1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,760 Welcome to Logan City Christian Church podcast where we bring God's Word to you weekly. 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:12,520 We pray what you hear will bring clarity to your situation and open doors in your life. 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,560 Enjoy the message. 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,560 Well happy birthday to you Jean for last week. 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,660 You didn't know that I knew that but little Birdie told me but happy birthday. 6 00:00:23,660 --> 00:00:27,500 Is anyone else having had a birthday or having a birthday? 7 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:30,400 Happy birthday to you and may God bless you. 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,640 In fact Manique when was yours? 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:35,240 Two weeks ago? 10 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:36,240 Last month? 11 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:37,240 Oh. 12 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,060 We're a real tight family. 13 00:00:40,060 --> 00:00:42,600 We know what's going on. 14 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:43,600 Praise God. 15 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,800 Shano, it's lovely to see you up there. 16 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,200 You've really blessed me seeing you today and Sammy. 17 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:50,200 Where's Sammy? 18 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:51,200 Give me a wave Sammy. 19 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:52,800 Yeah good on you mate. 20 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:54,160 Yeah praise God. 21 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:55,800 We're really blessed. 22 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:56,800 Truly blessed. 23 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,680 It's lovely to see Rex and Colette back from the UK. 24 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:05,080 They released you and let you come back to Down Under. 25 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,440 Praise the Lord Cher bro. 26 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:09,360 It's good. 27 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:19,520 You know we have this evening as Chantel mentioned the leadership training equipping. 28 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:25,440 It's for people who are already in ministry, people in missions, people in leadership in 29 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:30,720 churches, people leadership here or maybe if you feel there's a call of God on your 30 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:37,160 life that you really want to go to the next step or maybe you just want to you know stick 31 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,400 your head in it to see what's going on you're welcome. 32 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:48,800 It starts at 5pm and it'll be finished by about 7pm followed up by a little bit of bush 33 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:49,800 tucker at the end. 34 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,120 I don't know something to eat and a cup of tea. 35 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:53,120 It'll be great. 36 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:59,680 I'm a fellowship but what will be shared throughout these six weeks on Sunday evenings is not 37 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:05,320 what you would generally hear in a church service and I know that you'll be blessed. 38 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:11,640 It'll be challenging so if that's you, you are so welcome to come tonight and we'd be 39 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:13,600 blessed to have you here with us. 40 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:15,160 Praise the Lord. 41 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:16,160 Hallelujah. 42 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,720 God is good. 43 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,760 You excited to be in church today? 44 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:22,760 Praise the Lord. 45 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,680 I want to read from Matthew chapter 6 from verse 5. 46 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:32,240 I'm going to bring out something that is very close to my heart as I'm sure it is yours 47 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:37,800 also and it's to do with prayer. 48 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:45,240 Last week, well two weeks ago it was on fasting, the platform, the foundation that we lay and 49 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,480 need to be standing on when we're fasting and then last week was prayer and fasting 50 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,520 and today we're going to speak about prayer. 51 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:54,480 But just not any kind of prayer. 52 00:02:54,480 --> 00:03:00,640 This is relational prayer, relational prayer and so I'll get into that in just a moment 53 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:05,000 but I'm going to read from Matthew chapter 6 from verse 5. 54 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:11,640 And Jesus speaking and He said, when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites for they 55 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:17,400 love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may 56 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,120 be seen by men. 57 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:28,680 Surely I say to you they have their reward but you, when you pray, go into your room 58 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:34,960 and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who was in the secret place and 59 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,520 your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 60 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:47,160 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they 61 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:51,080 will be heard for their many words. 62 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:57,400 Therefore do not be like them for your Father knows the things you have need of before you 63 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:59,120 ask him. 64 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:07,160 In this manner therefore pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom 65 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:13,400 come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 66 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:21,800 Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 67 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:29,360 And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one for yours is the kingdom 68 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,720 and the power and the glory forever. 69 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:34,560 Amen. 70 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:41,940 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 71 00:04:41,940 --> 00:04:50,760 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 72 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:55,720 I'd like to first identify something here. 73 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,820 Who is Jesus speaking to? 74 00:04:58,820 --> 00:05:07,680 This is vitally important to know who Jesus' congregation is and it is often understood 75 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:15,520 that Jesus' congregation, that this goes back to the beginning of chapter 5 where Jesus 76 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,760 begins to teach the Beatitudes. 77 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:24,000 Now the Beatitudes is not just the ones blessed are you, blessed are you, blessed are you. 78 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:32,020 The Beatitudes continue to chapter 7 right in the end when Jesus teaches on building 79 00:05:32,020 --> 00:05:34,140 your house on the rock. 80 00:05:34,140 --> 00:05:39,000 So it's not just chapter 5 verse 1 through to 10 which are the Beatitudes. 81 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:45,280 The Beatitudes is an entire teaching that Jesus taught that for many or for all it was 82 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:51,160 the first time that they heard this kind of message. 