1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,040 Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Inglewood 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,920 Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,119 Thank you so much for tuning into our podcast. 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,320 You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word 5 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,080 about important issues facing your life that can guide you 6 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:22,920 according to the Bible. OK, so in the introductory 7 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,200 session that Charles did, we talked about how to be a prayer 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,760 warrior. Last session I talked a little 9 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:33,080 bit more about why do we pray? And this session I want to talk 10 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,880 more about what do we pray? But this won't be perhaps the 11 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:41,320 standard cookie cutter prayer discussion that I'm sure many of 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,120 you have had and even taught, I hope. 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,200 I want to go a little deeper than simply saying praise, 14 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,880 Thanksgiving, confession, supplication. 15 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,360 Sometimes you use the Acts model, adoration, confession, 16 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,200 Thanksgiving supplication. And those are great. 17 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,760 And we've done some podcasts and teaching about that in the past 18 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,840 when I was talking through the the initial 7 essentials 19 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,080 conversations and we talked about prayer. 20 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,440 I want to go differently. I want to go deeper. 21 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,120 I'm not intending for this to be an exhaustive list. 22 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,120 I'm going to share with you 12 things that we should pray. 23 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:20,880 And these things might be a little different than what you 24 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,720 normally think about, but I hope that this will take you to a 25 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,680 little little deeper level, maybe from where you are or 26 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,720 they'll be great reminders because you're already well 27 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,000 versed and, and deep into your prayer life. 28 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,760 But you can hear more about some of these other basic categories 29 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:38,040 and some of our podcasts and some of these other things. 30 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,560 In fact, we recorded a new podcast on prayer just the other 31 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,800 day where several of us were just sharing prayer testimonies 32 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,560 of God, answering prayer, some of the more powerful prayer 33 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:51,120 experiences we've had in our lives. 34 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:53,280 It was a lot of fun. You'll enjoy that one. 35 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,760 It'll be it'll be encouraging to you. 36 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,120 And we're going to have more of those podcasts about prayer 37 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:01,080 coming out. So thank you for being here. 38 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,760 Thank you for joining who are listening online now. 39 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:07,920 We're we are going to do a podcast about podcast. 40 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,800 I'm determined to do that. So we're going to, I'm going to 41 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,000 do a podcast about, I was on a podcast today for somebody else. 42 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:19,280 It was, I was the guest speaker. It was an exciting topic about 43 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,280 church constitutions and bylaws. That's really seriously that's 44 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,040 what it was about. So you can tune into that one if 45 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:26,360 you have trouble sleeping at night. 46 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:30,480 I'll make sure you can find that one. 47 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,000 That was for the Southeastern, but let's dig a little deeper. 48 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,520 Let's dig a little more intimately this time. 49 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,240 And these are not necessarily in order, although I think you 50 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:42,440 admit you could see that some of these things probably need to 51 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:44,920 come early. It makes sense. 52 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:46,480 There's probably some order to them. 53 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,480 And so here's some important items that we should pray when 54 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:51,960 we pray. So one of the things that we 55 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,840 should pray is that we should pray for God's will and God's 56 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,480 word to guide us. And then that's significant. 57 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,320 And I've, I've introduced this thought to you before that 58 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,520 before you pray, there ought to be this sense even in your Bible 59 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:06,120 study. We talked about preparation. 60 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,640 So before I go to the Word of God, I recognize God has 61 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:12,520 prepared the Bible for me, but I'm also going to ask God to 62 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,600 prepare me so that I'm ready to receive the revelation that he 63 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:18,640 wants to give me from those verses today. 64 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,360 And the same thing is true in prayer. 65 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,240 I want to prepare myself for prayer before I really pray, but 66 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,560 I got to pray to prepare. That makes sense. 67 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:34,080 And so we we need to recognize that, that our definitions, our 68 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:38,760 guidance, our direction need to come by his authority and not 69 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,920 simply our own. If I go into prayer with an 70 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:47,400 isagenical mindset, just like in Bible study, if I go into prayer 71 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,000 thinking I'm, I'm, I'm going to push into this what I want to 72 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,680 get out of this and I'm in a sense going to manipulate the 73 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:55,400 prayer experience to try to get what I want out. 74 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,320 And that's all I'm trying to do. We really are missing out on the 75 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:04,160 richness of what prayer is. And so we we got to be defined 76 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,080 and directed by his authority and we need to ask him to help 77 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,600 us with that and not simply our own. 78 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:11,920 And that misunderstanding is what will lead us to sin, 79 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:16,040 frankly, but it's also, it also will be what makes our prayer 80 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,399 life either boring or not boring, frankly. 81 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:23,240 Am I, am I just ritualistically working through a list? 82 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,320 Next session, we're going to talk about our model prayer. 83 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,720 We're going to dive deeply into the Lord's Prayer concept. 84 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:32,920 And you may have heard a lot of teaching about the Lord's 85 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,680 Prayer, but we're going to go into that pretty heavy. 86 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:39,600 And I'm also going to share with you how Teresa and I pray and, 87 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:41,680 and, and some practical things there. 88 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,920 But anyway, so, so it's easy, but it is, it could make your, 89 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,560 your prayer life boring. It could make it ritualistic. 90 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,520 It could make it seem like it's not worth it if I'm trying to do 91 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,360 this by my own strength, my own authority and not God's. 92 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,480 So I need his help. So it it, it's also part of the 93 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,840 problem, which is I think a major problem, if people will be 94 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:08,040 honest, is, is here's why I don't pray enough. 95 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,600 Because I'm not operating under the right authority. 96 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:17,560 I can easily prioritize our time to do something else we think we 97 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,760 must do rather than to pray to the one who can do it all and 98 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:23,680 knows what really needs to be done. 99 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,760 And so one of the reason your reasons, your prayer life is 100 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,520 boring, one of the reasons you don't have enough time to pray 101 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,520 is because you might not be under the right authority. 102 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:36,240 You might be going with your own authority. 103 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:38,680 Here's what I want. This is my To Do List in prayer 104 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,480 that I'm trying to accomplish rather than God. 105 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,080 Help me to understand what your will is. 106 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,640 Help me to understand what you want me to get out of this. 107 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:52,040 So I, I need to think in terms that that I got to relinquish 108 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,760 this control over my prayer life and believe that prayer really 109 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,960 is this conduit of communication and communion with the absolute 110 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:04,560 sovereign one of the universe. And so when I really do begin 111 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:09,920 to, to start that way. And, and of course, all of these 112 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,360 disciplines that I talked about probably take more time than 113 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,800 you're giving them. It's part of the issue too. 114 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,600 Probably, you know, these aren't things to rush. 115 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,280 Now we're going to talk about praying all the time. 116 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,920 We'll do that more next week. The fact that you're going to 117 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,400 pray without ceasing. I'm, I'm a, I'm a prayer person 118 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:30,560 all day long. I'm talking or yelling at God 119 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:32,880 all the time. You see me driving down the 120 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,320 highway in my truck. If you think I'm on the phone 121 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,240 now, I'm not on the phone. I'm I'm saying something to God 122 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,320 probably and arguing with him about what he said to me and, 123 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,680 you know, losing what I'm doing. I'm just losing. 