WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:02.379 God bless all of you this morning. It's good 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:05.639 to see you. I want to thank Pastor Nathan, as 00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:09.960 always, for inviting me to share with all of 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:14.679 you. It is definitely a pleasure and an honor 00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:19.239 each and every time. And we pray that the Lord 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:22.440 blesses you as He speaks to me and then as I 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.559 speak to you. And that would be the only speaking 00:00:25.559 --> 00:00:28.039 that's going on, right? Just directly from the 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:34.210 Lord and out to you. So today we'll be talking 00:00:34.210 --> 00:00:39.630 about, as Pastor Nathan said, prayer. And the 00:00:39.630 --> 00:00:43.289 title of today's message is Foundation Check 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:47.630 Prayer. And kind of what we're talking about 00:00:47.630 --> 00:00:51.750 is there are different foundational things within 00:00:51.750 --> 00:00:55.850 our Christian walk that are fundamental. If we 00:00:55.850 --> 00:00:59.570 don't get them right at the beginning, you are 00:00:59.570 --> 00:01:03.359 going to have problems in your walk. as you go 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:06.219 through your life. And so we're circling back 00:01:06.219 --> 00:01:09.859 to things that may seem very basic, very fundamental, 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:13.560 but there is so much there in this one topic 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:15.599 of prayer, which is one of those foundational 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:19.420 things, that there's no way, absolutely no way, 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:25.299 I could actually teach on prayer in one setting. 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:29.420 It would be delusional of me. In fact, when I 00:01:29.420 --> 00:01:35.049 was preparing for this week, I had the ridiculous 00:01:35.049 --> 00:01:40.849 idea that there were three points that I was 00:01:40.849 --> 00:01:43.269 going to make. And I thought, yeah, I've got 00:01:43.269 --> 00:01:46.109 that. And those three points were going to be, 00:01:46.209 --> 00:01:52.109 what is prayer? Why do we pray? And how should 00:01:52.109 --> 00:01:55.629 we pray? Yeah, we're not doing the other two 00:01:55.629 --> 00:02:00.439 today. We're only doing the first one. Prayer 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:04.780 is so important and so expansive that even just 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:10.099 the singular question of what is prayer, I am 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:13.710 not going to do that justice. But I hope that 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:15.770 through the Spirit, the things that I'm going 00:02:15.770 --> 00:02:19.270 to share with you will lead you further on in 00:02:19.270 --> 00:02:21.789 your walk, that you will hear some things maybe 00:02:21.789 --> 00:02:24.509 that you have just haven't realized or that you 00:02:24.509 --> 00:02:27.449 haven't put into practice, and that you will 00:02:27.449 --> 00:02:30.229 begin incorporating those fundamental things 00:02:30.229 --> 00:02:35.009 into your walk in this area of prayer. So as 00:02:35.009 --> 00:02:38.550 I said, why study something as basic and fundamental 00:02:38.550 --> 00:02:41.969 as prayer? Well, there's two groups really that 00:02:41.969 --> 00:02:44.590 I'm speaking to this morning. The first group 00:02:44.590 --> 00:02:47.870 is our new believers, those of you who are new 00:02:47.870 --> 00:02:50.490 in Christ. And the reason why I'm speaking to 00:02:50.490 --> 00:02:54.789 you is because prayer is a Christian walk fundamental. 00:02:56.270 --> 00:03:02.110 It is foundational for growing in your new faith 00:03:02.110 --> 00:03:06.669 and relationship. If you don't know who God is, 00:03:06.990 --> 00:03:11.310 then how can you pray? If you don't know who 00:03:11.310 --> 00:03:17.150 God is, how can you grow? You begin to know God 00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:21.330 through prayer. The next group that I'm speaking 00:03:21.330 --> 00:03:25.710 to are the rest of you, those of you who are 00:03:25.710 --> 00:03:31.650 existing believers. And the reason why that I'm 00:03:31.650 --> 00:03:35.439 going to speak to you today about prayer is because 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:43.259 prayer is a Christian walk fundamental. It is 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:48.139 foundational to your continued growth in your 00:03:48.139 --> 00:03:51.439 existing relationship with the Lord. Same purpose. 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:55.099 None of us are old enough in the Lord where it's 00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:58.259 like, oh, I have arrived, right? We will never 00:03:58.259 --> 00:04:02.639 arrive, not even in eternity. Every day, every 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.979 moment in the Lord's presence, there will be 00:04:04.979 --> 00:04:07.800 something new about Him that we will learn, something 00:04:07.800 --> 00:04:09.860 new that we will see, something new that will 00:04:09.860 --> 00:04:13.520 cause us to bow down and worship the Holy One 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:18.360 who sits on high. So, you know, we're going to 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:22.129 take this fundamental on. And as Jesus said in 00:04:22.129 --> 00:04:24.769 Matthew 7, when He was teaching in the parable 00:04:24.769 --> 00:04:28.230 of the house upon the sand and the house upon 00:04:28.230 --> 00:04:31.689 the rock, if the foundation is not set on the 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:35.329 rock, the house will not stand when it matters 00:04:35.329 --> 00:04:39.350 most. That's my paraphrase of that parable, right? 00:04:39.490 --> 00:04:42.889 If the foundation is not set on the rock, the 00:04:42.889 --> 00:04:46.850 house will not stand when it matters most. In 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:51.300 my prayer, for all of you this morning as we 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:53.519 discover this, that we discover this morning 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:58.100 that one, prayer is vital to our existence in 00:04:58.100 --> 00:05:02.740 Christ, and two, it is fundamental to our relationship 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:10.339 with God. So, let's begin. What is prayer? You 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:11.920 know, I think it's always best to try to start 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.680 with the simple definition of terms, right, and 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:16.519 just kind of work our way forward from there. 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:20.149 So, The question of what is prayer seems so basic 00:05:20.149 --> 00:05:24.310 that, well, for those of you who don't know me 00:05:24.310 --> 00:05:26.870 really well, I'm just going to say I am risk 00:05:26.870 --> 00:05:31.110 adverse, right? If we're talking about the stock 00:05:31.110 --> 00:05:33.769 market or something like that, I can have all 00:05:33.769 --> 00:05:37.550 the knowledge in the world, but yeah, am I going 00:05:37.550 --> 00:05:41.110 to pull that lever and dump all my money into 00:05:41.110 --> 00:05:44.230 something? No. Don't even get me started on investing 00:05:44.230 --> 00:05:47.720 in Bitcoin. right? That's a whole other thing, 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:51.240 right? But yeah, definitely risk adverse, but 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:56.839 I would bet money on the fact that everyone here 00:05:56.839 --> 00:06:02.120 can give me an answer as to what prayer is, right? 