Critical Moments and how to handle them

[Singing] The King of love my shepherd is, Whose goodness faileth never; I nothing lack if I am His And He is mine forever. [Speaker 1] Church and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness on Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] The Lord, we thank our God again for another time in His presence, for another edition of our monthly Singles Club. We trust the Lord that as we are having our own section here, our adolescents too are having their own section at the second venue of the meeting. As we gather together again this morning, our brethren who are here with us, those who are online, we trust the Lord again that it will be a time of refreshing, a time of blessing, a time of encounter in the name of Jesus Christ. We trust in the Lord that as we gather unto Him, as we gather unto Him, the Lord will meet with us in His own way in the name of Jesus Christ. Just a little background before we go into the focus of this meeting. I like giving background so that we will be able to understand where we started from and where we are going. The message we are looking at this month is actually a series that started since the month of March, which is Critical Moments and How to Handle Them. Critical Moments and How to Handle Them. We started this series, which is a capacity building series. We started it in the month of March. In the month of March, we have been able to explain from a scriptural point of view what I meant by critical moments. We looked at what critical moments are in the month of March, understanding it, biblical examples to properly illustrate critical moments. Then in the month of April, we started with how to handle critical moments. That month, we have been able to look at two vital ways on how to prepare for and handle critical moments. In the month of April, we looked at number one, the place of a walk with the Lord. Walking with the Lord Jesus. If anybody will be able to handle critical moments correctly, he must have a personal walk with Jesus. When a young man does not have a personal walk with Jesus, it becomes relatively difficult to handle critical moments. The second thing we looked at in the month of April was the strength of character. What we considered very importantly in the month of April in respect of the strength of character is the matter of faithfulness. Faithfulness. When a young man or a young woman is not faithful, then it becomes difficult for us to get our own. We notice that we emphasized that if you are somebody who does not relate with people sincerely and truly, then you may not be preparing for your critical moments correctly. Because nobody can get his own except God gives him. At the point of critical moments is the time for you getting your own. That was what we considered in the month of April, these two vital things. I said when we get to the month of May, we will be looking at more things to do that can prepare us for our critical moments. We saw that at the point of our critical moments, we will not fail. I also noted when I was rounding up in the month of April, I said I will still like to give one or two more examples, biblical references and examples of the matter of faithfulness when we meet in the month of May. That is what I will be starting from today. One or two more references in the issue of faithfulness and a walk with Jesus as a way of handling critical moments. May we not fail at those our critical times in the name of Jesus Christ. I want to start looking at the matter of integrity as we stop last month. I want to, in terms of the strength of character and a walk with Jesus, one or two more biblical references before we move to other things. There are some important references I thought we could not mention last month because of time. It was almost 12 o'clock so we had to round up. Please don't forget our usual practice. Once it is 11:30, before then, you can start sending in your questions if there is a question. Send your questions either on the WhatsApp page, or on the Telegram page, or on the Mixlr platform. Any of them, the question will get to us from 11:30. We begin to respond to questions if there are questions. In moving on, I want to read Proverbs 11. Proverbs 11. A few more biblical references in respect of a walk with God and the strength of character in our bid to prepare for and to handle critical moments. Let's look at Proverbs 11. Proverbs 11 from verse 1. The Bible says, “Dishonest scales are abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight. When pride comes, then comes shame: but with the humble is wisdom.” Then from verse 3, the scripture began to raise, the scripture calls our attention to the matter of the strength of character. It says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them: but the perverseness of the unfaithful will destroy them.” The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by duplicity. Think about how to prepare for critical moments, how to handle critical moments. I want you to see that critical moments sometimes come in a way that you don't even know that that moment is critical. Critical moments are moments that revolve on our daily decision-making. As you are taking decisions, some decisions you are taking, they may affect your life eternally. Some you are taking will affect the mandate that God has put on your life. Some that you are taking, you may be able to mortgage the thing God wants to do with your life. Just as some decisions you will be taking will be able to establish them. Look at what the Bible says. The Bible says integrity is a guide. Integrity guides. There is a way of guiding you. Integrity has a way of guiding