Bad Boys of the Bible: Deal, or No Deal?
"Bad Boys of the Bible"
Exodus 5 and selected passages
Richard E. Powell
We are going to continue with our series called, "Bad Boys of the Bible." And today we're going to open our Bibles to the Old Testament book of Exodus 5 as we talk about the third bad boy in our series. We're talking about Pharaoh. And today’s message is entitled, "Pharaoh, deal or no deal?" That's right deal or no deal?
The television show, "Deal or no deal" has become a hit in America. The basic format of deal or no deal consists of 26 metal cases each containing different amounts of money from zero up to $1 million dollars and not knowing the sum of money in each case, the contestant has to choose one case for themselves hoping that that case has a million dollars. Then they have to make a series of choices of eliminating and opening the other cases that are left behind. And during certain intervals the contestant is offered a buyout from the banker. You see the contestant’s job is to get as much as they can; the banker’s job is to send that contestant home with as little as possible. And so you have to make a decision, when the banker offers you the option, of either selling out and going home or continuing the game. You've got a decision to make. And you have to remember that the Banker wants to send you away with as little as possible.
Well, guess what? The Devil also wants to engage you in making a deal. Satan comes to every believer with the temptation to compromise our commitment to God. Satan wants to us to sell out rather than going on with God and receiving all the blessings that He has for us. Satan wants us to walk away from the riches of God's blessings supplied through faith in Christ, and he wants us to sell ourselves short. And so when the Devil comes to you with the temptation to compromise your faith or compromise your commitment, you have a decision to make; deal, or no deal?
Well, the Jewish people also had to answer that question, “deal or no deal?” There was once a time when they were slaves in Egypt. They had been slaves for hundreds of years. But God heard their cries and God sent Moses to deliver them. As a matter of fact, God was going to use Moses to deliver them from Egyptian bondage, but God wanted to reveal the hardness of Pharaoh's heart, so he sent Moses and Aaron to go face to face with Pharaoh, the King of Egypt. Pharaoh was most powerful man in the world. They asked Pharaoh to let the people of God go into the wilderness to worship their God. You see God knew that Pharaoh was not willing to let the children of Israel go into the wilderness to worship for three days much less let them go forever. But God wanted to reveal the hardness of Pharaoh's heart. So as you read Exodus Chapter 5:1, 2; you read about the hardness of his heart. Listen to these words; Exodus 5:1, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness."
Now, remember God is just asking for them to go into the wilderness for a feast. But look at what God says happens in Exodus 5:2. “And Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go. I do not know the Lord nor will I let Israel go.’” He's not willing to let them go for thee days much less let them go forever. And so God starts inflicting plagues upon Egypt. God starts inflicting dire judgments upon this pagan leader and his pagan land. God sent that first plague where the water and the River Nile turned into blood. Then he followed that plague up with the plague of frogs, where the land was inundated with frogs. Wherever you stepped you not only heard croaks, you heard squish and then croaks. Then he sent the plague of lice. People were covered from head to toe with lice. Then he sent the plague of flies. And finally after that fourth plague, Pharaoh is ready to deal. He's ready to tempt the people of God to compromise the clear command of God to leave and go into the wilderness and to sacrifice to their God.
The temptations the Jewish people faced to compromise their commitment to God are the same that you face every day. So you will do well to learn how to stay true to God. Some of you are already compromising with the devil in certain areas of your life. You need to repent tonight and renew your commitment to God. Others of you are faced with these compromises right now and you are about to make a decision.
You can read compromise number one in Exodus 8:25. Why don't you take your Bibles, turn to Exodus chapter 8 and locate verse 25. This is after the fourth plague, "Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, ’Go sacrifice to your God in the land.'"
