God bless you. Wow. God bless you. Thank you for the privilege of allowing me to come. Thank you for the wonderful day. You've treated me so graciously. I have loved the fellowship, all the great music, these young people up here. Wow. All I could think of is while they were singing, how the devil would love for them to sing for him. how I'd love to get them on a stage in Nashville or Las Vegas. And here they are singing for the Lord Jesus Christ. And interestingly, they picked a song that's on the subject I'm gonna pray about. It's the subject I'm gonna preach on tonight. Let us pray. Turn in your Bibles to the book of James, the book of James chapter five. The story that pastor asked me to repeat to you is a story that taught me a great lesson in life. Our family was small and we decided to take a vacation. And motorhomes had just started to come out and get popular. And there was a small company in the center of our little town that was renting motorhomes. And I told my wife, I said, why don't we go rent a motorhome? And we lived in Cleveland, Ohio. and we'll take a trip down to Nashville, Tennessee to the Percy Priest Lake and we'll camp there. It'll be a great time. Well, my wife asked me an incredibly insulting question. She said, do you think you can handle a motorhome? Now, how many of you men understand the insult in that question, right? Ladies, we are omni-competent. When it comes to this kind of stuff, it's in the genes. We were born knowing how to handle it. Anyway, when I went up to rent it, I asked the guy, is this thing hard to handle or anything? He said, no, no, no. And I said, well, how will I know how to run it? He said, well, I give you a manual. And he said, it's really an excellent one. He said, any question you have, look in the manual. It has the answer. And he said, it's got a great index. You won't have any trouble with it at all. And boy, it was great. We loaded up, got our kids in, headed down to Nashville, camped right on the Percy Priests Lake, and we were just having a great time. The second day that we were there, my wife came out. We were eating breakfast at the picnic table. She said, what does that little red light in the hall mean that's glowing? I said, what are you talking about? She said, there's a little red light about the size of a dime. and it's glowing real bright. What does that mean? I said, I don't know. I wasn't even aware there was a light in the hall. Went back in, boy, there it was, just shining away. I got the book out. Lights, hall. Said, when this light comes on, your holding tanks are full and you have to empty them. Now, how many of you know what holding tanks are? When you have a family of five, using the restrooms regularly. All that stuff has to go in a tank, and that's called a holding tank. And you have to get that nonsense out of there. So it said, go dump the tanks. And it gave very wonderful instructions. It said, find out where there's a sewer where you can go dump it. Man, I found that. It said, okay, take your motor home down there. And with pictures it showed you, position your motorhome so that the left rear of the motorhome is by the sewer. So I did that. Then the next direction I couldn't hardly understand. It said there is a hose in the bumper, a sewer hose. I told my wife, this can't be right. I've been by this bumper a hundred times. There's no hose there. Anyway, it said go back by the bumper and it said pull the cap off of the bumper It said, look inside and there's a hose. And boy, sure enough, there it was. So I took the hose out. Then it showed you how to hook it up, run it along the ground and down the hole. Perfect. Next it said, and I'll never forget these words, so that the tank will empty with a positive force. Go to the other side of the motor home and find the air valve right by the rear tire on the side. So we walked around and boy, there it was. And it said, now what you need to do is put 10.5 pounds of air pressure in the tank. Only I didn't see that little dot. And I thought it said put 105 pounds of air pressure in the tank. Hey, it's a very small little dot. So we get an air hose. I told my wife, you stay over here. All you have to do is pull the valve and it'll go down the hole. I said, I'll go around over here and I'll get the air pressure in there. And while I'm explaining what she used to do, the most drop dead gorgeous, brand spanking new from the factory bus, converted bus pulled in. I mean, our little motorhome was nothing. This thing was huge and shiny and it was gorgeous. And the guy got out and he said, you like my new bus? I said, yeah, wow. He said, I just picked it up. He said, you want to know what I paid for it? I said, what did you pay? Never forget. He said, I paid $232,000. I said, wow. He said, do you know why I'm here at the holding tank place? I said, no. He said, I want to get the dust out of my tanks. I said, boy, you are fastidious. My wife tugged on my sleeve, and she said, come on, we got more than dust in ours. Let's go back to work. I said, okay, you stay here. I'll go put the air in. Well, I walked around the other side, and boy, the air hose there had one of these old-fashioned bells on it. You remember when they go ding, ding, ding? Well, I'm pumping air, pumping air, pumping air. Finally, my wife came around and she said, what's taking so long? I said, well, to do it right takes time. She said, well, I got a question. She said, look in that wheel well, look at that tank. And I looked, a metal tank. She said, how come it's expanding like that? And how come it's all wrinkled and bent? I said, it's supposed to do that. I said, now you go around your side, I'm handling my side. I never did get 110 pounds in, but I got over 100. Finally, I told her, OK, pull the valve. What happened next was nothing short of amazing. That nonsense and that holding tank came whipping down that hose. That hose came up out of the ground and stood up like this. And it's going brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr We hit one of his screen windows, popped it right in. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr The guy that came out that owned the bus, he was mortified. I said, hey, you want me to help you? He said, don't you touch nothing. Don't you touch nothing. Oh, my soul. Now, the only thing I did wrong was misread one instruction, just one. And you know what's catastrophic? There's people who are going to die and go to hell because they didn't read God's simple instructions. Somehow, somebody told them, salvation is way more than just trusting Jesus. Salvation is more than whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And the devil's job is to get you and me to misread the directions. In James chapter 5, we're going to read some very simple directions. I have preached this message lately a great deal. And I started preaching it because of concern for my own prayer life. Let me explain what was happening in my prayer life. I had a prayer life, and maybe compared to some it was okay. But I would pray, and when nothing happened, it didn't surprise me at all. Somehow, I just said, I don't know, I don't get it. I'm praying, but nothing is happening. And I became comfortable with that. I got comfortable with unanswered prayer. Now, nowhere in the Bible does God ever command you to get comfortable with unanswered prayer. And in fact, he has promised to answer prayer. We're about to read a passage of scripture that has four keys. How many of you want God to answer your prayers? You want your prayers. How many of you are like me? You need for God to answer your prayers. Well, then I want you to look at these four keys, these four simple instructions. James chapter five. And by the way, whenever you read the book of James, never forget, this was written by the half-brother to the Savior, Jesus Christ himself. This man grew up in the home with Jesus, would have seen him as a youth. I just have to imagine at some point, James's mother, the mother of Jesus, would have said to James, why can't you be like your brother? This is written by someone who knew Jesus intimately, family. Now a believer in Jesus Christ. Verse 17, Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain. and the earth brought forth her fruit." Four absolute keys for answered prayer. Write these down. Here's the first one. If you want God to answer your prayer, you gotta pray. You say, Brother Gibbs, that's too simple. No, that's essential. And that is the requirement where 99% of unanswered prayer finds itself fastened. You see, God said, ask and you shall receive. Then he says you have not because you ask not. Now that word for ask was the word for asking with specificity. It was the word for asking with detail. What exactly Are you asking God for? If you want answered prayer, you gotta pray. Now there's nothing more powerful in the whole universe than prayer. Do you understand when you pray, you're standing in front of the almighty God in the throne room of heaven. And he says to you, what do you want? Ask me, I'll answer. Is that where you're praying? Or are you just mouthing words? I said this morning I've never seen anyone with any kind of a prayer life that didn't have a great prayer list. Because that prayer list will tell me what you're asking for. Lester Roloff, how many of you remember the name Lester Roloff? Great man, an evangelist. We were in a trial once and I went down into his motel room and there were papers all over both beds. He had papers on the table, on the dresser, and I said, are these papers for the trial? He said, no, no. I said, what are these papers for? He said, these papers are my prayer list. I said, this is your prayer list? He said, David, I'm asking God for a lot. How did you, how did I? get comfortable asking for so little. What is it that you are asking God for? It says, Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed. One man's prayer unsinked the weather of the universe. God shut off the rain for three and a half years. And God says Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. Every uncertainty, every doubt, every qualm you've ever had, he had. And God said, I want to tell you about this man's prayer life. What is it you would ask God for? What are you looking for? I told this morning about the prayer life of the list for my wife and my grandkids. My wife and I have put lists together for all kinds of things. And I promise you, you can't get too much. Now, what I'm about to tell you is not in the Bible. Listen carefully. Would be wonderful if it were, but it's not. Would be