WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:10.179 Elation Church. This is week number seven in 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:14.019 our series that we've entitled, Powerful Prayer. 00:00:15.539 --> 00:00:19.179 Powerful Prayer. Now, if you've been to previous 00:00:19.179 --> 00:00:23.179 messages, have you learned anything? Has anything 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:27.440 been revealed to you through this series? Well, 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:29.559 if we say that there's a powerful prayer, then 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:33.140 that lets us know that there might be prayers 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:38.020 that aren't too powerful, right? Jesus talked 00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:40.640 about that. I mean, Jesus often, the Bible says, 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:45.060 he often went off by himself to talk with the 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:49.500 Father. And then his disciples one time, because 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:56.219 they noticed how powerful Jesus was as far as, 00:00:56.619 --> 00:00:59.659 being used by the Spirit of God and led and empowered 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:02.380 by the Spirit of God. And they said, you know 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:04.219 what? This might have something to do with his 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:06.680 prayer life. He says, prayer is so important. 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:12.980 So they asked him, they said, teach us how to 00:01:12.980 --> 00:01:19.120 pray. Teach us how to pray. So Jesus started 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:22.680 out by telling them how not to pray. This is 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:27.700 what we call not powerful prayer. Matthew 6, 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:31.319 starting in verse 7. Jesus said, when you pray, 00:01:31.540 --> 00:01:36.540 don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:39.959 think their prayers are answered merely by repeating 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:45.879 their words again and again. So, look at the 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:47.280 person beside you and tell them, don't babble 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:52.319 on. Don't just be memorizing some religious phrases 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:57.200 and spouting them off. Because powerful prayer 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:03.659 is not mindless, meaningless repetition. It's 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:06.019 okay to teach your children or your grandchildren 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:12.080 how to pray and maybe memorize in a prayer. But 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:17.639 if, you know, if you're even a teenager and before 00:02:17.639 --> 00:02:20.840 you go to bed, you say, now lay me down to sleep. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.259 You might as well be saying, twinkle, twinkle, 00:02:24.259 --> 00:02:28.840 little star. Okay? Because it's not about mindless, 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:32.620 meaningless repetition. And I'm going to go ahead 00:02:32.620 --> 00:02:34.539 and throw this out there. Even the Lord's Prayer 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:39.360 can be mindless, meaningless repetition if all 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:44.120 we're doing is spouting it off, not considering 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:46.180 the words that we're praying. It's a powerful 00:02:46.180 --> 00:02:48.280 prayer. It's an example of a powerful prayer. 00:02:49.539 --> 00:02:54.259 But for us to just rip it off, it's not a powerful 00:02:54.259 --> 00:02:59.229 prayer. Okay? So, a powerful prayer is not mindless, 00:02:59.289 --> 00:03:02.569 meaningless repetition. If you find yourself, 00:03:02.669 --> 00:03:04.650 when you're praying, saying the same phrases 00:03:04.650 --> 00:03:08.349 over and over again, shake yourself. Shake yourself. 00:03:09.629 --> 00:03:13.449 Because you're communicating with God. You're 00:03:13.449 --> 00:03:15.689 not doing a religious exercise. You're communicating 00:03:15.689 --> 00:03:20.169 with the living God. What else did Jesus say? 00:03:20.229 --> 00:03:23.169 He said, don't be like them. For your Father 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:26.210 knows exactly what you need, even before you 00:03:26.210 --> 00:03:33.569 ask Him. So, powerful prayer is not begging God 00:03:33.569 --> 00:03:38.409 to do what you want Him to do. I can't tell you 00:03:38.409 --> 00:03:40.449 how many years that was what my prayer life was. 00:03:40.590 --> 00:03:44.430 I mean, I had a list of what I wanted God to 00:03:44.430 --> 00:03:48.490 do for me, and I have a list of some people that 00:03:48.490 --> 00:03:51.620 asked me to pray for them. So I've got a list 00:03:51.620 --> 00:03:55.460 to ask God to do for them. I've got a list to 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:59.039 ask God to do for me. And my prayer was just 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:03.259 begging God. God, give me this, give me that, 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:08.080 give me this, give me that. I want this. And 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:12.460 God, you know, my friends need this, so give 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:18.879 them this and give them that. That's all, folks. 00:04:19.579 --> 00:04:23.060 Or amen, whichever. Because sometimes we use 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:25.839 the word amen to mean that's all God, that's 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:29.839 all I got. Amen, I'm done. Even though amen actually 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:35.199 means, you know, I agree. I mean what I just 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:38.339 prayed and I agreed with it. And if you're praying 00:04:38.339 --> 00:04:41.000 with somebody else and you say amen, you're agreeing 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:46.519 with them. Okay? So powerful prayer is not begging 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:51.009 God to do what you want him to do. It's not what 00:04:51.009 --> 00:04:55.449 it is. Powerful prayer is not talking at God. 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:01.870 We're all guilty at times. It's not talking at 00:05:01.870 --> 00:05:05.629 God, it's talking with God. It's communicating 00:05:05.629 --> 00:05:15.829 with God. Because He wants to speak to you. And 00:05:15.829 --> 00:05:21.350 if we will consult Him, You know, he knows everything 00:05:21.350 --> 00:05:27.410 about everything. We're limited. He knows everything. 00:05:27.949 --> 00:05:29.649 And you might say, well, he knows everything 00:05:29.649 --> 00:05:39.449 spiritual. He created this place. Okay. This 00:05:39.449 --> 00:05:41.189 is just a recap, so I need to quit preaching. 00:05:41.410 --> 00:05:43.649 Here we go. Jesus said, pray like this. What 00:05:43.649 --> 00:05:45.930 does that mean? It means that the prayer that 00:05:45.930 --> 00:05:47.889 he's about to give us is a pattern, a guide, 00:05:47.990 --> 00:05:51.139 or model. He did not say pray this. He said pray 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:55.720 like this. Okay? So he gave us a model of powerful 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:58.839 prayer. Then he started out. Our Father in heaven, 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:05.860 may your name be kept holy. Hallowed be thy name. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:10.800 However you memorize it. Well, we need to keep 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.079 God's name holy. His name needs to be special 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:20.810 to us. Right? Set apart, special to us. He's 00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:25.529 our father. He's the one who gave us life. I 00:06:25.529 --> 00:06:28.209 mean, physical life, spiritual life, abundant 00:06:28.209 --> 00:06:34.290 life. It all comes from him. So we acknowledge 00:06:34.290 --> 00:06:38.470 him. And his name, may his name be kept holy. 00:06:39.689 --> 00:06:42.910 God, your name is special to me. We just finished, 00:06:43.029 --> 00:06:46.360 wrapped up a whole series. on who God is and 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:48.959 what His names are that He has given us. His 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:52.759 names let us know His identity. His names let 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:56.100 us know the relationship that He wants to be 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:59.600 in with us. His names let us know His activity 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:05.699 in the earth, what He does. So I'll share this 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:08.819 example again. I know we've got some people who've 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:10.680 heard this multiple times, but we've got people 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:12.759 who haven't heard it at all. Here's the difference 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:15.920 between a begging prayer and a powerful prayer. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:19.980 Does anybody need some peace every once in a 00:07:19.980 --> 00:07:25.220 while? This is a beggar's prayer for peace. Oh, 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:30.740 God. I'm just in such turmoil. I just don't know. 00:07:30.779 --> 00:07:33.180 I'm just twisted up and wrapped up. God, please. 00:07:33.939 --> 00:07:36.620 God, please give me some peace. God, I need some 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:39.620 peace really bad. Please, God. Please, God, I 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:44.110 need peace. I got to have some help. It's a beggar's 00:07:44.110 --> 00:07:51.089 prayer. Beggar's prayer. I didn't mean to step 00:07:51.089 --> 00:07:54.949 on your toes. I meant to shoot a dart into your 00:07:54.949 --> 00:07:58.730 heart. That's a beggar's prayer. Here's what 00:07:58.730 --> 00:08:02.949 a powerful prayer looks like. Oh God, you're 00:08:02.949 --> 00:08:07.329 the one who gives me life. You are my life giver. 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:12.360 You are the one who pours out blessing over me 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:15.939 and over my life. God, you have given me eternal 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:22.759 life and I can know you. And God, you offer me 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:26.779 abundant life. Jesus, you came to give us life 00:08:26.779 --> 00:08:28.579 and that we would have it more abundantly. Life 00:08:28.579 --> 00:08:33.840 to the full. And God, the preacher told me that 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:37.259 one of the big indicators of abundant life is 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:42.549 that I can have peace. No matter what I'm facing. 00:08:43.429 --> 00:08:47.629 You told us in your word that your peace surpasses 00:08:47.629 --> 00:08:50.490 understanding. And it'll guard our hearts and 00:08:50.490 --> 00:08:54.350 our minds. Hey, God, your name is so special 00:08:54.350 --> 00:09:01.629 to me. You are Yahweh Shalom. God, your name 00:09:01.629 --> 00:09:07.549 is peace. Your name is peace. And I worship you 00:09:07.549 --> 00:09:10.549 because since your name is peace, I know that 00:09:10.549 --> 00:09:14.509 all the peace I need is found in you. And I acknowledge 00:09:14.509 --> 00:09:18.269 you and I receive you. I receive who you are. 00:09:20.649 --> 00:09:24.850 That's a powerful prayer. That's a powerful prayer. 00:09:26.029 --> 00:09:28.629 Just praying like that, all of a sudden you will 00:09:28.629 --> 00:09:32.909 feel the peace of God rising up on the inside 00:09:32.909 --> 00:09:39.309 of you. You can experience it. All right, let's 00:09:39.309 --> 00:09:42.450 keep going. I'm not supposed to re -preach all 00:09:42.450 --> 00:09:45.590 this. Powerful prayer begins with God's name 00:09:45.590 --> 00:09:48.889 being special to you, his identity, the relationship 00:09:48.889 --> 00:09:52.070 he wants to be in with you, his activity. Then 00:09:52.070 --> 00:09:55.509 he said, may your kingdom come soon. May your 00:09:55.509 --> 00:09:58.929 will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How 00:09:58.929 --> 00:10:01.070 many of you can look around in this earth and 00:10:01.070 --> 00:10:04.409 the things going on and you can say, Well, if 00:10:04.409 --> 00:10:08.169 God's will is being done, something's messed 00:10:08.169 --> 00:10:14.710 up. Anybody? I mean, if you look at the world 00:10:14.710 --> 00:10:16.950 around you and you say, boy, heaven's going to 00:10:16.950 --> 00:10:24.570 be just like this, then I need to smack you on 00:10:24.570 --> 00:10:32.000 the back of the head. Right? If God's will was 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.879 always being done in the earth, why would he 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:37.480 say, God, your kingdom come, your will be done 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:42.279 on earth as it is in heaven. God's will is perfect 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:46.659 in heaven. But down here, sin has messed it up. 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:51.840 So here's what we're doing. Jesus is saying, 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:59.389 pray like this. God, I know. There are awesome 00:10:59.389 --> 00:11:06.889 realities in heaven. And God, I'm reaching out 00:11:06.889 --> 00:11:10.690 to you because I want your kingdom to come. Your 00:11:10.690 --> 00:11:14.049 will be done in the situation that I'm facing 00:11:14.049 --> 00:11:17.669 today and in my life. I'm looking for your will 00:11:17.669 --> 00:11:21.710 to be done. Calling down those heavenly realities 00:11:21.710 --> 00:11:26.970 into our temporal existence. That's a powerful 00:11:26.970 --> 00:11:32.559 prayer. Powerful prayer is declaring heavenly 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:35.039 realities into our temporal, physical realm. 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:41.220 Next one, give us today the food we need. Now, 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:43.179 we're not begging. Remember, we're not beggars. 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:47.259 We're children of God. If we're in Christ, we... 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:50.279 I want to tell you something. I don't know if 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:54.220 you grew up in a decent family or not, but I 00:11:54.220 --> 00:11:56.720 never begged my mom and dad for the next meal. 00:11:58.509 --> 00:12:04.309 Now, if you had to, I'm sorry. Okay? Because 00:12:04.309 --> 00:12:08.149 I know some people have grown up begging God, 00:12:08.250 --> 00:12:13.090 begging their parents to eat, you know? But that 00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:18.470 shouldn't be. A loving parent. Hey, listen to 00:12:18.470 --> 00:12:23.649 this. God is Yahweh Ra. He's a good shepherd. 00:12:25.809 --> 00:12:30.500 He's my good shepherd. So we can talk to him, 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:36.159 declaring who he is. He's El Shaddai. He's more 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:39.460 than enough to meet every need you have. More 00:12:39.460 --> 00:12:44.500 than enough. Just like the outlet. We've got 00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:47.220 a plug in it right now, but it has more power 00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:55.320 than we're drawing. More than enough. So we approach 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:59.179 God. As our source, like we talked about earlier, 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:04.500 and we say, God, you're my source. You've already 00:13:04.500 --> 00:13:09.360 promised to take care of me. You're my good shepherd. 