In this sermon, the speaker expresses his frustration with trying to explain and defend God. He emphasizes that God is big enough to take care of himself and that he is tired of apologizing for God. The speaker discusses the concept of faith and how it is tested through trials and suffering. He gives examples from the Bible, such as Abraham and David, to illustrate the ever-increasing demands of faith. The speaker encourages the audience to trust in God and seek to know his voice.

Now, some of you have known Jesus for a long time or going through the greatest test of your time. And I hope this morning the Holy Spirit will speak something to you in the way of... I'm not trying to explain God anymore. I'm not trying to defend God. He's big enough to take care of himself. And I'm tired of apologizing for God. I'm tired of trying to analyze everything and say, well, you know, here's the reason we suffer that. No one has ever fully explained why God's people suffer so much. We can't have an answer to all of that. But we've got some things from the word of God. We have the word of the Lord that has been revealed that we're to accept. Now, my subject this morning is, and I want you to listen closely. It may sound like a long title, but it'll mean something if you take it to heart. The ever-increasing demands of faith. Is it on the screen? Would you say that? The ever-increasing demands of faith. Now, God, help us to hear something from heaven. Lord, we have never come to this house to be entertained. We've never come here to put in time. Lord, we've come here having sought your face, not just the pastors and the musicians and the teachers, but everyone that's been coming here faithfully to this church. And we hope for every visitor that is here, they came not just because it's Sunday morning and time to go to church, but Lord, there's something of hunger. There's something of thirst. There's something that cries in the heart. God, what are you doing? What are you saying? Speak to my heart. So speak to us now, Lord. Sanctify my vessel. Sanctify my voice and my mind, my spirit, and bring your holiness and your righteousness to us. In Christ's name I pray, amen. What is there so important about faith? What is there about faith that keeps demanding of us or calling out from us ever greater testings? Just when you think you've come through the one test that proves yourself faithful, and that now, Lord, you know that I'm gonna trust you for everything, and now comes another one, ever increasing in intensity. I can show you this principle all through the scripture. I can show you that those that get closest to the heart of Jesus Christ, that their burdens, that their trials, and their tests get more intense until finally you have no explanation whatsoever. You can't describe it on any human level. No human mind can reason out why. Now, let's consider, first of all, the ever increasing demands on those in the scripture. Let's take Abraham, for example. Now, he's asked to pack up his family. You know the story, and go to an undesignated place. He doesn't know where he's going, but by faith, Abraham believes. That's a great test. Must have been an incredible test to his wife. If I said that to my wife, I mean, let's pack up everything, we're moving, and she says, where is it, I don't know. But I prayed last night, God told me to go. And I think she'd say, well, I haven't seen it yet, and you'd better pray through because I haven't seen it yet. I've been through that. This man, by faith, steps up, and one day, God takes Abraham out, and he says, look up to heaven, look at the stars, and see if you can count them. And then the Lord says to him, look to heaven and see if you can number the stars, and if you're able to count them, so shall your seed be. That's how many children and grandchildren, great children, you're going to have a seed, you're going to have family, as many and multiplied as the stars. And he believed God. He was, that's what an incredible thing, an incredible thing to be told that, and to believe God for something that is beyond comprehension to the human mind. And he believed. God then says, I'm going to give you this land that you walk on, I'm going to get from the Egyptian Nile all the way to Euphrates, that's going to be your land, it's going to be your inheritance. And he believed God. He believed God. He believed God, though he was a stranger in the land. And he believed God would protect him from his enemies, and he had faith. This was the father of our faith according to scripture. When Abraham is a hundred years old, after years of tests and trials, this man has a lifetime of tests. We know only of a few of the tests that Abraham went through. And it came to the place where God says, I trust this man. He has a proven faith. And by God's own testimony, he was a righteous man. He's given a promise of a son. And Isaac is born, and his name is Laughter. And it seems that in his old age now, the Lord has given him a little vacation. He's given him a furlough from tests and trials. Wouldn't that be nice? You waiting for yours? Lord, just a furlough, just a little bit of time. And it appears, you know, for a few years, he dances and plays with his youngest son, his newborn son. He laughs. There's something of a respite, it appears. And it came to pass after these things. After what? After all this lifetime of testing, after a lifetime of going through trials that are unspeakable. And after this wonderful, wonderful thing that's happened in his life, his promise has been