Understanding His Presence 3 (biblical Examples)

The church and fellowship cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] (Singing) To the Lord be the glory Great things he has done To the Lord be the glory Great things he has done To Jehovah be the glory Great things he has done To the Lord be the glory Great things he has done To Jehovah be the glory Great things he has done To the Lord be the glory Great things he has done Almighty God, we express our thanksgiving, we express our gratitude, we express, O Lord our God, our worship of your holy name. We say, Father, we are grateful unto you. We thank you for your love and for your mercies. We thank you for this privilege again of gathering this morning. Our brethren who are here physically, our brethren who are joining us online, Lord our God, unto you we all gather. We are saying, Lord, meet each and every one of us at the point of our need in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, do again in our heart, in our life, your strange work. Perform again, O Lord, your strange acts in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our eyes are on you. Let nothing prevail against your purposes in our lives in the name of Jesus. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and Amen and Amen. Well, we are indeed grateful to God that today we are gathered again this evening as we try to move on where we left the matter last week. We have been considering understanding his presence. Considering the topic concerning his presence, and we have had two sessions on this matter of understanding his presence. Last week, we were looking at biblical examples of men who understood the matter of his presence. We were able to look into the lives of... we began with Joseph. We had considered Joseph the other week. Last week we were looking at the life of Nehemiah, the life of David on the occasion of Ahithophel. And for Nehemiah, on the occasion of the king's request. The king requested from Nehemiah, "What will you that I do for you?" And the Bible says before he gave response to the king, the Bible says he prayed. He understood that even within the secularity of his job, there is a sacredness. He understood that the presence of the Lord is not just in that corner of his room. He understood that the presence of God was everywhere. We saw the same thing in David, that even in the depth of his darkest hour, at a time when he was running away from Absalom, when he was suffering the consequence of a stumbling in his life. Because God has told him that "You did this thing in secret, but before the whole eyes of Israel, before the sun, somebody will sleep with your own wife." When the matter was coming to pass, David was told, "See, Ahithophel was among the conspirators." And we saw that David understood the matter of the presence of the Lord. Even in that weeping and crying, David cried unto the Lord. "O Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel to foolishness." We said that we could see that even those dark periods where it looks like we are completely confused, if only we would understand that the presence of God is there. David prayed, and God responded to that prayer and the counsel of Ahithophel was indeed turned to foolishness. I said many times, we have not because we ask not. It is very important for us to know that there is something about this matter of his presence, that God is spirit. The primary concern of this series is to make us see that if we really understand the matter of his presence, it will be difficult for us to do iniquity. It will be so difficult. Joseph was in that corner of one room where it was just himself and Potiphar's wife. But he understood that the presence of God was there. Then we said something about sinning last week. If you look at Judges 6:1 and 6:11, we saw that the Bible says Israel sinned in the sight of the Lord. There is no sin that is not in the sight of the Lord, if you understand the matter of his presence. That was where we left the matter last week. We want to try to move on from where we left the matter last week. We looked at Judges 2:11 and Judges 6:1. That was where we stopped. We want to look at a few more examples today, biblical examples of men who understood this presence, that God is spirit. Those who are to worship him are to worship him in spirit and truth. It is this type of people that the Father is seeking to worship him. God is not seeking for people that want to worship God in the four corners of a church. God is not seeking for people that want to worship God because of what he told that woman. He said look, "Neither in Jerusalem," that was where we started this series from, "neither in Jerusalem nor on the mountain will you worship God." He says the hour is coming and now it is that the people who worship God will worship him in spirit and truth. It is this type of people... it is men who understand that it is not in one [slang in Yoruba], that is not where God solely is. Or that's not the only place to meet God. It is also men who have a clear understanding that the presence of God does not coincide only with when we gather to pray or when in the four walls of our churches. I said may Christianity transcend the four walls of churches today. I was talking to somebody and I said it appears to me that the way we are running this thing gradually, it is looking as if church commitment is synonymous with commitment to God. But it is true that a man can be