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:16.860 Right? You're Yahweh Jireh, which means you will 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:20.980 see to it. You're going to see to it. You know? 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:24.419 I know you guys are about to move, right? There's 00:13:24.419 --> 00:13:27.929 some unknown stuff going on. But you look to 00:13:27.929 --> 00:13:34.350 God as you always are. You trust Him. God, I 00:13:34.350 --> 00:13:37.750 know that you're going to see to it. And you 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:39.190 already kind of shared that with me outside, 00:13:39.309 --> 00:13:40.809 but I'm just giving an example for everybody. 00:13:41.370 --> 00:13:44.149 You know that God's going to see to it, right? 00:13:46.590 --> 00:13:51.149 Here we go. Powerful prayer is based on, get 00:13:51.149 --> 00:13:55.090 this, appropriating. who we are and what we have 00:13:55.090 --> 00:14:00.409 in Christ. Best example we could come up with 00:14:00.409 --> 00:14:02.929 was a debit card. You got a debit card. You got 00:14:02.929 --> 00:14:04.769 a bank account. You've never seen the money. 00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:07.289 It's just been direct deposited. But you believe 00:14:07.289 --> 00:14:10.370 that it's in there enough to when you go out 00:14:10.370 --> 00:14:13.009 to eat, you pull out your debit card to pay for 00:14:13.009 --> 00:14:15.409 it. And all of a sudden you touch it on this 00:14:15.409 --> 00:14:18.649 little thing and money that you've never seen 00:14:18.649 --> 00:14:23.440 all of a sudden comes out of somewhere. And comes 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:27.879 into that little machine at the restaurant. So 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:31.159 your resources are provided for, but they're 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:34.200 yours and you're just making a demand on them. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:38.820 You're appropriating them. Right? Even though 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:40.700 you can't see it, you don't understand how it 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:43.960 works. Maybe you do, but let's just pretend that 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:50.919 we don't. It's just like that. God is more than 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:54.669 enough. For everything you face. And we're not 00:14:54.669 --> 00:14:56.490 just talking about material things. When I start 00:14:56.490 --> 00:14:58.289 talking about a debit card, you start thinking 00:14:58.289 --> 00:15:02.009 just material. God's more than enough for every 00:15:02.009 --> 00:15:06.990 need you face. He's already. Here's the deal. 00:15:07.929 --> 00:15:10.870 The Bible is filled with promise after promise 00:15:10.870 --> 00:15:15.350 after promise. And I can almost guarantee you 00:15:15.350 --> 00:15:17.629 that he's already given you a promise for what 00:15:17.629 --> 00:15:20.840 you're facing. And because he's already promised 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:23.360 it, it's already yours if you're in Christ and 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:29.220 all you have to do is connect to it. That's powerful 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:40.120 prayer. And forgive us our sins as we have forgiven 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:43.759 those who sin against us. There's one thing that 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:47.159 will shut down a powerful prayer. And that's 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:50.879 bitterness. and unforgiveness. Shut it down. 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.320 Even if you get all, everything we've said so 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:58.179 far that Jesus told us, and you communicate with 00:15:58.179 --> 00:16:00.620 him that way, if there's bitterness and unforgiveness 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:07.600 in your heart, turns off powerful prayer. Notice, 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:10.360 see, some people think, well, since Jesus said 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:12.299 this, and I'm supposed to beg him to forgive 00:16:12.299 --> 00:16:16.379 me every time I pray, and you know, I think the 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:21.019 key word here is as. Everybody say as. When we 00:16:21.019 --> 00:16:27.440 talk to God and say, God, today I want you to 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.620 forgive me just like I have forgiven everybody 00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:44.549 else that's done me wrong. Hello? Does that not 00:16:44.549 --> 00:16:47.850 wake up? I mean, to consider that that's what 00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:49.950 you're saying to God, God, I want you to forgive 00:16:49.950 --> 00:16:58.330 me just like I forgive. What that does is that 00:16:58.330 --> 00:17:02.370 like wakes us up. We need to forgive, right? 00:17:03.590 --> 00:17:06.509 Because unforgiveness and bitterness will shut 00:17:06.509 --> 00:17:09.769 your prayer life down. It's probably what the 00:17:09.769 --> 00:17:12.369 next slide says. Unforgiveness disconnects our 00:17:12.369 --> 00:17:16.920 prayers. From the power of effectiveness. Verse 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:21.900 13. Don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue 00:17:21.900 --> 00:17:28.319 us from the evil one. And our message on that 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:35.579 is this. God is not the tempter. Let no man say 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:38.240 that he's tempted by God. That's what the Bible 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:41.500 says. God does not tempt people to sin. Never 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:47.829 has, never will. Okay? So powerful prayer proclaims 00:17:47.829 --> 00:17:53.170 our victory over temptation. If you've been in 00:17:53.170 --> 00:17:56.869 a Romans Bible study, you know that the Bible 00:17:56.869 --> 00:18:00.670 says we're dead to sin and alive to Christ. We're 00:18:00.670 --> 00:18:05.829 no longer a slave to sin. Jesus, you know, defeated. 00:18:05.970 --> 00:18:13.039 I mean, the victory is in Him, right? So we agree 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:16.339 with God that we're dead to sin and alive to 00:18:16.339 --> 00:18:22.079 Him. More than conquerors. We proclaim our victory 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:25.039 over temptation, our deliverance from evil through 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:31.460 Christ. See, all this is yours in Christ. Everything 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:33.440 we're talking about is already yours in Christ. 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:36.519 Whether you have been appropriating it or not, 00:18:36.619 --> 00:18:41.569 it's yours. So since powerful prayer is declaring 00:18:41.569 --> 00:18:44.410 the realities of heaven and appropriating what 00:18:44.410 --> 00:18:47.309 is ours in Christ, how important is it that we 00:18:47.309 --> 00:18:53.109 know what some heavenly realities are? Is that 00:18:53.109 --> 00:18:54.589 important? Does anybody think that's important? 