Powerful Praying — Lou Sutera

Powerful Praying

I am ready. Powerful praying. What's it all about tonight? Let me just start out. I heard about a little girl's idea, a version of the Lord's Prayer. I love when children speak out, so I heard about a little girl's, a little girl's version of the Lord's Prayer.

I don't know what your version is, but here was hers. And she's going through and she comes, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from e-mail. You like that one? And then I saw a church sign that said, God answers e-mail.

Ah, amen? E-mail. The best position is on your knees. God answers e-mail. But we're talking about powerful praying. What about this one? I just ran across this one. This is interesting. A country preacher decided to skip services one Sunday morning.

I don't know who he's going to have to preach for, but he decided to skip. And he wanted to head to the hills because he wanted to go bear hunting. Got it? As he rounded the corner on a perilous twist in the trail, he and a bear collided.

We're talking about powerful praying. Listen to this one. And so they collided, sending him and his rifle tumbling down the mountainside. Before he knew it, before he knew it, his rifle went one way and he went the other way, landing on a rock and breaking both legs.

That was the good news. The bad news was the ferocious bear charging at him from a distance. Here's this bear charging him. And he couldn't move. You know, he'd broken legs. Couldn't move. So what do you do when you're in a situation like that?

Oh, you know. Okay. Got it. So he said, Oh, Lord. He's praying. Here's a preacher. The preacher prayed. What's the first thing you're going to pray? I'm so sorry for skipping services today to come out here and bear hunt.

Right? Got to start getting forgiveness for that. Right? But he said, Please forgive me, Lord. Now he's praying. And please, Lord, grant me one wish. Please, Lord. He's praying. Please, Lord, make a Christian out of that bear that's coming after me.

Right? Please, Lord, he prayed. That very instant, the Lord answered prayer, right? The bear skidded to a halt. He fell to his knees. He clasped his paws together and he began to pray. He prayed aloud right at the preacher's feet.

And what did he pray? Dear Lord, dear God, bless this food I'm about to receive. So we're talking about powerful praying, right? Maybe some of you heard that, but anyway, powerful praying. Powerful praying.

Fervent Prayer and the Example of Elijah

You know, men and women, we need to pray God save us from poor praying and move us into powerful praying. So what are we really talking about when we talk about powerful praying? I believe we have to start out by talking about powerful praying is fervent, passionate praying.

We saw that in the video last night. You're going to see my points tonight. You're going to see. That's the picture of what we saw last night. Turn to James chapter 5. And you know this story, but I wonder if you see it in light.

I want to share it with you. James chapter 5. James chapter 5, verse 16. James 5, 16. And look at it. Here's what it says. James 5, 16. It says, confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

Much we could say about all of these. Now here's the statement here. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth... What? Much. Effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Now look what it says. Elijah, or Elias, was a man subject to like passions as we are. Aren't you glad for that statement in the Bible? You know what? I have an idea. That many of us when we read the Bible, you know what we think about the Bible characters?

These people were super men spiritually. They had it all put together because God had to have men like that to write a wonderful book like this called the Bible. And he's got these guys all fixed up and fixed up.

They're perfect. And I like it when God comes along and says, I want to talk to you about one that's just as human and just as tempted to whatever you're tempted to. He was a man subject to like passions as you, but not me.

Huh? All of us. Amen? A person just like you and me, but yet he can pray. Look what it says. That kind of person, he prayed how? Earnestly. And that's the same kind of word of fervently, the context, earnestly.

He prayed earnestly what? 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 heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Tremendous. All right. He prayed earnestly. Now this word earnestly, it's the same word context of fervently. So we have to find out what it's all about. What's fervent praying all about? The effectual fervent prayer.

What is it all about? It says about Epaphras in the book of Colossians 4 .12. Don't turn, just as it says. Paul refers to Epaphras, listen, as a bondservant who is always, listen to these words, laboring.

That sounds like pain. Laboring fervently for you in prayers. What? That you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. You know what I like first of all about that verse? Here is praying one for another.

He's praying for his brothers and sisters. And I wonder if we ought to pray like this. One for another. Praying what? Praying fervently for them. We'll talk about that in a moment. But pray for what? That we might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

We're getting instructions how to pray one for another. Okay. Oh that God would let us do it, teach us how to do it. One for another. But that's laboring fervently. I'll tell you what I found out about it.

