1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,080 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:27,300 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead 4 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:32,440 pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:42,520 for the life we're searching for. Let's take our Bibles this morning and turn to the book 6 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:47,800 of John, chapter 16 today as we talk about the Holy Spirit and prayer. If you've been 7 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:53,560 with us the last few weeks, you know that we've been looking at John 14, 15, and 16, 8 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:59,000 and specifically we're asking questions about what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit and 9 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,920 now today what Jesus says about prayer in this context of the Holy Spirit as a whole. 10 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:09,160 You know, we talked about the fact that Jesus told his disciples, it's expedient, it's 11 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:14,840 important that I go away, because if I don't go away, then I can't send the helper to 12 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:20,680 be with you. But if I go away, I'll send the helper, literally another helper like 13 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:25,640 myself and he'll be with you forever. And you know who he is because he's with you 14 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:31,880 now and he will be with you forever. As in John chapter 14, John 15 is all about abiding 15 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:37,760 in the vine and being closely connected to the Lord. And then John 16, another reminder 16 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:44,040 about the Holy Spirit and prayer. So we know it's of essence to understand the power of 17 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:49,260 the Holy Spirit in our life. But I have never in my life heard a series taught on just what 18 00:01:49,260 --> 00:01:53,820 Jesus said about the Holy Spirit. And yet that's got to be foundational to everything 19 00:01:53,820 --> 00:01:58,840 else that we learn about the Holy Spirit. So take your Bibles, John chapter 16 beginning 20 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:05,040 in verse 23, let's stand together as I read several verses here, this focus on prayer 21 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:14,040 in John chapter 16. John 16 verse 23. Listen to what Jesus says about prayer. In that day, 22 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:18,760 Jesus says, now he's referring to the day when he goes away and leaves the Holy Spirit 23 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:24,240 with us. In that day, you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly I say to you, 24 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:30,960 if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. I want to pause long 25 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,120 enough to just think about the magnitude of that statement. If you ask the Father for 26 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:40,080 anything in my name, he will give it to you. Surely you want to understand what all that 27 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:48,320 means. Verse 24, until now you have asked for nothing in my name, ask and you will receive 28 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:54,400 so that your joy may be made full. These things I've spoken to you in figurative language. 29 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,840 An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will 30 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:04,320 tell you plainly of the Father. In that day, you will ask in my name and I do not say to 31 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:10,960 you that I will request of the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you because 32 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:17,360 you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. Father, in Jesus 33 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:24,240 name we come wanting to understand prayer, wanting to understand what Jesus has said 34 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,840 to us today. And Father, my prayer is that we will walk away from here today motivated 35 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:36,800 to pray, understanding more about why we pray and understanding your call that when we're 36 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,280 in prayer, you draw us closer together. Father, I pray that you'll bless this text in our 37 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:49,040 lives in Jesus name, amen. Please be seated if you would. Man, I've been loving this series, 38 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,880 just absolutely love what we're learning about the Holy Spirit, love what we're learning 39 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:58,800 about prayer. In the middle of all of these statements about prayer, you're going to find 40 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:03,120 one line that comes up over and over and over. It's almost unbelievable in its promise. I 41 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,800 mean, it's almost beyond what we can imagine. And sometimes our imagination does run away 42 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:12,480 with us when it comes to this prayer, this line that Jesus shared with us. But I want 43 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:17,280 to bring it up. I want to clarify what he said. I want to clarify the power of this 44 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:24,800 statement. Here's what he said. He said, ask and you will receive. Ask and you will receive. 45 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:30,160 In essence, Jesus says this in John 14, 15, and 16, but Matthew records Jesus saying 46 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:36,440 this in Matthew chapter 7 as well. Knock and it'll be opened to you. Seek and you'll find. 47 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:41,360 Ask and it shall be given to you. These words about asking the Father for something are 48 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:46,760 pretty powerful. And I think we all know this. We know we need God to be at work in our life 49 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:52,040 and we desperately want to see him answer our prayer. So here's this statement Jesus 50 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:57,680 makes that we need to understand ask and you will receive. Now when I get down to these 51 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:04,360 last few verses of John chapter 16, having walked through 14, 15, and 16, I'm drawing 52 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:08,120 this conclusion that I want you to see and that is that Jesus makes it clear that the 53 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:13,440 two things most necessary for our success as followers in Christ are the presence of 54 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:19,440 the Holy Spirit and prayer. You cannot do the Christian life without the presence of 55 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,760 the Holy Spirit. Jesus never said we could, by the way. He never said that you're supposed 56 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:28,560 to live the Christian life in your own power. You can't do it. He never said you could. 