[0:00] We can resume our public worship of God by singing to his praise from Psalm 65.
[0:13] Psalm 65, we're singing from the beginning of the psalm down to the double verse, mark 5. Praise waits for thee in Zion, Lord, to thee vows paid shall be.
[0:30] O thou that here art of prayer, all flesh shall come to thee. Iniquities, I must confess, prevail against me do. But as for our transgressions, then purge away shalt thou.
[0:44] Blessed is the man whom thou dost choose and makes the approach to thee, that he within thy courts, O Lord, may still a dweller be. We surely shall be satisfied with thy abundant grace and with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy place.
[1:05] O God of our salvation, thou in thy righteousness, by fearful works unto our prayers, thine answer dost express.
[1:15] Therefore the ends of all the earth and those afar that be upon the sea, their confidence, O Lord, will place in thee.
[1:26] And so on these verses, Psalm 65, 1 to 5, praise waits for thee in Zion, Lord, to thee vows paid shall be. O God of our salvation, O Lord, to thee vows paid shall be.
[1:56] O the Lord, dear, and heart of prayer, all flesh shall come to thee.
[2:13] Iniquities I must confess, prevail against me due, but does for your transgressions, then for shall we shall deny.
[2:46] bless the Lord, bless the Lord, bless the Lord, who knew the Lord just is, I'll make the approach to thee, that he within thy courts, O Lord, This will not well ever be.
[3:24] We surely shall be satisfied with Thy abundant grace and with the goodness of Thy heart in all Thy holy place.
[3:59] O God, God, Thou art salvation, Thou in Thy righteousness, by the earth, O Lord, the dew of the earth, Thy land such as the express.
[4:32] Before the ends of all the earth and those of all the king upon the sea that time begins, O Lord, the Lord will be in thee.
[5:11] Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. Amen. Have a blessed God as we come before you. At this evening hour we give thanks that you, O God, have encouraged us to come and that we are able to anticipate your presence for we know that there is no place that you are not to be found.
[5:41] But it's especially as we meet together in this place that bears your name to worship you publicly, to worship you collectively, to worship you with your own assistance as we would so desire to enable us to come in spirit and in truth, approaching a throne of grace where there awaits us the leading of the Holy Spirit in filling our mouth from on high so that which we seek is in accordance with your will as it is revealed to us.
[6:33] We know that your people have access to the secret will of God, but in that respect they are led to discover it within the truth that bears your name.
[6:47] and you are a God who has so declared that your people alone will have the mind of God and they are enabled to discover it only by reason of your own ministrations, mysterious as that may be.
[7:13] As we come into your presence this evening we pray that you would lead us into the truth, even that world which we have fixed our attention on as a minister, leading your people into the truth.
[7:33] We would solicit your help so that that truth that we have chosen may be, even before our mind was fixed upon it, would be shown to be your choice and your word to us this evening.
[7:53] We know that there are people present here in this place and their need is equally great as the need of any other individual.
[8:06] and it may be a temporal need that they have, it may be a spiritual need, whatever it may be, you are aware of it and you are able to address it mightily from your own throne as it is in heaven.
[8:29] help us to appreciate that such a God is our God. A God who is looking down upon the children of men from on high.
[8:40] A God who sees the various gatherings of this world where the rich and the mighty are met together, even governors of kingdoms.
[8:52] and we know that such gatherings take place daily. Those who are in the eyes of man and movers and shakers of this world.
[9:05] Those who are responsible for governments, those who are responsible for ordering the affairs of men within the workplace, whether they are executives or chiefs of executives.
[9:22] And their power is in the eyes of man great and their arm is extended so as to touch lives in ways that we probably do not appreciate.
[9:37] But as we pray, we know that you are able to touch these lives and to touch it in ways that are far beyond our reckoning.
[9:50] And as we pray for good for our fellow men, we pray that whatever goodness you extend to us, it would be spiritually edifying and spiritually profitable.
[10:06] And that those who are set in their ways and these ways do not involve God and they may be turned out of them and their eyes fixed upon the God who has changed their lives accordingly.
[10:23] We pray for the power of the gospel to be once again something that is in evidence within the world and especially within the world in which we have our experience.