124 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:48,360 That's what I'm doing. I'm talking out loud, but I'm 125 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,640 losing. First. 126 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,480 John 514 says this. And this is the confidence that 127 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,160 we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his 128 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,640 will, he hears this. And that's not a small phrase. 129 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:00,960 And I know you've heard that taught. 130 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,120 We have to ask things according to His will. 131 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,440 Well, how do I know what His will is unless I'm asking him 132 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,320 what his will is? Because his will and His word 133 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,040 match, but I need to go to Him in prayer. 134 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,360 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that 135 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,160 we have the request that we have asked of him. 136 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,680 Because if I'm in that much in tune with him to where I really 137 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,960 am praying for the same things that he would seek if God prayed 138 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:27,840 that these are the things God would pray for. 139 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,640 And the more I get closer to that tuning in with that. 140 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,080 Now we're talking about a prayer life. 141 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,440 John 15 says this. If you abide in me and my words 142 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,800 abide in you and ask whatever you wish and it will be done for 143 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,880 you by this my father's glorified that you bear a bunch 144 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,680 of fruit and so proved to be my disciples, but that that big if 145 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:50,480 on verse 7 is huge. If you abide in me, if you 146 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,440 Tabernacle, if you dwell, if you put your tent down with me, you 147 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,200 live alongside, you walk alongside, you're breathing 148 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:03,920 alongside of me then and my words are doing the same thing. 149 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,600 And you, you know, there's that there's a reciprocal 150 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,000 relationship there. So what initially frames your 151 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,880 prayer? How do you start? 152 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:16,160 And, and So what, what initially frames your prayer? 153 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:19,040 What determines your attitude toward it? 154 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:23,800 Do you ask God what he wants ever in your prayer life, 155 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,720 instead of just asking him for what you want? 156 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:33,320 Do you ask him what he wants? Do you study what he wants? 157 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,960 So engaging the Bible with a humble and teachable spirit 158 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,240 dovetails with abiding and prayer, independence and 159 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:44,080 anticipation. These two of the seven, they go 160 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,600 hand in hand. And so. 161 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,520 Or is prayer simply for you, a supernatural Santa Claus list? 162 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,800 Is that really what it is? Now you wouldn't call it that, 163 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,040 heaven forbid, but that's what it is. 164 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,200 I have this list of things I want I instead of mailing it to 165 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,200 the North Pole. I'm just going to every now and 166 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,640 then ask God for it is is that your prayer life? 167 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,240 So pray about this vital framework and this is a great 168 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:15,160 beginning point for your prayer experience. 169 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:21,120 God, here's what your word says. God, what do you want? 170 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:23,840 Frame me. Help me to be sensitive to your 171 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,400 authority. You take control and let me 172 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,480 abide in that. Let me live in that instead of 173 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,080 just doing what I want. But the second thing we're going 174 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,640 to pray for, and these things dovetail together. 175 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,040 We want to pray for God's glory and mission, not mine. 176 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:48,040 We we want his glory to be the goal, his mission. 177 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,760 And you know, in God's mission, as we've said here a million 178 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:54,240 times and we have plastered everywhere, is that God wants to 179 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:56,440 bring glory to himself and he wants us to join him in 180 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:01,240 redeeming the nation's. And So what do you hear in that 181 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,720 statement that you get to claim as yours? 182 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:11,400 What's yours out of that? Just the joining part, perhaps 183 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:16,560 the glorifying part, perhaps. But but what's the end game? 184 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:19,920 What's our greatest hope? And if it's not to bring God 185 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:24,440 glory, then what is it? Is it to just get what you want? 186 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:26,760 Is that really the end game here? 187 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:30,960 So what's our responsibility in this? 188 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:36,200 Well, the psalmist wrote this. Psalm 86 says this. 189 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:40,520 For there's none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there 190 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:45,080 any works like yours. All the nations you have made 191 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:49,400 shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and should glorify 192 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,080 your name. See, we got to recognize that 193 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:55,720 the first part of his mission and the second part of His 194 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,840 mission are the same thing. He wants to bring glory to 195 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:00,480 himself. He wants us to join Him in 196 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:02,440 redeeming the nation's. Why are we redeeming the 197 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,360 nation's? We're redeeming the nation's so 198 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:07,120 that they can bring Him glory. It's cyclical. 199 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,040 And so everything that we're doing ought to lead back to the 200 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,560 glorification of God and not necessarily my glorification. 201 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:22,000 But we don't always like that because we like, we like 202 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,640 ourselves and we like shopping lists. 203 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:27,000 We don't like sacrifice, especially in this culture. 204 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,480 So it produces A struggle. So let me help with that. 205 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:32,840 Let me pick on everybody a little more. 206 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:37,440 These have been basic frameworks that you, you could have taught 207 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:42,240 and you could teach all of this. But look at #3 here's something 208 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,640 to pray for. Pray for the Holy Spirit to 209 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,720 convict us of our sin and for the strength to confess those 210 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,520 sins. But don't stop there. 211 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:57,200 Sometimes people stop there. You don't need to also pray that 212 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,160 you can receive, embrace and implement His forgiveness. 213 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,880 And sometimes that doesn't work. Sometimes that's the hard part. 214 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:12,280 Can you forgive yourself? Can you actually believe in His 215 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,360 grace? Can you actually trust in the 216 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,920 fact that He has forgiven you? There are a lot of people who 217 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,240 struggle with what we would call retrospection. 218 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:25,160 I'm not worthy and I'm not worthy to be used by God. 219 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,720 I'm not worthy to to be alive. I'm not worthy to be used in any 220 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,600 way. I'm not good enough for this. 221 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:34,960 And, and you're misunderstanding grace. 222 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:37,800 And so could there be a problem with our prayer life because 223 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:40,880 we've blocked it ourselves? First of all, are are we 224 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:46,480 actually brave enough to ask God to peel back the layers of our 225 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,400 life and to expose the rawness of our sin? 226 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:55,880 Do you ask him to do that? Do you really expect Him to do 227 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,880 that? Or do you hope that somehow you 228 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,640 get to be ignored and get a pass and He'll just focus on your 229 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,280 requests? You just, you can just go with 230 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:10,920 what you want rather than what you need to receive in terms of 231 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,360 forgiveness and what you need to give Him in terms of confession. 232 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,520 I mean, you're giving something to God when you confess. 233 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:19,160 I'm agreeing with you, Homologia. 234 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:23,160 I'm, I'm saying the same words, God, that you would say about my 235 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:24,560 sin. I'm agreeing with you. 236 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:26,560 No argument, no debate, no fight. 