that I have trod has brought me nearer God, though oft it led through sorrow's gates. Though not the way I'd choose, in my way I might lose the joy that yet for me awaits. Submission to the will of him who guides me still is surety of his love revealed. My soul shall rise above this world in which I move. I conquer only where I yield. Not what I wish to be, nor where I wish to go, for who am I that I should choose my way? The Lord will choose for me. Tis better far I know, so let him bid me go or stay. One of my favorite old songs. Actually, that was sung on my wedding day. We had finished the rehearsal and we were just standing around the organ and singing just for the fun of singing the wedding party and one of the young ladies who was there sang this song and we'd never heard it before and I looked at my wife-to-be Odessa and without saying a word we both knew we wanted that song sung at our wedding. Now our wedding coordinator was my wife's, Odessa's Aunt Odessa. Now you do know the difference between an aunt and an aunt, don't you? There's a big difference. And Aunt Odessa, when I told her we're going to use that song in our wedding, she said, oh no, you can't. We've already printed the programs, everything's already in order. Maybe at the reception, but you couldn't possibly change the wedding program now." And as gracious as I knew how, I said, well, it is our wedding. And so we had that song, and then we spent a lifetime, all of her lifetime and the rest of mine, seeking to live the words of that song. Submission to the will of him who guides me still. Not what I wish to be, nor where I wish to go, for who am I that I should choose my way? Odessa and I sang that over and over through the years when we sang duets together. I want you to turn with me to the book of 1st Chronicles. And if you have difficulty finding the book of 1st Chronicles, just find 2nd Chronicles and it's the one right before that. 1st Chronicles chapter 28 and verse 20. David said to Solomon, his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it. Fear not, nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. That is the verse that we had printed on our very first prayer card. We printed those prayer cards in 1964. Most of you were not even in the world in 1964. But we were. And we felt the call of God to go to the mission field. We knew that from the time we were teenagers. and God gave us a marvelous, glorious life. Just a few years before Odessa died, the doctors had already told us at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, they came into the room, a team of oncologists, I don't know why they came as a team with that kind of news, you know, but they came in and they said, Mrs. White, we regret to inform you that you have pancreatic cancer. It's already mastocized into your liver. And at best, you have six months to live. I still remember what Odessa said. She looked at those doctors and she said, well, I gave my life to the Lord when I was a teenager. It's His. He can do anything He wants to with it. Now I was standing over in the corner and I didn't agree with her at all. I said, no he can't. She's mine. Our youngest daughter was just starting into Bible college and we had all these plans for what we were going to do instead of sitting at home and being sad because our children were gone. We had great plans to serve God and all at once we got that news. About six years later, the Lord took her home. But just a few weeks after we had talked to those doctors, I came home. I'd been gone somewhere. And I came home and Odessa met me at the door and she was smiling. And she said, you don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm not going to die yet. I said, what do you mean? She said, well, do you remember our first prayer card? I said, well, of course I do. She said, well, what did it say? I said, well, it said, the Lord thy God will not fail thee nor forsake thee until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. She said, well, God told me this morning I wasn't finished yet. And so what the doctors told us was going to be six months ended up being over six years. And God blessed abundantly. It still seemed short. But these verses mean much to me. But tonight, I want to speak to those of you who do have a life to live. You know, you may only have six months to live. And it makes no difference what age you are now. You may have six years. You may have fifty years. We don't know. But we should live our lives for the glory of the Lord. But I want to use two passages tonight to challenge your hearts with a very simple thought. And most of my messages are very simple because I'm a simple-minded person. God has chosen you. Now we went out with this claim that David made to his son and we felt more like the son. We were going out and God was going to take care of us. He was going to use us. He was never forsake us until we'd finished all the work of the service of the house of the Lord. But now, and listen to me young people especially, I have moved from being the Solomon in this picture to being the David in this picture. David was old. Now I'm not old. My mother-in-law told me, she said, it's great to get older, but don't ever get old. And I would give that advice to everybody here. Old is a state of mind. Getting older is a blessing from God. And we should thank God every day that he has given us another day to live for his glory. But a few verses before that, In chapter 28 and verse 9, David is talking in his old age to Solomon. God had just told him, David desperately had plans for what he wanted to do to glorify his Lord. Now David wasn't a perfect man. David made some terrible mistakes and committed some horrible sins. But he was a man after God's own heart. And