00:18:54.809 --> 00:18:56.430 I got like two people looking at me like that. 00:18:56.769 --> 00:19:00.109 That's pretty important. If powerful prayer is 00:19:00.109 --> 00:19:01.950 declaring them, I need to know what some of them 00:19:01.950 --> 00:19:07.380 are. How important is it for us to know? who 00:19:07.380 --> 00:19:09.519 we are and what we have in Christ. How important 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:13.099 is that? If we're going to appropriate those 00:19:13.099 --> 00:19:16.980 things, what Christ has already paid and purchased 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:19.539 for us and he's given us, don't we need to know 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:23.339 it? I mean, I printed a little card and handed 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:28.039 it out, right? We went through all of Paul's 00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:30.640 letters and we looked at what we have in Christ 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:32.660 and who we are in Christ. Does anybody still 00:19:32.660 --> 00:19:34.460 have that? Maybe we need to print up some more. 00:19:36.140 --> 00:19:38.380 But it's more than just having a piece of paper. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:47.160 Here's the deal. It's more than just hearing 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:49.720 the information and having head knowledge. It's 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:55.720 bigger than that. Bigger than that. The big difference 00:19:55.720 --> 00:20:01.660 is revelation. Everybody say revelation. The 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:04.380 big difference is to become established. Everybody 00:20:04.380 --> 00:20:08.240 say established. Because I can tell you that 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:14.700 Jesus left you his peace and all the peace you 00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:17.759 ever need is available to you. I can tell you 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:22.200 all that. You can know the information. But until 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:28.940 it becomes a revelation, hey, it's raining, everybody. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:36.039 I can see everybody. It's raining. Listen, it's 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:42.319 more than simply knowing the information. Here's 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:44.740 the deal. In order for anyone in this room to 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:49.440 have revelation from God, you're going to have 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.740 to be serious about seeking God. It's not just 00:20:52.740 --> 00:20:59.660 going to fall in your lap. It's not just falling 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:04.539 in your lap. We seek a lot of stuff, don't we? 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:09.599 Come on, let's be honest. We seek a lot of stuff. 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:14.519 We need to make sure we're seeking God more than 00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:16.660 we're seeking a lot of the stuff we're seeking. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:23.740 If we want some revelation, we've got to seek 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:26.839 Him while He may be found. And I'm here today 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:31.079 to tell you that He can be found. He wants to 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:34.849 be found. Just like a parent playing hide -and 00:21:34.849 --> 00:21:37.130 -go -seek with a child, you don't hide in some 00:21:37.130 --> 00:21:39.170 place that you know that they will never find 00:21:39.170 --> 00:21:44.190 you. Kid runs around for hours looking for you. 00:21:46.289 --> 00:21:51.769 Right? You want to be found. You want to... Well, 00:21:51.789 --> 00:21:53.309 sometimes you don't want to be found if you're 00:21:53.309 --> 00:21:55.809 trying to get away from your kid, but I'm talking 00:21:55.809 --> 00:21:58.329 about if you're in a game of hide -and -seek. 00:22:00.910 --> 00:22:08.430 Right? God wants to be found by you. He's not 00:22:08.430 --> 00:22:10.549 just going to dump this revelation in your lap 00:22:10.549 --> 00:22:15.109 without you seeking it. He calls you to come. 00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:20.289 It's more than just knowing the information that's 00:22:20.289 --> 00:22:23.410 being established in it. It's like you got to 00:22:23.410 --> 00:22:28.789 know it. You got to know it. With a confident 00:22:28.789 --> 00:22:31.630 expectation. That's the word hope in the New 00:22:31.630 --> 00:22:35.910 Testament. It's translated confident. Expectation. 00:22:35.910 --> 00:22:38.769 And then you can anticipate with pleasure because 00:22:38.769 --> 00:22:41.670 you know God and you know He's good and you know... 00:22:41.670 --> 00:22:50.230 Hello? All right. That's all recap. Look to the 00:22:50.230 --> 00:22:51.849 person beside you and tell them, listen fast. 00:22:52.029 --> 00:22:58.069 Listen fast. Last week, we looked at what I call 00:22:58.069 --> 00:23:02.309 the Ephesians 1 prayer that Paul prayed. For 00:23:02.309 --> 00:23:05.769 the believers in Ephesus. And we looked at that 00:23:05.769 --> 00:23:10.650 and compared it to, you know, the Lord's Prayer, 00:23:10.829 --> 00:23:13.309 and we saw that that was a very powerful prayer. 00:23:15.309 --> 00:23:20.269 Has anyone prayed it this week? I was hoping 00:23:20.269 --> 00:23:25.029 to see at least one hand. Okay. I think I saw 00:23:25.029 --> 00:23:32.730 two. See? I'm going to be the pastor in a minute. 00:23:34.410 --> 00:23:37.450 If you don't apply it, it's not going to work 00:23:37.450 --> 00:23:46.049 in your life. And here's the deal. I want it 00:23:46.049 --> 00:23:51.609 to work in your life. God wants it to work in 00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:56.769 your life. Because that's the way we're going 00:23:56.769 --> 00:23:59.230 to change four corners and change the world is 00:23:59.230 --> 00:24:12.390 when It becomes real. And we apply. Right? Okay. 00:24:13.609 --> 00:24:17.829 Take that hat off. Today we're going to look 00:24:17.829 --> 00:24:20.569 at what I call the Ephesians 3 prayer. Another 00:24:20.569 --> 00:24:24.869 powerful prayer that lets us know some things 00:24:24.869 --> 00:24:30.609 that are already ours in Christ. And God wants 00:24:30.609 --> 00:24:33.289 us to take hold of them. Ephesians 1 prayer was 00:24:33.289 --> 00:24:37.829 praying for wisdom and revelation from God. That 00:24:37.829 --> 00:24:40.069 he would show us these things in a way that we 00:24:40.069 --> 00:24:43.210 could take hold of them. So we put that prayer 00:24:43.210 --> 00:24:45.670 into our own words and handed it out to everybody 00:24:45.670 --> 00:24:49.950 last week. I've got this prayer printed out with 00:24:49.950 --> 00:24:54.150 my, I call it the DFV version, Dean Forrest version 00:24:54.150 --> 00:24:56.950 at the bottom. Because I just put it from... 00:24:57.309 --> 00:24:59.829 I changed it from Paul praying for the believers 00:24:59.829 --> 00:25:04.269 in Ephesus to Dean praying this powerful prayer 00:25:04.269 --> 00:25:07.630 to God. And you've got to remember, it's more 00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:12.190 than just reading the paper. Because even this 00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:15.289 can become mindless, meaningless repetition. 00:25:19.069 --> 00:25:22.029 Here we go. Ephesians 3, verses 14 through 21. 00:25:22.190 --> 00:25:26.400 When I think of all this. I fall to my knees 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:31.740 and pray to the Father, the creator of everything 00:25:31.740 --> 00:25:35.680 in heaven and on earth. Can you see that that's 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:39.059 following that Lord's Prayer model? Can you see 00:25:39.059 --> 00:25:45.039 it? He's acknowledging God as creator. He is 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:51.279 so overwhelmed by the goodness of God that he 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:55.390 falls to his knees. Because he's just overwhelmed. 00:25:58.109 --> 00:26:04.009 He's in awe of God. He's in prison, but he's 00:26:04.009 --> 00:26:07.549 in awe of God. Things around him aren't going 00:26:07.549 --> 00:26:11.049 perfectly. We could say that he's having a bad 00:26:11.049 --> 00:26:16.130 day if he's in prison, right? But that doesn't 00:26:16.130 --> 00:26:20.329 matter. He's in awe of the goodness of God right 00:26:20.329 --> 00:26:28.940 in the middle of the prison. Paul kneels because 00:26:28.940 --> 00:26:33.700 he's overwhelmed by the greatness of what God 00:26:33.700 --> 00:26:39.680 has done and by the awesomeness of what God wants 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:47.099 to do in his people. He's just overwhelmed. When 00:26:47.099 --> 00:26:49.240 was the last time you were overwhelmed by God? 00:26:49.500 --> 00:26:51.619 When was the last time you were in awe of God? 