Pastor, please. Thank you very much, choir. And if you're happy in the Lord, say good hearty amen. Amen. So I'm a little over time in the board meeting. And my outline was not completely done, so I finished it here. I told Brother Roman, let me make an outline. So at least it's done now. Your Bible, please. We really need your prayer for our pastors as they come. Somebody called me today, noontime. and said that many of them are coming tonight. So, I hope that the pastors will come. Have the pastors been here before? Have you been here before? Have you been to the park? Have the pastors been here before? So, let's give them, please. Your Bible, please, tonight. Psalm, chapter 10, and verse number... Psalm 10, verse number 4. Share your Bible, please. Psalm chapter 10, kindly rise as we... Psalm chapter 10, verse number 4. Share your Bible please. This time, Psalm 10 and verse number 4. Why don't we read this all together tonight, one verse. Let's read it, go. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. Can you imagine? The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. Let's pray, Heavenly Father, tonight. We pray, we beg for the Holy Spirit to fill the message that is to be preached tonight by thy servant. Allow us to hear as the Holy Spirit speaks to us tonight. Fill us, Lord. Challenge us to be prayerful Christians. In Jesus' name I pray, dear Father, amen and amen. Kindly be seated tonight. I have entitled the message Prayerlessness. I have to make it simple and clear. Prayerlessness is a wicked thing. Prayerlessness is a wicked thing. What does prayerlessness mean? That simply means you do not pray. Absence of praying in your life. So prayerlessness is a Wicked thing in the sight of God in verse number four the wicked It comes from the end of the wicked the wicked through the pride of his Continence will not pray Will not pray will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts We wake up early in the morning as God's people. We immediately think about praying and We beg God, we ask the Lord's guidance upon us. So God is in our thought for the day. We end the day before we go to sleep, we pray again. Why? Because God is constantly in our thoughts. But God, for the wicked, God is not in all his thoughts. We sit down on the table and we eat our food, we pray. We pray, how often do we pray? And as far as our meal is concerned, we pray for the early meal, we pray for our lunch, we pray before we eat our dinner, and plus we have several times mirinda during the day. So we must, some of us must pray 10 times for our food because we take our mirinda many times during the day. and our lunch three times. So we pray. We constantly pray. Before we start our work, we pray. We ask the Lord. Why? God is in our thoughts. In this psalm, you may notice the psalmist is describing two groups of people. One group, he finds himself included in that group, the people of God. So first group are the people of God that includes himself and in the other group, the men of this world, men of the earth. They are very different classes of people, two classes of people and the Holy Spirit draws a line between them. There's a line that separates these two people. Now, this verse describes one particular feature of the man or woman of this world. There is one particular feature as far as the man of this world, the unsaved man is concerned. One word, and that one word to describe people who do not believe God, do not fear God, meaning the people of this world, the unbelieving people, one word to describe their condition, to describe their life, that word is prayerlessness. Prayerlessness. The wicked do not seek after God, whereas the believer in this psalm is someone who prays. You study the entire chapter and you will find there are two kinds of people. The wicked, the unsaved, and do not pray. They never seek God. God is never in their thought. But there are those who pray. The first verse begins with prayer. Look at this please. Verse number 1. Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? It goes on with prayer. Look at verse number 12. Arise, O Lord. He's praying here. Arise, O Lord, O God, lift up thine hand, forget not the humble. He's praying. Now look at verse 17 and 18. Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble. Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear, to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, and the man of the earth may be more oppressed. He's praying. He's praying. The child of God is a person who prays. Amen? Do you pray? Do you pray? Amen? Let me say it again. The child of God is a person who is faithful in praying. And yet, as we read, we read that even in times of trouble, And when this psalm was written, this particular song was written, there are those who do not pray in verse number 4. People are praying, the believers are praying, but in spite of that, there are people, especially when this psalm was penned by the writer, that he recognizes that there are people, even tonight, who do not pray. Look at verse number 4 again. The wicked through the pride of his continence will not pray, will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. Just imagine tonight, standing before the Dabo Doctors Hospital, or just imagine finding yourself in a hospital tonight. Now, look up to that great building, And imagine there are two kinds of people right there. One group, there are people who, there are those who feel frustrated. There are those who feel bewildered. They don't know