Prayer

[0:00] I go to a little church down in San Pedro, which is part of Los Angeles, called Bayview Baptist Church.

[0:12] Some of you probably heard about that. I do know some of you, and I'm sorry for what you're about to go through. Amen. It is good to be saved. Amen.

[0:22] I don't want to start this off the wrong way, but I probably should warn you guys. I'm a little excitable.

[0:34] So if I'm yelling and screaming and having a good time, I just heard that you could do that in church. I was surprised to know that when I was younger. Amen. That wasn't the truth when I went to church as a young man.

[0:45] I didn't grow up in a Christian church. And so when I went, everybody was very quiet and very subdued. And I remember at one point, I didn't go to church often, but at one point, the preacher said a joke, and like one or two people laughed, and I thought, is he allowed to do that?

[1:05] Man. So if I'm a little excitable, I apologize. Amen. I'm not going to start speaking in tongues or anything like that, but I'm a little excitable. Amen. I got a real simple lesson for you guys this morning.

[1:19] I don't want to insult you, but this is what the Lord laid on my heart. I'm going to teach you this morning, or do my best to teach you this morning, a little bit about prayer, a little bit about prayer.

[1:31] I'll start a little differently, and I'll say this. One important thing in the Christian life is to do what God says. So in the course of this lesson, amen, I might give you guys some suggestions, but if you try some of these things, and God offers a different direction, I highly suggest you go with him.

[1:48] He's a lot smarter than I am. Amen. But I will say it this way. If you try, God will direct you from there. Amen. And I'd like to start with a story, and it goes a little something like this.

[2:01] This is something that I heard. I believe it's true, but a congregation was going to have a big meeting, and they had heard about this great prayer warrior. He was known for prayer.

[2:12] Amen. And so they had invited him to the meeting, and he was happy to join them. Amen. So he came to the meeting, and of course, the first thing they asked him to do is, hey, sir, would you come forward and pray for this meeting before we get started?

[2:26] And he said, absolutely. He walks up onto the platform, stands in front of all those people, he bows his head, and he says, Father, please bless this meeting.

[2:39] Amen. He walked over, and he sat down. Yeah. Amen. They were expecting, just like you, probably something else.

[2:53] Amen. And so as I start to go over prayer, I'd like to start out with it. It doesn't have to be a great speech. You don't have to be some spectacular orator.

[3:03] Amen. The Lord is not going to grade you on your grammar. Amen. If I said, and every once in a while, you know, I'm praying in church, you know, and they say, Brother Waters, would you pray?

[3:14] Amen. I say things like this. God, you're cool. Amen. And I do every once in a while get those looks like, really? Amen. Amen. But I'm just talking to my father. Amen. So if you expected something grandiose from me this morning, you're probably not going to get it.

[3:28] Amen. But we're going to try anyways. Amen. So if you would, you have, if you've accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved, you are bound for heaven, you have been adopted into God's family, and he loves you.

[3:46] Amen. Amen. Sometimes I think people complicate prayer. Amen. So if you would go with me to Proverbs chapter 15.

[3:58] Proverbs chapter 15. Proverbs chapter 15.

[4:13] Proverbs chapter 15. Amen. Amen. Amen. And so if I say one or two of them and they don't go over very well, forgive me. Amen. Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 3.

[4:24] Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 3 says, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Amen. If you would go with me to Luke chapter 8.

[4:42] I was told by one of the guys before church that you guys use a King James Bible, so I had to go back out to my car and get this. Amen. But in the King James Bible, Luke chapter 8, verses 17.

[4:55] Luckily, the little store down the way, a Christian store had one for sale. I went and got it. Amen. Luke chapter 8 and verse 17. For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither anything hid that shall not be known and come abroad.

[5:13] You say, I thought you were teaching on prayer. I am. Amen. And this one is kind of practical for me, and that is this. God already knows. God already knows.

[5:24] And the reason I say that is this. When I would pray, sometimes I would be afraid to tell God what I was having troubles with. Amen. I was afraid to tell God where I was failing.

[5:35] Amen. And how badly I was doing or struggling. Amen. So when it came to prayer, the first thing I want to tell you this morning is this. God already knows. Amen. It's not a surprise to him.

[5:46] Amen. This next election that happens, no matter what happens, he's not going to be like, no way. Man, never saw that coming. Amen. You know, Trump surprised me, but he didn't surprise God.

