1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,960 So we're doing a series on prayer and none of us have ever 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,280 arrived. So I'm not standing up here 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,480 teaching you how to pray, I'm learning how to pray. 4 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:14,360 If I did it all again, I would pray some more. 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,080 The man who taught me how to pray was a man called Chris 6 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:19,960 Vinant. He was the leader of the church 7 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,320 that I eventually live in, Durban. 8 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,200 And he went and he was a teacher and he went into full time 9 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,880 ministry. And after two hours of being in 10 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:31,080 full time ministry, he didn't know what to do. 11 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,240 So I thought, let me go and buy a bean bag, bring it into my 12 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:38,920 office, get on my knees because that's like quite a good place 13 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,600 to pray. Put my face in the bean bag and 14 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:46,840 intercede for the salvation of Russia and Durban and everything 15 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,320 in between. And he said he bought the bean 16 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:51,440 bag, he put it down in the thing. 17 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,320 He got down on his knees with all holy intentions, stuck his 18 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,360 face into the bean bag and woke up three hours later. 19 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,760 That was his introduction to prayer. 20 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,000 And so we all have these magnificent desires to change 21 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,760 the world. And you, Lord Jesus, I pray for 22 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,720 your salvation. And, and then you're thinking 23 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,680 about motorbikes and holidays and and coffee. 24 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:24,120 And it's, it's not easy to pray, but it is the key to the Kingdom 25 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,880 of God. And so we're learning together 26 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:29,320 as a community on how to pray. We're looking through the Lord's 27 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:32,560 Prayer and God has amazing things. 28 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,680 If he weren't here 2 weeks ago when I preached. 29 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,480 I've never told the story about my brain operation, but for some 30 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:41,360 reason I've told the story about my brain operation and Doctor 31 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,160 Ackerman and his wife, Doctor Mustard, who was my 32 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,400 anaesthetist, that happened 35 years ago. 33 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,240 He subsequently passed away and I've not seen her again. 34 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:56,040 And then I've got a phone call from a lady in Stellenbosch and 35 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:57,920 said, hey, Rory, I know you're coming to preach in 36 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,800 Stellenbosch. Your anaesthetist, Dr. Mustard 37 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,360 is going to be there. We're just talking about prayer. 38 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:06,440 35 years. I've not seen her. 39 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:08,000 She's just moved to Stellenbosch. 40 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,199 She doesn't know anybody in Stellenbosch. 41 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:13,560 And she comes to the service that I happen to be preaching at 42 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:15,640 in Stellenbosch. You can put it up on all the 43 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:18,600 screens. I called it to the front. 44 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:24,680 I said, ma'am, you are the only living human being that can 45 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,480 testify in court that I've got a brain. 46 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,480 You know what she said? Buy a clay iniki. 47 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,480 So buy a clay. So buy a buy a clay iniki. 48 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,840 But God can do anything. You can use a little verse of a 49 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,680 priest, of somebody in Pretoria to introduce a doctor down in 50 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:58,440 Stellenbosch to a community of people. 51 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,760 And I said 35 years ago you were in my key, I was in your key, 52 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,960 but now you are in my key. I would like to introduce my 53 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,720 doctor to this community. Please look after her. 54 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,680 And so we bumble along as we learn how to pray and take us on 55 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:14,600 a journey. So come on a Tuesday and learn 56 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:16,880 how to pray. You don't have to pray wild and 57 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:18,720 exotic prayers. You don't have to get all your 58 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,240 theology right. I always say this, you can't get 59 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,400 prayer wrong. You can't get prayer wrong. 60 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,400 It doesn't matter where how you stand or sit or lie or run, or 61 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,280 you can't get prayer wrong. Prayer is a communication 62 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,440 between you and our Father in heaven. 