This sermon emphasizes the importance of moving beyond just asking in prayer to seeking God's answers. It discusses the difference between asking and seeking, highlighting the need to persist in prayer for important matters. The sermon encourages believers to seek God's will, especially in praying for the salvation of others, and to examine any hindrances in their lives that may be affecting their prayers. It also shares powerful testimonies of individuals who experienced the impact of seeking salvation for others through prayer.

So that comes to a new level of prayer. That's not just asking. What did Jesus say? Ask, and it will be given to you. Level 101. Seek. And you'll find, number two, what is the difference between seeking and asking? Well, you understand that. When you seek for something, you have a special need. It's important to you. When you seek for something, you're willing to take some time and some effort. Sometimes, in prayer, we have to go beyond asking to the level of seeking. Are there things that you are seeking to get God's answers for? Well, I hope all of you have some prayers that you don't just pray once and then forget it, but that you hold on in prayer. Some things deserve continued prayer until the answer comes. Seek, and you will find. Well, did you start praying, and you keep on praying, and for some reason you don't get the answer? What do you do? You examine. You say, have I understood the Lord correctly? Is this God's will? No, it's not God's will that any should perish, but that all should come to salvation. So when you pray for the salvation of a soul, you know you are praying in the will of God. Now, God cannot compel people to be saved, but he can use providential circumstances to bring pressure on the lives of people. And you may have to keep praying. I am praying every day, especially I'm doing this praying every night. For people who are not yet healed through the Lord, I'm holding on. I don't know how long I'm going to have to pray, but I'm seeking their salvation. I'm going beyond the level of asking to the level of seeking. Any serious prayer warrior will be glad to seek things from God in prayer. We have good examples in the Bible. Oh, my time is getting away. I must stop so we can have a little time of prayer in just a minute. David said, My heart says of you, seek his face. Your face, Lord, I will seek. David was willing to hold on in prayer. Another place David wrote in the Psalms, Oh, God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My body longs for you. Because you are my help, my soul clings to you. Ah, that was prayer holding on, seeking to get God's answer. Sometimes David had to hold on in prayer. Yes, he had a tragic sin once in his life, and thank God he made it right. And God forgave his sin. God is willingly ready to forgive if we will but seek his face. But on the whole, David was a man after God's own heart. Why? Because he prayed so much. Because he worshipped God so much. Because he sought things from God. Praise the Lord. When Dwight Ellen Moody decided to establish a Bible school, he'd never had a chance to go to a Bible school in his life, but he wanted others to have a chance. So he felt ready to start a Bible school in Chicago. But he had no training himself. Fact of the matter, he hadn't gone to high school. But God used him mightily. So Dwight Ellen said, I'll give others the chance that I didn't have. He formed a Bible school. But who's going to lead it? He got R.A. Torian. Brother R.A. Torian became his right-hand helper. And Torian believed there were few people who were ever one to Christ without someone seeking their salvation. Are there people whose salvation you are seeking? Are you praying regularly, perhaps daily, holding on to God? You're seeking their salvation? Are you ready if God gives you the opportunity to witness? But in the meantime, are you still praying, holding on, seeking? Torian says, I believe there are very few people saved unless someone seeks their salvation. He said, I was a Godless young man. We never prayed in my home. We had no Bible in my home. I was living in the world and for the world with no thought of God. And one night, I woke up at 2 o'clock in the morning. And I felt, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner before God. We didn't talk about God in my home. But I woke up there in bed. I said, oh, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. He said, I suppose I was about as near perdition as anybody could get. He said, it was as if I had one foot over the brake. And it just gave way to lift the other foot up and dropping to perdition or hell. He said, I woke up in the middle of the night. He said, in less than five minutes time, I realized my sinfulness. I began to call on God for mercy. And Jesus saved me. He said, my salvation had nothing to do with other people. It was the sheer, this is the word he used, the sheer mercy of God. And he would testify, oh, I'm saved by the sheer mercy of God. And he was in a church one night. He testified, oh, I'm saved by the sheer mercy of God. So my brother said, Brother Torrey, didn't you know that your mother was a praying woman? My mother? Yes. Nobody ever told me. She died when I was a baby. We never had a Bible in our home. I never heard my father or another word of her. He said, my mother was a praying woman? Yes, she was a praying woman. I know she prayed for me every day. Oh. Oh. And a couple weeks later, he was in another service. And someone came up to him and said, you know, Torrey is one of his classmates. He said, I'm so glad to see you serving the Lord. I have been praying every day for you from here. You have been praying every day for me? Yes. Torrey said, I've changed my testimony. I no longer say that no one had anything to do with my salvation. I now believe that very few people in the world are saved without someone seeking their salvation. Can God depend on you to seek the salvation of some people? Do you know someone that is not right in the church of God unless somebody seeks their salvation? Would you be the one? Amen. Amen. There was a