237 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:29,360 I surrender. This goes back to the point 238 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,520 before I've relinquished control. 239 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:38,600 Now maybe I can now, maybe I can pray now maybe we can commune. 240 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:43,040 Now maybe we can abide together because I've cleared the path. 241 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:47,400 James 43 says you ask and do not receive because you asked 242 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:52,200 wrongly to spend it on your passions or a familiar passage 243 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,120 in first John one. If we say we have no sin, we 244 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,600 deceives our deceive ourselves and the truth is not in US. 245 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,600 Now remember, he's writing to Christians, if we confess our 246 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,160 sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to 247 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:06,720 cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 248 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,440 And, and the question is, is A, do we believe that? 249 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,800 But D, do we or B, do we also thank him for conviction? 250 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:21,840 A preacher once said that is fear, and I've said this to the 251 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,560 staff a million times, but that my greatest fear is not that God 252 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,560 will put his hand on me. My greatest fear is that God 253 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:33,800 will take His hand off of me. And so do we thank Him for this? 254 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,080 I didn't. I didn't say to you enjoy it. 255 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,680 Do I enjoy conviction? But do I thank Him for the fact 256 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:42,760 that He loves me enough to where He hadn't given up on me and 257 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,800 He's still doing it. And so do we really accept then 258 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,640 His forgiveness and cleansing? Do you really believe then that 259 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:53,120 you're ready to move forward? And does that grace motivate you 260 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,680 to live any way differently than the way you've been living 261 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,760 before you confessed your sin? Or do we just treat us 262 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,040 forgiveness now? This is an important sentence. 263 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:02,720 This might have been worth the ticket. 264 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:09,400 Do we just treat us forgiveness as a works righteous sacrament? 265 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,480 Or we can get that specific past sin taken care of, quote UN 266 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,000 quote, kind of breathe a sigh of relief, but now believe that I'm 267 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,960 kind of free to go commit the next sin because we know we can 268 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,400 just come back and be forgiven again. 269 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,320 All I've got to do is go do the sacrament, the ritual. 270 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:32,920 And how I actually live doesn't matter. 271 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,040 They're actually entire heresies built around this. 272 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,240 And yet sometimes I see evangelicals kind of living this 273 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:46,240 way to where I got that one covered because I did whatever 274 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:48,520 it was I was supposed to do. I worked myself up the holy 275 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,000 steps. I did the sacrament, I did 276 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,000 whatever I got to do. And I'm not, I'm not talking 277 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:56,160 about a certain kind of church. I'm talking about us, but 278 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,840 remember what Paul wrote in Romans, and we'll study this 279 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:00,960 heavily later because we're getting ready to start to study 280 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:05,560 in Romans right after Easter. What shall we say then? 281 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,960 Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 282 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,760 By no means. How can we who died to sin still 283 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,600 live in it? So either we're taking grace for 284 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,680 granted and that's a dangerous place to be. 285 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:25,480 Receiving grace and rejecting it is an extremely dangerous 286 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:30,760 position to put yourself in. You have nothing else that 287 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:33,720 that's your hope. That's the strength, that's the 288 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,800 forgiveness. And we need to embrace that. 289 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:40,720 We need to embrace it and implement it in our lives. 290 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,640 And very often people think they've done something too bad 291 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,400 and it can't be forgiven or they are not worth being forgiven. 292 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,800 And you really need to understand who you are in the 293 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:53,800 image of God and what He wants to do in your life. 294 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:59,800 Well, this will go a little deeper #4 we should also pray 295 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,760 for faith in God's sovereignty, in the patience with His perfect 296 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,920 will and timing to remember that God answers prayer in His way in 297 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:14,000 His time. But when God, I want this right 298 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:19,400 now, do I have the patience? But more than that, do I have 299 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,800 the faith in his sovereignty to believe that because I haven't 300 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,359 gotten an answer yet, there's a good reason I haven't gotten an 301 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,040 answer yet that He's got something planned. 302 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:32,640 I don't understand. I don't like it, but but I I 303 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,600 trust in it. You need to remember some of 304 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,800 your Bible facts. The Hebrews were in Egypt for 305 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:42,160 over 400 years. They were praying, they were 306 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:44,600 asking, and finally God answers their prayer. 307 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,080 They wandered in the wilderness for 40 more. 308 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:49,640 They were in Babylon for around 70. 309 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,280 And after Malachi, they waited over 400 years before John the 310 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,920 Baptist hit the scene. So time. 311 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:03,680 Our concept of waiting is very personal and contextual. 312 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:07,600 Today we get frustrated if the fast food Dr. Thru isn't 313 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:13,080 immediate, if the Wi-fi's slow, or if that text response is 314 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,640 delayed. We start applying that 315 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,240 spiritually. We're going to be in trouble. 316 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,000 So don't. Don't you know God knows you're 317 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,320 waiting? I mean, do you not believe that 318 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:29,440 God knows you want an answer? Of course He does. 319 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,800 He knows what you want. He knows you're waiting. 320 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:35,920 Well, I, well, I don't like that. 321 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,960 Well, I'll share a Hebrew word with you, tough. 322 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:49,560 Romans 11 says this. O the depth of the riches and 323 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:54,360 wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments, 324 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,040 and how inscrutable his ways? How often to use the word 325 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:01,320 inscrutable, for who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has 326 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,520 been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he 327 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:09,280 might be repaid for from Him and through Him and to Him are all 328 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,800 things. What a brilliant verse to Him be 329 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:18,200 glory forever, Amen. Guess who this is about? 330 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:28,160 It's about Him, life, creation, the whole purpose we breathe is 331 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,600 to bring Him glory. And so yet in His grace and His 332 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,680 love, He also wants to bless us and He wants to hear us, and 333 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,080 we'll get to that. He wants us to talk to Him and 334 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,360 ask for things. Romans or excuse me, Psalm 1830 335 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:43,840 says this God, His way is perfect. 336 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,080 The word of the Lord proves true. 337 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,200 He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him. 338 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:52,080 So we are supposed to take refuge in Him and He's going to 339 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:53,360 shield us. He's going to guard us. 340 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,960 He's at work on our behalf. But sometimes waiting and 341 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,040 wanting is part of the whole point. 342 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,800 It's part of the whole point He's seeking to produce in your 343 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,000 life. So take a refuge in Him. 344 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,720 Take a refuge in this communion that you have the privilege of 345 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,760 having with the sovereign Creator of the universe. 346 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:17,840 Romans 5 says this. Therefore, since we have been 347 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,200 justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 348 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,520 Jesus Christ. Through Him we also, we have 349 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,360 also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we 350 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:32,160 stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 351 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,440 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings. 352 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,080 Wait a minute now, wait a minute. 353 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:43,080 Now, 21st century America, we rejoice in our sufferings. 