The Prayer for Every Occasion

Thank you, brothers and sisters, so good to be with you tonight again, such a joy and an honor. Turn in your Bibles. If you have a Bible with you, turn up to John chapter 12, please. Gospel of John chapter 12. Tonight, I'm going to talk to you about the prayer for every occasion. There is a prayer that is always in season to pray the prayer for every occasion. There are times in our lives when we don't even know how to pray as we ought to pray. Can we agree with that? We've all been there. How do I pray? What do I pray? We don't know exactly what to say or what to pray for. But I want to share with you tonight a very short and simple prayer from the word of God. That is the prayer for every single occasion, every single occasion, every single circumstance in life. While this prayer is short and simple, it is extremely profound. It is the very prayer our Lord Jesus prayed and he prayed it more than once. And he not only prayed it, but he actually became the incarnation of. In other words, he didn't just utter the words, he lived the prayer. Keith Green wrote a song one time that says, make my life a prayer to you. We've got to go beyond just saying words to allowing God to make us the answer of what we are praying. But here's a prayer for every occasion. And I want you to see it as we read the text here. John chapter 20, sorry, chapter 12, beginning in verse 20. Let me pray before we read this. Father God, we thank you and praise you that you are above all power and all authority, that you you alone are God and there is none like you. And Father, we never want to open this holy book without being so mindful that these are not the words of a man, but the very oracles of God. This is God breathed. These are your words, Lord Jesus, so I pray you would grip our hearts with the reality and the truth of that and open our ears to hear from you tonight to hear your voice and to behold you, Lord, in your glory and give us yielded hearts to receive and obey what you're calling us to tonight. In Jesus name. Amen. John chapter 12, beginning in verse 20. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came, therefore, to Philip, which was in Bethsaida of Galilee and desired him saying, sir, we would see Jesus. In other words, we want to see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. And here, my friends, is the prayer for every occasion. Verse 28. Father, glorify thy name. Glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of the world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This, he said, signifying what death he should die. Now, the prayer for every occasion made up of four words described our savior's whole life on this earth. Father, glorify thy name. That is a prayer always in season. If you don't know what to pray, pray this simple prayer. Father, God, glorify thy name. Glorify thy name. This was the passion and the purpose and the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ to glorify his father. It was the passionate cry from the very heart of our savior. Father, glorify thy name. And if this was the heart cry of Jesus. And the spirit of Jesus Christ lives in us, and he does, if you're a Christian, then you will also have this cry, this passion, this desire to bring glory to God. There will be an inward longing inside of you to glorify the father. If you're filled with the spirit, that longing will even intensify to glorify and lift up Christ. For Jesus said of the Holy Spirit in John chapter 16, verse 14, he shall glorify me. Have you ever wondered maybe what is my purpose? God, why did you create me? Why did you put me on this earth? Can I sum it up for you, brothers and sisters, on the basis and the authority of God's word, you and I were created to bring God glory. We were created for the glory of God almighty. Our life is not about us. It is all about him, the one who is worthy. Listen to this verse in Isaiah chapter 43, verse seven. This is the word of God. Every he says, even everyone that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory, who everyone who is called by my name, I've created for my glory, I have formed him. Yeah, I've made him. This is our purpose for living. This is our purpose for being. And I tell you, you want to enter into an exciting life, a life of purpose and meaning. Let this be your passion more than anything else. Lord, I want to bring you glory. God has made man in such a way that the more he goes after happiness, the less he will find it. But the more you seek God and seek to glorify him and live for him, joy will flood your soul, joy, unspeakable and full of glory. We were created for this. Life is not about you. Life is not about living for yourself, even though that is what the world preaches 24 seven. It's all about me, myself and I know it is not. That's a lie. The tragedy is you're hearing that in many churches today. It's all about you. No, it's not all about you. It's all about him. It's all about him. I love what somebody shared a quote with me the other day. They sent it on an email or something. It was something Francis Chan had said. Somebody came to Francis Chan and said it said to Francis Chan, I really didn't like the praise and worship today. I didn't like the worship today. You know what his response was? That's OK, because we weren't worshiping you. We're worshiping him. I love that answer. We don't gather to worship each other. We don't gather to worship you. We're worshiping him. The one who is worthy, the king of kings and the lord of lords. First Corinthians, chapter six, verse 20, tells us that we are bought with the price. That price was the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice, perfect sacrifice of God's son. We were bought with the price. You were bought with the price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which belongs to God. Now, if you'll