wonderful if the Bible said you as a child of God get 10 miracle asks, not 11, 10. You can ask God for 10 absolutely impossible things. That's not in the Bible. Do you know what's in the Bible? There is no limit. The only limit is you asking. That's the limit. I said, I know when I get to heaven, Dr. Mutchler, the Lord's going to say, David, why did you ask for so little? Why did you not ask for more? Did you not understand I'm all-powerful? Did you not understand you're my child? Did you not understand, I said, if you as a father know how to give good things to your children, how much more so I? But everywhere I go, people are struggling just asking, just asking. Now, if you don't have a prayer list, I beg you, start tonight. And by the way, you'll never stop adding to that prayer list. I was traveling across the state of Kansas the other day, and I got a Christian radio station for just a minute on the rental car, and I'm listening to a fellow preaching. Oh, I don't know his name, because I didn't get the beginning, and it faded out before the end. But he's preaching away, and I thought, how do I not have that on my prayer list? And immediately that night, I put it on. You will never stop adding to it. what would it take for you to be a prayer? To say, by the grace of God, I am gonna start asking God. A man by the name of Blanchard, a pastor, one of the early founders of the Wheaton Bible College, wrote a book called Prayer, Asking and Receiving Things from God. And he says it all sums down to are you willing to ask? Dr. John R. Rice, the founder of the Sword of the Lord, wrote a book that you can still get. It's called Prayer, Asking and Receiving. And most of the book is about asking. He said, if you want to know what the doctrine of Jesus Christ is on prayer, it's one word, ask. How is it that we ask for so little? Well, Brother Gibbs, I don't have time to ask. Well, tonight, if I were to offer you $1,000 for every minute you spent in prayer, trust me, you'd find time to pray because you value the money. Do you value what God values? Where God says, I want you to ask. It's the first key to power in prayer. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed. There's the first key. Write the second key down. It's the next word. He prayed earnestly, earnestly. The word earnestly means with intensity. It means with focus. It means he's really into it. When is the last time you prayed and you were really into the prayer? How many times I've prayed and all kinds of things just keep bombarding my imagination and my mind, and I'm having trouble staying focused. How many of y'all have ever had trouble staying focused? And you know what God says? By my grace, stop it. I want you earnest in prayer. I want you focused. Look at verse 16, the last half of the verse just ahead of it. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Fervent. Has your mate ever seen you fervent in prayer? Have your kids ever seen you fervent in prayer? Or your grandchildren? Have you ever seen yourself fervent in prayer? God says, I want you to get fervent, earnest. Now, you'll be able to fool me, but no one here will fool God. God absolutely knows if you're fervent or not. Brother Steve Cluth of our staff, wonderful Christian gentleman, been with me 19 years on our staff. You know Brother Cluth, preacher. He's a sports nut. He's a sports nut. When you watch a game with him, he doesn't watch the game. It's like he's on the field. I mean, you'll be watching this game and you'll say, stop him! What are you doing? Stop him! He's in. And I'll say, Steve, relax. It's just a game. No, it's not. He's in there. Now me, I'm just watching it. He's fervent. He's into it. When's the last time you went to God? and said, I want to talk to you, and I'm going to be earnest. Have you ever seen a couple whose marriage is in trouble? I know your pastor has, I'm sure. And the wife or the husband will say, when he talks to me, it's like he's not even there. It's like he's not into it. Oh, that marriage is in real trouble. How about your talk with God? Are you into it? Are you fervent? Now, personally, this is not in the Bible. Personally, I find it's much easier to be fervent, to be earnest, if I'm praying out loud. And Bible scholars who have numbered all the prayers in Scripture tell us, that in excess of 98.5% of all the prayers in the Bible were said out loud. So when we pray out loud, that's a very biblical thing. But the one thing that praying out loud will do is let you hear your own voice, and you'll hear how fervent you are. Well, Brother Gibbs, I'm just not a real out loud kind of person. Well, you can be fervent and not say a word. Can I remind you the story of Hannah when she went to the temple to pray for a son, for Samuel? She was so fervent in prayer, they thought she was drunk. And they rebuked her for coming to the temple drunk. She never said one word out. She said, no, no, no. I'm not drunk at all. I'm fervent in prayer. Whoa. You want power in prayer, the first thing you've got to do is pray. The second thing you've got to do with God is get fervent. A dear pastor friend of mine, Levi Wisner, he's now with the Lord. We were traveling from Ohio to Texas, driving through the night for a trial. And as we were driving, it got to be about two in