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:06.939 True, the range of those answers would be broad, 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:10.259 but for the most part, cumulatively, the answer 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:15.009 from everyone would contain truth, right? In 00:06:15.009 --> 00:06:19.610 fact, over the last couple days, I posted a question 00:06:19.610 --> 00:06:22.370 online. Many of you probably saw that. I hope 00:06:22.370 --> 00:06:26.250 many of you saw that. And asking simply the question, 00:06:26.509 --> 00:06:31.029 what is prayer? I also asked that you whittle 00:06:31.029 --> 00:06:35.589 it down to one, two sentences, just a quick answer, 00:06:35.730 --> 00:06:40.209 you know. And I received many wonderful, wonderful 00:06:40.209 --> 00:06:43.579 answers. You know, some were simple. but they 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:46.899 were from the heart. And others, they were much 00:06:46.899 --> 00:06:50.600 more in -depth, and they kind of almost left 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:53.660 me thinking, God, why do you have me speaking 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:58.759 on prayer? Everybody knows, right? But nevertheless, 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:02.120 I want to share with you a few of the answers 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:06.180 that we got online. Okay, you ready? So the first 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:11.600 one was from somebody called Debbie Du, and she 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:16.160 said, Prayer is talking, listening, and connecting, 00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:20.620 being one with our Father in heaven, our Creator. 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:27.379 Second person was Deborah White. Deborah White 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:32.439 said, to talk with God personally, giving Him 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:37.000 adoration, confessing my sins, asking for forgiveness. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.560 giving thankfulness for that forgiveness and 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:44.500 what good He has given me. Now, at that point, 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:49.720 Deborah violated the rules because she went on 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.959 for three, four paragraphs to finish her answer, 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:56.759 which I am not going to share here, but I could 00:07:56.759 --> 00:07:58.579 have actually just read to you, and we would 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:00.660 be done the Bible study. You'd be off at lunch, 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.519 and we'd be all ready to go. I thank you, Deborah, 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:07.259 for doing that. Next time, follow the rules. 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:12.220 The third person was a lady named Sandy Donnelly. 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.040 She said, prayer for me is being able to sit 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:18.500 with my Heavenly Father and talk to Him about 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:21.980 everything that's on my mind. He's someone I 00:08:21.980 --> 00:08:27.100 can talk to openly, the only one I can talk to, 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:34.580 and know that He hears me. And lastly, die dancing. 00:08:35.149 --> 00:08:41.789 said, prayer is worship, praise, repentance, 00:08:42.190 --> 00:08:45.850 petition, and communing with the Father through 00:08:45.850 --> 00:08:51.490 Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. They were 00:08:51.490 --> 00:08:55.850 all great answers. And like I said, there is 00:08:55.850 --> 00:09:01.120 truth, much truth, in all of those. You know, 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:05.659 there's a book that I often turn to when I want 00:09:05.659 --> 00:09:08.360 to look at things regarding prayer. It's called 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:12.200 The Kneeling Christian, and it was written by 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:15.279 somebody who didn't give their name, so it just 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:21.100 says anonymous on the writings itself. But in 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:25.940 that book, the author tells a story of D .L. 00:09:25.980 --> 00:09:29.879 Moody. D .L. Moody was, at the time, and for 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:33.059 many, many, many years after that, a very well 00:09:33.059 --> 00:09:36.000 -known evangelist. I'm sure many of you know 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.700 or have heard of the name Moody or the Moody 00:09:38.700 --> 00:09:41.379 Institute, the Moody Bible, all those things. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:45.200 This is back in the 1800s, so a very long time 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:49.100 ago. But the author writes in The Kneeling Christian 00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:53.919 about a story of D .L. Moody going to Scotland, 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:58.620 specifically Edinburgh. and he was going to speak 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:03.539 at a children's conference, right? And at the 00:10:03.539 --> 00:10:06.259 children's conference, he was going to begin 00:10:06.259 --> 00:10:11.460 by speaking about the topic of prayer. So looking 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:13.399 at his audience, thinking these are children, 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:17.399 you know, he risked. asking the question out 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:21.799 loud what is prayer now he didn't expect or want 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:25.940 an answer but by god's grace he was amazed because 00:10:25.940 --> 00:10:29.559 all the little hands went up in the air they 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:32.340 all wanted to answer they all knew what prayer 00:10:32.340 --> 00:10:37.399 was and so he didn't think that he would get 00:10:37.789 --> 00:10:41.409 anything of real consequence, right? He would 00:10:41.409 --> 00:10:45.029 get simple answers such as, I can talk to God, 00:10:45.210 --> 00:10:48.370 I can ask God for stuff, you know, I can talk 00:10:48.370 --> 00:10:52.509 to him about my dog, all of those things. So 00:10:52.509 --> 00:10:56.570 he picked one boy sitting in the front row. This 00:10:56.570 --> 00:11:01.710 is that boy's answer. Prayer is an offering up 00:11:01.710 --> 00:11:05.690 of our desires unto God for things agreeable 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:10.090 to His will. in the name of Christ, with confession 00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:14.210 of our sins and thankful acknowledgments of his 00:11:14.210 --> 00:11:24.129 mercies. D .L. Moody was shocked, but he had 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:27.710 such joy in hearing that answer that he proclaimed, 00:11:27.850 --> 00:11:32.350 for the sake of Scotland, thank God, my boy, 00:11:32.529 --> 00:11:38.460 that you... We're born in this country to be 00:11:38.460 --> 00:11:42.139 a light in this country, to know what prayer 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:46.960 was. You know, that event happened well over 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.720 80 years ago at this point. And while I believe 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.519 that due to the strong, consistent biblical teaching 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.580 here in our fellowship and our body that you 00:11:56.580 --> 00:12:00.100 have maybe a tighter grasp on the fundamental 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:05.009 of prayer, I still sense that many For many, 00:12:05.090 --> 00:12:08.269 the answer is simply much, much more simple, 00:12:08.429 --> 00:12:14.470 right? Prayer is asking for things from God. 00:12:15.090 --> 00:12:19.470 And why wouldn't we think that, right? And there 00:12:19.470 --> 00:12:24.250 is truth in that. I mean, in Mark 24, I'm sorry, 00:12:24.350 --> 00:12:29.009 Mark 11, 24, Jesus himself says, therefore I 00:12:29.009 --> 00:12:33.899 tell you, everything you pray and ask for, believe 00:12:33.899 --> 00:12:37.379 that you have received it, and it will be yours. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:45.019 There is great truth in that. The truth is probably 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:48.139 a topic for another time about how to parse that 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:55.500 out, but prayer is just so much more than asking 00:12:55.500 --> 00:13:00.240 requests, asking for things. So again, I ask, 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:05.620 what is Prayer. The simplest definition of the 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:10.480 word prayer is this, a wish directed towards 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:18.279 God. A wish directed towards God. A Jewish mystic 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:23.200 once put it, prayer is when heaven and earth 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:29.419 kiss. Others have defined prayer as a turning 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:35.019 of one's soul. to God. In fact, in Psalm 21 .5, 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:38.980 King David wrote when speaking of his dependence 00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:47.039 on God, Psalm 25 .1, Lord, I appeal to you. And 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:50.600 that's how it's rendered out of the CSB, right? 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:55.320 Lord, I appeal to you. I always will encourage 00:13:55.320 --> 00:14:00.539 you to let your study go deeper than what's on 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:04.370 the page. right and the csb does a wonderful 00:14:04.370 --> 00:14:07.470 job in this case because if you look really close 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:12.669 there's a little footnote mark next to that if 00:14:12.669 --> 00:14:15.669 you see footnote marks in your bible i encourage 00:14:15.669 --> 00:14:19.769 you always look at them they will give you greater 00:14:19.769 --> 00:14:22.950 clarification they will give you references that 00:14:22.950 --> 00:14:25.570 that help explain and support that right just 00:14:25.570 --> 00:14:28.009 make that a part of your study don't just read 00:14:28.009 --> 00:14:30.830 it but study it, right? That's part of studying. 00:14:31.090 --> 00:14:33.929 So, when you look at it in the CSB, you'll see 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:36.850 a little footnote mark. In the footnote mark, 00:14:37.149 --> 00:14:45.330 this is what it says, or, to you, Lord, I lift 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:51.149 up my soul. To you, Lord, I lift up my soul. 00:14:51.769 --> 00:14:55.240 Now, to many of you, this probably rings a bell, 00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:58.320 and makes sense, right? Because we recognize 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:02.600 that as being much more close to how the King 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:05.980 James renders that verse. The King James renders 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.559 that verse very similar to that footnote, and 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:12.600 it is, unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 00:15:13.230 --> 00:15:16.669 right? There are old Calvary choruses that use 00:15:16.669 --> 00:15:19.190 that wording directly, right? That is on our 00:15:19.190 --> 00:15:21.690 brain, right? Not quite the same as, Lord, I 00:15:21.690 --> 00:15:24.570 appeal you. I can see how they got there with 00:15:24.570 --> 00:15:28.429 that, but I think it's significant, the usage 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:33.429 of the idea of lifting up your soul, right? It 00:15:33.429 --> 00:15:37.750 may sound just poetic, but words have purpose 00:15:37.750 --> 00:15:42.889 in Scripture. And again, in study, there are 00:15:42.889 --> 00:15:46.009 just so wonderful fruit there for you to grab 00:15:46.009 --> 00:15:48.470 a hold of. And this is a perfect opportunity 00:15:48.470 --> 00:15:53.389 to do that. Because if you look at the verse 00:15:53.389 --> 00:15:59.409 in Hebrew, right? I am no Hebrew scholar. Trust 00:15:59.409 --> 00:16:01.950 me, right? You're thinking, wow, he's in the 00:16:01.950 --> 00:16:04.950 Hebrew and stuff. No, no. my wife is more in 00:16:04.950 --> 00:16:08.009 the hebrew than i am right but in this case i 00:16:08.009 --> 00:16:11.149 was really i was really uh curious as to why 00:16:11.149 --> 00:16:13.370 there was the difference in wording and things 00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:15.370 like that and when there's a difference in wording 00:16:15.370 --> 00:16:17.629 between translations there's really only one 00:16:17.629 --> 00:16:20.629 place to go and that's back to the original text 00:16:20.629 --> 00:16:23.570 the original languages so you get a better sense 00:16:23.570 --> 00:16:26.909 of the actual words that are being used and how 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:29.389 this translation put it this way and why this 00:16:29.389 --> 00:16:31.590 translation put it this way so if you look in 00:16:31.590 --> 00:16:34.799 the hebrew And forgive me, I'm going to actually 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:37.720 try to say the Hebrew words, and if it comes 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:41.039 out like parcel tongue, please forgive me. It's 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.379 not my intent, right? But this is what it says 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:47.320 in the Hebrew, right? The words, the first phrase 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:54.379 are, which is a psalm of David. That's what that 00:16:54.379 --> 00:17:13.480 means. means Yahweh. Nafsi means my soul. The 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:19.019 word soul has its own root word, which is nephesh. 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:28.660 Okay? And then esse, which means I lift up. So 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:32.779 you can see then the way you would render that 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:35.099 then in English directly from the Hebrew would 00:17:35.099 --> 00:17:40.079 be a Psalm of David to you, Yahweh, my soul, 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:44.799 I lift up. You know, as you see, as I said, there's 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:49.640 a Hebrew word, nepesh, right? Which we translate 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:54.140 into the word soul. But when you're dealing with 00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:57.559 other languages, right? And you find this even 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:01.990 in Spanish to English, right? A word in one language 00:18:01.990 --> 00:18:06.630 doesn't necessarily just mean the word that we 00:18:06.630 --> 00:18:08.769 translated into in English, and that's exactly 00:18:08.769 --> 00:18:12.529 what's happening here. In the Hebrew, the meaning 00:18:12.529 --> 00:18:16.390 for the word nepesh, or soul, goes much deeper 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:19.690 than our understanding of just the word soul, 00:18:19.890 --> 00:18:22.750 and encompasses actually all of these words. 