And we just appreciated that fellowship with Brother Matt and Sister Jenna today. And we just had a good time. I hope you've had a good week. Tonight is the middle of our sermons. Amen? This is the middle of the week. Can you believe that we're already through the middle of this thing tonight? And it's hard to believe how fast the week is moving for me. And I hope it's going right along for you tonight. And so we're going to open up tonight 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy, and we're going to be in chapter number 2 tonight, 1 Timothy chapter number 2, and we're going to pick it up in verse number 1 tonight. 1 Timothy chapter number 2 tonight, and we'll begin reading in verse number 1. As we begin to read here, the Bible says in this place of Scripture, in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1, the Bible says, I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come under the knowledge of the truth." Thank God for that verse right there tonight. Verse 5 says, For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time, whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not. a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. Let's pray tonight together. Father, we ask tonight that you would bless as we consider your word together this evening. Lord, we pray that you'd help us as we, Lord, focus our attention tonight on this subject matter of prayer and, Lord, our communication with you tonight. Lord, we pray that you would reveal to our hearts the need that we have in our lives to be in communication with you. Lord, how can we have revival if there's no communication, Lord, with you tonight? And so, God, we pray that you would bless the message tonight. Remove me out of the way and speak to your people tonight. If there's a soul among us that's lost, we pray tonight that you would speak to that heart that they might come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior tonight. God, we pray for your blessing now upon this time. In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen. Now here in 1 Timothy chapter number 2, we begin to understand tonight as we look to this chapter in the Word of God that the Apostle Paul is writing to the young Timothy, a young man that he has, if you will, taken alongside him, has trained, has used in the ministry in various facets, and now God has placed this job, this role in Timothy's life to be left at Ephesus and there to lead the church at Ephesus here in 1 Timothy. And as Paul leaves him here, Paul sends this letter personally to young Timothy to begin to encourage him. And I want you to see chapter 1 gives us a charge to young Timothy. Paul charges Timothy with an exhortation in the first few verses. Then he charges Timothy with a commission Paul says in verse number 3 of chapter 1, if you look back there, he said, "...as I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith." So Dupal is charging Timothy here with a word of commission. Paul has left him there while he is gone in Macedonia. We see that Paul charged him not only with an exhortation in verses 1-3 and a commission in verse 3-4, but we then notice in verse 5-11, he charges him with some instruction about the law. And boy, my friend, we've got to understand our position and place when it comes to the law of God. There's so many religious groups that are entangled with the law of God and are trying to work out their salvation, trying to work for salvation tonight, my friend. But we see tonight that Paul charges Timothy concerning the law, but then we see that Paul begins to charged Timothy with a consideration in verse 11 down through verse 17. And Paul just wants to share his testimony with Timothy. He begins to remind Timothy that God has committed to him the gospel. God has committed to him the trust of the gospel. Oh, that God would lay in our charge, in our hands, under our responsibility to carry His Word to a lost and dying world. Isn't that a great responsibility that God has given to us tonight? To be able to carry His Word to a lost and dying world. The Bible says that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. My friend, he's referring to the glorious gospel that we carry as a child of God. And here Paul is just reminding Timothy tonight that the Lord, He is worthy tonight and that He is wonderful tonight. We see that in verses 11 down through verse 17. And it all culminates here in this passage in chapter 1 because of this reason. Paul says why he charged Timothy. Look there with me in chapter 1. and verse number 18. He says, This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. Paul here is going to give two reasons why he's given this charge to young Timothy. Number one is this. He wants Timothy to know his duty to be faithful in the job that God has given him. My friend, God wants us to be faithful tonight as a church. God wants us to be faithful as individuals. We have a duty to be faithful. He said, I've given you this charge that by this charge you might war a good warfare. Timothy, I want you to be faithful in this fight. But then he also begins to show Timothy that not only does he want him to be faithful in his duty, but also he wants to reveal to him the danger. of not finishing the fight. My friend, there's a danger of not being faithful to the end. Notice there what Paul says here in chapter number 1 in verse 19. He says, "...holding faith in a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning faith, have made..." What? "...shipwrecked." Paul wants Timothy to know with this charge in chapter 1 that there is a danger of not finishing the course. There's a danger of shipwrecking our life for Christ. There is a danger of shipwreck here concerning the faith and a good conscience. There's a lot of good