This sermon emphasizes the importance of prevailing prayer, highlighting the need to overcome hindrances such as secret sins, idols, and demonic resistance. It stresses the significance of deep desire, humility, unity, and perseverance in prayer, using examples like Daniel's fasting and George Muller's faith. The speaker urges listeners to seek God's face, confess sins, and pursue unity to pave the way for revival and answered prayers.

So we bow our heads and just commit this time to the Lord. Thank you, Lord, that you are the God of prayer. Thank you that you are not only our teacher in prayer, but you are our example, our great example in prayer. Thank you for what you have placed in your holy word. Lord, help us to understand it better and help each one of us to become mighty in prayer. We know it in ourselves. We are nothing. But by your grace, you have provided redemption. And in your redemption, you have provided for prayer. And we thank and praise your holy name. May God bless you. Bless us. Lord, put your hand upon us. And may this night count for eternity. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. I will begin reading from Daniel chapter 10. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel. Its message was true and it concerned a great war. I'm skipping just a few words as I come along here. At that time, I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food. No meat or wine touched my lips. And I used no motions at all until the three weeks were over. On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris. And then he goes on to tell how an angel, a glowing, beautiful angel appeared to him. And then he tells us in verse 10, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I'm about to speak to you and stand up for I have been now sent to you. And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. Then he continued. Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before God, your words were heard and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, that's Michael, the archangel, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you. So here was Daniel with a heart hungry to understand what God had to some extent revealed to him. Then he prayed and partially fasted. I will speak on fasting for part of the time tomorrow. He was partially fasting as prime minister. He had to carry on the business of the empire. He could not take a three week vacation, so he ate enough to keep his strength up. But he was holding on to God, crying out to God, fasting. And after three weeks, God sends the angel Gabriel, the same one who brought the message to Mary, sends Gabriel and Gabriel Gabriel says on the first day you set your heart to seek God, your prayer was heard. But it took three weeks for the answer to come. And in Daniel's case, there was demonic resistance. I'm not going to speak primarily on that, but I will refer to it in a few moments. So prayer can be hindered. Prayer can be delayed. There are reasons why prayer is delayed in many situations. I'm going to speak about five different things. Because of which we need to prevail in prayer, the word prevailing implies effort. It implies we have to overcome something. There is resistance. We have to prevail. May God teach us how to prevail in those nightmares which are his divine will. Remember this, Daniel began praying, it was God's will, and the answer was granted the first day when he prayed. But he only got the answer after he had held on in prayer and fasting for 21 days. If Daniel had stopped on the 20th day, would he have had the answer? Probably not. So, sometimes, there are real reasons why we must prevail. First of all, you must prevail over yourself. You may have to prevail over your schedule of activities, your schedule. I've got to remember where I am when I say that word. Second, you have to remember that you may be too busy for God to use to the full. You have to remember that your busy life may be interfering with God's greatest answers to prayer. You may have to learn in your own life and in your own ministry what is to be your priority. Satan fears prayer more than all else. There are certain things that Satan can, to some extent, handle. He can resist the post. But how can he handle prayer? And so, Satan dreads the praying Christian, he dreads the prayers of the Christian, and Satan will try to divert you. He would rather have you preach all day long in the streets and bazaars of India and be so busy preaching that you don't have time to pray. He would rather have a pastor spend so much time visiting the sick, meeting with committees, doing God's work, doing good things, and lose the time that the pastor needs for prayer. Satan will let you, he would rather have you preach than to pray. So Satan opposes prayer. And I really believe that often Satan gets us too busy to be adequately blessed. This is a very heart-searching thing. Am I so busy that I am losing God's highest and best for my life, for my ministry? So we may have to adjust our personal priorities. We may have to sit down and look at our life and see what is eternal and what is temporary. We cannot separate ourselves totally from family responsibilities, from the responsibilities of our work. We're living down here on earth. But we have to learn to put our priorities where priorities need to be placed. We have to learn to find the time for prayer. I will not tell you how much time you should pray. Let the Lord guide you. I'm not going to say you have to pray for half an hour a day or one hour a day or two hours a day. Some of the great saints of God, great leaders of the church, have prayed several hours a day. I'm not saying that you're out of God's will if you're not doing that. That's