WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.259 Good morning, church family. It is seriously 00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:07.320 so exciting to be in front of you and just thank 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:09.339 you guys for all the encouragement and prayers. 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:11.980 They've just been such an encouragement to me. 00:00:12.119 --> 00:00:14.740 So yeah, good morning. Welcome. And also, good 00:00:14.740 --> 00:00:16.980 morning and welcome to any guests that we have 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:19.940 here today. It's holiday seasons. And just so 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:23.140 you know, obviously, I am not an elder here at 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:27.460 Oak Hill. But they approached me and gave me 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:30.120 this opportunity to preach, which I'm Super thankful 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:33.920 for. And finally, in the back, we say welcome 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.799 and good morning to the acorns back there. Do 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:38.979 I still have you guys? Are you already coloring 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:42.899 and eating snacks back there? So before I start, 00:00:42.979 --> 00:00:45.600 good job singing, guys, as well. Let me ask you 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:47.780 a question. Did you guys get some good gifts 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:51.280 this Christmas? Some cool things, yeah? Or maybe 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:55.439 not some cool things like socks or clothes that 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:57.420 as you get older you will come to appreciate? 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:01.420 Well, let me ask you, did you guys say thank 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:03.659 you to your parents when they gave you those 00:01:03.659 --> 00:01:06.900 gifts? Yeah, nice. Yeah, just like you should, 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:09.359 right? Thank you for the gifts that your parents 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:12.560 are giving to you. And really, there's so many 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:14.560 things that your parents do for you that you 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.159 can thank them for. The food that they provide, 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.260 inviting and hosting family and friends over 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:23.370 the holidays. Acorns, what if I told you that 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:25.689 maybe you've never thanked your parents for the 00:01:25.689 --> 00:01:29.269 most important thing that they do for you? And 00:01:29.269 --> 00:01:31.569 what is that? Have you ever, acorns, have you 00:01:31.569 --> 00:01:34.269 ever thanked your parents for praying for you? 00:01:34.670 --> 00:01:37.230 Have you ever said, mom, thank you for the ways 00:01:37.230 --> 00:01:39.170 that you prayed for my salvation, the ways that 00:01:39.170 --> 00:01:42.030 you prayed that I would grow up in wisdom and 00:01:42.030 --> 00:01:46.760 understanding? And even thank you for the ways 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:48.760 that you prayed that you would be a good parent 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:51.540 to me. Man, that would mean so much to your parents 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:53.939 if you thanked them for praying. And even for 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:56.739 us older, have we thanked our parents for praying 00:01:56.739 --> 00:01:59.420 for us as we've grown up? It's just something 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:02.280 that maybe we don't think about, but it is really 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.620 one of the most important things that our parents 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:10.900 have done for us. So obviously today, The message 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:15.479 is about prayer. I had a class on prayer recently, 00:02:15.580 --> 00:02:18.500 and while it wasn't the most academic or structured 00:02:18.500 --> 00:02:21.479 class in my schooling, it was easily one of my 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:24.240 favorites of just... had me thinking a lot about 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:27.599 prayer, convicting me about prayer, and also 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:30.080 encouraging and exciting me about prayer. So 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:32.539 I hope this morning to bring that and kind of 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:35.840 pass some of that along to you guys. And so there's 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:37.919 so many different ways and angles that you could 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:40.060 go about talking about prayer. So I want to just 00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:42.860 up front get right to the point with my thesis, 00:02:42.939 --> 00:02:45.580 what I want you guys to understand, what I want 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:48.199 you to take away, what I hope to persuade you 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:52.020 of. And that is this, that you ought to form 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:55.439 the biblical conviction that prayer is a vital 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:59.759 means of grace in the Christian life. And so 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:01.900 what do I mean by that? Well, as I go through 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:03.860 and explain, I hope that you'll really understand 00:03:03.860 --> 00:03:05.819 what I'm saying here and the importance of it. 00:03:07.180 --> 00:03:09.599 And so first we'll just kind of break it up and 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:13.139 say, initially, you ought to form the biblical 00:03:13.139 --> 00:03:16.159 conviction. And as Jeff just prayed, right, the 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:18.780 new year is upon us. It's just around the corner. 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:22.159 And this is a time of reflecting on what just 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:24.580 happened. And even maybe for some of us, some 00:03:24.580 --> 00:03:27.879 of you like doing New Year's resolutions or maybe 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:30.300 just goals, thinking about what did I do well 00:03:30.300 --> 00:03:33.180 last year? What didn't I do well last year? And 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:36.039 so the question comes to mind, what makes a habit 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:38.569 stick? What makes a new year's resolution stick, 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:41.590 right? You have people coming into the gym January 00:03:41.590 --> 00:03:44.030 and it's packed. And then as time goes, it kind 00:03:44.030 --> 00:03:46.550 of fizzles out, right? And less and less people. 00:03:46.629 --> 00:03:48.270 And then you just have the regular crowd. So 00:03:48.270 --> 00:03:51.789 what really causes a habit to stick? And I think. 00:03:52.409 --> 00:03:55.689 First, it's what we believe, what we think is 00:03:55.689 --> 00:03:58.729 what really propels us to act. And so thinking 00:03:58.729 --> 00:04:01.050 about prayer and how we can build better habits 00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:04.509 of prayer is initially the first step is to build 00:04:04.509 --> 00:04:09.969 a biblical conviction about prayer. And the analogy 00:04:09.969 --> 00:04:12.310 that I kept thinking of along with the gym is 00:04:12.310 --> 00:04:17.170 health fads. I remember growing up, the one that 00:04:17.170 --> 00:04:20.029 we got into for a little bit was juicers. I don't 00:04:20.029 --> 00:04:21.850 know if you guys remember that, but juicers, 00:04:21.850 --> 00:04:23.670 I feel like there was just a time when they were 00:04:23.670 --> 00:04:27.050 just a big thing, right? My mom got one and put 00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:30.189 a bunch of carrots and other cursed fruit of 00:04:30.189 --> 00:04:33.610 the earth just in there, and it was just nasty. 00:04:33.629 --> 00:04:36.529 I'm sure it was probably good for me, right? 00:04:36.629 --> 00:04:39.069 But mom, if you're listening, thank you for getting 00:04:39.069 --> 00:04:43.750 over that health fad quickly, because man. But 00:04:43.750 --> 00:04:45.730 right, with these health fads, maybe it's a commercial 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:47.750 or a YouTube video or something, but there's 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:50.310 someone trying to sell you on this health fad. 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:53.920 get this juicer. It's so easy. It's cheap. And 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.339 here are all the nutrition benefits. I sleep 00:04:56.339 --> 00:04:58.339 better. Maybe they have the testimony of someone. 