Thank you for listening to the river.
Bend Church podcast Reverb in church exists to lead all people
to know love and live New Life in Jesus Christ.
We hope that you enjoy this message.
We are in week 2 of a series called, your will not mind.
That's what you see there on the screen.
Your will not mine. And so today is week 2 of the
series, but technically, it's day one of our 21 days of
fasting. In prayer and so I'm really
excited that. So many of you have chosen to go
on this journey this year with us and maybe a lot of you for
the first time 21-day season of fasting and prayer.
And here's what I really believe in anticipate that this will be
one of the most powerful Seasons that we've ever been in as a
church. I don't know about you but I'm
anticipating God to show up and do something.
There's some addictions that need to be broken.
There's healing that we need, there's restoration that we need
God knows that our city needs to an outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. And so, I'm praying that as we
go through this season, and not only, we are going to experience
the power of God, but it even flow out into this community
flow out and where we live at Oakwood where we live right here
at Gainesville and wherever you live.
If you're watching online and you're taking this challenge to
go on this journey with us. But here's the question that I
asked last week and I want you to think about it.
Do you want 2023 to be your best year yet?
Yes or no. I don't know.
Anybody that says, no. I've kind of picked up.
Pete, you know, 2022. But here's what here's what the
way I think about. If 2022 was a great year for
you, can it be better? We serve a God who always wants
to give us better I believe. But if 2022 was a challenge for
you, like it was for many of us. What a 23-inch 2023 could be
different God wants to do more. Now I want you to know
something, I didn't say to you want this to be your easiest
year yet. This is not some easy.
Believe is mm. I'm not trying to give you some
Prosperity Gospel. If you'll just, you'll just
believe in God, your life's gonna be easy.
That's contrary to the Bible. By the way, here's the thing.
If you want it to be your best year yet, do you know what it
means? You're going to have to make
some hard choices fasting and praying for 21 days is not easy.
Is it? It's not easy even think about
it. I'd be really honest.
Pastor confessional, I was really, really nervous yesterday
about starting this commitment before the Lord of intentionally
seeking him and I'm a pastor I basically get paid to lead the
church. It's an honor and a privilege
but yet even in myself, there was nerves going.
It's a big commitment when you actually write it out on paper
and saying God, I'm gonna commit something to you because I want
to take that seriously whether you no matter what your fasting
from or what your prayer life is going to look like that
commitment is Big, it's not easy.
But what is best and what is easiest or not?
Often the same thing, are they? And so remember what Jesus said
I couldn't help. But think about this this week,
Matthew 7, he said this, you can enter God's kingdom, only
through the narrow gate, the highway to hell is Broad and it,
and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way, but
the gateway to life is very narrow.
And the road is difficult and only a few find it.
This is Jesus pulling no punches here, like, she's just like, uh,
you know, the highway to hell is Broad.
There's a lot of people traveling down that road and not
realize it, but then there's also a gateway to life.
It's very Very narrow and the road is what difficult.
Now I know that Jesus is talking about the choice to either
follow him or not. Follow him in this in this
scripture, but I think this principle can apply to anything.
Even as followers of Christ to now that not, there were going
to be separated from God, but that there are things in
following Christ that are hard. Do you know the reason we didn't
grow more in 2022 in our spiritual life?
What because God didn't want us to is because it's hard.
You know, the reason that we didn't, you know, for get to
step into everything God has for us in the year before and what?
Because God didn't want to give it to us.
I mean, scripture, you have a hard time proving he didn't want
to give us good things or do more in our life.
It's because we chose many times, we chose the easy way
over the difficult way. So in setting the stage here, as
we choose to do a hard thing, which is fast and pray, I really
believe that's going to be the Avenue.
God's going to take us down to get us where he wants us to go
in this new year. So Church what I'm saying is I
want all God has for you this year.
I want all God has for your family, this year, God's best
over your family. That's my prayer this morning.
God, I just prayed the best over the church, the best over your
home's. The best over your kids lives,
the best, over what he wants to do here, what he wants to do in
Oakwood and so it's a narrow road, though.
It's a difficult road to walk down.
But it's not impossible. We're going to do it together.
Let me give you the reality for 2023.
Here it is. 20:23 will be and I don't say this lightly.
I'm not seeing this as some kind of easy believe is Amor.
Just I am optimistic. I'm an optimist but I'm not
overly optimistic when it comes to scripture, I believe I have
faith but I can't say this with confidence. 2023 will be my best
year yet. I believe this about myself.
If I live this entire year under the lordship of Jesus, it won't
be my easiest year. There'll be times where I won't
be happy. If I do this, they'll be times
where I'm going to have greater struggles because of this but
I'll get to the end of the year and say Lord.
This was my best year yet because spiritually it was my
best year because I lived it underneath your lordship and
here's the statement, that's kind of the foundation of this
entire Series. This this Lord, your will not
mine. Can I just address how difficult
of a prayer that is the prey? How can we say your and will not
mind and then actually it lead to being our best year yet?
