WEBVTT 00:00:10.019 --> 00:00:12.679 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:15.279 Henley, and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.000 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast, 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:20.879 you can have an encounter with Jesus that'll 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.359 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:28.920 message from our preaching team. Thank you, Clay. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.480 Thank you, Church. Good to be here with you on 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:36.320 a Sunday. I'm just going to do the thing that 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:38.000 I always do, which is get myself a little bit 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.259 set up here. For those of you who don't know 00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:42.280 me or maybe only know me a little bit or have 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:44.179 just kind of seen me around, my name is Tex. 00:00:44.259 --> 00:00:47.000 I am one of the pastors here at Encounter Henley. 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:52.600 Now, when I started thinking about this story, 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:54.799 I'll need you to just kind of bear with me for 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.299 a sec. I promise we will get there. When I started 00:00:57.299 --> 00:00:59.000 thinking about this, it really made me think 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:02.859 about us as a family and some of my fondest memories 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:05.900 of us as a family. And one of those is when Cadence 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:08.780 was quite young, three, maybe four years old, 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:10.980 when we did like a family visit to the show, 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:13.879 to the Royal Adelaide Show. And it's one of those 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:16.120 awesome memories that I will kind of never forget. 00:01:17.140 --> 00:01:19.019 But if you know anything about the show, if you've 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:20.700 been to the show, especially if you've taken 00:01:20.700 --> 00:01:23.439 a family to the show, if you're a kid that's 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.599 ever been taken to the show by your family, please 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:28.540 feel free to send them a text after this message 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:30.920 to say thank you. Because if I can tell you one 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:32.640 thing about taking a family to the show, it is 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:36.780 that it... is expensive. It is going to cost 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:39.959 you a few bucks. So you get there and you pay 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:42.519 for your entry. If you're smart, you go to Foodland 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.439 beforehand and save your, I don't know, $3 .20 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.719 for a family ticket or whatever it is. And you 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:49.840 get there and then what happens immediately is 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.400 that your kids want to do some stuff immediately. 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:55.480 So you get there and Cadence sees the really 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:58.019 big slippery dip and she's like, can I please 00:01:58.019 --> 00:02:00.659 go down the really big slippery dip? And of course 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:02.760 I go, of course you can. of course we're going 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:04.959 down the really big slippery dip I'm afraid of 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:06.920 the big slippery dip but she's not so we're going 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:09.620 down the big slippery dip and she loved it and 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:11.879 she gets down the bottom and she thinks she looks 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:14.580 at me and she goes dad can I go on the carousel 00:02:15.480 --> 00:02:17.120 Of course you can go on the carousel. That's 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.240 a bit more dad speed. So yeah, of course you 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:21.379 can go on the carousel. And we go on the carousel 00:02:21.379 --> 00:02:23.319 and it's so cute. A little kid on a carousel, 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:25.319 genuinely nothing better in the world. And we 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:27.080 get off the bottom of, you know, the carousel 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:29.460 and we go on for a bit of a walk around and immediately 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:32.520 she sees the flashing 1D thing that definitely 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.590 has a cost of about 93 cents but... They're definitely 00:02:35.590 --> 00:02:39.229 charging you $25 and absolutely will not make 00:02:39.229 --> 00:02:41.710 the entirety of the car ride home. And she says, 00:02:41.849 --> 00:02:44.650 Dad, can I have the $25 flashy wandy thing? And 00:02:44.650 --> 00:02:47.050 I go, oh honey, of course you can have the flashy 00:02:47.050 --> 00:02:51.629 wandy thing. It's only $25 after all. And look, 00:02:52.830 --> 00:02:54.810 if you go to the show and don't have a Dagwood 00:02:54.810 --> 00:02:56.949 dog, have you actually been to the show? The 00:02:56.949 --> 00:02:59.919 answer is no. In case you're wondering, you must 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.080 have a Dagwood Dog at the show. It is the rules. 