WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.779 Thank you, Clara and Mark for that great number. 00:00:03.580 --> 00:00:11.380 Holy, holy, holy. As a young boy, I grew up understanding 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:17.739 that I had responsibility around the farm. Most 00:00:17.739 --> 00:00:22.000 farm kids do grow up that way. Whether it be 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:25.660 flopping the hogs or feeding the cows or milking 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:30.449 them. or if it be shoveling some grain or sweeping 00:00:30.449 --> 00:00:36.609 the house, kids need to know that there are jobs 00:00:36.609 --> 00:00:40.630 to do around home. I recall as a young boy my 00:00:40.630 --> 00:00:43.450 mother giving me an assignment of doing some 00:00:43.450 --> 00:00:48.170 sleeping with a broom. She had to show me that 00:00:48.170 --> 00:00:51.329 there is a way to sweep that works and then there's 00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:54.969 a way that doesn't work. There's a way to sweep 00:00:54.969 --> 00:00:59.479 that... raises some dust, and then there's a 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.920 way to sweep that gets the place clean. And it 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.159 illustrated to me something that she often said, 00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:09.620 and that is that there is a right way and a wrong 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:14.959 way to get a job done. She also said if there's 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:18.900 a job worth doing, it's worth doing. Oh, your 00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:23.370 parents had the same thing. I want to know this 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:27.230 morning that our Heavenly Father has a work for 00:01:27.230 --> 00:01:33.170 us to do on earth. It is exciting that He does. 00:01:34.189 --> 00:01:37.510 It is satisfying that He does, because it gives 00:01:37.510 --> 00:01:43.290 this earthly life purpose and direction to know 00:01:43.290 --> 00:01:48.450 that God has a reason for our being here. This 00:01:48.450 --> 00:01:52.019 work that God gives us provides an overarching 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:57.439 sense of meaning in our years in the world. How 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.859 then do we do heaven's work on earth? I invite 00:02:00.859 --> 00:02:03.019 you to open your Bible to Colossians chapter 00:02:03.019 --> 00:02:07.579 4 for our text verses 2, 3, and 4, and we'll 00:02:07.579 --> 00:02:10.860 get some insight into how to do heaven's work 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:16.460 on earth. The apostle says, devote yourselves 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:20.650 to prayer. keeping alert in it with an attitude 00:02:20.650 --> 00:02:23.310 of thanksgiving, praying at the same time for 00:02:23.310 --> 00:02:28.129 us as well, that God may open up to us a door 00:02:28.129 --> 00:02:31.789 for the Word, so that we may speak forth the 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:35.669 mystery of Christ for which I have also been 00:02:35.669 --> 00:02:39.509 imprisoned, in order that I may make it clear 00:02:39.509 --> 00:02:44.520 in the way I ought to speak. So the first question 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:47.000 I want to ask as we look at this text this morning 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:52.379 is, what is Heaven's work? What is God's work 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:56.199 that He has given us to do? Now in the broader 00:02:56.199 --> 00:03:00.500 context of this text and of that question, we 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:05.139 can say that whatever we do is God's work for 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:09.080 us. Look back in verse 17 of chapter 3. He says, 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:12.139 and whatever, or literally He says, and everything, 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:17.259 whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:22.919 the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do is 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:26.120 heaven's work. And it's to be done in the name 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:30.900 of the Lord Jesus. That is, it's to be done recognizing 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:36.080 that He has delegated to you the opportunity 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:39.210 to be His representative there. Do it in His 00:03:39.210 --> 00:03:43.969 name. You are His ambassador to that situation, 00:03:44.530 --> 00:03:47.569 to that place. You're His diplomat in your circle 00:03:47.569 --> 00:03:51.449 of influence. And so whether it be in your neighborhood 00:03:51.449 --> 00:03:55.150 or your workplace, in your home, wherever you 00:03:55.150 --> 00:04:00.310 are, you are the Lord's diplomat. And so whatever 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:04.050 you do, do it in His name as His ambassador. 