1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:09,960 Good morning, happy Sunday. This day of the week, if you 2 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,480 have a Bible with you once you open up to the book of John 3 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,120 chapter 17. So one of the gospels, Matthew, 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:19,880 Mark, Luke, John going to be in 17 this this morning. 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,240 I don't know if you've ever wondered some of the things that 6 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:25,640 go on in my head. If you ever wondered what it 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:30,920 would be like to be on the royal family's WhatsApp group, I'm 8 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,480 sure they must have, you know, I, I don't think they're stuck 9 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:37,440 in the dark ages with Jay writing letters to one another 10 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,200 and then, you know, sealing it with a signet ring and asking, 11 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:42,840 you know, Basil, please, won't you give this to Mama? 12 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,240 I'm sure they must have a royal WhatsApp group, you know, best 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,560 family ever. I don't know what it is, but I 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,360 was thinking the other day like ladies, you imagine you want 15 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,200 back to those younger days. You finish varsity, you got some 16 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,720 time on your hand, you do a gap year, you head on out to Europe, 17 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,520 backpacking across Europe and you meet the Prince and one 18 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,160 thing leads to another for head over heels and love. 19 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,120 Next thing you know, you're engaged. 20 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,880 You know you've got the Cullen and Diamond on your on your ring 21 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,160 finger and you're back home in South Africa, busy packing up. 22 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,160 You know your hair tied up in a bun, no makeup, makeup on. 23 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,720 You're cleaning your room and your phone buzzes and you pick 24 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:24,680 it up and you've been added to the royal family's WhatsApp 25 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:26,960 group here. I wonder what would go through 26 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:29,480 your mind in those moments. I can tell you what went through 27 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,800 my mind. I'm thinking, are memes allowed? 28 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,200 I've got some really good Australian break dancing memes 29 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,000 that just need to be shared. You know, would have been 30 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,160 outdone by the Australian rugby team at the moment. 31 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,840 But I'm thinking, you know, would, would that be 32 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:48,840 permissible? Is that a thing, you know, what 33 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,680 about status updates? Do we do that? 34 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,080 Do we do that? Are you allowed to just go K, 35 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,320 which my wife hates? And then what do you call the 36 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,640 King, Your Royal Highness, Mr. the King? 37 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,880 Maybe it's a little bit more informal, but still posh Papa or 38 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,360 daddy, you know? Well, whatever happens on the 39 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,560 royal family's WhatsApp group, I can tell you this. 40 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:16,480 You would learn the the ways of it by looking at the Prince. 41 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:18,720 How does the Prince interact with Papa? 42 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,680 Does he mean does he status updates? 43 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,360 And we're going to do the same thing today because we're going 44 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,760 to look at the ultimate royal family WhatsApp group. 45 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,440 We're going to take a look at the prayer that Jesus praises. 46 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,920 The only portion of Scripture where we find the nuts and bolts 47 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:36,800 of Jesus intercessory pray with our heavenly Father. 48 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,080 The Royal WhatsApp group we're invited on and we're going to 49 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,400 take a look and we're going to learn some lessons from Jesus 50 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,320 and how he communes with his Father. 51 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,480 And so today's going to be a little bit more like you and me 52 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,960 sitting with a Bible open and a cup of coffee, a little less 53 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:53,520 ceremony. But I just want to show you some 54 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,240 of the things that I've found that have astounded me when it 55 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,800 comes to this portion of Scripture, which is John chapter 56 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,880 17. It is the entire Scripture, so 57 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:04,960 entire chapter. So we're not going to look at 58 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,040 that in its entirety. I just want to pick up two or 59 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,120 three Nuggets and when I say Nuggets, it's with a capital N. 60 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:16,520 This is it has so challenged, encouraged and inspired me and I 61 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,240 trust that it does the same. But we are going to go properly 62 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,720 straight into the deep end. OK, so buckle yourself up. 63 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,600 Turn to verse one in John 17, which says after Jesus said 64 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,880 this, he looked toward heaven and prayed Father, the hour has 65 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,680 come. Glorify your son that your son 66 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,280 may glorify you. A couple of things that I saw 67 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:36,160 right from the very beginning there. 68 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:38,840 Notice the first word that Jesus prays. 69 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,480 Father. You see, it's not a coincidence 70 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,640 when he's teaching the disciples how to pray, how does he start 71 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,520 our Father? But notice then he says, Father, 72 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,480 the hours come glorify your son, that your son may glorify you. 73 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:56,680 What does Jesus do when he teaches the disciples how to 74 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:58,440 pray? Our Father, who art in heaven, 75 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,360 hallowed be your name. There's something about 76 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,000 beginning with the glory of God when it comes to prayer that I 77 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,280 believe you and I need to have an understanding of. 78 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,960 I don't know if you've ever had one of those occasions where you 79 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:19,360 lost your stuffs. You know, someone crossed you in 80 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,079 such a way that you just wanted to kill. 81 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:24,640 It doesn't have to be an angry thing, but it's this, you know, 82 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:29,360 you have an incident or a moment where you think never again. 