The Prayer that has an Effect

So we have Brother Woolley here from Southland Baptist Church down in Kansas City, down in Belton.

And he's on staff there with Brother Gary Berry that many of you met and know.

! Brother Berry's a good friend and been a big help as I walk through the challenges of the cancer and all the things there.

But Brother Woolley, why don't you come and share with us this morning what God has put upon your heart for us here today, Brother.

Thank you, Brother.

Well, good morning.

Good to see you all here this morning.

It's always a pleasure to be able to come to the house of God and come to be able to fellowship and minister to folks that you're going to share heaven with.

And it's a blessing to be able to do that.

And so, as a pastor mentioned, I'm on pastoral staff there at Southland Baptist in Belton, Missouri.

And I've been there for a few years.

And so we're just excited to be able to be here to see what the Lord has for us this morning.

How many would say, just honestly, I'm just a little bit weary, a little bit tired this morning.

Anybody like that?

Okay.

All right.

Well, not that many.

So I ain't going to have you stand and sing Father Abraham for a few minutes, okay?

Now, if you don't know what the song Father Abraham is, just ask somebody else.

And they may demonstrate that for you for a few minutes, okay?

So, but it is good to be here.

But I would like to have you stand as we read the Word of God this morning.

So if you would turn with me to the book of James.

Book of James chapter 1.

James 1 · chapter mention

And as we look at this blessed book here, I want us to look beginning in verse 5.

And then we're going to turn a couple pages here to chapter 4, okay?

So let's look here.

James chapter 1, beginning in verse 5.

James 1 · chapter mention

Scripture says,

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraided not.

And it shall be given him.

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 from the Lord.

James chapter 4 says in verse 2.

James 4 · chapter mention

Ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain.

Ye fight and war.

And let's repeat the next phrase here to the end of the sentence here.

Here we go, ready?

Yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask and miss, that it may consume it upon your lusts.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask the Lord to help us now as we look.

The title of the message is,

The Prayer That Has an Effect.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Father, we just ask now that you would meet with us this morning.

May you come down and pour into our hearts what we need.

For Father, without you, this is just a meeting.

We want you to work.

We want you to say to us what you would have us to learn, what you'd have us to know, what you'd have us to follow.

God, I pray that you would be preeminent in this meeting.

May you get the glory and honor for all that is said and done.

And we ask, Lord, these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thank you.

You may be seated.

The prayer that has an effect.

I want you to ask you a question.

And I want you to think about what the answer would be in your life.

The question is this.

If the Lord stopped answering your prayers, how soon would you notice?

You see, the answer to that question can give us a good barometer, a good idea of how effectual our prayer life is.

What God is doing, what God is not doing.

And so, as we look here this morning, let me just say this.

I've seen God work more in prayer meetings in my ministry and in the years that God has given me than in practically any other ministry that the church has.

Now, I hope that's not a shock to you.

I hope that's a reality.

Because God works when God's people ask, when God's people pray.

Charles Spurgeon said this.

The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings.

If God be near a church, it must pray.

If he be not near, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.

End quote.

You see, the prayer meeting is what God would have us to do to approach the throne of grace to obtain grace.

Hebrews chapter 4.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

In the time of need.

So, what is prayer?

And how can our prayers have an effect?

Let's think of the first thing.

There's two words that I'd like to talk about this morning before we get into the meat of the message that has to do with prayer.

The first one, we've already said a few times in the scripture.

The first one is ask.

If we ask the question, what is prayer?

The one word that comes out more often, it is the word ask.

Now, oftentimes, I'll hear something like this.

Well, I don't know how to pray.

Now, there's two different types of people that say that.

The people that say, I don't know how to pray, and I don't want to know how to pray.

And then there's the people that say, I don't know how to pray, and I would like to know how to pray.

So, how do we pray?

Well, my response to those folks that ask that question over the years is, well, do you know how to ask?

Everybody asks questions, don't they?

We ask questions almost every day, probably several times a day.

Do we know how to ask?

And then I might get a question like this.

Well, how do I ask?

And then I will quickly respond, well, you just did.

You see how easy that is?

You see, we have a God who loves to hear from his children.

He wants us to ask.

He wants us to come to his throne and ask.

We have a great Heavenly Father.

And he wants us to talk to him.

And one of the main words here in prayer is the word ask.

A few years ago, there was a church up in the middle of Michigan in a rural area.

And the church sat in between two perpendicular roads, one going in one direction, one going in the other direction.

