Take me and take your Bibles and turn to the book of Genesis chapter 5. I was a little nervous doing that. Didn't think anything about it up until 15 minutes before the service started and Caleb said, now make sure this is done, make sure this is done, make sure this is done. I've been planning this. and said, make sure Brother Kerry's recording it, said, because I've only got one chance to get this right. So I say to Caleb, you're going to blow it many times. Don't worry. Yeah, don't worry. Always reminder of the one time you did it right. Yeah. Genesis chapter 5, look with me beginning in verse 1. The Bible says, this is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man in the likeness of God made he him. Male and female created he them and blessed them and called their name Adam in the day when they were created. You find in Genesis 1, 26 through 28 that on the sixth day God created man and he tells us that he created them male and female. They were given the command to be fruitful and multiply. You find in Genesis chapter two, verse 26 and 27, that God created Adam from the dust of the ground and from Adam, he made Eve. We know they were two, but they were one. Look back a couple of pages. I wanna show you something tonight. Genesis chapter two, look with me in verse 19. The Bible says, now God has done all of this, but now he's getting Adam involved. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 19, and out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. Now underline that, what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called, you can underline that, whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. If you don't like what something's named, you can blame that on Adam. He called it. God gave him that privilege. He called it and it was so. Look in Genesis chapter 2 in verse 23. The Bible says, and Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman. There again, he's calling something. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. We find in Genesis chapter three, if you look down in verse 20, the Bible says, and Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living. There again, he's calling something and naming and she has forever been named Eve. He called her Eve. These verses reveals that Adam has been giving names and naming everything. We know in Genesis chapter two and verse 24 and verse 25, therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife and were not ashamed right in the beginning of chapter three and verse one. Now the serpent, as soon as God put them together, Satan enters the picture. The home was ordained before anything else. Husband and wife was put together. And ever since God put them together, Satan's been trying to tear them apart. After the fall, we know that sin separated them. Adam is blaming Eve. I mean, how sorry and low down does a man have to be that he would blame his wife before God? And Eve made him, by the way, you the one gave her to me, God. However, what happened in the Garden of Eden did not change God's word. Jesus would tell us what God has joined together, let not man put asunder. And we find that promise, we find that in the Bible because in the text we begin with that God called their name Adam. He does not call them Adam and Eve. They are two, they are male and female, but in the eyes of God, they're Adam. It's as though she's taken his name, much like when you get married, the wife will take the name of the husband. They are two, they are separate, they are individual, but they're Adam. They're one, and that's what God said, that they would become one, and it's easy to come together as one. Getting married, Brother Kerry has said this numerous times, the easiest thing you can do is get married. I mean, it's probably harder to propose than it is to get married. I mean, for the guy anyway, all he's got to do is stand right there. It's more expensive for him to get engaged, but it's cheaper for him to get married as far as the wedding is concerned. I want us to look tonight and tomorrow night at this thought of becoming one. My wife and I are two, we're individual, we're separate. She's got her personality, I've got mine. She's got her likes and dislikes, and I've got mine. But at the end of the day, when we said, I do, on June the 1st, 1996, we were joined together. God put us together. And I tell you, life and ministry and finances and children and work and things, it's been pulling us apart. There's that constant gravity, if you want to call it that, that is naturally trying to pull us apart, but yet God says they're Adam. He called their name Adam. So I want us to look tonight and tomorrow night at this thought of becoming one. And I want us to take two people tonight, a couple tonight and a couple tomorrow night. A couple of months ago we were here at Enble during the Sunday school time and we were preaching a Sunday school revival. For four weeks during Sunday school we preached on the importance of Sunday school and how that it can help the family and bless the family and benefit the family and how that the family in return can bless the church and be a blessing to the local body and how that they go hand in hand and I took a couple each Each Sunday morning I took a couple and began to study that and it just really hasn't ever left me. I've been pondering this. It's on the burner. So I want us to look at this thought of taking some couples from the Bible and how that they come together. And tonight I want to preach on becoming one in prayer. Look with me in the book of Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. I want