men that started serving the Lord. There's a lot of good Christians that started living for God. And my friend, the darts of doubt and the darts of disregard began to to flood their heart, and my friend, they found themselves shipwrecked upon the rocks of doubt and despair tonight. I pray that that doesn't happen to anybody here's heart tonight. But we notice that Paul is charging Timothy because there is a duty to be faithful and there's a danger of falling short of finishing the fight. And as we look at that tonight, Paul did not want Timothy nor the church at Ephesus to end up as these names that he lists in verse 20. Look there in verse 20 of chapter 1. He says, "...of whom is Hymenaeus, and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." Here in verse number 20, we see that Paul calls out these two names. Now, don't you imagine with me tonight that when Paul made mention of these names, it was names that were notable to Timothy. It was names that were notable among Paul and Timothy. And when Paul called out these names, he wanted Timothy to recognize the danger of even good men falling in the fight. As we look here in chapter number 1, Paul is laying this groundwork as he gives this first letter to Timothy as to why he's giving this letter. And as we look in chapter number 1, we see that Paul did not want this to be the end of Timothy as he writes in verse 20. We see tonight that since Paul feared for the future of Timothy in the church at Ephesus, he begins to exhort Timothy in chapter 2 with some essential instructions to stay away from the rocks of doubt and disregard in the sea of life, so that he does not become another case of shipwreck. My friend, I believe tonight if we're going to experience revival, what Paul is about to share here in chapter 2 is vitally important in our life as a child of God. As we look here in chapter 2, I want you to notice that Paul's very first exhortation that he gives to Timothy in chapter 2 is, number one, to maintain communication with God. My friend, we've got to maintain communication with the Lord in our walk with God. It's vital for us to have a prayer life, a walk with God. Notice here in chapter number 2, he says in verse number 1, I exhort therefore that first of all, I want you to notice here in verse 1 of chapter 2 that as Paul exhorts Timothy concerning his communication with God, he wants him to recognize the priority of our communication with the Lord. My friend, we need to recognize that first of all, First of all, it's important that we have this communication with God. My friend, if we're not walking with God in prayer, how can we possibly have this revival that we desire to have tonight, that we're hoping to have, that we're looking to have in the Grace Baptist Church here in Zachary, Louisiana tonight? How are we going to have this revival if we are not walking with God in communication with Him? Paul points out here that if Timothy is going to escape the dangers of the Christian life, then first of all, Paul exhorts, you're going to have to have communication with God. We see his priority there on the communication of God. In Luke 18, verse 1, the Bible says, and he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. My friend, God's word to us is that we always pray and not faint. Let us not get weary tonight in well-doing. Let's keep that line of communication open with God. Now I'll tell you what, the devil's hard at work, isn't he? He's made our schedules so busy so that it's hard for us to be able to have time to communicate with God. Now, my friend and I, I am thankful for the technology that we have today. I can communicate with my wife and I can communicate with my family all day long. But I tell you what, that texting does not do enough communication all day. I need to have some private time with my wife. I need to have some private time with my children every single day. Now, thank God I can get on there when I'm away from them, out of state or away from them. I can even get on the phone and see their faces, praise God. But I tell you what, my friend, there needs to be that time that I spend personally with my family in communication with them. My friend, there needs to be private time in our life. It must be a priority for us to have time with God every day. I believe that's vitally important. My friend, I believe we ought to be in a mode of prayer all day long. The Bible says pray with what? Without ceasing tonight. But my friend, we need to be, not only do we need to be in a mode of prayer, but my friend, we need that private time, I believe, with God. Satan has done a good job at making our schedules so busy that we hardly have time to do anything for God. We hardly have time to do anything that's related to the Word of God. Let's not schedule our private time with God out of our lives. We see that Paul makes this a priority as he talks to Timothy here and exhorts him. He says in verse 1, I exhort therefore that first of what? All. First of all. My friend, communication with God should be a priority each day. The psalmist in Psalm 63 in verse 1, as David writes here in this psalm, as he's in the wilderness, as he's fleeing King Saul, he says this, O God, Thou art my God. Oh, that we would acknowledge tonight that not only is the God of heaven the God of heaven, but He is our God tonight. He is our God personal tonight. We see He says, O God, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. You know how important the psalmist here is making his relationship with God? He says, as a man in the desert seeking water, that's how important it is for me to spend time with the Lord. He says that he thirsts for God, as His flesh longs for Him in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. He says in verse number 