So if God recommended that we do something, would we do it? Can I see a show of hands? Everybody. Nicely done. I think if God recommended that we do something, do this or that, we'd be quick to do it. And you said yes you would. We know that there are people who will say they love Jesus but do not and will not do what Jesus clearly said to do. Let's go to Luke 6:46.

Luke 6:46-48 Jesus says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he's like. He's like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock, and when the flood arose, and the stream beat vehemently against that house, it could not shake it for was founded on the rock."

So if we hear the words of Jesus and put them into practice, we can be like the wise man who built his house on the rock. We live in stressful times, times when economic winds and inflation tear down our prosperity, when waves of discouragement from the devil gnaw at our confidence in God and each other.

I think we all want God's help and guidance. Prayer is how we ask for God's help and guidance. Are we accomplishing something good in our prayers or are we just going through the motions? In addition to our daily prayers for the preaching of the gospel and the care and nurturing of the brethren, Jesus recommended and referred to some supplemental topics for our prayers that are directly relevant for the times in which we live.

Today, I want to encourage us all to pray in the manner proposed by Jesus along with several items recommended by Jesus relevant to our time. I also want to briefly discuss our attitude before, and during prayer, and finally, our royal priestly role in prayer.

Before we start with the supplemental items specific to the time in which we live, we need to remember the general model that Jesus gave for all ages. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 6. We should all know and memorize this model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. Matthew 6. And the context is that Jesus says, "Don't use vain repetitions." You know, don't be like certain religions that print prayers on wheels and every time you spin it, supposedly, the prayer goes up to heaven. Or don't be like those who just repeat the same words over, and over, and over again.

Matthew 6:8-9 Jesus says, "Don't be like them. Your Father knows the things you have need. Don't use vain repetitions like the heathens do." Don't do that. But in verse 9, "In this manner, therefore, pray, Our Father in heaven." Our Father in heaven, we remember that He is our Father, Father of all humankind. He's the Father of spirits and He's in heaven. "Hallowed or Holy is your Name." That is very important for us to remember because the name of God, the name of Jesus, is very powerful, spirits must obey that.

I hope you never have to deal with an evil spirit in this life, but if you do, you should use the name of Jesus Christ, in the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ to tell that evil spirit to depart. I think we've all had certain situations like that. So you don't want to be taking God's name, Jesus's name in vain, do we? No. We want, when we use that name which has power, which spirits must obey, we want God to listen and act quickly. So it's important, it's not a throwaway line. Holy, righteous, and powerful is the name of our God and Jesus Christ.

Matthew 6:10 "Your kingdom come."

When I think about praying God's kingdom come, I think not just about a political government, I think about the birth of first fruits after Jesus Christ, more children being born. You realize, God, how long has He been waiting? He and the Word put this plan into effect 13, 14 billion years ago, by the way, we reckon time. And God, through Jesus Christ, created the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, including spirit beings. And all this time, they have been building, and waiting, and putting things together, exercising supreme self-control. And they must be getting excited because the time of the birth of their children is very soon now. So when I pray, "Your kingdom come," I'm thinking the family of God, the birth of the children of God for which God has put so much effort and time and self-control that Jesus gave his life so that we might live. I think about that.

Matthew 6:10 "Your will be done."

That's not a throwaway line either, that's right at the beginning of the prayer. Because, honestly, brethren, we don't know God's will in every respect, do we? We don't. And in the case of Jesus, He had planned with the Father for billions of years when He came right down to it, did He want to be crucified? No. No, He didn't. But He said, "Not my will be done, your will be done." So we need to think soberly about the will of God. We need to learn what the will of God is and be in accord with it as much as we understand and realize all the rest of this stuff that we pray about, we prayed ab initio, from the beginning, that, yes, your will be done. Yes, I'm asking you for this, I'm asking for that, you might know something I don't know. In fact, God does know a lot of things we don't know, so it's His will to be done. Honor as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:11 "Give us this day our daily bread."

