In this sermon, the speaker addresses a group of people who have made mistakes and are suffering as a result. He reassures them that God never forgets His people and loves them even when they mess up. However, there is a necessary step to experience restoration and fullness in their lives. The speaker emphasizes the importance of giving God more time and getting serious about addressing their shortcomings. He encourages the audience to adjust their schedules and allow God to search their hearts. The sermon references Jeremiah 29:11 and James 4a as passages that offer hope and guidance for those who have made mistakes.

Well, I'm deeply honored to be here, and I'll share with you what I shared with the group last night, because you're going to immediately wonder, if you didn't hear me last night, what kind of accent does that guy have? Okay, so here we go. I'm from Tennessee, pastored in Memphis 17 years, and we've been based in Oklahoma now for about 8 years. You are hearing an official Tennehoma accent somewhere right in the middle. Here's the great news, though. No matter what our accent, where we're from, as a body of Christ, we really are brothers and sisters with a blood that's even deeper than human blood. We are family, and God is doing something we have not seen since the last Great Awakening, and that was around 1905 in this country. Now, what's happening, people that have known the Lord for a while, or maybe just have met the Lord, they're experiencing a missing element in their prayer life, and I'm talking about teenagers through senior adults. And when they recapture this missing element, it's like, I don't use this in a bad way, it's like they get on spiritual steroids, but in a good way. I mean, their growth just explodes, and so many of them will say they've grown more in 6 months when they grasp this secret of a clean heart than they've grown in 6 years. And it's so awesome what God is doing. Well, I'll ask you what I asked the group last night. How many of you read through part of the book, Returning to Wholeness? All right, quite a few have. And I'll say to you what I said to them. You expected me to be a lot bigger, and maybe a little older, and maybe even a little mean-looking, right? Okay. That book can be tough, but remember something. God doesn't cleanse our heart to condemn us or beat us up or hurt us or put us down, but to set us free and lift us up. He loves you so much. He wants to be so mighty in your life. He wants you to hear His voice. I love to say this, clearer than your husband, wife, or best friend. He has saved us for that kind of intimacy with Him. And this morning, we're going to see kind of how God takes us from an average prayer life, average closeness, which we see good things there, but to what God calls the mountain-moving prayer life where He is flowing like a river, and that is not an exaggeration. And again, I'll give you the quick testimony. I shouldn't be speaking anywhere or writing any books. I had an illness in 1994. It greatly damaged my system. And they said, you're going to have to quit all the preaching and teaching and all of that. And they were right. And I was just about to do that when God helped me capture something that was missing in my prayer life and I didn't even know it. And I'd been a pastor for ten years at that time. And you don't have to be a pastor, though, to experience this, this element of letting Him really have our heart totally. And don't be afraid. You can do this. We're not talking about being perfect. We're not. But we're talking about learning how to let Him absolutely begin to flow through us. And so that was 25 books ago and two million miles of conferences ago, and I have no strength, humanly speaking. I'm not a writer. I wasn't a writer when I was healthy. God can do great things in anybody's life if we'll learn to let Him really have our heart fully. How do we do that? That's what we're going to see this morning. If you will, take your Bible and turn to Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 11. Jeremiah 29 and 11, one of the greatest promises in all the Bible. And we're also going to look in James 4a. Now, what I want you to notice about this passage, God was speaking to people that had really blown it. You know, we've all blown it one time or another. Boy, they had really blown it. And they were suffering because of some of their mistakes. And some of them thought God had forgotten them and God was angry at them. But, you know, God never forgets His people. And God loves us even when we blow it. But there is something we have to do to let Him restore the power and the fullness. You're going to see an incredible promise here. And this is for teenagers to senior adult. We're seeing God do so much with all these groups, different age groups. So I always pray before I read Scripture. So friends, I'm going to ask that we just bow our heads and hearts before God. He is in this room right now. He is here in all His power. And He wants to absolutely change us and take us deeper. So could we bow our hearts before God right now? And just in the quiet of this moment, just by faith, would you look into His face? You know, the truth is He's looking at you right now. He really is. He's looking into every heart right now because He loves you. I hope you're focused on Him right now. He's definitely focused on you. Now just in the quiet of this moment, just in your own heart, would you just thank God for giving His only Son to die for you? Would you just thank God for Jesus? That incredible sacrifice. No one has ever loved you like Jesus loves you. Would you praise God this morning that His grace is greater than all of our sin and weakness? And you can thank Him that His power is greater than your greatest impossibility. Nothing's hard with God. Just praise Him for His power. And would everyone ask God to give me His words and the Holy Spirit to share them? Father, we do bow before You and confess that You are God. Lord, that there is none other. Your name is the only name. God, Your kingdom is the only kingdom that will last. Father, we come to bow before You and surrender to You as God. Lord, this morning just take us to a deeper level, Lord, of just loving You. Lord, a deeper level of really knowing You intimately. Oh, Father, take us to a new level of prayer. God, a new level of surrendering to Your Lordship that You may flow through us and glorify Yourself through our lives. Oh, God, thank You that every person in this room is special to You. Father, You don't have any second-class children. Father, today help us have a new vision of who You've called us to be and what You want to be through us and in us. Oh, God, take us to a whole new level with You today. Take us to a turning point, Father, for Your glory, for Your pleasure, for Your kingdom. We ask these things in faith, believing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And that is exactly what's happened. He's taking people to an incredible turning point. Even if they've known God for many years, it's like they've come to a place. It's incredible what's happening. It happens by what we're about to read. Now remember, the Lord was speaking to people who had really blown it, but listen to what He said to them. And if you know the Lord today, He's saying the same thing to you. And if you don't know Him, He wants you to know Him starting today. Look what He said. Jeremiah 29, 11, For I know the thoughts... And that word also means plans in the Hebrew. God said, I know the thoughts and plans that I think toward you. God's basically saying, I'm thinking