on today and maybe for the next few weeks you know I don't necessarily do a Christmas theme I don't I don't I'm not if y'all don't know the Christmas story there's something wrong with you right but we I might we'll see I think God shifted me a little bit we'll see and we're gonna be doing I've been teaching a whole lot of just scripture and and right dividing and I'm probably gonna spend the next little bit on how to become better human beings how to become better parents men, women, husbands, wives, I sort of think that's where I'm going because during the worship I got next week right here. So we'll see how that works for everybody. And it makes sense because we're going to start a new year. It sort of makes sense to me if he's doing that because I was going to finish up on water baptism this week in the Scripture. I had it pretty much all done, but this got changed, and it's okay. I think you'll appreciate it. I think you will. You might not like all of it, but I think you'll appreciate it. I think so. First of all, I'm a hypocrite. Let's get this down. I'm a hypocrite. I don't do everything I tell you to do. Right? I mean, I don't do everything like I tell you to do. So let's get that out front right there very, very carefully spoken there. There was a time when I did think I knew it all, especially Scripture, and it didn't work out good for me. And so I stayed in error for a long time because I thought I knew it all. I thought I had all the answers. And now I felt sorry for people who believed differently from me because I thought those poor pitiful people just don't know the truth. That's where I was. If y'all have known me for the last four or five years, you know I'm not that guy anymore. Surely you know that by now. Hey, one guy leave my church because he said I didn't know enough. He said I didn't I said I didn't know too many times. And so that's fine, I mean, I guess he knows it all. You know, have y'all met people that know it all? And I mean, they're smarter than their boss, they're smarter than their spouse, much smarter than their mom and dad, right? Forget the preacher, they know way more than a preacher knows, right? The Sunday school teacher. And you know what I found out with those people? I can name probably three right now The thing that I can see is they become very bitter. They become very angry. They become isolationist. They don't want to be around people because they think they know it all. I mean, you know, once you think you know it all, I mean, you don't need nobody else because you know it all. I know, I know this much. That's about an inch. I know very little. And as you mature, you're going to realize how little you really do know. Something happens to these men and women's minds, just like you get in error, you don't listen, you become unteachable, and you just live in error. and I've seen it. Something happens when you get to where you think you know it all. And I just told you I'm a hypocrite. When you think you know it all, your mind changes. Something in your mind changes to where you become a different person. You understand? And if you think about the people you know that way, would you say they're overall bitter or happy? They're bitter. Do they tend to like to be around people? No, they don't. That's just how it is, because see, they know it all. So I want to share that with you because I want to make sure we understand, don't go down that path where you, you know, I don't care if you do know more than your boss, you're never going to make it if you believe everybody you work for is stupid. It's not going to be good for you. I told you a story about the guy that we went to play paintball. And this one guy, new people hadn't heard it, a bunch of us went to play paintball with a bunch of men in Greensboro. And this guy came with us. All the guys followed him. He was like, I mean, I'm following, I mean, man, this guy's got it going on. He said, go here, go here, do this. You take this, I'll go here. And I'm going back. I went with the group. I was with them, but not in that group, so to speak. I go, man, this dude's a natural leader. He's just natural. And so we get to play the game, and so I find out where he works. I happen to know the guy who owns the company. And I says, man, this guy works for you? He said, yeah. I said, I thought you told me you didn't have, you couldn't find a good supervisor, you know, a plant manager. He said, well, I can't. I said, this guy works for you? He works for you? He said, no. He said, you don't understand. He thinks he knows it all. If I tell them to go and put A and B together, and then put C on top of it, he agrees, he gets all his men, and he goes and does A and C and puts B on top of it. In other words, he'll go behind his back because he knows more. You understand? He can't follow simple instructions. And I've told y'all, this guy, he could be making hundreds of