The word comes from a Greek word that means, translated, agony. Agony. And it comes from the context of the wrestlers in the Grecian times, in the Olympics of the wrestlers day and the wrestlers in the Grecian times, when the Greek gymnastic games were being played, when a man would strain himself to win over his opponent.

And that's the word. Fervently. You know what? I think that takes us back to Jeremiah 33 .3. You don't need to turn. You have it memorized. You just didn't know where it was. Here's what. What does God say to Jeremiah to tell the people of God?

God said, tell the people, call unto me. That sounds like praying, doesn't it? And I will answer thee. If you'll call, I'll answer thee. And I will do something. I will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

You know what that really means, men and women? Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee what? Great, listen, here's the meaning of it, great and stupendous things the like of which thou hast never seen before.

That's all wrapped up in the meaning, things that thou knowest not. What kind of praying is going to do that? What is in the meaning of the word call unto me? So I had to look up the powerful word call.

What kind of calling is that all about? I'll tell you what it means. It has the context in the Hebrew. It has the context. It means to make an outcry as a person in distress. Got it? The agony of winning in the wrestler, the wrestler's winning over his opponent.

Call unto me and God says he'll hear and answer and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. It's the context of an outcry like a person who is in distress. You know when I say this to you, men and women, I quote the statement of R .A. Torrey, a pastor, a preacher of another generous.

Listen to what he said about it. He said these words. He said, to be anything other than fervent, we just described fervent, to be anything other than fervent in prayer is to admit to Almighty God the spirit of indifference that we have in the face of crushing needs all around us.

To be anything other than fervent, to be anything other than fervent in praying is to acknowledge before Almighty God, is to admit to God the indifference that's in our heart in the light of the crushing needs all around us.

You know what? Isaiah reminds us of this. The Bible says in Isaiah 64, the situation was so desperate for the prophet Isaiah, he said there was no human answer in his day. There was no political answer.

There was no reform of any kind, economic answer. There was no answer. And Isaiah finally cries out, Oh, that thou wouldst crack the heavens open, O God, and thou wouldst come down. Somebody said the tragedy of most of our praying is we've lost the O, there's no more O, as a cry, an outcry of a person in distress.

I found another translation, another version of James 5 .16, A Fractional Fervent Prayer of Righteous Men Avails One. Listen to what it says. Here's what it says. A righteous man's begging does avail much when it is putting forth its energy, get these words, in earnest, continuous, persevering, pleading.

Ah, now we're getting it, fervent praying. Dr. Charles Stanley, pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Listen to what he says. Praying with a burden, that's what we're talking about, is probably the most neglected aspect of prayer today.

As a result, we often pray burdenless prayers. Can you identify with any of this? He said we repeat the same old requests over and over again, but we have no heart or sense of urgency at all in that praying.

This, he said, is the sin of America today. This spirit of intercession and travail is lacking in the church. God delights in earnest praying of His people. Fervent praying. So, did we see that in the video last night?

I'd say amen. Secondly, I suggest powerful praying is more than that. Powerful praying has to be believing praying. Believing praying. And you say, oh, I know all this, yeah? I'm not telling you anything new, but God needs to bring it to our hearts in a new and fresh way.

Believing Prayer and Faith in the God of the Impossible

Believing praying. What do I mean? It says in Mark 9, 23, don't turn. Jesus said unto him, If thou tends to believe, all things except the problem in my life are possible. Huh? All things are possible to him that believeth.

Now, the question of the problem is, what's the real question in this issue? Here it is. Is my God the little God of the possible, or is he the big God of the impossible? That's the issue. What's the size of my God?

You know what? It's interesting. There are two places in Scripture in Mark 10, 27 and Luke 1, verse 37. And it says about, With God, all things are possible. Ah. Now the question is, Is your God the God of the possible or the God of the impossible?

The little God of the possible or the big God of the impossible? You know what? I looked up the background of those two places where it talks about, With God, all things are possible. You know what they are?

It comes after an impossibility. And that's where the Scripture comes in. What's the first one? The first one is when God says about a rich man. They said, Can a rich man enter heaven? And Jesus said, Just like a camel can go through the eye of a needle, a rich man can enter into heaven.

