SPEAKER_00: Ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, good evening, guys.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: God, thank you for this night.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Lord, we are so grateful for everything you give us.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's been hot for a really long time.
SPEAKER_00: Um I pray that you just give us uh endurance and relief, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, in this moment as we just sit and we enjoy the air conditioning, um, focus our minds and our hearts, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Open our ears um to your word.
SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, we pray this in your son's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: All right, so we're continuing in First Timothy, and uh as First Timothy started, um, just to give you again the backstory, make sure we're on the same page, Timothy is warned, first of all, against false teachers.
SPEAKER_01: So if you remember, Paul has sent Timothy to this new church or to this church in Ephesus because they'd been distracted and it started getting off, and they needed help and they needed leadership.
SPEAKER_01: And so Paul commissioned Timothy, this younger man, this younger minister, to go and start at this church and begin to uh rehash things and um to do that.
SPEAKER_01: And he gives them this command in 1 Timothy in the first chapter, he says, Stay there in Ephesus, so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrine any longer, or devote themselves to myth and endless genealogies.
SPEAKER_01: And so there he's there to oppose false teachers and people that are distracting other people from the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: So maybe there are people that may be speaking truth even, but it's like, why do we need to talk about that?
SPEAKER_01: We need to focus on the gospel, on what is in front of us, what we need to be there.
SPEAKER_01: And so as he goes there, and this is what Paul says confront these false teachers, and then he says also he goes in memory, switches gears, what we talked about last week, talking about what is Paul's strength.
SPEAKER_01: Now he gives these two things, and then he gives in the first uh explicit direction in chapter two, he says this in chapter two I urge then, um, first of all, that pr um that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
SPEAKER_01: This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants all the people to be saved, to come to a knowledge of the truth.
SPEAKER_01: For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
SPEAKER_01: This has now been witness to the proper time, and for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle.
SPEAKER_01: I am telling the truth.
SPEAKER_01: I am not lying, a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: So, Paul, first thing he does, the explicit instructions that he gives to them, to this guy, he puts into ministry, he says, go take care of the church, and he puts them up against some very heavy things.
SPEAKER_01: He said, There are false teachers, and there are people that are distracting people from the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in order to confront these people, the first instruction he gives them is to pray.
SPEAKER_01: How many of us are guilty, and I mean many of us like individuals and churches, are guilty of not putting prayer as a priority?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know am.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, give me, have you ever come up against a situation?
SPEAKER_01: Somebody presented you with present with something and you say, okay, just give me a minute to think.
SPEAKER_01: Shouldn't it be, give me a minute to pray about this?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Or how many of us have said the things, well, I've tried everything else, I guess we'll need to pray.
SPEAKER_01: Ouch.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Like we say it not as, oh, that's our only thing we can do, but oh, I've tried everything else, and now I'm gonna go to plan B.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Or even sometimes, is there anything you can do that I can do for you?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, besides that.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I mean, how many of us have said the things where we take prayer and we say it's maybe a preposition or a preparation for a ministry, but prayer itself is a ministry.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the priorities, and we see this in the church, in the book of Acts, the priority when they first started the church.
SPEAKER_01: And don't forget, this is in Acts chapter 2.
SPEAKER_01: This was right when the church first started.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter 2, verse 42, it says they were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
SPEAKER_01: So there was a few things that they devoted themselves to, and prayer was one of them.
SPEAKER_01: Now, one thing that kind of struck me as I was studying, they devoted themselves to prayer, and this was before the persecution of the church had begun.
SPEAKER_01: Because for me, prayer is so much of the time, well, man, I'm gonna pray for relief, I'm gonna pray for safety, I'm gonna pray for these people that are going through struggles.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, even before the struggles hit, even before Stephen was stoned by the Jews, they were dedicating themselves to prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, in Acts chapter 6, you go a few chapters later, they have this complaint against them that some of the widows were being neglected when they were given food.
