WEBVTT 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:15.339 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 17. That's going 00:00:15.339 --> 00:00:17.940 to be in the New Testament, closer toward the 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:27.620 back of your Bible. Y 'all pay very close attention 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:29.980 to this passage this morning. I expect every 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:32.079 one of you to have this memorized by the time 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:36.329 the service is over today. I got confidence in 00:00:36.329 --> 00:00:40.350 you. I think you can do it though. 1 Thessalonians 00:00:40.350 --> 00:00:47.670 chapter 5, verse 17. We'll read the scripture 00:00:47.670 --> 00:00:54.890 and then we'll pray. Pray constantly. Let us 00:00:54.890 --> 00:00:58.850 pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for these 00:00:58.850 --> 00:01:02.710 simple words, this simple command that we see 00:01:02.710 --> 00:01:06.590 in scripture. And God, I pray that we would take 00:01:06.590 --> 00:01:10.150 these words to heart, that we would be those 00:01:10.150 --> 00:01:13.549 who seek you, dear Lord, who seek you in every 00:01:13.549 --> 00:01:16.049 aspect of our life, who praise you, dear Lord. 00:01:17.150 --> 00:01:19.530 I pray that you'd free us from the distractions 00:01:19.530 --> 00:01:22.430 and the worries and the thoughts of this world, 00:01:22.469 --> 00:01:25.730 dear Lord. Maybe we came into this place today 00:01:25.730 --> 00:01:28.349 and our attitudes weren't in a good spot, or 00:01:28.349 --> 00:01:31.750 maybe we just are worried, or maybe we're angry. 00:01:32.590 --> 00:01:35.329 Maybe we're just distracted, dear Lord. Whatever 00:01:35.329 --> 00:01:38.090 it may be, if we have any of those things going 00:01:38.090 --> 00:01:42.689 on, I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among 00:01:42.689 --> 00:01:45.790 us. I pray that your word would speak to us today, 00:01:45.909 --> 00:01:49.189 dear Lord. I pray that you would take away any 00:01:49.189 --> 00:01:51.609 pride or any fear that's within me, that I would 00:01:51.609 --> 00:01:54.090 preach and teach your word in a way that brings 00:01:54.090 --> 00:01:57.689 glory and honor to you. Because everything that 00:01:57.689 --> 00:02:00.049 is here today, dear Lord, it has to be for you. 00:02:00.569 --> 00:02:02.709 So I pray, God, that we just would feel your 00:02:02.709 --> 00:02:04.950 presence, that you would work in our life through 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:09.370 your word today. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. 00:02:10.569 --> 00:02:15.009 Pray constantly. This is a good instruction that 00:02:15.009 --> 00:02:19.469 Paul gives us in 1 Thessalonians. Quite literally 00:02:19.469 --> 00:02:21.729 speaking, I don't think he just means that we 00:02:21.729 --> 00:02:24.789 are to walk around praying 100 % of the time. 00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:26.310 I mean, that'd be kind of hard. A lot of us pray 00:02:26.310 --> 00:02:28.330 with our eyes closed. We'd be in trouble driving 00:02:28.330 --> 00:02:30.150 down the road trying to pray and walking around 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:34.689 trying to pray. But the idea is that prayer needs 00:02:34.689 --> 00:02:39.229 to be a constant part of our life. And I suspect 00:02:39.229 --> 00:02:42.550 for many of you, you do pray throughout the day. 00:02:42.590 --> 00:02:44.530 Maybe you have a set time that you pray. You 00:02:44.530 --> 00:02:46.469 might pray in the morning or you might pray in 00:02:46.469 --> 00:02:49.360 the evening. And that's good. And maybe even 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:51.979 in between those times, you find yourself praying. 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:55.759 And I find that in my life, probably as I get 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:59.539 older, the more I pray here and there. You know, 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:01.620 I used to, growing up, I had a set time. You 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:03.060 know, I'll pray in the morning or I'll pray in 00:03:03.060 --> 00:03:06.020 the evening. But I have discovered that the best 00:03:06.020 --> 00:03:08.099 time to pray for somebody is when you think about 00:03:08.099 --> 00:03:11.219 them. The best time to do anything is when you 00:03:11.219 --> 00:03:13.729 think about them. Because if you don't, you'll 00:03:13.729 --> 00:03:15.389 find something that's going to distract you. 00:03:15.409 --> 00:03:16.949 And you'll say, oh, I need to pray for so -and 00:03:16.949 --> 00:03:18.669 -so. But by the time you go to bed at night, 00:03:18.810 --> 00:03:22.550 you may forget about that person. It also may 00:03:22.550 --> 00:03:24.469 be helpful to write it down. I used to not have 00:03:24.469 --> 00:03:26.849 to write stuff down. When I first started in 00:03:26.849 --> 00:03:28.469 ministry, people would say, oh, you need to pray 00:03:28.469 --> 00:03:29.949 for so -and -so. You need to put them on the 00:03:29.949 --> 00:03:32.310 prayer list. And I could remember it for a week, 00:03:32.310 --> 00:03:34.870 and I'd put them on there. But nowadays, as soon 00:03:34.870 --> 00:03:36.610 as somebody tells me you need to pray for so 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:38.969 -and -so, I write it down. That may be a good 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:42.639 habit for us to get into. Make sure that we remember 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.879 to pray for those people that we say we will 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:49.439 pray for. The best time to pray is when you think 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:51.900 about it. Maybe when you're driving down the 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:55.099 road. Maybe when you're taking a shower. Maybe 00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:57.020 when you're laying down in bed. Maybe when you're 00:03:57.020 --> 00:03:59.419 working. Whatever it may be, there may be occasion 00:03:59.419 --> 00:04:02.979 to pray. There may be a thought that comes to 00:04:02.979 --> 00:04:05.080 your mind, someone that you need to pray for. 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:10.099 Or maybe you just praise God. Whatever it may 00:04:10.099 --> 00:04:14.930 be, Prayer should be a constant part of our life. 00:04:16.230 --> 00:04:18.889 And the question I ask you today is, is prayer 00:04:18.889 --> 00:04:23.050 a constant part of your life? Is it a part of 00:04:23.050 --> 00:04:25.569 your life at all? Maybe it is or maybe it's not. 