This morning's message Who did the will of his father? Who it is that did the will of his father, you know, it shows What we do in life the things that we do in life shows and what God wants to do through Jesus Christ is put consistency in our lives and It says God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. And we say that we could do a whole lot of things. And a lot of times it's in our mind and our thought life. But what brings that in action is speaking that thing, speaking it. But a lot of us speak a lot of things. There may be a lot of people say they go pray for you in prayer and what they're going to do. But as I said, what lies in it, not just being a hearer or speaker vainly speaking, but to be a doer of God's will, to be a doer of God's word. And to introduction, I had a parable of the two sons in the book of Matthew. the 21st chapter of Matthew, the 28th through the 32nd verse. And Jesus says, what do you think about this? That there were a man that had two sons, and he came and said to the first son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered, I will not. But afterward, he regretted and changed his mind and went and worked. Then the man came to the second son and said the same thing to him, and he replied, I will, sir, but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of the father? The chief priests and elders replied, well, it was the first one. Jesus said unto them, I assure you most solemnly say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will get in the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you walking in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. And you see, this then did not even change your mind afterward and believe him. Here it is, Jesus sets forth a parable before them about themselves. We need to examine ourselves. It's not about what someone else is doing. It's not taking the mold out of our brother's eye, but it's about taking the beam out of our own lives. About getting our lives right and in the proper perspective to receive from God the things that God freely offer unto us. There are two sons that was of the same father, and he offered both of them a decision to make, to go and work. And God has told us all to go into the vineyard and labor and work. He had purposed a job for each and every one of us, and a lot of us willfully, and we're talking especially to the church, because he was talking to the church people at that time, the Pharisees and all. They said that they would work for the Lord, that they would do this, they would go out in missions, they would feed the needy, and they would accomplish all these things. They did a lot of talking, and it's easy to do a lot of talking, but action, actually being a doer of what God's Word is a whole different story. That's why they say a lot of the prostitutes and tax collectors, those that were not people that felt that they could accomplish or do these things, they go about their everyday life and not trying to do things for God and say much about God or whatever, because they know that's what they are. They hadn't changed. The Spirit of God hadn't come into it. In other words, it's like God sends a preacher into the vineyard to recruit those that's going to be working for Him. Now these Pharisees, just as a lot of us are that are in the church and that are in the world, says what we could do for the Lord and can pray and do all of these other things, But they're not actually done. And the reason I say they're not actually done, because it's all talk. You know, you can think about prayer and think about what's right or whatever. All those thoughts that's running through your mind, you ask somebody, is they praying or whatever? Yeah, I think about the Lord, I pray to the Lord all the time. But do you actually get in a posture of prayer? Do you come before God and speak to God and ask God to do some of these things for you? Because just like there are good thoughts about people running through your mind. Brother Armand told me this one time. He used to be the pastor at the church I was in, the Pentecostal church I was in over on 49th or 47th Street, I think it is. He says, You know, we have to speak to God, and that's why Jesus says the reason we don't have that we don't ask and we don't talk to God. Prayer is not just thinking something in your mind, thinking of God doing something or talking to God in your mind. It's good to meditate on the Lord day and night. It says meditate on the scriptures day and night, but that's just what it is, is meditation. Until you intellectually put that forward and speak it into existence, it's out there in another world. Because remember, that's why God destroyed the first world. In the book of Genesis, he says, because the thoughts of man was evil continually. Our thoughts are not like God's thoughts. A lot of time it runs through our mind as to what we want God to do for somebody. Somebody cut us off on the highway or somebody do something in our bitterness. We say a lot of things. Those are the things that gets us in trouble. Those things that we say, not just thinking those things. See, we have to give account for the idle words we speak. See, it's a lot that crosses your mind. And it says, there's a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof is death and destruction. That's why we're trying to change the mind. That's what preaching does. Preaching comes in and hearing the word of faith, it plants a seed of faith. to hear God's word, to hear what God is saying, to hear the truth. And the truth is what makes you free. It frees you from the bondage of the way you used to think. That's why it says, let that same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. So this son, the first son that said he wouldn't go, well, he had the ways for the prodigal son. He had a lot of the world in mind, and he was so crowded in. And he said he wasn't going, but he regretted he could. He seen that he was wrong. He examined himself, and he regretted what he said to the father, his actions. And he actually went in and did that which he said he wasn't going to do. That's just God told the people in the book of Hosea, it says, those that I say were not my people, I'm saying they are my people. Those that I said are my people are not my people. Now what changed that decision was their actions or what they did, the things they did on their part. That's what changed the testimony. If somebody says, you're not acting like my child or you're not acting like you belong in this family, that