SPEAKER_01: And the disciples, they come together and the apostles say, But carefully, select among you, brothers, seven men who are well arrested or well attested, full of the spirit of wisdom, who may be put in charge of this necessary task.
SPEAKER_01: But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.
SPEAKER_01: See, the early church even put prayer above ministry to the widows.
SPEAKER_01: This was the first priority.
SPEAKER_01: And in my mind, prayer is like this moment of defense, this moment that you gurge your, you know, get yourself ready with prayer and to do the things you get ready.
SPEAKER_01: But the apostles saw prayer as the ministry, as the thing that they did this.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we could devote whole sermons about why we should pray and answer questions that people have.
SPEAKER_01: If God knows everything, then why do we have to talk to him?
SPEAKER_01: You know, or if God is, why should we um, will God act without us praying?
SPEAKER_01: Or all these different things.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to focus on those tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, I want to focus on the fact that we are instructed to pray.
SPEAKER_01: God calls us to prioritize prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, Paul, when he's talking later earlier to the first Thessalonians, I'm sorry, Thessalonians first book, 5717, easily remembered verse, what's it say?
SPEAKER_01: Pray without ceasing.
SPEAKER_01: Pray continually, some translations say.
SPEAKER_01: See, this means that we need to be praying when we're worried, right?
SPEAKER_01: Or when we're angry, when we're tired, but we also need to be praying when we're full of energy, when we're working or when we're resting, when we're happy, when we're nervous or excited, when we are up or when we are down.
SPEAKER_01: We need to be prioritizing prayer.
SPEAKER_01: This is a discipline.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is something that takes work, something that we actually need to devote our mind and our body to actually doing and getting better at.
SPEAKER_01: It's something that we can improve on.
SPEAKER_01: And so we need to pray without ceasing.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you pray without ceasing, that means, of course, pray for everything.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus set the example, who in fact was God in human flesh, set the example of setting a times aside specifically for prayer.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if anybody was in continual prayer, it would be Jesus, and yet he still dedicated times to praying.
SPEAKER_01: Why, I mean, this example that how do we follow that, or why do we follow that?
SPEAKER_01: Um, my wife and I, we try and get a date once a week.
SPEAKER_01: That's our goal.
SPEAKER_01: Now, with life, it happens not quite as often as we'd like it to, right?
SPEAKER_01: Does that mean that we don't talk every day?
SPEAKER_01: No, we're always talking, right?
SPEAKER_01: And yet, those times that we set aside where we go and spend time away from the kids, away from other people, just with one another, enhance our intimacy.
SPEAKER_01: That time also improves those moments in the day where we're talking continually.
SPEAKER_01: See, so those times, the same thing can be said of our prayer life.
SPEAKER_01: When we dedicate times to spend with God in dedicated prayer, it can help improve those times that we are praying throughout the day because we have more intimacy, more understanding of what God wants and what his voice sounds like.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I love this idea of doing that.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we also are trying to prioritize prayer as a church in our small group training that we've been doing on Tuesday.
SPEAKER_01: You know, our small groups we have that we meet and we go, then some have be, or some of you guys have been asking me, when are we gonna start these small groups?
SPEAKER_01: Some are getting started and getting the ball rolling.
SPEAKER_01: Um, we'll be getting more information out as they come, but we're waiting for leaders to come up that are gonna lead and take charge of those small groups.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, there should be a few that are starting in September.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so if you're interested in that, you're always welcome too to come Tuesday mornings uh to that training that we have.
SPEAKER_01: But during that time, we have been saying, okay, make sure that we prioritize prayer because there's something that happens when we pray one-on-one with God, but also when we pray communally, together with other people and for one another, there's something very amazing that happens in that time.
SPEAKER_01: Now, because there's power to praying alongside one another.
SPEAKER_01: So, here again, back, Paul addresses his first issue.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Listen, you need to oppose these leaders and you need to set this aside, but the first thing you need to do is pray, and you need to pray all types of prayers, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because he says this.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, I urge you then, and he adds emphasis.