00:18:23.470 --> 00:18:32.059 Nepesh means soul, life. Self, person, heart, 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:37.779 creature, mind, and living being. That's not 00:18:37.779 --> 00:18:42.140 just, it could mean any of those words, but it 00:18:42.140 --> 00:18:47.559 actually incorporates all of that into that one 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:51.619 word. The idea of all of that into the word that 00:18:51.619 --> 00:18:57.579 we render as soul. It's much bigger than we think, 00:18:57.619 --> 00:19:03.990 right? And in discovering, oh, somebody messed 00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:09.329 up my notes. Anyway, so to crudely render back 00:19:09.329 --> 00:19:13.730 all of this then, with that in mind, into English, 00:19:13.809 --> 00:19:18.950 this is how you could say it. To you, Yahweh, 00:19:19.130 --> 00:19:24.809 my whole and complete being, all that I am, all 00:19:24.809 --> 00:19:28.500 that I think. all that I feel, down to the uttermost 00:19:28.500 --> 00:19:33.980 depths of my inner place, my soul, I do lift 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:44.759 up. This is the setting for prayer. This is communion 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:56.059 with God. This is what he calls us to. This is 00:19:56.059 --> 00:19:59.599 what walking with God in the Garden of Eden must 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:02.539 have been like for Adam and Eve in the cool of 00:20:02.539 --> 00:20:05.059 the day when God would come down and he would 00:20:05.059 --> 00:20:10.380 walk with Adam and Eve, right? They would come 00:20:10.380 --> 00:20:14.559 to him and they would offer everything to him 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.759 in that moment of communion, in that moment of 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.299 just passing the time walking through the garden 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:27.839 to know him and to be known completely, fully, 00:20:28.019 --> 00:20:33.720 and to not hold back anything. You know, this 00:20:33.720 --> 00:20:37.220 brings us back to maybe past studies that we've 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:39.819 done together, specifically in the study that 00:20:39.819 --> 00:20:42.519 we did almost a year ago now when we were talking 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:46.099 about being an armor -bearer, if you remember 00:20:46.099 --> 00:20:50.019 that. And in that study, we were answering the 00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:54.809 question, God, what do you want of me? And it 00:20:54.809 --> 00:20:58.890 was answered in Micah 6 .8. The second part of 00:20:58.890 --> 00:21:01.789 Micah 6 .8 gives you the answer to God, what 00:21:01.789 --> 00:21:04.230 do you want of me? And that is to do justly, 00:21:04.269 --> 00:21:09.049 to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself 00:21:09.049 --> 00:21:16.509 and walk humbly with your God. What was the short 00:21:16.509 --> 00:21:20.569 answer to God, what do you want in that study? 00:21:20.849 --> 00:21:25.180 The shorter answer was, God wants all of you. 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:29.660 And in discovering what all of you meant, that 00:21:29.660 --> 00:21:32.519 led us to the passage in Ephesians from where 00:21:32.519 --> 00:21:36.960 today's key verse comes from, right? Oh, gosh, 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:38.799 we didn't even talk about the key verse, did 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:44.180 we? See? But that's okay. The key verse is, there 00:21:44.180 --> 00:21:48.740 it is, Ephesians 6 .18. In the CSB, the key verse 00:21:48.740 --> 00:21:52.900 says this, pray at all times in the Spirit, with 00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:56.400 every prayer and every request, and stay alert 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:00.099 with all perseverance and intercession for all 00:22:00.099 --> 00:22:03.359 the saints. I want to go just a little bit more 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:06.339 expansive in that and read it from the Amplified 00:22:06.339 --> 00:22:08.500 Bible. The Amplified Bible puts it this way. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:14.180 Pray at all times, on every occasion, in every 00:22:14.180 --> 00:22:18.339 season, in the Spirit, and with all manner of 00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:23.059 prayer and entreaty. To that end, keep alert 00:22:23.059 --> 00:22:26.180 and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:30.079 interceding in the behalf of all the saints, 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:36.059 God's consecrated people. So when we're called 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:40.500 to prayer, as it is in Ephesians 6 .18, you could 00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:44.799 possibly explain it this way, right? On every 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:48.799 occasion and in every season, when you come before 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:52.430 God to commune with Him, offering up all that 00:22:52.430 --> 00:22:57.230 you are, your complete being and essence, do 00:22:57.230 --> 00:23:02.430 so in the Spirit, no matter what that time of 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:06.230 communion includes, nor what requests you bring 00:23:06.230 --> 00:23:10.779 before Him during. that time. Are you understanding 00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:14.759 the sense of when you come to God, it's not just 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:18.240 simply coming to God and stating your list of 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:22.279 things. It's coming to God as a living offering 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:27.759 to Him. You're offering yourself up to Him wholly 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:38.500 and completely. It is all about Him. You know, 00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:43.200 to me, prayer requires four things. They are 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:51.380 trust, faith, surrender, and worship. And I want 00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:54.599 to preface this as I'm listing things. This is 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:57.920 what they are to me, right? When I'm working 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:00.640 through what is prayer, what do I want to remember 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:04.000 about prayer? These are the things that I'm focusing 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:06.660 on. The reason why I'm sharing them with you 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:10.680 is because I'm hoping to help you and to spur 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:15.920 you forward in also establishing different, whether 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:19.279 it's a methodology or different thoughts in your 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:23.359 process to help you move through prayer. So for 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:27.599 me, they would be trust, faith, surrender, and 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:29.960 worship. So let me explain each one of those. 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:34.259 When I speak of trust, I'm talking about trust 00:24:34.259 --> 00:24:39.079 in that we come before him naked and hiding nothing. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:47.640 I do not have to worry about God in giving over 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:53.180 my complete self to Him. All of my trust can 00:24:53.180 --> 00:24:56.599 be in Him, that He will hold me always, that 00:24:56.599 --> 00:24:59.039 His thoughts are of me, that His care is for 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:03.119 me, that His love is for me. His desire is to 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:07.369 have communion with me. When I speak of faith, 00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:12.329 I'm talking about faith in that he has made the 00:25:12.329 --> 00:25:17.109 way for communion. Prayer is the bought and paid 00:25:17.109 --> 00:25:20.930 for ability to come before a holy, almighty, 00:25:21.509 --> 00:25:25.829 all -righteous, all -powerful God to have communion 00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:31.349 with him. Bought with the shed blood of Jesus. 00:25:31.670 --> 00:25:38.029 Now. wearing his robe of righteousness. I hold 00:25:38.029 --> 00:25:42.730 no place, no position in and of myself to give 00:25:42.730 --> 00:25:47.910 me this ability to walk with God. My faith to 00:25:47.910 --> 00:25:51.910 do this rests completely on Christ and his forgiveness 00:25:51.910 --> 00:25:55.630 and reconciliation that he purchased through 00:25:55.630 --> 00:25:59.109 the shedding of his blood on the cross. Jesus 00:25:59.109 --> 00:26:07.450 has made this communion. No one else. In the 00:26:07.450 --> 00:26:11.309 matter of surrender, it is surrender in that 00:26:11.309 --> 00:26:15.849 we should come submitted to His will and outcomes 00:26:15.849 --> 00:26:21.329 with no reservations. That's a hard one, right? 