between God and your conscience. But I do know that often we are so busy we're not adequately blessed. You cannot earn God's blessing, but you cannot be what God wants you to be without much prayer. So sometimes prayer's answer is delayed because we have to learn to discipline ourselves and to put first things first for God. You may have to sacrifice some good activities, not sinful activities. I'm not talking about sinful things. I'm talking about wholesome things, good things. This was my big question in India. How do I get enough time alone with God? How can I get alone with God? It was very difficult at the Al-Habad Bible Seminary, where I was principal. I had to do almost desperate things. I tried putting a little diary, a little rug on the back of my bicycle on the carrier and going down the road and trying to find a place where there wasn't one eye to be seen. And I would have my Bible in a sack hanging over the handlebar, and I would spread out my rug in a quiet spot with a bit of shade from a tree. And about the time I'd get on my knees and get my Bible over and just start to pray, here came a child, here came a child. Here they came from all places. Before I knew it, I'd have six, eight, ten children standing around me trying to talk to me, talking among themselves. How could I get alone for prayer? I have at times gotten on a local train. We call it a passenger train in India, a train that stops at every little station. And I've gone two or three stops down the road to a small, comparatively small station and gone into the waiting room, a station where trains stop only once or twice a day, and go into the room there and try to be alone with God and pray. Sometimes people would come in and stand there and watch me, and I'd just try to keep my eyes down. I didn't want to be disrespectful, but I wanted to be alone with God. How could I find time where I would be not interrupted? And we'd go to the hill station at the hottest period of the year. Some of you know the name Woodstock School. Our children were in Woodstock School. I found a place nine miles out on the Terry Road. I went there again and again during the weeks we were up in the hills. I would get up before dawn and walk out the nine miles with my Bible, maybe my hymn book, a copybook to put down some things that God would speak to me, things he brought to my attention, and spend the day with the Lord in prayer and come back at dusk in the evening. Just to find a place to get alone with God is desperately important for us to have time alone with God. I don't know what you will have to do. I heard of a mother, she had little children, she had her family obligations. Some people don't know how to manage children. Other people have a quiet way. They just seem to know how to do it. This mother, she told her children that when she was at prayer, she was not to be interrupted. And she would put her chair out in the kitchen floor. I know that because my mother put her chair out in the kitchen floor when I was a little boy. But this mother, she would put her apron over her head and the children were taught, shh. When mama's apron is over her head, mother is praying. Mother's praying. Be quiet. That was her way to get alone with God. I don't know what you will have to do. I think the radio and TV are some of the greatest obstacles to prayer. We are blessed with much Christian radio programming in our country. The car that I'm driving now, I've had since 1989. I think I've only turned the car radio on two times. Once, when I just got the car and wanted to learn how to work all the different things knobs and things have to be regulated. And once we were in a rainstorm and Baya said, Wesley, please turn the radio on. Let's see if we get any news report on the storm. So we turned the radio on. I don't turn it on. Why? My priority is prayer. I use my car time, especially on the highway, to pray. In the city, I may have to watch the traffic very closely. But when I'm out on the highway, I can be alone with God. When I have to go for committee meetings to Chicago, I almost always pray almost the entire way there and almost the entire way back. It's a wonderful time to be alone with God in prayer. I'm not setting myself as an example to you. You'll have to decide how do you have to adjust your priorities. I have learned that it's very easy for me to spend 45 minutes with the newspaper. I don't need all that. I need to look at the headlines because I need to know what to pray about. I trust you use the TV news or your own newspaper to show you the urgent emergency situations around the world and in your own country that need to be prayed for. So when you know that there's an earthquake in China, that's your call to prayer, to pray immediately for the people affected by that and pray if there's any Christians nearby, as they may be used of God to help the injured and the people that have been suffering from the earthquake and to be such a witness that people will turn to Christ. When you read in the paper about someone that's committed a nasty crime, you say, oh my, isn't that terrible? Yes, it's terrible. But do you pray for that person that someone may come and witness to them and they may find Jesus Christ? Use your paper. Use your news as a call to prayer. But you don't have to read every little detail about the crime to have a call to prayer. So I've learned to discipline myself and try to go through the newspaper headlines and the main things to get them quickly as possible. So I have more time to pray. I don't know what you have to do. I don't know what time you find best to pray. I'm not going to prescribe for you, but learn to try to prevail over your schedule of activities. You may have to learn to prevail over