83 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,660 They'd never heard it before in the history of mankind. 84 00:05:54,660 --> 00:06:03,320 So there they are, they're seated with Jesus on this mountaintop or on the side of a mountain 85 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,920 and Jesus begins to teach them who are the people. 86 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:16,200 Can I say that it goes way beyond just the disciples that Jesus was with because in Matthew 87 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:25,800 chapter 4 verse 25 it reads here, great multitudes followed him from Galilee and from Decapolis, 88 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:32,920 that's the 10 cities, the 10 regions, Jerusalem, Judea and beyond the Jordan. 89 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:40,520 Chapter 7 and verse 28 it reads here and so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings 90 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:45,360 that the people were astonished at his teachings. 91 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:53,000 So it goes way beyond just Jesus' disciples sitting there hearing something for the first 92 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:54,440 time. 93 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,980 There is a whole congregation of people from all those regions as I just mentioned from 94 00:06:59,980 --> 00:07:05,160 Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and beyond the Jordan. 95 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:12,720 That is a wide region and so people had travelled far and wide because they finally saw somebody 96 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:19,160 different, somebody teaching something that was making sense. 97 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:24,080 So Jesus is teaching them so we need to understand that. 98 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:30,400 So we get to chapter 6 about prayer. 99 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:39,980 Now why would Jesus be teaching people who in today's standard are not born again and 100 00:07:39,980 --> 00:07:48,100 majority of are not Jews and so not in covenant with God, not children of Abraham. 101 00:07:48,100 --> 00:07:54,480 So here are these people that are scattered from so far God had brought them all together. 102 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:59,480 People of all different walks and backgrounds, people of different religions, people of different 103 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:05,400 cultures, they're all sitting there listening to the most amazing preaching that I think 104 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,740 the entire Bible covers. 105 00:08:08,740 --> 00:08:10,640 It is so amazing. 106 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:18,640 Jesus covers throughout these two chapters every aspect of life, everything that life contains. 107 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:24,840 He taught on it and he brought it to a new level, a totally new level. 108 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:31,680 But then Jesus does something that really when we understand that he himself brings 109 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:42,440 the people together and he uses this term about praying, he says, your father. 110 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:49,080 Now I could only imagine there would be so many people who are not in covenant with God, 111 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,160 not children of Abraham, that only would have wished that if we were born as children of 112 00:08:54,160 --> 00:09:01,280 Abraham we would have had the greater benefit, the privilege to be recognised as children 113 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:02,280 of God. 114 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:08,520 But here we are, outcasts, Gentiles, people out of covenant with God. 115 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:16,220 But yet on that mountain Jesus is surrounded by people who are out of covenant with God. 116 00:09:16,220 --> 00:09:21,160 And then Jesus says something to them that must have floored them when you read it in 117 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:29,160 that context that Jesus says to them, let me read here, when he says in verse 5, and 118 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:33,680 when you pray, because he's teaching them how to pray, he's teaching them not to pray 119 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:40,000 in a religious manner and not to pray in a religious format, Jesus is teaching to pray 120 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,200 from a very real heart. 121 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:43,600 Amen? 122 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:48,640 And so for they love to stand praying in the synagogues and on the corners and on the streets 123 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:54,120 that they may be seen by men, as surely I say to you they have their reward, but you. 124 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:59,920 Now Jesus when he says but you, he's speaking now directly to the people who are in front 125 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:02,160 of him who are listening. 126 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:09,600 He says but you, when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut the door, pray 127 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:15,800 to your Father who is in the secret place and your Father who sees in secret will reward 128 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,320 you openly. 129 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:23,520 Verse 8, it says here, therefore do not be like them for your Father knows the things 130 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,120 that you need of before you ask him. 131 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:32,840 Verse 9, our Father in heaven three times Jesus has brought the same message to these 132 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:41,400 people who are not by the standard of the religion of the day children of God. 133 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,120 So why did Jesus do that? 134 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:52,920 I believe the answer is found within the word Father, because the word Father is Pater and 135 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:58,160 this is what it means and you'll see when I explain what the word Father means exactly 136 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:03,400 what Jesus was doing, because Jesus didn't want the people he was teaching, he didn't 137 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:08,700 want them to learn a religious kind of prayer format. 138 00:11:08,700 --> 00:11:15,040 He wanted them to know the Father so their prayer is relational with God. 139 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:20,760 It's not just I do this because it's what I've got to do, it is the hour of prayer, 140 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,800 so now is the hour of prayer and we must pray. 141 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:30,640 No, Jesus is saying there's a whole new way coming, a new way of living and this way is 142 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:35,480 that prayer is going to be in your heart and on your lips all the time. 143 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:42,320 Jesus was preparing a people for the kingdom of God being established here on earth and 144 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,100 so what does Father actually mean? 145 00:11:46,100 --> 00:11:54,440 It means here when Jesus is saying your Father, it means the one who imparts life and is committed 146 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:56,280 to it. 147 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:01,480 He brings bringing into being to pass on the potential for likeness. 148 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:11,320 In other words, Jesus is saying to them your Father in heaven, his entire plan is for you 149 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,500 to be just like him. 150 00:12:15,500 --> 00:12:18,000 Come on, think about this church. 151 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,680 This is an incredible thing that Jesus is teaching. 152 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:25,160 It is used of our heavenly Father. 