83 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:30,760 Like, that's it, I'm out of here. 84 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:31,920 You know, maybe it was your boss. 85 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,760 You felt a little bit betrayed. Maybe it was a work colleague. 86 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,040 It took all the glory and he did it again. 87 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,680 And you're just thinking and you know, you're busy in the shower, 88 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,480 Lather, rinse, repeats and you're having that argument. 89 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:49,560 If I see him again, I'll, I'll say that if I just let him come 90 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:51,600 and ask me to help on that project, you know, whatever it 91 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,200 is, this thing that's stewing in you. 92 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:54,240 I don't know if you've ever had that. 93 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,120 I know that you're very holy, but I heard of another pastor at 94 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,680 another church who had this incident very recently, You 95 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,160 know, yeah, like, seriously, lose your salvation, kind of. 96 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,800 It's in the red there. And so this thing is busy 97 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,440 fermenting back in the dark recesses of my mind when I get 98 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,200 asked to preach on this portion of Scripture. 99 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,280 And so there, I'm there in the presence of the Lord, inquiring 100 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:23,040 of the original Greek, And I read this. 101 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,800 It says, oh, this is where Jesus starts, glorify your son, that 102 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:32,600 your son may glorify you. And I'm honestly looking in this 103 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,600 to see somewhere because what I want to pray is I want to pray, 104 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:43,240 Father, stop his cotton picking heart, finish that foul being, 105 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:46,760 you know, Yeah, I know. I just pray like that. 106 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:48,880 I really do. David did too, by the way. 107 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,160 So get out of jail free call. But I'm looking at this, I'm 108 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:57,160 going like, and the Holy Spirit says to me, why not ask me how I 109 00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:59,800 want to be glorified in this situation? 110 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,400 And that that's so unfair because I'm a pastor. 111 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:05,600 I have to practice what I preach. 112 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,040 I'm thinking like, no, can't you tell me this next Monday? 113 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:12,880 You know, I'm like, what? How will you be most glorified 114 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,440 like? In other words, our Father in 115 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,560 art, in heaven, hallowed be your name. 116 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:23,520 I have this situation and our actually I would love you to 117 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,240 remove them from the face of the planet of this earth, but I'm 118 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,200 actually going to ask you and I'm going to pray like I see 119 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:31,920 Jesus praying. I'm going to say, Father, would 120 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:36,600 you show me what is required of me so that you will be glorified 121 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,840 in this situation? Would you move in such a way 122 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,360 that you would be glorified in this situation? 123 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,640 Here's a heads up. This is something that the Holy 124 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,280 Spirit taught me many years ago. If you're having an argument 125 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:53,080 with your neighbor, you know, like how angry can we get? 126 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,280 This is what the Holy Spirit said to me once he said, don't 127 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:01,680 get any angrier or any more feisty or any more prickly or 128 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:06,120 have any more vitriol in your words such that in that moment 129 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:07,960 you couldn't say, hey, listen, would you come to church with me 130 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,480 on Sunday? You know, then you know, you've 131 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:11,640 kind of crossed that line right now. 132 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,760 All of a sudden you can't, you know, because you've gone from 133 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,320 God centered to me centered. You've gone from glorify your 134 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:25,920 name to give me my way. And it can undo you when you see 135 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,880 this. And what's interesting is this 136 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,960 is the very place that Rory ended the Jonah series on. 137 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,440 If you were here that Sunday morning, in the morning, he kind 138 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:36,680 of blushed over it. So I do want to unpack just a 139 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,480 little bit the portion where Jonah refers to God. 140 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,920 And he says that's why I didn't want to go to Nineveh because 141 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,960 and then he mentions the Exodus 34 name of God, that you're 142 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,280 gracious and compassionate and slow to anger, bounding in love 143 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,560 and abounding in faithfulness, that you maintain love to 144 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,080 thousands and you forgive rebellion, wickedness and sin. 145 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:01,840 There's seven things there that he refers to. 146 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,520 He doesn't mention the 8th. The 8th is that God does not 147 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:07,720 leave the guilty unpunished, right. 148 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,680 And what Rory said in, in the week before, before he preached, 149 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,120 he was busy telling me, he said, you know, I think a lot of us 150 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:14,640 Christians live in this number 8. 151 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:21,560 Moses says, show me your glory. And God shows Moses these eight 152 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:27,440 attributes of his character. Jonah got stuck on #8 do not 153 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,280 leave the guilty unpunished. And then Raw said, a lot of the 154 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,919 time we behave like that as Christians, all we know of God 155 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:37,159 is that he doesn't leave the wicked unpunished. 156 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,640 But he said before you even get there, there's these seven 157 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,960 monstrously massive attributes of God that come first, 158 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:50,320 gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and 159 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,520 abounding in faithfulness before he even gets anywhere near 160 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,920 looking at, hey, listen, we need to deal with your anger issue. 