It sounds like Pharaoh had a change of heart. In chapter 5 he's saying, "I will not let you go. I don't know your God. You're not going anywhere." And here in Exodus 8:25 he says, "Okay, go and sacrifice to your God." Sounds like he's had a change of heart; sounds like he's more reasonable then what we first imagined. But you haven't read his words clearly enough if you think he's willing to let the people go like God commands. You see, God had plainly said, "Let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness." Pharaoh is only willing to let them worship in the land. Did you notice that phrase, "in the land"? You'd better learn this lesson well because the Devil will temp you to compromise in the same way that Pharaoh tempted the Jewish people.
I. Pharaoh wanted the people of God to compromise, first of all, in the area of the purity of their worship.
You can worship your God but you're going to have to worship here in Egypt. You see Egypt for us represents the lost world; it represents the pagan world; it represents the world that is under the judgment of God. And the Devil wants us to mix the things of God with the things of the world thereby diluting the purity of our worship. You and I need to recognize what Pharaoh is really saying. Pharaoh is saying, "Go ahead, worship your God if you must, but do it here in Egypt. Stop talking about this idea of separation between the people of God and the people of the world. This is the only world you've ever known. Just go ahead and stay here and add your religion to our religions." And that's what the Devil wants believers to do. And there are many believers, there are many congregations, there are many denominations that are heeding the call of Satan to compromise in the purity of worship.
Have you noticed that the world is becoming churchy and the church is becoming worldly? Have you noticed? In this political season the world is becoming churchy. We're being told by politicians, who want our vote, that you can be a good Christian and still be okay with abortion. They're saying you can be a good Christian and lower your standards of sexual immorality. The world is becoming too churchy. And by the way, the church is becoming too worldly. It used to be that preachers would stand behind pulpits and say, "Thus saith the Lord"; but now they’re saying, "Well, you know it seems to me." And they're preaching out of the book of opinions and they're standing up and they are watering down the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It used to be that we would boldly proclaim Jesus is not the best way to God; he's the only way to God. And by the way as long as you have me as your pastor that's what you are going to hear. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). And yet the church is becoming worldly. We have turned the Bible into nothing more than a bunch of self-help principles. We have started arguing over how much of ourselves we ought to give to God; we want to give God as little as possible and still be holy. Some church members think the pastor only works one hour a week and they complain when he goes overtime. Because they're wanting to get in, get out, check that box in their spiritual to do list; yes, I've been in church, I've lived for God on Sunday, now, I can live for the Devil on Monday. There's something wrong with that.
We are being tempted by the Devil to compromise in the area of our purity in worship. But the half brother of Jesus, the Apostle James said, "Adulterers and adulteresses." Now, he's not talking about sexual adultery; he's talking about spiritual adultery. He is talking about selling out on God, stepping out on God. He says, "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God, whoever, therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God?” He says, "When you give into this world's way of thinking and acting and speaking and living then you are putting yourself against God." That's why Paul said in II Corinthians 6, he's actually quoting God, "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." May I say to you that whenever we live, we live by the principles of the word of God not by the dictates of the pagan world we live in?
Now, do you know what Moses did? Moses rejected the temptation to compromise because he knew two things.
A. Moses knew that Christian worship is rejected by the world. You can't really worship God like he wants you to in the world and have the world like it. The world hates Christian worship. Notice what he said in Exodus 8:26, "And Moses said, 'it is not right to do so.'" In other words, it's not right for us to sacrifice in Egypt. "For we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?” Most Bible scholars believe that Moses was saying, if we start sacrificing sheep and goats, which the Egyptians worship, they will see it as an abomination and they will kill us. They are not happy with our worship; they are hostile to our worship. And the world hasn't changed much.
