How to Connect With God: Prayer

Several weeks ago, the pastor called the pastoral team together to begin to try to plan for the lesson series that would happen on these Wednesday nights. And at the beginning of the year, we are going to be we are in a series these Wednesdays of January connecting with God. How that we can connect with God. Tonight we're going to be studying about prayer from the scripture, but we'll also be studying on other Wednesday nights about the power of the word of God, fasting, and we have that time coming up next week of prayer and fasting.

And then also being sensitive and listening and hearing from God as he speaks to us, which he does speak to us. And we're very thankful for that. And so tonight we start with the study of prayer from the word of God. I want to know how God views prayer. I want to know how God looks at prayer. I I know part of how he views it and we often talk about prayer or coming to the house of God saying we want to meet with God and we do and that's absolutely correct.

But here's another way to look at that. God wants to meet with us. He longs for those prayer times that we have. He longs for times of worship like we're having tonight. He wants to meet with us. In fact, he he set it up in the Old Testament. He had Moses set up a tent there in the wilderness so that he would have a place to commune through Moses with his people. Here's something to keep in mind, and I think it can encourage us that God wants to meet with us as much and really more than we want to meet with him.

So, it's not like we're having to strongarm God or twist his arm behind his back to say, "Meet with us, God." He is ready and he is willing. He has looked forward to this night. His hand has already touched us in this service. His spirit has already touched us in this service. It's going to continue to touch us. He's such a willing God and he wants to connect with us and of course we have to reciprocate that and desire to connect with God. We'll start with three portions of scripture about prayer.

I've asked for some help in the reading of these and they all reference prayer. And of course there are hundreds of verses in scripture that could have been chosen. But Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 18. And we'll give you a chance if you want to go there uh in your Bible or on your device. And brother Colin's going to read that for us. Just project your voice, brother Colin. And of course, this is the context of the armor of God. And he says that we should pray always.

1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 17. Thank you, brother Tony. And that's exactly the demeanor I think. Duh. Just pray without ceasing, right? And perhaps that's what Paul was trying to make it and get across. And that's what the Holy Ghost was God was wanting to get across to us. Just pray. It is a simple uh phrase, but it's a very powerful phrase to pray consistently and continuously. And then Luke chapter 18 from the parable that Jesus gave and we'll just use verse one for right now.

All right. So from these verses of scripture launch us into the time of the study of prayer. Um a few months ago in staff devotion we read the book. We go chapter by chapter through various books. We read the book, The Anatomy of a Revived Church. As you can see, it's a very small book. It's an easy readad book, but it is very insightful. In fact, this man, Thomas Reineer, has written several books. I would also suggest this one. I am a church member. and he goes into the responsibilities from scripture of what it means to be a part of the body of Christ and to be a member of a church.

So he wrote this book, the anatomy of a revived church. He said the reason he wrote this because he had also written the autopsy of a deceased church and he's talking about dying churches. He's talking about how death has come into religion. And he said someone met him after reading that book of the uh autopsy of a deceased church and they said, "Pastor Rainer, why don't you write about a revived church and do the anatomy of a revived church?" Now, what's impressive about these books is they are so they're very scripturally based.

Very scripturally based. But I was especially impressed with really with with the book as a whole. But with chapter four in this book, the anatomy of a revived church, he deals with prayer. Now he he was a pastor. He was also a professor, educator, uh, of course an author and a church consultant. So the way these writings came about, he would travel and respond to churches who asked him to come in to assess how they were doing as a church. Were they reaching in evangelism? Were they being were they spiritually strong?

And out of those con consultations and out of those surveys and and interviews with literally hundreds of church leaders and also church members, he came to these writings. Now uh these principles that he talks about in these books mainly apply to churches but they also apply to individuals. So we could talk about the anatomy of a revived believer. Now, we use the term, he uses the term revitalization. We we we use the term revival typically. And at the core of all of this, at the core of all of the re revival or revitalization, as he consulted and as he did the surveys and the interviews, here's what he said.

It was rare rare listen to this now rare that leaders told us that revitalization began with prayer. He was a bit surprised by that. He said many of them the majority of them pointed to methods are programs and there's nothing wrong with methods or programs. uh he supports those and of course we have those but they pointed to those things thinking that is what is going to keep a believer are going to keep a church alive but here's what he found he said as he circulated across the United States and perhaps in other uh countries what he found was prayer preceded and sustained revival and revitalization and when He started pointing this out in chapter 4.