153 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:32,120 As I said, he imparts life from physical birth to the gift of eternal life through the second 154 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:33,120 birth. 155 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:38,280 We know this, which is called the regeneration or being born again. 156 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:43,780 Through ongoing sanctification, now this is what I'm reading is straight from the concordance. 157 00:12:43,780 --> 00:12:50,880 Through ongoing sanctification, the believer more and more resembles their heavenly Father. 158 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:52,800 So what is the mission here? 159 00:12:52,800 --> 00:13:00,000 The mission here is for every person that Jesus is speaking to through relational prayer 160 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,880 to become more like their heavenly Father. 161 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,880 Now if that was not possible, Jesus would not be teaching it. 162 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:13,040 I want to encourage you today that prayer, relational prayer brings us so close to God 163 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:20,480 that when we are close with him and fellowship with him in prayer, relationally in prayer, 164 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:25,920 that the more you hang around God, if I can say, the more you begin, we begin to think 165 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:33,080 like God, the more we begin to act like God, the more we begin to speak like God and respond 166 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,560 like how God would respond. 167 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:40,360 And it all is a result of relational prayer, not religious prayer. 168 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:46,320 And so Jesus, it's just an amazing setting how he is sitting there with people again 169 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:53,920 from all walks of life and he's just saying, your Father, the one that wants you to be 170 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,520 exactly like him. 171 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:01,700 And they must have been thinking, how could this ever, ever be possible? 172 00:14:01,700 --> 00:14:09,040 It goes on to say that each time in prayer, they receive faith from him and obey it, which 173 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,200 results in their unique glorification. 174 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:18,420 Glorification church is when we are taken home to glory, when we draw our last breath 175 00:14:18,420 --> 00:14:23,120 or when Jesus comes, whichever comes first. 176 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,920 But it goes on to say, and this is the one that I want to bring out, that the main highlight 177 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:37,360 of this word, Father, is one in intimate connection and relationship. 178 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:44,080 Jesus is teaching the people, God the Father, even though you may not have known a lot about 179 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:48,240 him or anything at all, let me tell you who he is. 180 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:54,200 He is the one that he wants intimate connection and relationship with you. 181 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:59,680 Now, in today's standards, he'd be saying, even though you're not saved, even though 182 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:04,160 you're not a child of God, God is still in pursuit after you. 183 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:05,480 God still loves you. 184 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:11,480 God has provided every way possible, made every way possible for every person on this 185 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:17,280 planet to be in right standing with God through Jesus Christ. 186 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:25,200 So here they are, these people, they're hearing this for the first time, our Father, our Father. 187 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,420 Could you imagine what they would have been thinking? 188 00:15:28,420 --> 00:15:33,880 It actually relates to the Heavenly Father as creator. 189 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:40,400 So if we could think about that for a moment today, can you imagine that Jesus is teaching 190 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:49,080 us to have relational prayer with God, who just so happens to be the creator of this 191 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,600 universe? 192 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:57,520 That God obviously is greater than his creation. 193 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:03,600 And we see, you know, on the news, they've discovered another black hole in the galaxies, 194 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:05,440 in the universe. 195 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,800 And they're questioning, what is beyond this black hole? 196 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:16,840 If you enter into this black hole, will they enter into another galaxy or not? 197 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:19,840 Mankind just doesn't know. 198 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,300 God's creation is big. 199 00:16:22,300 --> 00:16:30,360 And we see the majesty of the universe, the stars and the planets and everything orbits 200 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,280 and everything is kept in its perfect timing. 201 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,480 The axis of the earth is perfect. 202 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:37,160 And how did that just happen? 203 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:38,160 It didn't. 204 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,040 There's a creator. 205 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:46,000 And God creator is amazing that he created this earth so perfect. 206 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,800 Man's doing his best to destroy it, but God created it so perfect. 207 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:57,560 And this world was created so perfectly for you and for me. 208 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:03,240 In God, how he measured the distance from, as it speaks about in the Psalms, from earth 209 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:09,840 to the moon to know exactly the right distance for the gravity pull and, you know, the tides 210 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:12,200 that we have today, it's all to do with the moon. 211 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,840 And God had orchestrated all of this. 212 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:21,840 And as the psalmist actually says, he said, how is it that it rains and yet the oceans 213 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:29,200 are not overflowing because God has this whole system so finely created that no person, no 214 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:34,680 man and no AI could have ever engineered this. 215 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:41,600 That God is creator and there's nothing for him that is too hard to do. 216 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,300 That God knows everything. 217 00:17:44,300 --> 00:17:50,720 That God is in total control of every single aspect in this world. 218 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:55,040 Whether we realize it or not, he's controlling it. 219 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,800 And so Jesus is saying, this is the person. 220 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:03,440 Could you imagine the day when we go home to be with the Lord? 221 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:13,240 That we're going to stand in heaven and experience the glory of God, to experience what the Bible 222 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,560 teaches us about heaven. 223 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:24,720 That worship just doesn't cease and the beauty of heaven, the glory in heaven, that one day 224 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:29,760 each and every one of us are going to experience this. 225 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,720 But God created it. 226 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:40,720 In his infinite wisdom, he created this world and he created a human being, Adam first and 227 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:42,680 then Eve. 228 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:48,920 And God intended that Adam and Eve procreate and from there become like heaven here on 229 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:51,040 earth. 