Amen. Well, as we begin the month of December, we're gonna talk about the promised Messiah, as He is seen in the Old as well as the New Testament. Many people ask many times, is Jesus mentioned in the Old Testament? Absolutely, just not by that name. In fact, He is one of the most titled God-men of all human history. In fact, when you think about him, you have to think about the fact that the Bible is all about Jesus. Everything centers on Jesus. He is the promised Messiah in the Old Testament, and he is the Messiah who has come and been revealed in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. It's unfortunate that Jews today do not believe that Jesus is their Messiah. Their idea of a Messiah is someone who would restore the kingdom of Israel, someone who would rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, someone who would establish global peace and justice, someone who would gather the Jewish people back to the land of Israel. They also don't believe that their Messiah is divine, that he is just merely human but doing what God has told him to do. Now that Messiah is not in the Bible. I would certainly say that two of the things that they believe about establishing peace and justice that they seem to be getting that from Isaiah 2, 4 because right at the end of verse 4 it says, nation will not lift up sword against nation and never again will they learn war. But what do you have at the absence of war? You have peace. And then, of course, gathering the Jewish people back to the land of Israel, Ezekiel 37 verse 21 says this, Say to them, thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will strike the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land. Now, we know something like that has already been going on, where the people of Israel, the Jewish people, are going back to their homeland. But again, it is sad that the very people for whom the Messiah came from don't even acknowledge Him as their Messiah. Over there in Israel, we would have to say that Israel is apostate. And we need to pray for their salvation, pray for their redemption. But it's really sad when you look at it because they are specifically God's chosen people. Some people think that when the church began, that that did away with Israel, and now the church has become the new Israel, but I don't see that. I see the church separate from Israel, and I see that there's much in the future that is yet to happen that is because of Israel. In fact, when you think about the tribulation period that is mentioned in Daniel and the book of Revelation, as well as Zachariah, that entire period is called the 70 weeks of Daniel. It's mentioned in the book of Daniel. It has Jewish concepts. In fact, all the prophecies, many of them I'm going to read to you today, you're going to see how everything pointed to the only one who could have fulfilled that, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. But as I said a while ago, he is probably one of the most titled persons in all of history. And if you think about his titles, you could just camp on one or two of them and think about the implications of these titles. Now, if you're using the outline on the back of your bulletin, I want to first, before I get to what is there on the bulletin, and we might not even cover all this today, and that's okay. But before I get there, let me just mention some of the titles that are in the scripture about Jesus. First of all, he is called the Son of God. Do you remember Peter? When he was asked, who do you say that I am? Peter responded and he said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. In fact, the word Christ is Messiah in Hebrew. It's anointed one in the Greek. But he's called the Son of God. And that right there just highlights his divine nature. and the relationship that he had with his father. In John 134, John the Baptist says, I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God. Think about the implications just of that title. Like I said, this highlights his divine nature in his relationship with the Father. But let me give you another title that also highlights his relationship with the father and it is the title Immanuel. In Isaiah 7 14 it says therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call his name Immanuel. And where else do we hear that? Well that's exactly what the angel said to Joseph. When he was to name Jesus, he said, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. And then it says, which translated means God with us. The Christmas story is about God coming and dwelling among men. And not just dwelling among them, but meeting them at the deepest point of their need. But think about these two titles, Son of God, Emmanuel, here everybody is marveling over what kind of child John the Baptist would be based upon his name, but think about what kind of child that Jesus would be when it's finally revealed that Mary is pregnant. He is called God with us. And that's what the scripture picks up on. We find over in John chapter 1, a passage that you're very familiar with because I know we've taught on this passage so many times. It says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There is so much in that one verse right there. In the beginning, whenever there was a beginning. Here John's trying to pin down a point of time which doesn't exist in the Godhead. Because like Psalm 90, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. God has always existed. There is no beginning or ending with God. He's always been. And so for him to say, in the beginning was the Word. So for him and for us, we need kind of a timeline. We need kind of a starting point. But he says, in the beginning was the Word. And John is the only one that uses that term Logos for Jesus by calling him the word. He uses it in 1 John, he uses it in Revelation. But he's the only author that did that. And basically what he is telling us by us hearing that he is the Logos, he is essentially God's revelation to man. When you read in the Old Testament it says, thus says the Lord. That's really, in essence, what Jesus is. He is the embodiment of the Word of the Lord. And everything that he taught, everything that he said when he