1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:06,160 Good morning, everybody. So glad you're joining us here 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:11,080 on this beautiful August long weekend dead of summer, but glad 3 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,800 you chose to be here to worship with us today. 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,720 Turn your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 30, verses 9:00 to 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:20,560 11:00. If you're going to use one of 6 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,760 the Bibles located under some of the seats here in the 7 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:28,640 auditorium, that's page 584. Really thankful for Pastor 8 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,120 Andrew being here last week. Actually super thankful for the 9 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,840 incredible team of preachers and communicators that God's blessed 10 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,760 us with at Forward Church. And just a variety of voices 11 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:40,920 that we get to hear through the course of the summer and through 12 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,600 this series. If you're new with us, through 13 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,760 the course of the summer, we're walking through this series 14 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,240 called Ancient Prayers Present Power, and we're looking at 15 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:56,240 prayers that are found in the Bible to help us deepen our own 16 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,520 prayer life. Max Lucado has this wonderful 17 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,360 quote. He says this, our prayers may be 18 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:04,360 awkward. So if you feel like man, 19 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,320 praying's weird, praying's awkward, you're in good company. 20 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:11,280 All of us at times feel that. He says our prayers may be 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,480 awkward. Our attempts may be feeble, but 22 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:20,760 since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not the 23 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,720 one who says it, our prayers do make a difference. 24 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,160 I love that quote. I think it's a really helpful 25 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,760 quote to kind of get us re centered here as we enter into 26 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,680 this week because we've been talking about going in prayer 27 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,120 and the danger is as we walk through these prayers in 28 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:44,480 Scripture that we can start to see them as a formula rather 29 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,200 than as a teaching and instructive reality. 30 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,640 We can start to think of prayer like magic where I just have to 31 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,800 get the right words in the right order in order to make something 32 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,880 happen, to make God act. But that's not who our God is. 33 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:05,080 Our God is not a God who is just waiting for us to give the right 34 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,800 incantation for him to come and act on our behalf. 35 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,560 Now our God is a God who loves us. 36 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,120 He's active and present. He wants to act, but more than 37 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,120 that, he wants to come into communion, into conversation 38 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,600 with us. So as we go through this, don't, 39 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,160 don't, don't worry that you're not getting the words right in 40 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:25,320 prayer. That's not what we're trying to 41 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,480 teach you is the exact right words to pray. 42 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,520 Now we're trying to teach hearts of prayer. 43 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,760 We're we're trying to see who we're praying to. 44 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,280 I love that we just spend so much time just centering ourself 45 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,400 on who our God is, the greatness of our God. 46 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:42,160 That's who we come to in prayer. That's who we get to call out to 47 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,560 as ABBA, Father, Daddy. We want to examine the motives 48 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:48,040 of our prayer, our heart. Why? 49 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:53,040 Why are we coming to our Father? We want to see if there's some 50 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,400 things maybe that we've been neglecting in our conversation 51 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,240 with God in our prayers that we should begin to add in because 52 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,800 as I've said a couple of times already through this series, a 53 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,840 lot of us are pretty good at the God help me prayers. 54 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:13,440 We're OK with the God thank you prayers occasionally. 55 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,880 Remember, we remember the prayers of praise. 56 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,240 We know we ought to do prayers of confession, but we kind of 57 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:24,200 leave those to the side. But I doubt that many of us have 58 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,440 prayed a prayer like we're going to read this morning from 59 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,280 Proverbs chapter 30. But we're all going to pray this 60 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,240 morning because I'd like to start our time this morning by 61 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,520 reading this prayer together. It's 3 verses. 62 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,320 So we're going to join together and read these 3 verses in 63 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,280 Proverbs 39 to 11. They're going to put them up on 64 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,320 the screen. You can read them out of your 65 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:47,640 Bible. Let's read them together. 66 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,280 Speak with me as we say the words of Scripture. 