thousands of dollars simply because he thinks he knows it all. Amen? don't be that girl, don't be that guy, because you sure don't know it all. Glory to God. Now today I'm not going to be using as much Scripture as normal. We talked about some things in the men's meeting which I think spurred this. We talked about planning and how to do things as men. It's a very good men's meeting. And so today what I'm going to talk about is when it hits the fan. I know all of y'all are thinking that it rhymes with another word, which is a dirty word. That's not it I'm talking about. When it hits the fan. When it hits the fan. The it I'm talking about is you, and the fan is your life. When you Hit life, when you walk through life, when that fan of life is turning and chopping you up and trying to spit you out and blow you over here, make a lot of noise that you can't hear. You know, sometimes we like noise, sometimes we don't. The fan, your life can be very disruptive to you. Things happen to you that you don't plan for. You try, you know, it could be so many things. You know, if you ever mess with a fan Got your finger in it. You know, and it's like, go! Right? You know, it doesn't cut your finger off, but it scares the bejeebies out of you. Right? What's that? Oh, you've been working on a car? You've been working on a car, and you know, you ran in the front up in there where the fan's going, and, well, all a guy do is just, you know, and you, ding! You know, and man, it just scares you, right? Like getting shocked. Working on the furnace, working lots of things where fans can operate. Ceiling fan hits you in the head, you know, you stand up in your bed or something, acting stupid and the ceiling fan hits you in the head. I mean, a lot of things happen like that. It scares you. It scares the life out of you, if you want to call it that way. Today, I'm going to try to help me and you, whosoever. You need to know that the fan is always running. Your life is always running. It doesn't shut off just because you went to sleep doesn't mean to quit operating. It doesn't mean that. You can be at work, the fan's running. This fan I'm talking about is your life. I'm talking about your life as a fan, always running. You be in a bed sick, fan's still running. You can be at work, fan's still running. Watching TV, fan's still running. Cooking, cleaning, fan's still running. Playing a game, fan's still running. Sleeping, life's still going on. On social media, playing with your phone, fan's still running. It's always running. I'm talking about your life. Sometimes our fan is on slow speed, sometimes it's on medium speed, sometimes it's on high speed, right? It just depends on how your life is. It varies. It can be low speed, high speed, whatever. Right? Make a lot of noise, make a little noise. Blow a lot of air, a little bit of air. A lot of things like that. Would y'all say that normally speaking nobody's ever alone? Even, I mean, I'm thinking about Lorelei. You're not alone, right? I'm not being spiritual. You have a cat, correct? I'm not being...just one? One? We'd have a pet. Most everybody...I think most all of us always have somebody or somebody with us. I don't know of anybody who lives totally alone. Do y'all? It could be. But there's always a pal, a friend, or somebody. I'm thinking about it. You may be the only human in your house, but most of us have pets, maybe a bird, whatever it is, dog. Matthew 28, 20. Matthew 28, 20. Teaching them to observe all the things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. That's what Jesus spoke. always Hebrews 13 5 Hebrews 13 5 Hebrews 13 5 Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have For he has said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. That's a promise that God has made you He will never leave you nor forsake you John 10, 2730. John 10, 2730. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. That's Jesus Christ's words. I and my Father are one. How often do we forget, even though we may feel alone, Jesus is with us? I have to remind myself. Now I'm gonna get a little dicey here, and y'all need this every now and then. This could hurt your feelings. That's not my intention. My intention is, for the next little bit, is gonna be able to try to help you become a better person. Okay? More Christ-like. That's my purpose. All of us have either done this or participated in it. Every one of us have. Sometimes, let's just do it this way. Let me do it, yeah. For whatever reason, let's just pretend. Let's just pretend that you quit coming to church. Let's just pretend. You could be sick. You could be lazy. It could be because you're working. You know, you can't just quit your job. You could have other obligations. You could be taking care of somebody who's sick. So many things could happen. But let's just say you basically quit coming to church. After a while, you know, you're basically forgotten. That's