I would invite your attention with me this evening, 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 5, all the way over to the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 5. I'm going to turn over there and we're going to read one little teeny tiny verse. It only has three words in it, but that's a good place to start as any, I suppose. We continue on with our thought, or with the study, rather, that we have begun. been going for several weeks now on different Bible doctrines. I mapped out 52 of them and as I've looked at them, I began to wonder how many things I have left out and could probably go through right now and rewrite that list and make some changes to it, but we'll try to continue on with it as it is. Tonight we study the the thought of prayer. I'm going to spend two weeks tonight and then next Sunday evening in our Bible study on the thought of prayer. As I worked on that list, 52 doctrines in 52 weeks, as I worked on that list, I looked at some things and said, this needs more and this needs less. And then after I redid it three or four times, now I've looked at it again and said, well, I probably should have done something differently here. This matter of prayer, and I cannot emphasize to you enough this evening, the great importance of prayer. Prayer should be as natural to the child of God as breathing is to our flesh. It should be just a natural part of who we are and what we do. The life of a child of God without prayer will be, without any exception, will be weak and frail. No child of God could ever say that they are being used by God that doesn't have an active prayer life. No child of God could pretend to be filled with a spirit that doesn't have an active prayer life. No sermon, no preacher, can stand and speak with the power of God without a prayer life. And I do not try to pretend, not for one moment, that I am a prayer warrior like I ought to be. I do some praying. And there's not one of you that I haven't prayed for. And I'm not ashamed to tell you, I pray for you, pray for you by name. I do. You can laugh at me, but I'll come out here and pray for you by few. Laugh at me if you want to, but I do. Because I love you. But I still know there's a great negligence in my own prayer life. In my own life, I know that I still miss the mark. And I think that most every one of us would probably agree to that this evening. That prayer, no matter what we put into it, we still feel like, I should have done more. I should have given more. I've preached on prayer a couple times already in my time here. But we'll look at it a little more in depth and study it. But I want to read just this particular text to you tonight. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 17 simply says this, pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. I don't know if any greater challenge could ever be issued in the matter of prayer. I'll get into this a little bit more as we press on, but one must understand that the divine directive here is not that we are to always have our heads bowed and our eyes closed and never do anything else. That's not what's being spoken of right here. Rather, what we are told is that we are to always be in the attitude of prayer. We're always be in the place where we can pray. If you're in a place that you can't pray, you might better stop and ask where you are. Now, understand this, and I'm going to get into this. We'll develop this a little bit further as we go. The idea that's given right here is we need to be in constant communion with God. When prayer is said and done, it's us talking to God. That's what it really is. It is us talking to our Heavenly Father. It is us communing with Him. And sin will enter into our lives and it will sever that fellowship, things that will come in that will cause us to escape that avenue of prayer, to leave that blessed place of prayer. But we need to be always in an attitude and in a spiritual place of prayer so that we can pray without ceasing. So if I'm headed up the highway, I can pray. If I'm sitting in church service, I can pray. If I'm at the workplace, I can pray. And understand, I do find an importance of bowing our heads and closing our eyes. We do that out of reverence for God. We do that out of respect for God. We bow our heads, we close our eyes to show our humility, to try to show a meekness, a submission to God. But you can pray sitting right there where you are right now. And I would hope that you do. I hope that as the songs are being sung and as the prayers are being made and as the preaching is going forth, I hope that out of your being, out of your heart, you're uttering prayers unto God, that you're saying, yes, God, Lord, work. Christ, let it be. God, may you do a mighty thing. This should be. And we should live in such a way that we can indeed pray without ceasing. I'll be very honest with you. You always have to be worried about somebody when they begin something, but I'll be honest with you, right? But anyway, let me be perhaps too honest with you this evening. A couple of years ago, I did a real deep study into prayer. I preached a series of about nine or ten sermons on prayer. Passion in prayer, power in prayer, prayer in predestination, and you can go on. I had about nine Ps, different things. And that was an incredible blessing to me personally, that study of prayer, because I found myself in a closer communion with God than I think that I've ever been in. And here's where I'm being honest, closer than I am right now in that matter of communion. I'm not saying that God's a million miles away and I'm here, but I'm saying that study of prayer put me in the prayer closet. It put me in a position or an attitude of prayer far more frequently than I find myself in now. And that's whether or not you like to hear that