Critical Time of Prayer

[Singing] We are gathering together unto Thee. We are gathering together unto Thee. Unto the Lord shall the gathering of His people be. We are gathering together unto Thee. Unto the Lord shall the gathering of His people be. We are gathering together unto Thee. Unto the Lord shall the gathering of His people be. We are gathering together unto Thee. [Speaker 1] Truly sectarian righteousness cannot be more spiritual than individualistic feminism as established. These are words of the revolutionary Section of Righteousness in Family Tents Ministries. Be blessed as we discuss. [Singing continues in the background] [Speaker 2] Lord, unto You we gather this evening. Lord God Almighty, we look up unto You, saying thank You for preservation. Thank You for Your mercies and love. Thank You for bringing us to this point that we are in. Thank You for the blessedness of seeing today. Lord, we are not taking life for granted. We are saying thank You for life. Thank You that we are alive. And as we fellowship together this evening, we who are here physically, our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, some others who are joining us on Mixlr, Lord, we commit ourselves into Your hands. Lord, we pray: Meet with each and every one of us in the areas of our lives where we need You most, in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, as we go through Your word again, as we fellowship together in scriptures, Lord, we pray: May our fellowship indeed be with the Father, and with the Son, and with the Spirit, in the name of Jesus. Thank You, everlasting Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Last week, we were able to come to a conclusion with: We truly can own nothing. Honestly, like we saw, going through the scriptures in the last three weeks—we thought it was going to be a two-week meeting, but it became a three-week meeting—in the last three weeks, the things that the Holy Ghost engaged our hearts with, those things are things we must never forget. They are things that we must lay to heart. May we not be forgetful hearers in the name of Jesus. We saw that indeed, we truly can own nothing. We can only hold something for a while, and that "while" sometimes can be very short. So it calls for humility. It calls for the fear of God. It calls for living with eternity in view. For the "while," why we hold anything, may we live correctly in the name of Jesus Christ. So this week, I want us to look at something which I am of the mind that we should be able to conclude today, although I am learning not to believe in my judgment again because sometimes as we study scriptures together, the Lord begins to join issues with issues, and before we know it, what we were thinking should take us just a meeting may take us for two or three meetings. All right, so today, I want us to look at the scripture. You remember there was a time—I don't know whether—it must be under Singles Club, the meeting we normally have every first Saturday of the month. Singles Club. I remember that under our Singles Club, we have looked at what we tagged "Critical Moments." Critical moments. Moments that what is happening at that moment will either destroy a destiny or will make a destiny. And that many times, we may not even know unless we are very sober and we are very careful. We may not even know that a particular moment is critical. Like we saw in the life of Esau, who said, "What is birthright to me? Give me food." He didn't know it was a critical moment for him, and by just saying that, we all knew how it went for Esau. That thing that he despised that day for a morsel of food, he began to weep and cry so that he can get it back, but he never was able to get it back. That's critical moment in Singles Club. If you are interested in listening to that message, please go to our website. You go under the album Singles Club, and you search for the message "Critical Moment." The details are there. Today, what we want to look at is something similar, but not the same. I want us to look at "Critical Times in Prayer." Critical times in prayer. Critical times in prayer. Sometimes, our lives pass through this junction that I call critical times in prayer. Critical times in prayer. But you see, the message that I am bringing to you this evening is the message of encouragement, actually. I don't know where you are listening from me, and I don't know what you might be passing through as at now. But what I just want to say in opening up this fellowship this evening, this discipleship class this evening, is that God, Jehovah God, God the Almighty, is a God who does not leave His own at critical times. Did you hear what I just said? I said our God, Jehovah, the Almighty Father, the everlasting God, the King of Glory, the Maker of heaven and earth, is a God who will not for any reason abandon His own at critical times. And that's why I said that actually this evening is more of, as we fellowship through the scripture, it's more of an encouragement. An encouragement. That's actually the focus of what we want to look at: Critical times of prayer. Critical times of prayer. Having said that God will not leave His own at critical times, I want to add that even when we are not faithful, Hallelujah, He remains faithful. Yes, God is faithful to the faithful. But the point I'm making is that sometimes when we falter, sometimes when we go weary because of the overwhelming press of some situations, that even to look up unto God in faith we are just struggling and struggling and struggling, such sometimes are those critical points of our lives. The reality is that God shows up. Now, let's look at biblical examples of what we want to discuss today. Critical times in prayer. Critical times in prayer. Let's look at the scripture. Why are we looking at the scripture about this matter? It's what you find in Romans 15:4. Romans 15:4 told us something very straight. Romans 15:4 says something very straightforward: "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4) So when you see anybody who is hopeless, it’s because the person did not look into scriptures. A believer must never be hopeless. A believer—are you listening to me? Wherever you are, I want you to pay attention. Wherever you are listening to me, I’m saying