Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. At the beginning of October,
we started this series called Foundations, which
explores some of the core convictions that define
how we function at ECB. These are foundations
that shape our way of ministry here in ECB, but
also they shape our own lives. These are things
that we want each one of us to work with, that
really define how we live our lives with the
Lord. We started talking about being rooted in
the Word and then being empowered by the Holy
Spirit. And today we are talking about being
fueled by prayer. Now I know that depending on
the doctrinal background that you come from,
the denominational background that you come from,
there are lots of ideas about prayer. And this
study does not mean to be a summary of all the
theological views on prayer. But it's trying
to define how we see prayer in our ministry and
in our lives. And as I have worked with people,
I realized too that depending on where you are
in your journey with God, the way you relate
to prayer changes. I remember leading someone
to Christ many years ago, and then as I was discipling
her, and there were moments in which now I invited
her to pray into this space. She would say, you
know, It's hard for me to pray out loud because
I didn't grow up praying. So, in fact, at the
beginning for me to pray was weird. It was like
talking to the air. And so she had to learn what
prayer was and how to engage in this new dimension
of her relationship with God. And then I have
talked to other Christians that know prayer.
They pray and they understand prayer to some
degree. But they treat it like when the doctor
tells you, you need to eat more fruits and vegetables,
you know. It's like, I know I need to pray. I
know God wants me to pray. But it's like, one
more thing to do. And I just don't have time.
So they don't pray because it feels almost like
a burden, you know. And that's why I say like
the fruits and vegetables. Yeah, I know I need
to eat more fruits and vegetables to stay healthy.
But I just don't. And this person sees prayer
almost like a thing you do, rather than expression
of who we are. And therefore, one of the things
that we'll discover in this study is that prayer
is so essential to following Jesus. Not only
Jesus talked about it, but the Apostle Paul also
talked about it, and they give us a picture of
prayer. That is very profound. If we go to the
life of Jesus. For instance. We know that Jesus
in many times. During his ministry. He will go
away by his own. To just spend time praying.
But there is a particular time. In which actually
we know what we pray. What he prayed. And this
happened at the end of his ministry. Hours before
he got captured by his enemies and then crucified.
During that time, after the last supper, he goes
to Gethsemane with his apostles. And then he
goes with three of them into this sector of the
garden. And he is going to start praying to the
Father. And this is what the Gospel of Mark says.
He went on a little farther and fell to the ground.
And he prayed that if it were possible, the awful
hour awaiting him might pass him by. He knows
that if he continues with the plan, what is about
to happen is going to be terrible. It's going
to require for him to suffer so much. Not only
physically, physical torture, but emotionally
being accused and mocked by the people that he
loves. Being betrayed by those that he served
with. And not only that, but he will now enter
the realm of darkness and go into the very place
to be able to defeat the power of him who had
the power and control over death. That is the
devil according to the book of Hebrews. What
is about to happen is going to be very complex
and require for him to be willing to suffer in
deep ways that we cannot really understand. But
as he is praying, in aligning himself with God's
plan, and pursue his calling all the way to the
very end, he says, Abba Father, which is a Hebrew
way of Very intimate relationship with God. He's
almost saying, Daddy, everything is possible
for you. Please take this cup of suffering away
from me. Yet, I want your will to be done, not
mine. Now, you know that I'm a theologian. And
this is one of those passages that theologians
have written for centuries trying to figure out.
How does this work? If Jesus is God. The very
nature of God. And he is God incarnate. He is
the son of God. How can he have a different will
from the father? How does that work? And the
answer is. We have no clue. But one of the things
that we see. Is that as Jesus is engaging in
this space. He is going to address the apostles.
And he's going to say something about prayer
that completely redefines the way we think of
it. Then he returned and found the disciples
asleep. And he said to Peter, Simon, are you
asleep? Couldn't you watch with me even one hour?