67 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:56,800 Two things I ask of you. Don't deny them to me before I 68 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,320 die. Keep falsehood and deceitful 69 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:04,920 words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor 70 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,560 wealth. Feed me with the food I need, 71 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:15,760 otherwise I might have too much and deny you saying who is the 72 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,399 Lord? Or I might have nothing and 73 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:22,880 steal profaning the name of my God. 74 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,200 How many of you in this room have prayed a prayer like that 75 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,520 before? Like when you came to God that 76 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,200 was your prayer I got. I got two things for you. 77 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:39,000 One, help me be truthful. 2 Don't give me poverty or wealth. 78 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,680 How many of you, when we got to the part where we were speaking 79 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,000 out loud and it said don't give me wealth, the don't give me 80 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,920 wealth part, you just kind of are like you just stop speaking 81 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,760 there or you reverse yourself afterwards. 82 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,640 And you said just in the silence of your heart, God the pastor 83 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,800 tricked me into that. He put me up to this. 84 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:05,000 I don't think that don't make me rich is a prayer that most of 85 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,760 us, it's not like some of you have. 86 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,600 I know like prayer organizers and you pray certain things on 87 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:11,160 certain days. I bet you you don't have a 88 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,360 Tuesday morning don't make me rich prayer. 89 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:17,920 I know that I don't. I think I probably assumed that 90 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,440 was part of the deal when God called me in a ministry and I 91 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,360 said yes and then I found out there were other guys who didn't 92 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:25,760 think that was part of the deal. But that's a whole nother sermon 93 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:31,280 for another day. This is the only prayer in the 94 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:35,760 book of Proverbs. It's written by a guy by the 95 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:40,080 name of Agor. We all know almost nothing about 96 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:41,880 him. This is the only time he comes 97 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:46,720 up in all of scripture is in this chapter that is attributed 98 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:53,320 to him. And he comes and he says God two 99 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:54,920 requests. I this is it. 100 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,000 This is all. This is what I got, 2 requests. 101 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:03,560 Keep me honest, give me enough. Two weeks ago we looked at 102 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:05,160 Solomon's prayer. Those who you are with us, 103 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,960 you'll remember that God came to Solomon and Solomon and he said 104 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,840 to Solomon, Solomon, what do you want? 105 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:16,920 Ask and Solomon says, well I got one thing, one big ask for you. 106 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,080 Give me wisdom. This week we've got somebody 107 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:26,200 coming with two things. Now, I think a lot of us would 108 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,880 say when we came to Solomon's prayer, he has one ask and you 109 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:31,880 start to think through it. Hopefully by the time we walked 110 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,680 through it, you thought Solomon, that was a good ask, man. 111 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:39,400 You asked for that. And it was kind of like it was 112 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,520 the, it was the wish for more wishes prayer. 113 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:44,960 You unlocked everything with that. 114 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,920 But we talked about the fact that asking for wisdom is, is 115 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,640 about recognizing that God knows best and that living his way is 116 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:59,560 the best way to live, and that knowing what God wants will lead 117 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:04,440 us into ultimate success or the best outcomes in life. 118 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,880 But here's the problem. For many of us coming out of 119 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:14,840 that prayer in our regular lives, success is not defined 120 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:17,360 the way that Scripture would define success. 121 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,320 I would suggest to you that most of us, in fact, probably all of 122 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,520 us in this room to greater or lesser extents, have had our 123 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:31,200 definition of success shaped more by culture than by 124 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:36,120 scripture. I mean, if I was you speak, let 125 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,760 me, let me start by speaking to our teens and young adults who 126 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,840 are in here. I want you to think about this 127 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,280 because you're at the beginning of this journey and someone says 128 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:52,240 to you, what would it look like when you are like 80 years old? 129 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,280 So like really, really old in your mind, like super old, like 130 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:01,200 you can't believe anybody lives that age-old And you reflect and 131 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:06,760 you say my life was success, success because how do you 132 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,360 define that success? How would you quantify it? 133 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:16,680 Would you start listing off achievements in work or life? 134 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:22,040 Start listing off attainments. Would you go through the 135 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,720 checklists of experience you you knocked off the bucket list? 136 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,920 Is it about the fact that hey, more of my life was in a certain 137 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,559 emotional state than another emotional state like we we 138 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,919 judging by our happiness and our feelings? 