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[The President] O come let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. [Audience] Hallelujah. [Audience] Glory to the Lord.

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[Audience] Glory to the Lord. [Audience] Glory to the Lord. [The President] Dear Lord, we're thankful for the opportunity to come to this holy place. together here as your people and to worship you this day.

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Have mercy upon us we pray. Renew the right spirit within us. Grant unto us the presence of your spirit in the songs that we sing, in the words that we speak, that we may be a channel of blessing,

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that we may go forth to give your witness in the world. in Jesus name amen [Clears throat] [ Pause ]

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[MUSIC PLAYING] (music) [Music] [Music]

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[Music] ♪ Once a man of strength ♪ ♪ Once a man of strength ♪ ♪ Now he walks in the blood ♪

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♪ Now he walks in the blood ♪ ♪ Of the crucified man ♪ ♪ Of the crucified man ♪ ♪ One day he'll just be ♪

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♪ One day he'll just be ♪ ♪ Never ever one to be ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ He's a child to me ♪

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♪ Praise his holy name ♪ ♪ Praise his holy name ♪ ♪ One day he touched me ♪ ♪ One day he touched me ♪

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♪ I gave my life to him ♪ ♪ What God has done ♪ ♪ He now demands ♪ ♪ What God will gives ♪

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♪ He now demands ♪ ♪ My God loves me ♪ ♪ Your God loves me ♪ ♪ The Christ in my heart ♪

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♪ The Christ in my heart ♪ ♪ Great God ♪ ♪ Great joy ♪ ♪ Happiness ♪

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♪ Sweet pea ♪ ♪ Don't you let 'em take ♪ ♪ Don't you let 'em take ♪ ♪ Don't let 'em take me ♪

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♪ I'm not gone ♪ ♪ Deep down in my heart ♪ ♪ I'm not to be ♪ ♪ Deep down in my heart ♪

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♪ I'm not gone ♪ ♪ La la la ♪ ♪ Of Christ in the heart ♪ ♪ Of Christ in the heart ♪

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♪ Sweet love ♪ ♪ Sweet love ♪ ♪ Great love ♪ ♪ Great love ♪

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♪ Happy days ♪ ♪ Happy days ♪ ♪ Sweet dreams ♪ ♪ Sweet dreams ♪

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♪ How sweet can it be ♪ ♪ How sweet can it be ♪ ♪ The heavens gave in years ♪ - I may speak in tongues of men and of angels,

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but if I am without love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy and know every hidden truth.

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I may have faith strong enough to move mountains, but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may dole out all I possess, or even give my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I am none the better. Love is patient.

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Love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude, nor selfish, nor quick to take offense. Love keeps no score of wrongs, does not gloat over other men's sins, but delights in the truth.

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There is nothing love cannot face. is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance. Love will never come to an end. Are there prophets? Their work will be over. Are there tongues of ecstasy? They will cease. Is there knowledge? It will vanish away, for our knowledge and our prophecy alike are partial,

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and the partial vanishes when wholeness comes. When I was a child my speech, my outlook, my thoughts were all childish. When I grew up I had finished with childish things. Now we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror but then we shall see face to face. My knowledge now is partial then it will be whole like God's knowledge of me. In a word there

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are three things that last forever faith, hope, love but the greatest of these is is love. In our time of prayer together, as we come to the altar, those of us who feel led to do so,

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may we sing a verse of "I need thee every hour as we gather around the altar" as our prayer hymn. [ Music ]

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♪ I'll greet thee every hour ♪ ♪ O precious Lord ♪ ♪ No air, no voice like yours ♪ ♪ Can be ♪

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♪ Oh, I need thee ♪ ♪ I need thee ♪ Oh, I need thee. (choir singing)

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Every hour I need thee. (choir singing) Oh, bless me now, my savior. (choir singing)

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[music] I come to thee. [music] Gracious God we need you we need you right now and so here we are we've come

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to you we've come that you might bless us you've come that you might fill our lives with meaning. Oh we've come that you might strengthen us where we're weak, you might build us up where we're torn down, that you might help us this day in every way to be the kind of people that you want us to be. We can't do it without

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you. We need you, we need you to give light, shine upon the darkness that surrounds us. We need you dear Lord to give us that sense of direction that we might know where to walk, that by your grace we might step in your steps. Forgive us of our sins.