about you and I have plans for you even if you've blown it. And look what He says. The Lord says there are thoughts and plans of peace and not of evil to give you a future and hope. That's pretty incredible. It means He's very forgiving, very loving. But we asked the question this morning, what is the main plan of God for you? If you know Him today, what is His plan for you? And that's a great thing to realize that especially if a teenager, He's got exactly the right person He wants you to marry, the right job He wants you to go into. If you're a senior adult, He's got things He wants to do in your life still yet. But what is the main plan of God? We hear a lot today about success and that's great. Often that's His plan. And we hear a lot about blessing and certainly that's good. We hear a lot about healing. Oftentimes He does that. But did you know the real plan of God is even a lot greater than any of that? You say, what could be better than that? Well, in John 17 3, Jesus kind of summed it all up. He said, this is eternal life. And what He meant by that, this is what real life is all about. And it's amazing how He finished that statement. He said, this is eternal life. And He said this, that you may really know God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent. Now you say, what's so special about that? Well, that's the same word used in marriage. Of course, He's talking about spiritual intimacy, not physical. But here's what He's saying. He's saying, My main plan for you is that... He doesn't want you to be religious. He wants you to really know Him. He's not into the religion. He's into the relationship that changes your life. Honestly, He's saying, I want to be more real to you than your husband, wife, or best friend. I use that phrase a lot because that's the truth from Scripture. He wants to be the most powerful force in your life, the most real relationship in your life. And Jesus put it this way. Now tell me if I've got it right. I think I do. He said, if you really believe in Me, He said, a little trickle of living water might flow out of your heart every now and then. Is that what the Lord said? Not on your life. He said, look, if you really believe in Me, you really know Me, He says, a river of living water will be gushing out of your innermost being. Now what's this living water He's talking about? He's talking about the presence of God by the Holy Spirit. He's talking about the love of God who can even love enemies. He's talking about the peace of God. When you have great trouble, you've still got a supernatural peace. He's talking about the joy of God. It doesn't depend on your bank account or everything being right in your life because a lot of times it's not going to be. We're going to have trouble on this earth. He's talking about the real presence of God like a river, not a little stream. You know, He's talking about mountain moving prayer life. He's talking about really hearing God's voice in your life. But here's the bad news. Studies clearly show that in America right now, something's, something's blocked the flow, that in an awful lot of believers, frankly, it is more like a little trickle than a river. The prayers are not exactly mountain moving. A lot of mountains aren't moving as a matter of fact. And the joy is somehow blocked and maybe the anger is there, maybe the fear is there. So something is blocking this mighty flow. And of course as Christians, we're not perfect. Nobody is. But folks in the early church, even though they faced persecution, they had an incredible joy. They had, boy, they saw mountains move. So what's holding back what He said here, this full plan, this full power? Well, verse 12 tells us, and this is the missing element that will revolutionize your life. Verse 12 says, God says, then you will call upon Me and you will go, you will pray to Me. And God says, I will listen to you. Now let's be honest to the context here. That word, then you will call, to them that meant 70 years. They weren't going to get out of exile. They were imprisoned by a foreign power. And He was saying, you're not going to get out of this for 70 years. But He said, I'm going to be with you in the meantime. He said, I'm going to bless you, I'm going to protect you, I'm going to do great things in the meantime. But for us, it doesn't mean you have to wait 70 years for God to start mightily moving in your life. For us, it's really now. But here's the key. It's so beautiful. God, number one, says, I want to hear you. He said, I will listen to you. Sometimes we think of God as kind of, maybe He's just not really that much wanting to touch us. He wants to touch us and bless us more than we can even ever imagine. He's not stingy and He's not weak. But the key here, because a lot of people are saying prayers, but frankly, a lot of those prayers aren't getting answered. And they're saying prayers, but the victory isn't coming. The mountain didn't move. The relationship isn't being touched. So the key to this is the type of prayer He's talking about here. Because what's happened in America, we didn't mean to, but many of us got kind of stuck short of what the prayer He's talking about here. In the Hebrew text, this word for pray, and there's different words for pray. This is a strong one. What God is really saying, He's saying, my children, when you learn to pray in power, when you learn to pray in the surrender to my spirit, He said, then you're going to start seeing a lot more happen. And so this word prayer here is a strong word. It's effective prayer. It's powerful prayer. But here's what's happened. I call it the JCPenney catalog syndrome. Many folks in America without meaning to have gotten trapped in a type of prayer that has stopped short of this surrendered prayer, this mountain moving prayer. So we're giving God a wish list, but somehow it's just not what He's talking about here. We said, well, how do I get to this deeper prayer? Well, look at verse 13. He tells us, and this will revolutionize your life. And it's a promise. Look at this promise. He said, and you will seek me. And now that, now again, that word seek is a strong word. That's not just bring God a wish list of prayers. It's a very powerful kind of prayer. You will seek me and you will find notice. He said, you will find me when you seek or search for me. He said a certain way, he said with all your heart. Now we are the instant society. We like things quick and on the run. We saw that last night, but this is a little different. This is a type of prayer that's very intense, but it's not out of reach. Anybody can do this and it's anybody can do it, but we have to be willing to do it. But notice what the prayers in our life are mostly to be about. Now, remember they had a lot of problems and a lot of needs and they needed a lot of help, but God didn't say when you pray real hard to get your problem solved real hard to get your mountains moved. He didn't say that's what you'll get. They were to pray about something. Their prayer life was mostly to be focused on one thing. Do you notice what he said? It was in this verse 30 said it three times. What were they to seek? He said, you will seek what me and you will find what me when you search for blessings and goodies, right? No. He said, when you search for me now, what's he saying there? This is so important because without meaning to some have turned the Lord into almost a JC Penney catalog or Santa Claus. What he's saying is what I want you to seek is closeness with me. He's saying, I want you to seek to really let me have your whole heart. And when you let me