Well, I'm not going to unpack all of these today but I would
encourage you to go back and watch last week's message
because I did there. There are four reasons that I
gave you. That we should always pray, your
will not mind. And here's the first one.
You have a God who loves you unconditionally Let me take that
even further, you've got a God that loves you more than you
know how to love yourself. Think about the person that
loves you most in life that love can't compare to the
unconditional. Love that God has for you.
Do you know how he proved his love?
He gave up the very best of Heaven for you and I that was
Jesus. When he stepped out, he proved
his love, he loves you. Unconditionally no longer is it
based on whether you follow the law, whether you're a good
person, bad person. If you walked in the room and
attic this morning, God loves you just as much as the person
that's never smoked if you walk in here divorced and you got a
broken past, listen, God loves you just as much as a cup.
This been married forever. So God brings you in and look he
goes I love you. Unconditionally the world has
told you and maybe even some well-meaning church people that
your lesser than because of your past or what you've been
through, I'ma tell you scripturally, you read the
Bible, God always because of Jesus Christ, he always loves
you unconditionally he's not going to change his mind about
you. That's the foundation of being
able to pray God your will not mine but here's the second
reason. God always knows what's best for
me. And guess what?
We don't always know what's best for us.
Do we? We think we do?
You ever made a decision and you just knew it was the right thing
only to find out. It was the wrong thing.
God will never make a bad decision concerning your life.
Think about that. For a moment.
We have an omnipotent God who loves us unconditionally?
He sees both ends of Eternity, he says, hey I know you think
you know what's best for you but I know what's best for you.
Not only does God know what's best for us.
The third reason, is this God always does.
What's best for me now, I'm not trying to make the gospel really
personal where it's only about one person.
It's not. But what I'm saying is me means
that if I'm a part of the Church of Jesus Christ, he's always
going to do what's best for his church and therefore in return,
he's always working all things together for good in my life.
And for the Global good of his church across the world.
That's what God is constantly doing.
He's always working for the best of his church for his glory.
And so, God always does what's best.
You never have to wonder if God knows what's best.
And then you don't have to wonder, he's got actually going
to do what's best. Now, here's the, here's the
tension Point sometimes, God, allows pain and don't make any
sense. And we don't have all the
answers for it on this side of Eternity.
There's just no answers for some of the loss and some of the pain
that we go through and I think It's fair.
Sometimes a look at God and go God, this hurts.
How could you call this? This is what's best for me when
I've been serving you and doing well and it hurts right now.
But here's the stories. A lot of us have though.
Once you get to the next season, sometimes you actually realize
that God all the pain you, let me go through.
It had a purpose. It wasn't wasted.
Like you, you were with me and you were working for me in it.
Here's the fourth reason that we should pray, your will not mine.
Is we have a God that wants a relationship.
He always wants us to Tell him what we want, he welcomes it
throughout scripture, he actually says, you should do it.
Jesus said, ask me seek me knock on Heaven's Door.
Like, have this relationship. I want to hear your heart and so
many times as we learned to pray, will pray things and God
will just start pouring out his blessings, see prayer aligns,
our heart with the heart of God. Here's what I want to do in the
time we have together today. Unpack a passage that I've
actually never preached before and you know 18 years I don't
think I've ever preached it. I've talked about it, I've
alluded to it but I've never kind of gone through and
unpacked. This scripture so rarely do I
get to a place after preaching for so many years where I said,
you know what, I've never I don't have any notes where I
preach this before and so it's the first time but I felt like
it's a very strange passage for kind of kicking off, 21 days of
prayer. And then also feel like it's a
powerful passage but it's the night before Jesus died.
He was in the garden called Gethsemane.
And so let me ask you a question.
What would you do if you knew you had one night to live?
Don't answer that one night to live.
Like what would you do? I tell you.
What I wouldn't do not listen, I wish I was so spiritual and say,
you know what, been, you know, got less come gather and have a
prayer meeting. That's what Jesus did.
Literally, the night before he died.
He said, I think I'm going to have a premier.
I don't know what y'all do. I know you got bucket list and
it probably prayer meeting is not high on the list.
You know what I mean? But for Jesus here, he's like
the night before he would go to the Cross.
He gathered, his closest followers, and they had a prayer
gathering on a mountain. If I'm really, really honest, I
got a little convicted about it. When I first realized that never
really put that together before. Jesus had one night to live, he
knew he had one night to live. And what did he do?
He went to the mountains. Have a prayer Gathering.
Posted a prayer meeting and he modeled your will not mine.
And so I want to walk you through the story.
And I want to come back. Give you some lessons that I
learned from Jesus and I hope you can learn from him too.