committed to church and yet is not committed to God. They are two different things. We want to move on quickly today. We want to look at this matter of the presence of the Lord and why is it a thing that we must practice. Now, let's see two scriptures. I want us to look at the first one. We'll look at Luke 7:36-47 and then John 20:25-27. These are very familiar stories. Luke 7:36-47 is the place where Jesus Christ was responding to a man, one of the Pharisees that was called Simon. Luke chapter 7. I want to read from verse 36. [Speaker 2] The Bible says, "Then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him. And he went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and she stood at his feet behind him, weeping. And she began to wash his feet with her tears and to wipe them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he spoke to himself, saying, 'This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.'" Verse 40. "And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' So he said, 'Teacher, say it.'" [Speaker 1] Are you following something at all? The man said where? In his heart. What did he call Jesus in his heart? "This man." He spoke in his heart. Then the Bible says, "And Jesus answered him." He spoke in his heart, and Jesus answered him. Now, when Jesus called him Simon, what did he answer? He didn't say "this man" again. He said "Teacher." But he does not understand. He is not realizing something about the presence of the Lord, that even that which he was saying in his heart was in the presence of the Lord. To him, he was speaking in his heart. To the Lord, he was speaking in his presence. When he was now to respond to the Lord, because this man does not have a clear understanding of his presence, he should have also responded, "Heh, this man." But he thought there were one presence of his heart, then another presence of the Lord. If he understood, even when he was speaking in his heart, he would have referenced the Lord. He would have said, "Ah, but Lord, why is the Lord... who is this man? This man, if this man was a prophet." [slang in Yoruba] because the matter "this man" is derogatory. Do you agree with me? It's demeaning. "I wonder the prophetic ministry of this man. This man is not prophetic at all. If he were to be a prophetic person... I hope I've not even wasted my food, calling this man to come and eat with me. This man is not anointed. This man cannot see spiritual things clearly." You know those are all the things that that word meant. But when the Lord called him, he separated the presence. Do you understand what I'm trying to make you understand? It is that many times today, we don't understand why the Bible says—I don't know whether you have read that scripture. It says, "Let us cleanse ourselves from every filthiness of the flesh and spirit." Let us be sure to do a cleansing. That should be 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Let's just see something there. Chapter 7 verse 1. I want you to understand that this 7:1 started with "Therefore," which means what he was saying in verse 1 was flowing from chapter 6. It was flowing from 6 into 7. In 6, he was concluding something very serious about the position of God and our separation unto him. In 7, he was talking on, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. And as God has said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they will be my people.'" He now said, "Therefore, come out from among them and be you separate," says the Lord. "Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you." So it is that promise that he is making reference to in chapter 7 verse 1. That "Therefore, having these promises," a promise that God said he would be our Father. That we can come into communion with the Father. We can come into his presence. We can live in his presence. We can fellowship in his presence. We can live our life where he is. It was based on that that he said, "Therefore, having these promises," since we have the promise of having a communion with the Father, he says, "beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit." What I'm trying to make you see is that this matter of his presence, not understanding it today is why people have a lot of defilement particularly in the spirit. We are looking at one level of defilement we are checking in the life of Simon that we read in Luke chapter 7. It was the defilement of not sanctifying the Lord in his heart. The defilement of being hypocritical in the presence of God. The defilement of not being genuine and being real. The defilement of not coming to God with a sincere heart. The defilement of not drawing to God in true assurance of faith. He was looking at Jesus and he was saying, "This man." [slang in Yoruba]. "That's Bible. Let me face reality." I'm just trying to talk about the way defilement comes. That man did not sanctify God in his heart. That man did not reference God in his heart. That man did not draw to God with the truth. Why is that so important? Why is that so important, brethren? Look at Psalm 145. Drawing near... I'm talking about his presence. Understanding that the presence of God is not only when we kneel down inside the church or when we enter into a chancel. I was speaking in one meeting last week and I said, you know in some churches because they have a place they call chancel, some people normally think that God is inside that place. You see the anxiety of some people when they come to church? That