1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,140
Well, I hope that you're all ready for another good heart-to-heart talk.

2
00:00:07,140 --> 00:00:12,140
And haven't these heart-to-heart talks been interesting?

3
00:00:12,140 --> 00:00:16,440
Oh, I've loved every minute of them.

4
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:23,640
And I do hope that you have gotten as big of thrill, as great a blessing,

5
00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:29,640
and it has been as profitable time to you as it has been for me.

6
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:31,440
I mean that.

7
00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:37,240
We've been talking about this all-important matter of prayer.

8
00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:44,600
And you will agree with me that Jesus has made prayers so simple,

9
00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:55,040
so easy, so understandable, that even a little child can understand.

10
00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,260
That's why, beloved, watch something very carefully.

11
00:00:59,260 --> 00:01:11,960
And you will find a little child so often getting the answer to their prayers.

12
00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:17,900
They just instinctively know how to pray.

13
00:01:17,900 --> 00:01:24,460
Man has made praying so complicated.

14
00:01:24,460 --> 00:01:33,400
Man has gotten so involved with things that are so unnecessary.

15
00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:39,360
Very often, I think that man has made this thing of being a Christian

16
00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:44,940
and has made the things of God so complicated and so hard

17
00:01:44,940 --> 00:01:51,040
because he has tried to build himself up

18
00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:59,240
and bring glory unto himself rather than turning to the simplicity of it all

19
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:04,000
and go up find God.

20
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,140
Oh, the simplicity of praying.

21
00:02:08,140 --> 00:02:12,140
It's recorded here in the sixth chapter of Matthew.

22
00:02:12,140 --> 00:02:18,100
Jesus, first of all, began by giving us the place of prayer.

23
00:02:18,100 --> 00:02:24,600
Then he taught us the simplicity of praying.

24
00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,840
Then he continued by giving us the pattern.

25
00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:33,200
And in the opening sentence, he taught us to pray,

26
00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:39,400
Our Father, who art in heaven.

27
00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:46,100
And again, I repeat something that I have said in the two heart-to-heart talks

28
00:02:46,100 --> 00:02:54,900
prior to this one, that if you really learn to pray the first six words,

29
00:02:54,900 --> 00:02:59,640
you need not go further.

30
00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:06,600
Our Father, which art in heaven.

31
00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:15,340
That glorious son and father relationship, it's marvelous.

32
00:03:15,340 --> 00:03:19,840
There's nothing more thrilling than that.

33
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,800
Your Father is a Father of absolute perfection.

34
00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,400
He cannot lie.

35
00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:28,800
He cannot make a mistake.

36
00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:29,700
He has perfect wisdom.

37
00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:36,840
He's perfect knowledge, perfect in his love, perfect in his decisions,

38
00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,540
perfect in his feelings with you and with me.

39
00:03:41,540 --> 00:03:48,900
Therefore, you must realize at the very beginning that the one to whom you are praying,

40
00:03:48,900 --> 00:03:56,040
the one into whose presence you come is absolute perfection.

41
00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:01,440
In making your requests known before the Son of God,

42
00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:09,500
you must realize that the Father's will is a perfect will.

43
00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:18,340
You must realize that you must surrender your will to His will.

44
00:04:18,340 --> 00:04:21,700
Because you are a son.

45
00:04:21,700 --> 00:04:28,440
Your position in this relationship is the position of a child, a son,

46
00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:34,140
and always the Father has the right of command, always.

47
00:04:34,140 --> 00:04:45,440
And Jesus gave us the most perfect example of the surrendering of the will to the will of the Father.

48
00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:55,400
When He Himself, the Son of the Living God, looked up and prayed,

49
00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:05,540
nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

50
00:05:05,540 --> 00:05:18,880
So often, much of our praying is trying to bring the will of God to fit our will.

51
00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:28,200
When you pray at the very beginning, submit, surrender your will to His will.

52
00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,640
You want the will of God for your life?

53
00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:39,240
Are you sincere in seeking His will regarding a certain problem?

54
00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:48,040
Do you really conscientiously want God's will in a given matter?

55
00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:54,300
You will only have His will when you surrender your own will to Him,

56
00:05:54,300 --> 00:05:58,700
when you no longer have a will of your own.

