1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,240 When I was writing this, I was looking up inspiration about prayer and reading stories 2 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:15,580 about prayer and texting my friends about how God answered their prayers this week. 3 00:00:15,580 --> 00:00:22,340 And I came across this story about this little girl she was praying and she was at dinner 4 00:00:22,340 --> 00:00:23,340 table with her mom. 5 00:00:23,340 --> 00:00:28,160 Her mom had a bunch of friends over and the mom turned to her six-year-old daughter and 6 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,440 said, would you like to say the blessing? 7 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,080 The girl replied, I wouldn't know what to say. 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:39,280 And the mom said to the daughter, just say what you heard mommy say. 9 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:45,720 The daughter bowed her head, folded her hands, and said, Lord, why on earth did I invite 10 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,200 all these people to my house? 11 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,760 And I read that story and it kind of reminded me of my mom a little bit. 12 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:58,040 I'm not going to lie. 13 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:02,040 But when I was reading over this thing, I started to think about how the Lord has blessed 14 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:03,680 me this week during prayer. 15 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:05,420 I've had a really rough week at work. 16 00:01:05,420 --> 00:01:10,080 My boss was away at a seminar and so he put me in place of being temporary manager for 17 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:11,520 the week. 18 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,720 And I've never done it and he decided to not tell me all what encompasses it. 19 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,320 He just said, you've seen me do it so you just do it. 20 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:22,480 I'm like, well, we'll see how that goes. 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:27,280 And so it went well for the most part, a couple hiccups here and there, but for the most part, 22 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,400 I was more stressed than anything. 23 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:31,640 Everything went well. 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:32,640 Nothing bad happened. 25 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,160 Everybody stayed out of trouble. 26 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,640 I work for FedEx and so I was in charge of a bunch of guys driving and delivering packages 27 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,400 and making sure they didn't bring anything back. 28 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:42,320 And for the most part, we did okay. 29 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:45,000 Nothing out of the ordinary. 30 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:50,560 But what I realized is I was just under a lot of stress to be perfect because my boss 31 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:55,600 has OCD and he loves everything to be perfect to a T. 32 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:00,160 And so in my head I'm like, if I don't do everything the same way that he would do it, 33 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,880 I'm going to hear about it when he comes back. 34 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:08,760 And so I was under a lot of stress of how am I going to keep up with 11 drivers on top 35 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:14,440 of making sure everything goes out, delivered to the right houses, people not hitting anything. 36 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,000 We hit one mailbox. 37 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:18,000 That's normal. 38 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:19,740 I'm just going to say that. 39 00:02:19,740 --> 00:02:20,740 That's normal. 40 00:02:20,740 --> 00:02:24,080 So it wasn't more than whatever. 41 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,920 So when he called me this end of the week and he asked me for a week update, because 42 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:28,920 he was unreachable. 43 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:30,280 He didn't have his phone in the class. 44 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:31,440 He had to put it in his car. 45 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,440 So I couldn't text him, ask him questions. 46 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:38,040 I just had to make a decision and hope that it was the right one. 47 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:43,520 And so when he was asking me how the week go, I said, well, first off, let's pray before 48 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:45,240 I tell you how the week went. 49 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:51,120 And so we prayed together and I started to tell him how the week went. 50 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,040 I said, our numbers were okay. 51 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,840 I said, we could have done better. 52 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:02,160 And he told me good job because the boss over him, what I didn't know was watching me the 53 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:03,520 entire week. 54 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:04,520 I didn't see him. 55 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,840 I didn't know he was around, but he was watching me and he was giving updates to my boss the 56 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,560 entire week. 57 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:15,480 And so, which is kind of an eerie feeling when you think about it, that like someone's 58 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,640 watching and you don't know about it. 59 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:21,400 But my boss told me good job, that I did good. 60 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:27,600 I could say that I could give all myself the credit that I did everything right, that I 61 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,400 knew exactly what I was doing, but I didn't. 62 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:35,080 Every morning I woke up and I was like, God, please help me during this week. 63 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:36,080 I said, I need you. 64 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:37,760 I have no idea what I'm doing. 65 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,360 I was just thrown into 12 feet of water and I have no idea how to swim here. 66 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:47,120 And so I prayed every single day and when things got hard, I quickly went to the back 67 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,040 of a delivery truck and I was like, Lord, please, it's getting hard. 68 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,040 And so I just want to give all the credit to God that God answered my prayer this entire 69 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:56,040 week. 70 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,720 Every single time I prayed to him and every single time I bowed my head and lifted my voice 71 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:03,320 to him, he prayed and he answered my prayer. 