weariness. When you get my time in life, you begin to get weary. I guess it's a part of getting older. And I find myself having to read the same verse sometimes a second time or a third time because I was so weary that I almost dropped off asleep while I was reading. I had a friend of mine when I was in Bible college. He was a young man, but he had a problem with weariness. He said, when I sit down to read my Bible, I get sleepy and I go to sleep. So he said, Wesley, I'll tell you what the Lord has shown me. He said, I take my Bible. I stand in the middle of the floor. And he said, I read my Bible standing on my feet, and I get much more out of the Bible. He said, if I start to get weary, like I start on myself, I'm wide awake right away again instantly. He said, I find that I get the most out of my Bible when I stand on my feet in the middle of the floor. I don't know what you will have to do to prevail. When I was weary in India, coming up from the plains where the heat has been there for several months, getting worse and worse before you escape to the hills for a few weeks. Our sister here knows exactly what I'm talking about. And there's some others here that I was just talking to at the break who know what I'm talking about, Brother Kossel and so on. And but I found I take a little bag of peanuts. When I get weary, I eat one peanut, maybe two, not a handful. I didn't eat for strength or for food. I only ate to wake myself up and then back to pray. I don't know what you will have to do, but ask God to show you what you can do to prevail over your weariness. You may have to prevail over a restlessness. Some people are so personally restless. They have developed a restless personality that it's hard for them to stick at prayer. Ask God to help you prevail over your restlessness. Some people have to ask God to help them prevail over doubt. They have a tendency to doubt all the time. Ask God to give you victory in that area of your personal life. So I don't know what your situation is, and I will confess that I think some Christians are still so carnal that Satan uses their carnality to hinder their prayer life. Learn how you need to prevail over yourself to be at your best for God in the life of prayer. Confess your need before God and trust him to help you. Second, you must often prevail over situations. Now, most situations involve people, and my third point is when we learn to prevail over people. But situations may involve several people. But situations can become very complex, very interwoven. It may be that before God can answer one prayer that you are praying for, he needs to answer one or two or three other prayers that will lead the way and prepare the way for your first prayer to be answered. And this can take time. It may be very perplexing to you. Why is not my prayer answered? And if you seek God's face and ask him to guide you, you may have to prevail over some situations. You don't have to understand everything to prevail over it, but you have to know and not be discouraged when your answer does not come immediately. You see, God's created us with the power of choice, and he respects that power of choice. He doesn't treat us like a robot. He doesn't treat us like a checker on a checkerboard. He doesn't just move us here and move us there. We can say no to God, and there are many times that people say no to God. And there are many situations that we did, especially in missions. We have complex situations involving foreign governments. The obtaining of missionary visas can be a very heart-searching thing. You believe God has called this family or has called this individual. You believe that they are responding to God's call. Then why is the visa withheld? And you pray and you pray. I can remember a situation in South America. When I was at our OMS headquarters, we prayed and prayed. We had several visas denied for one country. We couldn't understand. They were people who were needed. They were consecrated. They were trained. They were prepared. They were equipped. Humanly speaking, it seemed to us, why couldn't we get the visas? You appeal over and over to government. You couldn't get clear answers. We discovered later that we weren't the only ones. All missionary societies were having the same problem with the same country. I couldn't tell you how many societies appealed for special prayer. We did, repeatedly. We prayed, repeatedly. But why was the answer delayed? We had to prevail over a situation. Do you know what God had to do? One day, an official, but a comparatively minor official, in this particular country, suddenly died. For two years, there had not been one missionary visa granted to that nation. Suddenly, someone died. A new person was appointed to take over that position. The new person came into the office and saw a stack of papers on a table on one side of the office. He said, what were those? Oh, one of the helpers in there said, those are visa applications. He said, what's the matter? Aren't they signed? He said, no. He said, bring them here. He sat down like that. In one sitting, he signed 200 visa applications. Did anybody pray, oh, Lord, kill the man that's holding up the visas? No. We didn't know it was a man. What did we know? But there was someone who was opposed to the kingdom of God. There was someone who was a slave of Satan. There was someone that Satan was using to block missionary applications in place. But often, in the government interweavings, you have to have so many different signatures on papers you don't know where the problem is. You know, at some place, there's a problem. If you know where it is, you're praying against a country. It's a complex situation. To get the answer may take time. God may have to move