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:29.149 Maybe there are some of you that don't ever pray. 00:04:30.149 --> 00:04:34.050 Maybe sometimes for us, if we were to chart out 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:36.649 our prayer life, it may kind of line up with 00:04:36.649 --> 00:04:39.470 when our life is the worst, our prayer life is 00:04:39.470 --> 00:04:42.689 the best. And maybe the opposite is also true. 00:04:42.750 --> 00:04:45.709 When our life is the best, our prayer life is 00:04:45.709 --> 00:04:49.290 the worst. Sometimes I believe we fall into the 00:04:49.290 --> 00:04:53.350 trap of viewing prayer as nothing more than asking 00:04:53.350 --> 00:04:55.449 God for something. Now that is certainly part 00:04:55.449 --> 00:04:58.889 of what prayer is. God wants us to ask Him. God 00:04:58.889 --> 00:05:01.029 wants us to come to Him. God wants us to make 00:05:01.029 --> 00:05:04.269 our requests known to Him. But prayer is not 00:05:04.269 --> 00:05:09.350 simply just, God, I need this. God, help me with 00:05:09.350 --> 00:05:12.240 this. Now those are parts of prayer. Praise the 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:14.959 Lord. We need to ask God for the things we need. 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:18.839 We need to ask God for help in our life. But 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:21.980 if that's all our prayer life is, then we are 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:25.079 missing out on some of the blessing of God. If 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:28.180 all we ever do is ask God for things, then we 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:30.879 are missing out on the blessing of what it means 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:34.560 to have a good prayer life. Our prayer life should 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:38.439 not just consist of asking God for the things 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:42.579 that we need. but thanking God for the things 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:47.519 that we have. Now, we might spend a lot of our 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:51.040 time, not physically, but maybe in our mind, 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.980 thinking about all the things that we don't have 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:58.620 and complaining about what we don't have. But 00:05:58.620 --> 00:06:01.720 maybe it would benefit us if we spent some time 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:05.259 counting our blessings, if we spent some time 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:08.360 thanking God for the things that we do have. 00:06:09.129 --> 00:06:11.750 So we ask God for what we need, praise the Lord. 00:06:12.370 --> 00:06:15.870 But we also need to thank God for what we have. 00:06:16.550 --> 00:06:20.829 We need to praise God. If you want a good example 00:06:20.829 --> 00:06:23.850 of what it means to praise God in prayer, then 00:06:23.850 --> 00:06:26.970 I would encourage you to read the Psalms. You 00:06:26.970 --> 00:06:29.829 will see some of the most beautiful prayers of 00:06:29.829 --> 00:06:33.209 praise calling out to the Lord and recognizing... 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:37.220 God and who he is, that he's the creator of everything, 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.660 of the heavens, of the earth, and oh how he blesses 00:06:40.660 --> 00:06:45.180 us. And you see beautiful language of that throughout 00:06:45.180 --> 00:06:49.980 the Psalms. We need to be those whose prayer 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:53.779 life is constant, those who are seeking God for 00:06:53.779 --> 00:06:56.839 what we need, thanking God for what we have, 00:06:56.939 --> 00:07:01.879 praising God for who he is. And whenever we just 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:06.500 take a moment, and sit in silence and really 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:10.540 begin to seek God and praise Him, it's a beautiful 00:07:10.540 --> 00:07:13.879 thing. And maybe we don't do that enough. We're 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.420 too busy, right? It's hard to sit in silence. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.860 Everything that is made for us today is made 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:23.519 for us not to sit in silence. Everywhere we go, 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:28.000 there's noise in our pocket. We got a cell phone 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.680 that we can't dare turn off or put on silent 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:33.069 mode because we might miss something. And so 00:07:33.069 --> 00:07:35.889 it's constantly dinging. And you have to check 00:07:35.889 --> 00:07:39.810 it as soon as it dings. You have to. Heaven forbid 00:07:39.810 --> 00:07:41.870 you wait five minutes after it dings. You've 00:07:41.870 --> 00:07:43.949 got to check it right then and there. You'd think 00:07:43.949 --> 00:07:45.589 somebody had a fire in their pocket. That thing 00:07:45.589 --> 00:07:46.930 dinged. Oh, I've got to get it out as quick as 00:07:46.930 --> 00:07:51.069 I can. But you know it's okay for us to put our 00:07:51.069 --> 00:07:54.389 phone down for a moment. It's okay if it rings 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:57.550 and you don't answer it. It's okay if that text 00:07:57.550 --> 00:07:59.730 message dings and you don't look at it instantly. 00:08:00.969 --> 00:08:03.930 It's okay because our world has made it. This 00:08:03.930 --> 00:08:05.949 is going to shock some of you, but we have made 00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:07.910 it for thousands of years without cell phones. 00:08:09.350 --> 00:08:12.329 And we can do okay. I think that's one of the 00:08:12.329 --> 00:08:15.269 devil's greatest tactics is, boy, he keeps us 00:08:15.269 --> 00:08:19.569 busy. He keeps a lot of noise in our life. And 00:08:19.569 --> 00:08:23.389 I think he does that because he knows that perhaps 00:08:23.389 --> 00:08:27.009 in the silence we begin to reflect. And perhaps 00:08:27.009 --> 00:08:29.970 when we begin to reflect in the silence is when 00:08:29.970 --> 00:08:32.990 we, really begin to think about our lives and 00:08:32.990 --> 00:08:35.830 our choices and our conscience gets the best 00:08:35.830 --> 00:08:38.289 of us and we begin to think about God and the 00:08:38.289 --> 00:08:40.929 things of God and the Word of God. And so the 00:08:40.929 --> 00:08:44.990 best way to keep us from recognizing who we are 00:08:44.990 --> 00:08:50.289 and seeking God for who He is is to keep us distracted. 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:53.419 And I would say that he's done a pretty good 00:08:53.419 --> 00:08:55.820 job. For me, I don't know about you. You may 00:08:55.820 --> 00:08:58.179 be doing better for me. But those distractions 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:01.100 are ever before us, whether it's our cell phones 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:05.360 or our jobs or our kids or whatever it may be. 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:08.059 There are a lot of things in life, some of which 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:10.980 that aren't bad. There are many things in life 00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:13.399 that aren't bad, but they can become distractions 00:09:13.399 --> 00:09:18.120 for us, and they can draw us from the Lord. But 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:21.950 I want to encourage you today. If you don't take 00:09:21.950 --> 00:09:26.450 time to pause and seek God and praise Him, I 00:09:26.450 --> 00:09:29.990 want to encourage you to do that. Maybe it's 00:09:29.990 --> 00:09:31.950 on your back porch when you get home at night. 