161 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,560 And God does that on page one. He says to Adam and Eve, you can 162 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:04,640 eat of all the trees in the garden, just don't eat from 163 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,400 Trina bite. But we get fixated on that. 164 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:12,720 And that happens when we take the glory of God and we move it 165 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,680 aside and we put ourselves in there. 166 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,480 My, you need a justice in there. Do you realize what he's doing? 167 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:24,200 And it turns this Kingdom prey on its head, puts myself in the 168 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,680 center. And I said, we're going to start 169 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:28,280 in the deep end. And we're there already. 170 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:35,240 Because as RAW was busy telling me this, I suddenly realized why 171 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,960 we have lost so many elders from this church over the years. 172 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,160 If you knew in Three CR, you might not know a very dark, 173 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:49,440 bumpy and battered past. We've had elders, guys on team 174 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,120 with me saying you know what, you can just take your stuffs. 175 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:59,400 That church, those people, that Oak, that family, that life 176 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:05,000 group leader #8 left Three CR. I can tell you have a handful 177 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:07,920 who've left the church in its entirety. 178 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,240 Did you know that the guy that brought myself and my wife onto 179 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,200 eldership here at 3 CR is one of those? 180 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,800 He didn't just leave three CR. He didn't just leave the church. 181 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,880 We've heard rumors that he's burnt his Bible out of fixation 182 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:27,480 on his own glory. You want to know how to bring a 183 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:31,480 giant of a man in his faith to his knees? 184 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:38,120 Trickle his glory into that, just slowly remove the glory of 185 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,400 God outside. And that was the first thing I 186 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:45,600 saw when I looked at this. It was the first adjustment I 187 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,120 realized that needed to come to my prayer life. 188 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,160 Remember, we are doing a series teach us to pray. 189 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,400 And so we have to look at this and say, Lord, would you teach 190 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:59,240 me how to pray? Because I've faced some stuffs. 191 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,760 I have had some questions. We have been through the valley 192 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,720 of the shadow of death, and I think I have every right. 193 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,720 And then you read this and you see, Father, the hour has come. 194 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,680 Glorify your Son that your son may glorify you. 195 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,120 And Jesus says the hour has come. 196 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:21,360 You know what hour he's talking about the hour that he is to be 197 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,480 crucified. So I can't say, well, yeah, you 198 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:25,880 don't understand what I'm going through. 199 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:26,640 I need a little. Yeah. 200 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,720 No, no, no. He was about to be crucified. 201 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,320 And in that place, he was able to say, Father, our Father who 202 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,240 art in heaven, hallowed be your name. 203 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,200 And that's one of the changes I believe that we need to see. 204 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,000 We need to consider this when it comes to our prayer life. 205 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:44,240 We're going to stay in the deep end, but we're going to come up 206 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,680 for breath in just a second because the second thing that we 207 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:49,320 see here is I know it's very quiet. 208 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,160 It feels like I've shot Bambi. Welcome to church. 209 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:54,960 Yeah. Bunch of sinners. 210 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,160 You. Sorry. 211 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:01,800 This is where he started. And this is where the Holy 212 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,120 Spirit began in me as well. Oh yeah. 213 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:11,280 Verse 11 says, Holy Father, protect them by the power of 214 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,760 your name, the name that you gave me, so that they might be 215 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,280 one as we are one. Holy Father, protect them by the 216 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,360 power of your name. This is the second thing that I 217 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,040 spotted you. And I'm saying, Lord, teach me 218 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:22,880 how to pray. OK? 219 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,560 We put your glory in place. We start there. 220 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,800 That's why I think he says enter gates of Thanksgiving in his 221 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,720 courts with praise. We're reminded that this God is 222 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:34,320 greater than us. OK, He's, he's there. 223 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:38,280 And then Jesus suddenly changed his tack and starts to pray for 224 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:40,600 us. Holy Father, protect them by the 225 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:42,800 power of your name. What does it mean to be 226 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,080 protected by the power of your name? 227 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,440 If you've been in three CR for a while, you'll know that in 228 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:53,800 December last year we nearly lost my youngest daughter and we 229 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,240 were in ICU in the isolation ward. 230 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,080 My life was falling apart. You know, you don't have that 231 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,320 cute coffee cup scripture verse that you can cling to. 232 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,680 Everything's gone. You're not touching sides. 233 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:10,320 And I began to cry to God. I'm like, Lord, you've got to 234 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,320 speak to me. I do I as a husband and as a 235 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,200 father. Do I need to begin to prepare my 236 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:17,120 family to lose my youngest daughter? 237 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,960 Or do we lean in you, into you and trust you for healing? 238 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:23,640 And I said, Father, you've got to speak to me through your word 239 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,480 because there's too much emotion, too much going on in my 240 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:29,760 head right now. And day after day, it was like 241 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:32,320 eating sawdust. Nothing. 