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:08.280 But then again he uses the same phrase in verse 00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:13.280 23 when he says, whatever you do, do your work 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.240 heartily as for the Lord rather than for men. 00:04:18.220 --> 00:04:20.439 And so again he says, whatever you're doing, 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:24.339 it's heaven's work and therefore it should be 00:04:24.339 --> 00:04:29.360 done for the Lord. You know what this does? It 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.730 makes everything sacred. If you work on an assembly 00:04:33.730 --> 00:04:35.910 line where things are being punched out in metal, 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:41.389 that is sacred work for you as a Christian. Because 00:04:41.389 --> 00:04:45.149 you're doing that for the Lord. If you're typing 00:04:45.149 --> 00:04:49.709 letters on a computer or entering data on a computer, 00:04:50.129 --> 00:04:54.269 that's sacred work. Because whatever you do, 00:04:54.509 --> 00:05:02.110 you're doing it for the Lord, not for men. text 00:05:02.110 --> 00:05:05.689 we're looking at, we find the heart and the core 00:05:05.689 --> 00:05:09.569 of what Heaven's work is. It seems to me that 00:05:09.569 --> 00:05:11.970 the Apostle shares that with us as he talks about 00:05:11.970 --> 00:05:15.430 his own responsibility, and he says it is to 00:05:15.430 --> 00:05:22.769 speak forth the mystery of Christ. In the broadest 00:05:22.769 --> 00:05:25.509 sense, whatever we do is Heaven's work because 00:05:25.509 --> 00:05:28.170 God has given that to us as an assignment to 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:31.040 be His representative. and we do it as unto the 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:36.319 Lord. But in the narrowest sense, in the heart 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:40.899 sense, in the focus of it all, we can say that 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:46.079 God's work on earth is advancing the knowledge 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:52.459 of Jesus to everybody. Paul puts it, speaking 00:05:52.459 --> 00:05:57.439 forth the mystery of Christ. That is what God 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:02.259 has done for us in Christ. That God has brought 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:05.439 redemption for us through the work of His cross. 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:11.139 That is the mystery of Christ that you and I 00:06:11.139 --> 00:06:14.600 are to speak for. And so we should see every 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:18.939 circumstance of life, including our limitations, 00:06:19.459 --> 00:06:23.879 as opportunities to do this work of God. The 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:28.810 apostle was imprisoned. Remember? He wrote the 00:06:28.810 --> 00:06:31.290 book of Colossians while he was under house arrest 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:35.110 in the city of Rome, and he refers to that by 00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:38.170 saying, for which I have also been imprisoned. 00:06:39.790 --> 00:06:43.850 Now there is a parallel text to Colossians 4, 00:06:43.850 --> 00:06:46.689 and that is found in Ephesians 6. Look back there 00:06:46.689 --> 00:06:53.970 for just a moment. In verse 19 he says, Pray 00:06:53.970 --> 00:06:57.069 on my behalf that utterance may be given to me 00:06:57.069 --> 00:07:01.589 in the opening of my mouth To make known with 00:07:01.589 --> 00:07:05.870 boldness the mystery of the gospel You notice 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:10.990 the similar word? For which I am an ambassador 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:17.189 in change That in proclaiming it I may speak 00:07:17.189 --> 00:07:22.259 boldly as I ought to speak The apostle saw his 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:28.339 current circumstances as an assignment. He calls 00:07:28.339 --> 00:07:32.079 himself an ambassador who is in chains. And maybe 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:35.800 you see yourself today in chains of some sort. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:40.339 Chains physically that limit you so that you 00:07:40.339 --> 00:07:45.259 cannot do what you would like to do. Or chains 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:50.980 financially. Or chains emotionally. Whatever 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:55.120 your change may be, whatever your limitations 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:01.120 may be, today, see those chains, even that limitation, 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:07.000 as an opportunity. Heaven's work on earth is 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:13.019 to make Jesus known to others. How many of you 00:08:13.019 --> 00:08:15.300 received the grace link in the mail this week 00:08:15.300 --> 00:08:18.959 that talked about the survey? Yes, most of you. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.180 When we don't send it out first class, we're 00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:25.240 rather dependent upon when the post office wants 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:27.360 to get it there. And they usually do a pretty 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:34.360 good job. It was sobering to me that only 36 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:38.980 % of our congregation desires to see our church 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:47.659 grow numerically. Does that bother you? That 00:08:47.659 --> 00:08:53.289 disturbs me greatly. Now I realize some may have 00:08:53.289 --> 00:08:55.730 answered that question with nuances in their 00:08:55.730 --> 00:09:01.649 minds that weren't on the page. But you know 00:09:01.649 --> 00:09:04.210 what that really says when you dig down underneath 00:09:04.210 --> 00:09:10.149 the question? It says, I like our church the 00:09:10.149 --> 00:09:13.309 way it is. I don't want new people coming in 00:09:13.309 --> 00:09:21.490 and disturbing it. Or it says, I'm saved. I don't 00:09:21.490 --> 00:09:27.950 care if other people get saved or not. Or can 00:09:27.950 --> 00:09:34.590 say other things. But somehow, some of us have 00:09:34.590 --> 00:09:40.610 lost sight of what heaven's work is. Heaven's 00:09:40.610 --> 00:09:42.690 work is not that we'd be comfortable in our church. 00:09:49.090 --> 00:09:51.909 Heaven's work is that we tell others about Jesus. 00:09:53.529 --> 00:09:55.909 And if we tell others about Jesus, we ought to 00:09:55.909 --> 00:09:58.049 expect, ought we not, that some of them are going 00:09:58.049 --> 00:10:02.490 to be saved? And as a part of that, be baptized 00:10:02.490 --> 00:10:07.789 and become a part of our church? How then can 00:10:07.789 --> 00:10:14.629 we say we don't want to grow numerically? There's 00:10:14.629 --> 00:10:18.840 some fundamental thing missing. in the equation 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:24.279 here. Heaven's work is that others be saved and 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:30.179 brought into the Kingdom of God. And so what 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:33.039 may seem like a very natural thing for the preacher 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.860 to say on a Sunday morning ought to be rather 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:43.120 shocking to some of us. That what God really 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.129 wants from us, whatever our vocation, What God 00:10:46.129 --> 00:10:50.350 really wants from us is to tell others about 00:10:50.350 --> 00:10:57.889 Jesus. And whether we're farmers or fishermen. 00:11:02.850 --> 00:11:05.730 Whether we are missionaries or marketing executives. 00:11:07.529 --> 00:11:09.850 Whether we are Sunday school teachers or surgeons 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:13.740 or pastors or policemen. For farmers or freight 00:11:13.740 --> 00:11:17.820 haulers, whatever we are, God's work for us is 00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:24.139 to tell others about Jesus. Even when we're in 00:11:24.139 --> 00:11:29.480 change of some sort. That's Heaven's work. But 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:31.659 my real question this morning goes beyond, what 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:34.539 is Heaven's work? It is, how do we do Heaven's 00:11:34.539 --> 00:11:37.940 work on Earth? And the answer to that ought to 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:40.279 be very clear from our text. It is that we do 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:46.409 it with prayer. The apostle says, devote yourselves 00:11:46.409 --> 00:11:52.070 to prayer. We live in a generation that finds 00:11:52.070 --> 00:11:54.950 it much more easily to be devoted to oneself 00:11:54.950 --> 00:12:01.710 than to devote oneself to prayer. To devote oneself 00:12:01.710 --> 00:12:05.870 to prayer is sacrificial. This idea of devoting 00:12:05.870 --> 00:12:09.169 oneself is used ten times in the New Testament 00:12:09.169 --> 00:12:13.570 frequently with respect to prayer. in Acts 1 00:12:13.570 --> 00:12:18.289 -14, Acts 2 -42, Acts 6 verse 4, Romans 12 verse 00:12:18.289 --> 00:12:22.230 12. This word devote is used in reference to 00:12:22.230 --> 00:12:25.850 prayer. The word devote comes from a root word 00:12:25.850 --> 00:12:29.889 that means to be strong. And so it means to be 00:12:29.889 --> 00:12:32.970 strong in prayer or to be faithful in prayer, 00:12:33.049 --> 00:12:39.429 to be steadfast in prayer. And as he tells us 00:12:39.429 --> 00:12:42.519 how to do heaven's work, He gives us some insight 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:46.240 into prayer, at least four of them. The first 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:50.860 is the prayer requires discipline. Notice that 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:53.519 he says, and I'm going back to our text now, 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:57.460 so I can get my Bible open to that spot, in Colossians 00:12:57.460 --> 00:13:01.220 4, he says, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping 00:13:01.220 --> 00:13:05.799 alert in it. This idea of keeping alert means 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:08.480 staying awake, and maybe the apostle has in mind 00:13:08.730 --> 00:13:11.190 what is recorded in Matthew as well as in Mark, 00:13:11.289 --> 00:13:15.309 that the disciples were asleep with Jesus when 00:13:15.309 --> 00:13:18.570 Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:13:19.110 --> 00:13:21.830 When He has said, go apart and pray, they fell 00:13:21.830 --> 00:13:26.370 asleep. And so He says to all of us, don't get 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:30.490 sleepy in prayer. Don't allow prayer to become 00:13:30.490 --> 00:13:35.750 stale and mechanical and dull. Don't let your 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:41.159 prayers become uninspired. But keep your heart's 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:44.879 diligence and on guard and be alert in prayer. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:50.919 Ian Bounds writes, desire is not merely a simple 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:54.620 wish. He's talking about desire in prayer. Desire 00:13:54.620 --> 00:14:04.759 is not merely a simple wish. It is a deep craving, 00:14:07.019 --> 00:14:12.529 an intense longing. absolute essential in prayer. 00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:17.909 He says, perfunctory formal praying with no heart 00:14:17.909 --> 00:14:23.389 and no feeling and no real desire is to be shunned 00:14:23.389 --> 00:14:29.210 like a pestilence. That is a pestilence that 00:14:29.210 --> 00:14:33.929 too easily comes upon us, isn't it? To go through 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:38.690 the motions of praying without praying. And so 00:14:38.690 --> 00:14:41.169 he says, devote yourselves to prayer, and remember 00:14:41.169 --> 00:14:45.929 that prayer requires discipline. Not only are 00:14:45.929 --> 00:14:49.730 we to stay awake, but we're to give thanks. Several 00:14:49.730 --> 00:14:54.529 times in this whole text, starting back in chapter 00:14:54.529 --> 00:14:59.850 3 and verse 15, he says, be thankful. With thanksgiving, 00:15:00.269 --> 00:15:03.909 be thankful. And prayer is to be offered up that 00:15:03.909 --> 00:15:06.279 way. Too easily our prayers... are caught up 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:10.740 in the asking, aren't they, without thanking 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:15.759 God for these answers. And so we're to discipline 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.799 ourselves. Secondly, he tells us that prayer 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:25.940 builds team. Notice he says, in verse 3, praying 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:31.960 at the same time for us. That phrase, at the 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:36.850 same time, means praying in close association 00:15:36.850 --> 00:15:42.429 with us. Prayer builds team. The apostle here 00:15:42.429 --> 00:15:45.549 is calling upon the Colossians to join his prayer 00:15:45.549 --> 00:15:49.389 team. It is good for you and me to remember we're 00:15:49.389 --> 00:15:53.649 not doing God's work alone. We're not sharing 00:15:53.649 --> 00:15:57.309 Jesus with others alone. We're part of a big 00:15:57.309 --> 00:16:02.470 team. It is a worldwide operation. It spans the 00:16:02.470 --> 00:16:07.919 generations. It's a big thing. And as we undertake 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:11.360 this work and our part in it, there needs to 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:16.700 be prayer support. All of us need team. Some 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:18.639 of you are at that point in life when you're 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.899 making big decisions. You're in college. Just 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:28.000 starting a career. Looking to be married. Decisions 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.360 that will influence the rest of your life. I 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:34.320 want to urge you, in particular, to build around 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:38.659 yourselves a team of two or three or five people 00:16:38.659 --> 00:16:42.519 who will pray for you in these crucial years. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:47.779 I thank God for those who came around me, not 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:51.240 at my request actually, but out of God's goodness, 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:55.860 who came around me in my formation years and 00:16:55.860 --> 00:16:59.159 said, I'm going to pray for you, pray for you 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:02.179 every day. I've told you about one or two of 00:17:02.179 --> 00:17:05.710 those people. I believe they made a difference 00:17:05.710 --> 00:17:11.490 in my life. Let me encourage you to build around 00:17:11.490 --> 00:17:14.529 yourself people who will pray for you. Prayer 00:17:14.529 --> 00:17:18.990 builds team and then you be a team member for 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:24.269 somebody else or some several others and be a 00:17:24.269 --> 00:17:26.690 part of their prayer team and then we network 00:17:26.690 --> 00:17:30.230 together their strength and depth. The third 00:17:30.230 --> 00:17:33.180 insight I get about prayer is that prayer opens 00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:38.359 doors. He says, pray this, that God may open 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:42.640 up to us a door for the Word that is for the 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:46.680 message, so that we may speak forth the mystery 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:51.920 of Christ. He's looking here for a door of opportunity. 