00:09:32.950 --> 00:09:35.029 Maybe it's on your front porch when you get up 00:09:35.029 --> 00:09:38.730 in the morning. Maybe it's on a ride to work. 00:09:39.429 --> 00:09:42.110 Maybe as simple as saying, hey, this week I'm 00:09:42.110 --> 00:09:44.669 going to take one day that I'm not going to turn 00:09:44.669 --> 00:09:47.990 my radio on when I go to work. That I am going 00:09:47.990 --> 00:09:51.870 to put my phone on silent. That silence, sometimes 00:09:51.870 --> 00:09:53.830 it's kind of scary, right? Boy, we start thinking 00:09:53.830 --> 00:09:56.029 about all kinds of stuff. Man, our mind gets 00:09:56.029 --> 00:09:57.870 overwhelmed. It'll be kind of tough at first. 00:09:58.029 --> 00:10:02.610 But if we really take the time to pause and to 00:10:02.610 --> 00:10:07.590 seek God and say, God, this is your time. God, 00:10:07.669 --> 00:10:11.309 I just thank you. Push all of our wants and our 00:10:11.309 --> 00:10:13.750 needs and our stresses. Just push them aside 00:10:13.750 --> 00:10:16.450 for just a moment. Don't forget about them. Just 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:19.960 push them aside. And just begin a prayer life 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:23.600 that starts with us praising God. With us going 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.899 down a list of all the ways in which God has 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:29.419 blessed us. And thanking God for those things. 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:34.779 And rejoicing in God in those things. And just 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:38.240 taking a few moments to pause in the presence 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:43.000 of God. If you don't do it, you might find that 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:48.080 it will change your day. I can almost guarantee 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:51.120 you that it will change your day. That if you 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:54.879 start your day out pausing in the presence of 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:58.720 God and rejoicing in Him, I can almost guarantee 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:03.080 you it's going to change your attitude. How we 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:07.360 start our day, it changes how our day goes. And 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:09.340 what better way for us to start our day than 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:13.460 praising the Lord? Don't not bring your request 00:11:13.460 --> 00:11:18.259 to Him, bring them to Him. But we need to have 00:11:18.259 --> 00:11:20.259 a heart of praise and thankfulness to the Lord. 00:11:21.139 --> 00:11:24.019 Our prayer life doesn't just need to treat God 00:11:24.019 --> 00:11:27.059 like he's a genie in a bottle, like God just 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:29.080 sits in heaven all day waiting for us to ask 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:32.519 for what we want. He does want us to bring our 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.899 needs for him, but we need to recognize that 00:11:35.899 --> 00:11:39.600 God is so much more than that. He is a God who 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:43.600 loves us and cares for us. He is a God who brings 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:48.580 us comfort and peace. And often we don't experience 00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:52.120 that in our life because we are too busy and 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:57.080 we are too distracted. And so Paul's instruction 00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:00.659 here for us is a good instruction. That we need 00:12:00.659 --> 00:12:05.500 to be constant in prayer. Not just for ourselves, 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:09.419 but for those around us. Prayer makes a difference. 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:11.480 I'm going to tell you it makes a difference. 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:14.700 I guarantee you it makes a difference. You're 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:16.000 going to say, well, I prayed about some stuff 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.539 and it didn't happen. Yeah, well, that's true. 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:20.500 We all have. We have all prayed for things that 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:22.480 they weren't answered in the way in which we 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:25.519 prayed and desired, but I can guarantee you that 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:28.600 prayer works. Now you can look online and you 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:31.340 can search why do we pray and you'll find a lot 00:12:31.340 --> 00:12:34.580 of people that say why we pray and oh well everything's 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:36.500 predestined and God knows you're going to pray 00:12:36.500 --> 00:12:38.220 for it and he's already done it but you still 00:12:38.220 --> 00:12:40.299 got to pray for it even though and you'll find 00:12:40.299 --> 00:12:42.039 all kind of people coming up with all kind of 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:44.259 reasons of why we pray and I'm not going to get 00:12:44.259 --> 00:12:45.960 into any of that because it doesn't matter. I'll 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:50.620 tell you why we pray. We pray because God tells 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:54.700 us to. I don't know how God works. I don't know 00:12:54.700 --> 00:12:57.259 why God works. I don't know the way in which 00:12:57.259 --> 00:12:59.559 God carries out our prayers and the way in which 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:01.799 God hears our prayers and the way he makes all 00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:04.779 that work together. I don't know how God does 00:13:04.779 --> 00:13:08.220 it, but I know that God hears our prayers and 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:12.259 responds to them. And a lot of you can attest 00:13:12.259 --> 00:13:15.559 to that today. A lot of you can attest to something 00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:17.139 that you've prayed for. And some people will 00:13:17.139 --> 00:13:19.220 say, well, I don't know if prayer does anything. 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:21.279 And somebody else will say, well, if prayer doesn't 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.259 change your situation, it changes you. Well, 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:26.700 yeah, it does change you. That's true. But there 00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:28.779 are plenty of situations in our life that we 00:13:28.779 --> 00:13:31.779 have prayed and God have done things that are 00:13:31.779 --> 00:13:35.600 impossible. It could not have occurred any other 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.639 way. We have prayed for things that nobody else 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:42.120 knew about. Things that we thought, this is hopeless. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:45.360 And God would answer those prayers and God would 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:48.860 meet those needs. And it's not just a coincidence. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:54.720 It is God hearing when we call out to Him, when 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:59.059 we pray to Him. Even Jesus Himself gives us instruction 00:13:59.059 --> 00:14:04.899 on how to pray. Jesus tells us when we pray, 00:14:04.940 --> 00:14:07.259 we're to pray in a certain way. Perhaps you've 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:09.960 heard the Lord's Prayer or are aware of the Lord's 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:13.259 Prayer. You can find it in Matthew. Chapter 6. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.580 Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy 00:14:17.580 --> 00:14:20.799 name. Boy, that's a good way to start a prayer, 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:23.240 isn't it? Obviously it is. It's Jesus. It's got 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.519 to be pretty good. He didn't just make something 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:28.960 random up. He said, look, this is how you need 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:33.539 to pray. You need to pray by recognizing that 00:14:33.539 --> 00:14:38.559 God is hallowed or that God is holy. Our Father. 00:14:38.970 --> 00:14:41.830 God, you are in heaven, the creators of the heavens 00:14:41.830 --> 00:14:47.389 and the earth, and you are holy. Holy be your 00:14:47.389 --> 00:14:53.350 name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth 00:14:53.350 --> 00:14:58.110 as it is in heaven. Now this is an important 00:14:58.110 --> 00:15:02.169 part of our prayer life. That when we pray, that 00:15:02.169 --> 00:15:08.440 we always need to desire the will of God. Do 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:12.820 we always desire the will of God? Because here's 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:16.080 what will happen. If we pray according to our 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:19.620 will and God doesn't answer according to our 00:15:19.620 --> 00:15:25.299 will, then we become angry with God. But our 00:15:25.299 --> 00:15:29.039 desire in life should not be our will. Our desire 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:32.919 should be to live by the will of God and see 00:15:32.919 --> 00:15:36.610 that His will is done. And when we pray, even 00:15:36.610 --> 00:15:40.590 if our prayers are not answered, we still can 00:15:40.590 --> 00:15:44.529 rejoice. Why? Because we know that the will of 00:15:44.529 --> 00:15:50.110 God is done. And it is always good. And we can 00:15:50.110 --> 00:15:52.370 say, God, I asked for this and I prayed for this 00:15:52.370 --> 00:15:54.909 with all the faith in the world, but God, you 00:15:54.909 --> 00:15:59.230 did not answer, but I rejoice in you, God. Because 00:15:59.230 --> 00:16:01.129 even though I thought this was best and this 00:16:01.129 --> 00:16:05.009 was what I was desiring, God, I rejoice in you 00:16:05.009 --> 00:16:10.210 that your will is done. Even Jesus, before he 00:16:10.210 --> 00:16:12.649 went to the cross, what did he do? He prayed. 00:16:13.549 --> 00:16:16.129 He said, God, if there is any way to let this 00:16:16.129 --> 00:16:20.029 pass from me. Jesus knew what was about to take 00:16:20.029 --> 00:16:24.929 place. He knew he would soon be crucified. And 00:16:24.929 --> 00:16:28.919 he said, Father, if there is any other way. Let 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:33.019 this cup pass from me. Let this experience that's 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:36.740 about to come upon me, let this pass. Let me 00:16:36.740 --> 00:16:39.940 be freed from it, Father. And that was a beautiful 00:16:39.940 --> 00:16:42.379 prayer, and that's your prayer sometimes too. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.259 There's something that you're up against. There's 00:16:45.259 --> 00:16:47.139 something that you're struggling with, and you're 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:52.059 praying earnestly that God would hear your prayer 00:16:52.059 --> 00:16:58.509 and answer your prayer just as Jesus did. But 00:16:58.509 --> 00:17:02.529 Jesus ended his prayer by saying, but not my 00:17:02.529 --> 00:17:06.890 will be done, your will be done. God, this is 00:17:06.890 --> 00:17:10.049 my desire, this is my request. I call out to 00:17:10.049 --> 00:17:13.269 you. But God, more important than what I want 00:17:13.269 --> 00:17:18.789 in life is what you want in life. And the moment 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:22.650 our prayer lives begin to be founded in the will 00:17:22.650 --> 00:17:26.089 of God, then it's going to help our prayer life 00:17:26.089 --> 00:17:30.460 to change. for the better. When we humble ourselves 00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:32.819 before God and submit ourselves to Him and say, 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:37.599 God, I know that You are the one who is in control. 00:17:38.140 --> 00:17:41.339 I know that You are the one who hears my prayer. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:46.559 And God, I make my requests known to You. But 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:49.900 God, more than anything in this world, I want 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:54.859 You to be glorified. I want Your will to be done. 00:17:56.620 --> 00:18:00.099 Jesus continues on. Give us this day our daily 00:18:00.099 --> 00:18:03.640 bread. Praise the Lord. That's a request. We've 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:05.660 probably made that request to God many times. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:09.339 Sometimes in serious situations, when our daily 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:12.880 bread was beginning to dry up, what's Jesus saying? 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.339 He says, look. You need to go to the Lord for 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:18.059 your request. It is the Lord who sustains you. 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:20.980 It is the Lord who provides for you. It is the 00:18:20.980 --> 00:18:23.380 Lord who has given you everything that you had. 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:25.839 Did you know that this morning? It is God who 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:27.740 has given you everything that you had. And some 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:29.480 of you may be saying, uh -uh, I got up and went 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:31.559 to work this week. I worked 60 hours this week. 