I thought, my goodness, that sounds like an apostolic writer. Well, really what it sounds like is somebody that has read the Bible, somebody that has studied the Bible. Because when you read and study from scripture, it is quite evident that prayer is such a focus and such a foundation for a spiritual life, whether it's the individual, whether it's the family, or whether it is the church. In fact, in the Old Testament, one of the examples is Israel where prayer preceded revitalization or salvation or revival. Second Kings chapter 19 and verse 19, the Assyrian army is threatening.

And because they're surrounding Israel, and because they are threatening and attacking Israel, uh here's what Hezekiah does. He doesn't try to build a greater army. Again, he's not depending upon programs or methods. But here's what Hezekiah turns to in 2 Kings 19 and 19. Now therefore, oh Lord our God, I beseech thee, there's earnestness, there's desperation. I just want to stop here and say there's nothing wrong with praying when we are desperate. I don't think we should make people feel guilty when they're desperate and they start praying.

Now, maybe they haven't been praying, but where else do you go when you're overwhelmed? That's what the psalmist said. It was read earlier tonight. Now, agreed. That's not the only time we should be praying. But there's nothing wrong with praying when you're desperate. And Hezekiah was desperate. He said, "I beseech you, save thou us out of his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the God, even thou only." So he prays and of course the Lord answered in a miraculous way.

Listen, if we will pray, the Lord will answer in a miraculous way. Whatever your needs are tonight, I I I need an amen in church here for a few minutes. Okay? Whatever your need is tonight, there's nothing too hard for the Lord. There is nothing too great for for God to take care of. And they were surrounded, but God took care of it. And here's how there was a 185,000 soldier army that was coming against Israel. You talk about feeling overwhelmed and feeling outnumbered. They did.

And they were not only surrounding them, not only did they have weapons, but they were using their mouth to taunt Israel and to tell them, "There's no way that God can help you, and you are your you're your your efforts are feudal. You you're you're not going to be helped." But God responded and took away that entire army, slew that those soldiers, and God miraculously intervened. I'm gonna tell you, don't mess with God's people. Don't mess with God's people. Now, there will be attack and just because we're God's people, we are not exempt or immune from anything.

I don't care how long we speak in tongues and how long we've had the Holy Ghost. And I say keep the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues as much as you can, but we're still going to get mosquito bites and flat tires and have toothaches and a whole lot more serious stuff. But we can trust in the Lord. And here's what Hezekiah did. And they were revitalized. And they were revived. And they were saved because of prayer. And I want to note one other thing in the middle of this verse after he says, "Save us out of the hand of this king." The reason he wanted this answer, now he wanted it to be blessed and to be saved.

That's the reason he wanted it. But watch this. that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord God. In other words, he said, "I want this prayer request answered." And we took several prayer requests tonight. We wanted comfort. We wanted healing. We wanted blessing. And there's nothing wrong with wanting that. But here's what Hezekiah added. He said, "In the midst of all this, and and when you answer this, I want there to be an answer. Not just so we get relief, but I want the world to see this and know that you are a mighty God.

Listen, when God heals your body, it's going to be a testimony to somebody else. When God works out a situation and gives you a miracle, let's add that to our prayer. God, I need your blessing. I need this relief from this pain or I I need this healing or I need this job situation worked out. I need that blessing. but also that somebody will know that you are to be magnified and you are glorified. I want to glorify him tonight. Would you just give him praise right now?

Lord, thank you for what you've done for us. Thank you for answers that you have given. Thank you, oh Lord. We felt the relief. We felt the peace. We felt the blessing, but also we want the result to be that you are known and you are magnified. I want these. We prayed for Sister Don Stoflel and Bethany and the comfort for the Wolf family. I want those to happen for the sake of those persons. But there's another reason we want that. So that God will be testified to.

And so when you make your request to the Lord, don't hesitate. Let your request be made known unto the Lord. But add on there, God, I want you to get glory out of this. It's not going to be because I prayed, but it's going to be because you worked. It's not going to be because of the words of our prayer or necessarily the amount of faith that I have, but I want it to bless and magnify your name. And of course, there are other times in scripture where there was preceding prayer to revitalization.