Keep, watch, and pray. So that you will not give
into temptation for the spirit is willing. But
the body is weak. And here Jesus is giving us
a window. Into the experience of following God's
call for our lives. We learned last week that
the moment you come to know Jesus as your Savior
and you start following Jesus, the Bible says
that at that moment, God gives you the Holy Spirit
to be now in you until the day of redemption.
So following Jesus now is entering into a deeper
relationship with God by having this deep connection
with the Holy Spirit that needs to be nurtured.
And now Jesus is telling the apostles that this
dual reality, You have a spiritual connection
with God. And you want to be aligned with that,
with God. And pursue His calling. Even if it
means suffering and dying on the cross. This
is something that you are willing to. But at
the same time, you have your humanity in all
of its rawness. And this humanity wrestles with
things and desires. And things that are not always
aligned. With what God desires. And he is experiencing
this at this moment. And he says look you have
your humanness. And you also have your spiritualness.
And you have to pray. To bring those two in alignment.
And suddenly we realize that prayer. Is both
simple and complex. Quite simple. Because prayer
is simply talking to God. So anyone can pray
in any location at any moment. Because the moment
you are talking to God, you are praying. You
don't need to know eloquent words and cite Bible
verses. No. Prayer is simply talking to God.
But at the same time, it's deeper. Because what
Jesus is telling us is that prayer was designed
as a tool for us to be able to align our hearts,
our inmost being with the Holy Spirit so that
we can pursue His calling freely. And there will
be moments in which you and I will feel the dissonance.
We know what God says. We know what God called
us for, but internally we are not aligning ourselves
with it. And how do I move from this to being
aligned? The answer is prayer. Prayer is that
tool. Now later, Jesus himself is going to appear
to the Apostle Paul. Who was a man who was persecuting
Christians. He's on his way to Damascus. And
Jesus appears to him. Paul becomes blinded by
the light. A few days later. A guy called Ananias
comes and prays for him. And after praying for
him. Then. His eyes become, his sight becomes
open again. He's able to see. And now he becomes
indwelled by the Holy Spirit. And from that moment
on, the Apostle Paul starts serving God and pursuing
Jesus' calling for him. And he writes many of
the letters that we have in the New Testament
in the Bible. Telling Christians about many of
these things. And just like Jesus, Paul will
experience prayer in a very unique way. Paul
is going to realize that it is true. There's
the call to pursue God and grow in intimacy with
the Holy Spirit. But it's also the wrestling
with our humanity. And they don't always match.
But what he experiences is that in that wrestling
of aligning our hearts with God's. There's another
factor, and that is the spiritual reality of
spiritual oppression. In the book of Ephesians
chapter 6, he's going to say, hey guys, remember
that as you are struggling with people, our struggle
is not just flesh and blood. There are spiritual
entities in the spiritual realm, forces of darkness
that are opposing you. And you will have to learn
to engage with that opposition with the right
spiritual tools. And he calls that the armor
of God. And as he's talking about that, he tells
Christians in Ephesians 6, chapter 6, verse 13.
Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor
so you will be able to resist the enemy in the
time of evil. And then after the battle, you
will be standing firm. You see how he mentions
that you and I have a spiritual enemy that wants
to oppose us? And he describes this interaction
as a battle that feels really much like a wrestling
of will. Where am I going? To align myself with.
Is this I'm going to align myself with the Lord?
With my enemy? With my own desires? Where am
I going to be? And in that place of wrestling.
He says you need to learn to use these things.
If you want to stand firm at the end of the battle.
Because your enemy wants to confuse you. Your
enemy wants to deter you. Your enemy wants to
compromise you. Therefore. Engage with this.
And then he continues. In the following verses
later. On verse 16 he says. In addition to all
of these things of the armor of God. Hold up
the shield of faith. To start the fiery arrows
of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet.
And take the sword of the spirit. Which is the
word of God. And I love this. Because it summarizes
all of our convictions. In one verse like this.
It's like look. Follow Jesus. Stand in your salvation.