[10:39] We live and we move and we have our presence within this world and within the circle of our movement even within the location of our gathering here.
[10:58] These villages and these communities that we form a part of. We give thanks that while your eye is upon the world you are also as part of your focus looking upon these homes and families that we represent still others that are not represented here and whatever their need is you are aware of it we commit all to you and ask that your blessing would be imparted to us for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[11:36] We pray for the congregation here and all who are part of it those who attend upon God's house we pray that in their presence that they would be blessed and that their souls would be nourished.
[11:52] We pray for those that were often times in this place and for many years this was their chosen place they came to worship God they came to seek the face of God they came to enjoy the presence of those who shared that enjoyment with them it was their delight to go to God's house and to be engaged in that activity that you blessed to them again and again and their place is empty now but they are still present in spirit no doubt but we remember them too those confined to their homes some bedridden some housebound some hospitalized some in the weakness of old age and who to all intents and purposes have been deprived of of the ability to interact with much of what is going on around them and yet you have left an impression upon their hearts and minds that will not be obliterated and their longings although they may be lost to sight are permanent and you have placed within their hearts and minds the desire to be with the
[13:18] Lord which is better by far so we pray for all your church here in this world whatever their loft may be this evening remember them in mercy and add to their number through the preaching of the word even from our own number here we would ask that young or old male or female may turn to the Lord and cry out for mercy and seek the face of the Christ who is able to abundantly pardon we remember before you all the needs of the congregation any who may be mourning amongst us those who may be in fear and trepidation over their health we pray for them and ask that you would bless the needs that they have to them that they may be directed to God remember the needs of the denomination as a whole as we look to you to be a blessing to the labors of the vineyard may it be so evident that you have not turned your back upon us as the denomination meets in general assembly may all that is done redound to your glory may your presence be a felt presence and may all that
[14:40] Christ is to his people be magnified that still more might see in him all that their heart desires so bless each and every one who will be present from moderator to plaques and all that aid them in their work and the various commissioners even from our own congregation here we pray that you would bless them collectively remember Lord that your people are in awe of you those who know you know you to be a God who is high and lifted up may that be intensely impressed upon their mind always that our God is a consuming fire and that you are the God who inhabits the bush that burned and the bush was not consumed you made your presence felt and you made your name known amongst the people may it so be true still yet remember
[15:50] Lord the world in which we live for the name of Christ is sullied besmirched but nothing has changed do not allow us to forget that that ever since the world fell into sin the name of God has been a target to the wicked and those who would follow the example of the wicked one who sought to usurp you from the throne that is only and the one and only throne that is yours and you alone so hear our prayers on behalf of this world of ours all that are in need within it we pray for and especially to commit to your care and keeping those who are in dire straits because of the enmity and the wickedness that is in the world and that directed against
[16:51] God and his people so hear our prayers bless us together and enable us to wait upon you and may our waiting be the waiting that you have encouraged you people to have forgiven in Jesus we ask all in him amen I'm going to continue singing to God's praise this time verses from Psalm 18 singing again from the beginning of the Psalm Psalm 18 from verse 1 to verse 7 thee will I love O Lord my strength my fortress is the Lord my rock and he that doth to me deliverance afford my God my strength whom I will trust a buckler unto me the horn of my salvation and my high tower is he upon the
[17:53] Lord who worthy is of praises will I cry and then shall I preserve it be safe from mine enemies floods so will men have frightened me death's pangs about me went hell sorrows me environ death snares did me prevent in my distress I called on God cry to my God did I he from his temple heard my voice to his ears came my cry the earth has frightened then did shake trembling upon it ceased the hills foundations moved where because he was displeased and so on these verses psalm 18 1 through to 7 thee will I love O Lord my strength my fortress is the Lord thee will
[18:55] I love O Lord my strength my fortress is the Lord my rock and heal and just to me deliver and support my God my strength whom I will trust a clad unto me the horn of my salvation salvation and my heart contracts sing upon the
