In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having a purpose for living. They share that when we see Jesus and understand His plan and purpose for us, we are compelled to follow Him. The speaker then introduces their text from Isaiah 40:31, which states that those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, mount up with wings like eagles, run without growing weary, and walk without fainting. They highlight the difference between reading the Bible and truly feeding on its truths, encouraging listeners to seek deeper understanding and revelation from God's Word.

Always worshiping and adoring our Lord. But I wish some of you folks would write some courses about the blood and write some courses about the cross. The cross, the cross is the wisdom and the power of God and everything comes to us through the cross of Jesus Christ. Everything we have comes through the cross. And sitting here tonight I was just reminded again in the early days of this Pentecostal movement how the precious Holy Spirit used to remind us again and again, make much of the cross, make much of the blood. So some of you folks who are good at writing courses, write some courses about the blood and about the cross. I say again the word says the cross is the wisdom and the power of God. And how the Father, how the Father loves that Son who was willing to go to the cross for us. Before the foundations of the world was laid, the cross was laid on the Father's heart. The Father doesn't ask us to to do anything, to bear anything that he hasn't already borne. The cross was laid on the heart of the Father to give his only begotten Son. That wasn't easy, do you think? And then the cross was laid on the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us and pay the price for we poor sinners that we could come back to God, back to God's original purpose for us. And that is still his purpose for us, to get us through down here, to get us through. And he's waiting for every last one of us to make every choice that we will make so he can give us the very highest reward in heaven and the very highest place with him. Back in his bosom, restored to his image and his likeness. That's what he wants. That's his objective for us and that must be our objective in life. We have to have an objective in life. We have to have a purpose for living. And folks say to me, in all of these years that you have walked with the Lord, what what has it been in your life that has kept you, kept you going and made you feel it was all worthwhile? Well, when you see Jesus and realize his plan for us and his purpose for us and fall into that plan and give ourself to his purpose for us, that there's the call upon you that just keeps you going. And when you see Jesus and know a little bit about who Jesus really is, he draws, he woos, he compels. And when I say he compels, his love compels. There's something about him that just woos and draws and compels. And when he says, follow me, you just feel like Matthew and the rest of them. What can you do but rise up and follow because he is so wonderful. Don't you think Jesus is wonderful? He certainly is wonderful. There is no one in the whole universe, there's no one like Jesus. There's no, there's nothing in the universe like his spirit. His spirit is so pure. His spirit is so full of light and full of life. His spirit is, is the most wonderful thing I can think of. When you, when you get in his presence and in his spirit, there's just nothing like it in the whole universe. You could just stay there forever. You feel like saying, here, let me die. Because there isn't, there isn't anything in the universe like his wonderful spirit. He is so precious. Dear Jesus, just fill this meeting tonight with that wonderful spirit of the Lord. Fill this meeting with your presence. I just pray again, as we open the book, you will open up its truth and speak it into our heart and let every one of us hear from the Lord tonight and hear from the Spirit. I pray you'll walk among us tonight. Dear Jesus, just so fill this room with your presence and walk among us and lay your hand on every life and let everyone be touched by the Spirit of the Lord tonight. And I pray you will receive something from us that will bless your heart and minister to you. You are so wonderful and so worthy. In Jesus precious name, amen. Amen. We closed the meeting last night talking about our devotional lives and talking about the real issue in our life is how much time we spend in prayer. How much time we spend with the Lord. I think we closed the meeting with that thought last night. And so tonight I want, I want to talk about the privilege of prayer. Do you know prayer is the most marvelous privilege that God has given the Christian? The sinner has the privilege of coming to Jesus and being born again. But after we're born again, the most precious privilege that we have is the privilege of prayer. Do you realize that? What is prayer? What is prayer? Prayer is talking to God. Prayer is communion with God. Prayer is fellowship with the God of the universe. Prayer is coming into the presence of our wonderful Heavenly Father and talking to Him. Prayer is the bride talking to the bridegroom and the bridegroom talking to the bride. Prayer is something more than just a little spiritual or religious exercise that we go through or something that we feel we have to do. I'm a Christian so I ought to pray. I'm a Christian so I ought to spend some time in prayer. And