Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd
like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward
slash connect. If you feel called to give, go
to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at
any time you feel called to make a change in
your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the
message. Happy Memorial Day weekend. The start
of summer is here, even though it doesn't feel
like it. But we're going to work through it.
If you're joining us from home, thanks for welcoming
us into your space. So I do want to pause before
we jump in to our talk today and honor and recognize
all those that have served or are serving. And
especially those that have paid the ultimate
price in serving our country. Let's open in prayer
and just ask God's hand of blessing to be upon
them. God, we are grateful that we can gather
together in worship in freedom. And we're grateful,
God, for all those that are serving around the
world currently that have served. And God, I
just ask you're with those families, God, those
friends that have lost loved ones while serving,
that you would comfort them, give them peace.
And again, we are just grateful that we can live
in a country where we can worship and just declare
your name freely and openly. In Jesus' name,
amen. So we are in week four of our series text
to talk where we're learning a daily routine
of connecting to God through the Bible and being
led by him in every area of our life. We kicked
off week one of our series focusing on how to
read the Bible. Week two, we discussed how Jesus
desires that we abide in him or why we read the
Bible. And last week, we discussed being led
by the Holy Spirit or applying the truth. of
the Bible to our lives. Today, we're going to
tackle a subject that is sometimes very confusing,
often complicated, that everyone deals with.
How to have an effective and enjoyable prayer
life. How to have an effective and enjoyable
prayer life. And some of you are immediately
thinking, enjoyable? Really, Chris? Prayer? See,
there is nothing more crucial to us than to learn
as followers of Jesus How to pray. See, prayer
is how we communicate with God. How many of you
know by show of hands that communication is the
lifeline backbone of any relationship, right?
If you can't communicate, a relationship's gone
nowhere. One of the greatest joys in life is
having someone you can truly talk to. And not
just someone who hears your words, but someone
who actually listens, understands, and cares.
See, marriages will struggle without healthy
communication. How many of us know if you're
married, if your spouse says it's fine, that
in reality, it's not fine at all, right? It's
fine simply means that's not a good decision
you're about to make, right? Friendships drift
without communication. Families become disconnected
without... Here's the reality. You can live in
the same house with someone, not communicate
and feel miles apart. While at the same time,
this is true spiritually. See, many people see
prayer as a religious duty, a ritual, or dare
I say, a last resort when those crises come into
our lives. But prayer was never meant to be lifeless.
Prayer is simply communication with God. It's
a conversation with our creator. It's not about
the words. See, it's about building a real relationship,
a real connection. And just like any relationship,
when communication is healthy, that relationship
becomes effective and enjoyable. The reason many
followers of Jesus struggle in prayer isn't because
they don't love God. It's because communication
with God has become rushed, shallow, inconsistent,
or dare I say, one -sided. Give me, give me,
give me God. But when prayer becomes honest,
when we stop performing and start connecting,
when we stop treating prayer like a task and
start treating it like time spent with someone
we love, then prayer is no longer boring. It
doesn't feel forced. It actually becomes life
-giving. And today, I want us all to discover
that prayer is not an obligation. It's simply
communication with the Father, our Father in
heaven, who generally wants to hear from his
children. And that opening leads us to our first
thought today. See, when we pray, God moves and
things happen. God moves and things happen. James
5, verse 16. Confess your sins to each other
and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
Now, hear this truth. The earnest prayer. of
a righteous person has great power, and notice,
produces wonderful results. See, I want us to
pray in a way that get things done. And nothing
has marked the lives of the people we read about
in the Bible more than prayer. It is when prayer,
right, comes into our life that we suddenly understand
that God is moving. Think about it. Prayer has
marked people from the very beginning. We see
it in the life of Abraham. He prayed and God
was willing to spare an entire city for the sake
of the righteous. Jacob, he wrestled with God
in prayer at night and walked away with a new
name and a new future. Moses prayed for a rebellious
nation and God relented from destroying Israel.
Church, prayer works. Joshua prayed in the middle
of a battle. God caused the sun to stand still
so that the victory could be won. Hannah prayed
with deep anguish and conviction. And God gave
her Samuel, one of the greatest prophets Israel
has ever known. Elijah prayed and the rain stopped
for three and a half years. Then he prayed again
and the rain returned. Prayer works. Daniel prayed
three times a day when it was illegal and everyone
told him to not do it. Then he was thrown into
a lion's den. He prayed again. God shut the mouths
of the lions. Nehemiah prayed before approaching
the king and God gave him favor to rebuild Jerusalem.
