If the Word of God is choked out of your life, you have nothing to pray.  Because prayer originates and consummates in the Word of God; amen?  It begins and ends in the Word of God.  We say, and pray and believe what God has said, “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6); hallelujah.  Effectual prayer isn’t something casual.  It is not something that we do flippantly.  This aspect of—here in the fourth chapter, just look over a few verses, down to verse 29 (Deuteronomy).  And here’s my admonition to you: “Seek the Lord thy God.”  Seek Him, and you “shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul”; amen?  Have you noticed, tied into all of this, is when we pray, we’re not just asking God to do something, we’re asking God to change us and to use us to accomplish these answers to pray; amen?  Many of the things were praying for God to do, He wants to use us as the vehicle to accomplish it.  We’re asking God to intervene in a certain situation, and God’s telling us, “I want you to rise up.  I want you to prophecy.  I want you to speak to the storm, and command it to be still.”

So, we’re believing God, and you find Him.  We find Him.  We hear these commandments when we seek Him with our whole hearts, the Scripture says.  You know, we’ve seen that throughout the Word of God and in so many different areas.  Proverbs 8:17 says, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me”; amen?  Now that word “early” doesn’t mean you have to get up early in the morning, though that’s good for some of us, to be up early where there are no disturbances.  It’s quiet, it’s the first thing we do in the morning.  But early means more than just that initial confrontation with God.  Early means to seek Him first.  Or let me say it another way, to seek Him alone; amen?  God should not be our last point of desperation; He should be our first contact.  Early; amen?  Alone, exclusively.  When we come into His presence, He needs to be sought first.  He needs to be sought exclusively.  And tragically, it’s like we’ve heard so many times over the years, “Well, let’s pray.”  And somebody else will respond and say, “Are things that bad?”  No, we pray that things don’t get that bad.  We pray so that we can be changed and be ready if things do get that bad, to stand; amen?  And instead of fainting, we joy in the Lord.  We count it all joy that we’re being matured and prepared.  There are no other ways to grow than adversity, than opposition.  “Well, don’t we grow by just studying the Word and memorizing the Word?”  No, you grow by studying the Word, memorizing the Word, and we grow through the pressure that’s going to come.  Because if you fill yourself with the Word, Satan is going to come for the Word; amen?  “And having no root in themselves” (Mark 4:17), no determination, no diligence, no commitment.

I’m so thankful for what God’s done in our lives for so many years.  I’m thankful for all of you who we’ve shared together, grown together, we’ve laughed together and wept together—thank God for family; amen?  Thank God for the unity of the body of Christ.  I saw a survey the other day, and the average person in the survey responded with the fact that they have two close friends.  Most people, falling in that area, don’t claim more than two close friends.  Hallelujah.  “And in this life, one hundred-fold, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters” (Matthew 19:29); amen?  “How many close friends do you have?”  “Hundreds.”  If I have a need, if it’s early in the morning, whatever it is, and I’m in a place of desperation and need, I can call any of hundreds, and they’re going to be there for me, praise God.  Amen?  Aren’t we blessed that you and I can have that kind of a testimony?