that place is where as if there is one... you know the way it was in the Old Testament. When the high priest wants to go to the presence, they will tie chain to him and he will be going afraid that he may not come back. People are still working in that mentality of the old. There is something inside that chancel. What brings God into that chancel is that two or three gather in this place. That's what brought God there. Because if we leave that place and we stay in the field and we say, "Where's the Lord again?" the Lord is there. This issue of understanding his presence. From my own background, if we are to walk past the chancel, we must bow down because the Lord is hanging on that cross. That's the background from which I came. Once you, even if you have cause to cross like this, you must bow down and then when you want to come, you still bow because the Lord is watching. And when we leave that place and we are in the market we are still lying and fighting, the Lord is not watching us. You see the foolishness of religiosity? The confusion in not understanding his presence. What I'm trying to say is that there is a defilement of the spirit. We need to know that there's the presence of God even in our deepest thought. That's why I read Psalm when we started. David said, "Where will I go away from your presence? Even if I run into the farthest space," he said, "you are there." He said, "Look, how can I hide from your presence?" He said, "Why I was in the secret in my mother's womb and I was being formed, your presence was watching me." He was trying to say that even when I was still just a fertilized egg, God's presence was watching him. Now that he's now this big, fully formed, where will you want to hide from God's presence? If God says that he was telling Jeremiah, "Before you were formed in the womb I knew you," so where do you want to hide now that you have been formed? It is not understanding these things that bring some kind of defilement. Simon was drawing near to the Lord, but he was not drawing near to the Lord in truth. He was not drawing near to the Lord in sincerity. It is because many times just like Simon, many of us don't understand the issue of his presence. Look at something in Psalm that I wanted to show us. Psalm 145. He says, I want to read from verse 8. Psalm 145 from verse 8. He says, "The Lord is gracious and full of," full of what? My version says "compassion." Merciful, patient and full of love. He says, "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion." This Psalm 144, 145, 146, 147, they are saying something about the attributes of God. Now, it says the Lord is gracious or the Lord is merciful. He's full of compassion. Then he says, the Lord is slow to anger. He says, "The Lord is good to all." To how many? To all. "And his tender mercies are over all his works." What is that telling you, brethren? That there is none of God's work that is not before his view. [slang in Yoruba]. He says, "The Lord is good to all. And his tender mercies are over all his works." Now, look at the next thing. "All your works shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power. To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures through all generations." When it gets to verse 14, watch your... what did the Bible say? He says, "The Lord upholds all who fall. The Lord upholds all." I'm trying to call your attention to the word "all." All. "The Lord upholds all who fall." So, even in our stumbling, in our afflictions, in our troubles, in all those things, there is this thing of God that he dishes out to man, the Lord is concerned because he's compassionate and merciful to uphold whoever is falling. That's why you know that the Bible says he's not interested in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked will repent. Get the point I'm making? Now, we are going somewhere. "The Lord upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down." Verse 15. "The eyes of all just look expectantly to you and you will give them their food in due season. You open up your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing." Are you seen something about God? He opens his hand and satisfies. This thing is just trying to make us see something. Sometimes, we look so much at our effort as giving us our food. But he's trying to make us see that we should correct the way we think. If God doesn't open his hand, we will not get food to eat. That's the reality of actually, the truth in life. Look at the next thing. Verse 17. He says, "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, gracious in all his works." Now, please, I don't know what your translation says in verse 18. New King James says, "The Lord is near to all who call upon him." Now, I'm trying to make you see all this while is the word "all." "The Lord is near to all who call upon him." But look at what he now did in narrowing it down. What did he say? "To all who call upon him in truth." Amplified: "The Lord is near to all who call upon him sincerely and in truth." Message: "God's near. He's near. He's near. Listen to us pray, for all who pray and mean it." For all who pray and mean it. Now, what am I trying to make you see? Do you see something about Simon where we are coming from? He's calling upon the name of the Lord but not in truth. And what I want to make you see is because the presence of the Lord is even in the intentions of our heart. The presence of the Lord transcends even to our thought, what