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In 2023 when I became the lead 
pastor, I set out on a multi 

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year journey to cover the basics
of our faith. 

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This has included sermon series 
through Genesis in the fall and 

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then in the spring, working our 
way through important summaries 

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of the Christian faith that have
been used to taught to teach 

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Christians Christianity for 
thousands of years. 

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And it's important as I continue
into this spring and do another 

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one of these summaries, which is
the Lord's Prayer, that we 

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understand how it fits within 
this larger scheme or program. 

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It's important for growing 
Christians to be developing 

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their their minds and their 
hearts and their hands in these 

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distinct areas. 
We need to know our Bibles. 

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This is the leg of the triangle 
that has to do with biblical 

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literacy. 
Do you know where things are? 

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Do you, are you familiar with 
the stories? 

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But besides this, we also need 
to be doctrinally wise. 

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We need to know some things 
theologically because your Bible

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doesn't have a book called 
first, Trinitarianism or second 

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Substitutionary Atonement. 
You, you have to study the whole

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counsel of God's Word according 
to those particular areas to 

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know what God is like and what 
is salvation is like. 

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This is the area of theology. 
But we also need to be able to 

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live holy lives. 
We need to have biblical 

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disciplines and holy habits in 
order to shine brightly in the 

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world in order to indeed live 
out the things that we've been 

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learning their Bible and with 
our doctrines. 

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Theology is sometimes called 
doctrine. 

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Those are synonyms for our 
purposes. 

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Also, the practices sometimes 
are called disciplines. 

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Perhaps you've heard that word 
used. 

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You could also think about 
theology as the more on the 

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beliefs side and the practices 
more on the habits side. 

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These are all helpful synonyms 
for our purposes. 

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The old term and the term I like
to continue teaching from this 

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pulpit for beginning 
Christianity or the basics. 

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The fundamentals has to do with 
catechesis. 

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Nothing to be afraid of. 
Catechesis just means the 

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teaching process and what is 
taught through the teaching 

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process. 
The content of that teaching is 

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known as catechism and there are
many historic summaries of the 

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faith that you can look up and 
read through. 

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Too much edification and growth.
Often these historical summaries

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are designed, built, explain 
three main documents. 

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There may be a couple more, but 
the three main ones are the 

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Apostles Creed, the 10 
Commandments, and the Lord's 

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Prayer, the Apostles Creed, the 
10 Commandments, and the Lord's 

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Prayer. 
So 2 springs ago, we preached 

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slowly through the 10 
commandments, side by side with 

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our Lord's Sermon on the Mount 
as he explains those 

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commandments for us. 
Last spring we worked our way 

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line by line, sometimes phrase 
by phrase through the Apostles 

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Creed. 
And this spring, not that much 

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different. 
We'll go slowly through the 

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Lord's Prayer, learning what it 
is for us. 

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Jai Packer noted that these 
three summaries really do 

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capture kind of the middle or 
the basics, the the starting 

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point. 
And you could think about the 

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Apostles Creed as laying out the
things that we believe, the 10 

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commandments and the ethic that 
goes with it, the way we behave,

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and the Lord's Prayer giving us 
a summary, a basis, a foundation

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for how we commune with God, 
communing, believing, behaving, 

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communing. 
That's very helpful. 

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Notice also that it's all 
profoundly biblical. 

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The writers of the Apostles 
Creed weren't making anything 

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up. 
They were following the biblical

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text and noticing its 
priorities. 

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Interesting. 
As I was studying for this, it's

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working in the Taylor Library 
and I I enjoy pulling off the 

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shelves in the Taylor library. 
Luther's commentaries, Luther's 

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works. 
It takes up two, like two whole 

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shelves, not only for his 
profound and often extremely 

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helpful biblical insights, but 
also for the funny parts too. 

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He's tremendously entertaining 
and sure enough, he delivered a 

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real gem. 
So he'll put his picture up here

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and read to you his preface to 
his Shorter Catechism, how he 

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explains why he felt the need to
write it. 

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I'm going to read this to you. 
It's fantastic. 

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Remember, this guy wrote 500 
years ago. 

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Words are still helpful for us 
today. 

