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We Do Not Know How to Pray- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: My message today is we do not know how to pray.
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  Speaker 1: We do not know how to pray. That's not me
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  Speaker 1: saying that. That's the Apostle Paul. That comes straight out
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  Speaker 1: of the scripture that we're going to look at today.
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  Speaker 2: So let's go ahead and get started.
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  Speaker 1: You know, we'll never forget the COVID pandemic, will we?
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  Speaker 1: We'll never forget it. A microscopic virus just kind of
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  Speaker 1: shut us down. COVID-19 crippled the economy, it parlayed anxiety,
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  Speaker 1: it distributed fear, and it killed multitudes of people. It
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  Speaker 1: was a difficult time. In phrases like shelter in place,
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  Speaker 1: social distancing, flatten the curve, we'd never heard those phrases
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  Speaker 1: before COVID. And now we pray we never have to
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  Speaker 1: use them again, right? Masks covered our faces and fear
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  Speaker 1: shrouded our hearts in the dread of death.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it was everywhere.
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  Speaker 1: We've processed many of the lessons as a society that
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  Speaker 1: we learned during those days. But I would like to
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  Speaker 1: add one more. And that is this. We do not
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  Speaker 1: know how to pray. During that season, our team created
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  Speaker 1: a virtual prayer page. And every day, or almost every day,
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  Speaker 1: I would release a message of encouragement and invite people,
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  Speaker 1: post your prayer needs. Post your prayer needs. Let us
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  Speaker 1: pray for you. And we had a team of people
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  Speaker 1: who were willing to pray. And we had prayer requests,
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  Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of them. It came from all over
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  Speaker 1: the world, from Cambodia to Connecticut. Many of them were
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  Speaker 1: specific prayer needs, like pray that I find some work.
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  Speaker 1: Pray that I get along with my family. Ask God
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  Speaker 1: to help me get some sleep.
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  Speaker 2: I'm lonely. Please pray for somebody to give me a
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  Speaker 2: phone call.
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  Speaker 1: But by far and away, the most common request was
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  Speaker 1: a nebulous, vague request.
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  Speaker 2: Requests like, I don't know what to ask for. Just
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  Speaker 2: pray for me.
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  Speaker 1: Or I'm at a loss for words. Can you just
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  Speaker 1: mention my name? I try to pray, but I can't.
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  Speaker 1: Most of the time, I just weep. I pray, but
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  Speaker 1: the needs are just too great for words. All I
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  Speaker 1: can do is sigh. The groans of the heart.
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  Speaker 2: You've heard them. You've made them.
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  Speaker 1: This is the vernacular of pain. There are times in
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  Speaker 1: which there are no words. And when prayers won't come,
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  Speaker 1: these have to do. Now, sunnier, happier days can generate poetic,
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  Speaker 1: impressive prayers. But those stormy seasons, and some of you
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  Speaker 1: are in one right now, they generate mournful sounds of sadness, fear,
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  Speaker 1: and dread. We can't even put a sentence together Yet,
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  Speaker 1: my promise to you today is that these raw appeals
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  Speaker 1: find their way into the presence of our heavenly Father.
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  Speaker 1: How can we be sure? Because they are entrusted to
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  Speaker 1: the care of our helper, the Holy Spirit. Consider these
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  Speaker 1: words from the Apostle Paul. We know that the whole
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  Speaker 1: creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth
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  Speaker 1: Right up into this present time.
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  Speaker 2: Not only so. But we ourselves. Who have the first
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  Speaker 2: fruits of the spirit.
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  Speaker 1: We groan inwardly. As we wait eagerly. For our adoption
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  Speaker 1: to sonship. The redemption of our bodies. The spirit helps us.
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  Speaker 2: In our weakness.
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  Speaker 1: We do not know what we ought to pray for.
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  Speaker 1: But the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
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  Speaker 1: And he who searches our hearts knows the mind.
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  Speaker 2: Of the Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Because the Spirit, look at this, intercedes for God's people
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  Speaker 1: in accordance with the will of God. Few passages reveal
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  Speaker 1: the tender heart of our Holy Spirit as much as
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  Speaker 1: this one. We're accustomed to the mighty deeds of the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 2: The doors opening for the Apostle Paul.