230 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:56,960 As we know that Master Gus mentioned about how the devil got in and sin messed all that 231 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,440 up, Jesus came and fixed it up. 232 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:04,060 That whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 233 00:19:04,060 --> 00:19:08,440 So when we look at the rest of the Lord's Prayer as some of us call it the Lord's Prayer, 234 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,720 I particularly don't. 235 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,800 I call it the prayer that Jesus taught. 236 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,640 It's as simple as that. 237 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:22,320 So Jesus taught where to pray, how to pray and what to pray. 238 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:28,680 You know the secret place that Jesus speaks about, I believe in the Spirit is that same 239 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:35,480 place in Psalm 91 verse 1, that he who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall 240 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,600 abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 241 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:45,080 This church is what is called relational prayer. 242 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,600 It's not religious prayer. 243 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:56,320 And here is the thing that we don't just come to God in prayer when we need something or 244 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,760 if we're sick as I better pray so I can get well. 245 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:06,960 Or we pray because something's not working in life or in family, I better start praying. 246 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:12,960 What God is wanting from us, from each and every one of us is a relational prayer life. 247 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:20,360 Can you imagine that if we never ever spoke to God only when we needed something, how 248 00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:23,240 strong would that relationship be? 249 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:28,480 It would be like a marriage with Chantel and I. 250 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:35,960 Could you imagine that I only came home because I needed dinner and I was never seen since. 251 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:41,720 And I come back again when I'm hungry, oh darling I need something. 252 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:42,720 Can you make me dinner? 253 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,480 I'm going out fishing with my buddies. 254 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,040 Now I'm going out hunting with some other guys and can you pack me something? 255 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:52,920 The only contact that we have is when I have a need. 256 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,680 How long do you think that relationship is going to last? 257 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:04,120 Do you think that that relationship, that marriage relationship is going to be strengthened 258 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:05,120 like that? 259 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:06,320 No it's not. 260 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,980 So what strengthens a friendship? 261 00:21:08,980 --> 00:21:11,540 What strengthens a relationship? 262 00:21:11,540 --> 00:21:14,120 You know what strengthens a relationship? 263 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:16,600 A marriage or our relationship with God? 264 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:17,760 You know what it is? 265 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:19,940 Is fellowship. 266 00:21:19,940 --> 00:21:21,760 Our fellowship with God. 267 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:23,920 Our fellowship with our spouse. 268 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:25,240 That's what strengthens it. 269 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:31,320 I know some guys say, oh my fellowship with my wife actually destroys our relationship. 270 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,980 Well it might be time to change, praise the Lord. 271 00:21:34,980 --> 00:21:39,840 But fellowship does enhance relationship. 272 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:47,640 Now when we look at relational prayer, relational prayer is that we come to God not because 273 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:49,440 we just need something. 274 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:50,560 I'm coming to God. 275 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:57,080 We're coming to God because not as a need but I just want to spend time with God. 276 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:02,900 When is the last time that we've had a prayer that's God checking in to see how you're doing 277 00:22:02,900 --> 00:22:05,040 sort of thing? 278 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,680 Things are okay here but I just come because I want to spend time with you. 279 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,320 I've just come because I just love being in your presence. 280 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:14,880 That's prayer. 281 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:23,040 Talking with God, being with God and see this builds and enhances a relationship. 282 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:29,680 And let me tell you that when a time does come when we are in need, we know that way 283 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:31,240 very well. 284 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:36,200 There's a well-worn path from our place, from our heart to the heart of God because we've 285 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:40,880 traveled it every day for so long because of our relationship with God. 286 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,000 My prayer has been, our prayer has been relational. 287 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,760 That I'm not coming to God like he's a Santa Claus because I need something. 288 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:53,560 I'm coming to God because he is my heavenly Father. 289 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,520 And I know that I feel safe with him. 290 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,240 We feel safe with him. 291 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:04,360 We're comforted that everything will be alright but we need to maintain that right fellowship 292 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,560 with God. 293 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,240 Fellowshiping with God is everything. 294 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:16,240 I remember the first time that I truly can say that I encountered the presence of God. 295 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:22,460 My first pastor was encouraging me to become a spirit man. 296 00:23:22,460 --> 00:23:29,920 And he said a spirit man is a person that is in awareness of the spiritual realm and 297 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:39,760 an awareness of God and that you're receptive and you're flowing in that realm. 298 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:43,760 And he was teaching me for months and months and months. 299 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:49,120 And I would do what he says and nothing would seem to ever happen. 300 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:50,480 Nothing. 301 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:56,800 So I went back to him and I said, you know what you're talking about, I understand it 302 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:00,960 but I'm not experiencing it. 303 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:07,620 And I began to think that God wasn't interested in me getting that close to him. 304 00:24:07,620 --> 00:24:13,400 So one day he said to me, he said, Rob, I think where the problem is you're trying too 305 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:15,960 hard. 306 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,440 Just start fellowshiping with God. 307 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:26,040 Just go there and just talk with God as if you would talk to your friend. 