Now you have the Holy Spirit. Grow in intimacy
with him. Now you have the word of God. Be rooted
in the word. But you will have to remember. That
this struggle. Is a spiritual one. And you will
have. To learn to walk by faith. And here. Is
where prayer comes into place. And he will say
here on the following verse. Pray in the spirit
at all times. On every occasion. Stay alert.
And be persistent in your prayers. for all believers
everywhere. I remember I had a friend that came
from a church that taught him that this verse
says, everybody has to pray in tongues. And he
prayed in tongues. He had that gift. I didn't.
But then I would say, but I'm not sure that this
is the right interpretation of this verse because
didn't Paul say in Corinthians that not everybody
has the gift of tongues? There are those that
do, those that don't. But here Paul is saying
to every Christian, you need to pray in the Spirit.
And he went like, oh, yeah, that's kind of, I
hadn't thought about that part of it. Because
what the Apostle Paul is calling us all is to
learn to engage with prayer for what it was.
It's a tool that has been designed to help us
align our hearts. With the Holy Spirit. So that
now we can pursue our calling. Freely. And that's
why you go back to what Jesus was saying. As
he was aligning his desire. For avoiding suffering.
With God's desire. To go through it. He is exercising
in prayer. As a tool to align the heart. To pursue
God's calling. And he tells the apostles, you
have to learn to discover prayer as this. And
the apostle Paul says, you have to learn to engage
with prayer as this powerful tool. So suddenly,
prayer is much more than simply talking to God,
which we engage with in many ways when you are
praying for a need. When you're asking God to
open a door for something. When you're asking
God for a blessing on something. All of those
forms of prayer are part of the biblical mandate
of prayer. But there's a dimension of prayer
that has to do with aligning our hearts with
Him to pursue God's calling. And to understand
how this works more deeply. I would like to share
in the following section of this study, the areas
that I have learned in my own journey with the
Lord, as well as what I've learned in walking
with people in the context of counseling, to
see how is that this alignment starts happening.
And I call this kind of experiencing prayer,
I call it focus prayer. Because it's really focusing
on aligning something that has become misaligned.
But in order to understand that, we have to start
picturing what the Apostle Paul says, following
Jesus and pursuing God's calling, a moment it
feels like running a race. Now, I'm not a runner,
but I like hiking. And hiking gives me an idea
of what... looks like to be fueled by prayer,
to enter into this space so I can run freely
into the path that God has for me. And for that,
I'm going to show you a couple of pictures. I
not only enjoy hiking, but I enjoy photography.
And you will always see me on my vacation anywhere
with a big camera. And that drives my family
crazy because something that could take five
minutes now takes 20 because there's papi or
daddy. They're sitting taking 100 pictures, not
just one, but 100. And some of it is nice. This
is from the northwest coast in the U .S., the
area of Washington, Oregon, all that beautiful
region of the country. And this is called the
Olympic. National Park. And this is a path I
was walking in. And I could see the people ahead
of me. With the light coming down. And I remember
the word of God says. In the book of Psalms.
Your word is a lamp unto my feet. It guides us
into the path. That is dark ahead. We have his
word. We have his spirit. This other picture.
Was taken in the area of. Mount Baker. Which
is also there in the Washington area. And this
reminds me that sometimes walking and hiking
is a little bit more hard. Because you have to
go through the rocks. And it's not easy. It's
not straightforward. And this other one was from
the Mount Rainier National Park. And this area
was far away from this guy. It looked very unique
because the guy is walking in this path into
this place that looks very dark. Kind of eerie.
You see the trees, you know, and he's going to
enter the unknown. And that made me realize sometimes
when God is calling you to follow him, suffering
is coming along the way. And yet God is calling
you to it. And this last one was taken in Portland.
And I was able to see this guy running and right
at the right curve for the picture. And this
guy was sweating, but he was cold. And it's like
that remind me that, yeah, following Jesus, it
requires discipline. It's not easy, but it's
committed. You are going because God is calling
you for it and you just go for it. It doesn't
matter if it's to call, I'll go for it. It doesn't
matter if we sweat, we'll go for it. And this
is... Where the verse that the Apostle Paul wrote
about. I have run the race. I have finished it.