Now, is that a throwaway line? It's interesting, this "Give us this day our daily bread." You know that word, daily, there, if you look it up in the commentaries, it's only used there, and also in Luke 11:3, the parallel passage. It's only used there. And the commentaries, they say "daily bread," really could be understood as bread from heaven, or super substantial bread, in other words, the Holy Spirit. So, yes, the disciples of Jesus Christ, we pray, not just that you give me bread and hamburgers and hot dogs and whatever, we pray for the super substantial heavenly bread, the Spirit of God. We need more of that every day, right up there, right into one of our priorities. And, yes.

Matthew 6:12 "Forgive us our sins or our debts as we forgive those who sin against us,"

So important.

Matthew 6:13 "Lead us not into temptation."

That means temptation would overwhelm us. We are flesh and we're asking God, Father, you know how weak we are, please don't allow so many things come on us that I would break. I don't want to break. I want to be an overcomer.

Matthew 6:13 "But deliver us from the evil one. And yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever."

So again, this is the model, and we fill it out with details, with details. That's an outline. You don't just repeat it by rote, but you fill out with details. Okay, so that's the basis, that's the disciple's prayer. Let's go now to Matthew 24. Matthew 24:20, this is the first suggestion, but, you know, if Jesus says do this, everyone has already said, yeah, we'll do it. Okay. Matthew 24:20. This is Jesus speaking to the disciples.

Matthew 24:20 "Pray, you pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath."

Are we doing that? He's not talking about pray that your United flight 46 to Angeles, He's not talking about that. No, no, no, no, no. I think we understand, because I speak to those who are mature in many ways in the faith. You understand flight means flight from a coming terrible time that's going tocome on this earth because of their sins.

This prayer should be part of our daily prayers because we are fast approaching a time of God's righteous judgment and great tribulation on sinful nations. I mean, this was said about 2000 years ago. We know that even at the time of the end of this age, the Sabbath is to be kept holy. Now, would it be a sin to flee on the Sabbath to save life? Well, no. However, it is better, if we can, to rest on that Sabbath day and focus on God rather than running here or there over hill and dale trying to escape physical death.

Matthew 24:15-16 "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads him understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."

So this is the event, which is the sign to flee. Jesus said so. But the time of fleeing to a place of safety apparently has not been determined.

Matthew 24:20 He said, "Pray that your flight be not winter and Sabbath day. If it were to be in cold, snowy, or rainy weather, wouldn't it be so much harder for women with small children or old people?"

Let's go to verse 36 of the same chapter.

Matthew 24:36 "Of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only."

Matthew 24:43-44 "But know this, if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming in an hour you do not expect."

So we know the event, Jesus said the event, which is the sign to flee, but the time, we don't know that we have to watch. But we apparently can make a difference, your prayers can make a difference, whether or the time when God allows events to become so serious as to require this action. He tells us "Pray that your flight be not in winter." If we don't pray that, maybe God's will, I guess they don't care. So maybe it's going to be icy and snowy and all that kind of stuff, or it's going tobe tough.

But if we do care, and if we want to do what Jesus said, we should be doing this on a daily basis. I believe that our prayers can make a difference. As I said, when God allows events in this world to become so serious as to require this action, you can make a difference here. God says so. So I encourage all of us to beseech God about this daily. Suggestion number two, let's go to Luke 21:36. Jesus is talking, and again, it's about the time of the end of the age.

Luke 21:36 Jesus says, "Watch, therefore, and pray always that you may be in the..." in New King James version I have says, "Be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man."

Now, this worthy business, I thought, "What does that mean?" So I looked it up and many translations say, "Pray that you have the strength to escape." You see that in New King James down at the bottom there says, "And you have strength to" Strong's 2729 translated from the Greek says from a word that means overpower. So have strength is probably a better translation than be worthy.

English Standard Version says, "Stay awake at all times praying that you may have strength to escape all these things." What are all these things talking about? Talking about tribulation, world events, Day of the Lord, all these things. Have strength to escape all these things that are going totake place and stand before the Son of Man. Berean's Study Bible says, "So keep watching all times and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man."

