to ask our God for his help this morning. And it's good to see so many in the house of the Lord today. And I do pray the Lord will bless you in a very special and unique way. Look, the Bible says in the Gospel of Mark, chapter number nine, and we'll read two verses. This is our springboard verses, because we've been going to another passage that we're gonna preach from, but this is all tied in together. The Bible says in the Gospel of Mark, chapter nine, verse number 23, It says in verse 23, Jesus said to him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. on this thought this morning from the title of the song I just sung, When You Don't Have a Prayer. Father, I pray today for your divine help. I pray God for your guidance. I pray God your Holy Spirit would guide my speech, my actions, and my thoughts, all that I say and that I do. I pray God you give me extra, extra strength to preach the life-changing word of God. And I pray God you help somebody that might be going through a tough time. Help somebody that's hurting. Have somebody whose heart might be broken. Somebody's vision, spiritually, may be clouded. And for all that, God will thank you. And I pray, God, this morning among us, for one that's watching, that's not truly saved, but born again, that this be the day they receive Jesus as their Lord, Savior, yes, sir, and King. And for that, God, we'll thank you. That's it for now. If I've left anything out, yes, sir, meet that great need as well. For it's your son's name we do pray. Not a weak Jesus, but mighty Jesus. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. when you don't have a prayer. That song is a song that has a lot of meaning involved in it. The guy that wrote the song, I don't know if he wrote it for this particular purpose or reason or not, but I saw one of his videos and he talked about how there was a funeral service going on and they told them that they could not preach or they could not pray in the name of Jesus. They could use the word God, but they could not use the name of Jesus. And so, when it came for his time, he sung a song. He said, they didn't say that I could not sing about Jesus. And so therefore, in the middle of his song, or right at the end of the song, he talks about, of course, how there's somebody out there, and then he concludes with, Jesus is that someone that's out there. And a lot of times, we are trying everything that we can to fill the void, the emptiness in our life, but there's only Jesus Christ. You say, preacher, why do you use when you don't have a prayer? Well, there's an old saying. You've heard that saying before. When someone would say something like this, man, they don't have a prayer. They don't have a prayer. And I said, well, you know what? I wonder if there's some dictionary meaning behind that. And sure enough, there was. And the definition of this not having prayer means to be completely impossible or incredibly unlikely to have no chance whatsoever that it is impossible for them to achieve something. I said, wow. So when a person says they don't even have a prayer, This is a done situation, there's no more help, it's an impossible situation. But see, we have a God that works in the impossible. The Bible says in verse number 23, the Bible said, Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And the Bible says, in a straight way, the father of the child tried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. But help thou my unbelief. That word help means to relieve. Bring aid, all right there. Bring aid to my unbelief. Help me where I'm struggling. And many of us, we face situations in our life where we just don't understand, we can't comprehend what's taking place, we're trying to do the math and all these types of things, but still we have no solution to the problems that we faced. But there is a God that knows all about it, and there is a God that'll give us, hallelujah, that'll give us the strength that you and I need to be able to prevail over the things that we face from day to day. My mind. It goes all the way back to 1989, when I walked through the doors of Gallaudet Baptist Church. And of course, my testimony, how cocaine was ruling my life, and the alcohol, and the drugs, and the type of living that I was doing. And I was trying my best to get me some help. and wound up going to Tennessee. And from Tennessee, I went down to Georgia. And I said, you know, if I can just get away from that environment and get somewhere else, why don't you give me some help? But I'm going to tell you what was able to help me, ultimately, was when I walked through the doors of that church, and the Spirit of God began to speak to my heart and gave me victory over that which was enslaving me, and that was binding me, and that was holding me, and was telling me, there's no hope. I'm going to have you have a lesson with me today. And he's been telling you there's no hope. Then he's telling you there's no way of victory in the situation that you're facing at the moment. Well, the Bible says, that Jesus says, all things are possible to him that believes. Look at verse number 37. Same story, but a little bit more detail that I wanted to bring forth. The first thing we see is the real problem that this man faced. The Bible said in verse number 37 of Luke chapter 9, and it came to pass on the next day when they would come down from the hill, much people met him, and behold, the man of the company cried out, saying, Master, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son, for he is mine only child. and lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out, and it teareth him, and he falleth again, and bruising him, horribly departed from him. This father had a real problem. His son, and the Bible says he was his only child, he was his only son, but he comes to Jesus, and amidst of the crowd, he crieth out, and said, Master, I receive you. is I want you to look upon my son. That word look means to turn the eyes upon. I want you to look at my boy. I want you to look at my kid. My kid needs some assistance. We've got a real problem and my child needs a real