aren't you glad God can see your heart? God knows what you tried to do and couldn't. I personally believe that maybe the rewards will be given out for the works that took place in the heart, you know. I've seen missionaries that have struggled and worked hard. We've got Japanese pastors who've spent 20, 30, 40 years of their life, and maybe they have a church of 30 or 40 people, but they've been faithful through all those years, but they didn't want to have a church of 30 or 40 people. And I think God knew what they wanted to do for His glory. But here's David, he's talking to his son Saul, and God has said, you cannot build me a house. Now I could take the time to go into a lot of reasons, you know, he was a bloody man, he had committed murder, he had committed adultery, and the testimony of the holiness of God was at stake, and God said to David, no, you cannot. You know, and sometimes we cannot do everything we want to do for God. David made all the preparation. He got all the building materials ready. He was ready to move on. But God said, no, this is not for you to do. But David didn't complain. If we had time to read it, we could read how that, you know, when I was nothing, you took me from taking care of the sheep and you made me king. How could I complain? Just because I can't do what I want to do. You know, sometimes we get discouraged as ministers and preachers and pastors and missionaries because we can't accomplish what we wanted to accomplish. And I always tell missionaries, you must remember that you do not serve a ministry. You serve a master. And if you are pleasing him, that is your sole purpose. for serving, for being a missionary. But David in his older age, the Lord said, you can't build me a house. But then David goes on to say, but God said, your son Solomon is going to build me a house. And David says in earlier parts of chapter 28, I had many sons. I had good sons. I had many sons. But God chose Solomon. Now I can't prove this, but I personally believe it was because God wanted David to know that he had been forgiven for his past sins. Because you see, Solomon was the son of Bathsheba. You see, God was saying, you can't do what you want to do for me, but it's not because I haven't forgiven you. And I think it was a thrill to David's heart to think about, God has chosen Solomon, in spite of my sin, in spite of my failure, and in spite of the fact that that first baby died, God has forgiven me completely. So I'm not going to complain. So he calls Solomon in and he begins to talk to him. And that's why I like to speak in chapels and in Christian schools and in Bible college chapels and things like that. Because I can speak like a father to sons and daughters. And I can say to them just as much as David said to Solomon, his son, God has chosen you. Take heed. Look at verse 9. And thou, Solomon, my son, Know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it. Know thou the God of thy father. The Lord hath chosen you. I believe that's a statement that can be made to every born-again Christian. God has a purpose for your life. God has chosen you. God has chosen you, and He has a plan for your life. Now turn with me to the book of Acts, chapter 22. It's a biblical principle. There was a man by the name of Saul, who was on his way to Damascus. And on his way to Damascus, he was going there for the wrong reasons. He was going there to persecute Christians. He was anti-Christian as much of the world is today. And he was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians. And on his way to Damascus, something happened to his life. Acts chapter 22. Let's begin reading. In verse 8. Verse 7. No, I'm sorry, let's go back to verse 6. And it came to pass that as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Now notice, it doesn't say, why are you persecuting Christians? Jesus said, why are you persecuting me? And there's more persecution going on against Christians in our world today, perhaps, than has ever taken place in all of history. But Jesus is saying, they don't hate you because you're you, they hate you because you love me, and they hate me. And he said to Saul, Why are you persecuting me? And every time any child of God faces persecution, he does not face it alone. The Lord says, I'm with you. And here, the Lord says to him, Why are you persecuting me? And Paul answered and said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? Are you willing tonight to ask that same question of the Lord? Lord, what shall I do? What do you want me to do? You want this young man to go to China? Where do you want me to go? You know, crossing an ocean doesn't turn anybody into a missionary. Sometimes all it takes is crossing the street. You see, God has a plan for our lives. And the Lord said to me, Arise and go into Damascus. And there it shall be told thee of all things which thou art appointed for thee to do. And then, skipping down to verse 12, And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul... Isn't that amazing? brother Saul now if you go back to if you go to Paul's testimony in chapter 26 which he gives later but it's an earlier time it's what God was doing when Ananias's heart the Lord spoke to Ananias and said I want you to go to this man named Saul and I want you to bring him in as a brother in Christ and Ananias said Lord don't you know who he is I've thought about this often when I preach in China. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Well, what if they're going to turn us in? What if they're just trying to infiltrate our church to do what they can do to harm? And that happens a lot. It happens a lot. But the Lord spoke to Ananias and said, no, this is what I want you to do. Now, it's amazing to me. Now so many times we need to see, young people, the importance of godly counselors and pastors and teachers in your life. Because even though Saul, who later became Paul, actually spoke to the Lord personally, to that voice from heaven, the Lord said, you go to Damascus and I'm going to send somebody else there to tell you what you're supposed to do. I was born disowned by my earthly father before I was born. When I was named, it was time to give me a name to put on my birth certificate, and the doctor came in and said, you're going to have to give this baby a name. And my mother said, I don't care what you name him. Name him anything you want to. So I got my doctor's name, Ronald. But he didn't give me a middle name. But as I preach to young people all over America and even all over the world, I think, well if I could choose my own middle name, I think I'd choose Ananias. So I could tell you what to do. I tell college young people sometimes, if after you graduate in six months you don't know what God wants you to do, call me and I'll tell you. If I get it wrong, I'll stand before the Lord and answer for it, but it's better for you to go to the wrong place than to go no place. You do something for the Lord. And Ananias went to Saul, and here's what he said to him. He came to me, verse 13, and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. In the same hour I looked upon him, and he said, and what did he say? He said the same thing that David the king said to his son Solomon. The God of our fathers hath chosen thee. Now if there were some way I could be personal to the hearts of everybody here that I would say, if we could just, you know how they do on some of those TV shows and everybody in the background just fades away and all at once all you see is that one face? Sometimes when I'm preaching that happens to me and I'll look at the face of a young man or a young woman And I've often thought, here I am, I preached the other night about how that even as an older person I have the responsibility to give my body as a living sacrifice. But I wish it were possible sometimes that I could step out of this body and take one of those young bodies that's out there and let them take my body and me take their body. And then walk forward in an invitation and say, Lord, I give myself to you. I'll go where you want me to go. And I'll do what you want me to do. And do it all over again. Often I'm asked, if you had it to do over again, what would you do? And I simply say, well, I would. I'd do it all over again. And again. And again. And again. But I can't do that. But God the Holy Spirit is in your heart. And He can do that. And He can cause you to give your body to Him. Ananias said to Saul, The God of our fathers has chosen thee that thou shouldst know His will. And see that just one. And there was only one just one. That's why it says the just one. All the rest of us are in the same boat, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one! But there was an exception. that was born of a virgin in Bethlehem and lived a sinless life and then died a sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary and he's the one who is just and therefore he can bring justification to anyone and everyone who will believe in him God's chosen you first of all to know his will to see that just one And hear the voice of his mouth, for thou shalt be his witnesses unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. Now I can't tell you what God's will is for your life. My ear is not behaving itself. But I can't tell you what to do with your life. But I can say to you, God has chosen you and he has a plan for your life. And He wants you to know His will. Young people ask me over and over, how do you know the will of God? I used to get frustrated about that because I wanted some kind of a magical answer that could help them to realize the plan of God for their lives. But then I begin to think about it. And my answer now is almost always, how can I know the will of God? Do it. If you know what you're supposed to be doing now, do it! And if you will walk and if you will let Him guard the steps of your life, if you will let His Word be a lamp unto your feet, then if you will do what you know God wants you to do right now, then God will reveal to you as you need it. Another thing that I read in a book one time that startled me, but I began to agree with it. Just because God has a plan for the rest of your life, why do you think he's obligated to tell you what it is? You see, we're supposed to be walking by faith. Trusting God for tomorrow. You don't have to know God's will in order to choose whether you're going to walk in it or not. You'll never know God's will if that's your attitude. But when you say, Lord, what would you want me to do? And be genuinely willing in your heart to do anything. You see, David, thousands of years before said to his son Solomon, God has chosen you. Years after, a man by the name of Ananias said to Saul, who later became known as the Apostle Paul, God has chosen you. Now let's go back again very quickly to the book of 1 Chronicles. God As an older man, David was speaking to his son, it's your turn now. You need to do what I wanted to do. You see, one of the passions of my life, my life verse is Acts 20 verse 24. None of these things move me. Be careful of things. Things move us so easily. None of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself. Now Paul didn't say he didn't count his life dear because life was his dearest possession. You only have one life. It's the dearest possession that you have. But if you count it dear to yourself, you'll waste it. And you'll lose it. Paul said, none of these things move me, neither I count I my life dear unto myself, that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I've