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Prayer Life - Part 2: Collective · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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Well, please turn in your Bibles back to that passage we've read in Acts chapter 4.
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! I'm going to read again from verse 23.
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So when Peter and John were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and elders had said to them.
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And when they heard it, they lifted up their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth,
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and the sea, and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,
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Why do the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain?
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The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers are gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.
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Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus,
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whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
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to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
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Now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
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while you stretch out your hand to heal,
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and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
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And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken,
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and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
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and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
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Amen. This is God's word to us.
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Let's bow our heads just for a moment in prayer to God.
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Heavenly Father, as we turn our attention for a while this evening to a notion in your word of the importance of corporate prayer in the life of the church,
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we cry to you, Father, that you would bless us in this.
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Just as we were thinking last week about the prayer life of the individual Christian,
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and how crucial that is to our whole relationship with you,
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and all of the priorities that ought to inform our relationship with you,
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help us tonight to see how our relationships with one another are interwoven into that relationship with you as well.
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And so help us tonight to see how we can best bless one another,
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how we can help one another in our pilgrimage in this world,
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as we seek to live a life of shared prayer together,
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and as we seek to pray not only for one another privately,
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but with one another in our lives day by day.
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We need, Lord, the Holy Spirit to guide us in this.
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We're so conscious, Lord, of the weakness and the fragility of our own hearts.
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Lord, I know tonight I'm really conscious.
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Many brothers in particular who are in anguish over public prayer.
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And I pray, Father, that they would be encouraged,
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that they would be built up,
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that they would not be grieved by what we consider tonight,
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but rather that they would see ways to grow and to mature in your service,
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and in how much they can bless the church.
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I pray, Father, for others who are so anxious about praying with other believers
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that they find it actually almost impossible,
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just almost struck dumb when they gather.
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I pray, Father, that you, by your Holy Spirit,
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would teach us how we can bless one another
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and encourage one another through praying together
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and to be a blessing to one another in this way.
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And so, heart, we pray tonight, Lord.
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Shake our hearts.
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We know the building was shaken after the apostles and their friends prayed
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that day in Jerusalem.
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Lord, we need our hearts to be shaken as well.
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We need the Holy Spirit to come and work among us,
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to inform us and enlighten us and change us,
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and for the power of God to work in and through us in these things.
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And so we ask all of this in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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This evening, I want to, when I say continue, conclude, I suppose,
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thinking about our prayer life as Christians.
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If you cast your mind back to last week,
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you think that was maybe about good habits
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that should shape our private prayer life
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and our priorities in prayer,
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and how that's really tied up in our individual walk with God,
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then this evening, it's about how priorities
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that should shape how we corporately
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work and pray together in God's service.
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And so I think tonight, if anything, I want to just reiterate
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that line from Derek Kidner that I was quoting last week,
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that the greatest happiness
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is to be in close agreement with God.
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That would be true of us as a church.
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It would be true of us as little fellowships within this church as well.
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It's difficult, you know, with a church of more than almost 400 people
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to speak meaningfully of us all having fellowship with one another.
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We gather on a Sunday and have fellowship together.
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But within the life of the church, there are little circles and fellowships
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of believers that are gathered together,
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family units that are clustered together.
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In all of these contexts as well, I want us to be encouraged
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about our walk with God and the joy that is to be found in harmony there
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with God corporately as much as individually.
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I have to say as well, last week, a few people have spoken to me
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since last week's sermon.
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And they've asked me about something I said that I was,
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in a sense, I was being deliberately provocative.
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What I said was, public prayer often means in people's minds
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that I'm talking about the prayer meeting.
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No, I mean corporate prayer because all Christians everywhere
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should and do pray with other Christians.
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And I think that was probably very controversial, as I said.
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It is inconceivable, in fact, that you could be a Christian
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and never pray with another Christian.
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And what I want to do, first of all, tonight is back that up from Scripture.
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I want to back it up from the teaching of the Bible
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and take us to the Book of Acts, where our text is tonight,
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and discover the things that Jesus...
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Remember, this is a key to understanding what's going on in the Book of Acts.