242 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,520 The Bible had never felt so foreign in my life until I 243 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,240 randomly got my Bible reading plan to Psalm 100 and 1955, 244 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:44,280 where Davis says I remember your name in the night and that it 245 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,240 jumped off the page. Can you remember what you're 246 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,160 asking the question? Why does he say, Holy Father 247 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,280 protect them by the power of your name? 248 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,360 He said remember my name in the night. 249 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:57,320 And so I'm going like, OK, your name to the Hebrews was your 250 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:01,200 reputation, was your character. That's why God, when he displays 251 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,480 his glory, he does so by telling Moses his name. 252 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,560 So I'm remembering that he's compassionate. 253 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,000 He knows I am. But dust, I'm a dad. 254 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,880 I'm dying on the inside while my daughter's dying on the outside. 255 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,240 He knows I remember your name in the night. 256 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:17,680 And I was reading through Psalm 20. 257 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:20,240 It's actually been referenced there quite a few times over the 258 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,040 last few weeks and God just unlocked something. 259 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:26,000 There's Psalm 20 for those who are here on Tuesday nights and 260 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,000 are starting to pray the Psalms, hop, skip and jump ahead and get 261 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:30,520 to Psalm 20. It's beautiful. 262 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,800 It begins where it says may the Lord answer you in your in 263 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,680 distress. May the name of the God of Jacob 264 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,520 rescue you. May He send you support from His 265 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,640 sanctuary and help from Zion. May He remember your offerings 266 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,800 and reward your sacrifices. And then He says it's in the 267 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,200 Bible. He says, may He give you your 268 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:55,880 heart's desire and answer all your plans. 269 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,440 May we lift up a banner over your victories and declare over 270 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,680 you the name of our God. It starts with the name of God, 271 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,240 finishes with the name of God. And I felt like God is busy 272 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,640 saying something here, like what is it about being protected and 273 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,440 leaning on and trusting in the name of God? 274 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:17,160 And this is what I found. So it begins. 275 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,560 It says, may the Lord answer you when you're in your, when you're 276 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:24,040 in distress. That's the NIV, the ESV says, 277 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,440 may the Lord answer you in your day of trouble. 278 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,440 So I'm going like, why does the one seem like, you know, Hey, 279 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,440 you'll pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and 280 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,120 pray and pray, and then God might answer you. 281 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,000 And the other one says, you know, you press and God answers 282 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:40,160 you. It's like, which is it? 283 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,640 Is it ESV day of trouble or in your distress, this long and 284 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,800 lengthy painful gruel? Actually, I emailed ESV, the 285 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,240 translators to ask like, why? Because when you look at the 286 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,560 Scripture, it doesn't really seem like day of trouble. 287 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,600 It almost seems misleading. See, Kenneth Copeland tells the 288 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:02,400 story how at one stage he was having watermelon on a Saturday 289 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,800 afternoon, and they're busy speaking out the seeds as one 290 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:06,640 normally does. And then he hatched the play. 291 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,000 And he thought, you know why? I'm not going to plant the seed. 292 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:11,800 And then we can have watermelons every day. 293 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,160 I don't have to wait for mom to buy watermelons on Saturday. 294 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:16,960 So he went behind the wall where it was a safe place, dig a 295 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:18,560 little hole, put the watermelon seed in there. 296 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,840 Pet, pet, pet, pet pet comes home from school on the Monday. 297 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:23,320 He thinks that, hey, it's Watermelon Tom. 298 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:25,960 And he run, go round behind the wall and there's like nothing. 299 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:29,880 Absolutely nothing Tuesday, nothing Wednesday. 300 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,880 Eventually, he's starting to lose faith when this little 301 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,400 thing pops through the ground. He's like, oh, tomorrow we feast 302 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:40,880 on watermelon tomorrow off the bus, down around the house, 303 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,880 behind the wall. And this thing is there's no 304 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,800 watermelon. And his dad had been watching 305 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,760 him come home, and he noticed the sun was getting more and 306 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,880 more bleak over time. So dad decided, I'm going to go 307 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:59,400 to the shops, buy a watermelon, lift up that little leaf stick 308 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,040 in the. So Kenneth says he comes over. 309 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,200 Oh my gosh, we're feasting on watermelon. 310 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:13,720 You see in our hearts that is how we expect God to work in the 311 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,920 day of trouble. Rabba son quoted Psalm 20. 312 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:23,480 You say there I will give you the desire of your heart, Genie. 313 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,040 My first wish is the desire of my heart. 314 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,000 But it doesn't say that the the meaning there. 315 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:33,360 I mean, I'm just this boy key from Pretoria, but I think ESV 316 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:37,600 got it wrong. Says may the Lord answer you in 317 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,800 your distress. Distress is this long term 318 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,440 thing. But what distress being answered 319 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,120 in your distress looks like is if you got a little bit of a 320 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:49,280 grain of sand there, we want a day of trouble. 