to look at this thought of becoming one in prayer. And how that prayer can help us to come together. It can help us stay together. It can increase the closeness between husband and wife. If the Lord tarries tomorrow night, I want to preach on becoming one as parents. and deal with some parental things that we must face as a husband and wife and to help and strengthen the home. But tonight I want us to look at a man by the name of Zacharias and a woman by the name of Elizabeth and how that they became one in prayer. I would say that if you're going to become one in prayer, then prayer must be a priority. There must be the priority of prayer. I mean, prayer, to be honest with you, in my personal estimation, prayer is probably one of the hardest things to do. I love to dig into the Word of God. I can get consumed with the Bible for hours studying and chasing and digging out words and how they relate. I love that. I can literally just put everything away and study. But when it comes to prayer, it seems like that's hard, it's laborsome, and there's so many distractions. You're gonna find that in Luke chapter one, beginning in verse five, everything that is taking place in this chapter, in Zechariah's life and Elizabeth's life, everything is centered around prayer. They're praying, it is centered. Look in Luke chapter one and verse nine. The Bible says, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. We know that altar of incense, it is a picture of prayer. Before you can go into the holy of holies, you must come by way of prayer. Burning incense is a picture of prayer. The Bible goes on to say that in Exodus chapter 30, in verse 8, that it was called perpetual incense. It was to be done in the morning and in the evening. And the fact of the matter is that you don't pray when you got problems. You don't just pray when you have problems. Somebody well said that if you only pray when you have a problem, then you've got a problem. I'm convinced if we would make a matter of prayer in our homes and in our marriages, it might just prevent some problems. It might just stay off some problems. We wouldn't have to face some things if we would make it a perpetual incense in the morning and in the evening. The Bible says in verse 10, and the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. You look down in verse 13, the Bible says, But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard. And thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and shall call his name John. We find that even though Zacharias is a priest and he's ministering in the temple, we find that Elizabeth is just as much connected to this prayer as Zacharias is. Luke records that Zacharias was of the course or division of Abiah. And his wife Elizabeth, who was of the daughters Aaron, very rare on rare occasions do you study the genealogies of the Bible and find the woman's genealogy mentioned. Most of the time, it's the men, so God, under inspiration of the Holy Ghost, has told Luke to make sure that he includes Elizabeth in this matter. Not just because she's going to bear the son, not just because she's going to have the baby, but because she's just as much of this story as Zacharias is. We find that she is of the daughters of Aaron. In 1 Chronicles chapter 24, David organizes the sons of Aaron into 24 courses of divisions. Luke records the lineage from both Zechariah and Elizabeth. The picture is they are one. Now, Zacharias is in the temple. When you study the tabernacle and the temple, there's some furniture. And I'm convinced that in order to get to this place of incense, this altar of incense, He has passed by the brazen altar. We know that brazen altar is, we would call it, the way of the cross, where the blood has been shed. They've been by that labor, which is sanctification. I mean, we would say this right here, they're saved and living right. The Bible says that he's coming in and it's obvious that he's doing something so he can see. So the candlestick has been lit. There's light in that holy place. He's enjoyed the table of showbread, that fellowship. And by the way, that is a picture of many saved people that are sitting on our churches today. We've all been saved and we're living right and we're faithful to the house of God and we're walking in the light and we are enjoying the fellowship. But how many have made it to the altar of incense? I wonder if we just get content with living in the light and being saved and living in the light and eating the table of showbread and enjoying it, but we just wander around. And we never make it. I mean, prayer must be a priority. Many people never experience in their marriage what God really intends for their marriage because they never get past the altar of incense. They never come to it and they never go past it to that holy place where God would dwell in the Holy of Holies. I mean, is work a priority? I mean, you think about this. I don't know many people other than me now, I don't know many people that wakes up and enjoys what they do. I don't know many people that just wakes up and says, I can't wait to get to work. As a matter of fact, I hope I get to work overtime. I hope I can work seven days a week and I hope I can work as much as I can. No, most people, they in drinking coffee and some of y'all drinking them energy drinks and you're just trying and you're just trying to get through the day but yet work is a priority because you know there's some things that is depending upon you and some responsibilities that you have so you'll go to a job you hate. It is a priority. School is a priority. Friends are a