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:36.839 You know who gave you that job? God. You know 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:39.380 who created bread? God. You know who made the 00:18:39.380 --> 00:18:41.420 wheat in the field to make the bread? God. You 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:43.259 know who made the dirt to grow the wheat? God. 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:47.839 Everything that we have is because God has allowed 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:51.259 us to have it. It is God who provides for us, 00:18:51.339 --> 00:18:54.099 and we need to ask God to provide for us, and 00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:58.039 we need to praise God when he does. And our provisions 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:02.380 may not always be what we want them to be. Sometimes 00:19:02.380 --> 00:19:04.660 we might have to eat the off -brand Lucky Charms 00:19:04.660 --> 00:19:08.349 instead of the real official brand. But that's 00:19:08.349 --> 00:19:14.750 all right. God's good to us. We need to ask God 00:19:14.750 --> 00:19:16.869 to give us what we need, our daily bread, the 00:19:16.869 --> 00:19:19.029 things that we need to survive, and we need to 00:19:19.029 --> 00:19:25.029 praise God when he does. And forgive us our debts 00:19:25.029 --> 00:19:27.390 or forgive us our sins. That's a good one, right? 00:19:28.349 --> 00:19:31.529 I suspect that, I don't know if this is true, 00:19:31.630 --> 00:19:33.750 but I'm going to guess that probably every one 00:19:33.750 --> 00:19:36.289 of us sin every day. Of course, the Bible doesn't 00:19:36.289 --> 00:19:39.009 say that you sin every day, but I think it's 00:19:39.009 --> 00:19:41.710 safe to assume for most of us, if not all of 00:19:41.710 --> 00:19:45.630 us, that we do. And praise God, through Jesus 00:19:45.630 --> 00:19:48.390 Christ, our sins are forgiven. Now, that's good 00:19:48.390 --> 00:19:51.990 news. A lot of times we walk around and, man, 00:19:52.029 --> 00:19:53.869 we feel the burden and the pressure and the pain 00:19:53.869 --> 00:19:57.670 and the shame of our sin. And did you know that 00:19:57.670 --> 00:20:00.589 maybe the relief from that for you is praying 00:20:00.589 --> 00:20:03.859 to the Lord? Have you done that lately? Have 00:20:03.859 --> 00:20:06.960 you brought your sin before God and said, God, 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.480 I pray to you now and I know that I have sinned. 00:20:10.940 --> 00:20:13.319 Would you just forgive me for that, dear Lord, 00:20:13.380 --> 00:20:16.819 through Jesus Christ? Have you tried that? It's 00:20:16.819 --> 00:20:18.519 the simplest thing and it's something that we 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:22.799 all know. But sometimes the things that we all 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.420 know we kind of forget about. Sometimes we battle 00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:30.119 and struggle against our sin. And maybe the peace 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:34.480 that you need is just a prayer away. Maybe you 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:36.339 come into this room today with a lot of burden 00:20:36.339 --> 00:20:38.240 in your life, a lot of sin in your life. I want 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:41.759 to tell you today that Jesus says we need to 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:46.220 pray to the Lord that our sins would be forgiven. 00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:50.099 And the second half of that command is as follows. 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:55.279 And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:00.700 So God, forgive me for my sins as I forgive those 00:21:00.700 --> 00:21:06.339 who have sinned against me. That's a tough command. 00:21:07.180 --> 00:21:10.440 Not only are we praising God, not only are we 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:13.200 thanking Him for what we have, not only are we 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.819 praying for the things that we don't have, not 00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:20.180 only are we seeking forgiveness, but we are also 00:21:20.180 --> 00:21:25.119 forgiving other people who have wronged us. Some 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:27.200 of y 'all was good to go until we got to that 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:31.079 point. That's the tough part, right? That's the 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:34.480 tough part. Because, man, we love to feel that 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:38.099 peace and that joy of forgiveness. But it tears 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:42.859 us up to give it to somebody else. And a lot 00:21:42.859 --> 00:21:44.980 of times we will hold on to bitterness and we 00:21:44.980 --> 00:21:47.960 will hold on to anger and it will tear us up. 00:21:49.539 --> 00:21:51.759 And maybe that's the source of some of your pain, 00:21:51.819 --> 00:21:54.259 some of your strife, and some of your just... 00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:57.859 Just hatred that you've got today. Is that somebody 00:21:57.859 --> 00:22:03.799 has wronged you. And people do wrong us. People 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:07.480 wrong us in a lot of ways. I'm talking about 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:13.359 some horrible ways. In the same way that we have 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:19.559 wronged God. And God forgives us. And God calls 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:25.200 us in our prayers to forgive others. You may 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:27.200 be burned down today because you are walking 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:29.039 around with unforgiveness in your heart. And 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:31.680 I can tell you today, I can tell you that the 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:35.019 way to be delivered from that is through prayer. 00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:39.980 That you would forgive that person. That you 00:22:39.980 --> 00:22:43.079 would ask God to forgive you. That you would 00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:46.880 pray for that person. That is the best way. The 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:49.839 best way. If you hate somebody, if you hate them 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.680 with all your heart today, and you just wish 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:54.740 horrible things on them, and you don't bear to 00:22:54.740 --> 00:22:56.160 think about them, and you don't want to see them, 00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:58.519 if you've got that hatred in your heart today, 00:22:58.700 --> 00:23:01.759 I can tell you how to fix that. And you said, 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:03.259 yeah, I'm going to punch them in the nose. Nope, 00:23:03.380 --> 00:23:05.519 that's not how to fix it. I can tell you how 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:09.420 to fix it. The way you can fix it is to begin 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:12.200 to pray for them. And you don't want to do that, 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:15.039 you'd rather somebody pour you down with gasoline 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:16.819 and light you on fire than you'd pray for them. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:20.480 But essentially, your unforgiveness and your 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:22.890 attitude, That is what it's going to do. It's 00:23:22.890 --> 00:23:26.430 going to burn you up one day. But I can tell 00:23:26.430 --> 00:23:30.069 you the solution to that. It's prayer. And you 00:23:30.069 --> 00:23:32.710 may have to grit your teeth, and you may struggle 00:23:32.710 --> 00:23:34.910 to get those words out, but you need to pray 00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:37.630 for that person. You need to pray that God would 00:23:37.630 --> 00:23:40.609 love them, and that God would forgive them, and 00:23:40.609 --> 00:23:43.109 that God would change their heart, and most importantly, 00:23:43.190 --> 00:23:47.470 that God would change your heart. If you've got 00:23:47.470 --> 00:23:50.509 hatred like that in your heart, here's your assignment 00:23:50.509 --> 00:23:53.150 this week. I want you every day to pray for that 00:23:53.150 --> 00:23:56.670 person you hate. I don't mean just saying, God 00:23:56.670 --> 00:23:58.410 pray for that person, I don't like them. I don't 00:23:58.410 --> 00:24:01.210 mean that. I mean like really pausing for a second 00:24:01.210 --> 00:24:04.349 and really saying, God, I'm struggling with this. 00:24:04.509 --> 00:24:06.410 You don't have to pretend. You don't have to 00:24:06.410 --> 00:24:08.109 like go before God and pretend like, oh God, 00:24:08.269 --> 00:24:11.519 I really want this person to change. God knows 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:13.660 your heart. He knows that bitterness and that 00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:15.759 anger that's in there. And you can be honest 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:18.039 with God. He's a big God. He already knows what's 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:20.559 in there. And you can say, God, I'm really struggling 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:24.000 with this. I don't want to forgive this person. 00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:28.559 But God, your word tells me I have to. Your word 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:31.740 calls me to. So God, I pray for this person. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.059 I pray that you would help them and that you 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:37.000 would change them. I pray, God, that you would 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:42.150 bless them. As hard as it might be to get the 00:24:42.150 --> 00:24:44.849 words out. And if you do that for a week, you 00:24:44.849 --> 00:24:46.529 come back to me and you tell me if you still 00:24:46.529 --> 00:24:49.329 hate them as much as you did. I can just about 00:24:49.329 --> 00:24:54.589 guarantee you that you won't. The solution to 00:24:54.589 --> 00:25:00.009 a lot of our problems is prayer. And Jesus, praise 00:25:00.009 --> 00:25:02.990 the Lord, tells us exactly how we need to pray. 00:25:04.329 --> 00:25:07.609 He continues on in verse 13. And lead us not 00:25:07.609 --> 00:25:10.609 into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For 00:25:10.609 --> 00:25:13.150 thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory 00:25:13.150 --> 00:25:17.509 forever. Amen. Boy, that's a good prayer, right? 00:25:18.589 --> 00:25:21.990 Because as soon as you wake up, temptation is 00:25:21.990 --> 00:25:24.769 before you. Used to, you might have had to leave 00:25:24.769 --> 00:25:27.470 the house to be tempted. Not anymore. You wake 00:25:27.470 --> 00:25:30.029 up, your cell phone's right beside you. Anything 00:25:30.029 --> 00:25:32.029 in the world you can think of to be tempted by 00:25:32.029 --> 00:25:35.599 is right there within arm's reach. Our temptations 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:38.619 are ever before us. And everybody's temptations 00:25:38.619 --> 00:25:41.240 are different. We're all tempted by different 00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:44.599 things. Some of you can overcome some temptations 00:25:44.599 --> 00:25:46.960 and you can't overcome others and vice versa. 00:25:47.180 --> 00:25:52.400 We all have our temptations. So how do we overcome 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:56.640 them? We pray that God would help us. Lead us 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:00.450 not into temptation, God. Help us to be able 00:26:00.450 --> 00:26:02.910 to avoid those things. Deliver us from evil. 00:26:02.970 --> 00:26:06.089 It's all around us. We don't want to give in 00:26:06.089 --> 00:26:08.130 to those things. We don't want to give in to 00:26:08.130 --> 00:26:12.049 that temptation. So if you don't know this prayer 00:26:12.049 --> 00:26:14.869 that Jesus teaches us in Matthew chapter 6, verse 00:26:14.869 --> 00:26:18.250 9 through 13, then maybe you want to bookmark 00:26:18.250 --> 00:26:22.589 that. You might want to study that this week. 00:26:23.769 --> 00:26:27.289 I'd advise you just pray it as Jesus said. Pray 00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:29.829 it just as Jesus said. If Jesus says this is 00:26:29.829 --> 00:26:32.309 how you need to pray, that's a pretty good place 00:26:32.309 --> 00:26:35.970 to start. And maybe you can use this kind of 00:26:35.970 --> 00:26:38.950 as a skeleton to guide the rest of your prayer 00:26:38.950 --> 00:26:41.450 life. That you pray for the things that Jesus 00:26:41.450 --> 00:26:44.269 says and you see people and areas in your life 00:26:44.269 --> 00:26:47.309 that fit into these categories and maybe there 00:26:47.309 --> 00:26:49.250 are more specifics that you want to pray for 00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:56.190 but Jesus says this is how you pray. And maybe 00:26:56.829 --> 00:27:00.849 The way that we pray will have a greater effect 00:27:00.849 --> 00:27:06.470 on the way that we live than we realize. So what 00:27:06.470 --> 00:27:09.630 does Paul say in 1 Thessalonians 5, 17? He says, 00:27:09.650 --> 00:27:14.210 pray constantly. Before that, he says, rejoice 00:27:14.210 --> 00:27:16.430 always. Beautiful chapter. Y 'all should go and 00:27:16.430 --> 00:27:18.829 read that whole section. Beautiful instruction 00:27:18.829 --> 00:27:21.250 right there at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5. 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:25.700 But maybe Paul says we need to pray constantly 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:28.339 because of what he said a couple of verses before. 00:27:29.259 --> 00:27:32.759 In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 14, he says this, 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:37.720 And we exhort you, brothers, warn those who are 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:40.799 irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:45.819 the weak, be patient with everyone. Now, I don't 00:27:45.819 --> 00:27:47.440 know about you, but those things are hard to 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:52.730 do. Warn those who are irresponsible. I don't 00:27:52.730 --> 00:27:56.269 know about you, I don't enjoy that. I don't look 00:27:56.269 --> 00:27:58.509 out at people every day and say, boy, I see him 00:27:58.509 --> 00:27:59.930 and her and him, and I'm going to just come see 00:27:59.930 --> 00:28:01.250 y 'all this week and say, you're irresponsible. 