Joel Osteen - God's Gracious Hand

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
God bless you. It's great to be with you today,
and I hope you'll stay connected with us during the
week through our daily podcast or YouTube channel and social media,
and you can come visit us in person. We'd love
to have you be a part of one of our services.
I'd like to start with something funny. And I heard
about this church and one Sunday morning, everything was going

(00:22):
great until a bolt of lightning hit the sainctuary. When
the smoke cleared, Satan himself was standing behind the podium.
People panicked and took off running as fast as they could.
Everyone that is, except one lady. She sat on the
front row as calm as can be, and Satan was appalled.
He said, lady, do you know who I am? She said,

(00:44):
I sure do. He said, well, aren't you afraid of me?
She said not in the least bit. He said why not?
She said, why should I be? I've been married to
your brother for thirty years. This is my Bible. I
am what it says I am. I have what it
says I have. I can do what it says I
can do. Today I will be taught the word of God.

(01:07):
I boldly confess. My mind is alert, my heart is receptive,
I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God
bless you. I want to talk to you today about
the gracious hand of God. We all face obstacles that
look too big to overcome, and dreams that seem impossible

(01:27):
to accomplish. Sometimes it's situations that are just complicated in
a relationship, a health, a business. We tried our best,
but we don't see how it could ever work out.
But when you gave your life to Christ, God puts
something on you that gives you an advantage, something that
will cause you to stand out, to accomplish dreams that

(01:50):
seem over your head, to overcome problems that look permanent.
The scripture calls it the gracious hand of God. It's
his faith that will open doors you couldn't open. It's
a divine empowerment where you have the strength the courage
to overcome what should stop you. It's supernatural provision where

(02:13):
you have the resources, the funding, the right people, Where
you defied the odds, you go where you've never dreamed.
You can look back now and see the gracious hand
of God. How did you get promoted when you weren't
the next in line? You weren't the most qualified, but
for some reason they chose you. That was his gracious

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hand causing you to stand out. The medical report said
you wouldn't get well. Experts said just learn to live
with it. But somehow it turned around and today you're
healthy in home. That wasn't luck, wasn't a coincidence. It
was the gracious hand of God. Or maybe there was
dysfunction in your family growing up, addiction compromise, people taking

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the easy way out. That should have been you, but
you're the exception. You broke that generational limitation and now
you're blessed, successful, living a victorious life. You couldn't do
that on your own. It was the gracious hand of
God empowering you, favoring you, making ways where you didn't

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see a way. When you understand that you have God's
gracious hand, you won't live intimidated thinking you're at a disadvantage.
And man, this obstacle's too big. I'll never get well.
We'll always struggle, not have enough. No, you'll put your
shoulders back, you'll pray bold prayers. You'll expect things to
change in your favor. Your attitude will be This may

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be too much for me, but I know a secret.
I have an advantage. There's something on me that causes
me to stand out, to overcome, to defy the odds.
The gracious hand of God is on my life, David
said in forty one. By this, I know you have
favored me. My enemies could not triumph over me. The

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favor of God will keep your enemies from defeating you.
That sickness should take you out, should stop your destiny.
But God steps in and says no, you don't have
the final say I do. His favor won't let it
triumph over you. The trouble at work should set you back.

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Those people that are playing politics, pushing you down, trying
to make you look bad, seems like they have the advantage.
Don't worry. There is something on you they can't see.
There is a favor that keeps you from being defeated.
They may push you down, but they can't keep you down.
The favor on your life will cause you to bounce

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right back up. See when you honor God, you keep
him first. You have his gracious hand on you that
makes you unstoppable. Think about Joseph. His brothers were jealous
and threw him into a pit that should have been
the end a teenager in a pit, left there to die,
no way to get out. But then out of nowhere,

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a caravan of ishmaelites showed up, traveling through the desert.
They got there at just the right time, when the
brothers were about to leave. Instead, they sold Joseph as
a slave, and his life was spared. That caravan came
from a city hundreds of miles away. They had been
traveling weeks and weeks before Joseph was in the pit.