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:01.040 Oh, before this, I was all tired and didn't have 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.620 energy. And now that I'm doing this and all this 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:06.579 information to try to get you to believe that 00:05:06.579 --> 00:05:09.199 this juicer is gonna be useful, is gonna be helpful 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:12.120 for you. And that's kind of my goal this morning 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:14.959 is to just like, let's look at scripture and 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:18.199 what God says about prayer and say, man, be convinced 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:21.120 that that this is worth my time, right? That, 00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:23.560 oh, is it worth it to buy this juicer and use 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:27.079 it? Well, yes, it is worth it to pray, to spend 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:31.319 time in prayer. Now, of course, the analogy falls 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:33.779 apart because health fads are constantly changing, 00:05:33.939 --> 00:05:36.860 constantly going around, but God's word is immutable 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:39.740 and it's inerrant, meaning it never changes and 00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:42.420 there's no mistakes in it at all. So we can build 00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:46.480 our thinking and our habits around God's word. 00:05:47.339 --> 00:05:49.579 Now, that being said, the two analogies that 00:05:49.579 --> 00:05:52.420 I've brought up so far of going to the gym and 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:55.839 health fads are fitting for prayer because prayer 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.970 is hard work. Prayer is really hard work. And 00:05:58.970 --> 00:06:03.269 Martin Luther, who was, if you know about him, 00:06:03.290 --> 00:06:06.470 before he was saved, he was a monk that was so 00:06:06.470 --> 00:06:09.470 like asceticism to the max, right? Punishing 00:06:09.470 --> 00:06:13.129 himself, just constantly self -disciplined. And 00:06:13.129 --> 00:06:15.790 that changed when he became a Christian. But 00:06:15.790 --> 00:06:18.170 at the same time, he was still such a disciplined 00:06:18.170 --> 00:06:21.920 man of prayer. And listen to what he said about 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:25.240 prayer. He says that prayer is the hardest work 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:29.120 of all and a labor above all labors. And that's 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.240 coming from someone who probably prayed hours 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:36.079 daily. And so yeah, prayer is difficult work. 00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:39.480 And it's something that when we hear about prayer, 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.839 all Christians should be like, man, I ought to 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:45.220 pray more than I do, right? Like if you found 00:06:45.220 --> 00:06:47.500 a Christian that says, oh, I prayed enough last 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:50.180 year. You'd be like, you know, really? Like, 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:53.019 do you understand? All of us can pray more. So 00:06:53.019 --> 00:06:55.920 just wherever you are, if you don't pray a lot, 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:57.579 and I think there is a lot of prayerlessness 00:06:57.579 --> 00:06:59.680 in the church, or if you have good habits of 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.319 prayer, yeah, I hope that this message is encouraging 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:07.519 to you. So that's kind of the first part, that 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:09.579 first chunk of forming a biblical conviction. 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:12.500 about prayer and to kind of before getting into 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:15.399 the next part, let's just do that. And let's 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:18.480 look at explicit and implicit scriptures about 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:20.860 prayer and just see what the Bible says. And 00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:23.519 there's so much to talk about, but I'm just going 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:29.519 to kind of rapid fire through these. Oh, and 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:31.339 I can't read it back there and I don't have it 00:07:31.339 --> 00:07:34.139 written down. So I'm going to turn around. So 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:36.160 explicit scripture on prayer and there's just 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:39.199 so much here. And the first one, I mean, we should 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:41.660 all know this. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:45.319 18, rejoice always, pray without ceasing and 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:47.560 everything gives thanks. And then for this is 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:51.180 God's will for you in Christ Jesus. It's almost 00:07:51.180 --> 00:07:53.779 like we could just stop there, right? In an ideal 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:55.939 world, if we weren't struggling with sin, we 00:07:55.939 --> 00:07:57.939 could just stop there and pray continuously. 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:00.540 This is God's will for your life. I mean, it's 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:04.230 just so clear. But just as Jesus said when he 00:08:04.230 --> 00:08:06.430 was praying in the garden of Gethsemane and the 00:08:06.430 --> 00:08:09.069 disciples are falling asleep, right? The spirit 00:08:09.069 --> 00:08:11.649 is willing. Our spirits love to pray, but the 00:08:11.649 --> 00:08:15.069 flesh is so weak. It's so weak. So let's keep 00:08:15.069 --> 00:08:17.269 going and looking at more of these. And Philippians 00:08:17.269 --> 00:08:20.370 4, 6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything 00:08:20.370 --> 00:08:22.550 by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, 00:08:22.629 --> 00:08:25.589 let your requests be made known to God. Also 00:08:25.589 --> 00:08:29.139 a very familiar one. There's so much more. Colossians 00:08:29.139 --> 00:08:32.139 4 .2, devote yourself to prayer, keeping alert 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:34.620 within the attitude of thanksgiving. We're devoted 00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:38.200 to prayer, Romans 12 .12, with all prayer and 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:41.980 petition at all times in the spirit. Ephesians 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:45.039 6 .18, 1 Timothy 2 .8, therefore I want the men 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:49.179 in every place to pray. more now he was telling 00:08:49.179 --> 00:08:51.460 them a parable to show them at all times they 00:08:51.460 --> 00:08:54.240 ought to pray and not lose heart all times they're 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:57.159 from the gospel of luke chapter 18 verse 1 and 00:08:57.159 --> 00:08:59.399 then finally this one i think is really interesting 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:02.919 because um we might often see the command to 00:09:02.919 --> 00:09:05.419 pray in scripture as kind of an encouragement 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:08.039 like yeah we should pray always but look at what 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:11.779 samuel says about prayer here he says in first 00:09:11.779 --> 00:09:16.600 samuel 12 23 he says moreover as for me Far be 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:19.240 it from me that I should sin against the Lord 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:23.080 by ceasing to pray to you, but I will instruct 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:25.379 you in the good and right way. And wow, have 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:27.500 you ever thought about that, that not praying 00:09:27.500 --> 00:09:31.340 is actually kind of a sin of omission? We should 00:09:31.340 --> 00:09:34.080 be communing. We should be having an ongoing 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.440 prayerful relationship with God. And Samuel is 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.200 saying, I would be sinning against the Lord if 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:42.220 I'm just living in my own way. And so, yeah, 00:09:42.259 --> 00:09:44.399 that's kind of shocking, right, to think about 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:46.860 that. that this is serious and it's actually 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:50.179 a sin, right, to not be praying. And wow, that's 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:53.220 kind of sobering. And just again, realize, wow, 00:09:53.379 --> 00:09:55.720 how much of a sinner I am and how much I'm in 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:59.190 need of God's grace. So yeah, that's the end 00:09:59.190 --> 00:10:01.529 of the explicit scripture that is just specifically 00:10:01.529 --> 00:10:03.710 like prayers in there. It's talking about prayer. 