So Jesus said that we were to pray for two things in this passage. One, that we have the strength to escape all these things, in other words, the tribulation, Day of the Lord. Number two, that we be able to stand before the Son of Man. So what does this have strength mean? Let's go back to Isaiah chapter 40. What is this? Prayer that you might have strength. I just love this. So many great passages in Isaiah, and this is one that I do like a lot. Isaiah chapter 40, start in verse 28.

Isaiah 40:28-31 "Have you not known, have you not heard, the everlasting God, Yahweh, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, He neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, He increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Seek God, He will give us strength that we need. Just across the page, Isaiah 41:10.

Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

So we see having strength means God will give us His strength if we are close to Him. Now, is there anything that we need to do? And I can say as a general principle, God, throughout the Bible, He says He will do things for us, but we also have something that we should be doing too. It's sort of a coordinated combined effort, you know, the old saying, "Pray like it's all up to God, but work like it's all up to you." There's some truth to that. Ephesians chapter 6. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6:10. It's a famous passage, but think about it in this context that we're talking about.

Ephesians 6:10-14 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.” Yes, draw close to God, He will give us the strength. He's promised to strengthen us. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and the power of His might." Not our might, not our power, but by His Spirit, yes. "Put on the whole armor of God.” Well, that means we got to do something, to put on the armor of God, “That you may be able to stand.” Keep that in the back of your mind, stand. "Stand against the wiles of the devil. For we don't wrestle against flesh and blood alone, one could say, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God." This is what we need to do. "That you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Think about that. "Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth."

Okay. Learn the truth of God, value the truth, love the truth. Those who don't love the truth will believe the lie. It's another verse Paul talks about, find the truth, love the truth, keep the truth.

Ephesians 6:14 "Having put on the breastplate of righteousness."

You have that righteousness which is obedience to God's commands. If your shield of faith fails but you have the breastplate of habitual obedience to God, you may be struck by the arrows of the devil, hit with various things, rocks, and so forth, and you'll get a bruise, but you'll survive. You'll survive. So have that habit of obeying God and having that righteousness. Comes from obedience.

Ephesians 6:15-16 "And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” Having zeal to help the preaching of the Gospel. Zeal. "And above all, taking the shield of faith." Yes, "With which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one."

I think we've heard, you know, these things expounded that the Romans, they had basically a wooden shield, but it also was covered with some kind of cow skin or leather, and they would wet it down before going into battle. So it'd be wet so that if they had fire arrows coming in, they could lift that up, and the water would put out the fire, okay?

Ephesians 6:16-18 "Shield of faith with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Take the helmet of salvation, believing God, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and being watchful."

So we have our role to play in being strong in the Lord. There are various tasks that we need to do. And He says, "Put on that armor." Do it. Put on the armor of God, truth, righteousness, zeal, faith, the Word. With confidence and reliance on God, we will have the strength needed to escape because He promises to help us.

But remember the second thing Jesus said, "To stand, to stand before the Son of Man," what does that mean? Well, the example of the Old Testament is of Levites who stood to exercise their service to God in the tabernacle in the temple. Very quickly, Deuteronomy chapter 10. Deuteronomy 10:8, you guys maybe put that in your notes. I'll just read it quickly for you. Deuteronomy 10:8. So Moses' talking a little bit about the history and the nation wandering. And verse 8 of chapter 10 of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 10:8 Moses says, "At that time, the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him, and to bless, in His name, to this day."

So what does that mean? The Levites, they stood to praise God, to bless in the name of the Lord, to do the service of God. Everybody else was supposed to be flat on their face on the ground. I mean, they weren't, like, sitting in chairs, they weren't sort of hanging around. If you were a worshipper of God, you were on your face. But the Levites, the ministers that God chose, they stood, they stood. God tells us to pray for this honor and privilege to be able to stand before God. To stand. Let's go back to Luke chapter 1. We have another example of God's chosen ministers. Luke chapter 1. This is where God wanted to send really good news to Zacharias. He was an elderly man that he and his wife, I believe her name was Elizabeth, that they would have a son. And his name would be John, and he would be doing wonderful, marvelous things.