321 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,200 Just blow it away. When the Lord answers you in 322 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,400 your distress, when He protects you with his name, what He does 323 00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:01,920 is he wraps that grain of sand in his glory, and that grain of 324 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:06,560 sand turns to a Pearl. And so David is running from 325 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,480 Saul, the king who wants to kill him, and he cries out to the 326 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,360 Lord in his distress. He calls on the name of his God. 327 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:21,120 And God doesn't smite Saul. He protects him and makes David 328 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:25,080 king. See, when we answered in our day 329 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,520 of trouble, we think, oh, sure, lucky that yeah, the boss didn't 330 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:29,720 notice I hadn't finished the project. 331 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:32,240 Off we go. But when he answers you in your 332 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:36,400 distress, he makes you the boss, or he promotes you to the head 333 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,120 of that department, it's very different. 334 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,960 The one carries the glory of God, the other one carries the 335 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:47,000 glory of man. So Sarah is crying out in her 336 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:51,160 distress, calling out in the name of the Lord, because for 337 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,280 years she hasn't been able to fall pregnant. 338 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:57,000 Now she's an outcast. She's the lesser wife. 339 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,840 She's been teased and mocked God doesn't answer her in her day of 340 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:05,960 trouble and give her a child she he answers her in her distress 341 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:11,120 and gives her Samuel. Samuel who lead the nation of 342 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:15,480 Israel and sometimes you and I are praying Lord answer me in 343 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:19,560 the day of trouble. The Chwani government and what 344 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:21,840 God wants to do is he wants to make you president. 345 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,520 But we're so fixated on our own glory, our own little temporary. 346 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,040 And so Joseph cries out to God, Lord, answer me in my distress. 347 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,640 I'm in prison. He could have answered him in 348 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,960 his day of trouble and just let him out of prison. 349 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:38,000 Instead, he releases him at the right time. 350 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,200 He creates a Pearl and Joseph becomes the two I see. 351 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:48,000 And so Jesus about to be crucified, looks at you and I 352 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:52,400 and he says, Father, protect them by the power of your name, 353 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,640 that name that is faithful to generations. 354 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,720 Protect them in spite of the fact that they're a 2 minute 355 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,480 noodle. Just add water, instant coffee 356 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:05,360 community. Protect them for generations. 357 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,800 Look after their marriage, not just for their marriage, but so 358 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,200 that their children can grow up in a home without divorced 359 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,120 parents, so that it is more likely that they will make a 360 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:20,840 success of their marriage. Because in the Israelites or in 361 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,200 the Jewish mind, you are never blessed. 362 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:28,080 Unless it influences the third generation, because God is a God 363 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:33,960 of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And to the Jewish mind, to the 364 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,960 Hebrews, it wasn't a blessing. Until what you are going through 365 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:42,840 benefits your grandchildren. And that is a complete different 366 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:47,320 spin on your quiet time on your knees where you're so irritated 367 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:49,440 because the neighbor's dog just won't shut up. 368 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:57,600 Absolutely pray for the Dawn Dog, but know that in your 369 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:03,080 praise, when you begin to put the glory of God first and when 370 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,600 you recognize the purposes of God, it is a whole different 371 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,000 relationship. It's the relationship you find 372 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:13,440 on the royal family's WhatsApp group. 373 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,240 It's also the relationship that helps you deal with when you're 374 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,360 being blue ticked by God and you just feel like He doesn't care 375 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:26,200 to recognize these processes. Sometimes He does answer us in 376 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,680 our day of trouble, but most time the tenure of the Father's 377 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:36,080 heart for you and I is this time of distress because the purposes 378 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,880 and the plans and what He's producing far surpasses what you 379 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,440 could ever begin to imagine. But we lose hope. 380 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:47,920 And they often say we lose hope. One prayer before it's answered. 381 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:53,800 Give up. It is moving around pray without 382 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:54,640 ceasing. That's it. 383 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:59,000 Yeah. Lastly, they're coming out for 384 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,400 air. He then says in verse 20, he 385 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:04,520 says my prayers not for them alone. 386 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,120 I pray also for those who will believe in me through their 387 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,000 message that all of them may be one. 388 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,520 What I noticed is that he begins to pray for you and I 2000 years 389 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:16,240 ago he was praying for you and I He says there my pray is not for 390 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:17,920 them alone. Talking about his disciples that 391 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,760 were overhearing and pray, he says, I pray also for those who 392 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,120 will believe you and I one day, but also those who will believe 393 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:29,400 beyond us through our message. The the message Bible says, I 394 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,760 pray for those who will believe because of these people's 395 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:36,000 witness. In other words, he was looking 396 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,000 down the corridors of history to Pretoria and he's praying for 397 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,720 you and I that we would carry this message. 398 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:46,520 Well, he gives us this Pearl, this Pearl of great price, and 399 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,520 he's praised Father, would you, would you make sure that they, 400 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:55,160 they steward this gospel well in their city in their time? 401 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,160 Now here's a question. What is the boldest prayer you 402 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,800 can think to pray? I'll give you a second. 403 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:09,600 What is the boldest prayer you can think to pray? 404 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,760 Like if you were to ask an extravagant request of God right 405 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,600 now, what would be the craziest thing? 