have your whole heart, you get all my power, all my presence. My voice becomes very clear to you. You have that joy, even though you may still have some problems. And so he's saying, really, he's basically saying my children without meaning to, you've kind of gotten trapped into seeking my hand, you give me, give me, bless me, bless me, but not my face and closeness and surrender. And so that's why God is just not as real as we know he wants to be to us. And that's why a lot of mountains aren't moving. We're praying and the victory is not coming because without meaning to, we got caught in a type of prayer that really is not about closeness with him. It's just about getting him to do stuff for us. And so God can change that. It's so beautiful. He's doing it across the country and it isn't out of reach. But now if you will turn to James 4, 8, because in James 4, 8, he tells us exactly how to do what he just said. You know, we'd have to ask the question, okay, how do you seek God with all your heart? How do you seek to know God? How do you seek closeness with all your heart? Now James 4, 8 tells us, and I want to tell you that this really is the missing element. When we get this, this is the one that transforms us. James 4, 8, the word, and it's another promise, another beautiful promise. God said, he said, draw near to God and he might draw near to you. Is that what he said? No. He said, he will draw, promise you draw near to me, God says, and I will draw near to you. But here's the question. How do you draw near to God? What did he mean by that? Sometimes what he means by that and what we mean by that are different things. Look at the next part of that verse. He tells us what he means. He says, draw near to God. He will draw near to you. And then he says, cleanse your hands sinners. Now that's all of us. We're, we're far from perfect. He said, cleanse your hand sinners. And he said, purify your heart. You that are double minded. And what that means is we're focused on a million things besides God. And so here's what he's saying. He's saying, if you'll let me deeply cleanse your hands and deeply purify your heart, because here's where it gets real interesting. A lot of people are saying, God forgive all my sins, but that's really not what he's talking about here. When he says cleanse and purify in the Greek text, these are very strong words. So what he's saying is, if you and I will be willing to let God go through us with a fine tooth comb, you know, as the Psalmist said, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And so what he's saying is this kind of shallow, God forgive all my sins on the run, you know, but not God, what are my sins? And God, let's talk about them. And Lord, let's talk about the thoughts I need to yield or the attitudes I need to yield or the words on it. What I'm looking at, I need to yield a little bit. He's saying, if you'll let me go beyond below the surface, deep into your heart, he said in verse 10 down there, he says, I'm going to lift you up. But here's what's happened. So many precious people without meaning to have stopped with just the type of prayer that has the surface cleansing, but not the heart yielding. And so we're, we're sort of just in a time where the joy is not there. The power is not there. And we're wondering why in God more real? Why don't, why did I struggle with his temper? You know, why do I have these thoughts? Why can't I just have peace? Because his spirit is blocked to some degree and he's not flowing. It's a trickle, not a river, but God can fix that. He absolutely can. Well, I want to show you something very exciting with you. We talked about what is the plan of God. And the very first plan we said is that you really know me. Do you know what's happening right now? There's a lot of folks in churches across America who are realizing without meaning to, they came to a church or even joined a church without really giving their heart to Christ. And there's so many people that are realizing right now they really, uh, they know about him, but they don't know him. Um, and they're really, that's where it has to start. This has happened to so many people. There's nothing to be ashamed of. It really isn't. We didn't, we didn't mean to do this. Let me give you an example. My, uh, I have, I have an aunt Ruth. She's with the Lord now, but when she was about 72 years of age, my aunt had been a church member for like 50 years. I mean, she was in church most Sunday and, but you know, all through her life, she kept realizing God is just not that real to me. And she'd hear people talk about God being real to them and answering prayer and she believed in God, but boy, just wasn't that real to her. In fact, she'd kind of have nagging doubts about whether or not she was really his child, whether or not she was really going to heaven. And it would kind of bother her sometimes, but her friends would say, well, listen, if anybody's going to heaven, you are. She was a nice lady. In fact, she even taught Bible school, some Sunday school. But when she was 72, she got a type of cancer that they could do nothing with. I mean, the doctor just told her, so you're going to die. There's, we can't do surgery. There's nothing we can do. You won't live long. And my aunt was just terrified to die. And, and she called her pastor and she said, pastor, I've been a church member for years, but she's always had these nagging doubts. I really didn't know God that I really wasn't his child. And she said, why is that? And he said, well, let's think about when you joined the church and, and they thought back on it and they prayed about it. And do you know what happened to her? She was a teenager and she was sitting in a church service and, and it was a kind of a revival meeting and it was an evangelistic service and a lot of her friends started going down to give their heart to Christ. And she looked around and when anybody left and she didn't want to be by herself, so she went down too. And she said, nobody really talked to me about what it means to give your heart to Jesus. And she said, they handed me a little card and somebody said a little prayer. And she said, but I didn't really give my heart to Jesus. It wasn't a serious decision. I just kind of joined the church. You can join the church and not join Jesus and not give your heart to him because it's a, it's a serious decision. It ain't hard, it ain't complicated, but, but it's not like ordering a pizza, you know, it's a little deeper than that. And so she realized that, um, she really didn't surrender her life to the Lord in faith and that nothing happened to her. The Bible says, when you really give your heart, you're, you become a new creature. He says, everything becomes new and old things pass away. Let me ask you something. Could you become a totally new creature and everything new and old things pass away and not know it and it not make any difference? Well, the answer is no, but that's what's happened to a lot of folks. Well, see, God's plan is he wants us to really know him and it starts with letting him remove the doubts to make sure you've really given your heart to him, that you really are a new creature in him. Well, my aunt realized what had happened to her and there at 72, she said, Lord, I give you everything. I want to really know you, Lord, I want, I want you to be the Lord of my heart in life. She just trusted him. I mean, really trusted him. You know what happened to her fear? It was totally gone. The Bible says that he gives us a piece that passes understanding. The Bible says if anyone is really in him, the