Ewald Frank
18. 6. 1975, 19:30, Krefeld, Germany

broadcasted on 22. 3. 2023

Subject: "The building of God, must be built only according to the architecture of God!"

We are happy again to be here and we are all strengthened in our faith when we hear what God has done.

And I think that if we were to list everything that God has done in our lives, there would be a lot to report. Each one of us would have many things to say or write down.

And in the same way we have the opportunity to tell of the many experiences we have had over the years.

Perhaps we do it too little at this place and do not go into detail enough about what God has done by grace. If only once I would give you a report, a whole report of a trip to countries where all kinds of things are going on and what God is doing… But I do it on purpose so that no one may think more highly of us than is proper to think. [Rm 12:3]

If, like the apostles, they were certainly no longer around at the time when all this was written, or for the most part no longer around, and that's why it was possible to write it all down so beautifully.

And perhaps if we were no longer here, like now in Brother Branham's ministry, after he had gone home we had a lot to report, a lot of what God had done. And in the same way many things could be reported about God's victories and blessings both God has given us in abundance by His grace. We can testify that He has led us to triumph in Christ, as Paul says in one place, "and makes manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place." [2Kor 2:14] God has done this by grace.

Just now I had to think of many an experience, of many an incident, of things that God has done by grace in His sovereign love.

We see it even among the apostles. Was there any great difference among them? One was called James, the other Peter. One is given up to death, the other is saved to life. Was one better than the other? They were God's ways, with one so, with the other differently. And the name of the Lord has been praised through it all.

And whatever our ways may be, we have that faith in us that has been once for all delivered to the saints. [Jd 1:3]

And there is no need to start afresh every morning and make an effort to believe. We have received the faith, we go to sleep with it and we wake up with it. Whether we are awake or asleep, we are the Lord's. [Rm 14:8] And that's a thing that God has put in us by grace.

I have to extend very quickly the warm greetings of Brother Visser. He asked me to do so. Most of us know him. He is one of our dear friends and acquainted with us for many years. He read the English booklet "Christ in His Church in Prophecy" and was so blessed.

He was brokenhearted, just finished reading and picks up the phone and calls and says, "Brother Frank, I have seldom seen anything like it." And he requested some more brochures.

I don't know, do we have it in German? Probably not. But in any case, there are many who are blessed by reading in what a way God's Word is strung together and connected and put in its right place.

And we should learn it once and for all to respect that God has a certain order and that not one can do what someone else has done.

That has already been done.

If God gave a commission to a Brother Branham, then the commission is carried out. Nobody else has to do it.

Do you understand what I mean? God gives original commissions. Original commissions and nobody has to expect anybody else to step up now to carry out the same commission.

It's impossible.

You have to understand that God has his servants and that everyone has a certain commission to carry out.

And whether this is important in the eyes of the people or not, it doesn't matter at all.

What is important is that it is a divine commission that belongs to the events in the plan of salvation and fits in with what God is doing according to his Word at this time.

And with that we have put our own will into the will of God and have only one desire – that his will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. [Mt 6:10]

And we believe that in this time exactly what God has ordained is going on. Nothing else.

No one needs to be concerned that things have fallen out of the Lord's hands or that he is no longer firmly in control.

Our God does all things according to plan. The completion of the church will not come too late.

Of course, everything involves work in the kingdom of God. We all know that. The Lord sent his servants at all times. He admonished his people. They appealed to the people's conscience to bring them back to the Lord so that he would have mercy on them.

And so we too must keep watch in God's house at this time, must admonish again and again, rebuke and lead back to the Word of God.

I found a song in my little songbook and also the chorus and some stanzas. It goes with what Brother Schwill read, especially the third stanza. It says here, "And if the way should lead into prison, then show what your faith can do. Remember how it happened to Paul and Peter, how God helped them on that day." [Acts 12:5-10, 16:24-26]

And then the songwriter sings here, "It is best to go singing, hallelujah. It is best to go singing. The devil dislikes the singing of the believers, but Jesus listens to it so gladly."

You have to get used to giving thanks to the Lord in every situation, for everything, no matter what may come.