00:10:03.809 --> 00:10:06.970 And I also wanna look now at an implicit scripture 00:10:06.970 --> 00:10:09.710 about prayer. And what I mean by that is it doesn't 00:10:09.710 --> 00:10:12.269 mention prayer, but I think prayer is implied 00:10:12.269 --> 00:10:16.580 in that scripture. And so... First off, I mean, 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:18.559 this should also be a familiar passage. John 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:23.120 15, abide in me and I in you, and the branches 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:25.720 cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:28.200 in the vine. So in this whole concept, we can 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.679 do nothing. We can do no spiritual good. We can 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:35.720 bear no spiritual fruit apart from abiding in 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.600 Christ. How do we do that? without prayer, separate 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:40.980 from prayer. Also things like whether then you 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:43.600 eat or drink or whatever you do, do all things 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.220 to the glory of God. And what does that mean? 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.320 How do we do all things to the glory of God? 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:50.720 Isn't that such a, like the purpose of our life 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.000 now after we're saved? Well, I think 1 Timothy 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.500 4, 4 through 5 kind of helps explain how we do 00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:58.659 that. It says, for everything created by God 00:10:58.659 --> 00:11:01.620 is good and nothing is to be rejected if it was 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:04.700 received with gratitude. And then this part specifically, 00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:09.000 For it is sanctified, made holy, made acceptable, 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.419 presentable to God by the means of the word of 00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:15.820 God and prayer. So all things that God gives 00:11:15.820 --> 00:11:18.600 us are good and they're made holy, they're sanctified 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:21.860 by prayer and then connecting that to doing all 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:25.190 things to the glory of God is just. Prayer is 00:11:25.190 --> 00:11:27.450 implied there. And then three last ones. If we 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:29.789 confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous 00:11:29.789 --> 00:11:33.129 to forgive us our sins. Colossians 3, 2, set 00:11:33.129 --> 00:11:35.769 your minds on the things above, which that's 00:11:35.769 --> 00:11:38.190 just kind of one verse that is such a theme in 00:11:38.190 --> 00:11:41.230 scripture of Romans 12, renewing of your mind. 00:11:41.289 --> 00:11:43.330 Ephesians 4, put off the old man, be renewed 00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:46.289 in your mind. And then Psalms 1, 2, his delight 00:11:46.289 --> 00:11:48.470 is in the law of the Lord and in his law, he 00:11:48.470 --> 00:11:51.029 meditates. day and night. So there's all these 00:11:51.029 --> 00:11:54.029 things, abiding in Christ, confessing our sins, 00:11:54.169 --> 00:11:57.269 meditating on God's word, being renewed in our 00:11:57.269 --> 00:12:01.149 minds, that they're not a one -to -one correspondence 00:12:01.149 --> 00:12:03.909 to prayer, right? It's not just like, if I prayed, 00:12:03.990 --> 00:12:06.330 I've abided in Christ. But how could you say 00:12:06.330 --> 00:12:08.909 that you've done any of these things without 00:12:08.909 --> 00:12:11.090 prayer, right? How could a Christian say, oh, 00:12:11.110 --> 00:12:14.460 I'm abiding in Christ, but... But yeah, I don't 00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:16.379 really pray that often. Or how could you say 00:12:16.379 --> 00:12:18.659 I'm being renewed in the spirit of my mind, but 00:12:18.659 --> 00:12:22.539 I'm never really communing with God or I'm confessing 00:12:22.539 --> 00:12:24.620 my sins or all these things is prayer is just 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:27.879 such a means of grace. And that's getting into 00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:31.980 our second point, which is that prayer is a means 00:12:31.980 --> 00:12:36.220 of grace. I don't know if you guys have heard 00:12:36.220 --> 00:12:38.240 this language before. I think it's really helpful 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:41.679 and I wanna explain it this morning. And it might 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.659 be initially kind of scary to us as we see means 00:12:44.659 --> 00:12:47.720 of grace and think, well, don't we already have 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:51.100 God's grace? Aren't we already saved by faith? 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:55.679 Yeah, through grace, we already have that. Well, 00:12:55.820 --> 00:12:57.080 yeah, we're kind of scared of that because of 00:12:57.080 --> 00:12:59.940 the Roman Catholic sacraments, right? Of where 00:12:59.940 --> 00:13:02.139 they say, you know, you're okay with God and 00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:05.159 then you sin and you actually, you go down and 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:08.740 you need to get God's grace to go back up and 00:13:08.740 --> 00:13:11.200 be right with him again. And that is not what 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:13.559 this is talking about. This is not justifying 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:17.720 grace of us standing before God, but it is still 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:19.840 grace. The language of grace is still useful. 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:23.230 And let me... try to explain why. So just first 00:13:23.230 --> 00:13:27.529 off, initially, like we, yeah, we are justified. 00:13:27.690 --> 00:13:30.330 Our standing before God is right. And think of 00:13:30.330 --> 00:13:34.509 Romans 8, 1. Therefore, there is now no condemnation 00:13:34.509 --> 00:13:38.679 for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's just 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.120 so clear. There's no condemnation anymore for 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.340 those who in Christ Jesus and also Romans 8 .33 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:49.279 says that who can bring a charge against God's 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.320 elect for it is God who justifies, right? It's 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:55.220 so clear. But then think about back to Romans 00:13:55.220 --> 00:13:58.940 8 .1. There is therefore no condemnation for 00:13:58.940 --> 00:14:03.139 who? For everybody? No, for those who are. in 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:05.740 Christ Jesus, for those who are unified with 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:08.240 Christ Jesus. And think of the context of Romans, 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.940 of just Romans 6, we are unified in his death, 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:14.639 burial, and resurrection. And that's what saves 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:17.039 us, right? We're unified with him so that when 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.379 we stand before God on judgment day, he sees 00:14:20.379 --> 00:14:23.279 Christ's life instead of ours. And that's what 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.480 allows him to accept us. So we have union with 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:30.309 Christ. But then another familiar passage, and 00:14:30.309 --> 00:14:31.789 this is kind of the framework. So over there, 00:14:31.929 --> 00:14:34.990 Romans 8, 1, and being in Christ, our union with 00:14:34.990 --> 00:14:38.429 him, we're justified. And that's set, past tense, 00:14:38.509 --> 00:14:43.129 it's done. That is justification. But then something 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:46.710 like Romans 8, 28 through 29, for all things 00:14:46.710 --> 00:14:49.450 work together for good for those who love Christ 00:14:49.450 --> 00:14:52.700 Jesus. And what is the good, right? This verse 00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:54.659 should never be taken out of context. And it 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:57.399 so often is. It's not, what is working together 00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:00.120 for your good? Well, verse 29, for those whom 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:04.980 he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed into 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:08.799 the image of Christ. So on one hand, we're already 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:11.340 identified with Christ, but on the other, are 00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:14.039 we like Christ? Are we just like him? It's like, 00:15:14.059 --> 00:15:17.610 no, right? We're so far away from him. from being 00:15:17.610 --> 00:15:21.830 like him rather. And he predestined us to be 00:15:21.830 --> 00:15:25.870 slowly by degrees conformed into Christ's image. 00:15:26.009 --> 00:15:28.629 So at the same time, we're justified and we're 00:15:28.629 --> 00:15:30.990 growing in sanctification. And so here's really 00:15:30.990 --> 00:15:34.809 the point of all that. And that should be familiar 00:15:34.809 --> 00:15:38.029 to you, but why would we call it a means of grace? 00:15:38.049 --> 00:15:41.909 Why is prayer a means of grace? Are we changed? 