you from a pitfall. Integrity has a way of delivering you from destruction. Integrity has a way of directing, of making sure you don't miss the path you are supposed to go. It says the integrity of the upright does what? Guides them. But the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. So at some critical moments in our life, what destroys the unfaithful is duplicity. What preserves the faithful is their integrity. So many times in life, it is not about "thus saith the Lord." It is as to whether you have integrity or you don't have integrity. The immediate example that is coming to my mind is the man Uriah. Uriah. You remember Uriah? Uriah was a servant of David. We talked about him extensively in the discipleship class. But I want to just make reference to something. After David impregnated the wife of Uriah, that is Bathsheba, she became pregnant. David was now looking for a way to cover up the pregnancy. David now sent for the husband to come home. Uriah came home. What did David ask the husband to do? He asked the husband to go and wash himself and go to his house. The man said, "Oh King, that will not be correct. It will not be correct for me." Number one, the commander of the army, Joab, is still at the forefront. They are still fighting war. Number two, it will not be correct because the ark of God is also in the battlefield. Normally when the commander is there and the ark of God is there, the person who comes home is not supposed to go and sleep with his wife. He's supposed to do whatever the King wants him to do and then rush back to the battlefront. The King tried to do everything for him to go to the house. In fact, the King got him drunk so that he could go. But that man refused to go. I want to ask you. That moment, was it a critical moment for Uriah? It was a very critical moment. Because once he goes home, the deal is done. The enemy has gone ahead of his life to set a trap to trap him. The trap was so designed in such a way that he cannot but be trapped. I want to ask you. Was there a voice of God that started speaking to Uriah? [Speaker 3] "Uriah! Uriah! Be on your guard! King David is trying to trap you! What he is doing! Uriah!" [Speaker 2] Was there any voice? Was there any voice? What delivered that man at that moment? What delivered him? The integrity of the upright will guide them. So there are many critical junctions like that in your life that what will guide you at those moments is the strength of character. You will not fail. I will not fail at our critical moments. We will get it right in the name of Jesus Christ. Look at that that has to do with a walk with God. I just said we could not get to this scripture last month and I wanted to get to them this week before we focus on something else. You find that in Samuel. That is after David became the King of Israel. What happened to him after he became the King of Israel? Second Samuel chapter 5. I take my reading from verse 17. The Bible says, “Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. The Philistines also went and deployed themselves at the valley of Rephaim.” Look at what the Bible says happened. The Bible says, “So David inquired of the Lord saying, 'Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?' And the Lord said to David, 'Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.' So David went to Baal Perazim and defeated them there. And he said, 'The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.' Therefore the name of the place was called Baal Perazim. And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim again. Then David inquired of the Lord and He said, 'You shall not go up. Circle around behind them and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly, for then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.' And David did so as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.” I don't know whether you are following this story. The Philistines organized against David. What did he do? David went. I'm talking about a walk with the Lord. "Lord, the Philistines have gathered against me. Can I go? Will I conquer these people?" And God said, "Surely go, I will deliver them into your hands." Then David went. What I am trying to make you see is that when we have a walk with God, when we have a walk with God, certainty of victory becomes sure. He was to go to that battle. I'm just looking at it. Okay, should I, should I not? The Philistines have gathered against him. And then he asked, and God said go against them, you will win. This is the first part to it. The second part is the most critical one I want you to feel. The Bible now says the Philistines they gathered again the second time. Ordinarily, when they came the first time, God said go against them, you will conquer them. When they came the second time, what will you understand ordinarily? Just go against them again and you will always win. But I'm showing you what delivered David. David went again. If we must prepare for our critical moments, we must have a personal walk with the Lord. If you don't have a personal walk with the Lord, you may not be able to handle your critical moments successfully. Now, they came against David the second time. I just want to imagine. Had David just gotten up and went against them again like the first time, what would have happened to him? He would have lost that battle. And if David lost that battle, you know what that will mean for Israel? But because of his walk with the Lord, he went to the Lord the second time again. "Lord, they have come again the second time. What do I do?" And what did God tell him? "This time, don't go up against them. No, you can't go that way this time around. Go