the morning, And he said, Brother Gibbs, I got an idea of something we could do tonight. I said, what's that preacher? He said, you take the next two hours and you pray fervently out loud and then I'll take the two hours after that and I'll pray fervently out loud. I said, what now? He said, you take the next two hours and pray fervently out loud and then I'll take the two hours after that. I said, two hours? He said, yeah. I said, that's a long time. He turned to me, I'm driving. He said, David, have you ever prayed fervently for two hours? I said, no. Now think of all the things you've done for two hours. He said, have you ever prayed fervently out loud for an hour, David? I said, no. Now I've tried lawsuits all over America. I'm on my way to try a lawsuit for a wonderful church and I've not prayed fervently for one hour. He said, have you ever prayed fervently for 30 minutes? I said, no. He said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll go first. I said, that's a good idea. You go first. Now I'm driving. And that dear man of God sitting in the right front seat starts praying. And I'm going down the road and I couldn't believe what was happening. 10% of the time I'm looking at the road, 90% of the time I'm watching him. The man is talking to God like he's standing in front of him. He's talking to God like he's in the throne room of God. He's talking to God like God is his father. Whoa. He prayed about two and a half hours, and it went by like that. You want power in prayer? You got to get earnest. You got to get fervent. The first key is you got to pray. The second thing you got to do is get fervent and earnest. Now, I have to stop myself lots of times when I'm praying, Dr. Muenchler, and say, God, I don't know how this has happened, but I've slipped into just words. And you know it and I know it. And can you imagine if you were talking to your mate and she said, you don't mean what you're saying. These are just words. That'd break your heart. What you need is that fervency, that earnest. Write the third key down. The first one is you gotta pray. The second one is you gotta get fervent, earnest. And boy, every mother here, let me tell you, you pray out loud for your kids fervently, they'll never, ever forget those prayers. Never. Never. Number three, you gotta get clean. You gotta get clean. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The Bible says that God hears the call and the prayer of the righteous. You want God to answer your prayer. You got to be clean. Now listen carefully. When's the last time you got clean? Not clean or clean. I want to confess to you a mistake that I made, I know, five hundred, maybe a thousand times. I'd be in a service and I'd hear a sermon and, boy, I'd go to the altar because my heart was touched. But I didn't go to get clean. I went to get cleaner. I never left that altar with the idea that I'd be clean. When's the last time you did what the psalmist said? Search me, oh God. See if there be some wicked way in me. Now, 1 John 1.9, addressed to the child of God, says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from, what's the next word? All unrighteousness. Do you understand if you leave here not clean tonight, it's because you chose. You chose not to be clean. Because our God stands ready to clean you from all unrighteousness. D.L. Moody used to close almost all of his services by saying, do not walk out those doors unless you're clean with God. Because then he'd say, because if you're not clean, you're going nowhere with God. When is the last time you got clean? Not cleaner, clean. Now, I don't know what's in your life and you don't know what's in mine, but life has a way of getting things in there that don't belong. They can be sins of the mind and the imagination and passions of the heart and words and deeds. And God says, I want you to get clean. I was in a trial with Lester Roloff and it could not have been going worse. And at four in the morning, Brother Roloff called me and he had that annoying habit. He would call you at four in the morning and he'd say, I didn't get you up, did I? And I'd always lie and say, no, I was just sitting here praying for you. He said, get down here to my room. He said, we got some serious prayer to do. Well, I'm in his room a little after four in the morning. And he said, the judge doesn't like us. I said, well, that's true. He said, he hates you. And he said, that jury doesn't like us. I said, that's true. And he said, those dozen lawyers on the other side, they got unlimited money. We got no money. They got 12 of them. I only got you. We're getting killed. I said, we're getting hurt. He said, well, we're going to get God in this. We're going to see God do something. Do you understand you serve the God of the impossible? You serve a God who says there is nothing too hard for me to do. The only thing that hinders it is you asking. He said, we're going to pray. I said, well, that's a good idea. But then he said, now here's the problem. He said, If we're not clean, we're going nowhere. And he reached over and he thumped me on the chest and he said, you got to get clean, David. And then he thumped himself on the chest and he said, I got to get clean. So he said, before we pray, let's get clean. Now, no one had ever talked