a fact. It's just how it is. Out of sight, out of mind. But you know, the fan keeps turning. The fan keeps turning. I would see somebody within the last couple of years, and they missed church for a while, and I went to see them, and they said, I wondered when you're gonna come see me. What I wished I'd said, but I guess I'm glad I didn't, what I wanted to say, well, I was wondering when you're gonna come back to church. I mean, you got, I mean, I'm here. I didn't say that. You understand, don't you? You understand, people expect lots of things. If you come every Sunday, I'm gonna miss you. Second Sunday, I'm gonna miss you. If you come once, twice a month, I might not really miss you for a month. You understand? I know where all y'all sit. I can look around and know who's following me. I know y'all got your spots. If you come once a month, you're not really part of the church. You know what I'm saying? But now, understand this, you have jobs, you have obligations, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about where you just, I don't feel like going, it don't make any difference. You understand that? I'm gonna get a tough spot sometimes because I try to figure out, do I say something? Do I send him a text? Do I call him? What do I do? You know, it's that darned if you do and darned if you don't, right? Was he checking up on me, right? Why did he text me? Well, I don't know, right? And you understand the predicament. So just whatever happens, just say, I love my pastor. Say it. I love my pastor. He's doing the best he can. He's still a sinful man. Say it. He's still a sinful man. Say it, Rodney. Still a sinful man. Yeah, okay. Not, Brenna, not that loud. You know, now, you say, well, okay, now, you're setting us up, aren't you? I sure am. We do God the exact same way. But the difference is, we know He's never going to leave us or forsake us. He's always going to be with us, so we just ignore Him, knowing when I get ready, I'll come on back. Because He's already said, I'm not going to leave you. I wonder how God feels when we do that. We don't even begin to study or even begin to read the word. Let's pick something easy. We don't even pray. I'll never, he promised, he said he'll never leave me, never forsake me. I'm just gonna put God on a back burner, because man, my life is so, my fan is just blowing. Man, I got all these things to do. Christmas, oh, I gotta do this. I gotta decorate, I gotta go shopping. I got all these things you gotta do, and the fan's blowing and blowing. And you say, God, you just, I'll be back after a while. God, you understand, don't you, God? You understand. I'm sure he understands. Do God the exact same way. Put him to the back burner. We come back. Oh, we'll be back, God. We're coming back. It just ain't quite the right time, right? I got, you know, I mean, I got lots of stuff I got to be doing, you know. I got to cook this and make that and wrap that. Go here, take care of that. Our lives are sometimes gonna hit the fan. We don't have anywhere to turn. You know, we talked about it. Some things you can't, now let me say this. I'm gonna tell you a lie. I'm gonna fix it. See if you can come back and figure out where I told you a lie. I may have already told it to you. We try to figure out, as men, we plan, right? We plan for our families, and plan for how we're gonna take care of them, and our children, and our wives, and we plan retirement. We plan whatever. But you know, there's some things you can't plan. I know we can plan for fishing hunt trips, can't we? Yeah, David, David's laughing. We can plan, oh we got, perfect, right? Gonna play golf, cleaning our house, mowing the grass, grocery shopping, and oh my gosh, here's a good one. We can definitely plan on getting our nails done, can't we? Amen, amen, amen, amen. getting your hair cut, going to Kroger's, going to the pharmacy. I plan on eating a whole lot. Don't y'all plan on eating? Right, nothing wrong with that. I plan on sleeping. I mean, I'm gonna sleep tonight, right? Don't y'all plan that? You just, yeah. Some things you just wonder. The light hits all of a sudden, you've got these plans made, and the fan turns on. The fan gets extremely loud. It just, man, and it's just, man, you're in it, man, just knocking you around. Your life is all mixed up, all, you get overwhelmed. You get agitated. You get angry. You get emotional. You get all twisted up. crying because all of a sudden this fan of life is turning and it's just churning everything up. You didn't plan for that. I didn't plan for the unexpected. It's hard to plan for the unexpected, isn't it? For me, what I do when it happens, and it ain't about me, but I hope it'll help you, I just sort of, and I have a pretty good ability to do this, I just sort of ignore it. Would you agree? I just sort of, you know, it ain't really happening, it's gonna be okay, you know? Sometimes trusting God, sometimes