Tonight, let's run over to the Gospel of Luke, chapter number 18, the Gospel of Luke, chapter number 18, and we'll see what the Lord has for us tonight. Amen. That's the Gospel of Luke, chapter number 18. And once you get there, let's all stand, and then we'll see, and we'll read, and we'll pray, and we'll ask the Lord to help us tonight. Amen. Amen. That's the Gospel of Luke, chapter number 18, and verse number one. The Bible says this, and he spake a parable, he spake a parable, he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and faint. Oh, I'm sorry. And not to faint. We've been talking about a series of messages on being rebel Christians. And tonight we're going to talk about being a rebel in the area of rebelling against prayerlessness. Rebelling against prayerlessness. Let's pray. God help us tonight. I pray that God should show us the importance of praying. And God help us to see also the danger of not praying. And help us, God, to rebel against our flesh. Because oftentimes, our flesh don't want to pray. But God, help us to realize we must lean upon the power of the Holy Spirit in order to not be prellis, but to be prayerful. I pray, God, that through the Holy Spirit, help somebody. Because I have no doubt that somebody needs your help. I know I do. That's it. In your son's name we pray, Jesus. Amen. Amen. Maybe he's here. That's okay, Brett. I changed my mind. I need you for something for a second, but it's taken care of. Amen. All right. The Bible says again in verse 1, And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men are always to pray and not to faint. So the opposite of praying is being prayerless. And remember, that word rebel, by the way, means a person who refuses, allegiance, arises, resists the ruler of his or her country. In this case, we're talking about us. We all have a nature that we were born with. And our nature oftentimes goes contrary to the Holy Spirit. So therefore, my friends, we have to make a decision that we are going to rebel against our nature in this area, the area of prayerlessness. Now, what does that mean, prayerlessness? That word, prayerlessness, means this. First of all, I couldn't find nowhere but in the Webster's 1828 Dictionary. But anyhow, it means this, total or habitual neglect of prayer. either total or habitual neglect of prayer. And if all of us were honest tonight, we'd all have to say, keyword all, here on back, we'd have to admit that many times we have neglected prayer. We have not been as hateful. We have not been as strong consistently in the area of prayer. Now, it ain't hard to pray as a believer when trouble comes. That's not even a question. But what about when everything is going good? When there seemingly is no problem? When it seems like everything is going smooth? Oftentimes at that point, it's sometimes easy. to neglect to pray. So therefore, we're going to be rebel Christians and decide tonight that we're going to rebel against proudness. What does that mean, preacher? You know. That means you get ready to go to bed tonight, and you say, I forgot to pray, and you already got into bed. You're like, man, what are we doing in the morning? Well, we're just laying right here. We're going to pray right now. That's OK. if that's what you intended to do. But it ain't really okay if that wasn't your intention, but you're too lazy to get up out the bed and pray. Now, of course, you don't have to, there's no command to kneel every time you pray, but you know exactly what I mean. My dear friends, there's times when we just don't want to feel like getting up to pray. We're too lazy to pray. So therefore, we neglect prayer. And then we put it off till later. And then later. And then later. And then later. And they might slip it in here and slip it in there. But when we do that, man, we are causing ourselves some huge problems. Let's look at a few of the dangers Previousness number one previousness could be It's gonna be a shocker to somebody a sin Look at me the first Samuel chapter 12 and verse 23 Here is a great man of God a great prophet a great servant of the Most High King a and look what he says in 1 Samuel chapter number 12 and verse number 23 the Bible says that Samuel says moreover let's back up verse 22 for the Lord will not forsake his people for his great namesake because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people moreover as for me God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in what? Do you know that it is possible that you and I could be sinning when we cease to pray? And in this case, he ain't talking about praying for himself. He's about praying for these people. I wonder, who did God lay on your heart to pray for? And you did. Could that be a sin for you? Cause God said pray, or, now I know we're right here, other folks on the outside, or brother, I need you to pray for me tomorrow. Just pray for me. Huh? Yeah. Okay. I'm going to man, my dad's your wife. Then you said, yeah, right. Tomorrow comes, and then he don't pray. Is everything all right? I came to him, he said, yeah. And then he don't. Something ain't right. That's why sometimes, my dear friends, we should probably perhaps go ahead and pray right then. Maybe that'd be a better practice. Somebody said, pray for me. He said, OK, let's pray right now. So that way you know you won't forget, amen? But my dear friends, in the area of prayerlessness, Sandals says, hey, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing and forsaking to pray for you. Folks, there is a danger in prayerlessness. But not only that, the danger of prayerlessness is disobedience. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17. That's why it's so important for us to rebel against prayerlessness. Fight against it. Rise up and revolt against prayerlessness. And it can happen to the best of us, amen. You know, the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse number 17, the Bible says this, and we all know this verse, but maybe they haven't had it marked in our Bible, but here we go. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17 says, hey, pray without ceasing. Now some of y'all got them Bibles that talk about the grammar and whatnot. What the grammar say in there? Before that word pray, there's a P-I-M, which means it's a present imperative, which means it's a command to do something on a consistent or continuous basis. So therefore, when God says, pray without ceasing, He is commanding us to pray. But if we don't pray, we are then being disobedient because we have not followed the command to pray. Now, but what about the word without ceasing? Now, preacher, come on. I mean, I can't 24 hours a day? I mean, every single second of the day? No. What that word means here is this. Without omission. I said, what does omission mean? That word omission means left out, Not done or neglected. So it's not saying, my dear friends, you ought to pray every single second. But it is saying that you and I should not neglect to pray. Not omit praying. Let's not be prayerless, but be prayerful. Because God commanded us to pray. But not only that, the danger of prayerlessness is the temptation. Remember the Bible says, man, it's amazing how you can read the verse over and over and then really grab something. But look at Mark 14, verse 38. Mark, I know y'all are a lot smarter than me, but today I look at this verse, I'm like, wow, it just jumped out. Mark 14, verse 38 says this. The writer says, Jesus says, watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The Spirit truly is ready, which means willing, But the flesh is what? Weak. But watch this. He said, watch. That word means to keep awake. Duh. Lest, or in order that, ye enter what? Into temptation. I said, oh, wait a minute. Watch and pray. Lest ye enter into temptation and or that you don't enter into temptation I was like wow Because we all know We gonna be tempted The Bible said that Jesus was tempted and sin not He'll watch and pray Lest he enter into temptation unless you fall into it. In other words, my dear friends, if you and I aren't careful, if you and I don't pray, then we may actually fall into the temptation that we're being tempted with. We're doing that fitness challenge. And we conclude today. And we'll find the results next week. Right now, there's a three-way tie between myself and Ms. Sharon and Brett, even though I speculate they may have cheated. But anyhow. So we'll find the results. We'll find the results next week. But now, when I was in North Carolina, I faced heavy temptation. You talk about North Carolina barbecue, and there's two types. What is there? Tell me the different two. The vinegar base. and the red sauce base, and the mustard. That's South Carolina. We're talking about North Carolina. Let's talk about this stuff. We're talking about North Carolina. But basically, in North Carolina, there's either the red sauce or the vinegar base. One of those bases of barbecue. And we're in the heart of that country. They tell you right down the street, barbecue, barbecue, come try our best barbecue. I must confess. I went right there in the mouth of the lion and won. But there was one I wasn't looking for, and that was Krispy Kreme. Prepared to fight the barbecue, but unprepared to fight Krispy Kreme. We're riding down the road, and Billy Sampson, I got to blame on somebody. And Billy Sampson said, hey, there's Krispy Kreme. I just sat down and ate a healthy meal, salad. It was Caribbean salad. And then he said, let's get us a Krispy Kreme. And Miss Jane, the angel that she is, said, no, let's not do that. And Billy said, just one. See, you know you can't eat just one. If y'all know Billy, who had their weight? Billy. We put him. Yeah, it is. That's his Facebook profile. Brother CT took a picture of him putting a whole donut. He didn't realize it. He had his mouth straight and wide. He couldn't get it. Putting that donut in there. And CT said, they're going to quit. But anyhow, we pull up in there. We walk in there. We left there with two dozen donuts. Two dozen. But I ate all them doughnuts. Calm down. I said, we left with two dozen. I had one. I think maybe I had one. I think I had one. Possibly two. But I thought I had one for sure. My mind's kind of foggy on the whole thing. But nonetheless, we get back. Brother Eddie wasn't feeling that well. But he was there at the room. And we told him, don't eat them doughnuts. Because he is a diabetic. Don't eat the doughnuts. I got up the next day or that night. I walked in there and I counted. I said, there's a donut missing. I said, Eddie, you had the donut. He says, no, I didn't have the donut. I said, yes, you did. He said, why you ask me that then if you know I was going to lie? When you are not prepared to fight the temptation, no doubt you'll fall into it. That's why Jesus says to watch, stay away. Be aware. Don't be paranoid, but be aware so that you don't enter into temptation. That's why he says, what and what? Pray. But prayerlessness could cause you to eat some of those Krispy Kremes. So there is a danger. But another greater danger is the danger of death itself. Look at what the Bible says in 2 Chronicles chapter 16 and look at verse, look at verse number, let's see, verse number 12. 