priority. Finances are a priority. And I'll say for the most part, church is even a priority. But what about prayer? I believe it's not only possible, but it's most likely that we're striving to be good husbands. and we are striving to be good wives, and we are striving to be good parents, and we're striving to be good church members, but we're doing it without the presence of prayer. Would you agree that it's impossible or you'll make a mess of things if you try to preach in the flesh? If you try to sing in the flesh and you try to witness in the flesh and you try to labor in the flesh, No wonder homes are in trouble. We're trying to spouse in the flesh. We're trying to parent in the flesh. We're trying to husband in the flesh. We're trying to wife in the flesh. We're just doing everything in the flesh. But what if prayer was involved? One of the hardest things to maintain in the home is a prayer life. But we find that everything that's happening here, that God is working, is working in a time of prayer. Would you agree by show of hands that prayer works? Then why do we do so little? Listen, if we're going to become one, where's my wife at? Of all the messages I've ever preached, that she needed to hear. Would somebody go get her and tell her? If me and my wife are gonna get closer, we'll always get closer in prayer. There must be a priority. If we're gonna become one, we must become one in prayer. There's the purpose of prayer. You do understand that praying isn't about getting God to agree with you. Many of my prayers is I'm telling God what I want. It's the Sears and Roebuck catalog for those of the older generation. And we go through and we circle what we want and we give it to our parents and we tell Santa Claus on page 19,375, that ain't was that thick. That's how we treat prayer. For this younger generation, it's the wish list or the Amazon cart where you just add stuff and you ain't got money to buy, so you just put it in your cart so that when you get money, you can buy this. I wonder how many times we've taken our petitions to God and we've just put stuff in our cart expecting Him to pay for it. That's not prayer. It's not Barney Five summoning the spirit of Count S. Vantilikian and giving Ol' P. three wishes. It's not getting God to agree with us. It's about getting us to agree with God. Doesn't the Lord tell us in Matthew chapter 6 in verse 10, thou will be done in earth as it is in heaven. I'm convinced many much of my prayer life is I'm trying to get my will done in heaven that I've declared on earth. The Bible tells us that Luke, in Luke chapter one, if you look in verse nine, as he is burning incense in the temple, the Bible says, and the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And what you find here is, is while he's doing his part on the inside, because he's doing his part on the inside, the people on the outside can do their part. And the picture is, is that their prayers is coming together and God is, It's that sweet savor. Somebody said, whilst the portion wall stood betwixt the Jew and a Gentile, there was also a partition between betwixt the Jews themselves. But now under the gospel, every man is a priest to God and he may enter the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus. And it does not have to be me going to God and my wife tagging along, but my wife can approach the throne and I can approach the throne. And when she's at the throne and I'm at the throne, we're together. Before only one can go in, but now all can go in. The Bible tells us, look, you understand the early church, they were no stranger to prayer. Acts chapter 1 and verse 14, these all continued with one accord in prayer. Acts chapter 2 and verse 42, and they continued steadfastly in prayers. Acts chapter 4 and verse 24, when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord. Acts chapter 4 and verse 31, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together. In Acts chapter 12 and verse 5, Peter therefore was kept in prison but prayer was made without seizing of the church unto God for Him. Can I say if we get excited and how many times have we as churches and all the churches that are assembled together, how many times have we as churches come together in a time of prayer and seen God do something? I want to say this, if we get excited when a church prays together, we ought to be even more excited when spouses pray together. I ask the question, how can we pray with his bride if we can't even pray with our bride? Several years ago, four years ago now, we were praying the direction of the ministry and it's been a Brother Jeremy, many times it was just blind. You know God's doing something, but you don't know what God's doing. Y'all ever get to those places? We just began to pray, direction of the ministry. We knew how the Lord was leading. We just didn't know how the Lord was leading. We just knew He was leading. Boy, there's times you've just got to pray through your uncertainty when you don't know. You've just got to stop and pray. And we would pray. And I would look at her and I would say, you're going to have to pray. Several months ago, going down the road, I looked at her. I said, here's what God's doing in my heart. I need you to pray. And more often than not, before I can ever tell her what she needs to pray for, she's already been praying it to begin with. And almost four years later of praying, we're living in answered prayers. We just didn't know how God was going to answer through Emmanuel Baptist Church. Man, I look over there. And both of my kids are at a marriage conference. And this Sunday, they're going