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  Speaker 1: Or fire falling upon the audience of Peter on the
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  Speaker 1: day of Pentecost. Because of the Spirit, the prophet Ezekiel
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  Speaker 1: saw dead bones rise. The patriarch Moses saw the Red
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  Speaker 1: Sea open. Yet of equal import is this. The Spirit lives.
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  Speaker 1: and translates the incoherent prayers of the weak until they
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  Speaker 1: are heard in the tribunal of heaven. The Spirit curates,
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  Speaker 1: cares for, and translates, makes clear the incoherent prayers of
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  Speaker 1: the weak until they are heard in the tribunal of heaven. We,
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  Speaker 1: Paul says, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
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  Speaker 1: we groan inwardly.
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  Speaker 2: Boy, you could amen that, couldn't you?
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  Speaker 1: You see, the presence of the Spirit does not guarantee
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  Speaker 1: the absence of pain. Pain is a part of life.
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  Speaker 1: And this pain leads to what the apostle calls weakness, weakness.
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  Speaker 1: This is an interesting word. It appears several times in
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  Speaker 1: his writings, most of the time referring to infirmities, physical weakness.
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  Speaker 1: He used it to describe his own affliction in Galatians
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  Speaker 1: 4 in verse 13. He also used it to describe
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  Speaker 1: the illness of his disciple Timothy in 1 Timothy 5
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  Speaker 1: in verse 23. Infirmity, it seems, was at the forefront
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  Speaker 1: of the apostle's mind when he said the Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 1: helps us in our weakness and our infirmity when it's difficult.
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  Speaker 2: You've been there.
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  Speaker 1: It's been 20 years and I've long since cured from it.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Lord.
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  Speaker 1: But I battled atrial fibrillation in my early 50s and
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  Speaker 1: it was a bit complex.
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  Speaker 2: The doctors couldn't figure out what was going on.
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  Speaker 1: What I knew is that I felt fatigued all day
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  Speaker 1: and my sky seemed gray. It seemed a form of depression.
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  Speaker 1: or sadness that followed me. I just couldn't get my energy.
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  Speaker 1: And there were many times during the week in which
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  Speaker 1: I would leave my office at the church and walk
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  Speaker 1: down our hallway in our church in San Antonio, enter
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  Speaker 1: our sanctuary where we had wooden altars along the walls.
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  Speaker 1: And there in a silent, dark sanctuary, I would go
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  Speaker 1: and I would just kneel and I would groan.
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  Speaker 2: I would sigh.
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  Speaker 1: I just felt depleted The apostle here says when that happens,
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  Speaker 1: and it has happened to you, I'm confident, that the
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  Speaker 1: weakness of our bodies does not create a weakness of
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  Speaker 1: our prayer.
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  Speaker 2: That God hears us. The Holy Spirit hears us.
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  Speaker 1: What I was going through is nothing compared to what
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  Speaker 1: some of you are going through. Cancer has robbed the
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  Speaker 1: vigor of your youth. Multiple sclerosis is siphoning the breath
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  Speaker 1: of your life. A rheumatoid arthritis is stiffening your joints.
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  Speaker 1: Or someone you love, someone you cherish is in a
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  Speaker 1: hospital or is in the final stages of life. In
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  Speaker 1: times like these, our prayers become groans, groans. Or maybe
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  Speaker 1: your weakness comes from a different source. Maybe you're weak
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  Speaker 1: from a crumbling marriage or an erratic economy. Weak from
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  Speaker 1: the rejection of a loved one or unemployment. In such times,
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  Speaker 1: it is difficult to get our minds to formulate and
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  Speaker 1: articulate a prayer, isn't it? And we can relate to
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  Speaker 1: Hezekiah who said, I moaned like a dove. My eyes
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  Speaker 1: became tired. As I looked into the heavens. The psalmist wrote.
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  Speaker 1: I am feeble and utterly crushed. And I groan in
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  Speaker 1: anguish of heart. All my longings lie open before you Lord.
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  Speaker 1: And my sighing is not hidden from you.