[20:09] Lord who worthy is all besides what theこ When I cry And enjoy my misery Save from my name Floods of ilme N'avrighted me Deskimes of the earth Me when Hell's sorrows Me and I Deskimes of the earth
[21:17] In my Deskimes of the earth I fall down God Try to My God Did I He promised Him I'll Hurt my Voice To His Dear God My Crying The Years of Dry Dead-ended Sheep Prending Upon It Seas The
[22:18] Hell's It Should In Maybeago In with because he was his place We're going to hear from the word of God the gospel of Luke chapter 18 the New Testament the gospel of Luke chapter 18 and we'll read from the beginning down to verse 17 chapter 18 verse 1 And he, that is Jesus, spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint saying there was in a city a judge which feared not
[23:22] God neither regarded man And there was a widow in that city and she came unto them saying Avenge me of mine adversary And he would not for a while But afterward he said within himself Though I fear not God nor regard man Yet because this widow troubleth me I will avenge her Lest by her continual coming she weary me But the Lord said Hear what the unjust judge says And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them I tell you that he will avenge them speedily Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others
[24:27] Two men went up into the temple to pray The one a Pharisee and the other a publican The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself God I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this publican I fast twice in a week I give tithes of all that I possess and the publican standing afar of would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven but smote upon his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted and they brought unto him also infants that he would touch them but when his disciples saw it they rebuked them but Jesus called them unto him and said suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God verily I say unto you whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein amen and so on down may the
[26:09] Lord add his blessing to this reading of this word to his name be the praise let us sing now some verses from the fifth psalm psalm 5 psalm 5 again we're singing from the beginning of the psalm down to verse 8 psalm 5 give ear unto my words O Lord my meditation way hear my loud cry my king my God for I to thee will pray Lord thou shalt early hear my voice I early will direct my prayer to thee and looking up an answer will expect for thou art not a God that doth in wickedness delight neither shall evil dwell with thee nor fools stand in thy sight all that ill doers are thou hast cut off that liest be the bloody and deceitful man abhor it as by thee but
[27:20] I unto thy house will come in thine abundant grace and I will worship in thy fear toward thy holy place because of those mine enemies Lord in thy righteousness do thou me lead do thou thy way make straight before my face and so on Psalm 5 from the beginning give ear unto my words O Lord my meditation way by Give it unto my words, O Lord, my meditation away.
[28:10] Yet my love, my King, my God, are I to thee with thee.
[28:29] Lord, thou shalt hear my voice, I hear thee with thy name.
[28:48] I pray to thee, I look in love, and I shall live, I say.
[29:06] For thou art not a God, not a God, and with his mercy lie.
[29:25] Neither shall we dwell with thee, nor full stand in my sight.
[29:45] All that children's child of his curse of thy diary.
[30:04] The blood of the unbeknownst, O Lord, my God, is thy theme.
[30:25] But I in pure thy house will come, and as I in abundant peace.
[30:43] And I will worship and thy hear toward thy holy peace.
[31:02] Because of those mine enemies, Lord, in thy righteousness.
[31:18] Good thou art not a God, and with his mercy lie.
[31:48] In chapter 18, and we can read at the beginning of the chapter. And he spake a parable unto them, to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
[32:07] Saying, there was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and there was a widow in that city. And she came unto him, saying, avenge me of mine adversary.
[32:22] And so on. We are told at the very outset that there is a parable. A parable of the Lord.
[32:37] And we are also told at the very outset what it is about. What the parable is meant to teach to us.
[32:53] And it is all about the need that there is for those who pray to persevere in prayer.
[33:04] That's what the parable is meant to teach to us. And if you are a Christian this evening, one thing that you will have heard, and I'm sure you would have been taught this, that Christians pray.
[33:28] Christians pray. It's a simple truth. But it is still a truth that we were taught that Christians are people who pray.
[33:43] And however frequently you will have heard that, it may be that you won't have heard as often, that prayer is something that is no easy matter.
[34:04] Maybe you haven't been told that. And I'm not talking, sometimes we talk about prayer, and we think about what we hear publicly.
[34:16] Whoever it is that is given a task to lead others in prayer and to do so publicly, you can imagine that it is not something that is at all easy.
[34:32] And I think that there are a lot of men who came to faith, who found it very difficult to make a profession of their faith because of this obstacle, something they saw in the way ahead of them if they did profess.