or whether or not that finds you uncomfortable, I think we can be honest enough with ourselves to admit there are times when we're just closer in communion to God than there are at other times. I read studies, read about the lives of some of these men, E.M. Bounds, and even some names of some men that we disagree with greatly on doctrinal matters. Wesley and some other men who would spend hours a day in prayer, who wouldn't even crack their Bible open and begin study until they had spent two or three hours in prayer. And I realize we all have jobs. I realize you've got to work. And these men, this was their calling. Their life's work was preaching and Bible study and these things. And perhaps they were afforded more time and opportunity, but I don't think any of us here would dare say I take advantage of all the opportunity and time that I have in prayer. And when I read about these men who walked by a powerful prayer life, it's humbling. It's incredibly humbling to think these men took a delight in prayer. Isn't that enough to stop them right there? These men took a delight in prayer. It wasn't cumbersome to them. It wasn't burdensome. It wasn't, you mean I've got to pray again? But took a delight in prayer. And I'll say this, one of the reasons why prayer can become cumbersome and burdensome is that we're not praying enough. The more that we spend in communion with God, the more you'll want it, the more you'll thrive for it, the more passion you'll have for it. That's my own experience and that's the experience of those that I have read after that I believe were prayer warriors. I remember reading a story of a man. He had gotten together with another preacher. And they were praying together before some conference or before some meeting. And this man thought, one of the men thought, he said that he had never really thought all that highly of this other man as far as his preaching ability. But then when they got together to pray, this man said, he said, I don't even know what prayer is after hearing this man pray. The man said, we were alone there in the room praying. And this is what his testimony was. The man's testimony was, he said, I was afraid to even stretch forth my hand unless I touch God. He said, that man had such a fellowship and a communion with God in prayer that he said, when I bowed with him in prayer, he said, I was afraid to even stretch forth my hand because it's just like he was talking to God and God was right there. And I think we all need some times like that. And I'm sorry, but sometimes God slaps us around in this life to put us there because it's so beneficial. I wish, I wish with all my might that I had a greater and more active prayer life. And I trust that you probably feel that way as well. If I were to ask you this evening, and that's just some random thoughts on prayer. Prayer, it ought to be just as natural. It ought to be as natural as breathing. I really think if you go an hour without praying, you're too busy. And I understand you've got to work, but if you can't at work, at home, wherever you are, if you can't just stop for a minute and say, bless Brother Wallace. God, right now I'm busy, but he needs some help. And you can do that. This person is saved, or I'm sorry, this person is lost that I've just run in with. God save them. You know, just that kind of, it should be a constant, constant communication with God. I think maybe, I don't have any of this in my notes. That'll get you woke up. Our society as a whole, and you listen to me, our society as a whole is losing the ability to communicate. Now maybe it's because I work for the post office that I'll say this, but an email and other things is just not as personal as a letter. It's not. You can send cards via the internet and you can write letters, and I'm not against any of that, but a letter, a card, means something. with texting, which is, I mean, who'd ever thought when you all growing up thought about texting people, you, you wouldn't have any idea even what that was. 10 years ago, we had no idea what that is. But you see kids and I'm not trying to be mean my my see my kids do it, you better go to a restaurant, sit down in a restaurant and see everybody at the table and everybody's at tables this nobody's talking to each other. No one speaks to each other. Everyone's tied up in social media and doing these other things, and no one talks to each other. And we've lost the ability to communicate, or we are losing the ability to communicate. Now listen, you can't text God. I'm sorry if that sounds silly. There's no shorthand with God. You've got to get along with Him in prayer and talk to God. It's so incredibly beneficial. You've got to talk to God. And you've got to make time to talk to God. If you're too busy to pray, you're too busy. This is our normal morning. Can I say, maybe I'll just say my morning, normal morning mindset. I got to get up and get going. I got so much to do, I don't have time to pray. Well, you better hit the back up button here. I've got so much to do, I must pray. So that's what our attitude should be. Our attitude should be not that I don't have time because I have so much, rather, I must because I have so much. Prayer, it is. I'm not here to beat you all up, you're here. I'm not here to throw body blows because you're here. There are three, to me there are three essential, what I call preventative maintenance for every Christian. Bible reading and study and church attendance. Now, you can go beyond that and that's fine, but you don't take care of your car, it ain't going to last long. You don't take care of your spiritual body, your spiritual needs, it's not going to last. You're going to become weak and frail and broken down. And those three things, I find those three things essential to spiritual