SPEAKER_00: We are looking at the subject of prayer this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you may be thinking, boy, he sure talks and preaches on prayer a lot.
SPEAKER_00: Good.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you're noticing that.
SPEAKER_00: We started the month of January off with four sermons on prayer, as we do every January.
SPEAKER_00: The first week we every year cancel most of our church activities because we're called to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Because prayer changes a lot of things, including us.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're looking at this exciting story that happened in real time in history in the life of Peter and the church.
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to close out this Arise Capital campaign in the same way that we started it in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: This capital campaign was birthed in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It's been bathed in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: The three days of prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_00: Many other prayer meetings.
SPEAKER_00: At home, in the closet, in this building, and other buildings.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you're believing that in new ways.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.
SPEAKER_00: He killed James, the brother of John, with a sword.
SPEAKER_00: And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.
SPEAKER_00: This was during the days of unleavened bread.
SPEAKER_00: And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending that the Passover, after the Passover, to bring him out to the people.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
SPEAKER_00: Now when Herod was about to bring him out on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.
SPEAKER_00: And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell.
SPEAKER_00: He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, Get up quickly.
SPEAKER_00: And the chains fell off his hands.
SPEAKER_00: And the angel said to him, Dress yourself and put on your sandals.
SPEAKER_00: And he did so.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.
SPEAKER_00: And he went out and followed him.
SPEAKER_00: He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought that he was seeing a vision.
SPEAKER_00: When he had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city.
SPEAKER_00: It opened for them of its own accord.
SPEAKER_00: And they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.
SPEAKER_00: When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.
SPEAKER_00: When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.
SPEAKER_00: And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.
SPEAKER_00: Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.
SPEAKER_00: They said to her, You're out of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, It's his angel.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.
SPEAKER_00: But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, and he said, Tell these things to James and to the brothers.
SPEAKER_00: Then he departed and went to another place.
SPEAKER_00: Now when day came there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
SPEAKER_00: And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the centuries and ordered that they should be put to death.
SPEAKER_00: Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.
SPEAKER_00: This is the reading of God's holy and infallible and inerrant word.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray that the Spirit would make the truth come alive this morning in our hearts and minds.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for giving us amazing stories.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for giving us an amazing Savior and an amazing deliverance in our own lives as we have been set free from our own prisons and the greatest prison of all, hell and condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, fall fresh on us now.
SPEAKER_00: We pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is the foundation for all that we do at this church.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you're new and you're just discovering that here, or whether you've been here for years and you still haven't discovered it, I want you to hear.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is the foundation for all that we do in this church.
SPEAKER_00: So let's tell the story.
SPEAKER_00: What a great story it is.
SPEAKER_00: This is the third time that Peter's been arrested and put in jail since the day that he preached that sermon on the day of Pentecost that we looked at last week.
SPEAKER_00: Herod Agrippa laid his hands on some who belonged to the church, the Bible tells us.
SPEAKER_00: Herod's uncle, Herod Antipas, had tried Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He'd killed John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: Remember those stories in the Gospels?
SPEAKER_00: His grandfather had massacred the baby boys around the time of Jesus' birth.
SPEAKER_00: And now, this Herod, in order to gain favor with the Jews, this was all about politics.
SPEAKER_00: The Jews seemed to like what we did with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, and he'd already arrested James, the brother of John, and executed him.
SPEAKER_00: The polls were trending in his favor as he persecuted the church.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time to get Peter.
SPEAKER_00: So he arrested Peter, but because it was the Passover, isn't that interesting that it happened a few years earlier with Jesus and the timing?
SPEAKER_00: God's timing.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter is waiting, his trial, waiting, awaiting execution.
SPEAKER_00: And the very night before the trial, and presumably the execution, while he's fast asleep in the jail, in the prison, each wrist fastened by chains to a guard here, to a guard there.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's shackled.
SPEAKER_00: And then there's the guards outside the door, and there's four squads of these soldiers that spell each other off through the night.
SPEAKER_00: Maximum security.
SPEAKER_00: For good reason.
SPEAKER_00: He had escaped before.
SPEAKER_00: Herod must have been scared.
SPEAKER_00: While on the one hand, he wanted to gain popularity with the Jewish leaders.
SPEAKER_00: He must have known this God, the one they serve, he's not to be toyed with.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter was a dangerous man from the day of Pentecost on.