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  Speaker 2: So there is a gap.
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  Speaker 1: Between what we want from life. And what we get
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  Speaker 1: in life. And when we find ourselves in that gap
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  Speaker 1: during a time of weakness, the apostle says, we do
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  Speaker 1: not know what to pray for as we are. It's
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  Speaker 1: hard to know what to say, how to pray. Thank you,
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  Speaker 1: apostle Paul, for this honest admission. If you, the apostle,
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  Speaker 1: the author of many epistles, had times in which even
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  Speaker 1: you didn't know how to pray, There are times we
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  Speaker 1: don't either. We take heart. For what should the cancer
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  Speaker 1: patient pray? Healing or entrance into heaven? And for what
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  Speaker 1: should the father of the prodigal pray? God's patience for
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  Speaker 1: his son or another pig pen experience for his son?
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  Speaker 1: For what should the persecuted prisoner ask? Release from captivity
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  Speaker 1: or endurance in captivity? We don't know how to pray
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  Speaker 1: As we ought. And what if our prayers are so.
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  Speaker 2: Feeble. We read about prayer warriors.
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  Speaker 1: We read about prayers that open the doors for Peter.
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  Speaker 1: That healed the sick for Paul. We've heard people described
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  Speaker 1: as a person who can pray the paint off the walls.
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  Speaker 1: But sometimes we feel so weak. And what if our
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  Speaker 1: prayers are not very poetic? Not very passionate? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: it's just all we can do to bow ahead and
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  Speaker 1: maybe bend the knee.
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  Speaker 2: And say, and our Father.
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  Speaker 1: Does heaven hear the enthebled prayer of a weary soul?
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  Speaker 1: I'm so happy, according to Scripture, to tell you that
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  Speaker 1: the resounding answer is yes.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: That the power... of prayer resides not with the one
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  Speaker 1: who makes the prayer but the one who hears the prayer.
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  Speaker 1: And in our discussions of prayer please let's resist the
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  Speaker 1: temptation to make prayer yet another work that we do
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  Speaker 1: hoping God will hear us. Let's let prayer reside under
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  Speaker 1: the umbrella of grace.
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  Speaker 2: Not only are we saved by grace, but we pray
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  Speaker 2: in grace.
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  Speaker 1: And God does not hear our prayers based on our
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  Speaker 1: brilliance or our intelligence, because there are so many times
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  Speaker 1: we are neither of the two.
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  Speaker 2: But God hears our prayers because he loves us.
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  Speaker 1: And he has even provided the Holy Spirit to help
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  Speaker 1: us Note clearly Romans.
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  Speaker 2: 8, 26.
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  Speaker 1: The Spirit himself intercedes for us. He intercedes for us.
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  Speaker 1: What does it mean to intercede? Well, to intercede is
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  Speaker 1: to place yourself between a person who needs something and
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  Speaker 1: a person.
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  Speaker 2: Who has something.
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  Speaker 1: If you're an advocate, you speak up on behalf of
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  Speaker 1: someone who is needy. And you represent that person to
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  Speaker 1: someone who has an abundance, right? You intercede, you place
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  Speaker 1: yourself in between. My wife and I learned about the
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  Speaker 1: power of intercession back in 1983. And we were married
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  Speaker 1: in 1981. And within two years, I took my bride
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  Speaker 1: to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where we were planning and
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  Speaker 1: did spend many years of our life. We were the
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  Speaker 1: greenest of gringos. We barely spoke Portuguese. We had never
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  Speaker 1: lived outside of the country. We had read books on
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  Speaker 1: cross-cultural adaptation. But those of you who have moved out
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  Speaker 1: of your homeland to another place know nothing prepares you
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  Speaker 1: for that moment in which you get off a plane
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  Speaker 1: without a return ticket. Our problems were confounded because we
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  Speaker 1: could not get our possessions out of customs. Now, we
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  Speaker 1: didn't have much. Again, still early in our marriage. Our
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  Speaker 1: kids were not born yet. But we did have some
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  Speaker 1: pieces of furniture that we liked. We had a lot
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  Speaker 1: of pictures, maybe some scrapbooks and clothing. All we had
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  Speaker 1: was in our suitcase. And we had our furniture and
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  Speaker 1: possessions in a crate in customs. And we could not
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  Speaker 1: get it out.