SPEAKER_01: This is not only the first thing that he says for Timothy to do, but he adds the emphasis of I urge you to do this, I push you towards this, I almost beg or I plead with you about this.
SPEAKER_01: He says, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: Some people say supplications, right?
SPEAKER_01: Uh supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: And I didn't even realize that the acronym for supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving is uh spit, which I'm not sure how I feel about that.
SPEAKER_01: So supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: But it it's an easy way to remember, right?
SPEAKER_01: But supplications, and when I first put this together, it's like, oh, this would be great.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible nerd part of me, like dug in, like, oh, this is gonna be exciting.
SPEAKER_01: We'll get into the the how what's the difference between each of these things and why does he say it four times again?
SPEAKER_01: And and what are these?
SPEAKER_01: Now, the first three things, they're really similar.
SPEAKER_01: There's actually not much difference in those first three things.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, supplication is basically pleading.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and we see Jesus and in the gospels, Luke records this a few times, um, there's a man that comes in in chapter five and goes before Jesus and he's leprous, and he says to him, he says, when Jesus saw, or when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face on the ground and he begged him, and that's the word there, he begged him out loud, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean.
SPEAKER_01: And so he this idea of going before God and begging.
SPEAKER_01: Actually, you see, Jesus do the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: He later in Luke 22 tells Simon, Simon, Simon, Satan is asked to sift all of you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not, and it's that word, I've begged or pleaded supplication for you, and that you will not turn back, that you will not fall away, and when you have turned back, you will strengthen your brothers.
SPEAKER_01: And so we see this idea of supplication.
SPEAKER_01: Now, then it says, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: Now, prayers and intercessions are kind of, it's not so much that they're different words.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, Paul was just using a device to build the emphasis on how important this is.
SPEAKER_01: You know, if I was gonna tell my kid to hurry up, you know, as they're waddling behind me, I'd say, run.
SPEAKER_01: But if I really wanted to go, what'd I say?
SPEAKER_01: Run quickly now, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because you want to build that emphasis.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Paul is doing.
SPEAKER_01: You need to praise supplications, prayers, intercessions.
SPEAKER_01: He's building it.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's not that there's necessarily differences or what are the differences in there, but it's emphasizing, yes, we need to pray.
SPEAKER_01: Now the first three are very similar, but the fourth, do you see the difference there?
SPEAKER_01: He turns a corner because he says supplications, prayers, intercessions, and then what's he say?
SPEAKER_01: Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: See, the first three are pleading or asking God to do something, change what's going to happen, intercede, come between, make a difference.
SPEAKER_01: But the fourth one is acknowledging goodness or things that have already we've already received or we already seen.
SPEAKER_01: Now, honestly, this one's kind of tough in situations because who does Paul tell us to pray for?
SPEAKER_01: Pray for all people.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, for kings and those in authority.
SPEAKER_01: I think this part makes it difficult to pray that Thanksgiving sometimes, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Because thanksgiving, like a lot of times, have you ever met somebody that uses prayer almost as a weapon?
SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, I'm gonna pray for you, right?
SPEAKER_01: And it's like a threat.
SPEAKER_01: Like, it's not like, ah man, you're gonna feel this prayer so hard, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's almost, I love that you've gotten somebody in your mind.
SPEAKER_01: Um but the thing is, like, and for me, thanksgiving for somebody kind of takes the self-righteous wind out of my sails, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes I go to pray for somebody, especially if they cut me off or whatever, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna pray for that guy, right?
SPEAKER_01: I I think almost come with it like this attitude of I, Jared the benevolent, will pray for thou, lowly person, right?
SPEAKER_01: I will lift it.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what I but if I'm bringing thanksgiving, I have to acknowledge something about that person.
SPEAKER_01: It takes the wind out of my sails because it makes me realize, wait a minute, God loves that person too.
SPEAKER_01: God made that person in his image.