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The Book of Acts is what Jesus continues to do
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and teach in the life of the church.
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This is one of the great wonders of the Reformation, in fact,
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that the Roman Catholic Church had built up so many centuries to tradition
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and said all of these centuries of tradition
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are what we build our hope on and the life of the church upon.
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And the Reformers, Luther, Calvin in particular,
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were saying, no, we go back to the Bible
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and we build our expectations of the life of the church
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on sola scriptura, on Scripture alone.
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And so we go back to the Book of Acts and to the New Testament,
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and there we see what the history of the New Testament church was like
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and the pattern of the New Testament church.
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You see it in Matthew chapter 6,
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that passage we were looking at last Sunday morning.
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The Lord's Prayer begins with the word,
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Our Father.
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Our Father.
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So when Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray,
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what he began teaching them was that you pray together.
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The chief mode, in fact, of prayer in the New Testament
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is not individual and private prayer.
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The chief mode of prayer in the church is actually corporate prayer.
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And that is the best expression of it,
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that we would pray together towards our Father.
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And it's interesting that when you go to the end of the book of the New Testament,
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to the book of Revelation,
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what you find there is, in fact,
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a really fascinating pattern emerges in Revelation chapter 8
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when the golden censer full of the prayers of the saints
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rising up as incense before God is revealed
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at the breaking of the final seal.
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The prayers of the saints have come up before God.
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It is the corporate combined prayer of the saints together.
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The intercession of the body of believers.
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Not as if all of these prayers are somehow individual prayers
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that are going up to God on our own,
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but that actually the activity of the church praying together
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itself is an intercessory moment
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that rises up before our God,
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echoing what Jesus has said in Matthew chapter 6,
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our Father.
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So we ought, therefore, from the example of Jesus
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and from the revelation,
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to recognize prayer together is important.
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It follows through in the book of Acts.
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In Acts chapter 1, verse 14,
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it's really interesting that the apostles
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and the woman with them
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were all gathered together,
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devoted to prayer,
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in the days between the ascension of Jesus and Pentecost.
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You see it again in Acts chapter 2.
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On the day of Pentecost,
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there are about 3,000 people added to their number,
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and they devoted themselves.
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So this is what faith looks like.
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They devoted themselves to corporate things.
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The apostles' teaching,
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to fellowship,
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to breaking bread together.
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That could be seen either as sitting together at the Lord's table,
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breaking bread in remembrance of the Lord's death,
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as he taught us,
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or it could simply be just in having actual physical fellowship together,
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meeting together and breaking bread together,
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and being in a corporate setting like that.
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But it's something that they do together.
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And then the fourth thing that Luke tells us
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is that they devoted themselves to prayer.
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And again, the notion that that is something
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that they then broke off and did individually
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is not following through.
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The pattern continues.
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They come together under the apostles' teaching.
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They come together in fellowship to encourage one another.
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They come together breaking bread together.
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And they prayed together.
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Acts chapter 14,
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during Peter's imprisonment,
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the church prays.
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And there's a servant girl called Rhoda
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who's present at that time of prayer together.
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Rhoda goes to the door
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when she hears someone knocking
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and looks out to see,
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and it's Peter.
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And she kind of doesn't believe it's him.
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She thinks it's a vision, an apparition.
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And so she goes back in
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to speak to everybody else,
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leaving Peter standing out at the door.
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It's quite a comical scene almost.
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But again, you've got that impression
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that she's there as part of the church
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gathered together in prayer.
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You've got, as you go on in the New Testament,
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you go into the Corinthian church.
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And there is a passage that is,
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in some ways, very confusing.
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In 1 Corinthians chapter 11,
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it's the famous passage that talks about
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women having head coverings.
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And I know having grown up in the island,
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I know that that's a passage
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that for some of a certain generation
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really obsesses their thought and their thinking.
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But it's really interesting
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what Paul actually says there.
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Women cover their heads when they pray.
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And prayer in the New Testament
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is not something you do quietly,
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privately.
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And the point about head coverings
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in these contexts is
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it's not something that's done
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in a corner in your own home.