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They were already on the way. God knows everything that's
going to happen to you. He's already arranged solutions to
problems that you haven't even had. It may look like
that opposition is going to get the best of you.
What you can't see is a caravan is already on
the way with your freedom, your breakthrough, your abundance. You're healing.

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Why is that the gracious hand of God is on
your life. You belong to the most high. You are
his prize possession, he said in Psalms. He has surrounded
you with favor like a shield. This favor is not
just for good breaks, not just to accomplish dreams, but
it's to keep your enemies from defeating you. Joseph was

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sold as a slave, and it's taken to Egypt and
worked for a high ranking military official. He was so
excellent the official put him in charge of his whole household.
He ran all the affairs, the staff, and the upkeep.
But the official's wife tried to seduce Joseph. She liked him,
but he wouldn't give in. He was a man of

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honor and integrity. Even though he had been mistreated and betrayed,
he still honored God. Well, this wife lied about Joseph
and said he was trying to harm her, and of
course her husband was furious and had him put in prison.
Not the setback. Now he's not only a slave in
a foreign country, but he's incarcerated. All the odds are

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against him. Having God's favor doesn't mean we won't have difficulties,
but it does mean those enemies will not triumph over you.
They won't have the last laugh breakthrough is coming in prison.
Joseph was so excellent that the warden put him in
charge of the whole prison. You've heard that phrase, you

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can't keep a good man down. The truth is you
can't keep a favored man down. When God's gracious hand
is on you. You keep rising to the top, define
the odds. You keep succeeding despite what comes against you.
One day, Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh's dream the leader of

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the country. The pharaoh was so impressed he made Joseph
the Prime Minister of Egypt. You too, may have had
some bad breaks and obstacles that look like you could
never overcome. If Joseph were here, he would tell you,
don't ever rule out the favor of God. His gracious
hand on your life will cause you to rise out

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of a pit, to excel despite who did you wrong,
to shine in the midst of opposition. God is fighting
your battles. His favor doesn't keep us out of difficulty,
does it stop all the trouble, But it will keep
the trouble from stopping you. When you're in a pit
you don't feel like there's any way out, look up

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for your redemption. Draws knife. There is a God not
only watching over you, but his gracious hand is on
your life. His favor is surrounding you. What he has
purpose will come to pass. No person can stop us,
no sickness, no trouble, no addiction. The enemies you see
today you will see no more. When you're in a

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pit facing trouble, it's good to look back and remember
what God has done. Find some victories so you can say,
like David, by this, I know we have favor. We're
in the former compact center. The opposition was bigger, stronger,
they had more resources, but they couldn't keep us out.

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By this, I know my family has favor. My mother
is still alive forty four years after being diagnosed with
terminal cancer. The cancer couldn't triumph over her. By this,
I know I have favor. The critics couldn't stop me.
The naysayers, the noise, the chatter. They tried their best,

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but their best was not enough. The more they pushed down,
the more God pushed up. He's taking me further than
I've ever imagined. You don't have to fight all these battles.
You can stay in peace, knowing that there's a force
for you. They cannot be defeated. The gracious hand of
God protecting you, empowering you, favoring you, providing for you.

(10:00):
A tempted to get discouraged, and we all do anything.
Oh now, Joel, this enemy is too big, this opposition
too strong. I don't see any way out of this problem.
You're looking at it from a natural point of view.
God is supernatural. The favor he put on you goes
beyond your talent, your strength, your resources. It's not limited

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to what you can do. It's his power. He created
the universe, He spoke worlds into existence. He parts red seas.
He multiplied two fish to feed five thousand. He calls
Sarah to have a baby at ninety years old. He
opened prison doors for Paul in silence. He used a

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slingshot to bring down a giant. He is all powerful.
Nothing can stand against our God, and he is breathing
on your life. Right now. You're about to see his
gracious hand do something you've never seen. Like Joseph, you
out of trouble into victory, out of sickness into health,