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:58.650 You're just so overwhelmed of his goodness. That 00:26:58.650 --> 00:27:01.549 is chasing after you every day. You might need 00:27:01.549 --> 00:27:03.230 to slow down and let it catch you every once 00:27:03.230 --> 00:27:12.829 in a while. Get this. I pray that from God's 00:27:12.829 --> 00:27:20.529 glorious, unlimited resources. From that, that 00:27:20.529 --> 00:27:26.589 he will empower you with inner strength through 00:27:26.589 --> 00:27:34.569 his spirit. Y 'all are just looking at me like 00:27:34.569 --> 00:27:43.250 a calf looking at a new gate. Look. Paul knew 00:27:43.250 --> 00:27:52.349 that God has glorious, unlimited resources. And 00:27:52.349 --> 00:27:55.670 out of those glorious, unlimited resources, God 00:27:55.670 --> 00:28:04.299 wants to empower his people. With inner strength. 00:28:09.539 --> 00:28:13.519 If you're in Christ, the Spirit of God has taken 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:18.539 up residence on the inside of you. God is on 00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:23.339 the inside. And through God's glorious unlimited 00:28:23.339 --> 00:28:26.700 resources, He wants to empower you with inner 00:28:26.700 --> 00:28:31.039 strength. Now we know what outer strength is, 00:28:31.099 --> 00:28:39.089 but what's inner strength? Well, God's resources 00:28:39.089 --> 00:28:43.710 are glorious and unlimited. Look at the person 00:28:43.710 --> 00:28:48.730 beside you and tell them God is limitless. What 00:28:48.730 --> 00:28:50.410 are we learning from this? We can't live for 00:28:50.410 --> 00:28:53.210 God in our own strength. You can't do it on your 00:28:53.210 --> 00:28:58.450 own. You can't do it out of your soul, out of 00:28:58.450 --> 00:29:02.430 your thought life, right? Out of your desires. 00:29:04.990 --> 00:29:10.319 You can't live for God. That way. If you try 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:14.400 to live for God that way, you'll be very frustrated 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:23.519 in your Christianity, in your life. What we need 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:28.579 is some inner strength. It only comes through 00:29:28.579 --> 00:29:36.180 the Holy Spirit. Inner strength. To empower. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.940 means to infuse strength. I want you to think 00:29:40.940 --> 00:29:43.799 of filling an empty container or let's even put 00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:47.380 it this way. Think of a sponge. I meant to bring 00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:49.880 my sponge today. It's been a long time since 00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:54.680 I used it as an illustration. But God wants to 00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:59.059 fill us. Like if I had a bowl of water and a 00:29:59.059 --> 00:30:01.819 sponge and I squeezed the sponge and put it in 00:30:01.819 --> 00:30:06.089 the water and let it soak up. If I lift that 00:30:06.089 --> 00:30:08.109 sponge out of the water, what's going to happen? 00:30:10.150 --> 00:30:14.470 It's going to drip. It's going to flow. It's 00:30:14.470 --> 00:30:16.769 going to drip all over the place. I will not 00:30:16.769 --> 00:30:23.049 be able to stop it because it's filled. It's 00:30:23.049 --> 00:30:28.809 completely filled. And God wants us to be empowered 00:30:28.809 --> 00:30:35.970 by him in the same way. That's why Jesus said, 00:30:36.049 --> 00:30:43.809 there's going to be a river of living water flowing 00:30:43.809 --> 00:30:49.329 out of you. I've heard people preach on that, 00:30:49.369 --> 00:30:51.910 and it was like, it's just going to be awesome. 00:30:52.990 --> 00:30:58.869 But it's not just filling you. It's flowing out 00:30:58.869 --> 00:31:04.970 of you. Now, we can enjoy being filled. But the 00:31:04.970 --> 00:31:08.450 purpose is to flow out of you, to make a difference 00:31:08.450 --> 00:31:12.130 in your family, to make a difference in your 00:31:12.130 --> 00:31:16.589 business, to make a difference at your job, flowing 00:31:16.589 --> 00:31:23.289 out of you. The life and the love, the power 00:31:23.289 --> 00:31:28.349 of God flowing out of us. When your inner man 00:31:28.349 --> 00:31:33.619 is strong, you can face any outer storm. Let 00:31:33.619 --> 00:31:38.599 the winds blow, baby. Right? They're not going 00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:44.680 to take me down. When the inner man is strong, 00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:47.420 you can face any outer storm. When you're filled 00:31:47.420 --> 00:31:52.259 on the inside, what happens on the outside cannot 00:31:52.259 --> 00:31:59.000 break you. Cannot break you. I'm going to be 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:00.940 honest. Sometimes you might feel like it's going 00:32:00.940 --> 00:32:04.579 to break you. You just need more of this power 00:32:04.579 --> 00:32:09.279 that Paul is praying for. And we need to be praying 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:11.640 for the same thing Paul is praying for for the 00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:15.779 believers in Ephesus. This power, this inner 00:32:15.779 --> 00:32:22.839 strength. So we won't be broken. So we can face 00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:26.460 the outer storms of this life in a fallen world. 00:32:27.259 --> 00:32:32.559 Verse 17, then... Christ will make his home in 00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:39.460 your hearts as you trust him. So I believe this 00:32:39.460 --> 00:32:46.240 is more of acknowledging. Acknowledging. And 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:53.599 how do I need to word this? Opening ourselves. 00:32:57.259 --> 00:33:01.309 Acknowledging God and opening ourselves. For 00:33:01.309 --> 00:33:05.950 Christ to make his home in us. He wants to abide 00:33:05.950 --> 00:33:12.710 in us. A lot of people come here to visit. But 00:33:12.710 --> 00:33:15.849 some people abide. There's a difference between 00:33:15.849 --> 00:33:21.049 visiting and abiding. You know. There's a difference 00:33:21.049 --> 00:33:23.789 between visiting God if you come to a Lathian 00:33:23.789 --> 00:33:27.109 church for at least an hour and 45 minutes. There's 00:33:27.109 --> 00:33:30.079 a difference. between visiting God for an hour 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:40.980 and 45 minutes or Him dwelling in you. Make His 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:43.720 home. There's a Greek word. I'm not going to 00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:46.599 try to pronounce it. It means to settle down 00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:51.140 and be at home. You've probably heard of this 00:33:51.140 --> 00:33:56.910 picture before, but think of your... yourself 00:33:56.910 --> 00:34:04.349 as a house and you know a lot of us when we invite 00:34:04.349 --> 00:34:07.509 Jesus in when we accept him as Lord and Savior 00:34:07.509 --> 00:34:15.110 we let him come to the formal living room part 00:34:15.110 --> 00:34:20.150 of our heart but we sure don't want him in the 00:34:20.150 --> 00:34:29.489 garage we We don't want him in the spare room 00:34:29.489 --> 00:34:34.289 where we throw everything so people don't see 00:34:34.289 --> 00:34:37.590 it. I don't know if you live like I live, but 00:34:37.590 --> 00:34:44.510 we don't have a spare room. But Jeffrey's old 00:34:44.510 --> 00:34:46.329 bedroom, he wouldn't be able to sleep in it if 00:34:46.329 --> 00:34:52.250 he showed up tonight. Even in 280 square feet. 00:34:57.339 --> 00:35:05.360 So, how much of your life are you opening to 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:13.780 God? He wants to have free access to all of you. 00:35:14.260 --> 00:35:16.619 And when you give him free access to all of you, 00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:18.659 your power is going to increase. I mean, you 00:35:18.659 --> 00:35:22.090 know. Trust me, you're going to like it if you 00:35:22.090 --> 00:35:25.690 give him free access. You're going to like it. 00:35:29.889 --> 00:35:34.869 Jesus doesn't want to just be a guest. He wants 00:35:34.869 --> 00:35:40.230 to take residence as Lord over our lives. We 00:35:40.230 --> 00:35:44.489 need to let him make himself at home in our thought 00:35:44.489 --> 00:35:51.190 life, in our emotions. In our priorities. In 00:35:51.190 --> 00:35:57.530 our relationships. We don't need to have Jesus 00:35:57.530 --> 00:36:01.409 compartmentalized into specific areas of our 00:36:01.409 --> 00:36:03.889 lives. He wants to be Lord of every one of your 00:36:03.889 --> 00:36:09.590 boxes. Sometimes when Ganna and I are talking, 00:36:09.690 --> 00:36:11.070 all of a sudden I say, what are you talking about? 