just ignoring it, but I've learned, I've talked about trusting God more, but sometimes you just, sometimes when things hit, you can, can y'all just sort of put it in the back of your mind? You just move it back. Because it hurts I don't always Give things to God's the hypocrite about me. I'm telling you about You know, sometimes I don't go to him because I'm afraid he might give me instructions that I don't really want to follow. I Mean I do know I have I have some basic knowledge of God's character and I know that some things I don't want to ask him about Because I really know the answer and I don't want him to confirm it to me Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's just me. Looking back, I was thinking about some stuff. I didn't handle my mom's death really good. I did some things that I wish I could go back and do it, but I can't. You can't. You understand? You can't. But I wish I could. I thought it was good. A couple times, two times during all this process, I blew my stack. Y'all know what a pressure cooker is? You ever use one? Do you still use them today? We don't, but do you still use them? You're gonna say you put the jiggly thing on it and it's five pounds, ten pounds, and you're cooking something and it jiggles. And I remember on Diamond Avenue, I was cooking some pinto beans. before I understand about how to cook them. And I was using the press cooker. You remember what happened that time? And all of a sudden, something happened and it blew that little rubber safety valve pop off. And man, we had pinto beans all up in the ceiling. You know, I have done that. I have lost my beans. Have y'all ever lost your beans before? And I got to thinking, like, a couple times, I mean, I don't normally, probably once a year I lose it, right? Normally, I guess, probably. I mean, I don't mean just, I mean, you lose it, where you would maybe hurt somebody. I don't mean just, like, get upset. Two times in this process, I became so angry I couldn't even, I couldn't see straight, you follow me? I didn't have that BP, IYD, whatever that is, a while ago, but anyway. And I got thinking about it, and it was because I finally figured, I told Brenda, I'm not gonna tell you, not in public, but I'll tell you privately if it would help y'all. But I told her, I said, I messed up. I messed up. And it bothers you. Because you can't go back. So that pops out, my pressure cooker's cooking, this is jiggling, I don't really even think it's that hot! But all of a sudden, boom! Pow! And it happened a couple times. Looking back, I can see now, I can plainly, I said, God, what happened to me? I can plainly see what it was. There's no question in my mind I know. So you know, you gotta be careful if you I was not prepared. I didn't plan properly. Like I said, you can't plan for everything, can you? Do you expect people to know your thoughts? Don't y'all lie. Do you expect your wife to sort of know your thoughts? Do you expect your husband to sort of know your thoughts? But when they don't, does it hurt your feelings? Yes. Because they're supposed to know. We've been married 50 years, you don't know that. Either way, either way. Do you ever get angry when they don't know what you think they should know? Yes or no? Your wife in here, you can speak out loud. Yes or no? You do? I can't believe they didn't know that. Know that? Do you ever not communicate like you should with somebody, and then when things don't go exactly the way you think they should, you get mad at them? Who did that? You did. Sometimes, I know a man who does that deliberately, because he just sort of wants to get irritated. Sometimes it feels good to get mad, doesn't it? Doesn't it? I mean, not to hurt somebody, but you just, you know, if you don't lift weights and jog or whatever, I can't with my knee, I'm done jogging. Yeah, we do that. Hey, where y'all wanna go eat at the church? I don't care. Okay, we'll go to Pizza Hut. No, I mean, I said pizza last night. Okay, let's go to Taco Bell. I got the app on my phone. No, we're gonna have tacos tomorrow. What do you mean when you say you don't care? Right? I've gone places, I mean, I'm telling you now, I know you cried a little bit while ago, it's okay, it's all right. I've cried too, and I do something like that, I don't care, to get in and be eaten, and I didn't really want to come here. Why don't you say something? Right? That goes for you too, it goes either way. Don't be mad, you know, you can't, what's that place like to go all the time? Huh? Clarences. Clarences. Man, you can't, you can't, y'all don't say what you want to, you can't beat clarences. For the price, and the food, and the quantity. Now they got the big glasses. You remember how, why they used to have little glasses in clarences? Because the guy who owned it wanted to make sure the waitresses kept coming back to the table. That's the reason they had little glasses. But