And on down both of those roads, about a quarter of a mile, half a mile, there were a group of houses.

And some of the people that lived in those houses were members of that church.

Well, one day, the women got together and decided that they were going to paint the side of the church or a section of the church that needed painting.

So they had a day in which they set up.

And the ladies went out there and they had a good time fellowshipping and painting the church.

The color was white, by the way, but that's why they painted.

And as they were getting finished up for the day and they were getting ready to go, storm clouds became very evident.

They were rolling in pretty quick.

One of the ladies looked at the other one and said,

Oh, man, if it rains on the church, then all the things that we just did is going to be a wash.

And it's going to be difficult because the paint's going to be ruined.

Well, as the ladies were out there, some of the ladies brought their kids with them to play and things like that.

There's a six-year-old that just happened to be the pastor's son.

But he overheard the ladies talking about that.

And he just looked at them and says, Well, why don't you pray that God would stop the rain?

And the ladies kind of looked at each other and looked at him.

And then they watched this six-year-old boy get up and he went to the parking lot of the church.

And he tucked his head between his legs.

And he began to pray that God would hold the rain.

And as the ladies were watching the storm clouds rolled in, it appeared, based on what their testimony was,

the storm clouds went in one direction and in the other direction and drenched the houses down those roads.

And not one drop of rain touched the church.

Now, folks, if God can answer the prayer of a six-year-old boy in simple faith,

would he not listen to his people who come to him in faith and pray?

Notice in James chapter 1, the Scripture says,

James 1 · chapter mention

Verse 6,

But let him ask in faith.

Now, we know that without faith it's impossible to what?

Please him.

It is impossible to please the Lord without faith.

The Bible says,

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

So if we're not trusting God,

if we're not walking with God,

if we're not walking by faith,

we're literally sinning against God

because we're not trusting him.

And if we're praying a prayer not in faith,

not believing God,

then the Bible tells us here,

verse 7,

For let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord.

How effectual is our prayers.

Now, the first word we talked about is ask.

God loves to hear from his people.

The second word I want to bring out is the word breath or breathe.

Now, if we stop breathing, we will eventually what?

If we stop praying, guess what?

Our prayers will be ineffective if we stop praying.

And we're not going to have because we don't ask.

Right?

We have not because we ask not.

And our spiritual life

is literally walking around on this earth without breath,

without the Spirit of God moving.

And doesn't Ephesians chapter 5 tell us to pray in the Spirit?

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

How often should we pray?

Well, how often should you breathe?

That's why the Bible says pray without ceasing.

All right?

It gives us strength

because we're constantly at the throne room of grace.

We're constantly asking.

We're constantly leaning on God,

leaning on the Lord to help us,

to give us wisdom,

to help us to walk,

to help us to talk,

to help us to be able to share the gospel

with those that God brings our way

because he is the Lord of the harvest.

And if we cease to breathe,

we will die.

Spiritually speaking,

we will be ineffective

for the cause of Christ

if we do not pray.

Now,

one might ask,

why is prayer so important?

Well, let me just say that

one of the reasons why prayer is so important

is because the lack of prayer limits God.

You say, wait a minute.

You mean an almighty,

omnipotent God

is limited when we cease to pray?

That's what the scripture says.

In Psalm chapter 78, verse 41,

Psalms 78:41

it says,

yea, they turned back

and tempted God

and limited the Holy One of Israel.

The Bible says in Mark chapter 6

Mark 6 · chapter mention

that Jesus could do no mighty work there

because of their unbelief,

and he marveled

because of their unbelief.

Isn't it amazing

that you can have a God

who created the world

and created the universe

with just speaking the words,

and he comes to earth,

and he's amazed.

He's amazed

at the people's unbelief

in him.

He was also amazed

at the people's faith

in him.

There was one thing

that amazed Jesus,

and that was people's faith

and people's unbelief.

You see, it limits God.

Now, think of King Ahaz

back in the Old Testament.

God comes to King Ahaz

and says,

King Ahaz,

ask of me anything.

Ask of me a sign.

Ask of me anything

and I will give it to you.

King Ahaz said,

I will not ask,

neither will I tempt God.

You see, King Ahaz said,

basically in his heart,

because of his pride,

I've got this myself.

I can do this my own way.

I've got this.

I don't need God.

I don't need you

and I will not ask.

You see,

the lack of prayer

limits God.

Why?

Because of the pride

in our hearts

when we say,

I've got this.

I can do this myself.