57
00:05:58,700 --> 00:06:05,840
Even as Jesus, when He prayed, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

58
00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:08,640
Now, what's something else?

59
00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:14,300
This glorious relationship between the child and the Father,

60
00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:21,640
when you can really come before His throne and say, My Father,

61
00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:30,240
it puts mercy in the very heart of judgment.

62
00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:43,040
Oh, I tell you, perhaps God permitted me to have such a wonderful, earth-laying Father.

63
00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,340
Of course, He wasn't perfect.

64
00:06:46,340 --> 00:06:55,680
Joe Cruman was not absolute perfection, but I was His child.

65
00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,980
I thought everything that He did was perfect.

66
00:06:58,980 --> 00:07:02,700
There is only one perfect Father.

67
00:07:02,700 --> 00:07:06,140
That's our Heavenly Father.

68
00:07:06,140 --> 00:07:14,700
But even as an earthly parent, there was a many a time, I'll tell you,

69
00:07:14,700 --> 00:07:23,100
I did things, I'm going to tell you, I did things.

70
00:07:23,100 --> 00:07:34,080
Oh, if I had not been the child of my parent,

71
00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,540
that Father would have turned His back on me

72
00:07:37,540 --> 00:07:41,980
and would have claimed no relationship whatsoever.

73
00:07:41,980 --> 00:07:49,240
He could have just turned His back and could have said, That's not my kid.

74
00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,940
You can have her, I don't want her.

75
00:07:52,940 --> 00:07:56,040
Oh, my goodness, all life.

76
00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,240
Or He could have taken me and He could have,

77
00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:04,680
out of sheer anger, beaten the daylight out of me.

78
00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:10,240
There are things that, had He not been my Father,

79
00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:16,740
He could never have forgiven me, except for the fact that I was His offspring.

80
00:08:16,740 --> 00:08:19,080
I was His child.

81
00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,940
And because I was His child and He was my Father,

82
00:08:23,940 --> 00:08:31,880
it put mercy in the very heart of His judgment.

83
00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,680
If I were to tell you that I was a perfect human being,

84
00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:39,680
I would be the biggest liar that ever lived.

85
00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:42,340
That's right.

86
00:08:42,340 --> 00:08:44,540
I'm still in the flesh.

87
00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:47,940
This is still corruption.

88
00:08:47,940 --> 00:08:50,940
I'm still an old body of clay.

89
00:08:50,940 --> 00:08:54,940
I love the Lord, I love Him with all of my heart.

90
00:08:54,940 --> 00:09:00,680
But honestly, sometimes I think I do such ridiculous things,

91
00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:05,680
such things that later I'm so sorry for, I make so many mistakes.

92
00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:09,440
That's the reason I say to you, Please, I do my best.

93
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,240
I do the best that I know how.

94
00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:16,740
I wouldn't intentionally grieve my Lord.

95
00:09:16,740 --> 00:09:23,980
I wouldn't intentionally bring reproach on the things that are most precious to my heart.

96
00:09:23,980 --> 00:09:32,040
I wouldn't bring grief to my Heavenly Father for anything in the world.

97
00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:42,580
And yet I am so human that I know that many a time I bring grief to Him.

98
00:09:42,580 --> 00:09:50,380
There are times when I do such awful things just out of sheer ignorance,

99
00:09:50,380 --> 00:09:55,640
stupidity on my part.

100
00:09:55,640 --> 00:10:03,100
And I come before the throne and I shed more tears over these things.

101
00:10:03,100 --> 00:10:11,340
And I have said, Father, I'm so stupid, it seems I'll never learn.

102
00:10:11,340 --> 00:10:15,040
Would you please forgive me?

103
00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:24,500
Never once has He taken the whip and given me dirty lashes.

104
00:10:24,500 --> 00:10:33,440
Never once when I've cried in real repentance, in real confession,

105
00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:40,500
has He ever looked down in anger and has said to me,

106
00:10:40,500 --> 00:10:44,500
You're no longer my child.

107
00:10:44,500 --> 00:10:48,600
I disown you.

108
00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,200
You're no longer my heir.

109
00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:57,440
You're no longer the heir of my only begotten son.

110
00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:02,940
I can't trust you.

