[ Selected ] Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. (Psalm 65:1-2). For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him [ The Septuagint version says, "thy works which thou will perform to them that wait for mercy." ]. (Isaiah 64:4). But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6). Our Greatest Weapon In general terms, there is a great lack of real praying today; I say that because we fail to see the fruits (the results) of it in individual lives, and then collectively as the church. References to prayer are found in the Word of God hundreds of times, and I believe God has something to say about prayer. It is instilled throughout the Word of God, from one end of the Book to the other. Prayer is certainly a great necessity; it is our greatest weapon, and the enemy does not want us to use it. The older brethren used to say, "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees." and it is still true. We can put forth great efforts (and certainly the enemy is working a work by moving on the minds of God's people to promote greater programs), but if we fail to pray, it all amounts to nothing. Nowhere in the Bible did Jesus ever teach anybody to preach, but He did teach us to pray. Without real prayer, there cannot be any real preaching, and through real prayer, somebody who cannot preach, can preach when God deems it that way. I am trusting that as we study God's Word, the Holy Spirit will stir us. One of the ways of getting our spirit stirred, is through the teaching of God's Word. If we look into it honestly, really seeking, our spirit will be stirred, and it will do something for us. The verses of Scripture that we read in the book of Psalms and also in Paul's writings to the Hebrews let us know that God hears and answers prayer. I believe there are greater things in store than our eyes have ever beheld. I believe that with just a little greater waiting before God in prayer, we can see God work the works that need to be worked, and greater works. Jesus promised before He went away that when the Holy Spirit came into our lives, we would work greater works than He worked. The Scriptures plainly teach us that the greater works are the spiritual works that He could not do. He preached and gained one hundred twenty disciples; but when the Holy Spirit came and fell on all flesh, a greater work was done, and has been done, than Jesus Himself could do when He walked here on the earth. Friend, I am not talking about fantasies *S*, I am talking about realities. Diligent Seeking Paul said that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. The enemy is working as never before through the very power of unbelief. If he can get us to doubt one part of God's Word as being true, he has done a terrible work on us. It is a fact that God is a rewarder of everyone that diligently seeks Him. Nevertheless, we have to go to God, who sees in secret, and pray in secret, and He will reward you openly. If there is anything we need as the church, it is some more open rewards. Thank God for everything that has happened and is happening, and for every bit of reward; God has rewarded us in a great way, but there can be greater open rewards. When God openly rewards you, you will begin to lift Him up, and the world will begin to see that God is blessing you as an individual; then the church will be lifted to the place of being a city set on a hill which cannot be hid. The truth that shines forth in Hebrews 11:6 is that reward comes to diligent seekers. That Scripture is very plain, but sad to say, the unbelieveing world believes it more than most Christians do. Look at the very scheme of the universe: diligent seeking is the thing that has caused us to make such progress in scientific field and other lines in the last fifty years. Scientist believe that if they search, they will be rewarded; so there are scientists who are searching round the clock, and they are being rewarded every day. If we could get the Church seeking on spiritual lines as diligent as scientists do in nature, we could be much further up the road as the church. While science has taken us way ahead the last fifty years, the church has gone in reverse the last fifty years. Why are we not getting more from God? Why is there not greater reward? There is not enough diligent seeking. What if every scientist would quit studying and researching, and would just sit around and take the attitude that many Christians take, such as, "If God wants us to have it, He will send it." That is not the law: you only get rewarded if you diligently seek. The scientists have learned that, and even men who do not believe in God put this principle into practice. They dig into what they term "the laws of nature." Many of them do not want to acknowledge that it is God; but they can call it whatever they want, it is still God. Oh, how scientists search and search, and the first thing you know, they find something. How did they find it? They were rewarded for diligently seeking. Brother, there is a God who is a just God that rules this whole world. It