you. come in, marks up and down our arms, didn't care about nothing, got gloriously saved. All of a sudden, they stuck us in that cell. Now, I didn't even know the vernacular. I didn't know the word saved men. I just knew it was different. Men would come in, they'd say, aunt man, you're different. What is it? I'd say, I don't know, it's God. You got to give your life to God. They said, all right, aunt, we'll see you later. And I'd get my tray in the morning, brother. I'd go sit down on my bunk. You can either sit out there with the rest of the hooligans or go sit in your bunk by yourself and have some kind of peace. So I'd go sit down and God ordained it this way. Brother Al, there's a slender window at the top and that morning sunlight come in there. And it shined on my face, Brother Shiflet. I'll never forget it. The heat of that sun and the warmth of God's love. And I wept into that tray and said, Oh God, it is so good. It's so good, it's so good, it's so good. And I shoved that tray aside and I got down and I started praying, brother, and God plugged me into something I'll never get away from, amen and amen, when I started praying to God, hallelujah. Amen, amen. God let me fall in love that moment from, it was something about prayer, friend, that just is something different. And I'll never forget it. Every morning I try to find the east side of the house and I'll open up that window and I'll go out and I'll wait for that sunlight to come in. I just want to pray and talk to God, walk in the light and see He's in the light, amen. And there's some mornings, brother, I'm telling you the truth, it'll be cloudy, there ain't a ray of light, hope we're in sky one. And I'll get down, brother, I've done it. I'm telling you the truth. God has done this for me like about 10 times. And I pray and I say, God, there ain't no light out there, but you're the creator. And God, you can put some light in here this morning. Brother, I'm telling you, God has done this for me. A whole will open in the sky and light will come in. And I get on my knees and lift up my hands and say, thou art God. And I worship and adore the creator. Do you have a place that you go and pray and spend time with the Father? I just like to go in there, preach. I'll be honest with you. I'll be a little transparent here. I kind of just just crawl in when the Lord will open the door and say, sure, come on in, son. Lay on his feet for a while. I said, God, would you reach down and put your hand on me? He'll put his hand on me, brother. I feel it. Oh, God, you're so good. You're so good. I start weeping. I wanted to kiss his feet one time and I started crying. I said, these are sinners lips. Holy Spirit said, I didn't say nothing to that woman in Luke chapter 7. I started playing kisses all over them feet, brother. I said, you're my God. You're my God. Amen. Amen. We need to go a little further, church and prayer. We need to go a lot further in. We've neglected and forfeited this time to spend with the Lord. I believe it's those that are getting alone in that secret place, and they balance it with a healthy diet and appetite for the Word of God that walk with God's touch in their life. His hand upon them and they got something to say, amen. Amen, we need to go a little further in prayer. Number one, in trouble sometimes and in the good, amen. The Lord showed us here in verse 37. He said, he took with him Peter and two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. And he saith unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, tarry ye here and watch with me. He said, watch. That word watch, it means to be vigilant. Listen to this, it means to be awake. Creature, they couldn't even do what it meant to do that he asked them to do, to be awake. I believe we're sleeping, church. We're sleeping and we need to be watching in prayer with the Lord. And it's the days we're in, you can see it, it's all around us. There's wickedness on every hand. Do you pray for your nation? Do you pray for the leadership? Do you pray for your man of God? Amen. Do you pray for the brethren of the church? Listen, I'm thinking of, I'm thinking Brother John was enamored in the epistles and in the book of John, he was enamored with one thing. He said, he said, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples and you have love one for another. And that love one for another, I believe that's cultivated my brother in the prayer closet. You can't sit before God on your knees for somebody praying for them and God not do a work of love in your heart for that individual. I believe that's why I said pray for them, which despitefully use you and persecute you. And all these little things are popping up because nobody's willing to pray for anybody. Everybody's too busy serving, doing everything else, brother. We've just neglected that time and we need to go a little further. In that closet, amen. In trouble sometimes and in the good. I stopped to get lunch the other day. I pulled in, Lord bless me, I've got a small little plumbing company, preacher. God uses it, it's his. I told him, I said, if I ever go crazy with it, God, take it. I don't want it. I just want you and I don't ever want anything to get in between us. And I stopped at, I think it was a drive-thru of some place the other day, brother. Simple, just