63 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:40,080 You can't get it wrong. I'm reading a book of a of a 64 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:45,840 young man who's 13 years old. He didn't believe in God or he 65 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,280 kind of believed in God. And his biology teacher came 66 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,400 into his biology class one day and said, young man, do you 67 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,120 believe in God? He said, Sir, he's an American 68 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,000 guy. He said, Sir, I think I believe 69 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,600 in God, but I'm not sure if I believe in God, but but but I'm 70 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,400 trying to believe in God. And he said, young man, why 71 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,840 don't you try and pray? And he said, what does that look 72 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:08,000 like? So he said, why don't you take 73 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:13,120 your 8th grade 8th class list and just spend the next term 74 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,720 walking around the school praying for your grade A class 75 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:21,040 by name. So he did that and as he did 76 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,680 that, he learnt about God. And the more he learnt about 77 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,880 God, he fell in love with God and then he gave his life to 78 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:28,840 God. And then the teacher said, now 79 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:31,560 why don't you start meeting with some of your grade eight people? 80 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,240 So they started in a maths class and every Wednesday morning 81 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,280 before the sun came up, we'd go to school and take the list of 82 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:40,760 names and he would pray. And eventually the maths class 83 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:42,560 was outgrown. So they went into the lecture 84 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,720 hall and eventually the lecture hall was outgrown. 85 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,760 So they went into the main school hall with a 13 year old 86 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:52,400 boy who had absolutely no theology, said he would just 87 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:57,160 open his Bible randomly, pick a verse, preach, write a few 88 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,160 things down, stand up after an hour of prayer on a Wednesday 89 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,840 morning, and he led a revival in his school. 90 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,160 Why don't you just try and pray? Why? 91 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,520 Why don't you just try and pray? Not just one day or two days or 92 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,400 five days. Why don't you just try and pray 93 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:17,880 and see what God does? This is what he writes in his 94 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,760 struggle with pray. Holy One, there's something I 95 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,800 wanted to tell you. But there have been errands to 96 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,200 run, bills to pay, arrangements to make, meetings to attend, 97 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:29,680 friends to entertain, watching to do. 98 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,480 And I forget what it is that I wanted to say to you. 99 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:34,920 And mostly I forget what I'm about or why. 100 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,960 Oh God, don't forget me, please, for the sake of Jesus Christ, 101 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,440 Eternal One. There's something I wanted to 102 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,640 tell you. But my mind races with worrying 103 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,680 and watching, with waiting and planning, with rutted slights 104 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,440 and potholed grievances, with leaky dreams and leaky plumbing 105 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,680 and leaky relationships I keep trying to plug up, and my 106 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:59,200 attention is preoccupied with loneliness, with doubt and with 107 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:02,080 things like covet. And I forget what it is I want 108 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,520 to say to you and how to say it honestly, or how much to do 109 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,040 about anything. Oh God, don't forget me, please, 110 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:12,360 for the sake of Jesus Christ Almighty One. 111 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:13,880 There's something I wanted to ask you. 112 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:18,840 But I stumble along the edge of a nameless rage, haunted by 100 113 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:23,680 floating fears of terrorists of all kinds, of losing my job, of 114 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,880 falling, of getting sick and old, having loved ones die or 115 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,120 dying. I forget what the real question 116 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,760 is that I wanted to ask, and I forget to listen anyway because 117 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,040 you seem unreal and far away and I forget what it is that I have 118 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,200 forgotten. Oh, God, don't forget me, 119 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,240 please, for the sake of Jesus Christ. 120 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,200 Oh, Father in heaven, perhaps you've already heard that I 121 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:47,840 wanted to tell you. What I wanted to ask is forgive 122 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,160 me, heal me, increase my courage, please. 123 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:52,360 Renewing me. A little bit of love and faith 124 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,960 and a sense of confidence and a vision of what is and what might 125 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,240 be. To live as though you were real 126 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,920 and I mattered and everyone was my sister and brother. 127 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,480 What I wanted to ask you is my blundering way is don't give up 128 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,600 on me, don't become too sad about me, but laugh with me and 129 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,680 try again with me and I will try again with you. 130 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,800 What I wanted to ask for peace enough to want and want work for 131 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,160 more, for joy enough to share and for awareness that is keen 132 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:24,160 enough to sense your presence. Dear God, here, now, there, then 133 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:30,000 always let's say together our Father, who art in heaven, 134 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:37,160 hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come, your will be done 135 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:43,560 on earth as it is in heaven. We have a lady who runs an 136 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,800 orphanage in the townships of this country. 