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Prayer is something we don't do enough, and

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when we do it, we don't do it

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enough.

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We don't have enough for prayer today, but

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we got plenty to complain about.

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We have our excuses on the reasons why

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we don't pray more.

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We don't have the time, we say.

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We don't have a place to pray, but

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those are just flimsy excuses for laziness and

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prayer.

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Charles Fanny went out to a grove of

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woods and prayed, and he found the Lord.

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Maybe you can go take a walk today,

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friends, in the wood, and in that solitude.

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Maybe you'll bump into Jesus and find him,

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too.

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One old boy even prayed out of a

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fish's belly, and God heard that prayer, even

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down in the depths of the sea.

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God can hear your prayer, friend, from the

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depths of your troubles, if you will only

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pray.

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Anna prayed for a son, and a religious

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leader thought she was drunk, but he was

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out of touch with God while she was

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getting in touch with God, and God heard

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her desperation and prayer as she poured out

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her burdened soul to him, and he answered

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that prayer with a son.

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Maybe we don't pray enough, because maybe we're

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not desperate enough.

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When the church is satisfied with the status

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quo, and that means business as usual, then

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it's usual to be a prayerless church, but

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prayerlessness is the bane of the church today.

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But God is looking for the unusual, one

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that doesn't rely on money and manpower, but

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who relies solely on God and holy ghost

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power.

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Enoch had such sweet fellowship with God in

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prayer that one day, while they were walking

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and talking, God just touched Enoch's arm and

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escorted him to heaven so not to break

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up the sweet conversation.

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Abraham was such a man of prayer that

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God confided in him.

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Jacob wrestled with God in prayer for an

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entire night until he got a blessing, and

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he had to use a staff the rest

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of his life to lean on because of

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his limp.

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But through that desperate night of prayer, his

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name was changed to Israel, Prince with God,

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because he had learned to lean on God

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in prayer to the point of not letting

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go.

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Daniel was such a man of prayer, old

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Nebuchadnezzar couldn't get rid of him, and in

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the lion's den, Daniel slept like a baby

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on pillows of mane.

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A prayer will give you courage to go

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out on a limb like it did for

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Nehemiah.

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A prayer will so embolden you like an

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Esther, you will stand before a king and

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say, If I perish, I perish!

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We can get more done in prayer than

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we can out of prayer.

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A prayer made a blind, chained Samson take

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more enemies of God to their death in

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his death than when he was alive.

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Prayer can keep you out of trouble, or

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a lack of prayer can get you into

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trouble.

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Had King David been praying instead of lusting,

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maybe he would have avoided a lot of

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trouble in his household.

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Elijah prayed, and God showed up heaven and

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sent a drought.

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He prayed again, and heaven poured forth a

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plentiful rain.

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He was such a praying man, he could

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literally turn heaven into a revolving door, and

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it opened up to receive him when it

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was time to get there in his fiery

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team of horses.

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Paul was praying in his cabin in the

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midst of a terrible storm at sea, and

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an angel appeared and told him that no

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loss of life would occur in the shipwreck,

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and so it was so.

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D.L. Moody heard a man say, The

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world has yet to see what God can

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do with a man wholly consecrated to him.

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And Moody walked away, muttering under his breath

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a prayer of faith, saying, Lord God, make

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me that man.

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And God answered that prayer, and Moody did

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more for God than all of us put

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together.

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John Song prayed, Even if I have to

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die, I will preach the gospel in China,

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even if it means a shorter life.

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John Song shook China for God and then

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died at the Tandorajah 42.

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John Wesley and George Whitfield spent nights in

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prayer in their holy club for their country,

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and God used them to turn England upside

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down in revival.

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We get more done in prayer, friends, than

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we do out of prayer, and if that's

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true, why are we out of prayer?

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At a time when our nation sits on

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the very brink of destruction, and our churches

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lay waste and impotent, why aren't we all

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crying on our knees, weeping and praying for

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our young people today who are drunk and

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debauched and hellbound?

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Why aren't we up all night praying for

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our lost loved ones and friends?

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How in the world can we call ourselves

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a church if the carpet in our sanctuary

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isn't soaked with the tears of praying saints

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crying out to God over the sins of

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society and the land and the sins of

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the church?

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How can the fire fall and consume the

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sacrifice if no one is there to intercede

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on behalf of a pagan people?

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Where are the mothers of prayer today whose

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eyes are continually red from praying for their

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lost children?

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Where, oh, where is the spiritual leader in

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the home, the man who holds his wife's

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hand tenderly while he prays for her and

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leads her in prayer?

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Why is Satan wreaking havoc on our homes

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and families like a swinging wrecking ball that

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destroys marriages and lives?

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Is it for our lack of prayer?

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Oh, what will it take to drive us

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to our knees, to lay hold of God

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in desperation and prayer?

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God gets serious with those who get serious

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with him.

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One Ezra by a river fasting and seeking

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God in prayer is enough to preserve a

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people, restore worship, and rebuild a temple.

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Jesus on his knees in Gethsemane, leaning on

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a tree trunk and agonizing prayer, sweating great

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drops of blood before he faced the cross

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should be enough motivation for us to do

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the same.

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Go to our knees, get on our cross,

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and beg God to send revival, to save

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a nation.

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Let us pray.