354 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,280 We rejoice in our sufferings. Now look at the progress, look 355 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,040 at the steps. Look at what God's doing. 356 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:55,360 Here's what he's doing, knowing that suffering produces 357 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:58,960 endurance, and endurance produces character, and 358 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,320 character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame 359 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,400 because God's love has been poured into our hearts through 360 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:07,600 the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 361 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,840 He's disciple. He's strengthening in this 362 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,320 incredible progression that sometimes we can't stand. 363 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:25,720 I want what I want it. It took 15 minutes to get that 364 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:31,320 fried chicken the other day. I was going to starve to death 365 00:21:39,210 --> 00:21:40,850 and then they got the order wrong. 366 00:21:46,810 --> 00:21:49,410 Lift your heart above the timeline. 367 00:21:50,490 --> 00:21:53,880 This is a deep statement. Lift your heart above the 368 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:55,880 timeline to the one who transcends it. 369 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,000 Recognize who it is you're talking to. 370 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,680 He's not bound by time. Minutes, seconds, hours, days, 371 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,920 years mean nothing to him. They're they're, they're not 372 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,640 even drops in the bucket. They're blinks, they're 373 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:14,160 twinklings of an eye. And he knows, but he knows. 374 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:15,480 He knows what you're going through. 375 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:18,600 This is also the God who weeps for you. 376 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,440 This is also the God who cares about you. 377 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,080 He knows, but he's also trying to make you something more. 378 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,880 And remember that part of the prayer experience is making us 379 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:34,800 more for us to grow. So that doesn't mean we give up 380 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,400 praying for something when we're not receiving an answer that we 381 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,080 don't do that at all. In fact, it's just the opposite 382 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:41,760 of that. That's, that's part of the, the 383 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,320 incredible mystery of it all. We we're going to talk more 384 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,080 about that in a minute, but first look at #5 now pray for 385 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:53,640 the Holy Spirit and powered ability to remain thankful no 386 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,400 matter what his answer is because his motive is always 387 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:05,560 love and what is best for us. Even unanswered or prayers were 388 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:11,120 the answer is no. When the door gets shut, are you 389 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:14,880 still going to be thankful or you just going to complain? 390 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:19,520 Are you just going to join me on 64 yelling at God in my truck 391 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:24,680 and losing every time? He's always right. 392 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,360 Matthew 7 We know this passage. Ask and it will be given to you. 393 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:31,400 Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to 394 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,680 you, for everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks 395 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,280 finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 396 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:42,280 Or which one of you? If a son asks him for bread, 397 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:45,840 we'll give him a stone. Or if you ask for a fish, we'll 398 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,480 give him a serpent. If you then who are, if you 399 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:51,440 then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your 400 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,200 children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven, 401 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:55,840 give good things to those who ask him? 402 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,280 He's not a stingy old coot. He doesn't want to give you 403 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:00,720 anything. He wants to bless you. 404 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,200 But it's got to be within the framework of a plan. 405 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,040 It's got to be within the framework of a will of a 406 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,640 purpose. He's the perfect gift giver. 407 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:15,160 He knows exactly what you need. But, and we can be thankful when 408 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,720 we receive the gifts we love and we want it all. 409 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,800 We're so thankful. Oh, he answered that prayer. 410 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,760 Oh, he did exactly what I wanted him to do Praise the Lord, 411 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:24,800 Praise God. Let me share a testimony about 412 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:25,760 what he did. Exactly what. 413 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:33,280 But what if he did the opposite? Can we be thankful even when we 414 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:39,200 receive a gift we did not want? Have you ever been at Christmas 415 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:44,200 morning with a kid and they thought that box was something 416 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:50,040 else? And they open that box up and 417 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:57,200 there they are, Socks. Not a Game Boy, not that video 418 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:01,440 game, not the latest robot, whatever transforming creature 419 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:05,720 thing it is this year. Socks. 420 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,200 Will we be thankful when we get the socks? 421 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,760 Ephesians 520 tells us what we need to do. 422 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,280 You may not think of 520 as a prayer verse, but it's a prayer 423 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:24,280 verse giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father 424 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,920 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 425 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:32,760 Admittedly, admittedly, always and for everything is tough, but 426 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,200 that's what it says. I looked the words up in the 427 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,520 Greek language. I wish there were some other 428 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,560 language I could look them up in because the in the Greek 429 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,880 language, when it says give thanks always and for 430 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,640 everything, the Greek words mean always and for everything. 431 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:51,240 There's not and there's not an exception. 432 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,520 There's not an escape hatch. There's not a sum. 433 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,960 There's not when I can check off the list I wanted. 434 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:03,560 So this is tough, but but that section begins earlier. 435 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:05,400 Don't miss this in back verse 17. 436 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,200 It says, therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the 437 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:13,640 will of the Lord is if we start with #1 again, and we're in this 438 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:15,520 framework of God, what do you want? 439 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,320 What do you want? What do you want that I'm going 440 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:21,160 to be less disappointed when I don't get what I want because 441 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,560 what I want is what you want. Now I can actually turn that 442 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:29,160 corner to where my heart's desire really is. 443 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,840 What God wants. That's that's, that's maturity, 444 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,920 that's, that's discipleship, that's growing up. 445 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:43,240 Now related to this, and I know some of these overlap, you'll 446 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:47,000 survive. Number six, pray for the peace 447 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,800 to believe in God's answer when it's received. 448 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,320 Not only am I going to be thankful no matter what the 449 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:57,800 answer is, but I also need peace when I realize what the answer 450 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,640 is. So now wait a minute, God, 451 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,440 that's not what not that's not how I wanted it to go. 452 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:08,040 Or maybe you're going to say, really God, really you, you want 453 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:13,760 me to do what right. It might be a calling to serve 454 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,760 in a unique new way. A lot of people called the 455 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:17,880 missions. A lot of people called the 456 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:19,280 ministry, never planned it that way. 457 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:21,880 They were intended that to happen to him. 458 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,240 God works in their hearts and so to do something for him that 459 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:28,920 maybe you've never done. It reminds me of our Acts study 460 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,960 when Saul was struck blind and there's poor little guy named 461 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:36,720 Ananias that God appears to and he says you go help this guy in 462 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,080 Acts Chapter 9. But Ananias answered, Lord, 463 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,400 Lord, got to be a big question mark there. 464 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:47,320 Really, Lord. Lord, I've heard from many about 465 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,160 this man, how much evil he has done to your Saints at 466 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,280 Jerusalem. And here he has authority from 467 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,400 the chief priest to bind all who calling your name. 468 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:01,800 You, you want me to do what? Listen, back in Oklahoma, where 469 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,680 we're from in Cherokee County, it used to be. 470 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:06,880 Now it's not true anymore. There's there's sophisticates 471 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:09,320 now they've all grown up. They're sophisticated back 472 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,000 there. But in the old days, growing up, 473 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:14,360 he needed killing would have been a justifiable defense in a 474 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:20,680 court of law in Cherokee County. And Ananias could have you know, 475 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,200 maybe Lord, you know that lightning bolt little harder. 