00:15:42.029 --> 00:15:45.629 Are we conformed into God's image after we're 00:15:45.629 --> 00:15:49.490 saved by our own strength? It's like, no, absolutely 00:15:49.490 --> 00:15:52.490 not, right? We're conformed into God's image 00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:56.950 by his supernatural working in us and his grace 00:15:56.950 --> 00:16:00.419 being poured out into us. And so that's why it's 00:16:00.419 --> 00:16:03.019 still grace. That's why it's a means of grace 00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:06.120 is we still need God's help to grow in these 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:08.799 ways. And then means of grace is God has given 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.960 us specific ways that his grace is kind of poured 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.159 out on us. And think of this example. If there 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:19.159 was a Christian who never went to church, never 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:23.019 read his Bible, he never prayed, is he going 00:16:23.019 --> 00:16:25.639 to be growing in godliness and sanctification? 00:16:26.460 --> 00:16:28.700 It's like, you might even question, is he really 00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:31.700 a Christian in the first place? God has just 00:16:31.700 --> 00:16:36.059 given us means by which he uses to grow us spiritually 00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:40.299 and by which to conform us into the image of 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:43.000 Christ. And prayer, I think, is just one of the 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:48.440 most foundational ones. And just some quotes, 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:50.480 I should have put these on screen, but you'll 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.440 just have to listen. Thinking through this, the 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:57.120 Westminster Confession wrote this. It's answer 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.419 to question 88, and it says, the outward and 00:17:00.419 --> 00:17:04.880 ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:09.440 us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:12.920 especially the word, sacraments, and prayer. 00:17:13.930 --> 00:17:16.349 So let me say that again, the outward and ordinary, 00:17:16.609 --> 00:17:18.509 right? There's nothing super special about it, 00:17:18.509 --> 00:17:20.589 just coming to church. That's just something 00:17:20.589 --> 00:17:22.509 you do, praying. That's just something you do, 00:17:22.549 --> 00:17:24.450 reading your Bible, right? We're not looking 00:17:24.450 --> 00:17:27.650 for some mystical experience. It's outward, it's 00:17:27.650 --> 00:17:31.630 an ordinary thing we do, but there are the means 00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:36.170 whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits 00:17:36.170 --> 00:17:40.599 of redemption. And that's just so good, the benefits 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:42.700 of the salvation that we've received. And I'll 00:17:42.700 --> 00:17:45.740 get to an example of that here soon. But then 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:48.960 also Calvin wrote about this, Calvin's Institutes, 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:53.680 Book 3, Chapter 7, Section 1. or chapter 12, 00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:55.700 sorry. And you can, if you're curious, I can 00:17:55.700 --> 00:17:57.819 give you these later. But Calvin says, it is 00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:01.279 by the benefit of prayer that we reach those 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:04.380 riches which the gospel of the Lord shows us. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:07.779 And then similarly, Luther also said, we should 00:18:07.779 --> 00:18:11.700 know that God insists on our praying to him, 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.640 not because he needs our prayers, but because 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:18.619 he wants to give us grace and blessing through 00:18:18.619 --> 00:18:23.269 those prayers. So to go back to a biblical example 00:18:23.269 --> 00:18:28.829 of this is think again of Romans 5 .1, which 00:18:28.829 --> 00:18:34.650 says, having been justified, so past tense, we 00:18:34.650 --> 00:18:38.549 now presently have peace with God through our 00:18:38.549 --> 00:18:42.609 Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God, right? 00:18:42.690 --> 00:18:47.410 And that's the justification area over here that 00:18:47.410 --> 00:18:50.920 if we're saved, we have peace with God. But then 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:54.180 compare that to Philippians 4 that we looked 00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:56.700 at earlier, which says Philippians 4, 6 through 00:18:56.700 --> 00:18:59.359 7, be anxious for nothing, but in everything 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:02.140 by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:05.289 let your requests be made known to God. What 00:19:05.289 --> 00:19:09.450 does God do if we obey that and we take our worries 00:19:09.450 --> 00:19:12.890 to him and we pray to him? He says, and the peace 00:19:12.890 --> 00:19:16.529 of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will 00:19:16.529 --> 00:19:19.410 guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 00:19:19.849 --> 00:19:22.890 So you see, we have peace with God, but then 00:19:22.890 --> 00:19:26.069 as the Westminster Confession says, communicates 00:19:26.069 --> 00:19:29.529 the benefits of our redemption, like we can experience 00:19:29.529 --> 00:19:32.869 the peace we should have. feel because we have 00:19:32.869 --> 00:19:36.210 peace with God through the means of coming to 00:19:36.210 --> 00:19:39.230 God and praying and being faithful to pray and 00:19:39.230 --> 00:19:41.890 bring our worries to Him. And that's just the 00:19:41.890 --> 00:19:45.190 ordinary means of grace by which God blesses 00:19:45.190 --> 00:19:47.869 us in our lives. And it's just, yeah, it's just 00:19:47.869 --> 00:19:50.809 so important that we believe that and think through 00:19:50.809 --> 00:19:53.190 that. And because, yeah, again, prayer is difficult. 00:19:54.059 --> 00:19:57.799 But knowing that, man, God has given me this 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:02.299 way to experience the peace of God, right? Who 00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:05.180 doesn't want more peace in their life, right? 00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:08.380 More joy, more thanksgiving in their life. Man, 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:10.519 I wish I was more at peace. I wish I was more 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.299 thankful. God has explained the way to do that 00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:16.500 is he's given us prayer. So just the question, 00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:20.069 do you pray? How much do you pray? And do you 00:20:20.069 --> 00:20:22.190 believe this, that prayer is a means of grace 00:20:22.190 --> 00:20:28.869 that God has given us? So with that, yeah, yeah, 00:20:31.130 --> 00:20:33.769 yeah. Do you believe that? Like the juicer, are 00:20:33.769 --> 00:20:36.430 you buying into it? That this is good for you, 00:20:36.490 --> 00:20:39.150 this is nutritional. Are you saying, yes, okay, 00:20:39.329 --> 00:20:41.549 I'm gonna commit to this, I'm gonna spend time 00:20:41.549 --> 00:20:45.839 in this. Then we'll transition to the third point, 00:20:45.980 --> 00:20:49.099 which is the privilege of prayer. And this is 00:20:49.099 --> 00:20:51.839 a little bit of a break, a little bit different, 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:55.640 kind of just a theological look at what prayer 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:58.660 is that I think is helpful for us thinking just 00:20:58.660 --> 00:21:03.200 about prayer in general. And so let me just ask, 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.960 do you think, does God listen to and answer the 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:13.160 prayers of unbelievers? What do you think? Yes 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:14.660 or no, then that's kind of a tricky question. 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:18.000 But scripture is actually pretty clear about 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:22.420 it that the answer is no. God actually does not 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:26.259 listen to and he does not answer the prayer of 00:21:26.259 --> 00:21:28.599 unbelievers. And so I have a lot of verses here 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:31.740 in Isaiah 115. This one's super clear. It says, 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:35.019 so when you spread out your hands in prayer, 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.920 I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:44.220 you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:48.059 hands are covered in blood. Wow. Well, thinking 00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:50.960 multiplied your prayers, how many times in your 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.519 life could you say, like, I multiplied my prayer 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:55.259 about this? Like, I'm just praying and praying 00:21:55.259 --> 00:21:58.740 and praying. And Israel, God's people, is multiplying 00:21:58.740 --> 00:22:01.380 their prayers. And because their hands are covered 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:04.980 in blood, God says, I will not listen to you. 00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:09.000 Keep going, Jeremiah 11, 10 through 11. This 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:12.079 is a long verse just talking about, How Israel 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:14.539 has broken God's covenants. They've broken God's 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:17.559 law. And there, just at the end of it, in the 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:19.759 quotes, behold, I am bringing disaster on them, 00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:22.279 which they will not be able to escape. Though 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:27.079 they will cry to me, yet I will not listen to 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:31.880 them. Wow, wow. And more, Zechariah 7 .13, just 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:34.740 as we don't listen to God, God says, I will not 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:38.420 listen to you. Here's another one from Ezekiel 00:22:38.420 --> 00:22:41.500 8, 17 through 18. I could read, they cry in my 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:45.240 ears, yet I will not listen to them. And then 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:47.700 here are two that are just really kind of summarize 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:51.220 this. Proverbs 28, 9, he who turns his ear from 00:22:51.220 --> 00:22:55.539 listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination. 