SPEAKER_01: And they are in need and grace and a savior as much as I am.
SPEAKER_01: And so thanksgiving for these people, it almost takes it, it puts me where I need to be, right?
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, it takes the wind out of my sails in a good way.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Paul tells it for all types of people, right?
SPEAKER_01: Pray all types of prayers for all types of people.
SPEAKER_01: So pray generally for all types of people.
SPEAKER_01: And this is for the world, for everybody.
SPEAKER_01: Because verse 4, as it goes on, it says, He wants all people, God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're supposed to pray for every person.
SPEAKER_01: We can pray for our nation, for the city, for gigantic amounts of people that they would know who God is, that they would come to a knowledge of the truth.
SPEAKER_01: But we're also supposed to pray specifically for certain people, aren't we?
SPEAKER_01: See, when we learn about the needs of individuals or groups of people or churches in different cities or churches in different countries, we need to be praying specifically for them.
SPEAKER_01: We need to pray, and this is easy to do when we find the needs or when we see specific things.
SPEAKER_01: When you see first responders at an ambulance with their lights on, it's an easy reminder to pray specifically for wherever that person is being helped.
SPEAKER_01: Or when we see police, that's a great person to pray for and needs that prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And we can pray generally for everybody for salvation and then also specifically pray for people.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Paul brings it down from a general prayer, pray for all types of people, and he gets very specific, doesn't he?
SPEAKER_01: He says, pray not just for all types of people, but pray specifically for kings and all those who are in authority.
SPEAKER_01: Now, for us, some of us, you we react with a gut reaction like, gosh, I don't want to pray for that right-wing god-da-da, right?
SPEAKER_01: We think of politiceness and we don't want to pray for, or we use the you know, political party as almost like a dirty word, I'm gonna pray for that Democrat, you know, or whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_01: And it almost spits out of our mouth.
SPEAKER_01: And yet that is what God calls us to do.
SPEAKER_01: And in thanksgiving for that person, whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_01: And so God calls us in this season.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, some of us respond with our gut like that, but it's hard for us to humble ourselves sometimes to pray for a leader that we disagree with.
SPEAKER_01: It's difficult, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: But remember who's Paul is writing to?
SPEAKER_01: He's writing to the Ephesian church and telling them, pray for the king.
SPEAKER_01: The king of that time is Nero.
SPEAKER_01: Nero spearheaded the persecution of Christians.
SPEAKER_01: Nero would take Christians and soak them in oil and light them on fire to light his parties, to give light to these garden parties that he had.
SPEAKER_01: One of the things that Nero was famous for is he'd take slabs of meat and put it on Christians and then throw them into the amphitheaters with lions for sport to people watch.
SPEAKER_01: This is who God, who Paul is telling them to pray for.
SPEAKER_01: Suddenly, maybe it's not so hard for us to pray for that person that's a different uh political party than us, is it?
SPEAKER_01: Or shouldn't be.
SPEAKER_01: Paul doesn't call people, remember, he doesn't call people to fight against the king or to protest or to do these things or to rebel.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, what's he telling them to do?
SPEAKER_01: Pray.
SPEAKER_01: And it's the same thing that we are called to do.
SPEAKER_01: In Romans 13, he talks about this a great deal.
SPEAKER_01: In the beginning, he says how all authorities are established.
SPEAKER_01: Even evil authorities are established by God, and that we are supposed to be praying for them.
SPEAKER_01: And I love Proverbs 21:1.
SPEAKER_01: It says, the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He turns it wherever he will.
SPEAKER_01: See, as we pray, I think something also happens.
SPEAKER_01: We pray and we start to understand and begin to understand, God is in control and sovereign.
SPEAKER_01: He can change the hearts of even the most vile leaders.
SPEAKER_01: But we are told first for us to be praying for them.
SPEAKER_01: So why do we do this?
SPEAKER_01: Why does Paul call us to do this?
SPEAKER_01: And this is what he says for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all goodliness, or godliness and holiness.