57 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:33,280 But he will do it. He always said he would. That's an old line by a guy named Major Ian 58 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:39,240 Thomas. So the Holy Spirit is indispensable to you living the life Christ has called you 59 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:45,200 to and I want you to see with Jesus' words today so is prayer. These are the two things 60 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:50,520 that are indispensable. Now I think that's a big statement because sometimes we forget 61 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:55,240 about the Holy Spirit. We forget about his presence. We forget about his power. We forget 62 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,640 about what he's doing in our lives. Sometimes we're not even aware that we're indwelt by 63 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:04,120 the Holy Spirit. That's a problem when we get to struggling in the Christian life. And 64 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:09,360 sometimes it seems we forget about prayer. We don't find ourselves motivated to prayer 65 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:14,680 or we're confused by prayer or for some reason we're frustrated when we don't get an answer 66 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:21,120 to a prayer. And so the two things most necessary, the Holy Spirit and prayer, we back off from 67 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:27,000 from time to time. No wonder sometimes we fail. But Jesus said these two things are 68 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:33,480 available for you. One has been given to you, the Holy Spirit. The other is something you 69 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:39,120 are to do and that's prayer. All right? So if you can keep that in your mind today as 70 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:43,360 we walk through this, the Holy Spirit's been given to you. Every believer has the presence 71 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:49,040 of the Holy Spirit in their life and prayer is something that they're given the opportunity 72 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:54,440 to do. You need to step forth. You need to pray to activate all that God said for you 73 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,480 to do. And I know some of us will say what I say and that is I don't understand fully 74 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:04,360 how prayer works. Anybody ever said that? I don't fully understand how prayer works. 75 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,920 If you don't have your hand up, then I want to talk to you after the service because if 76 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:12,120 you understand fully how prayer works, you'll be about the only person in the room that 77 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:18,200 does. I don't understand fully how prayer works. I can't easily explain why a sovereign 78 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:23,840 God who knows everything from eternity past to eternity future, every need I'll ever have, 79 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:30,360 I can't always explain how he requires me to ask before he answers the prayer of something 80 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:37,080 I need. I can't explain exactly how that works. Vance Habner years ago said I can't explain 81 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:42,480 electricity but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit in the dark until I do figure it out. 82 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:49,320 He's got a great point. We're called to pray even though we don't comprehend and even though 83 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:54,440 we're not fully aware of how it works and why God does it just that way. And my encouragement 84 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:59,200 to you today is even if you don't fully understand it, even if you misunderstand some aspect 85 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:05,920 of prayer, don't put it on the shelf. Quite the opposite of that. Exercise the prayer 86 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,400 that God has caused you to pray and watch God work in your life in a way that he would 87 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:15,480 not work otherwise. So Jesus gives us some principles I'm going to give you today out 88 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:20,560 of the verses that we read. There are four of them in all. First of all, Jesus is telling 89 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:26,680 us that we pray with attitude. Pray with attitude. Now I want you to read what it says there 90 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:32,400 in verse 23. We're going to walk through this phrase by phrase. Truly, truly I say to you, 91 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:40,720 if you ask the Father, if you ask the Father. Now when I say pray with attitude, I don't 92 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:46,320 mean what people often mean when they say do it with attitude. Sometimes when we say 93 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:51,080 they have an attitude, we're describing someone that's got a chip on their shoulder or in 94 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,800 some way they're kind of snarky, they have an attitude about them. I'm not talking about 95 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:59,920 that. I'm talking about having the proper attitude in prayer. I'm talking about having 96 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:04,440 the correct posture in prayer. Not so much about whether we're on our knees or on our 97 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:12,440 face, but have the right heart mentality, the perspective of prayer. You say, well where 98 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:19,120 does it say that? Well the word for ask is a very definite word that describes prayer. 99 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:25,160 It describes someone of lesser rank asking someone of greater rank for something that 100 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:31,160 they need. In other words, Jesus positions prayer as not you talking to someone else 101 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:36,720 as you would talk to an equal, but talking to someone that has greater rank than you. 102 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,720 In other words, Jesus, if I could just cut to the case, says just keep in mind you're 103 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:47,880 praying to the most high God. But I'm telling you that you can do that. You can pray to 104 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:53,520 the most high God. And if I were to word this in such a way to describe and summarize it, 105 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:59,920 we're given the privilege of asking the most high God to meet our need. The most high God. 106 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:05,360 You ever made a phone call about something that you needed service for and someone that 107 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:10,240 took the phone call wasn't giving you answers, you wanted to ask for their manager, and maybe 108 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,960 even their manager came on the phone and they didn't do a good job of it either, and you 109 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,920 want to go to the top of the company. Let me talk to the president of the company. Listen, 110 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:22,240 you're talking to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords when you pray. You can't get 111 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:28,200 any higher authority than that. So Jesus is telling us that we need to keep in mind that 112 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,320 he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords when we pray and to pray with the attitude 113 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:39,760 that reflects that. Did you know that your concept of who God is flavors how you pray? 114 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,840 If you see him as an equal, then you pray as though you're talking to someone that's 115 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:49,240 an equal. If you see him as a benevolent grandfather, so to speak, then you'll appeal to him like 116 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,520 he would a benevolent grandfather. If you think he's a divine Amazon representative, 117 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:58,400 you're going to be placing your orders like he would with Amazon. But we're not told to 118 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:03,600 do any of those things. Instead, we're to realize that we are a person of lesser rank 119 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:10,020 asking someone who is of greater rank for what all we need. So that means when it comes 120 00:11:10,020 --> 00:11:16,480 to prayer, I can't ask flippantly or arrogantly with a prideful heart. That means when I pray, 121 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:21,680 I can't demand things of God with an angry heart. That means that when I pray, I can't 122 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:27,360 presume upon him or manipulate him with a selfish heart. And I would say we've probably 123 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:34,280 all been guilty of some of those things. But instead of all that, prayer moments are holy 124 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:41,020 moments. You and I have the privilege of talking to the most high God and it's a holy moment 125 00:11:41,020 --> 00:11:49,060 when we exercise that activity of prayer. Do you remember the man Moses after he'd wandered 126 00:11:49,060 --> 00:11:54,040 in the backside of the desert for 40 years and he encounters this burning bush that God 127 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:58,200 had set on fire? It wasn't being consumed, but it was there to get Moses' attention. 