I have remained faithful. But in hiking and running.
I learned something in Texas and in Thailand.
Texas. Sometimes going in the path. You are pursuing
it. Something happens that is not very pleasant.
And now this picture is not mine. It's just AI
for full transparency. This is Chad GPT. But
if you've experienced this, you know what I'm
talking about. These sticky seeds that you are
walking and suddenly it's like, oh, it hurts
because they're spiking. And you look, it's like,
what? Now you cannot walk again, you know, keep
walking. You have to now stop. Remove your socks
and remove each one. And they're sticky. You
cannot go like, or shake it, you know. You have
to remove the sock and you have to remove the
seeds. Because you have a choice to make. You
keep walking and running and following the path.
With this there. And therefore it's going to
always hold you back. Because it hurts. Or you
stop and take care of it. So you can run freely.
And the other one I learned in Thailand. I'm
going to show you this only for two seconds.
Blech. Leaches. Blech. I was hiking in the south
of Thailand. And there was I had heard about
and never seen one. Until I saw one in my shoe
trying to get to my foot. Thankfully, the guy
that was with us helped me before I freaked out.
But just the thought of having one of those bugs
sucking my blood, you know, it's like, how do
you remove it? It's like, ugh. It doesn't matter
whether the path is easy, rocky, leads you to
suffering, or to a very plain ride. If we're
following Jesus, we're following Jesus. But did
you realize that along the way in following Jesus,
you can have leeches that are trying to suck
the energy out of you? You have these sticky
things that try to make it so uncomfortable that
you decide to stop hiking altogether. These are
things that I call obstructions. And Jesus is
sensing one of them because he knows that he's
not completely aligned in that space. And what
do we call that misalignment? I have no idea.
But what I know is that Jesus himself did it.
And he's asking us so whenever we feel any of
these obstructions of any form, we engage in
prayer. So our soul is aligned with the spirit.
So now we're able to freely continue the journey
of following Jesus. There are four obstructions
that we have observed. The first one is bitterness.
The second one is fear. The third one is shame.
And the fourth one is disappointment with God.
These are the leeches. These are the sticky seeds.
These are the... pebbles in your shoes. You know
that you are just not feeling completely at peace
and you want to follow the Lord, you want to
pursue your calling, but you are not fully there
because these things are holding you back. And
if we are going to discover prayer and develop
lives that are fueled by prayer, we have to understand
how these areas work. The first one, the area
of bitterness. Along the way in following Jesus,
you will have people that will hurt you, will
disappoint you, will do things that will make
you feel harmed. That's unavoidable. But what
you do about it makes the difference between
being aligned with the Holy Spirit or not. And
the tendency that all of us will have is that
our humanity wants us to become bitter and resentful
towards the people and hold those grudges. The
Apostle Paul was teaching the Christians in the
Church of Corinth. And there was a guy that committed
sexual immorality in the midst of the community.
And that hurt so many people and created a complicated
thing. And they were trying to figure out how
to deal with this. And as they were dealing with
it, there was a moment in which things were coming
a little bit more clear. And the Apostle Paul
writes to them and he says, By the way, have
you forgiven the guy yet? And this is what he
says, when you forgive this man, I forgive him
too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be
forgiven, I do so with Christ's authority for
your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart
us, for we are familiar with his evil schemes.
We know that Satan wants to use bitterness as
a way of infiltrating your heart and infiltrating
your calling. That's why, hey, We're going to
forgive this guy. Because I'm not going to let
Satan outsmart us. And this is one of the things
we realize. Is that in the spiritual struggle
where Paul says you need to learn to use prayer
as a place of encountering alignment with God.
Bitterness will be something that will hold you
back from really releasing this thing in God's
presence and pursuing your calling freely. I
have to ask you, have you forgiven freely and
completely? Or there's bitterness in your heart?
