Well, if you have your Bible, I just wanna read quickly a passage from Genesis 4, and then just make one or two little thoughts about it. Genesis chapter 4, and at verse number 17, read down to the end at verse number 26. Might sound like a strange text to read before you pray, but it'll make sense at the end. And so here's after Adam and Eve sinned, and there's Cain and Abel, Cain's killed Abel, And we read then about the line of Cain, his family, and then we also read about the line of Seth, who was given by God to replace Abel. And so Genesis 4, verse number 17, Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built the city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. To Enoch was born Erad, and Erad fathered Mahushael, and Mahushael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech, and Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other, Zillah. Ada bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal Cain. He was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal Cain was Nema. Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, hear my voice, you wives of Lamech. Listen to what I say. If I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me, If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth. For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel. For Cain killed him. To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enoch. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord. Well, the most ancient characteristic of the church, as that little title describes there, is prayer. And interesting as the early story of human history takes place in the first few chapters of Genesis, there's a creation, and then there's God, of course, giving the commands to Adam, that he was to name all the animals, and he was to work the ground, and he was to take care of the ground and guard the garden. from the devil, from the serpent. We read about, of course, that is to serve God, that is to worship God, to keep his commands, to love him, to do what he asks us to do. But we don't read of anything in particularly what we might call religious service or worship until we get to this passage here in Genesis 4, verse 26, that at that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord. In other words, began to pray And we have here this list, this strange list of the line of Cain, his family line and all the descendants. And you notice that they did some really great things. They're very famous men. They did large acts, very big cultural things. You have there, for example, Cain bearing Enoch. And Enoch is a city builder. He builds places where people can gather and grow. And we see that come later on in the story of Genesis in the tower of Babel or Babel, where everyone's gathering together to this great city where there's this great tower to heaven to reach God. And so you have a line of Cain building cities. And then you have, again, learning there. about Lamech and his two wives and they begin to have sons and one of them is Jabal who dwells in tents and he has livestock. And so they begin to domesticate animals and to care for animals and to gather animals and to have large flocks. We read about those large flocks, for example, in the story of Job. Men who their wealth was tied up in their animals and their livestock. And so this man was a tent dweller but had great livestock. He also had a brother Jubal who was known for music. The lyre, the pipe, instruments beginning to be invented and used and music beginning to develop. And so things we might call culture, cultures developing, cities, people. animals, domestication, food is being produced, music is being produced. There's also a man named Tubalcain who is a forger of instruments of bronze and iron. So the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, these things beginning to be developed and cultivated to build plows and to build weapons, things to use and to manipulate the grass, the dirt, your hands to work and to do things more successfully and more efficiently. And then you have Lamech here who, like this great king, a great tyrant though, takes two wives against God's command, against God's example in the story of Adam and Eve. And God had said, if you recall the story of Genesis chapter three and four, when Cain kills his brother Abel, that the Lord would avenge, if anyone touched Cain, the Lord would avenge that person sevenfold, or Cain sevenfold. He was worried, as God said, that he was to leave. God would put a mark on him, though, he said, and if anyone touches you, I will avenge you sevenfold. Well, Lamech, as a tyrant, as almost a god, as a king, says that it's 77 fold. His law is more important than God's law. His decrees are more effective, more threatening. His words mean more than what God himself said. And so there are all these great things happening, kings and cities and animals and food production, weapons, music and so forth. And then we read just one little verse about the line of Seth replacing Abel in the family of God and at that time, After all these great things are described, men begin to call upon the name of the Lord. Prayer is the most ancient mark or characteristic description of the people of God, those who huddled together, so to speak, worshiping the Lord. This is the most ancient characteristic, and it's a characteristic that continues throughout the history of God's people. People call upon the Lord, and Abraham builds an altar and calls upon God's name. The Lord has a tabernacle and a temple built so that they can pray when Paul is blinded by the light that he sees Jesus and he's converted and then he's found. The Lord in his word in the book of Acts says that he was to be found in the city and he was to be known because he was praying. The church gathered in the early church to pray. Paul commands us all throughout and Jesus commands us in the Lord's Prayer to pray because God hears our prayers, God desires our prayers, God uses our prayers. And so as we think about that, the most early description of worship in the Bible, us to God, praising him, is praying. and coming to him, calling upon his name, because he alone is powerful, he alone is mighty, he can do the things that we need, he can help us in our time of need. And so as we pray tonight, hope encourages us to think about that, and stirs us up to pray, to know that we're doing what God's people have always done, and that this is how God works, through prayer, through small and large prayers, small and large groups, eloquent and not so eloquent prayers, the Lord uses our words to further his glorious kingdom. Amen.