"Going to Your Knees to Get Back On Your Feet" Thanksgiving Eve Bible Study

6:36 through the Holy Spirit, according to your word. Amen. Second Chronicles chapter 7, verse 14, we find the words of our text for this message. 2 Chronicles chapter 7, verse 14 reads, And if my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land. You may be seated in God's presence. for just a few moments with your prayers. I want to continue our stroll through this wonderful verse. And today I want to talk about going to your knees to get back on your feet.

7:29 Going to your knees to get back on your feet. Has life ever set you back, knocked you down, and threaten to wipe you out. No matter how big your Bible is, how long you've been going to church, there are those dark days and nightmarish nights where we find ourselves literally wiped out. We've been set back and we are not down. Have you ever undertaken something that is huge and now it's dawning on you, what you've undertaken is a bit much for you. Or perhaps you've been overwhelmed by circumstances that have come up out of nowhere. And now you're wondering if you have what it takes to deal with what is threatening to knock you down, set you back, and wipe you out.

8:36 I read something in one of our periodicals about something going on in the state of Maine. Forever Chemicals has literally poisoned the land. One particular farmer by the name of Adam has this testimony. Adam said that he had bought a farm with the hopes of not only raising cattle, But on top of that, it was Adam's dream to raise crops. But he discovered that the land he purchased had been poisoned by forever chemicals. As a consequence, even the crops he did produce were poisoned. And as a consequence, hear Adam's testimony as he welcomes a reporter to check out his land and declares, welcome to the ghost town of my dreams.

9:39 What a metaphor. Welcome to the ghost town of my dreams. Perhaps you're unfamiliar with ghost towns. Ghost towns are those towns that have literally been abandoned. They used to be thriving with life and energy, but now there's no one there. Perhaps there is the remaining leftover infrastructure, but no one is in this town that has been abandoned. And listen to the testimony of Adam as he says to this reporter, Welcome to the ghost town of my dreams. That's powerful right there because in a real sense, Adam is testifying through that metaphor that he himself has given up on his dreams. He is testifying that what he once was looking forward to had fallen through and now his dreams are empty. Welcome to the ghost town of my dreams.

10:40 And you understand why Forever Chemicals was much more politically powerful and economically strong than Adam himself. And so Adam is up against something that is too much for him. He is overwhelmed. He had undertaken something that was large, but now because of what's against him, it's not going to get done. And Adam's testimony is, welcome to the ghost town of my dreams. I don't know who God has brought to church today, or perhaps you are watching this online. And Adam's testimony resonates with you because there was something in your life that you were looking forward to. But things have fallen through because what you were undertaking, now you feel overwhelmed. And as a consequence, you've experienced a setback.

11:40 You have been knocked down and your dreams have been wiped out. That's the testimony of Adam, but also somebody in the house, somebody online. That's your testimony. Something you have undertaken has become overwhelmingly against you. And now you find yourself after so many setbacks, you have been knocked down and life is threatening to wipe you out. Well, that did not get you. I'll see if I can make this real plain, my sisters and brothers, because in a real sense, all of us from time to time find ourselves in predicaments that are quite problematic. All of us find ourselves wondering if we have what it takes to do what it is. We feel purposed by God to do, and yet life happens.

12:36 And when life happens, we find ourselves set back and sometimes not down. And it seems like we're going to be wiped out. Well, my sisters and brothers, I guess I could park right here parenthetically and point us in the direction of what is called the Middle East. Because right there in the Middle East, backed by this United States government, we see a people that are being literally threatened to experience ethnic cleansing. They're being threatened to literally be wiped out. Now, I park right here because some of you may get upset with me because it appears I'm talking bad about Israel. No, I'm not talking bad about Israel, but I am talking bad about ethnic cleansing. I am talking about killing.