You can go to the office tomorrow and talk about God all day long and people will commend you for being a religious person. But if you bring up the name Jesus Christ you'll get the world against you. I mean just start boldly proclaiming that the Jesus Christ is God in flesh, and that he is the uncreated, co‑eternal, self‑existent, second person of the Godhead, God the father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. He is the Creator of all things and he took upon Himself human flesh, stepped out of glory, came all the way to Golgotha, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross for your sin and for mine. And he was buried, but on the third day he rose from the dead. He ascended to the right hand of God the Father. Right now he prays for every believer, and one day he's coming again, and he will rule and judge the earth. If you know him as Savior; you'll have eternal life. If you've rejected him, you'll spend eternity in Hell separated from God. Buddy, the world will hate it. They'll talk about God all day long or being touched by an angel all day long, but they don't want to talk about Jesus Christ, the one who redeems us with His precious blood. Because Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, makes you choose and it divides people.
I was called just a few years ago to offer the opening prayer at the school board, downtown. The lady that called me said, "We want you to pray at the beginning of the session." I said, "Now, you need to understand, I'm a Baptist preacher." Oh, yes, Ricky, we know. You just come and pray." I said, "Okay." I arrived on the appointed night and one of the ladies came up and said, "Now, you know we have people of all faiths here. And we don't want to offend anyone, and so we need you to pray a generic prayer." I said, "Excuse me? What is a generic prayer?" She replied, "Well, you can talk about God, but we would rather you not pray in Jesus name. You might offend people." I said, "Ma’am that offends me. You didn't call a Buddhist; you didn't call a Unitarian; you called a Baptist preacher, and I'm not ashamed of Jesus Christ. You're going to have to get someone else to do this generic prayer." She said, "Well, wait a minute, wait a minute." She went off and talked to a Board member, Stan Jordan, who's a member at First Baptist. She came back and she said, "Okay, you can pray like you want to pray." So I did. I got up and prayed something along the lines of:
"Dear God, we recognize that we are mere servants in your world. Thank you for these people who are willing to serve the most precious of our community, the children. Remind them that one day they'll stand and give an account to you, a Holy God. Remind them that it will be better for a millstone to be hung around our neck and for us to be cast into the depths of the sea than to make one of these little ones stumble. We pray that you would bless and give them wisdom. This we pray in Jesus’ name, our Lord and Savior who died for us on the cross, our coming King, Amen."
Now, folks, I haven't been asked back. But I don't care because Christian worship is always rejected by the world. Moses says, "They won't stand for that. They'll kill us when we start talking about a sacrificial system where the sinner is set free because of the payment of another.”
B. Moses knew that Christian worship is regulated by the Word of God. Moses rejected Pharaoh's offer to compromise because, not only is Christian worship rejected by the world, it is also regulated by the word. He says in verse 27, "We will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He will command us." Do you know what Moses was saying? Moses is saying, “Pharaoh I hear what you are saying. Nice try. But you do not tell us how or when or where to worship. There's only one who will tell us that and He is God. We will obey His command.”
And I want you to know, today, that you and I do not need to have our worship regulated by the world; it needs to be regulated by the Word of God. I could care less what the world thinks about how we should believe or how we should behave. They'll tell you what to think; they'll tell you what to believe; and they'll tell you to be quiet and keep your faith in the church, but don't take it out into the world. I could care less. I'm going to stand up as the redeemed and I'm going to say-so. The Bible says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say-so." This is what we believe. The word of God which is holy, inspired, inerrant, and infallible is our only authority for what we believe and how we are going to behave.
So Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your purity in worship. Deal or no deal? Are you going to do it, are you going to compromise with the world, live for the Lord on Sunday, live for the Devil on Monday.
II. Pharaoh wanted the people of God to compromise in the area of their proximity to God.
Well, with this first compromise rejected, Pharaoh tries a second one. You can read about it in Exodus 8:28, "So Pharaoh said, 'I will let you go that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.'"
Isn't it funny that Pharaoh wants Moses to pray for him, not because he believes in God, but because he's just wants out of his trouble? That is just like some people in our world today.
Perhaps your thinking, “Well, that's more like it. Pharaoh's ready to let them go in the wilderness to worship God.” But wait. Did you notice what Pharaoh said; "just don't go too far." You know what Pharaoh is saying. It is really one of the Devil's most subtle compromises. Okay, be a Christian, if you have to be; but, my word; don't get carried away with this stuff. Don't let it take over your life. Don't become a fanatic for God. Don't go too far.