00:17:53.319 --> 00:18:00.690 Where do you put a door? In a wall, right? And 00:18:00.690 --> 00:18:03.490 so the apostle is suggesting that there are walls 00:18:03.490 --> 00:18:08.490 before him. There are hindrances before him. 00:18:09.109 --> 00:18:12.130 He says, pray that God will put a door there. 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:17.210 Have you ever heard of Windy Bagwell and the 00:18:17.210 --> 00:18:21.829 Sunlighters? It's a southern gospel group. I 00:18:21.829 --> 00:18:24.950 suppose they're still going out there somewhere 00:18:24.950 --> 00:18:30.240 in these all -night things. Wendy Bagwell was 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:35.380 well -named. He got his nickname, I assume Wendy 00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:39.160 is a nickname, because he was a great storyteller. 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:42.579 He told one of the funniest stories I've ever 00:18:42.579 --> 00:18:46.380 heard in my life. I wish I had the whole script 00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:48.720 to share it with you this morning, but the story 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.420 basically is about a time when he and the Sunlighters, 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:55.740 his music team, were in a southern Kentucky church. 00:18:58.420 --> 00:19:01.420 And it was a small one -room structure with a 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:03.779 light bulb hanging down, bare light bulb hanging 00:19:03.779 --> 00:19:06.839 down. And they had trouble getting their amps 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:09.500 hooked up and they finally did, got their amplifiers 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:11.779 in place and they got into the service and everybody 00:19:11.779 --> 00:19:14.779 kind of got happy. It was one of those churches. 00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:18.559 And as people got happy they began to kind of 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.839 dance and jump around and some of them went around 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:24.200 behind where they were playing. And pretty soon 00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:27.779 they came out bringing rattlesnakes. There was 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:29.660 a snake handle in church, and they didn't even 00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:34.279 know it. And their eyes got big as they're singing 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:37.039 and playing their guitars. And they watched these 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.160 people carrying rattlesnakes around, kissing 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:47.000 them. And he backed up to his wife. And she says, 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:49.180 honey, what are we going to do? And Wendy says, 00:19:49.420 --> 00:19:54.940 I don't know. He leaned over to her and said, 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:02.680 where's the door? He said, I don't see one. He 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:08.640 said, pray tell, where do they want one? Where 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:13.519 do they want one? Oh, that's just one line now 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.099 of the story. But here's the point. There was 00:20:16.099 --> 00:20:19.559 a wall there. He needed the door. Paul's saying, 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.400 there's walls all around me. I need doors. Pray 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:27.539 that God will open doors. Where do you need doors? 00:20:28.990 --> 00:20:33.670 Doors of opportunity. What are the walls up in 00:20:33.670 --> 00:20:35.950 your witness where you want to share Christ and 00:20:35.950 --> 00:20:40.450 it doesn't seem like there's any opening? Prayer 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:45.910 opens doors. And then finally prayer emboldens 00:20:45.910 --> 00:20:50.369 us. The Apostle says, in order that I may make 00:20:50.369 --> 00:20:55.250 it clear, that is that I may uncover it, that 00:20:55.250 --> 00:21:01.109 I may make visible. make known the Gospel in 00:21:01.109 --> 00:21:05.430 the way that I ought to speak, the way that I 00:21:05.430 --> 00:21:08.789 must speak. And we'll not take time to look at 00:21:08.789 --> 00:21:10.930 it again, but in Ephesians 6 and what I read 00:21:10.930 --> 00:21:13.970 to you, he says that I may speak it boldly. The 00:21:13.970 --> 00:21:16.650 apostle was suggesting here that prayer emboldens 00:21:16.650 --> 00:21:19.970 us, and if you go back to the book of Acts, you 00:21:19.970 --> 00:21:23.069 find that prayer was that which gave boldness 00:21:23.069 --> 00:21:28.519 and freedom of speech to the early church. Prayer 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:32.079 provided for them a courage and a confidence 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:35.299 