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  Speaker 2: It was stuck. It was stuck in the port.
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  Speaker 1: And all we needed was the customs official to release it.
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  Speaker 1: So for several weeks, I made regular trips to the
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  Speaker 1: customs office. And in my oh so broken Portuguese, I
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  Speaker 1: would beg for help. I would ask what we needed
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  Speaker 1: to do. I would ask if my crate could be released.
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  Speaker 1: And every time the answer was the same.
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  Speaker 2: No, senor.
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  Speaker 1: No. I didn't understand everything he said, but I came
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  Speaker 1: to learn words like delayed, needs approval, return tomorrow. We
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  Speaker 1: were at an impasse. We were stuck. Imagine the dread
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  Speaker 1: I felt as I would come home day after day
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  Speaker 1: to see my young wife in our empty apartment And
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  Speaker 1: she would say, did you get it? And I would
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  Speaker 1: have to say, no. We're sleeping on the floor again tonight.
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  Speaker 1: Enter Kanyo, our next door neighbor. His real name is Joachim,
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  Speaker 1: but everybody called him Kanyo. And he literally entered our
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  Speaker 1: apartment one day. He and his wife came over to
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  Speaker 1: meet us. They were neighbors. We didn't have a place
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  Speaker 1: for them to sit. So we had to drink our
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  Speaker 1: coffee standing up. And I explained our plight to I
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  Speaker 1: told him that all of our stuff was stuck in
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  Speaker 1: a crate in customs.
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  Speaker 2: And he quickly said, oh, I can take care of that.
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  Speaker 2: I said, no, no, no, you don't understand.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it's stuck and I've been trying for weeks.
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  Speaker 1: He said, I'll take care of it. Well, it turns
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  Speaker 1: out he was a lawyer. And it turns out, of course,
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  Speaker 1: he understood the Brazilian way. And so he invited me
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  Speaker 1: to go with him to the customs office the next day.
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  Speaker 1: He told me to stand in one particular place and
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  Speaker 1: he walked over to the customs official, the very same
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  Speaker 1: customs official who had rebuffed me time and time again.
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  Speaker 1: And within just a matter of moments, the two were
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  Speaker 1: laughing about something. And after a moment or two, he
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  Speaker 1: pointed at me And then he waved or motioned for
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  Speaker 1: me to come over. And he put his arm around me.
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  Speaker 1: And he explained to the customs official that I was
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  Speaker 1: his neighbor. I was a good guy. He told him
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  Speaker 1: that all of my stuff was stuck in customs. There
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  Speaker 1: may have been an exchange of some dollars or two.
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  Speaker 1: We're not talking about that. All I know is it worked.
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  Speaker 1: The crate was released. I went home and my wife
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  Speaker 1: was very, very happy. Now think about King Yu for
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  Speaker 1: just a second. You see, he had everything I did not.
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  Speaker 1: He had an understanding of the culture. He had absolute
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  Speaker 1: command of the language.
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  Speaker 2: He was a lawyer.
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  Speaker 1: He understood not just the rules or laws, but he
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  Speaker 1: understood the nuances of the laws and And fortunately for us,
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  Speaker 1: he chose to speak.
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  Speaker 2: On our behalf. He was our advocate. He was our intercessor.
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  Speaker 2: This is the role of the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: We do not know how to pray as we ought,
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  Speaker 1: but that's okay because he does. And in those moments
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  Speaker 1: when you have nothing going for you, please be assured
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  Speaker 1: You have God's spirit as your advocate. Jorgen Moltmann wrote,
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  Speaker 1: even if people can do nothing more than sigh for
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  Speaker 1: redemption and then fall silent even as they sigh, God's
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  Speaker 1: spirit already sighs with them and intercedes for them. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: we do not know how to pray as we ought
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  Speaker 1: But the spirit does. And unlike the customs official, your
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  Speaker 1: heavenly father is not reluctant to release and open the
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  Speaker 1: crate of blessings in your life. You do not have
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  Speaker 1: to negotiate with him. You don't have to bribe him.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to twist his arm. You don't have
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  Speaker 1: to beg him. He is waiting on you, urging for you.