Luke 1:13-20 “The angel said to him, ‘Don't be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, you should call his name John.’”

So Zacharias is like, "Wow." Verse 18. "And he said to the angel, okay, how shall I know this? How shall I know this? I am an old man. My wife is well advanced in years." So the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands" notice that. "Who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you shall be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place because you didn't believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time."

So we see Gabriel stands before God as His chosen servant to transmit God's counsel, His plan, His message to others. Would you want to do that? Jesus said, "Pray for that honor, that you may stand before Him." He's chosen you, He wants you to do that. It's a special honor. Let's go back to Luke chapter 18 now, a third suggestion Jesus was referring to here. Luke 18:1.

Luke 18:1 "Then he spoke a parable to them that men ought always to pray and not lose heart."

So this introduces us that Jesus gave this parable, and this is why He gave the parable. So it's not an exact quote of Jesus, but we get the understanding from the verse here. And you know the story, it's about the importunate widow who kept going to the judge and the judge says, "Well, this woman is bothering me, so I'm going to avenge her lest by her continual coming, she weary me."

Luke 18:6-8 “And the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said. Shall God not avenge his own elect to cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you, that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?’”

So we see Jesus is saying that we should pray and not lose heart, that's why He gave the story. But will Jesus really find faith on the earth? I think that statement means that it will be scarce, faith will be scarce when Christ comes. Conditions will be such that we may wonder, "Where's God? Why am I not being delivered? What's going on?"

The devil will try to get to each of us to doubt God, to doubt that God cares for us, to doubt that God hears our prayers. We all have weak points, no one should think they are immune to this temptation. So please, ask God for more faith and wisdom every day, and then act in accordance with faith, patience, and godly virtue.

Fourth suggestion and this is the last suggestion I'll be having. Matthew 9. A few weeks ago in this congregation, Mr. Bill Robinson from Columbia gave an excellent sermon. And it included a plea for compassion on those who are stray, those who have no or bad shepherds, who don't know the right way to act, or who act in a way, and it hurts others. He asked, "Do we despise them, or do we pity them? Do we want to write them off, or do we pray for people?"

Matthew 9:36-38 "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore..." This is the suggestion, recommendation, or command. "Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

This word here is not the normal word in Greek for your average prayer, which is “proseuchomai”. “Proseuchomai” is having a conversation with God. This is a different word. It's “dekatē”, Strong's 1181. And it means beseech God with real want. Beseech God, beg God to send more laborers into the harvest.

More brothers and sisters for the family of God, more people who can share our lives, and, yes, we'll help accomplish the work that God has given to us to do. Beseech God, beg God to send more laborers to the harvest. Don't just ask on hand, not just, "God, you know, if you think it's a good idea, please send some more laborers." No, beseech Him.

Jesus said so. He used a special word, which is much more intense than just conversation. "The harvest is great, the laborers are few." We all know that many long-time laborers are getting older, weaker, and dying.

It is normal for people to pass on, but we need a new generation of young families, younger people, energetic people, successful people who can help renew and energize congregations around the world and energize the preaching of the gospel around the world to reach and help those who have no or bad shepherds, to reach out and make a positive difference. Big need. Jesus said, "Pray earnestly for this." Okay, so what should be our attitude prior to pray...how to pray? Luke 18. Luke 18:9. Again, this is a famous parable. Famous parable.

Luke 18:9-12 "He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.” They didn't have compassion on others, they despised them. "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other, tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God..." Sometimes I sort of wonder, is he praying to himself like God, like, "I'm God," you know, anyway. It just goes through my mind. "He prays thus with himself, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess."

Are those bad things? No, those are good things, but that should not lead us to have an arrogant, "I'm better than you" attitude just because God has helped us realize that, yes, we should fast, yes, we should be faithful in tithe, and so forth.