now, they got big glasses. I'd eat there. We went there last week. I couldn't even find a parking spot. I was so disappointed. Anyway, you have to communicate with people. If you have a certain desire, you know, you can't expect your husband to know everything. He didn't know to watch that. He didn't, you know. A long time ago, I was babysitting. Brennan had a job. She traveled. We're okay, man. We're all right. She had a job. She traveled. And so I was at home with the kids, and we're in the living room there, and man, I had, golly, I had gone, and every dish was clean, everything, it was, I was, man, she gets home, she's gonna say, man, the house is awesome. And so it's dark, we got there, and we watch the TV, maybe had some blank, it might have been like a bag of chips, and you know, you watch the TV, right, you got a few things out. She comes in and says, man, I thought you'd clean this mess up before I got home. You remember that? See? And I thought, I ain't gonna tell you what I thought, but you know what I thought. I mean, look, look, but we were right there. Do we understand each other? Communication is key. Did your spouse ever ask you, like, do you care if I? And you say, sure. But you don't mean sure. Because you think, is she so stupid to think I think that's okay? I should say stupid. Is she so naive? Is she so eager to think, right? Okay, and you're all afraid now. Gary, you're the only one biting. Do you care if I do? Yes, I do care. No, I don't care. If it's no, say no to me, no. Trying to help you. We do God the same way. What if you came home for a month and you never spoke to your spouse one time? You weren't mad. I don't mean mad, you just didn't speak. What would happen to that relationship? It wouldn't be, like, good, would it? I mean, for some of y'all it might be, because you fight all the time. But anyway, it normally wouldn't be good, right? How do you do God? How do we do God? Do you talk to Him once a month? Or just every Sunday morning? How often do you actually talk with God? How do you feel today? What's going on? How are you? Got any plans for me today? What kind of relationship are you going to have if you never talk with your Creator, the Supreme Being? The One who formed you in the womb, who knows every one of your weird ideas and idiosyncrasies, knows all your aches and pains, knows how dumb you really are, He knows all that. He knows all you try to hide from everybody. He knows all how you try to show your pride. He knows all these things. Why wouldn't you talk to him? Because that fan is coming. That fan is going to turn on and your whole life is going to be BOOM! What happened? What happened now? What's going on? He knows every one of your thoughts, all your pain, all your emotions. Romans 8.26, what does it say? Romans 8.26, Acts and Letters to the Romans. It talks about prayer, Acts 8.26. The Bible says, likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought Didn't say we don't know how to pray. We don't know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. The Bible plainly says you don't know how to pray like you should. Is that surprising? That's what the Word of God says. We don't know. You know, a couple weeks ago, maybe a month ago, we talked about it in here, and I believe God wants He's trying to demonstrate His ability, His power, but you need to go to Him. He wants to demonstrate and answer your prayers, but He can't answer an unprayed prayer. How can He answer something if you never ask Him? Right? He's not like your spouse who can read your mind. Obviously, yes, He can read your mind. Very plainly, He can. We need to quit reasoning about our prayer. What am I going to pray? How am I going to say it? What if I say it wrong? Am I going to laugh at me? Am I going to show off a little bit and quote a bunch of scripture? True prayer is supposed to be spontaneous, not memorized. It should be spontaneous. When's the last time you thought about breathing? When's the last time you thought about breathing? You did, did you? Don't you just sort of breathe normal? I mean, you just breathe, don't you? We shouldn't have to be thinking about prayer. Most of the time, we end up with what I like to call a hostage prayer. We've got a list of demands. And we take those demands to God. This is a hostage prayer. This is what we want right here. You ever told God if He did something, you'd do something? Raise your hand. Who's ever said that? God, if you'll do this, I'll do this. About everybody. The rest of you probably haven't prayed. Well, you do this. We know exactly what we need. Matthew 6, 8 says the Father knows what you need before you even ask Him. He knows what you need. Don't you think he knows what you need? I can't believe Gary needs, oh God, he needs that? Where'd that come from? He knows everything you need, everything you need. Our life hits us, this span hits us, this span of life, and we're