139 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:39,600 Is it the quantity of relationships? 140 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:43,720 The quality of relationships is the you managed to get through 141 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,040 and you found that elusive thing called the work life balance. 142 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:52,680 What is it, parents? You're kind of in a different 143 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:56,400 stage here, but you're in a really important spot to be 144 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,400 thinking about what success looks like when it comes to 145 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:05,120 parenting and when it comes to instilling in your kids what 146 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:09,480 success is. If I was to ask you, we sat down 147 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:14,000 and we had a coffee and I said, what would it look like for your 148 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,960 child in your eyes to be a success? 149 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,840 How would you define that? So you're in the midst of work 150 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,000 life. What is success in work life? 151 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:30,240 Some of you are in the midst of what so many who are working see 152 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,840 a success. You made it to retirement. 153 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,040 But what is success in retirement look like? 154 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:47,520 What if success at its core isn't about attaining and 155 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:51,240 achieving, but is ultimately about knowing and being known by 156 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,320 God? What if what mattered more than 157 00:09:55,320 --> 00:10:02,680 anything was not what you acquire, but the God that you 158 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:08,320 knew? How you define success will 159 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:12,280 shape the way that you pray. I think This is why so many of 160 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:14,040 our prayers are shaped to the way they are. 161 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,800 See, Agger understood that to succeed in life, he needed to 162 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:23,840 pray prayers that were more about soul shaping than about 163 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:28,680 stuff acquiring. And so the first thing that he 164 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:33,840 asked in this is this. Keep falsehood and deceitful 165 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:39,440 words far from me. I want to suggest to you that we 166 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:44,120 should be praying prayers like this, prayers that would help us 167 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,440 live a life of integrity. I agree. 168 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:52,640 He wants integrity. He wants to be an honest man, an 169 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,640 honest person. He he wants a life that isn't 170 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:59,560 deceptive. He wants a life that's real. 171 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:04,680 It's not performative. And let's be honest, our world 172 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:11,240 spends a lot of time shaping us to be performers, to manage our 173 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,880 performance, to manage our expectation, to manage our 174 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:18,840 reputations, not to live in truth anger saying I I don't 175 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,800 want to live that way, Lord, I don't want to live a lie. 176 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,560 I want to live a life of integrity. 177 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:32,640 I don't I don't want there to be an in real life Derek and a 178 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:37,840 social media Derek. I don't want there to be an at 179 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:44,480 home Derek and a out in the work or the school place Derek. 180 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:52,640 There can't be room to be a a Sunday follower of Jesus and a 181 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:54,720 Monday through Saturday follower of Jesus. 182 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,320 And I got I, I got to take a moment here because we live in 183 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:03,480 this world where I will say the word integrity and some of you 184 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,440 will hear the word authenticity. Authenticity is a cheap knock 185 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:11,840 off of integrity. Authenticity is about just doing 186 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,320 what I feel is most natural to me. 187 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,280 It's driven by me. It's driven internally. 188 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:23,720 Integrity is driven by God and his standards and his ethics and 189 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:26,840 his morale. It's about living up not to who 190 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,560 I was before Christ and the old me, the old. 191 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:35,040 So it's about living into the new creation that God has made 192 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:39,280 me to be and starting to step into that not we're not called 193 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:44,040 listen, especially young adults. Stop chasing after authenticity 194 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:48,960 start chasing after integrity. See this this is what this is 195 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:53,000 what Agger's saying clean out what's false in me. 196 00:12:55,280 --> 00:13:00,360 Strip away the performance. I want to be a person who has 197 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:04,320 your heart who seeks after your heart. 