then we come with, come with our list of things that we want God to do for us and lay them all out before Him. And usually, usually it's something physical that we want or something in the natural that we want. But to get into the heart of prayer as the Father sees it and as the Word proclaims it, prayer is really coming before God and putting ourselves at God's disposal for Him to deal with us in any way that He wants to deal with us. And the thing that's on the heart of God to do for us is to save us. We are saved from sin but there's a lot of salvation yet needed in our lives. We are saved but we're still being saved from so much, from so many things. And to be saved from ourselves is the great thing. That marvelous redemption to be released from self. God knows all of our problems and He knows the greatest problems that we have are inside of us. And the biggest problem that we have is to be saved from ourself, delivered from ourself. Because this self is a great big, great big thing that wants to come between us and God. And so it has to be dealt with. So He wants to save us. God wants to salvage us. He wants to redeem us. He wants to deliver us. We are really on the heart of God. Did you know that? We're very much on His heart. It says in Isaiah that our names are engraved on His palm. Not just written there. They are, one day when He opened that up to me, that it's not, our names are not just written there, but they are engraved on His palm. Engraved with nails. With nails. Our names are written there. And He knows every last one of us. He knows all there is to know about us. He knows far more about us than we know about ourselves. So in bringing ourselves to Him and putting ourselves before Him, He knows exactly how to get through to us if we will stay there and let God deal with us. Just stay there. You know, He said to Moses in Exodus, the 24th chapter and the 12th verse, He said to Moses, come up into the mountain unto me and stay there. And stay there. Be there. Just be there. I like that. I just found that recently. Come up into the mountain unto me and be there. Just stay there. Stay where I can get at you. Come to me, but stay there until I can get to you. Come up unto me. Come to me. Don't just come to the place of prayer. Don't just get on your knees. Don't just say I have to go through this religious exercise. But come unto me. Come up. And it's always up when we come to Him. It's always up. Come up unto me and be there. Just be there. Just stay there. That's the hardest part to do. To persevere and just stay there until He comes. He told Moses, now if you will just come and be there, that He would come to him. And He kept Moses waiting for six days before He said one single word to him. But I'm glad Moses stayed there. Because God had said come up unto me and be there. So he stayed there. And if we stay long enough, God will get to us. But stay there, be there until I come. And when He come, what a marvelous thing He did. He gave to Moses the whole pattern of the tabernacle. And He says if you will build a sanctuary for me and put all the furniture in the right place in that tabernacle, I'll come down and live with you. And He did. Moses built the tabernacle and God kept His part and came down with His glory and His presence and His power and certainly was with them. But I'm glad Moses stayed. Six days God didn't say a word to him. But then when God came, He stayed for 40 days. When He comes, it's easy to stay there, isn't it? Yes, when He comes. The hard part is to wait and persevere until God really comes. And that's our part. But if we are obedient to Him and come and stay and be there, God will surely come. In Haggai, He says, though the vision tarry, wait for it, it'll surely come. And you know when He sent them up to the upper room, He told them to tarry until. Suppose they had left on the first day, 24 hours nothing happened, or 48 hours nothing happened, or 52 hours nothing happened. But they waited until He came. And on the day of Pentecost, in the fullness of time, He came. God will always come if we will do His part. It's obedience. Obedience plays a great big part in our Christian life. But if we do His will and are obedient, God will come through. Praise His name. All right, that's all that's introduction. I'm coming now to my text. My text is in the 40th chapter of Isaiah, this wonderful 31st verse. Isaiah the 40th chapter and the 31st verse. How does it begin? How does the verse begin in your Bible? With a but. We'll come back to that but, because that but is very important. But, read the rest of it. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Now, I know every one of you know that verse. We know that verse. We know a lot of verses. But do we know the strength and the power? And has the life of that word been imparted to us until it is personal experience in our life? You know the word has to be personalized in us. The word has to be personalized in us. You can know all the scriptures about salvation, but it doesn't profit you to know all the scriptures until you get saved. Is that right? And then that word is personalized in your life, and it really becomes yours. The same thing is true with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You can know all the verses in the Bible on the baptism of the Holy Ghost, but that doesn't do you any good until you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And that the power and the life of that word is made