128 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:04,000 Do you remember what God said to Moses when he approached to see it closer? He said, Moses, 129 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,800 take your shoes off because the ground you're standing on is what? It's holy ground. Prayer 130 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:16,880 moments are holy moments. And as Moses began to listen, God began to identify himself. 131 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,600 Moses, I just want you to understand who it is that's talking to you from this burning 132 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:26,760 bush. And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and 133 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:32,120 the God of Jacob. That's in Exodus chapter three, verse six. In other words, Moses, you 134 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:37,000 need to have no question about who you're talking to right now. And Moses had the appropriate 135 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:43,280 response, if you read on, Moses falls on his face because he's struck by awe of the fact 136 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:48,680 that he's in the presence of God. Now I want you to remind you today, as casually as we 137 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:53,840 sometimes pray, just remember, pray with the right attitude. Pray with the attitude that 138 00:12:53,840 --> 00:13:01,240 reminds you of who God is and reminds you of who you are. And I love this Moses and 139 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:07,120 the burning bush story because this two-way conversation actually unfolds. God is speaking 140 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:13,640 to Moses, but once Moses has gained some of his composure, he has some questions for God. 141 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:20,880 Who am I to go back to Egypt? What should I say? What will I do if they do this? What 142 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:26,240 will I do if they do that? And the interesting thing is, the God of all creation gives him 143 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:32,880 an answer to every question he has. He recognizes who he's talking to, the most high God, and 144 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:38,080 he's able to say, here's what I need, here's the question I have, and God speaks to him 145 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:43,280 and answers the question. You know the story of the Exodus, God uses Moses to go back and 146 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:49,600 set his people free. So I want you to pray with attitude, Jesus says. I want you to understand 147 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:54,000 the proper relationship between yourself and the one you're praying to. And that really 148 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,500 means the big question is not why should I pray, but why would I not pray if I'm given 149 00:13:58,500 --> 00:14:04,160 that amazing opportunity to talk to the God of the universe? Why would I not do that? 150 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:09,640 When I was a young pastor just at a seminary, I was pastoring a church in Oklahoma, kind 151 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:15,080 of a small church, and our deacons, we didn't have many rooms in the building, we had a 152 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:21,520 worship center and a few rooms, but we met as deacons in the worship center when nobody 153 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:25,440 else was in there, and they sat in the choir off, and I would sit on the stage, or stand 154 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,040 on the stage and kind of lead them, and I remember one night we were having a prayer 155 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:33,440 meeting, God was doing some great things, and I remember being in a prayer meeting, 156 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:38,640 and I'll never forget it as long as I live, I was praying out loud at that moment, and 157 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:45,640 I just began to articulate, God you are a great God, a great King beyond all of the 158 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:52,720 earth, and you stand in power and in majesty, and as I was saying those words, all of a 159 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:59,280 sudden it hit me that that really is who He is, and they ceased becoming just words that 160 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:04,800 I had read off the page, and my awareness of the power and the presence of God was very 161 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:09,560 real, and I did what Moses did, not intentionally, but I just got down on my knees and got down 162 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:14,240 on my face and just went silent for a few moments, and I know those deacons were going, 163 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:18,360 what have we done, we've called this guy here, and he's fallen on his face in prayer. 164 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:24,480 Now that doesn't happen all the time in prayer, but you'll never forget it when it does. 165 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,920 When God impresses upon you how big He is, how great He is, how powerful He is, how able 166 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:34,440 He is, all of a sudden you realize this is not conversation with a wall or a ceiling 167 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:41,440 or with another person, this is conversation with the Most High God. Pray with attitude, 168 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:48,440 Jesus says. Then He tells us to pray with alignment. I like that word alignment because 169 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:56,160 it tells us a great deal about what it means to pray in the name of Jesus. Notice what 170 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:01,160 it says in verse 23 as He goes on, truly, truly I say to you, if you ask the Father, 171 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:08,160 you see the next three words, in my name. When you hear people pray today, they pray 172 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:14,560 in the name of Jesus. And you hear me pray, I'll pray in the name of Jesus. I just need 173 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:20,320 you to know today, and Jesus wants us to know, these words help us define that this is not 174 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:26,200 a holy password. It's not a holy password. It's not just a name we throw out there in 175 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:31,680 order to gain entrance to the throne room of God. There's all the work that Jesus did 176 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:35,720 behind that, there's the blood He shed on the cross, there is His death, His burial 177 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:40,280 resurrection, all that is involved in that, and much, much more, which I'll explain in 178 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:45,840 just a second, but first, it's not a password. When you say the name of Jesus, don't say 179 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:52,840 it the same way you say any other name in prayer. You remember what it meant in the 180 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:59,160 old days, you knock on a door, somebody open the door or the peephole or the window to 181 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,480 the door and say, what's the password? Have you ever seen a movie like that? And then 182 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:09,040 they have to have some magic word that opens the door, some agreed upon descriptor word 183 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:15,320 that says, okay, you can gain entry here. You have passwords in everything you do online. 