13:31 I am talking bad about senseless murder. I am talking bad about treating God's children as if they are less than human. And my sisters and brothers, have you picked up on the fact that what is going on over there? To be sure, what Hamas did was absolutely low down. It was evil persons who had gone to a concert to enjoy themselves. They had left their family at home, and now some will never go back because of what happened eight days ago. But hold on. Look what they declared. Israel, led by their Trump-like leader, had the nerve to say Netanyahu is his name. Netanyahu said this is our 9-11. Uh-oh, I think we need to talk right here because if it is their 9-11, check out how this country responded to 9-11.

14:34 Because if any country ought to be able to tell another country how to respond right and how not to respond to your 9-11, surely it ought to be this country. Because what this country did in response to 9-11 is nothing short of evil. Look what this country did, lying about weapons of mass destruction. Look what this country did, killing over 100,000 Iraqi citizens that had nothing to do with 9-11. Wait, I'm not even done because I just gave you a number of the number of Iraqi citizens that were killed. But we never got that on our news feeds in this country because the only lives that counted in this nation's media were American lives that were lost over at the so-called war on Iraq.

15:34 But hold on, I'm not even done because my sisters and brothers, this country, when the world rallied around us, mismanaged and was a bad steward of that support and used its own power in order to take innocent lives and no good has come out of that. Can you tell me one good thing that came out of the so-called Iraqi war? I'm not even done because that's exactly what's being replicated now in Palestine because the sad reality is Gaza already an open air prison, already a place of people who are vulnerable consistently. And please understand, because I see y'all looking at me strange, that Israel today ain't biblical Israel. I need to be real clear about that, because Israel today, please understand this, that this nation and other Western nations beginning at the beginning of the last century was looking for a plot of land in order to give to Jews.

16:46 They even went to Uganda and Kenya but said, no, that's a little too much melanin there. And they settled on the current area where they are. And so, there were people already living there. There were indigenous people, the Palestinians, who were already living there. And this country and other Western countries made up their mind that they were going to literally displace the indigenous people and then place in their land their own homeland, place in their homeland and create the modern nation Israel. Now, please tell me how you would feel if somebody came to your house and told you that you've got to go to the basement or the attic and you stay there. I'll decide if you get electricity.

17:43 I'll decide if you get food. I'll decide what you can get. No wonder when Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited Israel and Palestine. He said it blew his mind. How similar what the Palestinians were going through with what he went through when he was under apartheid rule in South Africa. I'm trying to let y'all know that there was something because it's a lie when they say we were surprised by the attack from Hamas. Oh, you've been kicking my behind all this time and you think ain't nothing gonna happen now? To be sure, I am not advocating violence because Israeli lives are valuable as Palestinian lives. And I'm not saying anybody should be dead.

18:37 Oh, I think I'll park right there. Because the bottom line is the Israeli prime minister referred to the Palestinians as human animals. And once you see people as less than human, Greg Carr says all bets are off. And what you do is you treat them as roaches to be exterminated as a problem you've got to get rid of instead of recognizing they are humans. They are God's children. Oh, I see y'all getting mad because some clapped back at me last week and said, but God said that God was going to bless everybody that blessed Israel and curse everyone that cursed Israel. First of all, biblical Israel, modern-day Israel ain't the same.

19:29 Secondly, since you're such a Bible scholar, have you ever heard about the passage that said, God so loved the world that God gave on God's only begotten son? And I guess y'all don't like that part because some of us don't want everybody to be loved by God. But the God I serve said, I so love the world. I love Palestinians. I love Jews. I love black folk. I love indigenous folk. I love Asians. I love Europeans. I love white folk. I love Africans. I love everybody. I created the world. And whenever you treat people as less than human, when you treat people as less than human, you are sinning against the God that created them. And so, and so, needless to say, disappointment is all in my spirit when I see how this nation has responded.

20:36 Look at this nation with the nerve of the president and, and every person in Congress except the squad that had the courage of their convictions as they rushed to say the president black caucus, congresspersons, we stand with Israel.