health. Prayer, Bible study, church attendance. Those things are essential. And I'm not beating you up. You're here. You understand what I'm saying? I appreciate you being here, but those three things, And I do believe that one affects the other, if you'll follow that thought through. I do believe, and I'm sorry if it sounds hard or cruel, I just don't believe you're going to have somebody who has a really active prayer life that doesn't read your Bible. Nor do I believe that you'll have somebody who has a really active prayer life that doesn't want to be around God's house. And then I'm of the mind that the more you're around God's house, the more you're in God's Word, the more time you want to spend in prayer. And you take those three things and circle them and rewrite them and do whatever you want to. But I find those those three imperative to spiritual health. And I wouldn't try to put one against the other. But we need some prayer time. We need some time in prayer. Throughout the day. Pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. If I were to ask you this evening, and I'll try to get back to what notes I have here. If I were to ask you this evening, what is the primary purpose of prayer? It's hard to get that right. What is the primary purpose of prayer? Before you answer, let me try to interject for you. Most of the time, God's people think or believe that the primary purpose of prayer is to get things from God. But that's not the primary purpose of prayer. The first objective, the first and primary purpose in prayer should be to bring glory and honor to God. That's the first purpose in prayer. To bring glory and honor to God. honor our God, and we bring glory to our God through the avenue of prayer, not by trying to change the mind of God, but allowing God to change our minds. There's different ways to say things, and one's not necessarily wrong, and another's not necessarily right. Let me see if you follow what I'm saying in this. Some people say prayer doesn't change things. Some people say prayer does change things. It just matters what you mean when you say that. The primary purpose in prayer is to bring honor to God. If you pray with that primary purpose, it will affect your total prayer life. If the bulk of your prayer life is about me and mine, you are askew. Something is out of order. The primary purpose in your prayer should be to bring glory and honor to God. When you pray with that purpose, when you pray with the purpose of, I want this prayer to honor God, it will change the way you pray. Because it won't be, God, I want this and this and this, and I want this and this. Rather, it will be, if it honors you, then do this and this. And if it doesn't honor you, Don't do it. Our first primary, our total life should be our first, the whole duty of man is to bring honor to God. That's our first primary responsibility. Our first duty is to bring glory and honor to God. And we don't escape that in our prayer life, but we extenuate that in our prayer life. God, and we might as well be honest, God, this is what I want. But I love you. And I know that you love me. And I'm going to ask you to do for me what will bring the most honor to your name. Now, that's the way to pray. You get over into what's called the Lord's Prayer, but it's really the model prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, and so on. Find the word I in that prayer. I challenge you. Go on out there, read it, and find the word I in that prayer. This is not fake. And I'm afraid that a lot of our praying is too much about me and mine and not enough about Him and His glory. When we ask things of God, It's not wrong. You understand? It's not wrong to ask God to do this or to do that. It's not wrong. That's right. But we ask with a submissive spirit. Lord, if it honors You, do this. If it brings glory to Your name, do this. If it's good for me, do this. And see, that's one of the other reasons of prayer is not to change God but to change us. And prayer will do that. Prayer will help you. We should trust God. Can I put a period there? We should trust God. But I'm going to continue on. We should trust God enough and have enough confidence in God that when we pray or beseech His name, that He will do what's right for us. And sometimes to accept how the events of life have turned out is incredibly difficult. I will not downplay it. My mind immediately ran to my mother and her fight with cancer. And I know that she prayed that God would cure her of cancer. But I'm going to tell you something. There is something incredibly wonderful about a child of God in the midst of adversity, walking by faith and trusting that God is doing what's right. I might get choked up here in a minute and start crying. Now, I don't know if you've ever done this or not. I was down holding a meeting for a church and we went to go visit a gentleman who was in the middle of He was taking cancer treatments, and we went to go visit him at the cancer center. And you want something that'll get a hold of you. If it don't get a hold of you, you got a hard heart. I don't know how else to say it. In that cancer center, they had a chapel. And in that chapel, there was a book. And in that book, you could just write down any random thing that you wanted to write down. People would write down the dates of their visits and how things were going with them. And I began to read things in that book. I began to read things. And you understand this is people who are going through cancer treatments, fighting for life. And I began to read things in that book like this. Thankful to God. for the strength to walk in this building one more day. And you begin to read some of these people's testimonies of walking by faith, praying, Lord, if it please you, I'd like to be rid of this cancer. Use