SPEAKER_01: All right, so we are to pray so that we may live at peace.
SPEAKER_01: And he lists two different things that we may live quiet and peaceful lives, right?
SPEAKER_01: Quiet is this idea that it refers to the situation, the circumstances that we're in.
SPEAKER_01: God calls us to pray for our leaders so that we will have external peace.
SPEAKER_01: In the situations we're in, we will have peaceful situations.
SPEAKER_01: But he also prays for us to have peaceful situations.
SPEAKER_01: That means an inner choice, an inner idea.
SPEAKER_01: See, when we begin to pray for our leaders, a couple things happen.
SPEAKER_01: God begins to act, right, and hopefully the circumstances we find ourselves in will be better.
SPEAKER_01: But I think that sovereignty, that idea, that understanding that God is in control begins to give us peace and hear.
SPEAKER_01: Because we can understand that when that guy who's in leadership makes a decision we disagree with, when the political parties or leaderships do things that we don't agree with, we can start to understand, if we're praying for them, that yeah, God is in control, that the sun is still gonna come up tomorrow, right?
SPEAKER_01: And that God is still God.
SPEAKER_01: So we need to pray these things to live at peace.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we always think, or I my mind goes directly towards political leaders, right?
SPEAKER_01: But what about other leaders?
SPEAKER_01: These days, leaders of corporations have huge impact on our world.
SPEAKER_01: And I think those are people that we need to be praying for also.
SPEAKER_01: Because, of course, they need God, they need a savior, they need grace, but they have a huge influence on things happening in our world.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Amazon is such a giant that it impacts things so huge.
SPEAKER_01: And so we need to be praying for those political leaders, but also I'd say for corporate leaders.
SPEAKER_01: And of course, we need to be praying for spiritual leaders.
SPEAKER_01: We need to be praying for our spiritual leaders, and I would covet your prayers, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: But I think we need to be praying for all church leaders in our city and across the nation.
SPEAKER_01: Um, Charles Spurgeon, he's a well-known British preacher who's at lived in the last century.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, he was touring around Europe, and over his preaching, he was just renowned.
SPEAKER_01: And he saw thousands and thousands of people come to Christ as meetings that he held, that he would deliver these speeches.
SPEAKER_01: And he was in Europe at one point and he met this American pastor, and this American uh minister asked him, he said, I have long wished to see you, Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Spurgeon, and put to you one or two simple questions.
SPEAKER_01: And I see what you have to say.
SPEAKER_01: In our country, many opinions are uh there's a lot of people that have opinions about what your secret is of your great influence.
SPEAKER_01: Would you be good enough to give me your point of view?
SPEAKER_01: So why is it you have such influence?
SPEAKER_01: Why are you such a good speaker?
SPEAKER_01: And after a moment's pause, and Spurgeon thought about this, he says, My people pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: See, Spurgeon didn't even credit, yes, that I have this great talent or God just blesses me.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, he said, No, my people pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: And so it just emphasizes we need to be praying for our church leaders.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Paul, he moves on from saying, okay, we need to be praying for specifically, you know, but he also says, or for from general, we need to be praying for general people to specific people.
SPEAKER_01: In the same way, he stops going general, just pray in general for these things, but he goes specifically, and he says, We need to start praying specifically for evangelistic.
SPEAKER_01: Souls, for the evangelism of souls.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 4, it says this, or actually, verse 3, this is good.
SPEAKER_01: It pleases God, our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth.
SPEAKER_01: For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
SPEAKER_01: This is how it has now been witnessed, to be the proper time.
SPEAKER_01: And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle.
SPEAKER_01: I am telling the truth, I am not lying, true and faithful teacher to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: See, we are to pray that there may so that we may live at peace and advance the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: Because our peace is not the reason that we pray.
SPEAKER_01: We gain the benefit of the peace, but the reason God wants there to be peace is that his kingdom will advance.