20:59 Why don't you say we stand for life? Why don't you say we stand against violence? Why don't you say we stand against genocide and ethnic cleansing? Why don't you say you stand for what's right and what's just? because as long as we don't stand for what's right and what's just, then we have, watch this, Israeli insecurity that is rooted in Palestinian injustice. Oh, boy. I should have known y'all feel this way, but I'll go ahead and get to the stuff that makes y'all shout, okay? Because I had to get that out the way to at least give you a sense of what's going on. And I promise to do a Bible study on this real soon so we can have Q&A and dialogue about this. Because a lot of stuff is out there that really ain't consistent with Scripture, let alone the will of God.

21:57 And so understand that now people experience being set back and knocked down and threatened to be wiped out. And yet, my sisters and brothers here, when we feel helpless like Adam must have felt here, when we wonder if we are going to make it out of whatever we find ourselves up against going through and wondering if we can accomplish the assignment that God has for us that is huge and sometimes overwhelming, here is what God says. God's word says, and if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I got to shout you because in verse 13, right before 14, God says, if I send drought, if I send pestilence, if I send locusts.

22:51 Now, watch what gets me is that one of, we dealt with locusts last week. Today I want to talk about pestilence because I unpack pestilence. Pestilence is death dealing. Pestilence is when you find yourself in a situation where death is all around you. People are dying and because they are dying, it is traumatic. It is causing grief within your spirit, but look what my Bible says. The Bible says, even if pestilence comes, there's power in prayer because if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. Y'all didn't shout, I got to do it for you one more time. If pestilence comes and death is all around you and you want to know how to stop death so it gives way to new life. If my people called by my name humble themselves and pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven forgive their sin and heal their land. I love this y'all because I've discovered and this is what Harry Emerson Fosdick says in a sermon entitled, When Prayer Means Power, he says we accomplish things in life by working, thinking, and praying.

24:23 Now we know that we get things done by working. We work with our hands and we make a difference. But sometimes it's not just your hands that have to work. It's your head that has to work. And so we think with our minds and open the door to new eras of possibility. But y'all, every now and then, as hard as you may work, as good as you may think, there are situations you can't think your way out of. There are situations you can't work your way out of. You need a power beyond your power to help you get done what only God can get done. and so and so and so we we work with our hands and you got to do that if you want to get stuff done you got to work with your hands quit saying i'm waiting on god god may be waiting on you to work with your hands to get some stuff done but then we use our minds and we use our minds to critically analyze and think our way into a new era of possibilities but after that text says you got to pray.

25:39 You got to pray. And y'all, I'm here to say that when we pray effectively and powerfully, this is going, and please don't miss this, effective empowered prayer is the result of a consciousness of great need. And the consciousness of great need is the result of undertaking something you know you can't get done in your own power, but also you're conscious of a great need because you are overwhelmed by all that life keeps hitting you with. And when you feel overwhelmed by what life hits you with and you are undertaking something that's too big for you, now you are in a position to get your real prayer on. And at that point, prayer becomes powerful.

26:33 Prayer becomes game-changing. Prayer gives you power to do what you can't do because now you have access to power that's going to get some stuff done. Y'all didn't shout, I'm in the Bible. The Bible says Peter was thrown in jail. And when he was thrown in jail, the church could not think their way out of the situation. They could not work their way out of the situation. They could not pay their way out of the situation. And my Bible says they prayed. And when they went down in prayer, the Bible says God went to work. And God sent an angel. And I came by to tell somebody, God is still sending angels. Every now and then, God will send an angel and open up a door you did not knock on. Is there anybody here who can testify you prayed and after you gave it over to God, God worked out what you could not figure out.

27:35 God worked out what you did not have the power in your hands to do. Jesus can work it out. The church prayed. Okay, okay. So I did my homework and etymologically, I unpacked the word. If my people call my name, I'm going to say, pray. That word pray is the most common word in all the Hebrew Bible for prayer. It was often used in seasons of distress. it's used by Hezekiah. When Hezekiah gets a diagnosis, you're going to die. And the text says Hezekiah prayed. He could not think his way to healing. He could not work his way to healing.