308 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:27,860 So I did. 309 00:24:27,860 --> 00:24:32,960 And the first night I was in my room, the lights were out and I bet you I have to turn 310 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:34,080 lights off. 311 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,000 I am so easily distracted. 312 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:44,080 You know, if there's no lights, I can't see anything, it cuts distraction down so much. 313 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:50,180 So what happened, what I'm about to explain to you changed my life because we need to 314 00:24:50,180 --> 00:24:51,760 know that God is real. 315 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,720 When we get saved, we need to have that encounter. 316 00:24:55,720 --> 00:25:02,280 We need to have that encounter with the living God, the one who created the heavens and the 317 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:06,080 earth and the seas and all that is within. 318 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:14,520 And without experiencing God, Christianity can become so dry, it can become so religious. 319 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,920 You see, Jesus is alive. 320 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:18,480 He's not dead. 321 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,540 He's alive and alive forevermore. 322 00:25:21,540 --> 00:25:28,640 And so I started on this journey wanting to experience it's one thing to know about God, 323 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,520 and yet it's quite a different thing to experience God. 324 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,440 And God is not hiding from us. 325 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:43,000 He wants us to experience Him, Him, His person, who He is. 326 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:49,440 And what happened to me this particular night, nothing could have ever prepared me for it. 327 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,980 Now I know what I'm about to share. 328 00:25:51,980 --> 00:25:58,000 Some of us have experienced and some of us are wanting to experience and some may think, 329 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,480 I don't know if that's real or not. 330 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:06,040 Whatever your position, I want to share this with you because it turned my prayer life 331 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,280 around. 332 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,120 My service to God changed. 333 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:13,680 The way that I viewed everything in life changed. 334 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:18,920 This one particular night, it was after about three or four nights just waiting on God and 335 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:27,640 talking with God, all of the sudden this incredible presence just came in to this room. 336 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,800 It was amazing. 337 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,280 And I thought, this is it. 338 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:33,280 I've got it. 339 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:35,480 I've experienced it. 340 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,400 But it didn't stop there. 341 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:43,120 And as I began to pray just saying, thank you Father, I'm now finally experiencing the 342 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:48,080 reality of God, who you are as a person. 343 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:55,040 And all of the sudden, a supernatural light appeared in my room. 344 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,540 And part of me wanted to run for the door. 345 00:26:58,540 --> 00:27:06,760 It was so confronting because there's no natural explanation for what just happened. 346 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,520 Nothing could explain it in the natural. 347 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,540 And God is light. 348 00:27:12,540 --> 00:27:16,060 There is no darkness in Him at all. 349 00:27:16,060 --> 00:27:25,120 And in this light was this presence and this encounter that I had left me wanting more 350 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:30,080 and more and more and more. 351 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:36,800 I went back to my pastor and I told him what had happened. 352 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:42,040 And he's just looking at me, not saying a word. 353 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,440 And I thought, he doesn't believe me. 354 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,760 And then I began to see a tear in his eye. 355 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:58,360 And he said to me, he said, Rob, this is the first day of real Christian living for you. 356 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:04,960 I want to encourage each and every one of us today, especially in the hour that we're 357 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:10,600 living in, that the darkness is getting darker. 358 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:17,000 But there is a living God who is alive, powerful. 359 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:18,880 He knows you. 360 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:20,640 He knows everything about us. 361 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,620 Well, He created us. 362 00:28:23,620 --> 00:28:27,920 He wants you to encounter Him. 363 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:36,960 And when we encounter God in this way, let me tell you, the doubt and unbelief has to 364 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,040 take a backseat. 365 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:44,080 It energizes something in our spirit man. 366 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:51,120 It certainly did in me, that it opened the door for another dimension of our Christian, 367 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,360 my Christian walk with God. 368 00:28:54,360 --> 00:29:02,160 And from that time on, my prayer life totally, totally changed. 369 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:09,440 No longer was I in prayer thinking that God, you're out there somewhere in the universe. 370 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:14,560 You're there somewhere and maybe you're going to hear me. 371 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:16,120 Maybe you're not. 372 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,960 But if you do, this is my prayer. 373 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,920 I haven't had that mindset for nearly 30 years. 374 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:31,040 That when we enter into relational prayer, that we have acknowledged that God is our 375 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:36,320 Father, He's our Creator, that He is powerful, alive, and that there is nothing too hard 376 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:37,640 for Him to do. 377 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:44,240 And when we turn our hearts to prayer before Almighty God, we have this assurance knowing 378 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,680 that what we pray that He hears us. 379 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,800 Folks, that is relational prayer. 380 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:56,800 We're praying out of our relationship with God. 381 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:02,520 We have direct access to God in prayer. 382 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:07,320 I'd love to encourage you some more. 383 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:17,000 Seeing God in a living way is what I think the Christian church needs today like never, 384 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:21,640 ever before. 385 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,760 To experience the living Christ. 386 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,000 I was at a prayer meeting. 387 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:31,640 We were at a prayer meeting, actually it was last Thursday night. 388 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:40,160 We had something very unusual happen, which is good, because God is not the usual. 