2, "...to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise Thee." Oh, my friend and I pray that we have a have a communication with God through prayer. I hope it's a priority in our life tonight. We've made it a priority to spend time with God. We're not going to have any revival in America without people on their knees. My friend, every revival that you read about in our history of the church, you find that people began to pray earnestly unto God. It started with prayer. But then we see tonight as we look at this priority in our communication with God, we understand this. Communication with God should be priority even when it's not convenient. I don't know about you, but I struggle with this. Sometimes I'll get so busy that I'll put off the things that are more important than the things that are less important. If I'm not careful, I'll get so busy with the tasks of life and ministry that I'll begin to put on the back burner the things that are more important. And if I'm not careful, I begin to do that with my wife, she'll let me know about it, praise God. Amen. She'll let me know when I haven't been home and I haven't been communicating with her and I haven't been spending time with her. Hey, she'll say, it's been a long time since we just had some time together. And my friend, I'm thankful that she does that. That she brings me back in line, praise God, sometimes. But my friend, we need to have that time where we get convicted under the conviction of God that we haven't been spending time with the Lord. My friend, it should be a priority even when it's not convenient. Remember Daniel chapter 6 where Daniel had heard the decree. The Bible says as soon as he heard the decree, he went into his house, he opened his windows, and what did he start doing? He started praying, didn't he? He wasn't going to let an inconvenience change his prayer life. My friend and I, we need to communicate with God even when it's not convenient. Communication with God should be a priority when we make decisions in our life. In Genesis chapter 13 we read about Lot, and we know that as we look at the situation there in Genesis 13, Lot lost his whole family. And we know that he lost his family in Sodom and Gomorrah. And that's a picture of a Christian losing their family to the world because they haven't made some decisions to prevent that type of thing happening. The Bible says in Luke chapter 17, remember Lot's I don't want my family to be a casualty like Lot's family was. You say, what happened with Lot there in the Word of God? The Bible says that he had a choice, and he looked upon the plain of Jordan, he saw the land in front of him, and the Bible says that he chose the rich land that he saw, but we don't read where Lot communicated with God first. My friend, we find that Lot began to make decisions in his life that caused him to lose his family. Our relationship with the Lord must remain our top priority. Satan wants us to begin to place other things ahead of God tonight. Not only do I want us to see the priority of our communication with God, but notice this also, we see the pattern of our communication with God. Look there in verse number 1 of 1 Timothy 2, he says, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men." I want you to begin to notice here that Paul identifies the pattern of Timothy's prayer here. He identifies that there needs to be supplications involved in his prayer life, in his communication with God. You say, what are supplications? Supplications have to do with urgency and fervency of the request being made to the Lord. Not all prayers that we pray are urgent prayers, but we ought to have some time where we spend urgent prayer with God. The Bible says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth what? Much. much tonight. We see that Paul here points out that there should be supplications involved. My friend, tonight, when's the last time that we spent time in fervent prayer over our lost family? I've got family tonight that I know exactly where they are tonight. They're outside of the will of God. I don't really know if they're saved or not. And my friend, it should be an urgency in my heart for those family members tonight, because they're not where they need to be. I have some family that I believe may truly be born again, but they're out of the will of God, and it ought to be a fervent thing upon my heart that they get things right with the Lord tonight. Is there some supplication going on in our life when it comes to our communication with God? Our prayer life should contain supplications unto the Lord. But then he points out here, notice this in verse 1, he says, supplications, prayers. Now, prayer, simplistically defined, is that of asking or requesting of the Lord. Our communication with the Lord ought to contain our requests unto God. Now, I remember there in the book of John, in chapter 14, Jesus said, If you'll ask anything in my name, I will do it. You remember that in John chapter 14? And then the Bible says in the same context in chapter 16. So they haven't left that scene. They're still sitting around that same scene in the Word of God. And in John 16 it says in verse 24, "...hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name." Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full." Now, I think that's interesting. Jesus told him in chapter 14, if you'll ask in my name, I'll do it. And then he said in chapter 16, you haven't asked me anything. You haven't beseeched me concerning anything. And so, my friend, I want you to see tonight that Paul points out here that prayers should be involved in our communication with God. Go with me to Philippians chapter 4 tonight for a moment. Hold your place here in 1 Timothy. Go with me to Philippians chapter 4 tonight and look with me there in chapter number 4 and verse number 6. I want you to notice with me as we look here in this passage. The Bible says in verse number six, be careful for nothing. That means to be loaded down with care, to be full of cares. I don't know about you, but I struggle with that sometimes. You know, because what I began to do in my life, if I'm not careful, is I began to try to bear everything instead of letting God bear it with me and for me. The Bible teaches us in 1 Peter that we are to cast all our care upon Him, for He what? He careth for us. And here He says in verse number 6, be careful for nothing. My friend, we shouldn't get to the place in our life where we are loaded down with care as a child of God because we've got somebody that's able to bear our burden. He says in verse 6, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, watch this, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Now watch verse 7, and You see that and there? That and is vital because that and connects what he just said in verse 6 to the promise of verse 7. You see, you cannot have the promise of verse 7 without the qualifier in verse 6. He says in verse 7, "...and the peace of God which passeth all understanding might No, it says, "...shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." My friend, verse 7 doesn't teach that God is going to keep our hearts and our minds through Christ Jesus. It teaches us that when we begin to unload our care upon God and we follow through on what God has told us to do, then That promise is going to be upheld. Then God is going to keep our hearts and our minds through Christ Jesus here, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep our hearts tonight. We see here that the Word of God is teaching us to let our requests be made known unto God. I don't know if you're like this with your kids, but there's times where I'm sitting back and I'm watching my children. and I know they need my help, and I'm just waiting for them to come and ask me. I'm waiting for them to just stop and say, you know what, Dad, I need your help. Man, I'm just waiting for them to be willing to acknowledge they need my help, and then I'll come in, step in, and help them. But, you know, they're like we all are. They're stubborn sometimes. We're all stubborn. And you know what? Sometimes God, I believe, I believe all the time God is just waiting for us to come and say, Lord, I need you. Lord, I need your help here. God, I cannot do this without you. Here we see that the Lord is teaching us that we must unload our care upon Him, that we might have this peace of God that'll keep our hearts and our minds through Christ Jesus The Bible teaches us that our communication with God should involve supplication. It should involve prayers, asking, requesting. I'm glad tonight that God is bigger than the situations of my life. The Bible says, "...now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask according to the power which worketh in us." But then we also notice here, let's go back to our text tonight in 1 Timothy chapter number 2. We notice as Paul points out the pattern of our communication with God, we see supplications and prayers, but then we also see intercessions. He says here in verse number one, I exhort therefore that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions. Now intercession has to do with requesting on behalf of someone else rather than oneself. to intercede on someone else's behalf. Now, as we look at Christ's prayer life, isn't it amazing to see that Christ was concerned with the needs of others around Him? Now, when you research in the Bible the word intercession, you're going to see that it's most often used in relation to Christ interceding on our behalf, or the Spirit interceding on our behalf. Now, when my prayer life is where it should be, my prayer life is going to mirror God's work, Christ's servanthood work in interceding on my behalf. You see, when my prayer life becomes less about me and more about others, that's when my prayer life is the way that God wants it to be. We see here that our prayer life should involve intercession. We see that Epaphras, the Bible says in Colossians 4 and verse 12 about him, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you always, laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Man, isn't it great to know tonight there's people in your life right now that if there was a trouble that came into your life, that you could call, you could get a hold of them, and you know that that person's going to pray for you. I believe there's probably some people like that in this church tonight, that if everything fell apart tonight, that you would call. They're the first people that you would run to. You know that you're going to run to God, but you want somebody interceding on your behalf, and there's some people that you're going to call tonight. Let me ask you tonight, are we one of those people tonight that when everything falls apart, somebody's calling us to say, hey, I need somebody to pray for me. And I know that you'll pray for me. Here tonight we see in verse number 1, if Timothy is going to survive, if Timothy is not going to be shipwrecked in his walk with God, there's got to be communication with the Lord. We see its priority, we see its pattern. Notice here in verse 1 of our text, he says, "...and giving of thanks." This has to do with showing our gratitude to the Lord for what He has done. and giving Him thanks when we come to Him. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 2, we give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. My friend, tonight when we go to God, do we start with our list or do we begin to recognize what God has done in our life and worship Him for what He has done? My friend, does our prayer life, does our communication with God, does it always begin with our needs or do we come to God and say, Lord, just thank you for who you are? Lord, thank you for the fact that you have answered my prayers so many times before. My friend, we see that Paul points out here that Timothy's communication with God is vital. We see its priority. We see the pattern of his prayer life. We also see the particulars in verses 1 and 2. He said in verse 1, "...I exhort, therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made..." For what? "...for all men." for everyone. I don't know about you, but man, when I began to start thinking about all the people that need prayer in my life, man, I could be on my knees for a long time. and you get out and pull out your prayer list, your church prayer list, and you begin to look at the needs on that prayer list, or you begin to understand what people have been telling you they need you to pray for, and you begin to write those things down, my friend, you'll realize that there's more to pray about than we got time. He says here in verse number one, Be made for all men. My friend, tonight does our communication with God include praying for others? When we start to broaden our prayer life to all men and there is much to pray about, are we praying for saved men and women, children of God? Are we praying for lost souls? My friend, there's so much to be in prayer about. We see that not only should our prayer life and communication with God include praying for all people, but our prayer life should include all positions of authority. Look there in verse 2. He said, for kings and for all that are in authority. My friend, our prayer life should include those that are in authority. We ought to be praying for our country tonight, amen? We ought to be praying for the current administration that we have tonight. We're in a mess, and we ought to be in prayer about it. We see that we should be praying here. Look there in verse 2. He says that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. My friend, maybe you've picked up the Martyr's Mirror. Maybe you've picked up the Fox's Book of Martyrs, and you've gone through those books and you've read some of the accounts of how people have died for their faith and how they've been martyred. My friend, we ought to be praying for God's providential peace upon this land. Oh, that God would allow us to live for God. I pray that God would allow us to practice and preach His Word till Jesus comes here in this land. I pray that God would allow our land to send Bibles and missionaries all around the world till Jesus comes. Oh, that God would allow us to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty tonight. My friend, these are important assets of our prayer life. We see our prayer life should include all people, all positions of authority, include providential peace tonight. But then I want you to notice number three under this thought of communication with God, we see the purpose of our communication with God. Look there in verse three. He says, for this is good and acceptable In what? In the sight of God, our Savior. My friend, tonight, we ought to have communication with God because it pleases Him. It pleases God. It's good and acceptable in the sight of God when we communicate with Him through prayer, supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving. The Bible says in Proverbs 15 and verse 8, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Now, my friend, a lost man that is coming to God with a sacrifice, the Bible says that that sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord. My friend, God's not looking for religion. God's looking for a relationship with us, isn't He? He's not looking for us to just be Sunday morningers and just to be involved physically in the actions of good deeds. No, the Lord wants us to have a relationship with Him tonight. He says, "...the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination of the Lord, but the prayer of the upright..." Watch this. is His delight. Man, God delights when we pray unto Him. My friend, God delights in the prayer of His people. The Bible says in Proverbs 21 and verse 27, the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination. How much more when He bringeth it with a wicked mind. My friend, God's not interested in our sacrifices God's interested in our heart tonight, in our soul, that we are in communion with Him. The Bible says in Psalm 51 and verse 15, O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. I want you to see tonight why do we communicate with God? Because it pleases Him. It pleases God. God delights when we come to Him in prayer. My friend, we see also not only because of the purpose of our communication is because of the pleasure of God, but also the plan of God. Look here in our text, here in verse number 4, the Bible says in verse 4, "...who will have all men to be saved and to come under the knowledge of the truth." What's God's will here? According to the Bible, God's will is for all men to be saved. He says, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. My friend, tonight the truth is I'm a sinner. The truth tonight is that the wages of my sin is death. The truth tonight is that without Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, my friend, I have a penalty of sin that I cannot pay. That's the truth. Here he says in verse 4 that he will have all men to be saved and to come under the knowledge of the truth. But the Bible says there's men who are ever learning. and are never able to come unto what? The knowledge of the truth. My friend, God's plan is for all men to be saved. Ezekiel 33 and verse 11 says this, in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" God's will is for all men