around them. Go and stay by the mulberry trees. When you hear step, pah-pah-pah-pah-pah, as if somebody is walking, then you will know that I have gone ahead of you. Then just follow Me like that and then you will conquer them." Look at how critical that moment is. What gave David victory? He has a personal walk with the Lord. That is how critical it is to have this personal walk with the Lord. What I want to make you see is that this matter of personal walk with the Lord is something that is so critical for us as believers. A believer who has no personal walk with the Lord, that is the whole essence of Christianity. And I will show you that in the Bible. John chapter 5. John chapter 5. Just trying to call our attention to very important things. John chapter 5. Look at verse 19. What do we see in the verse 19? The Bible says, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.'” What is He telling you? Is that not what our life ought to be? The Son can do how many things of himself? Nothing! If you look at the same thing in the verse 30 of that same chapter 5. It says, “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own but the will of the Father who sent Me.” Are you seeing that? One thing about critical moments, one thing that can help us in life and in ministry is doing nothing of ourselves. And who are those that are like that? Those who have a walk with the Lord. You will notice that if you are familiar with this story of Jesus raising Lazarus. You are familiar with that story. I hope you remember that Mary and Martha, they came to Jesus while Lazarus was still sick. They came to him when he was still sick and they said, "Master, what is wrong? Lazarus whom you love is sick. Come and heal him." Did Jesus go? He didn't go. What did he say? Jesus says, "This sickness is not unto death, but unto the glory of God." When Jesus has told you something like that, will you need to worry again? But what I want to bring out of that thing is this. When they came to Jesus ordinarily, you love somebody, the person is sick, what will you do ordinarily? Is to go. But do you know that Jesus not going, he allowed Lazarus to die before he now goes to raise him from the dead? Even when he raised Lazarus from the dead, that the Pharisees, the chief priests, they now took a decision that Jesus must die. Because they said everybody is starting to believe in him since he raised Lazarus from the dead. Everybody began to follow after Jesus. So they don't want Jesus and they now plan to kill him. That plan to kill Jesus, was it the will of God for Jesus? But how did God bring them to that decision? It was when Jesus raised up Lazarus. Which means that if Jesus had gone to Lazarus, Jesus would not have prepared himself for the plan and the purpose of God for his own life. Because the plan of God is that Jesus will raise Lazarus, that will now bring the envy of the Pharisees. The Pharisees and the chief priests will now decide that this man must die. And Jesus needed that decision from them. But look at how God worked out that decision. It was by a personal walk with God. I couldn't make reference to all of these last month and I felt they are very crucial in how to respond, what to do in our critical moment. In terms of planning and preparing for critical moments, when we have these things that we are talking about, it becomes a lot easier preparing for our critical moments and to handle our critical moments. Now we want to move on to another two vital things today in respect of how to prepare for and how to handle critical moments. And the first one I want to call your attention to is the mercy of God. The mercies of God. What is it that makes mercy a very important thing in our walk with the Lord? When we look at Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. What is mercy? Mercy is mercy. Of course mercy is simply mercy. Mercy is something that is of God. Look at what the Bible says about mercy. I read from verse 14. “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.' So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” What is this scripture trying to make us see? The scripture is trying to make us see that when it comes to the things of God, it's not how much you run. It is not of him that wills, of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. It is not really how much we will or how much we run. That is not what brings certain things to our life. What brings them to our life is mercy. The matter of God's mercy. Now, why are we looking at this matter of mercy? Why are we checking it out? Why are we concerned about this matter of mercy? It's because of something that the Bible says in Psalm 33. Psalm 33. Look at Psalm 33 from verse 8. It says, “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. Are you seeing something about our God? Is God intricately connected with us in what we do? In the counsel in our life that will come to pass, the one that will not come to pass? The Bible says He spoke and it was done, the Lord frustrated the counsel of the heathen, the counsel of the Lord shall stand. Are you getting it? So all these things, I'm trying to make you see God is involved in the life of a man. I'm showing you how intricately our actions, our thinking, we think we are just thinking all alone. No, God is so intricately involved. It says He fashions their hearts individually. Look at what follows. “No king is saved by the size of his great army. A mighty man is not delivered by his great strength.” What is this verse telling us ordinarily? If it says no king is delivered by his great army, a mighty man is not delivered by his great strength. What is it telling us ordinarily? It means it is not by power. It