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out of being lonely to a great relationship, out of
struggling into abundance. Now you have to get in agreement
with God. No more. I never get any good breaks.
I've had this addiction so long, and I don't have
the talent to accomplish my dream. Try a different approach. Father,
Thank you that your gracious hand is upon my life,

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that your favor is keeping enemies from defeating me, opening
right doors, bringing the right people, causing me to go
further than I ever imagined. This is what Nehemiah did.
The Israelites had been in exile in Babylon for many years,
and some of them had returned home to Jerusalem. But

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the city was in ruins and the walls were broken down,
and there was no protection. Without the walls, they were
easy prey to abandons. Well, Neemiah lived a thousand miles away.
He worked as a cup bearer for the King of Persian.
When he heard about how his people in Jerusalem were
in such need and the walls down, they were so vulnerable.

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Verse four says he sat down and wept. He was
so burdened by it. For four months he prayed and fasted,
asking God to help. He never dreamed that God would
put the desire in him to go back and rebuild
those walls. He wasn't a builder. He didn't have the funds,
the materials, the crew. I'm sure he thought, God, this

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is impossible. Yes, I'm concerned, but I'm not the answer.
You have to find someone more qualified, more experienced. But
God will ask you to do things that seem over
your head, where like Neamiah, you can find a thousand
reasons why you can't do it. You don't have the talent,
you're too young, too old, too timid, wrong nationality. Here's

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the key. God wouldn't have asked you if you didn't
have everything you need. He'll never ask you to do
something and not give you the ability to do it.
It may be over your head, but it's not over
his head. You have to realize His gracious hand is
on you. It's a hand of favor. Things will happen

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that you couldn't make happen. Don't talk yourself out of it,
or you'll miss the greatness God put in you. Neemiah
went to the king and asked for permission to take
a leave of absence to go back home and rebuild
the walls. Imagine the faith that took. He didn't have
a high ranking position, he wasn't in management. He's working

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in the kitchen, serving, cleaning, running errands. You would think
he would be timid and shy, But when you know
the favor of God is on your life, you'll have
a bondness, a courage to step out and do what
God has put in your heart, he asked the king,
and much to his surprise, the king said, yes, Nehemiah,

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you can go. He gave him permission. Neimiyah was grateful,
but he didn't stop there. He said, thank you so much.
But King, I don't have any materials. I don't have
any funds. Will you give me letters requiring the owners
of the lumber mills and the stone quarries to give
me the supplies. I need another bold request. Once again,

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the king said yes. Now he has the time off,
he has the materials. But he said one more thing, King,
I need protection when I travel back home. It'll be dangerous.
I need letters to all the governors of the cities
I go through, telling them who I am and how
they need to watch after me. All these requests seemed

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like he was pushing his luck. The king could have said, man,
Niamiah gave you time off, get out of here. But
Proverbs says God will turn the heart of a king.
God will cause the people you need to be good
to you. The king agreed to do it. That didn't
make sense. Why was he so good to Neomiah. Why
did he treat him with such kindness and generosity? Neimiah

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said in verse eight. The King granted me these requests
because the gracious hand of God was on me. Neemiah
understood this secret, that there was a favor on him
that would cause him to accomplish what he couldn't accomplish
on his own. Doors would open that he couldn't open,

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that would cause people to go out of their way
to be good to him. If he hadn't been aware
of the gracious hand of God, he would have never
had the boldness to ask the king and the courage
to leave that comfortable environment to take this step of faith.
My question for you is, do you realize what you have?

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That you're not just ordinary doing life on your own,
limited by your environment, your education, your connections. No, the
gracious hand of God is on you, a favor that
empowers and inabls and opens doors and keeps enemies from
defeating you. When Neemiah arrived in Jerusalem and saw all

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the ruins, it was much worse than he thought, and
logically speaking, he didn't know how he was going to
do it. And he found some men and told them
of his dream to rebuild the walls and ask if
they would help. I'm sure some of them said Neemiah,
it's impossible. Look at this mess. We're not builders. We
don't have the equipment, the resources. Neamiah said in verse eighteen,

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I told the people how the gracious hand of God
was on my line. They were trying to talk him
out of it. He said, in a fact, no, guys,
there's something on me. You can't see it. I may
look ordinary, Yes, I'm a cupbearer, but I have an advantage.
The favor of God is on my life. There is
a force for me greater than any force trying to

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stop me. They said no at first, but then they
all changed their minds, said Nehemiah, we're in. Let's do this.
The favor of God will bring the people. You need
to get behind your vision to help you excel. You
don't have to beg people try to manipulate. Convince them
to be for you. God will move on the right people.

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They started rebuilding the wall and had all kinds of oppositions.
City leaders tried to stop them. Critics stirred up trouble,
and bandits came and tried to get them to fight. See,
just because you're having trouble doesn't mean you're not in
God's will. When you step out to do what He's
called you to do and to take new ground. Live

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with excellence and integrity. You're going to have opposition, trouble,
they sayers. The enemy doesn't want you to move forward.
The good news is the favor on your life will
keep those enemies from defeating you. They may come, but
if you'll stay in faith, they will fail. No weapon

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formed against you will prosper. When the enemy comes in
like a flood. The scripture says, the spirit of God
will raise up a barrier. The spirit of God is
the favor of God. Keep doing the right thing. Don't
get distracted fighting battles that you're not supposed to fight.
Neamiah had people at the bottom of the mountain making

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fun of him, threatening him, all kinds of noise and
negative chatter. But Neamiah ignored it. He knew it was
a distraction to try to get him to lose focus
to come down from building to fighting. Let God fight
your battles. All the noise, the chatter, people trying to
make you look bad. They cannot stop your destiny, So

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you have to let God take care of it. Let
him be your vindicator. If you start fighting and trying
to prove and defend and pay them by. God's gonna
step back. But if you'll leave it alone, God will
take care of what's trying to stop you. God will
vindicate you better than you can vindicate yourselves. It looked

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like rebuilding the wall would take years and years. I mean,
it was a daunting task, but Neamiah did it in
just fifty two days. A few months earlier, he's working
as a cupbearer, just minding his own business. Now he's
known as one of the heroes of faith. He helps
save God's people. I wonder how many of us are

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discounting ourselves. God put the promise in our heart, but
the dream looks too big and the problem too great,
and we're focused on what we don't have, what we
can't do, when the truth is, the gracious hand of
God is on your life. Just like Nehemiah. There is
a favor on you, a divine empowerment, the blessing of

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the most time. But this won't do you any good
if you don't recognize him. A key to Neamiyah fulfilling
his purpose was he was aware of the favor. He
declared it to other people. He wasn't bragging on himself.
He was bragging on God. His gracious hand is on me.
See out of your heart, your mouth speaks. You can

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tell what you believe by what you're saying. I think
this sickness is going to be the end of me,
or I'll never break this addiction. Joel the Expert said,
we can't have a baby. Negative talk will bring a
negative future. You are prophesying what's coming. If you talk
defeat black can't do it too big. You're gonna see that.

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Why don't you do like neamiyah when it looks impossible,
when you don't see a way, you could be complaining. No, No,
The gracious hand of God is on my life. His
favor keeps my enemies from defeating me. His favors taking
me where I can't go on my own I've seen
him my own life. The more I brag on the

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favor of God, the more favor I see. The more
I talk about God's goodness, his provision, how He's opened doors,
brought the right people, giving us a compact center, heal
my mom. The more I see God show out in
my life all through the day. Keep this down in
your spirit, Lord, I thank you that your gracious hand

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is upon me. I think you that your favor is
causing me to stand out, that you're breathing on my health,
my children, my finances, on my dreams. Neemiah's colleague was
a priest named Ezra. God put in his heart to
rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Neemiah rebuilt the walls, but