184 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:20,320 You have everything in your email, you have a password. On your apps, you have a password. 185 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:26,360 You have passwords for your passwords. I have a note on my iPhone that has all the passwords 186 00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:32,360 that I have in every app I use, in every banking app, in every church app even, I've got passwords 187 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:38,160 for that app. If I lose my special, special notes on iPhone with all the list of passwords, 188 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:45,160 then I'll never get in anywhere. Passwords are important. But Jesus is not a password. 189 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,960 That's not what Jesus is talking about. Even though he says it simply, those disciples 190 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:56,040 understood it differently than we understand it today. Let me just say, I've heard people 191 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:02,480 say and pray some crazy things in the name of Jesus. It just shows me they don't have 192 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:07,560 any idea what Jesus meant here because it's not a password. And that's why they would 193 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:13,960 pray crazy things because they think it is a password. Okay? So I want you to know, we 194 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:20,040 can't do anything else in Jesus' name as a password. I can't lie in Jesus' name. I can't 195 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:25,560 steal in Jesus' name. I can't cuss in Jesus' name. Oh wait, some people do that, don't 196 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:32,560 they? I can't pray in Jesus' name as a password. Now it's important that Jesus says this six 197 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:40,600 times throughout these texts, which we'll look at in just a few moments. But what Jesus 198 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:47,600 is saying is this. He is reminding us that the Father will answer prayer that's in alignment, 199 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:54,600 prayer that's consistent with Jesus' ways and words, prayer that is offered as a representative 200 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:03,400 of Christ on earth, which is what we're called to do, a prayer that is in alignment with 201 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:09,120 the Father. You say, well, all of a sudden that gets real complicated. But actually, 202 00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:13,760 it doesn't get real complicated. It just helps us understand that the name of Jesus is not 203 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:19,800 a password for anything. I want you to go back to John chapter 14 and look with me at 204 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:25,920 several verses just reminding you of what Jesus had said. John chapter 14, go back in 205 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:31,200 your Bibles to verse 13. Jesus said, whatever you ask in my name, that will I do so that 206 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:36,320 the Father may be glorified in the Son. Look at verse 14. If you ask anything in my name, 207 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:42,680 I will do it. If you go to chapter 15, you see it again. Verse 16, you did not choose 208 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:47,120 me but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit and that your 209 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:52,840 fruit would remain so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to 210 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:58,960 you. And then look in chapter 16, which is the passage we just read. Verse 23, in that 211 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,520 day you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly I say to you, if you ask the 212 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:09,880 Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. Then verse 24, until now you've 213 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:14,640 asked for nothing in my name, ask and you will receive. And then verse 26, in that day 214 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:21,160 you will ask in my name. So Jesus really wants us to understand this. And there is power 215 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:28,160 in the name of Jesus but this is not a password. He wants us to pray in alignment with all 216 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:33,520 that he's taught us, all that he's saved us from. Let me verbalize what I believe this 217 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:41,480 text is telling us. It's saying I want my life and the things I'm asking to honor him. 218 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:50,600 I want my life and the things that I'm asking to honor Christ, to honor God. It means that 219 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:58,160 I am aligning myself as best I know how with Jesus Christ himself so that when I ask the 220 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:04,880 Father in his name it's in full alignment with him. Jesus, every prayer Jesus prayed 221 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:11,920 was answered by the Father perfectly. Jesus always did those things that pleased his Father. 222 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,920 That is for us to understand how that works and what this means. I want my life and the 223 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:23,440 things I'm asking to honor you. Now if you know what that is, pray that. And if you don't 224 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:30,480 know what that is, ask him to show you. And ask perhaps this way, Lord, your will be done. 225 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:36,640 Don't you remember when the disciples asked Jesus, teach us how to pray. Jesus taught 226 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,920 them the prayer that we now call the Lord's Prayer, more appropriately probably named 227 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:46,080 the Disciples Prayer because this is how they would pray. And at the end of that prayer 228 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:50,840 there's a line that says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 229 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,320 God, I may not know everything that you want done. I may not have every answer already 230 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,960 in my mind. I don't even know how to pray. But I know this, I want to pray your kingdom 231 00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:05,560 come, your will be done. That's what it means to pray in the name of Jesus. I want my life 232 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:11,700 to honor you and I want my prayer to honor you. And when we do that, we move into alignment 233 00:22:11,700 --> 00:22:18,080 with God and our prayers become far more powerful. We're asking him for what we know he wants. 