in a hostage situation. We start negotiating with God right then. Man, this is bad, God. You gotta come down, you gotta help me. And you hadn't spoke to him for two months. but he said he'll never leave you nor forsake you. Neglecting God for months. How did we get here? How did we get to this situation where we can't even, I mean, it's beyond our control. We're panicking, we're freaking out, we're upset, we're angry. How did we get there? How did it happen? How did it happen? I want to suggest to you, because you've forgotten God, you've neglected God in your prayer, You've forgotten him like that friend that doesn't come to church anymore, that friend that you don't play golf with anymore, that friend who doesn't work with you anymore. You just sort of forgot him. And all of a sudden this big Christ situation happens and you don't know what, you have no idea what to do. All of us have, all believers have a relationship with God. But all believers don't have the same kind of relationship with God. Your relationship with God will affect how you handle the fan. Your relationship will affect how you handle. Y'all remember, I've told it before, there's some stuff I worried about the church. I mean, I'd go, the board knows. Man, I worry and I wake up at night worried about it. Worried, worried, worried, worried. wake up at three o'clock worried, go up and over and over and over. Well, can I tell you today, and God knows I'm telling the truth, I am not worried anymore about that. I'm not worried. How'd that happen? It's very simple, because I have finally learned to trust God. I gotta trust Him. I can't fix this. I can't make you come to church. Well, my wife I can. You understand? I can't make things happen, but I can trust Him. And when you trust Him, I'm telling you, it will affect your whole attitude when you trust Him. You know, we're not trying to get out of trials and tribulations. They're going to happen. You're going to have bad stuff happen. I'm telling you right now, if you have it, it's going to happen. Bad stuff is going to happen. I promise you that. What's important is, how do we handle it? When this fan blows up, Turning you around in how are you going to handle that? That's what separates a man from the boy. How do you handle it when it all falls apart? Your mind ain't we talked about it proverbs 3 5 and 6 trust the lord with all your heart Lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path, man I go to that verse. I go to that verse probably once a week trust him with all your heart Don't lean on your understanding Too many of us, we just, our words, we just pray words out in the air. We try to get God's favor. It's like, it's an emergency room prayer. Oh God, you gotta, oh God, oh God, how'd you get there? Or grocery list. God, I need this and this and this and this, like Christmas, I need this and this, we go to God like that. He says He knows what you need before you ask Him. Real prayer is simply talking with God. It's how you develop a personal relationship. You have a relationship. It's how you develop a working relationship. You can have a personal and a working relationship. I just realized that this week. It's more than just having a personal relationship with God. You need to have a working relationship with Him. where you know you can count on Him, right? How many of y'all have employees, or how many of y'all have been an employee nobody can count on? How many of you have, the employees, you can count on me something, don't they? You might have a hand, I don't have any, I'm not doing that, but you can't count everybody. You can count on God, though. If anybody needs a working relationship with Him, it's me and you. We all have belief. We're all believers. We have a relationship, but we have a different relationship Some people really take now. I'm not knocking anybody here. Some people really take care of the yards, right? They mow them, they fertilize them, they weed them, they trim the bush, they all that, they mulch. And you respect that, don't you? You go by, you see a nice house, you go, man, that's nice, don't you? It looks pretty. Look how they, some people, they have that same kind of relationship with God. They fertilize, they cultivate, they water, they reseed. They have a relationship, not a true personal relationship, a working relationship with God. David Osteen, one of my mentors, he said, Bible study is breathing in, prayer is breathing out. Bible study is breathing in, and prayer is breathing out. You shouldn't have to think about either one of them. Prayer should be natural. We have prayer at 9.30 every Sunday. And I've tried to figure out, you know, I like to have more people come, but I mean, I can't make you come. I've been trying to think, why do people not come to prayer? Well, first of all, probably lazy. You know, I gotta get up early, right? I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. I