Rener mentioned in in his book he talked about how he had recently visited Wilmore con Kentucky where Asbury University was located and in February of 2023 it there started an outpouring of the spirit of God and uh he said that they it started in a chapel service. I'm going to tell you what you can't put God in a box. It started in a chapel service. Be be ready and beware. God may just start working at some what looks like an inopportune time. They were in a church uh chapel service and the following that service, the spirit of the Lord began to move and they just continued to worship.

They continued to pray. the students uh started praying and worshiping the Lord and uh singing and glorifying God and it went beyond the the stopping time and uh he said there was a note that came from the president of the college that said if you want to join there's a move of the spirit of God there in Hughes Hall and you're welcome to join if you are available and folks and the students began to come and of course you you may have heard about or read about that Asbury revival.

Literally thou hundreds of thousands of people were impacted. People came from all over the world. Well, folks, that didn't just happen. He did some research, and here's what he found. Professors have been gathering every Monday for years to prayer walk on the university and seminary campuses. and prayer preceded that revival. Retirees from those institutions were meeting regularly to pray for the students, the faculty and administration. And I would I would venture to say that sometimes those retirees when they gathered on that particular day, uh are we just going through the motions?

Are we ever going to see any result? And maybe you felt like that with some of the prayers that you have prayed and the prayer times that you have prayed. Are we going to see a result? But that's what preceded that great outpouring that happened on that campus. A group of ladies in the community had been praying for God to pour out his spirit on the students and faculty administration. This was happening days before this. You know, many times we hear about the great result and the great revival, but what preceded it?

That prayer works, folks. Because prayer is communication with a go, the God of heaven. It's a conversation with him. It's an access to him. And Paul said, "We do have an access to the spirit and to God." All of that was happening. The persistence in prayer for that campus and community had not just been for a week or for a year, but listen, it had been happening for decades. Decades had been going on. Oh, thank God for prayer. Prayer is a basic of the apostolic church.

You know, there are more prayers. 32 times prayer is mentioned in the book of Acts in the 28 chapters. There are more prayers in the book of Acts than there are miracles. Now the miracles and thank God for those and what an encouragement they are. But what was underneath those miracles was connection with God, talking with God, being revived and revitalized by the Lord. He also notes in the book, he said, 'In my travels through the years, the Lord has led me to churches and groups of people who are actively praying for their communities.

I know I've read and talked with brother and sister Kelly over in Scotland, and Sister Kelly directs prayer walks uh in various countries, but one of the times that my wife and I were over there, we went with them in a neighborhood where they were wanting to start a daughter work. And so they just walked the streets and you know it didn't happen immediately but eventually something was birthed there and something happened there. I know APC we've been praying for our field and we've had yield and results of prayers that have happened and I want to encourage you again as you're coming to church drive through those streets and just pray for our field or your own neighborhood.

pray for that that field that is our field. So APC has done that and we we've driven we've driven the perimeter of St. Lewis and I remember back in 219 we were doing some of this prayer driving and at that very time and I cannot prove this. I cannot prove this but at that very time some corruption and some things that needed to come forth in our county government. It broke open at that particular time. All I'm saying tonight is prayer works because God works and he's the one that we are depending upon and trusting in.

We believe in prayer. And here's what he said. He made a powerful statement. He sound like he was preaching. He said, "We believe in prayer, but we don't always practice it." That stirred me. We believe it's one thing to believe in prayer. And thank God for anybody that believes in prayer. And that should be a belief in our belief system. But it's another thing to practice that prayer. And he says the tyranny of the urgent sometimes replaces godly priorities and godly elements. I just encourage you tonight from the word of God in the spirit of the Lord.

Make sure you pray. Make it a priority. Make it a must. As surely as you want to make contact and communicate with close relationships that you have among other humans, make sure the same thing is happening in your relationship with God. Prayer and personal revitalization. Let's talk about personal. Now we've talked some about the church. Prayer and personal revitalization of the individual. I know many times I've uh looked at prayer as, well, I'm going to work on God with this prayer. And God will hear us out.

God will hear us out and he will respond. But you know what? Prayer changes us more than it changes God. Prayer changes. And I So I would say pray not to change God or his will, but pray to be changed. God, change me if I need to change my mindset. Uh, you know, sometimes there's been times I've been praying for a certain answer in a situation, but what had needed to happen was a change in my mindset, a change in how I was thinking about that situation.