72 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:09,160 So I want you to turn with me to the book of 1 Samuel chapter 1. 73 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaking of prayer, I know that this past month was the month of prayer and it was also 74 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:15,180 Mother's Day. 75 00:04:15,180 --> 00:04:19,200 So I kind of thought of the story that would tie both of those things together well. 76 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:29,920 So 1 Samuel chapter 1 and we're going to begin in verse 1. 77 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,960 Say amen when you are there. 78 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:38,140 Verse 1 says, now there was a certain man from Ramathiams of Phim from the hill country 79 00:04:38,140 --> 00:04:42,480 of Ephraim and his name was Alkanai, the son of Jerahim, the son of Elahou, the son of 80 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:44,960 Tohu, the son of Zuphe and Ephraim. 81 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:45,960 Right? 82 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,520 I did not make it easy for myself on that one. 83 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:53,080 He had two wives and one was Hannah and the name of the other one was Penena. 84 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,720 And Penena had children but Hannah had no children. 85 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,280 Now this man would go up from the city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of 86 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:06,740 Host in Shiloh and two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas were priests to the Lord there. 87 00:05:06,740 --> 00:05:10,520 When the day come that Alkanai sacrificed, he would give portions to Penena, his wife 88 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:14,480 and to all of her sons and her daughters but Hannah, he would give a double portion for 89 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,920 he loved the Lord but the Lord had closed her womb. 90 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,400 Her rival however would provoke her bitterly to irritate her because the Lord had closed 91 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:23,400 her womb. 92 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,680 It happened year after year as often as she went up to the house of the Lord she would 93 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,880 provoke her so she wept and would not eat. 94 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,380 Then Alkanai, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and 95 00:05:33,380 --> 00:05:34,920 why is your heart sad? 96 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,560 Am I not better to you than ten sons? 97 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:39,680 Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. 98 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:44,060 Now Eli, the priest, was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 99 00:05:44,060 --> 00:05:47,000 She greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 100 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,480 She made a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction 101 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,120 of your maidservant and remember me and not forget your maidservant but will give your 102 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,400 maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and a razor 103 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,360 shall never come on his head. 104 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:07,040 Now as reading this story, two things stood out to me. 105 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:11,120 The first thing that stood out to me was don't we all have someone in our life that just 106 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,280 likes to irritate us a little bit? 107 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:15,100 That they do it on purpose? 108 00:06:15,100 --> 00:06:18,640 That they find that one thing that we know that we're sensitive about and they just keep 109 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,000 going at it? 110 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:25,800 Something that stood out to me is Hannah never retaliated. 111 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,600 She never turned around and bit her head off or snapped at her and was like, can you just 112 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,960 stop talking? 113 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:37,080 Every single time this happens, you come up to me and you're just nasty. 114 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:38,080 Can you not do that? 115 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,520 She never once said that. 116 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:41,520 Was she sad? 117 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:42,520 Yes. 118 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:43,520 Was she heartbroken? 119 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:44,520 Yes. 120 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,280 And year after year she had to look forward to this. 121 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:51,000 She had to look forward to this moment of all these great things were happening and 122 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,440 yes she got double portioned but that's not what she was worried about because all these 123 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,200 people around her have these things that she just wanted that one thing that everybody 124 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,840 else had. 125 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:10,580 The other thing that stood out to me was that Elkanah, her husband, asked her what was wrong. 126 00:07:10,580 --> 00:07:15,520 So she was fighting this battle alone. 127 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:17,160 He knew that she didn't have a son. 128 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,040 He knew that they didn't have any kids. 129 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,600 But in my mind the way that I read this story is it doesn't seem like she was talking about 130 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:25,600 it a lot. 131 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:26,920 She wasn't talking about her sadness a lot. 132 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:32,760 She wasn't outwardly spoken about this battle and this challenge that she was going through. 133 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,600 And we all have things like that. 134 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,520 We all have things that we like to keep close to our chest. 135 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:39,600 We don't like to talk about our struggles. 136 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:41,680 We don't like the real struggles. 