spirit of God bears witness with your spirit, that you are the child of God. There's a supernatural kind of peace. That doesn't mean we can't, sometimes we might struggle a little. Listen, her fear left. And I watched my, my aunt die. I mean, over the next three months, she just got weaker and weaker, but I will never forget how happy she was. It sounds odd, but right before she died, she called us all in and she said, I want to talk to you. And she said, I want you all to know the last three or four months of my life, knowing I'm dying have been by far the happiest of my whole life, because I really know what it means to, to really know him and not just know about him. She'd really surrendered her heart and she died. I never will forget it. She, before she died, she said, everywhere you go, Greg, tell them, don't live another day with doubt. Don't live another day with just knowing about God, really give him your heart in a, in a serious way. And he'll take you in a serious way. And all across America, we're seeing folks that have been, they've been in church a long time, but they've had those nagging doubts and the boy, I mean, they're settling it. And they really surrendered their heart. And see, if you get serious with him, he gets serious with you. So God has a plan for you. And he wants to be really wants you to know you have eternal life. And he wants you to know that he's your Lord in your heart. And he can give you that piece of past understandings. And maybe you're even here today. And you said, brother, Greg, I've had, had those nagging doubts of brother Greg. I know about him, but brother, I want to make sure I know him. Well, he'll give you that today. But what we're talking about here is not just knowing him, but it's a powerful prayer life. And most people in here, you probably know, you know him, but you know what, there's something keeping the prayer from being mountain moving. So how do we do this? How do we really let him cleanse our heart? How do we let him take us to the fullness of his spirit and where his voice is very clear? Well, the disciples kind of wondered the same thing. And, you know, they were like us. They didn't always ask the right questions. They, they made a lot of mistakes, but this was one great question they asked. They watched Jesus incredible life. And isn't it interesting? They didn't say Lord teaches to preach. Now he was a great preacher, but they didn't say that. They didn't say Lord teaches to work a miracle. All they work miracles all the time. What'd they say? They said, Lord, teach us to pray. You know, you know why they said that they understood prayer was the center of his whole life. Prayer was the essence of what he was. And so they said, Lord, teach us to pray. And that's a good thing to ask the Lord. He'll sure answer that. But what did the Lord tell them in Matthew six? He said, when you pray, shut the door and go in your closet and seek the father in secret. Now, what was he saying to them? Well, one thing he wasn't saying, and I'm glad he wasn't. Aren't you glad you don't have to pray just in your closet. Now let's be honest. Some of our closets are so junky. We couldn't get in them, right? Okay. So the Lord wasn't saying you've got to pray in a closet. But what he was saying is that you must get alone with God. You must give him your undivided attention. Now we pray all day and we can pray in our car and that's good prayer. The Bible says we pray without ceasing, but there's a whole different level of prayer that Jesus commanded us. You'll have a closet prayer time. It might not be a closet, but he's saying you will get alone with God and you will give him your undivided attention. Now when he said shut the door, what that means to us is turn the cell phone off. What that means is make a, make a way that you can really let him speak to you. And then he told them what to do when they got alone with God. You remember the Lord's prayer, just those five or six little lines. Unfortunately, some people misunderstand that. Oh goody, I've got a five line prayer. I can say that in 15 seconds and I'm done. You know folks, that's not exactly what he meant. Now the prayer is fine to pray just like it is sometimes. But what he was really saying is when you get alone with God, here's what you're going to do. And it's interesting, it doesn't start with a wish list. He said if you get alone with God, you're going to say our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. What he's saying is you're just going to enter God's presence and just worship him a little while. See, that's why we were created, to worship God, to praise God. And for a few moments, you're just going to thank him and praise him. And do you know what happens when you do that? And I don't mean thank you, here's my wish list. But when you enter just a moment and really just start to thank and praise God, the Bible says his presence settles down on you. God inhabits the praises of his people. And so what we're seeing is that believers that have never had a quiet time. And I'm not talking about legalism, you've got to do it every day or God will get you. We're not talking about that. And we're not talking about God going to measure your time with a clock, but he's saying you will give me your undivided attention. And when you do that and you enter his presence with worship, his presence begins to settle down on you. And boy, that'll make a difference in your prayers. But then he said thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Now what does that mean? Well, we're still not to our wish list. That means God, what's on your heart today? God, what do you want me to pray about? God, what are some things that you'd like me to lift to you? And often that may be a little different than just our personal things. But then he gets to the part we have no problem with. We do it real easy. Give us our daily bread. Now there's the wish list. Nothing wrong with the wish list, but that's not what prayer is mostly about. It's mostly about worship and it's mostly about getting on his agenda. And he'll help you do this. But only if you give him a chance. Only if we shut the door. Only if we give him our undivided attention. You say, well, why isn't praying throughout the day just while I do five other things good enough? It is good. But you see, there's a type of prayer and a type of hearing you cannot experience while you're doing three other things at the same time. This type of prayer is when you make that choice to get along with him. And then the key to the whole thing, he said, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. There's where it gets real different. You see, a lot of folks just say, well, God, I forgive all my sins. He's saying, no, you have to let me look deep in your heart to make sure there's no anger, no bitterness, because that creeps in about every day if we don't watch it. And he said, if you'll let me do that, if you'll let me search your heart, then he's saying, I can really feel your heart. See, he's not going to take us over like a robot. Sometimes I think we wish he would, but he doesn't. But he's saying, if you will choose to let me search your heart, if you'll choose to let me go deep, he said, then I can feel your heart. And you know what? Then he begins to take over. Then he begins to show you how to pray, and the joy comes and the power comes. But what's happened with so many, we stopped with the wish list, or we stopped with just a little prayer on the run. He's saying, if you'll let me take it a little deeper, you'll never be the same. And what's so