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  Speaker 1: crying out to you to cry out to him. I
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  Speaker 1: believe in my heart I'm speaking to somebody who feels
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  Speaker 1: so marginalized and no one has ever heeded your call.
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  Speaker 1: You think certain people have clout. You can't even get
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  Speaker 1: the plumber to call you back. And you feel like
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  Speaker 1: nobody hears your voice. Oh dear child of God. You
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  Speaker 1: have a voice that is heard in heaven. Because you
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  Speaker 1: have said yes to Jesus. And he has placed his
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  Speaker 1: precious presence within you in the form of the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Open your mouth and the Holy Spirit will intercede for you.
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  Speaker 1: This teaching in some ways flips the common understanding of
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  Speaker 1: prayer on its head. That the true prayer warriors are
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  Speaker 1: those who feel like prayer wimps.
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  Speaker 2: Because the Holy.
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  Speaker 1: Spirit intercedes for us. And the greatest victors on this
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  Speaker 1: pathway of prayer might be the weakest ones in our eyes.
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  Speaker 1: The convicted criminal in jail. The immigrant at the border.
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  Speaker 1: The forgotten child in the orphanage. The prayer shawl of
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  Speaker 1: depression is every bit as holy It's.
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  Speaker 2: The one made of linen.
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  Speaker 1: I think about my mother who for the last months
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  Speaker 1: of her life did not even recognize her son.
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  Speaker 2: Her dementia was so severe.
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  Speaker 1: And many times I would go and visit her and
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  Speaker 1: she would just be sitting in a chair rocking back
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  Speaker 1: and forth just groaning, groaning. Maybe she was praying. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: she was praying. And if she was, even in her state,
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  Speaker 1: her mental state, I believe that prayer made its way
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  Speaker 1: into the throne room of heaven. Again, because the power
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  Speaker 1: of prayer resides not with the one who makes it,
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  Speaker 1: but the one who hears it. Right now, as I
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  Speaker 1: say these words, and you hear these words, the spirit
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  Speaker 1: of the living God is talking to the Trinity about you.
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  Speaker 2: Would you receive that?
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  Speaker 1: The eternal, unending, ever-creating Spirit.
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  Speaker 2: Is speaking on your behalf. There's hope.
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  Speaker 1: There's hope because there's prayer. And there's prayer because we
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  Speaker 1: have the Holy Spirit. And He is, according to this passage,
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  Speaker 1: making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.
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  Speaker 1: Another translation, he intercedes for us with groanings too deep
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  Speaker 1: for words. He pleads with God for us in groans
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  Speaker 1: that words cannot express.
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  Speaker 2: Help is here. Help is here.
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  Speaker 1: And the greatest force, truly the only true force in
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  Speaker 1: the universe is your ally, your friend, your spokesperson, your helper,
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  Speaker 1: your advocate. Paul goes on to write, he keeps us
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  Speaker 1: present before God. In other words, he keeps speaking to
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  Speaker 1: God on our behalf. That's why we can be so
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  Speaker 1: sure that every detail of our lives of love for
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  Speaker 1: God is worked into something good. So what you pray
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  Speaker 1: in the night is heard in the light of God's throne.
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  Speaker 1: You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected
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  Speaker 1: all my tears in your bottle and you have recorded
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  Speaker 1: each one in your book. Your father is not reluctant
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  Speaker 1: to hear your prayers. Oh, just the opposite. He has
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  Speaker 1: commissioned the Holy Spirit to help you in your prayers.
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  Speaker 1: After all, what father does not want to hear the
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  Speaker 1: prayers of his children? I recall learning a lesson about
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  Speaker 1: prayer many years ago.
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  Speaker 2: I have three daughters. We have three daughters.
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  Speaker 1: When they were elementary school age, we decided to buy
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  Speaker 1: them small desks to go in their bedroom so that
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  Speaker 1: they could have a place to do homework.
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  Speaker 2: Our oldest daughter already had a desk, but there.