And this bitterness can be caused by things that
are very traumatic. Like being molested as a
child by someone you trusted. And that can stay
with you for years that you never forgave. And
because bitterness is there, your ability to
pursue God and following Jesus freely is compromised.
The leech is there in your leg. And you've been
walking while bleeding. But what you need to
do is to stop and remove the leech altogether.
So that you can now freely follow the Lord. And
there are other things that are not so traumatic,
like someone being mean to you while driving
to ECB this morning. And now you're like... On
one occasion I woke up in the morning to do my
exercises, because after your 50s you have to
stretch to be able to work with that back, you
know, and your legs and everything, that neck.
I was doing my morning stretches and I was thinking
about this text that I received last night. And
I was thinking, that was not nice. You know,
the person shouldn't have said that. And it's
like, that's so wrong. I'm called for. You know,
and I'm thinking all these things while I'm going.
You know, my stretches and legs, you know. And
then I realized, why am I thinking about that
text? I don't want to be thinking about that
text. This is the beginning of my day. I just
want my coffee, you know. And at that moment,
I realized, oh, because that text I received
last night hurt me. Root of bitterness. And I
remember what Paul said. I'm not going to let
Satan outsmart me. So I stopped my stretches.
I went on my knees and said, Lord, this person
sent this text last night. This is what the person
said. And it was really not nice. It wasn't called
for. That's not respectful. That's not honoring.
That's not how we need to talk to each other.
That was so wrong. I'm bothered by it. But I
forgive this person for sending that text and
writing that. Because I don't want that bitterness
in my heart here. I'm releasing it in your presence.
Take it. That is focused prayer, you see. I noticed
that as I was walking, there was something in
my sock. And I looked and it was those annoying
seeds. I had to stop. Take it and say, Lord,
here, take this bitterness so I can continue
my hiking with you. I do not know what bitterness
you may be carrying, but as long as you are carrying
bitterness of any form, you are compromised.
Your spiritual effectiveness is compromised because
Satan has outsmarted you. This is not about you
forgiving because people deserve it. This is
you forgiving because you are aligning yourself
with the Holy Spirit and you want to pursue God
in that way. Ultimately, it's about spiritual
alignment. Nothing more, nothing less. The second
area has to do with fear. And as you follow Jesus
in your calling, there are always going to be
moments in which the uncertainties of tomorrow,
the what -ifs of tomorrow, are going to meet
you here right now. And you are going to start
being concerned about all these things. And before
you know it, it's hard to concentrate. It's hard
to really be completely focused on what you're
doing because all these fears are competing with
your devotion and with your attention. And there's
something that the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy
about that because Timothy was someone that the
Apostle Paul mentored. And they served together.
And Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, this is why
I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual
gift God gave you when I lay my hands on you.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and
timidity, but of power, of love, of self -discipline.
So if you are struggling, Timothy, in seeking
God and pursuing His calling because fear has
taken hold of you and is trying to deter you,
then you have to remember that that is not the
Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit doesn't
use fear to manipulate you. The Holy Spirit speaks
power, love, self -discipline. It's empowering
you. So when you are experiencing fear of any
sort, now you realize, oh, my humanness is wrestling
because I am encountering all these what ifs.
But in reality, this is not the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, I need to go to focus prayer to align
myself with the Holy Spirit. And I need to bring
these fears to the light so that the Holy Spirit
can help me be free from these things. And if
you are being held by fear in your life, I have
to ask you, have you renounced these fears that
seem to be dissonant from what God is actually
calling you to be or do? Many years ago, I went
to visit a country with a ministry team when
I was serving in the US. And this country was
far away. It had survived civil war. And it was
a place that was, let me say, not with good reputation.
That was not where you go for vacation. But we
had prayed about it. The project had developed.
We had the team from different countries that
had gathered in Dallas. And we were going to
visit that place. And I remember that when some
people would hear that I was going to that country.
They would say, are you sure you want to go there?