[5:59] Amen. And however you feel about politics or anything else, amen, God already knows. Amen. So one of the first parts is this. He loves you, and we're going to go over that a little more.

[6:10] Amen. But the second part is this. He already knows. He already knows. Amen. You can talk to him honestly. You can talk to him about those things that you don't talk to anybody else about.

[6:20] Amen. And I think that's one of the more important things about prayer. Amen. Because when you pray, you can actually talk to him just honestly. Amen. Just honestly. Because good news is, or bad news in my case sometimes, he already knows.

[6:37] Sometimes it goes like this for me. Lord, this right here is killing me, Lord. I just don't seem to be able to get victory over this right here, Lord. I don't even know what to do.

[6:48] I've been reading your Bible. I've been praying, and I just don't know what to do. Lord, help, please. Because this right here is killing me. Amen. You can be honest with God.

[6:58] Amen. And many of these, many of these are going to be very, very easy to understand and very basic. But the next one, God loves you. The saying is, young Christian lady asked Jesus if he loved her.

[7:13] Amen. Jesus replied, of course I do. Then he spread out his nail-pierced hands and said, I love you this much. Amen. Why do I say this?

[7:25] Because God truly loves you. Amen. And that means that he truly wants to hear from you. God's love is really almost a doctrinal statement.

[7:36] Amen. My wife's not here. I get to talk all about my family. Don't tell them. Okay. Don't tell them. Amen. Don't tell them. Amen. If this is being recorded, please don't send it to them.

[7:48] Amen. But I truly love my wife. Amen. She's not here, so I'm not saying that for her. Amen. I truly love my wife. And I'm not really technologically savvy. Amen.

[7:59] I don't have Amazon. My wife does. But I'm not technologically savvy. Amen. There's a whole lot of jokes on that one.

[8:10] Amen. But I was able to do this. Amen. And on my phone, my wife has a special ringtone. Amen. So I know when my wife is calling. And I did.

[8:21] I went through all the little songs on there. Amen. There are a lot of dumb songs. Am I allowed to say that? Amen. Some of those, I was like, really? Somebody did this? Amen.

[8:31] I bet they actually got paid to make this. But anyways, moving right along, she has her own ringtone. Amen. And so sometimes your phone rings and bring, bring. Really? Amen. But then I hear that ringtone.

[8:42] I'm like, yeah. Amen. I get to talk to my wife. And I get this little smile on my face. Amen. Can I just say God truly loves you? And when you're calling, he's excited about it.

[8:56] When you're praying, he's happy to hear from you. Amen. Not that fake. Can I say this right now? Maybe.

[9:08] Amen. That fake Christianity. Have you ever come across the fake Christianity? Oh, it's nice to see you. Oh, it's great to see you. Amen. I hate that guy. Amen. It's none of that Christian veneer.

[9:20] Have you ever seen that? Amen. Where like the people come to say, oh, I love Christian songs. Amen. And then they go out to their car and they start. Oh, this is going to get bad, isn't it? They start their car and boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

[9:34] Amen. Yeah, Christian rap. My bad. Yeah. I didn't hear the lyrics. Amen. But, you know, it's not like that. Prayer is not like that. You're not bothering God.

[9:45] Amen. He isn't like, oh, they want to talk to me about that again. Amen. Amen. And I'm sorry if this is truly basic.

[9:56] I'm probably putting half of you to sleep. But really, God loves you so much that he wants to hear from you. Amen. You know, if I had the president's phone number, he would not take my call.

[10:08] Amen. Yeah, I'm going to leave that one alone. Amen. Amen. But God truly loves you.

[10:20] Amen. And if you're saved here today, the version of love, the relationship that you have, nothing on earth compares to it. So when I say I'm happy to hear from my wife, there's probably some, I hope, I truly hope there's somebody in your life that you truly like to hear from.

[10:39] Amen. God loves you way more than that. Way more than that. Amen. I do get a little preachy in my teaching.

[10:50] So, amen. If you would go with me to Galatians chapter 4. Amen. So, brother Gary, I have three minutes left, right? Three minutes left. Amen.

[11:00] All right. Just wait the 20 seconds. Amen. Don't you worry. I'm going to make up for it on my message. It's six hours long. There's a whole book.