is not by might. That the king gathered all his armies and said we are going to win this battle, the winning is not guaranteed. That the mighty man, the person you think is the best for this thing. When you say wow, this is the best, this is the skilled person, this is the best. If you want to choose out of all of them, this is the best. He says that best person, when they want to do the whole thing, may not come out as the best. Look at what it now says. It moves on. “A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver by great strength.” You know in those days horses were more than footmen because the horsemen can just move faster, they can even use the horse outrun the footmen and kill them. It's like today, you want to fight somebody and the person is inside war plane and you are on the land. Who is likely to win the battle? While you are all coming, him you cannot reach, everyone will just be falling. All the gun that you are shooting will just be in the sky, will just be in the air, cannot go anywhere. That is how horses were in those days. It says the horse is a vain thing for safety. That is the person that is in the air with the air force and the one that is on land is not sure whether he will be safe there. It neither delivers by great strength. Look at what it says. “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” Did you get this at all? “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.” What is this thing telling you? It tells you that the power, the strength, all those things don't always work. But the Lord delivers those who fear Him, those who hope in the mercy of God. What I am trying to make you see is that many times at our critical moments, it is not how strong we are. It is not how mighty we are. It is not how prepared for it we are. What is very important at our critical moment? The mercies of God. The mercies of God. Look at how the Bible puts it in Ecclesiastes. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 9 from verse 11. I return and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift. What does it mean to be swift? To be very fast. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. So what am I trying to make you see? At different critical junctions in life, your chances, your time, it says time and chance. What is it saying? It's not how strong, it's not how this that always guarantees victory. I'm trying to show you the place of the mercy of God. And upon who are God's mercies? Those who fear Him. What I am trying to make you see is that beyond praying, beyond prayer, beyond strength, beyond preparation, there is the place of mercy. And that mercy of God is for which people? It is on those who fear Him. What I am trying to make you see is that as much as you prepare for critical moment, the place of fearing God and hoping in God. Don't begin to trust in your strength. Don't begin to trust in your skill. Don't begin to trust in your ability. Fear God and trust in God's mercy. You will just find yourself where you ought to be at the time you ought to be there. May that be our portion in the name of Jesus Christ. The Lord delivered them who hope in His mercy. It's a very, very important thing. Joseph. If Joseph stayed while he was in his father's house, will he have been able to get to Egypt all by himself? No, he wouldn't have been able to get to that place. God wanted him to go. Somebody wanted him blood, put him inside a well. The person who wanted to come and remove him walked away again. Others conspired. They sold him. The person came where is the boy, the person tore his clothes. Telling you that the person who said they should put him inside that well, he wanted to come and remove him from there. But Joseph must get to Egypt. Look at how the mercy of God makes it such that Reuben walked away. If Reuben was to be there, he wouldn't have been able to sell him. It was as if Joseph planned the thing. That's why Joseph said you all intended this for evil, but as it is today God has turned it around. What I'm trying to make you see is that some critical junctions in your life, it's not how wise or thinking or the capacity you have. It's that God will just make some things to happen to favor you. May you be favored at your critical moment. That is the point I'm making. God will just make some things to happen. Things that would not have happened, mercy just spoke for the young man. Reuben just walked away. By the time Reuben would come back, "Where is the boy? We wanted twenty pieces of silver we have sold him. Ah! What will I now tell my father? What will I say?" The boy was already gone. And the boy was gone on account of God's mercy. That is even when men are trying to work against your purpose and your mandate, may God show up in the name of Jesus Christ. That is the point I'm making. May God show up there. It was a mercy. Mercy is so crucial. The fastest runner don’t always win the race. [Speaker 3] Don’t always win the race! [Speaker 2] The strongest warrior don’t always win the battle. [Speaker 3] Don’t always win the battle! [Speaker 2] The wise are often poor and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy and those who are educated don't always live successful lives. Is that not true? Somebody who never even visited school, you give the person a book like this to read, he doesn't know which one where should be up or down, and you see the person lead a very successful life. And you will see men that you think that they should live well. It is all decided by chance, by being at the right place at the right time. How do you know the right place to be at the right time? How? While integrity will work some things out for us, mercies will speak