00:22:56.539 --> 00:23:02.509 Wow, wow. Yeah, I didn't realize like how serious 00:23:02.509 --> 00:23:06.230 God viewed prayer. Really, even before I started 00:23:06.230 --> 00:23:08.309 looking more into this, but it says, if you don't 00:23:08.309 --> 00:23:11.349 listen to God's law, your prayer. is an abomination 00:23:11.349 --> 00:23:14.490 to God? That's crazy. And Isaiah 59, one through 00:23:14.490 --> 00:23:17.269 two, which this is such just a good, even just 00:23:17.269 --> 00:23:20.390 a verse for evangelism. Behold, the Lord's hand 00:23:20.390 --> 00:23:23.970 is not so short that it cannot save, nor is his 00:23:23.970 --> 00:23:26.309 ear so dull that it cannot hear. God's saying, 00:23:26.390 --> 00:23:28.549 my ear isn't dull. I can hear everything. Of 00:23:28.549 --> 00:23:31.410 course he can hear everything. He's God. He's 00:23:31.410 --> 00:23:34.309 omniscient. He knows everything. He's everywhere 00:23:34.309 --> 00:23:37.690 at all times. Yet he says, but your iniquities 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:42.240 have made a separation between you and your God 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:45.839 and your sins have hid his face from you so that 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:51.700 he does not hear. Wow, so this is a serious thing. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.799 And I don't know, like there's a disaster on 00:23:55.799 --> 00:23:58.519 social media, right, that goes up and people 00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:00.279 are always posting, oh, thoughts and prayers, 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:03.349 thoughts and prayers going out. And if they're 00:24:03.349 --> 00:24:05.910 unbelievers and really, if they're praying at 00:24:05.910 --> 00:24:08.009 all in the first place, when they say thoughts 00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:11.670 and prayers, God doesn't listen to those prayers. 00:24:11.750 --> 00:24:14.730 He doesn't hear the prayers of unbelievers. And 00:24:14.730 --> 00:24:17.730 that's kind of shocking. But let me say too, 00:24:17.890 --> 00:24:20.009 when here's a place where I think the rubber 00:24:20.009 --> 00:24:23.450 really meets the road in this is I've heard people 00:24:23.450 --> 00:24:26.369 say, talking about the gospel and saying, and 00:24:26.369 --> 00:24:28.569 they kind of get to a point of like, okay, I 00:24:28.569 --> 00:24:32.910 understand the gospel. I understand God. But 00:24:32.910 --> 00:24:35.849 there was one time when I was at the darkest 00:24:35.849 --> 00:24:39.049 point in my life and I cried out to God and he 00:24:39.049 --> 00:24:42.190 didn't answer me. And so I don't believe in God. 00:24:42.549 --> 00:24:46.329 And you're going like, wow, what do I say to 00:24:46.329 --> 00:24:49.890 them at this point? And actually how useful it 00:24:49.890 --> 00:24:52.250 would be to know and to be able to say like, 00:24:52.289 --> 00:24:56.329 actually, that's exactly what we expect. Unless 00:24:56.329 --> 00:25:00.349 you repent and believe and turn to God. God will 00:25:00.349 --> 00:25:05.390 not listen and not answer your prayers. So unbelievers, 00:25:05.410 --> 00:25:08.430 if you're listening, don't be fooled by thinking 00:25:08.430 --> 00:25:11.089 that God is buddy -buddy with you or that if 00:25:11.089 --> 00:25:13.670 you just are in enough pain and suffering and 00:25:13.670 --> 00:25:16.369 call out that he's just gonna lift you out of 00:25:16.369 --> 00:25:19.190 that if you're not repenting and turning from 00:25:19.190 --> 00:25:22.390 your sin and turning to him. There was a real 00:25:22.390 --> 00:25:25.410 separation between us and God. And I think just 00:25:25.410 --> 00:25:27.430 seeing that, that God does not listen to the 00:25:27.430 --> 00:25:30.890 prayers of unbelievers. is shocking. It's shocking 00:25:30.890 --> 00:25:33.890 to people. And wow, there really is a separation 00:25:33.890 --> 00:25:37.589 between me and God. And you have to repent and 00:25:37.589 --> 00:25:40.890 turn from your sins and turn to God. Because 00:25:40.890 --> 00:25:43.789 God does not listen to the prayers of sinners. 00:25:44.809 --> 00:25:50.269 But, but, Hebrews 4, 14 through 16. Therefore, 00:25:50.349 --> 00:25:53.690 since we have a great high priest who has passed 00:25:53.690 --> 00:25:56.289 through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let 00:25:56.289 --> 00:25:59.450 us hold fast our confession. For we do not have 00:25:59.450 --> 00:26:01.430 a high priest who cannot sympathize with our 00:26:01.430 --> 00:26:03.990 weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all 00:26:03.990 --> 00:26:06.750 things as we are yet without sin. And then here 00:26:06.750 --> 00:26:10.250 it is, this high priestly work of Jesus right 00:26:10.250 --> 00:26:13.430 now. He says, therefore, let us draw near with 00:26:13.430 --> 00:26:18.390 confidence to the throne of grace. And then look 00:26:18.390 --> 00:26:21.609 at this, so that we may receive mercy and find 00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:25.230 grace, means of grace, draw near to the throne 00:26:25.230 --> 00:26:29.089 to help in times of need. Again, prayer as a 00:26:29.089 --> 00:26:31.829 means of grace. But think about this, that God 00:26:31.829 --> 00:26:34.309 would not listen to the prayers of sinners, but 00:26:34.309 --> 00:26:38.329 through the work of Jesus Christ, God delights. 00:26:38.910 --> 00:26:41.970 to hear the prayers of his people. He wants you 00:26:41.970 --> 00:26:45.750 to come boldly to his throne as a son or daughter 00:26:45.750 --> 00:26:49.170 and talk about anything with him. He delights 00:26:49.170 --> 00:26:53.750 in it. He loves it. And I just love how, yeah, 00:26:53.829 --> 00:26:56.430 the high priestly work of Jesus sometimes is 00:26:56.430 --> 00:26:58.809 a little vague to me of he's interceding and 00:26:58.809 --> 00:27:00.730 okay, what does that mean? But this is something 00:27:00.730 --> 00:27:04.549 that is so tangible that God does for us is. 00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:08.019 God would not listen to our prayers before and 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:12.460 now through the work of Christ, he loves to hear 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:15.579 our prayers. He loves to hear the prayers of 00:27:15.579 --> 00:27:19.259 his people. He wants us to come to him. And with 00:27:19.259 --> 00:27:23.079 that, look at this Proverbs 15, eight, the sacrifice 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:25.420 of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, 00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:28.960 but the prayer of the upright is his delight. 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:32.480 He delights in prayer. And then here's just an 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:36.359 amazing, passage from Revelation talking about 00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:39.420 the prayers of the saints. And so a little bit 00:27:39.420 --> 00:27:43.000 of a long section here, but we're getting a picture 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:46.299 of what's happening in heaven at the end of time. 00:27:46.339 --> 00:27:48.680 And look, when he had taken the book, the four 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:51.779 living creatures and 24 elders fell down before 00:27:51.779 --> 00:27:55.009 the lamb. And each one of them is holding a harp 00:27:55.009 --> 00:27:59.109 and a golden bowl full of incense, which are 00:27:59.109 --> 00:28:02.529 the prayers of the saints. And that's chapter 00:28:02.529 --> 00:28:04.509 five. And then later in chapter eight, it says, 00:28:04.549 --> 00:28:07.890 another angel came and stood at the altar holding 00:28:07.890 --> 00:28:10.809 a golden censer and much incense was given to 00:28:10.809 --> 00:28:13.789 him so that he might add it to the prayers of 00:28:13.789 --> 00:28:16.450 all the saints on the golden altar, which was 00:28:16.450 --> 00:28:18.970 before the throne. So picture this, the throne 00:28:18.970 --> 00:28:22.220 of God in heaven and an altar before him. and 00:28:22.220 --> 00:28:24.980 the incense, the prayers of the saints being 00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:29.000 poured out before him. And I think of in Disneyland, 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:31.839 only been there a few times, but I've heard that 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:35.420 they pump the smell of the kitchen out into the 00:28:35.420 --> 00:28:39.059 street, right, to try to get you there. And oh, 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:41.940 yeah, it does smell good. But I've never caved. 