[11:12] 72 points. It's going to be great. Amen. Galatians chapter 4 and verse 6. Galatians chapter 4 and verse 6. It says, and because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

[11:29] You parents here in this room truly love your kids. Amen. Your son comes around the corner. Dad. Dad. Oh, man.

[11:42] Some of you moms are like, I don't know about that. Amen. Every time they come around the corner from me, they're asking for something. Amen. But for us dads, amen, we get to pass that one up too.

[11:54] Romans chapter 8. How many are the fun dad? No, I shouldn't ask that question. Amen. Romans chapter 8. I'm a really good father because my wife does all the hard work.

[12:10] Amen. That's brilliant. That did not go over well. Altar call. Hold on. Romans chapter 8, verses 15 to 16.

[12:25] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit of self-beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

[12:39] God truly loves you. Amen. If you would go with me to James chapter 4. James chapter 4. How is your prayer life?

[12:54] Amen. Amen. I know. I'm getting preachy. Amen. But how's your prayer life? James chapter 4.

[13:09] James chapter 4 and verse 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. 1 Peter chapter 5.

[13:20] A little further over to the left. Amen. Page 289 in mine, in case you were wondering. Amen. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 6.

[13:35] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. First, one of my suggestions is to pray with humility.

[13:46] Pray with humility. For me, that's not really a big problem. Amen. Each day I'm saved.

[13:57] Amen. I tend to understand the gap between me and God a little better. So that's why I started off the way I did with prayer. Amen. Because I'm kind of surprised he'd listen to me. Amen.

[14:08] But there might be some folks in here that, you know, you've got a great paying job. You've got 16 letters after your name. And you think quite a bit of yourself. I haven't found that a lot in Christian circles.

[14:20] Amen. At least the thinking a lot of yourself. But if you're like that, humility is a good way to start. Amen. Humility is a good way to start. This next point, I think you already know it.

[14:33] But Revelation chapter 4 and verse 11 says, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.

[14:47] For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. I do think, and this is a simple one too, but I think it'd be good to honor God, to praise him in your prayers.

[14:59] Again, some of these are just suggestions. You do as you please. Go with me to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5.

[15:25] And verse 20. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father and the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[15:38] And I'm trying not to do this, but again, preachy, when's the last time you just thanked God? You didn't ask him for anything.

[15:50] Amen. But you just said, God, man, I look around. I got food to eat, Lord. And there are people starving in this world.

[16:01] Lord, I got a good church to go to. I got a pastor that loves me and prays for me, Lord. He seeks you to preach the message. And I got some Christian brethren that are trying to help me out.

[16:17] I'm saved. I've been adopted into your family. Amen. I'm headed to heaven, guaranteed. I can't even mess it up, and I mess up a lot of stuff. Amen. I just want to today, Lord, I just want to thank you for all that you do for me, Lord.

[16:31] And I'm just going to start with eyes that see. Lord. Some of you are already like, I wear glasses. Amen.

[16:43] I will, too. But my arms are just long enough so far. Amen. But when's the last time you just thanked God? Amen. In prayer. Nobody around. Nobody listening.

[16:54] Amen. But just thank you, Lord. Okay. I'm going to try and go back to teaching. Amen. Try and go back to teaching. Amen. But we'll go over some more verses. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 12.

[17:05] I think it'd be a good, healthy part if you introduced some thanksgiving into your prayer life. Amen. He does say, make your requests, let all your requests be made known unto God.

[17:17] I think he wants to, if you seek, ask, knock. Amen. He is interested in answering your prayers and doing things for you and your life. But I'm just, I'm going to stay here for a little while.

[17:29] Colossians chapter 1 and verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

[17:40] Colossians 3.17. Colossians 3.17. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

[17:58] 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. And verse 1.

[18:11] 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1. 1 Timothy chapter 2.

[18:43] 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.

[18:58] That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. I have more verses.

[19:09] Amen. For those of you taking notes, go to, just write it down. Ezra 3.11. Luke 17.16. I'm sure you can find a bunch more. Amen. But let's move on.

[19:19] Next thing I'd like to say about prayer is this. And some of this is going to be very practical. But I'll say this. Prayer is highly undervalued. Highly undervalued.