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He starts off this way. 
Grace, mercy and peace in Jesus 

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Christ our Lord. 
From Martin Luther to all 

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faithful, godly pastors and 
preachers. 

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So far, so good. 
The deplorable, miserable 

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conditions which I discovered 
during a recent visit has forced

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and pressed me to prepare this 
catechism or statement of 

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Christian doctrine in very brief
and simple terms. 

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God help us what miseries I 
beheld. 

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The ordinary people, especially 
those who lived in the country, 

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know nothing at all of Christian
doctrine, and alas, many pastors

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are all together inept and 
incompetent to teach them. 

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00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,200
Nevertheless, all maintain that 
they are Christians, have been 

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baptized and received the holy 
sacraments, yet they know 

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neither the Lord's Prayer, nor 
the Creed nor the 10 

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Commandments. 
They live like mere cattle and 

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irrational hogs. 
And now that the Gospel has 

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come, they have finally mastered
the abuse of every kind of 

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freedom. 
You bishops, how will you answer

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to Christ for having neglected 
the people so shamefully and 

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never for a moment discharged 
your office? 

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At this point I'm looking 
around. 

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Is Luther in here? 
Is he talking to me? 

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May you avoid all misfortune. 
You command the sacrament and 

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insist on your human laws, yet 
at the same time you do not care

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in the least whether the people 
know the Lord's Prayer, the 

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Creed, the Commandments, or any 
part of the Word of God. 

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Woe to you forever. 
Therefore, I plead with you all 

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for God's sake. 
My dear sirs and brother, 

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pastors and preachers, devote 
yourselves wholeheartedly to 

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your office. 
Have pity on the people 

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entrusted to you and help us 
instill the catechism in the 

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people and especially in the 
young. 

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Wow. 
I was happy when I moved here in

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2012. 
I have two little kids and we're

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checking out the children's 
ministry to find that the 

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Wednesday night program called 
Basics. 

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It's like Awanas, if you grew up
with Awanas was a way to teach 

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the kids the faith and it was 
not only a scripture memory 

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program, but it also had if you 
wanted to, you could learn your 

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catechism as well. 
They use the New City Catechism 

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modified for UCC. 
I was excited to know that my 

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kids would go through through 
such a program and that the 

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negligence that Luther is 
describing in this passage was 

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not the case here in this 
community. 

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And I look forward to going 
through all of these things with

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you to learn what we can 
together. 

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We are in the Luke's Gospel, 
Chapter 11, as was read in the 

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Scripture reading. 
I encourage you to follow along 

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in your Bibles. 
We're not going to go very far. 

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And all spring will go slowly 
through this text because it is 

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packed full of important wisdom 
for us. 

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Let me read it again Luke's 
Gospel beginning in verse 1 of 

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Chapter 11. 
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. 
And he said to them, when you 

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pray, say, Father hallowed, be 
your name, your Kingdom come. 

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Give us each day Our Daily Bread
and forgive us our sins as we 

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ourselves forgive any everyone 
who is indebted to us and lead 

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us not into temptation for our 
points. 

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Today I'm taking some of the 
contextual things before the 

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prayer the disciple asks, Lord, 
teach us to pray. 

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Lord, teach us to pray. 
These words are important. 

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The first thing that you can 
notice is the word Lord. 

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This means that the disciples 
are in relationship with their 

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Master as his learners, as His 
followers, as his disciples. 

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He is the rabbi, He is the 
teacher. 

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They submit to him and listen to
his authority for their lives. 

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This is tremendously important 
because prayer can't exist until

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there's relationship. 
And the big problem with ruined 

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sinners, which the Bible says is
all of us without Christ, is 

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that our relationship has been 
fractured with God. 

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Do you remember the story in 
Genesis? 

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The humans are made and the 
story is of perfect intimacy 

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says that they walk with God in 
the cool of the day. 

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They converse with him, they 
talk to him, close intimacy. 

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But but after the sin, after the
rebellion, that intimacy is 

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lost. 
It's shattered, it's broken. 

