Summer in the Psalms | Psalm 22 | Part 1

Jesus and salvation is what matters. Do not get that twisted. Do not get off the main topic. Stay focused on Jesus. Stay focused on the fact he's the author and finisher of our faith.

He finishes what he starts. Well, good morning, church. Good morning. How's everybody doing? Good.

Having a good summer so far? Yeah. How about y'all ready for a little pumpkin spice lattes at this point? It's getting a little hot out there. Getting a little hot.

I tell you, when it's cold, I'm ready for it to be hot. When it's hot, I'm ready for it to be cold. But the Bible just says be content. Right? So I'm trying my best to be content.

It's hard to do that when you're doing yard work in a 102 degree weather. That's that's no fun. Right? But God is faithful, and I'm hey. Listen.

I'm grateful just to be able-bodied to be able to do it. Come on, somebody. There's always somebody who trade places with us. Isn't that right? Well, today, I'm excited to continue our series, summer in the Psalms.

I'm gonna be teaching you from Psalms chapter 22 today. Just to kinda set this up, there are 16 of the Psalms that are considered messianic Psalms. What does that mean? Messianic is, the derivative of the word messiah or about the messiah. Messianic is about the messiah.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

And so there are 16 prophetic, meaning spoke about in advance, prophetic, messianic chapters in the book of Psalms. Chapter 22 is probably, the apex messianic Psalm in the entire book. And so today, I wanna teach you from Psalms chapter 22, and show you, some very powerful things. Probably the greatest thing I want you to have understanding in today is this. We should not worry about our life.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention Psalms 22 · chapter mention

This past week, I I received, I don't know exactly how many messages. That's Nora FaceTiming me from the farm. That's hilarious. Airplane mode. I forgot to put that in airplane mode.

Let's see. There we go. Okay. That's so funny. She'll get a kick out of that.

We this past week, I got so many messages from people about what's going on in The Middle East. Have you been keeping up with this, the the rockets and the missile trading between Iran and Israel? Then America gets involved and drops, several bunker buster missiles, to set back Iran's nuclear situation. Well, can I tell you this? A lot of you reached out this week, and you wanted my take on things.

The problem is is I don't have an opinion on things. I have the word of God about things. What Josh thinks is irrelevant to your future. What the scripture talks to though is complete and it's true and it will absolutely lead you, into a better tomorrow, into a more peaceful today. Right?

And so this is what I will tell you about what's going on in The Middle East. God is still on the throne. And if it causes any change in us, let it cause change in us in this way, that it increases our urgency to share the gospel and the truth of Jesus Christ with a world that needs Jesus. Don't get caught up in all of the peripheral that's just peripheral. Everything, as far as we're concerned as believers, is about the cross.

It always has been. It always will be. Today, what I'm about to read you in Psalms 22 was written a thousand years before the life of Jesus, and yet it speaks with great detail about the crucifixion. Why is it that it was so important to God that a thousand years before the death of Christ on the cross, that he sends a prophecy through a worshiping king named David? What does that mean to us today?

It's very simple. Don't worry about tomorrow. God's already in it. He's already there. He's working on your behalf.

You don't have to worry about what tomorrow holds. So let me answer all of your questions in this way. Am I worried about the Middle East? Not for a second. Why?

Because God's in control. Can I tell you this? If he can send a worshiping king a thousand years ago to set us up to know, to look for Jesus, He's already in the finality of what's going on over there, and he's doing the same thing. He does not change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

If he was pointing to Jesus a thousand years ago, he's pointing to Jesus today. Come on, somebody. And you and I should be doing the same. So let's be focused on what really matters. Everything else is temporal and peripheral.

Jesus and salvation is what matters. Do not get that twisted. Do not get off the main topic. Stay focused on Jesus. Stay focused on the fact he's the author and finisher of our faith.