00:36:12.110 --> 00:36:13.750 Because we've been talking about one thing and 00:36:13.750 --> 00:36:15.170 then all of a sudden she's pulled out a box. 00:36:15.289 --> 00:36:18.230 I have no idea what she's talking about. So I 00:36:18.230 --> 00:36:20.469 say, okay, honey, what box are we talking about 00:36:20.469 --> 00:36:24.769 now? Part of communication, you know, I'm trying 00:36:24.769 --> 00:36:28.809 to learn. But I always have to clarify what box 00:36:28.809 --> 00:36:30.449 we're talking about because I'm just totally 00:36:30.449 --> 00:36:34.429 confused, right? So it's easy for us to have 00:36:34.429 --> 00:36:37.670 a Sunday box and a Jesus box and then have all 00:36:37.670 --> 00:36:41.969 these other boxes. He's not really part of our 00:36:41.969 --> 00:36:46.920 lives. Let him make himself at home in every 00:36:46.920 --> 00:36:52.079 part. Continuing verse 17. Your roots will grow 00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:58.940 down into God's love and keep you strong. So 00:36:58.940 --> 00:37:01.039 here we have two pictures kind of put together. 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:06.659 Two images. Roots, which represent growth. Everybody 00:37:06.659 --> 00:37:11.360 say growth. And then foundation, which represents 00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:15.880 stability. Everybody say stability. So we're 00:37:15.880 --> 00:37:18.079 about to start talking about love. If you wonder 00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:23.199 why love's popped up here, but love, the love 00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:28.559 of God, agape love, we've talked about that a 00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:35.840 lot. Love is both the soil a believer grows in, 00:37:35.940 --> 00:37:39.719 and love is also the foundation that we build 00:37:39.719 --> 00:37:43.460 on. Look to the person beside you and remind 00:37:43.460 --> 00:37:46.989 them God is love. God does a lot of things, but 00:37:46.989 --> 00:37:49.090 we wouldn't even know what love is without God 00:37:49.090 --> 00:37:56.070 because God is love. When your roots grow deep 00:37:56.070 --> 00:38:00.369 in love, in the love of God and the love of people, 00:38:00.469 --> 00:38:06.849 guess what? Storms can't knock you down. You 00:38:06.849 --> 00:38:10.989 know, a tree with roots that go down deep and 00:38:10.989 --> 00:38:14.070 go wide, those are the ones that stand in a storm. 00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:18.340 The ones without a good root structure. Those 00:38:18.340 --> 00:38:22.059 are the ones who blow over very quickly. So as 00:38:22.059 --> 00:38:26.780 followers of Christ, our roots have to grow down 00:38:26.780 --> 00:38:32.199 deep into His love. We find our stability through 00:38:32.199 --> 00:38:36.980 love. Verse 18. May you have the power. Everybody 00:38:36.980 --> 00:38:39.579 say power. May you have the power to understand. 00:38:39.659 --> 00:38:42.699 Everybody say understand. So this is revelation 00:38:42.699 --> 00:38:45.530 again, right? Wisdom and revelation. May you 00:38:45.530 --> 00:38:49.489 have the power to understand as all God's people 00:38:49.489 --> 00:38:56.389 should. Look at the person beside you and tell 00:38:56.389 --> 00:38:59.190 them, you can't understand. And then tell them 00:38:59.190 --> 00:39:01.329 this, you should understand. I mean, that's what 00:39:01.329 --> 00:39:05.869 it says, right? May you have the power to understand 00:39:05.869 --> 00:39:11.949 as all God's people should. How wide? How long? 00:39:12.780 --> 00:39:23.480 How high, how deep his love is. Four dimensions. 00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:27.940 Everybody say wide. Everybody say long. Everybody 00:39:27.940 --> 00:39:30.440 say high. If you hadn't said any one of those, 00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:35.420 everybody say deep. Describe. No, I didn't tell 00:39:35.420 --> 00:39:39.750 you to say that. Those four dimensions describe 00:39:39.750 --> 00:39:44.849 the limitless nature of Christ's love. His love 00:39:44.849 --> 00:39:49.010 is wide enough to reach everyone. You know, sometimes 00:39:49.010 --> 00:39:51.050 I talk to people and what they've gone through 00:39:51.050 --> 00:39:54.489 in life, they just say, I'm out. You know, I've 00:39:54.489 --> 00:39:57.429 gone too far. Has anyone ever talked to somebody 00:39:57.429 --> 00:40:02.329 like this? I've gone too far. Right? But God's 00:40:02.329 --> 00:40:05.289 love is wide enough to reach everyone. No one 00:40:05.289 --> 00:40:08.250 is left out. You're not left out. even the person 00:40:08.250 --> 00:40:10.829 that you might think you've given up on, guess 00:40:10.829 --> 00:40:17.969 what? God hasn't given up on. His love is long 00:40:17.969 --> 00:40:23.190 enough to last forever. Hallelujah. It doesn't 00:40:23.190 --> 00:40:28.269 give up. God's love never gives up. His love 00:40:28.269 --> 00:40:35.570 is high enough to lift us. Everybody, hold out 00:40:35.570 --> 00:40:42.349 your hand. Lift. His love is high enough to lift 00:40:42.349 --> 00:40:46.789 us out of sin and out of shame. There's no condemnation 00:40:46.789 --> 00:40:48.889 for those who are in Christ Jesus, what the Bible 00:40:48.889 --> 00:40:53.969 says. So his love can lift us out of that. For 00:40:53.969 --> 00:40:55.949 so many years of my religious experience, it 00:40:55.949 --> 00:40:57.809 was about sin and shame. I mean, that's what 00:40:57.809 --> 00:41:02.889 I focused on all the time. God doesn't want us 00:41:02.889 --> 00:41:05.869 to focus on that, our ability to perform. He 00:41:05.869 --> 00:41:08.360 does not want us to just focus on that. Because 00:41:08.360 --> 00:41:10.480 if that's all we're focusing on, we're useless 00:41:10.480 --> 00:41:13.360 for the kingdom of God in this world. Because 00:41:13.360 --> 00:41:18.159 it's just about me. Just about me. So his love 00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:22.119 is high enough to lift you out of sin and shame. 00:41:22.460 --> 00:41:28.440 His love is deep enough to reach the lowest valley 00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:34.599 of your life. It's probably all of us at times 00:41:34.599 --> 00:41:36.639 get to the point where we think, hey, we're at 00:41:36.639 --> 00:41:42.079 the bottom. We're at the bottom. We feel hopeless 00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:46.039 and helpless. You might think you're the only 00:41:46.039 --> 00:41:50.219 one that ever gets there. That's the lie of the 00:41:50.219 --> 00:41:53.599 enemy. He wants you to think that you're the 00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:59.000 worst Christian that's ever been. He just wants 00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:04.719 to keep you messed up. God's love is deep enough 00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:10.329 to reach you wherever you are. And he wants to 00:42:10.329 --> 00:42:13.030 not only reach you, but he wants to lift you. 00:42:13.829 --> 00:42:21.210 Right? Verse 19, may you experience the love 00:42:21.210 --> 00:42:26.309 of Christ, though it is too great to understand 00:42:26.309 --> 00:42:33.989 fully. He just prayed for power to understand 00:42:33.989 --> 00:42:38.500 and know it, right? To become established in 00:42:38.500 --> 00:42:43.179 the love of God. But then he says, I don't want 00:42:43.179 --> 00:42:45.019 you to just know it or be established in it. 00:42:45.059 --> 00:42:47.159 I want you to experience the love of Christ. 