476 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:32,600 Just take care of this problem. But the Lord said go for he is a 477 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:36,080 chosen instrument of mine him him. 478 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,400 He's a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the 479 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,880 Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 480 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:49,760 Him. And the next verse, if you went 481 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:56,360 on to verse 16, says that Ananias departed, went right to 482 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,680 him to help him out in obedience. 483 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:02,920 Will we believe God when He answers? 484 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,680 Will we respond in obedience to His answer? 485 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:10,360 But be careful. Be careful about praying to God 486 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,280 about some request because He might just answer it in a way 487 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,280 you never expected Him to answer it. 488 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:23,160 I've known a lot of people who are praying for lost people over 489 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,480 the years. And then they'll come Preacher, 490 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,960 I need you to go share the gospel with my lost friend and 491 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,280 my initial response and that you know, and I'm try, try to be 492 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:33,880 nice because you know, I'm a pastor and I have to be it's, 493 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:38,320 it's in the contract. But what I want to say to him is 494 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:40,760 why don't you go share the gospel with him? 495 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:47,360 What do you need me to go for? And sometimes, sometimes God 496 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,280 might answer the prayer you're praying for somebody because he 497 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,720 wants to use you to do something you never thought you could do. 498 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,400 I used to stutter as a kid, like everything. 499 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,080 And the first time somebody suggested to me that this was 500 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:04,520 going to be what I did for a living. 501 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:09,920 I mean that it's pretty funny. I'm going to share my full bore 502 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:11,680 testimony with you all after Easter. 503 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,880 I promise I've got it scheduled. It's going to take several 504 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,800 minutes, but if you got a lost friend, if you got somebody 505 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,040 who's rough as a cob, you got somebody who you didn't think 506 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,640 could ever get saved or ever come back to the Lord, that's 507 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,400 the time to get him here. Because I will give an altar 508 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:36,160 call because I want people to be saved, not because of my wacky 509 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:42,680 story, but because of God. So we, we need to be careful. 510 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:44,480 Remember Philippians 4-6 and seven? 511 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:45,800 Some of you could probably quote it. 512 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,120 It says do not be anxious about what? 513 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:53,080 Yeah, really, really anything really. 514 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,520 So we're supposed to be thankful for everything we're supposed to 515 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,400 in it. And we're not to be anxious 516 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,560 about anything really. But in everything. 517 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,360 Here's how that were only way that works. 518 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:08,360 Only way that's possible. But in everything by prayer, 519 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:12,040 that's the only way that works. The only way I can't be worried 520 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,440 and stressed and nervous about everything is because I'm 521 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,840 praying about everything. And I believe all this other 522 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:21,120 stuff we've talked about. I believe he's sovereign. 523 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,320 I believe he actually listens. I believe he works. 524 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:26,400 I believe last session that this is a communion with him and he 525 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,040 really wants to hear. So I really do believe that this 526 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,880 is all working out if I and I can trust him for that. 527 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,600 So by by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, even I'm 528 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,320 stressed out, nervous as a cat, but I'm going to be thankful for 529 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,680 it. Let your request be made known 530 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:49,800 to God and the, the Irene, the Irene, the peace. 531 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:56,960 The name Irene means peace the the peace of God, the peace of 532 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,680 God, which which is beyond our cranial cavities. 533 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,360 You can't manufacture it, you can't make it. 534 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:08,560 You can't create that yourself. It's beyond your understanding. 535 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:12,560 It surpasses your brain. This is a faith issue. 536 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:18,600 Well guard it'll guard your hearts and minds in Christ 537 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,240 Jesus. So relieve my spirit with your 538 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,480 peace, Lord, relieve my spirit with your peace. 539 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:28,720 No matter how you answer my request, no matter how you 540 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,520 answer my prayers or don't answer my prayers, relieve my 541 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:36,080 stress, relieve my spirit with your peace. 542 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,280 And I'm going to be thankful for it. 543 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,280 Let me never doubt you. Let me never doubt your truth 544 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,400 that you are at work when I can't see it, perhaps especially 545 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:50,320 when I can't see it. And give me the faith to 546 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,240 believe. It's James one all over again. 547 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:57,560 But let him ask in faith. This is a prayer, let him ask in 548 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,640 faith with it, with no doubting. For the one who doubts is like a 549 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,040 wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 550 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:07,800 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything 551 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:09,960 from the Lord. He's a double minded man, 552 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:17,880 unstable in all his ways. I believe, I trust, even when I 553 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:25,200 don't like the answer, especially when I don't or I'm, 554 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:30,240 I'm, I'm waiting, I'm waiting. You know about those who wait 555 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,600 upon the Lord. Have a sermon called Watch your 556 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:37,000 weight. And we must pray. 557 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:38,560 See, we're still supposed to ask. 558 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,400 We're still supposed to knock. We're still supposed to seek, 559 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,080 because look at #7 we're going to pray for consistency and 560 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,280 persistence in our prayers. And you had this whole story out 561 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,640 of Luke 18. And he told them a parable to 562 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,480 the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose 563 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,480 heart. And he said, in a certain city 564 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,160 there was a judge neither feared God nor respected man. 565 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:02,520 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and 566 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,080 saying, Give me justice against my adversary. 567 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,840 For a while he refused. But after what he said to 568 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:11,040 himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because 569 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,520 this we don't keep, we don't keep bothering me. 570 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:19,920 I'll give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her 571 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:23,159 continual coming. And the Lord said, Hear what the 572 00:34:23,159 --> 00:34:26,960 unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to 573 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,159 his elect, who cry to him day and night? 574 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,239 Will he delay long over them? I tell you, He will give justice 575 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:36,800 to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of 576 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,760 Man comes, will he find faith on earth? 577 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:47,080 The problem is, will we believe? Do we believe this? 578 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,960 How long? Lord, be persistent until you're 579 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:56,120 consistent. Never give up on someone or 580 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,200 something. Somebody asked me about Reese. 581 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:00,960 How long are we going to keep bothering people until you or 582 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:05,160 they die? And I'd say that with as much 583 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,320 respect as I can say it, but I also say it unapologetically 584 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:13,720 and, and I'll argue with you till you die about that. 585 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,040 We never give up. I have prayed for people for 586 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:19,880 years. I prayed for a man named Jim for 587 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:24,600 five years before he was saved. Don't ever give up. 588 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,560 Don't ever give up. Love them and pray for them. 589 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,320 Never give up on someone or something that God has made it 590 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,320 clear what His plan is. People have prayed forever for 591 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:35,200 people. Pray for that stubborn one who 592 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:37,840 doesn't want to obey, who doesn't want to believe. 