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And instead of walking with God 
in the cool of the day, instead 

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you have God crying out to Adam.
Where are you and the humans 

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responding? 
We were afraid of you, so we 

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hid. 
Where is that intimacy, that 

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closeness, that communion, that 
conversation when there is now 

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hiding? 
So this reminds us, and we 

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should probably catalog some of 
the major barriers that sin 

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brings into our lives. 
Have you ever wondered why 

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prayer is hard? 
Or maybe I'm the only one in the

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room that thinks prayer is hard.
Prayer is hard. 

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Why is prayer hard? 
Because everything within our 

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fallen nature is bent and dead 
set against prayer. 

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Intellectually. 
Intellectually, we have 

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00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:25,600
problems. 
Intellectual bearers. 

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Why? 
Because we want to do things our

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own way. 
We think we know better than 

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God. 
We are tremendously arrogant. 

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But not only do we have the 
barrier of arrogance, we also 

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have ignorance. 
We don't know what we ought to 

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pray about. 
We don't know how to pray. 

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We don't even know where to 
begin should we want to in the 

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1st place, which we don't. 
So we have intellectual barriers

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of arrogance and ignorance, but 
we also have theological 

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barriers in our ignorance. 
We wonder what's prayer even 

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for, Taught college students for
a lot of years. 

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And that question comes up. 
You can predict it and every 

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generation of college students. 
Dan, what is prayer for? 

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What does it even do? 
It's so hard, I don't even know 

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where to begin. 
Besides intellectual barriers 

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and theological barriers, we 
also have emotional barriers, 

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don't we? 
Especially if we've tried prayer

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and have been disappointed with 
our results. 

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Emotional barriers such as 
disappointment or anger with 

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00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,040
God. 
Why did he allow this to happen?

192
00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:44,840
Why doesn't he do something? 
Doesn't he care? 

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00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:50,880
Is he even there? 
Emotional barriers related to 

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00:12:50,880 --> 00:13:03,200
distrust and doubt, sadness, 
shame, embarrassment, Powerful 

195
00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,680
emotions that keep us from 
crying out to the Lord in our 

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00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:09,720
sinful nature and indwelling 
sin. 

197
00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:13,120
Besides intellectual and 
emotional and theological 

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00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,000
barriers, we also have 
volitional barriers that that 

199
00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,240
the barriers that have to do 
with our own will. 

200
00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,200
Frankly, to put it simply, why 
pray? 

201
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:28,480
I'd rather do something else. 
Again, this is a demonstration 

202
00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,600
of our pride. 
But besides all of these 

203
00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:34,880
barriers, we also have 
contextual barriers, 

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00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:36,960
environmental barriers, don't 
we? 

205
00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:44,160
Endless distraction, pointing, 
pulling us off, surrounded often

206
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:47,520
by a by prayerless friends, 
perhaps. 

207
00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:52,440
Or maybe your situation is just 
sleepiness. 

208
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:55,960
I'm up all night, I can't really
sleep. 

209
00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,080
I have insomnia. 
But in the morning when I try to

210
00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:02,800
pray, I fall right to sleep. 
Contextual barriers. 

211
00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:09,720
All of this sort of builds a 
case where we just feel and know

212
00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,760
intuitively, my friends, prayer 
is impossible, isn't it? 

213
00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,240
Let's just be honest, Prayer is 
impossible. 

214
00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:22,000
Sin makes it impossible. 
So we need a divine intervention

215
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,200
to change us. 
This is where grace comes in. 

216
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:27,560
This is where the gospel comes 
in. 

217
00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:32,560
This is where the Lord seeks and
finds and clothes where he 

218
00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:38,160
provides. 
And we repent of our unbelief 

219
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,440
and we give over our intellect 
and our volition and our 

220
00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:44,280
emotions, and we say, Lord, 
teach me to pray. 

221
00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,400
And so we have the miracle of 
redeeming love whereby our 

222
00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,520
hearts are converted and we, 
like the disciples, can say, 

223
00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,680
Lord, this is where it all 
starts. 

224
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,560
And they know that they need to 
be taught to pray and they need 

225
00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:07,200
to be taught by Him to pray. 
He is their Lord and teacher. 

226
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,160
We too must be taught. 
He is their model. 

227
00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:11,800
Did you notice the context in 
verse one? 

228
00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:16,000
It says now Jesus was praying in
a certain place and when he 

229
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,000
finished, one of his disciples 
came up and saw him. 