Here's what it says that Jesus went with them to the Olive
Grove called Gethsemane and Gethsemane, by the way, you know
what the word means, Olive press actually, the go there, and they
would crush the olives to get the oil and it's kind of
interesting and actually, just right in line with how God
works. That would be the hill where
Jesus would be crucified. And so, therefore as the olives
were, As for the oil, Jesus body would be pressed on the cross
for the Salvation of the world to all of the spirit to be
poured out across the Earth. But guess simony, so they go up,
it's outside Jerusalem, he says to his disciples, he's got the
larger with him. Sit here, while I go over there
and pray, he took Peter and zebedee's two sons James and
John and he became anguished and distressed.
And so this is a deep distress here.
Look at verse 38. It says he told them my soul is
Crushed with grief to the point of death.
It doesn't say it in Matthew, but when Luke is writing about
this, who's another one of the writers of the Gospel of, Luke
was a doctor and he wrote that Jesus sweat became blood.
He became so, so painfully just Soul crushed with grief that he
began to sweat drops of blood. So he says stay here and keep
watch with me. He went on a little farther and
bowed with his face to the ground.
Praying my father. If it is possible let Let this
cup of suffering. You know what this cup was?
The Cub was it? The fear of pain?
Did you can easily think that know?
Jesus was a man and probably in him he was going I don't want to
suffer but the cup wasn't the fear.
This cup of suffering, it wasn't just, the cross wasn't just
literally being nailed there. It wasn't being slapped and
mocked and stripped naked and humiliated it all that was a
piece of it, but he know if you really look theologically at
what the cup of suffering was it was the Judgment of the sin of
the world being poured out. Him by his father.
There was a moment on the cross where the father turned his
back, on his son because the father can't be in the presence
of sin. He poured out every wrong thing
that you and I've ever done said or thought the history of the
world, he poured out that sin that judgment the cup of
suffering was the father looking at him.
So I'm going to pour my judgment out on you.
So the physical pain was a part of it but the spiritual pain of
your father, pouring out wrath on you.
That's what he said. If it can be taken away, Lord
take it away. And then here's the statement
yet. I I want what your will to be
done. Not mine.
Then he returned. So he prays this prayer, he
returned and he found the disciples asleep.
So it's like normal Church taught me all still fall asleep
every week. I'm just kidding.
He returned to the Stables. He goes.
Don't you? Two stay here and pray with me.
We're gonna have a prayer meeting right now and he said he
returned and he found them asleep and so he says to Peter
Peter, couldn't you watch me one hour?
Why would he point out Peter? Because Peter was a fireball,
Peter be the first one to say, Jesus, I'll die for you, and he
goes up, but you can't even pray for me and stay awake for like
30 minutes. Keep watching pray, so that you
will not give in to Temptation for the spirit is willing, but
the body is weak. Then Jesus left the second time
and he pray the same prayer, my father.
If this cup cannot be taken away, see this persistence in
prayer. Unless I drink it, your will be
done when he returned to them again.
He found them what sleeping again for they could not keep
their As open. So we went to pray at third
time. This time, he just leaves him
be, he says the same things again, then he came to the
disciples and said, go ahead and sleep have your wrist, but look,
the time has come. The son of man is betrayed into
the hands of Sinners up. Let's be going.
And so they went towards the mob Judas, that was leading the mob
towards Jesus. He says, look my betrayer is
here. So as we begin, this new season
sort of New Year in a season of fasting and praying I couldn't
help but notice there are several lessons in here and
here's here's how I think today's going to hit.
I don't expect you to remember every lesson, but I think we're
going to get to one of them out of what Jesus teaches here about
pray. And we're going to get to one
and that's going to be the one and God's gonna say that one's
for you and so I hope you'll just take that one.
I all I'm asking is there's going to be one of these lessons
that we learn and it's just going to speak to your heart and
God is going to go. That's why you came today, like
that's the piece for you. So, I want you to look here.
First, it says Jesus took his disciples with him.
He went to the Olive Grove guard called gar simony, he went with
them and then he said to them, I want you to stay here while I go
over there and pray. Then he takes three, even a
little further. It seems like Peter James and
John. They go a little closer to where
Jesus actually bowed down to pray.
And so I learned something. When I looked at this, Jesus
prayed a lot in private, he would disappear to the mountain
overnight, he would pray and him come back.
We don't know what he prayed. We don't know how exactly what
Down out there when he was when he was with, with his father.
But in this situation, where his soul was literally grieved to
the point of death, he was sweating drops of blood.
He was anguished about what was about to happen in his life in
the burden that he carried. You know the first thing you see
that he took people with him on that Journey let me give you a
first lesson here you have to be willing to take some people with
you. Jesus didn't go at prayer alone.
He invited other people in. Now, we do know that we're
taught that we should go into our closet and close the door
and pray in private, and the father will hear him private and
he'll bless us openly like, I get that but also corporately
speak to him. We're not very good sometimes
that praying together. In fact I would, I would make a
strong argument that you show me a family who prays together at
home. There is a spiritual strength
and that family that others don't have.
If the enemy has taught you as a dad out of the Fact that you're
not good enough. Or as a husband out of the fact
that you're not good enough prayer Warrior to pray at home.
Listen, that's a lie. I'm prove it to you in a minute.