we think inside. What I'm trying to make you understand is that when you really understand it, you will see why it is so crucial that when we are drawing to the Lord, we should draw out in sincerity. Check your mind back to Balaam. Balaam went to God. "God, Balak has sent to me to curse a people that are coming out from Egypt." And God told him, "These people, they are blessed, you cannot curse them. Don't go." Balak went back. When the message got to Balak, Balak again now sent more honorable representatives with greater riches promised to Balaam. When they got to Balaam, what did Balaam do? He want to go and ask again. But don't you think it was clear that God said he should not go? Why was he going again? It was because of the riches that was promised. He now entered God's presence. "God, do you really mean that I want clarity in this matter?" That is why in some matters you see God don't respond to many Christians. You see God don't... it looks like we have been talking about this matter of his presence. And then what did God tell him? God said, "Go." [slang in Yoruba]. Then God called an angel. "Hello, double cross that prophet. Kill him by the way." If not that that ass, God opened the eyes of that ass, and the ass saw the angel, they would have just said Balaam died mysteriously. That's how they would have say. And who knows what they will say? And then when they get to the doctor, they will say ah, it must be a renal failure. Or a cardiac arrest. Or maybe it was a brain tumor. Maybe it was... they begin to bring all kind of scientific names. But that mysterious thing that would have happened to Balaam would have happened on account of just one thing. A man wanted to draw near to God. He did not draw near to God in truth. I'm talking about the presence. That awesome presence of God, we ought to fear, we ought to reference that presence even in our heart. We must reference God's awesome presence. If you look further into that scripture for us to see that it was a direct response when the Lord was speaking to him in that Luke chapter 7, he saw interesting that the Lord was answering him according to that which was in his heart. The Lord said, "Simon, I have something to tell you." So he said, "Teacher, say it." "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to pay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And he said to him, "You have rightly judged." Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil." What was Jesus responding to? The thought of his heart. That's why I'm saying, be careful. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond what we ask or think. When your asking contradicts your thinking, you don't understand his presence. You don't understand his presence. You don't. If you understand his presence, his presence is even in your thinking. And that's why the Bible says that doing as we are asking and we are thinking, it is something that goes together. And that's why I normally employ believers, cast down imaginations in your heart that exalts themselves against the knowledge of God. Take thought captive, learn to arrest your own thought. Because even in our thinking we are in his presence. Exactly the same thing happened with Thomas in that John 20. That John 20 is the case of Thomas. I believe you're familiar with that of Thomas now. John chapter 20:25-27. They were telling Thomas, "The Lord, we have seen the Lord. He's risen." And then Thomas said, "What exactly are you saying? What you are saying cannot be true. Anyway for me, until I put my hand in his side and I also put this one on his... I will not believe." At that particular time, was Jesus in their midst? He was in their midst. His presence was there. Thomas did not understand. So by the time he appeared, he did not need to wait for Thomas to talk. He only responded to that matter. Do you even have an understanding that when we just talk with people and you are discussing and you are interacting that you are in his presence? And that's why when we began this series, I said something. The Bible warned that whatever we do, whether we eat or we drink or whatever, he says in whatever, do all in the name of the Lord. Anything. You are playing, you are doing this, you are doing that, you are in the office. There are some kind of jokes you can crack, but those kind of jokes you cannot do it in God's presence. They're just for general people. I keep asking myself, which one is not for God? Do you understand the presence? Is there one that you are saying that is not in his presence? It's so crucial. They were just discussing and Thomas said no, for me, until I put my hand and I do this and I do that. And when the Lord came, "Thomas! Oya, put your hand." Which means he was responding just exactly. And I will give you an Old Testament biblical example that shows something. God told Rebekah in her personal closet that the baby that were wrestling in her womb, they are two nations. One will be greater than the other. The elder shall serve the younger. Rebekah did not understand God. That was why when Isaac was to die, I don't know what happened in that family that Isaac did not know who he was supposed to actually bless. But Rebekah knew who was to be blessed. Maybe they were not discussing or they were not talking about it. I don't know whether she shared that revelation with the husband. But what I'm dragging at is this. Esau went to hunt. Jacob stayed home and then the hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob. Do you know that as far as eternity is concerned, that was not when actually Jacob got the blessing? Are you aware? Because when we talk about Jacob getting the blessing, what the Bible told us is that nobody should be as profane as Esau, who for a morsel of bread sold his birthright. The day Jacob got the blessing was the day Esau was just talking carelessly with Jacob. I'm talking about his presence even in our conversation. "Heh, you're back. Where is my food for me? I have no food. Let me eat some. No, if you will eat this thing, tell me that I'm the elder brother." What is brother? Forget okay, you are elder brother. Give me porno or give me porridge to eat. And he thought that was all. But it was in his presence. And the Lord noted that. It did not look like just a family discussion. We need to understand this matter of God's presence to be sensitive to God's spirit, to be sensitive to what God is doing. Jesus said, "God is spirit. Those that want to worship him must not be thinking of a four-corner church." No, it's beyond that. It's beyond going to the mountain. Please mark my word. I didn't say it is not about going to church. I said it's beyond going to church. It's beyond one mountain that you have set apart. Anytime you climb this mountain God will meet with you. There's nothing like that. Jesus said neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain will people worship God again. The dimension we are going is a dimension that God is spirit. And those who want to worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. For these are the type of people that the Father seeks to worship him. Look at how insensitive, careless, foolish and stupid Esau was and he thought he was just joking. For you to know that he was just joking, when they wanted to bless, he actually wanted to obtain the blessing. Which means he thought that was just a discussion. It did not hold anything. But it was something that God made reference to. It was something that heaven eventually came back to make reference to, that we should not be like this godless person. God was pointing it as a matter of something that happened where? In his presence. Some things you do when you get to market. I remember one time when I wanted to pay a taxi driver. Just a very small thing. I want to give the man about three of the notes. I was looking at the currency. Some of them were good, so one was not too good. I don't know who also gave it to me. And I felt it should not end with me. You too should give it out. You understand my psychology or my mentality? Whichever one, or my philosophy. So, I put it in between. Then I gave the man. I like that I put it in between. I know if I put it on top, the man will see it and say, "Ah, change me this one." The man did not see it. The man went. As I stepped out of the vehicle, just in the space of two, three minutes, the Holy Ghost called my attention. He said, "Bello! Bravo! Clap for yourself." You know, when God want to handle you sometimes. He said, "So what did you just do?" It did not dawn on me. That was the last time I ever did such thing. He said what you did now is what I call wickedness. As small as that thing was. He said why did you cleverly, deceitfully... but it's all supposed to bring out things that I'm talking about his presence. Whatever we do, whether we eat, whether we drink, whatever that scripture we read at the beginning. Please let's just read that scripture again. It's so crucial to these things that we are discussing. Colossians chapter 3, from verse 16. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, not some wisdom. In all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." What did it tell us in verse 17? It says, "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." NLT: "And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus." Whatever! There is no secular and sacred. All our life is sacred. Our play is sacred. Our rejoicing is sacred. Our talking, our discussion, they are sacred. We understand something, that we are doing all as representatives of Jesus in everything you want to represent Christ. Everything you say and everything you do should be done for Jesus your Lord. Why? His presence is constantly there. So we are conscious of his presence. That's what when the Bible says don't be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Walk circumspectly in everything you are doing. You are taking time to know what the Master's will is. You are not careless. Because you understand that God is spirit. Those that want to worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. I want us to summarize this discussion on understanding his presence. I want to relate it to something we said last week so that we can just learn some things from it. We want to look at Isaiah 33:1 and then we'll pray for today and trust the Lord that we'll be able to bring this matter to a close. Isaiah 33 verse 1. Look at what it says. "Woe to you who plunder though you have not been plundered. And you who deal treacherously though they have not dealt treacherously with you. When you cease plundering, you will be plundered. When you make an end of dealing treacherously, they will deal treacherously with you." As I conclude this evening, the way the thing came to me is this. This matter of his presence, we have been talking about it, and it's good for us in everything we do to understand that whenever we sin, we sin in the