He finishes what he starts. Amen. And so today, we're gonna talk about this. Turn to Psalm chapter 22, and let's get into the word. I'm gonna read you the entire book, of Psalm 22, and then we're gonna break this down just for a few minutes this morning.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

Psalms chapter 22, give me an amen when you get there. Amen. Man, y'all ready this morning. Come on. Glory to God.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

There's a special move of the Holy Spirit in here too. So, let's just continue staying a spirit of reverence, and see what he wants to do here. Psalm 22 starting in verse one. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Hold up.

Does that sound familiar to anybody? Okay, let's keep going. Why are you so far from saving me? So far from my cries of anguish. My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer.

By night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the holy one. You are the one Israel praises. In you, our ancestors put their trust. They trusted and you delivered them.

To you they cried out and were saved. In you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. Remember that, verse six, but I'm a worm and not a man. We're gonna dig into that just for a few seconds this morning.

There's some, there's so much good packed in verse six. Verse seven, All who see me mock me. They hurl insults, shaking their heads. He trusts in the Lord, they say. Let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him since he delights in him. Verse nine. Yet you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust in you even at my mother's breast. From birth, I was cast on you.

From my mother's womb, you have been my God. Do not be far from me for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me. The strong bulls of Bichon encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.

I'm poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax. It's melted within me. Verse 15. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

You lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me. A pack of villains encircles me. They pierce my hands and my feet. What?

Did you hear that? They pierce my hands and my feet. Stay with me. Verse 17. All my bones are on display.

People stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You're my strength. Come quickly to help me.

Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions. Save me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my people. In the assembly, I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob, honor him. Revere him, all you descendants of Israel. For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly. Before those who fear you, I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the Lord will praise him. May your hearts live forever.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him. For dominion belongs to the lord, and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship. All who go down to dust will kneel before him. Those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Is there anybody in here who can keep yourself alive? I guess they're talking about us. It says posterity will serve him. Future generations will be told about the Lord. Can I tell you right there?

If you have unsaved loved ones, especially children, that right there is a promise from God. It says posterity will serve him. So if you've got unsaved children or loved ones, you just stand on that verse today and you just thank God that your posterity will serve him. Amen. Verse 31, they will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn that he has done it.

Can I get an amen? Amen. Father, we thank you for your word. Holy spirit, just do something fresh and anew. Pour out in a mighty way in our midst today.

I thank you, Lord, that it's your word that is going to speak not man's opinion. Father, allow us to see your heart through your inspired text today. We glorify you and we praise you. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray and the church said, amen. Amen.

So everything we just read, boy, it is certainly pointing to some specific things that took place on the cross. Would you agree with that? Yes. Absolutely. There's some really cool prophetic, messianic, highlights in chapter 22 of Psalm.

And the reason why that's important today is because it's God's heart for us to know that no matter how bleak and how dark and how ugly things seem, you are not alone. He is in it with you. Not only is he in it with you, he has been in that moment for over a thousand years working on your behalf. Church, can I tell you, we do not serve a God of stone or wood? We serve the one true living God, and he's got a purpose and a plan for your life.

Amen. So let's break down a few of these verses, just to give you some more clarity, and give you some fresh perspective. Psalm 22 verse one says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me so far from my cries of anguish? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

I know where I've heard that Jesus on the cross. Turn to Matthew chapter 27, verse 46. It says, and about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So here's what's interesting. When you read Matthew chapter 27 verse 46, you see a perfect man who has put on all of the sin of the world and is feeling detached from his father for the first time.

Matthew 27:46 Matthew 27:46

Why? Because of sin. Frank, can I tell you sin separates us from God? Right? It is the acidic, product of the devil that we, function in sin.

We fall into temptation, and that begins a separation from God. And so Jesus is on the cross saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He said, God, we were just talking just a minute ago, and now I don't even feel you with me. That's the weight of sin. That's the weight of sin.