makes no difference whether you are delving into natural or spiritual things, if you are diligent in your seeking, you will be rewarded. God Is True to His Word It is God's desire that you and I dig. When Israel was in bad shape and the prophet did not know what was going on. God took him in a vision to the house and a hole in the wall. Then God said, "Son of man, dig;" when he dug, a door opened up and he opened the door and went in. It was a vision of God opening up to him and showing him what was going on in the hearts of His people; but the prophet had to dig. There are too many lazy preachers today who are not willing to dig into the Word of God and seek dilignetly. Also, it come right down to the laity who are not diligent enough seeking God in prayer. God can show us things that eyes have never seen and ears have never heard. We are dealing with a limitless God. He is unlimited; He can do anything, and He will do anything to awaken a lost would before the end, but His instruments through which He works are you and me. Men in science are in daily pursuit of abstract knowledge through constant seeking. They find something every little bit, and you read about it: they were rewarded for their diligent efforts. Just as God rewards the diligent seeker in one are of life, He rewards us in the other. How much more can we find in the realms of prayer if God will reward men who do not even have respect for Him and who do not eve believe He exists, yet He is true to His Word! When they diligently seek, He rewards them. He will reward us much more when we believe that God is real, and if we pray and really seek Him in a diligent manner. In the day and time in which we live, prayer has become an unreasonable thing in too many cases, but I want you to see that it is very reasonable to pray. We are in a day when so many people are struggling with the thought of finding time to pray and really praying. Throughout the Bible and through all ages, prayer has recommended itself to the human mind. As an illustration, when an individual's car rolls ove and ignites, he may never have gone to church in his life, but he will start praying then. The Word of God, as well as history, bears this to be true even in religion wuch as Buddhism. The Buddhists deny the existence of a true God distinct from nature; but even though they do not believe there is a true God distinct from nature, in the last few years, prayer has forced itself into Buddhism and Buddhists pray. They do not pray to a living God, but they pray. I want you to see that it is a human instinct right within man that he should pray. Our Scripture text says, "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion..." (Psalm 65:1). Sion is the church, and if we rightly divide this Word of truth, in reading the other Psalms surrounding this on, we find that God has been telling them how He was going to deliver Jerusalem once and for all. He was going to send a deliverer, Jesus Christ, and He would deliver them from sin. In essence, the Psalmist was saying, "Praise is waiting on you. We believe that you are going to do it, and we are waiting to praise you for it." This is real faith; those words were spoken hundreds of years before it happened. God prophesied that He was going to deliver His people from their sins, and the Psalmist said, "Praise waiteth for thee." Then he said, "...unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come" (verses 1-2). Partakers of God's Divine Nature When a situation really gets troubled enough, it is a natural instinct for men to pray. However, beyond the natural instinct, there is a supernatural instince put in every born again person which causes a deep-burning desire to pray. It is a work of the Holy Spirit within. A child of God prays because he wants to pray. Old things have passed away, and one of the old thing that passed away was the prayerlessness and unconcern for God that you used to have. Brother, when you are born again, you are a new creature and you get a great concern for God. You did not use to be a praying individual, but now you become a praying man or woman. You can become careless in your prayer life, but if the word comes that your child, father, mother, or husband or wife has cancer, you will begin to vow your prayer more than you had before. Let us read Romans 8:15, to see how this supernatural instinct comes into us. Paul said, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but yehave received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Abba is the Chaldee for Father, So when you receive the Spirit of adoption, you just begin crying, "Father, Father." For the benefit of those who may not understand this Scripture, I will clarify it. Paul said that you receive the Spirit of adoption. When you adopt somebody else's child, you go through legal procedures and officially file the proper papers, and then the child legally belongs to you; but no matter how much he belongs to you legally, he will still have the attributes, actions, and looks of his natural parents. By contrast, when God takes us into