This day,

I'm just going to go

about my day

and God's not going to be

in my thoughts.

God's not going to be

in my ask

and asking him

for direction.

He's not going to be there.

He's there,

but he's not going to be

preeminent in my life today.

I've got this myself.

There's a way

that seemeth right

unto a man

and the in thereof

are the ways of

death.

And King Ahaz,

because of his pride,

said,

I will not ask.

And so you know what?

God didn't give him

anything.

God turned to the house

of Judah

and says,

okay, Judah,

I'm going to give you

a sign.

I'm going to give you

something that only

I can do.

You know what that sign was?

Behold,

a virgin shall conceive

and bring forth a son

and ye shall call

his name

Emmanuel,

God,

with us.

Only God

can do that.

So he went from Ahaz

to the house of Judah

all because Ahaz

says,

I'm not going to.

Now folks,

how many times

in our life

or in the days

in which God

has given us

that we go about

our day

and we lack

getting anything

from God

simply because

we don't ask,

because we think

we've got it

ourselves,

or just because

we don't believe

God will.

Have we ever

prayed to God

and before the prayer

meeting was ever

over,

you didn't believe

God was going to do

what you just asked

him to do?

That's the prayer

of unbelief.

Now,

if prayer

limits God,

how can we have

prayers that have

an effect?

if our prayers

are going to have

an effect,

then we must,

our will

must come into

union with God's

will.

Does that make sense?

Now,

let me give you

an example.

Remember when the

disciples asked

the Lord,

teach us to pray,

and the Lord

said,

Our Father,

which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Do you remember

that?

The Lord's prayer.

And then he says,

Thy will be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

Now,

Jesus said,

that's how we are

ought to pray.

It's a model prayer.

Now,

when he says

to pray

that God's will

would be done

on earth

as it is in heaven,

that implies

that God's will

may not be done

on earth

as it is in heaven,

and we need to pray

for it to be done.

Make sense?

All right,

let me give you

another example.

In 2 Peter 3,

2 Peter 3:9

verse 9,

the Bible says,

God is not willing

that any should perish,

but all will come

to repentance.

Amen?

That's what God

is not willing to do.

Or excuse me,

he's not willing

that any should perish.

Now,

are people perishing

and going to hell

on earth?

Take a deep breath

and let it out.

two people

have just went out

into eternity

on this globe.

Where are they going?

Folks,

there are people

that are dying

and going to hell

on this earth.

That's not God's will.

So,

let's think about this.

Is God's will

being done

in heaven today?

Amen.

God's will

is being done

in heaven today.

Perfect.

So,

let me ask you

another question.

If sin,

and I'll just

give you a hint,

if sin is committed

on this earth,

that's not God's will.

Is God's will

perfectly being done

on earth today?

No.

So,

he's asking us

to pray

that God's will

in your life

will be done

here

as it would be

in heaven.

And in order

for that to happen,

we must pray.

Now,

let's think about this

for a moment.

The Bible tells us

in Isaiah 59,

16,

a very solemn verse

that says this,

as God is looking

around,

the Bible says,

he saw,

he saw no man

and wondered

that there was

no intercessor.

God's looking around,

he's saying,

he's in amazement,

he's in wonder,

why is there not

an intercessor?

Now,

I'm going to say this,

I think there's

Bible weight to it,

I can't prove it

necessarily 100%

in the Bible,

but I believe

that when people

get saved,

oftentimes,

God's people

are praying

for that soul

in some way.

Ain't you so glad

somebody was praying

for you

to get saved?

Ain't you so glad

God sent someone

your way

to tell you

about the gospel?

Whether it was

a family member,

a friend,

whether it was

an invite to church,

whether it was

a pastor,

whether it was

a radio speaker,

wherever it might be,

God did something

in your life,

and oftentimes,

he does it

when there's

an intercessor

that asks.

There's a story

that takes place

in our life

when my wife

and I

was engaged

a number

of years ago,

way back,

somewhere around

1989.

We were attending

a church.

The name of the

church in Kentucky

was Hard Money

Baptist Church.

It was in the town

of Hard Money,

so hence,

that's the name.

And of course,

your reaction

was the same reaction

as mine,

because I was

from the south

side of Chicago,

we moved down

to Kentucky

because that's

where my parents

were originally born,

and so they

built a house

down there

after I graduated

high school,

and so we started

attending there.

Hard Money

Baptist Church,

the dynamic

there was

they didn't have

a lot of teenagers

at the time.