00:42:49.559 --> 00:42:52.179 I believe God wants all of us to be like John. 00:42:54.599 --> 00:42:58.400 Every single one of us. When you read the gospel 00:42:58.400 --> 00:43:01.519 of John, John never says, hey, I'm John, I'm 00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:05.900 writing this book. Here's what he says. When 00:43:05.900 --> 00:43:09.360 he talks about himself, he says, I'm the one 00:43:09.360 --> 00:43:17.860 that Jesus loves. You know? I'm the one that 00:43:17.860 --> 00:43:20.480 Jesus loves. He doesn't say I. He calls himself. 00:43:20.679 --> 00:43:26.000 He says, the one that Jesus loved was in a race 00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:28.400 to go see the empty tomb, right? He's talking 00:43:28.400 --> 00:43:31.780 about himself. Because he had the revelation. 00:43:32.840 --> 00:43:36.449 God loves me. God's love for me does not depend 00:43:36.449 --> 00:43:41.809 on me jumping through all the hoops, right? It 00:43:41.809 --> 00:43:44.070 doesn't depend on me being perfect. If it depends 00:43:44.070 --> 00:43:48.650 on somebody being perfect, we're all not experiencing 00:43:48.650 --> 00:43:55.130 the love of God. May you experience the love 00:43:55.130 --> 00:43:57.409 of Christ, though it is too great to understand 00:43:57.409 --> 00:44:00.809 fully. Listen, you may not understand it fully, 00:44:00.909 --> 00:44:05.340 but you can experience it completely. The love 00:44:05.340 --> 00:44:12.019 of God. It will change your life. The deepest 00:44:12.019 --> 00:44:18.500 revelation of God does not come through our mind. 00:44:18.659 --> 00:44:20.920 It doesn't come through our soul. It's not through 00:44:20.920 --> 00:44:26.639 our intellect. The deepest revelation of God 00:44:26.639 --> 00:44:33.059 is going to come through intimacy with Him. acknowledging 00:44:33.059 --> 00:44:40.579 him, acknowledging his spirit in us. The more 00:44:40.579 --> 00:44:46.300 you know his love, the more you know his love, 00:44:46.460 --> 00:44:52.400 the more stable and unshakable you will become. 00:44:56.280 --> 00:45:04.280 I'm glad two of you are smiling. Who wants to 00:45:04.280 --> 00:45:12.960 be more stable? Who wants to be unshakable? Well, 00:45:12.980 --> 00:45:14.659 then maybe we need to start praying like this. 00:45:18.059 --> 00:45:24.260 This powerful prayer. Then you will be made complete 00:45:24.260 --> 00:45:29.820 with all the fullness. Listen, all the fullness 00:45:29.820 --> 00:45:39.949 of life and power. that comes from God. You might 00:45:39.949 --> 00:45:46.230 say, I can't have that. Well, then guess what? 00:45:46.250 --> 00:45:51.190 You can't have it. I'll agree with you. If you 00:45:51.190 --> 00:45:53.449 say you can't have it, I will just agree with 00:45:53.449 --> 00:46:01.599 you. But if you say, If God's word says it's 00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:04.980 mine and God's word says I can have it, then 00:46:04.980 --> 00:46:08.780 I can have it. And I'm going for it. I'm going 00:46:08.780 --> 00:46:11.219 for it. I'm going to put my words in alignment 00:46:11.219 --> 00:46:13.460 with what God said. And I'm going for it because 00:46:13.460 --> 00:46:16.300 God said it was mine. God said I could have it. 00:46:16.340 --> 00:46:18.420 So I'm going to have it. If you say that, I'm 00:46:18.420 --> 00:46:20.880 going to agree with you too. And I'm going to 00:46:20.880 --> 00:46:24.179 tell you something else. God's going to agree 00:46:24.179 --> 00:46:39.239 with you. Whichever one you choose. God wants 00:46:39.239 --> 00:46:41.619 us to be made complete with all the fullness 00:46:41.619 --> 00:46:47.079 of life and power that comes from Him. My, my, 00:46:47.079 --> 00:46:53.139 my. Fullness means saturation. Lord, fill me 00:46:53.139 --> 00:46:55.739 until there's no room left for anything else. 00:46:57.500 --> 00:47:01.139 Full, full, full. Think about that sponge again. 00:47:02.420 --> 00:47:05.460 And when you're saturated with His fullness, 00:47:07.949 --> 00:47:09.570 There's not going to be any room for bitterness. 00:47:10.469 --> 00:47:13.849 Not going to be any room for fear. When you're 00:47:13.849 --> 00:47:17.429 saturated with God's fullness, it's just going 00:47:17.429 --> 00:47:22.349 to push everything else out. To be filled with 00:47:22.349 --> 00:47:24.630 God's fullness means that you're filled with 00:47:24.630 --> 00:47:26.909 His character, that you're filled with His peace, 00:47:27.030 --> 00:47:29.670 that you're filled with His joy, that you are 00:47:29.670 --> 00:47:32.929 filled with His power. And these things are overflowing 00:47:32.929 --> 00:47:37.829 through your life. The more we are filled with 00:47:37.829 --> 00:47:40.489 him, the more we're going to become like him. 00:47:43.849 --> 00:47:48.289 It's so powerful. You might have memorized this, 00:47:48.389 --> 00:47:49.809 or you might have been here on New Year's when 00:47:49.809 --> 00:47:52.110 I preached about this verse. But it says this, 00:47:52.170 --> 00:47:57.090 now all glory to God, who is able through his 00:47:57.090 --> 00:48:00.590 mighty power at work within us. Where's this 00:48:00.590 --> 00:48:06.809 power working? In you. All glory to God who is 00:48:06.809 --> 00:48:08.829 able through his mighty power at work within 00:48:08.829 --> 00:48:14.170 us to accomplish infinitely more than we might 00:48:14.170 --> 00:48:17.909 ask or think. Look to the person beside you and 00:48:17.909 --> 00:48:24.610 say, I can ask a lot. I can ask a lot. I can 00:48:24.610 --> 00:48:29.969 think a lot. I don't know. I've never had a problem 00:48:29.969 --> 00:48:32.909 with vision. I don't know if you have or not. 00:48:34.250 --> 00:48:35.929 You hang out with me a little bit, you're going 00:48:35.929 --> 00:48:37.849 to figure out I've never had a problem with vision. 00:48:42.690 --> 00:48:48.750 And this tells me that His power can work in 00:48:48.750 --> 00:48:53.969 me and accomplish more than I could even ask 00:48:53.969 --> 00:49:03.010 Him or think about asking Him. Can you see it? 00:49:06.480 --> 00:49:11.780 Can you see it? Are you going anywhere? Are you 00:49:11.780 --> 00:49:20.920 wanting to go anywhere spiritually? I mean, because 00:49:20.920 --> 00:49:22.559 if you're not going anywhere, you're already 00:49:22.559 --> 00:49:26.980 there. That was another message another day. 00:49:27.360 --> 00:49:33.260 Another bumper sticker. Infinitely. That says... 00:49:35.500 --> 00:49:41.320 To accomplish infinitely more. Infinitely means 00:49:41.320 --> 00:49:51.079 it's too great to be measured. And this really, 00:49:51.179 --> 00:49:59.940 this really flew all over me. You can never overestimate 00:49:59.940 --> 00:50:08.820 God's power. You can only underestimate it. I'm 00:50:08.820 --> 00:50:10.559 going to say that again, just because I liked 00:50:10.559 --> 00:50:16.440 it so much. You can't overestimate God's power. 00:50:19.019 --> 00:50:26.320 We can only underestimate what God can do. You 00:50:26.320 --> 00:50:30.920 can only underestimate it. God is not limited 00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:34.769 by our imagination. It's infinitely more. God's 00:50:34.769 --> 00:50:37.389 not limited by our imagination. He's not limited 00:50:37.389 --> 00:50:42.289 by our past. So many people look at their past 00:50:42.289 --> 00:50:45.170 and say, well, God can only do so much in my 00:50:45.170 --> 00:50:51.449 life because of... Right? He's not limited by 00:50:51.449 --> 00:50:55.570 that. The only thing that limits Him is our lack 00:50:55.570 --> 00:50:58.769 of faith. That's the only thing that will limit 00:50:58.769 --> 00:51:05.139 Him. He can do more than you can ask, more than 00:51:05.139 --> 00:51:08.860 you can imagine, more than you can dream. And 00:51:08.860 --> 00:51:12.380 He does it through His power working in you. 00:51:13.340 --> 00:51:18.239 So that means we need to be filled with His power. 