[19:31] Now, I say a lot of things wrong. Amen. So I'm not going to grade you on the way you say things. Amen. Like, every once in a while when I'm preaching, I'm like, oh, this is a really good passage of Scripture.

[19:44] Like, what's the rest? Except for those bad parts. You know, no, I don't mean that. Amen. I just mean this is really poignant to me. Amen. But I think one of the things that we say is something like this.

[19:56] Well, all I can do is pray. And, you know, like I said, I say things wrong all the time.

[20:09] So, you know, I'm not grading people or anything like that. If you said that to me, I'm not going to be, oh, you. You know, but I'll just say this. Prayer is highly undervalued.

[20:21] Highly undervalued. And if you want to take about six hours, we can go through the Bible and just go through time after time after time where God hears prayers and changes directions, where God hears prayers and intervenes.

[20:35] We can go through it all. But the problem is this. You already knew that before I said it. Amen. Prayer is highly undervalued. I'm preaching.

[20:51] Sorry, I just go this way. Amen. If I had 14 gold bricks over here. Amen.

[21:04] And 20 tracks to be handed out over here. And I said, hey, this morning, either choice, it's up to you.

[21:14] Feel free. First person up today. Gold bricks or tracks? Which would you like? Amen. Gold bricks. Some of you business folks are already saying, with the gold bricks, I can buy more tracks.

[21:29] Amen. And I understand that. Amen. There's always a ray around. But I would say this. Which one has more value? Right? Right? Which one has more value?

[21:42] And I think if you were to look at prayer, how would you view it? Amen. Now, I'm going to preface this next one.

[21:53] Amen. Whether you like it or not. Whether you're good at it or not. Whether you want to or anything else. I think everybody in here should be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.

[22:04] I think you should be a soul winner. And I don't like that term because sometimes you don't win souls. Amen. You just dig a lot. Amen. You're behind the plow most of the time.

[22:15] Amen. Amen. But how much prayer do you do about your soul winning? If you were to pray for four or five hours and go out soul winning for 15 minutes, what do you think that would do?

[22:35] And now, I'm going to take it to the extreme. Don't hold me to this. I'm going to, again, you know, we live in the society where super glue says do not ingest. Amen. So, I'm going to give some warnings that are stupid.

[22:46] Amen. Amen. But what if you just prayed? Again, I said it. Just prayed and never went out and knocked on a single door. Now, here comes the do not ingest part.

[23:01] Go out soul winning. Okay? I'm not saying don't go out soul winning. You obviously already know that. But just for the record, I'm telling you, I think you should be a soul winner. I think you should do your best to witness to the people around you.

[23:14] But what if you just prayed all the time and never knocked on a single door? I think this place would be filled. I think prayer is highly undervalued.

[23:27] I'm trying to teach you. I'm trying. I'm really doing my best. Amen. On paper, this was a teaching lesson. Amen. Amen. Go with me to Matthew chapter 17.

[23:39] I should tell you, if you think this is bad, my message is going to be brutal. Amen. Brutal. Amen. I'm putting my finger in your face, yelling and screaming at you.

[23:52] Half of you are going to leave halfway through it. It's going to be bad. Amen. No, I hope not. Amen. Matthew chapter 17. Matthew chapter 17 and verse 21.

[24:03] How be it this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

[24:15] Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9 and verse 29.

[24:33] Say, I think you just read something just like this. I did. Shh. Don't tell everybody else. Amen. Mark chapter 9 and verse 29.

[24:45] And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. I think prayer is highly undervalued. And I'll say this also.

[24:56] I think it goes well with fasting. I think it goes well with fasting. And I probably won't say a lot about that because that's a separate lesson. But if you want some prayers answered in your life, I would suggest mixing it with some fasting.

[25:16] Amen. You say, what kind of power does that have with God? He knows you're serious. Amen. I used to be in charge of the teenagers.

[25:28] Terrible idea. Amen. Terrible idea. But Lord made it work out a little. Amen. But we used to tell the young ladies in particular, watch out for the guys.

[25:42] Amen. No matter how good they look. Amen. Amen. Because they're real quick to say, I love you. Amen. Amen. They're real quick to say you're special. Amen.

[25:53] They're real quick. Not even the dads are agreeing with us. Amen. They're saying, they say all that stuff. But if they're really interested, you'll be able to see it.