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So they're observing his prayer 
life. 

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They're experiencing Him as a 
man of prayer. 

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They also know that his cousin 
John the Baptist taught his 

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disciples to pray. 
So this disciple says, Lord 

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teach us to pray. 
He is their model, but not only 

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is He the model, He is the means
for prayer. 

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We'll get into this more later. 
But without the redeeming love 

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of Jesus, without His person and
work for us on the cross, 

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without His ministry as great 
High Priest interceding and 

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praying for us, we have no hope,
no chance at all. 

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And it's amazing thought that 
He's not only the model, but 

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He's the means of our prayer, 
that He makes our prayers 

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powerful and effective through 
his ministry on our behalf. 

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You never pray alone. 
Teach us to pray. 

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Interesting. 
Jesus here does not launch into 

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a long theological digression on
what prayer is. 

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He doesn't start in Genesis and 
work his way through the Old 

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Testament building a biblical 
theology of prayer. 

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No, he doesn't. 
We need that. 

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In fact, we need some 
definition, some places to 

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start. 
So that's what I'm going to do. 

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First, let's look indeed at the 
New city. 

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Catechism actually has a 
question on this as it 

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introduces the Lord's Prayer 
question #38 is what is prayer? 

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Let's get ready for a 
definition. 

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The writers of the New City 
Catechism pull from the Psalms 

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and come up with this 
definition. 

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Prayer is pouring out our hearts
to God in praise, petition, 

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confession of sin, and 
Thanksgiving. 

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Pouring out our hearts to God is
a phrase that they get from 

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Psalm 62 down in verse 8. 
It says trust in Him at all 

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times. 
O people, pour out your hearts 

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before Him. 
God is a refuge for us. 

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It's a beautiful definition. 
It's a whole person definition, 

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Mine, heart, hands, all of it. 
And we can go even further as we

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think about that, pouring out 
our heart as the definition of 

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prayer, as we consider what 
Jesus does do, then he doesn't 

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give him the definition. 
He just tells them when you 

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pray, say, which is our second 
point, when you pray, say, I 

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love this. 
I love this because it reminds 

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me as a parent how I taught my 
little kids, especially when 

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they're at table, say please, 
say thank you. 

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And parents feel like a broken 
record as they are constantly 

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every single day giving them the
kids the script. 

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Again, use your gentle words. 
Say I'm sorry. 

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And Jesus in dealing with his 
disciples gives them a script, 

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really not an essay or a 
theological treatise on prayer, 

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but something to say. 
Here's the place to start. 

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You want to learn how to pray, 
Say these words. 

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He responds with a prayer that 
they can pray and they can 

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literally say the words. 
But the thing that's so profound

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and interesting about the Lord's
Prayer is that it's not just an 

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incantation, a magic words, 
something to memorize and pair 

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it out. 
It's actually an outline. 

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It's a robust, compact formula 
of a profoundly flourishing 

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prayer life. 
We begin, like children, with 

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imitation, learning how to talk.
But then we can expand and learn

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that these are indeed 
categories, types of prayer, put

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in a very specific order that we
will explore over the coming 

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weeks. 
Ji Packer and his accessible and

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00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,080
short book on the Lord's Prayer.
I recommend this to all of you. 

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It's called praying the Lord's 
Prayer. 

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00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:49,200
He, like any good preacher who 
went to alliteration class in 

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00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:54,240
seminary, gives you these 7A's. 
Isn't that lovely? 

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I don't know how helpful you 
find that, but preachers think 

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it's great approaching 
approaching God and adoration 

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00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:08,080
and trust. 
Acknowledging his work and His 

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00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:13,000
worth in praise and worship. 
Admitting sin and seeking 

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pardon. 
Asking that needs be met for 

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00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:21,840
ourselves and others. 
Arguing with God for blessing. 

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00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:26,040
Like Jacob in Genesis 32, Packer
says God loves to be argued 

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00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:34,160
with, accepting from God one's 
own situation as he has shaped 

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00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:35,360
it. 
Your will be done. 

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00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:42,280
And finally adhering to God, 
sticking to him in faithfulness 

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through thick and thin. 
It's a beautiful list. 

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00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:50,560
They all start with a it's a 
little bulky to teach kids. 