means that your actions, what you're doing is not conducive to that family, to that family name, dishonoring that family name. And we shouldn't dishonor God's family name. But it was the second son that made a confession of what he would do. You know, a lot of times people say, I pray for you. How many times have you told somebody you pray for them that people meet you and ask you to pray for them or whatever, and you forget to bring them up in prayer? You forget to pray for them because it was just a conversation that was just something that you said that I'll pray for you or we'll be praying for you. But do prayer service, corporate prayer, when we have corporate prayer on Monday night, do you tell, ask the church that I said I'll pray for this person or we pray this or not necessarily ask the church, but do you bring that into your prayer life? It adds time onto your prayer life and you'll see that that helps establish the people of God and the things of God. My first point here is confession. So we had two confessions there, one of profession and one of confession of what was in the heart and what actually God changed and put in action. Now, a confession, and the first point there, I've got a lot of points today for some reason or another, is acknowledgment of wrongdoing. That first son confessed that he had did wrong and that he should change. And that's when I said, the onus is on us. is what we've done to get away from God. The reason Jesus came and died for us and we had to be reconciled back to God is because we went astray. It was our iniquity, our sin that separated us from God. The book of Daniel, the ninth chapter. Daniel, they were about getting ready to go or leave captivity. The ninth chapter says, in the first year of the reign of King Darius, I, Daniel, understood by the book the number of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years of desolation in Jerusalem. I set my face unto the Lord to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made confession and said, Lord, the great and dreadful God, the awesome God, terrible God. He says, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments. Notice the acknowledgement of what's the sovereignty of God, the power of God, the mercy of God, but that he keeps covenant. He's a covenant God. That's the one that sent his son to make a new covenant with us, to bring us into a covenant of peace, the reconcilers under God. He keeps covenant. But he says, and keep his commandments. He said, listen, what Daniel says, we have sinned, not they have sinned, we have sinned. I've sinned also, and I'm exclusively focusing on my sin, like the son that regretted it. It's your sin, not the Pharisee's, not on their sin. He says, I've rebelled or we've rebelled even by departing from your precepts and from thine judgments. Neither have we listened unto thine servants the prophets. We hadn't been going to church hearing the preaching and teaching that we should have been listening at. We hadn't realized that it is us with the fly and that what preaching does, it washes and cleanses us of every spot and wrinkle if we take heed to the Word of God. Not just hear the Word of God, but be a doer of the Word of God. See, you could put washing powder and stuff in the washing machine and clean the clothes, but if it doesn't agitate those clothes and move them around and shake them up or whatever, you ain't getting nowhere. It's not going on without some action there. We have to be doers. There has to be movement in our life. You get in a car and turn the lights on at nighttime, the lights shine down that highway. But that car has to stop, start moving before you could see the end of the road because those lights just could show you right in front of you. God's Word shows you right in front of you, but you have to be walking. You have to live in God's Word to see every day and act every day. You can't go join a monastery or something and do the will of God because it's not good that man should be alone. Don't go hide up in your house. Don't go hide away from the people. He said, keep them in the world. You need to be in amongst the people working in the Lord's vineyard. Because as a servant of God, he tasked you with bringing forth fruit. He commissioned us to go forth making disciples. He commissioned us to glorify him, to let our light shine, and so men would see our light. So Daniel confessed his wrongdoing. He said, oh Lord, Oh Lord, righteousness belong unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces as it is this day. To the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of all Israel, all those that are near and for all, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespasses they have trespassed against you. And that's what we ask when we pray. Lord, forgive us of our trespass. As we forgive our debtors, you forgive us of our debts. God does this in the same manner, as the same way as you do it. If you're not forgiving of others, God's not gonna be forgiving of you. If those things that others have done against you, how fast are you to forgive, or do you hold people, do you hold madness and grudges in, and are you always pointing the finger at others, but never seeing your own sin? During the debate the other night, one of the contenders for the presidency said that you believe in fairness and you look at others, he says, but you took out a four-page ad. It was $85,000 to take out a four-page ad against the Central Park Fire. was five young men ages fourteen to sixteen that was accused of raping young female victim in central park back in nineteen eighties and it says now even when these men were exonerated what did you do you falsely accuse you ask for the death penalty for these men now you realize that you were wrong in this And do you admit that I was wrong? That's why a lot of them want the death penalty removed because of so many people that's been convicted or charged that were innocent of what they did. These men have been exonerated since. The person that was guilty of this crime, He was caught, he was a serial rapist, and he was still raping, and he confessed to this crime. That's what got them out of jail. The Project Innocence was working on the case. After he confessed to this crime, they matched his DNA up with the original crime, and his DNA matched. The young man had pled not guilty the whole time. But this individual, instead of saying he was wrong, he made a wrong accusation. See, that's why I say the people, watch who you follow. This man is not