[34:56] That traditionally it would be expected of a male professor that at some point they would be called to engage in prayer publicly.
[35:08] And that thought filled many with terror. And yet it was something that many have been able to overcome with God's help.
[35:19] But the thing is that we cannot overlook the fact that prayer itself, for all the necessity of prayer, the need that there is for it, the expectancy that there is, that believers pray, Christians pray, that it is a difficult thing to do.
[35:43] And not because it is something that you do publicly, but even what is done secretly, what is done privately, it is no easy matter to do that.
[35:58] I remember reading the minister, Eric Alexander, speaking about prayer. And his own confession was that it was, in his experience, one of the most, the hardest things that he had to do, and he talked about it as a work, one of the hardest works that he had to do.
[36:30] And without elaborating on that, you wonder how this person who was, when he wrote that, or when he spoke these truths, he was somebody who was a preacher of the gospel for many years.
[36:47] And he found it to be the most difficult thing. Now, when you begin to wonder at that, when you begin to think about what prayer involves, I think if you strip away much of what we associate with prayer, prayer, and when we get to the very core of what true prayer is all about, you find that at its heart there is the burning necessity, first and foremost, that it is an act of faith, that it is something that you are wholly dependent upon God for.
[37:33] It is not a matter of words, it is not a matter of gleaning from the scripture expressions that appear suitable on the surface and say, these are words, I pray for words, that is all very well.
[37:49] But for the believer, prayer at its very heart is something that they are often embarrassed about, ashamed of, afraid even, to acknowledge that what they call prayer is very far from being prayer.
[38:10] And yet Christ frequently insists upon the necessity of prayer. And this is what this parable is all about. He will expect the believer to pray and to continue to pray.
[38:29] and when we look at the parable itself, as with many parables, we may focus our attention in the wrong places.
[38:43] And we may think that this instruction that Christ gives by way of parable, using the example that is very vivid, that we lose sight of what he is actually telling us to do.
[39:01] And we need to remind ourselves of the context in which these words are spoken. We need to remind ourselves of the truth that is at the heart of what the prayer is teaching.
[39:18] He spoke a parable unto them to the end that men ought always to pray. The first thing, men ought always to pray.
[39:29] And then he says men ought always to pray and not to faint, to persevere in prayer. These two things, Jesus means us to understand.
[39:44] And he uses this example, which to all intents are purposes. The key to the example is found in the words that we find within the parable.
[40:01] Because the story is told by the Lord, which involves a judge and a woman who comes to the judge seeking redress for a particular problem.
[40:22] And the wisdom of the judge, which is really, in a sense, quite adorbs with the behavior we would expect of him.
[40:33] But Christ points to the wisdom of the judge, which is, in a sense, an answer to this woman's persistence.
[40:47] And he is concerned that she is going to be a troublesome, blight on his life. She is going to continue pestering him.
[40:59] She is going to be a nuisance. And because of that nuisance, value, if you like, he chooses to respond. Now, Jesus is not teaching us anything about the unjust judge, although he tells us that's what was true of him.
[41:19] He's not telling us much about the woman, although as the story unfolds, it's important for the telling of the story that the woman appears in it.
[41:31] What he wants us to understand is how the judge responds, and the reason for his response, how unlike it is, the response of God when he is approached by his people persistently, that his reaction is quite different to the unjust judge, but at the same time, he tells us something about the way prayer works.
[42:06] so we have these characters which in a sense are necessary for the parable, for the story, but on the other side, they're surplus to the requirement, if you like.
[42:28] The judge has described us unjust, he's an atheist, perhaps, and he couldn't care less about what people thought of him.
[42:41] And on the other hand, there is the widow. We're not told that she is just, we may assume that she is, although that assumption is just that, an assumption.
[42:55] This woman, a widow, comes to the judge, expecting the judge to do what he was meant to do. Exercise judgment in a manner, in a matter, that would expect an impartial judgment.
[43:14] And that is not forthcoming, because the judge, he doesn't care about God, whether he does what is right in the eyes of God, he doesn't believe there is a God, probably.
[43:28] He feared not God, neither regarded man as a very embracing statement. He couldn't care less what God thought or what man thought, he just did what suited himself.