And it's not just the Old Testament. Fast forward
to the New Testament. When people prayed, God
moved on their behalf. Jesus' life was defined
by prayer. He regularly withdrew to lonely places
to pray. Before he chose his disciples, he prayed.
Before practicing miracles, he prayed. Before
going to the cross, Jesus prayed. The book of
Acts shows us that the early church started from
a prayer meeting. They were gathered in the upper
room, praying. The Holy Spirit fell. The church
was born, and the gospel spread throughout the
known world. Because there was a church that
prayed. And if prayer marked the lives of people
that changed the world, we need to do it today.
Because God has called us to change the tri -state
area. Because when we pray, God moves on our
behalf. I want to remind you again, prayer works.
And I want you to think about it this way. We
are one prayer away from a totally different
life. We're one prayer away from a healthy marriage.
You are one prayer away from healing in your
body. You are one prayer away from victory over
anxiety. You are one prayer away from an addiction
being broken. You are one prayer away from victory
over stress. Prayer has the power to move us
past what our potential can do, what we can do
in our own strength, and into the power of God.
You are one prayer away. And if we can learn
to step out in prayer, we can literally see the
hand of God move in our lives more than we could
ever imagine. So if prayer has so much power,
then why don't we do it? Right? Why don't we
pray? Well, I believe it's because many of us
don't actually believe that prayer has the power
to change things in our lives. Because if we
believed it, we would pray a whole lot more.
The prayer stats that are currently out there
are absolutely shocking. I just want to share
a few of them with you as we set the tone for
our discussion. These numbers are from Barna
Research Group. 68 % of Christians say their
prayer life is inconsistent or ineffective at
best. 68%. 55 % say they don't know what to say
when they pray. 71 % say they pray the less than
10 minutes a day. And 80 % of those polled admit
to being distracted within the first two minutes
of prayer. And some of you are already judging
those Christians that are distracted, and you've
been distracted in the first five minutes of
this talk. So don't go out judging. We all get
distracted. We all have those moments where we
don't make prayer as effective as it can be.
And here's the fact that absolutely blew my mind.
The average Christian spends more time on their
phones before breakfast in one day than in prayer
all week long. Houston, we have a problem. Church,
that's a big problem. And that is why Jesus'
followers are so ineffective and weak. They're
not prioritizing prayer. We have not tapped into
the power and possibilities of prayer. So let's
now look at a story that gives us such a good
breakdown of prayer. This story is about two
women named Mary and Martha. Luke chapter 10,
starting in verse 38. As Jesus and the disciples
continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came
to a certain village where a woman named Martha
welcomed him into her home. What was her name
again? Martha, that is correct. Her sister Mary,
what's her sister's name? Sat at the Lord's feet
listening to what he taught. So let's pause and
just look at this breakdown real quick of these
two ladies. Martha opens up her home to Jesus.
This is an incredible example of what it means
to abide. She wanted to welcome Jesus into her
home. She was hosting him. However, Mary, when
Jesus was welcomed into the home, went over and
sat at his feet. See, Martha had the right intentions
of inviting Jesus in, and Martha always has been
given a bad rap in this story, but she actually
had good intentions. Can we all agree on that?
Jesus, you are welcome into my home. However,
I want to be a good host. But then suddenly,
as the story goes on, we see a big difference
between the two women. Let's continue. But Martha
was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.
She came to Jesus and said, Lord, doesn't it
seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here
while I do all the work? Now, many of you know
I have six children, and I often hear at dinnertime
while the cleanup is happening, they're just
discussing, they're not arguing, of course, how
one of them are not carrying their weight and
cleaning as they should be. Do you connect with
that? There's always someone that is distracted
doing something else. Let's continue with our
story. Tell her to come and help me. So Martha
goes to Jesus and she's probably thinking, I
got it. I'm going to say something to Jesus.
He's going to look at Mary and say, how dare
you sit there at my feet? How dare you do nothing?
Get up and do some work. You need to get busy
and help. Don't you know all the things that
I need to get done in this house? So let's continue.