137 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,280 Like we like to complain about work and our neighbor and our brothers. 138 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,800 I have had my sheriff talking about my brothers. 139 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:49,800 I have five of them. 140 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,040 So my mom knows. 141 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:58,480 But we have these things that are so specific and so sensitive that we feel a little bit 142 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:00,800 embarrassed to talk about them. 143 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:02,940 We talk about church. 144 00:08:02,940 --> 00:08:03,940 We talk about work. 145 00:08:03,940 --> 00:08:05,220 We talk about friends. 146 00:08:05,220 --> 00:08:09,640 But there's one thing in each and every single person's life that we're not really too keen 147 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:10,640 on. 148 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:11,640 You know what? 149 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:12,640 I'm just going to tell everybody about this. 150 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,800 I haven't prayed for it. 151 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:24,480 It reminded me of this time in my life where it seemed like everything was going backwards. 152 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:30,040 Where we, and I talk about this a lot, but it's significant in my life because we were 153 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,080 raised Baptist. 154 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:38,560 And when we were leaving the church, all of our family, we all went to this one church. 155 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:43,680 Both my aunts, my cousins, we were raised in this church. 156 00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:49,220 And when we decided that we were leaving the church, people weren't too happy. 157 00:08:49,220 --> 00:08:56,460 My mom was a Sunday school teacher and I was starting to teach the teen class at that church. 158 00:08:56,460 --> 00:08:59,880 And so there were a lot of people relying on us to hold things up because we were put 159 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,240 in a place of position. 160 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:08,640 And when we told them that we were studying the Sabbath, they didn't like that very much. 161 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:14,180 And it got very nasty, I'll just say that. 162 00:09:14,180 --> 00:09:17,340 But we knew that this was what God was telling us to do. 163 00:09:17,340 --> 00:09:19,180 We knew that we were following God's word. 164 00:09:19,180 --> 00:09:23,560 And when you truly know that God's speaking to you and leading you down a path, are you 165 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:24,560 going to say no? 166 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:27,680 I mean, we can all be a Jonah, but we know how that ended. 167 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:30,720 Jonah came back, right? 168 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:35,920 But we chose to leave the church, we chose to follow what God was telling us. 169 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,680 But I was young at that age. 170 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:43,240 I was what, 14, somewhere around there. 171 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:48,120 And when we came to the church, I remember we were doing VBS. 172 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,840 And I remember the first person I met coming into this church was Julie Cameron. 173 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:56,480 She was back there and she was, you go here, you go here, you go here, okay, we have this, 174 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:57,480 we have that. 175 00:09:57,480 --> 00:09:59,000 Everything ready. 176 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,160 And my mom was like, okay, this is the perfect way to get them in this church. 177 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,400 You go help do whatever she needs you to do. 178 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:08,320 So all five of us were at different stations. 179 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:09,320 We were in crafts. 180 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,240 I think I was leading around the two to three year olds. 181 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,980 But it was this way of giving us a reason to be somewhere. 182 00:10:18,980 --> 00:10:22,600 But in my mind as a 13 or 14 year old, I can't remember how old, but around that age, in 183 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,260 my mind I was like, I don't want to be here. 184 00:10:25,260 --> 00:10:26,260 This is not my home. 185 00:10:26,260 --> 00:10:28,520 This is not my church. 186 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:30,680 I don't believe this way. 187 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:33,720 And of course I didn't know exactly what I believed because I was 14. 188 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,920 I was just in that stage still of like, okay, my mom said, get up, we're going to church. 189 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,920 I was still in that motion. 190 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:46,960 But at that time I felt myself getting angrier and angrier and angrier every single time 191 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:48,440 we had to wake up and go to church. 192 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,280 Because I'm like, I do not want to go to that church. 193 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:52,440 I don't know those people. 194 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:53,440 They don't know me. 195 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,360 That's not my family. 196 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:01,400 And I went through these years of just being hateful. 197 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,240 And I never once prayed. 198 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,880 I never once talked to God because I felt like, I don't want to talk to you because 199 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:08,960 you did this. 200 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:10,500 You spoke to my mom. 201 00:11:10,500 --> 00:11:13,560 How dare you do that? 202 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:15,720 And I was like, my mom loves you. 203 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:16,980 She's going to listen to you. 204 00:11:16,980 --> 00:11:21,000 So how dare you speak to her without telling me? 205 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,080 And I was being very selfish about it. 206 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:28,400 I wasn't letting my mom follow God the way that she needs to. 207 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:33,200 Because I know I was not really the easiest person to deal with. 208 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:39,420 Being slow on Sabbath mornings, not getting dressed, coming up the stairs wearing shorts 209 00:11:39,420 --> 00:11:41,480 and a t-shirt, but I'm ready for church. 