to be saved. God doesn't have pleasure when a man dies lost in his sin, according to Ezekiel 33 and verse 11. The Bible also tells us in 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning His promises. Some men count slackness, but His long-suffering to usward not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." My friend, tonight, God's desire is that all men should come to repentance. You say, preacher, what does that have to do with my prayer life? My friend, tonight, when our prayer life is right, it's when we're praying for the will of God rather than our own will to be done. Matthew 6 and verse 9, the Lord Jesus told His disciples to pray. He said, After this manner, therefore, pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. We ought to be praying for the will of God. Our communication to the Lord ought to be seeking God's will to be accomplished. Now, take your Bible, and I just quoted the verse, but I want you to see something here. Go to 2 Peter chapter 3 with me for a moment. 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Look there with me in verse number 9. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3 and verse number 9, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise." Aren't you glad God's not a slacker tonight? God's not running behind. He's not late. He says, "...the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is..." I want you to watch this, "...but is longsuffering to themward..." To who? to usward." Now in the context, he's talking to saints. Right? He said, he is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You know what he's getting at there? The Lord's waiting on us to get busy. to get the Word of God out, so that men might come to repentance by hearing the Word of God. His longsuffering is to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. My friend, if we want to hasten the coming of the Lord, maybe we ought to get on our knees and start praying and start getting the Word of God out, because God is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish. but that all should come to repentance. How's this world gonna know about Jesus if we don't tell them? Isn't that right? Amen. All right, let's go back to our text tonight. We see the purpose of our communication with God is the pleasure of God, the plan of God. But then notice, The purpose of our communication is the provision of God. Look there in 1 Timothy again with me. In verse, chapter 2, in verse number 5, the Bible says, You see, there's not many ways to heaven, is there? There's just one way. There's one God. You can't get to heaven through any other means but God the Father, my friend and I. You cannot get to heaven by any other God. Buddha's not going to work. Islam's not going to work. Confucius is not going to work. Hinduism is not going to work. It's going to be through the Lord Jesus Christ. that we get to heaven. He says in verse number 5, For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. We see the provision of God. The Bible says that Christ gave himself a ransom for all. To be what? testified in due time. My friend and I, are we ambassadors for Christ, ready to communicate the provision of Christ through the cross to lost sinners? Ephesians 6 and verse 15, are our feet shod? What does that word, shod, mean? It's almost like a horse, his foot being prepared, shooed, readied. Is our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Are our feet ready with the preparation of the gospel of peace? My friend, here we see that the provision of Christ has already been made, already been accomplished. He is the ransom that's given Himself for all, according to this verse. But my friend, are we the ambassadors that are ready to communicate that message of Christ's provision for all the world? Now watch verse number seven. He says, Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ and I lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. My friend, we see the purpose of our communication of God, our communication to God, is the preaching of the gospel. Our prayer life and communication with God being filled with the Spirit of Christ is essential that we may effectively communicate the gospel of Christ in due time. I don't know about you, but if I'm not careful, I'll walk into a store, I'll have a list of things to do, to get, whatever, and I'll pass people And my mind is not even prepared to stop and ask them if they know Jesus. I don't know about you, but I find myself doing that, catch myself doing that. My friend Paul attested there in the book of Acts, he said that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." My friend, tonight, I don't know how many people, if I were to stand before God tonight, how many people that I would be responsible for having not shared the gospel with them when I should have. Here we see tonight that the preaching of the gospel If it's going to be accomplished, our prayer life is going to have to be right. The Bible says in Colossians 4 and verse 6, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man. My friend, tonight if we're going to have revival, I believe it's going to begin with prayer. It's going to begin with prayer. Our communication to the Lord through prayer, supplication, intercession, thanksgiving is vital to us in maintaining our fellowship with Christ, cultivating love and devotion to Christ, exercising our spiritual senses to discern good and evil, and recognizing weaknesses in our relationship with the Lord. Without communication with God, it is certain that we are likely to become a casualty in the faith. My friend, I don't believe that grave and deep sins in the lives of Christians begins when that situation unfolds. I believe it starts far earlier with a neglect in a person's walk.