gentleman in the British Army, last century, General Charles Gordon. They called him the brave general. In the Army, they would be tenting out in Egypt, in the desert and places. And every morning you would see there was a large handkerchief out in front of General Gordon's tent. That meant no one would bother him while that handkerchief was there. He would pray. And he would pray for the other officers in the Army. And people said, have you ever been on Gordon's prayers? He wouldn't pray for you until you get saved. And he did. Gordon sought the salvation of his fellow officers. And he was in the Army. He prayed every day. Every day he had to pray. I was born in St. Charles, Missouri, which is where the St. Louis airport is now pretty much. And when I was six months old, my father was transferred to Springfield, Illinois. And his church was just one block from the state capitol. And a lot of my baby pictures were taken on the lawn of the capitol. Two big ladies in my father's church would come to my mother and say, can we take Wesley out? We would be out in my baby buggy, as we used to say in those days. A baby carriage out across the state capitol lawns and so forth and take pictures of him. And there was a lady's prayer meeting in Springfield. And that poor little lady had a group of men who gathered in and they prayed at his house in addition to the church activities. And one day he handed everybody a piece of paper. And then he said, now if you have a pen, somebody to write with, he said, if not, I'll give you a pencil or something here. He said, okay, I want you to write down the names of personal friends of yours in the Springfield area. And you don't need to be saved, you would like to be saved. So people wrote down their people. He said, okay, I want you to promise me that you will pray three times a day for the salvation of those names that you have on your sheet. I don't want to see it, I don't need to see it. How many of you will promise that you will pray three times a day till those people are saved? Well, there was an ignorant lady in the church in Springfield. And someone came in one day and said, oh, where are you sister? Someone's calling. He said, you hear what the men are doing? No, what's that? Well, they're praying every time today for unsaved friends to be saved. They've made a list of their friends. She goes, well, that's a good idea. I don't get to church, I haven't been to church for 27 years. She's got an infant in her bed, but I can do that. So she made a list of names of people in Springfield that she would like to see saved. And when she added up the names, she had 27 names. And sometimes some sisters from the church would come and say to her, oh, come in, come in, how are you? They'd say, well, by the way, do you know Sister Smith over there on Waldman Street? You don't know her, okay. You remember Mrs. Brown over there on Third Avenue? Okay, you know her. Look, I'm praying for her to be saved. I'm praying three times a day for her to be saved. You know her. I don't get to see her. Would you join me in prayer every day, three times a day, that she be saved? And let's hold on until she's saved. And maybe the Lord will give you a chance to speak to her. I'll praise the Lord, because I don't get out of my bed, I'm not able to go. But I'll praise the Lord. And so she prayed on. Did I say 27? It was 52. She had 52 names on her list. You know, before that dear woman died, it went to them, all 52 of those people in Springfield had been saved. Hallelujah. Because someone saw their salvation. That's the second level of prayer. Ask, and it will begin. First level. Second level. Seek. Hold on. Is anything hindering you? Remember what Jesus said? If you bring your gift to the altar, what was his name? The Jewish temple. You bring your gift to the altar, oh, oh. You remember something, you get to the altar, and there you remember it. Somebody has something against you. What did Jesus say? Hurry up and offer your gift, and then go and find your friend. No, that's not what Jesus said. He said, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that someone has something against you. Leave your gift. Don't offer it. Leave your gift. First go to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Did you know that Christians did that? Many, many more prayers will be answered. Did you know that misunderstanding, problems between you and someone else can hinder your prayer? Is anything hindering my prayer? Or your prayer? Sometimes there are churches, and one brother comes in this door, and another one comes in that door over there. Or sisters. And somehow they don't meet very often. And if one is in the store, 10 cent store, grocery store, purchasing, they see something along there. They're so busy in, they hardly notice them. And they avoid each other. But this is a new church. But their prayers are hindered. And there's another scripture in the New Testament. 1 Peter 3, 7. 1 Peter 3, 7. Husbands. Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives. Treat them with respect as a leader partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life. So that your prayers may not hinder you. Whole situations can hinder prayer. Tension in the home can stop prayer. Not only with other people, but specifically in the home. Is any home situation slowing down the answer to your prayer? If you're seeking. You're, what do you think of that? Is there anything in my life that's hindering prayer? Have I understood the Lord's will? When you're praying for the salvation of someone, you know it's always God's will that the sinner repent and be saved. You see, it's always God's will to send revival to the church. I believe it is. But sometimes the church isn't ready. But I think God is longing to bless his people. Sometimes there's a situation in the church that's keeping prayers from being answered. So the second level is seeking. Old brother, sister, friends, young people. Esteemed brothers and sisters in Christ. Don't let anything hinder your prayers. Seek. Seek. As far as anything that's keeping your prayers and have it acted fairly.