was here was everything that the Father told him to teach, told him to say. He says, I didn't come on my own initiative. But in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, that's literally in the Greek, theopneustos, it means face to face, he had a face to face relationship, it's talking about an intimate relationship in the Godhead. But that he left that according to verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So this Word, became flesh, incarnate. And then it ends with verse 1, and the Word was God. Again, think of these three titles, Son of God, Emmanuel, or God with us, or the Word. And if that's not enough, let me give you a few more. Over in Revelation 22 and verse 13, he says, I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Well, alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. He is everything from beginning to end and all in between. He's the first, he's the last, he's the beginning, he's the end. He's the Alpha and He's the Omega. Well, even shifting it a little bit more in the same direction we were in, Philippians 2.11 talks about confessing Christ and it says, And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is, what? You know it, Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And here we see His authority over all of creation. So the Son of God, Emmanuel, the Word, Alpha and Omega, Lord, these are all titles that are used of the promised Messiah. These are all titles that are used of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Think even in John 8, 58. He was in a conversation with the Jewish people. And he tells them, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. And they marveled at that statement because they came back and said, You're not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham? I mean, they were laughing at him until he said this next statement. In verse 58, Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. And there he is connecting his name with the name that's revealed in Exodus 3.14. You remember Moses asked God, who shall I say who is sending me when he goes to Pharaoh? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And here Jesus has taken that very title for himself. Now, the Jewish people said this was blasphemy. I mean, it says in the next verse, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. They wanted to kill him for that, because that was blasphemy. He was claiming to be God, and they got it. They got the message, and they did not like what they heard. And this just deepened their hatred for him. I don't know how anybody could hate the Son of God. I mean, we don't get to see him physically and in person, but we certainly get to hear his word and read his word, and you see the graciousness of his words, and you see the profoundness of his words and what he said and what he taught. Well, he is the I Am. Revelation 19.16 acknowledges him as Supreme authority over all rulers when it says that his name, which is written on his thigh, is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is no one higher than him. And every person, regardless of your social status, regardless of your political status, regardless of your rank in this life, you're all subject to him. and even those who don't want to recognize him, those who don't want to acknowledge him. And I said a moment ago about the Jews not acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah. Well, like the passage in Philippians, one day they're going to bow their knee to him. But unfortunately, it may be too late for them. There are people today, people that you know, people that maybe you were with during the Thanksgiving holiday. that don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't have a relationship, a saving relationship with Him. And one day they're going to be forced to confess Him as Lord and bow their knee before Him. I just pray and hope that they do that now and not be forced to in eternity while they're in hell suffering for their sin. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. Well, other titles that he has, he's called Son of David in Matthew 9, 27. He's called the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9, 6. He's from the Lion of the tribe of Judah in Revelation 5 and verse 5. But here's one I want to park on for just a moment. Luke 2, 11. What was the announcement? Here's the announcement. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior. Who is Christ the Lord? Who is Messiah? Remember, I've told you different times that when you see the name Christ, that's not his last name. That's a title. In Greek, it's Christos, and it means the Anointed One. But it's reflecting the Hebrew, which is Hamashiah, which translates Messiah. Almost sounds like Messiah. So when you read a verse like this for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is the Messiah, the Lord. And there'll be a sign for you, you'll find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And what a sight that was. Titus 2.13 it says that we're looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus. There's the word Christ again. So he is the Savior. And not only is He Savior, He is Redeemer. He is the one who will redeem His people from their sins. And Job had this to say, and this is really profound too. He says, and many do believe that Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible. And it says this, as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. So this Redeemer Job believed in, would be resurrected from the dead and he would take his stand. He is redeemer. Over in Galatians 3.13 it says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And that's exactly what Jesus did. He became the curse for us. And the sad reality is, is if you never receive him as your Lord and Savior, then you're left to bear that curse. And it will be all for eternity. There will never be any kind of break from the punishment. Well, a few more titles. Not only is he called Savior and Redeemer, but he is also called the Lamb of God. Remember who said that? John the Baptist. John 1 29 says the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and he said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the Lamb of God right here. And he said that to his followers. He said, This is he on behalf of whom I said, After me comes a man who has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me. I did not recognize him, but so that he might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water. And John testified, saying, I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and he remained upon him. I did not recognize him but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, he upon whom you see the spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God. And he identifies him by the Lamb of God and the Son of God, a title we read just a moment ago as well. Well, all of these are truths that are given to us in the scriptures about Jesus. 