SPEAKER_00: He lived what he preached.
SPEAKER_00: This is the same man that would write in his first epistle to the church.
SPEAKER_00: You cast all of your care upon God because he cares for you.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think you believed what he preached?
SPEAKER_00: Fast asleep, knowing that the next day likely would have meant his death.
SPEAKER_00: Are you casting all your care?
SPEAKER_00: All your care upon your God.
SPEAKER_00: This was spiritual warfare going on.
SPEAKER_00: The Herods of this world today are still laying violent hands on God's people.
SPEAKER_00: Chris took us there in the prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Sri Lanka.
SPEAKER_00: Sudan, China, the list goes on.
SPEAKER_00: The Herods of the world today are still laying violent hands on God's people because of the spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to really focus on, we don't have much time, but I want you to focus on verse 5 because that's really, I think, an amazing verse for us to give attention to.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by.
SPEAKER_00: Last minute, God showed up.
SPEAKER_00: We thought we were going somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00: We thought we were going.
SPEAKER_00: We thought we were going across the street to Alexandria Country Day School, to their library, that held about 90 people.
SPEAKER_00: Last minute, God opened that door.
SPEAKER_00: And then a few five years later, we thought we were going to go to Charles Barrett Elementary School.
SPEAKER_00: Last minute, God opened the door.
SPEAKER_00: And here we are for the last 21 years.
SPEAKER_00: And it kind of feels like that on this journey right now, as we begin to take steps to building our own permanent church home.
SPEAKER_00: It feels like we don't have any more time than we need.
SPEAKER_00: That's just God.
SPEAKER_00: He delights in answering many of our prayers the last minute.
SPEAKER_00: Have you noticed that in your own personal life?
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes it's not just what God does with churches, it's what God does with families and singles.
SPEAKER_00: I think he must do it because he knows that he gets all the glory.
SPEAKER_00: It's not because of our clever planning.
SPEAKER_00: He opens doors when his people pray.
SPEAKER_00: In response to the prayers of God's people, God sent an angel into the prison and a light shone in the cell and it woke Peter up and the angel said, tapped him, get up quickly.
SPEAKER_00: You know what the King James translates that?
SPEAKER_00: Arise.
SPEAKER_00: That should sound familiar with what's going on here.
SPEAKER_00: Are you coming alive in new ways the last couple months as we've been preaching the gospel?
SPEAKER_00: Have you come alive in any new ways the last couple months?
SPEAKER_00: Are you praying any differently?
SPEAKER_00: What has taking off your ornaments looked like in your life, stripping off your ornaments?
SPEAKER_00: What have you been repenting of lately?
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you with a straight face, I have been repenting of things that I hadn't repented of before.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm trusting God in ways I feels like new grace.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you are.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you're not missing this journey.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you're not sitting on the sidelines and you're saying, well, I'm going to step back and just see what God does at APC.
SPEAKER_00: You can do that.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you're not.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you're inviting the Holy Spirit into your life in new ways and you're praying differently.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you're not missing this.
SPEAKER_00: Because you can.
SPEAKER_00: This is about your marriage.
SPEAKER_00: This is about your children.
SPEAKER_00: What are the promises that you're going to give?
SPEAKER_00: What are the promises that you're going to pass on to the next generation and to the next generation?
SPEAKER_00: Singles, this is about your career.
SPEAKER_00: This is about your friendships.
SPEAKER_00: This is about your relationships.
SPEAKER_00: This is about everything, about everything for everyone here.
SPEAKER_00: And you either believe that or you don't.
SPEAKER_00: But invite him in.
SPEAKER_00: Arise.
SPEAKER_00: The angel says, follow me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm your celestial escort.
SPEAKER_00: Follow me.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's probably thinking, but there's guards all around us.
SPEAKER_00: No problem.
SPEAKER_00: I got that.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter follows, and Peter thinks this must be a dream.
SPEAKER_00: Surely this can't happen.
SPEAKER_00: It's finally when he gets through the city gate and he gets out on his own that he realizes, wait, this isn't a dream.
SPEAKER_00: This is real.
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like this gospel comedy.
SPEAKER_00: Peter knows right where to go.
SPEAKER_00: How did Peter know where to go?