beautiful, this is not hard, but it's not shallow either. So let me give you a good illustration of this. There was a woman in my church in Memphis named Miss Polly, and there was a teenager in my church, same thing. God did a mighty work in his life. And there was a girl also. There was a man named Jerry. I'm just going to give you some great illustrations. Miss Polly and those others heard this message about giving God a quiet time that was beyond the two-minute thing on the run, going a little deeper, letting God bring the cleansing. And they heard this message. And I'll give you Polly. She's probably the most powerful example. She came to me after the service, and she was a very busy lady. She was in church a lot, but very busy. Had a lot of problems in her life. Had some real problems in her family, and a lot of pain in her life. And she'd prayed, and she'd seen some answers, but boy, there were a lot of answers that she wasn't seeing. So she said, Brother Greg, I think I see why God's not more real, why His voice is not clearer, why I'm not seeing more answers to prayer. She said, I'm rushing God, and I'm kind of seeking God's hand, but not His face. And she said, I have a little quiet time sometimes, but she said it's about that long, and the cleansing is not in it. She kind of got the message. And understand something. We're either doing this or we're not. This is really black and white. We either let our quiet times either, number one, have a little depth to them and have the real cleansing in them at least pretty often. They either do or they don't. And if they don't, I've got great news for you. You're hitting on two cylinders out of eight, and God can change that. You say, well, I already know God. You can know Him a lot more. So Miss Polly said, I think I see I need to make an adjustment to give Him a little more time, let Him cleanse my heart. But she was so honest, maybe you're sitting there thinking the same thing. She said, Brother Greg, I'm so busy. She said, my life's so crazy. And she said, Brother Greg, I've got real struggles. She said, you know, I really struggle a lot with certain attitudes. And she said, Brother Greg, I've never talked to God more than 10 or 15 minutes at one time. I'm just not sure I can do what you're talking about. I said, Polly, I promise you it's not hard. But I said, she said, well, how am I going to do it? I said, well, there is one thing you have to do. And if you'll do this, God will do the rest. And you've got to do this. She said, what is it? I said, Polly, you have to be willing to show up for practice. She said, are you starting a class? I said, that's not at all what I mean. I said, I can't help you. I said, would you be willing to set your clock about 15 minutes earlier than you've been setting it? Because she had a little quiet time, but it was really little. And the cleansing wasn't there. So would you be willing to set your clock a little earlier? Because isn't it silly to say, Lord, teach me to pray, but I'm not going to show up for practice. Lord, teach me to pray, but do it in three minutes. You can forget that. It ain't going to happen. And so I said, if you'll give him a chance, if you'll give him the time and really embrace the cleansing. She said, what cleansing? I said, I'm going to give you the scriptures and we're going to give them to you. And so if you'll just go through these over the next few weeks, and he won't do it all at once, just two or three a day, anybody can do this. So if you'll really do this and take it serious, within a few weeks, you're going to be different. He's going to, he's going to really do things in your life. And she was real curious. And I like that because that means somebody's serious. She said, well, what's he going to do? And I said, well, he's going to cleanse your heart so he can change your heart so he can be real to you. She said, what's he going to cleanse? She was real curious. I said, well, all right, I'll give you some examples. I'll say with most American believers, most of them, many of us, he shows us, there's actually some TV programs we've kind of allowed ourselves to start watching because they've changed so much in the last 10 years. And some of these things, if you watch them and you know what's there, it will grieve the Holy Spirit and it will quench the Holy Spirit. And he still loves you. He won't leave you, but it blocks your prayer and it blocks your, he may show you to make some adjustments in what you see. She said, okay. And I said, Polly, with a lot of people today, because we've, we've all been hurt. We, many of us have got some anger deep in our heart and we say we've let it go, but it's still there. He may show you there's some people you hadn't really forgiven from your heart. Say, Jesus said, we must forgive from the heart. And that was, has to be real. And he, we don't have the power, but he'll help you do that. But you have to be honest if we haven't. And many of us haven't fully. I said, he may show you there's some people that you've hurt their feelings and you know, you have, and there's a wall between you and them. And there's just a distance there, but you've never done what he said of just asking them to forgive you, just humbling yourself. And that's folks. That's, that's crucial. That's not a little thing. A lot of believers have just blown that off. That's huge, but don't be afraid. God will help you do it. And he knows you're not perfect. I said, Polly, these are some of the things. And I said, there's one other thing I said with most believers today, he shows us there's three or four things we've been confessing over and over and over, but it's not any different. You know, the temper's still there, even though I've confessed it or the wrong thoughts are still there. So I gave her about four or five things that he does in most believers and her eyes got kind of serious. She's okay. He's really going to cleanse me as nice. He's really going to cleanse you, but he's not doing it to hurt you or condemn you. He's doing it to set you free so he can flow through you like a river. Don't be afraid of him. She said, okay. So she started this process and never will forget what happened. I want you to hear this. And I'm telling you, I've seen it all over the world, teenagers to senior adults, men, women, this is what happened because they, God said it. He said, if you seek me with all your heart, you'll find me. He said, if you draw near to me and let me really cleanse your hands, I'll draw near to you. But he's also saying, but if you don't, I won't. He's saying, if you don't have time for me, if you want to treat me like a JC Penney catalog, he's I'm sorry, but I love you, but I'm a holy God. And he's saying there'll be a hindrance. He doesn't want there to be, but there is. Well, here's what happened. She came to me in one month. It was so exciting. And let me tell you about Polly. She was so shy. She would actually stutter when she tried to talk to people. She didn't know very shy little lady. And she came to me. She said, I got to talk to you after about a month. And she said, you're not going to believe this. Never will forget it. She said, brother, great. He's been cleansing my heart. And she said, he's shown me 10 things in my life in the last month. Greg, I didn't even know they were there. I had some attitudes. I didn't know they weren't hindering God. And there were some thoughts I had. I didn't know they were not God's will. And she said, there were some things I knew wasn't, but he's helped me to really begin to turn, really work on them, not just confess