. It is bam, just healing people. Look, that's stupid. It's a joke. It's a fraud. But that doesn't mean that prayer doesn't work. That doesn't mean that we can't pray for people and they can be miraculously healed by God. That's just something different. And we see according to Mark chapter 16, they just laid hands on people and they're just healed. The apostle Paul, he would just touch a napkin. They'd touch it. They're healed. That's not happening today. But we see that there are times when we can go to the Lord in prayer and He can heal. Who should we be praying for? How about our brethren? 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. And if we know that He hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. So according to the Bible, when we ask God for something according to His will, we know He's going to hear it. When we pray for soul winners, we know He's going to hear it. When we pray for the sick, we know that He's going to hear it. When we pray because we're afflicted, we know He's going to hear it because we're praying according to His will. That's how we can have confidence in our prayers. Are you confident in your prayer life? Do you have faith? Do you have faith in the Word of God today? Look at verse 16. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do not say he shall pray for it. So according to the Bible, we should even pray for our brethren. When you see a brother or sister in Christ do that which is sinful, what is the common tendency? Go gossip about it, right? Go tell someone else. Did you see what so-and-so is wearing? Did you see so-and-so, what they did? Did you see this little petty, stupid sin that they did? Look, we're all sinners. If you follow me around, you can have a whole list by the end of the day. What's the tendency? To go tell some person and gossip and be a tell-bearer. But you know what you should be telling? Jesus Christ. You should be going to your prayer closet and praying to God and saying, you know what? Father, forgive them. How about you be merciful to this person because you know what? I made the same mistakes before. Please just spare them. Please be merciful and long-suffering unto them rather than going around and spreading gossip and destroying your church and destroying your lives. If you go around as a gossip, you will lose all of your friends. You will eventually have no friends. It will be you by yourself just gossiping to yourself. If you want to have friends, why don't you tell all of your little secrets to Jesus? Tell it to Jesus. When you see your brother sin a sin, and look, we're quantifying this, it's not a sin and a death. If you see your brother in adultery, tell everybody. Come tell me. Tell the cops. If they're stealing and murdering, if they're doing criminal activity, we're not going to go hiding that. If they're doing that which is wicked and evil, they need to be caught out. But if they just lie and do something a little wrong, why can't you forgive your brother? Why can't you pray for your brother and be in the gap of your brother? Make intercession for your brother. Go back to John chapter 17. I like John chapter 17 because it's just a prayer of Jesus Christ the Father. We get so much good doctrine out of this chapter. We see Jesus Christ prayed for his brethren. Look at John chapter 17 verse 9. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine. And I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world. But these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name. Whose name is that? Oh yeah, Holy Father. Those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. So he didn't pray for Judas. He wasn't praying for the guy that sinned unto death, but he was praying for all the rest of them. And we see, what is your prayer life consisted of today? Well, I want a new car, and I want a new job, and me and my bread, and me and my affliction. Or is your prayer for others? Are you spending the majority of your prayer life for your brethren or for yourself? And we see Jesus Christ, he's sitting here praying for his brethren. We ought to be praying for our brethren. Go to Matthew chapter number five. Matthew chapter number five. So we've seen lots of different prayers that God wants to pray. That wants us to pray for, right? We see we can pray for soul winners, we should pray for wisdom, we should pray for our afflictions, for the sick, for our brethren. Look at Matthew chapter five verse 44. But I say unto you, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. You know what the Bible says? Not just to pray for your brother that you love, pray for the guy at work that lied about you. Pray for the guy that despitefully used you. You say, oh man, this guy, he was just using me. Pray for him. Bless him. That's what the Bible teaches. Go if you would to Luke chapter 23. Let's see if Jesus did that. I think Jesus is a perfect example. The Bible says in Luke chapter six verse 28, bless them that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use you. When someone does something mean to you, why don't you pray for them? Why don't you bless them? We see this is what Christ did. Look at Luke 23 verse 33. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left, then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, and they parted his raiment and cast lots. When Christ is in the most agony that any person can ever go through, when people have despitefully used him, they put him to the cross, they're mocking him, they've scourged him, they beat him, he can't hardly even take a breath, he prays for him. Father, forgive them. The perfect example, oh, but you don't know what this guy did to me at work. Did he crucify you? Go to Matthew 26. The true Christian will pray not for those that he loves, even those that despitefully use him. Because you know he loves them too. He loves everybody. He loves his enemies. Look at Matthew 26 verse 41. Watch and pray that he enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. You know, sometimes people will say, well, I'm not going to do that. The flesh is weak. You know, sometimes people don't understand that the best way to not sin is to avoid it, is to go nowhere near it. I'm not too prideful to admit that if I put myself in certain situations and certain places, I will sin right away. There's just places and things that I just shouldn't do. I shouldn't be anywhere near it, anywhere around it, because I'll be too much tempted, I will just sin. You know how you avoid sin? Don't let yourself get tempted with it. You say, hey, I struggle eating chocolate. Well, don't put it in your house, okay? Don't hold a Snickers bar and be like, I don't know if I can eat it or not. I saw this stupid thing on Facebook. There's this guy, he's like holding a burger, and he's like smelling it and then eating an apple. It's like, I'm going to fail. I'm going to eat that burger, okay? Don't put it in my hand, okay? Because I'm just going to fail, and the reality is we're flesh. Look, your spirit might be willing to serve God, but the flesh is weak. We need to not make provision for the flesh, and we need to pray unto God, please God, please help me not to go near this situation, not to go in this place, not to be around this person, not to do these things, because I know I'm flesh. I know that I can sin. I know that I'll do that, which I don't want to, and we got to pray that God would not lead us into temptation. Go to Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6. Mark 14 says, Watch ye and pray lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. Luke 22 verse 40 says, And when he was at the place he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. We should pray that we would not enter into temptation. Look at Matthew 6 verse 13. And leadeth not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. We see that men ought to always pray. Go to 1 Timothy 2, the last place we'll turn, and when he's saying men, he's not just talking about male, okay? He's anybody. Mankind. Men ought to pray. Man, woman, boy, child, we ought to always be continuing instant in prayer. Pray without ceasing. Be ready to pray, and we ought to pray prayers of faith. Go to the Lord with faith, and you say, How do I get faith? From here. Find the promises of God in the Bible. Believe the Bible, and go to God on your knees and say, God, I'm praying this prayer because I know this is what your word says. I know it's according to thy will. Please give me that wisdom. Please give me those soul winners. Please heal this person. Please help me in this affliction. Please, you know, I'm just praying for my brother. I don't even know what the situation is, but please be merciful unto him. We see there's all kinds of prayers. Please, God, lead me not into temptation. Look at verse 8. I will, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for our church. Thank you so much for this opportunity to be here. I pray that you would bless our church with more soul winners, that we could just be a great light unto this world and this area. I pray that you would just help us with our afflictions, that you would help those that are sick. I pray that you would just bless the brethren, that you would forgive us of our sins, and you would lead not this church into temptation, but that everything could be done in glory and honor to thy name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's go to our final song, 33.