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Notice, Paul is praying,

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but he's not praying for himself.

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Brothers and sisters,

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how desperately, desperately we need

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men and women in the church like this.

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Paul is interceding.

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Interceding is what you call it

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when you bow your knees to God

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for the sake of others 
and not for yourselves.

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How we need intercessors in the church!

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And I'm concerned!

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I'm concerned.

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When I got saved,

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honestly, I hungered to 
have time with the Lord.

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The first three years 
of my (Christian) life,

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I was able outside of work -

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and even times at work

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during breaks and lunch;

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I wasn't married -

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I was able to give my life to 
communion with the Lord.

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And I moved down here to Texas,

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lived with John Sytsma -

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very business oriented family.

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And things were working at a pace

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that I just felt like -

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John was very much given to devotions

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in the morning,

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and before the family got together,

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and I like to walk in the evenings

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and be out in the field

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and away from the heat.

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And John's schedule and mine 
were a little bit different.

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I remember just panting 
after having that time back.

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And I recognized that I 
needed to move separate

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so that I could get back 
into my own schedule.

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And I longed for that.

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And I guess my sense was that,

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well, that's how it is 
with all Christians.

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We don't live by bread alone,

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but by every word that proceeds 
from the mouth of God.

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We want to abide in Christ

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and we love walking with Him

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and meeting with Him

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and there's things to confess

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and there's worship;

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and just getting to meditate before Him

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and praying and interceding

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for the sake of others.

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I just assumed that.

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And then I got married,

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and my wife basically lived that way

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day after day.

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I guess my assumption has largely been:

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Well, of course...

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that's how Christians live.

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I am, I don't know,

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I'm guess I'm kind of 
baffled by the frequency

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at which I hear that people in this church

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have a real difficult time maintaining

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just a consistent intimacy with the Lord.

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And I guess my concern is this,

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I'm not sure what lies 
behind this difficulty.

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Is it immaturity?
Is it worldliness?

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Is it busyness?

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Is it just that there's no hunger there?

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I know this:

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intercessors don't come

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from marginally spiritual people.

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Why?

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Because interceding requires love

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and a level of maturity

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and a lack of selfishness.

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Selfish people - their prayers 
are all about themselves.

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Very little worship.

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Very little confession.

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But a lot of give me, give me, give me.

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Now, I know there are prayer 
warriors in this church.

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I know there are.

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I know there are some of you -

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your walk is close to the Lord.

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I want there to be more.

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I want this to characterize 
the church as a whole.

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Intercessors.

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We desperately, desperately need this.

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And if people can barely 
manage to find their way

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into the secret place of prayer each day,

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I know this -

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you're not interceding for anybody.

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It's not happening.

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Where do intercessors come from?

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They come from people that live

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in the presence of God.

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You think about it.

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Paul - you can imagine 
the guard walking by.

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The guards are talking to each other.

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"What's the guy doing in there?"

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"Every time we walk by 
there, he's on his face."

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He wasn't idle.
He wasn't wasting his time.

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He wasn't wasting his time in prison.

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He was crying; he was bending his knee.

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He was pleading; he was crying out

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for the sake of others.

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You find in just about every 
single one of his epistles,

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he cried out for people.

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He called upon them.

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Where do intercessors come from?

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People who don't live by bread alone.

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People who are desperate.
People who are abiding in the Lord.

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People who are talking to Him 
and walking with Him.

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Where does it come from?

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That somebody says:

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"for this reason."

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I know them to be a Christian;

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for that reason, I'm on my knees for them.

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They're beloved of God.

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Something is released in my heart.

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I need to pray for them.

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I'm thinking about 
other people all the time.

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I'm thinking about their needs.

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I'm thinking about them glorifying God.

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Where do intercessors come from?

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Intercessors - not 
marginally spiritual people.

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You know, if we don't have intercession

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happening commonplace in your life -

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I'm not just talking about in the church -

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if intercession is not happening

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as a commonplace thing in your life,

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one of the great manifestations

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of sacrificial love is missing.

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And listen, that's important: 
sacrificial love.

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You think about Judgment Day.