That's a lie. If you're a mom here, you're a
wife here, you're a young woman here and you feel like, you know
what, I don't know if I can pray out loud in my own shirt, you
can. But there is a powerful and a
strength whenever you take other people with you on the prayer
journey to, like, the people that are in your friend group,
pray together. Do you know why?
We don't take people with us on prayer Journeys and tell you
why? I don't It's Pride, we have to
lay down our pride and others to let you know the order to let
others into our prayer life. Here's the first thing, we had
to lay down. You got to be willing to share
the need. We've grown.
We've grown so prideful in our culture that we don't want to
admit that we have spiritual needs, and that we can't meet it
on our own. God put us here for together
prayer other people praying over you and praying with you and you
praying for them. But the second Pride we have to
lay down as our insecurities because sometimes how many times
would we love to be able to gather with people and pray, but
you feel insecure about your prayer life because the enemy
has lied to you and said, you know, you don't pray that well,
out loud. I mean, you beat yourself Self
up. There's this insecurity even
though you want to go with other people on a journey, whenever
you've been in a group before and people said to, somebody
want to pray, probably something you said, I wish I could, but I
just I just don't know if I can do that.
I'm praying for you through this season that God would just
remove that bondage from our lives.
We can talk to God. Look what Jesus said.
He debunked the idea that you have to be a great eloquent
prayer. He says when you pray don't
Babble on and on as the Gentiles do.
In other words it doesn't matter what the words you say, what?
How eloquent, Words are how much Bible you know, how many
scriptures can you bring in? How long are your prayers?
It doesn't matter. He says they think their prayers
are answered by repeating words again and again don't be like
them. Your father knows exactly what
you need before you ask. So the enemy will convince you
that you cannot pray well enough and it will push you out of
corporate prayer. Like when we have a prayer
gathering tonight I know at Oakwood, there's a prayer
gathering at 4 p.m. tonight. All we're going to do is come in
and worship and pray, it's going to be at 5:00 here in
Gainesville. We're going to come in and
worship and pray some people. Are scared of prayer and they
push back. I'm praying in Jesus name that
you be drawn into it because it's powerful, but pray and take
someone with you. Do you know, that's what we do
these connect cards, by the way. So many of you are so open and
honest and you share prayers every week and our entire, our
entire staff. We get to pray through those
every single week. Pray through and pray with you
and pray for you. And sometimes you may hear from
us about what we're praying from you.
But every single week I can assure you that we are praying
through those. And so that's kind of one of the
ways that we come together. Whether to pray.
Jesus teaches us something else here.
Spiritual battles can be won in prayer before the crisis shows
up in our life. The cross was the next day for
Jesus. He knew that he was aware that
the time had come his struggle with that Judgment of the
father, being poured out on him. It weighed Heavenly have a
heavily on him but do you know how he won the victory?
How he modeled the victory? Could be one that you got to
pray before the crisis comes every single person is good at
praying in a crisis. When your kid gets sick and you
can't do anything and you know, it's out of your hands.
Guess what? We all get really good at
praying when things are falling apart and you've done
everything. You can you find yourself in
that moment where you're like God it's out of my hands.
I can't do anything. We get better at praying in
those moments, even if you're not normally a prayer.
But do you know what Jesus models here?
If you will do spiritual Battle Before the crisis shows up in
your life, you will be prepared for whatever he's called you to,
for Jesus. It meant I'm going to be
obedient and go to the CrossFit. Spiritually.
He'd won that battle in his heart and he modeled that for
us. You ever heard this idea of
being prayed up, how many of you heard that before prayed up
prayed up? That's an old-school, you've got
to be around church for a while. My grandma, and I had an aunt,
who was Pentecostal? We should go Mississippi every
year. And boy, you talk about a prayer
meeting I ever prayed. Was a Pentecostal spoil.
I guess turn up. It's awesome.
But but, but yeah, she was Pentecostal Chief.
That's what she'd always say. We gonna get prayed up.
I mean, I mean, prayed up, maybe 30 minutes of prayer before we
eat. No, Joe can't believe she would
be And for a while, we call it on her, we were like, hey it's
30 more minutes for we eat. She can be praying for a while,
but prayer, I prayed up means this.
I'm going to get on my knees. I'm going to fight the spiritual
battle before before the crisis shows up in my life while
everything's good. You know, in the greatest time
to pray is when everything's good.
God I'm not going to back off because you know what happens
when everything is good and we get comfortable, we stop
fighting and prayer. In the next thing was the enemy
do smack comes along and he finds a weakness.
In us, but prayed up means, I'm gonna pray before the battle,
not just in the battle and so 21 days of fasting and prayer for
us. Here's how I see it.
It's almost like a tithe of our year.
To the Lord. God, I'm gonna give you the
first and best part of my year, my January, I'm gonna sacrifice
myself. I'm gonna be willing to pray and
seek you because I want to fight the spiritual, but I want to get
my heart one over before I even face any of my battles of the
rest of this year, there's going to be 11 more months that I can
face battles this year. But Lord, I'm going to get my
heart right now because No, I know that.