solution. He needs a real remedy for what he is facing in the midst of his life and brothers and sisters, it doesn't matter what you're facing. On this Sunday morning, we have a God that has That's more than enough power to take care of the real problems that we're now facing. He'll give us that peace that blows the natural mind. He'll speak peace, be still in the midst of a storm. But what he asks of us is this, simply trust him. We don't even understand. I tell you, when I was, this week, thinking about me and it's been tough. I went to the hospital to see her this week. And she looked like, literally, like Sleeping Beauty laying there. I mean, the nurses and others were talking about her eyebrows. But she apparently had just had them done. And they was, we know y'all were, they was on fleek. I mean, it was just like she was laying there. Her hair was pulled up nicely. And I don't think she had makeup on, but it looked like she had. I mean, she was just like she was just sleeping. It was almost as if all you had to do was say, man, wake up. But she didn't wake up. But you know, in the midst of all that, as I stood there, me and Danielle, Danielle was having her moments with her sister, which is more like a daughter to her because she helped raise her two. They was growing up when they was younger. And you look at the potential, 22 years old, and you look at her and you say, man, I mean, there's so much life and so much potential. And you ask the question, But no matter how often you ask the question why, you still don't have a solution for the situation. But in the midst of it all, He tells us, you and I don't understand is to trust Him, to believe God. But oh God, you could have stopped this, you could have stopped that. God can stop many things, but also God gives us what we like and not what we feel we are. Amen. He is a force. Anybody who trusts Christ is saved. That's right. The Bible says in Romans chapter 10 verse 13 that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And by the way, salvation is not temporary. The Bible says it's eternal life. It's everlasting life. It doesn't stop, brothers and sisters, when you and I have failed. Yeah. Because you have failed. Oh, yes. And you can be tempted to say, I've never failed. We all fail. We all fall short. The Bible says that there's none righteous, none that won. The Bible says we've all fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says in 1 John that we say we have no sin. We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Then the Bible goes on to say that we say we have not sinned. We've called God a liar. And by the way, this is Apostle John who's writing this letter. The same Apostle John who wrote the book of Revelation said we included himself. And my salvation is not based upon my actions. Thank you Lord works is based upon what Jesus Christ. Yes Come on the Bible says that he does the same and he does the keeping as well And here we have this father his father says I need to look upon my son and those who he says and lower spirit verse 39 he says a spirit take of him and he suddenly cried out and And it tears him that he fall up again and bruising him hardly departed from him He's just a spirit has taken him. He has taken a hold of him Do you know that's all types of spirits out of here? Mm-hmm Okay, you're right by the liquor store What does it say? Spirits sold here. Yep And everybody Wait a minute! Did you not hear what he said? Spirits only. Come on. And you know what I know for getting in, Jolene was talking about this. Helen Baylor was singing a song. She was talking about how when she was addicted to different types of drugs and stuff like that, it was like it was a spirit. And it would just call her name. And I told Jolene, I said, don't you remember me talking about that when I first got called to preach? How it was like that cocaine And especially the cocaine, it's like it would just call my name, and it was like trying to shake it off. And see, when a person doesn't have an addiction, they don't really understand what an addiction is. An addiction is not something you go, whoa, I just quit. Well, that'd be great, but that's not how it works. So yeah, but I did drugs before. Yeah, but you weren't addicted. I'd say, well, some people, don't raise your hand, but some people are addicted to food. You can't put that fork down. Come on. Someone says, put it down. I'm like, just one more. Matter of fact, go ahead and order another one to go. I mean, I'm talking about Jolene, how sometimes she'll get some ice cream. She'll get the whole half gallon of ice cream and eat half of it. Then she'll throw it away and be mad at herself, kicking herself. I'm mad, too. Got money under the garbage can. Amen. She's going to pop for you, Kevin. But you know what? An addiction. is something. And it takes more than willpower. It takes God's power. And for some of us, it's like, I have an addictive nature, and I know that, I have an addictive nature. So I have to be careful with certain things, because I have an addictive nature. And when you don't have an addictive nature, you have no clue what I'm talking about. But I'm gonna tell you what, brothers and sisters, there is a God that knows how to give us victory, even in the midst of the things that we struggle with and that we battle with. Some folks have all different types, but there is a God that knows Yes. But it's like a spirit. There's demonic spirits. You've been trying to mind your own business. And then all of a sudden, it jumps out at you. I'll never forget, I was talking to a young man one time, and he was trying to get some help at one of the homes. And he said he goes to the refrigerator to get something out of the refrigerator, and there's something laying right by the refrigerator, just laying right there on the floor at a shelter place. So then what did he do, he stole the garbage? He wished he had. But it was just sitting right there, and it drew him. It drew him. And next thing you know, he took it. And of course, it just so happened, that particular day, they was testing. And so, of course, he