real in your life. It's personalized in you. And you can say, I know what that means. I have that experience. That truth is part of my life and part of my experience. It's personalized in me. So that is true with this verse. Everybody here probably could repeat it, but it doesn't mean a whole lot to us until we give ourself to waiting on the Lord until he comes. And this word is personalized in our life. Now I'm going to speak both on prayer and on waiting on the Lord, because when we pray, how many of you know what it means to pray through? Do you know what it means to really pray through? I tell you folks, in this day and age, you better know how to touch God. You had better know how to touch God. These are not usual and ordinary days that we're living in. And all kinds of things are happening. To the of God's saints, you had better know how to touch God. Suppose the doctor would say to one of you tonight that your wife has an incurable disease and she won't live for six months. You had better know how to touch God. Suppose your children are in an accident of some kind and you pick that little lifeless body up in your arms. You had better know how to touch God. And things happen to all of us and to any of us. Well, I know folks will say nothing's going to happen to me. I belong to Jesus and I'm his child and nothing is going to happen to me. But they happen to all the saints in the Word of God. Read, if you don't think so, read the 11th chapter of Hebrews and that will tell you things. Things do happen to saints and things do happen to Christians. And you had better know how to touch God. How many of you know, really know how to touch God? If you would get into a crisis time, do you know how to pray through? Answer me. Do you? Do you know how to pray through? God bless you. God bless you. You had better know how to pray through and stay there and persevere and pray through until you touch the throne of God. There is such a thing as praying through and there is such a thing as getting an answer. Amen? Yes. Yes. Prayer. And they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They that wait upon the Lord. That's the hard part. They that wait upon the Lord. That's the hard part. Waiting. And folks say to me, why do we have to pray so long? Why doesn't God answer his prayer? Why do I have to wait? I have been praying about this for so long. Do you know not getting answers to prayer immediately works a marvelous thing in us? It works patience in us, patience in us. And one thing that waiting on the Lord works in us is brokenness, is brokenness. If you're in a hard time and a crisis time especially, and you feel you've got to have the answer right now, you just got to have the answer and you pray, you pray and the heavens are brass. And it's like God doesn't hear. Where is God? Why doesn't God come through? Why doesn't God answer? Why doesn't God do this thing for me? And you wait. And after a while, a brokenness comes into our life and we break before God. And that broken spirit is worth more to God than to give us the answer the first time we pray. Because it works a brokenness in us that is very necessary in the life of a child of God. I remember one woman at my altar in one service and she, the Spirit of God began to move over her. She had been praying for the baptism and she wanted, I don't know how long she had prayed, why doesn't God baptize me? Why doesn't God give me the baptism of the Spirit? And after a while, some nights later, she broke before the Lord, began to weep, and then she began to apologize because she was weeping. And she said, Oh, Sister Helen, I'm sorry. She says, I know. She's listening to all that TV stuff. And she said, I know tears are a sign of weakness and I'm really not a weak person. And she was apologizing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. She says, I'm not a weak person. The fact of the matter is, she says, I don't remember when I wept last. I said, Honey, bawl. Just bawl. Just bawl. It's time for you. You don't know when you wept before the Lord. It's time that you weep. It's time to bawl. Just let go and let that breaking through the hardness that's in us. All of us are harder than we realize. And a broken spirit means much to the Lord. And when we break before God, He can get that nail-pierced hand down on the inside of us and work miracles in us that can't be worked any other way. So don't try to choke back the tears and apologize for tears. Just bawl it out before the Lord. In fact, I get my best blessing when I have a good bawl and just really and truly break before the Lord. All right. They that wait upon the Lord, they that stay there. And again, God is not asking us to do something that He hasn't done. Do you know He had to wait 4,000 years before He could send Jesus into the world to save us? From the time that He made Adam and Adam fell until the time that He could send Jesus to us was 4,000 years that God had to wait. So He knows what it's like to wait. But He had to wait that long for the ground to be ready and for the fullness of time to come to send the Savior that we would receive Him and He could pay the price for our sin. Then do you know Jesus has waited 2,000 years since He died on the cross? Jesus has waited 2,000 years already for His bride. Did you ever think about that? And He would wait 2,000 more years if necessary to get the bride that He wants, a bride that is worthy of this wonderful Son who has His likeness and image on her. And