worthy to be president if he's a liar and a character that doesn't contest when he's wrong, and when cornered, he doubles down on it. You know what I mean by compassion? There's a lot in your lives. You go back and I said, I was raising my children. There's a lot I've done wrong. I hadn't been the perfect parent. But I said, God, forgive me for those things and help me to be a better parent. God, give me some life, a longer life, so I could be not only a good parent to my children, but also to my grandchildren and my grandchildren's children. I want to live a long time. That's one of his promises, his long life. You just read that. He says, I wish you prosper and be in health. God's on your side, whether you know it or not. He wants you to prosper and be in health, and he wants you to ask him for the things that you need. He says, whatever you need, asking prayer and those things that I'll do. Now along with confession here, along with confession comes a repentance, a turning away from what you are or what you have been. You have to change. There's a change in your life. She kept using the refrain is that it's the same old thing. It's the same old playbook. It's the same old tired story from him all the time. You know, some people never change. It's a lot of older people that still have their racial prejudices. They still have the bigotry. They still have hatred, malice of what somebody has done to them. And it's always accusation. Let me ask you this. Do you know who the accuser of the brethren is? What the Bible says or who the Bible says? It's the accuser of the brethren. You see, you have to stop pointing that finger at other people and say, Lord, I'm to blame. If that happened, as Daniel said, we've sinned. I'll do better the next time. I'll do better if you give me another chance. So that confession is important. And that's what we do. It says, repent daily. We die daily. You have to die to self, because self is very prideful. Self wants to sit on that throne. That self hasn't done anything. Self never confessed. This man, when he went down in what they call the spin room, where all the reporters and people be at, he met one of those that he had wished or asked for the death penalty against him, Salim Mustafa. He has an Islamic name, a young black man that was exonerated, and he says, and he met him, and the guy says that this is one of the men, and he says, I'm glad I'm on your side, that you're on my side. And the guy says, no, I'm not on your side. Now he's a New York councilman. He's been moved up this far. And instead of our guy that's running for the president and saying, instead of him saying that I'm sorry, I caused this problem. I'm sorry that I was a part of this problem. I made an accusation and wanted you to die. I wanted the death penalty, but I'm sorry I didn't understand or know it all. And during that time, I should have changed. See, the apple don't fall far from the tree that says his father was the same way that he wouldn't rent to certain people. We have to live together here. God says he has scattered his people and he told us to go all nations and we all won. We have to clean up our lives. We have to turn from that mind. If your parents put prejudice or all these things in you, you have to say, well, mom or dad, that was during your time, but I see life in a different light. God has shined his light on me and I can see that all men are the same. All men are created equal. All can equivalent of able or capable of being children of God. Confession, they say, is good for the soul. Proverbs say, he that coveteth sin shall not prosper. Don't cover up what you've done. God's going to bring it back to you. If you study His Word, if you reflect on His Word, He's going to show you the flaws. It's just like a mirror. He's going to show you where you need makeup at. He's going to show you the spots and blemishes. If you study his word, listen at what Daniel said. He says, by these words he pray and sought with seeking God and confessed to God. Let me read this very slowly. He says, where am I at here? We have sinned and done wickedly. And that confusion of faith that we're backwards and we're not had did what you did, did what we had did, we didn't understand at that time or whatever. We have to get understanding. We have to get understanding. And the first verse shows that it says, I, Daniel, understood by the book the number of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah the prophet was a prophet during the time Daniel was a young man that was sent into captivity. Jeremiah had prophesied that Babylon was going to go into captivity and stay there 70 years. So how did Daniel know that they were going to be released from captivity? Studying the word of God. He studied what the book of Jeremiah said, that you was going to be there 70 years. You couldn't make book on what God says. His promises are sure. They was there 70 years to the date as according to the words of his prophecy. So Daniel was counting on what he read in the word of God. That's what we have to do. Study the word to show ourselves approved. Workmen that need not be ashamed. Rightly divide in the word of truth. Now that word rightly divide in the word of truth comes in there because there are ways if you could rightly divide it, that means you could wrongly divide. It's according to who you listen at. But you do have to listen at someone. You have to, that's the only way you can get it. Unless you eat of my body and drink of my blood. That's why we're here today. You have to eat of the table because if you don't have this communion with God, he says, if you don't, you have no part with me. The Word of God washes and cleanses, and I told you that was an action that the Word performed. And he told Pete, unless I wash thee, you have no part with me. Pete said, no, you're not gonna wash my feet. Well, we gotta get on and get the hard work done too, the dirty work, the people that humbles us, that puts pride off of the throne when we humble ourselves to bow to wash someone else's feet. Peter learned that he has to do that work also. He's a minister. He's sent, just like Christ, to minister unto people, not to be ministered to. We want everybody to look up to us as Pharisees, men of God. And that's why it says publicans and harlots are going to the kingdom of heaven before you do, because they're willing to do the dirty work. They're willing to do the labor. There are some people that just want people to look up to them. They're never wrong. Their pride has them in a