Here in the second stanza it says, "Though lions roam your land, go forward and trust in the Lord. The faithful, the strong, the victorious hand of the Savior helps you so gladly. As Daniel joined the lions [Dn 6:16-23], I think he went in singing. When God sends his angels to help, how blessed, how glad we can be."

That is what we have heard in the Word of God. Peter was of good cheer and the Lord still had a commission for him. His hour had not yet come. James' ministry was over and the Lord took him into his glory. [Acts 12:1-10] Peter's ministry was not over. He led him out of prison.

And so there is nothing left for us to do but to thank the Lord from the bottom of our hearts for all his faithfulness and grace.

When we read the biblical events, then we know the same God is alive today and the same Lord reveals himself to those who serve him, who fear him, who walk in his ways, and he lets them know what is determined in the plan of God.

We have referred here on some Wednesday evenings to what God is doing in this time. And if we see, the secret in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy was always that God spoke supernaturally to those who had a direct part in the time when God was making something happen.

We could go to Moses and the Old Testament, to Abraham and wherever things happened that went on in a supernatural way.

But even at the beginning of the New Testament, we have been through it here, the scribes only knew about what Moses had said, yes, mainly about what he had said. What the other prophets had said was far from their memory. Moses was their special prophet.

But even it was written in the prophets, "Behold, I send my messenger before me and a voice of one crying in the wilderness," [Mal 3:1] – but when this scripture was to find its fulfillment, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah as he was performing the service in the temple, and the people were in prayer. [Lk 1:11-17]

And he spoke while standing at the right hand of the altar of incense, saying, "Listen, your wife will have a son. Give him the name John, for it is he who will go before the Lord to prepare the way for him."

And there he gives the information of all that was to take place in that time through the ministry of John.

The scribes had the letter of Moses, and if you like, the word of all the prophets.

But they had no part in this divine visitation of grace and timely information that the Lord was giving at the time of the fulfillment of his word.

And we have gone through it here: The scribes could have come to all the writers of the gospels and say, "Listen, what is the matter with you? You simply say, »John is this man of whom Isaiah and Malachi spoke.« Where do you get that from? Where do you get that from? "We don't know anything about it."

Yes, they were not there, and they didn't believe what was happening supernaturally.

But the men of God, they believed, and they informed the people of two things, of the written word and of that which was in connection with the fulfillment of the written word. And therefore, because of the announcement of the angel, they knew that the forerunner who will be there in the spirit and power of Elijah, his name is John.

The scribes could stand on their heads. No argument availed them.

God's Word was fulfilled, and the angel of the Lord had spoken.

And just as well, I think that's what we said, in the Old Testament it was literally written, "His name shall be Emmanuel," [Isa 7:14] referring to the Lord Jesus.

And when the angel spoke to Mary, he says, "You shall call his name Jesus," – because it is derived from the word "Yahshua." – "… He shall save his people from their sins." [Mt 1:21-22]

Again, the scribes could have come and said, "Listen, we know the Messiah is coming, but how did it come into your minds that you say, 'This Jesus of Nazareth, this is supposed to be our Messiah.' Since when is he called Jesus? He's supposed to be Emmanuel."

See, what was hidden from the wise and prudent, God made known in simplicity to those who waited for the consolation of Israel. [Lk 10:21, 2:25]

And all those who were pardoned by God did not question anything. On the contrary, they rejoiced, they were glad, because they knew that Bible prophecy was correctly placed. And just as God wanted it, it all came true.

In the same way it has happened in this time.

People ask us, "Why do you speak here of that an angel of the Lord has come to your man whom you are pointing out…" and so forth.

It is not we who have invented this. They are all divine facts.

The Lord and his word does not change, and this is just proof that the Lord is watching over his word.

And whenever any of the promises come to pass, the Lord speaks and reveals himself supernaturally.

And the scribes are annoyed to the point of no return about some claims they hear and say, "This is terrible what they are doing."

It's not that terrible what they are doing, for it is not we who do it, it is the Lord who has done it by grace.

But those who have no part in it, they misunderstand the work of God and sin against what God has done by his grace.