SPEAKER_01: See, Paul says, this pleases God that everyone should be hearing the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: And so as we pray, not just for our church or for our town or for our friends, we also need to be praying specifically that those that don't know Jesus will come to know him.
SPEAKER_01: If we have somebody specific in our life, praying for that person, absolutely, and praying for this in general that more people will come to know who he is.
SPEAKER_01: And this understanding of what Paul says, that there is one God and one mediator between God and man, that's Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This idea, this understanding should prompt us even more to prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Because there are so many confused and lost people that they think there are multiple ways to God, or they have a misunderstanding, and they need to know the truth.
SPEAKER_01: And we need to be praying for those people.
SPEAKER_01: So Tom Paul tells us that we need to pray all types of prayers for all types of people so that we can live at peace and advance the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: As I was planning this sermon out, I was like, okay, well, how are we going to close this down?
SPEAKER_01: What's a good illustration to bring it back together?
SPEAKER_01: And it came to my head, James 1.22, be doers of the word, not simply hearers of the word.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want to close us in a time of prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Instead of, I'm I'm going to take a longer chunk here, but this is a chance.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just going to lead us all in prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm going to open us and then I'm just going to kind of give you guidelines for you personally to be praying in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm going to ask the worship band actually to come now, and that way we can pray and not be distracted as we're praying, but you guys can pray from up here, and uh that way we can just be focused on what God is doing.
SPEAKER_01: So if you would bow your heads with me and let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we are called into your family, and the first thing Paul says for us to prioritize is prayer.
SPEAKER_01: So in this moment, we come before you humbly.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, you are so good, and I'm so grateful for your salvation that you've given us.
SPEAKER_01: Right now, Lord, I pray, and I want to take a moment that all of us can just pray for those who are sick and hurting in our congregation, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for those, Lord, um, that have physical illnesses that you heal them.
SPEAKER_01: In the midst of being sick, let them lean on you.
SPEAKER_01: Um pray for those that are in pain, that are hurting, maybe not physically, but emotionally.
SPEAKER_01: Whether it be mental health or whether it be just a situation, we lift them up and let your peace break through the darkness, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we want to take a moment to pray for leaders.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, we want to pray for foreign leaders.
SPEAKER_01: There are so many churches around the nation that are being persecuted.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for the leaders of those countries that they come to know you.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, in this moment we also pray for those leaders throughout the world that do know you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Give them the strength to stand up, to have integrity, to stay faithful to you, and to influence those people around him.
SPEAKER_01: We pray for those people right now.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we take a peck and a moment to to pray for our own leaders.
SPEAKER_01: To pray for those that are highest level of government right now, the the executive and judicial branch and the legislative branches, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Congress and the Senate.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for our state leaders here.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I just want to take a moment to pray for judges at all levels that you give them wisdom and guidance.
SPEAKER_01: For those that know you, let their ears hear what you have.
SPEAKER_01: For those that don't, um, surround them with people that give them influence and give them godly advice, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray for for church leaders of churches here in Bullhead, uh, ones that are going through transitions, ones that are that are building, Lord, churches and that are that are starting them.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray for the ministers who are well established that you give them a fresh breath, Lord, a new energy to lead their people, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I want to take a moment to pray for our sister churches and Needles and Havasu and Kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: For Brian and John and Tony.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I want to take a moment for each of us just to picture a neighbor that maybe doesn't know you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I just ask that we can pray faithfully for them.
SPEAKER_01: That they come to know you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, you are so good.
SPEAKER_01: And you are at work, whether we see it or we don't, Lord, you are always moving.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I would ask that you open our eyes of our heart just to see how you are moving in the world around us, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Excite us, ignite within us a passion and excitement for prayer, for connection with you.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for each one of these guys.
SPEAKER_01: I look out and I just, I see so many hearts that I just love dearly, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: In this moment, again, let us just come before you and just and know that you are God.
SPEAKER_00: As we continue to worship, let our minds be focused on how good you are, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Pray this in your son's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.