them. But I never will forget what she said. I'm telling you, he'll do this in you too. He will. Um, she said, brother Greg, I used to think people will weird that said God spoke to me. She said, I thought they were strange people. I thought they were hearing voices because God didn't speak to me. I didn't know what they were talking about, but this is so profound to that little woman's mouth. She said, you know, when you slow down and quit rushing God and give him a chance to really cleanse your heart, she said, you know, your hearing clears up, doesn't it? It really does. And she said, he's so real to me now. She said, I didn't know God could be this real to me. And she'd known the Lord many years as a Christian. But then she said something very odd. She said, um, I didn't know I could talk to God more than 10 minutes. She said, brother Greg, I looked down on an hours gone because when I began to do it his way and let him really cleanse my heart, she said, he just kind of becomes real. He just kind of takes over. And it's not always that way. And that's certainly doesn't mean you have to pray an hour to go for God to hear you. It doesn't mean that at all. But what it means is if you let him really have your heart and the choice to do that, you know what he really does become a lot more real and there'll be days as tough. I'm not going to mislead you, but it gets even better. It always does with most people. It's a journey of three or four or five months. And they're so different. But by the second month, she came to me in the second month and I've seen it all over the world. She said, brother Greg, she, she was excited. She almost shouted. That's real unusual for that little quiet lady. She said, he's moving mountains. I said, what do you mean moving mountains? And folks, she named me about 10 answers to prayer. She'd seen by the end of the second month. And she'd been praying her head off for years for a lot of those things and nothing was happening. But now boom, boom, boom, God is moving. Well, why was that happening? Because friends, God says he's holy. And he says, if you and I let junk just sit in our heart and we don't turn from it, we ignore it. And we give him our wish list. He says that really does hinder his spirit. And, and so what she had done, she let the Lord remove the hindrances and she still wasn't perfect. None of us are, but she'd gotten honest with God. She was letting him work on her whole heart and wasn't holding off any areas from him. And just like he said he would, he's not stingy. He began to really work in power. That little woman saw, I mean, they were red seasized miracles. They were miracles she was seeing, but it gets even better. You say, what could be better than that? Well, what he, what he's really after is not just working miracles or moving mountains. It's changing us into his image. It's growing us. And so Miss Polly, by the end of the third month and put yourself in this, it'll happen to you. Um, she, she, everybody was saying, what is going on with Polly? Have you seen her late? And she was so different. The joy in her life was just incredible. People thought she must've won a million dollar sweepstakes or something. She was just so happy. And she was so full of love where she kind of had a little temper problem before. And she came to me in that third month. And I want you to do what she said. She said, brother, Greg, I've grown more in the last three months and I've grown in 30 years. And she said, when I really learned how to pray with a little depth and let him cleanse my heart, he just kind of really got real. But, and she said, I don't worry like I used to. She said, I've still got some problems, but brother Greg, I've got a supernatural peace. And she said, brother Greg, I, I still have some pain, but there's a joy there anyway. But here's the biggest change of all. She said, brother Greg, some people that really hurt me, I used to really have trouble loving them. She said, brother Greg, I'm able to love them now and forgive them. But here's the greatest change. Because if I were to ask you, what does God want from you and me more than all the religion in the world? He wants us just to be full of a supernatural love for him and love for people, especially people don't know the Lord and never will forget it. She said, brother Greg, I always knew I was supposed to witness to people didn't know the Lord and supposed to pray for them. But she said, you know, I didn't that much. She said, I'm mostly concerned about me. But listen to what she said. She said, brother Greg, now that he's so real to me, she's, I cannot keep from praying for people that don't know the Lord. In fact, she said, I've got 30 lost people that I'm praying for now every single day. I said 30. She said, yeah, but I never will forget this. She said, brother Greg, I want to ask you something. She said, sometimes when I'm praying for them, she said, I love them so much. I want to see them come to Christ so badly. She said, sometimes I find tears kind of rolling down my face. She looked at me and said, is that normal? You know, I had to say Polly for most believers, unfortunately, that's not normal, but that is absolutely normal for Jesus. And, and, and friends, if we're really full of his spirit, we're going to have some of that. It's just going to be real. You can't help it. If you're really full of him, you know what happened? Uh, now remember she's real shy and I said, well, don't stop because that's the kind of prayer God really hears. She said, okay, here's the final thing that happened. And this is where he'll take you. It really is. Uh, she came to me the fourth month and she said, I've got to talk to you. She said, I'm scared to death. I said, what happened to your peace? Why are you scared? Now? Remember she's real shy and stutters and is afraid to talk to people. She said, brother Greg, this morning in my time with God, he told me I've got to go talk to all those people about Jesus, all 30 of them. And she said, brother Greg, I'm not trained. I'm not certified. What am I going to do? I stutter. I can't talk. I said, can you read? She said, well, yeah, I can read. I got that Billy, Billy Graham's a little track. And I said, well, let's look at this. I said, you see those five scriptures there? She said, yeah. And she got out a pad of paper. She was going to write down what I said. She said, what are they? I said, see those five scriptures, read them real slow. One at a time. She wrote that down and said, what else? I said, you see those little short words Billy wrote there, either read them or just say them in your own words. She wrote that down that short. What else? I said, that's it. She said, that's it. She said, well, you know, I can do that. Every single one of us can, if we really want to, we will. And when we, our hearts are clean, we want to and God there's power in it. You know what folks? She actually did it over the next month, six weeks. She went to all 30 of those people that she'd been praying for. And you know what? I'd been to a lot of them. They didn't much want to hear me. And several of them had heard me preaching. They didn't give their hearts to Christ. Well, when this little quiet, shy, beat up woman who'd been praying for them now with the power of the Holy spirit, she went to them and folks, the ones that went with her said it was terrible. They said she stuttered. She, it was, she'd have flunked a soul winning course. It was awful. But the power of God was on that little woman. Now I want you to know that 21 out of those 30 people gave their hearts to Jesus