389 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:49,280 And this particular night, last Thursday night, there was a change in the presence of God. 390 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:54,120 And not that there was anything wrong with what was happening before, God just shifted 391 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,000 it up another level or two. 392 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:04,160 And then we prayed for somebody, but in that time of prayer, I had an open vision of some 393 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:08,600 things that God wanted to show me. 394 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:13,360 And it relates to the future of the Christian church before the Lord's return. 395 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:18,360 Now, I'm not going to share anything about that today because I'm still processing it 396 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:19,360 myself. 397 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:25,920 The things that I saw that really confounded me and concerned me greatly. 398 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:31,960 But one thing I will share in that was simply this. 399 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:40,240 That scripture that Jesus said, some in that day will say, Lord, we prophesied in your 400 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:41,240 name. 401 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,240 Lord, we cast out demons in your name. 402 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,680 And Lord, we did all these wonderful miracles in your name. 403 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:55,280 And Jesus turned around and said to them, I don't know you. 404 00:31:55,280 --> 00:32:05,140 It was such an awakening moment in my spirit is that, Lord, am I one of these people? 405 00:32:05,140 --> 00:32:09,240 Because you can't help but begin questioning yourself. 406 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,880 It was so confronting. 407 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:17,040 But the Lord was showing me yet again and continued throughout the rest of the week 408 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:24,760 till I'm right now standing here with you that the importance of relational prayer. 409 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:30,200 And if we stay in right relationship with God and in prayer with God and that fellowship 410 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:34,320 with God, we will not be one of those that he says, depart from me. 411 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,080 I don't know you. 412 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:42,880 Because these people were using their gifts and their callings and the name of Jesus and 413 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:50,360 other things, obviously, to do the work of God independent from God. 414 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:56,320 And after we've experienced a personal encounter with God, like I explained before, some of 415 00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:00,360 you have shared yours, incredible, similar. 416 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,100 God wants to be experienced. 417 00:33:03,100 --> 00:33:10,080 He doesn't want to be a person that we just place him behind a throne in heaven that we 418 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:11,400 can't reach him. 419 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:16,040 You know, God is in your hearts through Christ Jesus. 420 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,400 That God walks with us daily. 421 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,560 That God is part of our life. 422 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,920 He's part of our new spiritual DNA, if you like. 423 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:33,160 Remember, Father, that we resemble him more and more as we continue in our walk with God. 424 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:36,660 God wants us to know him. 425 00:33:36,660 --> 00:33:43,440 Relational prayer has everything to do with knowing God through Christ Jesus more and 426 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,560 more and more and more. 427 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:48,080 Amen. 428 00:33:48,080 --> 00:34:00,440 I'll never forget a time that we were, I was in Uganda and we had a prayer meeting before 429 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,700 the last meeting of a youth crusade. 430 00:34:05,700 --> 00:34:08,360 And in this building, it was small. 431 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:14,640 It was probably the size of a small house. 432 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:18,200 And it was all open. 433 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:26,020 We were in there believing God for a massive breakthrough on the last night of this crusade. 434 00:34:26,020 --> 00:34:32,320 We were all tired because we had five days, already done five days, of about seven sessions 435 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:37,600 a day and some meetings finishing midnight or later. 436 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:42,860 So the human body tends to let you know that it's human. 437 00:34:42,860 --> 00:34:43,860 That it needs to sleep. 438 00:34:43,860 --> 00:34:46,400 That it needs a rest. 439 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,920 And we were feeling there was talk about closing the last meeting because we're so tired, but 440 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,060 it was the most important meeting. 441 00:34:54,060 --> 00:34:58,040 So these pastors said, we're going to come together, we're going to pray and seek God's 442 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:00,720 counsel what to do. 443 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:07,280 In the middle of this prayer meeting, one small African man, he was no bigger than this. 444 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:08,280 Well, he might have been. 445 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,120 He seemed small. 446 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:21,520 He just stood there and he just prayed something like this, Oh Father, have your way. 447 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,200 Just have your way. 448 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:30,560 And all of a sudden, there was like a gentle breeze just blew in this building that was 449 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,520 closed off. 450 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:35,440 This gentle breeze just blew. 451 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:43,080 And in this breeze, there was a presence, a presence of God. 452 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:50,160 And as this breeze blew, I would say through us, because it didn't feel like it was blowing 453 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:56,400 around us, we felt so energized. 454 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,880 So so energized. 455 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:06,640 And after that breeze, there was a supernatural mist that appeared in that meeting. 456 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:14,280 Well, let me tell you, the conversation had changed from, are we going to have that meeting 457 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:18,540 to we can't wait to get into that meeting. 458 00:36:18,540 --> 00:36:20,900 It just transformed us. 459 00:36:20,900 --> 00:36:21,900 So what am I saying? 460 00:36:21,900 --> 00:36:29,680 I'm saying this, that God's presence, when we position ourselves to be touched by God 461 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:34,560 and his presence, it makes a big difference in our life. 462 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:42,360 Then as we began to pray in that atmosphere, in that relational atmosphere with God, the 463 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:43,880 heavens opened up. 464 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,280 It was, it was something else. 465 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:54,240 So let me tell you, the next day we had the crusade meetings, my Lord, I will never forget 466 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:58,500 what I experienced and saw those next meetings. 467 00:36:58,500 --> 00:37:01,560 The amount of salvation was awesome. 468 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:07,680 The amount of deliverances were just something that you would not imagine. 