we've allowed Him to work in us to break us, to melt us, to mold us, to fashion us, to make us like God's wonderful Son. He'd wait 2,000 more years if necessary to get a bride worthy of this wonderful Son. And so He's been praying for us for 2,000 years. He knows what it is to pray a long time too. For 2,000 years, He's been praying for us. So they that wait upon the Lord, we shall renew their strength. We need strength to mount up as eagles, strength to run and not be weary, strength to walk and not faint. And how does it come? By waiting upon the Lord. He'll give us strength in the inner man. Then there's a wonderful scripture in Isaiah, the 30th chapter, the 18th and 19th verse, and I'm reading it from, I love the way the Amplified gives it. You won't find it like that in the King James, but this is the Amplified. Therefore, the Lord earnestly waits, expecting, this is such comfort for us, looking, longing to be gracious to you. And therefore, He lifts Himself up that He might have mercy on you and show loving kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. Isn't that beautiful? So keep on calling and keep on praying. Prayer is the most precious, precious thing God has given to the Christian, and it is the most necessary thing to commune with our Father. Men ought always to pray, said Jesus. Pray or what? Men ought always to pray and not faint. What He's really saying, pray or you will faint. What does it mean? Did you ever faint? Did you ever faint? If you did, you know what it's like. You're just out of it. You faint, you're just unconscious, you're just out of it. And on one of my trips, we were going out to the train and the woman in front of me fainted and just fell out of line. And of course she missed the train. Laugh if you want to, but pick up the spiritual thought. Pray or you will faint. And if you faint, you will miss the rapture. You'll miss the train. You will miss the rapture if you faint. What does it mean to faint? The dictionary says it means to turn coward, to get faint-hearted and turn coward or to quit or to give up. That's what it means to faint. Men ought always to pray. Pray or you'll faint. Pray or you'll give up. Pray or you will miss God's best for you. Pray, pray, pray. Ask and you shall receive. God has given us every promise to encourage us in prayer. Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. Everyone that seeketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. There's every encouragement in the scriptures for us to pray, to pray. And to, in your prayer, wait, wait until the answer comes. And we receive strength that to mount up with wings as eagles. Eagles can fly higher than any other bird. And eagles are not afraid of the storm. Eagles just set their face and go right into the storm. They're not afraid of it. So he gives us strength to mount up on wings as eagles above the storms of life, above the things that we contact every day that would discourage us in the Christian life. But if we wait on the Lord, we'll have strength that there'll be no discouragement. We will have strength to face the storms, face to rise above the mountains that we think, this thing that I'm facing is such a mountain and I don't know how I can face it. I don't know how I can deal with it. I don't know how I can go through with this. Well, the place to get strength to meet that thing and go through is the place of prayer, waiting on the Lord. And now this little but, you have to wait. But you have to wait. We have to stay there until God comes through and talks to us. But I promise you he will. There's every promise in his word that he will answer, that he will come, that he will meet us. But we have to stay there until God comes to minister to us, to give us the help that we need, the help that we're asking for. He's asked and you shall receive. If you'll wait there, you will receive. But how many times we pray and get up and run. And when God gets there with the answer, where's that person that was praying? They're gone. Because we're so active and running and don't have time. A man seeking the baptism of the Spirit, he would just pray like a house of fire for a little while and get up and go. And of course, he didn't have the baptism. He'd come back the next night when I'd give the altar call. He'd get down there and just pray again for five minutes. Just pray like a house of fire and get up and get and go. And he came to me and he said, why doesn't the Lord baptize me? And I said, you don't give him time. God comes to answer you and baptize you. You're gone. And I said, you're always in a rush. You don't have time to stay and wait on the Lord. So he got down at the altar the next night and he started out praying, oh God, please take this hurry up spirit out of me. And he stayed there and prayed and God was able to baptize him in the Holy Ghost when he got that hurry up spirit. All this activity that's in us. We got to stay in the presence of God to get rid of all that activity that's in us. You get down before the Lord, your mind starts around like a phonograph record and this comes in and that thought comes in. And you got to do this and you got to go there and you've got this appointment and you have to see this person and all of these things come in. You've got to stay there until that thing is quieted. You've got to stay in the presence of God until all this human activity on the side of human nature, all that activity, all that's going on inside there until