I need to be that. Listen, if you will fight in
prayer in secret, you will have power in public and people won't
be able to explain it. They'll get around, you know,
gum and that person has the anointing of God.
There's something different about them, they may not know
that it's because you were in your prayer closet, these first
21 days, you were seeking the Lord, maybe even fasting and
seeking the Lord. Let me give you a next.
The next lesson that Jesus teaches us ties, right in here.
The decision to pray is actually the first step to obey or
obedience. See, so many times when you have
a hard time obeying God, think about Jesus, I don't think he
had a hard time obeying God. He was Jesus.
But you know what? He modeled for us.
If you have a difficult task ahead of you and you know, God's
called you to something really difficult.
The first step, to, to obey, is actually pray.
Let me go ahead and pray. If you are dealing with a
difficult journey ahead of you already know God has called you
to an obedience in your life and it's hard.
It goes against your feelings that goes against the grain of
your normalcy, and gods go. No, I'm calling you out.
I'm calling you to something difficult this year.
You may not just take a step and Obey him, but you know what?
The first step could be this prayer.
She And because as we pray, we're going to lay our
everything before the Lord and say, God whatever you want, your
will be done, not mine and so as we pray to, we ask for boldness
and strength and then we get up and begin to walk towards him
after that. See, whether it's forgiveness
are breaking strongholds or breaking addictions, or just
taking some bold step of obedience, the decision to pray
is often the first step towards obedience.
So I want to look at this next lesson here.
Did you notice this verse 40? Jesus returned to the disciples
and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, couldn't you
watch with me even one hour? And then he goes away and he
prays, and he comes back in when he returns them.
Again, verse 42 43, he found them sleeping for.
They couldn't hold her eyes open.
And then we know the third time, he comes back and he finally
says, you know what just have your sleep.
As I read through this, the Lord showed me something I hadn't
seen before and it's this, the fourth lesson.
There are some prayer burdens that only you can carry.
There are Some prayer burdens that only you can carry.
God has given them to you to carry Jesus Took people with
him. Now again, we should not take
people with us but you notice they all fell asleep and he
didn't He modeled something here.
There was a burden on his heart and obviously the burden
concerned him specifically. But you can't get mad at people
who fall asleep during your prayer times.
When the kids were little, I think I've told you this before,
we had a table, looks like a square coffee table in our
living room and Andrew, and judder here.
But they, we talked about this this week, they remembered it.
But we got down around our table, right?
We pray sometimes dad Force this, okay.
I was trying to good pasture. I wanted it to be really
meaningful and I admit that the all sometimes it was just like,
come on, dad, we're tired, but we would get down around our
table and we would all go around and pray and I think judge, you
always like to be last. I would say, all right, who
wants to go first? He wants go last he wants.
Go say so we get an order and then we pray, I can't remember
Courtney, if you were like second or third in the order,
but we were praying we're down around our table.
You know, I think I pray and then maybe Courtney prayed and
she was like, dear Lord I just want to take it to some of the
songs. Y'all remember it was like
silent for like 10 seconds now sticking his, she emotional like
it's the Lord moving as a spirit moving her and then next thing
she's like like she's sleeping she was out.
So I was like Courtney, she goes.
Huh? Like right there in the moment,
she fell asleep. So I thought it was absolutely
there. So I don't think that that's
what that's what that's what we're talking about.
But I just thought, you know, it's easy to fall asleep
whenever you pray and sometimes, right?
Because I think we've all been there I'm gonna I'm gonna pray
tonight. Next thing, you know, You're
sawing logs, that's it. Jesus carried a prayer burden
and even though everybody slept, he didn't get mad at them and he
tried to wake him up, but he didn't get mad at them.
He just said, I'm going to carry this.
Don't get mad. If somebody else doesn't have
the same burden or is not broken about the same things you are.
Here's what I actually believe. If you look at the diversity of
the church, everybody can't have exactly the same burden, because
we wouldn't get everything done. We wouldn't have a burden to
accomplish everything. We're terrible at this church.
We judge other people because they don't have the same
burdens. We do one of the things that
causes division in the church is when somebody gets really
passionate about one thing and and you know a mission I'm
called to go overseas or I'm calling everybody else was like
well that's fine for you but we don't even really supported her
acknowledge it or maybe somebody else you know.
It has a specific call to do something in their city or in
their community and and sometimes we can want to shun it
because we don't feel that same burden.
And so, it works two ways. Listen, don't get angry.
If other people don't feel your burden, if God's given you the
burden, maybe you're the only one that has that burden, don't
you? Let go of it, don't you get
tired of praying about it and seeking it out, but church, we
have got to learn to celebrate the burdens of others and come
along and hold up some arms. We got to come along and listen
to more unified. We are all this diversity that
comes together all the That are in the house today, when we come
together and get unified, there's a lot of movement of God
that can happen. Let me flip the script for a
minute. Now, Peter didn't say this, or
at least, I think maybe he did say it, but they didn't record
it in scripture. But, you know, Peter was the guy
that was like, Jesus, I will die for you.