406 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:21,520 What's that name that you think? Not him, not her. 407 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,360 We we're praying on Tuesday and I was reminded Pete Gregg talks 408 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:30,280 about thin places. So in one of his books on pray, 409 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,680 he encourages people here. Pete Gregg is the guy who's run 410 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:38,880 this 24/7 prayer thing for years now, goes around the world 411 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,120 teaching on prayer, and he says one of the things he's noticed 412 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,520 is that he refers to it as thin places. 413 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,680 It's these places where somehow it just seems like God is 414 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:49,920 closer. I don't know if you've ever 415 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,560 noticed those kind of things. Honestly, it's the reason why 416 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,480 I'm in Pretoria. I'm a Durban boy, came up to 417 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,480 study and every time I went back down on holiday, it just seemed 418 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,680 like that was hard, rugged ground. 419 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:02,760 And Pretoria is like you close your eyes and it feels like 420 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,400 God's there. And so he says he even 421 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,760 encourages people to pray in the same place when you have your 422 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:09,800 quiet time. You know, we like to be like 423 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,080 little butterflies and what have you. 424 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,080 But if you find a spot, pray there all the time. 425 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:15,920 He says it's almost like you uncap a well. 426 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,080 So I was mentioning this at our prayer meeting on Tuesday. 427 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:23,800 And then as we close, I just said, listen, guys, why don't 428 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,640 we, before we go, let's walk among the chairs, take some 429 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,800 time, maybe spend 5 minutes and let's make that a thin place 430 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:35,360 because it's, it's highly unlikely that much prayer has 431 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:38,840 gone on in your seat. Because we're a consumer people. 432 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,000 We want to come, we want to consume, tell me, feed me, 433 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:42,120 entertain me. You want to go home. 434 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:43,760 Very little prayer going on there. 435 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,960 And I want to take that page, that thin veneer and let's just 436 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,200 rub it a little bit. And so we did that. 437 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,520 We went up and we went and we prayed for the seat that you're 438 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,880 sitting on. And I went up into that space 439 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:59,800 over there and I sat in your seat and I prayed for you that 440 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:03,320 God would be near. And I prayed things like that 441 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:04,760 the gospel would make sense to you. 442 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,920 I prayed for your marriage. I prayed for your finances. 443 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:12,800 And then there was a moment I said, Father, would you reach 444 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,760 their hearts and save them? And when I prayed that something 445 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,880 happened, it was almost like like a finger went through. 446 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,640 And so you might be sitting there this morning. 447 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:29,120 You might have said, Father, Mr. God, Your Royal Highness, Mr. 448 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:32,640 the King, I don't know if you even know if I exist. 449 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:38,600 This is his answer to you, that I would Pierce that thin layer 450 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,800 so that you would know. I noticed you. 451 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,520 I know you. I'm after you, and I don't know, 452 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:45,440 you might have been running from God for a while. 453 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,680 You might have been doubting his faithfulness. 454 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:52,200 Maybe like me, you went through a deep and dark valley, losing a 455 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,600 loved one, and you're like God, Do you even care? 456 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:00,640 This is Him telling you, I care more than you ever could hope or 457 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,840 imagine. And my prayer is what I've just 458 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,480 asked. What is the boldest prayer that 459 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,560 you can think to pray? Lord, I pray that your Holy 460 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,400 Spirit and your presence will be on that seat. 461 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,360 Touch that life, change that future. 462 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:16,920 So what? What is the boldest prayer that 463 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,480 you would pray? Because the Bible says in 464 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,240 Ephesians chapter 3 that God is able to do exceedingly 465 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,280 abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine according to His 466 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:29,320 power that is at work in US for his glory through all the 467 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,920 generations. We're going right the way around 468 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,000 for his glory. I pray is not for them. 469 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,960 I pray also that those who will pray also for those who will 470 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:45,400 believe in me through their message, because that will 471 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,640 glorify Him. So we're completing the circle. 472 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,440 So I don't know if you know the name Karl Idelman. 473 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:55,800 He's a he's a speaker and author and he was touching on this 474 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,200 verse once and there was someone that came up to him afterwards. 475 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:01,920 He was thinking kind of what you were thinking, you know, like 476 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,520 really thin places sit in the same spot, you know, isn't this 477 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,560 just a little bit of spin exceedingly abundantly above? 478 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,640 Isn't it like God speak for come on, man, try harder, do more. 479 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:14,560 So this guy coming, his name is Charles. 480 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,040 He comes to Carl and said, you know, I'm a salesman. 481 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:21,400 I know I can spot sales talk a mile away, you know, buy one, 482 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:26,040 get one free. I was like, so Carl said, OK, I 483 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,040 love your honesty, he says. But here's my challenge to you, 484 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,360 He says, you, I want you to ask this, what's the boldest prayer 485 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:35,440 that you can pray? He said, But it needs to be so 486 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,320 bold that it's completely out of your control. 