His family, thank God, He does not make out papers and bring us in legally and ceremonially, but He actually give us the Spirit of adoption. When we receive the Spirit of adoption, we look like our Gathe, and we become partakers of God's divine nature. We act like our Father, and we know who He is. As soon as we become filled with His Spirit, we begin crying, "Abba, Father." Verses 16-17 read, "The Spirit [the Holy Spirit] itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ..." When we are made to realize that we are truly sons of God and joint heirs withChrist, the very Spirit of God will bear witness with our spirit. Perhaps Paul made that plainer in Galatians 4:6, when he said, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hears [and that Spirit is], crying, Abba, Father." Here, my friend, we are changed idividuals, and God has sent the Spirit of His Son. What does the Spirit of His Son do? It will cause us to pray just like Jesus prayed. God's Storehouses God has given us exceedingly great and precious promises. NOne of those promises were ours. We were all Gentiles without promise and withou hoe, but thank God, through the Spirit of adoption we have been made children of God. As a result, all these precious promises, and everything God has (and who knows how much God has), are ours. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. God said to Abraham, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" When God wanted the world, He just made one; when God wanted a man, He just made one; when God wanted a fruit tree, He just made one! God is glorified in blessing His children. He wants us to be as rich as He is. All Heaven's riches are our, and every storehouse God has, He has given to you and me. What it the combination that will ipen up God's storhouses to us? -- crying , "Abba, Father." Let us read Mark 14:34-36, where it speaks of Jesus in Gethsemane: "And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." My friend, crying, "Abba, Father definitely has to do with prayer. We are brought into an experience where a supernatural work is working within us and the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spitit that we are the children of God. When we are children of God, how doew the Holy Spirit bear witness with our spirit? When you are born again, your spirit will cry, "Abba, Father;" that is that adopted Spirit. Paul said that God sent the Spirit of His Son (the Holy Spirit) into your heart, and the Holy Spirit crys,"Abba, Father;" both of them bear witness, opening up the great inheritance tha God has ordained you and me to enjoy. The devil would like to make you fill, "God has stores running over, but you just try to get anything." God still has a storehous that is branded "divine healing," and every kind of healing imaginable is there for us. Jesus paid the price, whereby every one of us could have that precious privilege; in spite of that fact, the enemy is working through unbelief. There are people who do not even pray about things. They do not know if God would answer or not because they do not pray. The devil has them sold on the idea that i will not do any good, so they do not try. There are preachers of every kind trying to prove that the anointing with oil meant giving people every bit of medicine that could be given, and then pray. This is just the enemy working through various avenues to sew thoughts within your mind that will kell the effectiveness of God's Word that He has given us to enjoy. Someone may say, "I didn't know that crying, "Abba, Father" has to do with prayer." Even before conversion, when the the Holy Spirit moves on a heart, it is just a natural thing for someone to go to an altar of prayer and get down and start praying. When a person seeks God with his whole heart, which is a diligent way, God rewards him. There has not been one person who has sought God in a diligent manner that did not get rewarded. I am in no way saying that God will reward you the very moment you seek Him. Paul did not say that in that verse of Scripture, but he did say that you will be rewarded. If you hold right in that promise and seek God in a diligent manner, you will be rewarded. The Sprit of Grace and Supplications In Zechariah, the twelfth chapter, the prophet was speaking about Jerusalem being delivered and how God was going to send a deliver. He begins to talk about physical, natural things down through the chapter, then in the tenth verse, he switched over to spiritual things. He said, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplicatrions..." In other words, God is able to bring you to a place of praying. In Chapter 13, verse 1, he said, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened..." That fountain was opened when Christ's side was pierced. God was furnisheing real deliverance for Jerusalem, a deliverance they never had before. They had physical deliverance of all kinds ever since they had left Egypt, but He was talking about a deliverance that would deliver them from sin. He said that at that time, He would pour out the spirit of