just don't feel like, you know, I just, golly, you gotta be there 30 minutes, you know, that's an hour early. And that's hard, you gotta have kids to get up. I understand all that. That's one thing. And some may not have the relationship that they wish they had with the Lord. I don't really have that personal relationship, and I just come to pray and just sit there the whole time. I got nothing to pray about. I'm just going to sit here and listen to everybody. Is that your relationship with God? You got nothing to say? Nothing to say? Not one word? Like, Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, thank you for your grace. Thank you for the beautiful day today. And then some people just don't care. Just don't care. It's not complicated. Hebrews 4-12. Hebrews 4-12. for the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of joint and spirit, and of the joints and marrow of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." That Bible knows what I'm thinking. That Word is a discerner, right there, of my thoughts and intents. God's Word is alive. It's living and breathing. It's not just words on a paper. That word can discern my thoughts and my intents. Some people don't like that. It sort of messes them up. First Thessalonians 2.13. First Thessalonians 2.13. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when we receive the word of God, which you've heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." If you don't believe it, it ain't gonna work. It's just words on a piece of paper. God talks to us in Scripture, we talk to God in prayer. Our prayer should be focused on how we are submitting to His will, not for Him to submit to our will. You see the difference? God, help me submit to Your will. Your will be done, not my will. Sometimes people see this and they, should I do that? Yeah, I'll do that. Some people get prayer confused. Let's do this. Go to John 14, 13. This might help you right here. John 14, 13. Here in John, Jesus is talking to his 12 apostles. He's talking to his disciples right here. Nobody else John 14 13 he says and whatsoever you shall ask in my name that will I do That the father may be glorified in the son that doesn't apply to you Have you ever asked anything in God's name and he didn't do it a Bunch of times. Well, then is God a liar? Just common sense tells you that doesn't apply to you Because it was true. You're gonna ask in Jesus name you do it. He told them they could and Go to 1516. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, ordained you. You should go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you ask of the Father in my name, He shall give it to you. He ain't talking to you. He's talking to the apostles. This is why you have to rightly divide the word. which is right there. You know, when I was Pentecostal, I quoted all this. This is for me. Whatever I ask in His name, you give to me. Well, you never did. Well, maybe sometimes you did. Go to 1623. 1623. And in that day, you shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say to you, whatsoever you ask in the Father, you ask the Father in my name, He will give to you. That is not to you. That's what he told the apostles. People claim that, they don't understand, they get confused. So why do you need to pray? Because He never does, He never gives me what He said. He's lied right there. He didn't give me what I said I wanted. See, you don't know how to divide your scriptures. You know that's not true. Just common sense will tell you that. So I hope I fix that for some of you. Ephesians 3, 20-21. Ephesians 3, 20-21. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundant above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Philippians, one of my favorite verses, go to Philippians 4, 7. 6, I mean. be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passes all understanding should keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus this is for you this is for me this is a promise he made if you go to him Don't be anxious for anything. In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. He promises you in the peace of God that past all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That is for me and you. That's the promise. He didn't say, I'll give you what you wanted, but I'll give you peace. It's right there. You can't deny, that's absolute truth. But you've got, don't be worried. Don't get all jacked up. Give it to God. The fans gonna get y'all. The fans gonna get me. I told you I lied to you earlier, and I'm gonna confess that lie right now, and then I hope you understand the truth that's gonna be revealed. Hope you see it. Remember when I said you can't prepare for everything? That's a lie. That's a lie. Absolute lie. If you spend time in prayer, If you spend time in the Word, then you will be prepared for whatever storm that hits you. You'll be prepared no matter how big the