00:28:42.019 --> 00:28:45.750 I've never caved. Or maybe you're in the mall, 00:28:45.869 --> 00:28:47.690 right? And there's people there and they wanna 00:28:47.690 --> 00:28:50.069 spray and give you a sample and here, smell this 00:28:50.069 --> 00:28:52.430 to buy it. And so there's different smells for 00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:56.210 different purposes. And here God is the creator 00:28:56.210 --> 00:28:59.549 of all smells, right? The creator of all things. 00:28:59.650 --> 00:29:03.390 And what does he choose? What does he choose 00:29:03.390 --> 00:29:07.269 to burn as a pleasing aroma, a pleasing incense 00:29:07.269 --> 00:29:11.630 before him? He chooses to burn the prayers of 00:29:11.630 --> 00:29:15.859 his saints. He chooses the small, maybe even 00:29:15.859 --> 00:29:21.140 weak prayers of God, help me with this, of God, 00:29:21.220 --> 00:29:24.700 thank you for this. And that is such a delight 00:29:24.700 --> 00:29:28.660 to him. And just, I mean, yeah, just reading 00:29:28.660 --> 00:29:31.140 that and really picturing it and thinking about 00:29:31.140 --> 00:29:36.460 it is just such a beautiful thing. So pray, right? 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.599 Pray, prayer is, there's something spiritually. 00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:44.400 happening when we pray. It's not just a, you 00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:47.140 know, rote kind of, we're just talking, but right, 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:49.660 we're spiritual people, right? And we should 00:29:49.660 --> 00:29:52.180 believe in spiritual things happening. And prayer 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:55.660 is just such a way that God uses to strengthen 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:59.359 us and encourage us spiritually. And just think 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:02.660 of in, even in John four, when God says, or when 00:30:02.660 --> 00:30:05.259 Jesus is talking to the woman and he says, God 00:30:05.259 --> 00:30:08.339 is spirit and he is searching for people to worship 00:30:08.339 --> 00:30:14.130 him in spirit. and truth, right? And then I had 00:30:14.130 --> 00:30:21.750 another verse. Oh yeah, our 1 Corinthians 2, 00:30:21.890 --> 00:30:24.849 talking about how the things of God, the gospel 00:30:24.849 --> 00:30:27.349 even, is something that is spiritually appraised, 00:30:27.349 --> 00:30:30.640 right? And so we are spiritual. And prayer is 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:32.359 just, I don't know, I just think it's cool to 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:35.660 kind of lift the curtain and see what is happening 00:30:35.660 --> 00:30:39.059 in heaven when we pray. And hopefully that is 00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:42.720 just still an encouragement to you to pray. This 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:46.559 is God's, yeah, there's something special about 00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:52.759 prayer. So finally, going on to our last point 00:30:52.759 --> 00:30:57.230 here of, so how do we pray well? How do we pray? 00:30:57.289 --> 00:31:00.650 Yeah, how do we pray well? And I just have a 00:31:00.650 --> 00:31:03.230 simple thing for you that I think is as effective 00:31:03.230 --> 00:31:05.549 as it is simple. And there's just two ingredients 00:31:05.549 --> 00:31:08.890 to praying well. All you need is time and scripture. 00:31:09.950 --> 00:31:11.789 That's it. All you need is time and scripture. 00:31:11.970 --> 00:31:15.569 And let me break it down. Time, we should, praying 00:31:15.569 --> 00:31:17.910 continuously means in whatever we're doing, we 00:31:17.910 --> 00:31:20.410 should be saying things like, Lord, help me with 00:31:20.410 --> 00:31:23.230 this. Lord, thank you for this. But also, as 00:31:23.230 --> 00:31:26.289 Christians, we really should be taking time out 00:31:26.289 --> 00:31:30.430 of our schedule to pray. And I specifically intentionally 00:31:30.430 --> 00:31:33.670 maybe use the word taking because if you just 00:31:33.670 --> 00:31:36.369 say, oh, I'll just see what happens with my day 00:31:36.369 --> 00:31:39.430 and see if I have time to pray, well, prayer 00:31:39.430 --> 00:31:42.509 is gonna slip you by real fast. But if you take 00:31:42.509 --> 00:31:45.490 time to schedule and say this is important enough 00:31:45.490 --> 00:31:48.950 that I actually need to block out time in my 00:31:48.950 --> 00:31:53.009 schedule intentionally, to pray, that is just 00:31:53.009 --> 00:31:55.630 such an important thing for us to do. And in 00:31:55.630 --> 00:31:58.150 whatever way that works for you. For me, I like 00:31:58.150 --> 00:32:01.109 going on walks because I'm so easily distracted. 00:32:01.289 --> 00:32:04.190 Leave everything behind and just going on a walk 00:32:04.190 --> 00:32:06.630 is really nice and just calming and also just 00:32:06.630 --> 00:32:09.410 a great time to pray. And do I, you know, go 00:32:09.410 --> 00:32:12.150 on walks every day? No, no. And I could still 00:32:12.150 --> 00:32:15.569 grow so much in this, but I can just say as from 00:32:15.569 --> 00:32:17.650 this class and just thinking more about prayer, 00:32:17.750 --> 00:32:20.940 like, I don't know. It's been such a blessing 00:32:20.940 --> 00:32:24.079 to be in prayer more. It's feel like I have more 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:26.099 wisdom. I'm thinking through things well. My 00:32:26.099 --> 00:32:29.059 mind is refocused. I'm more thankful for things 00:32:29.059 --> 00:32:31.839 because I'm praying more. And yeah, that's what 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:36.559 prayer is. That means of grace. And secondly, 00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:41.619 scripture, praying through scripture. I don't 00:32:41.619 --> 00:32:43.900 know if you've ever heard of this. Super simple, 00:32:43.960 --> 00:32:46.779 just. Read scripture, pray through it. It's so 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:49.400 simple, so easy, but there are practical and 00:32:49.400 --> 00:32:52.940 spiritual benefits to this. Practically, it's 00:32:52.940 --> 00:32:54.900 like you have something to read through so you're 00:32:54.900 --> 00:32:57.160 not distracted, right? So you have something 00:32:57.160 --> 00:32:59.960 to keep you on track and also that you get a 00:32:59.960 --> 00:33:02.339 good variety of praying through things, right? 00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:04.359 How often do we pray and we're saying the same 00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:07.140 things over and over again, but just praying 00:33:07.140 --> 00:33:09.079 through what you're reading in scripture gives 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:12.309 you that variety and that focus. practically. 00:33:12.309 --> 00:33:15.289 And then just spiritually, Romans 8, like the 00:33:15.289 --> 00:33:18.549 Spirit of God is in us, interceding when we don't 00:33:18.549 --> 00:33:20.470 know what to say with groanings too deep for 00:33:20.470 --> 00:33:23.769 words. The Spirit is working in us. And just 00:33:23.769 --> 00:33:26.529 as Jeff talked about earlier, how God talks to 00:33:26.529 --> 00:33:29.809 us through His Word, it's we're talking back 00:33:29.809 --> 00:33:33.430 to God using His words. And that is just, it's 00:33:33.430 --> 00:33:35.500 like those... Reading scripture and praying, 00:33:35.579 --> 00:33:38.579 two means of grace that I just can't imagine 00:33:38.579 --> 00:33:42.039 a more fruitful spiritual discipline. I mean, 00:33:42.059 --> 00:33:44.160 if you find one, let me know, but I don't think 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:46.980 there's anything better for our souls than to 00:33:46.980 --> 00:33:50.960 take time and pray through scripture. And even 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:53.859 just personally, the things that I spend time 00:33:53.859 --> 00:33:55.619 to pray through in scripture are the things that 00:33:55.619 --> 00:33:58.480 I find myself meditating on and actually thinking 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:03.700 about more. So yeah, those are the two simple 00:34:03.700 --> 00:34:06.920 ingredients for how to pray well. If you are 00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:08.760 a Christian, you have the spirit in you and you 00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:12.300 just give it the time, God will grow you up in 00:34:12.300 --> 00:34:16.900 praying well. And so finally, I'm gonna wrap 00:34:16.900 --> 00:34:20.239 up. I wanted to go through a kind of tier list 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:23.880 or ranking or whatever you wanna call it of. 00:34:24.889 --> 00:34:27.849 I don't know, holiness, or it doesn't sound right, 00:34:27.929 --> 00:34:31.130 but let me just explain and kind of stack it 00:34:31.130 --> 00:34:34.349 and say, okay, so maybe at the bottom, we have 00:34:34.349 --> 00:34:37.670 a Christian who isn't praying at all, right? 00:34:37.769 --> 00:34:40.489 And on top of that, you might even add, say, 00:34:40.550 --> 00:34:42.969 an unbeliever who's praying. It might be better 00:34:42.969 --> 00:34:45.510 to be an unbeliever who's praying, even though 00:34:45.510 --> 00:34:48.480 God doesn't. hear their prayers than a believer 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:51.099 who's neglecting to talk to their heavenly father. 