grace and supplications. Then going back to Chapter 12, verse 10, he said, "...and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for hi firstborn." In essence, the prophet was merely saying that God would pour out the spirit of grace and supplications to the place that you would get down and mourn over your condition and pray and seek God as never before. All you have to do is read the New Testament and you will know that very thing occurred. I want you to look at eht Apostle Paul's conversion, and you can see just exactly how this happened. In Acts, the ninth chapter, Paul was breathing out threatenings against the church; he was persecuting and wasting the Church of God. As He was gong down the road to Damascus with papers in his pocket to put the saints in jail, a great light shined down upon him and he fell to the earth. Jesus, the resurrected Jesus who had gone back to Heaven, appeared to him and talked to him. He said, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (verse 4). Then in verses 8-11 we read: "And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did ear nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias.. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth." God Exalts Real Prayer Somebody may say, "Saul was a Pharisee. He prayed three times a day and he prayed long prayers." He was not truly praying. You see, Jesus know when you are really praying. Let us get the point here: ther are a lot of people just like the Pharisees; they go through the form. HOwever, it is an outstanding thing when a man really prays. Jesus said, "Behold, he prayeth." It is a beholding thing when a man really prays. Jesus already knew what Ananias would say, so Jesus just said, "he prayeth." You do not have to worry about a man hurting you when he is praying. There are a lot of troubles that people are fussing over, fussing back and forth, but if the parties involved would pray, the problems would be dissolved. Jesus had won a great battle: Saul was willing and submissive. He said, "Lord, what will thou have me to do?" So the Lord told him to go into the city to a street called Straight and wait there. For three days, Paul did not ear, but he prayed, and it was not a Pharisaical prayer. He was speaking with a new tongue. Mark 16:17 says, "...they shall speak with new tongues." The word new there is a different Greek word altogether from the word used in Acts, the second chapter, where they spake in another tongue. The word new in Mark 16:17 means "a refreshed tongue." When you become a Christian, the very tongue that used to cuss, lie, and swear will start saying, "Abba, Father. Praise God!" It has nothing to do with another language. Paul had a new tongue. Jesus was talking to one disciple about another disciple. In other words, Jesus was saying, "Ananias, you are my disciple, and you are not going over to see Saul of Tarsus because Saul is praying." Ananias lost all his fear and went his way and when he went through the door, he said, "Brother Saul," Do not tell me that prayer will not do away with a lot of differences when prople really pray. There is so much more to praying than what people are seemingly getting hold of today. When someone is truly praying, it is a sight that the resurrected, glorified Christ notices above everything else. You may be able to sing like a bird or preach like an orator, but you will not excite Jesus. When somebody gets down in real prayer, it is a sight worthy to be observed. To many, this sight would be very ordinary. This attitude toward prayer shows the difference in value that earth puts on things and Heaven puts on things. God exalts praying. He would rather see you and me on our knees really praying, and I am not talking about merely saying prayers. A New State Toward God Saul excelled beyond any of his equals: he outprayed them and outworked them. He was the strictest of the Pharisees. When they believed that they had to pray three hours, he did not pray two hours and forty-five minutes. Even so, all the praying that he had done through that form of religion, never excited God one bit. However, when he got down to business diligently seeking God, Got took notice. Paul was praying, "Lord, I can see the very Christ that I had been against and the very church that I had persecuted. I see it is the church. I know you are the Messiah," and Jesus said, "Behold, he prayeth." Jesus points to the sight of a man on his knees as something worthy to behold. Why is this such a sight to behold? First of all, it is the first sign that a great change is coming. Mark it down, my friend, when you get down and diligently pray, it portend that there is much to come and something is going to happen. Nobody can diligently seek God without moving God on His throne. Paul was wasting his life, but brother, when he preally prayed, God heard his prayer and lifted him to the place that he was one of the most outstanding Apostles; he wrote the rest of the Bible. Where did it start? He prayed! I cannot put too much emphasis on this. The man who prays has come into a new state