in the work of God. It took away the fear of 00:21:35.299 --> 00:21:38.740 those who were persecuting them. And so the apostle 00:21:38.740 --> 00:21:43.299 is saying here, prayer emboldens us. Someone 00:21:43.299 --> 00:21:47.119 has said, Satan laughs at our toiling, mocks 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:50.619 at our wisdom, but trembles when he sees the 00:21:50.619 --> 00:21:56.039 weakest saint upon his knees. How then are we 00:21:56.039 --> 00:22:02.450 to do God's work? by prayer. We're going to devote 00:22:02.450 --> 00:22:06.529 our summer to prayer around this place for a 00:22:06.529 --> 00:22:10.990 number of reasons. We're going to be looking 00:22:10.990 --> 00:22:13.690 in Sunday morning at one of the most significant 00:22:13.690 --> 00:22:16.089 prayers of the Old Testament, in my opinion, 00:22:16.269 --> 00:22:20.529 in the book of Jeremiah. On Sunday evenings, 00:22:20.529 --> 00:22:23.509 we are going to have prayer meetings every Sunday 00:22:23.509 --> 00:22:25.910 night, if there's not something like the Billy 00:22:25.910 --> 00:22:32.150 Graham crusade going on. Because we need prayer 00:22:32.150 --> 00:22:34.750 in our church like we've never needed it before. 00:22:37.089 --> 00:22:40.650 And the 36 % that I just talked about is one 00:22:40.650 --> 00:22:44.289 indication of that. We need God to do something 00:22:44.289 --> 00:22:49.170 in our hearts, folks, so that we will understand 00:22:49.170 --> 00:22:51.890 the work of God and get it done on earth, because 00:22:51.890 --> 00:22:56.970 it's done with prayer. Prayer is the heart and 00:22:56.970 --> 00:22:58.930 the soul of getting God's work done on earth. 00:22:59.150 --> 00:23:02.329 Paul begins this book with prayer, chapter 1. 00:23:02.589 --> 00:23:04.950 He tells us how he prays, what he prays for, 00:23:05.289 --> 00:23:10.289 and now he ends it with a plea for prayer. God's 00:23:10.289 --> 00:23:13.390 work is seeking forth the mystery of Christ. 00:23:14.210 --> 00:23:16.930 That requires boldness, it requires opportunities, 00:23:17.170 --> 00:23:20.049 it requires teamwork, and prayer is the secret 00:23:20.049 --> 00:23:24.549 to all of that. Prayer is the way to do heaven's 00:23:24.549 --> 00:23:28.049 work on earth. E. M. Bounds also said, He who 00:23:28.049 --> 00:23:34.150 does not pray robs himself of God's help. And 00:23:34.150 --> 00:23:36.950 so today I lay before you this text and this 00:23:36.950 --> 00:23:42.829 challenge from God's Word. God has a work for 00:23:42.829 --> 00:23:47.950 you and for me to do. It is telling others about 00:23:47.950 --> 00:23:56.329 Jesus. And the way to get that work done is through 00:23:56.329 --> 00:24:08.160 prayer. Lord, I pray that you will create in 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:15.700 our hearts a deep desire to pray. Deliver us 00:24:15.700 --> 00:24:22.680 from the dullness, the sleepiness that has overtaken 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:27.220 too many regarding this important, important 00:24:27.220 --> 00:24:32.200 truth. And I pray that as a result of your awakening 00:24:32.200 --> 00:24:34.920 our hearts to prayer, your work will get done 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:41.940 in our lives and through us in our world. As 00:24:41.940 --> 00:24:44.059 we come to this table this morning, Lord, help 00:24:44.059 --> 00:24:48.859 us to remember that our Savior, before He went 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:52.420 to the cross and shed His blood and offered up 00:24:52.420 --> 00:25:00.089 His body, spent a night in prayer. And through 00:25:00.089 --> 00:25:05.990 that prayer, we strengthen in His humanness that 00:25:05.990 --> 00:25:10.869 He might lay His life down on our behalf. And 00:25:10.869 --> 00:25:15.589 so as we partake of this cup and this bread, 00:25:16.809 --> 00:25:20.210 may we this morning give ourselves wholeheartedly 00:25:20.210 --> 00:25:26.529 to Him and the glorious, privileged work of sharing 00:25:26.529 --> 00:25:31.980 the truth of the Gospel with others. I'm going 00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:36.220 to ask those who are serving with me to come. 00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:40.819 Father, as we prepare our hearts now, we want 00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:45.619 to confess our sins. And for some of us, the 00:25:45.619 --> 00:25:48.319 first thing on the list needs to be prayerlessness. 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:56.319 For some of us it needs to be forgetting what 00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:06.109 our work here is. Whatever our sins, we thank 00:26:06.109 --> 00:26:09.109 you that through the Lord Jesus you've provided 00:26:09.109 --> 00:26:16.069 a propitiation. And as we partake of this bread, 00:26:17.369 --> 00:26:22.089 we're mindful that our Lord, by His sacrifice, 00:26:23.329 --> 00:26:26.069 became the propitiation for our sins and not 00:26:26.069 --> 00:26:28.349 for ours only, but for those of the whole world. 00:26:31.700 --> 00:26:34.220 Lift our eyes on the world that needs Jesus, 00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:44.680 Father. And help us to remember the lost as we 00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:47.740 comfortably eat the bread this morning.