234 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:26,920 In 2004, this church suffered a catastrophic financial disaster that happened in this church 235 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:31,960 and they were seven plus million dollars in debt with no plan for repayment. And the interim 236 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,000 pastor at the time, a guy named Bill Anderson said, I know what we're going to do. We're 237 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:39,280 going to pray and ask God to meet his need. And he said, I'm not going to tell you how 238 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,480 to give. I'm not going to tell you what to do. But I am going to tell you what I think 239 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,800 you ought to pray. And he said, I want you to pray these three questions. Number one, 240 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:53,120 Lord, is this a view? Number two, Lord, what's my part? And number three, Lord, bless your 241 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:58,040 people as we obey those first two. How many of you were here during that time? Some of 242 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:03,160 you, many of you were here. It's now called the miracle. I came about halfway into the 243 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:08,600 miracle. I was called as pastor in 2006 and in 2007 I stood on this stage and we burned 244 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:14,240 the note, paid everything off. God provided above and beyond and the miracle is still 245 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:21,240 a find that people still get to. Now 20 years later, yeah, somebody praise the Lord. Millions 246 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:26,960 of dollars have come through that fund, all going to ministry in varieties of ways. But 247 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:33,080 the amazing thing about those three prayers were simply this, that the encouragement was 248 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:40,560 to pray in alignment with Jesus. Don't just pray what you want. Pray, Lord, is this a 249 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:46,200 view? Lord, what's my part? You tell me what it is. I talked to Bill Anderson weeks ago 250 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,760 as I was going to share this with another group of people and I said, why did you pick 251 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,080 those three prayers? Where did you find them in the scripture? Why did you pick them? He 252 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:57,560 said, well, I was convinced that if I told people how to give and what to give, it would 253 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:02,200 never work. And besides, I don't have enough wisdom to do that. But I was convinced that 254 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:07,880 they would pray to the Father, he would tell them what to do. And they did and he did and 255 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:13,840 the rest of that is the story called the miracle. And I say, amen. Praying, Lord, I want to 256 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:19,640 be in alignment and I want to also have my prayers be in alignment are incredibly important 257 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:25,080 thing to pray. So I want to encourage you in that way. You say, well, now that we're 258 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:29,160 talking about prayer in the Holy Spirit, what does the Holy Spirit's role in prayer? What 259 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,880 does he have to do with all this? In John 14, 15 and 16, everything we've said about 260 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:39,920 the Holy Spirit is about him bringing us into alignment with Jesus day in and day out. That 261 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:45,320 the life he is causing us to live, he's shaping us to live, brings us to a place where that 262 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:50,200 prayer is in alignment with him. And sometimes it takes a huge work of the Holy Spirit to 263 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:57,200 get us to the place of surrender where we say, not my will, but your will be done. Most 264 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,820 of you in the room know my story. I tell it from time to time. I lost my hearing as a 265 00:25:01,820 --> 00:25:08,820 young boy when I was just short of six years of age and incredibly high fever, very sick, 266 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:15,800 and lost 95% of my hearing. I'd already learned to speak so I could speak, but from that moment 267 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:20,400 forward, my world went silent and it took a while for my parents to figure all that 268 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:24,960 out and what happened to me. And they thought I was a disobedient child. I was not disobedient 269 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:31,960 at all. I just couldn't hear them. You've heard that before. As a teenager, I was angry 270 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:39,400 at God. God, I prayed that you would restore my hearing. God, I don't understand why I 271 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:44,040 have a hearing impairment. Lord, nobody else I know has this problem. My world was very 272 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:50,680 small obviously. Lord, why won't you change this? I had people praying for me that I trusted 273 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:56,440 far more than I trusted myself to pray wisely. I'd been surrounded by prayer with elders 274 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:02,160 and leaders in churches hands on, anointing with oil. Lord, heal this young man. Give 275 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:08,740 him his hearing back. And God never did restore my hearing during those years. At some point 276 00:26:08,740 --> 00:26:15,740 at the early 20s stage in college, I began to pray differently. I began to pray instead 277 00:26:15,740 --> 00:26:22,740 of Lord, heal me of my hearing loss, I began to say Lord, use my hearing loss in any way 278 00:26:22,780 --> 00:26:29,780 you want and then restore it whenever you're done. And what happened was this. God changed 279 00:26:31,260 --> 00:26:37,340 my prayer request because He changed my heart. He changed my prayer request because He brought 280 00:26:37,340 --> 00:26:41,140 me to the place of saying, all right, if you're not going to do that, then obviously I'm not 281 00:26:41,140 --> 00:26:46,060 praying in the right direction. Whatever you're going to do, do that. And now I look back 282 00:26:46,060 --> 00:26:51,100 on my life and realize God has used that in a powerful way. One day I'll hear perfectly 283 00:26:51,100 --> 00:26:56,120 in heaven or sometime before, but until then I'm content to not hear 95% of the things 284 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:03,120 that I don't need to hear anyway. As a pastor, I don't hear 95% of the criticism directed 285 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:10,120 my way and that's fine. You know, Paul has a similar experience where he said about the 286 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:18,840 thorn in the flesh. He said concerning this, I intruded the Lord three times that He would 287 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:25,840 remove it and He never did. Instead in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9, Paul said, he has said 288 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:32,840 to me, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly 289 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:39,840 therefore I will boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ might dwell in 290 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:46,840 me. And then he goes on and says, when I am weak, He is strong. Now Paul began by praying 291 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:52,000 for that thorn in the flesh to go away. He ended by saying, I'm going to boast about 292 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:56,920 what God is doing through that thorn in the flesh. The Holy Spirit changed his heart and 293 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:02,760 allowed him to pray in alignment with what God's will was for his life. So pray this 294 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:07,800 way. When you pray in the name of Jesus, pray that you want your life and the things that 295 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:14,800 you're asking for to honor Him. That's how sometimes prayer changes us. And then Jesus 296 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:21,800 says pray with authority. Pray with authority. He says in verse 24, until now you have asked 297 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:28,680 for nothing in my name, ask and you will receive. Now Jesus repeats this command several times 298 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:33,840 and does it with a very strong form of the verb. It's what we would call present imperative 299 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:40,520 mood. And all you need to know about that is, it's an imperative direct strong command. 