Is that what Jesus said? But the Lord said to
her, my dear Martha. You are worried and upset
over all these details. And I want to pause there
again for a second because that phrase from Jesus
points to a direct correlation between how worried
and upset we are by what is happening in the
world around us and our lack of prayer. See,
the more we pray, the less worried and concerned
we are about what is happening in the world because
we now believe that we are going before the God
of the universe who has everything under his
control. And if I am sitting at his feet, it
doesn't matter what is happening all around me
because he's got it under control. So if you
find yourself worried and stressed out today
about all the things that are happening in this
world, it's probably because you are more distracted
than you are praying. We need to get back to
sitting at Jesus' feet because when we do, we're
going to find peace. We're going to find rest.
We're going to find comfort and we're going to
discover wisdom that he has for us. Aren't we
grateful that at his feet we can experience breakthrough
in our lives? That's where it all happens. Let's
continue. There is only one thing worth being
concerned about. Mary has discovered it and it
will not be taken from her. So I want to challenge
you today. You have a lot of things on your schedule,
in your mind that is consuming your life. But
very few things are needed. Prioritize what is
important and learn to pray. And here is the
question of the day. When it comes to prayer,
reflect, who are you? Who are you in this story?
And let's look at the breakdown. We have two
people who could not have more opposite approaches
to prayer. Notice, Martha, she's stressed out.
She has a lot to do. She has a lot of worries
and concerns. Mary? Mary's not stressed. She
has surrendered. She is not focused on what is
happening around her. She is focused on surrendering
to the master. Martha, she's very distracted.
She's thinking about everything else happening
around her. But Mary, what is she? She's focused.
She's focused on Jesus. Martha, she's hustling.
She's busy. She's getting everything done. But
we have Mary. Mary is sitting and listening.
Martha is judging. She's judging her sister.
She's judging Mary. You better get to work. You
better get better. You need to step up and do
something while Mary, Mary's secure in what Jesus
told her to do. Martha is overwhelmed while Mary
is sitting there receiving patiently from Jesus.
So reflect. When it comes to your prayer time,
who are you in this story? Are you living a Martha
life? Or are you focusing on abiding in the vine
and connecting with Jesus like Mary did? Of course,
we know that Mary chose what is better. And we
can learn to have a Mary outlook on life in a
very Martha world. I mean, be honest. We're bombarded
with busyness. But when we focus on and allow
our prayer time to be like Mary's, we will experience
victory in this life. And how do we do it? Well,
that leads us to our four action steps, how to
experience an effective and enjoyable prayer
life. And the first one is this. It all starts
with surrender. We need to first fix our posture.
If we want an effective prayer life, we need
to fix our posture. We're so easily distracted
and focused on other things going on. But Mary,
notice, decided to do something different, Luke
10. Her sister Mary sat down. At the Lord's feet,
listening to what he taught. Now please understand,
this would have been the norm for a rabbi or
a teacher in this culture. They were not living
in a world of constant busyness where we're cleaning
dishes and then looking up every 20 seconds and
say, oh yeah, Jesus, yeah, I'm listening, really.
But I'm getting this done at the same time. Right?
But this isn't how to have an effective prayer
life. We have so many other things going on in
our life that we try to squeeze in our prayer
time between everything else while we're really
focusing on everything else. I mean, we live
in a world fighting for our attention. Every
single second, we're bombarded with notifications,
worry, schedules, stress. Oh, I got to get my
entertainment to relax. Listen, if the enemy
can't destroy our relationship with God, he'll
settle for distracting it, and he'll distract
you. Because distracted prayer eventually becomes
distant prayer. Distant prayer becomes separation
from God. We have to learn how to surrender,
to release control, to release our agendas. And
it's difficult, but we have to learn to sit at
the master's feet. What does surrender look like?
Simple. It's undivided focus. It's time alone
that belongs to Jesus. In other words, when he's
in the room, when his presence is there, we're
going to meet with him. And I'm going to meet
with him. And Jesus tells us in Matthew 6, 6
how to do this. But when you pray, go away by
yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray
to your Father in private. Then your Father,
who sees everything, will reward you. See, there
are things keeping us from focusing our attention
on Jesus. And in this passage, Jesus tells us
that when we pray, we what? We go into our room,
right? And then what do we do? We close the door
behind ourselves. Some of you, let's be honest,
this is what your prayer life looks like. You're
praying with the door wide open. You're letting
all the distractions, all the entertainment,
all the news bombard your time with God instead
of making a choice to close the door and prioritizing
our relationship with Jesus. So what do we need
to remove from our lives that could be a distraction
that's keeping us from connecting with God? Well,
I have a few that I feel pull us away. And the
first one is this. We all know what this is,
right? For some of you, this is your lifeline.