2 Chronicles 16 and verse number 12. The Bible shows us here, my dear friends, that you, listen, if you don't pray, you could actually lose your life because you don't pray. The Bible says in verse 12 of chapter 16 of 2 Chronicles, And Asa, in the thirty and ninth year of his reign, was diseased in his feet until his disease was exceeding great watch this, this is by accident yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord but to the physicians and Asa slept with his fathers and died in the 1 and 4th year of his reign God would not put that in the Bible if it wasn't important. The Bible shows us the man gets diseased feet. Yes, he goes to the physicians, but he does not go to the Lord. It's OK to go to the doctor. I went last week just for your FYI. I'm trying to be hip. Anyhow, that old old anyhow. Oh, Ms. Sharon, yeah, okay, all right. But anyhow, I went to the doctor last week, and they, not last week, week before last, and they took my test, they took some tests, my blood and all that kind of stuff, and so when they came back with the results, everything looked good, except for one thing I think was, it was a little bit high, what was that? Who? Creatinine levels, just a tiny bit high, but not, creatinine, somebody named C, been in the house, and so, But they did tell me this, that I could now cut back half of my high blood pressure medicine. Yeah. That's good news. Some of y'all think, well, yeah, it's good news. Amen. Huh? We have doctors. God has given us physicians. We have to see them. But my dear friends, we should also make sure we pray first and talk to the one that's able to heal us. Hallelujah. But the Bible says that he did not seek God. He went to the physicians only, and he died. Folks, frailness can even cause you death. So just these few things show us the importance of praying. Let's get on a happy note. Go back to Luke chapter number 18 verse 1. We see some of the dangers of prayerlessness. Now let's see the duty of prayer. Look at what the Bible says in Luke 18 at verse number 1. Luke 18 and look at verse number one. I'm gonna have y'all out too early, but that's all right. Look at Luke 18 verse one. Some of the guys going, man, praise God, I'm gonna catch some part of that game. But look what it says here in Luke 18. Bear's already won. Luke 18 verse, yeah, everybody do the wave. Luke 18 verse one, the duty. Now, I ain't never seen some of those movements. But look what it says. The duty of prayer. That word duty means responsibility or an assignment. We have been given an assignment, a responsibility, a duty to pray. Who the Bible says here? First of all, we pray is crucial. The Bible says in verse one, and you speak a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray. That word ought there means necessary. It also means must. Folks, we must pray. It is crucial that we pray. And God says, listen, it is your responsibility, it is your assignment to pray because it is crucial. But not only is prayer crucial, but also prayer must be committed. The Bible says in that same verse that men are always, I like this, that men are always, the Bible says again that men are always to pray. That means at all times. And if we're going to pray at all times, then we must be committed to pray. And it does take commitment. And if anybody's going to be honest with themselves, it takes an effort to pray. Because sometimes you do not feel like praying. Your body says, I'm tired. Why'd you wait so late? But besides that, it don't matter. Your body will want to quit. Your Bible says, listen, I don't feel like praying. And if you and I are not careful, we'll fall into the area of prayerlessness. That's why we must rebel and just fight through it. There have been times your loved one, or your husband, your wife, or some other person say, hey, let's pray. And you'll be doing something else. And you'll be like, man. And you don't want to say no, but it's like, man. Well, can we pray in a few minutes? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? See, we feel like, well, I just pray whenever. But friends, you can make a time of prayer, but when the Holy Spirit of God comes by and He starts nudging you, that's the moment to pray. There might be somebody depending on that right there at that moment. And you might be the one that prays on their behalf, and God sends deliverance. So prayer is a commitment, and we need to be committed in our praying. But not only that, my dear friends, prayer is definitely courageous. Who the Bible says in verse 1 again? that men are always to pray and not to faint. That word to faint means to fail in heart. In other words, my dear friends, if we're not careful, we'll simply give up in our praying. So we must have the courage to continue to pray. I was watching Chronicles of Narnia. Was it? Narnia I was watching that with the over the health facility I was on my on that elliptical and I was watching that that battle that was taking place Yesterday early yesterday watching that and I say what I just I just love I just love it I mean here they come down there guys with my white horse. They're charging. The enemy's coming. They're all coming out here for the meat I said man, this is good against evil and I'm like man I'm telling you what and they all class they had the big battle, but the part I really liked was that lion The lion had died and what not and it was on that slab and the kids were up there where the lion was at and of course they were sad and their hearts were broken and they got up and they walked away and they began to walk down and all of a sudden they heard a crackling sound and they turned around and looked and they see the slab was now broke and you know what that represents. The stone being rolled away and all that and then all of a sudden the lion was gone. He was empty. It was empty He wasn't there and then they couldn't believe what had happened But all of a sudden on the back side here comes a lion a little something glowing light shines out and the lion steps up Hallelujah, which represents a lion the tribe of Judah that represents our Savior Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Hey, my dear friends I mean I get all excited as a minute and he gets on he gets there and he goes on and of course they win the battle Many of our battles are won because of prayer. The Bible says that you have not because you ask not. Maybe if we wouldn't be so prayerless, maybe we would see more results take place because we are continuously asking. When you read over there in the book of, it was in several books, but Matthew in particular, Matthew 7, verse 7, he says to ask, to seek, and to knock. That means continuously ask, continuously knock, continuously seek, continuously, continuously, continuously. I'm tired, I'm tired. I ain't seen no results. That's why I call that courageous prayer, because you can't quit. Let me read this and we're done. Verse 2 says this, he gives an example. He says in verse 1, he spake a parable, and he said this is the end of the parable. This is what the parable was meant to show, that men are always to pray and not faint. That's the purpose of this parable. And Huckley says in verse 2, saying this, there was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came to him saying, avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a while, for a time, but afterward, he said within himself, though I fear not God, nor regard man. Yet because this widow struggleth me, she is wearying me. He said, I will avenge her, lest by her, oh, lest by her continual coming, her continual coming, she weary me. Now, Lord said, hey, hear, did you hear what the unjust judge said? Did you hear what he said? And shall not God avenge his own elect which cried day and night unto him, though he belonged with them. Oh, he said, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. That means he will vindicate them. Nevertheless, yet, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth. When he comes back, will he find that type of faith when he comes back? Somebody that is continuously bombarding heaven. That's why sometimes I'll use that term, we're going to bombard heaven. When you bombard something, my dear friends, that means you're giving it all that you've got, you're throwing everything that you have. And the Bible tells us, oh, there's so many verses on prayer, we're not trying to cover them all. But let me read you one over here in James, chapter number five. Look at James, chapter number five. Look what the Bible says here about praying. And I wonder if any of us ever get to that place, we pray like the Bible says here. The Bible says in chapter number five, Yeah, yeah, yeah chapter number five and verse number 15 and 16 the Bible says this and the prayer of faith Shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise them up and if you have committed sins They shall be forgiven him confess your faults one to another and pray one for another That you may be healed here. It is the factual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much That word effectual means to be active. It means to be working that word of fervent means to have energy Energy when we're praying and the bible says that kind of praying availeth much that means it prevails But do we pray like that? Do we give it all that we've got I'm talking about pouring out your heart. I mean being sincere, being real, not being fake, not being funny, not being a hypocrite, not trying to put on, not trying to impress, but trying to get some help, whether it be for yourself or whether it be for somebody else. And you get down and say, Lord, I'm going to stay here if I have to, until you speak to my heart. I'm gonna stay here, God, until you give me peace in my soul. I bet you have heard me that you're