what to do. There are those who are hurting. There are those who are doubting. There are those who belong to the group of complainers. They are complaining. They are murmuring. They are disgruntled over the situation of their lives. Nagapangalul pa sa guwaykas pa. Especially Bago Langit Taga Agri Sita. And there are those people there. All they can do is to complain, to doubt. But there are also the children of God who live by faith, trusting God, believing God, whatever the result. They are simply praying. Amen. There are two kinds of people today. Now, you go into the streets and you find these people, you go into the malls and you find these people. Praying, praying is a clear sign that the heart of the person who is praying has been changed. Amen? Holy Spirit now lives in that heart The Holy Spirit now gives that person the wisdom, the desire to pray. The Holy Spirit now guides that person. Romans 8, 26. Romans chapter 8, verse number 26. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our in primities. You see the ministry of the Holy Spirit there. We know not what we should pray for, as we ought. But the Spirit itself make it intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. What does the Holy Spirit do? Holy Spirit lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit inspires us. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom. The Holy Spirit guides us and teaches us in the matter of prayer. You recall how Saul of Tarsus was such a religious man. Remember what I said a while ago? Praying is a clear sign that the heart of the person who is praying has been changed. It's a clear sign that you have been saved. You recall how Saul of Tarsus was such a religious man. Remember in Acts chapter 9, he met the Lord on the road to Damascus, he was trying to apprehend Christians. Christ, you know what happened? Christ arrested him. Instead of him finding Christians and apprehending them, Christ found him. Christ arrested him on that road to Damascus. And when Paul was making his way, he was blinded by the, he was struck by a great light and went blind and he was led by the hand to Damascus city. You know what happened when he was staying in a house? Jesus Christ sent that message to Ananias. The Lord found a disciple, an old disciple living in that city, named Ananias. And you know what the instruction was? Go to the street called Straight. Ananias, listen to me. There's someone who just got saved. Right now, go and find him. And you ask people, where's the house of Mr. Judas? And to easily find him, go to the street. He says, what number, what street? The name of the street is straight. And then you will find there, in the house of one named Judas, that Ananias would find a man, and he would find Saul of Tarsus. You know what God says? For behold, what was he doing? God said, Ananias, go and find that man. He just got blinded. Three days ago, he got saved on his way to arrest Christians in Damascus. You know what God told Ananias? You'll find him in that house. Behold, he prayeth. Three days ago, he got saved. He met the Lord, and now he's praying. See, praying is a clear sign that the heart of the person who is praying has been changed and we say Amen to that. Question yourself, question your salvation if you are not a praying Christian. Something must be wrong with your profession of faith if you are not praying. Amen? Look at this man, just three days ago he got saved, but now he's praying. He's praying. He's praying. And three days ago, Paul did pray before? Did he not pray before? Of course he has. He prayed before being a religious person. And grabe lang pray kaniyanto. Before people, before people, before they got saved, they are praying, they were praying religious. Ave Maria. Lua sa kami, grabing pagampo. Paul was praying before, being a religious person, but this now, this prayer now is the true prayer, amen? This is the true prayer, the prayer of the same. We say amen to that. He'd been praying before, He was a religious man. He was a committed man. Really committed to his religion. He was praying as a Pharisee. But now this is the true prayer. Ananias you will find by that street a man inside the house of Mr. Judas praying. Well first of all there are five thoughts tonight. Well first of all prayer Prayer is seeking really after God. What is prayer? Prayer is seeking God. Now notice first of all how our text describes prayer. It is described as seeking after God. Go back to our text. But the wicked through the pride of his heart will not seek. What is prayer? Seeking God. Those who do not believe God will not seek God. So it simply reveals tonight what prayer is. Prayer is described as seeking after God. The wicked through the pride of his continence. By the way, the word pride means haughtiness. Haughtiness, it simply means arrogance, self-importance. He finds himself so high, so important. He would not mind seeking God because he knows that before you can come to God, you have to humble yourself. You have to empty yourself of anything that you have before you can come to God. So, the word pride means haughtiness. Pagkamahitasun. There are many ways in the scripture in which prayer is described, but this is one of the most important. Prayer is seeking God, and that tells us immediately, negatively, what prayer is not. As you understand the verse, prayer is not something that has to do with our relationship with other people. Now, let me make that again. Mention it again. Prayer is not something that has to do