300 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:45,920 Jesus says, this is how it's going to work. You're going to ask the Father and He's going 301 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:51,840 to respond to your prayers. Now before that moment, the disciples had just appealed to 302 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:57,320 Jesus standing right next to them and Jesus prayed on their behalf. And they were pretty 303 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:02,560 trusting of Jesus' prayers and what Jesus said. And now Jesus is saying, that's not 304 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:08,520 the way it's going to be. When I leave, I'm commanding you to do the asking. So you ask 305 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:15,160 and you have all the authority that I've given you to ask the Father for this to take place. 306 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:20,640 When you pray, when you ask the Father for whatever it is you ask, you have the authority 307 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:25,360 of Christ behind you and you can literally say, Father, I'm coming to you because your 308 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:32,440 son Jesus told me to bring this before you. You have authority when you pray. Not to command 309 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:37,240 God, not to command the Father at all, but you have the authority and the license and 310 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:42,760 the right given to you by Jesus the Son to come to the Father day in and day out. You 311 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:49,960 say, why do you emphasize that so much? Because sometimes we feel pretty unworthy to pray. 312 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:55,640 Sometimes we feel pretty ill informed to pray. We don't know what we ought to say. We don't 313 00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:00,120 feel like we've had a good week, so how can we pray and ask the Father anything? But Jesus 314 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:05,160 says, no, you have authority based on the fact that I've told you to take it to the 315 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:11,240 Father yourself. Because I'm going to be with the Father. And now the Holy Spirit is inside 316 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:16,680 you. Ron Dunn is one of my favorite preachers of all time, a great author as well. He writes 317 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:21,360 a great book called Don't Just Stand There, Pray Something. Wrote it many decades ago, 318 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:25,520 still an awesome book. He tells the story of taking his three children to the county 319 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:31,560 fair. If you know what a county fair is, you know that sometimes they make you buy a big 320 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:37,160 round, a real roll of tickets and you get in the ride with the ticket. So Ron had his 321 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:41,880 three children with him and he had the roll of tickets and they were at the Ferris wheel 322 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,840 and the kids wanted to ride it. So one walked by him and he gave the first one a ticket, 323 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:50,480 another walked by, he gave the second a ticket, the third one walked by, he gave that third 324 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:55,800 child a ticket. And then another young boy walked by, he had never seen him before with 325 00:30:55,800 --> 00:31:02,800 his hand out. And he looked at the boy and said, I have no idea who you are. And he said, 326 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,360 I'm friends with your son. And at that point the son turned around and said, Dad, he's 327 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:11,400 with me, can he get into? And Ron said, what do you think I did? He said, I pulled another 328 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:16,520 ticket off and gave it to him because he was coming in under the authority of my son. And 329 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:22,280 he gives that little story as an illustration of the fact that we have authority to ask 330 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:28,320 the father for what's going on in our lives. We have the authority to say, I need something 331 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:35,320 from you and your son has given me the authority to ask you. That's a big deal. You can ask 332 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:41,280 in the name of Jesus. When you pray to the father, you do it in the authority given to 333 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:48,280 you by the son, Jesus Christ. Now why does Jesus make this such a big deal? Because there 334 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:54,840 are some things God will do if we ask that he will not do if we don't ask. And this is 335 00:31:54,840 --> 00:32:00,360 what's hard to understand. And the sovereignty of God, why is it if he knows all these things, 336 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,560 if he takes care of all of our needs, that he won't do some things if we don't ask, but 337 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:11,120 he will do them if we ask. Say, pastor, what's the answer to that? And I'll say, I don't 338 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:18,120 know. But I do know that's the way he's decided to act on the basis of our prayers. Jesus 339 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:25,720 said it, the Bible says it over and over. So pray. You have the authority to pray, to 340 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:31,680 go before God. You should have the motivation to do it as well. Think about it like this. 341 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:37,280 There's the universal thing that God has called us to do about everything. Many of those things 342 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:42,240 we can't do anything else about, but he's commanded us. He's given us the authority 343 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:48,880 to pray. Pray as the first thing you do because it should be the first thing you do and pray 344 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:55,880 because it's the best thing you do. And it is the best thing you do every time. Instead 345 00:32:55,880 --> 00:33:00,120 of worrying about things, instead of the panic that we're often stricken with, instead of 346 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:05,960 being overcome with anxiety and fear and everything else that happens, why don't we direct our 347 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:12,960 prayers to God first and see it as the best way to start to wrestle with the problem? 