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It's in the gathered church.
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Women were participating in that,
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engaging in it.
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You see it in 1 Timothy.
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Paul talks to the men of Crete
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that he wants Timothy to encourage and teach.
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And he says he wants them,
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men everywhere,
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to lift up their hands in prayer.
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And then he says,
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likewise, women also
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should adorn themselves
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in respectable apparel
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with modesty and self-control,
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not with braided hair, gold,
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or pearls, or costly attire.
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Now, the question is,
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what does the likewise apply to?
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The likewise can only possibly apply
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to that action of prayer.
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That women, as they gather
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with the church in prayer,
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do so in an appropriate way.
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And so the pattern
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of the whole of the New Testament,
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the thrust of it is
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that all Christians
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are men and women
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who pray together.
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And before we get tied and not,
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then, about the context of that,
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and we rush to the conclusion
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of saying,
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well, that just refers
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to the prayer meeting.
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What are we going to do
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in the prayer meeting, Gordon?
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I want us to think, actually,
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about the fact that
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the church, as a body,
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not just what we do
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on the few occasions
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when we're actually gathered together
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in the large group,
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but that we continually
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be people
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who gather together
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in the small group
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and who pray together.
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That's the emphasis.
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The thrust of the New Testament
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is that if you're a Christian,
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you are someone who prays.
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Whether you are an old Christian
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or a young Christian,
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whether you are a man
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or a woman,
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whatever your situation is,
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you are part of a body of people
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who pray.
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So all disciples
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are praying together.
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Perhaps the most intimate
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of that setting
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is within your own family.
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In fact, not even just
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within your own family,
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but with your spouse.
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If you are a Christian
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married to another Christian tonight,
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the pattern of the New Testament
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is that you pray together.
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Paul's even very specific about it.
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You can read the passage
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in 1 Corinthians 7.
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where Paul talks about
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just how marriage works
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and the flow
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and the rhythm of marriage
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when you set aside
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time to pray together.
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So there's a real emphasis
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on that role of prayer
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in the corporate life
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of our families.
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There is a pattern for it
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within our family worship.
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Again, I would encourage you
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to reflect on this
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and think about this
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as Christians.
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How do you conduct
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prayer in the context
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of your family home?
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Is prayer a part
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of what you do
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with your kids?
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Do you set them
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an example of it
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in how you pray with them?
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You've got people
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who do this
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in evangelism as well.
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The great example
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that I find
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is probably in Acts 17
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where there's a group
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of people
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who are called
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God-seekers
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and among them
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is Lydia
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in Philippi.
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And there isn't a synagogue
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in Philippi
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so these people
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among whom
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are the women
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like Lydia
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they've gone
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to the riverbank
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to a quiet place
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a place where
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they can see God.
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And it's a place
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of prayer.
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And you've got
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Lydia there
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and Paul
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and his team
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of evangelists
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go along
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to this place
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of prayer.
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And in that place
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of prayer
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they share
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the gospel.
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And I think
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it's a wonderful example
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just in scripture
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of the importance
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of setting aside
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time
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to pray
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with those
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who are seeking.
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And those of you
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tonight
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who are seeking
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you know
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those of you
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who haven't yet
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come to a place
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of settled faith
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in the Lord Jesus
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I want to encourage
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you tonight
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to look for
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people
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Christians
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who will pray
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with you.
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Perhaps tonight
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you don't know
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how to pray
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and you don't need
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a lecture
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to tell you
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how to pray
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but what you
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could best do
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is actually
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find Christians
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who will show
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you how to pray
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who will set
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an example
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for you
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of teaching
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you how
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to pray
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to the living
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God
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how they come
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to him
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how you pray
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for one another
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how you encourage
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people through that
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how you bring
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forth the blessing
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of God
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in people's lives
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by praying
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for them.