00:34:52.019 --> 00:34:55.599 And J .C. Ryle in his book, Do You Pray? He was 00:34:55.599 --> 00:34:58.099 talking about, he says, one of the main reasons 00:34:58.099 --> 00:35:01.539 for our backsliding in our Christian lives is 00:35:01.539 --> 00:35:04.320 prayerlessness. And I think just as we reflect 00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:06.639 on that on our own lives, we find that to be 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:09.340 true. When we're backsliding, we're prayerless. 00:35:10.889 --> 00:35:14.010 So there's that, there's an unbeliever who prays. 00:35:14.010 --> 00:35:17.190 And then above that, maybe a believer who prays 00:35:17.190 --> 00:35:19.730 a little bit here and there, just kind of simple 00:35:19.730 --> 00:35:23.349 prayers. Above that is a believer who prays a 00:35:23.349 --> 00:35:27.860 lot, but they're always praying about. like physical 00:35:27.860 --> 00:35:30.940 and just selfish things. They're always asking 00:35:30.940 --> 00:35:33.940 for things for themselves, always about them, 00:35:34.139 --> 00:35:37.519 always just about like, oh, there's, and of course 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:39.659 those are things we should be praying. But I 00:35:39.659 --> 00:35:42.059 think above that is maybe even a believer who 00:35:42.059 --> 00:35:44.559 doesn't pray quite as much, but they're praying 00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:47.860 for the spiritual growth of themselves and others. 00:35:48.099 --> 00:35:50.119 They're focused on what really matters. They're 00:35:50.119 --> 00:35:52.199 praying through scripture. They're thinking correctly 00:35:52.199 --> 00:35:55.199 about God and it's not just always about themselves. 00:35:56.329 --> 00:36:01.190 And then at the top is Jesus, right? Who in his 00:36:01.190 --> 00:36:04.190 life, just as we see, and we'll only get there 00:36:04.190 --> 00:36:07.590 in glorification, but in his life, he prayed 00:36:07.590 --> 00:36:10.070 so much. And if there was anybody who didn't 00:36:10.070 --> 00:36:14.690 need to pray, it was Jesus, God himself, right? 00:36:14.809 --> 00:36:17.690 But Jesus still took time, praying before he 00:36:17.690 --> 00:36:20.449 chose his disciples, his 12 disciples, which 00:36:20.449 --> 00:36:23.079 he... probably already knew who they were. He 00:36:23.079 --> 00:36:25.599 spent time to go and pray through that or even, 00:36:25.619 --> 00:36:27.800 thank you to Josiah Garber for pointing this 00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:31.019 out to me of when he prayed in Gethsemane, Lord, 00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:34.980 let the cup pass from me. He knew, he knew he 00:36:34.980 --> 00:36:38.599 was going to the cross, right? He knew for certain 00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:40.400 that he was going to the cross and that was his 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:43.639 mission, but he still went to the Lord and prayed 00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:47.320 and says, Lord, if you would take this cup from 00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:52.800 me. Wow, wow. So yeah, Jesus is at the top and 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:55.400 our example. And he, yeah, it's just incredible 00:36:55.400 --> 00:36:58.460 reading through the gospels how much he prayed. 00:36:58.599 --> 00:37:01.039 And he, yeah, he was a busy man. And in Mark, 00:37:01.079 --> 00:37:04.219 it talks about how he was so busy during his 00:37:04.219 --> 00:37:06.159 ministry that he couldn't even have the chance 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:09.920 to eat, right? But he still found the time to 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:14.000 pray. So going back kind of to the distinction 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:16.780 between the Christian who prays a lot, but it's 00:37:16.780 --> 00:37:20.590 always just kind of weak, kind of like, like 00:37:20.590 --> 00:37:23.190 just selfish things. And then the Christian who 00:37:23.190 --> 00:37:27.829 prays about more spiritual things. Just again, 00:37:28.030 --> 00:37:30.670 what we just learned about the theology of prayer, 00:37:30.849 --> 00:37:33.929 even our best prayers are filthy rags before 00:37:33.929 --> 00:37:36.889 God. And so God delights in every prayer that 00:37:36.889 --> 00:37:38.630 we pray. It's not like there's some that God 00:37:38.630 --> 00:37:41.809 delights in more than others. But for our sake, 00:37:41.829 --> 00:37:44.530 for the sake of our own growth, just thinking 00:37:44.530 --> 00:37:46.889 about 1 Corinthians 3, when Paul's talking about 00:37:47.380 --> 00:37:50.599 infants in Christ, right? Who are still fleshly 00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:52.940 and they know the gospel, but they're just not 00:37:52.940 --> 00:37:55.679 growing. They're just not, they can't have solid 00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:58.639 food yet. And that is some Christians. in prayer 00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:00.960 for years who just aren't really growing. And 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:03.619 it's best for us to say to them, like, for your 00:38:03.619 --> 00:38:06.099 own good, like, grow up. Like, leave just the 00:38:06.099 --> 00:38:09.960 milk of just asking for things in your life behind 00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:12.599 and start praying through scriptural things. 00:38:12.699 --> 00:38:15.960 And part of this that I want to point out to 00:38:15.960 --> 00:38:20.119 kind of, I don't know, give an example of this 00:38:20.119 --> 00:38:23.500 point is in 1 Thessalonians, there's two times 00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:28.400 that God says, this is my will for you. The first 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:31.760 time we already saw pray without ceasing for 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:34.639 this is God's will for you. The second time he 00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:38.340 says this is for this is the will of God, your 00:38:38.340 --> 00:38:42.099 sanctification, right? And that's so clear of 00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:46.000 sometimes people are always praying just about, 00:38:46.159 --> 00:38:48.599 oh, I have this big decision in life and yes, 00:38:48.699 --> 00:38:50.659 you should pray about it. And what does God want 00:38:50.659 --> 00:38:54.429 me to do? What is God's will for my life? Well, 00:38:54.449 --> 00:38:56.630 guess what? God's will for your life is your 00:38:56.630 --> 00:38:59.570 sanctification. That's what he cares about so 00:38:59.570 --> 00:39:02.929 much more than just the things that happen in 00:39:02.929 --> 00:39:06.610 your life. And even all the introductory prayers 00:39:06.610 --> 00:39:09.409 or a lot of the introductory prayers of Paul 00:39:09.409 --> 00:39:11.949 talking about, I pray that you would know God 00:39:11.949 --> 00:39:14.650 more, right? That we would have an understanding 00:39:14.650 --> 00:39:17.809 and grow in our faith, not just have things in 00:39:17.809 --> 00:39:24.610 life go our way. And so, yeah, so praying scripture, 00:39:24.849 --> 00:39:27.429 I think, is just the easiest, simplest way that 00:39:27.429 --> 00:39:31.550 we can have our hearts conformed and our lives 00:39:31.550 --> 00:39:35.449 conformed to the image of God. And there's, again, 00:39:35.590 --> 00:39:37.809 that book I referenced earlier, Do You Pray by 00:39:37.809 --> 00:39:40.809 J .C. Ryle. Short book, super punchy, really, 00:39:40.949 --> 00:39:44.690 really excellent book to read if you wanted to 00:39:44.690 --> 00:39:47.769 read one on prayer. J .C. Ryle says this in the 00:39:47.769 --> 00:39:51.389 book, which is just so good. He says, The way 00:39:51.389 --> 00:39:55.730 to be happy is to always be opening our hearts 00:39:55.730 --> 00:39:59.550 to him. And a little later he says, oh, that 00:39:59.550 --> 00:40:03.369 men would understand that happiness does not 00:40:03.369 --> 00:40:07.590 depend on outward circumstances, but on the state 00:40:07.590 --> 00:40:11.110 of the heart. Let me say that again. Oh, that 00:40:11.110 --> 00:40:15.030 men would understand that happiness does not 00:40:15.030 --> 00:40:18.730 depend on outward circumstances, but on the state 00:40:18.730 --> 00:40:22.010 of the heart. And again, thinking back earlier 00:40:22.010 --> 00:40:25.630 to Philippians 4 of the peace of God, man, there 00:40:25.630 --> 00:40:27.929 can be someone in life where everything is going 00:40:27.929 --> 00:40:31.190 well for them and they should be happy, but inside 00:40:31.190 --> 00:40:33.250 the state of their heart, the state of their 00:40:33.250 --> 00:40:35.469 soul, life really isn't that good. And there 00:40:35.469 --> 00:40:38.929 can be someone going through trials and difficulties, 00:40:39.090 --> 00:40:41.869 but if they have the peace and the joy and the 00:40:41.869 --> 00:40:44.769 thankfulness. in their heart, right? That is 00:40:44.769 --> 00:40:47.710 really what gives us happiness in life. And it's 00:40:47.710 --> 00:40:49.849 just, it's so easy to forget that, right? And 00:40:49.849 --> 00:40:53.710 yeah, I just, I couldn't say it better than Raul 00:40:53.710 --> 00:40:55.889 there. And again, great book on prayer if you 00:40:55.889 --> 00:41:00.489 want to read and be challenged about that. And 00:41:00.489 --> 00:41:05.659 so finally, yeah, yeah. Going back to the first 00:41:05.659 --> 00:41:08.739 point of, do you believe that, do you have this 00:41:08.739 --> 00:41:11.679 solid conviction that prayer is a vital means 00:41:11.679 --> 00:41:14.940 of grace that God has given you in your life? 00:41:15.079 --> 00:41:17.039 And then I guess the question is, what will you 00:41:17.039 --> 00:41:19.239 do with that? As we're thinking about the new 00:41:19.239 --> 00:41:21.880 year and whether that be setting a resolution 00:41:21.880 --> 00:41:24.820 or goal, I usually don't, but whatever you like 00:41:24.820 --> 00:41:27.559 to do, but just thinking about, man, prayer is 00:41:27.559 --> 00:41:31.300 so important. And in that, I hope that maybe 00:41:31.300 --> 00:41:33.820 we're convicted, but that we'd be more encouraged. 