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Forgive us of the thoughts that we have entertained that have not been in keeping with your will and your way. Then oh God, we pray that you would give us a vision of the work that you have assigned to our hands,

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and that you might use us as your helpers, as laborers in your vineyard. We pray for America, pray for the leaders of our government, we pray for the nations of this world. Help us, O God, to be instruments of your hand, working for that peace in the world and that state of brotherhood that is the expression of your

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kingdom. Bless the sick, bless the bereaved, bless we pray thee those who are blundering and stumbling along life's way and who are yet outside the arc of safety. We pray, O God, for your missionary spirit within us to so motivate us that we may be

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used to constrain those who are outside to come within the fold. Bless each one of us in the special way that you know that we need it. this service, consecrate our lives, and then oh God when it's all over take us home to be forever with you we ask through your son's name amen.

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(gentle music) (clears throat) (soft music) (gentle music)

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(soft music) (coughing) (somber music) (bells ringing)

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[bells ringing] [Music] [music] ♪ (ominous music)

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[ Music ] ♪ While I am ♪ ♪ For a life to be ♪ ♪ Whole and free ♪

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♪ For a life to be ♪ ♪ All alone ♪ ♪ Oh, my dear friend, Mary ♪ ♪ Savior, let me walk with Thee ♪

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♪ Close to Thee, close to Thee ♪ ♪ Close to thee ♪ ♪ Close to thee ♪ ♪ Close to thee ♪

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♪ Upon the wall ♪ ♪ I've been wondering ♪ [singing] [Singing]

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♪ With thee ♪ ♪ Not for ease ♪ ♪ Of worldly pleasure ♪ ♪ But for fame ♪

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♪ Thy grace shall be ♪ ♪ When he will ♪ ♪ I talk and suffer ♪ ♪ Only there ♪

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♪ He walks ♪ ♪ With me ♪ ♪ Close to me ♪ ♪ Close to me ♪

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♪ Close to me ♪ ♪ Close to me ♪ ♪ When we will ♪ ♪ Cry all ♪

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♪ And suffer ♪ ♪ Only let ♪ ♪ Me walk ♪ ♪ With thee ♪

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Good morning. This announcement was just received this morning. Mr. and Mrs. Moses Mays are both in Bracken Ridge Hospital. let us remember them in our prayers.

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Additional announcements can be found in this morning's bulletin. At this time I'd like to recognize our visitors for whom I have cards. As your name is called, would you stand and kindly remain standing so that words of welcome can be extended?

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Jerry Brooks, 4501 Sherwin Drive. A member of Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church, visiting this morning with Mrs. Gertrude Wattemeyer. Laris Sims, 4810 Old Fort Hill, here in Austin.

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Are there others visiting with us this morning? If so, I would ask that you kindly stand, please. On behalf of the pastor and members, I'd like to welcome you this morning. It's always a pleasure to have visitors.

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I would ask that you stay and continue worshipping with us this morning. Sunday school follows immediately after the 8 o'clock services, followed by BTU and 11 o'clock services. We'd be more than happy to have you.

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Again, thank you for coming and please come back again. All right. A lot of emphasis is being placed on physical exercise in today's time, jogging, karate and the like. But there is no better

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exercise for strengthening the heart than making a joyful noise unto the Lord in songs of praise. We extend to you an invitation to gain strength as the Chancellor's Choir of the Evangelical Baptist Church presents its second annual musicale, "He Keeps Me Singing." Sunday, October 28, 1979 at 3.30 p.m. Ebenezer Baptist Church Sanctuary. The public is cordially invited.

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Also, one of the great arts of living is the art of giving. So we encourage you to give give a liberal offering for all that you will ever own, as we all know, is what you give for the glory and honor of God's kingdom.

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If you would like for your name to appear on the patron list, be sure to get your donation in today or by Tuesday. One of the chancel choir members will be happy to take your contribution.

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Sister Lisa Alexander, Director's, Brother Harvey Williams, Organist, and Gloria Washington, President. Thank you.

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- Officers, come forward please for the offering. [ Music ] ♪ Come Lord, come now, come to us, to us see ♪ ♪ Blessing be the name of the Lord ♪

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♪ Come Lord, He's Lord, come now, come to us see ♪ ♪ Blessing be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name, blessed be the name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪

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♪ Blessed be the name, blessed be the name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Jesus, my way, my joy ♪ ♪ That's all I need ♪

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♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ 'Tis peace to give ♪ ♪ To sinners peace ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪

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♪ Blessed be the name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name ♪

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♪ Blessed be the name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ He breaks the law ♪ ♪ But cancels sin ♪

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♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ He is God can live ♪ ♪ The Law lives in me ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪

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♪ Blessed be the name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name ♪

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♪ Blessing be the name ♪ ♪ Blessing be the name of the Lord ♪ - Thank you very much, Dr. Griffin. I want to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Griffin

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for giving me this privilege of leading you in your thinking at this 8 a.m. worship. experience. I trust that the message may inspire you as much as it has inspired me. Human life is under the control of the God of love,

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whose eyes are upon the hearts of men and women, who are doing the best they can with the resources available. Blessed be God for his faithfulness and his gracious mercy.