fulfilled. A lifetime dream and hope has come to pass. And now there's a season of rest. He's an old man now. He doesn't have to prove his faith. He's proven it. God says, I trust this man. And it came to pass after all these things. God did test Abraham. And my human flesh cries out in my human reasoning. Well, wait a minute, Lord. You've already said that he's proven his faith. And now you ask him, he asked him to take his son to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him as a human sacrifice. So old man, he's been through every test. And he knows and God knows. He told God, he says, no matter what test you put me through, you know, I'm going to come through. You know, I'm going to trust you. My human flesh says, Lord, he's, he's suffered enough. He's, he's proven his faith. Why is faith keep calling for demanding ever greater intensity, ever grating confidence and ever grating rest? What is there about faith? What is, and I'm saying, God, what are you after in this man? Who's going to know in his generation, that test up there on the mountain isolate? Who's going to know anything about it? If it's a test of faith, if it's, if it's chasing, what were you chasing him about? There's nothing to chase in this man about. This man, he's an old man. And yet the Bible says, and God tested him. I don't know how long you've been walking with God. And I don't know how many tests that you've come through, but you know, there's, there's something, and I'll explain where I'm going a little deeper in the message, but you see that any will come. The hardest thing when you're tested, when you've been known as a righteous person and you have been tested and people know it, and you've gone through so much. And then something happens in your life. Something comes to you in the form of pain and agony. Something comes into your life, unemployment or the loss of material things. And then people judge you. They will judge you just like they judged, I'm sure they judged Abraham. What did he do? What kind of failure in his life? Why is it that he is going through suffering? Why is it that praying man like this, a man that's so close to the heart of God, righteous, a man who said God puts his trust in him. Why? It's a question some of you may have been asking of your own life. And people have a way of ostracizing you when you're going through it because they get a feeling maybe that what you're going through is contagious. Maybe I shouldn't associate with this person. And all folks, that's all through the Bible. People get isolated in their suffering because they can't explain it themselves. They cannot explain it. Take your son, Isaac, whom you love, go to Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice. And you know that God stopped him. You know that God provided the lamb, the sacrificial lamb. Then God said, now I know, Abraham, that you fear me. And I see that you don't withhold your son from me. And because you've done this thing, I'm going to bless you. Your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and your seed shall all nations be blessed because you obeyed my voice. Man doesn't live by bread alone, but every word from the mouth of God. It's this God knowing, I know you will never hold anything back from me. I know now that I am your everything. You see, folks, it's not just a matter of God providing your needs. You see, we say, how am I going to live? They talk about a coming depression. Folks, I wrote a book and I preached 15 messages from this pulpit about the depression that was coming. I was mocked and ridiculed. Now the books are being ordered fast. My phones are ringing, getting a copy of the material that was written. But you see, God, going year after year of God just meeting your needs can damn your soul. It happened in Israel. You see, God provided, even though there was rebellion in their heart, God for 40 years saw them through the river. He gave them bread. He gave them water. He gave everything they needed. They were supplied and they lost their souls because you see, they weren't looking to God. They were not obedient to his voice. They were looking for provisions. They were looking just for safety, but they were not looking for the heart of God. So we've got to look beyond just, well, is God going to take care of us? That's a given in the scripture. That is something beyond a doubt. That's beyond question. God as a loving father is going to care for his children, but I want more than care. I want to make more than my needs just being met. I want to know, I want to know that I'm obedient to every word in this book and that God has become my all in all. That's where God wants to take this church and all here and know his voice. God says to him, he makes it clear, this is all going to end in blessing. This is going to end in blessing. Consider the ever-increasing demand on David's faith. Now, he is known as a man of faith in the scripture, a man after God's own heart. And here's the very theme of David's life. The Lord is my strength and shield. My heart trusts in him and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices in my song. I will, and with my song, I will praise him. And this was David's boast. Oh, the great things that God has done for those who trust in him before the sons of men. It was by faith he steps out as a young man and kills Goliath. It's by faith he can run from hillside to hillside and be protected from Saul and all of his enemies. By faith, he escapes the Philistines and from Gath. By faith, he ripped apart a lion