28:29 And so Hezekiah prayed. And the Bible says when he turned his face to the wall, God watched this that I have, I'm going to give you 15 more years. He got 15 more years than the doctor said. So can you imagine Hezekiah's doctor showing up and saying, you're supposed to be dead, Hez. And Hezekiah says, I got another doctor. I got a second opinion. And the second opinion doctor has extended my prognosis. Oh, I got to stop and give y'all time to shout right there because Hezekiah from heaven is saying God is a healer. When other folks say they can't do anything, God says I specialize in what other folks say they can't get done. God says when you've done all you can, just stand. And while you're standing, I'll show up and heal you. While you're standing, I'll give your body back to you.

29:24 And you'll bounce back stronger, wiser, and better because of what you've been through. Because now you've experienced my power. Okay, y'all didn't feel Hezekiah? What about Hannah? Hannah was being hated on by her rival because Hannah couldn't have children. Oh my God. Hannah was barren. And the book says she prayed. Same word. And when she prayed, the book says God opened up her womb. And Hannah gave birth to a child that blew everybody's mind. What she could not do, she was now able to do because prayer, watch it. She couldn't think it. She couldn't work it, but she could pray it. And God sent me to tell somebody what you can't think for a solution, what you can't work for a solution.

30:18 God says pray. And when you pray with a sense of need, God will. God will. Oh, God will. I need some God will witnesses in here. God will. God will. God will. Watch this. Watch this. Watch this. I love this because the text lets us know that even in pestilence, God will. God is able. In the midst of pestilence, death-dealing circumstances, that's what we have going on. Wait, not just in Palestine. We got it going on in this country. Black mothers dying senselessly because of a system that doesn't listen to black women. Listen, don't miss this breast cancer awareness month.

31:18 Y'all, I was in Charlotte, not Charlotte, Charleston, South Carolina this week preaching and I was leaving early Thursday morning, had the news on to keep up with what's going on And all of a sudden, they're interviewing a sister as a part of their Breast Cancer Awareness Month series. And the sister said that when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she went into a dark place. And she went on to testify that while she was in that dark place, that's when God showed up as the only light that she could have. And her testimony is that she turned to God in prayer. And when she turned to God in prayer, she partnered God's, she partnered prayer with getting with a good physician. And she had got a good physician and the partnering of the two changed life for her so much so that today her testimony is I've come out of the darkness into the marvelous light because God is a healer.

32:21 I'm a cancer survivor. And that's her testimony. And I came to let somebody know there's power in prayer because, y'all, she could not think her way to a healing. She could not work her way to a healing. But she could discover that when life knocks you down and sweeps you off your feet, that means you've hit your knees. And once you've hit your knees, you're in praying position. I'm trying to let somebody know if my people called by my name humble themselves and pray. Pray, pray, pray, pray. I hear you talking to me. Freddie Haynes, I feel this. I want a stronger prayer life. I want a prayer life that connects me with my creator so much so that what I can't think through and work through, I can pray through.

33:19 If that's you, let me unpack this and we'll be done. Because basically when you get a stronger prayer life, it's because you recognize that in prayer, you got to have a personal connection. In prayer, there are prerequisite conditions and then you experience powerful consequences. That's where I'm going and we're going to wrap this thing up. Number one, prayer means that when you pray, you pray with a sense of personal connection. if my people called by my name. You didn't shout. When you pray, you pray with a sense that you are personally God's.

34:10 That didn't shout you. You belong to God. And so when I'm praying, I hit my knees to get back on my feet, but I pray with the consciousness that God personally cares about me, personally is engaged with me. Y'all, y'all, God is more than origin's unmoved mover. God is more than the philosopher's uncaused cause. God runs the universe, but God is such a God that God says, I number the hairs on your head.

34:50 Oh, I want to make sure I include everybody. I number the follicles that don't grow hair anymore. Okay, that didn't get some of y'all. Oh, I number the tracks in your weave. I'm just simply trying to say that God is so good that God knows you intimately. God knows you personally. God cares about you. And God says, I know you better than you know you. And I'm personally engaged with you. So every time I pray, I pray with the consciousness that God is personal. I've got a personal connection with the King of Kings. I've got a personal connection with the Lord of Lords. I've got a personal connection with the creator of the universe.