people, get people transferred from their jobs. I don't know. Give God time to answer your prayer. Don't be discouraged. We may have to prevail over very complex situations. When I was in Haiti for the prayer conference there, I was told about the situation there. You may not be aware. But when Haiti became an independent nation from France about 203 years ago, that the leader of the Haitian troops made a vow and dedicated Haiti to Satan, asking Satan's help to defeat France. And the Haitian army defeated France. So to this day, Haiti has been dedicated to Satan. And you may know that the great opposing force in Haiti is voodoo. And voodoo is a worshipping of evil spirits. And that's a curse on that nation. One of our former students, not my personal former student, but from our Bible school, he began some years ago praying that God would change that situation, get the dedication to Satan rescinded, and get that nation dedicated to Jesus Christ. His name is Tony Paul. I said, Tony, I'll join you in that prayer. And every day I still try to make that as one of the items on my prayer list, that Haiti will rescind the dedication to Satan and that Haiti will be dedicated to Jesus Christ. Our own nation isn't dedicated to Jesus Christ. I don't know whether New Zealand is dedicated to Jesus Christ or not. But that's Tony Paul's prayer request. And so I said, I'll pray with you. So if it doesn't happen before I intend to go to heaven, my last conscious day on earth still praying for God to help Haiti to be rescinded the dedication to Satan. Well, by the way, that's just not taking too long. But you know, about three years ago, they decided we are going to rededicate Haiti to Satan. We're going to set apart a special day President Aristide had just been made president. You may know that he's a renegade Roman Catholic priest. There's turned his back on the church in many respects. Aristide said, I will join you. We will have the ceremony outside the White House. There's the presidential building in Haiti in Port-au-Prince. It's called their White House. And it's colored, painted, whitewashed. It's white. So he said, we will have the dedication outside, rededicate Haiti to Satan. And I, as president, will join you in rededicating Haiti to Satan. There were three ceremonies which were going to be involved. The Christians all over Haiti began to pray. Now, here is a very complex situation. How are you going to get answers to prayer? I shouldn't take too long telling you this, but I just want you to illustrate. The Buddhists are afraid of lightning. And something happened just this year. This year, there was an example of that in Haiti. And I've known other examples. Personally, I've known. I could tell you interesting stories of how God answered the prayer for a Haitian pastor. When they surrounded him, he was planting a new church out in a Haiti mountainous area. And in, they would gather their voodoo priests. And they would beat their drums and go through their ceremonies, calling on Satan to stop the gospel, to get this preacher to run out of their town. He said, I stood there one night. He said that the door of my little house there, Haitian homes, was so tiny. The simplest of things, dirt floor usually. He said, I stood in the door in the darkness. And there they were out a little distance away, beating their drums, calling on Satan to drive him out. He said, I stood there all along. He said, I just held up my hand to God, and I just pled with God to deliver me, deliver me, protect me, deliver me. And he said, suddenly, God just sent a tremendous thundering and the lightning flashed right and left. Nobody was expecting rain at that time. It just began to thunder like, and the voodooists ran in all directions. And the last I knew, he was still there preaching the gospel. So I knew that. So anyway, they were going to have this thing, and the Christians were praying, Oh God, stop Satan. Lord, stop this sermon. Don't let this nation be rededicated to Satan. And do you know the day came when they were going to rededicate Haiti to Satan? And the crowd was gathered. And suddenly, the very same thing, it began to lighten and thunder, and the skies just seemed to be bursting with reverberations from the thunder and the lightning flashes, and the people ran in all directions. And the ceremony was canceled that night. The second ceremony, I couldn't tell you all three, but I won't take time for the third one. The second ceremony, we're going to have a special dedication, a festival. They tried again, they planned again this year. They made a sacrifice of a pig. I know this place where they were going to sacrifice the pig is right near where Tony Paul is now pastoring a church. The Lord has used him to raise up 14 churches from scratch. It's a great testimony of the glory of God. And he began right a block away from the center of voodoo worship throughout much of Haiti. There's an annual festival there, the Festival of Saint Jacques. And during that, they plunge into a slimy mud puddle. They make their vows to Satan. They become demon-possessed in the water. They make their vows, doing it on such and such a day at the Festival of Saint Jacques. We will go there and commit ourselves to you, they promised Satan. So right near this spot, they were going to sacrifice a pig as a part of the ceremony of dedicating, rededicating Haiti to Satan. Suddenly, the chief voodoo priest in Haiti, who was to perform the ceremony, suddenly he died. I don't think any Christian was praying, Lord, kill the voodoo priest. There are many priests, voodoo priests, but this chief of priests, they just prayed, Lord, stop it. Suddenly he died. So a second was appointed to take his place. He decided, I'm not