toward God. You cannot really pray without changing your state toward Him. Oh, you can get down and say a few words before you go to bed, say a few when you get up tomarrow, and say a few over you food, but I am talking about getting into a place where Jesus looks down and says, "He is really praying." Real prayer changed Paul's state toward God. Brother , after he was filled with the Holy Ghost and was baptized, he went out on the street and preached the doctrines of the church, and the people said, "Isn't that the man who used to persecute the church? Wasn't he against it? What happened to him?" Peter said, "He prayed!" Real prayer will change the church's state toward God, and when our state toward God is changed, our state toward one another will be changed. The man who prays desires to come into a very new attitude toward God. He has discovered a need, a need with real depth. Being Awakened to Your Need I do not know how many of those three days it took Saul to come to the realization that he had a deep need. He thought he was on the mountaintop, but when he got straightened out, he saw that in terms of real salvation he had nothing. We will never get to the place of really praying until we are somehow awakened to the depth of our need of praying and calling on God. The reason you do not pray is because you do not think you need to pray; the flesh has raised up. You rest on the length of time that you have been saved, but it does not amount to anything if you have not prayed through today. You are not in a bit better shape just because you have been saved for years. The devil will try to switch you over to the externals and you will fall into Pharisaism. Jesus is looking down to see if we are really praying. His eye is on His children and His ear is open to their cry. This is sad to say, but it is true: some people cannot get diligent until catastrophe comes; it should not be that way, but it is in too many cases. You cannot really pray until you become diligent. As Jesus looks down upon us as individuals, I wonder if He is saying "Behold, he prayeth," or is He saying, "Behold he does not pray." In either case, it is amazing to Christ. It is an amazing thing to Christ when people have been so blessed and then do not pray. Friend, when we get down to business praying, it is a state in which we have discovered a great need with great depth. When we really pray, pride is gone. Second Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." You cannot pray until pride is gone. Paul's pride was gone. He no doubt dressed well and was well respected; he was a man who got things done. Other Pharisees just sat and said, "That church is terrible. They are turning the world upside down and putting the doctrine of Christ in every town; yet they never did anything about it. Paul was a doer. He got the papers and went to work. He was prod that he was wasting the church; he was doing it ignorantly, but he was proud of what he was doing. He caused many saints to recant and back off by causing them to fear. Once Paul got down to business praying, all pride was gone. He who had been the strictest of the Pharisees then called himself the chief of sinners. Now that is getting down to the bottom. Instead of being proud, he was saying, "No one is as bad as I am, Lord." See, when you are a Pharisee, you are glad that you are not like other men; but when you get down to business praying, you are chief of sinners, and ugliest and the worst. Do you know one reason that your prayers have not been going through? You hold yourself in too much of an elevated position. You have not gotten down to business telling God who you are as He sees you. I an trying to help you diligently pray. There is too much praying without reward. I still believe that Jesus gets excited when a man or woman really prays. A Greater Work to Be Done When Jesus said, "Behold, he prayeth" (speaking of Saul), He was getting the attention of not only Ananias, but the angels and the Father. Jesus said, in so many words, "If he will just pray, I will do the rest," and brother, He did do the rest. Oh what a man Paul turned out to be. Aren't you anxious to talk with him someday? The historian, Josephus, tells us that he was just a short man and baldheaded, but what a great man of God he was. He prayed, and Jesus did the rest. He started revival fires everywhere his feet trod, and he plainly told people, "It is not me; it is Christ that liveth in me." Paul gave the same testimony everywhere he went. When they brought him before the captain and let him speak, in so many words, he said, "Well, I was going down the road to Damascus, I had papers to persecute the Christians, but a light brighter than the noonday sun shone down, and Jesus said, 'Saul, why persecutest thou me?' and I fell under the light. He told me to go into the city, and there I prayed three days. Ananias came and laid hands on me, and I received my sight and was filled with the Holy Ghost." He was brought before Agrippa, and he said, "I was going down the road to Damascus..." He stuck right with it. Men