[26:08] Amen. You won't have to just listen. And I think fasting has something to do with that. Amen. The Lord likes to hear from you. I've already said that, you know, more than once.

[26:18] But when you start fasting, now you're interested. Now you're serious. And again, I don't want to underestimate just prayer. Amen.

[26:30] But if you want to see some real results, pray. And if that doesn't work, mix that with a little fasting. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Amen.

[26:43] Moving right along. Amen. Amen. Amen. 2 Kings 8. 1 Kings, excuse me. 1 Kings 8.

[27:13] For those of you that teach Sunday school for the kids, amen. Every once in a while when I'm preaching, I don't know why it happens. Well, I don't know why it happens. Amen. But I'll forget where the book is. Amen.

[27:23] And I start singing myself, you know. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Acts, letters, Romans. First and section. So if you're doing that and you're teaching kids, good job. Amen. It helps. Amen. Even helps us adults.

[27:33] Amen. 1 Kings 8. 1 Kings 8. 1 Kings 8. 1 Kings 8. 1 Kings 8. 1 Kings 8. 1 Kings 54. And it was so that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, He arose from before the altar of the Lord from kneeling on His knees, and His hands spread up to heaven.

[27:57] Amen. Go with me to Mark chapter 11. Mark chapter 11 and verse 25.

[28:16] Mark chapter 11 and verse 25. And when you stand praying, forgive if you have ought against any, that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

[28:34] The first time we read about Solomon, he was kneeling with his hands lifted up. Amen. This one, they're standing and praying. What do I have to say about that? I don't think your position or body posture is as important as we think.

[28:50] Now, a lot of times in church, most ministers will say, hey, every eye closed, every head bowed. Amen. There's two good reasons for that.

[29:00] The first is that people don't get distracted as easily. And the second is it's a lot better to kind of talk with God when you think other people aren't watching you.

[29:11] Amen. But I don't think the position is that important. Amen. As a matter of fact, when I read through the Bible and I see people praying, most of them, I will say this, most of them are bowing or they're prostrate on their faces.

[29:24] And they do that quite a bit. But sometimes they're not. Amen. So it might scare some of you. Amen. I'll leave before the rest of you, so don't worry about it.

[29:35] But sometimes when I'm driving, I'm praying. Amen. Amen. And I think it would be a real bad idea for me to do this. And Lord, oh, Lord, I really need some help with this.

[29:51] Amen. I just don't think that would be a good idea. Amen. My kids are already a little too excited about my driving. Amen.

[30:05] So if you're walking into your job and it looks like things aren't going well already and you're just walking in the door, amen, just be, Lord. This might be a bad one, Lord.

[30:17] Help me out today. Amen. You're on that roller coaster. Lord! That's just us old folks.

[30:27] It's all right. Amen. But I don't think position is important. Amen. Go with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Probably need to go a little faster for the rest of this.

[30:39] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10.

[30:55] 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10. Night and day, praying exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith.

[31:13] Go with me to James chapter 5. Some of you already know where I'm going and are probably quoting the verse to yourself. But James chapter 5 and verse 16.

[31:27] James chapter 5 and verse 16. Confess your faults one to another. Faults, not sins. Anyways.

[31:37] Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

[31:49] This is going to be a little bit of Brianology. Amen. A little bit of Brianology. That means it doesn't come directly from the Bible. But I think there's levels to prayer. Amen. I think there's levels to prayer.

[31:59] And when it talks about fervent prayer or exceeding prayer. And maybe this is just for me. So like I said, this might be Brianology. But I tended to get better at it the more I did it.

[32:11] Amen. And what I started to do was I got with some people that really could pray. Amen. I'm sure there's a better way to say that. But they could just really pray.

[32:22] Amen. And I got with some of them. And we got off into some side room. And we started praying. And I thought, wow. Amen. These people are really getting a hold of God.

[32:33] Amen. That's cool. Amen. And then I'd pray. And then I'd pray. And every once most of the time it would be like I was just talking out loud. Amen. Or, you know, I just really wasn't that good at it.

[32:45] Amen. It wasn't something I practiced in life. But I did find, and again, this might be Brianology. Amen. But the more I prayed, and I really, I'm searching for words to say it better.

[32:57] But you just get better at it. You just get better at it. Amen. You get more sincere in your prayers. You get better. You just get better at it.