00:51:20.400 --> 00:51:22.820 Are you with me? Remember, that was part of the 00:51:22.820 --> 00:51:26.019 prayer a minute ago. So we need to be filled 00:51:26.019 --> 00:51:29.739 with His power for us to see this. In Christ, 00:51:29.800 --> 00:51:35.269 you are not powerless. In Christ, you are a carrier 00:51:35.269 --> 00:51:39.750 of divine power, the power of God and the purpose 00:51:39.750 --> 00:51:48.409 of God. This is available to those who seek. 00:51:52.070 --> 00:51:56.849 And the prayer ends like this, glory to him and 00:51:56.849 --> 00:52:02.880 the church. Christ Jesus, through all generations, 00:52:03.119 --> 00:52:13.159 forever and ever, let it be. Amen. Glory to him 00:52:13.159 --> 00:52:14.940 in the church. I'm just going to remind you, 00:52:14.980 --> 00:52:18.300 this word church is a compound Greek word that 00:52:18.300 --> 00:52:21.800 means called out once. It doesn't mean a building. 00:52:21.960 --> 00:52:25.739 It doesn't mean an organization. It means people. 00:52:27.079 --> 00:52:32.019 So glory to God in the church, in us, and in 00:52:32.019 --> 00:52:34.880 Christ Jesus through all generations forever 00:52:34.880 --> 00:52:39.380 and ever. Paul started that prayer on his knees 00:52:39.380 --> 00:52:47.179 in awe of God. Just overwhelmed by how good God 00:52:47.179 --> 00:52:51.659 was. And then he ends his prayer lifting up his 00:52:51.659 --> 00:53:00.929 hands, praising God. Being in awe of God. Declaring 00:53:00.929 --> 00:53:05.429 those heavenly realities. Appropriating what 00:53:05.429 --> 00:53:07.829 he's already promised and given us. This is powerful 00:53:07.829 --> 00:53:14.909 prayer. This is powerful prayer. And going ahead 00:53:14.909 --> 00:53:17.769 and getting happy about it and praising him because 00:53:17.769 --> 00:53:21.969 he knows that that's what God wants to do. So 00:53:21.969 --> 00:53:24.389 he ends his prayer in hope. That confident expectation. 00:53:26.030 --> 00:53:28.869 Because he's prayed a powerful prayer, so now 00:53:28.869 --> 00:53:31.710 he has a confident expectation that he's going 00:53:31.710 --> 00:53:36.409 to see it. Because the effectual fervent prayer 00:53:36.409 --> 00:53:41.949 of a righteous man avails much. Another translation 00:53:41.949 --> 00:53:46.150 says it produces wonderful results. Wonderful 00:53:46.150 --> 00:53:50.110 results. Who won't see some wonderful results 00:53:50.110 --> 00:53:52.860 for their prayers? Well, we've got to start praying 00:53:52.860 --> 00:53:54.860 powerful prayers. We've got to start praying 00:53:54.860 --> 00:53:57.039 in agreement with what's already ours and what 00:53:57.039 --> 00:53:59.159 Jesus has already given us. And then we take 00:53:59.159 --> 00:54:01.679 hold of it. And we go ahead and get happy about 00:54:01.679 --> 00:54:04.400 it even before we see it answered. Because we 00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:16.519 are confidently expecting. This powerful prayer 00:54:16.519 --> 00:54:22.349 is God's invitation to live in overflow. To live 00:54:22.349 --> 00:54:26.269 our lives strengthened by the Spirit, rooted 00:54:26.269 --> 00:54:29.869 in the love of God, filled with the fullness 00:54:29.869 --> 00:54:34.469 of God, and walking in the divine power of God. 00:54:38.789 --> 00:54:44.349 This isn't just a prayer. This is a Holy Spirit 00:54:44.349 --> 00:54:50.119 -inspired prayer, right? Because the Word of 00:54:50.119 --> 00:54:57.000 God is God -breathed. Hello? So all these things 00:54:57.000 --> 00:55:04.619 are yours. Somebody smile and say, these things 00:55:04.619 --> 00:55:07.780 are mine. Do you believe that these things are 00:55:07.780 --> 00:55:15.239 yours? When it comes down to it, the world doesn't 00:55:15.239 --> 00:55:20.159 need more religious people. What the world needs 00:55:20.159 --> 00:55:24.699 is to have some people overflowing with divine 00:55:24.699 --> 00:55:28.059 love and power. That's what the world's looking 00:55:28.059 --> 00:55:30.780 for. Not just religious people who go to church 00:55:30.780 --> 00:55:33.679 on Sunday, but people who are overflowing with 00:55:33.679 --> 00:55:37.920 the love of God and the power of God. That's 00:55:37.920 --> 00:55:43.940 the way it started. That's the way it started. 00:55:46.679 --> 00:55:53.239 And that's the way it needs to be today. All 00:55:53.239 --> 00:55:57.079 right. Here's Dean Forrest's version of this 00:55:57.079 --> 00:56:02.920 prayer. Like I said, the pages are back there 00:56:02.920 --> 00:56:08.079 on the table. And you can take it. But don't 00:56:08.079 --> 00:56:14.300 just read it. Here's the way I rewrote it. Father, 00:56:14.440 --> 00:56:20.480 you are the creator of heaven and earth. I'll 00:56:20.480 --> 00:56:24.420 go ahead and throw in. This whole place is yours. 00:56:25.059 --> 00:56:27.360 Everything in it, the fullness of it, it's all 00:56:27.360 --> 00:56:31.579 yours. You're the creator of heaven and earth. 00:56:33.059 --> 00:56:37.019 And I want to ask you something today. I want 00:56:37.019 --> 00:56:40.840 to ask you to empower me today with inner strength. 00:56:43.219 --> 00:56:48.219 Empower me. Empower me with this inner strength 00:56:48.219 --> 00:56:51.500 from your glorious unlimited resources, God. 00:56:53.090 --> 00:56:56.630 You are more than enough, right? You're more 00:56:56.630 --> 00:57:06.590 than enough. Empower me by your spirit. Jesus, 00:57:06.630 --> 00:57:10.210 thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for 00:57:10.210 --> 00:57:16.389 making your home in my heart. And I want to tell 00:57:16.389 --> 00:57:22.300 you that I trust you. Completely. I trust you 00:57:22.300 --> 00:57:27.519 more than I trust myself. God, I trust you completely. 00:57:29.079 --> 00:57:34.699 Not holding back anything. I trust you. God, 00:57:34.699 --> 00:57:40.539 I ask you to give me the power. Help me. Empower 00:57:40.539 --> 00:57:44.659 me. To understand the width and the length and 00:57:44.659 --> 00:57:51.090 the height and the depth of your love. I desire, 00:57:51.130 --> 00:57:56.590 God, to experience your love in such a way that 00:57:56.590 --> 00:58:00.929 I become established in it. And I experience 00:58:00.929 --> 00:58:03.210 your love in such a way that I'm strengthened 00:58:03.210 --> 00:58:15.250 by it. God, make me complete with all the fullness 00:58:15.250 --> 00:58:22.889 of life and power. It only comes from you. I 00:58:22.889 --> 00:58:32.909 glorify you. I glorify, if you remember from 00:58:32.909 --> 00:58:40.690 a previous study, it's like, you're the weightiest 00:58:40.690 --> 00:58:46.849 thing. You're the worthiest one. I glorify you. 00:58:49.449 --> 00:58:56.150 God, you're able. God, I know you're able. You're 00:58:56.150 --> 00:59:00.650 able through your mighty power to work in me 00:59:00.650 --> 00:59:05.849 and to work through me to accomplish infinitely 00:59:05.849 --> 00:59:09.469 more. So much that I can't even measure it or 00:59:09.469 --> 00:59:12.409 see it or understand it more than I can ask and 00:59:12.409 --> 00:59:20.440 more than I can think. God, you're able. God, 00:59:20.619 --> 00:59:26.559 you are worthy. You're worthy of all glory, all 00:59:26.559 --> 00:59:32.940 honor, all praise. God, you're worthy. Through 00:59:32.940 --> 00:59:41.079 all generations. Through my kids. Through everybody 00:59:41.079 --> 00:59:47.659 that comes in my family line after me, God. You're 00:59:47.659 --> 00:59:52.329 worthy. of all glory and praise, through all 00:59:52.329 --> 01:00:04.449 generations, forever and ever. Let it be. Let 01:00:04.449 --> 01:00:09.050 it be. I'm not just saying this. I agree with 01:00:09.050 --> 01:00:14.250 it. God, let it be. God, these are the promises 01:00:14.250 --> 01:00:18.320 of your word. I put myself in agreement with 01:00:18.320 --> 01:00:23.360 him. God, let it be. Like Mary said, let it be 01:00:23.360 --> 01:00:27.119 unto me according to your word. Let it be unto 01:00:27.119 --> 01:00:33.980 me. God, I'm expecting to see wonderful results 01:00:33.980 --> 01:00:41.300 in my life. And you know what? I'm already happy 01:00:41.300 --> 01:00:44.880 about it. This online worship experience was 01:00:44.880 --> 01:00:47.280 brought to you by the friends and partners of 01:00:47.280 --> 01:00:48.000 Elation Church.