00:26:22.390 --> 00:26:26.490 Because there are things that I want, things 00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:30.140 that I desire. And when I come to God, I'm going 00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:33.279 to tell Him those desires. I'm not going to hold 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:35.740 those back from Him. I'm going to tell Him those 00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:41.819 wants, right? But the position in which I voice 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:45.240 those things to Him is more so in committing 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:49.039 them to Him. God, this is what's in my heart, 00:26:49.099 --> 00:26:54.609 but I want what Your will is. I truly want what 00:26:54.609 --> 00:26:57.049 your will is. Not I kind of want what your will 00:26:57.049 --> 00:26:59.670 is. Not that I'm interested in seeing if I like 00:26:59.670 --> 00:27:06.170 your will. But I'm committed to accepting the 00:27:06.170 --> 00:27:10.210 outcome that you want. This is hard. This is 00:27:10.210 --> 00:27:14.349 not easy. Right? I can come to the Lord with 00:27:14.349 --> 00:27:17.230 the purest of hearts, with my own will in mind, 00:27:17.430 --> 00:27:21.170 thinking that it is the best thing. But I've 00:27:21.170 --> 00:27:24.910 already made the mistake, haven't I? The thing 00:27:24.910 --> 00:27:28.670 that I think is the best. That thing doesn't 00:27:28.670 --> 00:27:35.230 matter. It's what God wants. It's for Him and 00:27:35.230 --> 00:27:37.769 for His glory. And that's how I need to come 00:27:37.769 --> 00:27:41.529 to Him with that already settled in my heart 00:27:41.529 --> 00:27:48.230 and not have me in the background. And lastly, 00:27:48.369 --> 00:27:53.359 to worship. To worship the Lord in that we recognize 00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:58.160 and proclaim who he is. He is wondrous, or his 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:00.980 wondrous attributes and the marvelous works of 00:28:00.980 --> 00:28:08.660 his hands. In this, prayer is worship. And this 00:28:08.660 --> 00:28:13.880 aspect of worship is a part of prayer. They go 00:28:13.880 --> 00:28:18.359 hand in hand. You know, there's some basic elements 00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:22.910 of prayer, some would say. Early in my life, 00:28:23.049 --> 00:28:28.049 my mom was involved in a well -known and a wonderful 00:28:28.049 --> 00:28:31.450 Bible study group called Bible Study Fellowship, 00:28:31.470 --> 00:28:35.410 commonly called BSF. And many of you have probably 00:28:35.410 --> 00:28:40.430 heard of that before. And rightly so, she passed 00:28:40.430 --> 00:28:43.910 on a lot of knowledge and spiritual insight gained 00:28:43.910 --> 00:28:48.930 from BSF to us as kids. One of those lessons 00:28:48.930 --> 00:28:53.150 was on the basic elements of prayer. And I have, 00:28:53.289 --> 00:28:59.250 from that day of being small to today, I try 00:28:59.250 --> 00:29:03.089 to remember to consistently use those elements 00:29:03.089 --> 00:29:06.529 in my prayer life. Not because this is the only 00:29:06.529 --> 00:29:10.299 way that you can pray, but because, again, They 00:29:10.299 --> 00:29:13.539 are helpful in reminding me about my position, 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:16.720 reminding me about God's position, and what our 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:19.880 relationship should be, right? So I want to share 00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:23.200 those with you. And in a nutshell, what they 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:28.599 taught that prayer should be was adoration, praise, 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:35.039 thanksgiving, and petition or requests. And when 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:38.440 possible, try to do them in that order, right? 00:29:40.059 --> 00:29:44.339 Now, look, at this juncture, we're kind of on 00:29:44.339 --> 00:29:49.160 the cusp of moving to the topic of what is prayer, 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:52.940 from what is prayer to how do I pray? And if 00:29:52.940 --> 00:29:56.039 we did that, that would in fact leapfrog over 00:29:56.039 --> 00:29:58.720 the whole topic of why do we pray, and I don't 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:00.799 want to do any of that. I want to stick to what 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:03.859 is prayer, and so we'll keep that in this realm 00:30:03.859 --> 00:30:07.529 for now, right? We're just going to stick to 00:30:07.529 --> 00:30:10.609 what is prayer and just bear with me on that 00:30:10.609 --> 00:30:14.190 one, right? I will say this, though, just as 00:30:14.190 --> 00:30:18.369 an aside. There's no magic formula or code to 00:30:18.369 --> 00:30:22.589 crack when it comes to the order of words or 00:30:22.589 --> 00:30:27.470 phrases that will persuade God or bend His will 00:30:27.470 --> 00:30:31.450 to our will. That would be totally wrong thinking. 00:30:32.329 --> 00:30:34.990 And if God ever gives me the opportunity to explore, 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.400 more in -depth matter of prayer with you all. 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:42.079 We can go through a lot of that stuff together 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:47.680 and see what the Word says. But know that thinking 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:51.460 that if I say things correctly, God will hear 00:30:51.460 --> 00:30:54.599 me and He'll respond, you know, in a certain 00:30:54.599 --> 00:30:57.980 way. If you're thinking that, that is folly, 00:30:58.039 --> 00:31:02.740 right? But we think that a lot, right? It's like, 00:31:04.149 --> 00:31:07.569 God didn't answer my prayer. There must be a 00:31:07.569 --> 00:31:11.549 reason why. I must be doing it wrong, right? 00:31:12.009 --> 00:31:14.509 It's like, oh, praying in Jesus' name. Okay, 00:31:14.569 --> 00:31:17.690 let me pray in Jesus' name. Oh, wait, Jesus' 00:31:17.950 --> 00:31:22.369 actual name is Yeshua, right? So I've got to 00:31:22.369 --> 00:31:24.849 pray in the name of Yeshua, or I've got to pray 00:31:24.849 --> 00:31:27.529 with one of his titles, the Alpha and the Omega, 00:31:27.789 --> 00:31:30.940 or, you know. There must be some way that I'm 00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:34.099 just not getting yet because God's not answering 00:31:34.099 --> 00:31:37.180 my prayer. He's not responding, right? That's 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:41.380 not what prayer is, right? And certainly when 00:31:41.380 --> 00:31:43.920 it comes to offering our petitions or requests 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:47.900 to the Lord, it does not work that way, right? 00:31:49.700 --> 00:31:52.240 But anyway, that was an aside, right? We can 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:56.339 talk about that later. Back to what I hope is 00:31:56.339 --> 00:31:59.640 hopefully a helpful pattern in prayer, such as 00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:03.440 adoration, praise, thanksgiving, and petition. 00:32:05.059 --> 00:32:08.059 Consider this, that the first three of those 00:32:08.059 --> 00:32:15.640 are all about and directed to God. In adoration, 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:22.420 adoration can look like this. Oh God, how vast. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:27.619 How wide, how deep is your love for us. Your 00:32:27.619 --> 00:32:30.880 grace and your mercies are great and new every 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:35.619 morning. You are ruler of all and your reign 00:32:35.619 --> 00:32:39.740 is magnificent. Your power and your glory are 00:32:39.740 --> 00:32:43.519 boundless. Your righteousness and your judgments 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:47.700 are unassailable. Your beauty and your holiness 00:32:47.700 --> 00:32:53.119 is beyond comprehension. That is an example of 00:32:53.119 --> 00:32:57.099 coming to the Lord in adoration. You're expressing 00:32:57.099 --> 00:33:01.960 your love for him, your acknowledgement of his 00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:05.460 greatness, his tender mercies, his goodness, 00:33:05.500 --> 00:33:09.119 all of the attributes of God as they are reflected 00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:15.000 upon you. This is why. a few weeks ago when we 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:17.920 were talking about remembering Christ, where 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:22.319 I made the suggestion that you list all the attributes 00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:25.720 of God and that you proclaim them as part of 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:29.099 your remembrance declarations in your prayers. 