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I'm a big believer in prayer, friends.

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I believe that God hears our prayers and

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he still answers prayers.

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Jesus taught his disciples how to pray when

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they began to have a desire to pray

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by watching him pray.

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There are two principles in prayer that move

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the Almighty to answer prayer, and these two

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principles are as powerful as thunder and lightning,

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of which I speak are desperate prayer and

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importunate prayer.

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Desperate prayer is clearly evidenced in the life

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of Hannah, who prayed for her son, as

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seen in 1 Samuel chapter 1.

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We read in verse 15 of this desperation

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in prayer, And Hannah answered and said, No,

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my Lord, I am a woman of a

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sorrowful spirit.

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I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink,

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but have poured out my soul before the

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Lord.

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I really believe, friends, that God looks upon

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the one desperate in prayer who pours their

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soul out to God in prayer like a

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drink offering.

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And our Lord Jesus spoke of the other

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principle in prayer, and that is importunate prayer,

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as seen in Luke's gospel in chapter 11

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and verses 5 through 8.

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And he said unto them, Which of you

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shall have a friend, and shall go unto

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him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend,

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lend me three loaves, for a friend of

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mine in his journey is come to me,

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and I have nothing to set before him.

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And he from within shall answer and say,

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Trouble me not, the door is now shut,

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and my children are with me in bed.

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I cannot rise and give thee.

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I say unto you, Though he will not

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rise and give him, because he is his

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friend, yet because of his importunity he will

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rise and give him as many as needeth.

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I remember one night there was a pounding

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on my front door.

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At first I tried to ignore it, but

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it grew louder and more fervent, so I

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got out of bed and walked down the

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hall at two in the morning to find

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my next-door neighbor in her pajamas.

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With a scared look on her face, some

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intruder had gotten into her home, and she

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had rushed out the back door to safety,

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and ran over to our house to call

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the police.

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But it was her incessant pounding that got

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me out of bed, and got her the

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result she was looking for.

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Some of my most memorable times in prayer

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have been between the hours of midnight and

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dawn, when all is quiet and my soul

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is in tune with my Creator, and I

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beseech him in desperate and importunate prayer.

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I believe God takes note of the child

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of his who is willing to come at

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an inconvenient hour to pastor him in prayer.

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This importunity in prayer moves God and startles

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angels.

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We read of Elijah, who bowed heaven by

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bowing himself to the ground and praying seven

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times for heaven to send rain.

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And he said to his servant, Go up

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now, look toward the sea.

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And he went up and looked and said,

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There is nothing.

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And he said, Go again, seven times.

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What would have happened if Elijah had stopped

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praying at the sixth attempt?

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I believe there never would have been that

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downpour rain out of a blackened sky.

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It's that prayer of the one more time

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that grips the attention of the Almighty.

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Let me share with you, friends, a story

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that always quickens my heart to pray more.

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Listen to this story, friend, about a praying

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wife who prevailed with God in prayer for

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her husband.

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And if you have a lost loved one

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whom you've been praying for, this story will

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be an encouragement to you to pray once

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more for them.

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This true story is related about a man

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called Charlie Waterman, as told by William Schubert,

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the co-laborer of John Song.

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Here now is that story.

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Every Sunday we had converts and along in

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March we had Charlie Waterman, the converted streetcar

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conductor, come to tell his story.

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He told how he had been a drinker

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and a gambler and how his wife had

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prayed for him 17 years and how he

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would curse her and spit on her while

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she was trying to pray with her children

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until finally she decided she must leave him.

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Even her pastor advised her to leave him

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for the sake of the children.

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So when he'd gone several days on one

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of his sprees, she finally decided it was

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too much and packed everything and was about

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to call a taxi to take them to

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her mother's when the Lord said to her,

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pray once more.

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So she knelt down and said, Oh God,

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show Charlie where he is going.

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And while she prayed in Pasadena, he was

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over in a dive on the east side

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of Main Street in Los Angeles.

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Something said to him, Charlie, if you don't

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repent, you will go to hell.

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He went into the next room and drank

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down a big swig of whiskey and as

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he did so, he looked right down into

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hell.

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He said he saw the fires of hell

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and the lost souls being tortured by the

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demons and one of the demons came right

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up after him.

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Then Charlie cried out, Oh God, save me.

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Everything came clear and he was sober and

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walked out of that place and went home.

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On the way he telephoned his wife to

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meet him and call old sister so-and

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-so, whom she had had been praying for

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him, but he refused to repent.

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They prayed for him until he prayed through

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about 2 a.m. Then the three of

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them raised the neighborhood by shouting.

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I love that story, friends, because if you've

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been praying for a lost loved one and

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perhaps you become discouraged and not seeing that

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person turn to the Lord, be like that

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wife of Charlie Waterman and pray once more.

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Be like Elijah, who said to his servant,

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go again.

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He said it seventh times and it was

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the seventh time that did the trick.

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I believe God pays attention to desperate and

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importunate prayer.

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Oh friend, don't ever quit praying for a

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lost loved one.

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Keep praying for them.

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Pray one more time.