SPEAKER_00: Because no doubt Mary's house was known as a place of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And no doubt he knew that the people of God were praying for him.
SPEAKER_00: He goes right to Mary's house and he starts knocking.
SPEAKER_00: And finally, Rhoda, the servant girl, hears the knocking.
SPEAKER_00: And she comes to the door.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter's saying, It's me.
SPEAKER_00: And she just finds that incredulous.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Peter's in prison.
SPEAKER_00: How could it be Peter?
SPEAKER_00: What are they doing in the prayer meeting?
SPEAKER_00: Praying for Peter's release.
SPEAKER_00: She goes back and she tells the crowd, praying, excuse me, I've got a message from Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's at the door.
SPEAKER_00: We'll let him, you know.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: It's not Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Well, how do you know it's not Peter?
SPEAKER_00: Because, well, we're praying for Peter's release, but it can't be Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Do you ever pray like that?
SPEAKER_00: Of course you do.
SPEAKER_00: I pray like that sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: When was the last time you were really surprised by how God answered your prayer?
SPEAKER_00: I hope it hasn't been long.
SPEAKER_00: They say you're out of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: But their prayers were answered, but they couldn't believe it.
SPEAKER_00: They were not ready to believe that God could answer their prayers so quickly.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, this is the verse that jumps off the page.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord delivered me from prison, is what Peter said when he finally got in.
SPEAKER_00: When Rhoda went back to the door and finally opened the door, unlatched the door, and he came in, and they realized that it wasn't his angel, it was Peter in the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's message was quite simple but powerful.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord delivered me from prison.
SPEAKER_00: And we've already perhaps done that this morning, but if not, don't miss this chance.
SPEAKER_00: This day, have you believed that message that the Lord has delivered you from your greatest prison?
SPEAKER_00: You can't get out of your prisons.
SPEAKER_00: You just can't.
SPEAKER_00: There's only one person that can deliver us out of the strongest prisons of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Jim Boyce tells the story he believes.
SPEAKER_00: The Indian evangelist Sundar Singh had been witnessing in Nepal and had been forbidden to preach in a particular city.
SPEAKER_00: However, he went on preaching and was arrested.
SPEAKER_00: They put him in a dry well with a lid on the top.
SPEAKER_00: He was there to die because they didn't intend to feed him.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Singh was sitting on the bones of people who had died before him in that well.
SPEAKER_00: While he was there praying, he heard a noise and he looked up and he noticed that somebody was lifting the lid.
SPEAKER_00: And soon a rope was lowered.
SPEAKER_00: The rope had a loop in the end, so he put his foot in the loop and he hung on and he was drawn out of that deep well.
SPEAKER_00: But when he got to the top and he looked around to see who pulled him out, there was nobody there.
SPEAKER_00: His deliverance sounds perfectly natural so far because we can imagine how a sympathetic person was there, knew his plight, opened the lid, dropped the rope, and then ran away quickly so not to be detected.
SPEAKER_00: But when Singh looked around, he saw that the cover was back on the cistern and he didn't put it back, and that it was locked again.
SPEAKER_00: How had that been done?
SPEAKER_00: Singh was merely thinking that whoever rescued him had done his job efficiently and got out.
SPEAKER_00: However, the freed evangelist went back to the very city and started preaching again.
SPEAKER_00: He was arrested again the next day, and he was brought before the priest, the chief man of the city.
SPEAKER_00: The people thought that some sympathetic person had freed him.
SPEAKER_00: But no.
SPEAKER_00: When they searched to see who had the only key to the cistern's lid and how Singh might have gotten it, they found that the only key was on the belt of the priest who had him arrested.
SPEAKER_00: At this point, Singh believed that God had sent his angel to deliver him.
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe that God has that kind of power?
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe that God is still doing miraculous things today?
SPEAKER_00: Because he can.
SPEAKER_00: And because he desires to rescue his people from prisons of their own making and prisons that are not of their own making.
SPEAKER_00: Closing.
SPEAKER_00: Is there a prison in your life that you feel like you're still chained to?
SPEAKER_00: What's robbing your joy?
SPEAKER_00: What's robbing your peace?
SPEAKER_00: You know the loss of joy is a serious sin.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that?
SPEAKER_00: The joy of the Lord is our strength, Nehemiah said.