got in trouble because of that. But he says it was laying right there. Do you know Satan will put things right in your path? Yes, he will. And he'll use all types of things. When I would quit doing drugs, and I could stop for two months or whatever, but I tell you what, when there was something happening, and some kind of pressure or some kind of problem, and it's like someone said to me, hey, just go ahead. I mean, it don't even matter. It don't even matter. I mean, nobody else cares. Nobody else is concerned. Just go ahead, you know, and just do a little bit. Then afterwards, you just kick yourself. You're so mad at yourself. How do I do this? How do I do this again? You're mad at yourself. But that sounds like, to me, a person who doesn't want to stay in that situation. But here is this man, and others probably looked at his situation with his boy, and says, you know what? He doesn't even have a prayer. He goes on to say a verse of a prayer, now I have the Lord's Spirit. tamed him, and he suddenly crieth out, and it tareth him, and he foameth again, and bruising him, hardly departed from him. That word hardly means it's difficult, difficult to get it away from him. It has such a hold of him, it's difficult. And then he goes on to say something, and I besought, we see the disappointing results, we see the real problem, then the disappointing results. He says, and I besought thy disciples, the ones you chose, to cast them out, and they could not. I came to your select few that you chose and they could not heal him. They could not take care of my boy. They could not rescue my son who's in torment, who's being tormented, and who's being torn apart by this spirit. I'm gonna tell you what, when you come to the house of God, Do we expect God to change somebody's life? Sometimes I believe we just go through the motions. What we got to worship today, we'll sing some songs, hear some preaching, you know, we'll give and then we'll fellowship a little bit, then we go into the house. But do we come and say, wait a minute, I've been praying fervently that somebody will receive deliverance. That somebody will receive some rescue. That somebody will have some chains that be torn apart and broken that has to hold their life. Listen brothers and sisters, it's time for you and I to get serious about this thing of prayer. It's time for you and I to be serious about our Father's business. There are souls that lay on the line. There are people whose lives are hanging in the balance and they need somebody to intercede on their behalf. They need somebody to take the time out and say, listen, I only care about you. I love you. And I'm only praying for you. But I'm going to ask God, what can I do to help you in the midst of a problem that you're facing at this moment? You are not alone. You are not by yourself. You're not in this thing isolated. For there is a victory, and that victory is in Jesus Christ. That victory is in the prayers of the saints of God. Watch this We see Jesus' response in verse 41 What an indictment Faithless Generation Perverse oh Generation How long shall I be with you and suffer you? Bring back son What is he saying guys It's a faith issue mm-hmm He said they were famous yeah Disciples The ones who would write the New Testament He said right here. He's just a whole famous and perverse generation. How long should I be with you? Bring by son hither There is a prayer And that person is Jesus Then we see the story and as he was yet coming the Bible says oh the devil Throw him down, the Bible says. And tear him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit. Wait a minute. The devil is trying one more time to have a hold of this young boy. The Bible says the devil threw him down and began to tear him. Do you know when you and I are seeking help from the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the devil will do whatever he can to stop us from getting that victory that God wants to give to us. The devil will do whatever he can to hinder our progress. I remember Julian's testimony by going to church, because it all kind of started with her. And she got ready to go to Galilee, and she was going to talk to Dr. Moore, I believe it was, but she pulled over. into her parking lot. And it was like that was that last moment Satan was trying to get her not to go talk to Dr. Moore. And she remember sitting in that parking lot, and I believe battling on the inside. Should I go talk to him? Should I not go talk to him? At that moment, our destiny was affected. What do you mean? If Jolene had turned around and came back to the house, she would never went to the church. Her kids would never went to the church. Two weeks later, I would never went to the church. And my life would not have been changed if she had decided, I'm just going back to the house. Do you know, brothers and sisters, every decision that you make is an important decision? Right. Now, I don't want you to get paranoid, but I do want us to be realistic. The choices that you and I make have a profound effect on our present as well as our future. When I think about the young people in our church and the ones that Brett works with, trying to help them and trying to encourage them, nobody knows the heaviness and the load that you go through when you're trying to intercede for others. And sometimes it gets discouraging. But it's all worth it, though. It's all worth it. It's worth the tears. It's worth the late nights. It's worth all these times that you go through these things. But then there's times when something falls through the cracks and you wonder, man, what happened to so-and-so? I've been doing this for 25 years. Here. And Brad will tell you, he's got a picture of a lot of the young people. I believe it's 50-50, right? That's in church and 50% that's not in church. Now, somebody may say, well, that's some good percentages. No. See, we want 100% here. We want to be when our young people come into the house of God, we want to be when people walk through the doors that they feel the presence of God, they feel the power of God, and they receive the deliverance