137 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,720 She sent me two little clips of a 5 year old girl and a 138 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:51,840 three-year old boy. I just want you to listen to 139 00:07:51,840 --> 00:08:04,240 them. Your name. 140 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:51,600 It's what's the greatest thing to 141 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,720 teach an orphan? Our Father who art in heaven, 142 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,480 hallowed be your name. It's the greatest thing that you 143 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,080 can teach an orphan and it's the greatest thing that you can 144 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:05,240 teach an adult because it up until that time, God was 145 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,960 distant. God was a fire, God was holy, 146 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:09,880 God was the God of the 10 commandments. 147 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,080 God was addressed. I didn't even pronounce his 148 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,240 name, Yahweh. It was just like YHW, you 149 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:16,760 wouldn't even pronounce God's full name. 150 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:18,840 He's a distant God. He's a powerful God. 151 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,400 He is an almighty God. And when Jesus says this is how 152 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,800 you're going to pray our Father, say Father, he was breaking down 153 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,960 every wall of the fear of God and bringing us into a very, 154 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:34,760 very, very close relationship. It was completely and utterly 155 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,840 against everything that religious people had ever 156 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,760 learned up until that time. And we said this, because your 157 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,960 earthly father is poor does not mean our biblical father is 158 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,760 poor. He is a beautiful, kind, 159 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,720 generous, big hearted, covenantal, extravagant God. 160 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,000 And you and I have got access to him in pray. 161 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,960 Pray is just genuinely coming like a son and a daughter into 162 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:04,000 the presence of the Father. I ask myself this question and 163 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:08,520 many ask me this question is God an egomaniac or does he love 164 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,840 attention or do why do I have to keep honoring his name? 165 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,680 And so you have this incredible thing, our Father who art in 166 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:17,440 heaven hallowed. That's the word holy hallowed be 167 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,480 your name. Holiness is like so father is 168 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,840 really close and holiness is really far and they get put next 169 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,760 to each other because the name and it's think of God. 170 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,000 Must I just like keep praising you every Sunday? 171 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,200 Must I keep coming with 3000 people and singing your name 172 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,280 over? Do you love attention, God? 173 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,160 Do you love to be the center of attention? 174 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:39,480 But that's not what the prayer is about. 175 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:43,640 The prayer about is I will only find my proper reorientation or 176 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,320 my orientation. I will only find my true worth 177 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,840 when I put God at the center and He loves me from that place. 178 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:53,280 For instance, the problem is we have many names in our lives. 179 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,200 Ambition, pride, sex, money, alcohol. 180 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,800 We've got all these names that dictate our lives. 181 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,360 And God says, I want you to honor my name. 182 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,720 Name is holy. And when you honor my name as 183 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,240 holy, you'll understand how much you are loved. 184 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:11,680 And so the reason why we give God his rightful place is so 185 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,480 that you and I can understand our rightful place. 186 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,160 And that's the Son and daughters of God. 187 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:21,200 And then it goes and it says, your Kingdom come. 188 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,480 Say that with me, your Kingdom come. 189 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,160 Some of you know this. You saw me going through the 190 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,560 process of a nervous breakdown many years ago. 191 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:33,200 Seven or eight years ago, I went through a nervous breakdown. 192 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,400 I went on to medication and it was a really tough journey for 193 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,480 me. And for years, for years, I've 194 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,360 prayed to God that in the instant, you know, we can have 195 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:47,960 the Kingdom of God can come in all sorts of places. 196 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,320 I've just seen if you, if you Google world #1 golfer who is a 197 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,520 outspoken Christian. He's just won the Olympic gold. 198 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:57,720 He's just, he is the top of his game. 199 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,240 He is a Christ follower. He is absolutely, he is an 200 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:05,640 unbelievable witness of Christ. But this week he hit a bad shot. 201 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,800 He smashed his club into the ground and he let out an 202 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,000 expletive because the Kingdom to come is is a big thing. 203 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,080 It's a big thing now, now, now it's everyone. 