For some of you, this is your life, just being
honest, because this is how you connect to everyone
rather than face -to -face. This has become our
schedule. This has become our notification. This
has become our entertainment. I mean, people
are sitting everywhere, and they're constantly
bombarded with their what? Their cell phones.
This cell phone is going to distract you and
pull you away from Jesus. So in order... To not
be distracted with our phones, what did Jesus
tell us to do? He said to go into your room,
get rid of it, and close the door on it. Right?
For some of you, you need to shut it off, you
need to silence it, and you need to prioritize
your relationship with Jesus. And if it's not
your cell phones, then it's your schedules. Right?
Because chances are you have your schedule in
your phone. It's telling you everywhere to go,
who you need to meet, where you need to be. And
you're allowing your schedules to prioritize
your time rather than prioritizing time with
Jesus. Again, you need to take your schedules
and you need to close the door behind them. If
it's not your schedules, then this is coming
at you. It's your bills. Right? We're always
getting bills. Bills are coming. You got to pay
the bills. And in your mind, you're thinking
gas is outrageous. Food is outrageous. How am
I going to pay my bills? And we get overwhelmed
and worried because we can't pay our bills. When
you're praying, don't focus on your bills. Get
rid of them and close the door behind them. You
know why? You know why? Because the creditor's
coming knocking anyway. You might as well not
focus on them in your prayer time. For some of
you, it's sports. You're so focused on your professional
sports teams that they are distracting you from
your time with God. Guys, get off a bleacher
report. Turn off the notifications. It's not
even football season. Get rid of them. Check
them at the door and close the door behind them.
Ladies, I'm not going to let you out, right?
Let's be honest. We live in a world that's all
about... Self -care. You got to take care of
yourself. You got to look good. You got to look
right. And for many of you like, oh, that's my
prayer time. I'm pampering. I look good. I want
to make myself look good. No, you're not. You're
distracted. You want to take care of yourself.
You're more worried about the mirror than you
are worried about connecting with the master.
What do you have to do with your self -care?
You got to check it at the door. And then if
that... It's not the worst one. This is. Some
of you have some of these at home, right? And
they can be all ages, and they can even wear
a unicorn outfit, right? And you know the best
thing to do with these things, right? Just check
them at the door. It's a baby doll, man. Calm
down. I would never tell you to check your kids
at the door, okay? But what I am telling you
are, if you're distracted, If you're distracted
by your kids, you need to get up an hour earlier.
Yeah, go to bed a little earlier. And you need
to make a priority. You need to make a priority
that prayer is effective and passionate in your
life. You need to close the door behind what
is happening all around you. James chapter four,
verses seven through eight. So humble yourselves
before God. Resist your iPhone. Isn't that what
it says? Resist your iPhone. Oh, I'm sorry. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close
to God, and God will come close to you. Now,
did everyone hear that promise? The God of the
universe, when you draw close to him, he draws
close to you. I mean, what a better reason to
surrender all these positions in my life to truly
connect to God. Some of you are just simply too
distracted with all the other stuff in your life.
And I want to challenge you with this. Surrender.
And then suddenly you'll find your prayer life
will become enjoyable and effective, which leads
us to our next step. You need to slow down. We
need to slow down because it's now within our
culture today that we celebrate busyness. True
or false? True, true. Ask anybody how they're
doing. Hey, how are you doing? How's life going?
Busy, right? How are your kids? Busy. I'm going
to and fro. How's your job? Busy. They got me
doing more than ever. How's school going? Busy.
I'm taking advanced classes. How's business?
Busy, busy. That's become the natural reaction
to people's responses when you ask them how they're
doing. It's a badge of honor in our society to
say that we are busy. And busyness, unfortunately,
is becoming our identity. That word is destroying
your prayer life. That word is destroying your
prayer life. So I want to challenge you, remove
it from your vocabulary. Busyness is the enemy
of our prayer time. It has been said this way,
if the devil can't make you bad, if the devil
can't make you sin, he's going to make you busy.