00:28:02.450 --> 00:28:04.490 I don't look forward to that command that Scripture 00:28:04.490 --> 00:28:07.289 gives us, but nonetheless, Paul gives us this 00:28:07.289 --> 00:28:09.309 command, and Scripture gives us this command. 00:28:12.150 --> 00:28:13.890 Well, how are we going to be able to carry out 00:28:13.890 --> 00:28:17.569 the commands of Scripture that are hard? Pray 00:28:17.569 --> 00:28:20.539 about it. That's a good place to start. What's 00:28:20.539 --> 00:28:25.500 the next thing he tells us to do? He says comfort 00:28:25.500 --> 00:28:29.980 the discouraged. Well, that's kind of hard to 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:32.359 do too. I mean, we all see people who are discouraged. 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:34.440 Have you ever seen somebody who's discouraged, 00:28:34.700 --> 00:28:37.039 and their heart is broken, and your heart is 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:39.559 broken for them, and you just feel so broken, 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:43.819 it's just sad, and you want to help them, and 00:28:43.819 --> 00:28:46.559 you say, I don't know what to say to them. I 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:49.039 want to be there for them. I don't know what 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:51.960 to say for them. I don't know how to help them. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:54.460 I don't know what to do. So we just don't do 00:28:54.460 --> 00:28:57.619 anything. Because we want to do these things 00:28:57.619 --> 00:29:01.980 that Scripture says, but we don't know how. I 00:29:01.980 --> 00:29:05.599 can tell you a good place to start. Pray. Say, 00:29:05.619 --> 00:29:07.539 God, help me to be able to be a comforter to 00:29:07.539 --> 00:29:10.500 the discouraged. There are people we encounter 00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:14.339 that are discouraged. Maybe we don't know words 00:29:14.339 --> 00:29:16.279 to say. Maybe you don't even have to say any 00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:20.380 words. Maybe your presence is a comfort. It is. 00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:23.460 I don't know if you know that or not. I can tell 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:25.559 you a lot of times it's not about what you say. 00:29:25.900 --> 00:29:29.339 It's just about you being there. People are discouraged. 00:29:30.099 --> 00:29:33.539 Somebody loves them, comes by. Maybe all you 00:29:33.539 --> 00:29:36.039 need to say is, hey, I see you're discouraged. 00:29:36.220 --> 00:29:41.799 I love you. And I'm praying for you. The next 00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:47.059 thing he calls us to is help the weak. All right. 00:29:47.579 --> 00:29:50.880 Easy command, but it's not always easy to do. 00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:54.619 How are we going to help the weak? We got stuff 00:29:54.619 --> 00:29:58.140 to do. Helping the weakest, sometimes it's scary. 00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:01.119 Sometimes it's dirty. Sometimes it's nasty. How 00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:03.720 are we going to do this? How are we going to 00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:06.259 have the strength to help the weak? I can tell 00:30:06.259 --> 00:30:08.470 you how. We're going to pray. We're going to 00:30:08.470 --> 00:30:10.569 say, God, I see your word and what it calls me 00:30:10.569 --> 00:30:13.609 to. And God, I'm kind of afraid to do this thing 00:30:13.609 --> 00:30:17.430 that's before me. Or I'm too busy to do it. God, 00:30:17.470 --> 00:30:19.789 make time. We're going to pray that God will 00:30:19.789 --> 00:30:21.869 help us to be able to carry these things out. 00:30:22.750 --> 00:30:26.230 And finally, the last command in verse 14 is 00:30:26.230 --> 00:30:29.390 be patient with everyone. Now, we don't have 00:30:29.390 --> 00:30:30.849 to pray about that because we're all patient 00:30:30.849 --> 00:30:33.809 with everybody all the time, aren't we? Don't 00:30:33.809 --> 00:30:37.420 think so. I was in the hospital with somebody 00:30:37.420 --> 00:30:40.059 just last week, and boy, they were so impatient. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:43.920 I said, you know what they call people that wait 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:46.799 on doctors? He said, what? I said, patients. 00:30:47.339 --> 00:30:49.299 I said, and that's what you need to have right 00:30:49.299 --> 00:30:54.519 now because you're waiting on a doctor. And we 00:30:54.519 --> 00:30:56.920 are called to be patient with everyone. Well, 00:30:56.980 --> 00:30:59.480 guess what? How are we going to be patient with 00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:01.799 people? Well, I can tell you a good place to 00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:04.440 start is to pray. Because there are some people 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:07.059 that, man, they try your patience. And they may 00:31:07.059 --> 00:31:09.099 not even be bad people. They may not even be 00:31:09.099 --> 00:31:12.460 doing bad. It's just some people. And you've 00:31:12.460 --> 00:31:14.299 got them. You know who they are. I may be one 00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:15.440 of them in your life. I don't know. There are 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:17.859 some people and they just, oh, they just, oh. 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:20.660 When you see them, you get impatient instantly. 00:31:21.500 --> 00:31:23.460 I can tell you the solution to that. Say, God, 00:31:23.480 --> 00:31:27.140 I need you to give me patience. God, I need you 00:31:27.140 --> 00:31:31.299 to give me patience. And I'll tell you the good 00:31:31.299 --> 00:31:33.240 news, God is patient with us. That needs to be 00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:36.400 our example and motivation. God is patient with 00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:41.039 us. He doesn't want any to perish, but all, all 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:45.720 to have eternal life. God is way more patient 00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:49.079 with me than I would have been. And maybe for 00:31:49.079 --> 00:31:52.099 some of you too. Maybe that's a good place for 00:31:52.099 --> 00:31:56.119 us to start. Say, okay, God, I've experienced 00:31:56.119 --> 00:32:00.720 patience. God, help me to... Have patience with 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:03.940 others. There are lots of commands in scriptures. 