198 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:09,080 Root out the self deceit in the areas where I'm I think I'm 199 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:10,480 walking in step with you and I'm not. 200 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,080 I think I'm being a person of integrity and I'm not. 201 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:19,400 Would you just keep lies far from me at the end of the day? 202 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,680 Here's here's the reality about lying in deception. 203 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:32,960 One, we all do it. 2 Lying is actually a symptom of a deeper 204 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,920 issue in our hearts. See, lying is what I like to 205 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:41,800 call a surface level sin. And too often we stop at the lie 206 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:46,040 and we don't dig down to figure out what the lies are actually 207 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,800 about. But lies are symptoms of a soul 208 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:55,800 level rot, a soul level disease, because people don't lie for the 209 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,600 sake of lying. Well, maybe some politicians do, 210 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,360 but that's again, we got another sermon for that another time. 211 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:10,400 You lie and I lie because we think the lie will do something 212 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,720 for us. The lie is about accomplishing 213 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,280 something that we really desire or want. 214 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:23,960 So you lie and you, your wife says, how does the stress look 215 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,160 on me? And there's a good way to answer 216 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:28,320 this and a bad way to answer this, but doesn't require lying. 217 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,720 But you, you say what you say just in order to kind of 218 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,320 preserve your own comfort and peace in that moment. 219 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,680 You lie to earn somebody else's approval, right? 220 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:44,320 Are you? You tell a little bit of a white 221 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,080 lie to puff yourself up so that somebody will think better of 222 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:52,880 you, look up to you more. You lie to acquire. 223 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:55,560 That's what cheating on taxes is. 224 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,480 It's this. You cheat on the taxes, you lie. 225 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,400 You deceive. You're dishonest because there's 226 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,840 something that you want to get. There's something you want to 227 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:06,880 have. You lie to control. 228 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:10,800 You lie to preserve power, you lie to protect. 229 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:15,920 But we lie for a reason. Every time we lie, there's 230 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:20,240 something behind the lie. And the something behind the lie 231 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:23,760 is this. There is something that matters 232 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,640 more to me in that moment. There is something that is more 233 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:29,320 important to me. There is something that I 234 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,280 believe is better than pleasing and obeying God. 235 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,360 That lie can get me something that matters more to me than 236 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,520 God, and something that God may not, could not, might not give 237 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,920 me. Fundamentally, behind the lie is 238 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:47,480 a belief there's something better than God. 239 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,800 Most of us would never say that, but I'm just telling you that's 240 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,400 what's true. Lying is just a litmus test of 241 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,800 what our idols are, what our real gods are. 242 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,040 It it, it tells us what our deepest desires in life truly 243 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:08,360 are. There's the things that we say 244 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:13,680 and the things that we lie to get, what our deepest fears are. 245 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,680 They reveal what we truly believe success is. 246 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,200 I want to take a moment to pray this morning. 247 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:25,920 I want to invite you to bow your heads with me. 248 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:27,760 And I've said this before, bow your heads does not. 249 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,480 It's not like you close your eyes and all the sudden the line 250 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,440 to heaven opens. OK, God is available at all 251 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,520 times in all places. You can drive in your car, you 252 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:39,640 don't have to close your eyes, and you can pray at the same 253 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,720 time. We bow our heads, we close our 254 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,040 eyes because it helps to knockout distractions in this 255 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:46,520 moment. So I want to bow your heads, 256 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:53,440 close your eyes, and I want to have you ask the Lord these 257 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:58,840 things first. Holy Spirit, what do the lies 258 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,440 that I tell, what are they revealing about what I treasure 259 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,960 most in life, what success looks like to me? 260 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:10,480 Just pray that. Ask the Spirit to reveal that. 261 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,280 I want to invite you to pray this as well. 262 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:31,080 God, is there anything false in me? 263 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:39,560 Is there a relationship that is dishonest and deceptive, where 264 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:44,960 I'm hiding and covering up? Is there a story I've been 265 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:50,080 spinning? Is there a part of my life that 266 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:55,400 I'm living in a different segment or section in work or 267 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:57,920 school that is not surrendered to you and I'm just trying to 268 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:01,800 segment off my my sin and keep it over here. 269 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:04,560 It's keeping me from living in integrity. 