something very critical. And I’m saying that because right now, a lot of things are just coming down on the globe. I mean worries, fear, anxiety, shakings, trouble. I don't know how true it is; I've not confirmed. There was this news that many of our leaders are trying to run out of the country, that they are booking their flight to run away. Even the lions, the Irokos, the Mahoganies, they are running. The people you think should stay, they are running. What am I trying to make you understand? This period is a dark period. But let me inform you, it is going to go darker. I'm not a prophet of doom, but I'm just telling you if you study prophecy very well. It's not going to get any better. It's going to move from bad to worse. I'm not talking about Nigeria's economy, please get me clear. I'm talking about the situation of the globe. I'm talking about across the globe. It is not going to get better. Humanity, we have put ourselves on a path of self-destruction because we have decided to turn our back at the Creator. So let's see how it will end. That's what I'm saying. We know more better now; we are free. Human rights, human knowledge, human philosophy, human this, human that. "I know what I'm doing." You alone want to get the whole wealth of Nigeria. You alone want to spend it. You want to kill everybody and live. Let's go on; let's see how it's going to look like. By the time you finish killing everybody for you alone to live, you will not be able to live because even you yourself cannot bury yourself. It’s not going to get better. Our greed, our avarice—I'm not talking about political leaders, please understand me—even the okada man on the road is greedy. The market woman selling tomatoes is greedy. The teacher in school is greedy. The husband is not faithful to the wife. The wife is cheating on the husband. So the whole thing is on everybody. Don't be thinking I'm talking about political leaders. I'm talking about society. I'm talking about humanity. We feel that the fear of God is useless. We can live outside God's fear. We are secularizing everything. We are throwing away the sacred. Nothing is sacred. It is human rights. It is what we want. Let's go on. Let's see where it will end us. When a stream or a river decides to turn its back against its source, it will dry up. That's what I'm saying. We have decided to go against God. We have decided to move against light. God is light. So into what are we going? We are going into darkness. Let's see what happens inside our darkness. By the time somebody is trying to read inside darkness, you know how the reading will look like. Look at somebody trying to work inside darkness. That's why I'm saying that it's going to go from bad to worse, except we repent. And you know, as far as the Lord is concerned, He's not striving with you. He said, "Let him that is holy, let the person remain holy. Let him that is just, let the person remain just. The one that is unjust, let the person remain unjust. The one that is wicked, let him remain wicked. The one that is filthy, remain filthy. But I come quickly and my reward is with me." So nobody is intimidating you. You want to be wicked? Go on! Let's see how it will end. You like fornicating? Keep fornicating! Let's see where it will land you. You are a leader; you know how to take advantage of people. Continue! Let's see where it will end you. That is what is happening to us globally. That is what is bewitching us in Nigeria. The people that are going to protest, I wonder how many of them are not guilty. I'm not against the protest those who are going to protest August 1st. But I'm only saying that I wonder how many are not guilty. How many of them had a godly result? How many of them had the position they are in right now? Ask if there is truthfulness, integrity. These are the things we are talking about. Humanity decided that we are going against the God of justice, the God of light, the God of truth. Let's see where it takes us. What I'm trying to say about uprising: The period is dark. It is going to go darker. I'll show you an example in the Bible before I now come to the critical times of prayer. You remember a time in the land of Israel? The people got angry with the reign of Solomon, and they got Jeroboam to protest against Rehoboam. Of course, the people themselves who put themselves together, it’s not that they were better than those that they were protesting against. They protested. The kingdom was divided. Ten tribes went this way, two tribes remained the other way. The ten tribes became the northern part of Israel, the two tribes remained the southern part of Israel. Jeroboam became the first king in the northern kingdom. But do you know what? The Bible says the evil that Jeroboam did—he protested—the evil he did was more than that of Rehoboam, such that every king that came after Jeroboam was measured by Jeroboam. They would say, "He did evil more than or close to or not like, up to Jeroboam." Why? Because those who went to do the protest, they were not better than those they were protesting against. The protest they protested did not lead them anywhere. Things only got darker and darker. From Jeroboam till the last king in the northern kingdom, there was no king that did right in the sight of God. All of them—go and look at Bible history—all of them until the last king, until God got angry again and destroyed that kingdom by the king of Assyria. What I'm trying to say: If the people that are fighting people are not indeed better than those people, we are still going nowhere. It's a global trend. We are facing our own here. It's a global thing. It's going round and round. Leaders in every capacity, not only political leaders, have decided to be self-centered. Let's see where it will end the leaders. The people that are fighting them are not different from them, because many times the leader is a reflection of their society. Let's see how everything turns. But I'm only telling you this: Until we really come to understand that each and every one of us must repent from his own evil. If you think you can keep your evil and fight the evil of others and that things will be better, you're only wasting time. You cannot keep your own evil and fight evil in another person and then you are praying that society