35:46 Wait, y'all didn't shout, if my people called by my name. I've got a personal connection with Yahweh, Elohim, El Elyon, El Shaddai, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Shalom. I got a personal connection with that God. The same God that showed up for Abraham as Jehovah Jireh is my God. The same God who showed up for Moses as Jehovah Nisi and will fight your battle. That's my God. the same God who is Jehovah Rapha, the same God who is Jehovah Shalom. That's my God.

36:38 Y'all, it will energize and encourage your prayer life when you know when you are praying, God is personally engaged. Listen, listen, Pastor McGurray, this messed me up. I saw this and I read this passage so often, but this finally hit me. Jesus said, when you pray, don't be like the heathens or the Pharisees, I'm sorry, out there praying all loud. See if I can hear them. They're showing off how holy they are. He said, no, no, here's what you do. When you pray, go into your inner chamber, your prayer closet. And God who sees you in secret will reward you in public. Now, now, now, here's what I had never gotten before.

37:38 I got the part that I go into my prayer closet, God sees what's happening, and then publicly I blow up. I get that. But here's what messed me up. Jesus said, go into your inner chamber, your prayer closet, your private space. Ain't nobody but you there. and God sees you. Meaning I always pray with the sense I ain't by myself. I pray with the sense that that power I'm praying to is so close to me, even if I'm by myself, I ain't alone.

38:21 Freddie Haynes, Freddie Haynes, you're not by yourself. God is right there with you, listening, engaging with you. When you pray, you're not by yourself. That didn't get you. Thank you, doc, because I'm wondering if they're feeling this thing right now. So, so, so, so watch it. If my people called by my name, that's hot right there. If my people, I belong to God. God is personal. And since God is personal, when I pray, even in my alone time, I'm not by myself because God is right there with me as I'm praying if my people called by my name.

39:08 And then, and then this, this gets me, this gets me. Humble themselves and pray, seek my face. Uh-oh. That means after our personal connection, there are prerequisite conditions. You can't just come into God's presence any kind of way. My late mentor, Emmanuel Scott, put it like this way. You can't live any kind of way and expect your prayers to go through.

39:41 Okay, I'm not making this up. If my people call by my name, humble themselves, pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways. So meaning if you're not careful, you can get in the way of your prayers being answered. if you don't fulfill the prerequisite conditions and the text lets us know what the prerequisite conditions are. Humble yourself. You can't just barge off into God's presence and act like you all that. God knows you all that because God made you all that. So don't barge off into God's presence without recognizing that God is all that her. Claudius in Shakespeare's play, what is it, Hamlet, he is low down. I mean, he had his brother killed and then took his brother's wife and then went to church.

40:43 And he gets to church and has the nerve to try to pray. This is the line. It's going to kill you. My words go up, but my thoughts remain below, and words without thoughts never to heaven go. Okay, okay, forgive me, but I got to show off my education, okay? So, so, so in Shakespearean, in Shakespearean poetry and even in the plays, Shakespeare is always, watch this, speaking beyond the surface meaning of the words. So when my words go up, my prayers are going up, but my thoughts are low. So if my thoughts are low, that means my thoughts have nothing to do with the words coming out of my mouth. I'm praying up to a great God that is above me and beyond me.

41:39 But here's the deal. My thoughts are on the dirty deeds I'm doing. And because of the dirt I'm doing, even though I'm saying the right stuff, my heart is not in it. And because my heart ain't in it, then God ain't hearing it. Okay. So, so, so, so, so, so, so there are prerequisite conditions. Humble yourself. Oh, my God. Let's start right there. The Hebrew really is falling on your knees. I just got triggered. Earlier this year, and I was tripping because I'm usually doing good with my asthma, but earlier this year, I'm traveling and had a bad asthma attack. I had an asthma attack. I'm in a hotel room and asthma is bad enough no matter where you are, but away from home, my asthma hit me. And so I basically had to make sure I had my inhaler with me at all times.