with our relationship with other people. That is not prayer. Sometimes, you know, people think it is. And let me explain that carefully. Para masamta sa tanan. Hindi na ang pag-ampo mayitungo sa itong relasyon sa bagong mga tao. And unangunahunang mga tao mauna, people perhaps think that they pray once a week. How open do you pray once a week? That's what people think. When they come to a congregation like this one, and prayers are said, that's what they think they have prayed. That's not the essential meaning of prayer. That is indeed corporate prayer. We are here, we pray as a church, as a body, we pray to God. But now, you know the Bible teaches that prayer begins personally. It comes from the heart. You communicate to God. You don't say, well, Pastor, I'll appeal to your prayer. I'll appeal to the group. In other words, to those who play with the term, you're right. And then, after the services, where were you? Where have you been? Church. What did you do in church? Pray. Did you pray? So you can't leave. He prayed, but he was fired. Now let me make it clear. The Bible teaches us that prayer begins personally, individually. And if we're only praying when we are assembled like this, this assembly tonight, and you know you're not truly praying at all. Jesus said, Matthew 6 verse 6, Matthew 6 verse 6, But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. What does it mean? He's not telling us that all we need to do is to close our room and pray. You know what Jesus Christ is teaching? Prayer is a personal thing. It begins with the heart. Amen? And you have people asking you, What is the answer to your prayer? The answer to your prayer is to direct it to the Lord. The answer to your prayer is to direct it to the Lord. Prayer does not have to do in the first instance at all with our fellow man. Prayer has to do with God. Amen? So, I went to church. Nag-ampo me. Yung sa kibote nyo. Nag-ampo me. Nag-ampo nako. Sabasadagan me. Happy me. Pagkawoman. Kidismis me ni pastor. Purus me. Ayog kalinting ang pag-ampo, wala'y labot na'y imong palibot karoon. Prayer has to do with God. Amen? And then further, that prayer is not concerned primarily with myself. Seeking God is the way prayer is defined. Kung ang imong kasing-kasing wala ka mangita, sige no, ikaw mismo. Wala kamangitang sigino, wala kagigutong sigino, kanang imupagampo, wak naipulos. Sunod-sunod lang kato nga po. Sunda ko, Our Father, Our Father, which art in heaven, which thou, thy kingdom, hallowed be thy name, hallowed be thy name. Hallowed, hallowed ka diya. Ang prayer is from the heart. Amen? You communicate to God. And the Lord Jesus Christ tells us of that man who appeared to be very religious. He was a very religious man. And when he stood, in Luke chapter 18, verse 11, he stood up there. Remember, on the other hand, the Neapolitan. And Neapolitans were banned from entering the holy place. Because they were considered as traitors. Sinners. Tuwasa sa gawas. here was the parrish standing before God filled with pride the parrish look 18 verse number notice his prayer here look 18 verse 11 the parrish stood and prayed and prayed thus now look at your bible he stood and prayed thus with himself and he prayed thus with himself God Look at this prayer. I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Everything in that prayer is about self and pride. Although his words were supposedly addressed to God, there was no fellowship with God. There was no real recognition of God. He was praying with himself. In prayer, your main concern, now listen to this. In prayer, your main concern is not about how you get, what you get as a person. from your prayer. You know sometimes when we have problems, go ahead and pray because you have problems. Your concern is to find solutions to your problems. Pagwa kay makaon, go ahead and pray because you think nga siyemong prayer makakuha kang pagkaon. Pagwa kay pamosahe, you pray. Pagwa kay sanina, you pray because you're thinking nga makakuha kang sanina. You know prayer is not Mostly, it's not about what you get in your prayer. Your prayer is about your God. Remember? Far beyond someone's desire to receive anything, the most important in prayer is the God. It goes beyond the benefits, but looks into the benefactor. It goes beyond the things you receive. Because the things you receive, there is someone beyond there. There is someone greater than all that you receive. Prayer is about God. Amen. So we heard in the church, the Lord said, Lord, I need this, I need that, Lord. Really Lord, I'm going to die, Lord. I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die. Yes, you have the desire, but you remember from now on, the most important thing in your prayer, from your need, you connect your heart to the heart of the one who gives. Amen? Because if the time comes that you will get what you desire in your prayer, you will forget all of this. focus your mind on what you desire and you forget the relationship that goes beyond it. In Acts chapter Psalm 42 as the heart Psalm 42 verse 1 and 2 as the heart or the dear panteth after water brooks so panteth my soul after thee, O God, my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before thee? When you pray, Lord, I need this. I know I need this. I know the work of God need this. I know my family need this. I know my children, they need this. But most importantly, Lord, I need you. I know, Lord, that if you supply it, it will make my life, it will make my problems get solved. But I will never forget, Lord, that