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:04.939 Those also not cheap. And then she says, Dad, 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:08.800 can I please have a Wiggle Showbag? And I'm like, 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:12.000 of course. What kind of man would I be to deny 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.860 my daughter a Wiggle Showbag? And then this one 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:17.639 might have been a bit more Kara, and it's definitely 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:19.280 a little bit cadence. Well, Dad, can we please 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:23.340 get some hot donuts? I believe you can't go to 00:03:23.340 --> 00:03:25.080 the show and not have a Dagwood Dog. Kara believes 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.259 you cannot go to the show and not have hot cinnamon 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:30.139 donuts. Jazz. We were talking about this earlier. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:31.759 I'm like, Jazz, you have no idea how prophetic 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:33.860 you are being right now during team prayer as 00:03:33.860 --> 00:03:35.860 we talk about this. So, at this point, we've 00:03:35.860 --> 00:03:38.340 been at the show for about six hours and we have 00:03:38.340 --> 00:03:41.860 spent approximately six, seven, we've been asked 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:44.639 for about six or seven hundred things. We have 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:48.750 spent approximately nine million dollars. It's 00:03:48.750 --> 00:03:50.969 about 6 p .m. She's only a toddler at this stage, 00:03:50.990 --> 00:03:53.189 don't forget. So we are now headed back to the 00:03:53.189 --> 00:03:55.349 car and we're walking and Kara's got one of her 00:03:55.349 --> 00:03:56.710 hands and one of her arms. She's in the middle 00:03:56.710 --> 00:03:58.490 and we're holding a hand each and it's that real 00:03:58.490 --> 00:04:01.710 cute hallmark moment. And she stops and she looks 00:04:01.710 --> 00:04:05.490 at me and she says, Dada? And I go, oh. And if 00:04:05.490 --> 00:04:07.189 you've seen photos of like toddler cadence, just 00:04:07.189 --> 00:04:09.349 like a massive, she's all curls and lips, right? 00:04:09.610 --> 00:04:11.750 And she looks at me and she's like, Dada? And 00:04:11.750 --> 00:04:14.560 I go, yeah, honey, and I think this is it. I'm 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:16.980 about to get one of those Hallmark movie moments 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:19.420 Where it's just like oh, I love you, and this 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:21.800 was the best day ever and she looks and she goes 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:30.540 data Can I get a happy meal for dinner And I'll 00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:39.459 be honest My first thought was you have absolutely 00:04:39.459 --> 00:04:44.529 got to be kidding me the shameless audacity on 00:04:44.529 --> 00:04:47.790 this kid. We have been at the show. I have, there's 00:04:47.790 --> 00:04:49.970 effectively a second mortgage happening right 00:04:49.970 --> 00:04:51.970 now and now you want a happy meal. You've had 00:04:51.970 --> 00:04:54.529 so much stuff already. You have asked for so 00:04:54.529 --> 00:04:58.790 much. You have received so much and you are now 00:04:58.790 --> 00:05:02.589 asking for more stuff. You want something more. 00:05:02.670 --> 00:05:05.589 And for a moment I was absolutely gobsmacked. 00:05:05.589 --> 00:05:07.670 If I'm being honest, for a moment I was a little 00:05:07.670 --> 00:05:10.509 bit mad. And then do you know what we did? You 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:14.420 want to take a guess? We got happy meals for 00:05:14.420 --> 00:05:20.279 dinner and it was great and that and Maybe I'm 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:26.579 a sucker Don't Maybe I'm a sucker, but maybe 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:32.360 Just maybe I wanted her to have it Maybe Her 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:35.480 asking for more wasn't born out of selfishness 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:37.899 or it wasn't born out of a lack of appreciation 00:05:37.899 --> 00:05:40.079 Most of you in this room have met Kate and she 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:42.000 is a very appreciative kid. She's a wonderful 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.509 kid But maybe her asking for more was not born 00:05:46.509 --> 00:05:48.990 out of that, but that boldness, that persistence, 00:05:49.470 --> 00:05:52.410 that desire to ask for more was actually a direct 00:05:52.410 --> 00:05:56.629 response to what she'd already received. She 00:05:56.629 --> 00:06:00.170 had asked for plenty that day, sure. But she'd 00:06:00.170 --> 00:06:02.189 also received most of what she asked for. Not 00:06:02.189 --> 00:06:04.050 everything, by the way. A few dad points in there, 00:06:04.209 --> 00:06:06.410 right? Like, not everything that she asked for, 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:10.680 but most of it. And as a result... Maybe this 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:13.079 place of question, this place of asking for more, 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:15.759 was really just born out of the fact that I'd 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.279 actually given her no good reason not to ask 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:21.759 for more. And as a result, why shouldn't she 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:27.199 ask for more? And that audacity, that boldness, 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:29.199 that persistence, that kind of more, more, more, 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:31.160 asking for more, that persistence of a toddler 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:34.060 at the show is actually exactly that kind of 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:36.100 shamelessness that Jesus is asking of you and 00:06:36.100 --> 00:06:40.199 me with the parable of the Midnight Bread. As 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:42.819 Tim spoke about last week, and Ash the week before, 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:44.860 but Tim made it really, really clear that it's 00:06:44.860 --> 00:06:46.879 important to remember that Jesus, when he's talking 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.379 in the parables, he's not using these as like 00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:51.879 good life examples. He's not using them as a 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:53.779 way to just be like, here's a bit of life advice. 