487 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,800 So you pick something completely out of your control. 488 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:43,240 You're a salesperson, so not your sales target. 489 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,960 That's within your control. You're a married man, so not 490 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,400 that you've become a father for the second time, that's within 491 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,320 your control, something completely out of your control 492 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:55,000 and said and you commit to pray for that thing for every day for 493 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,080 the next six months and said, and if God doesn't do 494 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,120 exceedingly abundantly above what you could hope or imagine, 495 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,640 I will pay you 10,000 rent. Yeah. 496 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,680 Just so you know, this is not a prayer incentive that we offer 497 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:18,720 at 3 CR. So this guy's like deal, but out 498 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,080 of your control, Out of my control. 499 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,600 OK, So he gave it a few days, happened to be reading the 500 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,280 newspaper. He's American guy, something 501 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,760 happening in Kenya. So he took his journal and he 502 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,840 said, OK, father, this is the boldest prayer that I can pray. 503 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,880 And he wrote it down. He says, sent a message to Carl, 504 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,320 said today's day one of the six months. 505 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,040 And I know what I'm going to be praying for. 506 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,280 And after a couple of weeks, you know, you're sort of like you're 507 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,400 praying for Kenya, for Kenya, for Kenya. 508 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,840 So he thought, you know, there's a little bit on repeat. 509 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:52,560 I just want to find out a little bit about Kenya. 510 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,160 So he went and he started Googling it. 511 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,200 This thing was sort of churning in his mind, praying every 512 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,080 single day. And he was standing in a line at 513 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:02,000 a coffee shop and he could hear a person or two behind him. 514 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,560 Someone mentioned the word Kenya. 515 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,640 So he was wondering like, is this now, you know, one of the 516 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,280 Arabica blends or what, What's this Kenya about? 517 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,040 So he sort of starts leaning in and listening. 518 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:14,720 And she's talking about an orphanage. 519 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:18,040 So gets his coffee turns to her, said, hey, I heard you mentioned 520 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,360 Kenya. Tell me a little bit about it. 521 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:22,800 And this lady is like a saleswoman of notes. 522 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,720 Before the coffee was finished, he had agreed to go and see this 523 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,640 very orphanage that she was running in Kenya at his own 524 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:32,680 expense. Played, paid the plane ticket 525 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,120 accommodation, everything went to take a look at the place. 526 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,160 And so also the first thing you noticed was they didn't have any 527 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,680 medical supplies. So that's the industry that he's 528 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,560 in. So he worked out his laptop. 529 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,240 He sent a quick e-mail. The response to that e-mail was 530 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,760 20 million rans worth of medical supplies. 531 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:54,080 One e-mail, he's like, you're Carl. 532 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:59,320 Hey, you won't believe what happened, but 20 bar, but 20 bar 533 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,760 and Carl's like, yes, I just earned 10,000 rans. 534 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:03,560 He's like, no, no, no, I wasn't praying for that. 535 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:08,560 Like, oh, OK. So he's back home working hard 536 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,160 and he gets a phone call from this lady that's running the 537 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,040 orphanage. Would it be up to coming and 538 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:17,920 opening this orphan? You know, they sort of repainted 539 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:18,960 it. That changed some of the rooms 540 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:20,280 around. They got the medical supplies 541 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,240 and equipment and sort of changed the angle. 542 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:24,120 But they're going to do this official reopening. 543 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:28,520 Could he be the guest of honor? She's like, OK, I said, but this 544 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,280 time we paint. So they fly him out there. 545 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,440 He gets to attend the whole ribbon cut cutting thing. 546 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,480 What's the boldest pray that you could pray? 547 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,520 He finds he's not the only VIP invited there. 548 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,680 The Kenyan president is there as well. 549 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:49,040 She's like very awkward, you know, like he knows the guy by 550 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:51,520 name because he's been praying for the country and doing his 551 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:53,440 little bit of Wikipedia on Kenya. 552 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,760 And so the photo shoots and everything standing there next 553 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,400 to the president, he makes some small talk and then he he 554 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,400 properly oversteps the line, makes some very unhelpful 555 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:04,920 comments. And he can just see the 556 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,440 president's eyes glaze over and the security get a little bit 557 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,120 closer. And the president disappears 558 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,400 after the photo shoot and he just knows like he said 559 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:14,400 something he shouldn't have said. 560 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,920 So he's back home in America, having fun, making money, doing 561 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:21,480 his sales, praying everyday for the situation in Kenya. 562 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:24,480 Gets a phone call from the US State Department. 563 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:32,200 It's not before we have Sir, are you Charles or whatever? 