They had a number

of college and career

people,

my age,

18,

and up to

25 or so.

and so

there's a number

of kids

that some

were,

most of them

were unmarried,

and of course,

Melissa and I

was engaged

at the time.

Well,

during this time,

one of the

people in the church

invited a man

by the name

of Rodney.

Rodney was a tall

man,

22,

23 years old

at the time,

and Rodney

was very faithful

to come to church,

but Rodney was lost.

And every Sunday

morning,

every Sunday night,

Wednesday night,

he would be there.

He would sit

pretty much right

over here

in the auditorium,

and when the

invitation would come,

everybody would

stand up,

and many of the

members of the

church who knew

Rodney,

knew Rodney

needed to be saved,

would look at,

stare at the

back of his head.

Is Rodney going

to come forward

and get saved?

Months went by.

The Spirit of God

worked in many

of those services,

if not all,

and you could see

Rodney

grabbing the pew.

You could see

Rodney swaying.

You could see

Rodney was under

conviction,

but Rodney

would not move.

One Sunday

afternoon,

the pastor

got us all

together in that

age group,

except for Rodney.

We went down

in the basement,

and we stood

in a circle,

and pastor

said this,

he said,

let's pray for

Rodney,

that Rodney

would get saved.

And so,

the young people

were going around

in that circle,

and they were

saying things like

this,

oh God,

save Rodney,

oh God,

don't let Rodney

go to hell,

oh God,

please save him.

And as those

young people

were going around

and praying

for Rodney,

the prayer

began to change.

And it changed

from,

oh God,

please save

Rodney,

to oh God,

thank you Lord

for what you're

going to do.

You ever

met in a prayer

meaning that

nurtured faith?

That was one

of them.

Where God's

people were

praying,

and God's

people began

to believe

God's going

to do it.

After that

prayer meeting,

we dismissed,

and that Sunday

night,

an invitation

call came.

Rodney was

there in the

same spot

he always was.

And as soon

as the invitation

hymn began

to play

without hesitation,

Rodney came

forward and

got saved.

You know what

God was doing,

I believe?

He was looking

and he was

saying,

where are my

intercessors?

there they

are.

There's my

intercessors.

And therefore,

Rodney gets

saved.

God's people

began to

have the

heart,

earnest desire

to see a

soul saved

and begin to

cry out to

God,

and they that

call upon the

name of the

Lord shall

be saved.

And Rodney

did that that

night.

Folks,

wouldn't it be a

sad story for

God to be

looking around

today and

saying,

there's your

neighbor across

the street

and I don't

see an

intercessor.

There's your

co-worker you've

been working with

for a number of

years and I'm

looking and I'm

not seeing

anybody.

I'm not seeing

an intercessor.

I'm not seeing

one that's going

to call out to

me and ask.

And we have

not because we

ask not.

What about

your family

members that

may even be on

the prayer list?

Friends,

have we really

had a get

together where

God's people got

together and we

got into an

assembly and we

prayed for God

to move?

As God gives

us burdens and

he does that,

are we lifting

those burdens

back up to

him?

Can God look

down and say,

yes, I see

my intercessors?

Wasn't that the

case in the life

of Elijah?

James chapter 5,

James 5 · chapter mention

let's look here

real quick.

In James

James 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

notice it says

this in verse

16.

The last part

of verse 16

says, the

effectual fervent

prayer of a

righteous man

availeth much.

And I've heard

people say,

well, I'm just

not righteous

enough, so I

don't believe

God's going to

answer my

prayers.

I'm just not,

I'm not Elijah

quality.

But folks, do

you realize if

you're born again

here this morning

that God calls

you righteous?

God does that.

He calls you

righteous.

The Bible uses

the word saints

some almost 60

times in the New

Testament.

You know what

saint means?

Holy ones,

righteous ones.

God calls us

righteous.

Now he says,

the effectual

prayer of a

righteous man

avails much.

And then he

goes on to

give us an

example of a

man by the

name of Elijah.

And he goes

on to say

Elijah was just

like any other

man like we

are.

He had the

same passions

as we do.

I mean, he

laughed like we

do.

He probably

told jokes like

we do.

I mean, he

was just a

normal, you

look at him,

he's just a

normal person.

The difference

is he had a

prayer life that

had an effect

because he

believed God.

Now think about

this.

The scripture

gives us an

example.

Verse 17,

notice the last

part.

It says he

prayed earnestly

that it might

not rain.