ordered a meal, it was just me. And when he got in, I went to pull off, and I went to pray and say, God, thank you for this food, in Jesus' name, amen. I was gonna start eating, but I started to think, Brother Al, I don't even deserve to stop and get a meal. I don't deserve to have anything. I got money in the bank, brother. Bills are paid. God's taking care of everything. And I started to weep, brother. It wasn't just, God, thank you in Jesus' name, amen. We started worshiping. I wasn't even hungry after that, brother. I just wanted to go get a loan somewhere and bless the name of Jesus, amen. God has sure been good to us, church. Boy, we ought to be thanking Him in prayer. Listen, we ought to be the shoutingest people you ever met in the house of God. We should be swinging from the chandeliers with what God's done for us, how He's blessed us. We're not in jail tonight. We're not on the streets. We've not got dope in our veins no more. Hallelujah. We're serving the glorious God of heaven. The Holy Ghost of God's living inside of you and me. I got a copy of the Word of God. Amen and amen. God's sure been good to us. Hallelujah. Amen. He's good to us, amen. In the troublesome times and in the good, we need to start going a little further in this thing in prayer, amen. We need to start getting back on our face. I'm gonna say this, I was thinking about this, and I'm not knocking anybody, I'm not, I'm not trying to do that, wouldn't wanna do that. But I hear like, I heard Brother Chancey Carter come and preach one time, preacher, he said, I remember my pastor come grab me, we're going out to a pint, thinking all night, I said, glory to God, something stirred up in me, I was, man, I'd like to do that, and I thought about that, I've never done that. Nobody's ever done that for me, brother. I've never done that. I'm like, why don't we do that anymore? How come nobody's going out in the woods and praying all night anymore? I'd love to do that. But brother Bailey, I'll tell you something. I had a spare room in my other house, and there's old red couch back there. Brother Deac said I'd go in there that evening. I'd tell mama, I said, I'll see you in the morning. We'd get in there all night on that red couch, my brother. Oh, I watched God do things on that red couch like you've never seen, brother. I've seen God do things that you have never imagined in your life. Brother, I'd wake up back there some night, hairs would stand up. I knew that the devils of hell were in that place because there was spiritual warfare going on because somebody was ringing the bells of heaven, amen. I'm talking about God doing things. I'd like to go with somebody else, we'd go out somewhere and pray all night, but if not, God, we'll go further into the garden and try to do what we can do. And to my shame, it's been a while since I've done that, brother. How about you? Sister, how about you? You praying for them youngins that they'll turn out for God? that they won't come across that strange woman, amen, and they won't find that strange man, and that God will just take what you've got and pour that His Word into their heart and hit a stick, amen. I'm talking about laying on God's feet with tears running down your face for something, amen, for something. Hallelujah. I'm going a little further. I believe we need to go a little further in prayer. Number two, in taking the will of God seriously. Look what he said, verse 39. He said, and he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass for me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. He was concerned about the father's will being done. Amen. I'm afraid, preacher, all too often I'm worried about my will, because I've not been spending time with God. Amen. I've neglected that time to go in there and lay on the Lord's feet and let Him talk to me and tell me what He wants me to do. And I've gotten so busy about work and about other things, it's not sin. I'm not head over heels in sin, but the Holy Ghost reminded me, brother, it's to Him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to Him that's sin. Amen. And neglecting that time that we know we need to spend with the Lord. I wonder how often you pray for your man of God to get up with God pouring off of him. To have the message that you stand in need of for that day. And that you'll come with a heart ready to receive with meekness and grafted word. It's not only to save you, which it did, but it's able to change your life and draw you closer and chisel you more to the image of the Son of God. I wonder how often you're praying for the people in the pews. Do you go through in your mind every pew and every person trying to say, God, help this person? Does God give you discernment riding down the road about people? Brother Bailey, I remember God told me about this man in a church. Brother, I never asked him, never knew, and I don't even know, but I believe it was spot on. God, I was riding down the road. God put him on my heart. He said, I want you to pray for this man and this, and it was a sin. Brother, I didn't say nothing, I sat there for a second, so I started praying it, and brother, when I started praying it, preacher, God touched me. I believe that man had problems in his life, and I started praying for him. Preacher, I never asked him if he