111
00:11:02,940 --> 00:11:06,740
I shall cease to use you as a chosen vessel.

112
00:11:06,740 --> 00:11:20,140
Never once, beloved, the very second I come in true repentance and in true confession,

113
00:11:20,140 --> 00:11:27,400
sorry, deeply, sincerely sorry,

114
00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:35,740
He was more willing to forgive than any earthly parent that ever lived.

115
00:11:35,740 --> 00:11:44,540
On all this son and child basis, this father and child relationship is the greatest in the world.

116
00:11:44,540 --> 00:11:48,240
Sure, the Father always had the right of command.

117
00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:58,540
But remember, it also puts mercy in the very heart of the Father's judgment.

118
00:11:58,540 --> 00:12:05,400
And when we say Father, it expresses our faith,

119
00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:11,700
our complete confidence in Him, the same confidence that Jesus had.

120
00:12:11,700 --> 00:12:25,840
If you want an example for everything that Jesus taught, you'll find that example in Him.

121
00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:40,200
And here again, Jesus left us a perfect example of a perfect faith in a perfect Father.

122
00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:45,000
And it was the last example that Jesus left us.

123
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:54,500
Hanging on the cross with the spittle of His enemies on the flesh of His body,

124
00:12:54,500 --> 00:13:03,340
He looked up with perfect confidence in His Father and prayed,

125
00:13:03,340 --> 00:13:15,500
Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.

126
00:13:15,500 --> 00:13:25,200
But He used the word Father to prefix His words.

127
00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:40,300
Father, I am Your Son with perfect faith, complete confidence in Your perfection,

128
00:13:40,300 --> 00:13:50,000
the perfection of Your power, Your wisdom, Your knowledge, Your guidance, Your love.

129
00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:59,200
Into Thy hands I commend my spirit.

130
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:04,200
Want you to see something?

131
00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,600
The Father is never discovered.

132
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,100
God is never discovered.

133
00:14:12,100 --> 00:14:18,200
He is revealed.

134
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:24,100
Turn, if you will, please, to the 14th chapter of John.

135
00:14:24,100 --> 00:14:30,600
It's Philip asking the Master to do something.

136
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:41,200
Philip said unto Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

137
00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,200
And what was the answer that Jesus gave to Philip?

138
00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:56,300
This is what He said, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.

139
00:14:56,300 --> 00:15:02,200
And how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

140
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:09,400
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.

141
00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:16,100
The Father is revealed through Jesus.

142
00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:21,900
You've had an idea that God is a vindictive God,

143
00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:27,300
and that He takes delight in letting a man go to hell.

144
00:15:27,300 --> 00:15:31,300
But you don't know God.

145
00:15:31,300 --> 00:15:36,400
You don't really know God, if you think that.

146
00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:42,900
The only perfect revelation that God ever made of Himself, He made in Jesus Christ.

147
00:15:42,900 --> 00:15:51,600
And if you look at Him through Jesus, you'll know what kind of a God He really is.

148
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,400
Did you see Him move with compassion for the restless multitude

149
00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:01,300
who were like sheep without a shepherd?

150
00:16:01,300 --> 00:16:04,500
That's God.

151
00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:10,100
Did you see Him weeping in pity over Jerusalem?

152
00:16:10,100 --> 00:16:16,000
That's God.

153
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,100
Did you hear Him speak to blind Bartimaeus?

154
00:16:20,100 --> 00:16:23,500
All the disciples said, Shut up, you beggar.

155
00:16:23,500 --> 00:16:33,400
But Jesus said, Bartimaeus, receive thy sight.

156
00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:40,300
Did you hear Him speak to the poor woman with the scarlet stain of sin on her soul?

157
00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:46,500
The crowd wanted to stone her, but Jesus said,

158
00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:55,000
Go in peace and sin no more.

159
00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:00,700
That's God.

160
00:17:00,700 --> 00:17:06,700
Did you hear Him on the cross praying for the howling mob that mailed Him there?

161
00:17:06,700 --> 00:17:15,400
That, my friend, that's God.

162
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:26,600
From the beginning to the end, you'll find Him a God of love.

163
00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:33,200
Jesus revealed God as a Father and as a Father,

164
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:41,600
He's tender in mercy and perfect in love.

165
00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:46,600
Amen.