trembled when he told them about it. A man of great authority was almost persuaded to be a Christian when he heard him tell how he prayed that day and how God moved on his heart and life. God is no respecter of persons. We are not going to do the work that Paul did because the Bible is already written; but, brothers and sisters, God has a greater wirk for every one of us to do than that which is being done. The starting place is right where Paul started: He really prayed until he moved Jesus. The name Saul(his name before he was converted) means "destroyer;" the name Paul means "worker." He went around building up the very thing he had been tearing down. When men truly pray, self-satisfaction and trust in the world's resources are gone. Although there is every reason and encouragement to pray, many fail to pray. Men seeking salvation are praying men. Jesus told us to ask for ou daily bread. How are you going live tomorrow without praying? The Bible tells us that without Him we can do nothing. Keep Asking Jesus gives us the law of prayer to govern our everyday living. Matthew 7:7-8 says: seek, and ya shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Seeking is more diligent than asking; too many just ask. The Greek translation for the word ask there actually means "keep asking." It does not mean to just ask one time and go your way nonchalantly like people are today, I hear people say, "If the Lord wants me to have it, He will give it to me." Not if you do not ask, seek and knock. There is not a place in the Bible where He told you to just mention it to God, and go on your way and He will give it to you if you are supposed to have it. He has ordained that we pray. Paul said, "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (1 Timothy 2:8). Prayer is a great privilege. I thank God for the privilege of prayer. Is Jesus moved when a man prays? He watched Stephen get stoned until they stoned the very life out of him, and he prayed. Did he pray, "My God, I can't hardly wait until you put vengeance on this bunch?" No; there is too much of that kind of praying today. Here is Stephen"s prayer: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Jesus no doubt stood up and looked over the banister of Heaven as Stephen prayed, saying, "Come home, son, you have finished your work." The reason some people do not get salvation when they dawn an altar of prayer is because they do not come seeking sholeheartedly. The word supplication means "to ask humbly and earnestly." In other words, one really gets down to business in prayer, with his whole being, diligently praying. Our praying has to be much more diligent to move God to the place that He answers prayer. In Son of Solomon 2:14, Jesus said to the church, "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see they countenance, let me hear thy voice..,." That is Jesus' attitude toward the church. Cry Unto Him In Hosea, Chapter 5, it talks about the priests who wer leading God's people astray, and the people were not paying much attention to God. In the fifteenth verse it says, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early." This verse of Scripture lets us know that God will even send affliction to cause you to turn and cry unto Him. God said that He would go His way and leave them alone until they got to the place that they would acknowledge their offence and seek His face, and He said that when affliction comes they would seek Him early. Then James said, "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray" (James 5:13a). God lets things happen because He wants you to pray. I have seen cases of serious diseases of every kind where the doctors finally had to say that as far as they were concerned the case was hopeless, and God was standing right there waiting for somebody to turn to Him and really pray. We are living in an age where we are blessed, but where the blessings can become a curse and a hindrance to us. I am thankful for every bit of help that medical science can give, but it has worked wrong when it has hindered you in your praying. Whenever thse things hinder real praying, then they have not been a blessing to us. In all honesty, has God shown you that you have not really been diligent in your prayer life, and because of it you have not reaped the rewards? If the devil can keep you praying without getting any reward or answer, all it will take is time until you quit praying. As I mentioned earlier, nowhere in the Bible does it say that you will get an answer the second you ask; but God is a rewarder of everyone who asks. Whether you get it now or later, you will receive if you ask in faith without doubting. Friend, if you do not pray diligently and do not get anything, the devil will just keep pecking at you, saying, "What are you praying for?" God does not answer prayer," and you will become weary in well doing. Then you will do just what many other people are doing now: they are trying to plot their own course, and when sickness comes, their firat thought is never prayer. I ask you again, in closing, how is your prayer life?