204 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,040 But the Christian guy swears Christian people do sway. 205 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,760 But we want the Kingdom to keep coming into our lives so that 206 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:28,880 eventually he rules and reigns. And I've asked God, Lord, I want 207 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,920 my first reaction. But it's easy over time for the 208 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,680 Kingdom to come. I want my first reaction to be 209 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:40,160 the king. And so on Tuesday night I was in 210 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:43,640 Durban with my son and my wife. We'd flown back from Cape Town. 211 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:46,520 I just worked that way, drove to Durban, went to business, flew 212 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,120 back from Cape Town. I was having something to eat 213 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,600 and my wife's food went down, my son's food went down and the 214 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,560 waiter came to put my food down. And as he was about to put it 215 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:58,600 down, he hit the chair in front of it and you can see my hand is 216 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:03,520 all burnt. He smacked the plate, the source 217 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,360 hit my hand, burnt my hand went on my clothes, the butternut and 218 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,320 spinach landed in my lap, the plate broke and the steak landed 219 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,000 on the table like that. And I grabbed his hand and I 220 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:23,560 pulled him close and I said the Kingdom has come, our Father who 221 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:26,800 art in heaven, hallowed be your name, thy Kingdom come. 222 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,440 And I said, it's OK. I said the best guy for this to 223 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:35,000 happen to in the whole restaurant is me because God has 224 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,560 been with me on a six year journey asking for his Kingdom 225 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:41,000 to come. And he needed to break a plate 226 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,120 and burn my hand and drop butternut on my lap. 227 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,680 And you know, friends, I went to the bathroom, I cleaned up and I 228 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:53,880 came and said and I said to my wife, I am better. 229 00:13:55,680 --> 00:14:00,440 It's taken six years for that journey to take place, and I 230 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:05,280 don't know how long it will take with you as we wrestle through 231 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:07,760 everybody going through their own stuff. 232 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:12,440 But we want the king and the Kingdom to come. 233 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,760 The definition of the Kingdom is very simple to me. 234 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:18,760 It's the place where Jesus is king. 235 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,320 It's very simple. It's the place where Jesus is 236 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,640 King and you can take every area of your life, your money, your 237 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,880 relationships, your time, your eyes, your words, your 238 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,320 relationships, your finances, your drinking habits. 239 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:38,280 You can take every single one of your parts of your life and ask 240 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,800 a simple question. Is he the King? 241 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,760 Because the prayer that we pray is a radical prayer. 242 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,560 Because before 1 king can take over, the other king has to be 243 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:51,960 dethroned. The other king has to be 244 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,080 dethroned. And all of us have got little 245 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,280 kingdoms in our lives. All of us have got little areas 246 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,160 of power that we grip hold of and hold onto. 247 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:14,040 And so there has to be a complete dethroning with the 248 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,200 whiskey in one hand and their hand lifted to Jesus saying 249 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,080 wrong with drinking. No, I just want to ask you this. 250 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:26,800 Is he the King? Every time you pull your wallet 251 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:28,840 out, that's going to answer the question, is he the king? 252 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:32,240 Because if you pray the pray, he's going to completely and 253 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,240 utterly turn your life around. He's going to turn it upside 254 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:41,200 down. And even in the church, friends, 255 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,760 before we know it, before we know it, you see pastors, I am 256 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,240 exactly the same. There is something inside of me 257 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,200 that wants to be king. Before you know it, the church, 258 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:53,280 which is meant to preach freedom, ends up serving people. 259 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:56,720 These personalities in the front. 260 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,520 Friends, we are just servants. He is the king. 261 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:06,120 Don't serve a human being. Serve God, serve the King, Amen. 262 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,720 He is the king. And so we look at, let's have a 263 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:16,280 look at John chapter 12, please. I want to talk about the king 264 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,360 out the four, four ways. I just find the Kingdom of God 265 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:25,720 #1 so Jesus is the king #2 where he rules without rival, where he 266 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:30,440 rules without rival, that there's, there's nobody fighting 267 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:36,520 for his attention #3 where he reverses the fall of humanity. 