593 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:39,720 Pray for that healing. Pray for that wisdom. 594 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:42,120 Pray for that direction, and then start to pray. 595 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:47,720 That's part of what the Reach ministry ought to be about for 596 00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:49,920 our community as well As for one another. 597 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:53,960 But we also want to pray #8 for personal humility as we address 598 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:56,680 God. Luke 18 goes on and it says he 599 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,560 also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves. 600 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,040 They'll miss the phrase. Jesus didn't mince words much. 601 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:07,160 He who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and 602 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,560 treated others with contempt. 2 men went up into the temple to 603 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,520 pray. 1A Pharisee, the other tax collector, the Pharisee, 604 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:15,120 standing by himself, prayed thus. 605 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:19,040 God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, 606 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:23,080 unjust adulterers or thus. God, I thank you that excuse me 607 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:27,800 or even like this tax collector probably pointed at him. 608 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:33,880 I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get, but 609 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,600 the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his 610 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,840 eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God be merciful 611 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:44,280 to me, a Sinner. I tell you, this man went down 612 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:46,400 to his house justified rather than the other. 613 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:50,520 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who 614 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:55,640 humbles himself will be exalted. It may sound like a dumb 615 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,440 question to ask, but I have said it more than once. 616 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:01,520 When you pray, who you talking to? 617 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:07,640 To whom are you speaking? Do we pray for others to hear us 618 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:13,080 or are we talking to God? Do we pray to the Lord? 619 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:15,840 Is this for your glory or for his glory? 620 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:19,440 Is this some religious ritual to show how super hyper spiritual 621 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:22,680 you are? Or is this genuine communion 622 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:26,320 with the Lord? Later we're going to have a 623 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:29,280 session on how to pray in your prayer closet. 624 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:31,320 What does that mean to get a loan? 625 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:36,840 What does that mean to be just you and the Lord #9 then says we 626 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,920 also have to pray for a holistic balance between the physical, 627 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,080 mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual needs. 628 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:46,840 We need to pray holistically. James 5 says, Is anyone among 629 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:48,200 you suffering? Let him pray. 630 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,600 Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 631 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:53,000 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of 632 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,200 the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with the 633 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:57,960 oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will 634 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,720 save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up 635 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:02,840 forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to 636 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,840 one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. 637 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,120 The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is 638 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,360 working. Elijah was a man with a nature 639 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:13,960 like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not 640 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:15,400 rain. And for three years and six 641 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:18,160 months it did not rain on the earth. 642 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,240 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore 643 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:23,840 its fruit. So the. 644 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:25,720 Bible helps. Us, it's OK. 645 00:38:25,720 --> 00:38:29,200 When we see these prayer lists, we see a lot of physical prayer 646 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:30,480 requests. That's OK. 647 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:32,200 We're supposed to pray for those things. 648 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,800 We're supposed to pray for each other's physical healing. 649 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,080 That's right there in the Bible. It's great. 650 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:41,640 We're supposed to minister to the people who are sick. 651 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,120 And this church, I feel like, does a pretty good job of that. 652 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:45,800 I'm thankful for our connect groups. 653 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,240 I'm thankful for our Deacon ministry who who really do reach 654 00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:52,040 out for Charles and the pastoral care office, who really do reach 655 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:57,800 out to try to help people heal. But that's just one. 656 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:01,200 Aspect of us. So all I'm looking for is 657 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:03,680 balance. Sometimes the old joke is is 658 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,000 that prayer meetings can become organ recitals. 659 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:08,880 You know you're praying for Uncle Joe's liver and Aunt Susie 660 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,560 kidney. And it was funnier than you 661 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:17,520 thought it was. But don't forget Romans 10/1. 662 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:22,320 Brothers, my heart's. Desire, in other words, my 663 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:28,680 passion and my prayer to God for them is that they might be 664 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:33,520 saved. Are we praying for our people? 665 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,720 To be saved, not just physically healed. 666 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,760 See how balanced is our prayer list. 667 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:44,440 Are we more concerned about earthly needs than we are about 668 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:48,560 eternal needs? Do we actually believe in 669 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:51,080 lostness and eternal judgment anymore? 670 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,080 I had to send somebody. They might be even be here 671 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,400 tonight, somebody who's dealing with some people from a 672 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:59,880 different religious background and they don't believe in hell 673 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:03,040 in the same way that I would or the Bible teaches. 674 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:06,200 And so I sent them some documents on here's the title, 675 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:09,320 the the eternality of punishment. 676 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:12,840 And so the idea is, is that hell is as eternal as heaven. 677 00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,240 It can't not be. When Jesus used the words in the 678 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:18,360 original language about heaven, he uses the exact same words 679 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:19,760 about hell. You can't. 680 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:21,720 If Hell's not eternal, neither is heaven. 681 00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:25,440 It didn't work that way. Even though we can't wrap our 682 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:26,960 head around it. So these folks are 683 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,120 annihilationist. They think you go to hell, you 684 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:31,640 just burn up and you're gone. But there's nothing in Scripture 685 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:34,920 that teaches that. So do we actually believe in 686 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:38,400 lostness? Do we believe in eternal 687 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:40,640 judgement? And do we have any sense of 688 00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:43,840 urgency about it at all? Do we have a burden? 689 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,240 Do we have a passion, a heart's desire? 690 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,920 Or do we surround ourselves so much with dying Christians that 691 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:52,320 we don't have much awareness about dying, lost people? 692 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:57,280 And that's part of what we've got to change a little. 693 00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:04,120 Bit in these next months, we've got to look beyond ourselves to 694 00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:09,240 people who aren't here yet. This is a both and we're not 695 00:41:09,240 --> 00:41:11,240 going to stop the other. We want to lift one another. 696 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:13,360 We want to pray for one another. We're going to take good care of 697 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:14,920 each other. We want to love each other, but 698 00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:17,800 at the same time, we got to we got to go beyond it. 699 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:21,120 It's not a both and it's it's not an either or. 700 00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:23,040 This is a both end. I mean not an either or. 701 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:28,360 All right #10 we need to pray for the focus to listen and be 702 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,040 teachable. This is a. 703 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,360 Part of prayer that I. Talked about in the last session 704 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:35,040 that often people aren't as aware of. 705 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:37,960 It seems a little weird. How do I hear the voice of God 706 00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:41,040 stuff and am I going to hyper spiritualize this and make it 707 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:43,800 some mystical experience to where I'm hearing some audible 708 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:48,440 voice in the in the midst? Listen to what the Bible says. 709 00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:51,560 Psalm 81. I am the Lord your God, who 710 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:53,480 brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 711 00:41:53,720 --> 00:41:56,200 Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. 712 00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:01,640 But my people did not. Listen to my voice, Israel. 713 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:05,240 Would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their 714 00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:07,680 stubborn hearts to follow their own counsels. 715 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:11,800 Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in 716 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:14,560 my ways. It's not. 717 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:18,680 Just a matter of getting God to. Listen to you is how are. 718 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:21,520 We listening to God. Now we have a huge advantage 719 00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:23,000 because we have a whole one of these now. 720 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,240 And here's the word of God. And and this is part of what we 721 00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:28,520 need to listen to. This is part of what we pray. 722 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:30,720 This is part of how we know God's will, right. 723 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:36,480 But also remember in Acts 4. Acts 4 says this. 724 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:38,920 But Peter and John answered them Whether tried in the sight of 725 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:42,200 God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge for we 726 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:44,280 cannot but speak of what we've seen and heard. 727 00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:47,400 So part of prayer is an opportunity to learn. 728 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:51,200 It's an opportunity to grow. It's an opportunity to focus. 729 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:55,000 It's an opportunity to listen and to be taught by God and to 730 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:59,280 recognize all the things that we've talked about already in 731 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:01,920 this list. But listen to this, you know, 732 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:04,160 you know the passage, you may not know the reference. 733 00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:09,200 This is first Kings 19 And and he said, Go out, and stand on 734 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:12,600 the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, 735 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:16,800 and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broken pieces 736 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:19,720 the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the 737 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:22,160 wind. And after the wind and 738 00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:25,240 earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 739 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,360 And after the earthquake of fire, but the Lord was not in 740 00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:33,880 the fire. And after the fire, the sound of 741 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,680 a low whisper. Or maybe you know, it is a still 742 00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:40,960 small voice. And when Elijah? 743 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:42,080 Heard it. He wrapped his. 744 00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:45,720 Faith facing this cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of 745 00:43:45,720 --> 00:43:49,880 The Cave, and behold, there came a voice to him and said, What 746 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:52,480 are you doing here, Elijah? He was running away at that 747 00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:56,560 point from trouble. What? 748 00:43:56,560 --> 00:44:00,120 Are you doing there in prayer? Sometimes in prayer. 749 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:02,240 Here's Here's what you need to say. 750 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:08,880 SHH. And just listen in the stillness 751 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:12,960 and quietness of your. Soul in my office I have a sign 752 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:16,480 that I have had, I don't know how many years it has travelled 753 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:20,440 with me from place to place. It's always in my office, always 754 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:23,520 where I can see it. And it's Isaiah 3015. 755 00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:27,360 And it says, For thus says the Lord God the Holy One of Israel, 756 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:30,400 in returning and rest you shall be saved. 757 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:35,680 But here's the point, in quietness and in trust shall be 758 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:42,240 your strength. But you were unwilling in 759 00:44:42,240 --> 00:44:44,960 quietness. One translation would say in 760 00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:47,800 confidence, you'll be strengthened. 761 00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:52,120 But #11 we also need to pray for the strength and faith to apply 762 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:53,920 what we learned. We're not just hearing stuff. 763 00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:57,960 We got to put this into action. James One says, But be doers of 764 00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:00,960 the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. 765 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:03,840 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a 766 00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:07,160 man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror, for 767 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:10,000 he looks at himself and goes and goes away, and it once forgets 768 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,360 what he look, what it's like. I wish I could do that. 769 00:45:13,720 --> 00:45:16,880 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, 770 00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:20,640 and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who 771 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:25,040 acts, he will be blessed in his doing, talking about the word of 772 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:27,320 God, talking about how we take the word of God. 773 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:29,000 And we're not supposed to just listen to it. 774 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,080 We're supposed to actually do something about it. 775 00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:35,520 Colossians 110 layers on there so as to walk in a manner worthy 776 00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:39,680 of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good 777 00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:42,680 work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 778 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:47,480 So much like Scripture, much like abiding in the in the Word, 779 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:52,600 we can't simply be hearers in prayer, we must be doers. 780 00:45:52,720 --> 00:45:56,880 Prayer should change us. Prayer should change how we 781 00:45:56,880 --> 00:46:00,280 live. So change based upon his answer. 782 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:02,360 Walk differently because of his answers. 783 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,240 Bear fruit because of his answers. 784 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:07,680 Grow because of his answers. Deepen because of his answers. 785 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,960 Don't simply be happy you got what you wanted. 786 00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:21,320 Change, grow, be different and then we need to pray for God the 787 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:28,040 Father to receive our prayers in the name of Jesus, God the Son. 788 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,760 You know to do this and. Some of you have probably taught 789 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:35,840 why you need to do this, but we need to be reminded of this. 790 00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:39,880 We pray in the name of Jesus. We pray in Christ's name. 791 00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:44,520 For those of you who are are new to all of this, you'll hear us 792 00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:47,120 end our prayers that way. Well, why? 793 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:50,200 Well in our last session, session, whatever that word is, 794 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:53,200 we pointed out a couple of verses in Hebrews 81. 795 00:46:53,720 --> 00:46:56,640 Now the point and what we are saying is this, we have such a 796 00:46:56,640 --> 00:46:59,600 high priest, one who's seated at the right hand of the throne of 797 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:03,800 the majesty in heaven. Then Romans 8, who is to condemn 798 00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:07,320 Christ? Jesus is the one who died more 799 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:11,640 than that, who was raised, who was at the right hand of God, 800 00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:13,800 who indeed is interceding for us. 801 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,200 And last session, we also know that the Holy Spirit's 802 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:17,800 interceding on our behalf and helping us. 803 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:21,920 But Jesus is our high priest. Jesus is our intercessor. 804 00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:25,200 He's our intermediary. He is the one that creates the 805 00:47:25,200 --> 00:47:27,720 access. He not only did it on the cross, 806 00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:31,760 He's still creating access. You don't get access to God 807 00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:34,560 without him. So in my personal quiet time, 808 00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:36,920 I'm one of the books I'm studying right now is Numbers. 809 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:39,600 And in numbers, believe it or not, they count people. 810 00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:43,240 Isn't that amazing? And, and one of the things that 811 00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:46,080 in the, the chapter I was in this morning, they're talking 812 00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:49,240 about the various tribes and their service in the Tabernacle 813 00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:52,360 and how everybody's got responsibilities according to 814 00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:54,800 the way the Lord commanded. And this tribe's going to do 815 00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:56,520 this and take care of that and carry that. 816 00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:59,240 And when the when the time to move the Tabernacle, they carry 817 00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:01,040 this, take this down. When it's time to set it up, 818 00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:03,360 this group's throwing that on another group's doing this SoC 819 00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:05,440 and the guarded. Everybody has a job. 820 00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:07,680 Everybody has a specific responsibility. 821 00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:11,800 Everybody has a task and everybody is is numbered and 822 00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:14,560 counted so that they know exactly what to do and and it's 823 00:48:14,560 --> 00:48:16,840 all according to what the Lord commanded, according to what the 824 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,360 Lord commanded according to what the Lord commanded, according to 825 00:48:19,560 --> 00:48:20,840 Lord commanded over and over again. 826 00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:25,960 But but. Don't you let a foreigner touch 827 00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:27,080 that and they're. Going to die. 828 00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:30,880 And don't some of you touch the holiest of things or you're 829 00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:33,000 going to die. Interesting. 830 00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:36,920 Even the people who were carrying the tent, dealing with 831 00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:42,200 the poles, dealing with the curtains did not have complete 832 00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:44,880 access. They couldn't touch. 833 00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:46,880 The Ark of the Covenant they. Couldn't go in the Holy of 834 00:48:46,880 --> 00:48:51,240 Holies, They'd be struck dead. Only on the Day of Atonement, 835 00:48:51,240 --> 00:48:55,040 Yom Kippur, could the high priest even dare to go in there. 836 00:48:57,120 --> 00:48:58,880 And yet when Jesus died on the cross. 837 00:48:59,960 --> 00:49:03,840 Like we said last time, He tore that curtain apart. 838 00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:08,160 So He not only created access on the cross, He still creates. 839 00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:13,480 Act the only way you can pray right now and God will hear you 840 00:49:14,120 --> 00:49:15,760 is because of what Jesus has done. 841 00:49:16,560 --> 00:49:20,360 Because in this holy transaction He has covered you with His 842 00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:23,440 righteousness. He is taking his, your sin upon 843 00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:25,760 Himself. And so that the Father sees the 844 00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:29,520 covering, the Father sees the covering of his blood and his 845 00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:32,000 righteousness, This an atoning transaction. 846 00:49:32,160 --> 00:49:33,960 He becomes this, here's the fancy word. 847 00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:37,000 We'll talk about this in Romans. He becomes our propitiation. 848 00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:41,640 And what that means is, is that he appeased the wrath of God. 849 00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:44,840 He paid the price. He took the penalty himself. 850 00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:49,160 He took the punishment himself. And it's only because of that 851 00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:51,840 and only the fact that he's the only one who could do that to 852 00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:54,640 make that payment. That's what makes prayer 853 00:49:54,640 --> 00:49:59,480 possible. Otherwise you'd have no access, 854 00:50:01,080 --> 00:50:05,320 but it's only received through him and because of him in in New 855 00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:08,760 Testament forward days. So we need to pray in the name 856 00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:13,400 of according to under the covering of that'd be a cool way 857 00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:16,040 to end your prayers. Father, we come to you based 858 00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:20,720 upon the covering of Jesus Christ under the umbrella of 859 00:50:20,720 --> 00:50:22,800 what Christ has done. That's what you're that's what 860 00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:25,520 you're saying when you say in Christ's name or in Jesus name 861 00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:29,240 so that it can be received. It can be received. 862 00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:33,680 We dare not arrogantly believe that we are. 863 00:50:33,680 --> 00:50:36,040 Worthy to be heard. All by ourselves. 864 00:50:36,760 --> 00:50:43,120 So to enter his courts, to speak to him, to expect to hear from 865 00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:51,240 him, it's all because of Jesus. What a wonderful thing. 866 00:50:51,240 --> 00:50:57,080 What a gift as a believer. And so one of the things that I 867 00:50:57,080 --> 00:51:01,080 really want you to take with you is in your prayer life, please 868 00:51:01,080 --> 00:51:08,160 focus on the person to whom you were praying and not simply just 869 00:51:08,160 --> 00:51:09,760 getting. Through the habit of praying. 870 00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:15,360 It's so easy, even with prayer lists like we give you, it's so 871 00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:17,480 easy to do. Well, I read through that list. 872 00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:21,720 So I guess I prayed today and I'm done and I'm I would, I'm 873 00:51:21,720 --> 00:51:25,080 glad you're doing that. Not nothing, I guess, but it can 874 00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:30,200 be so much more, so much richer. I I find myself having this 875 00:51:30,200 --> 00:51:35,360 ongoing dialogue with God in all seriousness to where he helps 876 00:51:35,360 --> 00:51:40,400 me, He blesses me, He calms me, He strengthens me. 877 00:51:41,840 --> 00:51:43,680 I've had some. Tough meetings lately. 878 00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:47,880 Dealing with some difficult issues lately and I go to God 879 00:51:47,880 --> 00:51:51,160 and I pray for wisdom. And it's been interesting in 880 00:51:51,160 --> 00:51:54,200 these tough meetings. How, how well I feel like 881 00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:58,160 they've gone now, maybe I'm deluding myself, but I, I'm OK 882 00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:00,600 with that. If I delude myself and I really 883 00:52:00,600 --> 00:52:04,520 think they went well, I'm OK with that, you know, But I just 884 00:52:04,520 --> 00:52:07,520 feel like God's been with me, you know, people come to me and 885 00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:09,520 they want it like, like I have answers to something. 886 00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:12,880 It's really, I mean, I, I know I'm supposed to be the pastor. 887 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,120 And sometimes I was like, well, how do I know? 888 00:52:17,920 --> 00:52:20,520 You know, why should I know that? 889 00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:27,520 But then I pray God gives me a little something you. 890 00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:31,920 Know and maybe it. Helps us both so I'm so. 891 00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:35,520 Thankful for this gift. And next session what? 892 00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:36,360 We're going to do is we're going. 893 00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:38,160 To break down the disciples go to him, he says. 894 00:52:38,160 --> 00:52:39,360 Lord, teach us to pray. We don't want to pray. 895 00:52:39,360 --> 00:52:41,080 Teach us to pray. Everything we've learned our 896 00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:45,120 whole life has been this ritualistic temple praying or, 897 00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:50,480 or, or reciting parts of the law, you know, as we recite 898 00:52:50,480 --> 00:52:53,240 Deuteronomy 6 or something every day, What, how do we really 899 00:52:53,240 --> 00:52:55,280 pray? How does it become more than 900 00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:58,000 that? Then simply recitation. 901 00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:00,040 And we're going to talk about that. 902 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:01,920 I'm going to share a little, we'll share a little testimony 903 00:53:01,920 --> 00:53:05,360 about what we do and. Frankly, what we don't do? 904 00:53:05,560 --> 00:53:09,560 In our prayer life, because we also still need to grow. 905 00:53:10,920 --> 00:53:12,720 And so I pray. That that's a blessing to you, 906 00:53:12,720 --> 00:53:14,560 I. Pray that that you'll recognize 907 00:53:14,560 --> 00:53:19,200 what God is doing in your midst. I pray that you know if if I 908 00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:21,880 could, if I could make it all happen, that God would 909 00:53:21,880 --> 00:53:24,840 instantaneously answer your prayers and give you what you 910 00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:26,560 need. Maybe not what you want. 911 00:53:28,760 --> 00:53:33,480 But we got to trust this is a. Faith issue, that's part of the 912 00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:37,560 point. Sometimes we just need to wait 913 00:53:39,760 --> 00:53:44,560 and know that he has a plan. Father, thank you that that's 914 00:53:44,560 --> 00:53:51,960 true. I don't know why this comes to 915 00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:53,440 mind right now or. My heart, father. 916 00:53:53,440 --> 00:53:56,680 But you know, I, I don't know why this thought came to mind. 917 00:53:56,720 --> 00:53:59,520 I I think of people that I've known. 918 00:54:01,800 --> 00:54:03,480 Over the over the years, who don't know? 919 00:54:03,480 --> 00:54:07,800 You. And I and I think of the times. 920 00:54:07,800 --> 00:54:13,200 That I've watched them go through crisis, even death, even 921 00:54:13,200 --> 00:54:16,520 even when when I've conducted funerals for people who didn't 922 00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:19,200 know you and the person who died didn't know you. 923 00:54:21,720 --> 00:54:23,600 And father, I often think, how? How? 924 00:54:23,760 --> 00:54:30,640 How do they get through this? And so Father I'm, I'm just 925 00:54:30,640 --> 00:54:32,720 thankful I. Don't want to get through it 926 00:54:32,720 --> 00:54:35,480 that way. I don't want. 927 00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:36,840 To do this. Alone. 928 00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:41,000 I'm not that good. I'm not strong enough to do this 929 00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:44,400 alone, and so I'm thankful that I don't have to. 930 00:54:45,680 --> 00:54:48,360 But father, I worry about them. So how do they get through this 931 00:54:50,080 --> 00:54:52,800 disease? Death, pain. 932 00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:55,640 Divorce. Prodigal. 933 00:54:55,640 --> 00:54:57,240 Children, how do they get through this? 934 00:54:58,160 --> 00:55:01,640 On their own, without you. And then Father, sometimes I 935 00:55:01,640 --> 00:55:06,400 think about Christians who know you. 936 00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:12,800 I, I, I think they're saved as much as I can know somebody's 937 00:55:12,800 --> 00:55:16,880 saved, but. Father, they'll testify to me. 938 00:55:16,880 --> 00:55:18,480 That they don't have much of A prayer life. 939 00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:21,720 They're not talking to you, they're not in the the word. 940 00:55:22,440 --> 00:55:24,560 And so Father, I asked the same question. 941 00:55:24,560 --> 00:55:26,280 How? How do they get through this? 942 00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:32,840 So, Father, let us. Recognize that it's time to go 943 00:55:32,840 --> 00:55:35,440 deeper. It's time to be serious. 944 00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:38,320 It's time to spend time with you, Father. 945 00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:42,320 If nothing else, let us take this list and in our prayer time 946 00:55:42,360 --> 00:55:46,400 tomorrow or tonight, let us start reflecting on these points 947 00:55:47,360 --> 00:55:49,000 and begin praying for those things. 948 00:55:49,680 --> 00:55:53,680 Looking up the scripture, maybe use this as a prayer guide for a 949 00:55:53,680 --> 00:55:59,360 while to see whether or not we recognize the depth of our 950 00:55:59,360 --> 00:56:02,440 communion. Because Father, we want to 951 00:56:02,440 --> 00:56:05,520 search you and know you. We want to find you. 952 00:56:06,520 --> 00:56:12,160 We want to bring you glory and be used by you and Father. 953 00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:16,960 I've just watched you. I've watched you on almost every 954 00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:20,840 continent on the planet. I've watched you do amazing 955 00:56:20,840 --> 00:56:28,080 things for a people who humble themselves and pray and truly 956 00:56:28,080 --> 00:56:31,560 seek your face. Let us be that people. 957 00:56:32,120 --> 00:56:34,640 In Christ's name, we dare come before you. 958 00:56:35,560 --> 00:56:37,480 Amen. God bless you all. 959 00:56:37,480 --> 00:56:39,760 Y'all have a good night, don't burn up out there. 960 00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:44,760 Thank you SO. Much for listening today and I 961 00:56:44,760 --> 00:56:48,000 also hope that you'll go to ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 962 00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:51,080 as well as our app and find many other resources that will bless 963 00:56:51,080 --> 00:56:53,240 you and your families. Thank you once again.