I believe that we can be very thankful for all these things, and that is exactly what the Lord said in the beginning. There were two things from the beginning.

One was the giving out of the food, and brother Branham literally said, "This is the word revealed for this time, recorded on the tapes." So all the sermons, that is one thing, but the other is the preaching of the word of God in the light of the divine revelation that he has given by grace in this time.

And we know, and you can all testify to this here, we have not taken one statement of brother Branham and dissected it here. We have heard the tapes as they are and preached God's Word as it is, without using violence anywhere.

And that has been the will of God – on the one hand, to place Bible prophecy correctly, and on the other hand, to proclaim the whole counsel of God and to distribute the food to the people, namely the spiritual food that has been given to us in this time by grace.

And I think that the Lord intended this, announced it in advance, and in the course of time we have seen it, what has come out of it, and what God has done by grace. I had to think in this context of a word that David, a man after God's own heart [Acts 13:22], pronounced at the end of his life.

We find it in 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles, from that I want to read verse 19, and then from 2 Chronicles, from verse 10. In 1 Chronicles 28, verse 19 it says:

"All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me even all the works of this pattern."

David, a man after God's own heart, wanted to build a house for the Lord. He has all the connections. If you read this chapter – I briefly looked at it – when you read – he had insight about everything. He knew exactly in what way the building should be done. And he can say here at the end of this description:

"All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me…"

Not what men have said about it, not a conferring with flesh and blood, not a thinking, "How can I do it?", but a divine information, a divine instruction, a writing made out with the hand of the Lord about what was to be carried out in those days.

And we are quite open in this – nothing else suffices us.

And we would be satisfied with nothing but what the hand of the Lord has written and the mouth of the Lord has spoken by grace, what is written in the precious and holy word.

David did not say, "I am a man whom the Lord has anointed, this and that I have imagined, this is what I am going to do", but he says, "all this…", not just about details, "all this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me."

We believe that this writing is the scripture of God, that the Lord has given us instruction by grace concerning all things He has restored in these days. He has given us an understanding, instruction, and we can say the same thing about all the work necessary for the execution of the blueprint.

Paul says, probably in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 10, "I, as a wise master builder, have laid the foundation with you. Now see how everyone builds on it."

And only those can continue to build properly who stand on the same foundation on which Paul stood, who have the same Spirit of God, who receive the same Word of God, and who has part in the commission that serves to build up the Church of Jesus Christ.

There are always things that need to be weighed and if possible a person's motive would need to be tested with what is being done.

Every ministry that is placed by God in the Church, as it is written, has been placed for the edification of the Church. [Eph 4:12] And when a ministry has been set for edification, nothing destructive will come from it. Nothing destructive will come out of it. There will be edification, assembling, something divine will go out for the whole Church of Jesus Christ.

And the individual who carries out the ministry is only an instrument in the hand of God. But these ministries are for the edification of the Church.

And it literally says, "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry." [Eph 4:11-12]

And for this purpose every ministry, whether prophetic, whether it's doctrinal, no matter in what way a ministry is, if God has given it, then it is for the edification of the Church of Jesus Christ, for the bringing together, so that all who hear and take part in it may be blessed by God.

If such a ministry is from God, then it will be for the whole Church. And not just for a circle here or there, but for all who make up the Body of Jesus Christ at this time, likewise as a prophetic revelation and teaching.

Let us take Brother Branham in this time. He spoke in Jeffersonville, but his sermons, we have heard it often enough, went all over the world. Wherever there were people to whom God opened the heart, with whom he had to speak, they received.

Paul preached a sermon in Ephesus or Corinth or somewhere and wrote him a short letter. We still read these things today that were in those days.

Why?

What God does is not just for the moment, but is for the Church of Jesus Christ as long as she is here on this earth. And every man of God, no matter at what time, who has had a part in the building up of the Church of Jesus Christ, has and had to do the ministry of God, which he has been commissioned to do in complete selflessness.

And that is all we want in this place. We want God to come to his right.

And it is in this context that the word is to be understood.

"God has said into the Church, Apostles…" and so forth – the five ministries, that he himself has set for the building up of the Church.