Now, can a camel go through an eye of a needle? And then it says, It seems like it's a human impossibility, right? But then it says, But with God, all things are possible. See? A human impossibility. And God says it's possible.

And then the other one, where it says, With God, all things are possible. Luke 1, verse 37. You know what Luke 1 is all about. The birth of Jesus. And then Elizabeth. She finds out that she's pregnant, going to have a child.

No way. It's not possible. She's way beyond the years of having a child. And then the next thing it says, when Elizabeth found out that she was going to have the Apostle John, With God, all things are possible.

Wow. What kind of God do we have today? Now, having said that, I want you to turn to Mark, chapter 11. Mark, chapter 11. And I want you to see this tremendous truth here in a very real way. Mark, chapter 11.

And it says, Verse 22. Mark 11, 22. And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God. Mark 11, 22. Have faith in God. Now, what do you mean by that, Lord? What do you mean by that, Lord? Listen to how He means.

What kind of faith? For verily I say unto thee, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea. Wow. And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Now, these are the words of Jesus. Verse 24. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. Now, is that in your Bible?

I hope the print of your Bible is just as dark as in mine. It's there, isn't it? You know, men and women, we've got to start believing what we read in the Word of God. Tremendous. You know what it says?

You can pray to where you can remove mountains and cast them in the sea. Wow. Have you ever heard of any story where God has fulfilled that promise? Listen. There were some children in an orphanage off of the coast of Japan.

And the orphanage was right there by the water, by the ocean. And between the orphanage and the ocean was a big mountain. And the children hated that mountain in the orphanage. They wished that mountain was there so they could see the sea.

You know? And you know what? They kept praying. They kept reading the Scripture. And they came to this verse. Oh, there it is. There it is. And they started praying according to that verse. There it is, Lord.

And the children started praying. Well, you know what? One day the head missionary of the orphanage was in town buying some food, some things. And what happened? And they're buying some things. And there's a knock at the door.

And the missionary's away. And the children go to the door. And there's a man at the door. And he said, where's the missionary? Not here? And they said to the man, why have you come? Oh, well, I'll tell you that I'm here.

He said, I'm on the city council. And we have been thinking about something on city council. We have been thinking that the children in this area need a park right by the sea. And we've decided, wouldn't it be wonderful to move that mountain and build a park for the children to play there?

What do you children think about it? Would it be all right with you? Oh, they said, we are not surprised at all that you came. We are praying for you to be here. And so you didn't shock us at all. So now you know a story where a mountain got moved to that way.

Ah, what's the mountain in your life that needs to be moved? Hmm. Amazing indeed, isn't it? Wow. You know what Psalm 52, verse 2 says? Listen, verse 6, don't turn. Listen. Here's how the psalmist starts his prayer.

You talk about faith, believing, praying. How do you like this for a starting of prayer? He prays these words. O thou that hearest prayer. Hmm. What's that? A statement of faith. We'll start right off the bat.

Unto thee shall all flesh come. What a way to start praying. The statement of faith right to pray. What a tremendous... You know what's interesting in Acts chapter 12? When I talked about all those prayer meetings yesterday morning in the book of Acts.

And one of them is Acts chapter 12. You know what it is? They were praying because Peter was in prison. And they were praying for something that Peter would get out of prison. Right? And they were praying and Peter got out of prison.

And you know what? There's a knock at the gate or whatever. And they send somebody to the gate to see who's there. And the girl, the lady goes there. The maid goes there to the gate. And finds Peter standing at the gate.

She goes back in and tells them, Peter is at the gate. And they said, No, no, it's a ghost. Amazing people, aren't they? They were praying for him to get out of the gate. When they got there, they called him a ghost.

Hmm. Sometimes God surprises us, doesn't He? In spite of our lack of faith, He gives us serendipity, slipping in on us to show us that He's still there to meet our prayers. Oh, I heard about a community where the farmers needed some rain.

And so they said, We better have a prayer meeting because the crops are dying on us. We better have a prayer meeting to pray that God would send some rain for our crops. Like Saskatchewan needs a little extra rain, amen?

I heard about what you've had up here lately. But anyway, so they're praying. They said, let's have a prayer meeting and pray over this thing. And they're praying. And you know what? Only one man brought his umbrella.