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  Speaker 1: Was Andrea, age 10, and Sarah, age 7, who wanted desks.
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  Speaker 1: Sarah especially Sarah would come home from elementary school and
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  Speaker 1: play school.
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  Speaker 2: I thought something was wrong with her.
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  Speaker 1: I told my wife, I said, when I came home
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: from school, I tried to forget school. But she came
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: home and she said, it's just one of those attention
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: span things, differences between men and women, is what she
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: would say. So we said, we'll get them desks because
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: she wanted a place. And I needed a desk, too.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: So off we went. Now, Dean, my wife, when she
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: looks for furniture, she either gets the kind that's so
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: antique it's fragile or so new it's unpainted. I did
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: not know there are stores that sell unpainted furniture. Did
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: you know this? Do you have those in the Metroplex?
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Maybe we're, I don't know. underdeveloped in San Antonio, but
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: there's several places where you can buy furniture that's unpainted.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: One of them was called Furniture in the Raw.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, raw.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Who wants raw furniture? Anyway, off we went to buy
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: three pieces of unpainted furniture. So Sarah and Andrea on
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: that Saturday, I recall they made their decisions very quickly
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and And so that left me to make my decision
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: and I was looking at the options. When Sarah came
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: up to me, again, she's the seven-year-old, and I turned
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: and looked and she was very sad. She said, Daddy,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: I just found out we're not taking the desk home today.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: I said, no, we're not. We're going to leave it here.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: They're going to paint it for us. And in four weeks,
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: they will deliver it. I might as well have said
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: four millennia. She said, oh, Daddy. Can we not take
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: the desk home today? Now, much to her credit, she
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: didn't throw a fit. She did cry, but she didn't
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: stomp her feet and demand her way. But she did
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: set out to change her father's mind. She made earnest appeals.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Every time I turned, there she was. Daddy, please, will
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: you please, can we take the desk home? I'll help
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: you unload it.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: I'll help.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: And then later she said, if you'll paint it, I'll
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: help you paint it. Please, can we take it? Then
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: she disappeared and came back a few moments later and
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: her arms were like this. And she said, Daddy, I
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: went to the car and I measured. It fits. Now
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: you and I know a seven-year-old has no clue what
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: will or won't fit in a vehicle. But the fact
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: that she went to all that trouble. Well, the Locato
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: family took a desk home that day. And she changed
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: her father's heart. In prayer, we come to our father.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: And we are agreeing with him in his overall will.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: I had declared the will of our family that Saturday.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: I had declared we're gonna buy a desk. Sarah agreed
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: with that. When we come to our heavenly father in prayer,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: we're agreeing with his will. Thy kingdom come. But we're
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: just asking him to come faster, right? Or with more
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: intensity or in more power. That honors God when we
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: agree with his will. It is his will that his
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: children be protected and cared for. Now, we do not
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: always know his will. For that reason, we behave like
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Sarah who came reverently. She didn't make demands. She didn't
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: strut her stuff. We do, as Scripture says, come boldly
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: into the throne room of God. We come boldly, but
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: we do not come with a swagger. We come reverently.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Even our Savior, when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, said,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: not my will, but yours be done. He made his
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: will clear. That's what we do in prayer. Lord, here's
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: my will. Here's what I desire. Heal my child. Grant
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: me a job. Grant me more patience. And then it's
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: okay to say, and do it now.