that is quieted and it's done with. And sometimes we don't get the answer. The answer doesn't come the first hour and sometimes not the second hour and sometimes not the third hour and sometimes not the fourth hour. But they that wait upon the Lord shall receive the strength and the help that we're waiting for. This is to pray, pray until God comes and I promise you he will come. There have been times when I have had to pray and wait on God, especially in wanting to know the will of God. He's the only one that can tell us his will. So many folks come to me and say, how can I know the will of God? Well, there's only one person who knows his will and that's God. So we have to get in touch with him. And sometimes it's related to things that I can give this illustration. Suppose you were going over to work for Sears. You wouldn't just go in the store and start working, but you'll go in there and contact the manager and the manager will tell you what work he wants you to do. He'll tell you when to come to work. He'll tell you where to work. He'll give you the equipment to work with and tell you what your pay will be. Well, if Sears will do that, how much more will the Father in heaven? Yes. Or anybody that you would work for. And God is calling us to, we want to know his will, where he wants us, what he wants in our life. Just get in touch with the manager that you're going to work for. Him whose will you want to know. And I promise you, if any man lack wisdom, he says, let him ask of God and it'll be given to him. And God will come through and he'll come through. I have had God come through in detail to tell me in detail where I should go, what I should do, what he wanted, and he worked out things for me. But it had to be done sometimes in praying. I have prayed days, days and nights, and just wait on him during the night. And sometimes you get tired. I would more than once have just laid on the floor and got a nap. And as soon as I got awake, I got up and started praying again. And prayed, spent the night there, spent the day there, spent the next night right there, waiting on the Lord until the answer came through and I knew what God wanted. But when you know his will, then you know exactly what to do, where to go, what he's saying, and he will show us exactly what he wants. And God has talked to me at times in detail to tell me exactly what to do. He wanted me, have I ever told you, this crowd, about how the Lord led me to India? Have I ever told you about that? Well, anyhow, I knew that's what he wanted. I knew he wanted me to go to India, but there's a whole lot of details in going to a foreign country. And he told me in August that he wanted me to be in India in October for their conferences out there. And not one person in the world knew that God was talking to me about this. And I was in the Bible teacher in the camp meeting in Oregon. And one day the presbyter, the preacher that was driving me to and from the meetings, came to get me and he could see I had been crying. And what's the matter, Sister Hammond? He thought maybe something had gone wrong at the camp meeting. And I said, no, it isn't anything here. And I said, I'll tell you if you promise not to tell a soul. Don't tell a soul. Well, he said he wouldn't. And I said, the Lord is asking me to go to India. And oh, he said, don't worry about that. He said, God has given you this camp meeting. Everybody in this camp meeting just loves you. And all I have to do is just tell them you want to go to India. We'll get your fare. We'll get your support. We'll just get everything. You just give this to me. I said, you just promised me you wouldn't tell a soul. And I'm holding it to that, that you won't tell a soul. So he left. Well, he left. He took me to the camp. And the next night when he came back, he wanted to know again if he could handle this thing for me. And I said, no. My husband wants to handle this for me. And he has let me know that he wants to take care of me in this manner. And I said, you, you promised not to tell a soul. I said, how would you feel if the superintendent of the district would start taking care of your wife and doing things for her? He says, he better not. And I said, well, I said, that's the way my husband feels. So you just lay off and don't tell a soul. Just don't tell a soul. And so I was still weeping before the Lord about this thing. What, what, how is he going to work it all out for me? And I knew he would, but you know, there's a lot of, a lot involved. So the next time, day, I was pressing a dress and, and sprinkling it with my tears. And I had just said to the Lord, Jesus, I have to know this is you. I just have to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is you. And if you will send me a thousand dollars before this camp meeting is over, apart from the love offering that they give me, not a soul in the world knows you're talking to me about this. But if you'll give me a thousand dollars before this camp is over, then I won't cry anymore. But there was a number of things I was crying about. The biggest thing I was crying about, going to India, all those snakes out there. And I am scared of snakes. But if, if I have to go, you let this, you let me know, send me a thousand dollars before I leave here. And that was Friday. And before I was through pressing that dress, before I took that dress off the ironing board, I had a thousand dollars. Somebody called on the telephone and said, are you the same Hattie