All the other guys went home wet. He went home dry. Glad that he was dry, but they could go wet. Oh, sometimes how we pray in unbelief, huh? Joy Dawson made a powerful statement about praying. And what would happen in our churches if we would pray like this?

Listen, she said, Thank God in faith for the remarkable prayer meeting you're going to have even before you get there. Hmm. Fill your cards with the spirit of faith, going to a prayer meeting for the remarkable prayer meeting you're going to have even before you get there.

That's exercising faith, praying in faith. Do you know what? A number of years ago, well, way back after the Saskatoon revival and Regina and Moose Jaw, when Ralph and I finally got back to the States, we were in a little town of Rives Junction, Michigan, where God worked in Rives Junction, Michigan.

And God was working in such a powerful way. And much I could say about that, and I won't tell you about that, except to say that there was a Christian radio station very close by, and they were recognizing that what God was doing and what they did is, they opened the lines of the radio, the radio lines, and they told the Christians in the crusade we were in, they said, If you Christians call in your testimony of how God is changing your life and what God's doing to you, we'll keep these lines open as long as you call in.

And this radio station went out to 50, 60, 70 miles of radius covering the countryside. And some days the lines were open with Christians just like yourself being touched by God, with the power of God on your life, being changed by God.

They'd call in their testimony, and some days the testimonies were going for 3 and 4 hours. And that was going out all over the countryside. We were in a little town, Rives Junction, Michigan, 250 people in town.

They called it an interlude between two cornfields. Rives Junction, Michigan. No street light in town. And we were running 700 people a night in a town that only had 250 people. They had to come an hour and a half early to get a seat.

We had adults in the baby room. People all over the place. What a move of God it was. And so the word was getting out all over the countryside what God was doing in this little place. And there was a lady, 50 miles away, she was so excited when she was hearing these testimonies.

Her husband was a deacon in the church, but he was a backslidden deacon, quit deacon a long time ago, you know? But he was a truck driver, and she couldn't drive. He was driving the truck all day. He came home, and she told him about it, and said, Would you please take me over there?

I've got what I'm hearing. I want to get in there, and I've got to see what it's all about. And feel that. Got the picture? So he comes in, and he said, Oh no, I'm so tired. I'm so tired. Please, please.

And it went on, and he decided, the way my wife is, I better do it now, because she'll be after me all week. You know. Excuse me, you women. But, he must have known his wife. He said, Oh, I better get this over once and for all.

Then she went on and said, You know what I hear? I hear that they not only have meetings, but after the meetings, they have what they call an afterglow. You see, the meeting was the glow, and after was the afterglow, right?

And it was after the meeting, anybody wants to sit around and talk and give testimony and tell what God's doing in their life, we'll just meet. It'll be a spontaneous thing, whatever God wants to say, however God wants to speak to people, if anybody wants to be prayed for and to their needs, and believe God can answer their prayer, we'll pray for them, whatever.

We'll stay as long as God wants us to stay. And she's telling her husband, I hear they have this thing called the afterglow. And she said, If we're going to drive these 50 miles, in other words, let's get our money's worth, right?

And she begged him and said,. And finally, he said, Oh, how grumpy he was, and grouchy he was. And finally, he said, they came to a compromise on that issue, he said, I'll tell you what, I'll take you there, and I'll stay in and listen to whatever this meeting's all about, but after you say, he figured, I don't want to be going again for this afterglow, 50 miles.

So he said, I'll go out and stay in the, I'll go and sleep in the car in the parking lot while you have this thing called the afterglow. You got the picture? At the same time, men and women, so they came to compromise like that.

At the same time, the pastor of that church, where this deacon quit deacon, got it? His wife heard these same testimonies, her husband was out making calls, and when he came in, he said, Honey, get somebody else to take prayer meeting tonight, and you go on over there, and what I hear going on, you go and come back and tell us that we can be touched by it.

So, there we are in the meeting, we're on the glow, and now we're in the afterglow. And so, we had about 50 people there at this afterglow, 40 -50 people, afterglow. And they're giving testimony of what God had done in their life, that God had performed miracles, in other words, they'd seen victories just like taking, pushing that wall over with their physical hand, things that they thought would never happen, God was doing.

And they started talking about all of this. And in that environment, this lady, this one who got her husband to drive her over there, she said, this sounds like a kind of people that I'm going to ask them to pray for my undeaking, deacon husband.