what is important about this prayer is You. Amen? Sometimes we think the only time we can hug our mother and father is when we have need. The same thing with prayer, do not forget Your heart must go beyond the benefits. You have to develop closeness with the benefactor. Who is the benefactor? The one who gives the blessings in your life. That is where our prayer is hanging many times. Because we have been taught that to pray is to get what you need. To enjoy what you need rather than enjoying the one who gives. rather than developing a deeper relationship with the one who gives. When your father, your mother provides for you, that should develop your love and closeness with your father. Why? Because you're more concerned not of the blessings you receive when you ask them, you're more concerned to develop a relationship with the person. We desire God, not for what He may give us, or for what we suppose we need, but we are to desire God supremely because of who He is and what He is in our lives, and we say amen to that. That's what our text says. That's why the scripture describes prayer as seeking God. A thirst for God, a desire for God, a concern to know Him and to come into His presence. Verse number four again, the wicked to the pride of his countenance will not seek God. Say, remember this, you have needs when you come to the throne of grace, pinaka importante, beyond the things you expect to receive, the most important thing, that you seek God. That's number one. Number two, based on our text, there's one cause of prayerlessness. One cause. You can name so many things. You may suggest many other things. why people stop praying, why people do not pray. Our text gives us a cause of prayerlessness. Well, you know, we're tempted to think there are so many causes of prayerlessness, but the text says there's only one. The Bible calls it what? Haughtiness. The Bible calls it what? Pride. Pride. Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey him? Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? To let Israel go. I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. You know the Bible says, it's pride that leads to prayerlessness. And so anyhow, why do I have to beg? I have this, I have that pride. Maybe if I do not have a thing, then I would be forced to come to God. Why would I pray? I have an ATM card. I have medical insurance. I have security. Why would I pray? I said, Lord, please protect me tonight. I have five security guards. Why would I pray? Who is the Lord? You know, the Bible is pride that leads to prayerlessness. And why is that? Well, simply because the spirit of prayer and the spirit of pride are contradictory. You cannot pray if you have pride. You have to set aside pride before you humbly come to God. They're totally opposite. The spirit of pride is the spirit that makes me concerned about myself. Spirit of pride is about self-esteem, self-sufficiency, self-admiration. That is pride. Like that man who prayed thus with himself. But you know, prayer is something very different. Prayer is the acknowledgement of God. God wants the God who reigns. You recognize that God governs all things. God who is the author of all that I am. God who rules over my life. God, my health, my family. Pride and prayer are contradictory. and the proud do not pray the humble are learning to pray the Lord says in verse number 16 in our text please verse 16 the Lord is king over and over the heathen are perished out of his land thou hast heard verse number 17 thou hast Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble that's praying Look at the proud Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3 verse 39-37. The most dangerous thing in life is when someone lifts himself to the level of God. Finds himself like God so he doesn't pray. Number three, prayerlessness is a life exposed to a life of danger. If we only realize, living the Christian life, living this life with all the difficulties we face, with all the dangers surrounding us, prayerlessness, if you are a child of God, you recognize it's a life, living a life exposed to danger. Just imagine the danger that Sadrach, Meshach, and Abednego may have suffered if they did not seek refuge in prayer. they could have been destroyed by the fire of Parnas. Just imagine Peter would have been destroyed in Acts chapter 12. And Herod wanted to kill him. But thank the Lord the church prayed for him. And because the church was praying for him, they recognized the danger that he was facing. James had been beheaded, and now next in line was Peter. But the church prayed for him, and as a result of that prayer, God sent an angel to release Peter out of prison. Without prayer, our church would be open to all the attacks of the devil. Without prayer, our church would be exposed to the attacks of people hoping to destroy our church. There are many people wanting to destroy our church, but thank God this church is a praying church. There's one thing we can attribute it to. Why this church is still here today? Because people of this church are praying people. These devil-inspired people continue to seek opportunity to destroy our church. But thank the Lord. We have the defense of prayer. Prayerlessness is wicked for it totally assumes living a life as if God never exists at all. You believe God? Why is it that you're not praying? You don't believe God? Psalm 14 says, the fool hath said in his heart there is no God. No God. Just imagine someone living in this world and not believe and not believe