They will not take you. I mean, he was the first one to
speak up. So, when Jesus goes back down,
remember, he said, Peter, couldn't you even watch with me
one hour? It didn't record what Peter
said, but I bet you Peter said, Lord, I'm not going to let you
down this time. Like I will never go to sleep on
you again and then he comes back and he finds him asleep.
Peter's, like I'm going to pray with you.
I thought about it. It's kind of little side note
here. If you do tell someone, you're
going to pray for them. Don't lie about it.
Alright?
We got to have a real living room talk here for a minute.
How good are we at saying? You know what?
I'm praying for you. Pair hands, we send these
messages, I'm not saying you're not but I mean, come on.
How serious are we about our prayer life, when we tell people
we're praying for, do we really believe that we're going for the
god of the universe, who can do anything, and you can do all
things and who will want to pour out blessings on on his
children, who will want to bring healing?
Who will want to bring wholeness, or do we?
Just go is our prayer, no deeper than I prayed for you.
Sometimes we say, I prayed for you and they can easily mean.
Yep. That was my prayer.
So let me tell you, I've talked about this before.
Let me tell you how we can, how can we can change this in our
lives. First, ask people right there on
the spot. If they, if there's a prayer
need, can I pray with you right now?
Can I just pray over you right now?
Do you know how forgetful we are?
You mean to? And then you get down the road
if you'll just say right now. Hey, can I lift you before that?
You have a moment for me to lift it, whether it's on the phone.
I've even done this through text.
If I couldn't talk to somebody, literally just start typing out
a prayer in Jesus name over. D and just send it.
I want to pray for you right now.
I want to stop and get my mind in that right now.
And so it's that instead of saying praying for you, say, I
prayed for you and here's what I prayed, or can I pray with you
right now? There's a powerful powerful
message in there. Tucked in there right here, I'm
going to give you another powerful lesson when Jesus came
back and find the guys asleep. Here's what he says, keep
watching. Pray.
He didn't just want them praying for him.
He said, keep watching pray, so that she won't give in to
Temptation for the spirit is willing.
But the body is weak. Can it tell you what?
Jesus said here watching and praying stay awake and pray to
fight Temptation? Here's what he was saying,
prayer is the key to overcoming temptation.
It's hard to pray when you're tired, but it's easy to send
when you're tired ever. Notice that So I think Jesus
here said you know your flesh is really weak.
I know the spirits willing you want to do the right thing Peter
and guys you want to do the right thing but prayer is the
only way that you're going to actually move into fighting
against temptation. One scholar that I read this
week in study and said that you know Jesus knew that Peter would
deny him the next day. He said I wonder if Peter had
stayed awake and prayed through that night would have had the
strength to go to the Cross beside Jesus.
What do you said? No nail Me to the Cross now.
Ultimately, no. That wasn't what God wanted but
we do have had the strength then if he had stayed awake and
prayed that night, I don't know, but it's hard to pray when
you're tired it's easy to send when you're tired and so Jesus
is like stay awake and pray. When does the enemy attack us?
Most it at night when we're tired or in it, when our bodies
are exhausted, that seems to be an opportune time old things
come back on us. I would, I'd be willing to argue
even in in people that I know other course of my life, friends
that I've met with addictions often slip back in a moment of
being exhausted. It's A coping mechanism.
Marriages are often sacrificed when a person is completely
exhausted mentally and emotionally exhausted, that's
when things get sacrificed. And you know what?
Your enemy knows that Jesus said here, hey, I know you're tired,
but there's going to be times where you need to stay awake and
pray. You need to pray through, you
need to pray through. And if you pray through what
happens is many times, the Lord will finally bring a peace upon
you. You ever just find yourself
burden at night and tempted to just go down a path that you
know, you should. Never go down.
I pray that during this 21 days, if that happens to you, wake up
in the night and you're tempted and you your mind, struggling
and wandered that you literally just get out of your bed and get
on your knees and go to the Lord.
Just start praying. Just sit before him until you
feel a peace. Come sit before you him until
you know that he is with you and he has you So, we give you
another lesson here. How many times did Jesus, pray?
The same exact prayer? Three times here, right?
He prayed he came back. He prayed he came back.
Father, your will be done. Not mine.
I'd like for this cup to be taking more to Thatcher will,
but if your will not mine. So here, Jesus, is wrestling
with the wrath of God being poured out on him.
But did you notice that every time he prayed, he did not get
an answer, not recorded the father.
Didn't say there's no other way. The father didn't say there is
another way it was like, there's no way, Jesus is praying and we
don't see the father's response. Doesn't it say it clear that
glaringly obvious. That Jesus prayed a prayer in
the father did not speak back to him.
He didn't say, no Jesus, there is no other way.
Keep going, I learned so much when I read that though.