at some other point. It will speak. Integrity work out some things. But mercy too has its place. That's why I'm showing you. How do we come about the matter of mercy? It says the Lord, His mercy is upon those who fear Him and who hope in His mercy. Number one. Then it says blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. You need to understand that one way of preparing for your critical moment in your life is for you to be merciful. Be a merciful person. Be merciful in whatever you do. Be somebody who shows mercy because the merciful will obtain mercy. Then number two, don't trust in your skill. Don't trust in yourself. Fear God and hope in God's mercy, that God You will carry me. God I will stay. Somehow, some way, you will just find yourself where you ought to be at the time you ought to be there. May that be our portion in the name of Jesus Christ. The Lord delivered them who hope in His mercy. It's a very, very important thing. The last point I will round up on that one is in Jeremiah chapter 9. Jeremiah chapter 9, the matter of mercy. Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 23 and then 24. Then Jeremiah 10:23. The two of them. Jeremiah chapter 9, it says, “Thus says the Lord. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor the rich man glory in his riches: but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness on earth: for in all these I delight, says the Lord.” Are you seeing what the Lord is saying? Be careful what you are trusting in. Be careful what you are relying on. Be very, very careful. It's very important. God says you should not do certain things. And I encourage you, be on your guard. Jeremiah 10:23 says, “O Lord, I know the way of a man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” I know, God, that mere mortals can't run their lives, that men and women don't have what it takes to take charge of life. I know Lord that a person's life is not his own. No one is able to plan his own course. Are you seeing that? No one is able to plan his own course. Nobody is able to do. What am I trying to show all of these things? I'm showing you the place of mercy. The place in preparing for critical moments. I'm just showing you these things one by one. This is the fourth one we are looking at now. We have looked at two last month, we are looking at two this month. Hopefully we look at two next month. We are just trying to take them one after the other, not to rush in. Look at now, about temptation, about the evil one, the Lord wants us to pray. To pray to be delivered from the evil one. He also asked us not to fall into temptation. Now, Matthew 26:41. This is Jesus speaking to the disciples. What did he tell them? He says, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Are you seeing something? Do you know that so many things are around us? They are to be a setback for the mandate of God for our life. Different temptations, different traps of the devil, different maneuvering of the enemy. The Bible says be vigilant, be sober, your adversary the devil goes about seeking whom to devour. What I am trying to make you see about how to prepare for critical moment, the Lord said watch and pray. Watch and pray. Watch unto prayer. Deliberately create time to pray. Deliberately be prayerful. Be prayerful. It's very, very crucial. Look at what the hymn writer says. "Christian, seek not yet repose. Cast your dream of ease away. Thou art in the midst of foes. Watch and pray." Are you seeing it? They are watching for your unguarded heart. "Hear the voice of saints who have gone, with one sweet voice proclaim, 'Watch, pray!'" Luke 18:1. What Jesus taught us in that place. “And He told them a parable to the end that men always ought to pray and not to faint.” He told them a parable to that effect, that they ought always to pray and not to faint. One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. Young man, young woman, when you are not always praying then maybe you are not a human being. Anybody that is mortal, anybody that is a man and not a ghost, anybody that is a man and not a beast. As long as you are mortal, you are human, until you pray always you have not prayed enough. Pray always. As you walk on the road, pray. As you work, pray. As you are writing your exam, pray. As you are walking on the street, pray. Pray without ceasing. I am showing you because you don't know the hour. You don't know the hour. And that is why I keep telling a lot of young people. When you notice that you have a shallow prayer life, it means you don't understand that you carry a divine mandate that you must protect. If you are a young man or young woman, you are a young girl, and your prayer life is shallow, the fire on the altar of your prayer life is not always burning, it means you must be someone who don't understand that life carries a divine mandate that you must protect. A divine mandate. And every passing moment, I want to tell you, when are you not taking decisions? This morning, do you know how many decisions you have taken to be here? This morning, do you know how many decisions you have taken? Decided to wash plates, decided to eat, decided to bath, decided to this. Just this morning alone, if you are to count decisions that you have taken, it should be about fifty. Since when you wake up and now. And the mandate of your life, the divine mandate of your life rests on decisions. And you have taken over fifty before it is midday. Before the end of today how many will you have taken? What I am trying to make you see is that constantly the mandate of your life is always either being guided or you are mortgaging it through decisions you are taking. And that is why your life should be a life