And when God changed that, I could see where his wisdom was so much better and was so right. So prayer changes us more than it changes God. Prayer also another benefit. It improves our personal relationship with God because that's what it prayer is a relationship. Prayer is a relationship. It's a communication between friends. It's just sitting down and talking. I remember uh hearing Sister Black, Sister Eileen Black, a former pastor's wife, tell and she it was written in the the Pentecostal Life magazine. They were writing on prayer.

And what she would do is she would set another chair in her prayer room and she would sit of course in one and she would sit another and she was just you could say pretending that God was there and he was. Now she couldn't see him sitting in the chair but she wanted it to be a communication and a conversation. Let me just ask you. No, you certainly don't have to respond in in any way, but have you ever just been going through uh prayer time and wonder what did I just pray?

I'll admit it. Probably all of us to some degree at some time or another. What did I just pray or going through the ritual? I I myself I use a list. I use a list. I have a list of general prayer points that I uh use and then also I have a list of needs and persons that I pray for. But I can get into that list and it only be that a list to check off those boxes. I need to remember I'm talking to somebody that listens.

You know Abraham out there in that field when he was praying about Sodom, he was praying like somebody was listening to him, right? God, if you'll if there's 50 Now, that would have been a silly circumstance if there was nobody listening. Here's this guy out there saying, "God, will you save Sodom if there's 50 people? Will you save Sodom if there's 40 or if there's 30 or as he goes on down?" But Abraham was praying as though somebody was listening. Let's pray as though somebody's listening.

Let's talk to him. And there's a two-way street on prayer. Not only do we talk, but God talks. Haven't you had some times when you had some thought impressions? And uh I would just I'll throw this in. I don't think I've ever heard the audible voice of God, but I sure have heard from God during times of prayer or during times of a move of the spirit or during times of of the word of God. And prayer is one of those things that improves our personal relationship with others, with God.

And I'll throw this in. It'll improve our personal relationship with others because when we get changed to the way that God would have us to be. So, we get to know him better. We get to know his spirit and his voice and uh a sensitivity to his voice. You know, when this for the days of cell phones, so I was on quartet tour in the summer of uh 75 way back there with the dinosaurs. Um, and so we were we were a few weeks away from getting married, so I had to go and find a phone booth and we were up in Maine and it was a smaller area so it wasn't but there was a street light there fortunately and I was in the phone booth and I was I was calling her talking to her and we'd already talked several times.

We talked at the school and then we talked on the phone and uh I knew it was her. Now, her sister sounded like her, but I never did make that mistake. I can remember that they they sounded alike. But because we had talked enough, I knew the voice. When we talk enough Now, I will tell you there are times there are times when we have to wait. So, I want to make sure this is God. I'm not I'm not saying we're going to know every time.

I've had it just within the last two weeks. God, is this me? Is this you? Is this something else, but the more you talk to him, the greater sensitivity is going to be there to be able to recognize his voice. And then of course another benefit of improving that personal relationship, we open ourselves, the more we talk to him, the more open and vulnerable we can be and submitted that we will be and accountable we will be. And I'll just say that the development of that kind of relationship doesn't always happen immediately.

At least it doesn't appear outwardly that it's happening immediately. But I I'll go on to say this. There is something happening every time we pray. I want to repeat that and hear it and tuck it in your spirit. There is something happening every time you pray. I thank the Lord for every move of the spirit and every time he responds when I praise and when I pray. But I don't always feel something when I pray and when I praise. But I know something. And we we can depend on what we know over what we feel.

and faith in God. And I'm telling you, go ahead and pray. Go ahead. Whenever your prayer time is, you go ahead and pray because every time you and I pray, something happens. Every sincere, genuine prayer experience is having an effect. It will have an effect. And I I know that as humans sometimes we get a little discouraged say nothing's happening. Nothing's happening. You speak back to that and say, "Yes, it is. hear me. Speak back to it. Take spiritual authority. Yes, it is. Because this is a genuine prayer from my heart.

I'm not seeing the outward results. It may not appear, but God's at work. God is responding. And in prayer, of course, another great benefit is we enjoy his presence. We sung about it a while ago. in the presence of the Lord find everything that we need. And prayer is also a spiritual weapon of defense. The first verse tonight that was read, Ephesians 6:18, praying always. That phrase means on every occasion, at all seasons, that there never be a time when we won't pray or we don't want to pray.