00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:34.880 This is part of adoration, right? Always looking 00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:37.940 back to see who he is and what he's done and 00:33:37.940 --> 00:33:42.970 how that has been borne out in your life. Starting 00:33:42.970 --> 00:33:46.490 with adoration in your prayers can set the moment 00:33:46.490 --> 00:33:49.910 for communion with God by putting the king first 00:33:49.910 --> 00:33:56.549 in his rightful place. He alone is worthy. And 00:33:56.549 --> 00:34:01.109 especially as the redeemed, it is our joy to 00:34:01.109 --> 00:34:08.230 proclaim God's greatness above all things. In 00:34:08.230 --> 00:34:13.409 praise. Praise is joy -filled proclamation of 00:34:13.409 --> 00:34:17.309 God's wondrous deeds, his awesome power revealed. 00:34:17.949 --> 00:34:22.610 Cries and shouts of praise and glory to his name, 00:34:22.730 --> 00:34:28.389 offering songs of hallelujahs to the king, declaring 00:34:28.389 --> 00:34:34.730 his preeminence over all. Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving 00:34:34.730 --> 00:34:41.289 is offering heartfelt, words of thanks to the 00:34:41.289 --> 00:34:45.349 Lord for all he has done, specifically naming 00:34:45.349 --> 00:34:50.309 what we're thankful for, such as his word, his 00:34:50.309 --> 00:34:53.670 loving kindness and patience during this or that 00:34:53.670 --> 00:34:57.309 recent circumstance, his provision over the last 00:34:57.309 --> 00:35:00.510 month, his spirit working in our lives through 00:35:00.510 --> 00:35:05.690 this set of circumstances, our salvation, our 00:35:05.690 --> 00:35:10.750 forgiveness, and on and on. and on, giving thanks 00:35:10.750 --> 00:35:15.550 for what the Lord has done, is doing, and will 00:35:15.550 --> 00:35:21.789 do in your life. And lastly, offering your petitions 00:35:21.789 --> 00:35:25.849 or your requests. Having worshiped the Lord first 00:35:25.849 --> 00:35:30.110 and foremost, now we humbly come with our burdens 00:35:30.110 --> 00:35:34.429 and our requests to the Lord, having faith that 00:35:34.429 --> 00:35:39.119 our great God hears every word and sees us. truly 00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:43.159 sees us, the known and the unknown parts of us. 00:35:45.559 --> 00:35:49.519 To be honest, often I jumble up all these parts, 00:35:49.659 --> 00:35:55.199 right? But God knows my heart. Thank God God 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:59.980 knows my heart. These are just steps that I try 00:35:59.980 --> 00:36:04.440 to consider as I daily walk to honor the Lord 00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:10.349 of all in my approach to Him. Sometimes, I come 00:36:10.349 --> 00:36:15.510 to the Lord and I'm broken. And I come running 00:36:15.510 --> 00:36:22.210 to His arms, sobbing. What does He do? Does He 00:36:22.210 --> 00:36:27.630 say, you didn't start with adoration. You didn't 00:36:27.630 --> 00:36:31.170 start with praise. You're just leaping right 00:36:31.170 --> 00:36:37.190 to requests. Don't do that. Come back later. 00:36:38.130 --> 00:36:41.389 No, of course he doesn't. What does my father 00:36:41.389 --> 00:36:47.690 do? He holds me and he waits patiently for me 00:36:47.690 --> 00:36:52.889 to settle. Sometimes I come to the Lord and I'm 00:36:52.889 --> 00:36:58.289 completely frustrated. And I come to him railing, 00:36:58.289 --> 00:37:10.139 why, why, why? Does he send me away? No, he waits 00:37:10.139 --> 00:37:15.280 patiently for my spirit to calm so that I can 00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:22.480 have then communion with him. Are any of those 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:26.000 times of coming to him in this jumbled sort not 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:32.619 prayer? Thanks be to God for his love and his 00:37:32.619 --> 00:37:37.800 faithfulness that no, they are all prayer. or 00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:44.320 the beginnings of prayer. God requires all of 00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:50.619 me. God requires all of you. He requires us naked 00:37:50.619 --> 00:37:54.619 and unhidden from Him, even in our immaturity 00:37:54.619 --> 00:37:57.440 and lack of understanding of what prayer is. 00:37:58.679 --> 00:38:04.360 He does not sit there as the prayer judge. No, 00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:10.010 He is our Father in that. And He waits until 00:38:10.010 --> 00:38:14.489 we realize that we're before the King. And then 00:38:14.489 --> 00:38:19.469 we can move forward in that. You know, day by 00:38:19.469 --> 00:38:23.650 day, and moment by moment, by the power of the 00:38:23.650 --> 00:38:28.250 Spirit, we're drawn closer to Him and our comprehension 00:38:28.250 --> 00:38:33.590 of what prayer is. And that it is communion with 00:38:33.590 --> 00:38:41.219 Him. what it can be, and what through the Spirit 00:38:41.219 --> 00:38:45.000 of God it will be. He wants us to grow in this. 00:38:45.340 --> 00:38:49.039 He wants us to move forward in understanding 00:38:49.039 --> 00:38:53.079 what prayer is and how we are to come before 00:38:53.079 --> 00:38:57.079 him and for what purpose. The purpose is so that 00:38:57.079 --> 00:39:00.119 we would know him, that we would grow in him, 00:39:00.219 --> 00:39:05.090 that we would be able to then be prepared for 00:39:05.090 --> 00:39:07.730 the things that he calls us to do in his name, 00:39:07.829 --> 00:39:12.690 to put on the armor that he has provided, and 00:39:12.690 --> 00:39:16.269 to step forward, now empowered by the Spirit 00:39:16.269 --> 00:39:21.469 of God, having known God in those moments of 00:39:21.469 --> 00:39:28.269 communion. That is what he wants, and that can 00:39:28.269 --> 00:39:33.429 be accomplished through prayer. So let's pray. 00:39:36.869 --> 00:39:42.570 Father God, there is no one like you. In all 00:39:42.570 --> 00:39:47.150 of heaven and earth, you are Lord and King of 00:39:47.150 --> 00:39:51.590 all, your creator, and your love for us is boundless. 00:39:51.590 --> 00:39:54.849 And so our love to you, God, we want that to 00:39:54.849 --> 00:39:58.269 be that reflection of what your love is to us. 00:39:58.989 --> 00:40:02.670 to give glory and honor to you for who you are, 00:40:02.769 --> 00:40:06.510 for what you've done, to lift up your name above 00:40:06.510 --> 00:40:11.210 all, to give thanks for you being our Father, 00:40:11.329 --> 00:40:15.949 our God, to thank the Son for being our salvation, 00:40:16.210 --> 00:40:19.409 and to thank the Spirit for teaching us and walking 00:40:19.409 --> 00:40:26.750 with us daily. Lord, you are all -powerful, all 00:40:26.750 --> 00:40:32.739 -glorious. Your beauty, O Lord, surpasses all. 00:40:33.920 --> 00:40:37.940 There is no one like you. And so we give praise 00:40:37.940 --> 00:40:43.159 to you. We lift up your name above all. We shout 00:40:43.159 --> 00:40:46.019 your victories to a world that does not know 00:40:46.019 --> 00:40:50.079 you. We tell of your love to those who do not 00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:54.710 yet know the depths of it. and the repercussions 00:40:54.710 --> 00:40:57.530 of the gift of your life upon the cross as payment 00:40:57.530 --> 00:41:00.489 for our sin, the shedding of your blood. Lord, 00:41:00.550 --> 00:41:04.769 we give thanks to you above all, for you alone 00:41:04.769 --> 00:41:08.610 have done the work. You alone have sent your 00:41:08.610 --> 00:41:12.030 spirit to guide, to teach, to instruct us. You 00:41:12.030 --> 00:41:15.269 alone have given us your very word so that we 00:41:15.269 --> 00:41:18.610 might know you. and you alone have given us access 00:41:18.610 --> 00:41:22.530 to be able to come and have communion with you 00:41:22.530 --> 00:41:25.869 on a daily basis, a moment -by -moment basis. 