We're looking at supplication this week. We're going to look at what should guide our supplications. What if we do not have a specific Bible verse? We're going to look at a supplication sheet that you can use to guide the development of your prayer notebook. And then we're going to talk a little bit about persevering prayers. So, having said that, let's go to the Lord in prayer, shall we? O Lord God, this is your holy word. We are your servants, O Lord. Give us understanding that we might know your testimonies. You have prayed, O LORD, sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. Use your holy, eternal, inerrant written word to set us apart this day to your service and glory. Show us now great and mighty things which we do not know. The sower sows the word. Let not your word go out and return empty, but accomplish that purpose for which you are sending it out and for which you have gathered us together. Protect us from Satan, Lord, who will snatch your word. Protect us from the world's cares and the delight of wealth and the passion of other interests which enter in and choke your word. Protect us from a wrong reaction to difficulties and discouragements and persecutions which make our hearts hard and unresponsive to your word. Rather give us good soil, O Lord. Plow up now the hard ground of our hearts that your sown word would send roots downward and bear fruit upwards. Unsheathe now the sword of your spirit, O Lord. Cut to the dividing point of bone and marrow, soul and spirit. Judge now the thoughts and intention of each heart gathered here. Spread your word before us as a banquet table, O Lord. Grant grace that we might eat of the rich meat and drink of the sweet milk, of the great doctrines of Your Word. Give us the heart of the prophet who cried to You. Thy words were found and I did eat them, and Thy words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart, for I am called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts. Oh Lord, we live in a dark and a wicked age. Broad is the way and many are on it, which leads to destruction. Make your word a lamp to our feet. Make your word a light to our path. Show us that narrow way that you would have us run. And Lord, as we run in the paths of your commandments, enlarge our hearts that in loving you we might be more obedient to your written word. Drop your word against our lives as a plumb line, O Lord. Grant grace that we might see how we deviate from its high and holy purpose. make your word to us a mirror, O Lord. Grant grace that we might not be as those who look and go away and forget, but make us active doers, not forgetful listeners of your holy word. O Lord, because of our fealty to you, because of our undying love and devotion to your Son, our resurrected Savior. We pledge to you our total submission to your holy, eternal, and written Word, and we pledge to you our unquestioning obedience to all of its commands. In the name of our Lord and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay. What should guide the supplication section of our prayer notebook? Well, let's look at two key passages that address this. Two key passages. Let's look first, Dr. Arnold, at 1 John 5, 14 and 15. Let's turn in the Holy Scriptures to 1 John 5, 14 and 15. If you would read that for me, please. This is the confidence we have before Him. If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked for. So, the great confidence we have is in that God will answer all those prayers that are according to His will. Now, when I first heard this, I was a freshman in college, and my attitude was, why bother praying if God is going to do His will anyways, in any case? Why bother praying? Now, as we said last week, If prayer, if the objective of prayer is giving answers to our requests in the positive, and God is only going to do His will, then that's a good conclusion. If all prayer is, is asking and receiving, then why bother? But prayer is spending time with God. prayer is growing in our relationship with God, not just getting from God. A better question is, if you have asked God for something and that is not God's will, do you want Him to grant it? if you ask god to do something and that is not god's will do you want him to do it and of course the answer is no turn to look at nine twenty three police look nine twenty three does this passage say I will take up my cross and follow the disciple that wherever he goes I will bless it. Does that say that? And yet that is the Pentecostal charismatic, that is the mystical prayer application to this verse that Jesus died on the cross and now he's going to take up his cross and he's going to follow us around and when we command him to bless, he is going to bless. But that's not what that verse says. Read that verse, Dr. Arnold. Let me search them all. If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself. We deny ourselves. We take up the cross. We follow Jesus, not vice versa. It should be enough for us in prayer that we get to spend time with God. that was moses' application when he came down from cyanide i have he said in deuteronomy i have seen today that god speaks yet man lives that should be enough for us that we could go into the very presence of god and talk to him and come out alive So prayer is not simply getting things. And many people in their prayer life put their faith in their ability to believe. And they just think, if I believe hard enough, I will get this. But we don't want that. In fact, if I thought that by believing prayer, by prevailing prayer, God would do something that was not His will, I would never pray. I would never ask God for anything. because there's a way which seems right to a man