270 00:18:16,130 --> 00:18:20,650 Then I want to invite you to pray this God keep falsehood 271 00:18:20,650 --> 00:18:26,920 from me, keep falsehood for me by helping me see you for who 272 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,120 you are, that there's nothing better than you. 273 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:31,720 That the words that we sang about your goodness and your 274 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,920 greatness and your awesomeness and your glory, they wouldn't 275 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:39,760 just be words. They wouldn't just be concepts. 276 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,920 How my heart to believe that. So I would be committed to you 277 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:59,800 and you above all things. Then I'll close this off with 278 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:07,080 this Lord, cleanse us from lies. Give us eyes to see that you are 279 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,800 more valuable, that you are a greater treasure than anything 280 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:16,320 else, that you are what we need most. 281 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:24,440 Set us free from the fear of being seen, of being exposed by 282 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:28,480 helping us to be people who have nothing to fear in the exposing. 283 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,040 Help us to live in the truth that sets us free. 284 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:39,040 Amen. That was the first part that 285 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,120 Agar asked for. The second part is this. 286 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,960 Agar says give me neither poverty nor wealth. 287 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:52,280 And today I want to invite us to think about what it would mean 288 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,480 to pray that God would give you enough. 289 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:01,200 The God would give us enough. See money is another litmus 290 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,760 test. And I in our in our above ground 291 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,960 pool we have in our backyard. I have to test the chemicals, 292 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:15,200 the alkalinity, the pH, the chlorine in the pool because I 293 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,360 can't see it with my own eyes. It's invisible for me. 294 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,240 So I take this strip and I put it in and it tells me where 295 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:26,280 things are out of balance. And I would suggest to you that 296 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,160 for US, money provides one of those tests. 297 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,880 It tells us some things that may be hidden from us in regular 298 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,440 life. It reveals what we truly believe 299 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:40,440 and not just what we say we believe. 300 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:46,280 I think Paul tells us this in First Timothy 617 to 19 when he 301 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,920 he writes to his young mentee Timothy. 302 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:54,400 He says instruct those who are rich in this present age not to 303 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,360 be arrogant or set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but 304 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,440 on God who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 305 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,480 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, 306 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:11,280 to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for 307 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:16,080 themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they 308 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:20,480 may take hold of what is truly life, Not what's fake life, not 309 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,600 what's false life, not what we believe is success in life. 310 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:27,560 See how we deal with money, I think Paul would tell us. 311 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:31,120 And what Agra's prayer is telling us is that it reveals 312 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:37,640 where our confidence truly lies. What actually is my firm 313 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,360 foundation upon which my feet are planted? 314 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:45,440 Where do I really get shaken? How we deal with money reveals 315 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:50,720 where we think life is really found, what it means to live, 316 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,480 what it means to have abundance, what it means to have a 317 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:58,800 wholeness and fullness of life. This I'll I'll tell you it's it 318 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:04,440 is OK to to pray God bless me and God prosper the work of my 319 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:06,560 hands. But there's an if attached to 320 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:11,800 that statement. It's OK to pray that if it's God 321 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,760 bless me so that I can be a blessing to others. 322 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:24,000 It's OK to pray God prosper the work of my hands, but don't do 323 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,040 it in order to puff me up and raise me up. 324 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,800 Do it so that everybody would understand how great and awesome 325 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,840 you are. It's OK to pray for God's 326 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:40,200 blessing upon us, but we should not be the end goal of that 327 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,880 blessing. It should be a blessing that we 328 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,200 receive so that we can bless others. 