Hammond who held the meeting in Tacoma, Washington, and you prayed for a woman with tuberculosis and she was healed? Are you that same person? And I said, yes, I remember that lady and that healing. I am she. And this, this voice said, well, I'm the one you prayed for that was healed. And I have married a man of means, and he wants to give you, to give God a thousand dollars for healing me. So we're coming over and bring you a thousand dollars. So I had the thousand dollars and then, then I couldn't cry anymore. But that was just the beginning. That was the beginning. Then the Lord told me to go home speedily. And I said, all right, I'll take the first train home. And I went to the station to buy my ticket. And I wasn't, I wasn't comfortable with that. But I said, Lord, you told me to go speedily. So I'm taking the first train. I don't know what else to do. So I, I purchased the ticket and the, the ticket agent told me that I could return that ticket if I didn't use it. So I purchased it and went to the house and this man and his wife came again. And they said, we would like you to spend the night with us. And if you do, we'll send you home by plane. And I knew then that that's what the Lord meant when he said to go home speedily. So I took the plane and my home is just outside of Washington DC. And on the way to Washington, the Lord said to me, now you have to have a visa. And I want you to go to the ambassador from India and to get your visa. Well, go to Brother Mahan, who is the pastor in Washington, and he'll take you to the ambassador from India. And God talked to me in detail like that and told me just exactly what to do. And so when I got to Washington, I called Brother Mahan and I said, Brother Mahan, the Lord told me that you would take me to the ambassador from India. Of course, told him some more of the story. And he said, well, I just had better do that if the Lord said so. So he came to the airport and picked me up and took me to his home. And the next day he took me to the ambassador from India. And I didn't know enough to go to the embassy. Well, what's the name of the place where he lives? No, the consulate. Is that his home? What's his home? The embassy or the consulate, the office. But anyhow, you're supposed to go to the office. But I went to his home. I didn't know any better. So when Brother Mahan and I arrived at his personal residence and the servant answered the door, Brother Mahan told him I wanted to meet the ambassador. And he says, well, where are your official papers? And I said, official papers? I said, the only official paper I have is a word from my father in heaven. He told me to come here to see the ambassador. And the Lord made it appear as a funny thing to him that he said, lady, you have to have this. You have to have special papers from the government to come to meet the ambassador. And I said, I don't know anything about that. But my father just told me to come here and I could talk to the ambassador. And he smiled. He says, OK, you come in. And so the ambassador graciously received me and he taught in India and minister in those mission stations, minister in our Bible schools. And he looked at me and he said, Miss Hammond, I very much would like you to go to my India. And can you go to New York tomorrow? And I said, yes, I can. He said, you go to my office in New York tomorrow and I will wire India and wire the office in New York and they will give you the visa that you need. I said, thank you very much and left his office and went to New York the next day. God just directing step by step. Well, then I had our headquarters in Springfield to deal with. I had to tell them that I was going out to India and I got on the phone to speak to Brother Perkin, who was our national missionary representative in Springfield. And I said, Brother Perkin, I'm going to India and I need a visa and I need all this. He said, now, Sister Hammond, don't think of being out there in October. He said, we never have been able to get a visa in less than six months. Now, he said, don't worry, I'll take care of this for you and I'll get a visa for you. But you can't be in India in six months, in October, for October. Well, the Lord told me to be out there in October. Well, he said, I think you'll have to wait a little longer. Now, just put this in our hands and we'll take care of this and we'll get a visa for you and so on. So, I said, Brother Perkin, then the next day after I went to New York and got the visa, then I called Brother Perkin again and I said, Brother Perkin, I have a visa. He says, no, you don't have a visa. He said, I suppose you have a passport. You have a book, a passport. I said, yes, I have a passport. And I said, and I have a visa. No, he says, you don't have a visa. You just have a passport and we'll have to get a visa for you. And I said, no, Brother Perkin, I have a visa. And he said, how did you get a visa? So, then I told him that I went to the home of the ambassador. The Lord told me to do that and the ambassador gave me a visa. Well, he had never heard of such a thing as that. And he says, all I can say, we need a woman in the missions department in Springfield. And I said, no, you don't need a woman, you just need the Holy Ghost. He's the one who directs and leads and helps and tells us what to do and where to go. And then the Lord, then to deal, to get me to India in October, the Lord told me the travel bureau that I was to go to. And I went to that travel bureau and they