experienced in this. So he decided to have a trial run. He took a small group of his voodooists with him. He took the pig in his hand. He took the daggers. And they went, and nobody knows what happened. His dagger glanced from the pig, struck his own stomach. He killed himself. His blood gushed out. In the mud. So the ceremony at the White House was stopped. And the ceremony of the voodooists began to trumpet, these Christians, their God is against us. Yes, their God was against them. All three things were hindered. I just read within the past month that they tried it again with less flair and less public announcements again this year. And again, God stopped it this year. Now, brothers and sisters, we're not talking about little games. Satan is an awesome foe. But the situation can be very complex. But God can meet the most complex situation. He may have to answer one prayer after another prayer after another prayer before the final prayer is answered. One thing may build up to another. But if we hold on in prayer, you may be praying for a loved one. You do not know what circumstances God may have to bring in that loved one's life before they're willing to repent. God may have to be patient with this and do this and do this and do that. Give God time. If you don't stop praying, if you'll hold on your prayer, you will find God's answer. When you pray in the will of God, you can be assured you can get God's answer. But it may take time. It may take time. And there are two things that you always know you're praying in the will of God. Number one, the salvation of a sinner. It is not God's will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Number two, the revival of the church. God is a God of revival. He has made a covenant of revival, 2 Chronicles 7, 14. I won't go into that now. When you're praying for those two things in my first book, Touch the World Through Prayer, I refer to those as always prayer. It is always God's will. But it is not always God's will to heal. It is often God's will. I believe in healing. I have been healed. I've seen God heal. But there are times when it is not God's will to heal. Paul left two of his helpers sick. Paul, who had been used by God to heal others, but on two occasions. The Bible records he left behind someone who was sick. And you remember Paul himself. What was his problem? A thorn in his flesh. Not everybody is agreed to what that thorn was. But many commentators believe it was eye problems. There was a very painful eye disease in those days. You remember what Paul said? Paul didn't write his own letters. He used the secretary, but he would sign them. You remember he said in one place, you see with what big letters I am writing. His eyesight was so poor. He says to the Galatians, I bear you record that if you could have done so, you would have been willing to pluck out your own eyes and give them to me. He must have had an eye problem. And Paul says, three times I sought the Lord. And what happened? God said, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. You cannot be sure that in any particular situation, healing is always God's will. This is not my subject. I'm not going to spend more time on it. But when you pray for salvation, when you pray for revival, you know you are praying in the will of God. But it may take a long holding on in prayer before you get your answer. Third, you must often prevail over people. And I think I've said about enough about that. God respects the choice, power of choice that he's given to us. He does not manipulate us. Evil spirits manipulate people. Demon possessed people are manipulated by Satan. They cannot control their muscles. They cannot control their tongues. They are manipulated. Satan does not respect the power of choice. God respects the power of choice. He depends on us to reach out our hand to God, and then he is ready to answer our prayer. But sometimes it takes a long time. The most difficult kinds of prayers to get answers for are the prayers that involve people. Who is perhaps known as the great apostle of faith in this century? What would you say? Well, he may be a great example of faith. Often people say George Miller, the man who supported 10,000 children without ever asking for money or telling people what his needs were. A man who got, he kept a journal all his life. In his journal, he tells us, I have records in my journal of all the things that I have of over 50,000 prayers which were answered the first day I asked them. I know of no Christian who could give such a record. He did it for the glory of God. He took that role of life to prove that how God was a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God. Dr. James Gray from the Moody Bible Institute years ago, when George Miller was still alive, went and visited George Miller. And I'm told similar situations happened again and again. They got up in the morning, and he went with Mr. Miller to breakfast. They had these large buildings with long dining halls. There were lines of tables with hundreds of children all at the tables. The places were set. Their plate was there. Their bowl was there. Their cutlery was there. Their glass was there. And no food on the table. And George Miller didn't have any food. He rose to his feet. Reverend Gray didn't realize the situation. He rose to his feet, says, children, let us return our thanks to God for the good food he has provided us today. Where was the good food? As he began to thank God in prayer, there was a knock at the door. A baker was there. He said, Mr. Miller, God woke me up at two o'clock in the morning this morning and told me to bake bread for your children. He said, if you will accept it, I have my cart outside filled with bread for your children. He