There's a second thing going on here though in Matthew chapter 27. When he says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It wasn't just a man experiencing detachment from his father in a spiritual sense. It was also a Messiah, Jesus the Messiah, talking to the Jews, and here's what he's saying. If you have ever read the writings of King David, this moment was written about, it was spoken about, it has been prophesied, and I am tying myself back to the prophecy of the messiah, and at this moment, I say, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

To remind you that David spoke of this moment a thousand years ago, I'm not just a man, I'm not just a person, I am the king of the Jews, The soon returning king, he's saying, I'm Jesus, the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah. I'm not just another thief on the cross. It's power. He's standing on business in this moment. He's saying, I'm not like the rest of these people up here.

I love them, yes, but I am not just man. I'm a 100% man, 100% God, 100% of the time. And this was spoken about not just by David, not just by Daniel, not just by Isaiah, not just by the greater and the latter prophets. Can I tell you, it was written all over the Old Testament, and when Jesus cries out on the throne, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The Jews said, stop.

He just quoted King David. Where have we seen this? And they go back to the scrolls and they start going through and they say, Wait a second. A thousand years ago, David said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And he was setting us up to know that something was coming or we would hear those words again.

And now, could it be Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. That we have crucified the Lord of glory? The Bible says it was the stone the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone. They did not know him, but they destroyed the king of glory. But I've got good news for you.

The scripture says had they known, they would have not crucified him because in the same sense where they thought they were winning, Jesus had them right where he want them. The enemy's playing checkers and God is playing chess. He's got a plan for us, amen, church, come on. So there's this beautiful picture. My God, why have you forsaken me?

It's twofold. Yes, I'm separated because of sin from God. For a second, I've taken on the sin of the world, and while I'm just at that, let me just say this. Not just the past sin, not just the present sin, but the future sin as well. All of the sin of the world.

Frank, can I tell you grace is big and it's for you today? Praise God. Let's keep going. I got some things to cover. Psalms chapter 22, starting at verse three.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

We're going to verse five here. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One. You're the one Israel praises. In you, our ancestors put their trust. They trusted and you delivered them.

To you, they cried out and were saved. In you, they trusted and were not put to shame. Let's paraphrase those three verses. No matter what duress you're in, God's with you. He's with you.

He's for you, and you will not be put to shame. I don't care what the scoreboard says. I know who wins the game. We are standing from a place of victory, not waiting for a victory. We have already won because he has won.

Amen? And so when people send me messages, and I mean volumes of messages last week about, the end time prophecies and all this, and I I'm great. You wanna go study end time prophecies? Go do it. I I think we should put, double down on salvation.

That's what I think we ought to be doing. Let's just go get the lost. Let's be about the father's work. Let's be about the business of eternity. That's what Hope City's gonna do, and you're welcome to play with us because all God tells us to do in his word is love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

And if we'll do those two things, we can reach the lost. But what we're not gonna do is we're not gonna waste our time worrying about, well, what what flag was painted on that rocket and what flag was painted on that rocket? And do you think if we hold our mouth a certain way on Tuesday, this will mean this in revelation. You wanna go study it, it's fine. But can I tell you, you don't have to study grace?

Grace has been applied to your life if you're in Christ Jesus. And now let's go find people who need more grace. That's what we're gonna do. Amen. Come on.

We gotta go. We gotta go. We gotta hurry. Psalm 22 verse six through eight. But I am a worm and not a man scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

All who seek me mock me. They hurl insults, shaking their heads. He trusts in the Lord, they say. Well, let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him.

I'm a worm. I'm a worm. Charles Spurgeon has a quote. It says, consider the contrast between saying I am and I am a worm. It's incredible to think.

The great I am being put on a cross in that way. Just incredible to consider. Here's what's really cool about this. I tell you all the time to read, ponder, study, take time in scripture, read two or three verses, go reference it, check it out. This is why we do that.

If you read this verse, Psalms 22 verse six, but I'm a worm, not a man, And you just go and let that pass you by and saying, okay. He was lowly at the time. You miss some incredible truth. If you look it up in the Hebrew, the word worm there is, used in one of two words, the Greek, or not the Greek, but the, the Hebrew and the there are tola and tola at. It denotes not just a random worm, but it's a specific worm.