and a bear. By faith, David lived and breathed in his life the very faith of the living God. But here's a young man who, here's a brother who's tempted sorely. He was surprised by adultery in his life. He was afflicted to the point he pleaded for death. He spent years, when you study David's life, there are many episodes of anguish and fear and pain where he pleaded to die. And yet, through it all, all of these intense trials, he never lost his faith. He came through with an overcoming faith. I'd like to pose you a question. Is there such a thing as a child of God becoming so proven, who's gone through so much suffering that they never have to be tested again? Is there a place that some really righteous, godly, praying, interceding, matter woman becomes such a testimony that God says, I'll just take you home or because you've passed every test and there's nothing left to prove? And is there such a place, is there such a thing as reaching a place in God that this is not necessary anymore, but there's just a steady self-confidence in the Lord and nothing moves you and there's no fear? I want you to listen to David in 2 Chronicles 23. Don't turn there, but 1 Chronicles 21. David now is an old man. He's a saint. He's really a saint. Angels admire him. God said, this is a man after my own heart. And he's an old man. Very few in the scripture have been proven like this man has been proven. Very few have suffered like he's. He talks about the nights he cried himself to sleep. He talks about his loneliness. He talks about his fears. He talks about all of this. And he came through and he said, my God lives. My God lives like Job. He could say, though he slay me, yet will I trust him? Yet in his old age, listen to this in 1 Chronicles 21, 1. And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number the people. And you picture David, he's an old man, a faithful, godly, praying man. And you see him on the floor and he's torn his clothes. He's in sackcloth and he's weeping before God because 70,000 men have died because he numbered the people and there was pride. And I'm saying to myself and my flesh, God, why did you let the devil get to that man? What are you trying to prove with this man? There's nobody in the Bible, human beings that I've admired more than David in the test because he represents those who've been surprised by sin and those who failed in their life, even as the servants of God and who sinned against light and yet came through with faith. And you look at that man weeping and he said, oh man, he can hardly kneel. And he's being tested. He's being tested severely. And I'm saying, God, what are you after? What's this awful test about? You go to the New Testament and you consider Paul the apostle. In 2 Corinthians 11 chapter, we've heard of the perils of Paul, but listen to this great man and what he's been through. Five times the Jews beat me 40 times, stripes. Three times I've been beaten with the rods. I've been stoned. Three times I've been shipwrecked. I've spent days and nights in the deep. In all my journeys, I've been in peril of water, robbers, my own countrymen, heathen in peril in the city and in the country, in the wilderness, perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness because beside these things that are without, those things that come within daily, the cares from within, the care of all the churches. He talks about those things that are without, the cares that are outside. He's talking about that scars on his body, the beatings and what people have done to him. You see, he said, I don't count my life as anything worthy. He said, they can beat me. I can be shipwrecked. I can go through all of this. But he said, it's those things within. It's those mental battles. It's those struggles inside of me, in weariness, in painfulness, in watchings, in fastings. That which cometh upon me daily, those things that are without and those things within. Now, folks, I'm a man and most of the men in here, you look at the future and what's coming and you know you can make it. You know you can get a little tent and you can go rest somewhere and you can go fishing and eat on fish, you can make it. That's not what bothers you, it's something inside my family, my children, the church. And Paul is going through his greatest suffering in his mind, the burden of the church of Jesus Christ. And he's going through tests and trials. And he said, none of these outward afflictions bother me. And really, folks, when I think of my physical pains, that's nothing to what really, gets to me is the suffering of my children and grandchildren. And it's usually a lot of the suffering comes from those around us that we love and we care about. There's Elder Sam all these years with his incredible pain, he won't take a pain pill. He doesn't want the problems that come with addiction to the pain pills. And I don't understand that. I'm not trying to figure it out anymore. And you can say, well, you know, Paul's going through all those things because he's learning more about Jesus. He's become an example. Those things don't make sense to people who are in pain and suffering. Those things are just cliches. There's something deeper than that. There's a reason some people are chosen to suffer more than others. Paul said, I know that the Lord has told me that every city I witness in, they're waiting, there's pain waiting for me. Things are going to be stirred up. I got a mess everywhere I go. I've got a messenger of Satan appointed to harass me. I know that, but he said that what