You see Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your proximity to God. He doesn't want you to sell out. I like what one preacher said; "Pharaoh's willing to lengthen the chain, but it is still a chain." And the devil is willing to lengthen your chain, but it's still a chain if he's got a hold on you.
And some Christians are heeding this call to compromise. They are half-heartedly living for the Lord but they are not sold out. They're still within earshot of the devil when he calls, those old temptations; those old habits; those old friends; that old way of thinking; that old way of talking; that old way of living, calls them back from time to time. And they find themselves giving in to what God saved them from. They're compromising in their proximity to God. They haven't sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But what does Jesus say? Jesus said in Matthew 22, “…you shall love the Lord your God with half your heart, with half your soul, with half your mind.” No! He said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
You need to sell out to God. Quit straddling the fence. Quit putting one foot in the church and one foot in the world. Man step over. Be the man who says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). So you've got to love him with everything you've got. Here's what I'm going to challenge you to do. I'm going to challenge every one of you who are believers to look for ways that you can intentionally take steps in your Christian life that will lead you farther from the devil and closer to God. You see if you’re not doing anything; you're not just sitting still; you’re backsliding. If you're not intentionally seeking to draw closer to God you're actually going closer to the devil. So you ought to say, “What can I do to make intentional steps that will lead me closer to God and farther from the devil.”
Can I give you two simple things you can do? One of them, get involved in a life group here at Fort Caroline. A life group is simply a small group of friends who come together and pray for one another, encourage one another, study the Bible together, and apply it to life on Monday. That's all life group is, that's all Sunday school is. That's all it is. But that is the secret weapon for a Christian's life. We can't be Lone Ranger Christians. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto!
The second thing I'll challenge you to do to take steps farther from the Devil and closer to God is to be faithful in worship attendance. The Bible says we are not to forsake “the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” Hebrews 10:25 (NKJV).
And yet so many Christians are just going the way of the Devil, compromised, not doing anything to intentionally grow in their faith. We're trying to help you, come.
So Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your proximity with God. Deal or nor deal? Are you going to keep drifting from God? Are you going to give in to the Devil? Deal or no deal? Or are you going to just go with God?
III. Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your parental responsibilities.
Well, Pharaoh wasn't sincere in his offers. He had no intentions of letting God's people go. In fact, he hardened his heart against God, so God continued to send heavier judgments upon him and upon Egypt. After several more plagues we find Pharaoh ready to deal again. Turn to Exodus 10:8-11.
“So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, ‘Go, serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going?’ And Moses said, ‘We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.’ Then he said to them, ‘The Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.’ And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.”
Listen to how the New Living Translation reads: 10 Pharaoh retorted, “The Lord will certainly need to be with you if I let you take your little ones! I can see through your evil plan. 11 Never! Only the men may go and worship the Lord, since that is what you requested.” And Pharaoh threw them out of the palace. Exodus 10:10-11 (NLT)
Do you know what Pharaoh is saying? He says you'd better hope God is with you because I know what you are up to. And when all of you take off; you'll never be back. As a matter of fact, I'm not going to let all of you go. It's not going to happen; you go, but only the men. Notice what he says, “Not so, go now you who are men and serve the Lord for that is what you desired, and they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.” Do you see the devilish compromise? Pharaoh is saying that the men can go and worship but they've got to leave their children behind.
And Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your parental responsibilities. The devil decides that if you must follow God then maybe he can keep you from leading you kids as well. And I am grieved when I see many Christian dads abdicating their responsibility to be the spiritual leaders of their homes. And to be the leader means that you take the initiative. Dad you're kids ought to see you leading the family to church, not sending them, while you sit at home. Your kids ought to see you praying to God. They ought to see you reading your Bible; they ought to see you eagerly applying the principles of God's word to your life. Why? Because through your example you can lead your children. How sad it would be for you to be right with God and then your children to die is spend eternity separated from God because you never sought to lead them. And I'm so sick of hearing well meaning parents says, “Well, you know, we're not going to force religion on our kids. We're just going to let them choose.” You know what we've decided in our family. There are just certain things you don't get to choose. I'm dad; you're not; any questions? For example, when we go to a restaurant, if I ask my three kids to look at a long menu and tell me what you want, first of all they'd never agree on anything. Then they would be ordering stuff they didn't need. “Joshua, I promise you, you will not like Calamari. I promise you, you're not having that.” They don't always know what's best for them. “Dad, what's a daiquiri?” No, you can't have that! You say, well, what does that have to do with anything? If I'm going to stand back and let my kids choose whether or not there is a God, what they believe about that God, which religion is right, chances are they are going to spend eternity separated from God and that is not why God gave me those kids. And by the way, I'm going to say this for what it's worth because there's nothing that's happened. Don't look around and say, “Who is he talking to?” I'm talking to you! Dad, don't you dare, or Mom, Grandma; whoever it is, don't you dare go home and within earshot of your kids let them hear you criticizing your church, criticizing your pastor, criticizing your staff, criticizing your deacons, criticizing your Sunday school teacher, criticizing the music, criticizing the color of the carpet. You know why? Because they hear that critical spirit out of you, and you are sowing seeds of discord in their heart. And don't be shocked when they grow up and they turn their back on the church. Because they heard nothing but garbage out of your mouth. You had roast preacher every Sunday afternoon. And you wonder why they don't go to church anymore. Maybe that's why. Now, remember nothings happened; nobody said anything to me. I've been preaching long enough, I could say that in any church and it needs to be said. So I don't know who you are, but God knows and you know. So if the shoe fits, wear it. Amen. And I got a shoe horn if you need it.
Do you see the Devilish compromise? He wants you to compromise in your parental responsibilities and the Bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go.” You've got to take the lead. “Train him up, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The Bible says in Ephesians 6:4, "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Deuteronomy 6:6, 7, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. And shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lay down, when you rise up.” In other words, you should take every day that God gives you and influence your kids. The world is using every day to influence your kids; you ought to use everyday to influence your kids. The devil says, “Well, be a Christian if you must; but don't force you kids. And then some parents say, “Well, you know, I don't want to push them away from God.” Where are you going to push them too? Hell No. 2?
Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your parental responsibilities. Deal or no deal? Make up your mind. You are either going to be the spiritual leader, leading your family to worship God; or you are going to abdicate it to you world.
IV. Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your possessions.
Pharaoh had one more compromise to offer Moses and the people of God, and you can read it in Exodus 10:24. “Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, ‘Go, serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”
Pharaoh says, “Okay, you can take your kids, but you’re leaving your flocks and you’re leaving your herds.” You say, well, what's so wrong with that? It's another one of the Devil’s compromises he offers the people of God, today. Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your possessions.
Well, let's go ahead and be honest; some of you just turned me off right there. You said, “That's it I knew it. It's all they ever talk about, Money, money, money. Both times I've been to church this year, at Christmas and Easter, that's all he's talked about.” So let me set the record straight, if you are not a Christian, if you've never experienced the forgiveness of God for your sin, I'm not talking to you. God doesn't want your money; this church doesn't want your money. As a matter of fact, I've got some good news. We offer you a free gift, bought and paid for by Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23 says, “For wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So, we're offering you a gift. I'm not after your money. Keep it in your pocket. But if you’re a Christian, and if what I just said made you mad, then you have proven my point--- that Satan wants believers to compromise in the areas of their possession.
There is something wrong when we can say, “God I give your my heart, I give you my soul, I give you my mind, but you are not touching my money.” Something is wrong with that folks because if you have truly given God everything that means you have given God everything. And when you give your possession you leverage them for the kingdom of God.