Got it? And she tells him about his grumpy and grouchy and backslidden and he's quit deaking and all the rest of it, and she's pouring this out to him. Got it? And, while she's giving the prayer request for her husband, somebody in the crowd said, where is he?

Where is he? And she made the fatal mistake of the evening, he's out in the car and sleeping in the parking lot. And the real fatal mistake was, they said, which car? And they said, she said, a gray Buick.

And two of those tigers in there that could believe God to do what he says he'll do, took out of that door as fast as they could go, in the dark of the night, they're trying to find a gray Buick with a sleeping deacon.

Got it? Can you imagine what I had on my hands here with that wife before those two guys got out there before she could ever stop them? Could you imagine what she was thinking about that 50 mile drive home?

I think you can, huh? So, men and women, when things get that desperate, what do you do? You have a lady going up in smoke here, have a crowd of 40, 50 people. I said, folks, I think we better... Oh, you know.

Good. I think we better pray. On their knees and went. The whole bunch went on their knees and they were praying. And you should have heard them praying. God, you did it to John in our community. What's that deacon?

You can get him. And on and on they were praying. They didn't know him, but they knew God. They knew what God could do. And they were praying and praying. And while we're on our knees praying, I'm on my knees there as well.

We're praying. Somebody tapped me on the shoulder. And I looked up. It was this. One of those two tigers that went out after. And they whispered in my ear, Lou, we've got him. And they said, Lou, listen, he wants to get right with God.

Wow. He's standing right here. There he is. I look up. There he is. And the man was... We're all on our knees and the man over there was praying. Oh, God, you heard her say how backslidden he is and how grumpy he is and how grouchy he is.

Oh, God. He's standing right here. Got it? And I'm praying, Oh, God, will you tell that deacon to stop praying? Why? Because there's a verse in Isaiah 65 where it says, And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer.

And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. I said, folks, he's here. And he wants to get right with God. We put a chair down. One chair. Because his wife was here and they had a daughter there. And we put three chairs down.

So one for him and one for his wife and one for his daughter. We no sooner got those three chairs down and guess what? Somebody from that side of the room comes rushing up and plops down on his knees and says, Who is this fellow?

Where did he come from? I found out later. Remember I told you that his pastor was coming that night to the same meeting? So isn't that the right place for a pastor to be when his deacon is coming to get right with God?

Oh, you're not so sure, huh? No, you're wrong. The pastor got down on his knees and he was the first one to pray. You know what he said? Listen. Here's what he prayed. He said, Oh, Lord. Lord, would you please forgive me for my unbelief.

When Lou said he's here and he wants to get right with God, God, I need to ask you to forgive me for my sin of unbelief. He said, Lord, I didn't think you could do anything for that deacon even though, listen, I have prayed and prayed so long for him and I have even laid prostrate on my office floor and I have wept tears into the rug of my floor and I prayed, God, you would change him and when Lou said he's here and he wants to get right with God, I said, Oh, no!

And the pastor was the first one to get right with God on the sin of praying in unbelief. I'll tell you men and women, he prayed and the wife prayed. We killed the fatted calf about 2 o 'clock in the morning.

What a reunion of the glory of God in that situation. You know what James says? James says in James 1, 6, Pray in faith, nothing wavering for not let that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord.

Oh, a lady wrote a letter to a pastor to encourage him. Isn't that nice? Some of you, have you ever written a letter to your pastor to encourage him? You should. Well, now you can call him or email or whatever.

But anyway, so she wrote a letter a day's one before all this stuff and she wrote a letter to her pastor to encourage him and this is what she wrote. She wrote a letter. She said, Pastor, this is what she wrote now.

Get the words. I wanted to just write and tell you that I am praying for you every day but I'm not expecting an answer. Now, you folks are pretty sharp here tonight. You got it, huh? A letter. I'm not expecting an answer but trouble.

You know what the problem with this thing of the spirit of unbelief when we pray? You know what the problem we have? The problem is this. Prayer without expectancy, prayer without expectancy and how many times we pray and we don't really expect.

Prayer without expectancy is, you know what? Unbelief in disguise. Are you hearing me? Prayer without expectancy is unbelief in disguise. And the biggest problem most of us have with the sin of unbelief is this.