You know what I learned, here's the lesson persistence in prayer
will bring Clarity of God's will.
Jesus modeled this persistence in prayer, God didn't say, okay,
Jesus there's another way without the cross.
And so what did Jesus do? He just persevered in the
direction? He already knew he was called
too. God didn't show up and neither a
firm nor change the direction he just said, you know, the purpose
that you were called too long ago and so just keep walking
that path. There is no of the way but I
love that. He modeled it here.
It was persistence in prayer that he basically got the answer
Clarity of God's will. I'm heading in the right
direction. I'm going into the right thing
Alston. No answer means stay the path
that you're on. Is it a holy path?
Is it a Godly path that God puts you on that path to begin with?
Did you pray and God didn't change the direction.
He didn't show you anything. Thing else to do, he didn't
reveal something. That usually is a calling to
just keep going on the path that you're on.
It's not a sin. If it's not a sinful path, if
it's an honoring path to God, and God hasn't given clear
direction and you have to keep on being faithful.
It's too many people give up too soon.
What I mean by that. I mean, you, you know, you had a
God moment where you felt the spirit of God move in your life
and you started down that path with him, like assured.
Like I know I'm going in this Direction, Lord, this is what
seems like what you laid in front of me and say, you start
going in the direction of the calling.
But then, over the long time, even though nothing has changed,
you feel like you just need to change in your life and you pray
about it and God doesn't give you an answer.
He didn't give you a new job. He didn't change the direction.
He didn't tell you to move cities.
He doesn't change everything. And you know what?
Usually that means keep Being faithful in faith.
God is going to work in time. And tell you how it's happened
to me over the course of years. I knew that I was called to do
something for the Lord when I was about 13 years old and you
go Joe, how did you know that? Well, I couldn't articulate all
of it, but I can go back and tell you like, I knew that God
was calling me when I was young, but I was 28 years old 2008.
I was sitting in a conference and there's this guy named
Henry. Blackaby was just that I was
actually a little bitty card, just a few people sitting in a
bill room. And as I was sitting there, God
is just speaking to me through this guy, this preacher that was
preaching. And and and and I was all ready,
sir. Serving in Ministry at the time,
but my call was clarified in, my heart was inaudible, but in that
room that day, I felt the Lord say to me.
Hey, I'm calling you follow me. It was almost like a response to
these the Lord. I'll follow you.
What do you want me to do? And literally in my heart, I
felt him. Say, follow me and I'll show you
just keep following me and that led me all the way to where I am
today. Do you know why that's important
to go back to that calling though?
It's because many times I've been beat up and I wanted to go
back to construction if I'm really, really honest with you.
There's some days where I go, you know what, I just want to go
Go back and build houses. Again, I was good at that and it
was easier. Sometimes.
Listen, that's mmm. In my weak moments here.
But you know what, the lord always does, I know I'm where
I'm supposed to be doing. I supposed to be doing, I'll go
back to that calling, he hadn't changed it even when you pray.
Sometimes God, will you change the direction?
This is hard and he'll go nothing crickets.
You know what that means? I've already called you just
keep putting your feet in the direction of obedience that you
already knew so many times. My calling from 2008, has kept
me getting up another day and fight another day.
And so, maybe you need to hear that.
If you're in a tough season right now, God hadn't shown you
another way, keep being obedient.
Right? Where you are.
Keep on praying and obeying the last word that you heard only
give you the last the last lesson, I'll share with us
today. Jesus got up from his prayer and
he headed towards Judas. He headed to meet those that
were going to arrest him. And here's the lesson, we have
to move our feet in the direction of our prayers.
We gotta move our feet in the direction of our prayers.
Look, what Jesus said, here up, let's be going.
He didn't say up. Let's be running further to the
mountains. He got it up.
It'll be D. It said, look my betrayer is
here. He was going to meet Judas.
He did not run from God's will even though it was painful.
This is what it means to have faith is to get up and just walk
towards the direction. You think.
God has you going in? What did he call you too?
So I've gotten this question over over time.
What if I'm trying to follow Jesus, but I'm going in the
wrong direction. I think a lot of, a lot of
Believers get paralyzed because the like, God, I need you to
show me. I want to move my feet in the
direction on my prayers, but like, your lord, you go.
You got to show me, God. I don't know what to do.
And what happens is, instead of just like stepping out on faith
anywhere, we just get paralyzed when we sit still, and then, in
the next year, you're in the same place.
And in the next year, you're in the same place, I heard a quote
from Elizabeth Elliott Here's what she said.
You can't steer a parked car. And when I read it, I was like,
what in the world is that me? So I had to go as in ag a book.
I think called through the gates of Splendor and I wouldn't get
the book. I was I got to see what's, what
in the world is he talking about?
You can't steer a parked car? What kind of invitation is that?
But what she said is, she said if God is leading you in a good
direction and you've prayed about it and you feel that
you're gifted for and you feel that there's a drawing towards
it, our God is a god of action. And so unless he has told you to
be still and not go, it's often really good to just start in the
direction. You think.