to me like that. He said, now you go get in that corner, little motel room, you get in that corner and don't come out of it till you're clean. And he said, I'm going to get in this corner and I won't come out until I'm clean. And I said, go on, go on, get in your corner. And I'm telling you, I went over and got in my corner and you know what? I don't know how to do this. No one had ever challenged me to get clean. So here's the decision I made. I said, God, I don't know how to do this. But here's my decision, I'm not coming out of my corner until he comes out of his corner. Because if I come out first, it won't look good. Now do you understand that's pride, that's sin? So while I'm getting clean, I'm sinning in the process. Then I hear him confessing sin out loud. And I mean, he's confessing sin's sin. And I'm like, whoa, listen to that. And after about 10 minutes he yelled at me and he said, I don't hear you confessing nothing. When's the last time you got cleaned? R. A. Torrey, the great preacher at the Moody Bible Church said, If you want God to answer your prayer, you've got to get ruthless with sin in your own life. That's his quote. Ruthless. Whoa. Nothing can take the place of you getting clean. I remember bowing on my knees over there in that corner and I said, God, I don't know how to do this, but I want to be clean. Do you want to be clean? Or are you comfortable with your prayer life stuck where it is? Are you comfortable with unanswered prayer? Wondering why? Oh, I promise you, God wants to change that. So I said, God, I want to get clean. And boy, God started bringing things to my mind that I'd forgotten about. Stuff that I knew was wrong, but I got comfortable with all the time. After a couple hours, Brother Roloff said, come up here, Brother Gibbs. He said, to the best of your ability, are you clean? I said, yeah. He said, well, now let's pray. Never forget his prayer. It was short. He said, God, the judge hates us, and I need you to get a different judge in here. I want you to send the judge to the hospital with the flu. Don't kill him. but send him to the hospital with the flu so he's not in this trial." And boy, my eyes flew open. I said, we don't want him dead, right? He said, no, no. I said, okay. And then he said, those lawyers, the 12 lawyers on the other side, I want you to turn them on each other, make it where they can't get along, confound them, make them where they're mad at each other. And he looked at me and he said, is this prayer okay with you, Brother Gibbs? I said, yeah, as long as we're not killing the judge, right? Eight-thirty in the morning, we're back in the courtroom. And the judge said, Mr. Gibbs, you ready to proceed? I said, yes, Your Honor. He turned to the lawyers for the other side and he said, you ready to proceed? And the lead lawyer over there stood up and he said, no, Judge, we got a problem. The judge said, what's the problem? He said, last night we were in complete agreement on everything, and this morning we can't agree on anything. And they started arguing. One of the lawyers jumped up and said, we should have never sued this preacher. This lawsuit is ill-founded. He should never have been sued. He's done nothing wrong. And the judge's eyes flew open. The judge said, are you out of your mind? The jury's listening to this. They sat there and tore into each other. After about 30 minutes, the lead lawyer said, I don't know what happened. Something happened. Everything's changed. And Brother Ruloff tugged on my sleeve. He said, you want me to stand up and tell him what happened? I said, no. No. Because the next thing is, you're going to want to tell the judge he better get going to the hospital, and I don't want to go there. Whoa. You know what happened two hours later? They dismissed every count. They apologized to the pastor. They paid all the expenses and ruled in our favor. When we walked out of that courtroom, people hugged my neck and said, oh, Brother Gibbs, you were brilliant. I said, you don't know what you're talking about. I said, Brother Gibbs didn't do that. God did that. You ready to see God do something beyond anything you could ever imagine? The first thing you've got to do is pray. The second thing you've got to do is get fervent. And the third thing you've got to do is get clean. Now, the great London preacher, Charles Spurgeon, by the way, this is still on the wall of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Listen. He said, he who prays without fervency does not pray at all. It is essential that prayer be read hot. Cold prayers ask the Lord not to hear them. Those who do not plead with fervency plead, not at all. And then he goes on to say, and by the grace of God, you must be clean. You gotta ask, you gotta be fervent, and you gotta be clean. Write the fourth and final one down and we're done tonight. You unanswered prayer number four, here it is, you gotta persist. You gotta persist. It's in verse 18. It says, and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. This is the story of Elijah when he's on Mount Carmel. And you know they were going to answer the God, and serve the God who answered by fire. And took one prayer to shut the rain off, took one prayer to bring the fire down. And now Elijah's praying. And he prays for the