It's the kermes elesis. It's that's a scientific name also known as the crimson worm, The crimson worm. We have a picture of it for you. It looks like, it's kinda like a red grub worm. Like a red grub worm.

It was used in those days. They would take them and they would bust them. They'd make red dye. Just a side note, that dye is still to this day created, and it's called royal red. Royal red.

Isn't that cool? Now check this out. Why would God allow a prophecy to come forward calling his son a worm? That's crazy. It doesn't make any sense until you dig into it.

So let's take a look at the crimson worm just for a couple seconds because I don't want you to miss the beauty in this. The crimson worm when it when it, had lived the extent of its life, its last function alive was to create offspring. It would attach itself to a tree. Oh, it gets so much better. Watch this.

It would attach itself to a tree. Now, why is that important? People say, well, Jesus was nailed to a tree. Yeah, they nailed him to a tree, but he could have called down 10,000 angels to rescue him and pull him off of that tree. So what you got is is the same thing he told Pilate.

He said, you can't take my life unless I lay it down. Jesus attached himself to that tree. Parallel number one, let's keep going, let's keep going. Boy, I feel the Holy Spirit. Check this out.

He was nailed to the tree, right? This only happened one time in the life of the crimson worm. The crimson worm knew when it attached itself to a tree, that's the end. It's coming to an end. So it would attach itself to these trees and then with its body would become a hard shell.

The exterior of the crimson worm would begin to harden to create this covering whereby the offspring would come underneath a protective covering. Stay with me. It gets better. So in essence, when the offspring of the crimson worm came into this world, when they stepped into this world, they literally were protected between the hard shell of the sacrifice of the parent and the strength of the tree. Friend, there's a parallel for you and me in that.

It's that when we are engrafted into the family of Christ, we are under the protection and the prayers and the intercession of Jesus, but we are also standing confirmed and powerful through the strength of the cross today. Do you see that parallel? They weren't just calling it a worm. He was saying this is a Crimson worm. There's some parallels here.

Stay with me. The blood that the that the parent worm had, once the offspring were born under this protective shell, the offspring would begin to drink freely from the blood of the parent, and the offspring would be completely nourished for three days. And these offspring in three days time would drink the crimson worm completely dry. But here's the interesting fact, is that the same blood that was in the mother is now in the children, and the DNA of the mama is now in the babies. The same capability in the mamas has now been passed on to another generation.

Friend, can I tell you when you drink freely from the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you put yourself with a different DNA? Your struggle changes. Your focus changes. The way you approach things change. Now all of a sudden you're not functioning the way you used to function because your DNA has shifted.

There's been a change in your bloodline church. There's been a change in your bloodline. You have drank freely from the sacrifice of Jesus. Glory to God. On day four, the mother would go from bright red to the whitest of white.

We have a picture of that. And it would begin to flake and drift off into the atmosphere where the remnants of its existence would nourish the ground or leaves or whatever it would touch. It would become part of a system of greater nourishment. And where the worm was centrally located, now it has spread. And what was once scarlet was now white as snow.

Isaiah chapter one verse 18. Come now, let's settle the matter. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. When Jesus was on the cross, it was prophesied by David.

Not that he was just lower than a worm, but that you're about to see God sacrifice himself on a tree. He will be dead for three days and then he is going to expand infinitely. And by doing this, an entire generation will be created of believers and they will have his DNA. And when he is gone, they will be left here functioning with the same charisma, the same energy, the same capability as he is going to multiply in his death. Amen.

Frank, can I tell you when David was writing Psalm 22, he was under the power of the holy spirit? He was prophesying about a messiah, with such specificity that you can't even comprehend it. And here's what's even crazier. When it says he was attached to a tree, I got a picture. For for for years, you would walk by these trees and you would see blood stains on trees and they could say there was the last stand of a crimson worm.