whose end is the way of death. Chances are I will choose the wrong way to go. God has said my ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Chances are I will choose the wrong thing. So one of the reasons I have confidence in my relationship with God in prayer is that he will do his will. If we pray for healing and God heals, we get to be a part of a miracle. If we pray for healing and God does not heal, we've still got, had the opportunity to spend quality time with God as we learn his will. Knowing what is not God's will is as important as knowing what is God's will. Knowing that marriage is God's will is as important as knowing that adultery is not God's will. We need to know both things. And we learn what is not God's will through unanswered prayer. There is a great hymn that has this phrase in it. Teach me the meaning of unanswered prayer. And we all need to learn that. When prayers go unanswered, we need to know the meaning of that. What is God seeking to teach us? spending time with God is more important than the actual results. We see that in witnessing. Now, turn with me, if you would, to John chapter 6. John chapter 6 verse forty four why don't you read that for me please no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him now I know people who when they read that verse they say then why bother witnessing Nobody's going to receive Christ unless God draws them. Why bother? Well, read 2 Corinthians 5 verse 20, please. Okay. We are ambassadors for Christ. Since God is making His appeal through us, we plead on Christ behalf to reconcile to God. When you are witnessing, who are you spending time with? Who's making His appeal through you? Jesus Christ. Yeah, God, isn't it? God is making His appeal through us. Now read Revelation 3.20. See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and drink with him. Now when we witness, we're spending time with Jesus. Read Revelation 22.17, please. and the bright sea come. Let anyone who hears sea come. Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely. When we are witnessing, who are we spending time with in this passage? The Spirit. Yeah. So, you say, well, unless I get results, I don't care about witnessing. And yet we're spending time with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. It's as if you said to John when he gets a little older, would you like to go fishing with your father? We'll spend the day together. And he says, can you guarantee that I will catch a championship fish? No. Can you guarantee I will catch lots of fish? No. Will you guarantee I catch a fish? No. Then I don't care about going with you. You and mommy just go out go fishing, I'll stay at home. Well, that would be very selfish, wouldn't it? And yet many people say, if God, if I'm not going to lead people to Christ, why am I bothering witnessing? It's because you are spending time with God. If a person doesn't witness, if a person says, I like to spend time with God in the Word, I like to spend time with God in prayer, but not witnessing, he's missing 25% of his God time, isn't he? Let's look at fellowship. Doctor, read Hebrews 10, 24 and 25, please. Let us not watch out for one another to provoke love and goodwill, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more, as you see them there, personally. And somebody could read this verse and say, well, you know, I don't have to fellowship with other Christians. I don't have to go to church on Sunday. You're involved in the Navigators. I don't have to go to any Nav fellowships or conferences because people are going to be encouraging each other and helping each other anyways. I don't have to do that. But look at Matthew 18, 20. Well, we are two or three together in my name. I am there among them. Yeah, somebody could say, you know, I really like spending time with God. I like to be in his word. I like to be in prayer. But I'm really not people oriented. I'm more of a solitary personality. People are going to receive Christ whether I witness or not. People are going to be encouraged whether I fellowship or not. So I just don't do those two things. But if you don't do those two things, you miss 50% of your opportunity to spend time with God, don't you? Well, that's true with prayer. Read Philippians 4, 6 and 7, please. Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds from crime. Well, the person says, yeah, I don't have to spend a lot of time in prayer. I'm not worried about anything. As things come to mind, I may pray, but I'm not going to get up early in the morning and have a prayer notebook and spend concerted time in prayer. But what does Hebrews 4.16 say? Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help all in time of need. Prayer is spending time with God. It's not just getting things. And when we pray, when you pray, Dr. Arnold, do you ask Gabriel for a time slot? No. Gabriel, I'd like an appointment. with the Creator of the Universe. Gabriel says, well, you know, he's really busy right now, but yeah, August 15th at 3 a.m. Don't miss it. Another time slot won't open up for a year. Is that what happens? No. You can walk into the presence of God anytime you want to, 24-7. You can receive mercy, That is, you will not receive what you deserve in terms of God's judgment, the consequences, you can confess your sin. You can receive God's grace. That's receiving what is not deserved. Anytime you want to. But when you do that, you are spending time with God. It's as if Jesus called you and you said, well, I will follow you, but will you do everything I ask of you? That's not why we follow Jesus. It is to do everything He asks of us. God's love for us is already proven in John 3.16 that He gave His only Son that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Romans 5.8 God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God's love has already been proven. The variable is our love and spending time with God in prayer is one of the ways in which we express our love for God. So, what should guide our supplications? The Word of God should guide our supplications. Let's look at John 15, 7, shall we? Take a look at that, read that for us please. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. Yeah, so what is going to guide our prayers there? The Word of God. That's exactly right. The Word of God is the will of God. We don't have to worry about that, do we? So if in our prayer notebook it is organized around the Word of God, then we know He will answer those prayers, don't we? Well, what if we don't have a specific verse? Like, one of the first verses I have in my prayer notebook is Psalm 119, 125. Could you read that please? I am your servant, give me understanding, so that I may know your decrees. Yeah, so, I have been praying that since 1971. 50 years. God teach me that is God's will. God will answer that prayer. Since then, I've added about 20 or 30 other verses as I've done my reading program that God will teach us His Word. And I have added that to the section of my prayer notebook on the Word. Now, if I need a new car and I ask God for a new car, can I get a verse on that? No, I can't. God may or may not be God's will for me to have a new car. But it is God's will that I know His word. So I pray over it. So if I pray for healing, do I know that's God's will that I be healed? No, I don't. At some point in my life, it's God's will that one or more of my organs fail and I go to heaven. That is God's will. So what I want to do is, until that day, live for the Lord. But I don't intend to stay out of heaven by faith. I intend to go to heaven by faith. and by God's grace, until then, whether I live or die, I will live or die for Jesus, as it says in Romans 4. So let's look at Luke 22, 42. What if we don't have a specific verse? Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Yes, God will always answer that prayer in the affirmative. Not my will, but yours be done. Now, if you write in the margin of your Bibles next to 1 John 5, 14 and 15, you can write Luke 22, 42. which is Jesus' illustration to us of the heart of our prayers, that God's will will be done. Because isn't that what we want? Isn't we want that God's will be done? Look at Matthew 6, verse 10. Matthew 6, verse 10. Would you read that please? Your kingdom come, your will be done. Yes, isn't that in Matthew 6.10? Isn't that what we want? God's will to be done? Or do we want our will to be done? Jesus has said when we pray, we ask that God's kingdom would come upon the earth and that God's will would be done upon the earth, not ours. And yet in the Pentecostal Charismatic, among the evangelical mystics, They say if you only believe enough, if you only give enough money, if you only know this or that secret, if you only have this or that blessing, you can command God to do what you want. Or even worse, they tell you that you can be a God and you can just speak it. speak the blessing, speak the healing, speak the new car, speak the job, speak it as if you were God. That teaching does not come from God the Holy Spirit, but comes from deceiving spirits. So, if we don't have a verse, we give our petition to God. But we ask them to do His will, not our will. Well, people say, well, if He's going to do His will, not your will, why are you even praying? And I say to them, now you know you don't love Jesus. You don't want to spend time with God. That's not enough for you. that you would be able to boldly approach the throne of grace and talk with God. You don't have to make an appointment. 24-7 we relate to God as if we were the only Christian on the face of the earth. And if that's not enough for you, nothing is going to be enough. So what guides our supplication is the will of God as revealed in the word of God. We have supplications that we don't have direct verses for, and those we leave in God's hands. We can ask him, but in the final analysis, we are satisfied with God's decision. Let's look at the Apostle Paul as an example of this. Turn with me to 2nd Corinthians, if you would. We'll look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 7 Especially because of the extraordinary revelation. Therefore, so that I will not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I will not exalt myself. This thorn in the flesh was not something that was inconvenient. It was not that there were people he had to work with that he didn't like. It was not an unjust boss. It was not a neighbor. It was a torment to him. That's a pretty strong word, isn't it? There was something in his flesh, in his physical body, that was tormenting him. And so in verse 8, what did he do? Concerning this, I pleaded to the Lord three times that He would leave me. Yeah, Paul who had healed the sick, he had this thorn in the flesh, it was tormenting him. And he was pleading with the Lord, deliver me from this torment. And what did God say in verse 9? He said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my path is perfected in goodness. Alright, so God said no, didn't he? Now, did Paul become bitter? Keep reading. Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weakness, so that Christ have mercy on me." Now, if by God not answering your prayer, you are going to become bitter, Satan no longer needs to worry about tempting or attacking you. He just waits. Because sooner or later, you are going to ask God for something that is very, very important to you. And He is going to say no. And if instead of saying His power is perfected in my weakness, you begin questioning the existence of God, Satan doesn't even have to worry about attacking you, does he? If by someone you love dying, you are going to get bitter at God, you are going to get bitter at God. Why? Everybody you love is going to die, including yourself. If someone getting sick or injured and God not healing them, if that is going to make you bitter at God, you are going to get bitter at God. If by not getting something that you want with all your heart, you are going to get bitter at God, then you are going to get bitter at God, because we all experience these things. So, if Satan can get us to the point where our love of God is predicated upon him doing those things which are supremely important to us, then he's won because sooner the clock is ticking sooner or later something that is very important to you will not be God's will and then you will be bitter and the battle is done So we have to understand in the area of supplication, the number one value of supplication is spending time with Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit through the Word. The number two thing about supplication is that God has told us His will. through His Word and that we can organize our prayer notebook according to passages from His Word that are His will. The number three thing we know about supplication is that we can bring anything we want to before the Lord, but He will only do His will. But that, to me, is the most freeing aspect of supplication. If I thought that if I asked God to do something for myself, a member of my family, anything, that what I'm asking is not God's will, but God will do it anyways, I would never pray again. because i don't know the mind of god i don't know the will of god apart from his word i would be afraid to ask god for anything it is the confidence that he will only do his will that i can spend time with him now when god's when god says no we learn something don't we now god says a man shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Well, that's something that God has answered your prayer for, hasn't He? He said, be fruitful and multiply. God has answered your prayer, hasn't He? But, you know, it's equally important for you to know what is not God's will. God has said, you shall not commit adultery. That's just as important for you to know that as it is for you to know to get married. God has said that you must be the husband of one wife. The two shall become one flesh. That's just as important as the prohibitions of polygamy. So for us to know what God's will is and to know what God's will is not is equally important. And when we ask God to do something and he says no, that's important for us to know, isn't it? Now we know what God's will is not. Now I'm finishing up my dissertation. I hope to have it done by this summer. When you do your PhD dissertation, you put forward a proposition, and then you seek to prove it true or false. But if your proposition is not true, and you have done the research, that is just as important to the institution as if it was true. Because now they know what road not to go down to. Dr. McCallway, was doing research on Lyme tick disease as part of his doctorate. His research proved where the organism did not reside during its dormant state in the deer. Well, that was just as important to find out than where it did reside. So even though his proposition was not true, he still received his PhD for his research because it was an important piece of the pie in understanding and preventing Lyme tick disease. Well, that's important for us too. We ask God to do something. He doesn't do it. Now we know God's will. That's important. We don't become bitter. So one of the aspects of our communication with God is formal and informal. Now, in our relationship with people, informal communication is important. And that's true with our relationship with God. Just talking off the top of your head. Expressing our emotions. These are important. Both with man and with God. However, the formal nature of communication is directly in proportion to the importance of that communication, both in our relationships with God and man. So, informal communication is important between Eleanor and myself, isn't it? We're driving along, we're talking, we might discuss various things, Bible studies, our relationship with each other, the weather. These are all fine, aren't they? When it comes to my care of Eleanor during this post-surgical period, I have things written down, don't I? She needs to receive medication every three hours. And there are different medications. I have to know what those medications are and which of those three-hour blocks she used to receive them. anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, two different types of pain medication. Every eight hours, she receives a shot in her stomach from me as an anticoagulant. Now, I don't just sit around and talk with Eleanor and say, I wonder what's coming up. What do you think? Should you get a shot in your stomach? Should you have pain medication? Should it be the antibiotic? I wonder what we should take. No, I have these things written down. And there is a schedule and I follow that schedule. Now, sometimes Eleanor and I would take a walk. And if the weather was nice, we might walk a long time. If the weather was bad, or began to change, we would turn around and come home. It was very informal. But now she's seeing a physical therapist. And he's giving her specific things to do. And she writes these down. You see, the formal nature of communication is in direct proportion to the importance of the communication. You don't