210 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,520 No, you're not ready for church. 211 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:49,040 But I remember thinking back now, I never once stopped and prayed and asked God to take 212 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,880 away this hatred out of my heart. 213 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:56,880 Because if you think about it and I look back at it, there was no reason for me to be angry. 214 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:58,760 Because we were following God's word. 215 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:00,800 We were following what God was telling us to do. 216 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,880 So how in the world could I be angry at that? 217 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,440 I was being selfish. 218 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:10,720 So as time went on, we joined Pathfinders. 219 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,480 And once again, I saw all these kids being happy because this is their life. 220 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:16,240 This is what they do. 221 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:17,360 And they've been doing this for years. 222 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,880 And they grew up in adventurers and became Pathfinders. 223 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:23,680 And then there's me who has no idea what's going on. 224 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:25,400 All these people have their cliques. 225 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:27,000 They'll have their friends or whatever. 226 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:31,600 And so me and all five of my rambunctious brothers just come in there and just start wreaking 227 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,760 havoc on everything. 228 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,040 I remember we came in there and we didn't listen to... 229 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:37,520 Mom, just let you know. 230 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:39,640 I don't know if you know this. 231 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:43,100 But we didn't listen to any of the rules. 232 00:12:43,100 --> 00:12:48,760 We made our Pathfinder leader work harder than it needed to be. 233 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:53,280 In the honors, the knot tying honor, we didn't do any of the knots. 234 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,640 We just kept tying shoelace knots. 235 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,000 And he's like square knot, whatever. 236 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,800 It was always just shoelace knots. 237 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:06,760 And I just remember it, choosing to be that way, choosing to let my actions reflect how 238 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:08,840 I felt on the inside. 239 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:13,080 And again, I never stopped and prayed. 240 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:14,680 And my mom raised us to pray. 241 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:19,240 My mom raised us to number one, pray when things get hard. 242 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,840 And then number two, she also raised it if we don't have anything nice to say, don't 243 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:23,560 say anything at all. 244 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:28,360 Now I didn't follow either one of those. 245 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:36,240 But as time went on when I was around 17, I had this girlfriend that I met in Pathfinders 246 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,880 and it was just to fit in. 247 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,880 I didn't know her really. 248 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:42,400 She didn't know me. 249 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,560 It was just so I could fit in and be cool because everybody had these little crushes 250 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:46,560 or whatever. 251 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:49,880 So I was like if that's what they're doing, I'm going to do that to fit in. 252 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:55,640 And so 17, that all went down the toilet because obviously I was maturing and growing and I 253 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,480 was like this is not what I'm supposed to be doing. 254 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:04,360 And so I sat there and prayed right back there at the AV booth. 255 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:08,400 And I prayed for the first time in five years. 256 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:13,960 I was like, Lord, if this is where we are supposed to be, if we are doing your will 257 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:21,120 for our lives, please take this hatred and selfishness out of my heart. 258 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,800 And I sat there and prayed and if I'm being honest, I don't even know what the sermon 259 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:25,800 was about. 260 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,140 I was just having my own little thing going on back there. 261 00:14:29,140 --> 00:14:35,520 And I remember looking up when I was done praying and it felt like nobody else was in 262 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:37,520 the room. 263 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:42,280 And I remember the pastor looking, what it felt like right down at me, like right in 264 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:49,160 my eyes when I looked up and he said, patience and prayer. 265 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:54,400 And what got into my head was even though I wasn't praying, I know that there was someone 266 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,240 praying for me. 267 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:04,400 I know that there was one person praying for me, at least one person praying for me because 268 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,120 they saw what was going on. 269 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,960 They saw how angry I was. 270 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,160 They knew what was going on. 271 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,800 They knew how hard it was. 272 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:21,960 And that one person was praying and I can't help but thank the patience in that prayer. 273 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:27,920 The patience that it took for five years for me to finally sit back there and realize that 274 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:29,480 this is all me. 275 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,040 I'm making this harder than it is. 276 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:39,840 I'm making this decision to not believe that this is where God's telling us to be. 277 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:44,400 And so when I looked up and he looked right at me and he said patience and prayer, I just 278 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,360 felt this huge weight lifted off of me. 279 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,200 And I immediately prayed again and again and again and I prayed for forgiveness. 