He can't make you sin, so he'll make you sit
down and embrace what culture tells you to do
and buy into busyness. We are so busy and distracted,
just like who? Martha. And listen, some of those
are good things. They're not bad things. They're
good things. But when we miss out and prioritize
good things, then God can do great things in
our life. great things happen through our connection
with him. We cannot hear from God in a hurry,
right? God wants to speak to us, but our lives
are moving at such a rapid pace that we miss
out of his voice speaking to us every single
day. Right? I deal every single day with this
little guy named Phoenix. Right? He's always
moving to the next thing. Inside, outside, doors
open, upstairs, downstairs. There's a mess everywhere
he goes. And sometimes I need to sit him on the
couch. I need to take my two hands, put them
on his cheeks and say, stop. Clean up your toys
and clean up your room. And he looks back at
me and goes, okay. And then he's gone again.
Some of you simply need to slow down. You need
to give God the attention he deserves. Because
when we give God the attention he deserves, you
know what we're going to hear? Hey, Chris, you
need to forgive that person. Hey, Chris, you
need to release that bitterness. Hey, Chris,
you need to let go of that control. Hey, Chris,
you know that friend you haven't heard of in
weeks? You need to pray for them and reach out.
Hey, Chris, you're questioning your future? Trust
me. See, that's what we hear in prayer time because
God has a plan and agenda for our lives. But
we are moving so quick, so fast that we miss
out on hearing from God because prayer has become
a distraction. Our prayer life is being distracted.
And my greatest prayer moments with God is when
I slow down, I release my agenda, and I create
space for God to speak to me. For me, that looks
like taking a walk with my poodles. I got two
standard poodles and they literally walk me.
I hook them to my hips and I just go along for
the ride. My mind is free, right? And I'm able
to focus on and hear from God. However it works
for you, you need to figure that out, right?
Psalm 37, seven, be still in the presence of
the Lord. Wait patiently for him to act. Don't
worry about evil people who prosper or fret about
their wicked schemes. Waiting patiently is when
we experience victory. So I want to challenge
you. Wake up a little earlier. Set your alarm
for earlier. Shut off the iPhone. Don't go to
the computer, the streaming devices. Turn off
the TV two hours before bed. Why? So you can
connect with the master. Isaiah 30. This is what
the sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says.
Only in returning to me and resting in me will
you be saved. Notice, in quietness and confidence
is your strength. But you would have none of
it. See, we find strength when we quiet our lives.
Psalm 46 .10 reminds us, be still and know that
I am God. I'll be honored in every nation. I'll
be honored throughout the world. How do we know
he is God? Well, we know he's God when we slow
down, when we're still. And listen, it's hard
for me to be still. I'll be honest with you.
But hurry is the enemy of connecting to God.
and it's hard for you to be still, then you need
to figure out how to make your prayer time effective.
Because our prayer time is crucial to any good
relationship with God. If you're hurrying on
to the next thing and believe that's prayer,
it's not. You need to figure out how to connect
with God, which leads us to our third step. You
need to then share your heart. So how do we have
an effective prayer life? We surrender, we slow
down, and now we share our heart. It's important
to be honest with God because that's when real
friendship happens. When we are transparent before
our creator, life change happens. And this is
difficult because we actually believe that if
we use this special language that we could communicate
to God more effectively. And that language sounds
something like this. I beseech thee, heavenly
Lord of hosts, my majestic Father. And God's
thinking, who's talking to me? Who is that person?
You don't talk like that in any of your other
relationships. Church, we don't have to speak
in Christianese, okay? We don't have to change
the tone of our voice for God to hear us. How
do I know that? Well, if my kids walk into the
kitchen, they look at me and say, I beseech thee,
Father. I immediately look back at them and think,
what do you want? I know you want something,
and chances are it involves a lot of money. Because
you don't talk that way. You're trying to butter
me up. We have to learn how to communicate with
God in a way where a relationship is built. Church,
take your masks off. He already knows what's
in your heart. He already knows what you're struggling
with. Prayer becomes enjoyable when it becomes
honest. When we get transparent before Jesus,
that is when real connection and intimacy grows.
That is where prayer becomes enjoyable because
we're letting go of that stress and that anxiety.
Psalm 62, 8. Oh, my people, trust in him at all
times. Pour out your heart to him for God is
our refuge. God wants to know what we're dealing
with. And if we're struggling with sin, be honest.