place that they can't enjoy life. This guy was scrawling the whole time where she was smiling and happy because God wants us to prosper and be in heaven. Have you lost your smile? Have you lost your peace and your joy? You look like you're carrying the weight of the whole world on your shoulders. You're not trusting in the sovereign God. So Daniel understood, but I said communications. We have to be in constant communication. When you go to war, the first thing the enemy tries to do is capture the airwaves. He captures that which pervades the battlefield. God has given us the airways. He says to get in touch with Him once we are born again, He sets up this communication channel that we can boldly go to the throne of God. We don't have to go through a preacher. We don't have to go through somebody else. When people ask me to pray for them, I often wonder, and a lot of times I try to use that as a segue to get into, do you go to church? Can you pray for yourself why these prayers aren't being answered? Because God says according to our old scripture that he says when they come unto me, it says Isaiah 65 and 24, it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they're yet speaking, I will hear. Now Jesus knew this, and that's what we're trying to get that same mind as Jesus. Jesus says, and Father, I knew that thou hearest me, that you always hear me, but because the people which stand in here, I said it, that's why I said it. We have to speak sometimes so people will hear what we're talking to God about. God spoke the world in existence, not that you had to hear what he said, but he spoke it because he wants us to speak to bring those things forth. Because we can't stop things from running through our mind. They like to say you can't stop a bird from flying, but you don't have to let him sit there and build a nest. Those thoughts gonna be in your mind, he says, but bring every thought into the captivity and obedience of Jesus Christ. You could ask and pray to God that he removed those thoughts, he helped you to think thoughts after him. His thoughts and his ways, if you meditate on a scripture and walk it, that comes from communicating with God. Communications is key. We have to be in constant contact of communication with God. In the book of Acts, the second chapter of Acts, the Apostle's Doctrine, the Apostle's Acts. The people were joining the church, it says in the book of Acts, the second chapter, and they continued steadfastly in the Apostle's Doctrine. In other words, in studying what God's word, it says, because John 17 chapter says, that I have given them your word, and blessed are they that believe it on me through your word. Whose word? The apostles' word. The church is built on the prophets and the apostles. So that doctrine, the apostles' doctrine, doctrine is instruction. He says, but also in fellowship. Because Hebrews says, forsake not to assemble together of yourselves as the manner of some is. That's why I say, some people know it all. They don't go to church. They could talk, preach, and teach to other people, but never learn themselves. As the apostles preached and taught, the Bereans listened at what they were saying, and then they went back home and studied to see were those things so, and they implemented them into their lives. Until we assimilate the word of God into our lives and start doing it, it has no effect upon us. We're not to see the fertilizer that has fertilized the plants bring forth the word of God. Paul said, Apostle, One planet, one water, but God give it the increase. As we buy faith, the increase that faith, we have to act upon God's word. We have to keep active on it. But the fellowship, the hearing of the word, reacting with one another, we strengthen one another by coming together as a body. That's why it says the church. And a lot of people say, oh, the church ain't just the building, it's the people too. They don't wanna go to church though. There's more power, there's more strength in unity because you hear other brothers and sisters that there are testimonies of people that are doing like you or in the condition you're in. It strengthens you. Being with one another, two or three or twofold card is stronger than one. We can help one another. I would somebody else say, a lot of mornings I get up, I say, let me get up because I know Deacon's out and gone by now. It's six o'clock and I'm laying up here. I know he was up at 5.30. It says, in fellowship and in breaking of bread. Breaking of bread is communion. That's what we're about to do. But breaking of bread is spreading the word of God, preaching or teaching of the word of God. They did communion every time they meet. Their church is still now, that when they meet, they have communion service. Because that's a memorial. Jesus says, as often as you do this, it's not required. But he says, as often you do this, you show forth my memory. They continue in doctrine, fellowship, and breaking of bread, and in prayer. It's important that we continue in prayer, and continuing in prayer. 1 Thessalonians, the fifth chapter, it says, rejoice always and delight in your faith. Be unceasing and persistent in prayer. Now, we've talked about persistent prayer, what persistent prayer is. It's keep hammering in there for that same thing, if necessary. Now, we're not saying vain repetitions. A lot of people think that by saying the same thing over and over, a lot of talking, that's why I say if he talk is cheap, as they say, that brother could say what he was going to do and he went away and didn't do it. So persistence in prayer is praying to God for that answer, praying to God for what you need. Praying to God sometime, it's tough. Sometime don't look like it's coming, but if he promised it a young man had prophesied about the church growing in the church growth And I've always passed that on to y'all and that you prayed that the Lord would add on to the church And I'm still praying that prayer. Hopefully I'm here to see that it materialized And I don't know if that's part of your prayer or not, but it's part of what I ask you to do is pray for the church. Pray for church growth. Pray that they return and build the desolate ruins. Pray that our children come into the church. Pray that our children's children that restore the fallen ruins of David. That's the kingdom of God that's here on earth. He says, persistent in prayer in every situation, no matter what the circumstances, be thankfully and continuing thanks to God, for this is the will of God for you in Christ. Thankfully. You