notice in verse twenty three, Jesus answers and says to them, the hour is come. The hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Can we agree that the hour has come for Jesus Christ to be lifted up in this land? Isn't it high time? Haven't we seen enough exaltation of man, enough glorifying of man, enough entertainment in the house of God, enough nonsense? Isn't it time that the king of kings be exalted, that he be glorified, that he be lifted up? If there was ever a time, it's now the hour has come for the for the son of God to be glorified. In other words, it's time it's time to pray the prayer. It's time for us to pray this prayer. Father, glorify thy name. If you'll notice in verse twenty three, it says Jesus answered them. So he's answering a request. What is it? Back up to verse twenty one. The same came, therefore, to Philip, which was of the site of Galilee and desired him saying, sir, we would see Jesus. Now, I want you to hear that. There is a whole world out there in that dark world, they may not be necessarily saying it with their mouth, but there is a there is still a desire out there. We want to see Jesus. We've heard about him. We want to see Jesus. And so Jesus is answering that request. And what is the answer? Here's the answer. Verse twenty three. Jesus answered them, saying the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. In other words, they will see him when he is glorified in us. When Jesus is lifted up and glorified, he will be seen. And when he is seen, really seen, he will be glorified. The hour is come for Christ to be glorified. Now, how is he? How does it happen? You go to the next verse. Verse twenty four. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. It's time for it's time for us to embrace the whole gospel and the whole gospel, brothers and sisters, is not only the cross where Jesus died for our sins, he did. Amen. And praise his name. But it's also the cross where we die with him. And unless we die with him, we will not bear any fruit. Unless we die to this old selfish life and this and this, this this old man, he can't be glorified in and through us, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die. It abideth alone. If I had a grain of wheat up here and I put it, let's say I put it up here on this table and we leave that grain of wheat on that table, we come back tomorrow. It's still a grain of wheat. We come back 10 years later, 50 years later, 100 years later. What is it? Still one kernel of wheat. But if that kernel of wheat is put into the ground, buried and dies, outer shell breaks open, life comes forth and it brings a whole head of wheat, much, much fruit. You see, this is God's way. Just take the death of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, the crucifixion of Christ, the kernel of wheat died on that cross. This is my body, which is broken for you. He suffered, he bled and he died on that cross for us. And what is the fruit of the death of Christ? We're sitting here tonight, a whole all of heaven and all of us who are gathered in heaven is the fruit of the son of God laying down his life and dying for our sins. Hallelujah. The kernel of wheat falls in the ground and die. But you want to glorify Christ? You know, we want to go beyond just saying, father, glorify thy name to Lord. Let this be a reality in my life. Then Jesus says, follow me the way of the cross. You too must die. You too must be willing to lay down your life so that he can live. The glorious good news of the gospel is we not only die with Christ, death is not the end, but we are raised to newness of life and we live in Christ and he lives in us. But apart from this outer shell, this outer man breaking and dying, we they can't see Jesus. Let's go to the second Corinthians chapter four, where I believe we will see this even clearer. Second Corinthians chapter four, and we'll begin reading in verse three. I'll wait till you get there. It's important we see this in the word of God. Second Corinthians chapter four, verse three. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world that is little G.O.D. Who is this speaking about? Satan in the Satan, the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake, for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. Now, listen to this. We just read about a people who have been blinded to the glorious light of the gospel who has blinded them. Satan has blinded them so they cannot see the light and glory of Christ. How will they finally see him? Of course, the spirit of God has to open their eyes, but how will they see him? Remember in John 12, we want to see Jesus. So how is he seeing verse seven? We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. So we are the clay vessels, the earthen vessels. We have a treasure living on the inside of us, the light, the light of the world, the person of Jesus Christ himself. But how are they going to see how are they going to see Jesus? This earthen vessel has to be broken. It has to be shattered so Christ can shine through. They can't see the light unless we're willing to die to our self-centered life that he may live. It's the treasure inside that the world needs to see. Now, if Brother Paul and Sister Tiki were to make us all tonight a delicious cup of hot English tea, I mean, the best one you've ever had and they pass it all out to us tonight. And you get that tea, oh, you taste it, it's delicious. How many of us are going to be taken up with the cup, the outside? Oh, my cup's white. Well, mine's brown. Well, mine's red. Look at this the way this one's made. None of us will be taken up with the cup. We will be taken up with what's inside of the cup. That treasure inside that I want the tea, I could care less about the cup. They made me a delicious bowl of Jamaican Saturday soup a while ago, and it was very, very good. You know, I'm just thinking I can't