564 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:33,960 Whatever. Yes, I am. 565 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,400 Were you in Kenya on this and this date? 566 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,240 Yes, I was. Did you make some inappropriate 567 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:43,000 comments about American political prisoners in Kenya to 568 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,440 the president of the nation? Yes, I did. 569 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,880 We just want to thank you. We have been trying to get them 570 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:56,560 released for years. One top of a comment, they're 571 00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:58,920 coming home. We just wanted to say thank you 572 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,520 from the US government to Charles, thank you. 573 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,240 But you won't believe what just happened. 574 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,880 Carl's like, yes, 10,000 Rand. No, that's not what I was 575 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:15,840 praying for. I think it was like 10 days away 576 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:20,640 from the end of the six months, 10 days away from getting that 577 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:24,760 10 grand. And he gets a phone call from 578 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,360 the office of the President of Kenya. 579 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,160 We would love to invite you to come and join us for three days. 580 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,240 We got some delegates from around the world. 581 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,240 He needs to make some changes in his cabinet and he just would 582 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,600 love to have people pray for him over this three day process. 583 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,840 And then he said the following. He said because he is making 584 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:49,280 pressing changes to his government and Charles is like, 585 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:57,880 hey Carl, I owe you 10,000 Rand. Completely out of my control. 586 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,520 It was the great, the biggest, most boldest, most baddest 587 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:05,080 prayer he could think to pray a nation on the other side of the 588 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:09,480 planet that God would step in and deal with the corruption and 589 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:13,200 make the pressing changes in the government that are necessary. 590 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:21,960 One man praying, one prayer over six months and the nation was 591 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:27,400 changed. So Jesus says my prayer for 592 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,560 those who will believe in me through their message. 593 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:34,120 And that's my challenge. We can say, Lord, teach us to 594 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:37,720 pray, or we could say, Lord, this is how I will pray. 595 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:44,440 I will take one thing and pray for it every day for the next 596 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:49,880 six months and trust that you're not just the God of spin, but 597 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:55,760 that you are the God who can do exceedingly, abundantly above 598 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:00,400 what I could ask or imagine for your glory through all 599 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:05,880 generations. If I had to ask you, what name 600 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:07,840 comes to mind? Is there one? 601 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:10,080 Doesn't have to be a person's name. 602 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:13,480 It could be a neighbourhood, it could be a house that you walk 603 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,480 past whenever you're walking the dog and there's just something 604 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:19,880 there. It might be a government or an 605 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:24,520 MP, a politician that might be a school or a varsity or it might 606 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:28,639 be a name. This is my invitation. 607 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,719 Let's say, Father, teach us how to pray. 608 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:39,199 And let's trust that when we put his glory first, that this month 609 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:44,480 and this series could be a before and after season, that we 610 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,480 will say in the not too distant future, You remember before 611 00:34:47,679 --> 00:34:52,280 August 24. Remember how Joe used to behave 612 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:56,880 before August 24? Remember how utterly impossible 613 00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:01,600 it was that Paul Lafontaine could get saved before August 614 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:06,160 24? Remember how wayward Mariette 615 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:10,440 was? Can you remember that lecturer 616 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,840 in our first year? Has something changed in August 617 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,600 24? I believe this is the invitation 618 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:22,240 and I believe This is why we've gone into the deep end. 619 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:27,360 It's because if I can rally 5000 people, if we take this 620 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:31,920 morning's crowd and tonight's crowd, if I can rally 5000 621 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:37,320 people say, Father, how can your glory come in their life in that 622 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:41,040 situation? 5000 Can you imagine 5000 Kenyan 623 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,840 president situations exceedingly, abundantly above. 624 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:49,160 Can you imagine how God would be glorified in our city? 625 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:56,240 What if Jay was right that the city is not dead, it's just 626 00:35:56,240 --> 00:36:01,600 dormant? What if this is our distress and 627 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:03,680 we're saying, Father, would you come? 628 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:10,080 Can you imagine if we begin to say, that's what I prayed for, 629 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:14,760 this is the person I prayed for, that's the department I pray 630 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,120 for, and God answers us in our distress. 631 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:24,080 So, Heavenly Father, I just want to bring this most magnificent 632 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:26,640 prayer that we've only just scratched the surface of. 633 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,160 If we were to look into this royal WhatsApp group, we would 634 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:35,280 see your heart for the city in ways that would surprise us. 635 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,680 We would see your heart for Joe and Paul and Mariette and 636 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:44,560 Caroline. It would take our breath away. 637 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:50,920 But I also believe we would see a God who is waiting for someone 638 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:56,200 to stand in the gap. And this morning I ask that we 639 00:36:56,200 --> 00:37:03,760 AS3CI that me as Stephen would respond to that call to stand in 640 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,840 the gap so that you might be glorified in the city. 641 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,000 Father, we long for your presence. 642 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:17,720 We long that your Kingdom would come in Pretoria as it is in 643 00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:21,480 heaven. We also long that you would 644 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:27,480 answer us in our distress, and so we invite you by your Holy 645 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:29,600 Spirit. Would you lead us? 646 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:34,680 Would you show us how we can cry out to you in such a way? 647 00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:38,120 What request we could make of you that you would be most 648 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:40,600 glorified in US? In Jesus name, Amen.