SPEAKER_00: The joy of our Lord is our strength.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have joy, you're weak.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have joy, you are a weak Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Many people say, well, no, it's just joy.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's joy.
SPEAKER_00: It's the joy of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: The joy of the Lord is the strength of God's people.
SPEAKER_00: What is it that you need?
SPEAKER_00: What does the prison look like in your life?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes what is required is earnest prayer for the person prayed to God by the church.
SPEAKER_00: Let's break that down in closing.
SPEAKER_00: Earnest prayer.
SPEAKER_00: If you were here at the Good Friday service, I talked about this Greek word, this adverb.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same word you might recall that Jesus, his use of Jesus as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his death.
SPEAKER_00: It means literally stretched out.
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting that King James translates this praying without ceasing.
SPEAKER_00: Stretched out.
SPEAKER_00: Most people don't think that's right.
SPEAKER_00: That was not a good translation.
SPEAKER_00: It's not stretched out in time, which obviously we ought to pray, stretched out in time.
SPEAKER_00: This is stretched out in terms of earnestness.
SPEAKER_00: This is like a runner getting running, getting ready to shoot out of the blocks in a sprint.
SPEAKER_00: You know that position?
SPEAKER_00: Every muscle is attached.
SPEAKER_00: You're ready to explode out of the blocks.
SPEAKER_00: As soon as the gun goes off.
SPEAKER_00: Evidently, the night in the garden, every muscle in Jesus' body and every part of his soul was stretched out to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Which is why he prayed as earnestly as he did, and drops of blood and sweat dropped from his face.
SPEAKER_00: That's earnest prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the book on prayer by Halisby that many of you have read?
SPEAKER_00: What is prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is a cry.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I'm sure that we don't see our prayers answered in part because we don't know how to cry.
SPEAKER_00: We just say our prayers like we're reciting an encyclopedia sometimes, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and God, would you I I forgot that.
SPEAKER_00: Can I add this to the list?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes our prayers probably feel like a grocery shopping list.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, God, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Let me, let me, I'm gonna ask this one too.
SPEAKER_00: That has nothing to do with this.
SPEAKER_00: Are you learning how to pray from your heart?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes with real tears.
SPEAKER_00: Because what you know you need so badly, your heart is stretched out toward God.
SPEAKER_00: Why pray if God will do it anyway?
SPEAKER_00: We don't have time for that answer.
SPEAKER_00: It's the anyway that's the problem.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna accomplish his will no matter what, period, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, he's decreed the ends, his purposes, but he's also decreed the means.
SPEAKER_00: Let me put it like this, very shortly, because we've got to move on.
SPEAKER_00: Do I believe that we would be where we are today, today, on first fruit Sunday, do I believe we would be here today without those days of prayer and fasting?
SPEAKER_00: No, I don't.
SPEAKER_00: Do I believe that we would be here today where we are in this rise capital campaign without the prayers of hundreds of people pleading with God, crying out to God?
SPEAKER_00: And the answer is very simple.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, we wouldn't be here.
SPEAKER_00: And unless you believe that, you haven't learned how to pray.
SPEAKER_00: You don't just, we don't just say, God, you know, oh, I need this, I need that.
SPEAKER_00: Are we learning how to pray earnestly?
SPEAKER_00: Because there's real needs.
SPEAKER_00: And real people are going to hell.
SPEAKER_00: And real people's marriages are in shambles.
SPEAKER_00: And real people's lives are being tormented.
SPEAKER_00: If you know that, it's going to shake you out of your slumber.
SPEAKER_00: And you're going to pray differently.
SPEAKER_00: But you need the Holy Spirit to show you this.
SPEAKER_00: You need the Holy Spirit to wake you up.
SPEAKER_00: And what does the rest of the verse say?
SPEAKER_00: Prayers made to God.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: Earnest prayers.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, for the person.
SPEAKER_00: This was for Peter.
SPEAKER_00: A definite prayer for a definite person.
SPEAKER_00: We don't just pray, don't just jot gun your prayers.
SPEAKER_00: A specific person.
SPEAKER_00: A specific need.
SPEAKER_00: Earnestly.
SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, they pray to God.
SPEAKER_00: We think, well, that's a no-brainer.
SPEAKER_00: Of course it's to God, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe not so quick.
SPEAKER_00: When we pray, what's really on our minds?