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.800 The parables are designed explicitly to reveal 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:02.519 things to us about Jesus himself. And we joke 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:05.360 sometimes about how Jesus teaches in like riddles. 00:07:05.960 --> 00:07:08.439 He's like begging us to follow him down the rabbit 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:10.319 hole as he winks at us a few times and goes, 00:07:10.579 --> 00:07:12.360 ah, you'll work it out or you won't and maybe 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:17.339 I'll explain it, maybe I won't. If he explained 00:07:17.339 --> 00:07:19.279 all of it, we're kind of, you know, I don't know 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:21.079 what I'm doing here on a Sunday most weeks, right? 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:25.040 So, but directly before the telling of this parable, 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:27.839 Jesus actually gives one of the most direct and 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:29.819 one of the most straightforward answers that 00:07:29.819 --> 00:07:32.079 he ever gives when asked a direct question in 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:36.110 the Bible. Directly before this, in Luke 11 .1, 00:07:36.269 --> 00:07:39.310 Jesus is praying when one of the disciples approaches 00:07:39.310 --> 00:07:44.029 him and says, Lord, teach us how to pray. And 00:07:44.029 --> 00:07:47.970 Jesus responds as clear as you like. When you 00:07:47.970 --> 00:07:52.529 pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name, your 00:07:52.529 --> 00:07:56.069 kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread 00:07:56.069 --> 00:07:59.750 Forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone 00:07:59.750 --> 00:08:03.670 who sins against us and leads us not into temptation 00:08:03.670 --> 00:08:06.670 With the translation I was reading and going 00:08:06.670 --> 00:08:10.149 through that's it. That's the whole prayer No 00:08:10.149 --> 00:08:14.050 rabbit hole Pretty simple. It's pretty direct 00:08:14.050 --> 00:08:17.829 Now this prayer when you kind of dig into it 00:08:17.829 --> 00:08:19.850 now for those playing at home is the Lord's Prayer, 00:08:19.910 --> 00:08:21.610 right? You've seen a thousand different versions 00:08:21.610 --> 00:08:25.220 of it over the years I really quite like this 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:28.360 one. Now this translation, it does two things. 00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:31.680 The first is that at the very beginning of this 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:33.480 prayer, which is how Jesus is teaching us how 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:38.039 to pray, it establishes God as holy, thus establishing 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:40.700 the dynamic and the hierarchy with which we're 00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:44.620 approaching the rest of this prayer. Hallowed 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:48.929 be your name sets God apart. Hallowed be your 00:08:48.929 --> 00:08:52.149 name. Holy be your name. Sets God above all of 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:54.889 us. He is the ruler of all creation. So what 00:08:54.889 --> 00:08:56.809 we're saying when we establish that at the beginning 00:08:56.809 --> 00:09:02.289 is God, I am praying to you because you are holy. 00:09:02.889 --> 00:09:06.070 I am praying to you because I want your kingdom 00:09:06.070 --> 00:09:10.809 come here on earth as it is in heaven. Now the 00:09:10.809 --> 00:09:12.889 second thing that the Lord's Prayer does when 00:09:12.889 --> 00:09:15.730 presented in this way is it establishes a pattern 00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:18.769 in which the expectation is that we are to ask 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:23.809 for bold and shameless requests. Three things 00:09:23.809 --> 00:09:26.250 in this prayer, give me daily bread, forgive 00:09:26.250 --> 00:09:32.889 my sins, lead me not into temptation. We're effectively 00:09:32.889 --> 00:09:35.370 recognizing God as holy and as a result we are 00:09:35.370 --> 00:09:37.970 saying, Lord I ask you to sustain me, forgive 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:44.659 me and protect me. Like a child at the show, 00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:51.000 this prayer establishes ask, ask, ask. Bold, 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:56.740 audacious, persistent. And the Bible is clear, 00:09:56.740 --> 00:10:00.240 by the way, that we are to pray continuously. 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:03.600 Continually, pray consistently. Again, depends 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:08.049 on your translation. This isn't pray once. This 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:10.809 isn't pray this prayer once. Jesus is clear. 00:10:11.070 --> 00:10:15.169 This is the pattern for when you pray, not if 00:10:15.169 --> 00:10:21.049 you pray. And then it begs the question a little 00:10:21.049 --> 00:10:23.389 bit. Why does Jesus go straight from teaching 00:10:23.389 --> 00:10:26.769 us how to pray? Again, super clear, super clean. 