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: Please.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Why? Well, because the scripture gives us so many promises.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Like this one from James 5, 16. The earnest prayer
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: of a righteous person Has great power. And produces wonderful result.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: So let us be righteous in the sense that we're reverent.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: And let our prayers be earnest.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Yes. Powerful.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: But most of all. I was moved to take a
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: desk home that day. because Sarah called me daddy daddy
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: because she's my child I heard her request because we
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: are his children God hears ours The king of creation
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: gives special heed to the voices of his children. For
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: that reason, we can say that the future of history
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: is being directed by the prayers of the church. The
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: direction of history is being directed by the prayers of
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: the church. I know the news says it's being directed
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: by decisions in Washington. or the leaders in the capitals. Overall,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: it is the prayer of the church that changes the world.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: For that reason, we must pray.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: For that reason, we must not be discouraged when we
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: do not know how to pray as we ought because
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: we have the Holy Spirit to intercede for us. In
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: June of 2018, 12 boys made a decision that nearly
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: cost them their lives. They descended into a cave in Thailand.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: The plan was simple. Just poke around for an hour
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: or two and then emerge with some memories and go home.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: That was it. No one expected the water.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: A sudden storm flooded the passageways and trapped the boys inside.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: They had no food. They had no light. It was
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: utter darkness. They had no communication with the outside world.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: They were trapped. The boys had no way of knowing it.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: The people around the world were praying for them. Do
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: you remember this? I would imagine many of you did
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: pray for them. And we saw our prayers answered. A
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: network of nations cooperated. And the effort involved more than 10,000 people. 10,000
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: people rallying to the help of those nine little guys. Divers,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: rescue workers, soldiers, helicopter pilots, ambulance drivers. They brought diving cylinders,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: sniffer dogs, drones, and robots. It was a world of
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: know-how and can-do all brought to bear on behalf of
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: those little fellas. It took the workers nine days. But
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: eventually the divers found the boys huddled on a muddy ledge.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: The rescuer, the first one to arrive, removed his mask.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: And here's what he told the boys. I'm just the first.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: Others are coming. Your heavenly father wants you to hear
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: help is coming. Help is coming. Because of the power
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit, help is coming. Please do not despair.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Please do not give up. Please do not throw in
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: the towel. Please do not walk away. Your heavenly Father
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: hears you. You aren't trapped beneath a kilometer of earth,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: but you may feel stuck in a dark place with
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: no visible exit. And so hear this. When in times
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: of weakness, it is all hands on deck in heaven.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: As the Holy Spirit speaks to the Trinity on your behalf.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: And our triune God activates angels and strength and servants
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: and resources from all around the world who will rally
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: to help you. Do not despair.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: We do not know how to pray. But that's okay.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit does. And he will speak up on
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: our behalf. Yes, we praise you, Lord, for this great news.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Another display, another layer of grace that comes from you.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Father. Now do your work as we offer
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: our prayers.
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: Loving you alone feels so beautiful. It hurts the most.
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: You became my quiet sunrise, the dream I never dared
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: to say. Every smile you gave so freely took my
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: breath a little away. I held this love like fragile glass,
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: so precious, soft and true. But every beat inside my
• 34:49
  Speaker 4: heart was only reaching out to you.
• 34:54
  Speaker 5: Unspoken love is sweet and painful, like honey mixed with rain.
• 35:02
  Speaker 5: A tender hope I hold so tightly while it Slowly
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: breaks me.
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: Loving you from.
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: Just one side now leaves.
• 35:13
  Speaker 6: My soul in silent blue. Cause the deeper that I
• 35:18
  Speaker 6: fall alone, the lonelier I do.
• 35:25
  Speaker 7: I can't blame my heart for choosing someone it could
• 35:30
  Speaker 7: never keep. So I smile through hidden heartache and love
• 35:37
  Speaker 7: you quietly.
• 35:39
  Speaker 6: Unspoken love is sweet and painful like.
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: Honey mixed with rain.
• 35:46
  Speaker 8: A tender hope I hold so tightly while it slowly
• 35:52
  Speaker 8: breaks me. Loving you from just one side now leaves.
• 35:57
  Speaker 6: My soul in silent gloom. Cause the deeper that I
• 36:02
  Speaker 6: fall alone, the lonelier I do. Maybe loving you in
• 36:14
  Speaker 6: silence is the closest I can stay.
• 36:31
  Speaker 7: Though it leaves behind a sorrow that may never fade away.
• 36:40
  Speaker 6: Unspoken love is sweet and painful, like honey mixed with rain.
• 36:48
  Speaker 7: A tender hope I hold so tightly while.
• 36:52
  Speaker 8: It Slowly breaks me loving.
• 36:56
  Speaker 7: You from just one side now.
• 36:58
  Speaker 6: Leaves my soul in silent blue. Cause the deeper that
• 37:04
  Speaker 6: I fall alone, the lonelier
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: I do.