But what happens if you don't come back? What
happens if something dangerous happens? It's
a worst case scenario. It's like, wow, now I'm
all freaking out about all these things. Should
I go? Shouldn't I go? Yeah, it is dangerous.
What would I do? Now I'm in that space of people
speaking fear into God's calling. And I remember
that I had to go on my knees and say, Lord, People
are telling me all these things. Yeah, now I
have some concerns about it. But we knew, we
prayed, and we knew you were calling us to this,
so I'm going. But I'm leaving you with this fear
because I don't want to be held back by this
fear. And I remember saying goodbye to my wife,
getting in the airplane, and seeing the city
of Dallas becoming smaller and smaller as we
flew away. And the thought crossed my mind, what
if I never come back? Because that was a possibility.
I mean, just driving in Sukhumvit, you may never
come back. So it's like going to anywhere, you
may never come back. But I remember facing that
fear until it went away. Because I learned that
fear, if you take the fear and you turn it, To
the other side. You will realize that every fear
is a lie. It's a lie from the enemy. God is saying.
You should go. Because I'm with you. I have a
purpose for you. And the lie says. You should
not go. Because too dangerous. God is not going
to protect you. You know. God is not going to
be there for you. There's always a lie behind
it. You're afraid of the finances. You don't
have. And the lie is. God is not in your future.
He does not know your needs. He doesn't see you.
He doesn't care for you. You see? Every fear
we have is a lie. And that's why we come in prayer
and we renounce the fear and we express it with
our words exactly what is the fear that I am
feeling. What are the fears that are holding
you back? Is there a leech in your leg that you
need to remove because it's sucking the energy
out of you? Focus prayer. Then there's the other
struggle with shame. When we have engaged in
shameful things in the past, and now we are following
Jesus, and we believe that he has forgiven us,
but for some reason there's a disconnect. And
the Bible says that Satan, the devil, is called
the accuser, because he wants to constantly accuse
you and make you feel... That you are unworthy.
That you do not deserve to do this. That how
can God ever could use someone like you. After
what you have done. And all of those thoughts.
All of that wrestling with your raw humanity
is real. But that's not the Holy Spirit. Because
the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. And he
wants you to experience the healing power of
grace. So therefore, in this space, when dealing
with shame, we really bring it to the Lord. And
we call it for what it is. And there's something
we repent. We repent of it. If there's something
we need to confess, we confess it. There was
a moment in the life of King David where he committed
adultery. And not only that, he got involved
in politics and plot a murder. And then he was
caught in all that mess. And he writes his prayer
in Psalm chapter 51. And he says, God have mercy
on me. Because of your unfailing love. Because
of your great compassion. Blot out the stain
of my sin. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify
me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion.
And I'm going to call it for what it is. I rebelled.
I was rebellious. I recognize it. And it haunts
me day and night. I regret it every single day.
If I could just go back in time. It is against
you, Lord. It is against you and you alone that
I have sinned. And I have done what is evil in
your sight. Yeah, because it is evil. I'm going
to call it for what it is. But Lord. Will you
create in me a clean heart? Will you renew a
loyal spirit within me? Now, we're taking focused
prayer. You see, focused prayer is not like this
prayer before you eat lunch. Lord, thank you
for the food. Forgive us for all of our sins.
In Jesus' name, amen. No, if you are dealing
with shame and regret and guilt in your life,
What you need to do is that you need to come
to the throne of grace. Confess, call things
for what they are. Repent for it, bring it to
the light. And invite God's grace now to encounter
you in that place. So that that leech that is
sucking the life out of you can be removed by
God's power. And when it does, you can stand
up from that place. Standing in God's grace,
firm against the attack of the accuser. That
wants you to remain lying down on the ground
eating dust. Because you are just a worm and
nothing else. Have you experienced the peace
of God's grace? Have you received it? Or there's
this area in your life that has not been touched
by God's grace. And the enemy is using it to
try to persuade you from pursuing God's calling.