said, bring it on in. They brought in and began to put the loaves on the tables. George Miller started to pray. A second knock on the door. It was a dairyman. The dairy in Britain, they drove dairy carts, you know, pulled by horses. The dairyman said, Mr. Miller, my dairy wagon has broken down in front of your place. He said, this milk will spoil quickly. He said, I don't know what I'll have to do till I get this fixed. Could you make use of any milk? Miller said, bring it on in. And they all had milk and bread for breakfast. And by noon, God had provided other food. And that's the way Miller lived for more than 50 years. Remember now, his personal testimony. I have the records in my journals of more than 50,000 prayers that were answered the day I asked. But George Miller, shortly after his conversion, began to pray for five of his boyhood friends. Now, I quote from George Miller, his statistics. He said, after I prayed for five years, the first one of those five was converted. 50,000 prayers answered the day he asked them for food, for shelter, for clothing, for the children, for all kinds of needs. But for the salvation of an unsaved friend, five years of praying before he was converted. He said, after 10 more years, I had now prayed for 15 years. Two more were converted. After 20 more years of praying, in other words, after 35 years of praying, the fourth person was converted. The apostle of prayer and faith, George Miller. This is his testimony. And shortly before his death, he made this statement. For 52 years, I have been praying for one of my friends. And he is not converted, but he will be. And if I do not live to see it, the day will come when he will be converted. Two weeks after George Miller died, the fifth one was converted. Friends, there were five people snatched from hell's jaws because George Miller refused to give up. When you prevail over people's stubborn wills, it is the most difficult kind of prayer there is to get God's answers. But hold on, don't give up. What does the Bible say? In due season, we shall reap if we faint not. What I'm saying is so simple tonight, but it is so basic. You have to learn to prevail over people, and that's one reason why prevailing prayer takes concentration, takes intensification, and takes time. You do not need to know why. You just hold on. When you're praying, what you know is bound to be God's will, hold on. Think about Pharaoh, think how long he withstood Moses, think how he began to weaken and make a promise to Moses and then break the promise as soon as he was delivered from the next plague, and over and over this happened until finally God had to get Pharaoh out of the way. Finally, Pharaoh himself was drowned in the Red Sea, and Israel was set free. When you prevail over a stubborn will, it takes time. And when the stubborn person refuses, God is a very patient God. The time will come when God intervenes and says, you've had enough opportunity. This is it. And of course, number four, you must prevail again and again over Satan. Satan is usually involved in all these situations. He's unseen, but he's working on people's minds. He's working on people's desires. He's using people's pride. He's using their stubbornness. He's behind the many things, and he's behind many complex situations. But in Daniel's case, the big problem was Satan. In Daniel's situation, it was not a complex situation. It was not people. He needed a revelation from God. It needed to be brought to him by an angel. And Satan, through one of his angels, one of his followers, he opposed for 21 days. What did Daniel have to encourage him? He didn't have all of the Bible that you and I have today. But Daniel held on in prayer and fasting. Prevailing in prayer may take time. But if you will hold on, you can get God's answers. And you can ask God, is there something in my life that you can show me? Sometimes there are things in our own life. And that's my fifth point. You yourself must prevail before God, not only over Satan, but before God. Sometimes God withholds answers to prayer for your own spiritual good. Sometimes God withholds an answer to prayer in order to give a greater answer to prayer a little bit later. God knows more than you and I know. God knows how to bring the greatest glory to his name. God knows how to bring salvation from one situation that will involve a series of events and a series of people being brought to God. Hold on. Don't despair. Now, God's time is always perfect time. When I was in Bible college, one of my teachers had a saying that he said over and over. And I have learned to say it to myself over and over. God's clocks keep perfect time. God's clocks keep perfect time. We may think God's time must be now, but he may have a little more perfect time that you're not aware of yet. So it may be that God is testing your depth of desire. I'm going to talk about desire tomorrow. This is a very great key to prevailing prayer, the strength of our desire. God may be testing your desire. He may withhold the answer until you learn to deepen your hunger and deepen your desire until you really prevail before God in prayer. It's for your spiritual good when he detains, delays, seemingly delays your answer. God may be withholding your answer because you need to learn more humility. He may be testing your humility. Oh, pride is such a hindrance to prayer. It's so easy to ask something in secretly. You may not even be aware of it. There is a personal pride involved in the prayer. You won't answer. How many a person has prayed, Oh, God, send revival and send it to our church. How many people have prayed, Oh, God, send revival. Through the state of Indiana or here, I'll say to New Zealand and begin it in our church. Let God begin