280 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:54,480 I prayed for wisdom. 281 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,960 I prayed for all these problems to go away. 282 00:15:57,960 --> 00:15:59,000 I prayed for my family. 283 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:00,000 I prayed for my brothers. 284 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,680 I prayed for all the people that I've just been a complete and utter butt munch to this 285 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:07,720 entire five years of my life. 286 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:14,480 I just prayed that these people would find it some way in their heart to forgive me. 287 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,880 And after that prayer I just started seeing myself get happier and happier, waking up 288 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,280 first to come to church, be ready to go. 289 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,820 And I realized that I was the one in the wrong. 290 00:16:26,820 --> 00:16:31,520 I realized that I was the one who was making it hard for my mom to make a decision where 291 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,880 she was following the Lord. 292 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:39,320 It's probably my number one regret that I was that hard to deal with. 293 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:40,580 And I know I was. 294 00:16:40,580 --> 00:16:46,000 She can sit here and tell me that I was the golden child but I know I wasn't. 295 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:52,880 And so when it came to prayer and I had that little crush in Pathfinders or whatever and 296 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:57,000 I was like, you know I was a boy, you kind of like when you're single you pray, you know, 297 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,240 like God send me somebody, you know. 298 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:04,400 And so I remember one night I was single for three years and I remember one night I was 299 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:06,640 like, you know what God, I'm tired of being single. 300 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,480 All my friends are having these five year relationships. 301 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,440 Some of them are getting married. 302 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,400 And I remember sitting there and praying one night. 303 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:18,000 I was like, Lord, if it's your will please send me someone so I can walk through this 304 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,240 life with in you. 305 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:28,960 And I remember as soon as I said amen, my wife now, Angelica, she DM'd me on Instagram. 306 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:31,620 She slid into my DMs. 307 00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:35,120 And I remember the first thing I did was not open it. 308 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:38,240 I just read like the little first part that you could see like where your phone's closed 309 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,080 or whatever and I ran straight into my mom's room and I was like, mom, look, look, look, 310 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,360 I prayed and he answered and he answered. 311 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:46,520 And she's like, slow down. 312 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:47,520 You don't even know this girl. 313 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,240 And I was like, yes, but I met her. 314 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:59,280 And I remember just being over the moon that finally it felt like when I believed in prayer 315 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,160 and when I chose that even though it didn't seem like God was answering my prayers or 316 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:05,240 anybody else's prayers, he was still working. 317 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:11,040 And now that I'm seeing it, I'm feeling that he answers prayers. 318 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:15,480 And I remember texting Angelica back. 319 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,160 She said I was cool, so just let you guys know I'm cool. 320 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:21,160 But I remember texting her back. 321 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,760 I was like, hey, I was like, it would be cool to hang out. 322 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:29,360 And funny enough, I actually became friends with her mom first before I even like started 323 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:31,120 really hanging out with her. 324 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:35,440 So hint, become friends with the mom first. 325 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:39,160 It really works. 326 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:45,400 Especially if they're just alike, because let me tell you something, they're just alike. 327 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:51,720 But I remember taking, fast forward a few years, we're married and we're living in Atlanta. 328 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,720 And I remember, because finances are hard. 329 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,960 Obviously, when you're young and you aren't really settled in and things are changing 330 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,280 and we're constantly changing, finances are hard. 331 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:02,520 Still are. 332 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,360 And I'm experiencing that now because they still are. 333 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:09,980 But I remember one time we were really, really struggling. 334 00:19:09,980 --> 00:19:13,720 And I'm sure a lot of you can attest to this, that when finances get hard, everything gets 335 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:15,080 hard. 336 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:18,240 It's hard to wake up and be happy with the person that you're dealing with these finances 337 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:19,240 with. 338 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,960 It's hard to look at the person and say, you're the reason because you won't stop going to 339 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:23,200 Starbucks. 340 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,000 Or they're looking at you saying, you're the reason our finances are bad because you keep 341 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,600 spinning it on hair gel. 342 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:33,000 It's these things that go back and forth like you, you, you, you're doing this. 343 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,760 And I remember us sitting together in the living room and I was realizing that we haven't 344 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,160 prayed about the situation. 