Luke 8:13 "The tax collector standing far off would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

And what's not said here but is understood, tax collector repented, he was sorry for his sins.

Luke 8:14 "I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Jesus insists on humility and repentance and he warns against self-superiority. We are not to compare ourselves with other human beings. So that's the attitude, one of those attitudes prior to prayer. Matthew 18. Matthew 18:22, again, a very long parable here. For time, I probably won't read all of it. But this is about the unjust servant who prayed for compassion. You know, he owed 10,000 talents. Matthew 18:25, he was unable to pay. The master commanded that he be sold with his wife and his children. This shows, brethren, by the way, that our sins can affect other people. Our sins can affect innocent people. So that makes the sin even worse, doesn't it? Yes. Well, the servant went down and he pleaded with the master, "Have patience with me." The master was moved with compassion, forgave the debt.

So then he goes out, grabs another servant who owed him 100 denarii, which was about three months' wages. Grabbed him by the neck, "You pay what you owe." Threw him in debtors' jail. The other servant said, "Oh, we don't like this." They went and they told the master. Oh, by the way, be sure your sin will find you out. Nothing can ever be completely hidden forever, okay? I've taught my family, just act and speak like the NSA is watching everything you do. Maybe they are. But, you know, I mean, do we have privacy, but act and speak as... Because God's watching you. God sees everything. So, anyway.

So the servants, they went, they told the master, "This what's happened." So master calls back the first guy, he said, "I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant just like I had on you?" And his master was angry with him and delivered him. Notice the difference. His sin affected his wife and kids.

But in the end, each one pays the penalty themselves, each one is personally responsible. You cannot save another person, and your sins will not condemn another person. He delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So we're judged individually. So God answers the prayers of a forgiving person, forgiving person.

How to ensure that God will seriously consider our prayers? We have those attitudes, right? Humility, repentance, no hate, don't despise anybody, no desire for revenge, have a forgiving heart, persistence. Let's go to 1 John 5. 1. 1 epistle of John chapter 5. Some other things so God will seriously consider our prayers.

1 John 5:14. "Now, this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

What's the key point? Ask according to His will. So we have to study the Word of God, what is the will of God? What is the will of God? And then ask according to His will. Across the page, 1 John 3:22.

1 John 3:22-23 "And whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave us commandment."

So we receive from Him because we keep His commandments, but not just the 10 commandments because that could have been programmed into us. All right? "But do those things that are pleasing to His sight." That's broad. Have some imagination. What are your talents? How can you help others? How can you serve? Think about it. What's going tobe pleasing in God's sight? Saying and doing things. It's much more than just blind unthinking obedience of the 10 commandments. Let's go back to Psalm 119. How to ensure God will seriously consider our prayers. Psalm 119.

Psalm 119:145-147 And it says, "I cry out with my whole heart." One of God's complaints about ancient Israel said, "You never put your heart into your prayers." Never did that. You didn't do that. God says through the psalmist, "I cry out with my whole heart, hear me, oh, Lord, I will keep your statutes. I cry out to you, save me, and I will keep your testimonies. I rise before the dawning of the morning and cry for help, I hope in your Word."

So we see here, we need to pray with our whole heart, hope in God, and obey Him. These are things that will help us so that God will seriously consider our prayers. Also, back in John 16, I'm sure there are many things, but I'll just add this, John 16:23. We read this at Passover season every year.

John 16:23 It says, "In that day, you will ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name.” By His authority... Remember, you know, that we prayed, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name," holy, righteous, powerful is your name. "You ask the Father in my name, He will give you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you shall receive that your joy may be full."

Again, ask according to His will, pray with your whole heart, be obedient, do those things which are pleasing in God's sight, and pray by Jesus's authority. So we need to be careful not to abuse, misuse, misunderstand that authority, or to take God's name in vain.

Okay. We are to be royal priests, royal priests. We must practice now our future role. Right at the beginning of this section, I will say, as a caution, we must not become arrogant because God has chosen us, you and me, to be His royal priests. He's chosen us. We are chosen, not because of our greatness, but to show the greatness and glory of God. Let's go back to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. It's a famous Scripture about being a chosen generation, a royal priesthood.