right on the spot. Now I know what you may be thinking. Well, how many of them just said the prayer to be nice to Polly and nothing really happened? Well, I'll tell you what a dropout rate was. It was zero. I baptized all 21 of her 21 within about a month after that lady had led them to Christ because it was real. God did it. And once God sent me all the way from Oklahoma city to share with you this morning, he's saying, I have a plan for you. Even if you've really blown it, even if you've never had a, maybe you've never even had a real quiet time. He's saying, I've got a plan for you. And the plan is that you would really know me and that you would really hear me and that I would really be able to fill your heart and flow through you and work. He said he wants you to have a mountain moving prayer life. That's God's vision for you. You're not a second class Christian. He said, well, I don't have great gifts. It doesn't matter. He said, I've never had even much of a prayer life. It doesn't matter. That is God's will for you starting now really is. And so this morning he's saying that the barrier is just two things. And it's so simple that you and I would be willing to say, God, I'll show up for practice. God, I'll give you a little more time. It's not legalism. He said, what if I miss a day? You will sometimes, but if you'll be at least reasonably consistent, just set your clock a little, whatever you need to do. And it doesn't mean you have to do all of it in the morning. You might do some in the morning and come back and spend some more time with God before you go to bed tonight. But I have to tell you, there's no shortcut. There's no magic little prayer I can give you. But he's saying, if you'll give me a little time and if you'll really let me take these scriptures and search your heart and it won't happen overnight, but he'll give you victory. He's merciful. He's gracious. And he'll change us. It's kind of like Peter when they were in that sea of Galilee and it was stormy and Peter was scared to death. And he said, Lord, if it's really you tell me to come. And he didn't, he wasn't anticipating the next phrase. The Lord said, come on. And can you believe it? A plain old rough fisherman for a little while walked on the water until he took his eyes off Jesus. And you know what he's saying to some of us, you've got storms in your life. And he's a man. I fail. I blow it. I struggle. He knows that that's what his grace is for. But he's saying to you this morning, come on. He's saying you don't have to live another day with a shallow prayer life or, or a relationship with God where he's at a distance to you. And he's saying what he's saying is you really can become a miss or Mr. Or a teenage Polly. That's what he's saying. I'm not saying you're always going to see 21 out of 30 saved every four months. I'd be lying to you if I told you that it's not always that dramatic, not always that fast. And some prayers take years, but this is what he's saying. He's saying, I, I've got a plan for you and it's to be the Lord of your life. Not, not just a catalog, not just to wish this to be the Lord in love of your heart. But the only way that can happen is if you'll give me a little time, you'll show up. So he's saying this morning, will you adjust your schedule? If you need, you may not need to, but would you be willing to show up and that'll look different with each of us? And the second thing is this, would you be willing this morning to say, Lord, I will let you really search my whole heart. And the fact is most believers today, we already know those three or four areas that we just need to get serious about. We know them. We don't, it's not some great mystery. Some of us, we really do need to make some adjustments at what we're seeing. He can't be the Lord of your heart. If he's not Lord of your eyes, it's impossible. And some of us already know there's a little adjustment I need to make. Some of us already know there's some folks I need to finally let it go and just really forgive them from my heart and you can't, but he can. And we just need to get serious about it. Some of us have been confessing the same things over and over for years, the same temper, the same wrong thoughts, the same relationship. But today he's saying, would you be willing to just like Ms. Polly did in 1989, she walked down the aisle of my church and she said, I'm going to ask God to help me give him a little more time. And I'm going to ask God to help me get serious about not just confessing these three or four things, but really working on them. And that's all he asks. And he did the rest. And you know, he's not a respecter of persons. Do not put yourself down. He's called you to really know him and really have power, but you can't do it at a distance. And he's not going to make you do this. He's not going to take you over. But this morning, if you'll do what she did in 1989 and say, God helped me give you a little more time. God helped me let you have my whole heart. He will do the rest, but you have to mean it and he'll help you mean it. Now, these little books we give you, um, if you've got two bucks, you can put it in. If you don't have two bucks, you take one free. We don't make a dime on them. They're 10 or $15 books. And I'm not pushing books. I'm telling you, they've got these scriptures in them. There's one back there on the prayer life. You said, brother, Greg, I don't know how to have that quiet time. It will show you exactly how to have the quiet time. There is no excuse. We can't say, well, I don't know how he'll show you how, if you want to know it's easy. And there's a little thing back there that'll show you exactly how to let him give you victory. And so this morning, I just want you to know, God's just, he's right here. He's reaching out to you and he's saying, come on. And he's saying you can be totally different within a few weeks and a few months. And, and, and they really are. So this morning, what's God been saying to you? Do you sense, I need a breakthrough. I need a turning point. I've been growing some, or maybe you said, brother, I hadn't been growing. I'm struggling this morning. He's saying, I've got a plan for you. And the plan is knowing me and the plan starts with really surrendering your heart, really getting honest. We're seeing so many, Oh, this transforms husbands and wives when they learn to pray a little deeper and they learn to pray with a little cleaner heart. You wouldn't believe what he starts doing in their marriage. You wouldn't believe what a grandparents are seeing God do in their kids and grandkids or grown kids a lot of times. And this affects every area of our life. So what he's saying is don't stop with average prayer. Don't stop with shallow prayer. Let God today take you to a whole new level. I'm going to ask that we just bow our heads and hearts before God right now with every heart bowed before God, just in the quiet of this moment, would you say brother Greg, it's happened to me. I've gotten caught in that quick prayer on the run. Brother Greg, I really don't have what I don't shut the door. I don't give him my undivided attention and brother Greg, I'm surely not letting him search my heart. I do the little God forgive my sins thing, but I'm not letting him really go deep. And brother Greg, there are those three or four areas. I just really know I need to get serious about this morning. Do you hear him? He loves you so much. He will be real to you. He will take you deeper, but he, but you have to, you have to take these steps toward him. It may be, you need to do what miss Polly did in 