1 Timothy 2.5, he's called the mediator. 1 John 2.1, he's called the advocate. Here's a title that has messianic overtones, Daniel 7.13. Says there, I kept looking in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And that phrase son of man stresses both his humanity and his messianic authority. Over in Matthew 26, 64, Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. They understood what that meant. The next verse says that the high priest tore his clothes and he yelled, Blasphemy! They knew what he was saying. They knew what he was declaring. Well, in other places he's called the carpenter, which would speak of his humble background. He's called the friend of sinners, which would demonstrate his compassion and his willingness to reach out to the lost. He's called the good shepherd in John 10, 11, which talks about his care and his protection for his children. He's called the bread of life in John 6, 35, which indicates that he sustains all spiritual life. He's called the light of the world in John 8, 12, which describes his role in dispelling spiritual darkness. In John 14, 6, he's called, you know it, the way, the truth, and the life. The way, the truth, and the life. In fact, that verse, when it reads, it says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. But in Greek, it's like this. I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. is Ego Aimi in Greek and I am is taking us back to the Exodus 3.14 passage. And he's also called in John 15.1 the true vine that reflects his role in providing life and growth for his followers. He's also called the resurrection in life which would affirm his power over death. Colossians 1.18 refers to him as the firstborn from the dead and that refers to his resurrection as the first of many. In Revelation 6-2 he's called the conqueror. It points to his ultimate victory over evil. In Zechariah 3-8 he's called the branch. In Psalm 118-22 he's called the stone the builders rejected. And then Revelation 19-11 he's called faithful and true. Think about all those titles you just heard. How many do we really need to understand who Jesus is? Do we need that many? Well, some apparently do, and some don't. I can take one of them and run all day on that, and that's enough for me. Because I do believe it. God said it. He wrote it right here in front of us. And we have it. And we can give testimony to it. But the title that I want to focus in on is Messiah. Made a few references to that. Comes from Mashiach. It means anointed one, which is the same meaning of Christos, which is translated Christ. In Jewish tradition, the Messiah was a human descendant of King David who would restore Israel and establish peace. He wasn't divine. He was only a man whose prophecies were yet to come. That's a sad, sad picture. that Israel has of their Messiah. But Scripture does teach that He is a descendant of David, teaches that He is the Son of God, that He is the Son of Man, teaches us that His mission is to seek and to save the lost. But Scripture picks up something that the Jewish people don't believe, and that is this. And you already picked up on it by the titles I read to you. Jesus is divine. What's that mean? Jesus is God. All those titles reflected that He is God. And of course the prophecies, they said He didn't fulfill any of them when He came the first time. Well, they're certainly missing the scriptures because He fulfilled 109 of them when He came the first time. When He comes back, He will fulfill the remaining 224 for a total of 333 prophecies about Him. I know I always mention this, but it's good and worth mentioning. But what's the probability of just one of those prophecies coming to pass? The probability is so high. But that's what we see here. We see the Messiah. And as we have already heard just from some of the titles and see some of the identification there, our Messiah has come. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And every year, at this time of the year, we remember his birth, right? And we focus in on the Christmas story. Unfortunately, for some people, that's the only way they wanna see Jesus, as a little baby in a manger, because a baby is not threatening. But when they find out that this baby grew up, and this baby is God, The God-man, that changes everything. And like I said a few moments ago, everything in the Bible is about Jesus. And when we read the epistles, that's really focusing on us how to follow Him, how to live for Him, how to be filled with the Spirit and walk in the Spirit. And we find the first four Gospels that give us the life of Jesus. We find the book of Acts that gives us the deeds of the first church. The early church, as the gospel is beginning to spread. But he is the one who has come, the promised Messiah. Now, I want you to see one of these promises. And this will be all that we'll cover today. And it's found in the book of Genesis. So let me have you to go to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. Go all the way back to the beginning. The very first prophecy about the Messiah is in the book of Genesis. You say, where? I've read Genesis. I don't remember seeing anything about a Messiah. Well, it's there. It's in verse 15. Now, by this time, Adam and Eve have taken of the forbidden fruit. They disobeyed God. God told them in chapter two of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You should not eat of it for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely what? Die. And so in chapter three, that's exactly what we see. What happens? We see the woman tempted by the serpent and the one behind that was Satan. And he chose one of the most crafty animals in the animal kingdom to inhabit. At this time, snakes obviously were upright, not crawling on the ground because the crawling on the ground was the curse that God put on them. And every time you see a snake, you're reminded of that curse that God put on the serpent. I don't like snakes. Do you like snakes? I don't like them either. The only snake I like is a dead one. Or one in a book, one on a video, but not one in my yard, not one in my backyard, not one on my porch, not one near me. And where I live now, we see a lot of water marquessons. We have a lot of ponds that go in and out of the ponds. In fact, I think it was Friday, we were going out to shoot the gun and I heard from the back property, I heard, bang, bang, bang. I said, well, Jeremy's got something going on back there. He killed a water moccasin. It was about close to three feet. They don't get real long, they just get real fat. And it's not really something you want to mess with, but you'd rather you know, put them in snake hell or something, then they have to deal with them, right? But we find in this story here in Genesis 3 that Satan had chose the serpent because he was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. That tells us that in verse 1. And the first thing that he does to Eve is cast doubt on something that God has said and making her feel like that she has been left out. God has left something out and withholding something good from her. And so he poses a question, but he imposes it with doubt. He says, Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? Hmm. He only said there was one tree that they couldn't eat of, that they could eat of any tree, but the one, right? Chapter two, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the woman said to the serpent, verse two, from the fruit of the trees of the garden, we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree, which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, you should not eat from it or touch it or you will die. I don't know if If she was told, or they were told not to touch it, but if you're told not to eat it, there is no need to touch it, right? That's kind of what we do. This is how we play with fire. You know, this is something to tempt me, and we just kind of look at it, and we kind of stare at it, and we smell it, and we bang on it. You know, we put all of our senses involved in it, and then we're all freaking out when we fall into sin. I mean, look at what we just did. We were playing around with temptation. And instead of fleeing temptation, we were playing with it. But either way, they were not to eat of it. And here's the doubt. Verse 4, the serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die. For God knows that in the day that you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Well, that was a big lie. Satan has every bit of ability to Entice the human race with lies. And he has a way to do that to appeal to your fallen nature. When he dangles things from this world in front of you. To draw you away. And to draw you to that. He doesn't have a problem with people going to church as long is they're not worshiping Jesus. He's okay with people going to church and going through the rote and the kind of the motions and singing the songs and after singing some of the songs after a while they don't have much meaning anymore because you know them so well. And here we broke out some Christmas songs today and I haven't sang some of those songs in a year. Have you? Sang them during the year? They're good songs. But that's kind of the way it works, kind of the way we see it. But he also didn't tell her that he tried this and utterly failed and was kicked out of heaven. Read that in Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14. And of course, verse six, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate and she also gave to her husband with her and he ate. At some point he came, he shows up. And apparently it was at the point where she's fixing to eat of it. And she takes a bite and she turns around and hands it to her husband and he takes a bite. And Adam knew the commandment. In fact, we're told in Romans that the woman was deceived. But we're told in Romans also that Adam disobeyed. He knew the commandment. You shall not eat from this tree. And so what did they do? Well, after they ate up, their eyes were open. They knew they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And they hid themselves, something they'd never done before. They were now afraid of God. But now they hid themselves. That's the fall. This is the answer to all of our problems right here. You want to know why there's sickness, why there's diseases? It's right here in Genesis 3. You want to know why we wear clothes? It's in Genesis chapter 3. We're hiding our nakedness, our shame. Well, God, He calls out to them. He confronts them. Verse 14, he pronounces judgment on the serpent first. Because you've done this, cursed are you more than all the cattle and more than every beast of the field. And on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. Again, here, this is the reason why snakes are on their belly and they crawl. This is it right there, verse 14. But look at what he said right before he pronounced punishment on Adam and Eve. He says, And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed and he shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel. As I said, this story explains not only the origin of sin and suffering, But it also gives us the first glimmer of hope in the form of a prophecy about Jesus's role as the Messiah. This is what is called in Greek the Proto-Evangelion. That means the first gospel. Here's the first gospel given by God himself. in Genesis 315. The Proto-Evangelion. This centers around the concept of enmity or hostility or hatred. God tells Satan, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. At this point, enmity existed between man and God. That was evidenced by Adam and Eve hiding from God