Finally, the last dimension of obstruction as
we are following the Lord that has to be addressed
through focused prayer is the aspect of disappointment
with God. Because just like people do not meet
your expectations and do things that sometimes
will hurt you, following God sometimes feels
like that. You have expectations of what God
will do. You have prayed to God about certain
things that you think He should answer in a certain
way. And when He didn't answer it the way you
thought, when things did not go the way you hoped,
then you feel disappointed with God. And as you
feel disappointed with God, your ability to trust
God gets weakened. And therefore you are trying
to follow God. You keep walking in the path.
But this time you are not walking next to him.
You are a mile away. And your heart is not in
it. That aspect of disappointment with God. Is
addressed through lament. And what that means.
Is that you bring your disappointment with God.
And you call it for what it is. And you open
your heart to the Lord. And you say God this
is how I'm feeling right now. And this is why
I feel so disoriented and disappointed. It was
a group of people called the sons of Korah. They
were Levites. Who were people who served God.
And they wrote many psalms. And one of the famous
songs that they wrote. was this psalm that says,
As the deer panted for the water, so my soul
is thirsty after you. Famous psalm, famous song.
But you realize that that song, that psalm, is
something that they wrote about the experience
that they were going through with depression
in their life. They were feeling downcast. And
as they write, they say this, Oh God, my rock,
I cry. Why have you forgotten me? Why must I
wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?
Lord, I'm grieving right now and I'm tired. And
I really feel like you have forgotten about me.
I have asked you to remove these enemies and
you have done nothing. And the problem is that
these people... Their tongues break my bones.
They scoff and they keep saying, where is this
God of yours? Lord, you're not answering my prayer.
And I'm tired. Why am I so discouraged? Why my
heart is so sad? If you would do something about
it, I will be happy and I will be encouraged.
But you're doing nothing. And as they are expressing
their lament before God, Suddenly, truth emerges.
And they're able to see beyond their pain. And
they are reminded by the Holy Spirit. Now that
God is on their side. And they write at the end,
I will put my hope in God. I will praise Him
again, my Savior and my God. Because Lord, I
don't understand what you're doing. I'm exhausted.
I'm tired. But one thing I cannot deny. Is that
I know who you are. And I'm still committed to
following you. But will you help me? Because
I'm tired. This is what lament looks like. This
is how we engage with disappointment. Therefore
I have to ask you. Have you lamented? Before
God. Or there's this lament. There's this disappointment.
That has attached to you. And is draining you.
And that's why you don't feel. Just like free.
To serve the Lord freely. Because these things
are holding you back. If any of these things
are holding you back. Any of the obstructions.
Are part of your current journey with God. I
want to bring them to your attention. Because
to be filled by prayer means that prayer is an
expression of who I am. And every time that I'm
experiencing these obstructions in my walk with
God, I'm going to stop, I'm going to remove that
sack, and I'm going to take each one of these
four things so that they will not continue to
interfere in me following Jesus fully. Whether
it be bitterness, fear, shame, or disappointment
with God. If this is something that you're wrestling
with, I want to encourage you to rediscover the
amazing power of prayer. That's why the Apostle
Paul wrote these words. And I'm going to invite
you to stand up and read them out loud with me
together. Pray in the Spirit. At all times. And
on every occasion. Stay alert. Be persistent
in your prayers. For all believers. Everywhere.
Anytime. Any reason. Everywhere. God is inviting
you. For a journey of intimacy with him. So is
your life. Fueled by prayer. If not, it's time
to rediscover the amazing power of prayer in
our lives. Lord, as we stand in your presence,
we know that you have spoken to us today and
I'm asking you if there's anything that is an
obstruction right now to following you. These
things have accumulated. Maybe all four of them
are there interfering. It's like our humanity
is not aligned with you and we want to, Lord,
break through those things today in your presence
so that we may be free to follow you and follow
you well. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for
tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast. Whether
near or far, if you are looking for community
or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage
by sending us an email to office at ecb .asia.
If God is calling you to support our ministries,
you will find giving options on our website.
And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.