1 Peter 2:9 Peter's talking to the Church of God, "You are a chosen generation."

We are part of God's family, God's Church, God's congregation, because He chose us. It's not because we were born into the family like ancient Israel, you were born into the nation. No, God has chosen people of all races, nations, and tongues, it's a chosen generation. He chose us a royal priesthood, both men and women. Yes, both men and women. We are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Holy, that means clean, pure, upright, His own special people. Why?

1 Peter 2:9-10 "That we might proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were not a people, but are now the people of God. Who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."

So all of us, men and women, we're to be a royal priesthood. So what's the job of a royal priest? Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 4. There's a lot in the book of Hebrews about priesthood, and Jesus, and high priest, and so forth. We'll just see a little bit. Hebrews chapter 4. I will start in verse 14. Hebrews 4:14. So think as we read this passage, what's the job of a royal priest that you're called to be and to do?

Hebrews 4:14-16 "Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let's hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses." That's one thing right there, be sympathetic to others, have compassion. "We don't have high priests who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points, tempted as we, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

So a royal priest goes boldly to the throne of grace, not again, in our righteousness, but because of Jesus Christ, shed blood of Christ. We are imputed that righteousness.

Hebrews 5:1-9 "For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin." So that's part of the job description, offer gifts and sacrifices. And this human priest, "He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray since he himself is also subject to weakness." Yes, compassion on those who are ignorant, going astray, because we were also ignorant and going astray. “Because of this, He is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins." Again, Christ is that perfect sacrifice. So we're not saying that, as humans, we need to make animal sacrifices at all, Christ is that sacrifice for us. "And no one takes this honor of being a priest to himself, but he who is called by God just as Aaron was." So did you take this honor for yourself? God called you, He chose you. That's what you are. You are a royal priesthood, He chose you to do this. "So also, Christ did not glorify himself to become high priests, but it was He who said to Him, ‘You are my Son, today I've begotten you.’" He's part of the family, you are part of the family, He chose you. He also says in another place, "You are a priest forever according to the order Melchizedek, who in the days of His flesh when He had offered up prayers and supplications..." That's another part of the job description, offer up prayers and supplications.

 Prayers as your “Proseuchomai”. Supplication is you beseech God with real one like that “dekatē”, asking God for more laborers in the harvest. That's part of the job description, prayers, and supplications "With vehement cries and tears." Are you ever moved to tears when you pray? I am from time to time. Depends what I'm praying about. If you've never been moved to tears in your prayers, I think we need to put our hearts in our prayers more and care, care more. "Vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." That's part of the job description, obedience, even in suffering. "Having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him."

So we have an idea here, the priests is to offer gifts and sacrifices, prayers, supplications, you know, learning things, even though we're suffering, sacrifices. We all have different roles in a church context, but prayerful intervention is something we all must do no matter what our other roles because we are all royal priests. Let's go back to Hebrews 13. We talked about sacrifices.

Hebrews 13:15 "Therefore, by him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."

That's part of the job description, offer sacrifices, sacrifice of praise. So it doesn't really matter if you feel you can't sing, although I think I think we all can sing. I mean, you make the effort. But okay, praise God with your lips. That's a sacrifice, that's part of the job description.

Hebrews 13:16 "But do not forget to do good and to share." Part of the job description. Do good. That's rather broad. And to share, to share. You might have a little or you might have a lot. Whatever you have, find a way to share. "For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased."

It's a job description for royal priests, offer sacrifices, praise, prayers. Did you know priests can change God's mind? Yes, it's true. Back to Numbers 14. Numbers 14, priests can change God's mind. Numbers 14:11. This is one of those times when Israel was being really disobedient, really bad.

Numbers 14:11-12 "The Lord said to Moses, how long will these people reject me? How long will they not believe me with all the signs I performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."