[43:41] And not much more is told about him, as to her expressionality. And it seems true of the woman, that she comes to him and she wants satisfaction for whatever it is her problem was.
[43:59] Now the emphasis falls in that the woman persevered in her cause. And even though the judge is unjust and not interested in any way in fairness, he, for the sake of his own peace and quiet, it seems, responds to her.
[44:24] God. And it seems that although the account is somewhat terse, we are meant to understand that she approached him repeatedly.
[44:38] Now the whole point of the exercise, according to the parable that Jesus tells, is not to highlight the perfections of God against the imperfections of the judge, although you could easily argue that that was part of it.
[44:57] But we could easily, I suppose, argue as some have said, that if you back to the heavens with your prayers, God is bound to answer eventually.
[45:11] that's all, that's what the parable is about, persevere in the sense that if you do it often enough, and if you do it hard enough, God is going to answer your prayer.
[45:25] Now that might be a crumb of an answer, but it's not really what Jesus means us to answer, to understand by the answer.
[45:36] in fact, we are told by the Lord that he will avenge his own elect which cried day and night unto him, though he bear long with them.
[45:49] He will avenge them speedily, he says, and that is the way God functions, that is the way God deals with those who approach him in prayer.
[46:01] that thought must take us back to the opening verse. The opening verse is that men ought always to pray and not to faint.
[46:19] Now, essential to our understanding of what this is saying, there must be the belief, there must be faith on the part of those who come with prayer to God, that God not only hears prayer, but that God is willing to answer prayer, and that whatever the answer is, that we are content with it.
[46:50] We pray to him in the expectation that he will answer, and that the answer he will give to our prayer will be an answer, with which we are content.
[47:04] Remember the words of the apostle in Hebrews 11. He is there, teaching us much about faith on the part of the believer, and he says, without faith it is impossible to please God.
[47:24] God. For he, he says, whoever it is that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder, or the rewarder, of them that diligently seek.
[47:39] God is God now at the heart of that understanding is that whoever approaches God in prayer, it is not a haphazard experience, it is not a lethargic experience, it is not a, well, it is not an experience that you enter into without wholeheartedly believing, that the God with whom you are engaging in prayer is a God who is before you, at a throne of grace, inviting you to come by faith, and ensuring that you understand that by reason of the person in whose name you are approaching a throne of grace, that he is hearing your prayer, and he is willing to answer it.
[48:33] far in excess of your willingness to ask. Jesus insists that we are to remember that he is never indifferent to the prayers and petitions of his own people.
[48:52] If he was of that mind, then why the injunction to pray without ceasing? If he was of that mind, why does he tell us to pray without ceasing?
[49:05] If Jesus is of the opinion that the prayers of God's people may at some point be unheeded or ignored or passed by, why does he insist that men always ought to pray and not to faint?
[49:26] Jesus means his people to pray.
[49:37] And when he reminds us of that, he reminds us also of the challenges that the man and woman of faith will face in their prayer.
[49:49] that they may find their prayers frustrated by various experiences that conflict with their prayer, that cause them hindrances so that their prayers may appear to them to be of no purpose.
[50:18] When I was looking at this, when I was preparing this, I was reminded of a story that I read many years ago of different generations where a minister was travelling to a communion and he was riding in a gig, a harsh drawn carriage and he was going to the next communion and as he rode down there he passed by somebody working in a field or in the pits or something and the thought came to him that he would go and speak to this man who appeared to him to be so worldly that he didn't appear on the face of it to have any thought of the things of God.