42:34 And so I'd gone to sleep and my inhaler was supposedly on the side of the bed on the little thing right there. And y'all check out what happened. I wake up and I go to the bathroom. After going to the bathroom, I'm not breathing well. I'm not breathing well. And so I go rushing trying to find my inhaler. It feels like an elephant is on my chest. I go to the last place I had my inhaler and check it out. It's not there. I am messed up and I'm breathing and struggling to breathe and struggling to breathe until finally I hit my knees. But once I hit my knees, my perspective was different because unbeknownst to me, somehow I had knocked my inhaler off of the little desk adjacent to the bed and it had slid right under the bed. And because I was on my knees, I could see what I could not see as long as I was standing up all high and mighty. Come here. I'm about to get somebody. Every now and then, God will let life sweep you off your feet, fall down on your knees, but now you have real connection to almighty God.

43:46 I got that inhaler and in the name of Jesus, I went to pumping and I got back up on my feet because I had first been driven to my knees. Is there anybody here who can say, you just gave my testimony. I've been there. I tried to do it on my own, but life knocked me down. But while I was down, I got on my knees and God heard me. humble themselves and pray, here it is, and seek my face. Seek my face. It literally means to get in the presence of God. So when I'm praying, here it is, I do all I can to practice the presence of God. Oh, help me. Now, now, here's what's interesting. I'm going to be honest with you.

44:38 It ain't always easy. Ain't always easy because there's some days just ain't feeling God. and I ain't feeling good and I ain't feeling God. Okay, you judging me because you always feel good and you always feel God. No, no, that ain't life. And y'all, I've discovered this. Watch this. There are some areas that you drive in, on our side of town where if you were talking to someone, and I know it's right there at I-35 and around Luke 12. Man, if you're talking to someone, all of a sudden, phone either dies or y'all can't hear each other. Yeah, on our side of town, our side of town. Yeah, yeah. AT&T is our headquarters and we got these dead areas. Yeah, I'm calling you AT&T headquarters here in Dallas and we got dead areas.

45:34 All right, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So, but here it is. You're driving along, talking to somebody, and all of a sudden, either you can't hear them or call drops. It hit me. I can't hear them or the call drops because I'm in a dead area. Okay.

45:58 And it's hard to communicate with who you want to communicate with When you're driving or walking in a dead area. That one's shouting in just a moment. Because a lot of times when I'm praying, I'm in a dead area. And because I'm in a dead area, I can't hear from God. God, in a real sense, is trying to get through. But God is saying, you're in a dead area. What do I do when I'm in a dead area? I keep on driving. I don't stay in that dead area. I drive on through that dead area until I get a better signal. And so Jesus said, Jesus taught his disciples to always pray and not faint. Did y'all get that?

46:51 And tells a parable about a sister, a widow woman. Jesus is something else because he knows sisters are relentless. And so what Jesus does, Jesus tells a parable about a sister who is not experiencing justice. and the judge says, leave me alone. And the text says, she's a sister. Keeps on knocking. Keeps on knocking. And the judge says, you know what? I don't fear God. I don't fear nobody, but you're working my last nerve and because of your relentlessness, I'm going to go ahead and give you justice. Because she kept on driving. Even through the dead area, somebody needs that word right now because you've been feeling like your prayer life is in a dead area. I'm saying keep on driving it. But I'm also saying here's the good news.

47:45 When you know Jesus, you are blessed, watch this, with a satellite phone prayer life. Now, now, Brooke Baldwin, Brooke Baldwin, Brooke Baldwin, CNN, was in Mexico City in the aftermath of devastation, earthquake. Uncle Vinny, look what happened. Brooke Baldwin has a satellite phone because the devastation had knocked out the cell towers. And because the cell towers were knocked out, cell phones weren't working. But she has a satellite phone. And so her satellite phone is connected to the satellite. Duh, you didn't shout. Here it is.

48:37 If it's a satellite phone connected to a satellite, it's connected to something beyond the earth that still has range and power on this earth. And so what she did when somebody was in need, she let them use the satellite phone. But here is what shouts me, and that is the fact that it's a satellite phone, it means it has to have direct contact or be in direct line with the satellite. And so if it's in a building, it will not work. If there's something covering it, it will not work. So what do you do? You reposition yourself so the satellite can pick up where you are. And once the satellite picks up where you are, even devastation around you can't stop you from the connection that the satellite has for you. It dawned on me.