469 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:13,760 The people that came to be filled with the Holy Ghost were in the hundreds, and yet no 470 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:16,180 one got to pray for them. 471 00:37:16,180 --> 00:37:22,440 Just at one time, you saw that miscome back, and as it went over all of these people, they 472 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:28,080 were simultaneously speaking in tongues, falling on the ground, weeping and crying out for 473 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:29,280 mercy. 474 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:36,400 It was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever, ever had in God. 475 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:40,040 You see, God is real. 476 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:46,040 Sometimes we can be so focused on the mountain or on the problem of what we are facing, and 477 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,360 it can be a very real thing. 478 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:57,920 Some of us are believing God for such breakthrough that in the natural we know it is not possible. 479 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:02,120 But we're holding onto God because his word says that all things are possible to them 480 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,960 who believe, that with God all things are possible. 481 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:10,280 So just for one moment, just grab hold of and bring it before your remembrance right 482 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,920 now what you're believing God for. 483 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:15,920 A breakthrough. 484 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,640 What is it? 485 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:20,600 What is it? 486 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:23,240 What is that thing now that you're believing for? 487 00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:25,000 Now let me ask another question. 488 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:29,400 Has it discouraged you at times thinking it'll never happen? 489 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:34,040 I'm sure the answer would be yes. 490 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:40,400 And has there ever been a time when we think about it, we go, it's too hard, I'm probably 491 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,840 just better investing into something else. 492 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:47,640 I want to let you know something. 493 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:55,840 Take that problem, take that burden, take that obstacle with you into a room when Jesus 494 00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:59,880 said go into that secret place and take it with you. 495 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:01,520 Now you can't physically grab it. 496 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,960 I'm using this metaphorically. 497 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:11,520 Take it with you in that room with the awareness that there is nothing impossible for my God 498 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:12,520 to do. 499 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:14,520 There's nothing impossible for your God to do. 500 00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:18,640 There's nothing impossible. 501 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:21,800 He can do it. 502 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:30,500 So what we do is, God, I'm coming to you and I'm going to come every night however long 503 00:39:30,500 --> 00:39:34,340 it takes till I see that breakthrough. 504 00:39:34,340 --> 00:39:40,120 But I'm going to be focusing on the alive, living God that you, your great mercy and 505 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:46,520 your greatness that's been given to me so freely in Christ Jesus that I can stand before 506 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:49,960 a holy God because of Jesus. 507 00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:55,200 So then bring your request, whatever your mountain has been, whatever you're believing 508 00:39:55,200 --> 00:40:05,120 God for, bring it and present it before God relationally. 509 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:12,160 Bring it before Him knowing that you have every right to be there before a holy God 510 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:17,080 and you have every right to make your request be made known to Him. 511 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:18,920 You have every right. 512 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,440 It's relational. 513 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:25,840 And keep doing it and keep doing it and keep doing it. 514 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:27,120 And I'll tell you what will happen. 515 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:35,280 I guarantee this will happen as at some point during this duration of you keep going in, 516 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:39,160 keep going in and keep going in and keep presenting it to God. 517 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:42,560 At one point something is going to change. 518 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:48,240 At one point God is going to move so dramatically in that prayer meeting that you're having 519 00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:55,000 with God in that secret place that God begins to give wisdom, He begins to give strategies, 520 00:40:55,000 --> 00:41:02,400 that God begins to move, that we experience God in this really incredible way that when 521 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:08,000 we walk out we could be like Moses that I have been in the presence of God. 522 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:09,760 We don't say that with pride. 523 00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:12,380 We say that as a matter of fact. 524 00:41:12,380 --> 00:41:18,820 We are in a covenant with God through Jesus Christ that we have been told to come boldly 525 00:41:18,820 --> 00:41:21,700 to the throne of grace. 526 00:41:21,700 --> 00:41:23,040 Don't come timidly. 527 00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:26,840 Don't come because oh I don't know if God will really even want me there. 528 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,360 He wants you there. 529 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:30,360 God wants you there. 530 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:31,360 Jesus paid the price. 531 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:38,120 He opened the door for you, just you and God to be alone and to present your case to Him 532 00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:42,480 whatever it may be and just really pour out your heart to God. 533 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:48,880 Can I share with you as I close this morning, that's my first one by the way. 534 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:52,140 I thought I'd beat you to it Keith. 535 00:41:52,140 --> 00:41:58,440 You know traditionally what we can do as Christians, come boldly to the throne of grace that it's 536 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:03,500 there that I believe is how you find help and grace and mercy in a time of need. 537 00:42:03,500 --> 00:42:08,780 But it says to come boldly, it doesn't say to come timidly or sheepishly. 538 00:42:08,780 --> 00:42:13,680 So if you can use this imagery that our problem is like a backpack. 539 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,480 We're carrying this problem in a backpack all the time right? 540 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:18,940 And we feel the weight of it. 541 00:42:18,940 --> 00:42:20,760 We feel the burden of it. 542 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:24,100 And we're always aware and conscious of this backpack. 543 00:42:24,100 --> 00:42:28,640 And so I'm going to go as a good Christian into prayer. 544 00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:32,580 I'm going to go and attempt to go into the presence of God. 545 00:42:32,580 --> 00:42:42,160 And as we attempt to go in, we take the backpack off, we put it down outside, we go inside. 546 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:45,800 Oh God, how wonderful you are. 547 00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:48,000 How glorious you are. 548 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:52,480 And even use a bit of old King James English if you like. 549 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:57,680 Oh, thou art the greatest. 