329 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:51,680 Hackword doesn't pray. Don't give me wealth, because 330 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:53,560 wealth in and of itself is inherently bad. 331 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,000 It's not. Money is a tool. 332 00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:01,160 Ministry requires money. If we're going to see good 333 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,040 things happen. It requires investment. 334 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:09,200 If you're going to do things in this world that are going to 335 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,960 make a difference in this world, then we need people who would 336 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,200 give themselves to building businesses and to making money S 337 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,560 that you can fund things like, hey, providing food for starving 338 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,520 kids in places like Gaza and Sudan. 339 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,760 That takes money. It takes money to reach people 340 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:34,160 for Jesus. It takes money to fund things 341 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,920 like Haven Heart in Nicaragua, where Greg and Kate Isaac are 342 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,800 working, or the ministry that we talked about with Kristen and 343 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:44,840 Greg Brown in Montreal, reaching people from North Africa. 344 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,600 It takes money to be able to to partner with the school that we 345 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:54,280 partner with in Tanzania, Amani Imani School, and to be able to 346 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,560 provide quality education that will allow those kids to to grow 347 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:00,520 up and succeed and to raise that country. 348 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,480 But also allow them who are growing up in a primarily 349 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,760 dominantly Muslim tribe to hear about Jesus and who he is and 350 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:09,800 his love for them. That all takes money. 351 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:11,680 Money is not a bad thing. It's a tool. 352 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:19,480 But don't ask that God would give you wealth just so that you 353 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:24,800 can spend it on yourself. He says otherwise you may have 354 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,920 too much and disown him and say who is the Lord? 355 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:35,720 See, the reality of money is money can make us dependent on 356 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:40,040 it rather than God. It's easy when Jesus. 357 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:47,360 Jesus said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 358 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:49,720 needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of heaven. 359 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:54,440 Why? Because money is a God that 360 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,120 promises all the things that God promises. 361 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,080 And it says I won't have any strings attached, but it has all 362 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:01,560 the strings in the world attached. 363 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,360 Money can make you believe you don't need God. 364 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:06,920 Money can me even make you believe. 365 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:08,520 Look at some of the richest people in the world. 366 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,440 Money can make you believe you are a God. 367 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:17,640 So here's some diagnostic questions that help us know if 368 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,680 we're getting to the point where we're too dependent on money and 369 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:27,040 not dependent enough on God. Is your anxiety level tied up in 370 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:32,920 a net worth number? Is your level of satisfaction 371 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,680 determined to buy your purchasing power? 372 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:44,040 Do you view wealth as a tool to be a blessing towards others, or 373 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,760 do you view wealth as the ultimate blessing? 374 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,360 Is your level of dependency direct on God, directly 375 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:56,480 connected to your financial independence? 376 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:02,560 Like if if your prayer life only gets real when finances get 377 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:10,200 tight, there's a problem. Do you work to provide or do you 378 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,360 work to purchase, to get or to give? 379 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:18,920 Abundance can make us forget God. 380 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,480 It can. It can begin to make us trust 381 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,840 the gift more than the giver. But on the other hand, pray 382 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,000 something else. I know you probably caught that. 383 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:33,040 Lord, don't give me poverty, or I might have nothing and steal 384 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:38,120 profaning the name of my God. See, interestingly, both sides 385 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:40,840 of the coin when it comes to wealth can cause us to reject 386 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:45,520 and abandoned God. Confidence in money can lead us 387 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:50,200 away from dependence on God, but a lack of money can lead us to 388 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,960 doubt God and it can lead us to compromise in our walk with Him. 389 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,040 The money in your bank account, however, is not determines 390 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,440 whether or not you have a poverty or wealth mindset. 391 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,600 And I think this is a really important thing to recognize. 