SPEAKER_00: Is it really the holiness and almightiness and the power of God?
SPEAKER_00: That God is all-powerful, but God is also all-merciful and all-gracious?
SPEAKER_00: Or do we sometimes, when we pray, find ourselves just thinking more about us?
SPEAKER_00: God, I'm just feeling so miserable and so lousy about my life.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I yeah, I mean, you know, just kind of going every which way.
SPEAKER_00: Are our prayers really to God?
SPEAKER_00: Mindful of, more conscious of who he is than more conscious of who we are.
SPEAKER_00: You can't do that without the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, our minds will just drift.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, we'll just kind of like, you know, I know I'm praying to God, but it doesn't really feel like a heart connection.
SPEAKER_00: Like one of the preachers back in the 19th century in England described, suppose an Englishman was summoned to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen.
SPEAKER_00: He wouldn't, when he ushered into the presence of the Queen, he wouldn't say, I wonder how long I have to stay here.
SPEAKER_00: Because I've got a busy day.
SPEAKER_00: She wouldn't say that.
SPEAKER_00: She might think, I wonder how much time the Queen will give me today.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder how much time my God will give me today.
SPEAKER_00: He's got all the time you've got.
SPEAKER_00: By the blood of Jesus, we come into the throne room.
SPEAKER_00: We don't come in our own merit.
SPEAKER_00: Again, the well-known illustration, which is so powerful, is going to the bank.
SPEAKER_00: When you go to the bank of heaven for whatever it is that you need, when you go to the bank of heaven, don't take your checkbook.
SPEAKER_00: Because you've got nothing in your account.
SPEAKER_00: You say, no, no, I actually, some of us might say, no, actually, I've got quite a bit in my account.
SPEAKER_00: No, you don't.
SPEAKER_00: Not when it comes to your prayer life.
SPEAKER_00: You say, Jesus, I need your check.
SPEAKER_00: Because all of the merit is yours.
SPEAKER_00: I need your check from your bank with your name on it.
SPEAKER_00: Are you learning how to pray like that?
SPEAKER_00: That's real prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, There, fill it in.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: Fill in the amount.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we say, but God, it's a lot.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I know.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you think I sent my son?
SPEAKER_00: There are no perfect, perfect prayers by me or anyone here.
SPEAKER_00: The only perfect thing about our prayers is the perfection of our intercessor, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But his perfection is the only one we need.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: As we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, to the Father, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And lastly, and we pray together, corporate prayer.
SPEAKER_00: There were many gathered together in that room who were praying.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to close this morning by asking everyone in this room to take a step.
SPEAKER_00: Take a step in this direction.
SPEAKER_00: There's nobody in this room that doesn't need to take a step, and it starts with a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: I've told some of you how much I've seen God grow me the last year.
SPEAKER_00: No question, God has grown me the last year.
SPEAKER_00: And God has shown me the ornaments I've had to strip off.
SPEAKER_00: And God has grown my faith.
SPEAKER_00: And I need to- there's more steps I need to take.
SPEAKER_00: But there's more steps you need to take, too.
SPEAKER_00: Take a step.
SPEAKER_00: If you've never been to a prayer meeting at APC, take a step.
SPEAKER_00: Come to a prayer meeting.
SPEAKER_00: Pray with other people.
SPEAKER_00: If it's been a while since you've come to a prayer meeting, come to a prayer meeting.
SPEAKER_00: Take a step.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not praying at all at home, take a step.
SPEAKER_00: Ask God to help you to start praying.
SPEAKER_00: Take a step.
SPEAKER_00: And see what God does.
SPEAKER_00: As we pray for specific people, for specific problems in specific prisons.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We pray through Christ and we pray in the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray to God.
SPEAKER_00: And we see what God continues to do.
SPEAKER_00: And we can sing with the Wesleys.
SPEAKER_00: And can it be?
SPEAKER_00: Pray with me.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we ask that you would please awaken us.
SPEAKER_00: Awaken us, Father.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to arise spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: Amaze us with what we see you do as your people pray to you through your Son and your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Awaken us.
SPEAKER_00: Do powerful and mighty things in Alexandria Presbyterian Church.
SPEAKER_00: In Alexandria in Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_00: and throughout the world.
SPEAKER_00: Do amazing things, even through the prayers of your people in this church.
SPEAKER_00: We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.