gets to me or what's happening to the church and the body of Jesus Christ and all they're going through. And he was bearing their burdens and the pain. And many of you are in the service this morning and you're bearing somebody else's pain. A husband, wife, a child, somebody else. And it goes deep into the mind, the spirit. You don't understand it. You pray about it and say, God, why, why? You've heard of the prayer of Jabez, but have you ever heard of the cry of Habakkuk? First chapter of Habakkuk, he's in a test. He sees something happen to Judah and Israel that he said, my insides just tremble. I can't take it anymore. And he's suffering in his own life. I don't know what it is. He doesn't describe it, but he's in pain. And you know what he says? God, where are you? Where are you? Why do you terrorize me? I pray and I see God and I get no answer. And that's the cry that's going around the world today. You hear it in Christianity. You hear it, God, where are you? Have not I sought you? Have not I prayed? And things get worse. God didn't rebuke him for that. Some of you have been saying that. God, where are you? Folks, I feel it so deep in my soul. I'm not preaching at you. I'm preaching from something that I've battled through in 77 years of life and 50 years, 55 years of preaching. Some of you've asked that. Lord, why? Where are you? What's this about? You don't even explain it to me. You know, we like to talk about the prayer of Jabez, all the blessings, but we don't like to hear the cry of Habakkuk. Why? And that's a legitimate prayer. That's a legitimate cry. And God doesn't rebuke him because he knows he's human. He's going through this human pain and he can't explain it all to him. Later, he comes to, at the end of Habakkuk, you said, he finally comes in place. He said, if I lose all, if everything is taken, I know God's faithful. And because he learned something, God says, the just shall live by faith. He said, that's going to boil down to that. You may have nothing left to your name, but the just shall live by faith. And God, there's something demanding of faith. I look at the children of Israel and the waves coming in and the Egyptians behind them and the sea in front of them. I said, God, do you really expect them to have faith with this kind of a situation? Do you really demand faith? The Bible says, yes, yes, yes. To believe in the face of every impossibility. And when you look at Paul's life, after all of these perils that he is listing here, you find him at Ephesus. He's an old man now and he's at Ephesus and he's saying goodbye to the church. He said, this is the last time you're going to see me because you're going to go to Jerusalem. And he says to them that this must have been so difficult. He gathers them together. This is Acts 20 in Ephesus. Godly people. He said, this is the last time you're going to see me. And they listen to this gray haired man now say, as soon as I depart this earth, grievous wolves are going to come in among you, not sparing the flock. There's going to rise up in your own midst, men speaking perverse things to draw away disciples to themselves. What a heartbroken man he must have been. He's going to get on a boat and look over the deck that these people are weeping and crying. These are those he so loved and weeping and broken. He said, the wolves are coming. There's going to be all kinds of false doctrine come against these people. And he's on his way to Jerusalem. And my flesh says, no, Lord, he's going to Jerusalem. He's been mocked and ridiculed. Would you give him just a few weeks of peace and honor and let him enjoy the fellowship of the saints in Jerusalem. Let him minister in the church of Jerusalem and let them just revel in the knowledge and the revelation you give this man. Let a full revelation come out in the church of Jerusalem. Let him bless the pillars of the church. No, he's not there a week and the city's uproar. They drag him out of the temple and he's on trial again. And he appeals to Rome and you see him on the boat headed to Rome and say, well, now Lord, he's about to die. He's at the end of his race. He even said he fought a good fight. I fought a good fight. I fought the faith. I fought this faith fight. And he says it humbly before God. But a shipwreck and he lands on an island and a snake bites him and they turn against him. And they get back on the boat and they wind up in Rome and you say, now Lord, finally a furlough. A break. He spends the next two years in a cheap little rented house chained to a soldier and he dies a martyr. You say, what's the point? Let me tell you something and I think I'm gonna lose some of you now. I was going through a very difficult time recently. Our family has had a lot of suffering. You know of Gwen's 28 operations and my two daughters' cancer operations and Greg and my daughters and all over. But I was going through something recently very deep and I took a walk with the Lord. I walk and pray a lot and in my old age. And I said, Lord, I know I'm your friend and you know I trust you. No matter what comes, you know I've committed everything into your hands, but would you please give me a hint why? At 77, I'm going through the test of my life. Mentally, physically. And Lord said clearly, your present test, your present bout has nothing to do with testing for this earth. It has nothing to do with chastening. It's something that you haven't seen yet and I want you to know it. You're being prepared for service on the other side. And the Lord said that's what is happening and the