392 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:11,760 See, there's very few people in Ontario that actually live in 393 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,880 desperate levels of poverty. I, I know there are some. 394 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,400 And by the way, if you're here today and you're struggling to 395 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:23,880 get by, please let us know. Like we want to be able to help 396 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:25,240 you. We want to be able to care for 397 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:26,360 you. We want to be able to help you 398 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:28,680 get up on your feet. We're here for you on that. 399 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:34,920 But most of Ontario does not actually have a poverty problem. 400 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:36,840 But many of us have a poverty mindset. 401 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:45,080 Lots of people in Ontario lie, cheat, deceive in order to get 402 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:49,040 more right. They have the poverty mindset 403 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:56,160 that leads to stealing because we feel poor even though we're 404 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:02,400 historically globally rich. Because money can simultaneously 405 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,920 do two things. It can make that make us think 406 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,680 that we don't have enough and it can make us think that we have 407 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,280 enough and we don't need God. And sometimes it does both 408 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,520 things in the same moment at the same time. 409 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:20,360 Like I've seen this happen so often where people feel like I 410 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:23,200 don't have enough and yet at the same time they feel like they 411 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:25,200 have enough that they don't need God. 412 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,960 And money can do that to us when it when our focus is on wealth, 413 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:35,120 it it, it, it constantly kind of pulls us back and forth between 414 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:41,680 dependency and despair. So Agger says, hey, God, give me 415 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,280 enough. Not too much, not too little. 416 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:51,760 Just give me enough. Give me enough to be content, to 417 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:56,560 be dependent on you, to not be pulled away from you on one side 418 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:01,200 or the other, he says, Actually don't make me poor so I don't 419 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,520 profane your name, so don't curse you. 420 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,720 And I have seen so many times people who felt like they asked 421 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,880 for something from God and God didn't give it to them, so they 422 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,920 walked away from God. God, I just wanted that. 423 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:18,400 That's the only thing I wanted from you. 424 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,360 The only thing I'm asking for you is this. 425 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,720 You didn't give it to me. And so I'm, I'm done. 426 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,080 God, I don't believe in you. Or if I do believe in you, I 427 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:27,760 don't want to believe in that type of God. 428 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:32,280 Hey, that reveals 2 things. First, you don't really want 429 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,080 God, you want his stuff. So be honest about it. 430 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:47,000 The stuff matters more to you. 2nd, you have no idea the riches 431 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,280 that God has actually given you in Christ Jesus. 432 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:53,680 That's what it reveals about our heart when we do that. 433 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,200 Like if if you're here today and you're searching for more, 434 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:03,760 you're saying I really do want life and, and it feels like I 435 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:05,840 can get life through money. I'm just telling you there's a 436 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:09,920 better life than money can give you, and Jesus came to give it. 437 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:16,720 Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life, and I'm the 438 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,040 conduit. In fact, I'm the only conduit to 439 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:22,840 the Father, the one who is the source and center of all life, 440 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,040 The life you long for, the life that your heart is calling out 441 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,600 for. That that hole that seems to be 442 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:34,560 there that's driving you to consume and attain and achieve, 443 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:40,040 it'll never be filled by that stuff because the the hole is 444 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,120 too big for that stuff. It's a God sized hole. 445 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,240 The only thing that will fill that hole is Jesus. 446 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:56,920 What we need more than stuff as a savior, what we need more than 447 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:03,600 healing is a healer. So he says give me neither 448 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,800 poverty nor wealth. No, feed me with the food I 449 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,960 need. The food we need is the one who 450 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:15,840 is the bread of life. Jesus says that he is the bread 451 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:20,520 of life and he alone satisfies the hunger in our heart and in 452 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,760 our soul. But also remember, if you're a 453 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:29,240 follower of Jesus, how did Jesus call his followers to pray? 454 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,760 How did he teach the disciples to pray? 455 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:36,560 Give us this day, Our Daily Bread. 