said, no, it's impossible to get you out there in October. And I said, no, it isn't impossible because my Heavenly Father told me to be out there in October. And she says, well, I don't know anything about your Heavenly Father. I said, I wish you did. Because I said, you just watch the openings and get a room for me to go to India and get there by October. And in two weeks time, she called me and she says, I don't know who your connections are, but I have a room for you on this boat that says in 10 days, it'll be leaving San Francisco and we'll get you to India when you want to be there. I said, in 10 days, I'll be in San Francisco and then I'll be in India when the Lord wants me there. Well, so I tell you all of that just to tell you that God does come through if we wait and pray. And when he comes, he has all the answers and he knows exactly what he wants and how to get us where he wants us and how to work in our lives to bring forth his will. He just wants obedience all along the way. Sometimes he asks us to do strange things to the natural and to the human. But again, if we obey, God comes through. This church wanted me for a meeting and I did not want to go to that church. I did not want to go to those people. And there were reasons why I didn't want to go there because there was one woman in that congregation that just seemed to control everything. And when she said amen, everybody else would say amen, but they'd get their cues from her. And if she thought the future was all right, then it was all right with them. And I didn't want to meet a circumstance like that. But again, the Lord told me to go and he would send revival. So then I had to know what he wanted. And he asked me to do this. He said, I want you to go. And in the first service, I want you to read the longest chapter in the Bible, standing in the pulpit with your hands up. I said, what will the people think if I'm standing up there? And what will this woman think? But you don't get anything unless you obey. You don't. You've got to obey. And I knew if I didn't obey, there'd be no revival. There'd be no visitation of God. So I went because he told me to go. And I found the longest chapter in the Bible and went to the pulpit when I was announced and put up my hands and started reading. And I read the first five verses and nothing happened. I read the first 10 verses and nothing happened. I read the first 20 verses and nothing happened. But about the 21st verse, the power of God hit that woman, just really hit her and just blew her around, as it were, just blew that woman around. And she just was a whirlwind. And then it was like the whirlwind just went out from her and went around that church affecting everybody. And they began to fall out of the seats under the power of God, cry out to God for help and mercy, some of them breaking before the Lord. And such a revival as God gave us because she was out of the way and the spirit of the Lord moved. And the last Sunday when I went to the church for the meeting, I had to step over people to get down the aisle of the church. And I never did get up to the platform to speak because of the move of God and the work of God and the revival that he sent and the spirit of the Lord that was there. He comes when we obey, but we have to obey. And, but you have to wait, but you have to wait on the Lord. Wait until he comes, wait until he speaks to you, wait until you know his will. And then he will give strength that you can mount up with wings as eagles above all these difficulties and face the storms and face people and face unsurmountable things that we think we've, rivers that cannot be crossed over, but no eagle fears a river. An eagle will go right over any kind of a river. An eagle can go higher than the highest mountain. Nothing fazes it, it just has strength to go to the heights and prevail against every obstacle. And they that wait upon the Lord will have strength to move as eagles move. And he says, they will run and not be weary. And this, this weariness that's on people, weariness, I'm, I'm tired. I've had people say, I'm, I'm tired of being, trying to be a Christian. I'm just tired of the battle. I'm tired of carrying my cross when they don't know what the cross is really. I'm tired of fighting the Christian battle. I'm, I'm just tired. I'm weary of reading the Bible and getting nothing out of it. I'm weary of praying and, and getting no answers, but they that wait upon the Lord shall run this race and they'll not be weary, not be weary. Because when we really wait on the Lord and really seek him, he, he does come and pray times of prayer doesn't have to be sessions when that we're just there because we feel that we have to be there. We're just there praying. I have to say my prayers. I have to say my prayers and I'm tired and weary of reading the Bible and not getting anything out of it. My dear, we don't have to live a life like that, but when you come to this precious sacred word of God, hold this word before the Lord and pray that the precious Holy Spirit will impart its truths, will break the bread to you and impart the truth. There's life in every word that's in this book. This is the word of God and the life of God is in every word in this book. And if we come before God waiting for him to open up the word, we can't just race through a chapter and just race through another chapter and read so many chapters. I have to read, have to read a chapter every day. And some people feel if I