remember anything about the bowl. I wasn't taken up with the bowl. I wasn't taken up with the vessel. But what was inside the vessel was very good. They need to taste and see that the Lord is good. And can I tell you, they've seen enough of the earthen vessel. They've seen enough of the flesh. They've seen enough of man using the name of Christ to glorify himself. That needs to be flipped around where Jesus can take us to bring him glory. We're not using his name for our glory, but he's using us for his glory. But for that to happen, this vessel has got to be broken. The clay jar has to shatter. In other words, we have to die. The kernel of wheat has to die. It has to be broke open that the life may come forth. Now, if we go back to John chapter 12, the next verse after the kernel of wheat is verse twenty five. And he says it this way. He that loveth his life shall lose it. And he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life. If you want to hang on to your pride, hang on to your life, hang on to your agendas, hang on to yours again, self-centered ways. You're going to miss it. You're going to miss you're going to miss the kingdom of God. But if you let go of this life and follow Christ the way of the cross and die to it all, brother, you're really going to find life. You're going to enter into real life. This is God's way. There was a man years and years ago in India, they called him Sadhu Sundar Singh. Sundar Singh had it and he was a Hindu. And then he had an incredible encounter with Christ and he was born again. And as a young man, he began to preach the gospel across the country. And I read this where he one time was he would go over these big mountains, Himalayan mountains, and he would go into these Tibet villages and preach the gospel. But they say these mountains were so they got so cold up there on top that if you didn't get across in the daytime, you got stuck up there at night, you could freeze to death. One day he set out in the morning and he was treading through the snow and he was walking over this mountain and he come up alongside a priest and they were walking together and they were just staying on the trail together. And all of a sudden they see somebody up ahead of them. And this guy's laid face down in the snow and they run up to him and they turn him over and he's still alive, but he's barely alive. And Sundar and the priest says to Sundar Singh, what are we going to do if we try to carry him? It will slow us down. We won't get over the mountain in time and we'll all freeze to death. And Sundar Singh says, I can't leave the man. You see, if you're not carrying the compassion of Christ, you're missing it altogether. There's no such thing as true Christianity without carrying the compassion and love of Christ for others. He wouldn't leave. He said, I'm not leaving him. The priest said, well, I'll see you later. And he took off. Sundar Singh picked up that man and put him over his shoulder and he began to carry him up over this mountain. And he exerted so much energy to do this, but he kept treading. God gave him strength to get all the way over the mountain and into that village. But before he got to the village, he saw someone up ahead lying down in the snow. And by the time he got to him, this man was already dead. Who was it? The priest. When he got to the village, he said, Lord, how is it that that man didn't make it while he was going alone and I'm carrying this this man and it took us so much longer. The Lord showed him the exertion of carrying that man, created more and more body heat, kept them both warm enough. And he said, you know what, Lord, your word is true. He that seeks to save his life will lose it. But the one who's willing to lay it down will save it. Jesus said it is simple, brother. There's nothing complicated about this. The gospel is simple. The way of the cross is simple. I didn't say it was easy, but it is simple. Jesus said greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. That's the way. You see, if we say, father, glorify thy name, that's the prayer for every occasion. And the father says, I will glorify it, son. I will glorify my name, daughter, and I want to do it through you. Now, follow me the way of the cross. But, you know, what is the way of the cross? What is the way of the cross? The way of the cross is the way of love. Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life. The way of the cross is the way. Let me ask you this. When Jesus Christ was dying on the cross for our sins, what was his focus? Was his focus. I'm dying. I got to die. I got to die. I'm dying. I'm dying. I need to die. Not at all. What was his focus? God so loved the world. He so loved you. It was love. It was love that led Christ to open his arms and to die on that cross. Can I tell you something? This is the secret of dying, laying down your life. It's it's loving if you love God with all your heart and you love others with the love of Christ, you will die to yourself and you'll die to yourself without trying to die. I've found when I read this, this scripture that where Jesus says that if any man wants to be my disciple, he's got to deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. He's got to die. And I remember even as a younger Christian saying, OK, Lord, I got to die. I got to die. How do I die to my flesh? My focus is on dying, dying, dying. And you know what? All I'm doing is exciting the flesh because my eyes are on me when I got my eyes off of me and put them on him and put them on. Lord, let me see others as you see them. And all of a sudden he's filling my heart with his love for people. And you start living that love out for people. Guess what? You're dying. You start dying without trying. The way of the cross is the way of love. It's loving God so much that you will not withhold anything from him. You're willing to lay down your life. There