Moses refused Pharaoh’s compromise because he says, “We've got to use these flocks and herds when we go out there and worship God. Where do you think the sacrifices are going to come from? They're going to come from our possessions. They are going to come from our flocks and herds. We can't leave them behind because we can't worship God like He wants us to without those possessions.”
And church you've got to understand something, you and I are not saved by our money but we can use our money and dedicate it to God. And we ought to leverage it for the kingdom of God. I remember years and years ago an older gentlemen was trying to teach me a lesson on spiritual stewardship and financial stewardship. He said, “Ricky, let me tell you, if you can talk a mother, a new mother, into giving you her precious child; I mean, if you could talk her into actually giving you her child, she will throw in the rattle, the pacifier, the baby bottle, the formula, the diaper bag, and the diapers. She'll give you everything else. Because if you have talked her into giving you her baby she's giving you what's most precious to her. All the other stuff doesn't matter; it just follows along with the baby. And he said,”If you’ll sell your heart out to God; your possessions will follow. And you'll not only be concerned about putting 10 percent in an offering plate, you'll also be concerned about how you use the other 90 percent.” He said, “Because God is not honored, Ricky, if you’re giving Him 10 percent on Sunday morning and then with the 90 percent you're going out there and having parties and getting drunk or you're spending it on HBO (Hell's box office) and you're going out doing drugs with the rest of the money. God’s not honored in that. God wants you to give him 10 percent in church, but He wants you to glorify Him with however you spend the rest.
You see Jesus is the one who said that the antidote to materialism is giving God your gifts. Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” That's what Jesus said. Where your treasure is: there your heart will be. So if you give your treasure to God, that's where your heart’s at, that's where your priorities are and that is the antidote to materialism. Christians, we live in a world that is very materialistic. The world says get all you can, can all you get, sit on the can. But God says I want you to live with open hands. And so Jesus says just give me your treasure and your heart will be okay. And if you’re not giving me your treasure then your heart’s not with me.
By the way, giving God his 10th is also an avenue to spiritual blessing. It's not only the antidote to materialism, it's also the avenue of spiritual blessing. Malachi 3:8, God asked the question, “Will a man rob God? Yet, you’ve robbed Me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You’re accursed with a curse for you've robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there may be food in my house. And try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” You see God gave us the principle of giving off the top. Back in Genesis, 400 years before God gave Moses the law, you find Abraham giving 10 percent to Melchizedek.
You can't out give God. I dare you. Try it. God says, “Prove me.” Let me show you. I will pour out spiritual blessings that you can not imagine, if you will just obey me. And by the way, He says, you're already under a curse because you’re not doing it. God will get what's His. God will always get what's His.
So Satan wants you to compromise in the area of your possessions. Deal or no deal? Jesus was willing to give you his all, but you're so holy you're going to hold some back from Him. Okay. Deal or no deal?
Or will you say today, in each of these four areas, “As best I'm able, I'm going to stop dealing with the Devil, and I'm just going to go with God.” You need to make up your mind today. “I'm going to stop dealing with the Devil and see how close to sin I can live; and I'm going to start going with God and seeing how godly I can live. I'm tired of compromising my walk with God. I'm ready to just sell out to him.”
With your heads bowed and your eyes closed. “Heavenly Father, we pray that even now you would help us to apply this message to our hearts. There are some in this room, God, who've needed to hear this message because they've been compromising in the area of their purity or they have been compromising in the area of their proximity to you or in their parental responsibilities or in their possessions. And today God, they're ready to stop dealing with the devil and just go with you. Father, I pray that you would help them as they make those steps that will draw them closer to you and farther from the Devil.
“Lord, I'm also burdened for those who don't know you as Savior. God, I pray today that before it’s eternally too late that they will say, “Dear God; I'm a sinner and I'm lost and I’m separated from you. But I thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sin on the cross. I turn from my sin and I believe in him. I want to be saved. And now God, now, that you have saved me and forgiven me; help me to live like you want me to live.”