[51:10] Here was this minister going to engage in business for the Lord and this man obviously had no interest in these things as far as he could maintain so he went to speak to him and he asked them a question do you pray he said do you pray and the man simply turned to him and he said there is something that must come before prayer and the minister was taken aback and he was thinking what does that comes before prayer oh he says the bible says you are to watch and pray and the minister understood at that moment that the man was far more spiritual than he gave him credit for prayer Jesus Christ in his teaching expects the people of God to be prayerful but to be earnest in their prayer they must be watchful in the manner in which they approach the
[52:15] God of heaven with their prayers but you see the problem we have as Christians is that if I put it like this and I hope you don't misunderstand what I'm saying sometimes we pray to God and we ask God for something and we're not so much afraid of God not hearing our prayers we believe that he will we're not so much afraid of God not answering our prayers because even by not answering it in the way in which we pray that his answer would be different to the desire that we've expressed in prayer our greatest fear often is the silence of
[53:17] God the silence of God and when God is silent when we feel ourselves engaging in prayer and we believe our prayer to be the prayer of the righteous to be believer to be what God is seeking from us and yet he is not giving any indication that he is hearing that prayer and that troubles the Christian that causes the Christian grief but how how do you respond to that situation how do you respond to a prayer that God takes time to answer well you know that you pray on how do you respond to the prayer that God answers in a way that you don't expect well you don't stop praying you pray on and in the same way when God seems to have nothing to say to you you pray on because that's all you can do if you are to respond to
[54:32] God's word you are always to pray and you to continue to pray and not to faint I think that is key that is what Christ wants us to do pray on pray more pray until the God of heaven is is going to reveal to you what his answer is you remember in the New Testament account that we have of the church the early church following the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ in the book of Acts we are told they saw Christ ascending into heaven and it wasn't any surprise that they were perplexed is it not you would see them wondering what does all this mean and they gathered together in the upper room and you would have thought that they would sit there quietly staring at the ground looking at their feet but what we are told is these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication these all with one accord with prayer and supplication they had no other answer to their situation if not to pray if not to continue as
[56:04] Christ commanded to pray and to pray on and we in our own situation whatever that situation may be even tonight as individuals or collectively as a congregation however we interpret the events of the Christian faith and their life and part in it how do we respond to it well we come to Christ and we seek from him the wherewithal by which to pray to him with the earnestness that he seeks from us and with the desire to continue until he reveals all to us if he is of a mind to do so a preacher called William Grant once said the following he says when the Christian is engaged in business for the Lord they must remember that Jesus said pray not just pray but pray pray and it's not for your sake for the sake of your praying you must remind yourself of that it is not for the sake of your much praying that you will get the blessing but for the sake of the blessed one to whom these prayers are uttered is that not the fact you know the devil very often puts this in our path that we are to pray but forget if we don't get an answer instantly because if we think that it's because of our much praying that God is going to answer it will be a feather in our cap and if the mindset that we have is by our much praying
[57:59] God will answer then we will be filled with pride and that would be something that cannot be countenance by God just like the following parable where the Pharisee is so full of pride because of the nature of his prayers and the quality of his spirituality and the righteousness that is full of himself and the devil will say don't you be like that whatever you do don't be don't be pestering God because you know you'll come round to this way of thinking eventually you'll believe that God has done something because of what you have done in your prayers is that not a twisted way of getting you to stop praying but we can't allow ourselves to think that our prayer is going to be answered by God and it is because the power and efficacy of our prayer is of the caliber that it has or it is that
[59:13] God will answer our duty is not to examine the content of our prayer as such the quality of our prayer as such it is a burden to us no doubt but our duty is to pray and to pray without ceasing and to pray and not to faint what God does without prayers what God does by way of answer to our prayers that is his business not ours many years ago I wrote down these words which are a challenge to me constantly because they point at my heart they point at my life in the words of Thomas Chalmers when he spoke to in his own days he says when a man fails in his ministry it is not because he doesn't it isn't because he doesn't read enough it doesn't because he doesn't study enough it doesn't because he doesn't visit enough it doesn't because any of these things and more besides it is because he doesn't pray it is because he doesn't pray and for one that is my great fear that I don't pray enough