to be sitting on church pews. And on Wednesday, they're going to be sitting on church pews. And they're kids and your kid. And you go up there and they're not just sitting on the church pew, they're doing something. You understand that's an answered prayer. But it didn't come overnight. The answer didn't come overnight, it come over years. I want to say that sometimes prayer ain't just about getting doors open, sometimes it's about getting them closed. Three weeks ago I was praying over a matter and I told my wife, I said, here's what I want to do and I want you to pray. And what I wanted to do was not bad. I said, I really want it. And I said, here's how I want you to pray. And Brother Colby, she said, I'm going to pray the Lord's will. And you know why she said she was gonna pray the Lord's will? Because we wasn't together on the issue. That's right. And I'm sorry, Eli, that song is wrong. When it comes to me and my wife, he loves her like she's his only child and I'm just the stepchild. He always listened to her. But what I learned is I'm glad he answered her prayer. Because looking back, it was probably not the best idea. We're learning, and I mean we're learning. My wife and I are learning that prayer isn't just getting us closer to God, but it's really getting us closer to one another to become one. There's the priority, there's the purpose. But I wanna close in the persistence of it. The Bible says in verse six, and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. Maybe this would be your testimony tonight, and if it's not your testimony, then I know that you certainly know somebody that this would be their testimony. That prayer has not gotten them closer to God, or that problems has not gotten them closer to God, it's driven them away from God. Here's a couple that has been struggling and praying about a problem to the point where it seems like there's no hope. We get mad because he doesn't do what we know he can do. And oftentimes, from personal experience, problems has put a wedge between me and my wife. We have argued over problems. We have fussed over problems. We have fought over problems. We have gotten angry over problems. But that wasn't the case for Zacharias and Elizabeth. They tell us in Jewish customs that a Jewish man could put away his wife for any reason that he deemed. If you burn the bread, hit the road, Jill. How much more could not having a child do to a priest? Something so major. But they were both righteous. They were both walking in the commandments and in the ordinances, and they were blameless. And they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were now well-stricken in years. In verse 18, the Bible tells us, And Zechariah said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well-stricken in years. Now, there have been barren women in the Bible, but the only other time that you find a barren couple mentioned as well-stricken in years is Abraham and Sarah. Zacharias name means memory of the Lord or remembered by Jehovah. Can I just remind you that he remembers? Elizabeth's name means the oath or fullness of God. We have no idea how many years they've been praying for a child. But right there in the middle of all of this prayer, Just being persistent. I'm old. I'm well stricken in years. Why should I even worry about going into that temple and burning that incense? It's not gonna do any good, Brother Kyle. Don't you think that probably has crossed his mind? It's crossed my mind many a times. It's what's the use? But one more time, he's praying. He's persistent in that prayer. And perhaps in their life, the greatest event of their life up to this point was in verse 13, but the angel said unto him, fear not Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard. I really don't believe that's the first time God heard it. But I believe that's the first time that Zacharias realizes God's heard it. How many prayers have you prayed and you think God ain't heard it? We're living in the day of instant and on demand. With an Alp, you can just order anything and have it same day. I say husbands and I say wives, God does not operate on the instant. But I say to the husbands and I say to the wives, be persistent. Be persistent in prayer. This thought of coming together in prayer, I'm just being honest. I really haven't got this figured out, but I know more than I did. My wife and I will talk. And much of our conversation these days is not I love you. Much of our conversation these days, no matter what it is, we need to pray about this. We probably ought to pray about this. And we pray about this. And there's prayers that we're still praying that has not been answered. But I tell you what, instead of fighting about what we're praying about and driving a wedge and separating us, we've learned that when we come together and, what are you praying? I'm praying this. And oftentimes we begin to pray the same thing. And I'm just telling you from personal experience, not that I've got it figured out by any means, but I know what God has done in our marriage. through prayer. I don't know what you come in here with tonight, but I promise this, they ain't a problem too small, and there's not a problem too big. That you can't come together and pray, and that you shouldn't come together and pray. Let's stand, Eli, you come, just play something tonight. We don't always pray together at the same time. But we're always praying together. Whatever needs to be done, I don't even know. I just, this is, that's all I've got. I'm just gonna stop. We're just gonna let God do whatever God wants to do. You mind the Lord tonight.