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I should like to invite your attention to the 66th Psalm. would be one of the Paul Tillich long texts but I'll sort of bypass verse 2 in the 66 Psalms verses 18 and 19. If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me but verily God hath heard me he has attended to the voice of

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my prayer and accommodated associated with that I'm using the fifth chapter of of the book of James a part of the 16th verse and the 17th and 18th verses. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Dr. Moffitt translate that the prayers of the righteous have a powerful effect.

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Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth fruit. I shall speak on the subject the power of prevailing prayer and

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hopefully with the selection of a theme dynamic prayer avails. I shall be able to accomplish a greater degree of textual fidelity in this message this morning. Dynamic prayer avails and prevails. We note the single personal pronoun in the Psalmist's Psalm, dealing with our relationship to God and our relationship

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to man. Dr. Emil Bruner says man's greatest relation is his relation to God but let us not forget that if we are to comply with the biblical teaching we must have relationship with God and the man. The psalmist came to this realization when he said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." I was

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shocked several years ago when I attended an annual session in a certain Texas City and the pastor who succeeded me at a certain church gave a little revelatory sentence concerning one of the deacons who served in the church during my past. He said this in a public sermon.

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He said this particular deacon said to him Brother pastor if I have to love white folk, I'm afraid that I'll miss heaven Now I've preached to this man three years now. I didn't know that he had that type of

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attitude toward the Anglo If I have to love white folk I may miss heaven Now I can tell you immediately that the wastebasket was awaiting his prayer.

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For if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. It means that there are unanswered prayers. Now I'm going to give it to you in black and white. In 1960 I was riding a bus as a lone passenger here in Austin,

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And the bus operator, city bus operator, began to talk and he said, "I'm troubled, I'm in deep trouble concerning Catholics, Communists, and Negroes." He said, "If there should come a day in America when Catholics should take over, or when Communists should take over, or when Blacks should take over,

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I'll never live to see it. Now I gleaned from that and gathered from that that he was a potential suicide and all he wanted to pull it off was that the Negroes would get a job uptown. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

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Blameful prayers go unanswered. Blame less prayers or answers. The psalmist said here, "The Lord hath heard me." He was saying that God had always heard and always will hear

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pure prayers from a pure heart and a good conscience. I'd like to move on to this area here of James, who gives us insight into Old Testament history. James' insight on the power of prayer led him to give us an illustration from the Old Testament. James says in the fifth chapter, which I read in your hearing,

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he said that I go to 1 King 17 chapter and the 18th chapter that Elijah was a man of like passion that we are. But he prayed that it might not rain, and it did not rain. He prayed again that it might rain, and it rained.

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Elijah's prayer. I'm thinking now of this Old Testament portrait that James gave us of Elijah. The start.

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Dr. Paul Sherer says that Elijah appeared on the scene as a full-grown man, like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Elijah the Tisbeite from Gilead in the 17th chapter of 1 Kings appeared unto Ahab and said unto Ahab,

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as the Lord God before whom I stand said to me, There'll be no rain, no dew, and no rain for three years and six months. No rain, no dew, no rain. Elijah was given this message from the Lord.

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Ahab didn't pay very much attention to the prophet's prediction of no rain until he observed that there was a drought in the land. He had no water for his cattle. He had very, very little water, perhaps for his household.

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No rain, no dew. But thank God that was Elijah's prophecy concerning no rain, But Elijah prayed again that there might be rain, and it rained. The scene is on Carmel.

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He had a confrontation on Carmel with Ahab. And on Carmel, Elijah told Ahab, "Ahab, go get you something to eat now. Get something to eat."

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while he was gone to get something to eat, Elijah went up into the Mount Carmel and the top of the Mount Carmel and put his head between his knees and prayed unto God. And then he came down and said to the servant, "Go look toward the sea." And the servant went and looked toward the sea. And when he returned, Elijah had come down and he said to the servant, "What did you see?"

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He said, "I didn't see a thing. I didn't see a thing." That's a translation, a new translation, a modern translation. "I didn't see a thing." Elijah said unto him, "Go back again and go seven times, and then make your report after you shall have made the seventh visit."

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And he went out as he was commanded by the prophet. And he came back to report the seventh time. Elijah said unto him, "What did you see?" He said, "I saw a little hand.