49:32 When you know Jesus for yourself, there may be devastation all around you. But just keep repositioning yourself in prayer. And God beyond this earth has range on this earth. And God will hear you. All right. So you have personal connection, prerequisite conditions, but that yields some powerful consequences. Here comes your shout and I'm done. If my people called by my name, humble themselves, pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then I'm going to hear from heaven. Heaven is going to hear about your hell on earth. I'll hear from heaven. Forgive their sin.

50:26 You didn't shout. Whatever you've done that gets you in the way of you, God says, I release you. I release you from you. I release you from what you did that causes you to feel guilty. I release you from it. It no longer is in between you and me. I release you from it because I'm God, a God of grace. I'm going to go ahead and just say amazing grace. How sweet the sound saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. Now I'm found. Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise. It was grace that bought my liberty. I don't know why God came to love me. So God looked beyond my faults and saw my needs. So I'll forgive their sin and I'll heal the land. Heal the land.

51:20 Heal the land. Let me quit by giving you this. I was in Charleston, South Carolina, I told you earlier this week. So Monday, as soon as I landed, I was hungry. So I went to like my favorite restaurant there. It's called Hannibal's, Gucci Gullah kind of place. And so I go there to grub. and when I got to Hannibal's, it was like around 3 o'clock, so wasn't a lot of folk in there. Hannibal's is the kind of place, they have Barack Obama's been there, a lot of the stars have been there. And so, Angela Bassett, I see her picture up on the wall. So, I go to Hannibal's and once I get to Hannibal's, I sit down because I got a table, a table to myself, a table for four, but it's just me. And so about five minutes later, this place is packed. It's just packed. And so there is an older sister with her daughter and they've come in to the restaurant and the restaurant is packed. There are no seats. And so I'm sitting there and my food is on the way. And this is sister standing up as somebody's mama and her daughter as somebody's sister or somebody's mama.

52:30 And so I just said, okay, okay, y'all want to sit with me? Y'all want to sit with me? And so I didn't know it, but the older sister was blind. And so she said, oh, thank you, son. Thank you, son. And so she sat down. And when she sat down, her daughter sat down, looked at me. Her daughter looks at me and then whispers to her mama, Mama, we sitting with Pastor Haynes.

52:58 She has a distinct accent. She says, Mama, we're sitting with Pastor Haynes. And so I said, okay, what's your name since y'all know me? And the mother answers and said, child, I watch you every Sunday. I told you she's blind.

53:29 Child, I watch you every Sunday. And so I said, so, you know, me thinking I'm all smart. I said, I really appreciate you tuning in and listening. And she said, I said I watch you every Sunday. Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I don't have vision. I guess she told me.

54:06 I'm liking this woman. I'm liking her. I mean, I'm loving her. And again, she has a distinct accent. And so, and so, Dr. Thomas, Floyd Thomas, here's what happened. I said, I said, excuse me, my bad. Totally my bad. She said, she said, you're going to probably preach about me, huh? So I fell out laughing when she said, I mean, all I could do was laugh because, I mean, she wasn't lying. And I'm preaching about her today. Hey, hey. And so here's what happened, y'all. Here's what happened. She said, she said, I watch you every Sunday and your word got me through the pandemic. and she said, I just happened during the pandemic to be on YouTube going through all these pastors, but your message hit me because your message, you connect what's going on with me personally and spiritually with what happened in this world.

55:06 And I like that kind of gospel because I'm from, watch this, I'm from Rwanda. I'm from Rwanda and I survived that horrific, slaughter that took place in the 90s. I survived it. My daughter survived it. And my daughter got kidnapped during that horrific slaughter. She was with me together walking down the street and this gang came up. They grabbed her. And when they grabbed her, they put her on the back of this motorcycle. And I am standing there screaming. and the screaming I discovered was not getting me anywhere. And so I decided instead of screaming, I needed to talk to God. And so right there on the streets of Rwanda, I fell down on my knees and I began to talk to God.