will be better. It will not going to get better. And as things go, critical times of prayer is talking about times when things get very dark. Times when things are just dark. I want to show you that for those who fear the Lord, the Lord will show up for them. Critical times of prayer are times in our nation, are times in our life, are times in our situation, are times in our circumstance that it looks like there is no way forward. But at those times, for those who fear the Lord, the Lord shows up for them. And I'm telling you, the way the globe is going, if you fear God, let me announce to you: It shall be well with you, no matter how dark it goes. But let me also announce to you: If you are wicked, it will not be well with you. I'm not saying whether you are in church or you are outside church. I'm talking about your life. Because sometimes even the wickedness inside religious institutions is higher than the ones inside political institutions. I'm not against religious systems, but I'm talking against wickedness. I am saying by the word of the Lord that for every man who is wicked, as things go darker, it will not be well with them, except they repent. But I want to announce to you: If you fear the Lord, if you are a man who fears the Lord, if you are a youth who fears the Lord, if you’re a woman who fears the Lord, if you’re a civil servant who fears the Lord, if you’re a market woman who fears the Lord, if you’re a student who fears the Lord, if you’re a career person who fears the Lord, if you’re a professional who fears the Lord, even if you’re okada rider who fears the Lord, let me tell you: Even when the wicked will not be able to get a way out of the situation, God will make a way for you. But for every man who do not fear the Lord, regardless of the position where you think you are now, no matter how secure you think you are, no matter how well-prepared you think you are for this darkness, it's going to envelop you. The Bible says: "Say to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him." (Isaiah 3:10-11) For non-Yoruba listeners: Woe to him that spoils, but that is not spoiled. Woe to him who deals unfaithfully, but is not dealt unfaithfully with. For the day you will cease to spoil, you will be spoiled. And the day you cease to act unfaithfully, people will act unfaithfully to you. But the encouragement I brought this evening about critical times of prayer is that if you fear the Lord, look at what happened in biblical examples. These things they were written down for our learning. Please, don't be hopeless if you fear God. The Bible says for whatsoever things were written before, they were written for our learning. And I want to show you the comfort that is in scriptures, the patience that is in scriptures. I will show you somebody. I will begin with very popular stories, but they were critical times. I will begin with Hannah. You remember Hannah? Hannah was the wife of Elkanah. She was the first wife. And everything about Hannah moved towards: She shall be barren. The husband, even though he loved her, could not love her unto death. He quickly alternated. He got a Peninnah. Something similar but not the same. And he said, "Hannah, you know I love you more than ten sons. I am more to you than ten sons." If it’s more to him than ten sons, why did he get another wife? He could not wait because for him too, there is no light in that darkness. Everything seems dark. It looks like there will be no way out. So Elkanah quickly looked for a way out, and the way out was to get another wife, Peninnah. And Peninnah began to torment Hannah. She became a torment for Hannah. And why do you think she was tormenting Hannah? Because for her too, it is a closed case. I pray for you this evening: Everywhere they say it is a closed case, the Lord will visit your fire. For Peninnah, it was a closed case. I read to you 1 Samuel chapter 1, I read from verse 8: "Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am I not better to thee than ten sons?" (1 Samuel 1:8) Is there something together that is making you to weep? Is there something together that is making you not to be able to eat? Is there something that is making your heart to be grieved? Is there something? Look at what the Bible says. What brought this grief? Look at it in the verse 6 and verse 7. It says, "And her rival also provoked her severely." Ah, when the Bible says severely, I wonder what must have happened. I don't know the social situation, but maybe I just imagine Hannah mistakenly saying, maybe the name of one of the children for that woman is John. And she said, "John, please help me move that thing." "Hey! Witch that could not give birth! Please don't bewitch my son! John, don't go near her!" I don't know what it was like, but the Bible says severely. Severely she made fun of her. Are you looking miserable in your situation? Is everything looking so miserable for you? I am saying: Don't throw away hope. Don't throw away hope. Is your circumstance looking miserable? And are people making fun, making jest of you in that your misery? Are they saying, "That is why, eh, that Bible help that you are carrying, we have told you that's how your life will end. We told you collect the bribe you did not collect. If you had collected it now, your life would have been better." You know those kind of things that people say. "That is why you will never make it in life. If you had changed your age now from 35 to 30, you would have gotten that job. Now look at how you will die in poverty. You’re under a curse you don't know. What does it cost you to change your age?" I don't know what people are saying around your life. Maybe you are a waiting single and somebody showed up who is a divorcee. People say, "Look, forget about that one, she is the one that is talking to you. Just go ahead, sister!" And you say, "No, I can't do it. Why will he put away his wife? Because the wife could not give birth, or because the wife is now ill, he now want to put her away and run away and marry me. Now look, look at you, that's why you will never marry in life." I don't know what is looking so miserable around you. But because the Lord closed her womb, but the Bible says in the verse 10, it says Hannah was now before the Lord. From verse 9 to 10: "So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish." There are critical times, and I’m trying to show you that there have been critical times and God showed up for people. That same God is still alive. That same God is still there. Critical times of prayer are times in our nation, are times in our lives, are times in our situation, are times in our circumstances that it looks like there is no way forward. But at those times, for those who fear the Lord, the Lord shows up for them. She cried. And all she was just asking for is something to take away the disgrace. That was all she was asking for. "God, just one child, just help me take away this disgrace, this misery, this affliction, this torment is too much. God, just help me take away—just give me one child. That child self, I will loan the child to You, he will be serving You. But at least people will have said I gave birth." To make you know how miserable this woman felt. But you know, God did not give her just one. God saw her circumstance, God saw her situation, God saw her miserableness, and God showed up for her. God gave her the one that would be in the temple, but in addition, God added three more sons and God added two more daughters. So in all, even though she asked for one, God gave six. I don't know what it is like for you, but I'm showing you that when it gets very dark, when it gets very dark, God shows up for His people. I don't know how dark it is right now. You might have been wondering: If God has been there, why did it go so dark? Sometimes God allow it to go very dark so that we can appreciate the beauty of the light. "But I've been trying, I've been praying," Hannah too has been praying year after year. What I'm trying to make you see is that sometimes God allow the thing to get very dark. I don't know how dark it is around your life today, whether maritally, whether spiritually, whether financially, whether in your health, whether in your marriage, whether in your home, whether in your academics, whether in your spiritual life, whether in your mental capacity. I don't know how it has gone very dark. But I'm saying that in the darkness of the dark, in the darkest of the dark, there is a God that answers prayer. There is a God that can show up. And that God will show up for you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Look at another one. It was in the dark of the dark. It looks like God will never answer again. It looks like God will never hear again. It looks like because he did wrong, God will never show up again for him. But at the darkest hour, at that darkest moment, God showed up for him. Judges chapter 16, verse 28. I'm talking about Samson. I'm talking about Samson in the darkest of the dark. Look at what the Bible says: "Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, 'O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!'" (Judges 16:28) And Samson took hold of the two pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right hand and the other on his left. On his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his lifetime. It was a very dark period for Samson. His iniquity brought him this far. His foolishness, his disobedience brought him to a situation where the enemy could take away his vision. The enemy took his vision away, they blinded his two eyes. A man who should be busy killing the Philistines became a grinder of mills, and then he was now sporting, he was used for games. It was in the dark, the darkest of that dark, when they were using him, when they were making jest, when they were just doing all they want with him, and they gathered in their thousands, that Samson said, "Lord, remember me." And the Lord did remember him. He did remember him. I don't know where you are right now. I don't know how it seems. Maybe immorality has brought you to a point in life that you look back now and you say, "No, this God cannot save somebody like me. It cannot be me. Even if God would hear anybody’s prayer, not somebody like me." Is that what the enemy is bombarding your heart with? "Oh brother, sister, hear the word of the Lord. Turn to the Lord today, and He will listen to you. Turn! Turn! Cry to the Lord! Jabez cried. The Lord heard him. He cried: 'If you will bless me indeed, take me from evil, that it may not grieve me.' (1 Chronicles 4:10). And the Lord heard him. The woman with the issue of blood said in her heart, 'Oh, if only I can touch the hem of His garment.' The Lord heard her. The Canaanite woman cried; the Lord heard her. Jairus cried to Jesus, 'My daughter is dead, but please come.' And Jesus went with him. He was not even among the disciples; he was among the multitude. He said, 'My daughter is dead, but please come.' The Bible says he knelt down and begged Jesus, and Jesus went with him. What is the situation today with your life? Can you cry unto the Lord? Critical times of prayer. It is a critical time for you; cry to the Lord. Don't throw in the towel. Don't give up. Don't give up on your life. Don't give up on your situation. Don't give up! The Bible recorded thousands of critical times. I only took some to show them to you. There are so many in the Bible. Critical times when people shout to God, they cried and God heard them. Critical times of prayer. May the Lord hear you as you cry. May the Lord answer you out of Zion. May the Lord grant you your heart's desire. May the Lord turn your situation around. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord do you good. May the Lord visit you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, everlasting Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Till next week when we meet again, let's 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. This message is coming to you from Family Tents 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. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescents and Singles Club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage Forum every 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, Inere community, opposite Rejoice filling station along Igbatoro Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytents@yahoo.co.uk, familytentsministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentsministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.