1989 and say, God, no more excuses. God, no more. I don't know how, no more. I don't have time, but Lord, with your grace, I want to draw near. I want to surrender my whole heart. He loves you and he loves your mountain more than you do. He wants to touch your family more than you do or your own heart. Father, I pray today. If they're precious people in this room, maybe there's some here that just been doubting that they really know you, doubting their salvation. Lord, I pray that none of us will live another day. Father, some may need to just come pray with their pastor and make sure that they really know you. Father, others may do. We just need to spend a moment talking to you and commit to give you a little more time. Oh, father, help us all to hunger and let you take us deeper where it's in Jesus name we pray. You know, I'm going to ask that we just kind of stand right now in a spirit of prayer. We're just going to be standing for just a moment. And I'm just going to ask you maybe to have your heads bowed, just your heads bowed and eyes closed before God. And we're going to continue this in the next, if we have a little break, we're going to continue this. But it may be this morning that you've got something you'd like to pray with your pastor about. There's power in praying with somebody. Maybe you've got a mountain that's not moving or you're just saying, I want to go deeper. You know, if you want to pray at the altar, you can. There's something, there's nothing magic about that. But I always like to give people an opportunity. So with our heads and hearts just bowed in this moment, what I'd like you to do, would you be willing to say, oh God, I will give you a little more time. And oh God, I will let you search my whole heart. God, I want to get serious about surrendering everything to you. Would you just talk to God about that right now? And if you've got a special need, your pastor will pray with you. He's going to be standing right here at the front. I'm going to ask maybe that our brother would just play very softly at the piano. And this is just a moment of prayer. And if you need to do something right now, if you need to pray at the altar, you can. I'm not asking you to, but if you need to, you can. If you need to pray with this pastor, that's right. Just slip out and come. God loves you so much. And this is not a message you can hear and say, well, that's nice. He's saying, would you right now just between you and God say, Lord, I've been rushing you and God, I want to give you a little more time. And God, there's some things I've been confessing over and over, but Lord, I really want to begin to turn from them. He'll help you do that. Maybe you're very burdened about someone in your family or a friend, and God's wanting to take your prayers to a deeper level so they can have power. It may be that your prayers haven't been answered because there's some things in your heart blocking the flow. But this morning, God can start you on the journey to change all of that. Oh, how he loves you. He's got a great plan for you. He wants to be real to you and not just real to you, but powerful in you and powerful through you. And you can do this. We're waiting before God. You're just talking to God right there where you stand. No more excuses. No more. I don't know how. I'm not good enough. I don't have time. Those are lies from the enemy. He'll take you deeper, but you've got to say, yes, Lord. No more excuses. No more. Well, that's not for me. Well, if it's not for you, then we don't know him because people that know him want to go deeper. People that know him want to have a powerful prayer line. Your pastor's praying to folks, and if you need to talk to God for something you need to do, I never push it. But if you do, you can do it. Oh, how he loves you. Oh, yes, he wants you to be a mister or mister or teenage poly. He really does. And you will be at the point that you're ready to surrender your whole heart. And I'm always convinced most of us know what it is we need to surrender. It may be anger. It may be some habit. It may be some relationship. He's not telling you that to hurt you or frighten you, but to set you free. But you do have to obey him. He is God. He's not Santa Claus. He is the Lord. So would you just surrender to him? Your pastor's available if anybody needs to pray with him. He's available now. You can. Father, thank you for your grace. We just wait quietly before God. Listen, it's so it's so urgent. Don't just say, well, that's nice. Oh, no. God wants you to be a Miss Polly. He really does a Mr. Polly, which it's the adjustment, the time, the opportunity. We've seen people make that surrender their heart to turn from that thing that keeps popping up. And you would not believe how different they are within a few weeks. And it's it's not always overnight. Sometimes it is. But if they stay with God within a few weeks, they hardly recognize themselves. They've grown so much. This is the missing element, dear friends. It's the cleansing. It's the yielding. Oh, we talk to God. We we we're good at saying prayers. We're good at giving him our wish list. But he's saying, just let me have your whole heart, your thoughts, your attitudes, and he'll change them. You don't have to be afraid of God. He'll change them. It's his strength, not ours. It's his grace, not our efforts. But you do have to be willing to take those steps. There's an old saying, if you take five serious steps toward God, he'll take 50 toward you. But you do have to take the five. You do have to take the serious steps. Oh, how he loves you. Let God give you his vision of you with a mountain moving prayer line of you with a hearing of his voice is so clear. It's so powerful of you with the ability to pray and see your friends come to Christ. Father, thank you for your grace. And we don't want to extend unnecessarily, but your pastor is available now. Does anyone else needs to pray with him? Some have come to pray. Father, thank you for your grace. God, thank you. This is not out of reach for anybody that wants to know you. Oh, father, thank you. How he loves you. He is so forgiving, but we have to take the step. People are continuing to do business with God. Just very quietly. Think about your own prayer life. God's word is very clear and really it's pretty black and white. We either have a quality quiet time or we don't. And in that quiet time, we're either embracing of the deep cleansing or we're not. And surely none of us think we don't need it. Surely none of us think, oh, I'm past that. Well, that's the problem. We're not. But, but all across this country, God's people are adding the cleansing to their quiet time and oh, how different they become. And they realize that that's been the missing element. Oh, how he loves you. God hadn't lost his power, folks. He still works miracles. He still moves mountains, but not at a distance. He's not Santa Claus. We want the wish list, but not the heart surrendered. He'll, he'll take you there. Anyone else needs to come? Your pastor's available. There is power in praying with someone else. There's power there. Oh, father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for grace. Thank you for the Holy spirit. Thank you that none of this is out of reach for any person here that wants you. Oh, thank you God for what you're doing. Take us deeper. Let us be like Peter to begin to walk on a sea, a prayer life that that's impossible for us, but not with you. Thank you Lord for what you're doing. Let it be a turning point for many in this room, but we ask it in Jesus Holy name. Amen.