And no one can question this, for as long as the Church is on earth, these things must also be there.

After David had said all this, he felt like praising the Lord.

And I believe that when we have grasped that in these days it is not the plan of a man, not the thoughts of man, not the purpose of man, but that in these days Almighty God has revealed his word as he has guided the hand of the writers and put his thoughts into their hearts [2Pt 1:21], so that they have wrote down what is to happen in the future.

Sometimes we read in the Holy Scriptures, "I will show thee things to come." [Rev 1:1] Let us take the messages to the churches. In fact, what is written at the beginning of the book of Revelation, "I will show thee things that shall come to pass hereafter."

And it is all written down, and according to this written word of God, all things must be ordered. And every person who lets himself be placed by God in this time, God will also make the conclusion with him.

But it is necessary that we find our place in this way.

It says here of David in verse 10 of chapter 29, "Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation, and David said, 'Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever!'"

David had reason and cause to serve his God. He had no sorrow. Sometimes people think that he was not able to carry out his will completely, because he wanted to build a house for the Lord. But such was the plan of God, and David submitted to it, for it was not his will, but the will of God, that was to be done and has been done.

David saw the plan, he knew how everything was to be done, and listed it one by one. And then later came the execution of this plan.

"Before the whole congregation David praised the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, the God of our fathers of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting."

I don't know if there is anything left for us to do at this time, but to praise the God of heaven, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Almighty God for what He has done.

He has given full information at this time about what was to happen according to His word.

Not what men or the pen of the scribes have written, but what the hand of the Lord has written, and what His mouth has dictated, what His Spirit has inspired, these have servants of God received and have faithfully delivered to us, so that today we have in our hands a scripture written by the hand of God, a scripture on which we can rely, a word that is unbreakable.

It continues here, "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all."

Doesn't it say in Colossians 1, probably verse 18, that Christ should have the preeminence in everything, that He is the head of His body, which is His church, and that He must have the preeminence in every way.

He is the head and we are the members, and if we give Him the place in greatness, in majesty, in glory, then we too will get something of His glory when He will and can reveal Himself in us, and when He comes to His right, we all come to our right.

We don't need to worry about that.

Sometimes we think we have to come to our right. But not without Him. Do you understand what I mean? But with Him and through Him we also come to our right.

"Both riches and honor come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all, and in Thine hand is power and might, and in Thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all."

David did not beg, he did not whine, he did not complain, he did not reproach himself or God.

He praised the Lord, he praised the name of the Lord, he exalted Him and he trusted the Lord to make all strong. Not only him, but here it says literally, "In Thine hand is power and might, and in Thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all."

This word "all", I like it, because if the Lord would only strengthen and raise up one, where would the rest be? Everyone, every single one, like the people of Israel, it is written, "And there was not a weak man among them." [Ps 105:37]

Why? Because the strong God was in their midst and strengthened the weak. Every man was strong in the Lord, and none fell short of those who had a part in what the Lord did in those days.

And now we go on, it's a glorious word, verse 17 says, "I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things, and now I have seen with joy Thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto Thee."

Not only David, but also the people of God, among whom the Lord had placed him, had been blessed with the same blessing, the same willingness by Almighty God. Nothing needed to be done with compulsion. Everything was done in such beautiful harmony that the full blessing of Almighty God rested upon it.

And why? It was in the will of God, what David was about to do.

He did not just say, "Yes, Lord, now I have a little too much time, I will now do You a favor," but it was in the plan of God.

And what came to pass, upon it rested the blessing of Almighty God. And not only on him, but on all who had part in it. It was the same Spirit that had been transferred to all the people of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, the Spirit of the Lord must be transferred to all of us in such a way as to create a godly harmony, a willing and sincere heart in all.

As David probably says elsewhere, "Create in me a pure heart." [Ps 51:12]

After all, this what he reports here was at the end of his life. And he can look back on a life blessed by God, on ways that the Lord led him, on victories that God gave him. His trust was so strong in his God until the last hour of his life. It says, "I know, my God, that Thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness."

And then it says, "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the mind of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people and prepare their heart unto Thee."