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I saw a little cloud." Maybe I'd say small cloud. I saw a little cloud about the size of a man's hand. A modern translation says, I saw a sign, a cloud no bigger

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than a man's hand coming up out of the sea. Elijah said to the servant, go tell El to get his chariot and go home. For I hear, through this symbolic number seven,

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I hear the roaring of a mighty rain. And then he said to this servant, you'd better get ready, or I'm going to gird up my lawns tightly, and I'm going to run ahead of Ahab until he gets back to Jezreel."

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When I read that, I thought about God's prophet with the power of the Lord upon him turned into an Olympic champ who could outrun John Jones of Lamb Passage. It says that he ran ahead of the chariot, not behind it, not beside it, but with his loins girded, he ran ahead of the chariot.

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He was an Olympic champ. It's going to rain. You'd better get your chariot and get ready to go because I hear a roaring rain coming. Old Sister Brooks here, 50-odd years ago, used to pray in the prayer meeting.

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God sent us a gully washer and a trash lifter. Elijah was trying to tell King Ahab that God's gonna send a gully washer and a trash lifter. Well, there's power in prevailing prayer.

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If we are in right relationship with God, God will surely answer our prayer. I know he will, I know well. James spoke when he said, "God sent rain, and God sealed the heavens upon Elijah's prayer."

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I know God will answer prayer. He's answered prayers through the years. He answered the psalmist's prayer when he was fleeing from the presence of King Saul, who desired to take his life.

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I don't like to go into legend, but they tell me that while David was fleeing from King Saul, he saw a cave. This isn't in the Bible, but there are those that say he saw a cave, and he went into this cave and prayed to the Lord, "Lord, make haste! The enemy is on my trail, and I don't see how apart from you I can survive at this hour."

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And when he prayed the prayer, a spider came out from somewhere and put a spider web over the cave. And when Saul got to the cave, he said it's impossible that he could be in here because he hadn't had time.

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The spider would not have had time to put a web over this cave. So then he's gone on. And when he'd gone on, Elijah experienced survival. survival. Well, I don't only need him for survival, but I need him to give meaning

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to my goals. I need him to give meaning for my potentialities and my possibilities. I couldn't get along without the Lord. I need him every day. I pray, I pray and ask the Lord to help me, for I just can't make it by myself. I like to go back now just for a few years and I think about the time that a lad stood in Ebenezer

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Church one Sunday morning and told Pastor Locke that he was going off to Virginia to school upon the recommendation of Dr. M.A.B. Fuller. And then he said to me, "Brother Swisher, if you go to Guadalupe College, if you go

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to Central Texas College, I will help defray your expenses while you're in college." I said, "Doctor, I thank you very much, but my mind is on Virginia." And I went on then from that time until September the 1st, and I got aboard a train and went into the Broad Street station at Richmond, Virginia, after four days of riding, day and

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night. When I got off the train, I had $12 in my pocket, and the stock market, that was September the 4th and the stock market crashed in October and then I had less than $10 and $200 facing me for my tuition and no room on board.

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But God heard my prayer and I bought me a $5 meal ticket and I had that meal ticket after five years because my teacher and my pastor, Dr. William H. Stokes, told him he's going to stay in our home, he's going to help us with the Alpha fraternity. They had about ten of them in the home and said he's going to help us, he's going to

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move his trunk from the boarding house across town into our 14-room house and help with these Alpha young men. Well, when they put my name up on the bulletin board outside, they tell me the dean was so rugged when he—the registrar was so rugged, he said, "If I don't collect it from you,

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while you live, I'll get it from your parents after you die." And they put my name on the board outside. You're going to be put out of school if you don't pay. I went back out there the next day, and my name was gone.

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And somebody said, well, how did it disappear? I don't know to this day, but I believe that Dr. Stokes, who was a professor there in the seminary, told him to take his name off.

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If he owes you anything, put that on my account. Well, I need him for my goals. I need him to help me with my possibilities in life. Let's all say amen.

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God bless this preacher for this message. And as we come to this moment, this moment of dedication, this moment of decision, this moment when we extend the invitation to Christian discipleship,

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just as I am, without one plea. The goodness of God is that he accepts us. We are accepted. If God says, you can come, you can come right now.

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You can give yourself. You can surrender. You can commit yourself just as you are. And God takes us and molds us into what

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would have us be. So as we sing now we ask you to come we ask you to accept Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life. We ask you to rededicate yourself to Him just as I am. Hymn number 145, "Just as I am without one plea." Come now, surrender now.

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Just as I am. [Singing] [Music] ♪ A man of love was shed for me ♪

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♪ And I for him become to thee ♪ [Music] [Music] [ Silence ]