on the opposite page And I've got it wrote in the margin that I've I forget where it was I Got this information from years ago It says the middle verse of the King James Bible and this is in Psalms 118 and I'm just reading this to you just for your information. It is better to trust in the Lord than than to put confidence in man. And that's the middle verse in the King James Bible. That's a pretty good verse. You and I, if you want to mark that down, I don't know exactly where I found that information. It ain't the middle page of the Bible. If you count verses, it's the middle verse. But what I want to speak to you about this morning, I was mentioning to a person yesterday about how special it is that we can pray and the God of the whole universe can hear our individual prayer and mindful of us. I mean, you know, I'm afraid too many times we don't think of that. But who are you that the God of the whole universe should be mindful of you. Do you realize President of the United States, or you can even take the governor of the state you live in, they're not mindful of you. You can call them about something, and what are you? You're just one of all these people. What makes you special? be yet the God of the whole universe. When you pray, if you're a born again Christian and you pray, you can have confidence that God is listening and that he'll hear and answer your prayer. But if you'd like to read with us in the 116th Psalm, starting with the very first verse, Love the Lord because he heard my voice and my supplication Because he hath inclined his ear unto me Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live You know you and I a lot of times the devil try to make you think oh, I pray just throw up your hands and quit There's no sense in going on but right there I But as long as I live, the sorrows of death come past me and the pains of hell get hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple. I was brought low and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee. For thou has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." Now you and I, When we read this, today we find all kinds of people wanting to turn away and things that I've heard people say, how we make excuses for those that don't want to live to the standard, but yet you look at them as Christian because of this or that in their life, but you and I, When all is said and done, we need to make sure we got that personal relationship with God. That when we call upon God, we know that he's listening to us. And be mindful every time that we call, that we are nothing, that God is all in all. But we are nothing, and we need to recognize, oh, we're blessed above measure, just because he will listen to us. Realizing that we are nothing. You are not to the angels like what I preach here. When I bow down in sorrow. And I call upon the Lord. He is able to lift me up. Set my feet upon the salt of the Lord. Fill me with the whole salvation. Bless me each and every day. I hope still lies in the Lord if we need to remember that You know you see people Come through this storms, and I was seeing a woman that was they were talking to interviewing and She was with two of her kids downstairs, her husband with two of the kids upstairs. And they heard the noise, and they just huddled together. And the mother said, I told them, we'll be all right, we'll be all right. Tornadoes so close, the kids, they wasn't in their room where they would normally be in upstairs. And the wind has exploded in. The house was damaged, but every one of them walked out okay, unhurt. How God can deliver each and every one of us if we put our faith and trust in him. But too many times we see the danger and people, when they see something coming like that, instead of stopping to pray, so many times they'll say something with a curse word in it. You and I today, but if we pray, it can make a difference. But the very first verse in what I read to you, I love the Lord because He heard my voice in my supplication. You and I today, do we really love God? Is it something that's important to us? You know, there are many people in my life that I love. But none of them compare with the love that I have for God. Why, no matter how much they care for me, when it comes to the town, I was taken into the operating room. All of them had to be shut out, but I'm also thankful my God for That our life is so swiftly passing by it none of us knows When our appointed time is going to call you know, I Heard the news even part of Missouri. They've been, they got machines at Measury, but it's been earthquake after earthquake after earthquake. But they're so minor, we don't really feel them or notice them. But they said they could be a major earthquake right up the center part of the United States. You and I, people never think about We're walking around on land that God controls. And He can shake it from out from under your feet at any time. Each and every one of us. But here in what I read to you, because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live. To know that God has heard and answered a prayer that you've prayed, why wouldn't you continually pray to Him about anything that is bothering you, anything in life that you're facing? You know, when you have friends and loved ones that seem to turn their back upon the Lord, they no longer want to live to a standard, Our only hope is to take them to the Lord in prayer. Because so many times, a person that gets like that, they sort of have a hard heart. They don't want to listen because they have rejected what they know. So why would they listen to me or to you? It takes the Spirit of God to knock upon that heart and to open those blinded eyes. You know, I've got several people I'm praying for. And I pray God bring about the events in their life that will turn their mind and their heart back unto you. That they'll realize their great need for you. Every time, when I was young and seeing every time I planned something or thought that, you know, this would be good, it just turned into a mess. And I see that so much in people's lives. But you and I, if we'll put our faith and trust in God. That third