He's not talking about going around just a prayer language with every word out of our mouth and not having good decent human conversation. What he's talking about at every se there ought not be a season where we feel like well I'm not going to pray this season. I'm not going to pray at this time. He said praying always. And you know Ephesians 6 is in the context of putting on the armor of the Lord really is what he's saying when he tells us to stand. The only way we'll be able to stand is when we are praying.

That's what makes the pieces of the armor effective and able to do what they always do. Prayer must accompany every piece of the armor. So he said praying always with all prayer and supplication. And he talks about watching with all perseverance. In other words, be alert and be attentive and make sure that there is prayer so that we do not become listless in prayer. In in the book, Reineer in talking about prayer was very uh honest and open about what he found as he circulated among those churches.

And he touches on what I'm going to call tonight the principle of the few. The principle of the few. He talked about the importance of prayer warriors. Unless you think that uh this is only some select group or should be some. It shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. Now it turns out that sometimes it is that way where they're only a select. And he he addresses that. But he talked about the importance of prayer warriors. And here's how he defined prayer warriors. Those who believe in the power of prayer and pray themselves.

And then those who mobilize others to pray and go to spiritual warfare with them. In the book, he mentioned a 92year-old woman in a church. And this particular church was dying. I'm glad we're not in that condition. But in this case, it was. And that's one of the reasons he was called to this church. He said, "But there he he found there was always a few, no matter the condition of the entire church, there was always a few who were praying. And uh this 92 year old woman, guess which hour she took?

2 to three in the morning. And here's what she said. She said the church that she had long attended, it was she was a lifelong attender of that church was basically just going through the motions. And when I read that, first of all, I was thankful that we make our best effort here at APC to do more than just go through the motions. But I also felt a warning come to me that it would be very easy to slip into because we've been doing this for 90 years, folks.

If anybody ought to know how to do it, if anybody ought to know how to do Pentecost, if anybody ought to know how to do a Wednesday night midweek service or a Sunday service or a song, a worship time, it it probably would be us. But we don't want to just go through the motions. And so she was praying for a revitalization. You know, we need God's anointing on everything that we do. Teaching a Sunday school class, uh leading the children, singing, whatever it is, worshiping.

God God's will. God doesn't just anoint on this platform. He anoints in the pew as well, in the in the chair as well. There's an anointing that can come upon us to worship God more than just going through the motions. And this stirred this 92year-old lady and she took that 2 to 3 a.m. prayer hour and what she was praying was for that church to be revived and revitalized. Uh and uh she got to calling others uh she got to calling others to prayer and the pastors and leaders that Mr.

Ranger surveyed and talked with and interviewed. He said that the majority of them could only point to a few who were true prayer warriors. That's sad. Only a few who were consistent and who prayed consistently. And here's his quote. In the anatomy of revived churches, the power of prayer was evident. Even those that were revitalized, the power of prayer was evident, but it was not pervasive. In other words, it was not the practice of the majority. And that led him to this conclusion. Prayer in the church resides in the ministry of only a few of the faithful members.

He's he's assessing the churches that he Let's not let that be the case of APC. I don't believe that it is, but we don't ever want to go down that road. I would venture to say that at apostolic churches and including APC, the number of prayer warriors are much higher than in Christendom in general. But I would add this little postcript. Perhaps it's not as high as it should be or it could be, but we could fix that. We can raise the bar and raise the level.

I'm going to tell you, Pentecost happened because people were praying. It It wasn't the result of a good program that brought that revival and brought that outpouring. People were praying and asking God because they had been instructed to go tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. And there is an endoomment for this apostolic church in this final hour in which we live. Thank God for people of prayer and a church of prayer. I would also say remind us God's willing to use whoever it is that will pray.

God doesn't need a majority. Now, he wants a majority of us praying, but of course, he he doesn't need that. And I just wanted to pass this to you. This is not him. It's it's me. Don't get or be discouraged about your prayer life, your commitment, or the power of prayer because others are not participatory. Don't let that affect how you are praying before the Lord, how you are calling. And he points out a a danger. He said we could succumb ourselves to the suggestion that low numbers equal failure.

But Jesus said, "Where there are two or three, I will be there in the midst of you." Do does he want everybody? Does God want everybody? Yes. But he will respond. I I just thank God. I I looked around tonight in pre-ervice prayer as it first started. There were about 25 of us and then several others began to come in and I a thankfulness rose up in me. I don't know what the folks were praying, what they were saying, but you could sense a sincerity and a genuiness before them.