550 00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:03,720 You know, and have a religious experience with God. 551 00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:07,120 We go, I've done my duty and I did mention it to God. 552 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:11,080 It's got a bit of a problem with, you know, whatever. 553 00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:16,040 And if you can do something, it would really be good. 554 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:18,160 Okay, bye. 555 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:26,640 Close the door, pick up the backpack, put it back on and start doing life again. 556 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,040 You know what God wants? 557 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:36,800 Relationally, with that backpack, with all our problems and burdens and sins, take that 558 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:39,560 backpack and say, no, you're staying on. 559 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:43,360 I'm taking you into the presence of God. 560 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:49,200 That's what it means to come boldly, to come boldly, unashamedly knowing that you have 561 00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:55,440 the right to be there regardless of what situation or position you might be in, physically, 562 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:57,400 morally, spiritually, whatever. 563 00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:00,920 Jesus makes it clear in His teaching as well. 564 00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:03,040 Come, come. 565 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:06,080 He gave an invitation. 566 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:12,040 So we come with this baggage, undo it in the presence of God. 567 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:15,080 You're getting the picture here? 568 00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:23,160 Unzip it, shake it all out before God and begin to talk with God and just, you know, 569 00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:25,160 God already knows. 570 00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:30,360 But do it just, you know, we're communicating, we're praying, we're in relationship with 571 00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:36,560 God and we're talking, we're bringing real issues to a real living God. 572 00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:43,240 So we're bringing it to Him and then we have that moment with God. 573 00:44:43,240 --> 00:44:48,120 One thing we don't do, we don't pack it all back in the bag and then put it on saying, 574 00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:52,440 that was awesome, Lord, and then go home with it. 575 00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:54,760 Leave it there. 576 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:58,080 You've heard it said many times, leave it at the foot of the cross. 577 00:44:58,080 --> 00:44:59,080 Leave it. 578 00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:02,040 Don't take it with you. 579 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:06,080 Cast all your cares upon the Lord for He cares for you. 580 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:07,080 Casting it. 581 00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:12,240 I remember one day I had a brand new lure that cost, block your ears, darling. 582 00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:18,080 It was about $40 and they guarantee you it'll catch whatever. 583 00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:19,080 It's a big lie. 584 00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:20,080 It's not true. 585 00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:23,800 Don't believe anything they say about that. 586 00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:34,920 And I rigged it up and I wanted to cast it really far and I went, and I looked and the 587 00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:39,400 strings all loose and it's going. 588 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:47,340 There goes $40. 589 00:45:47,340 --> 00:45:54,560 What I want to emphasize the point of this is I cast it with everything that I had so 590 00:45:54,560 --> 00:46:00,280 much that I don't think it would have been the knot. 591 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:03,680 Come on, no fisherman admits that they're not failed. 592 00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:05,220 Is that right, fisherman? 593 00:46:05,220 --> 00:46:07,160 How many fishermen do we have here today? 594 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:09,200 How many people that like fishing here today? 595 00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:11,160 How many people that don't like fishing here today? 596 00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:13,360 You're in the wrong church. 597 00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:20,120 Honestly, you made a big mistake coming here today. 598 00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:29,400 When we cast our burden onto the Lord, it's everything you've got to... 599 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:34,440 And hopefully the line will snap and you don't retrieve it back. 600 00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:42,160 Because sometimes we can cast our burden to the Lord and think, I wonder how it's going 601 00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:44,480 so we wind it in to check. 602 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:48,440 Oh, it's still there. 603 00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:54,440 Cast it out again, wind it back in, it's still there. 604 00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:59,560 Cast it, cut the line, pack up your stuff and go home. 605 00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:01,120 Leave it. 606 00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:03,440 Don't take it back home with you. 607 00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:06,420 Don't take it out of the throne of grace. 608 00:47:06,420 --> 00:47:07,920 Leave it there. 609 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:12,200 Relationally, we're allowed to be there, God wants us to be there. 610 00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:19,920 Oh, church, there's so much in this that I just really want you to take this home, that 611 00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:22,200 God is alive. 612 00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:26,680 He's real and He wants you to experience Him. 613 00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:30,320 He wants you to encounter Him. 614 00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:36,800 God's not mad at you per se. 615 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:42,280 You might think, well, I don't think I should go do that because God will probably strike 616 00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:43,280 me dead. 617 00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:52,000 Can I say that someone took that punishment for you so that you could be with God and 618 00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:55,580 His name is Jesus? 619 00:47:55,580 --> 00:48:00,980 Maybe you're here today that you struggle with guilt and shame and as a Christian or 620 00:48:00,980 --> 00:48:02,320 maybe not even being a Christian. 621 00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:07,120 I want to let you know today that Jesus is your answer. 622 00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:08,200 There is no other answer. 623 00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:10,400 It's only Him, it's Jesus. 624 00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:16,080 And if you truly want to receive Christ, the forgiveness of sin, you're in the right place, 625 00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:22,260 whether you're a fisherman or not, but you'd be in the right place. 626 00:48:22,260 --> 00:48:23,760 Thank you for joining us. 627 00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:26,520 We pray God's richest blessing on your life. 628 00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:31,080 If you haven't already, make sure to join us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 629 00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:34,760 You can also find us at LoganCityChristianChurch.com. 630 00:48:34,760 --> 00:49:01,760 See you next week.