Again, he already knows. Two men, Luke 18, went
to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee. The
other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee
stood by himself and prayed this prayer. I thank
you, God, that I am not like other people, cheaters,
sinners, adulterers. I'm certainly not like that
tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give you
a tenth of my income. But the tax collector stood
at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes
to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his
chest in sorrow, saying, O God, be merciful to
me, for I am a sinner. I tell you, this sinner,
not the church folk, not the Pharisee, returned
home justified before God. So listen, I want
to remind you, if it's on our mind, it belongs
in our prayers. If it's on our mind, it belongs
in our prayers. God wants to know and hear what
you're struggling with. Give it to him. Don't
feel guilty about what sharing is on your mind.
Like if something's on your mind and it's challenging
you, you don't have to worry about praying for
the war in the Middle East. You don't have to
worry about praying for gas prices or our government.
If something is on your mind and it's causing
you stress and anxiety, give it to God. Talk
to God about it. How do I know this? Again, back
to that Phoenix guy. Right? Phoenix is constantly
wanting to interact with me about facts of the
world and what he's learning. His newest craze
that he's focusing on, Dad, what's the biggest
building in the world? Dad, what's the biggest
plane? Which dinosaur is the biggest ever? And
immediately, what do I have to do? I got to Google
it. I got to figure out what it is. I got to
show him pictures. I got to talk about it and
explain to him why it's big, why it's the biggest,
right? And then he's got to argue with me. No,
I know dinosaurs. They're wrong. I know that
Megalodon's bigger than this guy. And I'm just
like, Phoenix, these are professionals. They
know which dinosaur was the biggest. Please listen,
right? And why do I do all that? Because I want
a relationship with Phoenix. I could care less
about the facts, right? I don't care about what
is the biggest, but he does. So I need to engage
for the relationship to what? Thrive. Does that
make sense? When we come before God and we're
struggling, give it to him. Talk to him. Because
he cares. He wants to intervene. He wants your
relationship to grow. So no matter what is going
on in your life, if you will pray about it, God
will work it out. So if you're here today and
you're stressed, pray about it and God will work
it out. If you're here today and you're struggling,
you're overwhelmed, pray about it and God will
move in your life. If you have pain in your body,
pray about it and receive healing. If your finances
are tight, read the Bible, start practicing finances
as you should. Chances are they won't be tight
anymore, and then thank God for it. If your marriage
is not great, pray about it and watch God move.
Humble yourself. If you're worried about your
future, pray about it and let God move in your
life. Don't keep the burden to yourself. Pray
about it. Give it to God. Remember, the God of
the universe, and watch how he will move. Because
when God moves on our behalf, then suddenly other
people are going to take notice. So during your
prayer times, if your mind wanders, don't feel
guilty. Whatever your mind wanders to, pray about
it and give it to God, which leads us to our
final step. Seek out an assignment. And this
is huge for our relationship with Jesus. Church,
listen to this truth. God has an assignment for
your life. Every single day. Not just this call
for the rest of your life. Every single day.
And every day that we surrender, that we slow
down, that we're honest before him, then we can
hear the assignment that he has for us. Because
God has a plan for us to walk in every single
day. And that is why prayer is so important.
See, prayer isn't just a connection with the
creator. It's a commissioning. It's a challenge
to go and do. It's hearing God's agenda for our
life that day so we can move forward and make
a difference in the lives of others. God has
an assignment for you to walk in every single
day. There's people in your sphere of influence
that need impacted. There are ministries that
need to be started. There are lives that need
to be changed. Luke chapter 10 verse 2. These
were his instructions to them. The harvest is
great. but the workers are few. So notice what
he told them to do. Pray to the Lord who is in
charge of the harvest. Ask him more prayer to
send more workers into his fields. See, when
we seek God's assignment for our lives, then
suddenly we're living on mission and we're allowing
our prayer time to become a commissioning. So
I want to challenge you. Three questions that
you can ask during your prayer time. The first
is this. What is God asking me to change? Hey,
God, what do you want me to change today? Because
I believe he will reveal it to you, right? He
will show you areas of your life that need changed.
Number two, who is God leading me to pray for?