Is this not a glorious prayer that David brings before the face of God by the Spirit?

"Keep such a mind and way of thinking in the heart of Your people and always direct their hearts towards You."

Is it not written in Colossians or Philippians, "Let this mind be in You which was also in Christ Jesus." [Phil 2:5 ]

Keep us such a mind, O Lord, with a sincere heart looking up to Thee. Give us willingness, give us uprightness and all that we need. And such a mindset as is pleasing to the Lord God Almighty.

Even our thinking must be in order, because if our thinking is not in order, then everything else cannot be in order.

It has to start somewhere. And thoughts don't always begin in the head, they also very often begin in the heart. And that's why it has to be right in the heart. There must be this uprightness, the openness.

All that this man of God asked for must be in us.

But he knew who to turn to.

He did not turn to the people with a sermon to rebuke them and set them straight. He turned to God, who is able to put such a mindset into people's hearts.

And we would like to achieve the same tonight with this word that we have read and about which we have some thoughts here.

That we all turn to the same address, namely to the one who can direct hearts like streams of water [Pro 21:1], who can transform them, to whom we can say, "My God, give me a new and clean heart. And create in me a new spirit. And establish me according to your great goodness and mercy." [Ps 51:12]

David knew – his end had come.  He brings his last wishes, you might almost say, before the face of God, before the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Israel.

"Keep such a mind and way of thinking in the hearts of your people forever and direct their hearts towards you."

Yes, if God can create this in all of us, that our whole existence is directed towards him and he can create in us a way of thinking and mind that is pleasing to him, then we will all be helped.

Then we shall be called, "These are the blessed of the Lord." [Isai 61:9] And everything depends on the blessing of God.

Our intentions… How often have we resolved and said, "Lord, I want, I want." But David knew that with "I want" not much is done. He turns to the one who made heaven and earth, who made the heart, to the one who can transform it, who can shape it, who can reveal thoughts of peace, thoughts of blessing and salvation in us. Yes, who can keep the thoughts of his word alive in our hearts.

There is, I believe, a word in Hebrews, that it has been written no longer on the tablets of stone, but on the tablets of our hearts. [2Kor 3:3] And that's the kind of people God wants to make of us.

And now comes the strange thing.

There is one more thing on his heart, that the man who is to carry out the plan which God laid on his heart, where God gave him instructions as to how and what should be done, with him the Lord should now be in a special way.

"And give unto Solomon, my son, a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace for the which I have made provision." [1Chro 29:19]

David prepared.

He had information from God.

He knew what was going to happen.

And now he prays for Solomon, that the hand of the Lord would be with him.

Did not the Lord Jesus pray for us? He said, "I do not pray only for these whom you have given me out of the world. I pray also for those who will come to believe in me through their word." [Jn 17:10] The Lord prayed for all of us, not only for those who had already come to the faith at that time, but for all who would ever come to believe.

And this also agrees with the promise in Acts 2, verse 38: "For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off."

We are children of promise.

Solomon, he had the promise with him. And here it says, let me read verse 20 again quickly. It says, "And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord and the King."

When David had finished, he knew: Here an echo must go up to God from the whole congregation. He was not satisfied that he had now come before God and laid his thoughts before him. He called upon the whole congregation, namely those who had been pardoned and blessed by God, who were to have a share in the realization of what God had promised for that time and laid on David's heart. And all of them he called upon to praise the Lord their God.

And it says here, "And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord."

Isn't that something glorious?

Not only David, but all those gathered praised the Lord their God and blessed his glorious name for what he had done for them.

Sometimes at this place we give the opportunity to pray together and ask me, why is it that praise to God does not always go up?

Surely, because in our way of thinking we are not found in the Word of God, but are distracted by all kinds of adversities and difficulties of our lives that we deal with [Mk 4:19] instead of having a true and biblical way of thinking in the house of God before the Lord and leaving everything else aside and offering in this place the due thanks to the Lord for what he has done by grace.

After David had finished with everything, he probably went to be with the Lord. And immediately after that it says, (we can leave the chapter division aside for a moment), then it says:

"In that night did God appear unto Solomon and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee."