56:02 And this is what I prayed. I prayed and this is exactly what I prayed, preacher. I prayed, God, you know that's my child, but she's also your child. I'm placing her in your hands and believing you're going to bring her back to me safely no matter what you have to do. And she said, young preacher, I love her. She called me young. She said, young preacher, do you know in that moment that I prayed, my daughter told me that that motorbike, the motorcycle she was on, the motorbikeless lost his bearings and as a consequence hit. Don't miss this, a slick puddle in the middle of the road. And because he hit that slick puddle, the wheel began to spin out. And before you know it, he went into a wall and hit his head and passed out. When he passed out, my daughter landed on top of him. That meant that her fall was cushioned by the one that had taken her. And so my daughter then gets up and starts running and while she's running my brother sees her in the streets recognizes her says come here get in the car with me drives her back to me may I tell you what happened one more time I prayed when I couldn't do it myself when I could not get her myself I did not have the strength I could not run fast enough to catch her but I talked to a God who was already where she was and told God She ain't in my hands.

57:41 She's in your hands. She's your child and my child. God, I'm counting on you to bring her back to me safely. And y'all, y'all see what God did. God turned the situation around and the one that took her in a real sense was a cushion for her. I'm going to stop and shout you right there. The very folk who try to take you out, God can use them to protect you, to save you, to make sure you end up all right. I'm done, but I'm trying to let you know there is no secret what God can do. What God has done for others, God can do for you. Y'all didn't shout, I gotta go old school. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer.

58:35 But hold on, I'm done. But I don't forget what I told you. Your prayer has power when you are conscious of a need that you can't meet yourself. And so every now and then, we've got to go old school church and break out singing. I need thee. Oh, I need thee. Every hour, I need thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come to thee.

59:09 And the shout is, when you know of your need, God will hear you. Meet your need. I ain't saying God is your Santa Claus who will give you every toy that you ask for. But I am saying that real prayer positions you to release power in you and your situation that wouldn't have been released had you not prayed.

59:43 Last night I preached in Philadelphia and a couple of things happened. I preached for Enon Tabernacle and they gave me the assistant to the pastor, executive assistant, gave me a text that said, there's a nice restaurant adjacent to the hotel. You can eat there and just tell them, watch this, tell them that you are with Enon Tabernacle and your bill is taken care of. So I go to the restaurant. Y'all think I just eat all the time, but I go to the restaurant and when I get to the restaurant, order the food, food is good, time for the bill, woman brings me the bill. I said, do I just sign? She says, oh, no, we're not connected to the hotel. So I said, no, no, no, no. She said, would that be cash or card?

1:00:39 I said, no, I'm with Enon Tabernacle. She said, Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. I said, yes. Why don't you say so? And so I said, well, I thought I signed. She said, no, you're with Enon Tabernacle. If you had just said Enon Tabernacle, we wouldn't be going through this right now. And the point is that what happened is that if I had just used the right name. If I just used the name I was told to use, then I wouldn't have gone through unnecessary hassle. All right. So I preached there and that got me. So make sure you use the right name. All right. Make sure you use the right name. So this morning, get your flight back here, 5 o'clock a.m. Pray for me.

1:01:32 I'm sleeping. And so get your flight back here. and as I'm sitting on the flight, sitting on the plane while it's at the gate, the plane hollers at me and I'm done. Plane says, I spent the night right here with the ground crew working on me because there's no way you're going anywhere if the ground crew hasn't done what it has to do. Tell the people that you got to spend time in prayer with the ground crew. And if you spend time in prayer with the ground crew, then you're ready to take off. Because sometimes you've got to go to your knees in order to get back on your feet. God bless you. God bless you. Hey, family, I'm back. I hope that word blessed you.

1:02:25 I hope that it enriched your life. Before we go, we want to provide an opportunity for someone who is yet to connect with Jesus Christ to make him the Lord of your life to do.