verse, the sores of death come past me, and the pains of hell get hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. You and I today, I don't know, I guess all the writers and everything, it's just a loss for words, but to say God is merciful don't seem to go far enough. when you've experienced Him in your life and how that He has brought you through things, how He's showed mercy unto you when you didn't deserve it. And to say God is merciful don't seem like it's going far enough. To say God has proven that He loved me don't seem to be going far enough when you see what God was willing to pay for me and for you. And that's why we need every day of our life to express our love for God. When you pray, let God know that you love Him and truly mean it. You know, I, in the last little while, I've had people tell me, I love you. Well, things that they've done over the years, you know, I sort of question if they even know what love is, because what they've done, I haven't felt love from them. But you and I, oh, every day I feel the love of God. When you call upon Him and He begins to bless you, that's God proving how much He loves you, because you ain't, you don't deserve that. It's a gift from God. You realize me or you, neither one deserves salvation. It's a gift from God because he loved us when we were unlovable. And I think everybody should try and form a picture of the crucifixion in their mind. And then think, what kind of a man would be willing to do that for me or for you? What kind of love did it take to be willing to do that? And when he laid down there on that cross and they nailed him to it, he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. That was also for being you. Because, you know, when I was in sin, I didn't realize how bad it was to look to a righteous God. And yet, He still offered salvation unto me and forgiveness. Each and every one of us. God has proven to Himself time and time and time again For thou hast delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tear, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. You and I, you know, if we're truly walking before the Lord, wouldn't we be striving to be obedient unto him? You know, a lot of people, the way we walk and live our life, It's as if God can't see, because if we really love Him, we should be trying to live every day of our life in obedience unto Him. And, you know, how many of you kids here, or even adults, when your mom or your dad was walking with you, how many of you was doing things that you knew they disapproved of. We were striving to be just exactly what they wanted us to be. If we're walking with the Lord, that's the way we should be every day, striving to be pleasing unto God. Because our life is soon gonna be over. Not a one of us here knows what tomorrow holds. Not a one of us here knows whether we're gonna get back home today. Because there's hardly a time I get on the highway, I don't meet somebody that's driving in a reckless way, that just the least little thing, and I could have been in an accident with them. So you never know when your appointed time is coming. But are you ready? Are you pleasing to God? Are you living a life thankful to Him? You know, that right there. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplication. You know, if you're not living where God wants you to and you begin to pray, you got to start off by praying a prayer asking him to forgive you of the things that's wrong before you can ask him for the prayers that you need to be praying for your loved ones or anybody else. You've got to get yourself where you ought to be. But if we live our life proving that we love God, then we can be sure, because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. If you know God's heard your prayer yesterday, then know He'll hear it today. And that gives you faith and confidence about the things that faces tomorrow that God will be there to hear that prayer for you. You and I today, please, I beg you, don't let the devil get you discouraged because things aren't going just the way you want them in this life. We've been blessed above what we deserve already. So, you know, just trust the Lord. You know, that's one thing we can be confident in. God said he won't leave us, he won't forsake us. And you know, another thing, I've never seen the righteous forsaken with their seed big and bread. You and I, God supplies our needs, and that's a promise. I will supply your needs. That's all we gotta do, put our faith and trust in God. We might not know where it's coming from, But when we get to the point we desperately need, it's going to be there. Some way or another, God will supply her needs. Not her wants, but her needs. And each and every one of us, we get some song to sing. I beg you, please listen to that 116th Psalm. Read the whole Psalm. It's not that long. Just read that whole Psalm. And just put yourself in there as the writer of that and realize just how blessed you are. You know, I guess maybe a lot of people haven't been blessed as good as I've been, been brought through as many things as God's brought me through. I honestly do not know how many miles I've drove in my lifetime, but just on some cars that I had, I was trying to figure up here the other day, I'm somewhere around 350, 400,000 miles. And that don't count all of the company vehicles that I drove, the tractor and trailers that I drove. There's no telling how many miles, and God's been with me and seen me through when there was times. I went to sleep, and I slept through a whole town that got a dog leg in it that don't remember a thing of it. When I was still single, that's how God provided for you. You and I today, if we'll put our faith and trust in God, no matter what we face here in this life, we can know He will be there with us. If we'll just walk and be obedient to Him. While we sing, please, I beg you. If you feel I need to pray, will you come? ♪ What He did for that sacred land ♪ ♪ For such a world as mine ♪ ♪ At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light ♪ ♪ And the burning of my heart bowed away ♪ And now I am happy all the day. Anyone got a word?