00:10:26.830 --> 00:10:29.879 This is how you will pray. directly into this 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:31.620 parable. Again, sometimes when we're talking 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:33.240 and we're doing these, we're doing a teaching 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:34.860 and we're talking through a text, we're like, 00:10:34.899 --> 00:10:36.899 and then he goes to this, to this, and we kind 00:10:36.899 --> 00:10:38.940 of skip a few verses in the middle just to kind 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:42.620 of help prove a point. Genuinely in this, this 00:10:42.620 --> 00:10:47.159 is how you pray into the parable. And in this 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:50.019 parable, we find a man who has traveling friends 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:53.070 that have rocked up on his doorstep. in the middle 00:10:53.070 --> 00:10:55.870 of the night and they are tired and they are 00:10:55.870 --> 00:10:58.769 hungry and we are in a place, in a culture where 00:10:58.769 --> 00:11:01.309 hospitality is kind of king, right? If your friends 00:11:01.309 --> 00:11:02.990 rock up at your place in the middle of the night, 00:11:02.990 --> 00:11:04.990 tired and hungry, you give them something to 00:11:04.990 --> 00:11:06.929 eat and then you give them somewhere to rest. 00:11:07.289 --> 00:11:10.090 Now he has a place for them to rest, so like 00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:13.129 tick, wonderful. What he does not have is anything 00:11:13.129 --> 00:11:16.169 for them to eat, not a lot of refrigeration. 00:11:17.090 --> 00:11:20.929 So what does he do? He runs to his friend's house, 00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:23.419 And again, I want you to think of this, Sarah 00:11:23.419 --> 00:11:24.919 actually beautifully talking about, and again, 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:26.480 thank you Sarah for talking to us about compassion 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.919 before, but Sarah beautifully explained kind 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:32.539 of what the villages and the housing situation 00:11:32.539 --> 00:11:34.919 look like in Indonesia. In a way, you can kind 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:37.840 of use that as your picture for the situation 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.320 that we're talking about here. Houses in this 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:43.139 time were not like, they're not a four bed two 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:45.480 bath, you know? Like this is, you've more than 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.179 likely got one really big room. Which is kind 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:50.299 of splintered two sections one side for sleeping 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:53.240 quarters one side for meal preparation Genuinely, 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:55.519 you might have like a cow or a goat or something 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.019 like in the property as well for safekeeping 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:00.639 like it's a bit of a mess It's not once you're 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.299 kind of said when he says like, oh the house 00:12:02.299 --> 00:12:04.299 is all locked up for the night He's not saying 00:12:04.299 --> 00:12:06.299 I've got these like 15 deadlocks and I've got 00:12:06.299 --> 00:12:08.159 one of those little slidey things But what he 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:11.200 means is yo my guy I have finally got everything 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:14.750 in here. The chaos is like settled. And if you 00:12:14.750 --> 00:12:16.350 knock on my door and keep on knocking you are 00:12:16.350 --> 00:12:18.190 not just disturbing me, the odds are you are 00:12:18.190 --> 00:12:21.649 disturbing the entire ecosystem of this house. 00:12:23.070 --> 00:12:24.970 But the friend rocks, rolls up and he knocks 00:12:24.970 --> 00:12:27.090 on the door and he's like, hey my man, three 00:12:27.090 --> 00:12:32.490 loaves of bread please. Again, I'm going to use 00:12:32.490 --> 00:12:35.330 that word again, the audacity of this man. This 00:12:35.330 --> 00:12:37.850 is absolutely shameless behaviour. There is no 00:12:37.850 --> 00:12:40.929 other word for it. Now, just to be clear, I love 00:12:40.929 --> 00:12:42.909 you guys. I love this church and I love all of 00:12:42.909 --> 00:12:45.690 you individually. But if you come to my house 00:12:45.690 --> 00:12:48.090 in the middle of the night and knock on my door 00:12:48.090 --> 00:12:50.669 and wake my wife and kids up and I rush to the 00:12:50.669 --> 00:12:53.149 door in my PJs and I get there and you're like, 00:12:53.389 --> 00:12:57.929 hey, Tex, per chance. Any tip top floating around. 00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:06.500 I will be stunned. I will be absolutely stunned. 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:12.480 Please don't do this. But I tell you what, I'm 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:16.240 also, I'm gonna give you that bread. If you rock 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:18.039 up in my house and wake me up in the middle of 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:19.740 the night and what your request is is a bit of 00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:21.340 bread, I'm probably gonna give you the bread. 