came to pass, but I know I had liberty, friend, praying. I had liberty. I remember praying for another young lady in church, and she was just on my heart, and I began to weep, and I called the preacher and said, Preacher, pray with me about this young lady. She's heavy on my heart. She's heavy. And it was a month later, she left church, Preacher. Nobody knew it, out of nowhere. I'm talking about, I was up in the choir singing, smiling, and she left. I believe God gives us an opportunity to pray, church, and we're turning a deaf ear to the call of God in our life to pray. We need to get along with God and go a little further in that closet. Go a little further in that closet. Look, I'm glad you said it, preacher. These things are killing us. I mean, you look, if you got an iPhone, it tells you how much time you look on screen time. And I guarantee you, preacher, if we open up some phones here, some folks got four, five, and six hours of screen time on their phone and probably ain't giving a good 10 to 15 minutes in prayer. Amen. You can tell it because you come in with a critical spirit and attitude. Bless me if you can, man of God, he's going to make me upset today anyway. And all these other things that are happening in our life, and we get frustrated, and that anxiety starts taking over, our mind's messed up, and we just all out there nowhere because we won't take it to the Lord in prayer. Well, it's so simple, isn't it? I believe it's the simple things that we step over, taking the will of God seriously. And finally, number three in time of temptation, look what he said. Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. I believe there's a lot of Christians got sin in their life because they took the closet out. Amen. I believe that old song said about the Bible, sin will keep you from it or it'll keep you from sin. I believe the same thing's true with prayer. You're not going to get in the closet. and have sin in your heart. I remember preaching, I'll just be a little transparent here, that preacher would preach sometimes, and I was a proud knucklehead, is a proud knucklehead, and Lord would deal with me in a service. Now usually, Brother Bailey, I like to go to the altar and get it right. I don't want to fumble with it, I don't want to fool around with it. I want to keep a short account, but sometimes I'm just hard-headed. I just confess I'm hard-headed. And I went, I'd go home with it, Brother Shiflett, go, like, Mom, I'm going to pray. I'm going to go call myself to pray. And I'd walk back there, and I'd spend about 30, 45 minutes, and it's dry. Dry, brother, it ain't happening. And I'd say, well, I'm just trying to get past the flesh. I mean, I'm building myself up. I'm just trying to get past the flesh today. And finally, Holy Ghost poke me and say, you ready to get this thing right that your man of God just preached about? I'd start weeping, preacher. I'd say, God, I'm ready to get this thing right. Because you're not talking to me in here. And boy, there's nothing better than God talking to you in there, isn't it? It'll ruin you, friend. There ain't nothing better than knowing you got alone with the God of glory. I'm talking about there ain't nothing better. Look, friend, I'm not glorifying sin by any stretch of the imagination. Please, I was a drug addict. Drugs and addiction was my thing. Oh, I'm telling you, friend, there's a new addiction for Anthony Curley. It's getting alone with God. There ain't nothing better than that. I'm telling you, that thing right there will ruin you when you get alone with the God of glory. And he speaks to you personally. And he says, he says, you come into the house of God on Sunday, preacher, you've been a hooligan all week, and you know, man, if God walks by, you're already convicted. Say, God, he's gonna be all in my road. The Holy Ghost say, you need him in your road this morning. And I'll sit there miserable with the poochie lip, because I know it's gonna be a rough day. I've sinned against my God. And brother, there's no greater joy when God walks over and sits next to your pew, and he doesn't pour out wrath, he just dumps out mercy and grace. And you weep. Somebody gets up, testifying about their car tire, and you stand and say, It's because God showed up and he gave you that love and mercy. Oh, I love it. David said, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Amen. Boy, he's a merciful and gracious God, isn't he? He said, this my child, he usually spends time with me. And I know he's Anthony Curley. I'll probably try to take a little easy on him this time. Aren't you glad for God's mercy? I'm just simply asking you, church, how long do you spend in prayer? I'm not going to go into times and all that. I know we don't do it for time. I heard one man say this. It's not about the time, but it's about the sincerity. And I'm not opposed to that. But if I told my wife, I'm going to be as sincere with you as I can for 30 minutes a day, and you ain't going to see me the rest of the day, I don't reckon that relationship's going to go very well. You love somebody, you want to be with them as much as you can. And it's the love of Christ that constraineth us. And you're going to find that in the throne room of grace, hallelujah, with the Lord, amen. And I'm asking you, have you been praying?