received of the Lord Jesus, to testify of the gospel of the grace of God. Paul mentions three important things. Number one, he says, I have a life. I want to consecrate my life to Jesus Christ. He said, God has a plan for my life. I have a course that I'm supposed to run that nobody else is supposed to run. I want to complete my course. My life, my course. But when he comes to the third one, he doesn't say my ministry. Pastor, the ministry is bigger than any of us. And Paul says, I must continue my ministry. And that's what I'm doing now. I'm here. I'm trusting that maybe one of you will be someone that say, I will go as a missionary to wherever God wants me to go, sent out of Wilton Baptist Church. I will be a missionary to go there. I'm speaking at the Little Baptist Church in Whitesville, West Virginia, for their 100th anniversary of the church. I was their first, and as far as I know, to this point, their only foreign missionary out of that church. And I'm so thankful that God chose me to do that. I think there should have been others. I think there should have been a lot of others that went out to the... Now, several have gone into full-time Christian service, and that's God's mission, but the world is the mission field. I've heard people say, the call to be a missionary is the greatest call on earth. No, it isn't. You know what the greatest call on earth is? To be what God wants you to be. For me, it was the missionary call. But for your pastor, it was the call into the pastorate. And God has a plan for you, and the greatest thing you can do with your life is to not count it dear unto yourself, but to count it dear unto God, and consecrate your life to Jesus Christ, and then set out to finish your course with joy. And then to realize that even after you, I love the Apostle Peter, and how he says there in 2 Peter, as long as I'm in this tabernacle, I'm not going to retire. I'm not going to slow down. As long as I'm in this tabernacle, I'm going to stir you up. That's why I'm here, to stir you up to do more. To give more. To be more. To consecrate more. To be more faithful than you are. To be more active in service than you are. Stirring you up. But then I like what old Peter said, and after my decease, I'm not going to leave you alone even after I die. I'm going to haunt you. And every time you think of me, you're going to remember my challenge to stir you up to do more for the Savior that we love. You see, there's a ministry out there. Someone asked me not long ago, and I'm rambling a little bit, but when you get my age, you can get away with that and it's okay. Someone asked me not too long ago in one of the question and answer sessions they had at a missions conference, they said, how many missionaries do you know of? How many missionaries are there that are 65 years and older? And I thought for a minute, and my answer was, too many. Far too many. There should be men that are 50 and 40 and 30 and even 20. I was barely 22 years of age when we arrived in Japan. You see, we need more young people. Every David who's getting older and getting ready to pass on the ministry that's in his heart needs a Solomon. Every Paul that is coming to the place in his life when he says in 2 Timothy 4, I am now ready to be offered. And the time of my departure is at hand. It's almost over for me. but Timothy you preach the word Timothy it's your turn now you take you know we need someone who can be successors in the ministry so that we can know one of the thrilling times of my life is being I was back in Japan just recently and seeing young men that I saw born after their parents were persecuted because they became Christians And I've had ordination services of the sons of a lot of those men. And I'm seeing as the transitions are taking place. You see, because those men that got saved in those early days were as old or older than I was. So they're in their middle to late 70s also. But I am excited and thrilled to see the commitment of young, godly, God-called preachers and teachers who are ready to move forward. Right now, they're in a youth camp for the springtime in Japan. And I got a report that over, that I believe nine at least have surrendered their lives for full-time Christian service at that camp. See, that thrills my heart. You see, even when we come to the place, and some of you are older, you've been faithful in this ministry for a long, long time, and I appreciate that, and I'm sure your pastor does. But as it comes time, you should be thrilled and excited when God gives you young families and younger Christians who are ready to step in and sing, for a while sing with you in the choir and teach with you in the Sunday school, but then later to take your place. Because you see, even though you have a life, And God has a course for that life. You need to consecrate that life and you need to complete the course for that life. The ministry is bigger than you are. And this church should, there's a vision for the future of this church and I saw it on the walls out there and I'm excited. You should be excited too. You may not ever be able to walk through those halls of that new building, but because you are faithful, it will be there for others to walk through. And David said to his son, listen to what David said to his son, he said four things. He said, number one, I want you to know God personally. Look at it, look at it again, please be careful. And thou Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father. Now, usually when we read this phrase in the Old Testament, the word father is a plural word. the God of our fathers. But it's not here. Because what David is saying to Solomon, I want you to have a personal relationship with my God. I as a human being have had failures