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:27.919 Why? Maybe because I'm tired. The truth is because 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:32.559 you've asked me for it. you've rolled up we're 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:34.460 already here right we're already here i might 00:13:34.460 --> 00:13:36.960 as well give it to you and not just because we're 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.840 friends although trust me that will help but 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:42.740 because of the sheer audacity of the request 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:45.299 itself which is again exactly what happens in 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:48.230 this pro in this parable. I imagine that the 00:13:48.230 --> 00:13:50.690 possessor of the bread, by the way, is like, 00:13:50.850 --> 00:13:52.549 he just kind of slips the door open. Eventually, 00:13:52.690 --> 00:13:54.610 right, this guy keeps on knocking, like, I need 00:13:54.610 --> 00:13:56.769 the bread, I need the bread, three loaves of 00:13:56.769 --> 00:13:58.769 bread. I imagine the maid eventually is just 00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:00.970 like door open, shoves the bread out the door, 00:14:01.029 --> 00:14:03.330 here's your bread, see you, bye. And like locking 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:06.289 up the house and beginning the process of getting 00:14:06.289 --> 00:14:09.529 everything back and settled again. But again, 00:14:09.610 --> 00:14:11.950 don't miss the fact that he gives him the bread. 00:14:13.660 --> 00:14:16.940 The shamelessness and boldness of the request 00:14:16.940 --> 00:14:20.419 is enough to make it a request worthy of fulfillment. 00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:24.759 Because it's only in the shameless asking of 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:28.799 the bread giver that his friend and neighbor 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:31.620 could even know it was a gap that needed filling 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:35.320 and one that he could actually fulfill. You can 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:38.200 only respond to shameless requests when they're 00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:41.379 made because an equally shameless offer of generosity 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:44.899 can kind of sound insane. Again, think about 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:47.279 this. Rocking up at my place in the middle of 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.879 the night asking for bread. Shameless, bold, 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:52.700 persistent. Me rocking up at your house knocking 00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:56.559 on the door to offer three loaves of bread. Weird, 00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:59.600 unhinged, a little creepy if I'm being honest. 00:15:01.190 --> 00:15:03.769 These two guys were mates. There's no way that 00:15:03.769 --> 00:15:06.070 their friendship doesn't play a part in the fulfillment 00:15:06.070 --> 00:15:08.990 of the request. And if you think back again to 00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:11.789 Cadence at the show, her requests weren't to 00:15:11.789 --> 00:15:14.789 a stranger, but her requests were to a father 00:15:14.789 --> 00:15:17.710 that she knows loves her. So why should she have 00:15:17.710 --> 00:15:20.629 any fear in the world about making one more bold 00:15:20.629 --> 00:15:25.230 request? And if we remember that the parables 00:15:25.230 --> 00:15:27.649 are actually about Jesus, not you and me, not 00:15:27.649 --> 00:15:30.509 the dynamics of a friendship that we may have, 00:15:31.110 --> 00:15:33.909 What exactly is it that Jesus is trying to tell 00:15:33.909 --> 00:15:39.309 us about Him here? What makes Him different to 00:15:39.309 --> 00:15:41.409 our neighbors and friends? What makes Jesus' 00:15:41.690 --> 00:15:43.809 response so different to the way you or I may 00:15:43.809 --> 00:15:49.029 choose to respond? And again, I can't emphasize 00:15:49.029 --> 00:15:51.629 enough. Most importantly, Jesus wants us to know 00:15:51.629 --> 00:15:55.309 that it is the shamelessness of the request itself 00:15:55.309 --> 00:16:01.850 that leads to the fulfillment. Jesus is not a 00:16:01.850 --> 00:16:06.629 reluctant friend, annoyed at our request. Jesus 00:16:06.629 --> 00:16:09.370 is a loving Father who wants us to have good 00:16:09.370 --> 00:16:13.450 things. Whether that be for the first time or 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:16.870 for the 5 ,000th time, that is a word that was 00:16:16.870 --> 00:16:19.029 harder to say than I wanted it to be. Whether 00:16:19.029 --> 00:16:22.110 it be for the first time or the 600th time, that 00:16:22.110 --> 00:16:24.690 flowed much nicer. Whether you're a new believer, 00:16:24.809 --> 00:16:29.710 whether you're a seasoned prayer warrior. This 00:16:29.710 --> 00:16:31.529 parable we have this pattern where we hear about 00:16:31.529 --> 00:16:34.289 how to pray and then we hear this parable itself 00:16:34.289 --> 00:16:37.710 and then in Luke 11 10 it literally tells us 00:16:37.710 --> 00:16:41.230 for everyone who asks receive the one who seeks 00:16:41.230 --> 00:16:45.190 finds and To the one who knocks the door will 00:16:45.190 --> 00:16:49.649 be opened Everyone who asks no other caveats. 00:16:49.649 --> 00:16:56.409 So that means you too Now it's our desire to 00:16:56.409 --> 00:16:59.190 bring everything to Jesus regardless of circumstance. 00:16:59.210 --> 00:17:02.350 It's in that in that it becomes of an an affirmation 00:17:02.350 --> 00:17:06.390 of us recognizing him as being sovereign. With 00:17:06.390 --> 00:17:09.369 the belief that not only can he fulfill our needs 00:17:09.369 --> 00:17:12.589 but he's actually the only one capable of fulfilling 00:17:12.589 --> 00:17:15.630 our needs and a recognition that not only is 00:17:15.630 --> 00:17:23.029 he capable but he wants to. So if Jesus is telling 00:17:23.029 --> 00:17:26.720 us what we can expect of him, I suppose it's 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.460 not unreasonable to kind of ask, well, like, 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:31.500 what is Jesus asking of us in response to that 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:36.420 truth? And the first is that he wants us to pray 00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:41.589 with shamelessness. There is no such thing as 00:17:41.589 --> 00:17:44.589 a bad time with Jesus. There is no midnight knock 00:17:44.589 --> 00:17:46.869 on the door that He won't answer. There's no 00:17:46.869 --> 00:17:49.369 pushback on the other side. There's no, my man, 00:17:49.529 --> 00:17:52.390 you have to understand it's been a long day and 00:17:52.390 --> 00:17:56.470 it's not a good time. It doesn't exist. So we 00:17:56.470 --> 00:17:58.390 need to pray with that kind of shamelessness. 