know, when Paul and Silas was whipped while he was in jail in the middle of the night, they were praying and thanking God that they were accounted worthy to be beat for his sake. A lot of people are just as sour. They're not thankful for anything. They're not ungrateful. They didn't wake up and say, thank you for waking me up this morning, Lord. Thank you for having a sound mind and health. Thank you for clothes. Thank you for food. There's thanks in all things. We're the most ungrateful since time and dispossession it has. And that's one of the things in Romans chapter 1 when it says a generation that's unthankful, ungrateful. No matter what you do for some people, they're ungrateful. God has done so much for us, and we're not showing Him, we're not reciprocating it back to Him for what He's done for us. It says, Ephesians 16, with all prayer and supplications and petitions, what is petition? A specific request. Specific request sometime when you pray beast most specific with God don't come in with general prayers if you need something from God you need finances you need a car you need clarity on a Situation you need an answer to these things Pray to God as Hannah went before it for God and said look this woman keep teasing me and going on I pray that you give me a sign and if you give me a sign I give him back to you Now she did that Don't make a vow and not keep the vow. With that consistency we were talking about in communication, I tell you, don't worry about it, Diggie. You heard somebody come in, don't worry about it. Because in talking, if Brother Bazeal said, well, I'll see you Saturday, I'll see you Sunday, consistency, that person does normally what they say they do. Remember I told you about the guy that told me, well, why Minister Miller had, he told me he was gonna be here and he ain't. I said, I don't know if Minister Miller told you that or not. Because what I've known from Minister Miller throughout the years that Minister Miller is normally early for anywhere he's going. And don't tell me that about Mr. Miller. I'm not going to let you sit here and tell me that he's a half an hour, hour late. And after I talked with Mr. Miller, that wasn't the case. And the guys told too many stories, anyhow. But I knew that he had a consistency. That's why I say about your character, there are certain things about a person's character. It says, be specific at all times and on every occasion in every season. Be consistent in the spirit and this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition. Interceding in prayer for all of God's people, staying alert. That requires a good night's sleep, that requires you not staying. up all night or whatever. You come in here expecting to receive something of God. Well, if you come in here and fall asleep, you must be looking to receive something. You know, a lot of people come into church and fall asleep or whatever. That's what happened to Peter. Jesus said, Peter, come go over here with me, y'all three, and pray with me. Peter went there and fell asleep. Jesus came back three different times, and now you're asleep. He says the Spirit's willing. A lot of people want to do it. And I know there's problems with some people. Medications and illnesses. You may drift off. It causes drowsiness. It causes different things. That's why I don't go off on people that have to go to the bathroom or whatever. Some have urinary problems or whatever. All those things are natural or human or whatever. There's different situations arise in life. It says, Paul acts, he says, and pray for me that words may be given to me when I open my mouth to claim boldly the mystery of the good news for which I'm an ambassador in shame. And I always ask y'all to pray for me. Notice that I ask you to pray for your pastor. Pray for me, and like I told you, instead of picking a beam out of somebody's eyes, that's why the other night when Trump was in car hearing on some of the things he was saying, I didn't laugh or talk about it. Be careful about laughing and mocking others. Part of the problem that he's having, and it's going down so fast, is that four or five months ago, he was mocking someone that's three or four years older than him. Remember I told you that 81-year-old man Joe Biden had stepped up there and knocked it out the park with that speech? I pray to God that I'm that as coherent and that I don't forget things as some do. As you get older though, you're not as sharp as you used to be. Sometime you will have to think about what you're saying or gonna say or what you're about to say. And that's why I ask God to give me strength and a sound mind. I ask y'all when I'm straying off sometime and I ask you what would, I hate to get off of a topic or wander around too much or whatever and say something and not come back over here. Be careful about pulling beams, motes out of other people's eye and have a beam in your own eye. So my specificity in prayer is God, keep me mindful and keep me and pray Lord God that I'll be able to feed your sheep. That I could continue to speak God's word. Stop running around trying to straighten everybody else out and straighten yourself up. Ask God, and if there's anything you ask in my name that I will do. He says, and pray that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly and courageously. Colossians 4 says, be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer life with an attitude of thanksgiving. In other words, you're thankful to God because you know He's going to answer the prayer. You have a confidence. And you're thankful for God if He didn't answer it because He's going to show you or let you know why He didn't answer to give you a better understanding. And that's what He did to Job. He gave him an understanding of what he was doing, a better understanding. Now, in asking, all of these things was conditional. A lot of people that are not in church or don't study the Word of God, knowing not the Word of God, it's conditional. Prayers are conditional. He's not just going around as a fair godfather or a big Santa Claus just answering anything you ask. Is your life lined up? When we get into prayers, we see that they're conditional. 