after they sinned. Satan, having successfully tempted Adam and Eve, might have believed that he had won their allegiance and could use them to thwart God's plan. He might have assumed that the enmity would remain between humanity and God. However, God declares that he will shift the enmity, turning humanity against Satan. This is the beginning of the good news, the promise that God will restore the broken relationship with mankind. This enmity will culminate in the coming of a special individual as identified in that verse as he. He's the seed of the woman. Seed is singular, not plural. seed indicating coming from a virgin birth. We read a couple of prophecies about that. This he, this one who is identified as the seed, will ultimately crush Satan's head, delivering a fatal blow, while Satan will only be able to bruise his heel. That prophecy right there points directly to Jesus. He was born of a woman without a human father fulfilling the unique condition of being the seed of the woman. This is further supported by the New Testament which clearly identifies Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Satan, understanding the prophecy, has consistently tried to prevent the Messiah's birth and destroy his lineage leading to him. This is evident in the attempts to kill the male children at the time of Jesus's birth. You remember that? The bruising of the heel refers to Jesus's suffering and death on the cross, a temporary setback that ultimately led to the crushing of Satan's head. Through His atoning sacrifice, Jesus defeated sin and death, securing salvation for all who would believe in Him. What is the significance of this prophecy? Well, God is offering hope and the promise of a Savior before even pronouncing the curses on man. This emphasizes God's merciful nature, his desire to redeem fallen humanity. It also serves as a foundation for understanding God's redemptive plan throughout the rest of the Bible. It's the first promise of a Savior who will conquer Satan and destroy all of his agents. And He will restore humanity to a right relationship with Him. But that can only happen in Jesus Christ. If you never, ever receive Him, you can't have that right relationship with God. Hebrews says it this way, Hebrews 2.14, Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death. That is the devil. The devil had the power of death. But since Jesus conquered death, he took it away from him. And the promise that we have And the promise that we are waiting for is what it says in Romans 16 20. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. He will soon crush Satan under our feet. Satan's defeated, defeated foe. So if you were filling out anything on the back of the bulletin, the first one is promised in Genesis. And I would tell you more, but I would spoil next time. Because I do want us to see next time what is following from here. Too much to cover in a little bit of time, but I think what we have seen today certainly points to the truth that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah. And I praise God that He has already come. And I praise God that He took in His own body my sin, your sin, And he bore the penalty of our sin when he died on a cross. When God poured out all of his wrath that was deserving for us, he poured it out all on Christ. Jesus took the wrath of God for us. He took our judgment. Isn't that beautiful? See, He calls everyone to repent. But you need to understand what you're repenting of. And we find out today what we're repenting of from what we saw in Genesis 3. Romans 5 tells us that what happened in Genesis 3 was transferred to every human being that would ever live. We have a sin nature because of Adam. We got it from Adam. And what we need is the second Adam to take that sinful nature away, and his name is Jesus. He's the second Adam mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15. And so today we praise him for that, don't we? We praise Him for who He is. We praise Him for what He has done. And as we conclude our time together this morning, we're going to conclude it with sharing in the Lord's Supper. Because in the Lord's Supper, we're told to do this until He comes. And each time we do it, we're proclaiming His death. Jesus died for us. And the bread and the wine, what are those? Those are symbols. In the Lord's Supper, Jesus doesn't actually appear here. This is not what Catholics believe, transubstantiation, where the substance changes into Christ. The bread literally the body of Christ, the wine literally His blood. No wonder when Martin Luther was standing there doing his first communion, he was shaking as he held the chalice, because if this was Christ himself in this communion here, I mean, he's saying, I don't want to mess this up. He's in fear, he's shaking, and he even spills it. And if that's what you believe too, you would be doing the same thing. But we believe that when Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me, that this was a memorial. This was symbolic. And this pointed to his sacrificial work on the cross for us. And that's why every time we do it, we're proclaiming his death until he comes. As we prepare to receive it this morning, I want us to go to prayer, and then I want you to remain in an attitude of prayer while the elements are passed out. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, we come to you right now and we just thank you for the awesome sacrifice that you made on our behalf, dying in our place for our sin. We also thank you for What your word taught us this morning in the first gospel there in Genesis 315 and seeing that you are the promised Messiah who has come. And I pray for your people Israel that you would open up their eyes to see that wonderful glorious truth that their Messiah has already come. There is no more Messiah to look for. The Lord, I know they can't hear it. You can't get it unless you open their eyes to it. Same is true in here. Nobody can understand this unless you make it understandable to their heart and make their heart willing to come to you. We thank you for your truth, Lord God, and we thank you for your word and we thank you that we could be together today to worship you. We pray.