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:02.079 We're to pray with persistence. Like a kid at 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.619 the show, he wants us to ask and ask and ask. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:08.839 Prayer itself and what we pray for again is not 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:13.359 a one -time thing. And I'll leave you in a little 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:15.779 secret. Persistent prayer isn't about changing 00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:20.079 Jesus, it's about changing us. It's about changing 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:23.519 how we relate to Him. And as William McGill says, 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:26.180 the value of persistent prayer is not that God 00:18:26.180 --> 00:18:29.960 will hear us, but that we will finally hear God. 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:36.519 Persistent prayer is about us seeking to unite 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:38.799 our will with God's and being willing to return 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:42.160 to Him over and over again in that pursuit with 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:49.400 the expectation that He will respond. And the 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:52.680 third thing we're asked to do in this is to pray 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:57.720 with bold audacity. Because the problem is too 00:18:57.720 --> 00:18:59.920 often when we don't bring things to Jesus it's 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:04.640 because we either think it is too small or unfortunately 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:06.819 it's far too often because we think it's too 00:19:06.819 --> 00:19:11.920 big. And when we're doing that we are placing 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:17.059 limitations on a God that has none. He wants 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:19.619 to be with us as we prepare for our maths test 00:19:19.619 --> 00:19:22.079 in the same way that he wants to be with us as 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:26.460 we await a medical diagnosis or in the same way 00:19:26.460 --> 00:19:28.940 he wants to sit with us as we face the results 00:19:28.940 --> 00:19:36.400 of one. Ian Bowne sums it up beautifully. Our 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:39.119 praying however needs to be pressed and pursued 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:42.240 with an energy that never tires, a persistency 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.579 which will not be denied and a courage which 00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:48.319 never fails. Ours is a God who does not tire, 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.440 will not be denied and does not fail and our 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:58.200 prayer life needs to treat him as such. So why 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:02.839 don't we pray like that? Why don't we do it? 00:20:04.129 --> 00:20:06.829 I'll throw up some examples that I have heard 00:20:06.829 --> 00:20:09.269 directly from people and have probably said at 00:20:09.269 --> 00:20:11.309 some point in my life. So like, I'm with you, 00:20:11.369 --> 00:20:14.849 okay? First is, we don't know how. I don't know 00:20:14.849 --> 00:20:16.190 how to pray like that. I don't know how to pray. 00:20:16.269 --> 00:20:17.190 I don't know what I'm supposed to say. I don't 00:20:17.190 --> 00:20:21.069 know what I'm supposed to do. No judgment. Absolutely 00:20:21.069 --> 00:20:24.390 no judgment here. But again, like seven minutes 00:20:24.390 --> 00:20:27.329 ago, Jesus, I read out how Jesus has literally 00:20:27.329 --> 00:20:31.720 said, here's how you should pray. And I've heard 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:33.200 people say, I don't like praying out loud because 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:35.259 I'm worried about like, I don't sound as good 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:37.119 as some people say, like Charlie's got all this 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:39.480 like great theology and stuff, and like Tim says, 00:20:39.819 --> 00:20:44.460 it's like, guys, start, if you are not sure where 00:20:44.460 --> 00:20:47.099 to pray, start with the Lord's Prayer. Every 00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:49.480 time. And if that's all you pray, that's enough. 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:56.000 Second reason we don't pray like that, we don't 00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:00.519 pray with boldness. bold audacity is feelings 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:04.119 of inadequacy or annoyance. We too often think 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.220 that our prayers are too small for Jesus to care 00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:09.059 about, or too big for him to actually be able 00:21:09.059 --> 00:21:18.559 to alter. Which leads to timidity. And timidity 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.579 becomes our greatest barrier. Terminity forms 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:24.660 in us a dangerous ideology that tends to take 00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:26.900 us down the path of self -reliance. If we are 00:21:26.900 --> 00:21:30.339 too afraid to ask God about it, or for it, or 00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:32.740 to be involved with this in it, then we immediately 00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:35.359 take up the mantle assuming that we are responsible 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:39.420 for it instead. And as a result, followers of 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:42.140 Jesus too often become selective with our submission. 