1 John 5, 14. It says, this is the remarkable degree of confidence which we have are entitled to as believers. We have this before him that if we ask anything according to his will, notice the words there, according to his will. It has to be in alignment with Jesus Christ for the kingdom of God. You asking in Jesus name, Jesus name. It's not that just because the pill cost us love to say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus in the name of Jesus. It is that you are asking this in accordance with God's will being done. See, that's how Elijah did he say when Elijah was a man of like passions as us and he fervently prayed that it would not rain for three years and it rained not for the space of three years. But Elijah's word was that God had told Ahab for the space of three years that it would not rain. He was praying God's Word. That's why I say study God's Word and pray that back to Him. There are prayers and implications in here where David prayed for the destruction of his enemy's family, their children, and everything that pertained to his enemy. Because that's how we bring this into this life. That's how Hannah did say, give me because my enemy torment me. And I tell you, we will have thoughts. Don't you act on these impulses. But God, this man keep doing this to me. The persistent will says, look. relieved me of my adversary and she kept coming back to the church. So if you got that neighbor, you got these people that's doing you something, that's hurting you, that's gossiping you, that's telling you, you go tell God about it. That's what you tell them in prayer. Ask in prayer, God, give me relief because this person will make me do something I don't want to do. This person will make me act, help me God, give me power to do this. God kills his enemy. God kills your enemy. That's what we talked about. Vengeance, vindication is God. God know how to take care of that person that's treating you bad. God know how to take care of that abusive husband, that wayward woman. God know how to handle that disrespectful child. God knows how to do that father that's oppressive and the people that's doing you problems. You tell God all about it. That's what you didn't learn. That anything you ask the Father, you're not asking to consume it upon your own lust. You're asking to lead a better and peaceful life. That's why if you read the book of Corinthians, you see where Paul tells the women that God wants you at peace. People say, well, God don't love divorce. No, he don't love divorce, but he don't want you in an abusive relationship. If that man beating you and doing all this, you leave. You go somewhere where you could have peace. It's better to have peace than let him kill you in that time, but he loves me. You better get on out of there. He says, it is a consistent that is consistent with his plan and purpose. He hears us and if we know for a fact, and indeed we do know that he hears Jesus said that he hears us. But we know that he hear it not a sinner. That's why I say we have to be a doer of his word, his conditioner. If we in sin and continuing in sin, he's not gonna send you relief and you running around here in known will for sin. That's why he is sending the oppression. That's why he's sending the enemy to whip you back in the yard. He's sending that troublesome situation to get you back where you belong. He took them out of Israel. because they had disobeyed his word. That's why Daniel said, we confess we were wrong. If you look back at it, you were wrong. God's never wrong now. Why he ain't answering? He ain't lining up his word. A parent would be a fool if that child is disobedient and do all those things and cutting up in the store. And then you add insult to injury. Well, look, I'll buy you this toy if you would just hush. If you would just be quiet. Yes, that was my mama. She would look at me and she would give me something if I don't hush. I know not to carry on like that. It says beating with a rod, bend the sap while it's young. So instead of obeying God in the book of Proverbs about whipping your child, you go rewarding him when he doing wrong. You're going to reward your spouse, reward somebody when they're doing wrong. That's what happens with these entitlement programs. When you give and give and not seeing any results. The word of God is designed for results. He says, and we know that he hears us. We know we have what we asked for him and that he's granted our request. Now, prayer is mixed. with these people with wrong motives. That's why James, the fourth chapter says, what leads to quarrels and conflicts among you? Do they not come from your desires that wage war on your members? You are jealous and covetous, and you act in envy. And the reason you don't receive, you ask for something from God, and you do not receive it, because you act for wrong motives. You needed a car to go to work, and you wanted a Cadillac to impress your neighbors. You wanted something out of pride. God gave you some beans to eat, but you wanted a steak. He said God feeds the bird, but doesn't the bird have to get up off that limb and go down there and dig? He may catch a worm, he may catch a bug. No telling what's down there, but he has to be thankful for whatever God gives him. You may have to eat grits with no meat. Oh, not in America, we have to have the bacon, the egg, and the hash browns. See, you adulterous. God gives you a wife or a husband, but now you want to trade that one in for a better one, a better looking one. That's the consuming upon your own lives. covetousness, the jobs you want, the things. So the things we pray for come through the prosperity gospels is asking for things that God hadn't designed for you to have. It's the consuming upon your own lusts. It's out of your pride. Out of your mind, you say there's a way that seemed right for a man. You might have wanted to be a preacher, but God might have made you a deacon. But are you working in the house of God? There's a scripture saying, I would rather be a gatekeeper, a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord. You see, whatever purpose or vocation God has you in, but are you walking where God told you to walk? See, acid prayer comes from condition of obedience, that obedient son. I'm sure that son that said that stuff and walked out, he wasn't going to get from the father until he lined up with him. That's what the prodigal son realized. He says, you know, I'm out here eating out this hog pen. Well, the father then said, well, where my son at? Let me go to New York to bring him some food or send him some money or something. No, the father sat on that porch until the son was headed home and the son had rehearsed what all he was gonna say to the father and say, I'm willing to be a servant. He was at a repentant state, he was willing to confess he had been wrong. That's when the father embraced him and