it where he wants to begin it. God usually begins revival with someone least expected. He often begins where you don't expect it to happen. You say, well, Lord, we've been praying for so long in our church. Yes, that's true. Let God work out his own way. Don't try to dictate to God. Let God have his own way. But often, Lord, Lord, Oh, save my child. Lord, it's such an embarrassment. My child is rebelling against you. Yes, it is an embarrassment. But if that's a part of the motivation of your praying, you're praying with mixed motives. You want to pray for the glory of God. Whatever it may cost me personally, whatever I may have to do, Lord, whatever the price is, I want your will. I want this person saved. I don't want them to spend eternity lost forever without God and without hope. Oh, we have to hold on in prayer. As I said, praying for people is the most difficult form of all prayer to pray. It may be that God has to purify your motive in some other way. I'll say maybe a little more about this tomorrow. But disunity, disunity is one of the great blockages of prayer. I suppose there are millions of prayers not being answered because of disunity. Often there's disunity in the home. Often there's disunity in the church. I confess to you as a missionary who has been involved in mission for 55 years, that we often have disunity on the mission field. Sometimes there is disunity between different missionary societies. Sometimes there's disunity between the leader of a field and some missionary on the field. Sometimes there's disunity between several members of the field committee. Disunity, disunity blocks prayer. Is there something blocking your prayer? You can pray as loud as you want to pray. You can pray as long as you want to pray. If there's disunity someplace blocking prayer, you're not going to get the answer until you put that right. What can you do to bring greater unity? As far as possible with you, be at peace with all people. As far as it depends on you. You may have to humble yourself before other people whether they respond or not. You have to take the humble route. Years ago, I'm talking about years ago in central India, there were two missionaries of the same society. Oh, they were friends. Oh, yes, they spoke to each other. Yes, they were in the same society. Well, how are you, brother? How are you like that? But something in their heart, there was something there that was a hindrance, a blockage. In central India, one of the missionaries got down one day. He was praying for revival in his missionary station. And as he prayed and held on before God in prayer, the face of his fellow missionary came before him. He tried to turn away and, Oh, Lord, you know, our church, we really need a new outpouring of your spirit, Lord. We need to be warmed up by the fire of your spirit, Lord. He was praying. There came that face before his mind's eye. This one particular fellow missionary tried to turn away, but there it was. The next day, as he prayed his prayer time again, he was praying for revival. Oh, God, send revival to our station, to our church, to our town. Send revival, Lord. And here was this face before him. He finally said, Lord, I'll do it. Now, back in those days, we didn't have buses in India. We went primarily by train. So this missionary walked, got down to the railway station, caught a train that stopped several stations down the line where his fellow missionary lived. Praying all the way, Lord, help me, Lord, help me to do what I can to put this thing right. He got off the train. He walked up to the house of the other missionary, and the other missionary just happened to be looking up. Well, I wonder what Brother so-and-so is doing here. Didn't expect to see him that day. He went, Lord, come in, Brother. And the missionary just arriving fell on his knees outside the door. He said, Brother, I'm not worthy to come in your house. He said, I've come to ask your forgiveness. You know, and I know that we are not in perfect unity. And I've been praying for revival in my station. And the Holy Spirit has showed me that I'll not have revival until I make things right with you. And I've come to humbly, sincerely ask you, please forgive me. And the man inside the door reached out and said, Brother, I need to ask your forgiveness more than you need to ask mine. Come on in. And they fell on each other's shoulders. They began to weep. They got down on their knees inside the door before God. They got the thing all taken care of. And do you know, before that year was over, God sent revival to both stations. What was the blockage? Two good people. Two of God's children. But disunity. Do you remember the place in the New Testament where the Bible says, the husbands, about husbands and wives, that your prayers be not hindered. Oh, it's nothing big. No, but if it's there, if it keeps recurring, it's hindering prayer. Matthew 5, what is Jesus saying? He used the illustration of the Old Testament. He said, if you bring your gift to the altar and what there, remember that your brother has something against you. Tell God the first good opportunity you get, you'll make it right. Is that what the Bible says? And you come to the altar. How did they come to the altar? They came with their offering. It might be grain. It might be an animal sacrifice. If you come to the altar, you have left your own home, you come all the way to the temple or to the tabernacle, and you got your offering, and you're just ready to hand it over to God. And there, remember, that last one, oh, I've had a problem with so and so. He said, stop, stop. Don't give your gift to God. It's not acceptable. Stop. Leave your gift. First go to your brother and be reconciled. Then come and offer your gift. Do