345 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:40,600 We talk big game about prayer. 346 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,040 We talk about giving it to God, like God's in control. 347 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:48,040 Are we really giving God control when we don't lift it up to Him? 348 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:52,120 And so I remember us taking, both at the same time come to this realization that, hey, we're 349 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:53,960 just arguing for no reason. 350 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:55,920 We're not really mad at each other. 351 00:19:55,920 --> 00:20:00,680 Like your Starbucks addiction isn't really going to like put us in the hole that bad. 352 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,960 But we took a step back and we were like, let's pray. 353 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:08,240 And we prayed and we had bills on top of bills due. 354 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,640 We had bills that were supposed to happen last week. 355 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,240 We were supposed to have bills that were supposed to happen that day, yesterday, tomorrow. 356 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:15,240 And we were just swamped. 357 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:16,920 And I remember us praying. 358 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:20,120 I was like, Lord, please provide. 359 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:21,120 Please provide. 360 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:27,080 Only you can help us out of this situation because we were so bad off that the only person 361 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,300 who could do anything was God. 362 00:20:29,300 --> 00:20:31,080 And so we prayed. 363 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:36,680 And then the next morning I woke up and I went to go log into all my little things so 364 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:42,040 I could pay all the bills and all the bills were paid. 365 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,520 I thought it was a cruel joke. 366 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,600 I thought I woke up and I was like, maybe I logged into the wrong account. 367 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,320 I was like, maybe I logged into somebody else's account that is on top of their stuff, but 368 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:54,040 this isn't me. 369 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,840 And I went to the next thing and the next thing, checked the next thing and the next 370 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:01,160 thing and every single one of our bills were paid. 371 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,920 And I remember just weeping. 372 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:06,800 I was like, there's no way. 373 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:08,080 And again, I was doubting. 374 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,720 I was doubting that God provides. 375 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,560 I was doubting in the power in prayer. 376 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,680 And I remember Angelica calling me, like literally as I'm crying, searching through my phone 377 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:20,280 if this is real, she's calling me. 378 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:21,600 She's like, have you checked this? 379 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:22,600 Have you checked this? 380 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,200 I'm like, I'm looking at it right now. 381 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:25,800 I was like, are you seeing this too? 382 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,000 This isn't some dream that I'm dreaming. 383 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,640 And in that moment I realized that moment changed my life forever. 384 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,720 That moment made prayer even more important to me. 385 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,800 That no matter what I'm going through, even in the smallest things to the biggest thing, 386 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,080 that we need to pray about it. 387 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:48,700 And then I started to realize as I was going through this, writing this sermon, I was like, 388 00:21:48,700 --> 00:21:51,520 what do we pray about? 389 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:53,640 What do we pray for? 390 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,920 Do we pray for God to provide things for us? 391 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,800 Do we pray to God to take away things? 392 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,680 Do we pray before we come to church that we get something out of the lesson of Sabbath 393 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:06,680 school? 394 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,560 Do we pray before we come into the sanctuary that we get something out of the sermon? 395 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:10,880 Do we pray when things get hard? 396 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,260 Do we pray when things are going easy? 397 00:22:14,260 --> 00:22:19,760 For me, I kind of fell out of that rotation of like praying when things are easy. 398 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:25,840 Because it seems like a lot of times I prayed was when things were going hard. 399 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:30,400 And in this, when I'm writing this sermon and after this situation of God providing 400 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,180 in the biggest way in my life, I realized that we need to start praying and praising 401 00:22:34,180 --> 00:22:37,420 God for the things that He does in our life and that He has done. 402 00:22:37,420 --> 00:22:43,280 And giving Him praise because He is the great provider. 403 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,360 But do we praise Him for being the great provider? 404 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:54,780 Do we take a step back and give thanks to Him for providing all these things? 405 00:22:54,780 --> 00:22:58,620 And then I asked myself this question. 406 00:22:58,620 --> 00:23:02,840 In those moments when we pray and it feels like God doesn't hear us, when God doesn't 407 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:11,320 listen, when God doesn't answer those prayers, do we think that God didn't answer that prayer? 408 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:16,000 Or did He not give us the answer that we wanted? 409 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,480 Because I know that in my life I've prayed for a lot of things and I didn't get the 410 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:19,480 answer that I wanted. 411 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,240 So I'm like, maybe He just didn't hear me that time. 412 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,660 Maybe my prayer wasn't loud enough. 