just say to your wife, you know, I wonder how much money we should spend on groceries this month. I wonder if we should buy groceries. What do you think? Well, some people live like that, and they're always in financial trouble. We have a budget. and we know how much we're going to spend on groceries and we plan ahead for when our children had school fees and we planned ahead for when our children needed clothing or books and we would talk about that and write it down and plan for it well that's true in our relationship with God as well informal communication is great and important. But in our relationship with God, there will also be formal communication. And that's your prayer notebook. You are not living under the law, but there are some things that I want to pray about that I do not want to leave for chance. And I want to be persevering in these prayers. Now, to do that, I have a section of my prayer notebook called Supplication. And I've sent you this handout. 1 Kings 8.28 is a great passage. Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord God, to listen to the cry and the prayer which thy servant prays before thee today. See, the psalmist, as led by God the Holy Spirit, teaches us that it should be enough that God listens to us. Dr. Arnold, read Psalm 116, verse 1, please. I love the Lord because He has heard my appeal to mercy. Yeah. He loves God because God listens. It doesn't say, if you obey me, I will love you. That's upside down Christianity. That's John 14, 15. Jesus says to us, if you love me, you will obey me. We don't say that back to Jesus. If you love us, you'll answer prayer. If you're a good God, you will answer prayer. No. No. We love God simply because he would listen to us. He doesn't have to listen to us. God could have limited prayer to praise and thanksgiving, couldn't he? God doesn't have to receive our confession. God doesn't have to receive our supplication. God doesn't have to receive our intercession. And he could have said, no, deal with that yourself. You come before me with praise and thanksgiving. He entered the courts with praise and said, Thanksgiving, Psalm 100. And that's it. Beginning and the end. I don't want to hear any of your whining. I don't want to hear about all the mistakes and sins you make in life. And I don't want to hear any, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. But he didn't say that, did he? We boldly approached the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace. and God is happy to hear those things. Now, sometimes my heart is hard. So, one of the things I did when I was doing my reading program is I prayed through the Psalms, as I read through the Psalms, I looked for Psalms which I felt emphasized supplication. Now, virtually none of the Psalms are all one thing. Usually there are a combination of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. But I felt like these psalms emphasized supplication. So if I am not feeling focused in my relationship with God and my heart is hard, I will pray over one of these psalms. And after I've prayed over it, I'll put a tick mark by it. Voila! And when I get to the end, I'll start over at the beginning. And then there are hymns which I always, which I will sing also to make my heart soft. I need Thee every hour. I am Thine, O Lord. My Jesus, I love Thee. May the mind of Christ my Savior. So I do not sing these hymns every time. And you may have some great hymns of supplication that are meaningful to you that you might want to stick here. Then I have areas of prayer. Now I think every disciple, I think the Navigator Wheel illustration is an excellent illustration on basic discipleship. So when I started out my prayer notebook, it began, as soon as I learned the wheel, with the wheel. Then people began talking about faith, hope, and love, so I added those topics, faith, hope, and love. Then I went to a purity workshop, and I thought, well, that's important, so I'll add purity. So I began adding different sections, but it began with this. So I would start with Romans 4.24. but for our sake also to whom it will be reckoned as those who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord." Well, I believe in Jesus and I want Him to be Lord of my life. So I would pray over that in Revelation 5.21. That as sin reigned in death, so even Christ's grace might reign. through righteousness, to eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And I would pray, O Lord, reign supreme in my life. And when I got to the bottom of these verses, then I would go back to the top. Then I have a page in my prayer notebook on obedience. John 14, 15. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. So I pray over that. Well, I might stop there and go on to the next one, or I might pray over two or three passages. When I got down to the bottom, 1 Peter 1, 14 and 15, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the one who has called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your behavior." Then I would start back at the top. Now this is God's will, isn't it? I don't have to worry. I wonder if this is God's will. The words of God the Holy Spirit will always conform with the will of God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit always act in concert one with another. Then we have the word spoke. Well, I might check off Psalm 94, 12. Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten, O Lord, and dost teach out of thy law. Psalm 119, 8. Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from thy law. And I would work my way to the bottom. And when I got to the bottom, I would start back up and put tick number two next to this. And then I would pick up where I left off. The prayer spoke. Psalm 5.3, In the morning, O Lord, thou wilt hear my voice. In the morning I will order my prayer before thee and eagerly watch. And I would ask God, help me to be faithful, to spend time with you in the morning. The wheel, the witnessing spoke. And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16, 15, Matthew 4, 19. And he said to them, follow me, I will make you fishers of men. And I would say, Jesus, as I take up my cross and follow you as one of the courses in the discipleship training program that you were taking me through, make me a fisher of men. Well, that's God's will, isn't it? I don't have to worry about that. The fellowship spoke. Well, Philippians 2. One, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, I will pray, Lord, help me to be a consoler. Help me to be one who is known for his Christian fellowship. Help me to be affectionate and compassionate to the weak. But then I also pray, verse 2, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Help me to be a unifying force in my church and in my ministry, not divisive. Why work down to the minute? Now purity. So I have a verse. Job 31.1, I have made a covenant with my eyes, how then could I gaze at a virgin? Lord, help me to keep my eyes to myself. Help me not to have wandering eyes. Help me not to embarrass myself when talking with others. by looking at girls when they walk by. And I have tried to have conversations with ministers or disciples or have Bible study in a cafeteria or a restaurant or a student union. And every time a pretty girl walks by, the guy turns and looks at her. And finally I say, you know, you need to memorize Job 31.1. You need to get a handle on your eyes. you have what is known as roving eye syndrome. And you go down. I would have them memorize 1 Peter 2.11. Beloved I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against your soul. And I would go on. So you see you can start out with a basic prayer notebook. with just one or two verses on each page, and then as God instructs you, you can increase them. And we can learn to persevere in prayer. Isaiah 62, 6 and 7 is a verse where I have the Lord teach me to pray. On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen. All day and all night they will never keep silent. You remind me, O Lord. Take no rest for yourselves, and give him no rest until he establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise on the earth." And I ask God to keep me before Him in prayer. that my ministry might be a spiritual ministry empowered by prayer, and that he would empower the word, fellowship, and witnessing. Notice back in October 26, 2011, I wrote in my prayer notebook, I've prayed this too long, now God will not let me go. I've been praying since 1971, specific organized prayers that God will teach me to pray. If I stopped praying that today, it's too late. After 50 years, He's never going to let me go. So, as I said before, formal nature of communication is directly in proportion to the importance of the communication. So, I am not trying to put people under the law, but there needs to be a formal nature to our prayers, as well as informal, because of the seriousness of our prayers. And I'll tell you, I share this with some people, and they laugh it off, but these people are by nature not serious. They are very affable, easy going people. Don't make such a big deal out of it. But they have that same type of relationship with their wife. They have that same type of relationship with their children. They have that same type of relationship in the ministry. Things are not organized. It's all very informal. And there is not a standard of excellence to it. I have in my relationship with Eleanor a very informal aspect, but there is a formal aspect to it too. We have a calendar. We have a budget. We have spiritual goals. I have a very loving, informal relationship with my children. We like to play games, go for walks, laugh and talk, but there was a formal aspect. where they were to learn specific wisdom and life skills, where they would obey daddy quickly the first time because it is the command of God in Ephesians 6, 1, children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. I have an informal relationship with those in my ministry. Dr. Arnold, I consider you my friend, and when I'm in Cameroon, we have times when we just laugh and talk. But, I do not teach the Bible in an informal way. I spend hours on preparation for our time together. On Tuesday morning, I'm up at 4 in the morning. so that I will take with great seriousness these Bible studies we have. So the formal nature of communication is always in direct proportion with the importance of the communication and I sincerely believe that that is true in our relationship with God as well. We have an informal nature of prayer, we don't live under the law, but a prayer notebook is important to us as is our budget Hey, Dr. Arnold, you're going to at some point operate on a child's eye, aren't you? When I bring my child to you, and there you are with the anesthesiologist and the surgical nurses and you, and you say to me, oh, don't be so serious, John. Hey. You know, the medical school tried to put me under the law, tried to make me read all these textbooks. But boy, me and my surgical team, we didn't worry about that. We're just gonna go in here and start cutting and enjoying ourselves. You think I will turn that child over to you? No, I would run the other direction. Because the seriousness of surgery reflects itself and how organized your communication is with your professors, with your surgical team, with everybody. Well, may God add His blessing to His Holy Word. In Jesus' name we pray.