[33:08] Amen. So if you start out praying, amen, and you feel like you're just talking to the roof, amen, and nothing's happening, and you don't think God's six miles from where you're at, amen, just keep trying, amen, just keep trying, amen.

[33:23] You'll get to that place of fervent prayer. You'll get to that place where you are praying exceedingly, amen, and you'll have those times, maybe not all the time, amen, but you'll have those times, amen.

[33:36] And if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's all right, amen. Something to look forward to. There are those times in prayer. There are those times in prayer. Woo-wee. Amen. Your knees started out hurting, but they don't hurt anymore, amen.

[33:48] It's not because you changed. Amen. Keep going. Keep going. Amen. This is kind of an odd one, amen. I heard this suggestion from somebody, and it's helped some people, amen.

[34:02] If you're having trouble praying, and if you're new to it, and I don't know this church, you're probably all 50 years in the Lord, and I'm just saying this for no reason, amen. But if you're just getting used to praying, amen, I've heard some people do this.

[34:15] They just put an empty chair next to them, and they just act like Jesus is in that chair, and they just pray to them. They just have a conversation. Lord, I've been having some trouble today, amen.

[34:26] If that helps you, I'm glad, amen. Whatever seems to work for you, I wish there was some equation where I could tell you if you kneel on one knee, and you put your right hand up, and I, but if some of these things help you good, amen.

[34:46] Pray without ceasing. I'm going to go through these kind of quickly, amen. I'll give you the verses, amen. Pray without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5, 17. I can't memorize any verses, amen.

[34:57] I can't memorize the Bible. Three words, pray without ceasing. You can do it, amen. Pray without ceasing. Romans chapter 1, verse 19. Go with me there. Romans chapter 1, verse 19.

[35:16] Again, this is probably from me. Did I write down the wrong? Oh, 1, 9. I apologize. Romans chapter 1 and verse 9. Amen. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.

[35:36] Praying without ceasing is possible, amen. I haven't got there yet, amen. I haven't got there yet. I'm aiming for it, amen. But he did make it, amen. So praying without ceasing is a possibility, amen.

[35:48] To me, I think it's more of a mindset, amen, that you just get used to that, amen, so that you're not like me. And when you lose something and then you search the whole house and then you do 16 other things and then you call people over and then you ask the kids to look for it, do 17 other things and then eventually you prayer, you pray, amen.

[36:06] Maybe you do that first next time, amen, or third, amen. Pray for others and love God. Nehemiah chapter 2 and verse 4 through 5, they call it the Nehemiah prayer.

[36:23] He's talking with the king, amen. I think you can pray anywhere and in any situation. John chapter 16 and verse 26, you should ask in Jesus' name.

[36:35] Go with me to Daniel chapter 9. We've got probably one or two more verses. We'll be done. Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9 and verse 13.

[36:55] Pretty sure that's in my Bible. Hold on. Daniel chapter 9 and verse 13.

[37:12] As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth.

[37:25] It does interest me in this, that a lot of bad stuff can happen and we still don't pray. That's an odd thing to me. I mean, time after time after time, you're going through that valley, amen, and just, it just seems like everything's going, falling apart, amen.

[37:47] And it's strange to me that, like, prayer isn't somewhere in there, amen. And you say, well, you know, there's, who does that?

[37:58] Who does that? Of course you pray in the bad times. These people didn't. Amen. There's a reason God said it, amen. It's for dummies like me, amen.

[38:09] And if some of you else are getting a blessing out of this too, amen. Thanks. Thanks for joining the team, amen. Last thing I'll say and we'll be done is this. Bible reading.

[38:20] Bible reading, I suggest starting with prayer, amen. Pray for understanding. Two problems with Bible reading. Yes, there are problems with Bible reading, amen. The first is it's spiritually discerned, amen.

[38:33] And the second is this. You get what you're looking for, amen, with reading your Bible. But I'll just say those are some thoughts about prayer, amen.

[38:46] I think it's an important part of the Christian life. I've been told this many, many times. Brother Rich has as well, and I'm sure some others in here, amen. A man should be ready to pray, preach, and die, amen.

[39:01] Amen, amen. Some of you might not be called to preach, but you can definitely pray, amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I don't want to overcomplicate the thing.

[39:13] The Hebrew Bible reading, amen. Let's pray.