that God truly exists every time and everywhere. And you look at the trees everywhere you find the existence of God. Prove that God really exists. The flowers, the sea, the air, the water that we drink, all the food that we eat. Surely there must be someone supernatural, God, who rules and controls and provides all of these things. But can you imagine, after seeing all the things, the complexity of this universe, everything that you see, and then you just jump and say, well, I don't believe God. I'm not praying because I don't need Him. I don't believe Him. All we, remember this, we brought nothing of this world. Everything that we receive, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and come down from the Father of life. Remember that when you came to this world, we brought nothing into this world. Everything that we have is a gift, given to us. I tried to find it. I was almost tempted to call attorney Mixon last night. I asked myself, what did you do? You are enjoying things that you did not create. You just received. Now, we brought nothing. What does it mean? We own nothing. Yet we are enjoying things in life. What would you call someone using someone's belonging without asking permission? If I were to be picked up by Sir Paul tonight, if I were to be arrested, what would you call that person? If I were to be arrested, I do not recognize his ownership. In Europe, they charge, they call it, they can be theft, yes, but in a way, it can be considered theft. But you can be charged with a crime they call larceny. What does it mean? A crime involving unlawful taking of the person's property, the property of another person, without permission. Ilmu ilogun, you know? Everything that you have, where did it come from? Who owns it, after all? Ni abot kaning kalibutanan ni, waa, giw ka, paggawas gini mo samamani mo, waaa, waa, giw ka. And yet, as if, You just do not recognize God. You can be charged in court. Imong ilogon tong balay. Sa mga kadamay rano. Nang pangdamayin dag ko. Now we are using things that belong to God and not recognizing His existence. When you live a life na kay gamay blessing, di ka magpasalamat, sige no. Remember this. You'll be charged Abusing something without God's permission, without God's blessing. Amen? Oh, what peace we open forfeit! Oh, what needless pain we bear! I said to myself, I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I don't want to be a slave to my own outline. I Point number five, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Think of the victory we would have won if we only spent much time in prayer. Prayer is a very simple thing, but many of us fail to receive the benefits because we don't pray. What happens when we don't pray? James says in James 4 verse number one, we keep on fighting, we keep on fighting, we keep on complaining. Number six, why is it a sin not to pray? Number one, it is a sin not to pray because the Bible expressly calls it a sin. Someone said, God forbid it, I should sin against God, insisting to pray for you. Number two, it is a sin not to pray because when a Christian does not pray, it is a reproach to God. A reproach because the Bible says, now whatsoever is not of faith, he that cometh to God must come to God by faith. You said you are a believer. A believer of what? When you as a child of God, you claim to be a Christian, do not believe God, do not pray because you don't believe God, it's you are creating trouble with God. It is a sin, number three, not to pray because all of the encouragement that are given to us to pray, Bible urges us to pray. The Bible provides us, promises examples of men and women. God for hundreds of years, has planned that this book, it took 1,500 years to finish this book. And this book bears records of testimony of people who prayed God's faithfulness in prayer. When you do not pray, you simply disregard God's testimony. You simply disregard this book. Our president went to China recently, said, I will now really impose the decision of international court regarding our claim. You know what the president of China said? It's a good claim. And it's a decision made by the court, but how can we How can we grant it to you when, first of all, we never recognized the International Court? From the very beginning, China has never recognized. You insist this is a court? You know how it offends God? They go, Lord, I don't pray because I don't recognize. your word. I don't recognize the validity of the word. Why would I pray if you do not believe the Bible? Can you imagine the damage, the error that we commit? Lastly, prayerlessness puts our life under curse. It puts your life under defeat and fruitfulness. By now, now, by the grace of God, you can put your life back under the power of God. You can put your life back under the blessings of God. Start praying, start believing God. Find yourself praying at the altar tonight. Let us all stand, please. We take it for granted many times, we take it so easy not to pray as God's people, but realize, unsa kalawang mga tong guilt for not praying. We simply, I don't believe God, I don't believe this book, I don't believe all the testimony of this book, by simply not praying. Tonight, put your life back. the way it should belong, the blessing of God, the power of God. Heavenly Father, I pray for your people that we may recognize the importance of prayer. I pray for those who need to come to be saved. Someone here needs to come to be saved, receiving Jesus Christ. Blessed Lord, in Jesus' name I pray, amen.