church doesn't see it. The script, I wanna show you something. Many of you are going through something now that has nothing to do with this world whatsoever. It's something God is doing and preparing you. Now, some people say, the Bible says we're gonna be kings and priests to him. We're gonna rule and reign. He told some of you were faithful over five cities, rule over 10 cities. He's a creator, God is a creator. And he said this old world's gonna pass away and the heavens are gonna pass away so there's gonna be a whole new cosmos. There's gonna be a new world. There's gonna be a city that's gonna be the capital, the new Jerusalem. And when you look at the scripture clearly, I know I'm gonna lose some of you. There shall be no more curse for the throne of God and the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him. Now, folks, what is gonna make paradise? What is gonna make heaven? Many of you have the concept that when we get to heaven, an eternity is going to be spent, I don't know, listening to angel choirs. Now, I know it's gonna be something when you hear the angels sing. If they rejoice over one sinner that repents, can you imagine the sound when millions come marching in? Doesn't that thrill your soul? But that's not gonna be an eternity of choir music. It's not gonna be an eternity of just sitting down. And some people say, I don't wanna rule. I don't wanna rule. I don't wanna be a king. I don't wanna be a priest. I don't wanna serve. I just wanna lay down my burdens. Just get me out of here. I just want no pain. Wonderful, you get all of that. That's free. I'm not being facetious. I'm telling you, I have seen something. And Paul the apostle saw something. He saw activity. He saw comings and goings. He saw cities and he saw creations. God's a creator. And God spoke to my heart and I began, look at all these scriptures. They shall reign forever and ever. They're gonna reign. We're gonna reign. This scripture says, and he has made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth. A new earth and a new heaven. If angels can go back and forth between two realms, that one realm is gonna be left where we go anywhere. Incredible things that God has. He's got worlds on end. No world that needs a redemption, no. But he has got plans. He's got things that are beyond our comprehension. He has raised us up together. He's made us to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. In ages to come, he's gonna be showing forth his kindness through the saints, through the believers. I'm not gonna quit preaching when I die. I'm gonna preach all over heaven, all over paradise. I'm gonna tell how I overcame through the blood of Jesus Christ. There's an old song we sang in early Pentecost. By and by, when the morning comes, when the saints of God are gathered home, we shall tell the story, how we overcome, and we'll understand it better by and by. We're going to hear the story. He said, all through eternity, we're going to hear the testimonies. We're gonna rejoice in it. We're gonna rule and reign with Christ. Folks, what gives me joy on this earth is that I can serve him. It's not that I can go in some room down in Texas and just fast and pray. It's not just that I can get to a little island by myself or I can go to a convention that lasts for a lifetime and just sing and shout and praise the Lord. I wanna serve him. He gave his life for me. I wanna give my eternal life to him. I wanna give in service to him. I want the Lord, anytime an attorney say, do this, do that, and he's got a servant. We're gonna be servants. God is preparing some, he's preparing many of us for some things beyond this world. Now, I'm gonna close with this. As you know, in Zimbabwe, the country is spiraling out of control into absolute chaos. Mugabe is a vicious dictator, and the world's trying desperately now to try to stop the starvation and the bloodshed. But this week's World Magazine, there's an article, there's a letter that was gotten out of the country, and this is a black pastor who wrote at the risk of his life just this past few weeks. And this sheds some light on what I'm telling you. Dear friends, please pray for us. God has to hear. God must do something. We as a church will continue to do what we can. We'll seek to trust the Lord and do good, and we will hope to dwell on the land. But frankly, it's getting hard. The economy spirals into freefall. Food is short. It's unavailable on the shelves of the stores or far too expensive if there's any there. The black market is thriving just for basic commodities. Inflation figures make no sense in the millions of percentage now. As a church, in our fear and uncertainty and concern, we seek to remain faithful. We look to God, but we're honestly asking the Habakkuk question. We feel that when we pray, God does not listen. We feel that we are crying and God does not act. But our faith is trying to reach out beyond our feelings and deed. What is the alternative to faith but despair? Many people are struggling and wondering in fear and uncertainty. Pray for our young people that are caught up in this situation, for the elderly who are beaten by young people. The African community has been disgraced in public. Society's fabric has been ripped apart. Pray for the grandmothers and the widows and the school children. Their studies have been disrupted. Classes are being canceled. People in prison for political views. And for the pastors, we would be wise. So please, this week especially, now listen to this, pray that we will understand God's larger