this treatment to rid me of cancer. However, if it brings honor to your name to allow me to go through this, help me to walk the way I should walk through it. Help me to bear this well. And that's no light task. I understand that's not easy. But it can be done. And prayer will equip you to do this. I cry like a little schoolgirl sitting there in that chapel reading that book. And you begin to get familiar with these people. You'd read this date, and then a month later, they'd be there again. Or a week later, you begin to get familiar with these people. And I sat there, I don't know, for 30 or 45 minutes reading that book, and it just blessed me that these people had come to terms with the realities of the harshness of this life, but had confidence that God was going to do right by them. And prayer will lead you there. Prayer will lead you there. Our purpose in prayer really is not to change the mind of God. It never should be. God is in one mind, and who can change it? That's Bible for you. You're not going to change the mind of God, and the thing is, you really shouldn't want to. It may be hard to accept what God has for us, but you shouldn't want to change the mind of God, because God loves you. God loves you, and He's going to do what's right for you. And our first and foremost duty is to bring honor to Him. Lord, if I must go through this, help me to go through this well. If I must bear this cross, help me to bear this cross well. Give me the strength and the grace to walk worthy. To live in such a way that even in the midst of this adversity, I'm leaning on you. And others can see this. Praying. Praying with the purpose of honoring God. When you ask things of God, ask. No, I'm not telling you not to ask for a thing. I'm not telling you not to ask temporal things. I don't think it's wrong to ask God to bless you. We get this idea that we're supposed to be miserable in this life and never have or enjoy anything. God put these things on earth for our enjoyment. Now, people twist them and misuse them. and take the good things of God and make a vile thing with it. But we are to live a productive and healthy life here on this earth. And we are to enjoy the things that God has afforded us. He created these things not only for Himself, but for our good. And there's nothing wrong to ask that God, if it pleases you, I'd like to have this. But we have to realize, if it pleases you. That's a lot of what praying in Jesus' name is. It's not just calling upon the name of Jesus, but praying like Jesus would pray. Lord, not my will, you can finish it, but thine be done. That's right. Nevertheless, and now isn't that exactly how Christ prayed in Gethsemane? Lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And there's been a lot of time, and we'll face it again. We will, as long as we tarry in these bodies of clay, we're going to face some battles again where we'll say, Lord, if it be possible, you take this cup from me. And sometimes that cup is full of some very bitter things. That cup that he drank was very bitter indeed, was it not? Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. So we pray primarily. to bring glory and honor to God. And if you enter into your prayer closet with that attitude, I believe it will affect the way you pray. I believe it will affect the way you talk to God. Let me mention this. There's so much. This is so big. This is one of those things I say I give two weeks to and it needs two months. But here's how you can pray in faith. There's this crowd running around that says, name it and claim it. Well, they don't know what you're talking about. I'm sorry if that sounds ugly, but you can pray in faith in some things, and some other things you just don't know for sure. But you can pray in faith this, that God's going to do what's right. Is it indeed possible that Romans 8 28 should find its way into our prayer life. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Don't you believe that should find itself in our prayer life? You can pray in faith that God will be God. What I mean by that is we know that God is good. God is love. God is just. God is holy. He is fair. He is wise. And as we pray, we can pray in faith that God will act according to His nature. And whatever He does will be according to who He is. You know, I can't begin to imagine, you know, I've got a sick kid at home and I hope you know, you just hope there's nothing serious. Tomorrow she bounces back. Amen. I mean, that's what you hope. But when you see and I read these stories of kids that are battling with leukemia, kids are battling with cancer. I counseled with a man who had a special needs child a few years ago. I'd be lying if I just flat out said I understand all these things. I understand why God... I'd just be lying to you. People that say I understand all of you. No, we don't. We just don't. That's where faith enters in. I don't understand why God allows some of the things that he does. I don't understand why God allows much of the wickedness that takes place in this world. I guess I just feel differently for children than I do for grown-ups, but why some kids face the battles that they face. I don't know. But I know God will act according to His nature. And we must have a confidence in our God that He'll do what's right. And that you can pray in faith. You can't say, I'm going to pray in faith, I'll walk home, there'll be a box full of money sitting on the front porch. I mean, you can't pray in faith. I'm a good mailman, but I don't deliver many boxes full of money. I can say that right now. I do deliver some bills. I've been known to do that. You can't pray in faith. This lady here wants a new car, but you can't pray in faith that they'll pick my name out of that big bucket of tickets. Because you don't know. But you can pray