that God has available. And listen brothers and sisters, I've been praying and I've been praying for the last several weeks Now they say, oh God, we want your presence here. We're both pulled from the property. We want them to feel the presence of God. We want them to feel the peace of God. We want them to feel the power of God. We want them to be rescued by God. When they walk through the doors, we want them to feel something that's not the same on the outside. We want them to feel God. We want them to be helped by God. And brothers and sisters, I want you to unite with me, to touch and agree, and say, oh God, redeem victory. Redeem victory for our young people. We need victory for all the people. We need victory. We need victory. And God, you're the one that can give the victory. Amen. We've got to touch. We've got to agree together. Yes. We've got to believe. Because I do believe. My family ain't going to accept a father like their father. So Lord, I do believe. But help thou my unbelief. Amen. By the way, because brothers and sisters, it's not about bank accounts. It's not about nice cars. It's not about holidays. It's about Jesus. You can have all these world goods and be miserable. And Bob said verse 42, and as he was yet coming, the devil threw him down and tear him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child and delivered him, the Bible says, again to his father. He restored him back to his daddy. He healed this young boy. He made him whole. Do you know what? It's Jesus Christ that will make us whole. It's Jesus Christ that will give us victory. In a couple of hours, many of us will be down the street here in First Baptist Church in Chicago. We're going to sing some songs. We're going to hear some words of encouragement, things about Leanne's life and how all the ups and downs she gave. She was an organ donor. Some of y'all probably already know this. So they were able to use her heart, her liver, and her kidneys for four individuals because she wanted somebody else to have a chance at life. So a preacher, why does she have to pass? I can't answer that question for you. I can't. But I do know this. The pain that she was going through, She's not going through any more. The pain that she was experiencing, and all the other things that she was battling with, she's not going through any more. And that in itself gives me a measure of solace, knowing this, to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord. And even though we don't understand a lot of things on this side, I do trust the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. But brothers and sisters, if you are here today, You're in a battle. You're in a struggle. You're in a dogfight. There is someone that wants to help you. That wants to hear you. And his name is Jesus. When they say you don't have a prayer, Jesus will always be right there. I want you to see the last thing is the reaction in verse 43. of God. It's amazing when God comes by and brings us victory, how folks will be amazed, they will be astounded. Go, wow, look what God did. Yes. But it started because a father came to Jesus. Yeah. And you read many stories that other folks that came to Jesus, they wouldn't quit. They kept on, they kept on, they kept on. And then God gave them victory. Y'all remember the story about Lazarus? The Bible says Lazarus died. And so they said, Jesus, if you hadn't have been here, our brother Lazarus wouldn't have died. And of course, Jesus raised Lazarus back from the grave. But did y'all know something? Lazarus ain't here today. He's in my preaching. He died today. We all have to leave this earth. Unless Christ comes back forth first We all are going to leave via the grave. Yes. Okay. It's an inevitability. It's going to take place. But the question is this, where are you going when you leave? That's the most important question that you and I want to answer is where am I going to spend eternity? Am I going to spend eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord? Where am I going to spend eternity? And I'm remembering a verse right now. Go with me real quick. We're about done. Paul says in Philippians chapter one and verse number 21, Philippians one verse 21, Paul makes this statement, and Paul says this, Paul says, for me to live, come on, Paul, for me to live is Christ, watch this, and to die is death. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I should choose, shall choose, I would not, I don't know. Watch what Paul says, for I am in a strait, I'm compressed, constrained, betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Paul says I have a desire to leave, but right now it's more important I stay here with him. Paul says I've got a desire to be absent from a body and be present with the Lord Listen brothers or sisters listen God will give us victory one way or another no matter what you're facing He'll give you the victory because you belong to him if you trust Christ as your Savior. Yeah, but the question is have you trust him as your Savior? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? I've got one question with that. I got one question What problem are you facing? that it seems like to others you don't have a prayer. What problem are you facing that it seems like to others you don't have a prayer? The second is a simple statement. Let's ask the Lord to help our unbelief like that father did. And then watch God do for us what no other power is able to do. Father, thank you for your meaningful blessing. I'll try my best. the Holy Spirit will speak to hearts. God, perhaps there's someone or someone that needs to talk to you about some things that are battling within their mind, that are battling within their heart. I pray God they come talk to you today. Be honest, be transparent, just be genuine, just be real. And then what you do for us with no other power is able That's it father. What's your son's name? We do pray. Not only Jesus, but Marty Jesus. Amen. Amen. That's all I was saying. Perhaps you can come talk with him for a few moments. Or if you have the opportunity, come talk to him. Because he sure does