And it

rained not on

the earth by

the space of

three years and

six months.

You say,

wait a minute.

What happened

here in this

story?

Well, Elijah

looked around

one day and

says, you

know what,

God?

Your people are

apostatizing.

They're

worshiping

idols.

They're going

off in their

own direction.

They're not

believing you.

They're not

following you.

They're not

worshiping you.

And so

God, that's

a problem.

So then he

began to

look at what

God says,

his will.

And in the

book of

Deuteronomy,

it says this.

God said to

his people,

if you

apostatize

against me and

you commit

idolatry,

then I'm

going to

shut up the

heavens and

it will be

like brass.

That means

this, the

heavens are

going to be

like an

orange kind

of glow in

the skies.

There's not

even going

to be a

cloud in

the sky.

I'm going

to shut

up the

heavens,

God said.

But the

problem was

this.

Elijah was

living in a

time when

they were

apostatizing

and it

was still

raining.

That's

why Elijah

prayed.

Isn't it

interesting that

God did not

follow through

with his

promise until

one man

lined up his

will with

God's will.

There's God's

intercessor and

God shut up

the heavens.

You see

that?

God's waiting

for his

people to

say, are

you going to

believe me?

Are you going

to trust what I

said in my

word?

And so

Elijah prayed

earnestly.

It wasn't

some just

formal prayer

or repetitive

prayer.

It was an

earnest prayer.

God, will you

shut up the

heavens?

This is what

you promised

to do.

Do it.

God did for

three and a

half years.

People were

dying.

Animals were

dying.

There was an

extreme drought.

People were

suffering.

And at the

end of three

and a half

years, close

to it, God

comes to

Elijah and

says, Elijah,

I'm going to

make it rain

again.

This was before

the Mount

Carmel

experience.

Do you

realize Elijah

went to Mount

Carmel knowing

that God was

going to give

the victory

because he

knew God's

people were

going to

repent and

get back with

God because

he knew God

was getting

ready to send

the rain.

And so he

went to Mount

Carmel knowing

God was going

to give the

victory.

And God

did.

Amen?

Now, think

about it this.

After that,

after that,

Elijah's looking

around and it's

not raining.

There's a

revival.

the nation

of Israel.

They get

right.

They begin

to worship

God.

Once again,

the prophets

of Baal have

been destroyed.

And so

Elijah turns

to his

servant and

says this,

go up over

here on the

hillside and

I want you

to look at

the skies.

I want you

to come back

to me and

let me know

if God's

sending the

rain.

You know

what Elijah

did?

Elijah got

on his

knees,

his hands

between his

knees and

he began

to earnestly

pray that

God would

send the

rain.

You say,

wait a

minute,

why would

Elijah pray

something that

God already

told him he

was going to

do?

Because God's

waiting for an

intercessor.

You see that?

He's waiting for

somebody to

believe him.

For we walk

by faith and

not by

sight.

God's

God.

And so

Elijah

earnestly

prayed one

time.

Servant

comes back,

no,

nothing's

going on in

the sky.

Two times,

three times,

four times,

all the way

up to seven

times,

Elijah's like,

God,

send the rain,

you promised,

you promised

to do it,

your nation's

coming back

to you.

And the

servant went

up to the

hill and

he says,

there's a

cloud forming

like the shape

of a man's

hand.

And Elijah

says,

oh,

amen,

praise God,

we can get

up now,

we can stop

praying.

Why?

Because God's

given the

answer.

See,

prevailing prayer

doesn't have to

be long,

drawn out,

and complicated.

Prevailing prayer

just needs to

prevail.

It just needs

to be prayer

of faith,

of believing

God.

And Elijah

prayed,

and the rain

came.

And it came

in such a way

that there was

flash flooding.

Amen?

Man,

we know

about that.

God was

sending the

rain.

And let

me ask you

this.

As you

study God's

word and

God gives

you burdens,

are you

lifting them

back up

to the Lord?

Tell you

another story

real quick.

In our

ministry in

Kansas,

I pastored

a church

church for

about 17

years,

began to

have

Tuesday

night

prayer

meetings.

And so

seven

o'clock,

and so we

began those

prayer meetings,

and the

prayer meetings

was basically,

God, we have a

number of needs.

Don't we all

have needs?

We have a

number of needs,

God.

We're going to

just give them

back to you.

I have you

deal with them

as you will.

One of the

needs we had

was we

had an organ

over here on

this side

with no organist.

We had a

piano player,

prayer.