268 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:41,400 Humanity's fall includes bitterness and hatred and gossip 269 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,640 and slander and and unforgiveness and, and all that 270 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,720 rubbish. And when the King comes, he 271 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:56,240 reverses it and finally he starts to restore back to the 272 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,920 original intention, starts to restore. 273 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,720 So when we pray our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your 274 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,920 name, your Kingdom come. That is like the clearing 275 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:16,040 warfare on 56 years of my trigger happy emotional response 276 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,599 to anything that doesn't go according to my plan. 277 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:25,960 I know the owner of that restaurant. 278 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,240 He's a Jewish man. His name is Mr. Lazarus. 279 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,960 He happened to phone me last week when I was on the steps of 280 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:34,760 the of the church. He phoned me. 281 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:36,720 He said, hey, raw, it's Lazie here. 282 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:38,800 I said, how are you Lazie? He said, hey, when are you going 283 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:40,960 to come and have a steak at my steakhouse? 284 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:47,640 I thought you're and I said to the manager, please don't tell 285 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,080 Mister Lazarus that this happened because I don't want 286 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:55,040 him to phone me and to say sorry it didn't happen so that he 287 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:57,560 could say sorry because I love people saying sorry to me. 288 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:02,640 It happened so that I can know if I'm OK with Jesus being the 289 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:07,720 king of my immediate response. And I want to tell you I have 290 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:13,600 failed dismally over many years, but I continue to pray. 291 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:20,040 Jesus be the king, Jesus rule without rival, Jesus reverse the 292 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:25,920 fallenness of my own humanity, and Jesus restore what your 293 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,160 original intention was for the church, for people, for 294 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,080 relationships, for marriage, for sexuality, for whatever it might 295 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,160 be. Amen. 296 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:43,080 John chapter 12 verse 12. The next day the great crowd 297 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,240 that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was on his way to 298 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:48,960 Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went 299 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:50,800 out to meet him, shouting Hosanna. 300 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,760 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 301 00:18:54,080 --> 00:19:00,000 Blessed is the king of Israel. Jesus found a young donkey and 302 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,040 he sets upon it as it is written. 303 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,320 Do not be afraid, O daughter of Zion, see your, your king, say 304 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:12,800 your king is coming, say coming seated on a donkey. 305 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,880 So you'd have a War Horse and you'd have a donkey. 306 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,800 A War Horse was for was for war. And when a king went to war, he 307 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,400 rode a War Horse. And when the king was at peace, 308 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,960 he rode. And when Jesus rode into 309 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:28,720 Jerusalem, he never rode a War Horse. 310 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,120 He rode eh? Because when he comes into your 311 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,680 life, He comes in peace. He comes to bring peace into 312 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:36,480 your life. And friends, we don't have time, 313 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,560 but that is a phrase from Zechariah Chapter 9 and we can 314 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,680 turn to Zechariah Chapter 9, please. 315 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,560 It's a quote from Zechariah 9. And if you have time, you can go 316 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:48,920 and read John chapter 13. I don't want to take too long, 317 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:53,040 but as he gets pronounced as the king in John chapter 12, in John 318 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,360 chapter 13, it says this. You can go and read it. 319 00:19:55,360 --> 00:20:02,200 It says Now Jesus says, I will display to you the full extent 320 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:07,760 of my love. Taking off his outer garment and 321 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:13,480 wrapping it around his waist, he started to wash his disciples 322 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,480 feet. This Kingdom, friends. 323 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,160 Sometimes when we preach this Kingdom in the church, it is a 324 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:24,760 powerhouse, personality driven, loud, expressive nature about 325 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:28,360 control and dominion. That's not the biblical version 326 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:30,520 of the Kingdom. The biblical version of the 327 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,600 Kingdom is that Jesus will gently ride into your life, take 328 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,320 off his garment of a king and wash your feet. 329 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:40,520 And he says, and now you go and do likewise. 330 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,000 And we get a lot of dominion type people. 