fan, how bad the fan, when that hits it, when your life hits the fan, you ain't gotta cry out in desperation, you ain't gotta go to the emergency room in prayer, you ain't gotta make a hodgepodge prayer. When it all falls apart, if you have been spending time with prayer with God, you are prepared for any storm. any storm. It blessed me so much. A couple weeks ago, one of the grandkids was sick, and they said, "'Cause y'all call Papa, so Papa pray for me." And they got good parents, but it want Papa to pray. You know what that does for somebody? It gave me a lot of pride, but I said, this is awesome. This is awesome. Y'all call me and say, would you pray for me? I'd be glad to pray for you. Don't you be lied to, don't you think, well I can't plan for everything. Oh yes, you can be prepared and plan for the worst if you just spend time with God in prayer. If you spend time with him and you have established a working relationship and a personal relationship, when that happens, you have the peace just like that right there. You walk around in perfect peace. How did I get over all my worry about the church? Right there. I went to him and said, you got it now. And you said, well, that's easy for you to say. You're a preacher, you do this. No, you can do it too. God didn't tell you to do something you can't do. safe for elders only. Now, will I still worry? Will I still be a hypocrite? Yeah. But I know I have seen victory here so I know I can see victory other places. That's what I'm sharing with you. You wake up every three or four nights a week worried for three or four hours. After a while you can't take that. It's just you can't take it. You realize, I gotta do something different. You know, if you're trying to do something over and over and over and it ain't working, maybe it's time to try something different. Do you want to stay sick? Who in here likes to worry? I think some people do in a certain kind of way. But nobody really wants to worry, do you? Why do you? Oh, you've been a smart ass. I'm not either. I mean, he told you what to do. Maybe try that. Maybe try, when you pray, maybe try just telling what's on your heart. Ask Him to help you. What about this? How'd I mess this up? Can you fix this for me? I love you so much. You've been so good to me. I thank you for everything you've done. I thank you for saving me, for crying out loud. Spend time with Him, and you'll be prepared. When it hits the fan, you'll be prepared. You'll have a calm and a peace because you know you've got a secret weapon with you and that's the Holy Spirit. God and your relationship. You've got that. That's going on. And that little hearing will worry you. I ain't going to worry about that because I've got a Father in Heaven who knows all about that situation. I can't figure it out, but He can. And I trust you, Father, to figure that out. Oh, yeah, but I've been told before, you don't care, haven't I? People come to me and say, what's wrong with you? You don't even care. No, I'm not worried. Just because you care don't mean you're worried. If you really cared, you'd be worried. I've been, you've heard this before, I've been told that several times. And it bothered me because I wasn't worried. You ain't worried? No. And I walk away going, man, should I be worried? Is something wrong with me? Should I be worried? Because I ain't worried. Maybe I should be worried about that. See how messed up that is? I can't solve anybody's problems, but I know who can. Don't let The life hits you, the fan hits you, and mess everything up in your world. Like, what's that show with the house up in the air? With FIFO, what's it, FIFI, what's the dog's name? Wizard of Oz, huh? What's the dog's name? Huh? Toto? Toto. I mean, you don't have to live like that. Tornado, I mean. Jesus, Jesus Christ calmed the storm. Be still. And all the disciples, oh man, what's wrong with you? Don't you see what's going on? Be still. I'll bet you the water went flat like that. Just like that. I don't think it even sort of slowed down. I think it just went boom. And they go, oh my gosh, who is this who can control the weather? And you, for you to even think He can't control your storm. You've got a different God than I do. If you don't think He can control your storm, you've got a whole different God than I believe in. Amen? Father, we thank You for Your Word. Your Word is absolutely true. There are no mistakes in it. Lord, help us today. A lot of things going on in people's lives. Please help us, Lord. Please help us when it hits the fan. We are prepared. We're not playing catch-up. We're not doing emergency room prayers. We're not doing hostage prayers, but we're prepared and we have a confidence in you because we have walked with you and we've talked with you and we've prayed with you. We have that confidence in trusting you with all our heart. Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Glory to God.