And so we

began to meet

on Tuesday,

and one of

those needs

was mentioned.

So the first

night we came,

we had a

couple people

show up.

One of the

ladies walked

in and says,

where's everybody

at?

And folks,

that didn't

startle me,

because you

see,

prayer meetings,

there's usually

only 2% of

the people in

the congregation

show up to

prayer meetings.

And that said,

it should be

92%,

amen,

as God

gives the

allowance.

But it's

usually,

across the

board,

2%,

same way

with witnessing,

going out

and telling

people about

Christ,

2%.

And so I

didn't respond

to that,

because that,

you know,

you can get

in the flesh

and that,

and start

complaining.

Folks,

listen,

complaining does

nothing to

please God.

So we sat

down and we

began to have

a prayer meeting.

One of those

needs were,

Lord,

you had

thousands of

musicians,

and the

temple.

We're just

asking for

one.

Organists are

hard to come

by,

especially out

in the

country,

when you're

15 minutes

away from

nothing.

And about

two,

maybe three

weeks later,

a lady about

the age that I

met now

comes into

the church.

She says,

yes,

I was driving

by the other

day,

came by this

country road,

looked up,

seen your

church,

thought I'd

give it a

shot.

Amen.

Great to

have you

here.

Hope you

get a

blessing.

About two,

three weeks

later,

she joined

the church.

In the

middle of

that,

she said,

hey,

I noticed

you don't

have an

organ player.

I can

play the

organ.

Amen.

Let's

go.

And she

played it

beautifully.

You see

how the

Lord works?

If we

just ask.

People

were saying,

wait a minute,

what's going

on in the

Tuesday night

prayer meetings?

People

were getting

changed.

People

were getting

moved by

God.

Folks,

we began

to run

more on

Tuesday night

prayer meetings

than we had

on Sunday

night services

because God

was working.

I remember

the end.

I mean,

we would be

in a prayer

meeting,

start seven

o'clock,

it would be

930 before

we would get

done and

people would

be looking

around and

say,

where did

the time

go?

Folks,

when you're

with an

eternal God,

time is of

no essence.

I remember

the end of

one prayer

meeting,

one lady

said this.

She came

up afterwards

as people

were leaving

and she

said this,

Pastor,

God was

here today.

God was

here.

Folks,

I've been

in prayer

meetings where

God was

not there.

Folks,

when God

is there,

God's

moving,

God's

changing

hearts,

people are

getting saved

out of

prayer meetings.

Amen!

Let me

ask you

this,

is your

prayer life

one that

has an

effect?

Can God

come down

and look

at you

and say,

yes,

I have

my

intercessors?

Do you

have any

burdens here

in this

church?

I can

think of

some.

Are we

going to

the throne

room of

grace and

asking God

to help

in the

time of

need?

Let's

go to

the Lord

in prayer.

As our

heads are

bowed and

eyes are

closed,

let me

ask you

this.

Maybe

you say

here today,

you know,

the Lord

moved upon

my heart

and speaking

to me this

morning about

a few

things.

By

upraised

hand,

I just

say,

yes,

the Lord

was working

on me.

Anyone

like that

this morning?

The Lord

burdened my

heart.

Thank you

for that

hand.

Lord,

bless you.

Anyone

else?

Thank you

for that

hand.

Anyone

else?

Lord,

it was

moving upon

my heart.

Anyone

else?

Maybe

you're here

this morning

saying,

well,

you know,

I had a

prayer life,

but I

just stopped

praying.

I didn't

see God

working or

there was

something

wrong.

I just

don't pray

like I

should.

I'd like

for you to

pray for

me.

Anyone

like that

this

morning?

I need

help.

Would you

pray for

me?

Father,

we thank

you for

this time.

We thank

you,

Lord,

for the

message that

you've

given us.

We just

ask God

that we

would take

this message.

And Lord,

I pray

that we

would,

in faith,

believe you.

And believe

what you

will do.

Believe what

you can

do and

pray in

accordance

with thy

will,

that you

would work.

May the

power of

God

work mightily

in our

lives,

simply

because,

just like

that six-year-old

boy,

we ask in

faith.

God,

we'll turn

the service

over to

your decisions

and your

work.

God,

will you do

it?

We ask

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Let's all

stand as

we have a

hymn of

invitation.

If you

need to

come to

pray,

if the

Lord's

directing

your heart

to pray

and ask

God for

anything

that he's

burdened

your heart

for,

will you

do that

as the

instruments

play?