in faith that God will be God in prayer. And we yield our spirit to Him. See, that's a lot of what prayer is. If we are having a hard time finding a submissive spirit to the will of God, we need to spend more time in prayer. Because it will help us yield to prayer. I don't know that this fits in exactly, Let me give you a very practical aspect of prayer. Someone maybe you're having a hard time forgiving. I suppose each of us have someone or someone that maybe we're having a hard time forgiving. You want to know one of the best things you can do? Pray for them. Just pray for them. I don't know how many of you remember this, but there was a... You'll find out maybe your preacher knows too many things here. A few years ago there was a country song that came out where this man, he was upset because his wife had left him. And so he said he went to the preacher, and the preacher asked him what to do, and the preacher said, well, start praying for her. So he said he began to pray that a potted plant would fall off a windowsill and hit her in the top of the head. And he began to pray that, you know, she'd stub her big toe. He began to pray all these things and said, lo and behold, the preacher was right. I do feel better after praying all that. But I believe he missed the preacher's intent, don't you? In my own heart and mind, there are those with whom I battle to let loose of some things and to forgive or get over some things. You've got to pray for them. You've just got to pray for them. I mean, praying will help you. You hope it will help them. Amen? I mean, you really hope that that prayer will help them. But it will help you if it doesn't help them. You understand that? It will help you. Prayer is a medicine for the soul. It really is. Alright, I'll come back this way. We pray not only to honor God, but we pray to learn of God. To learn of God. Prayer in its highest form and at its best reveals a soul that is hungry for God and for God alone. Would you agree with me this evening that we become too fond of the gifts and not fond enough of the giver. You understand? Too fond of the gift itself and not fond enough of the giver. I love the Bible. We should love the Bible, but you need to love the God of the Bible. And prayer at its purest form is not seeking gifts at the hand of God, but it is seeking God. And as we seek Him, those gifts become secondary to us. To learn of Him. The Apostle Paul said that I may know Him. That's one of my favorite verses. That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. You say, well, the Apostle Paul, he already knew Him. But he said, I want to know more of Him. I want to know Him better. that I may know Him in a more intimate way. Who was it? We were just talking with the other day. I don't know. One of you all we were talking with the other day. It might have been you, Ms. Bobbie. I believe it was. We were sitting over at the hospital. Talking about the nearness. You remember this? We were talking about going on trips and the time that you spend with, like she was talking about with Brother Wallace And with Pat, though I give her a hard time about talking too much, the nearness, when you go on trips and you just get alone in the car and you're forced to talk to each other, that builds a fondness, it builds a communion. A nearness that's really special and really unique. And you may ask some of these folks that you better cherish. And we need to feel that way about God. That I can get along with Him and spend time with Him and learn of Him. Fifty-seven, fifty-five years are coming up on me. That's a long time to live with one woman. Fifty-five years. Or maybe one man. Maybe that would be the better way. Fifty-five years. And you think you know each other, but you still learn, don't you? You still learn. I've been walking with God now 30 years, and He still amazes me. He still amazes me. And the more I learn of Him, the more amazing He is. And that prayer will cause you to learn more. You can't talk to God and not become more familiar with God. It necessarily comes. You learn of God. You learn of the person of God. And really, you grow and you become more like Christ. And that communion becomes even sweeter. I say this after 13 wonderful years of marriage. I don't have anybody to help me. conversation can be burdensome and it can be taxing. I know you women don't want to hear that, but it's true. Still, I look forward to it. I really do. I look forward to that time of one-on-one. May God give us that same passion and prayer. I just can't wait to get along with God and pray. I'm setting aside time to get along with God and pray and anxious about it. I told Miss Bobbie, I'm going to try to grab up my wife and take her out of town for a few days. And that's still weeks and weeks away, but I'm already a little bit excited about it. And may God give us a heart. I said, Lord, I just can't wait till I can get down there on my knees and start talking to you again. Get in my prayer closet. Get in my whatever it is. It is to learn of Him. Each one of us would value but a moment of time to spend before an earthly king or president Yet we have the honor of going far beyond any state leader or potentate upon earth and speak to the king of all kings. And we ought to count that as a great privilege. He bids us come. He bids us come. Come before me. Speak with me. Brother John R. Rice, good, good Armenian to the core, has one of the best and most respected books that's ever been written on prayer, and the title of it is Prayer, Asking, and Receiving. And while I have the book and think highly of the book, the greatest avenue of prayer is to honor God and, secondly, to learn of God. It's not so much about asking and receiving at His hand, but it is growing in faith and love of Him. Let's read something this