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00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:56,560
So this is what we do ACTS, 
spells, axe. 

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00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:04,360
It's easy to remember adoration,
confession, Thanksgiving, and 

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00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:06,520
then we throw the kids a big 
word because we want to build up

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00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,680
their vocabulary. 
Supplication, which means 

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presenting your requests to God,
your prayer requests. 

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00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,080
All of this is within the Lord's
Prayer, and I look forward to 

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00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,120
going through it with you in the
coming weeks. 

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00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:28,040
What can we say by way of 
application this morning as we 

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00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,720
think this through first? 
The first thing that I want to 

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00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,640
say is that the disciples, they 
can't learn how to pray. 

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00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,520
None of us can learn how to pray
until we first can say Lord. 

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00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,920
So we must believe. 
We must believe in the Lord 

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00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:52,880
Jesus Christ, ask Him to save 
us, submit to His authority and 

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00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,840
to His plan. 
And until that happens, we are 

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00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:03,040
kind of in a situation where He 
stands at the door knocking, 

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00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,200
waiting for us to open it and 
draw Him into our hearts. 

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00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:12,120
Are you a believer this morning?
Have you entered into a 

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relationship with Jesus? 
Can you call him Lord Jesus? 

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00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:24,440
Can you ask of him, Lord teach 
me and actually receive teaching

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00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,880
from him? 
The first command is to believe.

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00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,160
But that's not just for those 
who have never said Lord to 

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00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,880
Jesus. 
It's also for the saved, for the

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00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:40,480
redeemed, for all of us to 
continue daily to step into 

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00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,960
submission with Christ, to say, 
Lord, teach me to have that 

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00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:51,240
openness of heart to receive 
from Him what He says, to ask 

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00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:52,960
Him. 
Even if our faith is weak. 

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00:22:52,960 --> 00:23:00,120
Lord, I do believe, help my 
unbelief, because prayer is 

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00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:03,680
impossible without his help, 
without his intervention, 

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00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:11,680
without his grace. 
Believe #2 plan. 

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00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,960
My choir teacher in high school,
brilliant lady named Marsha 

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00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:21,200
Yost, she always said make a 
plan, work a plan. 

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00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,440
We're going to make a plan, work
a plan. 

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00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,720
It's one of her little sayings 
that we loved. 

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00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,040
And you've heard it said other 
ways or other cliches, right? 

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00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:34,240
If you fail to plan, then you 
plan to fail. 

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00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,560
You know this, right? 
And there are there's a godly 

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00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,840
way to make plans and an ungodly
way to make plans. 

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00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,560
We were supposed to say if the 
Lord wills and involve the Lord 

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00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,440
in our planning. 
But we do need to plan to pray. 

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00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,720
Often people have Bible reading 
plans that they make as part of 

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00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:55,080
their New Year's resolution. 
We need, we need prayer plans. 

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00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,760
What's your plan? 
Maybe you need a prayer partner.

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00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:01,400
Maybe you'd like to go on walks 
with the Lord. 

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00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:03,600
Maybe you're a journaling type 
and you're going to ride it out 

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00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:09,000
and make a plan, and hopefully 
that plan makes it more than a 

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00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:14,160
day or so, makes it more than a 
couple weeks. 

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00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,320
How are your New Year's 
resolutions doing, by the way? 

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00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,280
It's first Sunday of February. 
Did you know that there's 

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00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,200
something called Quitter's Day, 
National Quitter's Day? 

355
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,560
It's the second February every 
January where most people give 

356
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:30,520
up on their New Year's 
resolutions. 

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00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,160
We would love to make it past 
Quitters Day, which this year 

358
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:38,120
was only on the 9th of January, 
in our Bible reading plans and 

359
00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:42,520
in our prayer plans, to develop 
a holy habit where we persevere 

360
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,040
with the Lord. 
But it's going to take a plan 

361
00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:50,040
and deliberate action, maybe 
even accountability, in order to

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00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:53,160
carry it out. 
I hope in the weeks to come that

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00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:59,520
I give very practical ways for 
us to do this together, make a 

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00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:04,280
plan, work a plan. 
And finally, if you need a place

365
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,680
to start and all of us do. 
I think that this is so helpful.