331 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,960 We are going to take over the city. 332 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:50,600 We're going to dominate the city. 333 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:51,880 The Kingdom is going to come now. 334 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,280 The Kingdom is going to come by gentleness and by kindness and 335 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:59,040 by generosity. And when people are broken, 336 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,120 we're going to fix them. And when people have fallen 337 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,440 down, we're going to pick them up so good, Rory. 338 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:10,960 And when people think they're important, we're going to just 339 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,240 take off our importance. We're going to wash their feet. 340 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,080 Now people do a lot of washing of feet. 341 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,520 That's not the actual, that's not it's just serving. 342 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:21,440 Take people who have babies a meal. 343 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,560 Take somebody who's just got divorced and they're sitting in 344 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,400 their house crying in the loneliness of the divorce, 345 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,600 completely rejected. Just take them a meal, wash 346 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,920 their feet and show them where our King is like, Amen. 347 00:21:43,470 --> 00:21:47,070 Just say this, Our Father, our Father who art in heaven. 348 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,040 Say it again, Our Father who art in heaven. 349 00:21:54,920 --> 00:22:08,160 Hallowed be your name. close your eyes, say Our Father who 350 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:14,040 art in heaven. Some of you don't know what on 351 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:16,960 earth to do next. You art on earth. 352 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:18,880 You've lost your marriage, you've lost your business, 353 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:20,880 you've lost your confidence. You've lost your way. 354 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:24,040 You don't know what to do. I want to tell you, He arts in 355 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,440 heaven. He knows the plan of your life. 356 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:27,920 You can see the beginning from the end. 357 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:31,360 He knows the width and the depths and He loves you and he's 358 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:34,560 given you access so you can come into his presence with all your 359 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:36,920 earthiness and thinking. I don't even know what to say. 360 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,000 Lord God, I fall asleep on a beanbag. 361 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,000 Lord God, when I try and pray, I can't pray for more than 5 362 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,080 minutes with my mind wandering. But know this, He art in heaven 363 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,200 and you art on earth and that should give you enough 364 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:53,520 confidence. Hallowed be your name. 365 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,840 We treat your name as holy Lord God with all the names that are 366 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:03,400 shouting at us. Pride and anger and expletives 367 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:08,720 and drunkenness. All the names that are shouting 368 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,920 for our attention. The things that define us, our 369 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,880 degrees and our careers, Lord God. 370 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,080 The things that give us purpose and meaning, Lord God, we choose 371 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,440 to hallow your name above those so that when we see you that 372 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,360 we'll really see ourselves. Lord God, that we are not some 373 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,680 products of a commercial institution, Lord God, but we 374 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,880 are sons and daughters of a loving God who knit us together 375 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,680 by divine design. You put my DNA together. 376 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:42,280 You made me like I am God. You designed my nose and my 377 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:46,560 mouth and my ears. You decided when I would go 378 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,640 bald, Lord God. You decided, Father God, where I 379 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:53,080 would go to school and where I'd end up living and who I'd end up 380 00:23:53,080 --> 00:24:07,260 living next to, Lord God. And as we hallow your name, I 381 00:24:07,260 --> 00:24:11,220 pray the identity, Lord God, the identity of every person would 382 00:24:11,220 --> 00:24:14,900 be completely and utterly secured today. 383 00:24:16,300 --> 00:24:18,940 It's not determined on a rugby field on a Saturday. 384 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,760 It's determined at the cross where you gave us access to God 385 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:32,120 the Father. Not Yahweh, not the fire that 386 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:36,520 came from heaven or the cloud that billowed at night, but the 387 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,840 Father, the relational God. Now let's pray this prayer. 388 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:45,760 Thy Kingdom come. Let's pray it again, Thy Kingdom 389 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,800 come, Thy Kingdom come. I do not believe as you just 390 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,560 keep your eyes closed. I do not believe you can pray a 391 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,880 more radical pray ever in your life than that. 392 00:24:55,880 --> 00:25:00,440 Pray thy Kingdom come. That means you're giving the 393 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,880 authority of your life over to someone. 394 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:12,160 And I want to say to you that someone who deserves the palm 395 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:18,480 branches to be cut, he deserves the crowd to shout hosanna, that 396 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,600 one takes off his outer garment, wraps it around his waist, gets 397 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,320 on his knees and washes your feet. 398 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:28,280 And he says, let me explain to you the fullness of my love. 399 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,000 Let me show you the fullness of my love. 400 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:42,560 I pray today, Lord God, that your Kingdom would come in every 401 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:47,400 life, in every brokenness, reverse the curse of fallen 402 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,040 humanity. Start with my immediate reaction 403 00:25:52,080 --> 00:26:02,120 to opposition and restore it to its original design in Jesus 404 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:02,360 name.