water to come back. And he sends his servant out to look. No rain. Now wait a minute, Elijah only took one prayer to shut it off, took only one prayer to bring the fire down. How come one prayer doesn't just bring it back? And it comes down to this. God says, I want you to be willing to believe I'm going to answer. I want you to have faith that I will answer. Wow. Two of Jesus's stories, his parables were on persisting in prayer. You remember the story of the lady with the unjust judge? And she kept asking and asking and asking. And finally, the judge said, because you keep asking, I'm going to give it to you. And Jesus said, that's how I want you to be with your father. Do not stop asking. What can you show me you persisted in prayer for? Then the story of the man who got guests at midnight and he goes to the neighbor and said, come on, I got to have food. And the guy says, no, go away. We're all in bed. But he keeps knocking and knocking and knocking. And finally he gets up and up. And Jesus said, that's what I want you to do. Keep knocking. What can you show me you persisted for? Elijah, you just prayed once and nothing happened, and the Bible says, 1 Kings chapter 17 and 18, he prayed a second time. Sends a servant out, servant comes back, no rain. He prays a third time, servant goes out, comes back, says no rain. What if he'd have quit? But he didn't. He prayed a fourth time, and a fifth time, and a sixth time. And after the seventh time, he sends the servant out and the servant comes back and says, there's a cloud about the size of a man's hand. And Elijah said, you better get out of here. It's going to rain like nothing you've ever seen in your life. What have you persisted in prayer for? Whoa. The average Christian right now has more faith in Amazon than they do God. Brother Gibbs, how can you say that? Well, think about it. You order something from Amazon, and they say, we'll send it right out. Do you know what you do the next day? You go look for it, because it's coming. Amazon said so, and you trust Amazon. And if it's not there, it'll be here tomorrow, because Amazon is reliable. God is way more reliable. And God says, I want you to trust me when I say, I will do it. It's guaranteed by God himself. I was in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. It's a Sunday night like this one. And at the end of a servant, a man came forward to get saved. Really rough looking fellow. My goodness. I mean, how he, got looking so bad. He was all tattooed up and he had scars everywhere. His clothes were tattered. And he came forward to get saved. And boy, the church came unhinged. People in the church started crying and some of the ladies were waving hankies. And I said to the preacher, boy, you're glad this guy got saved. He said, oh yeah. I said, he's a bad dude. Boy, he said, the worst we've ever dealt with. He said, Cory lives about 10 miles out of town and we've witnessed to him and witnessed to him. And when you go out there, he shoots you. He puts bullet holes in your car. He said, I got bullet holes in my car. Most of the men here do. In fact, one of our deacons, he hit a gas tank and blew the car up. And it just burned up out there. Yeah, it's something. I said, well, no wonder you're happy. He said, yeah, but that's not why we're so excited tonight. I said, what is it? He said, you see the lady four rows back over here who's sobbing? I said, yeah. He said, that lady is his mother. And Brother Gibbs, for 20 years, she's not missed being at the altar one time praying for her boy. Not one time. And I told her, Mary, you don't have to. She said, no, Pastor. The devil's not going to get him. No. No, I'm his mother. And I'm asking God for the impossible. Brother Gibbs, I had given up. She persisted in prayer. What have you persisted in prayer for? Where you can say, by the grace of God, I did not give up. Wow. When my mother got polio, I was eight years of age, and then for two and a half, almost three years, she was in the hospital. When you're eight years of age, two years is a long time. Finally, my mom was able to come home, and she was so sick. She couldn't do hardly anything. But she could pray. My sister's bedroom and my bedroom was upstairs in our little house, and my mom's bedroom was at the foot of the stairs. And I'd sit up there on those steps. She had no idea I was there. And I'd listen to her pray for me. Oh, she couldn't cook our food anymore. She couldn't do the laundry and she couldn't dress herself. She couldn't feed herself. But she could pray. And those prayers revolutionized my life. You see, she got specific with God. And she never gave up. Never. Her prayers are burned on my soul." You want power in prayer? You've got to pray. And you've got to get specific. And by the grace of God, you've got to get earnest, fervent. Spurgeon's right. You pray with no fervency. You didn't pray at all. And then you've got to get clean. I don't know what's in your life, but God's ready to clean it tonight. And then by the grace of God, you have to persist. Prayer is the most powerful thing in all the universe. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for letting us pray. We sure don't have the right to. But God forgive me, forgive us where our prayers have lacked so much. Heads are bowed.