[60:43] I don't pray for the congregation enough I don't pray for my family enough I don't pray as I ought before God and the answer to that fear is to quench it to suppress it and to prove that it is something that you must do as a child of God you must pray and go on praying no one needs prayer as much as your minister not only does he need to pray for himself but he needs his people the people of the congregation to pray for that preaching that it may not fall on deaf ears that God would choose to hide his face from his people and you pray and pray earnestly and pray honestly and pray repeatedly because you're doing what
[61:59] Christ would have you do you're doing it because he asks you to do it he tells you to do it men ought always to pray and not to faint and you're saying well if only the revival broke out if only there was evidence in this congregation as in others that God was at work then I would pray that would be my stimulus to prayer that would be the reason for my prayer I'll wait for that day I'll wait until God begins to work and then I'll be energized then I'll be stimulated and motivated to pray do you know when that day is going to be it'll never come it'll never come a number of years ago
[62:59] I met an old lady she belonged to a congregation in Cairness called Wharton and at that point she was probably close to the end of her days in this world but in Cairness many years before she was a Christian and she became a Christian in her youth there was a vibrant ministry in that community and God worked in that place and this is the mystery of what God is doing and what God is not doing we don't know why but in that community there was a minister by the name of Alexander Gunn and seemingly he was a man of prayer he was a man of power in preaching he had the unction of the
[64:00] Lord and yet that community today is decimated of Christian witness there are barely sufficient Christians left throughout the whole of Cateness and Sutherland to supply congregations oh they're not defunct they're not totally disappeared but the numbers comparatively speaking are few and far between but when this man preached he preached with power he preached on the basis of God's encouragement to him and one of the sermons he preached when I was reading when he was preaching I was saying to myself there's not a congregation left in
[65:00] Lewis today that you would dare preach these words in that you would come to them with a message like this in chapter 9 of Ezekiel and the Lord said unto him go through the midst of the city go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for the abominations that he'd done in the midst thereof and he to others he said in mine hearing go ye after him through the city and smite let not your eyes spare neither have ye pity slay utterly old and young both maids and little children and women come not near any man upon whom is the mark and begin at my sanctuary then they began at the ancient men which were before the house and he preached that message and the open air and when he preached the power of God was evident he was in an outdoor tent and the roof blew off the tent as he preached and he struck the lectern so hard it went into smithereens there were people present and they feared for their very life such was the presence of God in that place but there were people present at the same occasion and they were unmoved they were untouched there was a young man there and he was troubled by what he heard and it concerned him so much he could hardly lift his head the following day but one man went to him who had been present at the same service and he said why why are you so worried about that if what you heard from young man is true none of us will go to heaven if what young man said is true none of us will go to heaven
[69:12] a child there there are mothers here there are fathers here and they've been praying for their children's conversion and still their children are unconverted is that mother or that father going to say I'm giving up I'm leaving them in the hands of the devil far from it the more urgent than ever they want their children to hear the word of God come with power into their ears turning them to Christ don't faint don't give up persevere who knows when God will begin to work again in my life in your life in the lives of those who are still strangers to them let us pray oh Lord oh God prayer is a great mystery to us but you have decreed that your people are our praying people and they do business with you at a throne of grace and you have purposely revealed to us that a way of access has been opened by which we can ask and find answer to the needs that are ours be the great or small do not allow us to think otherwise bless your word to us we pray bless to you to us the presence of our praying people even those who are not here this evening of that number there are those we believe are praying for the services of God's house the world over their heart is open to
[71:03] God and their desire is that you would hear them and bless them and bless your cause have mercy upon us to that end in Jesus name Amen we sing in conclusion Psalm 130 the whole Psalm Psalm 130 Lord from the depths to thee I cried my voice Lord do thou hear unto my supplications voice give an attempt to hear Lord who shall stand if thou O Lord shouldst mark iniquity but yet with thee forgivenesses that feared thou mayst be and sing the whole Psalm to God's praise Lord from the depths to thee I cried Lord from the depths복k to thee earth my voice
[72:06] Lord do you hear unto me American Lord unto me Emiße iniquity righteousness Lord, you shall stand, And give thou, O Lord, truth, mark iniquity, And yet repay, Forgiveness is the pure, Forgiveness is that pure gladness be.
[73:09] I wait for God, my sword I'll wait.
[73:22] My love is in His heart. More than without you mourn me, watch my soul is far the Lord.
[73:50] I sing for the name that you want.
[74:02] The morning light you see. Let Israel open the Lord.
[74:20] Fire with His mercy, King. And tentily sedentions as ever found with Him.
[74:48] And Abraham Is Iniquities He Is Israel Redeemed May grace, mercy and peace From God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Rest and abide with you all now And always, Amen Amen