This is something I do effectively every single
day. I'm not bragging about it. I just open my
ears and say, God, give me names. And there's
chances there's people sitting in these seats
today that have received a text from me or a
call from me randomly during a week, and then
suddenly I get this response back. You have no
idea how perfect timing that was. And I just
respond back, yes, I do. God told me. It's not
perfect timing. Does everyone hear? It's not
perfect timing. It's God telling me to reach
out to you and connect to you right then. And
then suddenly, God is impacting and changing
lives. And you can do the same. Imagine if every
single person in these seats today opened their
ears to hear from God to reach out to people
that need help. The tri -state area would be
turned upside down and transformed. Unplug your
ears, silence the distractions, and get close
to God. And the last question is, What step of
faith is God asking me to take? Who do you want
me to serve today, God? Who do you want me to
forgive today? See, it's all about making yourself
available to God. It's my prayer that every single
one of us is praying Isaiah 6, 8, which is our
year life verse that our entire church is walking
out. Then I heard the Lord asking, whom should
I send as a messenger to people? Who will go
for us? I said, here I am, God. Send me. See,
this should be our response in our times of prayer.
Not once a year. At the beginning of the year.
Every single day. Here I am, God. Send me. Hudson
Taylor says it this way. Don't start your day
with tasks of the world. Begin with God and you
will receive your task from him. Why do we pray?
Why do we connect? So that we can be empowered
by God to make a difference in the lives of others.
Church, I want to look at you and remind you.
Prayer works. Prioritize and make that an important
part of your life. Not just today, but tomorrow
and every day this coming week. Amen? Will you
stand with me? So as I was praying how to close
this gathering, I have several words of knowledge
I want to share with you because I feel like
God wants to heal some of your physical bodies
that you've brought into this room. I felt like
as I was identifying this door and these distractions
that we need to close the door on, all of us
have them. Could be your job. Could be your hobby.
Could be your school. Could be your relationships.
maybe they need changed. Because if those distractions
are keeping you from praying and connecting with
God in a real way, then you need to lay them
down and give them back to him. Amen? So I'm
going to pray for the Holy Spirit to come real
simple. And I'm going to ask him to reveal your
distraction. One distraction. Because some of
you have like six. But you're not going to overcome
six distractions if you don't overcome one. And
I want him to highlight one that's pulling you
away from God. and not allowing you to effectively
pray. And then I'm going to walk you through
a simple prayer where you lay it down, give it
back to him, and believe you can be free. Amen?
All right, so Holy Spirit, come. Speak to us,
God. Silence distractions in Jesus' name. Open
our ears, our minds, and more importantly, our
hearts to receive your truth. What is it, God,
that's distracting your people? Reveal that truth
to us today. You may see a picture. You may feel
a nudge in your spirit. You may have something
going through your mind that God is highlighting
that's pulling you away. Could hear a name. Whatever
it is, whatever God highlighted, you just pray
this simple prayer. I choose as an act of my
will to lay it down and give it back to the master.
In Jesus' name. Now, when you lay it down, here's
my challenge to you. Let it be there. Don't go
back to it tomorrow. Don't allow it to distract
you and pull you away from an effective prayer
time. Let it there. In other words, what? Close
the door. Don't open it back up. Close the door
and let it there. And before I share the words
of knowledge, if you are here today, whether
it's your first time, your 100th time, and you're
sensing the Holy Spirit whispering in your ear
that you aren't in a relationship with God, you
don't know him as Jesus, your master. You're
not following him. We pray a simple prayer every
single gathering here at HCV, and we all pray
it together because we want to welcome you home.
We're not going to point you out. We're not going
to ask you to raise your hand. We will all pray
with you because we believe. God wants you in
his family. Amen? Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken.
I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin. Change
me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's son. I
believe you died for me. I believe you're alive
today. Make me new. Set me free. Fill me with
your spirit. Help me, God. To serve others. In
Jesus' name. Amen. So if you prayed that prayer,
see me, text me, hug me, tell Rudy, tell the
Welcome Hub. I want to reach out to you. Now
don't run out of here. Come on now, you guys
could be missing a miracle. Don't let him leave,
Frank. There's several words of knowledge and
chances are if you left, it's for you. You have
pain in the lower part of your stomach. You have
left knee pain. It makes it hard to walk. You
are struggling with migraines. You have nerve
issues. It's making it hard to see behind your
eyes. You have a knot of pain in your right calf
muscle that's not allowing you to walk. Cut off
my lifetime I was stuck up in that grind Not
knowing you gave your life for mine You're the
one turning water into wine Please fix my heart
and the things inside