456 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:43,720 Give us what we need today. Give us enough so that we would 457 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:48,200 know your goodness and kindness and grace and compassion towards 458 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,800 us, but so that we wouldn't start to put our dependency and 459 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:56,040 our hope and our trust in the bread rather than the one who 460 00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:00,800 gives the bread. So I want to call us to pray 461 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,480 again. Let's close our eyes one more 462 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:09,840 time. Let's start with this. 463 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:16,080 If you're, if you're longing for that life, you're here today in 464 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,000 the state of your heart, the state of your soul, the state of 465 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:24,240 your life is I just don't feel like I have enough. 466 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:29,360 I'm not satisfied. There's no contentment. 467 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:34,600 There's no peace in my soul. That's where you're, if you've 468 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,560 come looking for something that would satisfy today, I want to 469 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:41,520 say to you, call out to Jesus. He satisfies. 470 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:46,520 He's the one who's come to give you a life of Lovejoy, peace, 471 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,920 patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, 472 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:52,760 self-control. He's made that on offer through 473 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:54,960 Christ and through his Holy Spirit. 474 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:58,480 And you just have to pray. Oh, this God, I'm, I'm tired of 475 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,080 chasing all of the stuff that you've created. 476 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:07,600 I want to know you, the creator God. 477 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:11,360 I don't just want your stuff. I recognize what I need more 478 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:17,520 than your stuff is I need you. So thank you for sending Jesus 479 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,440 to bring me the life that I couldn't achieve or attain on my 480 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:23,840 own through my own accomplishments or my own 481 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:28,160 acquisitions. Thank you for sending Jesus to 482 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:32,360 die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins so my soul 483 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:37,960 could be satisfied forever. I trust that his death has made 484 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:43,960 life possible for me. And if you pray that the promise 485 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:48,120 of Scripture is, God answers that prayer every time. 486 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:51,800 And if you're a follower of Jesus, here's what I'd like to 487 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:56,280 ask you to pray this morning. Just take a moment and ask God 488 00:33:56,280 --> 00:34:00,480 to reveal if there's any area where you've been chasing after 489 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:09,520 too much. Where have you been discontent? 490 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:15,719 Where are you afraid of not having enough? 491 00:34:21,830 --> 00:34:26,590 Where are you struggling in your life today, in this moment, to 492 00:34:26,590 --> 00:34:38,000 believe that God is enough? What would it look like for you 493 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:43,040 to trust God with your provision and just call out to him and 494 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:48,800 say, Lord built my faith. I, I want to trust you in this. 495 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:51,920 Show me that you are trustworthy. 496 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,840 Prove it. Remind me, Help me see Jesus and 497 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,320 what you've provided in Him so clearly that my confidence 498 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:01,600 wouldn't be shaken when things come up at work or at school or 499 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:10,440 in my finances. Lord, teach us contentment. 500 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:16,480 Help us to believe that your daily bread is enough. 501 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:21,760 Free us. Free us from the fear of lack. 502 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:27,640 Free us from the pride that comes from over abundance. 503 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,560 And I'm just going to invite us to all do this. 504 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,280 Just just put your hands out in front of you. 505 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:39,640 Put your hands out. Would you just pray with me? 506 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:44,400 God, I trust you to give me what I need today. 507 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:52,280 God, I trust you to give me what I need today. 508 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,600 Thank you. Amen. 509 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:00,680 Listen, this this is an ancient prayer. 510 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,520 It's a powerful prayer. It's a dangerous prayer because 511 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,480 it's going to invite God if you start praying these things. 512 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:13,360 It's going to invite him to mess with your comfort, your habits, 513 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,880 your desire for control, your definition of success. 514 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,920 But it's the kind of prayer that leads to the true life that's 515 00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:28,000 found in Christ, a life of integrity, a life of 516 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:34,040 contentment, a life of dependence, a life that can 517 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,800 transform your life, a life that can transform your family. 518 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,200 And honestly, church, if we were all to get serious about praying 519 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,560 this way and to be people who are being soul shaped in this 520 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:47,800 way, a life that would radically transform the workplaces, the 521 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:51,280 communities, the schools, the cities that we live in. 522 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,880 So let's ask God not just to give us stuff, but to shape our 523 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:57,360 souls. Amen. 524 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,320 And ask the band to come out and lead us in one final song. 525 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:02,720 Reminding.