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00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:12,120
Even now as a pastor, whether 
I'm praying in public or praying

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00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:14,720
for my kids, praying with my 
wife, praying over the dinner 

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00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:19,520
table, we don't always follow 
this, but it's a good place to 

369
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,880
start. 
It's so easy for our prayers to 

370
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,840
just become the supplication 
part, the prayer requests part. 

371
00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,360
And we may need practice and 
expansion and thinking about the

372
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,720
attributes of God to to spend a 
moment in our prayers praising 

373
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:40,080
Him for his, for his wisdom, for
his power, for his, for his 

374
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:44,520
beauty, for his love. 
We have to know something about 

375
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:48,360
his attributes in order to pray 
them in praise back to Him. 

376
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:54,360
Confession of sin. 
It's a good place to say, hey, 

377
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,720
you know what, I'm not perfect. 
I blew it. 

378
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,120
And how often we can learn, even
through our times of confession 

379
00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:05,480
with God, that we need to go 
have that conversation with 

380
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,560
somebody that we really did not 
speak gently to earlier in the 

381
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:13,080
day. 
Please forgive me, I'm sorry, I 

382
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,680
was wrong. 
Thanksgiving. 

383
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,840
Thanksgiving is in the very 
center of the Christian life. 

384
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,920
The person who is spiritually 
mature and full of the Holy 

385
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,640
Spirit is a fountain of 
Thanksgiving. 

386
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,880
They can't help it. 
It just comes flowing out of 

387
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:31,360
them. 
They can't help it. 

388
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,320
It's in the very center of the 
Christian life. 

389
00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,720
Now, finally, we're ready. 
We're ready. 

390
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:42,680
We're primed to give our 
requests to God, which is a very

391
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:46,200
important spiritual practice, 
but not the only one. 

392
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,320
And I'm glad that we remember to
do that in sequence and in 

393
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,000
fullness with the others. 
And we're going to enjoy going 

394
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,520
through the supplications in 
this prayer over the coming 

395
00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:59,400
weeks. 
I hope that you're excited to 

396
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:01,080
grow in prayer. 
I know that I am. 

397
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:05,520
We all need this. 
So whether you're thinking about

398
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:12,800
Packers 7A's or this Axe model, 
just think about prayer. 

399
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,480
Most is simply being 
conversation with God made 

400
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:21,680
possible by Jesus. 
So to conclude, as I said, 

401
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,080
prayer is fundamentally 
conversation with God. 

402
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,960
Our sin makes it impossible, but
God's grace to us in the gospel 

403
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:35,400
not only makes prayer possible, 
but makes it beautiful too. 

404
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,320
I'll conclude these weeks by 
praying the Lord's Prayer with 

405
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,360
you. 
And I would invite you over the 

406
00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:43,040
coming weeks to pray it along 
with me. 

407
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,200
And if you don't know it, if 
you've never learned it, that's 

408
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,840
OK. 
Just listen, pray along with the

409
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,960
people around you. 
I think what will happen though 

410
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:54,560
to you could be what happened to
me as a little boy, as I heard 

411
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:58,600
my grandparents pray this prayer
repetitively in my life when I 

412
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,320
was a little kid. 
Eventually I could pray along 

413
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,760
with them as well. 
And there are several different 

414
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:06,240
versions. 
It was hard for me to pick. 

415
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,400
And so for today, I may change 
this up, but for today, I'll 

416
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,800
pray the version that my 
grandparents prayed who are now 

417
00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,360
with the Lord. 
And you are invited to join with

418
00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:17,960
me. 
What that means is when we get 

419
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:23,400
to the sin, debts or trespasses 
part, I'll say trespasses. 

420
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,800
OK, trespasses. 
All right, let us pray. 

421
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:35,160
Our Father, who art in heaven, 
hallowed be thy name, Thy 

422
00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:40,080
Kingdom come, Thy will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven. 

423
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,520
Give us this day Our Daily 
Bread, and forgive us our 

424
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,960
trespasses, as we forgive those 
who trespass against us. 

425
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,480
Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil. 

426
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:58,560
For thine is the Kingdom, and 
the power and the glory forever.

427
00:28:59,160 --> 00:28:59,640
Amen.