348 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:17,960 I love what it says by Paul in Philippians chapter four. He said exactly what I've been 349 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:22,320 talking about here. He said, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and 350 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:27,920 supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And then what it says 351 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:34,920 in the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ 352 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,520 Jesus. I've been anxious about things before that I couldn't do anything about at all. 353 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:46,160 I could do absolutely nothing but pray. And when I'm in that spot, prayer will be enough 354 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:50,240 because if God has not given me the equipping to do anything else about it, then I can't 355 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:56,760 do anything, but I can pray in the authority and in the name of Jesus Christ and I should 356 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:03,760 pray in that way. Pray. I may not have the authority over the will of others, but I have 357 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:10,520 been given the authority to pray. I may not have authority to change circumstances, but 358 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:15,320 I have been given the authority to pray. I may not have the authority to stop the wars 359 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:19,560 that are going on in interesting places in the world, but I do have the authority to 360 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:26,560 pray, so I need to pray. Sometimes God will remind me of those promises and those encouragements 361 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:34,200 to pray. Back in 2006 or 2007, something like that, our oldest daughter who was approaching 362 00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:41,200 30 years of age was dating a guy and she lived in Chicago at the time and we didn't know 363 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:46,320 him, but we had a bad feeling about it. We just didn't like what we'd heard. Now that 364 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:51,080 may be true of every parent, every circumstance, but we felt pretty strongly about it. And 365 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,880 she called us one day and said, you know, I'm going on a trip with this guy. We're going 366 00:34:53,880 --> 00:35:00,880 to Cabo western part of Mexico down south of Baja California and we felt even worse 367 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:07,640 about that. And so in appealing to her, we said, hey, we've got our reasons and tried 368 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,800 to kind of help her understand what our reasons were and she insisted, no, we're going to 369 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:17,080 go. And so we looked at each other and said, I guess we can pray. And sometimes when we 370 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:22,720 say those kinds of things, it's almost like a resignation. Well, all else has failed, 371 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:26,920 so I guess we pray, right? But that should have been the first thing and the best thing 372 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:31,640 that we did. So we prayed. About a week before the trip, she called us and she said, hey, 373 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:36,080 we're not going down on that trip. And we were celebrating on the other end of that 374 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:40,720 phone, but we waited long enough to find out what she said about it. Well, why is that, 375 00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:45,480 John? And she said, well, strange thing, a hurricane came up and is blowing in towards 376 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:51,360 the resort we were going to. And so now we're not going because of the hurricane. And I 377 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,680 said, oh, okay. She said, dad, do you know what the name of the hurricane is? And I said, 378 00:35:54,680 --> 00:36:01,680 no. She said, hurricane John. I'm not sure if you're telling you that that hurricane 379 00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:09,800 was named after me at all, but you'd have a hard time convincing me that that was just 380 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:16,800 a coincidence. Sometimes the first thing and the best thing is pray. And you miss it when 381 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:26,760 you don't pray. You know, I may not have authority over winds and waves, but I have authority 382 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:31,800 to pray to the one who does have authority over winds and waves. And so do you. What 383 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,800 an incredible opportunity Jesus is giving us. And there's something else that happens 384 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:40,360 when we come to him in those moments where we're falling apart, we don't know what to 385 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:46,240 do and we begin to pray. Something else happens and what happens is he becomes very real to 386 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:53,240 you. All of a sudden he's not as distant, he's not as far off. All of a sudden you have 387 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:57,840 given him your heart and your life and your words and your prayer and he becomes real 388 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:04,840 to you. We have a new granddaughter and my son and daughter-in-law called us not too 389 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:12,560 long ago and said Sloan has a fever and we're kind of concerned about her. Went to the emergency 390 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:19,220 room and all the tests they were doing, they wanted to do a spinal tap. And that's one 391 00:37:19,220 --> 00:37:23,640 of the most horrifying things a parent hears about. And so they were going to do the spinal 392 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:28,000 tap, long story short it all worked out just fine. She didn't have what they were looking 393 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:35,000 for so she was well within a day or two. But that important moment where my son had to 394 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:42,280 step into that gap and say there's nothing I can do for her but pray. And my wife and 395 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:46,360 I looked at each other, we've been there many times before. We've had the same kind of things 396 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:51,720 done for our children. There's nothing we can do but pray. And in those moments we were 397 00:37:51,720 --> 00:37:56,960 drawn closer together and closer to God. You ever wonder that maybe God allows you to go 398 00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:00,960 through things like that where there's nothing you can do but pray to draw you closer to 399 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:07,960 him and that's a good thing if you'll have it, if you'll have it. So Jesus says pray 400 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:12,040 with authority. You have that authority to go to him and come to him and this is the 401 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:17,160 way it works so pray. Then finally, and I almost missed this and I don't want you to 402 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:23,600 miss it, pray with assurance. Pray with assurance. Now look very carefully at that last line 403 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:29,600 there. In that day you will ask in my name and then the strange wording that Jesus gives 404 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:36,600 us, I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf. Leading after 405 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:40,480 that moment Jesus has been requesting the Father on their behalf but now he says I'm 406 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:44,360 not going to tell you that. I'm not going to tell you I'm going to ask the Father on 407 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:51,360 your behalf. Now read the next line. For the Father himself loves you. These years you've 408 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:56,160 been walking with me, you've just trusted that the Father loves you because I've been 409 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:59,440 telling you that. I've been showing you that. I'm going to show you that in an ultimate 410 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:04,160 way when I go to the cross. But I'm not going to tell you that I'm going to ask the Father 411 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:09,320 on your behalf anymore and the reason is because you're going to become acutely aware that 412 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:16,320 the Father himself loves you just as he loves me. If that doesn't motivate you to prayer 413 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:23,400 I don't know if there is anything that will. Jesus is saying in essence the Father himself 414 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:30,400 loves you, it's not just me, it's the Father. He loves you to ask, ask, go to him. And the 415 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:37,800 