evening, and you may think this is a little sideways, but it's not. I want you to turn all the way back in your books, your blessed book, Genesis chapter 32. And this is what I think prayer life ought to be like, and I know not everyone can be We can't always pray with the same fervency that we can. You're not always alone. There's a practical side of this. You're not always alone. You're not always going to be in a place where you can pray as fervently at other times, but sometimes prayer ought to look a little bit what happens here. In Genesis chapter 32, we find Jacob wrestling with the Lord. Genesis 32, verse 24, and Jacob was left alone. And there wrestled a man with him unto the breaking of day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." Oh my goodness. I'll reach out and hold on to that child of God. Lord, I'm not going to let go of you until you bless me. Lord, I need you. And I'm hanging on to you in prayer. And I'm not letting go until you bless me. That ought to be our heart. That's what prayer is. And He said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince hast thou power with God. and with men, and hath prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." You want to know something about Jacob? After that night of wrestling with God, he was never the same. He walked with a little limp the rest of his life because God reached out and touched the hollow of his thigh. And this is, and if you'll study that, you'll find out whether it's a real, literal wrestling match, you can argue that amongst yourself and join the theologians and all their great opinions, but at the least it's this, that he wrestled with God in prayer. And I'm going to say to you, dear child of God, you need to reach out and lay hold of If you're not reaching God in prayer, you need to find out why. You need to reach out and lay hold of Him and wrestle with God. You know, the Bible says when Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. We need some travailing prayer. You know what that word travail has to do with childbirth? When Zion travailed, when she went through the pains of childbirth, she brought forth her children. In other words, Don't be so flippant in our prayer, but hard fervent. And as I said, it can't be this way all the time, but it should be this some of the time. Fervent, hard praying, where you reach out to God and say, I'm not going to let go of you until you bless me. I'm not going to let go. I'm staying here. And I'm going to keep knocking on the door, and I'm going to keep nagging, and I'm going to keep after you, God, until you bless me. Now, you have to understand that that blessing may not necessarily be what you want it to be. That blessing may be a contentment in what doesn't please the flesh. I'm going to close. It's about time to close. This is big. You pray to learn God's will. You want to know what God's will? Pray. God reveals His will often to us through the avenue of prayer. I get a witness right over here. Do you know how many times I've sat down to try to prepare a sermon, and I can't do a thing? I start praying, and next thing you know, I can't write and type fast enough. That's how it is. We can pray to discern God's will. We pray to be a blessing to others. Fifthly and finally, we pray to have our needs met. And I have that last on purpose, to have our needs, wants, and wishes met. Cast all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. I'm going to share this story with you and I'll close. There was this group. This is too good. This is good. There was a group of preachers, really renowned preachers that were all at some meeting. And the men had agreed that they would meet together and have an all-night prayer service. And there was a young boy who wanted to attend that prayer service with those men. And these were older men and very, very studious men, very theologically sound men, you know, really pretty sharp men. And some of them were a little bit hesitant about allowing this boy to pray with them because they They thought he might serve as an interference to their prayers. The young boy, as it turns out, had Down Syndrome. And this is a true story. This is not a make-believe. This is a true story. The young boy had Down Syndrome. But they reluctantly agreed to allow this young boy to join them in their prayer service. And they got in a circle and they began to pray. And these men, and I'm not being sarcastic, You know, a lot of times we can get to preaching when we're praying and we get to thinking more about who's listening than who we're talking to. And we get, you know, trying to perfume our prayers up so they smell real good for everybody rather than just talking to God. And these men with their big theological minds went around and they were offering up these big colorful prayers, you know, quoting Bible verses in Scripture, you know, like God doesn't know it. I don't know why we feel like we have to do that. Quoting Bible, I've heard men pray. I get sideways from the story, and I've heard men pray, and they say, Lord, just like it says in, you know, I think God knows where it is. He wrote the book. But anyway, these men go around and they do the praying, and when it comes to that young boy, and I'm not being, I'm not being, I'm not ridiculing, and I'm not putting this man down, but the young boy just simply said this, and he spoke As many people with down do, he spoke with a little bit of a funny tone in his voice, but he said, Lord Jesus, I just love you so much. Why, if you were here right now, I'd just hug your neck. And those men, I know, and those men began to weep. Because they realized that that boy had shown them up. That's what praying was really about. Lord, if you were just here, I'd hug your neck. I'd just love you. And that's what praying is.