00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:37.980 than convicted to think, wow, like God can, like 00:41:37.980 --> 00:41:41.619 J .C. Ryle says, the state of my soul can be 00:41:41.619 --> 00:41:44.800 one of joy, even though my outward circumstances 00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:52.199 maybe aren't the best. And yeah, another thing 00:41:52.199 --> 00:41:55.349 I want to say is, just, right, you just do it. 00:41:55.369 --> 00:41:58.409 You're faithful to pray and taste and see that 00:41:58.409 --> 00:42:00.489 the Lord is good, right? Experience the blessing 00:42:00.489 --> 00:42:03.289 of that. But what if you say to me, like Elijah, 00:42:03.630 --> 00:42:06.590 like I feel like I do pray a lot and I just don't 00:42:06.590 --> 00:42:08.969 really delight in the Lord. I feel like it's 00:42:08.969 --> 00:42:12.090 not doing anything for me. Well, I found this 00:42:12.090 --> 00:42:18.030 that I just think is so helpful. And let me read 00:42:18.030 --> 00:42:21.110 it to you. It's Isaiah 58, 13 through 14. There's 00:42:21.110 --> 00:42:24.059 just a great principle in here. It says, If because 00:42:24.059 --> 00:42:27.199 of the Sabbath you turn your foot from doing 00:42:27.199 --> 00:42:31.199 your own pleasures on my holy day and call the 00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:34.619 Sabbath a delight, a holy day of the Lord honorable 00:42:34.619 --> 00:42:38.519 and honor it, desisting from your own ways and 00:42:38.519 --> 00:42:40.579 seeking your own pleasures and speaking your 00:42:40.579 --> 00:42:43.000 own word. And then look at this right here. It 00:42:43.000 --> 00:42:47.280 says, then you will take delight in the Lord 00:42:47.280 --> 00:42:50.980 and I will make you ride on the heights of heaven. 00:42:51.739 --> 00:42:53.900 And I just love that. And the connection, of 00:42:53.900 --> 00:42:55.960 course, talking about the Sabbath here, but in 00:42:55.960 --> 00:42:59.820 the New Testament, in Hebrews 4, 9 through 10, 00:42:59.860 --> 00:43:02.420 it talks about how Jesus is our Sabbath rest, 00:43:02.559 --> 00:43:04.840 right? And there's no longer any day that's more 00:43:04.840 --> 00:43:07.340 important than another, but we still should rest 00:43:07.340 --> 00:43:10.900 in Christ. And that is our Sabbath rest here. 00:43:10.980 --> 00:43:13.519 And just saying, stop making the Sabbath, stop 00:43:13.519 --> 00:43:16.460 making this time about you, about speaking your 00:43:16.460 --> 00:43:18.699 own words, about your own way, about your own 00:43:18.699 --> 00:43:21.639 pleasures. And then just, and then what comes 00:43:21.639 --> 00:43:23.780 out of that, if you stop making it all about 00:43:23.780 --> 00:43:27.199 you, it says, then you will take delight in the 00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:29.699 Lord. And I just love that. And again, that's 00:43:29.699 --> 00:43:32.139 something that I think we as Christians find 00:43:32.139 --> 00:43:34.500 true of when we stop making it about ourselves 00:43:34.500 --> 00:43:38.480 and start making it about who God is. That's 00:43:38.480 --> 00:43:43.559 when we really take delight in the Lord. And 00:43:43.559 --> 00:43:45.239 so, yeah, hopefully that's, that's helpful to 00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:48.869 you. to you again on the topic of how we pray 00:43:48.869 --> 00:43:55.909 well. And yeah, that is it. And I would get kicked 00:43:55.909 --> 00:43:57.769 out of seminary if I didn't have you guys at 00:43:57.769 --> 00:44:02.070 least open your Bibles once. So we'll sneak it 00:44:02.070 --> 00:44:05.969 in right here at the end. But yeah, if you have 00:44:05.969 --> 00:44:08.469 a Bible or a phone, go ahead and open up to Isaiah 00:44:08.469 --> 00:44:15.929 chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. And what I'm gonna 00:44:15.929 --> 00:44:19.690 do here is we're gonna close in prayer. And first, 00:44:19.789 --> 00:44:23.530 I'm just gonna pray through, just going through 00:44:23.530 --> 00:44:26.829 verses one through 11. And don't worry, I'm just 00:44:26.829 --> 00:44:28.869 kind of skimming through and picking things out 00:44:28.869 --> 00:44:32.309 and praying through this scripture. Maybe just 00:44:32.309 --> 00:44:36.409 be an example of, yeah, yeah, thinking about 00:44:36.409 --> 00:44:38.050 praying through scripture. Okay, let's actually 00:44:38.050 --> 00:44:40.409 do it and pray through Isaiah 40. And so I'll 00:44:40.409 --> 00:44:43.739 start. And I'll pray through these verses and 00:44:43.739 --> 00:44:45.679 try to follow along with me. And then I'm gonna 00:44:45.679 --> 00:44:48.480 give you guys some time. And maybe if you find 00:44:48.480 --> 00:44:51.320 a verse in here that you think applies to you, 00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:54.360 or you could even keep reading in verses 12 and 00:44:54.360 --> 00:44:56.900 on is so great about just who God is. And just, 00:44:56.920 --> 00:44:59.099 I'm gonna give you some time to just sit there 00:44:59.099 --> 00:45:01.460 and kind of pray through some of this on your 00:45:01.460 --> 00:45:06.380 own. And then I will close us in prayer. So, 00:45:06.400 --> 00:45:10.130 all right, let's pray. Looking at Isaiah 40, 00:45:10.289 --> 00:45:16.269 verse 1. Lord, thank you that you are the comforter, 00:45:16.329 --> 00:45:20.530 Lord, of your people. You comfort us, God. And 00:45:20.530 --> 00:45:24.210 there's just so many ways that we seek comfort 00:45:24.210 --> 00:45:28.829 outside of you, Lord. And yeah. We seek for comfort 00:45:28.829 --> 00:45:30.510 in all the right things, Lord, and thank you 00:45:30.510 --> 00:45:33.969 that you are a God who seeks and delights to 00:45:33.969 --> 00:45:36.110 give us comfort. And I pray that you would just 00:45:36.110 --> 00:45:39.769 teach us to come to you for that comfort, Lord. 00:45:39.949 --> 00:45:43.329 And thank you for removing the iniquity from 00:45:43.329 --> 00:45:46.590 us, Lord, and your son, Jesus Christ. And you 00:45:46.590 --> 00:45:49.010 are our only hope, Lord, of having a right relationship. 00:45:49.150 --> 00:45:52.210 Jesus, you are our only hope and that you have 00:45:52.210 --> 00:45:57.190 removed our iniquity from us, Lord. And then 00:45:57.190 --> 00:46:00.170 in verse six, a voice calling out, then he answered, 00:46:00.269 --> 00:46:03.630 what shall I call out? Lord, our flesh is like 00:46:03.630 --> 00:46:06.710 grass, Lord, and our time on earth is just so 00:46:06.710 --> 00:46:09.650 short. Lord, and it is lovely like a flower, 00:46:09.769 --> 00:46:12.190 Lord. You've given us so many blessings and beautiful 00:46:12.190 --> 00:46:16.670 things, but like the flower, the grass wither, 00:46:16.670 --> 00:46:20.409 the flower fades. And surely people are grass, 00:46:20.650 --> 00:46:23.630 Lord, and our lives are so short, and so I pray 00:46:23.630 --> 00:46:26.380 that That we would just use the short time we 00:46:26.380 --> 00:46:29.360 have here, Lord, well, Lord, and that we would 00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:33.000 spend it in communion with you, Lord, and just 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:35.519 take delight in you and not be so distracted 00:46:35.519 --> 00:46:39.300 by all the things of this world. And there at 00:46:39.300 --> 00:46:41.780 the end of verse eight, Lord, your word stands 00:46:41.780 --> 00:46:44.239 forever, Lord. So many things in this life are 00:46:44.239 --> 00:46:48.440 passing and fading, but your word is a sure rock 00:46:48.440 --> 00:46:51.909 and foundation to build our lives. And so now, 00:46:51.949 --> 00:46:53.929 yeah, you guys just continue to read through 00:46:53.929 --> 00:46:56.409 and pray through whatever you find in Isaiah 00:46:56.409 --> 00:47:06.349 40 and I'll close us. Dear Lord, forgive us for 00:47:06.349 --> 00:47:12.510 our prayerlessness, Lord, and yeah, just the 00:47:12.510 --> 00:47:16.550 ways that we so often think of our own way, think 00:47:16.550 --> 00:47:19.230 of our own pleasures, our own delights, Lord, 00:47:19.309 --> 00:47:24.550 instead of coming to you, Lord, and boldly approaching 00:47:24.550 --> 00:47:27.449 your throne because of the access that you have 00:47:27.449 --> 00:47:32.030 given us through your son, Jesus, Lord. And just 00:47:32.030 --> 00:47:33.829 thank you for this time in your word, Lord. I 00:47:33.829 --> 00:47:36.630 pray that you would just be using your word to 00:47:36.630 --> 00:47:39.630 conform us more into your image, Lord. I pray 00:47:39.630 --> 00:47:45.750 that we would just be a people who prays to you, 00:47:45.809 --> 00:47:49.789 Lord, who delights in spending time talking to 00:47:49.789 --> 00:47:52.539 you. just that you would conform us more and 00:47:52.539 --> 00:47:56.400 more into your image, Lord. And yeah, we thank 00:47:56.400 --> 00:47:59.659 you for your patience. We thank you for the grace 00:47:59.659 --> 00:48:02.280 that you give us through these things. And I 00:48:02.280 --> 00:48:06.500 just pray that we would just form solid convictions 00:48:06.500 --> 00:48:10.400 about these things and live our lives accordingly 00:48:10.400 --> 00:48:14.260 and appropriately because of them, Father. And 00:48:14.260 --> 00:48:17.860 yeah, we're thankful for... who you are, Lord. 00:48:17.960 --> 00:48:20.239 Help us to correctly see who you are and correctly 00:48:20.239 --> 00:48:25.300 see who we are in relation to you. Yeah, God, 00:48:25.360 --> 00:48:28.300 thank you so much and just be with us the rest 00:48:28.300 --> 00:48:30.719 of this week and the rest of this year and through 00:48:30.719 --> 00:48:33.320 next year and say all these things in your name. 00:48:33.599 --> 00:48:34.039 Amen.