00:41:26.010 --> 00:41:30.550 How wondrous that is. How incomprehensible the 00:41:30.550 --> 00:41:33.769 ability to come and speak with you and to spend 00:41:33.769 --> 00:41:37.489 time with you truly is. Lord God, let us appreciate 00:41:37.489 --> 00:41:42.320 that beyond measure. Let us hunger for that more 00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:46.500 than anything because being with you and being 00:41:46.500 --> 00:41:49.059 able to spend time with you and speak with you, 00:41:49.139 --> 00:41:52.760 that is what our heart's desire should be, to 00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:58.940 know you as you know us. That is at the heart 00:41:58.940 --> 00:42:01.639 of our relationship with you, or at least it 00:42:01.639 --> 00:42:04.420 should be. So Lord, we ask that you would do 00:42:04.420 --> 00:42:07.480 that within our lives this morning. that you 00:42:07.480 --> 00:42:10.500 would give us a greater hunger for spending time 00:42:10.500 --> 00:42:14.139 with you, for coming before you in prayer, for 00:42:14.139 --> 00:42:18.519 spending time declaring your greatness, spending 00:42:18.519 --> 00:42:21.699 time giving praise to your name, spending time 00:42:21.699 --> 00:42:25.280 giving thanks to you, and then spending time 00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:28.760 letting you know our hearts and our needs, and 00:42:28.760 --> 00:42:32.980 then desiring your will above all, all that you 00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:39.260 might be glorified. Lord, thank you. We praise 00:42:39.260 --> 00:42:44.920 your name. You are holy. You are good. You are 00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:49.539 righteous. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name 00:42:49.539 --> 00:42:55.039 we pray. Amen. You know, just a final thought, 00:42:55.179 --> 00:42:59.420 final thoughts. You know, I mentioned earlier 00:42:59.420 --> 00:43:01.780 when we were talking about, you know, some possible 00:43:01.780 --> 00:43:07.179 steps in prayer. I mentioned adoration. You know, 00:43:07.179 --> 00:43:10.380 in my experience as a worship leader, this action 00:43:10.380 --> 00:43:16.559 may be one that we neglect most, expressing adoration 00:43:16.559 --> 00:43:20.139 for the Lord. You know, praise, we do really 00:43:20.139 --> 00:43:25.920 well, right? Thanksgiving, we do okay. We should 00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:31.019 probably do it more often. But adoration, sometimes 00:43:31.019 --> 00:43:38.480 we just kind of skip over. over that. I had the 00:43:38.480 --> 00:43:42.559 opportunity a few weeks ago to share with the 00:43:42.559 --> 00:43:47.559 ladies current Bible study series on worship, 00:43:47.719 --> 00:43:52.619 and that was a great blessing. As part of that 00:43:52.619 --> 00:43:57.739 study, we ended the song with a song called Yeshua. 00:43:58.730 --> 00:44:01.230 Of course, I changed the name of the song because, 00:44:01.309 --> 00:44:04.449 as you know me, I will often do that to songs. 00:44:04.610 --> 00:44:11.090 I changed the song to Yeshua Hallelujah. Just 00:44:11.090 --> 00:44:15.489 real quickly, this song, leading up to that Bible 00:44:15.489 --> 00:44:20.289 study, I had never heard the song before. In 00:44:20.289 --> 00:44:23.969 fact, I was scrolling one day through different 00:44:23.969 --> 00:44:27.250 reels on my phone, and there was this video that 00:44:27.250 --> 00:44:31.260 came up. The text on the video said, virtuoso 00:44:31.260 --> 00:44:36.480 violinist can't get through his parts on the 00:44:36.480 --> 00:44:39.460 song Yeshua because he's overcome with emotion. 00:44:39.900 --> 00:44:42.500 And I'm like, I'd like to hear that. I'd like 00:44:42.500 --> 00:44:45.599 to see what that's all about. So I click on the 00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:49.260 video, and for the life of me, I can't hear the 00:44:49.260 --> 00:44:52.960 song because the people in the audience are shouting 00:44:52.960 --> 00:44:55.659 and praising and stuff like that. So I'm like, 00:44:55.679 --> 00:44:59.159 I still don't know what song that is. So I go 00:44:59.159 --> 00:45:02.519 into YouTube and I type in Yeshua, right? And 00:45:02.519 --> 00:45:04.820 of course, 100 billion different things come 00:45:04.820 --> 00:45:08.980 up, right? So in trying to scroll through and 00:45:08.980 --> 00:45:10.519 see if there's anything that's recognizable, 00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:13.960 there is a song that is called Yeshua, and it's 00:45:13.960 --> 00:45:18.480 by a worship band that I know. And so I'm like, 00:45:18.539 --> 00:45:20.119 all right, fine, I'll just click on that. I'm 00:45:20.119 --> 00:45:24.159 not sure that this is what it is, but now I'm 00:45:24.159 --> 00:45:26.320 just so curious, I just got to find something. 00:45:26.920 --> 00:45:32.599 So I play this song as kind of a peek behind 00:45:32.599 --> 00:45:36.059 the curtain. As your worship leaders here, both 00:45:36.059 --> 00:45:44.659 me and Will, we guard you very tightly, right? 00:45:45.119 --> 00:45:47.699 That is our responsibility as worship leaders, 00:45:47.760 --> 00:45:52.260 is to... to really do our best to not bring anything 00:45:52.260 --> 00:45:56.840 for you to attempt to worship the Lord with that 00:45:56.840 --> 00:45:59.980 is not edifying, not biblical, or just weird, 00:46:00.119 --> 00:46:03.980 right? We don't want you thinking about anything 00:46:03.980 --> 00:46:06.659 else but the Lord. And of course, the words, 00:46:06.679 --> 00:46:10.219 the lyrics, and all that, they have to be biblical. 00:46:10.500 --> 00:46:13.739 I mean, otherwise, it has no place here. You'd 00:46:13.739 --> 00:46:15.739 be surprised. That doesn't seem to matter to 00:46:15.739 --> 00:46:20.030 some churches. That's very strange. So there 00:46:20.030 --> 00:46:23.969 are a lot of songs that you may have heard and 00:46:23.969 --> 00:46:25.789 that we just don't do here in our fellowship 00:46:25.789 --> 00:46:30.210 and for various reasons, right? So I'm listening 00:46:30.210 --> 00:46:33.210 to this song and I'm thinking, yeah, you know, 00:46:33.250 --> 00:46:36.949 in fact, Will is my assistant at Living Water, 00:46:37.030 --> 00:46:39.829 so we're constantly talking about things that 00:46:39.829 --> 00:46:44.630 have nothing to do about work. And so... I call 00:46:44.630 --> 00:46:46.489 Will into my office, and I'm playing the song, 00:46:46.630 --> 00:46:49.469 and I'm like, yeah, I would never do this song 00:46:49.469 --> 00:46:52.570 on a Sunday morning, you know, because it has 00:46:52.570 --> 00:46:57.510 a repetitive nature to it, right? Sometimes repetition 00:46:57.510 --> 00:47:02.489 for repetition's sake is not edifying. And that 00:47:02.489 --> 00:47:04.809 happens in a lot of songs. So again, we try to 00:47:04.809 --> 00:47:07.550 be careful about introducing those types of things. 00:47:07.769 --> 00:47:10.190 So I'm telling Will, I'm like, yeah, I just, 00:47:10.289 --> 00:47:14.150 I mean, maybe in an afterglow type of setting, 00:47:14.289 --> 00:47:20.449 you do that song. And I immediately got convicted 00:47:20.449 --> 00:47:26.989 for saying that. And the thought in my head that 00:47:26.989 --> 00:47:35.489 I had to express to Will was, And yet, this is 00:47:35.489 --> 00:47:41.269 what a lot of heaven's going to be like. I'm 00:47:41.269 --> 00:47:46.050 like, there are so many aspects and attributes 00:47:46.050 --> 00:47:51.010 of God that to speak his name, to simply say, 00:47:51.090 --> 00:47:56.809 oh God, I could pause for a thousand years and 00:47:56.809 --> 00:47:59.730 never run out of things to worship God with. 00:48:00.159 --> 00:48:03.199 with that one phrase. That's just the truth of 00:48:03.199 --> 00:48:08.199 it, or should be the truth of it. So I'm like, 00:48:08.300 --> 00:48:12.300 well, maybe there's a way around it, you know. 00:48:12.860 --> 00:48:16.119 But still, I think we, yeah, you gotta be careful 00:48:16.119 --> 00:48:21.179 about that. The other thing that bothered me 00:48:21.179 --> 00:48:25.639 about the song was the verse. The verse is very 00:48:25.639 --> 00:48:33.159 simple. The verse is, My beloved is the most 00:48:33.159 --> 00:48:38.380 beautiful among thousands and thousands. One 00:48:38.380 --> 00:48:40.039 of the other things we guard against is over 00:48:40.039 --> 00:48:44.239 -romanticizing our relationship with God. That 00:48:44.239 --> 00:48:46.780 happens in a lot of songs. You can't tell if 00:48:46.780 --> 00:48:50.019 it's a love song or if it's a worship song. So 00:48:50.019 --> 00:48:54.690 we steer away from a lot of those things. So 00:48:54.690 --> 00:48:56.849 I tell Will, I said, yeah, that's kind of problematic 00:48:56.849 --> 00:49:05.050 too. And immediately, I hear in my head, and 00:49:05.050 --> 00:49:11.050 yet, these words are based on Song of Solomon, 00:49:11.210 --> 00:49:17.409 which is a picture of the bridegroom's relationship 00:49:17.409 --> 00:49:28.650 with