soaked in prayers. You are walking on the road, you can just many songs of prayer. "Guide me, Oh Thou Great Redeemer." Let us be people who are conscious of we have an adversary. The Lord wants us to always pray so that we don't fall into temptation. We have to be taking decisions, apart from our adversary, there are decisions to be taken, you don't even know whether that decision, you don't know how it will go. Lord, help me with this thing. Lord, please guide my footsteps. You want okay, let us go to the market. God as I go to that place help me as I buy things. Help me. You develop that attitude. It's so crucial for life. As a Christian, you must learn to pray about anything and everything. Learn to pray about anything and about everything. Develop that attitude. It's so crucial for life. Look at another scripture I want you to see. First Kings chapter 18. First Kings chapter 18. “And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, 'Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain.'” Who is going to present himself to Ahab? Who wants to send rain? Whose will is the rain? Whose will is the rain? Who desired to bring rain? The rain is to come from God. God wanted to send rain. God want to bring rain. Rain is a sign of blessing. There had been famine in the land. God wanted to bring rain. He said Elijah go and show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain. So he went to show himself to Ahab. What happened to show himself to Ahab, you remember what happened. The contest at Mount Carmel, you remember, between the prophets of Baal and Elijah. Eventually they were not able to call down fire, they were killed. Then let's go towards the end of that chapter 18. Verse 41. “Then Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain.'” So Ahab went up to eat and drink and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel. Then he bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees and he said to his servant, “Go up and look towards the sea.” So he went and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” Seven times! Go, go, go. “And it came to pass the seventh time that he said, 'There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising out of the sea.' So he said, 'Go, say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot, go down before the rain stops you.'” So what do you notice here? Elijah did what? James chapter 5 verse 17. What Elijah did, what was he doing in this place for this rain to fall? James chapter 5 verse 17. What did the Bible say? Let us take it from verse 16. “Confess your trespasses one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man of like nature with same nature like ours. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.” You know what I'm trying to make you see? I'm asking us whose will was to send rain? What makes the rain to fall? He prayed. The rain came and the earth brought forth its fruit. What I'm trying to make you see, God does things in response to prayers. The will of God comes in response to prayer. The will of God, there are I'm telling you, the will of God, the will of God is connected to our prayers. The will of God has a strong association with our prayers. Many things God wills for our life is associated with our prayers. Many things God want to do for you, many things God want to do to make sure His mandate for your life comes to pass, they are connected to your prayer life. And that is why prayer, praying and praying through is a very, very crucial thing. Pray without ceasing. Because you don't know the hour. It's already 11:30. It's already time to be responding to questions. Very important, very important to make you see. So far we have looked at four things all together in preparing for and handling critical moments. What are they? The strength of integrity, personal walk with God, the mercy of God, and our personal prayer life, prayers. Let us pray this afternoon since there are no questions. Let's thank the Lord. Let's thank the Lord again. Critical moments and how to handle them. Oh Lord, we thank You. Our Father again we thank You for this first Saturday in the month of May. We give You glory and praise. We give You honor. We give You adoration. Lord, we are just praying, we are just praying that at our critical junctions in life, Your mercy will speak for us in the name of Jesus. Lord, we are also praying that God keep us praying, help us to pray, teach us to pray in the name of Jesus. Help us to pray aright. Help us to pray accordingly. Help us to pray through in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our eyes on You. Nothing will prevail against Your purposes for our lives in Jesus' name. We pray for all our brethren that are joining us online everywhere they are. Nothing will prevail against the purpose of God for their lives in the name of Jesus. Together as one people, Lord, You will help us. You will make us. You will raise us. We will enter into the fullness of Your plans for our lives in the name of Jesus. We will not be cut down. We will not be cut short in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Can we share the grace together? The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen. [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; adolescent and singles club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; marriage forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; family life seminars, regular school outreaches and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Merry Joy filling station along Idjare road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk; familytentministry01@gmail.com; www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.