God would. And I thought of the scripture 2 Chronicles 7. If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, then I will hear from heaven. God is responding. And I say thank God for everybody that's praying. You know, we can focus so much on those that are not praying that we forget about to focus on thank God for those that are praying. Praise God. Thank God for people that attend prayer meetings. Thank God for people to come to pre-ervice prayer. Thank God for people that pray in their homes and wherever it is that you pray.

Thank God for that. And uh I think it's good to find and acknowledge what I'll call the prayer warriors that are battling for the name of the Lord. In in part of this chapter, he also talks about the power of persistence. He said what he found about those people praying, they didn't give up. They'd invite folks to come and sometimes they were the only ones to come to the prayer meeting. That could be discouraging, right? Uh all church prayer next Monday night, pastor's the only one that shows.

That'd be a little discouraging, but those prayer warriors just kept praying. It it doesn't m when God speaks to you. He spoke to me several years ago about pre-ervice prayer. I knew he spoke to me about it. I knew he spoke to me. And so I knew that that's the trail we needed to walk and that's the pathway we needed to walk. And so persistence just pays off. And these in these documented uh instances sometimes there were only a few people that showed up but the prayer warriors just kept on praying.

and thank God for a God who answers. 2 Coronicles chapter 7 and verse 14. You know, if we want to see him work in a greater way at APC, and I believe we do, we must turn to him in prayer. That's that's a major part of the answer. The greater things that we want to see, and Jesus promised it, greater things than this shall you do. It's God who revitalizes. It's God who strengthens us. Whether it's the church or the individual, it's God. And if we want to see him work, we must turn to him.

And that's what he was talking to Solomon about when Solomon was making that prayer of dedication and wanting the blessing of the Lord upon Israel and the people of God. That's the setting where 2 Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 14 documents. If my people which are called by my name shall humble that word that word humble there literally means to bring under in other words I want to bring myself under God's wishes I'm going to bring myself under God's will and if they will pray and he uses a particular word right here for pray it means to intervene or intercede I don't know this may not be the best way to say it but it's kind of like getting in God's business.

God, I need you to intervene. I I'm interceding. I'm intreating you. I This is a serious request. I need your help. They pray and they seek. That word means to desire or require. God, I'm requiring your face. God, I want to get right in front of you. I want to be right there in front of you to show you how serious I am about this thing. I want to say this again. I feel it right here. And I know there are several hanging needs in I just know some.

I don't know the extent of the number of them or the extent of the requests themselves. I just know they're hanging there. But if we will seek his face and if we will turn back from anything wrong and turn toward him, he said, "Then will I hear from heaven and I will forgive." In other words, I will revive or revitalize their life. And I will heal. I will heal whatever needs to be healed. God's a healer of the physical. He's the healer of the spiritual. He's the healer of the emotions.

God said, "If my people will, I will. I will forgive and I will hear and heal their land." And verse 15, "Now my eyes shall be open." Listen to God's response to prayer. My eyes shall be open. I'm going to be looking your way. My ears are going to be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now, verse 16, now have I chosen. God made a choice. He said, "This is my choice. I'm not being forced on this." And who can force God anyway?

I have chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there forever. I want that on APC. I want that on 901 Barracks View. And my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. God's not leaving us. Stand with me if you would, folks. God's not going to leave us. God's going to be with us. And and I know we live in a world that is filled with doubt and maybe trying to remove prayer in various ways, but we've got a promise from God. He said, "I'm not leaving you.

My eyes are there. My heart is there. It shall be there perpetually." Now, I want us to pray, and we may pray another time. Brother Andrew is going to come and close this service, but I want you to know when we pray this prayer right here, God's listening, and it's having an effect. I don't know what you will pray about. Huh? I I I would suggest let's pray to draw closer to God and and be open to him and be sensitive to him or whatever you feel to pray.

But here's what I know. God's going to be listening and he's going to be hearing and he's going to be responding. Let's talk to the Lord right now. Jesus, I thank you for your presence that I feel. I thank you for your presence that we sense. Uh you're with us, oh God, and you are so good. Thank you for putting your eyes and your heart and your name upon our lives and then upon APC. And God, we want that to be perpetual. We want that to be for good.

We want that to be forever. We need you, Lord. And thank you for being with us in Jesus name. In Jesus name.