the bride of Christ. Okay. I get it. And 00:49:28.650 --> 00:49:30.570 then it was ministered to me as I'm listening 00:49:30.570 --> 00:49:34.170 to that part of the song when it's saying, my 00:49:34.170 --> 00:49:39.650 beloved is the most beautiful. The image I got 00:49:39.650 --> 00:49:44.750 in my head wasn't about the beauty of his face 00:49:44.750 --> 00:49:51.030 or form. The actual image, and this does not 00:49:51.030 --> 00:49:57.260 happen to me often. But the actual image in my 00:49:57.260 --> 00:50:01.739 head that was before me was of the beautiful 00:50:01.739 --> 00:50:11.699 nail -pierced feet of my Lord. That beauty. The 00:50:11.699 --> 00:50:20.420 inward beauty, even. And I'm like, okay. I could 00:50:20.420 --> 00:50:25.030 not get that song from playing. nonstop in my 00:50:25.030 --> 00:50:31.949 head for a week, and I am not being, I'm not 00:50:31.949 --> 00:50:35.110 exaggerating. Literally, it's like there was 00:50:35.110 --> 00:50:39.170 a recording jacked into my head, and I guess 00:50:39.170 --> 00:50:42.710 everywhere, every moment, it just kept playing 00:50:42.710 --> 00:50:46.150 over and over and over and over again. And all 00:50:46.150 --> 00:50:48.989 the while, I'm preparing for a study on what 00:50:48.989 --> 00:50:55.980 is worship, right? God is funny. So I'm like, 00:50:56.059 --> 00:51:02.719 okay, you know, God, if I have time at the end 00:51:02.719 --> 00:51:07.500 of that study, I'm going to introduce that song 00:51:07.500 --> 00:51:10.460 for them for all the reasons that you've shown 00:51:10.460 --> 00:51:16.739 me, right? But only if I have time. And in fact, 00:51:16.739 --> 00:51:21.420 I wrote in my notes for that study, only if we 00:51:21.420 --> 00:51:26.219 have time. We'll do this. So I'm doing the study. 00:51:26.280 --> 00:51:31.860 I get to the end of it, and I've gone a little 00:51:31.860 --> 00:51:35.159 bit over budget, as I normally do, and I look 00:51:35.159 --> 00:51:39.619 over at Irene, and I'm like, we don't have time, 00:51:39.719 --> 00:51:42.360 right? We don't have time. And she's like, oh, 00:51:42.380 --> 00:51:47.860 no, we have time. I'm like, okay. So I'm like, 00:51:47.960 --> 00:51:49.800 all right, here we go. I mean, I've never played 00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:52.239 the song before. I've never shared it. But God, 00:51:52.380 --> 00:51:55.539 if this is what you want, then this is what we're 00:51:55.539 --> 00:51:59.579 doing, right? And he showed me other things about 00:51:59.579 --> 00:52:01.940 the song, the other parts of the song. One, you 00:52:01.940 --> 00:52:06.599 know, we use the name Yeshua, you know, instead 00:52:06.599 --> 00:52:08.900 of Jesus. You know, that's just the plain fact 00:52:08.900 --> 00:52:11.679 of the matter. Yeshua is his name, right? His 00:52:11.679 --> 00:52:16.380 name in Aramaic or Hebrew. So why wouldn't I 00:52:16.380 --> 00:52:20.829 speak his name, his actual name, right? The next 00:52:20.829 --> 00:52:28.690 part of the song is, for yours is the kingdom 00:52:28.690 --> 00:52:30.750 and the power and the glory forever and ever, 00:52:30.869 --> 00:52:34.550 right? And yes, it repeats that over and over 00:52:34.550 --> 00:52:36.869 again, right? Well, where does that come from? 00:52:38.130 --> 00:52:40.449 It's the end of the Lord's Prayer. It's right 00:52:40.449 --> 00:52:43.769 there in Scripture. I can't, I know two ways 00:52:43.769 --> 00:52:47.579 about it. It's simply proclaiming what is in 00:52:47.579 --> 00:52:50.280 God's very word. And then the last part of it 00:52:50.280 --> 00:52:54.039 is a part that God, I think, led me to add to 00:52:54.039 --> 00:52:58.480 it because of the whole thing about worshiping 00:52:58.480 --> 00:53:03.039 in heaven. He had impressed upon me exactly what 00:53:03.039 --> 00:53:05.340 it says in Revelation about the four living creatures 00:53:05.340 --> 00:53:08.059 standing before the throne and all they say day 00:53:08.059 --> 00:53:13.000 and night is holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. 00:53:13.679 --> 00:53:17.239 Again and again and again and again. And when 00:53:17.239 --> 00:53:20.079 I put all that together in my messed up, jumbled 00:53:20.079 --> 00:53:25.780 head, what I hear is the possibility of the praise 00:53:25.780 --> 00:53:33.639 of his people resounding. And that is glorious. 00:53:35.400 --> 00:53:39.880 Maybe unusual for us, you know, to do, because 00:53:39.880 --> 00:53:43.570 we are going to do that right now. And those 00:53:43.570 --> 00:53:45.070 of you who are at the Bible study, you know, 00:53:45.070 --> 00:53:47.130 you at least have heard the song before, so I 00:53:47.130 --> 00:53:51.349 expect you to sing out with us. I just want to 00:53:51.349 --> 00:53:55.050 see what God wants, what God wants to do in this 00:53:55.050 --> 00:53:59.530 moment, this moment where we express our adoration 00:53:59.530 --> 00:54:04.829 for him, the singular purpose, you know, and 00:54:04.829 --> 00:54:08.869 we'll be using that as preparation for the prayer 00:54:08.869 --> 00:54:12.929 meeting at noon. We're going to begin with adoration, 00:54:13.070 --> 00:54:16.510 maybe a little early, but nevertheless, let's 00:54:16.510 --> 00:54:21.289 set the table and let's worship the Lord. So, 00:54:21.289 --> 00:54:27.369 as we get ready, and as I move from this spot 00:54:27.369 --> 00:54:38.190 to the piano, prepare your hearts for what the 00:54:38.190 --> 00:54:42.119 Lord has for you as we enter into this aspect 00:54:42.119 --> 00:54:45.760 of what is really prayer, and it's prayer before 00:54:45.760 --> 00:54:49.860 the Lord. The song is very simple, as I said. 00:54:49.940 --> 00:54:54.500 There are four parts to it, and each part is 00:54:54.500 --> 00:54:57.300 fairly easy, and yes, they do repeat, which works 00:54:57.300 --> 00:55:00.380 out well for us this morning, because since we're 00:55:00.380 --> 00:55:03.099 going to repeat it, that means you get more opportunity 00:55:03.099 --> 00:55:12.260 to learn it and sing it, right? You can stand 00:55:12.260 --> 00:55:15.260 or you can sing or, I mean, stand or sit, whatever 00:55:15.260 --> 00:55:18.079 it is. Lift your hands to the Lord. But remember, 00:55:18.300 --> 00:55:24.159 as with all worship, this is for him and him 00:55:24.159 --> 00:55:28.639 alone. Your thoughts need to be on him. And as 00:55:28.639 --> 00:55:32.500 we come and as we gather together in his presence, 00:55:32.599 --> 00:55:36.420 everything that we just talked about, we need 00:55:36.420 --> 00:55:39.699 to come to him without holding anything back. 00:55:41.289 --> 00:55:44.909 with standing before him naked and unashamed, 00:55:44.969 --> 00:55:49.710 revealing our true self to him in this act of 00:55:49.710 --> 00:56:31.420 worship. So, are you ready? The most beautiful 00:56:31.420 --> 00:56:44.099 Among thousands And thousands My beloved is The 00:56:44.099 --> 00:57:15.880 most beautiful My beloved is the most beautiful 00:57:15.880 --> 00:59:19.519 among thousands and thousands. Yeshua. Yes, you 00:59:50.599 --> 00:59:58.280 is the power. Yours is the glory forever. Amen. 00:59:58.840 --> 01:02:42.030 Yours is the kingdom. Holy, holy, holy, Lord 01:02:42.030 --> 01:02:50.469 God Almighty. To you all praise, glory, and honor 01:02:50.469 --> 01:02:54.730 is due. To you, the one who sits upon the throne. 01:02:55.230 --> 01:03:00.010 To you, the one who is everlasting God. To you. 01:03:00.909 --> 01:03:05.710 who is the great I am, to you, who is our God. 01:03:06.429 --> 01:03:11.349 We lift up our voices to you, O Lord. In adoration, 01:03:11.489 --> 01:03:16.269 we come, we gather, we speak your name, and we 01:03:16.269 --> 01:03:20.730 look expectantly to what you may have for your 01:03:20.730 --> 01:03:25.570 people. Thank you, Lord. As we leave from here, 01:03:25.650 --> 01:03:28.989 as we prepare for prayer as a body, God, be with 01:03:28.989 --> 01:03:33.480 us. Let your spirit speak to us, Lord, so that 01:03:33.480 --> 01:03:37.440 as we enter into prayer, your spirit is speaking 01:03:37.440 --> 01:03:42.800 for us, through us, giving us opportunity to 01:03:42.800 --> 01:03:47.860 commune with you, our Lord and our God. Thank 01:03:47.860 --> 01:03:51.599 you, Lord. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 01:03:53.300 --> 01:03:58.260 Praise the Lord. God bless all of you. Have a 01:03:58.260 --> 01:03:59.820 wonderful week in the Lord. Have a wonderful 01:03:59.820 --> 01:04:03.099 week as you lift up your prayers to him above 01:04:03.099 --> 01:04:05.760 all. Amen? Amen. God bless you.