reason I'm so surprised to read this is because I missed it in all the other places where 416 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:43,920 Jesus said it. And maybe we all need to be reminded, maybe we all need to refresh our 417 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:49,080 course on what Jesus said because when we pray we often ask God do you even know, do 418 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:53,920 you even care, are you even hearing what I say? And Jesus has laid the groundwork for 419 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:59,360 this statement right here. Let me just read a few verses. Matthew chapter 6 verse 32, 420 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:04,680 for the Gentiles eagerly seek after these things. But your heavenly Father knows that 421 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:09,520 you need all these things but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness alignment and 422 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:14,720 all these things shall be added to you. He knows. Jesus said in Matthew 7, if you then 423 00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:19,800 being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly 424 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:26,800 Father give what is good to those that ask him? He knows, he's willing. Romans 8, 32, 425 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:34,560 the apostle Paul said this, he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for 426 00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:40,840 us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things, man? It's all through 427 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:46,640 the Bible. And then the end here, until now you've asked for nothing in my name, ask and 428 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:53,640 you will receive so that your joy may be made full. And that's the promise you have from 429 00:40:53,840 --> 00:41:00,360 God the Father. Maybe we'll find more joy than we have right now when we learn to pray 430 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:07,360 the way Jesus said to pray. That maybe is kind of an angle. You will have more joy when 431 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:15,880 you pray the way Jesus said to pray. You know, many of us in this room know what it's like 432 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:21,080 to be lonely. My great-great-grandmother was a woman that prayed for her family in a very 433 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:25,880 devoted way. And we don't know how many times she read through the Bible but it's likely 434 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:30,200 to be 50 times or more in the last 10 years of her life. In the last few years she was 435 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:34,920 reading through about five times a year. A godly woman, a prayerful woman, all alone 436 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:40,080 by the time she died. She died when I was about 10 years of age. I met her one time. 437 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:46,400 But her reputation preceded her and remains as a woman of prayer. And the word about her 438 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:52,280 was that even though there was no one else around her in her latter years, she was by 439 00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:59,280 herself a lot but that she was never lonely. Alone but never lonely. And the reason she 440 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:06,800 was alone is because of her age and where she lived. But the reason she was never lonely 441 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:13,800 is because she knew what it meant to have a life of prayer with a father who loved him 442 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:20,120 herself, loved her himself. There are those of us in this room today that are sometimes 443 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:25,280 lonely. Sometimes we're all by ourselves and we really feel we're lonely but I have to 444 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:30,040 tell you today, you're never alone, never fully alone. You have a father that knows 445 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:35,240 you, who loves you, and he loves you just like Jesus loved his disciples and loved you 446 00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:42,240 enough to dial him across. Pray, ask, walk with him in that command. Just a few moments 447 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:47,800 I want to offer you two or three invitations. Number one, I'm going to close us in prayer 448 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:52,640 and we'll have our decision stations open. It may be today that you realize, you know, 449 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:56,880 I don't really have that kind of a relationship with God and I'm not really sure about what 450 00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:01,440 it means to put my faith and trust in Jesus. We want to talk to you about that. We'd love 451 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:06,080 to have a Q&A, a question and answer time with you. And our decision stations are open 452 00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:10,240 at either side at the back of the worship center. As you leave today, stop by and talk 453 00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:14,600 with one of those individuals who can't wait to share with you the good news of what it 454 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,040 means to have a relationship with Christ. I'm also going to invite you, if you're a 455 00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:22,080 guest, to come to guest reception center. It's right outside the center exit door and 456 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:26,440 across the hallway, a glassed in room. I'll be in there to answer some questions, talk 457 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:31,280 to you a little bit about Cross City Church. And in that room, if you're a first time guest 458 00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:37,240 or a guest that comes to guest reception, I have some free food truck coupons. I mean, 459 00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:41,760 the only thing better than food trucks is a coupon for the food truck, right? So you 460 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:45,680 get all the food you want to eat. And our encouragement to you is to come and hang out, 461 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:50,960 meet some of our people and just get to know Cross City Church a little bit. And thirdly, 462 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:55,520 I want to ask you to invite someone to come with you next week. One of the most important 463 00:43:55,520 --> 00:44:01,560 things we can do is invite people to the gathering where God's people meet so they can hear the 464 00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:05,880 good news of the gospel and have an opportunity to see their lives change as well. Would you 465 00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:09,400 stand with me as we have a word of prayer? 466 00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:14,920 Father, I am so grateful today for these in this room and the opportunity we've had to 467 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:22,680 worship you, to dedicate families, to look at prayer. Father, as we leave today, I ask 468 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:29,560 you, Lord, that you would keep reminders in our minds and heart about prayer, that we 469 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:34,900 would be encouraged to pray and to trust you with what you'll do through those commands 470 00:44:34,900 --> 00:44:39,320 to pray. For those that don't know if they have a relationship with you or not, Lord, 471 00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:45,440 help them be drawn to getting the answer to that question today. It's so important for 472 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:52,760 us to have eternal life and we find it only in you, Jesus. So today, direct us as we leave. 473 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:57,160 Help us walk with you in these days ahead in Jesus' name. Amen. You're dismissed and 474 00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:10,680 God bless.