gonna take care of the situation the way it needs to be taken care of. God, I'm gonna stay here until I hear from heaven. Most of us will just pray and say, Lord, you know, yeah, get up. What kind of praying is that? Now, I'm not saying you can't, you don't have to say no short prayer, but I am talking about fervent. I'm talking about your heart is truly in it. You are not going through the motions of prayer. That's that prayer. I mean, Randy Cook is interesting. We went to pray, and you ever heard Randy Cook pray? Good Lord. I mean, he was pretty specific. He prayed for folks' leftovers and everything. He did, and got them. I mean, he was praying. I was like, is he serious? And he was praying, man. He didn't pray no more on that trip, but he was praying. Why not? Because folks don't want to hear you pray like that. We about to eat. The food is smoking. It's hot. My stomach is growling. We'll be like, Isaiah pray. Isaiah, he get back to it and pray. The only reason why I'm asked to pray is out of respect. When a preacher, I mean, he's a pastor. He's a pastor, go ahead and pray. Some folks will say, oh, Lord, I hope he ain't going to preach no sermon today when he prays. You know, just bless the food, amen. Thank the Lord for the food, and amen, hallelujah. Start praying to him. Thank the Lord for the cooks, and thank the people who prepared it. Like, you know, God, Lord, don't take all that beef. God, bless the food. You better pray for the folks who cook the food for you. You better pray for their hands, baby. You better be. I tell you what, my dear friends, when I do eat some food, now I can see the same way I am. Once you done praying, and hey, whatever may have been going on in the back, I'm good to go. Because I've been praying for it, and I've got to take care of what's happening right here. And now I can go ahead and eat it in peace. Amen. No matter what they've done to the back, I can eat it with a clean slate and a clear mind. Some of us, it gets us going. What's that? What's that right there? You pray, you'll hear it, amen. I mean, I ain't gonna do the trick. But I... You'd be amazed what you ain't, amen, hallelujah. And didn't know it, amen. And sometimes I don't know it. But I don't fall out like, well, praise the Lord, amen. I've prayed already, God took care of it, amen, hallelujah for that. We won't go no further than that. And now, the Bible teaches us There's not a good thing to be prayerless when you're praying. So in other words, what you and I have to do is practice rebelling against prayerlessness. When you don't feel like praying, pray. You know, when your flesh says, I'm tired, still go ahead and pray. Especially when I'm talking about when God's prompted you to pray, you need to pray. He says, call somebody. He said, man, I ain't got but five minutes before I get to work. He said, please say call them. Listen, you ain't got to take five minutes to pray. You've been made what you can say in 60 seconds. Sometimes I will call people up and it's only because the Lord presses me to. I mean, that's the only reason I do it because of that. I'll call my, I call them, I say, hey, you got 60 seconds? They say, yeah. And I'll go in and I'll pray real quick. You know, I mean, 60 seconds ain't gonna, ain't gonna, listen, 60 seconds, come on. But you'll be amazed at how much you can do in 60 seconds. Try it. Just try it. Matter of fact, why don't you do this one day? Why don't you go ahead and pray? And when you get ready to pray, go ahead and see what time it is when you start praying. And of course, the nature of our flesh is, well, I got to make sure I pray a little bit longer, you know. That's OK. Go ahead. I guarantee you, when you're done praying, it's not going to be as long as you thought that you prayed. Now, true, there are times when we are caught up in prayer and time is flying and it blows our mind how long we have actually prayed. But on a normal basis, you'll be surprised at how less time you spend really praying. It's not as long as you really think. Every time I preach, I'm talking about rebelling against prayerlessness. I have one thought, no questions, but one statement, and it's simply this. Rebel against prayerlessness by being more prayerful. That was really deep, wasn't it? It's simple. Rebel against prayerlessness by being more prayerful. Father, thank you for your many blessings. And I pray and ask God that somehow, someway, someone got some encouragement, someone was challenged, or perhaps somebody was reminded of the necessity in praying. But also they were reminded in the dangers of not praying or the dangers of being prayerless not praying as often as we need to pray and perhaps even right now father there's some folks who come talk to you for a few moments say lord help me to be more prayerful help me be more full of prayer not to impress nobody but because it's it's it's basically like a lifeline to heaven that's why i'm talking to you father i pray they come tonight I ask that folks that come for other reasons that I did not mention, for other purposes, but I pray God they come. Whatever the needs are, Father, I pray that folks will call upon you. In your son's name we pray, Jesus. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand.