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Hey everybody, this is Pastor 
John Ewart from Inglewood 

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Baptist Church in Rocky 
Mountain, North Carolina. 

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Thank you so much for tuning 
into our podcast. 

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You're going to hear from God 
today as we share from his word 

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about important issues facing 
your life that can guide you 

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according to the Bible. 
For those of you who are here, 

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thanks for joining this session.
For those listening online, as 

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always, thank you so much and 
look forward to seeing you soon.

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If you couldn't be here tonight.
And so we're in the middle of a 

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series and it's it's almost 
over, but we're in the middle of

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a series called Abiding in 
Prayer with Dependence and 

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Anticipation. 
There are also some parallel 

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podcasts that are going on that 
will be popping up. 

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And we are going to actually 
record a podcast about podcasts 

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to help everybody know how to 
pod their casts or cast their 

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pods here very soon. 
So if you're lost in all that, 

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welcome to the 21st century. 
So tonight we've talked a little

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bit in the past about why do we 
pray and what is prayer? 

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Tonight we're going to talk more
about how should we pray? 

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And, and rather than go through 
some of the generalized 

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conversations that frankly we've
had before and some of our 

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conversations about the seven 
essentials of discipleship, 

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which were important and 
foundational, I really wanted to

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focus in on a singular passage 
and a singular sample prayer 

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that you know very well, but 
maybe you've never discussed it 

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like we might tonight. 
So amazingly, the Bible only 

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records 1 inch instance when the
disciples actually asked Jesus 

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to pray. 
And it's it's found in Luke 

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Chapter 11, verse one. 
Now Jesus was praying in a 

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certain place and when he 
finished, one of his disciples 

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said to him, Lord, teach us to 
pray as John taught his 

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disciples. 
Now it's interesting because a 

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lot of we're going to talk about
obviously what he teaches, what 

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Jesus teaches. 
It's interesting to me how we 

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very rarely will go back and try
to figure out what John taught I

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and we don't have a lot of that 
recorded. 

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Obviously we glean, we glean a 
lot about John from his 

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followers who frankly later 
became followers of Jesus. 

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But it's interesting that 
there's an example that they're 

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seeing from, from John and it 
doesn't say which disciple asked

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this question. 
The some of the disciples 

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followed John before they follow
Jesus. 

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So, so there might have been 
that connection there. 

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And then what followed is part 
of what he taught them. 

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So I'm going to read the Luke 
passage, the Lukan passage, and 

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then we're going to go to 
Matthew chapter 6. 

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So Matthew chapter 6, if you 
have a Bible is where you want 

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to, where you want to land. 
But let me read the Lucan 

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version of this because it's 
just a it's a it's a part of the

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teaching. 
It says, and he said to them, 

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when you pray, say, Father 
hallowed be thy be your name. 

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It's hard to not do thy in it 
your Kingdom. 

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Come give us each day Our Daily 
Bread and forgive us our sins 

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for we ourselves forgive 
everyone who is indebted to us 

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and lead us not into temptation.
And he said to them, Which of 

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you has a friend who has a 
friend will go to him at 

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midnight and say to him, Friend,
lend ME3 loaves. 

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For a friend of mine has arrived
on a journey and I have nothing 

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to sit before him, and he will 
answer from within. 

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Do not bother me. 
The doors now shut, my children 

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are with me in bed. 
I I cannot get up and give you 

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anything. 
And I tell you, though he will 

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not get up and give him 
anything, because he is his 

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friend, yet because of his 
impotence he will rise and give 

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him whatever he needs. 
And I tell you, ask, and it will

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be given to you, seek, and you 
will find knock, and it will be 

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open to you, for everyone who 
asks receives, and the one who 

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seeks fines and to the one who 
knocks, it will be open. 

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What Father among you, if his 
son asks for a fish, will 

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instead of a fish give him a 
serpent? 

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Or if he asks for an egg, give 
him a scorpion? 

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If you then, who are evil, know 
how to give good gifts to your 

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children, how much more will the
Heavenly Father give the Holy 

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Spirit to those who ask him? 
So he's taught this section on 

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prayer and Luke to his 
disciples, but there's a more 

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complete lesson that's recorded 
in Matthew chapter 6. 

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The context of this lesson is 
actually the Sermon on the 

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Mount. 
And so he he's teaching them 

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again and trying to re emphasize
things or emphasize for the 

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first time. 
And Luke is the is the 

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supplement perhaps, but but 
Jesus is teaching in the Sermon 

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on the Mount about life in the 
Kingdom. 

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That's the whole point of the 
sermon. 

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What does it mean to understand 
the Kingdom of God? 

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Here's what it means to be a 
citizen of the Kingdom of God. 

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So be this way. 
Don't be that way, be this way. 

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And he's teaching them about 
life. 

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And he addresses in this Section
3 major parts of what to the 

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Jewish hearer would have been a 
very common thing to think 

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about. 
For us, not so much, but for the

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Jewish believer, these three 
things he talks about were a 

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part of their Judaism. 
It would be a part of their 

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normal practice, a part of their
normal religious ritual. 

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And even though we relate to 
some of these things, he talks 

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about giving, he talks about 
prayer and he talks about 

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fasting, which to them had very 
not only symbolic but but 

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significant factors as part of 
their, their practice of 

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Judaism. 
But what Jesus is going to do is

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he's not going to talk about the
ritual. 

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He's going to talk about our 
motives. 

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He's talking about why do you do
this? 

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What's in your heart? 
And so do we, do we do these 

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things? 
And in other words, do we give 

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for our own glory and 
recognition? 

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Do we want others to see how 
religious we are so that we can 

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receive praise? 
Is that why I give alms to the 

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poor if I'm a Jewish person? 
And so then he goes and moves 

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from that. 
Then then there's also, is this 

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why you pray? 
Is this how you pray? 

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Is this? 
Is this what you act like? 

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So he's going to give us some 
guidelines and principles. 

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And often we think of this just 
as a model prayer, but it's more

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than that. 
It's actually, it's actually 

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guidelines. 
It's principles for the way we 

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ought to live and the way we 
ought to prayer because the 

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heart of the matter in the 
Kingdom is the heart of the 

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matter. 
What's in your heart? 

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Why are you doing what you're 
doing? 

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Why do you come to church? 
Why would you go to a connect 

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group? 
Why would you serve? 

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Why would you do these things? 
And so he includes how and why 

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in this process we should 
actually pray. 

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So this is often called what? 
What is this prayer often called

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the Lord's Prayer. 
But every single commentator you

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would ever read would all, 
probably all say it should 

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actually be called the disciples
prayer, because that's really 

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who this is too. 
This is a, a lesson to the 

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disciples of how to pray. 
And, and next session, by the 

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way, and, and I hope you'll be 
back for this, this will be a 

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very, maybe even emotional 
session. 

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I'm not sure how you'll take it.
But the next session, I'm going 

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to be discussing intimate 
moments of prayer by Jesus, 

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talking about going to the 
Garden of Gethsemane, talking 

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about going to the mountaintops,
talking about John 17 and his 

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high priestly prayer before he's
getting ready for the cross. 

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And so we're actually going to 
look at these intimate moments 

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of prayer by Jesus. 
And, and those are what I would 

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truly call the Lord's prayers. 
And so this, this is probably 

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more the disciples prayer, not 
not fight the title. 

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Nothing wrong with calling it 
that. 

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But in other words, that's 
probably who it's more directed 

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to. 
So I'm going to break this down 

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in pieces and I'm going to break
it down in pieces out of order 

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because I want to group these 
verses in a way that we can 

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learn from them and I can teach 
from them because some of these 

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things go together and they're 
not necessarily in numerical 

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order in those ways. 
So I'm going to, I'm going to 

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break this down a little bit and
talk through this. 

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In fact, if you, if you were to 
look at Matthew 6 and beginning 

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in verse 5, it says and when you
pray, then if you go to verse 6,

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but when you pray verse 7 and 
when you pray verse 9, pray then

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like this. 
So, so there's an assumption 

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here. 
Now remember He's speaking 

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primarily even in the Sermon on 
the Mount, He's speaking in this

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part primarily to his disciples 
and they were Jewish in their 

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background. 
So Jesus is assuming prayer 

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would be a fairly normal part of
their life. 

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So in other words, he's not 
making the argument so much here

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that you need to pray. 
That's not the context here. 

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The context here is you don't 
pray at all and you need to pray

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now he the context here is you 
may not pray the right way. 

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You need to pray with the right 
motive, but there's an 

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assumption of when you pray, not
if you pray here. 

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All right, so let's go into 
this. 

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We're going to go verse by verse
and I again, again, I'm going to

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group these and put them a 
little out of order. 

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I hope that confuses you greatly
and you don't have any idea what

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I'm trying to do. 
If if that's the case, then it's

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been a fitting day because from 
the beginning of the day till 

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now, it would all that would all
be in order and make sense with 

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the rest of my day. 
I think. 

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So that would be great. 
And I I'll just pretend like I'm

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Amazon AI and lead you here or 
who knows where. 

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Nowhere, frankly, nowhere. 
All right, verse 5. 

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And when you pray, you must not 
be like the hypocrites, for they

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love to stand and pray in the 
synagogues and at the street 

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corners that they may be seen by
others. 

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Truly, I say to you, they have 
received their reward. 

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So part of what Jesus obviously 
is trying to get across is 

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don't. 
Don't pretend like you're 

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something you're not in prayer. 
I mean, it's absurd to do that. 

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It's absurd because God already 
knows, God already knows who you

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are. 
And so when you act like you're 

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something else or you're using 
language you don't normally use,

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or you're trying to sound pious 
or you're trying to get 

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attention, he knows that you're 
false spirituality doesn't 

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impress him at all. 
I feel like I've been 

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encountering some false 
spirituality with some people 

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here here lately. 
And it's, it's interesting to me

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because it doesn't impress me 
much either. 

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And so these prayers don't make 
it to him. 

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If you talk about a prayer not 
getting past the ceiling, here's

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a prayer that's not going to get
past the ceiling, it's not going

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to reach him because he knows he
knows better. 

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This isn't who you are. 
This isn't, you know, and your 

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motive for praying is something 
else. 

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All this is going to produce is 
these are the praise or the 

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condemnation of man because 
that's what they're trying to 

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get in the 1st place. 
This is a show, this is an act, 

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this is her performance. 
So you've got sincerity versus 

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the show here. 
And so one of the questions is, 

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is do you pray differently in 
public than you do in private? 

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And why you know? 
And so these hypocrites 

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obviously are, are seeking the 
attention of of man, right? 

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Go to verse 7. 
And and when you pray, do not 

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heap up empty phrases as the 
Gentiles do, for they think that

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they will be heard for their 
many words. 

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Do not be like them. 
For your Father knows what you 

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need before you ask him. 
So senseless repetition, these 

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incantations almost do not equal
biblical prayer or power. 

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And you got to remember that in 
this context, when he talks 

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about these Gentiles, most of 
these Gentiles would have come 

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out of a Pagan background and 
part of their Pagan ritual, part

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of their Pagan worship, part of 
their prayers in the Pagan life 

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would be basically casting 
spells, reciting incantations, 

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chanting things over and over 
again in gibberish or silly 

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language. 
It it's a form of magic to where

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they're trying to manipulate the
forces. 

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If I say it enough, I'll get 
what I want. 

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So don't pray like a Pagan. 
Don't, don't, don't speak 

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nonsense or don't just utter 
gibberish over and over and over

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again. 
God's not impressed, nor can he 

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be manipulated by silly 
repetition. 

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So our hypocrisy, our desire for
for praise for man and or just 

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our senseless repetition reminds
us our Jesus reminds US neither 

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one of those is the way we ought
to pray. 

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Doctor Chuck Quarles, a good 
friend who actually recorded a 

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podcast with us not long ago, 
expert in Bible translation, he 

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wrote, he wrote this about this 
passage. 

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He says although Jesus was 
devoted to prayer, his prayers 

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were not memorized recitations 
given at the whim of the clock. 

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His prayers were intensely 
personal, often spontaneous and 

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an expression of his deep 
communion with his father. 

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And we're going to hit that a 
little bit more in a moment. 

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So God already knows, but He 
still wants us to come to Him 

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sincerely. 
Even though He knows what's in 

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our heart, even though He knows 
what we want, He still wants us 

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to come to Him. 
Never forget that prayer is as 

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much for us or more for us than 
it is for Him. 

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He wants us to come. 
He wants us dependent. 

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He wants us believing, but He's 
also listening. 

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Isaiah 6524, this great verse. 
If you don't know this verse, it

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says before they call, I will 
answer while they are yet 

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speaking, I will hear so. 
So the words that we're uttering

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are not as important as what's 
in our heart and our intention, 

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our motivation for praying in 
the 1st place, our desperation, 

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our sincerity, our urgency for 
what we're praying for. 

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Well, look at verse 6. 
We're not even do the prayer 

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yet, but when you pray, go into 
your room and shut the door. 

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And by the way, the room or 
prayer closet idea would mean an

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inner Chamber of some kind. 
Go into your room and shut the 

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door and pray to your Father 
who's in secret and your Father 

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who sees in secret will reward 
you. 

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So this is obviously not a 
condemnation of public prayer 

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because there are many passages 
in the Bible that talk about 

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public pray, praying together 
and praying out loud. 

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You go to the you start talking 
about the early church and how 

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they did that together. 
But that's not the condemnation.

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The condemnation is of a public 
show seeking that human, seeking

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the approval of that human 
audience. 

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So what are you trying to do? 
It's better to find that private

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place where there's no need for 
a show and where you seek the 

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approval not of that human 
audience, but of that heavenly 

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00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,720
1. 
And, and and that's true of a 

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lot more than just prayer, but 
this context is about prayer. 

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And there was a time that you 
would well know in our culture 

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and our history that coming to 
church was like that, that 

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people, people went to church to
be seen in the community. 

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They were, if you didn't go to 
church and you were a 

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businessman, or if you didn't go
to church and you were a leading

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lady of the community, or if you
didn't go to church and you were

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a politician, then you would be 
looked down upon. 

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And so the church was as much as
social experience or even a 

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political experience as it was a
spiritual one. 

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There was a time that you may or
may not know that that, you 

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00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,720
know, we used to have Pew boxes.
You can still find churches that

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have Pew boxes. 
Some of the oldest churches in 

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America, New England, etcetera, 
still have Pew boxes. 

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00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,720
The Chapel that Southern 
Seminary has Pew boxes. 

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00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:51,360
And families would actually rent
the Pew boxes, pay for them, and

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00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,480
it was their responsibility to 
make sure their Pew box was full

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every week. 
And so they would pay people to 

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be Pew box fillers. 
And so Dwight L Moody, one of 

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00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,240
the greatest evangelist of human
history, his first job in the 

285
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:11,280
church was a Pew box filler for 
a wealthy family so that it 

286
00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:13,320
looked like somebody was in the 
Pew box every week. 

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00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,160
Because if your Pew box was 
empty, that looked bad. 

288
00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,440
You know, you didn't have to be 
there, but your Pew box had to 

289
00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,360
be full. 
So I'm thinking about renting 

290
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:29,680
seats. 
But you are doing so well in 

291
00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,120
stewardship right now. 
No joke. 

292
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:32,280
Thank you. 
I'm going to talk about it again

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00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,560
Sunday that I've decided not to 
implement that strategy yet. 

294
00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,000
So let's get into the prayer 
itself. 

295
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,760
Verse 9. 
So don't pray like this, don't 

296
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,840
pray like that. 
Don't pray like that, but pray 

297
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:56,360
then like this. 
Our Father in heaven, hallowed 

298
00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,960
be your name. 
Now there's an implied you here,

299
00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:02,920
though it wouldn't appear in the
original language. 

300
00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,520
The way Greek works is it'll 
often give what we would call an

301
00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,760
imperative or a command verb. 
And you don't actually have to 

302
00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,400
have the pronoun there because 
the way that verb is actually 

303
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,520
written, the way it's actually 
spelled implies the you. 

304
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:21,119
So you pray this way, you do 
this and and it's very much 

305
00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,400
there here. 
This is something we must do. 

306
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:29,560
You pray this way. 
And so this was him talking at 

307
00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:31,560
least to his disciples, if not 
the crowd. 

308
00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:36,000
So, so we begin, if you think 
about this, we begin our prayer.

309
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,440
If we're going to pray the the 
model prayer, if we're going to 

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00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:42,960
pray the disciples prayer, we're
very aware of the fact that 

311
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,040
we're starting not seeking our 
own attention. 

312
00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,360
This isn't about manipulation. 
This isn't about me at all. 

313
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,560
This isn't about me at all. 
This is this is me acknowledging

314
00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:01,080
to whom I'm speaking. 
And in the original language, 

315
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,240
this is ABBA. 
This is ABBA, father. 

316
00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,840
The word for father is ABBA or 
ABBA if you listen to the group.

317
00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:13,080
But ABBA and and and notice it's
our ABBA. 

318
00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,480
Don't miss the plural. 
You need to understand there are

319
00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,920
no singular pronouns in this 
entire prayer. 

320
00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:26,560
They're all plural. 
So this is how we're supposed to

321
00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,840
pray. 
This is part of a larger family 

322
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,200
idea. 
We're in this together. 

323
00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:36,280
We share a bond with God. 
We share an opportunity with God

324
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,360
in prayer. 
So we're supposed to be in this 

325
00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:42,800
together. 
This is our loving daddy, which 

326
00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,760
is what that intimate term, ABBA
can mean, but it's also a legal 

327
00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:48,840
term that often doesn't get 
discussed. 

328
00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,680
People like to talk about the 
daddy part and it's true that 

329
00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:58,040
intimate family relationship 
with your daddy when your daddy 

330
00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:02,280
is a good daddy, but it's also 
an official legal term. 

331
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:04,760
This is also the kind of 
language that would be used on a

332
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,760
will or for inheritance. 
So there's a family connection 

333
00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:09,400
here. 
In other words. 

334
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,360
In other words, we're, we were, 
we're part of the official, 

335
00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:15,040
we're designated as an official 
family member. 

336
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,040
And he's and, and it's his 
family now that's pretty 

337
00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:23,440
special, especially for these 
Jewish hearers who would not 

338
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,200
have thought of Yahweh that way 
in the same way. 

339
00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,360
And so we're part of a, a larger
family. 

340
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:34,520
So this is both intimate, but 
it's also formally relational 

341
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,960
because this is also the 
sovereign Lord of the universe. 

342
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,320
That's who you're talking to. 
And, and, and we, we can never 

343
00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:48,240
underestimate the the privilege 
of speaking to him or who he is.

344
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:53,160
He is hallowed. 
He is holy and that word means 

345
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,240
to sanctify. 
It means to make holy. 

346
00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,840
He's something different. 
He's set apart, He's unique. 

347
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,320
He's not like us. 
So we're talking to someone not 

348
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,920
like us. 
And sometimes I get a little 

349
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,360
worried. 
Sometimes contemporary music 

350
00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:09,400
does this. 
Sometimes contemporary preachers

351
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,400
do this to where we're we're, 
we're so much into the ABBA 

352
00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:14,120
part. 
He's just like our buddy. 

353
00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,960
God's like our buddy. 
He's like my best friend and I 

354
00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:20,440
and I and I, I don't want to 
dismiss that relationship. 

355
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,240
I, I want you to love him and I 
want you to feel comfortable 

356
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,720
with God and I want you to 
consider him your friend. 

357
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:31,480
But at the same time, this is 
the Lord of the universe and we 

358
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:36,160
need to always recognize that. 
I don't deserve to have this 

359
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,320
relationship to you. 
I don't deserve to be a part of 

360
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:39,720
the family. 
I don't deserve to be able to 

361
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,680
talk to you. 
I just certainly don't deserve 

362
00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:46,640
you to listen. 
Who am I to talk to you? 

363
00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:51,800
And in fact, I like the the 
Christian Standard Version 

364
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,640
Bible, the CSB, which is 
extremely literal. 

365
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,560
It says this, Our Father in 
heaven, your name be honoured as

366
00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:04,240
holy. 
So we begin by letting God know 

367
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:10,320
how much we value him. 
Just how much do you value God? 

368
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,040
As John Piper writes, you're the
supreme and absolute treasure in

369
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:16,840
all the universe and over all 
the universe. 

370
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,360
So we need to tell him how much 
we Revere him, how much we 

371
00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:22,520
admire him, how much we treasure
him, how high we hold him in 

372
00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:24,800
esteem. 
We, we, we can't do this 

373
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,680
flippantly. 
This isn't just about my list of

374
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:31,680
things I want. 
I wish we could get that across.

375
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,560
Prayer is indeed an act of 
worship. 

376
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,440
It's an act of recognition, it's
an act of submission. 

377
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:46,080
It's an act of dependency. 
And so in the beginning of this 

378
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,560
prayer, it's going to be all 
about him, not about us, which 

379
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,800
is the in opposition to the 
hypocritical conversation that 

380
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:54,880
he was having before or the 
Gentile one. 

381
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,840
This is not, this is not about 
the show of the, the, the 

382
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,000
religiously pious person in his 
dress standing on the corner so 

383
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,080
that everybody can be so 
impressed with him. 

384
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,560
This is not about the magician 
who's trying to manipulate the 

385
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,880
forces by giving the right 
incantation. 

386
00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:16,280
It's not about us, but it will 
be about us in a minute. 

387
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,680
And that's called grace. 
Verse 10. 

388
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:30,320
Then your Kingdom come, your 
will be done on earth as it is 

389
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,440
in heaven. 
This, this just naturally flows 

390
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,040
from the last verse. 
If we, if I'm going to 

391
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,320
acknowledge who you are, then 
I'm also going to acknowledge 

392
00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,360
what you want and what you're 
about. 

393
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,400
And so there's a healthy balance
here between the eternal and the

394
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,400
earthly. 
I want God's rule. 

395
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,600
I want God's reign in my life 
and I want it right now. 

396
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:54,040
I want his will to control me. 
I want his will to control, 

397
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,800
frankly, this planet. 
I want, I want his will to 

398
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,840
control everything. 
I want his Kingdom to spread 

399
00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,680
around the world. 
With the Gospel. 

400
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,840
I also look forward. 
There's an eschatological idea 

401
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:11,160
here too, to where I look 
forward to the time at the end 

402
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,640
of time, when there is no more 
time, when that part of the 

403
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:16,840
creation is gone. 
Because that's all time is. 

404
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:21,400
It's just part of the creation. 
And when time ends, when he's 

405
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,840
honored by those from every 
tribe, tongue and nation, and 

406
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:30,720
every knee bows and every tongue
confesses who he is, I look 

407
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,080
forward to that too. 
But I want now notice whose 

408
00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:35,920
Kingdom this is. 
Whose Kingdom is it? 

409
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:40,840
It's his Kingdom, not my 
Kingdom, not my will. 

410
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,200
I'm not praying that my will be 
done. 

411
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,240
Careful. 
Because sometimes in prayer, 

412
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,600
that's what we're trying to. 
We're trying to will God into 

413
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:55,320
agreeing with us and to granting
us what we will to be done. 

414
00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:00,240
Be careful. 
I want His will to be done now. 

415
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,120
If what I want matches with His 
word, like we've talked in 

416
00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:06,320
previous sessions, and his and 
his word and his will are always

417
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,800
going to match, then I then I 
then I'm within the framework of

418
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,560
of Orthodoxy. 
Fine to pray that way. 

419
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,440
But I want my life to begin to 
look like it should look in the 

420
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,880
new creation. 
I want my life now to look like 

421
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,560
what it should look like. 
An eternity when things are 

422
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,400
perfect again. 
So I want his victory to reign 

423
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,920
over the flimsy kingdoms of this
world and the influence of a 

424
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:41,280
cursed and defeated enemy. 
As Tony Marita writes in a very 

425
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,640
good commentary on the Sermon on
the Mount, in the battle for the

426
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,760
souls of men and women, I ask 
you, Father, to deploy your 

427
00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:55,480
troops among the nations, that 
your will, your reign, that, 

428
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,840
that, that bringing my will into
line, that says that's what that

429
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:02,120
means. 
If I, if I dare pray your will 

430
00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:07,640
be done, that means mine can't. 
I can't. 

431
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,960
We can't have both of them 
unless mine aligns with yours. 

432
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,440
So you've got to change my will.
You've got to help me believe. 

433
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:18,960
You got to help me see what it 
is that you want me to see. 

434
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,480
So my Bible study, my prayer, 
these different essentials of 

435
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:24,200
discipleship all have to 
connect. 

436
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,160
They all go together so that I 
can be who you want me to be. 

437
00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:32,880
Not it's no longer mine, it's 
thine, right? 

438
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,560
So again, we're going to visit 
in the next session. 

439
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,880
We're going to go to those 
moments, those intimate moments 

440
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,920
in the life of Jesus Christ, 
especially in the gardener or 

441
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:49,920
even in the in that John passage
as he's heading toward that, 

442
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,520
where he's praying for his 
disciples, he's praying for his 

443
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:54,000
followers. 
And then then he's in the 

444
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,400
garden, in the Garden of 
Gethsemane where he demonstrates

445
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,600
this very principle. 
Lord, if this cup can pass from 

446
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:09,000
me, I pray it can. 
But not my will, but your will, 

447
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:18,960
asking for His sovereign will 
and putting to get to death our 

448
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,000
own will. 
It's a bold act of faith. 

449
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:27,320
These are words of surrender. 
These are words of submission. 

450
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,800
So hopefully prayer prepares us 
for His will. 

451
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,440
Prayer is the pathway to His 
will. 

452
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,800
Prayer is the a pathway to 
understanding the purpose of God

453
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:39,480
in my life. 
If you want to know what does 

454
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,480
God want from me, you need to 
ask Him. 

455
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,360
You need to ask Him. 
And if you don't hear right 

456
00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:51,120
away, ask Him again and then ask
Him again and keep asking Him 

457
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,320
because it's fascinating. 
You know, in Romans 12, it'll 

458
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,520
talk about submitting our our 
bodies as living sacrifices. 

459
00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,480
But then later on, it'll say 
that for this is a spiritual 

460
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,240
worship that we can actually 
know that we can actually prove 

461
00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,280
what the will of God is. 
God's not trying to hide his 

462
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,840
will from you. 
He wants you to know his will. 

463
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,200
He wants you to know his word. 
Now, there might be moments 

464
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,560
where you can't handle 
everything he's got for you 

465
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,320
right now. 
So he may make you wait. 

466
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:23,280
We're great at waiting, aren't 
we very patient people. 

467
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,800
So prayer should prepare us for 
his answers, his direction. 

468
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:32,280
It's it's not simply the the 
approval that we seek of of our 

469
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:37,160
own desire. 
So please reverse that in your 

470
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,000
prayer life. 
God, this is about you. 

471
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:45,680
It's all about you. 
But then because of who he is, 

472
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:55,600
amazingly verse 11 comes along. 
Amazingly, verse 11 comes along.

473
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:02,160
Give us this day every single 
thing we ever wanted, right? 

474
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:11,440
Everything that I can name and 
claim, give me an A storehouse 

475
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:17,720
of everything I could ever want.
Jesus says now here's the way to

476
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:24,640
pray. 
Give us this day or what now it 

477
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,680
should it would for them and you
really need to make the 

478
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,480
connection for the disciples. 
This would have been a very 

479
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:33,280
significant Old Testament 
bridge. 

480
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:40,160
When did God provide them daily 
bread manna in the wilderness. 

481
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:42,240
Don't miss that they would have 
got that would have been right 

482
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:43,720
there with them. 
They would that would have been 

483
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:48,120
right there. 
So just like manna, that's only 

484
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:52,360
good for the day. 
It's an, it's what I need, not 

485
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,120
what I, not what I want 
necessarily, but I want daily 

486
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,080
bread. 
I mean, I, you know, I want 

487
00:28:58,080 --> 00:28:59,720
daily bread. 
Don't you want daily bread? 

488
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:04,320
I want daily bread. 
I need daily bread. 

489
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:09,320
I need daily provision. 
So, so the, the prayer actually 

490
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:13,320
shifts its focus from him to us,
sort of. 

491
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:16,600
I mean, it's a very gracious 
thing. 

492
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,160
What a gracious God. 
The prayer could have stopped at

493
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:24,160
verse 10. 
It could have stopped at verse 

494
00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:28,800
10 and just been about him and 
he's within his rights to where 

495
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,400
all we're doing is praising him 
and thinking of him. 

496
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,600
But but here we see this 
provision, this need and a 

497
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,120
literal sense for for food each 
day. 

498
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,800
This is a part of the lives of 
many people around the world 

499
00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:46,560
today. 
I've I've told this story to you

500
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:52,640
before in some form someplace. 
I don't know, but Teresa gave me

501
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,000
a little plastic chicken for my 
office one time and I have a 

502
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:57,320
photograph on my phone right 
now. 

503
00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:03,280
I could show you to where my 
favorite love offering ever and 

504
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:07,520
preaching in any church I've 
ever preached in was in a little

505
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:14,520
red mud dirt tree branch 
structure with a tin roof and 

506
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,600
sun dried bricks in the refugee 
camps of the South Sudanese. 

507
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,600
And at the end of the service, 
these people who couldn't scrape

508
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,760
2 pennies together to get a 
scent brought me a chicken, a 

509
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,360
live chicken. 
That was my honorarium. 

510
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,560
Some of you know this they, the 
ladies came dancing. 

511
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,400
I, I was standing there with 
the, the leader who was a dear 

512
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,200
friend of mine, Bishop demon, 
just a dear friend man, a 

513
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:39,800
warrior. 
You talk about a warrior. 

514
00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,720
This guy weaves in and out of 
the world's largest refugee 

515
00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:48,000
camps on a little motorbike, 
starting churches, leading 

516
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,280
people to Jesus running, running
an entire denomination. 

517
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,800
He's the president of the South 
Sudanese Baptist Convention. 

518
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,640
They're sending missionaries 
that have been for years to some

519
00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:00,640
of the hardest places of North 
Africa, Muslim, Muslim, Muslim, 

520
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,080
radical Muslim, violent Muslim 
territory. 

521
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,760
And we're standing there 
together and the women start 

522
00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:11,480
dancing and, and, and shouting 
and singing and, and they bring 

523
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,640
us both a chicken. 
I've shared this with some of 

524
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:16,480
you. 
Sorry, I, I haven't shared this 

525
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,920
where it could be recorded. 
So, so, so I've got this photo 

526
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,360
and I get this chicken tucked in
my arm like a football. 

527
00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,120
Nice sermon, pastor. 
You know, that's, I'm in the 

528
00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:31,280
line there and I've shared this 
too. 

529
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:37,440
We ate that chicken the next day
for lunch and that was the 

530
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,520
toughest chicken. 
I don't know what that poor 

531
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:46,080
chicken been through, but I 
mean, it was like eating chicken

532
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,440
jerky. 
I mean, it was, I mean, I'm 

533
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:50,960
telling you, you were you're 
over here on the side, you know,

534
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,600
and just kind of tear it, 
ripping it off of a piece there.

535
00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,560
But I tell you, when I saw that 
chicken and I saw that plate, I 

536
00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:04,440
thought to myself, I could, I 
mean, I could barely eat it 

537
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:12,040
because of what it meant. 
That was somebody's chicken that

538
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:15,880
they had donated to the 
somebody's tithe and offering to

539
00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:19,200
the church. 
And for them that meant that 

540
00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:20,840
they didn't get to eat that 
chicken. 

541
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:25,320
And Old Fat Boy from America got
it. 

542
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:35,880
So give us Our Daily Bread, our,
our daily needs are part of his 

543
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:37,680
willful agenda. 
You're going to let that 

544
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:41,320
sentence rest a minute. 
Our daily needs are part of his 

545
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,000
willful agenda. 
This is his will that we do 

546
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,480
this. 
He wants us to come to him with 

547
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:51,040
our, our, our real needs. 
And so we need to recognize that

548
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:54,280
and, and, but this is also still
about him because it's a 

549
00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:58,800
recognition of our absolute 
dependency upon him to provide 

550
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:03,040
the daily need. 
I can't do this without you, 

551
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:07,320
God, If you do not provide what 
I need for today, I can't 

552
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:11,320
survive without you, whether 
that's physical, emotional, 

553
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:17,160
relational, psychological, If 
you don't provide for me today 

554
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:20,280
what I need you to provide for 
me, I will not survive this 

555
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,720
fallen creation. 
It's too hard. 

556
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:24,720
The enemy is too strong. 
I'm too weak. 

557
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:30,840
I need the daily provision to 
make it through, and I recognize

558
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:35,400
that the only place I can get it
is from the Lord who has, who is

559
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:41,440
hallowed, the God, the sovereign
ABBA of the universe, who like a

560
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,640
good Father, doesn't want to 
give me a scorpion. 

561
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,880
He doesn't want to give me a 
snake. 

562
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,920
He wants to give me what I need 
in order to see His Kingdom 

563
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:54,000
come, in order to fulfill His 
will, in order to understand who

564
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,760
He is, in order to draw closer 
to Him and to one another, and 

565
00:33:57,760 --> 00:33:59,920
to serve Him and to do what He 
wants me to do. 

566
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:02,040
I need that. 
That's what I need. 

567
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,040
I'm going to want a bunch of 
junk. 

568
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,960
Let me tell you something. 
When we moved over here, oh, 

569
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:09,520
myself, some of you men, thank 
you. 

570
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:11,719
God bless you men for putting up
with it. 

571
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,800
I mean, first of all, we when we
finally moved, it was 110° in 

572
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,159
the shade last summer when we 
finally moved everything and I 

573
00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:23,639
had stuff in about four 
different places and we moved 

574
00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:27,800
from a house that had this third
floor walk up attic and it was 

575
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,800
stuffed to the gills. 
After 18 years in that house, I 

576
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,360
found a box with my grade School
Report cards in it. 

577
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:42,040
And so Mr. Dumpster and and 
enjoy ministries benefited a lot

578
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:47,280
from the move truckload after 
truckload of junk and we still 

579
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:51,840
have too much still too much. 
So there has to be this 

580
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,719
recognition of dependency. 
So and and and don't and don't 

581
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,560
believe you can avoid don't 
don't think you can get away 

582
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,080
with it. 
You need what the bread of life.

583
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:03,840
Think about the irony of this. 
Here's the bread of life himself

584
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:05,800
talking about God providing the 
bread. 

585
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:09,920
And so we have to have faith 
that God will provide it. 

586
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:13,360
And He might put us into a 
difficult situation every now 

587
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,600
and then, or we might find 
ourselves and put ourselves in a

588
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:18,560
difficult situation every now 
and then where we take our focus

589
00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:21,240
off of this. 
And we need to enhance our 

590
00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:23,840
recognition of Him. 
Listen to Matthew 619. 

591
00:35:24,240 --> 00:35:27,000
He says, Do not lay up for 
yourselves treasures on earth, 

592
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:31,360
where moth and rust destroy and 
where thieves break in and 

593
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:35,280
steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where 

594
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:39,000
neither moth nor rust destroys, 
and where thieves do not break 

595
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,720
in and steal. 
For where your treasure is, 

596
00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:45,240
there your heart will be also. 
The eye is the lamp of the body.

597
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:47,480
So if your eye is healthy, your 
whole body will be full of 

598
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:49,000
light. 
But if your eye is bad, your 

599
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,520
whole body will be full of 
darkness. 

600
00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:54,080
If then the light in you is 
darkness, how great is the 

601
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,240
darkness? 
No one can serve 2 masters, for 

602
00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:00,000
either who hate the one and love
the other, or he'll be devoted 

603
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,560
to the one and despise the 
other. 

604
00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:05,680
You cannot serve God in money. 
Therefore, I tell you, do not be

605
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,200
anxious about your life, what 
you will eat or what you will 

606
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,200
drink, nor about your body what 
you will put on. 

607
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,880
Is not life more than food, and 
body more than clothing? 

608
00:36:16,240 --> 00:36:19,520
Look at the birds of the air. 
They neither sow nor reap, nor 

609
00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,320
gather into barns. 
And if your heavenly Father 

610
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,560
feeds them, are you not of more 
value than they? 

611
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:28,680
And which of you, by being 
anxious, can add a single hour 

612
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,480
to a span of life? 
And why are you anxious about 

613
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:32,920
clothing? 
Consider the lilies of the 

614
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:33,760
field. 
How they grow. 

615
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,880
They neither toil nor spin. 
Yet I tell you, even Solomon and

616
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:38,800
all his glory was not a raid 
like one of these. 

617
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,880
But if God so clothes the grass 
of the field, which today is 

618
00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:46,200
alive, and tomorrow's thrown 
into the oven, will He not much 

619
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,000
more clothe you, O you of little
faith? 

620
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,160
Therefore do not be anxious, 
saying, What shall we eat, or 

621
00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:54,040
what shall we drink, or what 
shall we wear? 

622
00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:58,800
For the Gentiles seek after all 
these things, and your heavenly 

623
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,320
Father knows that you need them 
all. 

624
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:06,560
It's not that they don't matter,
it's just He knows, and He's 

625
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,840
going to help us. 
But seek first the Kingdom of 

626
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:13,600
God and His righteousness, and 
all these things will be added 

627
00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,040
to you. 
Therefore do not be anxious 

628
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:20,000
about tomorrow, for tomorrow 
will be anxious for itself. 

629
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:24,080
Sufficient for the day is its 
own trouble. 

630
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:29,120
And I say Amen to that last part
often. 

631
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:36,560
Well, look at verse 12. 
We're going to Group 3 verses 

632
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,720
together now, and we're going to
talk about a subject matter. 

633
00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:41,000
It's going to take a minute or 
two. 

634
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,800
So I've been trying to get to 
this point and forgive us our 

635
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:49,480
debts as we also have forgiven 
our debtors. 

636
00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:55,120
Now look at verse 14. 
For if you forgive others their 

637
00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,880
trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. 

638
00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:03,080
Verse 15. 
But if you do not forgive others

639
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:06,720
their trespasses, neither will 
your Father forgive your 

640
00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:11,320
trespasses. 
So there's this daily provision 

641
00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:14,120
of what we need, our earthly 
needs, but there's also this 

642
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:16,080
daily provision that we need of 
forgiveness. 

643
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:20,120
So here's another thing we need 
to ask God for. 

644
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,560
Here's something He needs to 
help us with. 

645
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:27,000
The word dead here, you know, 
obviously means sin. 

646
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:29,760
It's actually the only time it 
appears in the Bible other than 

647
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,680
Romans 44, where it's actually 
talking about a wage and debt 

648
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,240
money. 
So it's not a common word at 

649
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:39,520
all. 
But our sin places us in debt. 

650
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:42,000
That's the idea. 
And we're going to study a whole

651
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:43,720
lot more about this. 
I'm going to talk about this 

652
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:45,160
Sunday morning. 
I'm going to give you an 

653
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:48,360
overview of wherever we've been.
I've been here a year now, 

654
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:50,600
believe it or not. 
And so kind of what happened in 

655
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,120
a year, what's going to happen 
in the next year. 

656
00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:53,880
I'm going to give you an 
overview for a few minutes at 

657
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:56,360
the beginning of the sermon 
Sunday morning as we continue 

658
00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,600
Nehemiah. 
But but, but one of the things 

659
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:00,960
we're going to do next after 
Easter's, we're hitting Romans, 

660
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,160
as I've shared with you, and 
we're going to study a lot more 

661
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:06,480
about this and our study of 
Romans. 

662
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:10,960
But God justifies us. 
He does that to the sacrifice of

663
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:15,480
Jesus and then we're cleansed 
from our our past sin. 

664
00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:17,880
It's because the sin debt had to
be paid. 

665
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:24,400
And so because because of the 
way he pays our sin debt, we get

666
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:29,320
to be forgiven because that sin 
debt was insurmountable for us 

667
00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:31,640
to pay. 
We couldn't, could never pay it.

668
00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,000
We could never get there. 
And, and I always want to 

669
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,320
emphasize that I'm going to do 
this again Sunday in a different

670
00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:39,480
way. 
But if you're here right now or 

671
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,120
listening to this right now and 
you think, man, I'm too far, God

672
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:44,480
couldn't care about me. 
I'm too dirty, I'm too bad, I'm 

673
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,800
too sinful. 
I'm too, you need to stop. 

674
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:53,760
There's no insurmountable amount
of sin that grace can't 

675
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:54,880
overcome. 
It's amazing. 

676
00:39:56,280 --> 00:40:01,600
So, so just like he provides Our
Daily Bread, he's also going to 

677
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:07,240
help us on our on a day by day 
basis to be forgiven and cleanse

678
00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:12,360
to wash away our sin. 
See, he he paid that debt and 

679
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:17,600
justification and sanctification
is that day-to-day experience of

680
00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:19,520
well, I screwed up, I need to be
forgiven again. 

681
00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:21,880
I messed up, I need to be 
forgiven again and he's going to

682
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:26,000
continue to help us to grow. 
And continue to wash away our 

683
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:27,720
sin. 
So we need to be grateful for 

684
00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:31,480
his grace. 
But what Jesus also says, and he

685
00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,320
says it in more than one place, 
the Bible says this in more than

686
00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:37,880
one place, because you've been 
forgiven. 

687
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:41,760
You've got to learn to forgive 
other people. 

688
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:45,000
And this is hard. 
Sometimes it's hard. 

689
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:48,640
It's hard to forgive. 
And I'm not saying forgive and 

690
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:50,880
forget, by the way, don't, don't
add that on there. 

691
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:54,040
I didn't say that you can't 
forget. 

692
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:56,960
Your memories are biochemically 
etched into your brain. 

693
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:01,240
You're going to remember. 
We'll talk more about that in a 

694
00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:03,640
minute. 
But how can I forgive? 

695
00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:08,400
How can I move on in grace to 
where I'm not carrying the load 

696
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:10,840
and I'm not trying to dump the 
load on somebody else in 

697
00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:15,920
judgement or hang on to the sin 
of others and at the same time 

698
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:18,640
ignore my own? 
It's kind of like a log in your 

699
00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:21,040
eye and the speck in another, 
right? 

700
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:26,240
So when you be grateful and 
willing to extend that grace to 

701
00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:31,120
others, if we refuse, then we're
going to have issues. 

702
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:35,120
But Thomas Watson once said, he 
says we're not bound to trust in

703
00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:37,960
me, but we are bound to forgive 
them. 

704
00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:41,600
I've said to many, many people, 
even in the last two weeks, 

705
00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:47,560
several people that you need to 
learn from that. 

706
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:53,320
Learn from it, follow those 
lessons appropriately, and then 

707
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:57,120
you've got to eventually be able
to move forward away from it 

708
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:01,000
because often times when you 
won't forgive somebody else, 

709
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,480
you're not punishing them as 
much as you're punishing 

710
00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:05,560
yourself. 
You're carrying a backpack full 

711
00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:10,080
of rocks and it's and it's 
preventing you from 

712
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:12,560
understanding the will of God 
and being a part of the Kingdom 

713
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:16,800
the way you want you to. 
It doesn't mean that you justify

714
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:19,040
what happened. 
It doesn't mean that you think 

715
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:21,040
what they did was right. 
You're, you're not admitting 

716
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:25,920
that what you're doing is, is 
you're recognizing that I 

717
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:30,040
deserve to go to hell too. 
By the way, this is the first 

718
00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:32,840
time I've said this out loud. 
Even the pastors don't know 

719
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:35,400
this. 
After Easter, we're going to 

720
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:37,480
take a little break from the 
seven essentials and I'm going 

721
00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:40,000
to do a series after Easter on 
Wednesday nights. 

722
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,120
First of all, right after 
Easter, I'm going to share my 

723
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:46,760
full board testimony, but then 
we're also going to share in our

724
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,480
midweek, I'm going to do a 
series called Heaven, Hell and 

725
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:54,640
the Hereafter, because I felt 
that I need to talk about 

726
00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:58,440
Heaven, Hell, what happens the 
minute we die? 

727
00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:02,360
What, what heaven's like, what 
Hell's like, Who's going to be 

728
00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:06,200
there, who's not? 
We're going to talk a little bit

729
00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:09,600
about spiritual warfare, 
etcetera. 

730
00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:16,160
So that'll be a good study. 
I'm going to I'm going to draw 

731
00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:17,880
you a picture of exactly what 
heaven looked. 

732
00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:26,080
Now I'm not going to here's God,
but but remember the context of 

733
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,400
this passage. 
You got to remember that. 

734
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:30,600
Don't ever lose context. 
Remember our study on a on 

735
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:34,720
engaging the word. 
We don't gain forgiveness by 

736
00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:36,360
forgiving. 
That's not what these verses are

737
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:37,920
saying. 
So so in other words, I'm not 

738
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:40,280
gaining forgiveness by forgiving
somebody else. 

739
00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:45,040
That would be a work, but but 
I'm evidencing, I'm testifying, 

740
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:49,000
I'm proving the fact that I have
been forgiving, forgiven by 

741
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:52,440
forgiving somebody else. 
And if I don't do that, if I 

742
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:55,280
hang on to it, it's a problem 
because Jesus is actually 

743
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,480
teaching his disciples who are 
all in the same family with our 

744
00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:00,840
ABBA father. 
And many would believe that what

745
00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:03,520
we're really talking about here 
is, is a believer talking to a 

746
00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:07,520
believer. 
Even so, will we forgive one 

747
00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:12,000
another as disciples so we might
serve well together? 

748
00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:15,600
Because if we don't, we're going
to eventually face defeat again.

749
00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:17,400
That doesn't that doesn't mean I
trust you. 

750
00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:19,880
That doesn't mean that we're 
necessarily going to be best 

751
00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:22,360
friends. 
That doesn't necessarily mean 

752
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:25,920
that that everything that you've
ever done is justifiable. 

753
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:30,040
No, Listen, gang. 
And I was sharing this story 

754
00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:33,600
with somebody within the last 
week or so. 

755
00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:40,600
I got to be careful because I, I
remember one time when I was a 

756
00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:43,200
pastor that we had a, we had 
Coast Guard families in our 

757
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:51,760
church and they would go out on 
deployment and often their 

758
00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:59,240
spouses were left at home. 
And there was a young 2021 year 

759
00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:02,840
old wife and they had a little 
house out in the country in the 

760
00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:06,200
middle of nowhere. 
And I get a phone call one night

761
00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:11,360
and somebody had broken in and 
at weapon pointed had raped her 

762
00:45:13,720 --> 00:45:17,520
and stolen things. 
I was one of the first people 

763
00:45:17,520 --> 00:45:20,760
there. 
Her husband was still out on a 

764
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:24,800
boat and 1st responders were 
there. 

765
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:29,440
And, and I remember meeting with
him later when the husband 

766
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:33,520
obviously came back and working 
through what do I, what do I do 

767
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:35,760
with this in my life? 
I mean, those weren't the words.

768
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:38,480
It was obviously much more 
emotional and painful than those

769
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:40,920
words. 
But what do I do with this? 

770
00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:45,800
How do I ever, how do I ever 
move on from this? 

771
00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:49,600
And you can't just 
compartmentalize it and pretend 

772
00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:52,520
like it didn't happen. 
That's, that's not what you have

773
00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:53,560
to do. 
You got to work through, you got

774
00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:55,360
to work through a process. 
You got to work through a cycle.

775
00:45:55,360 --> 00:45:59,520
It's like a grief cycle at 
death, but at the same time to 

776
00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:04,560
get to a place of grace. 
Not that you're going to forget 

777
00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:07,600
ever. 
Not that you're ever going to 

778
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:12,520
justify ever. 
Not that you're going to ever 

779
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:18,000
like what happened or that 
person. 

780
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:21,960
But can I find freedom and 
grace? 

781
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:26,280
Because if I hang on to 
everything that's ever happened 

782
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:29,920
to me, and if you hear 
everything that's ever happened 

783
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:33,800
to me, you'll wonder why I'm 
still here if you hear my 

784
00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:37,960
testimony. 
But if I hang on to every single

785
00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:42,800
thing that everybody's ever done
to me that's mean or wrong, I'm 

786
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:47,800
not going to survive. 
I've got to let loose of that 

787
00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:51,040
bag of rocks. 
But especially if it's within 

788
00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:53,720
the family. 
Listen to Warren Weirsby, he 

789
00:46:53,720 --> 00:46:55,520
writes. 
If the members of the family are

790
00:46:55,520 --> 00:46:57,720
not getting along with one 
another, how can they claim to 

791
00:46:57,720 --> 00:46:59,400
have a right relationship with 
the Father? 

792
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:03,080
Will we forgive one another as 
disciples? 

793
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:05,920
Will we do that? 
The fellowship I have with my 

794
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:09,120
fellow disciples, it's going to 
affect my fellowship with God. 

795
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:13,880
So Ephesians 4, Paul writes it 
similar verse. 

796
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:19,920
He says be kind to one another, 
tender hearted, forgiving one 

797
00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:23,400
another as God in Christ forgave
you. 

798
00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:25,800
It's that same balanced 
equation, isn't it? 

799
00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:32,120
You, you, you love somebody, you
forgive somebody because Christ 

800
00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:35,320
has loved you and forgiven you. 
That's the only strength you 

801
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:36,840
have to do it. 
And remember that verse is 

802
00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:40,120
written to the church. 
So one another would have been 

803
00:47:40,120 --> 00:47:45,760
the church in that context. 
So extend grace because it has 

804
00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:48,480
been extended to you. 
So this is that's a curative 

805
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:50,000
medicine. 
That's the idea there. 

806
00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:52,120
That's to actually help you 
heal. 

807
00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:55,000
That's to help you cure. 
It's not so much about relieving

808
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:57,320
the burden on that other person.
It's to relieve the burden on 

809
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,560
you. 
This is what you need to heal. 

810
00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:03,320
This is what you need. 
But you also can't have that 

811
00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:05,360
kind of relationship with the 
other believers. 

812
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,280
You can't have that relationship
and be able to love one another 

813
00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:10,320
and love God and serve him and 
do the will of God. 

814
00:48:13,240 --> 00:48:18,160
But then interesting enough, 
there's still verse 13. 

815
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:25,600
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. 

816
00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:28,200
So if one of them is curative 
medicine, this is preventative 

817
00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:33,280
medicine. 
So we pray about dealing with 

818
00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:38,640
past guilt, and now we pray 
about dealing with future guilt,

819
00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:47,200
'cause I want to be forgiven for
everything I want. 

820
00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:52,680
I want to be able to be so like 
Jesus that even if nails are 

821
00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:57,680
driven into my wrist, I can say,
Father, forgive them for they 

822
00:48:57,680 --> 00:49:01,760
know not what they do. 
Now, I'm not saying I'm that. 

823
00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:07,040
I'm not saying I'm there and 
there's a lot of pain. 

824
00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:09,320
But I said to somebody 
yesterday, and I've probably 

825
00:49:09,320 --> 00:49:11,600
said this before too, I say a 
lot of things over and over 

826
00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:14,480
again, sometimes because they're
important, sometimes because I 

827
00:49:14,480 --> 00:49:19,600
don't remember. 
I've wasted a lot of pain in my 

828
00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:21,920
life. 
Don't waste pain. 

829
00:49:23,240 --> 00:49:29,040
Learn from it, grow from it, be 
stronger because of it because 

830
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:30,960
I've wasted a lot of pain in my 
life. 

831
00:49:32,320 --> 00:49:35,520
And so here we see that we're 
dealing with not only the past, 

832
00:49:35,520 --> 00:49:37,720
but the future. 
And don't misunderstand this. 

833
00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:41,000
We're not we're not. 
This verse is not just saying 

834
00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:42,840
somehow that God's going to 
tempt us. 

835
00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:45,600
That's not the idea here at all.
God does not tempt us. 

836
00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:48,400
Read James one sometime It the 
Bible is very clear God's not 

837
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:50,960
going to tempt you. 
That's not the prayer. 

838
00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:53,840
That's not the way the original 
wording would have made it made 

839
00:49:53,840 --> 00:49:55,960
it work. 
This is a cry for guidance. 

840
00:49:56,120 --> 00:50:01,560
This is a cry for protection. 
See, please do not lead us into 

841
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:06,440
situations where Satan will have
an opportunity to tempt. 

842
00:50:07,720 --> 00:50:11,160
Please protect us. 
Guide us through the minefield 

843
00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:15,120
of this thing called life 
because it's dangerous out 

844
00:50:15,120 --> 00:50:18,320
there. 
And He's very alive and active. 

845
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:23,080
He's been working. 
First Corinthians 10/13 says no 

846
00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:26,120
temptation is overtaking you. 
That is not common to man. 

847
00:50:27,040 --> 00:50:31,000
God is faithful and He will not 
let you be tempted beyond your 

848
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:33,840
ability. 
But with the temptation, He will

849
00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:37,960
also provide the way of escape 
that you may be able to endure 

850
00:50:37,960 --> 00:50:40,200
it. 
But that verse is conditional. 

851
00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:46,760
If if you read that verse all by
itself and think that that's all

852
00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:51,880
there is, then you'll never sin.
This is conditional upon your 

853
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:54,840
obedience. 
This is conditional upon your 

854
00:50:54,840 --> 00:50:57,760
faithfulness to do what God 
wants you to do and to listen to

855
00:50:57,760 --> 00:51:01,320
Him and to seek Him. 
God help me to avoid and 

856
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:03,200
whenever necessary, even to 
escape. 

857
00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:11,720
And so as we mature, maybe we 
will hopefully need to pray less

858
00:51:11,720 --> 00:51:16,920
and less for forgiveness. 
But you might not like this or 

859
00:51:16,920 --> 00:51:19,840
even understand it. 
Likely have to pray more and 

860
00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:24,840
more for protection. 
Because as you mature as a 

861
00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:26,560
believer, you become a bigger 
target. 

862
00:51:29,240 --> 00:51:32,640
As you mature as a Christian, 
you become someone that Satan's 

863
00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:34,360
going to actually work. 
Why would Satan work if you're 

864
00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:36,160
doing everything Satan wants you
to do in the 1st place? 

865
00:51:36,320 --> 00:51:40,000
You know what, you're easy. 
You didn't have to spend much 

866
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:43,800
time on you. 
Dead churches don't rouse him up

867
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:48,960
much, but but maturity, 
Christian maturity, spiritual 

868
00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:52,680
maturity, that's a target. 
I, I, I've had friend after 

869
00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:56,800
friend after friend after friend
and ministry and academics and 

870
00:51:57,200 --> 00:51:59,800
whatever who have had moral 
failures and fallen. 

871
00:52:01,720 --> 00:52:04,680
And I've talked to many of them.
They were friends and I've 

872
00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:07,040
talked to them and they've 
confided in me. 

873
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:09,520
In fact, some of for some of 
them, I was the first one they 

874
00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:13,720
called. 
And it's amazing how consistent 

875
00:52:13,720 --> 00:52:17,520
the story becomes. 
I never planned on this to 

876
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:19,000
happen. 
I didn't look for this to 

877
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:21,000
happen. 
I never wanted this to happen. 

878
00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:26,680
But then they'll say things 
like, but I forgot. 

879
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:32,160
I forgot who I really was. 
I forgot who he really was. 

880
00:52:32,160 --> 00:52:34,600
And then the other thing they'll
say is I began to believe what 

881
00:52:34,600 --> 00:52:39,440
people said to me about myself, 
that I was above it. 

882
00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:42,400
Some of these were celebrity 
types. 

883
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:46,080
That I was bigger and better 
than all this, that I 

884
00:52:46,080 --> 00:52:49,320
transcended the need for 
obedience, that I could 

885
00:52:49,320 --> 00:52:52,040
basically do whatever I wanted 
to do and get away with it. 

886
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,920
And for some of them, they did 
it for years, double lives, all 

887
00:52:55,920 --> 00:53:01,800
kinds of stuff. 
So we must constantly be on 

888
00:53:01,800 --> 00:53:05,960
guard. 
Matthew 2641 says watch and pray

889
00:53:06,440 --> 00:53:09,160
that you may not enter into 
temptation. 

890
00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:17,080
The Spirit indeed is willing, 
but flesh is weak. 

891
00:53:17,080 --> 00:53:21,040
We we're fallen and we live in a
fallen world still. 

892
00:53:21,240 --> 00:53:23,760
And because of that, we're still
in the presence of sin. 

893
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:25,640
We're surrounded by the power of
sin. 

894
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:28,840
Now, if we've been saved, if 
you're trusted in Jesus Christ 

895
00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:31,120
as your Lord and Savior, you're 
saved from the penalty of sin, 

896
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:32,560
but you're still in the presence
of it. 

897
00:53:33,400 --> 00:53:35,560
One day we'll be saved from the 
presence of it. 

898
00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:37,640
We won't, it won't be around 
anymore. 

899
00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:39,080
We'll be in a place of 
perfection. 

900
00:53:39,280 --> 00:53:42,320
Right now we're seeking the Holy
Spirit and sanctification and 

901
00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:46,200
discipleship to help us fight 
the power of it, that we don't 

902
00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:53,160
fall prey to the temptation and 
we don't fall prey to how Satan 

903
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:56,280
works. 
So before we go, I wanted to 

904
00:53:56,280 --> 00:54:00,920
share for a few moments some of 
you or somebody asked Teresa 

905
00:54:00,920 --> 00:54:02,240
this. 
I don't know if anybody asked me

906
00:54:02,240 --> 00:54:05,240
this or not, but said, how do we
pray? 

907
00:54:06,280 --> 00:54:10,880
And so this is both confession 
and testimony, because this may 

908
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:18,840
disappoint some of you, probably
disappoints Teresa, frankly, but

909
00:54:20,760 --> 00:54:26,440
but we don't have that massively
organized prayer time together 

910
00:54:26,800 --> 00:54:28,760
like everybody probably thinks I
should. 

911
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:33,160
To be honest with you, we've 
never really operated that way. 

912
00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:34,800
And there's some reasons for 
that. 

913
00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:36,520
So let me share what we actually
do. 

914
00:54:36,520 --> 00:54:39,240
We pray. 
We, we pray, I promise. 

915
00:54:40,560 --> 00:54:44,200
But we're, we've been on such 
different schedules. 

916
00:54:44,560 --> 00:54:46,560
In fact, you, you all need to 
understand something. 

917
00:54:46,560 --> 00:54:50,200
One of the greatest adjustments 
of me becoming the pastor of 

918
00:54:50,200 --> 00:54:53,040
Inglewood Baptist Church in 
Rocky Mount, NC, United States 

919
00:54:53,040 --> 00:54:56,880
of America, is that I am now in 
Rocky Mount, NC, United States 

920
00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:03,720
of America all the time. 
In these last few years, I was 

921
00:55:03,720 --> 00:55:07,200
gone every month overseas. 
Now, I didn't do that when the 

922
00:55:07,200 --> 00:55:11,080
kids were at home. 
And so we're we've been together

923
00:55:11,080 --> 00:55:21,240
now more this last year then we 
have probably been together in 

924
00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:25,600
at least at least 15 years. 
At least 15 years. 

925
00:55:26,600 --> 00:55:28,680
Yeah. 
She's, yeah, she's, she's OK 

926
00:55:28,680 --> 00:55:31,920
with it. 
So there's been a massive 

927
00:55:31,920 --> 00:55:34,640
adjustment in our personal 
lives, to be honest with you. 

928
00:55:35,240 --> 00:55:38,120
So anyway, the other thing 
though, that we're still on 

929
00:55:38,120 --> 00:55:42,000
different schedules. 
I get up about an hour and a 

930
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:45,360
half earlier than any of you 
probably. 

931
00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:50,440
I get up pretty early and I do 
that on purpose. 

932
00:55:50,800 --> 00:55:53,640
I told Mark Farrell the other 
day he was up at 4 something and

933
00:55:53,640 --> 00:55:57,720
I said, well, call me, I'm up. 
And so I'm up early. 

934
00:55:57,960 --> 00:56:03,200
And I like that because I have a
place where I sit and I, I study

935
00:56:03,200 --> 00:56:06,360
the Bible right now. 
I'm, I just finished second 

936
00:56:06,360 --> 00:56:08,640
Timothy, I'm in Titus and I'm in
numbers. 

937
00:56:08,640 --> 00:56:10,080
And this is a personal 
journaling. 

938
00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:12,960
This is my personal Bible study 
that I share with the staff 

939
00:56:12,960 --> 00:56:15,000
sometimes, but it's just what I 
do. 

940
00:56:15,240 --> 00:56:18,160
And I'm, I pray there in that 
seat. 

941
00:56:18,600 --> 00:56:22,320
Then I go exercise. 
This is almost every single day,

942
00:56:22,640 --> 00:56:25,320
not every day, but almost 
probably five days a week at 

943
00:56:25,320 --> 00:56:28,600
least, if not 6. 
I have a little home set up and 

944
00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:31,040
I go exercise. 
I need to do that for my own 

945
00:56:31,040 --> 00:56:33,560
health, my strength at my age as
well as my diabetes. 

946
00:56:33,960 --> 00:56:37,520
And so I'm in there exercising 
and I prayer aside. 

947
00:56:38,720 --> 00:56:41,600
OK, so I'm praying when I'm 
exercising. 

948
00:56:41,640 --> 00:56:45,800
Now Teresa's not in there. 
And so I, and then we have 

949
00:56:45,800 --> 00:56:48,920
posted prayer lists in our 
house. 

950
00:56:48,920 --> 00:56:51,400
So there are certain things 
where you think we should sit 

951
00:56:51,400 --> 00:56:53,160
down together, hold hands to 
look at each other across the 

952
00:56:53,160 --> 00:56:55,600
table with wide eyes and pray 
together over things. 

953
00:56:55,720 --> 00:56:58,720
We're praying over those things.
We just have them in lists. 

954
00:56:59,600 --> 00:57:02,520
And so we have, there's a list 
back in our bedroom area and 

955
00:57:02,520 --> 00:57:04,560
there's a list in my exercise 
room. 

956
00:57:05,080 --> 00:57:07,000
And so every single day I'm 
praying for my family and 

957
00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:08,920
praying for the, you know, 
there's set things on these 

958
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:11,640
lists. 
I also have the prayer request 

959
00:57:11,640 --> 00:57:15,160
from Wednesday nights that I'm 
praying for throughout the week.

960
00:57:15,160 --> 00:57:18,520
And so does Teresa. 
So I'm up early, I'm normally 

961
00:57:18,520 --> 00:57:23,120
done with my quiet time. 
And so our interaction is a 

962
00:57:23,120 --> 00:57:26,360
little different, much of our 
interaction. 

963
00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:28,520
And I'm not saying don't, I'm 
not saying don't sit down 

964
00:57:28,520 --> 00:57:31,360
together and have this 
incredible organized, regularly 

965
00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:33,840
scheduled prayer time together. 
And some of you do that. 

966
00:57:33,840 --> 00:57:35,760
That's fantastic. 
That's wonderful. 

967
00:57:35,760 --> 00:57:37,520
It's a testimony. 
Great. 

968
00:57:37,680 --> 00:57:41,400
Keep doing it. 
I, I, I'm going to, I'm going to

969
00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:47,400
repent and get to there. 
Maybe we do a lot of spontaneous

970
00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:50,760
praying, praying. 
So we get text messages, we get 

971
00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:53,760
phone calls, we get emails. 
Somebody's in the hospital, 

972
00:57:53,760 --> 00:57:56,040
somebody like, like, I don't 
know if you know, you all know 

973
00:57:56,040 --> 00:57:58,720
Ernestine's in the hospital. 
A lot of you know Ernestine. 

974
00:57:59,520 --> 00:58:03,240
So when we hear that, we, we, 
we, we're, let's pray for 

975
00:58:03,240 --> 00:58:05,880
Ernestine or let's pray for this
or let's pray for it. 

976
00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:08,560
So we just stop right then 
because if I'm going to sit 

977
00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:10,560
there and say to somebody, I'm 
praying for you, we're going to,

978
00:58:10,560 --> 00:58:12,360
I usually just stop and pray for
him right then. 

979
00:58:13,680 --> 00:58:16,880
So we do a lot of spontaneous 
praying as well. 

980
00:58:17,160 --> 00:58:19,640
We pray some before bed. 
So, you know, we do pray 

981
00:58:19,640 --> 00:58:22,120
together. 
We obviously are praying before 

982
00:58:22,120 --> 00:58:24,160
meals and we're not just asking 
the Lord to bless the food. 

983
00:58:24,160 --> 00:58:28,080
They're more extended than that.
And at times we have also used 

984
00:58:28,080 --> 00:58:31,160
devotional books for couples, 
even if we're in separate 

985
00:58:31,160 --> 00:58:32,760
places. 
So sometimes I used to do this 

986
00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:35,480
at my son's too. 
I would have a copy of the book 

987
00:58:35,480 --> 00:58:36,600
and they would have a copy of 
the book. 

988
00:58:36,600 --> 00:58:38,440
And we might be in totally 
different parts of the country, 

989
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:41,920
but we're reading the same thing
every day and talking about it 

990
00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:44,720
later. 
So this is a new life pattern 

991
00:58:44,720 --> 00:58:46,480
for us. 
So pray for us that I'll get my 

992
00:58:46,480 --> 00:58:50,800
act together and that. 
But I, as I've mentioned to you 

993
00:58:50,800 --> 00:58:54,480
before, I am the praying all day
long kind of guy. 

994
00:58:55,480 --> 00:58:57,960
So I promise you, I am talking 
to God. 

995
00:58:58,160 --> 00:59:01,480
I've been speaking to him about 
the demonic device called 

996
00:59:01,480 --> 00:59:03,720
artificial intelligence in the 
last several minutes. 

997
00:59:05,680 --> 00:59:07,800
So I'm constantly, I'm not, 
that's no joke. 

998
00:59:07,800 --> 00:59:12,080
So I'm in the office, we get 
stuff and and so we're, we're 

999
00:59:12,080 --> 00:59:16,200
constantly, I'm constantly 
talking to God back in my office

1000
00:59:16,200 --> 00:59:20,160
or in the truck. 
And so I really, I mean, that 

1001
00:59:20,160 --> 00:59:24,080
really is the truth. 
I'm arguing with him all day 

1002
00:59:24,080 --> 00:59:27,000
long, usually. 
Sometimes I'm a little like 

1003
00:59:27,000 --> 00:59:33,000
Jacob and I lose, but and then I
also prayer walk. 

1004
00:59:33,600 --> 00:59:36,000
I pray, I prayer walk this room 
every week. 

1005
00:59:37,640 --> 00:59:41,160
I pray prayer walk this room 
before the, the conference with 

1006
00:59:41,160 --> 00:59:43,400
our students. 
I come in here all by myself, 

1007
00:59:44,320 --> 00:59:47,280
especially during the week, and 
I pray sometimes over every seat

1008
00:59:48,360 --> 00:59:53,040
asking God to, to working live. 
So it's always frustrating when 

1009
00:59:53,040 --> 00:59:59,040
nobody's in that seat or nothing
happens, you know, with people. 

1010
00:59:59,560 --> 01:00:05,360
My wife is, is a, a very 
sympathetic, empathetic person 

1011
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:07,440
as well. 
And so she's praying with others

1012
01:00:07,800 --> 01:00:11,120
all the time as well and lifting
them up. 

1013
01:00:11,160 --> 01:00:14,640
And you know, we, we pray for 
our families a lot. 

1014
01:00:14,640 --> 01:00:17,160
We pray for our grandchildren, 
obviously a lot like many of you

1015
01:00:17,160 --> 01:00:20,680
grandparents do. 
And so, so for us, this is a, 

1016
01:00:21,040 --> 01:00:24,200
it's a changing habit right now,
I think a little bit for us and 

1017
01:00:24,200 --> 01:00:26,280
we're going to continue to to 
grow in that. 

1018
01:00:26,760 --> 01:00:29,680
And so you all can give us 
pointers and we would appreciate

1019
01:00:30,360 --> 01:00:33,280
that very much. 
So that's kind of what we're 

1020
01:00:33,280 --> 01:00:34,800
doing. 
All right, so before we go, 

1021
01:00:36,040 --> 01:00:38,960
here's what I want us to do. 
And I'm hesitant to do this 

1022
01:00:38,960 --> 01:00:40,680
because of the translation 
difference. 

1023
01:00:41,720 --> 01:00:45,640
This is going to be funny. 
So if you have a Bible or access

1024
01:00:45,640 --> 01:00:48,920
to a Bible, and we'll see how 
many different translations, 

1025
01:00:48,920 --> 01:00:52,360
hopefully the word sin or debt 
will be the issue. 

1026
01:00:52,360 --> 01:00:56,640
You turn to Matthew 6, and I 
thought we should say the Lord's

1027
01:00:56,640 --> 01:01:00,400
Prayer together. 
There's nothing wrong with 

1028
01:01:00,400 --> 01:01:02,640
memorizing this prayer. 
There's nothing wrong with 

1029
01:01:02,640 --> 01:01:06,400
praying this as long as it's not
just ritualistic, as long as 

1030
01:01:06,400 --> 01:01:09,520
it's not just something you're 
doing out of habit. 

1031
01:01:09,520 --> 01:01:11,760
I, I want you to think about 
these words. 

1032
01:01:11,760 --> 01:01:15,760
I want you to think about what 
this prayer really says. 

1033
01:01:15,760 --> 01:01:18,920
So we're going to begin. 
We're not going to say pray then

1034
01:01:18,920 --> 01:01:22,520
like this, but we'll be in verse
9 and we'll start with our 

1035
01:01:22,520 --> 01:01:23,680
Father. 
Are you ready? 

1036
01:01:23,680 --> 01:01:26,560
Let's say it out loud together, 
our Father. 

1037
01:01:27,120 --> 01:01:33,640
And how would be thy name your 
Kingdom come, your will be done 

1038
01:01:34,080 --> 01:01:40,880
on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day and forgive us 

1039
01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:57,880
as we also, and lead us not. 
Yeah, some translations as you 

1040
01:01:57,880 --> 01:02:02,160
all just read, thank you, end, 
end it differently and have that

1041
01:02:02,360 --> 01:02:06,400
that ending part while other 
other manuscripts did not have 

1042
01:02:06,400 --> 01:02:09,400
it. 
And so it's it's interesting. 

1043
01:02:10,440 --> 01:02:12,400
There's absolutely nothing wrong
with that. 

1044
01:02:12,400 --> 01:02:15,320
And it certainly, certainly 
doesn't take away any of the 

1045
01:02:15,320 --> 01:02:17,720
theology. 
It just builds it and the fact 

1046
01:02:17,720 --> 01:02:23,320
that it is, it is his Kingdom, 
it is his power and it is his 

1047
01:02:23,320 --> 01:02:26,680
glory forever. 
And I hope that when you see the

1048
01:02:26,680 --> 01:02:29,280
Lord's Prayer, whether it's in 
the Bible or you see it along, 

1049
01:02:29,280 --> 01:02:32,920
you know, it might be on a sign 
or piece of artwork or somewhere

1050
01:02:32,920 --> 01:02:36,120
along the line that you won't 
pass by it flippantly. 

1051
01:02:36,240 --> 01:02:39,640
You won't rush by it. 
Don't, don't say it as fast as 

1052
01:02:39,640 --> 01:02:42,840
you can. 
Stay as slowly as you can. 

1053
01:02:43,720 --> 01:02:47,440
Chew on it, savour it. 
Recognize what you're doing. 

1054
01:02:48,000 --> 01:02:53,920
I'm recognizing who God is. 
I'm recognizing my need, I'm 

1055
01:02:53,920 --> 01:02:56,280
recognizing my dependency upon 
Him. 

1056
01:02:56,840 --> 01:03:00,440
I'm recognizing the kind of 
person that I need to become 

1057
01:03:00,440 --> 01:03:06,440
with His help so that I can be a
good citizen of His Kingdom and 

1058
01:03:06,440 --> 01:03:09,040
then to remind myself of who all
this belongs to. 

1059
01:03:10,200 --> 01:03:13,320
So let's pray to him right now 
and ask Him to help us to pray 

1060
01:03:13,640 --> 01:03:17,520
as we should. 
Father, I'm thankful for that 

1061
01:03:17,520 --> 01:03:26,680
day that your Holy Spirit LED a 
disciple to ask a question, the 

1062
01:03:26,680 --> 01:03:31,680
only time in the scriptures. 
I wonder, Father, I wonder, 

1063
01:03:31,680 --> 01:03:34,240
Father, as they walked the road 
together, how many times they 

1064
01:03:34,240 --> 01:03:37,280
actually asked it. 
But Father, thank you for 

1065
01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:42,640
recording it for us here, so 
that we'd know, so that we would

1066
01:03:42,640 --> 01:03:46,520
learn, so that we could grow, so
that we could be better. 

1067
01:03:48,240 --> 01:03:53,280
Father, forgive us when we just 
come with a shopping list. 

1068
01:03:55,520 --> 01:03:58,120
Father, we recognize that's not 
who you are. 

1069
01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:05,720
Father, One day, one day when we
see you and we're there in your 

1070
01:04:05,720 --> 01:04:08,400
presence and we really 
understand who you are. 

1071
01:04:09,400 --> 01:04:12,120
Father, I'm thankful that in 
that day I won't have to look 

1072
01:04:12,120 --> 01:04:15,560
back with remorse. 
I won't have to look back with 

1073
01:04:15,560 --> 01:04:18,280
guilt. 
I won't have to look back and 

1074
01:04:18,280 --> 01:04:22,120
recognize what a silly, silly 
little man I am. 

1075
01:04:24,360 --> 01:04:29,080
Because when we're there, we'll 
have a new mind and a new body, 

1076
01:04:29,080 --> 01:04:31,080
and we'll see things in a new 
way. 

1077
01:04:33,040 --> 01:04:39,160
But Father, for now, even in the
fog of the fallen creation, even

1078
01:04:39,160 --> 01:04:42,840
in the fog of our sinful nature,
Lord, help us to see behind the 

1079
01:04:42,840 --> 01:04:48,680
veil, to recognize the 
incredible awesomeness, the 

1080
01:04:48,680 --> 01:04:52,240
wondrous opportunity we have to 
approach you. 

1081
01:04:53,320 --> 01:04:58,080
You are indeed holy by name and 
by nature. 

1082
01:04:59,360 --> 01:05:02,440
And so, Father, I pray that as 
we come to you in our prayer 

1083
01:05:02,440 --> 01:05:05,560
life, Father, we won't. 
We won't hesitate to ask you 

1084
01:05:05,760 --> 01:05:08,640
because you want us to. 
You won't. 

1085
01:05:08,640 --> 01:05:11,680
We won't hesitate to bring our 
greatest needs, our greatest 

1086
01:05:11,680 --> 01:05:18,320
burdens, our hurts, our 
anxieties, even things, Father, 

1087
01:05:18,320 --> 01:05:20,840
that might be silly to somebody 
else. 

1088
01:05:20,840 --> 01:05:22,280
Father, they're not going to be 
silly to you. 

1089
01:05:22,280 --> 01:05:24,280
You want us to bring you those 
things. 

1090
01:05:25,200 --> 01:05:31,040
But Lord, I just pray that we'll
remember to start to begin by 

1091
01:05:31,040 --> 01:05:34,400
thanking you and acknowledging 
you for listening to us and for 

1092
01:05:34,400 --> 01:05:39,160
who You are, and then, Father, 
to recognize that we don't need 

1093
01:05:39,160 --> 01:05:43,280
everything. 
We need what we need from you. 

1094
01:05:44,080 --> 01:05:45,720
And you know exactly what that 
is. 

1095
01:05:46,400 --> 01:05:50,640
And help us. 
Help us, Father, to be joyful in

1096
01:05:50,640 --> 01:05:52,840
that. 
So Father, bless us. 

1097
01:05:53,160 --> 01:05:56,240
Lord, it's a big week. 
Father. 

1098
01:05:56,240 --> 01:05:58,000
We had a lot of folks here last 
weekend. 

1099
01:05:58,000 --> 01:05:59,800
We got a lot of folks coming 
this weekend. 

1100
01:05:59,840 --> 01:06:03,160
Then we have Easter, a lot going
on. 

1101
01:06:04,360 --> 01:06:06,720
And so, Father, I pray that 
you'll give us energy and 

1102
01:06:06,720 --> 01:06:08,200
endurance. 
Help us, Father, to stay 

1103
01:06:08,200 --> 01:06:10,640
focused. 
Lord, we have some incredible 

1104
01:06:10,640 --> 01:06:14,400
speakers coming this weekend who
are going to talk about you and 

1105
01:06:14,400 --> 01:06:15,440
Father. 
They're going to share the 

1106
01:06:15,440 --> 01:06:18,800
gospel very clearly. 
And Father, I believe with all 

1107
01:06:18,800 --> 01:06:20,600
my heart, we're going to have 
men saved. 

1108
01:06:22,520 --> 01:06:24,320
And so, Father, help us, Lord, 
to be ready. 

1109
01:06:24,760 --> 01:06:28,080
Help us to be prepared for that.
And Father, I look forward to 

1110
01:06:28,080 --> 01:06:32,440
Sunday that the family might 
gather together, all of us. 

1111
01:06:33,400 --> 01:06:34,880
We might be in our connect 
groups. 

1112
01:06:34,880 --> 01:06:36,560
We might be in our family 
ministries. 

1113
01:06:36,560 --> 01:06:40,280
And Father, we'll engage in 
worship so that we can honor you

1114
01:06:40,320 --> 01:06:44,600
and actually recognize who you 
are and say so out loud. 

1115
01:06:45,920 --> 01:06:48,160
So Father, bless us. 
Thank you, Father, for this 

1116
01:06:48,160 --> 01:06:50,680
privilege in Christ's name, 
Amen. 

1117
01:06:52,680 --> 01:06:54,360
Thank you so much for listening 
today. 

1118
01:06:54,360 --> 01:06:55,640
And I also hope that you'll go 
to 

1119
01:06:55,640 --> 01:06:59,440
ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 
as well as our app and find many

1120
01:06:59,440 --> 01:07:01,800
other resources that will bless 
you and your families. 

1121
01:07:01,960 --> 01:07:03,000
Thank you once again.