Years later, centuries later, we still are experiencing the power of a blood stained tree. Frank, can I tell you, Jesus was the sacrifice that feeds and nourishes his children today? And here's what, this is what blows my mind. Not only was David writing a thousand years before the life of Christ, he was writing eight hundred years before the crucifix was invented. Come on, man.

Did you hear what I said? Yeah. Come on. So let me, let me. Why are we worried about tomorrow?

If he has jumped a thousand years in advance just to tell the story of who he is, Don't you think he's in your tomorrow? Yes. Now see, if I ask you if he was in your yesterday, you'll jump up and shout and you'll testify because he's all over your yesterday. So why is it that we doubt our tomorrow? Frank, can I tell you the devil can't attack your yesterdays because that's sealed?

That's finished. He's trying to blind your faith so that you don't have expectation of great things tomorrow. That's why when I get a ton of emails about pastor Josh, I'm concerned about what's going on in The Middle East. For what? For what?

Why be concerned about it? Go share the love of Jesus with somebody. Quit worrying about it. At the end of the day, we will spend eternity with Jesus, and the only goal is taking as many with us as we can. Worried about who's shooting rockets at who?

I bless Israel because the Bible tells me to bless Israel. I pray for them, but at the end of the day, I ain't worried about it. What's better, me to sit waste time watching the news, worrying about it, or me going to share the love of Jesus with somebody? Come on. Let's be wise now.

Let's be wise. Let's keep going. I I gotta I gotta I gotta hurry. Psalms chapter 22 verse nine through 11. Yet you brought me out of the womb.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

You made me trust in you even at my mother's breast. From birth, I was cast on you. From my mother's womb, you have been my god. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help. So when it says you brought me out of the womb, there's a couple things being said there.

It's it's a prophecy, a messianic prophecy of what was to happen when Jesus and John the Baptist met, in utero. When Jesus is in his mother's stomach and she goes to her cousin's house who's carrying John the Baptist in her womb, the scripture says that, and the John the Baptist leaped in his mother's womb because he received the truth that the Messiah was in the room with him. What the scripture is pointing to is that from the very beginning, even before birth, nature cried out, this is the Messiah. People recognized this is the Messiah. John the Baptist, even before he was born, can you imagine?

Leapt in his mother's womb. But it says that even from the womb, there's these pictures of Jesus being the Messiah all the way through. And what David is prophetically writing is so that there's a generation to come that won't have to guess anymore. They won't have to wonder who the Messiah is. Because with every one of these messianic prophecies, they're checking boxes.

And with each checkbox, it becomes more and more of an impossibility that Jesus is just a man. He's the Messiah. Verse 11. I'm I'm I'm gonna close here. I'm a I'll finish this next week.

Come back next week. I'll finish the whole Psalm 22. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help. This was written before the victory of the cross. Do not be far from me for trouble is near and there's no one to help.

If this is being amended post resurrection, it would have to read like this. Do not be far from me for trouble is near, but I know you're here to help. Yeah. Christ died on the cross. Forty days later, he's about to ascend.

And he pulls the disciples together, and he says, it's better for you if I go. Because when I go, I'll send one that's called the comforter to take my place. The comforter is with us and is able to help us in our time of trouble. I have a picture of a crucifix from the hospital last November. I was near to some trouble last November.

I had three of my vertebrae crushed. They they had gotten so bad and deteriorated to the point where one day in early October, they just gave out and just crushed down and caused all sorts of pain. I could barely walk. I was with a walker and, just really struggling. Couldn't put on my own shoes, couldn't shower, couldn't use the restroom.

It was it was very trouble was near. And I'm in the hospital, and, the first surgery went great. Second surgery, not so much. It was rough. I woke up in a lot of pain, and there was a allergic reaction with the medication that they've given me to stop the pain.

And so not just the pain of the surgery, but then complicated and inflamed by the, response. It was easily. I mean, not even it's in a stratosphere all by itself. The most catastrophic and violent pain I've ever experienced. And I look up from the hospital bed, and I see this.