was a prominent leader in one of the largest denominations in America, and not too long ago he had met some Chinese Christians in China that were a part of the underground persecuted church in China. And he was talking to one of these Chinese brothers, and he says, I noticed that you all meet secretly and you have to organize your meetings to move around so that you don't get caught by the government. And because if they get caught, they're persecuted. Many of them are put to death. He said, how does that work? How do you know where you're going to meet from one place to another? And the Chinese brother said, we have what we call marketplace Christians. And he says, what is a marketplace Christian? He said, a marketplace Christian is a Christian that we placed strategically in the marketplace out in the world. And we have hand signals and we have code words and that marketplace Christian will begin to put off these hand signals and code words and other believers know it and they listen and then they discover, OK, this is where we're going to meet next. And this is what time he said. That's amazing. He says, what happens if the marketplace Christian gets caught and they find out that's what he's doing? And he said, without fail, they'll arrest him and nine times out of 10, they'll execute him or her. And this big denominational leader sort of chuckled and said, well, I bet you don't have very many volunteers for marketplace Christians. And the Chinese brother began to weep. Tears running down his face, and he says, actually, we have so many volunteers of brothers and sisters wanting to be a marketplace Christian, I've lost count. Believers that have already died to this life and say, Lord, just as we sang a while ago in that wonderful hymn, love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life and my all. I will withhold nothing from you. The way, but why, because they love him, they love him, he's worthy and they're willing to lay down their life for him. That's the way of the cross. That's the way of love. And when we die like that, this clay jar begins to break apart and the glory of Christ is seen. He. Shines through us, Romans five, eight, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The way of the cross is the way of love. I want you to see another verse, John, chapter 13. John, chapter 13, verse one, this is just before Jesus would go to the cross. John, chapter 13, verse one. Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the father. Having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. Think about this with me, folks. If you knew your hour had come, you were going to die the very next day. Would you be thinking about you or would you be thinking about others? And let's go beyond that, would you be thinking about you or would you be concerned about one that you knew was going to betray you and another one that's going to deny you? Would you, knowing you're going to die the very next day, bend down and wash the feet of your betrayer, of someone that was going to deny you? You talk about love. Love that goes beyond reason. Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, it's as if he's saying the time has come now, I want to do one more thing before I go to the cross. I want to show you once again how much I love you. And the king of kings in John chapter 13 here takes a towel and a basin of water and he goes around and he washes his disciples feet. The duty of a servant, what in the world should you and I be doing? You know, I'm I'm so excited talking to Freddie, talking to others that God has so ignited your heart to go out there and preach the gospel and reach the lost. I'm so excited. But I want to say to you, brothers, and to us all, when you go, don't forget that our number one motive has to be for the glory of God and love for those souls, because first Corinthians 13, if you even preach with the tongues of angels and if you even have the faith to move a mountain, but you don't have love for those that we're preaching to, you're a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. We're just we're just ringing a dead bell. You know what we need to do first? Come before the father and pray this prayer for every occasion, father, glorify thy name and then say, father, break my heart for that lost world. Fill me with your love that it overflows. And you know what will happen when you set out in obedience to love as Christ loved, you will be dying. You'll be dying to your rights. You'll be dying to your pride. You'll be dying to your reputation. You'll be dying to all your self-centered desires. And what will happen? The life of Christ Jesus will so shine through you. I love the story of a sister from America. She was a godly woman. She still is. And she was in an airport in Knoxville, Tennessee, and she was waiting to board her plane and she had her Bible in her lap and she was just praying and reading her Bible when all of a sudden this old man came into the airport, wheeled him in there in a wheelchair. And she said he was the most horrible looking fellow she had seen in a long time. Poor guy, old man with gray hair that went all the way down past his shoulders and his hair was all matted up. His fingernails were long. His jacket coat was hanging on him, said it looked like it was still hanging on a clothes hanger. He was so thin and frail. And yes, her heart was moved with compassion when she saw this pitiful looking old man. But she just went back to reading her Bible. And all of a sudden, the spirit of God began to burn within her heart and everybody around her is looking at this old man and she says, Lord, I know what you're about to do. You're about to call me to go witness to him in front of all these people. Lord, please, please don't have me witness to this man in front of everybody. Please don't have me witness this man. And she starts sweating and