Now, if Moses said, "Okay, go ahead. Kill them all. I don't like them either." How many of us would be here today? Well, Moses said to the Lord, "Well, then the Egyptians will hear." So he starts arguing with God, "Don't kill them." And He reasons with the Lord. Say, "Because the Lord was unable to bring the people to the land which He swore to them, therefore, He killed them." He says, "Don't do this." Pardon them."

Numbers 15:19-21 "Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven these people from Egypt even until now." God said, "I have pardoned according to your word." Wow. According to the prayer of Moses, God pardoned the nation. “But truly, as I live, there will be consequences.”

Isn't that true? We do something bad, we sin badly, God will forgive our sins upon repentance, but sometimes there's continuing consequences. That's just part of life.

How about Numbers 16? Turn over page Numbers 16:41. Another time Israel was doing bad things, rebelling, being difficult.

Numbers 16:41-50 "On the next day, all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying you've killed the people of the Lord." This is the rebellion of Korah, Abiram, and Dothan. "Now, it happened when the congregation gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting and the Lord said to Moses, saying, get away from among this people, this congregation that I may consume them in a moment." He's ready to kill them again. "They fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, take a sensor and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun. So Aaron took it as Moses commanded. ran to the midst of the assembly, already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living so the plague was stopped."

What is incense? You should know. Revelation 5:8. I'll just turn it very quickly. Revelation 5:8, what is incense?

Revelation 5:8 "When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

Brethren, your prayers can make a difference. Your prayers can stand between the dead and the living. How often have you prayed for someone that they might live and not die, that they might, hopefully, with God's help, change the behavior that's leading to death so that they will not die? Your prayers can stand between the dead and the living, that's pretty powerful.

One last thing, 1 Samuel 12. 1 Samuel 12:19. This is where the people wanted a king. Now, was having a human king, was that the solution to the problems of ancient Israel? No. So if someone tries to tell you, "Well, the problem with Israel is because they didn't have a human king," that's really not the problem. The problem was sin because there was a king, the king was God. Jesus was the king. Anyway, so they asked for a king.

1 Samuel 12:19-23 "All the people said to Samuel, pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die." Notice it was, "Lord, your God, not our God." That's a big problem. "Pray to the Lord, your God, that we may not die for we have added to all our sins, the evil of asking a king for ourselves." It was a bad thing to ask for a king. "Samuel said to the people, ‘Do not fear. You have done all this evil wickedness, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside, for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great namesake because it has been pleased the lord to make you His people. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me, that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.’”

It is a sin for royal priests to stop praying for the nation, stop praying for others. Now, I understand sometimes you pray about a situation and you don't hear much about it, then you get distracted and you forget. I understand that. But I'm saying we need to make a good faith effort to continue praying for the nation and for others.

1 Samuel 12:23 And also, it says, "But I will teach you the good and right way."

That's also part of the job description of royal priest, be ready, as appropriate, to teach others the good and the right way.

So in summary, the times that we live and call for certain specific prayers that are very relevant to this time. Jesus said, "Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath." Jesus said, "Watch and pray always that you may be counted worthy," or better translated, "As you may have the strength to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of man."

Jesus wondered if He would really find faith on the earth when He returns, so we need to ask urgently for more faith on a daily basis. Also, Jesus said, "Beseech God with real want," with compassion for more energetic talented laborers to help in the great harvest now.

We all want confidence that God will seriously consider our prayers. The following attitudes and actions on our part will go a long way to ensuring our prayers are heard and acted upon quickly. Humility, repentance, compassion and mercy, a forgiving spirit, tenacity, which includes persistence and continuity. We also ask in faith, with hope, and ask according to His will.

We have seen we're to pray in Jesus' name or by His authority, so we must study to know what is His will as much as we can and be in accord with it. Understand that priests can change God's mind through prayer. Priests can sin if we do not pray for others. So let's all fulfill our royal priestly function, to pray for the nation, for one another, and for the items we covered above that are very relevant to the age in which we live. Let us pray with joy, confidence, and grow in faith.