00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:07.799 This is just one verse, verse 14. But all of 00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:11.859 these things are things that we probably need 00:32:11.859 --> 00:32:15.079 some help with. We probably need to pray to God 00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:17.359 that he would help us to be able to live in such 00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:21.079 a way. The scripture are full of commands that 00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:23.220 are too hard for us to carry out and live out 00:32:23.220 --> 00:32:28.250 on our own. So we must pray to God. That God 00:32:28.250 --> 00:32:30.269 would change our heart and that God would change 00:32:30.269 --> 00:32:33.329 our attitude. That God would give us grace and 00:32:33.329 --> 00:32:37.750 love and mercy and patience for others as he 00:32:37.750 --> 00:32:42.470 has had for us. So I don't know what your prayer 00:32:42.470 --> 00:32:46.690 life is like today. If your prayer life is good, 00:32:46.730 --> 00:32:50.109 then praise God. Keep praying. If your prayer 00:32:50.109 --> 00:32:53.150 life isn't good, well, praise God. You come here 00:32:53.150 --> 00:32:55.049 today and you hear God's word, you hear these 00:32:55.049 --> 00:32:58.089 scriptures. And you can change your prayer life 00:32:58.089 --> 00:33:03.569 today. But I would encourage you to praise God 00:33:03.569 --> 00:33:07.710 for who He is, to thank Him for how He has blessed 00:33:07.710 --> 00:33:14.750 you, to ask Him for the things you need, to forgive 00:33:14.750 --> 00:33:18.809 you of your sins, to help you to forgive those 00:33:18.809 --> 00:33:23.769 who have sinned against you. And to keep you 00:33:23.769 --> 00:33:28.589 safe from all the temptations in the world. And 00:33:28.589 --> 00:33:30.849 when we begin to really seek God and ask God 00:33:30.849 --> 00:33:33.430 for those things and experience who God is and 00:33:33.430 --> 00:33:38.450 praise who God is, not only does it change us, 00:33:38.490 --> 00:33:43.549 but it changes things around us. James chapter 00:33:43.549 --> 00:33:49.309 5 verse 16 says this, The effectual fervent prayer 00:33:49.309 --> 00:33:54.940 of a righteous man availeth much, to put that 00:33:54.940 --> 00:34:00.220 in English, when you pray, things change. When 00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:05.740 you pray, God hears those prayers. So be faithful 00:34:05.740 --> 00:34:09.039 in your prayers. Be fervent in your prayers. 00:34:11.159 --> 00:34:14.139 And in all your prayers, pray that the will of 00:34:14.139 --> 00:34:18.679 God will be done. Let's pray this morning. God, 00:34:18.699 --> 00:34:22.429 we thank you for being good to us. We thank you 00:34:22.429 --> 00:34:24.489 for being patient with us and for loving us. 00:34:24.570 --> 00:34:28.130 We thank you for Jesus Christ who gave his life 00:34:28.130 --> 00:34:31.409 on a cross so that we could be forgiven. We thank 00:34:31.409 --> 00:34:34.230 you that Jesus gives us these beautiful instructions 00:34:34.230 --> 00:34:38.809 on how we are to pray, God. Maybe there are some 00:34:38.809 --> 00:34:43.010 in this room and their prayer life has just not 00:34:43.010 --> 00:34:46.329 been very good. Or maybe there are some, God, 00:34:46.409 --> 00:34:49.769 and their prayer life has been non -existent. 00:34:51.500 --> 00:34:53.599 But maybe today, for the first time, there are 00:34:53.599 --> 00:34:56.139 some that are going to seek you, that are going 00:34:56.139 --> 00:35:00.059 to pray to you, dear Lord. I pray, God, that 00:35:00.059 --> 00:35:02.840 everybody in this room would know that you are 00:35:02.840 --> 00:35:05.940 the creator of the heavens and the earth. And 00:35:05.940 --> 00:35:09.679 that all we have is because of you and through 00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:13.639 you, dear Lord. So, God, I pray today that we 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:16.019 would just rejoice in you, first and foremost. 00:35:18.460 --> 00:35:21.920 Knowledge that you are a holy and good and loving 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:27.360 God. And we thank you for that. God, I know there 00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:29.780 are some that have needs today, God. There are 00:35:29.780 --> 00:35:32.500 a lot of requests. There's a lot of struggle 00:35:32.500 --> 00:35:36.059 and a lot of pain and a lot of sickness. And 00:35:36.059 --> 00:35:39.559 dear Lord, we do pray that you would meet those 00:35:39.559 --> 00:35:41.559 needs. That you would meet them quickly, dear 00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:46.860 Lord. But we pray that your will be done. And 00:35:46.860 --> 00:35:49.480 God, should you not answer our prayers in the 00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:53.480 way in which we ask, or in the time frame in 00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:56.559 which we ask, dear Lord, that we do not question 00:35:56.559 --> 00:35:58.460 you or doubt you, dear Lord, but that everything 00:35:58.460 --> 00:36:05.599 we pray, we pray for your will to be done. God, 00:36:05.719 --> 00:36:08.139 maybe there are some today that are distracted 00:36:08.139 --> 00:36:13.570 by the world and the burdens of the world. I 00:36:13.570 --> 00:36:16.309 pray that maybe even right now, just for a moment, 00:36:16.469 --> 00:36:21.090 that they would pause, that they would seek you, 00:36:21.150 --> 00:36:26.570 dear Lord, that they would rejoice in you. God, 00:36:26.630 --> 00:36:28.710 maybe they're a son today and they just need 00:36:28.710 --> 00:36:30.710 to be forgiven. I pray that they would know that 00:36:30.710 --> 00:36:32.710 through Jesus Christ that there is forgiveness 00:36:32.710 --> 00:36:36.250 for their sins. I pray that they would confess 00:36:36.250 --> 00:36:41.539 them to you right now, dear Lord. Maybe there's 00:36:41.539 --> 00:36:43.619 some bitterness and hatred and anger in our heart 00:36:43.619 --> 00:36:46.940 toward others. I pray, God, that you would help 00:36:46.940 --> 00:36:50.119 us to be able to pray for those that have wronged 00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:55.300 us, sinned against us, and treated us in such 00:36:55.300 --> 00:36:58.059 horrible ways. God, that we would just lift them 00:36:58.059 --> 00:37:00.719 up today, that you would begin to change their 00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:02.800 hearts and that you would begin to change our 00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:07.860 hearts, dear Lord. God, we thank you for these 00:37:07.860 --> 00:37:11.769 scriptures and these commands. God, life is tough. 00:37:12.710 --> 00:37:14.969 But we thank you that you are a God that we can 00:37:14.969 --> 00:37:17.230 pray to and seek. And I pray, God, that in these 00:37:17.230 --> 00:37:20.630 next few moments that we would do just that. 00:37:21.550 --> 00:37:25.329 In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. I'm going to 00:37:25.329 --> 00:37:27.650 ask everybody just remain seated. Keep your heads 00:37:27.650 --> 00:37:29.869 bowed, eyes closed. Macy's going to play for 00:37:29.869 --> 00:37:32.530 a moment. We're just going to pause in the silence 00:37:32.530 --> 00:37:34.389 for just a moment. Maybe there's something in 00:37:34.389 --> 00:37:36.809 your heart today. And maybe today you want to 00:37:36.809 --> 00:37:39.230 spend just a moment and pray to the Lord as Macy 00:37:39.230 --> 00:37:42.340 plays. Now's your chance to pray.