Most of us don't believe we have it. God knows we might be filled with it. You know what? You know what Hannah Whitehall Smith said about this? Listen. Hannah Whitehall said in the Christian Secret of a Happy Life, one of the two books that most greatly influenced my wife after she went through dark days in her life when her first husband passed away when she was 24 years of age.

Much I can tell you about that but I'll leave that for another time. And Hannah Whitehall Smith says in the Christian Secret of a Happy Life in page 106. Listen to what she says. It seems strange to me that people whose very name are believers call themselves believers implies that the one chiefest characteristic is that they believe.

That's why they call themselves believers. That they should have to confess that they have doubts and yet it is so universal a universal habit that I feel that if the name were to be given over again she said the only fitting name would be the descriptive name would be doubters should be given to Christians.

Children of God should be called doubters indeed. You know we sing a song don't we? So it's a song. Prayer is the key to what? Heaven. You got the key? We've got the key? We've got the key folks. But what good is the key if you don't put it in the door?

But faith unlocks the door. Oh men and women that's the believing heart. Faith that unlocks the door. God would show us. One great Methodist preacher of another generation Charles Allen said listen to this can we identify with it?

He said if ever we say and you're in this meeting we're talking about the impossible if ever we say that a person or a situation is hopeless have you ever said that? If ever you say a situation is hopeless did we see even last night almost a situation that seemed hopeless?

You see how you're relating to last night's message? If we ever say a situation is hopeless that is the same as slamming the door in the face of Almighty God. In those moments we are saying this is beyond anything God can do.

In that very instance Christ is no longer supreme no matter what your Bible says about Him. In that moment He's no longer supreme. Oh men and women that God would help us to teach us and show us about the unbelieving praying.

Do you know what I believe? We become unbelieving believers unbelieving believers and God in these in this night needs to bring us to a place and say Lord that's my heart. I'm hearing it I saw it last night but I'm here tonight to hear it for myself.

I'm exactly like Lou's describing from God's truth. Praying with no expectancy I'm really an unbelieving believer even while I pray. You know men and women when I talk about this I'm aware of the fact that some of us think well where does praying become festering God or pestering God any way you want to say it.

Where does it come? Dr. William Klein made a statement listen I agree with you by God's own sovereign design we talk about where does our prayer and God's sovereignty enter in? What about God my praying and God's sovereignty how does it enter in?

And by the way because that's such an issue such a question we need to have understanding when you go out tonight there's going to be a packet of material out there and one article a two page article two side article talking about my prayers and God's sovereignty.

It will be a blessing to you it will help you and that's why I want you to have it it's there in the packet. But listen what this man says about the sovereignty of God in relation to our prayers. He said by God's own sovereign design we're talking about the sovereignty of God by God's own sovereign design God has ordained in His sovereignty He has ordained what?

Listen that He will act to do certain things only in response to believing prayer. Although God's eternal purposes and desires are fixed prayer can affect how God acts. Now what did S .D. Gordon say? Listen prayer surely does influence God.

I'm just giving quotes some brothers are talking about it. It does not influence God's purpose but it does influence God's action. Wow E .M. Bound said prayer honors God and brings God into active aid.

Hmm. So don't say well if God's sovereign what do you use praying? I gave you those three quotes and I want you to get that article there. We heard that we heard that from Jim Simbala last night to keep us from praying we use even theological concepts.

What a tremendous truth when we think about it. Well you know what? Dr. Erwin Lutzer you ever hear that name around here? Oh, oh Dr. Erwin Lutzer and I had the privilege of seeing his mother today what a dear one going on 102 years of age but Dr. Erwin Lutzer he was one of the speakers at one of our conferences and Dr. Jim Simbala at the same conference we had them both speaking so as a result they got together and Dr. Simbala invited Dr. Erwin Lutzer to come to the Brooklyn Tabernacle and speak to his people and so what what kind of a question would Erwin Lutzer ask Dr. Jim Simbala about what's going on at the Brooklyn Tabernacle the kind of praying we talked about and saw last night?

Listen to what he said. Lutzer said Erwin Lutzer said to Dr. Jim Simbala will you tell me what's the secret? How can you get at that time over 2 ,000 people on a Tuesday night to come and pray? How can you get them to come to prayer meeting?