gave him all that he needed and made a restoration on him. Last point, consecration. Cost price. I don't want to move my pages around. Sorry about that. It's not my land. Consecration, that's sanctified and dedicated. He says if you would come out of the world, come out, come apart from him, I'll be a father unto you and you'll be my sons and daughters. We consecrate ourselves to God. The whole time of the captivity, even after they left, Daniel was consecrated unto God. And we see God answering his prayers, his dream wife, and all of those things because God interpret dreams and God sometime directs us to dream, but now he has a most sure word of prophecy That's why we don't depend on dreams and visions. Now God directs us through his words. I'm not saying you don't But the sure word of prophecy and instructions come from as Paul told Timothy he says by the get the laying on of hands and prospering the gift that God has directed you and God places older men in the church to instruct the younger men, to give them counsel and direct them in their ways. So we see the consecration that was spoken, and I was telling you about speaking, praying your prayer audible. I have a church member that's in a bed or whatever and can't move, but I say, you can work for the church. You can do things, you can pray. Are you praying for me? Every time I see him, I say, are you praying for me? Are you praying for the church? You're praying for the children. See, you don't have to be able to move. You could be a paraplegic, you could be in a chair, sir, but you can pray. You can talk to God. Tyler says, but as for you teach the things which are in agreement with sound doctrine, which produces men and women of good character of good lifestyles. So we need to speak those things and let other people hear speak and continue on to read Titus there it shows you the character of an older person and that's why I said we have to look at the character of our politicians or whatever the Apple doesn't fall far from the tree and if we following wrong characters, but produce wrong fruit God's going to shoo down those trees that's producing the wrong fruits. The world will have an influence on you to start making you ask for worldly things and follow worldly ways or whatever. But we need to hear the Word of God, hearing of the Word of God, and it's not just in a corner. As you proclaim the Word of God, By exercise of use of that word, God makes you stronger and makes you more proficient in that word. And it's a known fact that people in religion and that study the Bible or whatever, their mental health stays with them longer. In other words, dementia doesn't come on them as fast because of the words, the soundness of God's word and his doctrine, consistency. That was a point that I misplaced my paper in. And I told you about a routine, and that's what I was going to segue while waiting on you to come in. And we were talking before service started, and I was saying getting in a routine. Ever since I was young, I'd been getting up early, I was telling them. When my daughter was in the service, she said she still gets up at five in the morning, or awake at five in the morning. And I know when I was going to work and had children and things, I got up early all the time. Earliness of consistency. In Genesis the third chapter and the eighth verse, God was coming in the garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve fled ahead from Him. But see, through consistency, Adam knew that God met him every day. in the cool of the evening. They would meet, and they would communicate, and they would converse in the cool of the evening. Adam's consistency was off, and God says, where are you, Adam? See, I told you, I can say, well, let's hold on, or whatever, because someone's coming. So put that chair there. Someone will be there. consistency in our lives. Daniel the seventh, sixth chapter is why they tried to put him in a trick bag. And I said, when your enemies try to put you in a trick bag, God has your back. When people are talking behind you, behind your back. It says, now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he went into his house that was on a roof chamber, and his windows was open toward Jerusalem. He continued to get down on his knees three times a day, Praying and giving thanks to God as he did and as he'd be previously been doing he was Consistent in the man knew well we could trap Daniel if we make a decree to the king It says nobody's to pray to their God for a whole month that Daniels go pray to his God three times a day And that's when we could catch it. Well Daniel didn't hide it with consistency He left the windows open and he went and prayed to God three times a day It was O'Daniel that was able to go in the lines, Dean, in the lines and not tear them apart. Why? He was following God's instruction in His Word. He was consistent with God, and God was consistent with him, and he was answering Daniel's prayer. Mark, the first chapter, Mark the 35th verse. Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and left the house and went out into a secluded place and was praying. When did he get up? At the end of the day, and he was tired, worn out, and he said, God, I'm coming to you, but I'm falling asleep while I'm praying. But did he get up in the early morning hours before dawn? But you know that dawn and dusk, and he got up at the break of dawn. That's what the old people used to say, get up at the crack of dawn. My daddy used to say, son, if you let that son catch you laying in the bed, that's going to make you lazy, you fool right there. Get up. I'd come out there, and he's sitting out there on the porch. It's 5.30, 5 o'clock, 6 o'clock. He's sitting out there. I'm just coming out here. I'm ready to go to work. And there he is sitting there. He's stalling me sometimes. And Jesus came to Nazareth in Luke, the fourth chapter, as was his custom, where he was brought up at. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. He loved going to church on the Sabbath. That was his custom. Forsake not to assemble together ourselves. It should be our custom to come before God. All of these conditions, all of this life, lines up to a life that God can hear you when you call. He hears you before you call, that he's consistently there with you, listening at you. That's not the things that you say and do. So in closing, in conclusion here, this pattern that we've seen is a life of character. And that's what I say, look at the character of the two people that's running for president. Look at the character of the people that's preaching and teaching to you. Compare it to the word of God and the things of God. To do the will of the father requires us to be equipped. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. We pray our father that will be done. Give us this day. Notice that the manna fell every day. That wasn't a day that he skipped the manna. You collected twice as much on the day before the Sabbath because he had a precept there in mind to tell you to rest on the Sabbath. We need to rest. We need a day of rest. That day of rest there is for a purpose. Everything in God's word is for a purpose. But we say give us day by day. You notice that he didn't give it all to him in one day? Sometimes you busy building bigger bonds and not preparing your soul. And when your soul is not required of you, you hadn't prepared your soul. You hadn't got your life right. Get up early in the morning while it's fresh and collect the manna because after the sun rose, the manna had disappeared. Did you read that? The manna was down there in the early morning and if they wait till the sun come up and all that, that it would dissolve and burn the manna? That the manna was gone? Let God be first in your mind. Let God be first in everything. God is, Jesus has the preeminence in your life. He wants the fresh fruit of your offerings, the tithes and offerings. He said, bring all that in the storehouse. We have to depend on God. And that way, God knows what we have need of even before we ask Him. And if we're trying to please God, Philippians 4, 6, and 7 says, do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything, in every situation, circumstance, by prayer and petition, let your request be known to God. So you will go back and put the pot on the stove, even though you don't have the stuff you know is coming. You will count on because we keep his commandments. First John says, we know that we have the petition that we desire of him because we keep his commandments. God's gonna do his part, but we need to do our part. We need to obey the commandments of God. Jesus Christ was that obedient son. That's why God always heard him. Adam was disobedient. Don't be like your father Adam. Leave that family and say, you must be born again. That means you will walk a different way. You will have a different mind. You will have a different thought life. You will pull off that old mind. That old man, the mind, he said, by the transforming and the renewing of your mind, you can start thinking a different way. Those that wait up on the Lord shall renew their strength. So I'm just getting ready to run this race. I'm getting ready to run. So we're seeing more people in their 60s, their 70s, their 80s, and their 90s. Went by Brother Miller's house yesterday and he said he was celebrating his birthday. He made 89 yesterday. I said, thank God for that. That he's in his own house, he's driving his car and going about and everything, to be in strength and health. Those people live to six, seven, 800 years, 900 years. God is able to do that, and God says He will do that. There's a time when the kingdom of God coming, and if you die being a hundred years old, it might be because something you did was wrong, because that's not gonna be the threshold. The threshold is live that thousand years. The millennial reign, what they call it, the kingdom of God. It says, thy kingdom come. So I wake up each day expecting that God's kingdom would come and that Jesus Christ would come back and that I'm waiting upon the Lord and He's going to renew my strength. I'm going to run and not think that these old niggers, if they have to change them and do what they have to do, but He's going to equip me and strengthen me. He could do it through man. You know, man could be an instrument through which God works. Through science, through surgery, they're doing so many things. And if they make me like the binding man or something, that all these super things and they're restoring sight and everything, that there's different operation that does those things. And that's the horizon we meet God on. Because whatever they do to me, he says, on that day, when he comes back, at that twinkling of eye, all those parts will drop off. I'm gonna be changed in the twinkling of eye. I'm gonna put on incorruptible. But during that time, I might just have those corruptible things. If I have teeth, I might want implants. I want to be able to chew. I want to be able to see. I wear glasses. But I'm going to ask God, God, help me to prosper and to be in strength. Help me to be a good witness for you. Help me to line up with your word, accordance with your word. Help me to be consistent with those things. Jesus says, anything, anything that you ask the Father in my name, that I will do. You have not because you ask not. Come to church, come to the word of God, get around the saints of God to where you can boldly ask God. See, the reason a lot of us in the conditions that we're in, we're scared to ask God for it, because you don't have enough faith to believe God's gonna do that for you. If you have confidence, you have faith in God that he hears you and that he is able, nothing's too hard for God. Nothing's too hard. With God, all things are possible. With God, all things are possible. Why are we limiting God? That's what the word of faith churches have over a lot of people because they don't have enough faith to say, if I could just touch the hem of his garments, I'll be whole. Is your faith looking for a miracle in your life? Is your faith looking for something that you can't do? See, that's what we should be praying for, what we can do. Stop praying for what you can do and do that, but pray for what you can do and let God do that for you. Let God provide that way. Ask and I'll do it. You're not asking to consume it upon your love. You're asking because it would benefit His kingdom. It would glorify God. It would give light unto you. It would give light unto the world. It would be your being a light. He says, let your light so shine. That's why He was speaking because He didn't speak it for His sake. He knew these things. He spoke it for those that are around Him. That's why we pray out loud. That's why we speak it so people are here. Man, that's what you're praying for and this is what's happening. And people start seeing that coming into your life. You start speaking these things into existence. Speak those things which become sound doctrine. Heavenly Father, as I come before you this day, Lord God,