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:48.640 And prayer is the ultimate. act of submission. 00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:51.779 God in heaven, hallow be your name. That means 00:21:51.779 --> 00:21:55.960 everything else flows from that truth. Everything. 00:21:57.099 --> 00:21:59.819 We need to be bold like a child with a father 00:21:59.819 --> 00:22:02.319 who has proven time and time again that he loves 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:04.839 them, that he wants good things for them, and 00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:07.099 that he wants to be the one that provides those 00:22:07.099 --> 00:22:11.619 good things. Banji, you can come back up. That'd 00:22:11.619 --> 00:22:15.599 be wonderful. This parable And the way that Jesus 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:18.640 tell it, the journey that Jesus takes us on through 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.660 Luke means that this parable is a green light. 00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:28.140 For our prayer lives to be big, to be bold, to 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:31.619 ask for more and more and more and more, and 00:22:31.619 --> 00:22:34.279 when we think we have exhausted ourselves, or 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:36.259 we think we have exhausted what it is that we 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:39.599 can ask of Jesus, then we should pray more and 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:45.690 ask for more again. And as I was thinking about 00:22:45.690 --> 00:22:47.609 this, as I was thinking like about those reasons, 00:22:48.230 --> 00:22:50.369 I won't even say we, I don't pray like that all 00:22:50.369 --> 00:22:52.170 the time. It really led me to think of something. 00:22:54.289 --> 00:22:58.130 Have you ever prayed for something, like really 00:22:58.130 --> 00:23:02.849 desperately? I'm talking like when you, have 00:23:02.849 --> 00:23:05.430 you really prayed for it? I'm talking on your 00:23:05.430 --> 00:23:09.059 knees, weeping, pouring your heart out. The I 00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:12.579 don't care who sees me, this right now is between 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:14.539 me and the Lord type of prayer. Have you ever 00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:19.559 had that kind of prayer? If you haven't, that's 00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:22.259 okay. This parable, this teaching, today's message 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:24.559 is an invitation into that kind of prayer, is 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:27.339 an invitation into that kind of space. But if 00:23:27.339 --> 00:23:32.740 you have, and I have by the way, I made a... 00:23:32.619 --> 00:23:35.640 probably life very uncomfortable for a few people 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:39.079 at XTOL a few years ago, right? As I had one 00:23:39.079 --> 00:23:41.279 of those moments quite, you know, just literally 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:46.359 sitting in a row of chairs like this. And I'll 00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:48.680 be honest, as I was preaching this message and 00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:50.700 getting ready to bring this message to you guys 00:23:50.700 --> 00:23:55.299 this week, I had to ask myself, and I'll be honest, 00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:57.000 I had to feel a little bit of shame around the 00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:59.220 sense of, yeah, when was the next time that I 00:23:59.220 --> 00:24:05.809 prayed like that? I prayed in that moment for 00:24:05.809 --> 00:24:09.910 something that I desperately wanted, that doctors 00:24:09.910 --> 00:24:12.569 here on earth were telling me or telling us and 00:24:12.569 --> 00:24:14.430 our group of friends it was nigh on impossible. 00:24:16.430 --> 00:24:18.750 I felt so clearly that I'd heard from God in 00:24:18.750 --> 00:24:24.089 that time. And I'll be honest, I don't remember 00:24:24.089 --> 00:24:26.930 the next time I prayed like that. It might have 00:24:26.930 --> 00:24:29.549 been weeks, it might have been months, it might 00:24:29.549 --> 00:24:35.509 have been years. Praying shamelessly, praying 00:24:35.509 --> 00:24:40.630 with boldness is one thing, but doing it over 00:24:40.630 --> 00:24:47.130 and over and over again, asking Jesus to intercede 00:24:47.130 --> 00:24:50.009 on your behalf, on the behalf of others, over 00:24:50.009 --> 00:24:54.329 and over and over again, that is where your heart 00:24:54.329 --> 00:24:57.410 begins to transform. Because it's in that kind 00:24:57.410 --> 00:24:59.690 of prayer that we start to get a sense of what 00:24:59.690 --> 00:25:06.240 this parable is actually talking about. Again, 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.720 Jesus is capable of more than we can possibly 00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:13.900 imagine and his expectation is that we treat 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:19.960 him as such. He knows we have an eternal hunger 00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:22.579 and an unquenching thirst that only he can fulfill. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:25.220 And it's actually no, there's absolutely no way 00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:28.240 it's an accident that this parable is about somebody 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:34.240 asking for bread. In John 6 35 Jesus says, I 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:37.759 am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:40.500 not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:48.680 thirst. So Jesus uses parable talking about coming 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:51.279 and shamelessly and repeatedly knocking on a 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:54.359 door and saying, I need bread. And this is a 00:25:54.359 --> 00:25:56.660 parable that is about Jesus Him revealing Himself 00:25:56.660 --> 00:25:59.839 to us and saying, Hey, you can come to me the 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:03.299 bread of life time and time and time again and 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:09.220 I will sustain you. The best part, we know this 00:26:09.220 --> 00:26:10.880 for those in the room who are followers of Jesus, 00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:13.200 we know this. And if you are not currently a 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:16.700 follower of Jesus, I need you to hear this. is 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:18.880 that in order to receive that bread, in order 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.900 to receive that sustenance, we literally, all 00:26:21.900 --> 00:26:27.180 He wants us to do is to ask. He wants us to come 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:34.299 to Him and He wants us to ask. That's it. That's 00:26:34.299 --> 00:26:39.200 where it all starts. Jesus is offering us the 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:42.119 most unbelievable gift, an eternal gift, one 00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:44.519 that you would think would require or should 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:50.519 require something great of us in return. But 00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:53.480 no, in order to receive it all we have to do 00:26:53.480 --> 00:27:01.579 is come, ask and believe. I'm not going to be 00:27:01.579 --> 00:27:03.759 honest, I don't think Jesus came to sacrifice 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:06.539 Himself on the cross in the boldest act imaginable, 00:27:06.700 --> 00:27:10.200 to atone for our sins, for us to respond by being 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:16.200 too timid to ask Him for anything more. He's 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.799 already given us grace, love and forgiveness 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:21.339 beyond our wildest imagination. What makes you 00:27:21.339 --> 00:27:26.559 think He's going to stop listening now? What 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:28.180 makes you think He's going to stop offering to 00:27:28.180 --> 00:27:38.799 do more now? This love, this grace, this forgiveness, 00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:41.299 we need to be shameless in coming to Him and 00:27:41.299 --> 00:27:43.519 asking for it time and time and time and time 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:48.599 again. Whether the knock on that door is for 00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:52.279 the first time or for the thousandth time, whether 00:27:52.279 --> 00:27:56.420 it's 3 a .m. or during business hours, because 00:27:56.420 --> 00:27:59.519 that's exactly what He wants us to do, that's 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:05.730 exactly what He's asking us to do. So as we come 00:28:05.730 --> 00:28:08.329 to a close today and as we come back into a time 00:28:08.329 --> 00:28:15.589 of worship, what do you need to ask Jesus for? 00:28:17.109 --> 00:28:21.349 What have you stopped praying for? What have 00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:24.369 you knocked for once or twice? Maybe you have 00:28:24.369 --> 00:28:26.369 knocked a thousand times and it feels a little 00:28:26.369 --> 00:28:32.130 bit exhausting at this point. My challenge is 00:28:32.130 --> 00:28:34.619 what have you got to lose by praying again? What 00:28:34.619 --> 00:28:36.880 have you got to lose by asking one more time? 00:28:40.059 --> 00:28:43.140 So as we come into this time, I'd ask you to 00:28:43.140 --> 00:28:45.119 stand as we join and worship if you're able. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.900 Take some time to pray. What is that one prayer? 00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:52.640 What is that one thing? And I want you to pray 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:54.700 that prayer, not just today, not just during 00:28:54.700 --> 00:28:56.259 worship, not just because you're here on a Sunday. 00:28:56.279 --> 00:28:58.059 I want you to take that prayer home with you, 00:28:58.059 --> 00:29:02.900 and I want you to pray it every single day. Just, 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:07.220 you know what? Do it for a week. Take it home 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:10.240 and pray it every single day. Pray the Lord's 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:11.720 Prayer. You could even use the little cut down 00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:14.460 one that I gave you today. And then pray that, 00:29:14.680 --> 00:29:16.400 and then pray for that one prayer. And you say, 00:29:16.420 --> 00:29:20.619 Jesus this is where I need you today. Jesus I 00:29:20.619 --> 00:29:24.339 know I've asked before, but I'm asking again. 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:29.859 Because you are sovereign over all. Because I 00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:34.160 am your child. Because I am... your child and 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:43.400 you are my father and I know that you want to 00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:47.319 give me good things and I believe that you are 00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:55.619 capable of doing it. Jesus is desperate to hear 00:29:55.619 --> 00:29:59.680 your prayers no matter the time, no matter the 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:04.420 circumstance, no matter the frequency. Thanks 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:06.460 so much for tuning into this week's message. 00:30:07.299 --> 00:30:10.220 If you felt challenged or need prayer, we'd love 00:30:10.220 --> 00:30:12.619 to hear from you on Instagram at encounterhenley. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:15.559 Or if you're interested in how you can support 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:19.539 this ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide 00:30:19.539 --> 00:30:23.700 .com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless 00:30:23.700 --> 00:30:24.059 you.