her heart starts beating. And the spirit of God speaks to her and says, I'm not calling you to witness to him, I'm calling you to go brush his hair. She says, Lord, I'll go witness to him right now. I want you to go brush his hair. And then she's really fighting it, we've all been there, you know, God's calling you to do something and you don't want to do it. Why? Because I'll look like a fool. I'm concerned about what other people think about me. Guess what? We got to die to that. When the Holy Spirit speaks to us, we got to die to that. And so she fights it for a while and she says, OK, Lord, I'll do it, but I don't have a hairbrush. Just obey. So she goes over to the old man and she's wanting to be real quiet, you know, it's not to draw a lot of attention to her, she's already embarrassed. And she kneels down beside his chair and says, sir, may I have the privilege of brushing your hair? He said, what's that? She said, may I have the privilege of brushing your hair? And then he speaks out in volume 10. Lady, if you're going to if I'm going to be able to hear you, you're going to speak louder than that. He was hard of hearing, sir, may I have the privilege of brushing your hair? He said, well, I guess if you want to. She said, I do, there's only one problem, I don't have a hairbrush. He said, there's one in my bag just behind the chair. So she kneels down and gets this hairbrush and she says as she began to brush this matted hair, the love of God began to just melt her heart for this man, pour through her. You know what it is, brothers and sisters? God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey him, and sometimes we say, why am I not why are not rivers of living water flowing out of me? Sometimes it's because of this. We've not taken the first step of obedience. We're waiting to feel that the emotion of that river of living water, God saying you obey when you step out in faith and obedience, then the river flows. And as she obeyed and she was brushing this poor man's hair, the love of God just overwhelmed her. She was in tears and she just brushed and brushed and his hair was so nice and combed out. And when she finished, it was time to board the plane. But he was called first. And the stewardess took him and wheeled him in on the plane before that, he had told her, he said, well, after she finished brushing his hair, she said, sir, do you know Jesus? He said, I sure do. He said, I forget how many years ago he said, my bride wouldn't marry me till I truly came to know Jesus and was born again. He said, I was saved. He told her the year and he said, then we got married. He said, I hadn't seen her in several days now because I've just had open heart surgery and she's in a home at this certain town. And he said, I was sitting there thinking how pitiful I look. And how pitiful I'm going to look for my bride and here along you came to brush out my hair. The stewardess wheeled him on in the plane, she came back out and she was sobbing. She walked up to this sister in Christ and said, why did you do that? She said, that old man's in there just crying his eyes out on the plane. She said, do you know my Jesus? And the Lord opened a wide door for her to witness to the stewardess. You see what the love of God will do. And when the love of God flows, it's when we are willing to die to our reputation, die to our pride, die to our self-centeredness. I'll tell you this. If you follow Jesus the way of the cross, he's going to call you to do something that's uncomfortable. He's going to call you to do things that go completely against your selfish desires. There's something in first Corinthians chapter 13, that great love chapter when he describes love, love is patient, love is kind. There's something that always gets a hold of my heart there. Love seeketh not its own. Think of that love never seeks for its own. There is nothing self-centered about the Christian life. Nothing at all, self-centered, self-absorbed. About the cross. It's all God centered and other centered. Are you willing, my brother, my sister, to pray the prayer for every occasion? Father, glorify your name. But knowing that when you pray that prayer, you're also saying and do whatever it takes to glorify your name through me. And that will mean going to a cross. Dying daily to our rights and to our reputation. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father, God, we're so grateful. Father, so, so grateful for the love that you've shown us. By not even withholding your only son, you so loved us, Lord, that you gave your only son, Jesus Christ. As a perfect sacrifice who died on the cross to pay for our sins in full, I pray, Lord, we'd never get over that. I pray we'd never lose the wonder of the cross. We'd never lose the wonder of how much you have have loved us. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, with all of our hearts for going to that cross, for not holding anything back. Lord, you gave your all. You suffered and you died for us, even when it meant carrying the weight of the sin of the world, even when it meant suffering the wrath of God, something we can't even fathom what you did on that cross to pay for our sins. Thank you for your love for us, Lord Jesus. Thank you for your love for us. And we praise you that not only did you die, not only were you buried, but on the third day you rose again and you were risen and alive forevermore. And Lord, you're calling us to follow you, to die with you, that we may also live for you and with you. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would take this life and I pray for my brothers and sisters, take our lives and do whatever it takes to get the most glory for your name. God, we know that means it's going to be a cost. But what is the cost compared to to you, Lord? There's no comparison to you being glorified, to you being exalted. To your name being lifted up, father, I also pray that you would so fill us with your spirit, with with your love, O God, that when we go out beyond these walls and you bring people across our path who need you, that father, we would demonstrate the reality of who you really are. Genuine love. The world has seen so much of this counterfeit love and they need to see the true love of you, God. I pray you would do that through us, that in loving we will be dying and dying. You will be glorified in Jesus holy name. Amen. Can I tell you, brothers and sisters, it just on my heart, another testimony that the Lord really dealt with me in this area. We were in a prayer meeting one night. And he was at a church that I pastored, the church building was here, and then you had to walk out of the church building, then there was another set of buildings where all the offices were and Sunday school rooms. We were in one of those rooms and the building set right on a major crossroads. One highway went to Denver, Colorado, the other one would go to Texas. And we were in this prayer meeting and we had just prayed, Lord, send someone across our path this week who needs you. And God is my witness. Right after I said amen to the closing prayer, there was a knock on the door. Come in. And this man comes in, but he's dressed like a woman. And you don't see that a lot in the Oklahoma panhandle. And I'll be honest with you, in the natural, I was absolutely disgusted by that sight. I'm being honest with you. But I also remember what I just prayed, just said amen to. He said, I was wondering if I could get some help. He says, I'm headed to California. He said, I come around the corner there and my headlights just went completely out. I think both bulbs burned out. We had just prayed, send someone across our path this week who needs you. And this man's headlights went out right out in front of the parking lot. He said, I pulled in the parking lot. I just wanted to ask if I could sleep in my van here in your parking lot tonight. I said, you sure can. And everybody else walked out and went home. I said, but before you settle down for the night, could we just talk for a little bit? He said, sure. I said, do you have any spiritual beliefs? And he said, yeah, he said, but you'll be offended by them. And I said, go ahead. He started talking to me. And in the natural, what I saw, which was so disgusting, this transgender. All of a sudden, the spirit of God opened my eyes and I saw a little boy, I saw a little boy. And when he stopped talking, I said, what happened to you? I said, you haven't always been this way. He said, I'll tell you. He says, when I was just a little boy, about eight years old, my mom was a Pentecostal preacher. Didn't have a dad, didn't know my dad. And he said, I never was good at sports and I was always made fun of. And she was convinced that I had demons of homosexual tendencies. And she literally physically beat me, constantly trying to beat these demons out of me. My heart at this point is breaking for this man. And she said eventually she was so embarrassed of me, she admitted me in a psychiatric hospital and I never saw her again. She never came back. There was a practicing witch who worked at this hospital who adopted me as her own. I'm seeing this little boy without a chance growing up, and all of a sudden my heart is just moving with compassion. I told him what happened. I told him how much God loved him. He would not leave him the way he was, that God hated sin and he could be forgiven completely of his sin. But if he came to the Lord right now the way he was, the Lord would clean him up. He wasn't very receptive to the gospel. He slept in his van that night. I said in the morning, we'll go down to the car parts store and we'll get your headlights fixed. And we went to prayer that night. I called the prayer warriors and we prayed throughout the night. That next morning, we went down to the local car parts store. And here are all these ranchers and farmers and people that know me. And I'll be honest with you, I was so embarrassed because who is with me? I'm a bit I'm embarrassed and I'm ashamed. But what is the way of the cross? Dying to our reputation, dying to pride. We got his headlights fixed and we were just about to part ways. And I said to him, I said, can I pray for you before you go? By this time, he was really starting to soften. And he said, yeah. And just before we prayed, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, I want you to put your arm around and pray for him. I said, Lord, I don't want to do that. I don't want to do that right in front of the front door. And all these big, burly men walking in, looking at me and staring. And now the Lord saying, put your arm around him and pray over him. And I fought it, I'll be honest with you. But eventually I obeyed. And I'm telling you, when I put my arm around him and started praying, God broke my heart for this soul. Praying with tears, praying with with the compassion that didn't come from me. It was the compassion of Christ. Praying for him, suddenly he started weeping. He was broken, shared the gospel with him again. I don't know if he fully repented. I don't know if he was ever born again. He showed me on his IDs from Hollywood, California. And that's where he was headed back to. But I believe with all of my heart, he will never, ever forget that encounter. And I say all that not to tell you about me. You saw what you saw, how I felt. But I tell you about when we lift our eyes from ourselves and we say, Lord, I'm willing to obey you. Break my heart for the things that break your heart. Cause me to see people through your eyes. Let me be moved with compassion like you are. And then you speak the truth. You don't ever waver on the truth. But the difference is now you're speaking the truth in love. And that pierces the heart. Amen. God bless you, brothers and sisters.