David hath just prayed for Solomon, that the Lord would be with him, that the gracious hand of God would be with him for the accomplishment of all that had been charged upon him and laid upon his heart.

And it says here, "In that night…", we just turn one page, chapter 1 verse 7.

"In that night did God appear unto Solomon and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee."

God answers prayer. God sees his people. He knows who is asking for him. And I believe that we are people like Solomon with a promise and that the Lord himself is building his church.

He said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." [Mt 16:18]

All of us who are here are only living stones in this building, but it is he himself who is building. And when God brings in some to build up the church, he does it according to his will, according to his word.

But it is he who must accomplish everything in all.

And let us make ourselves available to him anew and say, "Lord, here we are. Not only your servants whom you have used for a special task, but all of us who have a part in the realization of your plan of salvation, we open our mouths to offer you, the God of heaven and earth, our due thanks."

The people of that time threw themselves on their faces to worship the Lord in this way.

I believe that if we can learn it in this place, if the Lord can make us understand it… There is a passage in the Bible that says, "Lord, teach us to pray." [Lk 11:1] Is there such a scripture? Most certainly there is. Nobody said, "Lord, teach us to preach." No one has listed many things. No one has said, "Lord, teach us to give evangelistic lectures. Teach us to prophesy or teach us this or that." The request is, "Lord, teach us to pray." Teach us to pray. Teach us to talk to God in such a way, to talk with him in such a way that he could talk to us.

Nobody said, "I want to give you singing lessons. Teach us to sing. Teach us to play." We can do all that by ourselves. But to pray, that's what he wants to teach us.

And we see these servants of God here. They have found words to thank him. And we would do well to read prayers in the Old and New Testament, to know what a Spirit-inspired prayer looks like. We went through it here once, when Mary praised the Lord. [Lk 1:46-55] Why don't you read her praise? When Zechariah praised the Lord, read the praise. [Lk 1:67-79] Read where the people prayed under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

They were under an open heaven. We want to say, "Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray."

We might think, who can pray nicely? Nobody can pray nicely. Teach us to pray. Lord, a prayer that is a conversation with God. A prayer that is not meant to be heard somehow by someone, but a prayer that we address to God, it is a conversation with our God.

"Lord, teach us to pray, as you taught your servants. And disciples came at that time, if I remember rightly, and said, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." I think it's in that connection. John taught his disciples to pray. But when the Lord Jesus taught to pray, perhaps with his own example he taught it the best. He wants to teach us to pray today. To pray that our prayers reach his throne and that an answer comes down, as he did with Solomon.

David had prayed and it says, "in the next night God appeared to Solomon." It was not a long struggle. It was talking to God from the depth of a sincere heart, a heart devoted and consecrated to God. And the Lord knew, "Here is a promise. Here it is. Here I speak and reveal myself in my glory."

That is how we know it today.

God has given us the promise. The Lord is bound by his word. How many times we have heard it? He and his word are one. You cannot separate them. And if we have believed his word, we believe him and he will teach us to pray. Not only individuals, but all of us.

He will teach to pray, that we may do as the church did then and all praise the name of the Lord our God and that the blessing of the Lord may come down upon us in a mighty way. Amen.

Let us stand and pray.

Heavenly Father, together we come before your holy face and thank you for your strengthening and glorious word.

We thank you that it is a living word, for you, the living one, have spoken and fulfilled, have ever made known to your own your plans, have introduced them and made them partakers in the realization of your plan of salvation. You are the God of the Old and the New Testament, the only true God, who has become our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We thank you, we worship you, beloved Savior.

I bring you now all who have lifted up their hands. You know what we need, O Lord, after spirit, soul and body. In this hour, in this moment, may your holy blessing, your grace and your power come upon all who cry out to you in the depths of their hearts, who cry out that no one hears but you, and you will answer in secret and make it manifest that you have answered prayers.

O God, make us people who can pray. Teach us to pray, as the church prayed in the beginning, Lord, that the place might be moved, that prison doors might be opened and your name glorified.

You are the same. We thank you for everything in Jesus' name. Amen.