you know if that scripture were followed, there'd be a spiritual revolution all over the churches of Jesus Christ. You want to know when revival comes, what happens? One thing that happens is God wipes out disunity and differences. And do you know one thing that keeps revival away? It is disunity. It is animosity. It is grudges held within. It is unforgiveness. There are many Christians practically praying curses upon themselves when they repeat the Lord's Prayer. Forgive us as we forgive those. But if I'm not forgiving, and I ask God to treat me the way I'm doing, that's praying a curse upon yourself. This is a very key element. We may have to prevail over something in our own life. It may cost our pride. It may cost a sense of humiliation on our part. Whatever the price is not too great to pay. Leave your gift. First, go and get the peace restored. But what if they won't respond? You leave that in God's hand. Don't go and say, now, brother, you know that you and I have had problems. Actually, you shouldn't have said what you said. No, that's no use. Don't go that way. The Bible doesn't say who's to blame. That's not the question. The question is, is there disunity? The question is not who's to blame. Maybe both are to blame. Who started? I don't know. God doesn't say, let the one who started do this. He says, if you remember that there is a problem, first go to your brother. Then come back to God and pray. Oh, may the Lord teach us to pray. May He teach us to take the humble route. God gave a covenant of revival centuries ago. It's valid yet today. What does it say? Where does it start? If my people who are called by my name will start praying for each other. Is that what the Bible says? If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves before God and confess their sins, not the neighbor's sins, their sins, and forsake their wicked ways. Anything which hinders God's glory, God's presence, God's power among God's people, is a sin, can forsake their wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins, first comes the forgiveness, and heal their land. I don't know New Zealand, but I know my country. And I know America needs healing. I know that my state needs healing. I know that my city needs healing. I know of many homes that need healing. What is God's provision? If my people who are called by my name will not humble their brothers, humble themselves before God and seek my face and forsake their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and will heal their land. Shall we pray? Thank you, Lord, that you are a God of grace and compassion. Thank you that no matter how deeply we may hunger for your presence, your longing to bestow your holy presence in our midst is even greater than that. We know when revival comes, there is an awesome awareness of the presence of God. We know our nation needs this. The people need this. They've lost respect for God and the things of God. Oh, Lord, send that kind of revival. And whatever price we must pay to prepare the way of the Lord. Oh, God, give us willing hearts. Help us to take the steps that we can take. Lord, if there are unanswered prayers in our lives, teach us the steps that we can take to bring those answers out into full realization to the glory of your holy name. Thank you that you are a gracious, a God of compassion, of tender mercy, that you long to do exceeding more than we could ever ask or comprehend. Your longing is to bless your people. Your longing is to pour out your spirit upon your people. Your longing is to send the kind of revival that will change society, that will change and stop some of the waves of crime and wickedness and evil and lust and impurity that sweep across our lands. Lord, we want a hell-shaking revival. We want a revival that will come bring glory to God. Oh, Jesus, we're not playing games with you. We are in earnest. We want to see your face. We want to see your glory. We want to hear your voice. We want you to rend the heavens and come down. We want you, oh Lord, to be God in our midst. So hear us and answer prayer. Bless us this night as we go to our respective homes. Keep us prayerful. May we come back tomorrow eager to sit at your feet. Teach us more, oh Lord. Teach me. Teach us all. We want you to teach us. We want you to help us to be the men and women of God that you want us to be. We want to see our churches transformed with new life and power. We want to see our cities shaken by the presence of God. That people will be brought to repentance, humbling themselves before God. It's never too late for you, oh Lord. It's too late for us sometimes, but it's never too late for you. Oh God, may we be quick and obedient to you. We know that if we trust and obey, we can see the revival that you have promised. You can come upon our land. We beseech you. Lead us on. Don't let us rest in idleness. Don't let us rest in complacency. Don't let us be satisfied with things as they are when you long to do so much more for us and through us and in us. Lord, teach us to pray. We pray that this night may be a good night in our hearts and in our homes. Begin the answers to prayer for which you have been waiting. You've been longing to give them to us. Oh God, may we prepare your holy way and make tomorrow a great day when you reveal yourself to us anew, to me, to each one of us, Lord. We ask that you reveal your will anew. Bless your people with peace. Bless this church and pastor. Bless those who are here from other churches. May we all feel your touch of new life and power. Lord, have your way. May Tauranga be quickened, be touched by the glory of God. May great, great grace come upon your people. We ask it all through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Amen.