don't read a chapter every day, my children will get sick. If I don't read a chapter every day, something will happen to me. So I say my prayers and read my chapter, but that's no way to serve the Lord. And another man came to me and he was, he was so proud of himself. He said, Sister Hammond, I read 14 chapters every day. And I looked at him and I said, you scare me to death. And he said, why do you say that? He thought I would be so proud of him reading 14 chapters every day. I said, nobody on earth can eat 14 meals every day. You aren't, you aren't getting anything out of it. You are reading, you're reading, but you're not feeding. And there's quite a difference. There's quite a difference between reading and feeding. Sometimes I don't get over one verse a day because the Lord begins to break it open to me and I'll just get one word and he opens up that one word and there's a marvelous truth there that just feeds and you can feed on it for days and days and days. There's manna for every day, but we don't have to live a life like that. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Walk and walk in the spirit, walk with the Lord, walk in his will, do his will, and we'll have, we'll have strength to walk and not faint, not quit, not give up, not miss what God has for us. Prayer is a wonderful thing. When they, when in the 11th chapter of Luke, it says, when they saw Jesus in prayer, it came to pass when they saw him in prayer, that's when they said to him, Lord, will you teach us to pray? Think what it would be like to be present with Jesus when he was praying. Think of the atmosphere that would be around Jesus when he was in prayer. And when Jesus said, Father, I believe the universe stood still when Jesus addressed his father and all heaven be quiet, the son is praying. And when they saw the unity, the union he had with the father, the communion he had with the father, the fellowship he had with the father. And he, on that occasion, that's the only time I believe he left the disciples with him when he was in prayer. That's the only time I believe. And when they saw his, his, there was no distance between him and the father and the fellowship. And they said, Jesus, will you teach us to pray? Will you teach us to pray? In other words, they're saying, Jesus, Jesus, will you help us that we can come in there where you are, that we can have the fellowship with the father that you're having? We can have that kind of union and communion with him. Can, can we get in there where you are? Did you ever, did you ever really feel the pain, the agony? Did you ever have an agony in your breast? Do you ever feel a pain and longing to know God, to really know more about him, to really get in there, way in there in the spirit that you know we can come to. And he's continually calling us and the bride continually says, draw me and we will run after thee. Because when you really see who he is, who he is, there's nobody in the universe like Jesus. Once you've had a glimpse of him, you're forever sold on him. And there's just, there's just no other attraction in the universe when you really see Jesus and see who he really is. And to think he gives us this marvelous privilege of talking to him, coming to him, and having him help us and direct our lives. Would you please teach us to pray? Jesus didn't give instructions, detailed instructions on any other subject, but he did on prayer. He told us when to pray, where to pray, how to pray, and what to say. And when thou prayest, he says, and thou when thou prayest. So prayer is a thing of the will. You have to will to pray, and you have to will to stay there and wait on the Lord. It's a thing of the will. And thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and shut thy door. And when thou has prayed to thy father in secret, thy father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And if we don't pray, we're rewarded openly also. Because if you don't pray for a day, you know it. You know it. If you don't pray for two days, the family knows it. If you don't pray for three days, everybody knows it. That because we don't have any strength in our life, we don't have any power, and we revert right back to the old carnal man and the carnal life, and don't live in the power of the Spirit, the freedom of the Spirit, or in fellowship and communion with the Father, but we revert right back to living in the natural, the old carnal life, and do the things that we always have done in the carnal life and carnal man. But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength to give to God the glory that He wants, to be to Him what He wants, and I dare say this, to live the life that we really want to live, and to be the person that we really want to be. This is only possible if we spend time in prayer, and I mean really meet the Lord every day. This day that we're living in demands hours and hours of prayer. Spend all the time that you can in His presence, and He'll get you through. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Shall we stand? Does anybody want to say anything? Does anybody want to ask any question about anything I've said? Does anybody want to make any comment? Does anybody want to add anything? What do you want to sing? All right. I don't know, I don't know what tune you sing that to. There's a number of tunes. Do you know? They that wait upon the Lord. Do you know that melody? You don't know it that way? No, then sing it the way you know it. All right.