413 00:23:24,660 --> 00:23:28,120 It like got almost there and didn't reach the heavens quite yet. 414 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:31,880 No He answered the prayer, He just didn't give me the answer I wanted. 415 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,320 When He takes all these things in my life that I don't need that aren't helping my relationship 416 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:42,760 with Him, it's hard to accept the fact that that was the answer to prayer that I needed. 417 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,980 And then there's the, I call it the motions prayer. 418 00:23:45,980 --> 00:23:49,440 The prayer right before you eat, you know, God bless this food and it's in our bodies. 419 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,560 And then maybe before you go to bed, like help us get a good sleep. 420 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:57,560 Like these prayers that you just pray because it's just, you just do it. 421 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,820 There's power in those prayers as well. 422 00:24:00,820 --> 00:24:06,040 And I realized that in the smallest moments, my friend, it made me think of my friend who 423 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:10,440 prays before we go on any car ride. 424 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,680 Even if it's down the street to the Dollar Tree, he doesn't even buckle in before he's 425 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:16,880 already like, all right, let's pray. 426 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:18,760 And I made fun of him for the longest time. 427 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:21,680 I'm like, we're going two minutes down the road, my guy. 428 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:22,680 I'm like two minutes. 429 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,680 I could walk there and be back before you get done with your prayer. 430 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:28,680 I made fun of him for it. 431 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,200 But now I'm realizing that he has the strongest relationship of God that I've ever seen in 432 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:36,360 one of my personal friends because he believes in the power of prayer. 433 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:38,440 He believes in the patience of prayer. 434 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,520 And he told me a story that the reason he started praying before every single car ride 435 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:48,660 was because his mom was a huge, huge, she like didn't, she didn't believe in prayer. 436 00:24:48,660 --> 00:24:50,560 She wasn't a really religious person. 437 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:55,200 And he told me that he prayed for his mom every single time she left the house. 438 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,680 And he said that one time his mom and him got into an argument and he didn't pray for 439 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,080 her before she left. 440 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,700 And she got into a car accident. 441 00:25:05,700 --> 00:25:10,440 She was going down the street to go pick up her medication and come back two minutes down 442 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:11,440 the road. 443 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:19,120 And he told me this story and it brought back all these moments of me making fun of him 444 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:22,320 about two minute trips down the road. 445 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,560 And who am I to take away the power of someone else's prayer? 446 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,800 Because we all pray differently. 447 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:34,160 Some of us pray quick, some of us pray long, some of us pray for nonspecific things, some 448 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,160 of us pray for very specific things. 449 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,040 But that is your prayer, that is your conversation with God. 450 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,240 And it is important to come as a congregation and pray, but it's also important to pray 451 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,040 in isolation. 452 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,680 And that is something that I have really, really done this week. 453 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,800 And let me tell you something, God is there. 454 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:56,960 When you come to Him and humble yourself and say to Him, only you can take care of these 455 00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:01,840 situations that I'm going through, He shows up every single time. 456 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:09,360 Without you realizing it, without you feeling it, in the end He always shows up. 457 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:11,760 Often our prayers include the words in Jesus' name. 458 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:17,000 Yet, do we ever stop to think about what it means to pray in His name? 459 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,460 To pray in Jesus' name means to pray with His authority. 460 00:26:20,460 --> 00:26:24,000 To pray in Jesus' name also means praying according to the will of God. 461 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,760 In doing so, we ask God to act upon our daily prayers. 462 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,280 The Bible even tells us to pray in Jesus' name. 463 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:35,680 In John chapter 14 verses 13 to 14 it says, I will do whatever you ask in my name so that 464 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:37,400 my Father may be glorified in the Son. 465 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,960 If in my name you ask for anything, I will do it. 466 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:45,440 And again in John chapter 16 verse 24 it says, until now you have not asked for anything 467 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:46,940 in my name. 468 00:26:46,940 --> 00:26:50,000 Asking you will receive so that your joy may be complete. 469 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:51,000 He tells us. 470 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,840 These are just two instances. 471 00:26:54,840 --> 00:27:02,820 Now if you go back to the book of Samuel and starting at verse 19 and you can read it. 472 00:27:02,820 --> 00:27:05,020 She gave birth to a son. 473 00:27:05,020 --> 00:27:07,360 She gave birth to a son named Samuel. 474 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:13,420 And what's so special about the name Samuel is Samuel means God has heard. 475 00:27:13,420 --> 00:27:17,380 And I thought that was so beautiful when I read that because you know we read these stories 476 00:27:17,380 --> 00:27:21,440 of Samuel and read these stories but when you go back and read it and actually like 477 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,880 sit down and like try to like get something out of it like you learn something new every 478 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:26,420 single time. 479 00:27:26,420 --> 00:27:32,360 So when I found out that Samuel means God has heard I thought that was beautiful. 