in my life, but my God has never failed me. My God has never forsaken me. My God has always been with me. And I want you to know, we find the same thing. Remember when Paul made his promise to the Philippian church? When he said, but my God shall supply all your need? I think that is the model missionary prayer letter. Philippians, especially the closing part. where Paul says, you know, I don't just desire a gift, I want to bear fruit to your account. And you as a missionary, if this church should take you on for support, your total desire should not be the money that you receive, it should be the ministry that you're going to do in their place so that they can bear fruit to their account in heaven because they sent you as a missionary. And I think Paul had the same... I stand here, after all of these years, sensing a deep debt of gratitude to people like you, who have year after year been faithful in faith, promise giving, and in praying, and being faithful in your church, so that I can be a missionary. I deeply appreciate your faithfulness to the Lord. And I think Paul felt that way. And he's saying, it's not because I desire a gift, but you've done well to communicate to me. You've done good. It's great that you have, because God has always used people like you to meet my need. And I wish I could pay you back, but I can't. But my God can. My God shall supply all your need. according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus and incidentally that was not a promise made by a church to a missionary that was a promise made by a missionary to a church if you will continue to take care of me and other missionaries God will take care of you God will meet every need that you've got my God and he's personal with it he doesn't say the God He doesn't say, the God of my fathers. He says, my God shall supply all your need. And that's what David is saying to Solomon. Let's get personal here. This God that I've served since I was a little shepherd boy. That same God will take care of you. Know thou the God of your father. Secure God in your heart. Know that you're saved. Know God. Have a personal relationship with God. Know Him. Know His will. Ananias said to Paul, God's chosen you to know His will. And then, David goes on to say, Know thou the God of thy fathers, serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind. You see, know God personally, serve God purposefully, with a perfect heart. You know, and that's the only area where you can ever be perfect. David wasn't perfect in his life. But he was a man after God's own heart. Remember Peter, when the Lord asked him those haunting questions, Peter, lovest thou me more than these? And what was the Lord's answer? I mean, what was Peter's answer? Peter said, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Nobody else does. I sure didn't act like it. But Lord, you know me. You know my heart. you know that I love you and the Lord said okay I'll use you feed my sheep feed my sheep you see no God personally serve God purposefully and then number three seek God passionately I love the Japanese word for seek. It's the word motomeru. It's to seek with passion in your heart. Romans 10, 13 in Japanese says shu no mina wo yobi motomeru mono wa. That motomeru means to call with a passionate longing heart. So seeking God means having a passion for God. Seek God passionately. Don't be satisfied with where you are. Always want to know him. Paul, as great a Christian and a great example that he was, his passionate desire was that I might know him and the power of his resurrection. And even the fellowship of his sufferings, if I can know him more. Know thou the God of thy father. Serve the God of your father. And then seek God passionately. And then follow him in whatever he leads you to do. If you will follow him, he will never forsake you. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. And then he says, take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for my sanctuary. Be strong and do it. Succeed for God. Live for God persistently. Don't quit. When you give your life to the Lord, remember you're giving it is a lifetime commitment. I'm thankful for everyone who makes mission field trips. It usually changes them, but it always blesses and changes the people they go to serve. But we have too many who are willing to be short-term missionaries who are not willing to be lifetime missionaries. You see, David had a vision in his heart to build a temple for the glory of his God. And he was not able to do that. There are so many visions in my heart that I have a desire to do. The visions of a dying world is there before my eyes. I see the billions in their need. I hear their feeble cries. Oh Lord, Constrain and move this church, the gospel to impart. And Lord, as thou dost stir this church, stir again my heart. The vision of a risen Lord demands I give my all. I have my own Damascus road. Before him I must fall. No force on earth must move me now. My life is not my own. My course I must complete with joy. I'll stand before his throne. The vision of my righteous judge each day I clearly see. Someday before him I shall stand. Will he be pleased with me? I must be faithful in the fight. The faith I too must keep. Before I look upon his face, my course I must complete. The vision of a dying world, this dream within my heart. These must not end when I am gone. You now must do your part. These dreams that have my vision been can now your vision be. Have you had your Damascus road? And will you follow me? The Lord says. You see, I'm looking for young men and young ladies who will give their lives and take up where I'm going to have to leave off. I don't want to stop glorifying my Lord just because I die. You see, if you want to leave this life glorifying God, as the Lord said to Peter, this is the death that you're going to die to glorify me. then you are going to have to live your life to the glory of God. I knew that was going to happen. We'll just use this one for a while if that's okay, and I won't try to hook it back up. But what I'm saying is, there's an urgency in a world that still needs missionaries. We need more missionaries in Japan. We need missionaries in China. We need missionaries in Burma, Myanmar. We need missionaries in the Philippines. We need missionaries in Senegal, Africa. We need missionaries all over this world. Go ye to all the world. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. and then teach them to observe all things so that they can send out missionaries to go into their Samarias and into their uttermost parts and continue to serve the Lord. God has chosen you to do something. Do it. God has chosen you to be something. Be it. Ananias said to Paul, he said, I want you, the Lord wants you to know His will, to see Him looking unto Jesus, the author and finish of our faith, and the Lord wants you to see His worthiness. He is the just one. He is the true one. He is the living Word of God. And then succeed for the glory of God. Don't waver, don't weaken, and don't wait. See there, when Ananias was speaking to Paul, he said, why do you tarry? Okay, you know God's chosen you, now get up and do it. David said to Solomon, you know God has chosen you, get up and do it. If I could, I would force young people to walk down this aisle and say, I'll be a missionary if that's what God wants me to do, but I can't do that. But if you'll listen to the voice of God, I can almost say with certainty, God wants somebody in this missions conference to yield their lives, to be a missionary. And then God wants to move in your hearts and let you know how much He wants you to give for the coming year for the cause of Christ. We need to get that airplane to take off and we need to get it to land at its destination or not stop there and go further than its destination. God has chosen you individually. God has chosen you collectively as a church. Lord, What would you have us to do? Father, we pray that as the pastor comes, you would give him wisdom in closing this service. Lord, speak to hearts. Lord, we don't know your will for every life here, but you do. Lord, we pray that it would begin by them saying, Lord, what would you have me to do? I'll do anything, not what I wish to be or where I wish to go. For who am I that I should choose my way? The Lord will choose for me. It is better far I know. So let him bid me go or stay. Would you be receptive as the pastor closes this service? In Jesus' name, amen. With our heads bowed, let's stand. Here's the question. Are you willing? Are you willing? And if you are, why not respond and come to the front? We want to pray with you and over you here tonight. So as the pianist is playing, are you willing? Would you come to the front? We want to pray with you. We want to thank God for what he's doing in your heart. There could be some young people. Just come to the front. You can tell that to the Lord. Your church family will pray and say, thank the Lord for this. They're willing. I'm not saying that I'll go, or I know for sure, but I'm willing if God wants me in ministry. I'm willing if God wants me to be a missionary. There's several already responding. Others are coming now. Amen for that. Others, come on, let's serve God. If you sense I'm willing, several young men have just walked down. Are there others? Those who've come down, just stay up a little bit. We want to pray with you. I'm willing, if God would call me to go, my heart would say, yes, I would go, because my heart's willing. Pianist will play through just one more. We have five gentlemen up here, and before you fellows go, we want to pray over you and with you right now. All right. Can everyone look up? We can look at who we're praying for here tonight. That's all right. These men have said they're willing. They're still knelt down here. They're willing. And I want to pray with them, and you can pray over them as well. And whenever someone says they're willing, Satan always wants to attack that. temptation to derail a young person's life off the path. I've seen it happen so many times. Somebody in fourth grade, fifth grade, seventh, eighth grade say, I'm willing to go. And then all of a sudden their heart's stolen away by something. So let's pray for these gentlemen here tonight. Can we do that? All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you for these young men who've come forward and said, I'm willing. What a start that is to seeing a missionary or a minister, a preacher of your word. Thank you for giving them the boldness to come in front of all this congregation to say, I'm willing. And Lord, we pray that you would protect their hearts, you'd protect their lives, you'd give wisdom to their parents as they guide them and direct them. Let us as individuals, as a church, support and encourage and never sidetrack the possibility that you'd call these young men to ministry or to missions. Lord, thank you for the example of David handing that ministry off to Solomon. and how you continued that and did something amazing. And we pray for something just like that here in the Wilson Baptist Church. We thank you for all who have responded tonight and everyone who's praying right now. We commit these people to your will that they'd find it to perform it in their lives. Help us as a church to support all of our missionaries to pray and to do our part. Thank you for this good challenge here tonight. Lord, we pray that you'll continue to bless the rest of this meeting together and we ask this in Jesus name. Amen