God has called you to start preparing for the direction.
You know why? Because once you start the car
rolling, it God is Sovereign enough that if you're heading in
the wrong, good direction. He'll head you in the better
Direction. He I'd grab the wheel and say no
no no I know you were trying to serve me over there and do good
and you were living holy. But I'm gonna grab the wheel
here and we're going to take a right, not a left and so that
helped my heart so much like just do something for Jesus.
Just get passionate about something.
Start moving in a direction, pray about it.
Seeking ask if your gift sets as the Lord equipping you to do,
what he's calling you to start moving in that direction and
even if you get it wrong, God will come in and go, I'll
redirect. You, are you doing this?
Because you love me. Are you serving me or using your
gifts to me? And as you go in that direction,
he is Sovereign enough to grab the wheel.
If I'm really, really honest. Whenever I felt called to
RiverBend, I did not know 100% all supposed to come here.
You like Cho. You move to a new church without
knowing 100% yet. Every time I've ever moved or
made a big transition, I was not 100% on the flip side, I can
tell you 100%, I know. But God is always going to ask
you to start the car moving and trust him.
Trust him in a Direction. Have you prayed about it?
As God moved me at all? Yes he had.
He had moved me here we begin to pray.
Nick sent back and I'll sound booth this morning.
He sent me a message on Twitter, it wasn't like Heavenly dropped
it, you know, Heavenly drop of like hey this is it.
It was like Hey you know, you're praying about lead pastoring,
there's a church reaching out to you.
We wrote we wrote up here and rode through the parking lot and
then the Lord began to affirm it.
Say, you know what, this is it, this is what I have for you
church. I don't know which one of these
lessons was for you this morning, but here's the
ultimate, here's the bottom line of it is to go Jesus, you're
will not mind because I know you love me because I know you won't
good for me because I know you'll do what's best for me
because I know you want a relationship with me.
Your will not On Lord. That's what I'm saying today.
So I wanna invite you want invite you to pray that prayer.
Your will not mind board. But let me give you give you
this thought. As we wrap up the back to what
we talked about early, the decision to pray is the first
step to obey God has more for you.
He has a best for you in 2023. I really believe.
It begins with the decision to pray, maybe the decision to pray
and to fast, your will not mind is a transforming prayer that
we're going to pray. So here's what I want to invite
you here, and it Oakwood today. I want to invite you to let me
pray over you, and actually let us pray for each other.
If you're going on this journey, you're going on this pier
adjourn and you want to pray like Jesus, and you want to
learn from from how he prayed, and then maybe there's some
breakthroughs in your life. You're praying against some
addictions. You're praying for some family
members to know Christ, you're praying for healing or
restoration. You're praying about a sickness
that you're dealing with in your body.
I want to ask you in just a moment to stand.
Maybe you're just taking this seriously for the first time or
maybe you're just taking it seriously again this year and
you go Joe. I really want to do well over
these next 21 days. I believe it.
With prayer. And so I want you to be praying
to the Lord, and I'm going to pray for you both here and in
Oakwood. So just a moment, I'll do that.
We ask you to Bow all over bow, your heads with me if you will
at Oakwood just for a moment and here's what I want to ask you to
do if that's you you go. That's me.
I got big prayers Bowl prayers. I'm praying during this 21 days.
I need prayer, I need you to pray over me that I can truly
live. The your will not mine.
Here's what I want you to do. Just stand to your feet right?
Where you are all over the house.
If that's you stand up, I'm going to pray for you.
Oakwood you to stand to your feet right now.
All over the place. If you're going, man.
Hey, I'm going on this journey. This year, I need prayer.
I need help. Getting this right as we go
forward. So father, I just want to lift
up all my friends that are here now God, those are the standing
got it. Oakwood I want to pray in Jesus
name that just your power and your strength would come Lord.
It is hard to say, your will not mine Jesus.
We see how you model that prayer.
We have all these lessons that we learn, but that don't make it
easy. And so God, I'm asking you, when
will you give us the strength to say yes to you to do the right
things as we move? Lord Lord to try something new
to step out on Faith. Lord to know that even if this
is the direction fasting, and praying that we're going to move
in this direction, we're going to move towards you.
Lord, I believe that there's some being called two big things
in both things. Lord their dreams you planted in
hearts and have been lying dormant.
There's callings on people's lives that they haven't stepped
into and so Lord. I want to pray through this 21
days. Will you call us higher Lord?
When you call out those that are supposed to serve you and unique
ways? Lord will you All people deeper
into a relationship to know you more.
Will you call us further into surrender?
Father, may this be the most powerful season that we've ever
had in our lives as we pray together over the next 21 days
and we'll give you all the glory Lord help us.
As we set out on this journey, as we set out on this journey in
Jesus name, everybody said, amen.
When you stand to your feet and less worship together today.
Thank you for listening to the Riverbend Church podcast.
Learn more about who we are as a church and how to connect Can
head over to our website Riverbend church.
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