That's the actual crucifix that was across, from the feet of my bed across just above the television. This is the actual picture of it. And the reason I took this picture is because I realized that Jesus had experienced my suffering. And that I wasn't alone in that moment. And it created this peace in me that even in the face of that physical pain, even in the face of that present trouble, I knew God was with me.

If you were to paraphrase all of Psalm 22, this is probably the best way you could say it. Hard times will come. But I've known they were coming a long time before they got there. And I've done everything necessary to be with you in those moments. If Jesus was never crucified, was never resurrected, if you needed him, you'd have to go buy a plane ticket and fly to wherever he was and fight through unbelievable crowds just to try to get remotely close to him.

And by now, who knows what kind of security detail he'd have? But the truth is this, is that we don't have to do that. He died so that he would come closer to us. So when fear tries to set in, when concern tries to set in, whether it's about The Middle East, whether it's about finances, whether it's about your health, whether it's about maybe a relational struggle, maybe it's, fill in the blank. This chapter reminds us that God has been preparing since before time to be with us in these moments.

Do you see how beautiful that is? That you're not alone. You're not alone. And then no matter how hard things get, no matter how difficult things may seem, two things will never change. Number one, he loves you.

And number two, he'll never leave you or forsake you. When you put that together, man, you got a pretty powerful cocktail to get us through anything life throws our way. Even a war in The Middle East. It's like the fifteenth time in my life it's happened. I know life throws us these moments of concern.

That that's that's okay. But no matter how big our problems are, no matter how big the struggle becomes, understand it is still much smaller than our God. He's so big. And he's so strong. And he's so capable.

And he sits waiting for us to engage him and say, father, we need you. And so today, here's how I wanna close. If you're here and you're struggling with fear or anxiety or or or any of the things I mentioned, maybe you're you just have concerns about the future. Maybe maybe maybe it's a job situation. Maybe maybe your marriage is falling apart.

Maybe your children aren't serving the Lord and you have anxiety about that. Maybe it's that you just feel alone. Whatever it is. I'm gonna open the altars here in just a minute. And I want you to know this thing.

This is this one thing here. The Holy Spirit will meet you. Amen. It is his number one purpose. It is the purpose for his existence is to come to you in your time of trouble.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. That's what the scripture says. Says that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but don't be afraid. The Bible says that God has overcome the world. So if you would stand to your feet, I'm gonna pray.

And for those who don't have any need to to to come pray, I'm gonna bless us and you can head out. I do ask that you respect the energy in the, environment because we're gonna have people praying. So if you're gonna have conversation, please take those in the hallway. We're gonna honor the presence of God in this place. But if you need to pray, and I wanna say this very clearly, if you need to pray, you are not released.

You are charged with coming forward. Bible says if one could put a thousand to flight, two can put 10,000 to flight. That means you can pray about it and you can take care of some of us. But two of us together, it's multiplied effort times 10. Don't leave here if you need to pray with somebody.

We want to pray. We have structured this service to pray with you. I say we. Really the Holy Spirit did it. We had no plans this morning of anything.

At first service, wow. Wow. God loves you in a way you can never imagine. I'm gonna pray. And as soon as I'm done praying, if you need prayer, come forward.

If not, we love you and we'll see you next week. Father, bless us and keep us. Be gracious to us and show us your favor. Make your face shine upon us and give us peace both now and forevermore. Cover us with the blood of Jesus.

From the top of our head to the soles of our feet, I thank you that no weapon formed against us will prosper. Father, I just rebuke a spirit of fear in this room. Father, right now, there are eternal struggles in the hearts of your children. And the enemy is trying to convince them to leave and not pray. I pray that you would shut up that devil.

Close his mouth in the name of Jesus. And father, fill their heart with peace to come forward for prayer. Father, I pray that for those who leave or those who stay, either way father, we will see your goodness in the land of the living this week. We love you and we praise you in Jesus