presence, we sin in the sight of the Lord. Whatever we do, we are in the sight of the Lord. We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. There are some things you will do when you are young that will speak up when you are old. You'll be doing it, you'll be doing it, it's like you are going away with it. You are plundering, nobody is plundering you. You are deceiving, nobody is deceiving you. Because he said when you cease plundering you will be plundered, which means it is here on earth. This one is not about eternity. It's here. The way it came to me, it came to me as [slang in Yoruba]. Things you would be doing now, nobody will... you'll be going away with it. Nobody will know, nobody will see. And you will go on and on and on. But the day you'll now want to rest, that now let me eat the labor of my hands. Let me now rest now and enjoy. You have worked so hard, you backstab, you backbite, you pull down, you force your way to the top. You prospered. When you now cease, [slang in Yoruba]. Please, let us live in the consciousness of God in whatever we are doing. Because some things will speak up. Do you remember Joab? Do you know that because Joab had some things with David in the case of Bathsheba? It was Joab that they used to execute Uriah. So David could not control Joab again. Joab knew something that was just between the two of them, which every other person did not know. Even when Joab killed Abner, David could not do anything because of all of those things. But do you notice, when David was to die and he was to commission Solomon? He told Solomon, "Make sure that Joab don't die in peace." Look at the way the thing happened to Joab. Joab that had followed David all his life, in the case of Adonijah, Joab went with Adonijah. [slang in Yoruba]. That spirit of error came upon him. So there was now an occasion for why Solomon would make him to make sure he does not die in peace. You may be prospering with certain things. It looks like it's okay. I beg us, brethren, let us be conscious of God's presence in everything we do. So that we don't come to a time when you want to rest, and then heaven says, "No, you can't rest this rest. There are certain things that you sowed that you must reap now. You have made men to weep at a point, you must weep now too." Let us pray. I want us to talk to the Lord this evening, brethren. I want us to pray. His presence, his presence, understanding his presence. Living in the consciousness of God in everything we do. Even if anything should be secret to your life, let it be good works. If anything you will do, make sure it is good works. Because when you will think that you have been forgotten, heaven will remember you. You remember Mordecai? He did a good works. It was like he was forgotten. But one day, when he was to be slaughtered like chicken, Haman had perfected his plan, heaven remembered the good works. The king could not sleep. They began to open the book where they record... when the record will be opened, may it be for our promotion. May it be for our lifting, not for our cutting down. Because what is hidden in our lives are good works. Don't put evil in secret. Don't do wickedness in the secret. Don't do anything to understand this presence. Understand this presence. Let me invite our brother Godwin to pray. Please pray to close the meeting. [Speaker 3] Our Father and our God, we want to thank you for your word. Understanding of your presence. We appreciate you for this revelation. We appreciate you for this mystery because it has been given to us to understand the mystery of the kingdom. Thank you for this mystery of your kingdom. Lord, take all the glory in the name of Jesus Christ. Daddy, we pray that you will give us more understanding of your presence, that we will begin to walk in this understanding anywhere we find ourselves, that we will walk in understanding and be conscious of your presence in all our deeds, in all our actions, in all our conversations, in all our relationships in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray as daddy rightly said, [slang in Yoruba], Daddy, we pray if there is anything in anyone of us that will stand against us at our old age, Lord, we pray for mercy. Hey! In the name of Jesus Christ. That you will look unto your mercy and wipe off all our iniquity in the name of Jesus Christ. That you will help us and give us grace to stand for you in the name of Jesus Christ. Daddy, we pray for your son, that your word will not stand against him. In the name of Jesus Christ. You will continue to be with him. Your presence will continue to be with him. In the name of Jesus Christ. For every member of Family Tent, your presence will continue to be with us. As we go today, we go in your name and we return with testimony next week in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, precious Daddy. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Let us together share the grace. [All] May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. [background chatter] 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 missions. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday 5 PM; Adolescents and Singles' Club, every first Saturday of every month at 10 AM; Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10 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, Ile-Ileri community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Idanre 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.