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Jesus talks about what you did for others.

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"I was in prison and you visited Me."

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You know, one of the ways 
you can visit people in prison

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is by praying.

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The thing is as long as 
you have life and breath,

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and you have consciousness,

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you can pray for people.

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We need it.

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We need this desperately.

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Where are the men and women -

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I know we've got some.

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I know.

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But oh God, help us to have more.

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Men and women who live 
in the presence of God

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on bended knee whose voices

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are familiar to the Father;

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whose voices go up

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in familiarity to the Father

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on the behalf of others.

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I mean, you can imagine,

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God from God's perspective:

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"There's his voice again...

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and sure enough, he's asking for a job.

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He's asking for a wife.

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He's asking for a raise.

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He's asking..."

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Those who God hears his voice:

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"Lord, help so-and-so,

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Lord according to the riches of Your glory

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please strengthen that brother

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down there in Mexico.

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Please Lord, open that 
door for that brother

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that's trying to get 
from Costa Rica, Lord."

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How often is the Lord hearing that voice?

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"Lord, I'm not here to 
pray for my own needs.

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You know I have them,

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but Lord, Brother Matt 
needs Your help today.

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He needs Your help.

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Johannes. Lord, remember Johannes."

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Those who can't sit comfortably 
reading the book

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or fiddling with their phones

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because they're feeling a burden

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for Andy and Rebecca, or you heard -

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those of you that weren't 
here on Wednesday,

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Trevor Johnson wrote, I think,

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one of the most powerful 
missionary letters

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that he's ever written.

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Men and women not constantly asking

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for their own needs.

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The church needs intercessors.

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We desperately need them.

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Why?

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Because God answers prayer.

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Listen, I'm telling you this.

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I know this for a fact.

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I'm so convinced.

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I've seen it over and over and over again.

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God answers prayer.

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And when people are praying for you,

191
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things happen in your life

192
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that would not happen if 
they weren't praying for you.

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Mark it down.

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The elders in this church preach

195
00:09:14,994 --> 00:09:17,459
or perform or oversee better

196
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when people are praying for them

197
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than when they're not praying for them.

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That is a reality.

199
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People live more holy lives.

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People live closer to God.

201
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People are more prayerful.

202
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People are more loving

203
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and charitable and kind

204
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and tender and forgiving

205
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when people are praying for one another

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than when they're not 
praying for one another.

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That is a fact.

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I'll tell you, I was thinking about

209
00:09:40,552 --> 00:09:42,292
our brother coming here

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00:09:42,292 --> 00:09:44,536
on a week from Wednesday

211
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and sharing his needs.

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If I was on a foreign mission field,

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I would want to visit as 
many churches as I could,

214
00:09:50,188 --> 00:09:51,579
and I would tell the people,

215
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"Look, I'm not here for your money.

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I'm just appealing, if there is one person

217
00:09:55,460 --> 00:09:57,657
or two people or three 
people in this church

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that are prayer warriors

219
00:09:58,892 --> 00:10:00,529
and you have any burden for India,

220
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I plead with you: pray!"

221
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And if on Judgment Day it can be found

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there were three people 
in that church over there

223
00:10:06,506 --> 00:10:08,986
and there were two people 
in that church over there

224
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and five in that church over there,
and they held that rope.

225
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Not because they were sending 
me all their dollars all the time,

226
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but they prayed for me.

227
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They prayed for me all the time.

228
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Prayer meetings did not 
go by in that church

229
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they weren't praying for me,

230
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and oftentimes, every 
single day of the week,

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they were holding me up.

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We need this.

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When we pray for one another,

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I'm telling you, we end up doing things

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that would not happen

236
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if people weren't praying for us.

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This is the reality.

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Bending our knees to the Father

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on behalf of others.

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We are the priesthood, brethren.

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Have you never read that?

242
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That fire was not to go out on that altar.

243
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And if that was the symbol;

244
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if that was the hyperbole;

245
00:10:50,569 --> 00:10:55,516
if that was the metaphor,

246
00:10:55,516 --> 00:10:58,938
we are the true priesthood.

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Don't let the fire go out.