purpose in our suffering so we'll be able to endure it. God's larger purpose. He has a larger purpose. People have been dying. Many Christians, they're already gone. They've passed. They've been through their suffering and they're there. But folks, how do you explain it any other way? Yes, the Bible talks about our faith being purified, tested as pure gold. It talks about that, yes. But I have this growing sense and I think I've given you enough scripture to verify that in the ages to come, there is something of activity going on beyond our comprehension. And I believe that he's preparing us and I have something laying hold of my inner man that says, press on, don't fear, don't be afraid. This is all passing. It's gonna pass quickly. You may be 30, 40 years old, but it's gonna pass quickly. And he endured because of the hope that was set before him. Oh, thank God for Jesus. Thank God for that taking away suddenly from this earth. Thank God for all that. But I anticipate now more than ever, I anticipate what awaits me. And many of you right now, you are suffering for a cause beyond your understanding, beyond anything having to do with this world, but the world beyond. New world, new earth, new heaven. And the Lord was speaking to my heart and said, David, if I could just give you a glance, I mean, just a blink to what's awaiting you, the incredible majesty of where you're going and where the saints are headed, you would never again fear anything in your life because you'd see something of the glory of the risen Christ and the city, the paradise that he has prepared for the redeemed. Hallelujah. Will you stand? You say, Brother Dave, I don't wanna just hear something about what's waiting for me when I get to heaven. I need a word right now. Well, you have this word right now. You have this word right now. And it's very, very simple. The Lord says, you cleave to me, you cling to me. You bring your cares and your birds and you cast them. And that literally means throw them at my feet. And the scripture says, if God be with us. What? If God be with us. The economy can't be against us. Anything the enemy throws at us, anything that nature, anything that time throws at us, he says, if God is, if God's walking with you, is he walking with you? Yes. Does he talk to you? Yes. Hallelujah. Lord, we give you thanks right now that you're a feeling God. You are loving Christ who's born all of our sins and you've been touched with all the feelings of our infirmities. And you know what is best for us. God, take all panic out of our spirit. And Lord, let us endure for that greater purpose, that greater vision, Lord, that goes beyond this life that's so fleeting. You said it's like the breath you breathe in the winter and passes away, like the grass that blooms one day and the next day it's gone. Lord, it's so short, but thank you. We have an eternal purpose. We have an eternal life with you beyond anything that is known here. We give you honor and glory and praise. Would you minister in song for a moment, please? Would you just stand before the Lord in his presence for a moment while we wait on him? Will you take this into your heart? Heavenly Father, help us to receive your word this morning. Just tell the Lord, I receive your word. I receive your word into my heart. Take the fear. Take all the fear away. Take all guilt. Lord, take the guilt and the fear and remove it. We cast it at your feet. Holy Spirit, put it in my heart to pray for those here this morning that have been overcome with the spirit of fear, you're overcome. You've tried to fight it. Like the dear sister I met, my wife and I were walking on Broadway the other day and she stopped us and said, Pastor, she's just broken. She said, I lost my job and I don't know what to do. There's such fear. And she's here today and I'd like to pray for you too, dear sister, you come and pray that the Lord will help you cast that fear at his feet. God's gonna take care of you. God's gonna meet your need. You're not gonna starve. God's gonna provide clothes. But Jesus said so clearly, don't do what the heathen doing. They're saying, what should we wear? What are we going to eat? And he says, don't give it a thought. Don't think about tomorrow. It's gonna take care of itself. It means God saying, I'm gonna take care of tomorrow. Today, while you can't just give me your confidence, give me your faith. But if you're stricken with fear and you've been battling it, now you may be visitor. I want you to step out. We don't count heads. We don't ask you for names, addresses. We don't do anything like that. But we do believe in the power of prayer. And some of you are overwhelmed with fear about someone near you or those. It's not your own fear, but it has something to do with something around you, something about you. Up in a balcony, go the stairs on either side, come down the aisle. You hear the man, I'll turn and you step up. I'll pray for you in just a minute. The church will agree with us and we will pray that you will be able by faith to cast all fear. Fear has torment. And God doesn't want you to leave this service this morning tormented. It's terrible torment, fear. If you don't know Christ or if you have run from Christ, you've grown cold in these last days, step out of your seat. If the Holy Spirit is wooing you, if you feel the gentle tug of the spirit, just simply step to the aisle and come. We'll pray and the Lord will renew your spirit. You get renewed in your faith and walk out of this church this morning with new confidence and hope.