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Ezra was going to rebuild the city. Six times in
the scripture, Ezra mentions the gracious hand of God. It's
not a coincidence that both he and Nehemiah did great things.
Look at their mindset. They could have been complaining, God,
we don't have the supplies, or God, i'm a minister,

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I can't rebuild the city. They have plenty of reasons
not to. But they weren't focused on what they didn't have,
what looked impossible. They were focused on the favor God
put on them. They understood they weren't doing life by themselves.
They had divine enablement that the hand of God was

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on their life. His hand is a hand of healing,
it's a hand of provision. It's a hand of deliverance,
a hand of acceleration where God speeds things up. When
you look at your situation, you may think like they did.
How can I accomplish my dream, Joel, I don't have
the funds, the experience. How can I build that wall?

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I'll tell you how the gracious hand of God. Well,
how's my son going to get back on course? He's
with the wrong crowd. The gracious hand of God? How
am I gonna get well? You should see the medical report.
The gracious hand of God. There is a favor on
you that will cause you to overcome what should defeat you,

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cause you to accomplish what looks too big. Nineteen ninety seven,
Victoria and I acquired a construction permit for the last
full power television station here in Houston. We knew God
opened the door and we were so excited and couldn't
wait to put the station on the air. And we
bought the transmitter and the antenna, a lot of the equipment,

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but we couldn't find a place for the studio. What
made it difficult is it had to be close to
a cell tower so we could microwave the signal to
the main tower up north. We looked from Monts and
gone to different places, and a couple of times we
found locations that we liked. But when we did the research.
There wasn't a tower close enough. We were tempted to

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get discouraged, but my father always taught us about the
favor of God before we left for school. Every morning
as a child, my mother would pray, Lord, thank you
that my children have your favor. It's always been down
in me well. Our real estate agent took us to
another office complex, and we like this one more than
any of the others. It seemed perfect. We went up

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on the roof to look around, but there wasn't a
tower in sight, another dead end. As we were about
to leave, I heard some bulldozers on the other side
of this wood fence where we had parked, and I
was curious about what they were building, and I grabbed
the top of the fence and pulled myself off. They
were putting forms in for a foundation about fort by

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forty feet. I thought maybe a garage or some kind
of storage building. The man saw me and stopped the
tractor and I smiled and said, Hey, what are you building?
He said, We're building a cell tower. It'll be up
in two months. Almost fell off that fence. That was
our favorite office building, and the tower was going in

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right next door. That wasn't good luck. That was the
gracious hand of God. When you look back over your life,
you can see his hand of favor, his hand a blessing.
Can I encourage you? His gracious hand is still on you.
There is a favor that keeps your enemies from defeating you,
a power that will cause you to overcome, to withstand.

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God is going before you right now, making cooking places strength,
lining up the right people the breaks you need. Don't
live intimidated thinking you had a disadvantaged man, this problem's
too big. Instead of living problem minded, live favor minded.
Do like Nehemiah and keep declaring the gracious hand of
God is on my life. Keep bragging on his goodness,

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talking about his favor. Sure you may have big obstacles,
but we serve a big God. Your dream may look impossible,
one touch of his favor and doors will open that
you've never dreamed but open. He wouldn't have given you
that promise if he wasn't going to bring it to pass.
I believe and declare light Mayah. God is about to

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show out in your life, cause people to be good
to you. Like Joseph, You're gonna rise up despite what
tried to push you down, promotion breakthroughs, healing the fullness
of your destiny in Jesus's name, and if you receive it,
can you say amen? I'd like to give you an
opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would

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you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I'll repent
of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you
my Lord and savior. If you prayed that simple prayer,
we believe you got born again and we'd love to
send you some free information on your new walk with
the Lord. You can text the number on the screen
or go to the website. But I hope you'll get

(26:45):
into a good Bible based church and keep God first place.