480 00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:36,960 To pray in Jesus' name means to pray with his authority. 481 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,760 Because God has authority to move mountains. 482 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,980 So when it feels like our challenges are hard and we can't just get past and we can't get 483 00:27:42,980 --> 00:27:47,420 around and we can't move that mountain by ourself it is important to realize that God 484 00:27:47,420 --> 00:27:50,600 has authority to move that mountain for us. 485 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:56,800 It's important to realize that Jesus knew the outcome before he even went into the situation. 486 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,420 It's important to realize that the moment that we're doubting if we've made the right 487 00:28:00,420 --> 00:28:04,920 decision this week when I was making decisions I'm like is that the right decision. 488 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:12,440 That God already knew that whatever decision I made he already had it in his control. 489 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:19,200 So that's something for us to remember that when we pray we're praying in his authority. 490 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:24,200 So when I pray for my brother to maybe slip and slide on the sidewalk and hurt himself 491 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:31,520 just a little bit there's authority in that prayer and maybe it did happen but that's 492 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,280 besides the point. 493 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:35,480 But there's authority in prayer. 494 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:40,320 There's authority in when we say in Jesus' name let it be when we pray for sickness when 495 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:45,080 we pray for health when we pray for finances we need to realize that God will do it. 496 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:50,160 He says it right here if in my name you ask for anything I will do it. 497 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:55,520 So let's just not make these these these throw the mill run of the mill whatever you want 498 00:28:55,520 --> 00:29:04,320 to say prayers let them be real let them be actual supplication to God. 499 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:10,720 We often close our prayer in Jesus name amen but God listens to us regardless. 500 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,880 The retune and formula of the prayer are not why God listens to us. 501 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:19,040 He doesn't listen to us because we say dear heavenly father or dear Jesus whatever we 502 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:25,120 start our prayer as long as we have this intention that we're lifting it up to God to hear our 503 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:31,800 prayer and praise that he's going to hear us no matter what we say. 504 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,960 I think it's important that kids pray as well we have at my church in Alpharetta we have 505 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:40,840 these kids I love to pray and he just mumbles every single time he gets the mic and holds 506 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:45,760 it real close to his mouth and he's like every single time but there's power in that prayer 507 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:52,000 too because the Lord knows what he's saying the Lord knows what's on his heart so why 508 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:57,360 wouldn't God know what's on our heart when we enunciate every single word when we say 509 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:05,240 all these big fancy words during prayer when we have these 15 minutes prayers God hears 510 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:14,400 it all two minute prayers 50 minute prayers what is important is the purpose of prayer 511 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:20,920 the love we put in our words as we pray to him is why he listens so that is why it is 512 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,800 so important to give back to him it is so important to praise him because if we're just 513 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:31,560 asking asking asking he's going to answer because he's God but what is that going to 514 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:38,560 do to us what is that going to do with our relationship with God when he just becomes 515 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:43,800 the provider when he doesn't when he's not the heavenly father when he's not the protector 516 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:48,880 when he's not the great mediator when he's not the great physician what happens if he's 517 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:58,120 just the provider do we take him for granted because I have in Philippians chapter 4 that 518 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:07,440 my brother read so very eloquently be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and 519 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,880 supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the peace of God 520 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:15,600 which surpasses all comprehension will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus 521 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:22,240 in these two verses it really sums up what I'm trying to say that no matter what you're 522 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:30,560 going through whether you're anxious everything in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving 523 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:37,120 let your request be made known to God and God has a peace that surpasses all comprehension 524 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:43,080 that no matter what you're going through Jesus has the answer he has the remedy but when 525 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:48,280 that is taken care of when God takes care of that what do we do do we just go on with 526 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:54,040 our normal life do we say that's what God does we need to remember to give thanks to 527 00:31:54,040 --> 00:32:01,200 him so that is my challenge to myself and us this week as we pray let's remember to 528 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,720 not only pray to ask for things of God because that's what he's there for lay everything 529 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:09,920 at my feet and I will give you rest that's what he says but let's also remember to give 530 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:15,120 him thanks because he is God he is our heavenly father and he's always there for us even 531 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:19,120 if we don't really talk to him that much that he's waiting for us to come back to him and 532 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:43,440 talk to him.