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I heard a wonderful
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example of this
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actually just recently
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I was talking
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to some friends
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who were in the
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South Uist
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and Mbecula
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congregation
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at one point
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and they were
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telling me about
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the history
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of that congregation
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and one of the
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most precious
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things I have heard
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said in a long
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time
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was you know
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Gordon
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we used to
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pray people
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into the kingdom
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there
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they would
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basically
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when Ian
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McCaskill
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was preaching
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some of them
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would be off
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in the cafe
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in the weak
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space in the corner
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one of the other
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rooms in the building
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and they would be
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praying for the
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congregation
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who are there
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listening to the
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word being preached
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and it reminded me
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of something I'd read
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actually about
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the past
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about Spurgeon's
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ministry
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ministry
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in the
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metropolitan
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tabernacle
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and Spurgeon's
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ministry was
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characterized by
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that same thing
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there was in fact
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a group of people
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when Spurgeon preached
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who stayed aside
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out in the
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you know what we
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say almost the
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session room
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or out in the
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hall
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and there they
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would pray
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and intercede
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before God
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for the blessing
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of the word
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and the people
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who were gathered
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there that night
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and Spurgeon
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called it the
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engine room
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of the church
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it's really
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interesting in fact
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that that's the
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pattern of the
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New Testament
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that prayer
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and evangelism
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go really
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hand in hand
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don't they
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and when Paul's
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talking about
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the Christian's
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armor
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he talks about
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us having
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the sword
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of the
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spirit
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which is the
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word of God
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but the other
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weapon that goes
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with it
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is prayer
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the offensive
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weapons in the
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armory of the
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Christian
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are the word
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of God
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and prayer
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and they go
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hand in hand
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we should be
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looking for the
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preaching of the
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word to be
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accompanied by
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prayer
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earnestly seeking
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God's blessing
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on the preaching
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of the word
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as we go on
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perhaps you'll
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pray together
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for missionaries
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and one of the
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great privileges
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we have as a
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congregation
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is we support
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Muriel
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over in Cambodia
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and other
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missionaries
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besides
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and we take
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time to stop
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and pray
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for their
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ministry
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and again
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it's a context
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where the church
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comes together
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to pray
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for the blessing
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of God
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on that work
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I've never
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been to Korea
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but some of you
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have
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and when you go
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to a Korean
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prayer meeting
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it's very
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different to
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ours
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Korean prayer
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meetings are
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characterized by
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open prayer
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prayer but
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not just open
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prayer where
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one person
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gets up after
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the other
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it's open
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prayer where
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everyone prays
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there's just a
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noise of people
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lifting up their
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voices to God
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and interceding
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for their nation
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for their
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community
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for their
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congregation
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for the work
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of the gospel
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for the progress
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of the kingdom
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so prayer
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together
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men and women
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young and old
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it is completely
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normal
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it is completely
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biblical
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it is also
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I would say
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just as a couple
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of asides
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before we get
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too far into
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this as well
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it's essential
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for discipleship
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young Christians
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grow by being
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in the company
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of older Christians
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and one of the
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things that
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older Christians
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have an enormous
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privilege to do
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is to teach
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younger Christians
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how to pray
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and often that
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is done
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simply by your
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example
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so as you
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pray as an
21:31
older Christian
21:32
in the company
21:33
of younger Christians
21:33
you're setting a
21:35
pattern for how
21:35
they in turn
21:36
will pray as well
21:38
and so the
21:39
priorities that you
21:40
have as an
21:40
older Christian
21:41
are going to
21:42
really shape
21:43
the priorities
21:44
that younger
21:44
Christians have
21:45
and that's a
21:49
huge responsibility
21:50
on men and
21:52
women
21:53
something that
21:56
we need to
21:56
take very
21:56
seriously
21:57
if you've
21:57
got a skewed
21:58
or a misplaced
21:59
relationship with
22:00
God that is
22:01
reflected in
22:02
your prayer life
22:03
and you're
22:05
praying with
22:05
younger Christians
22:06
you're going to
22:06
pass that on
22:07
if there's no
22:11
closeness in
22:12
your walk with
22:12
God
22:13
when you pray
22:14
with others
22:15
that lack
22:16
of closeness
22:17
and familiarity
22:18
and confidence
22:19
before God
22:20
is going to
22:21
be passed on
22:22
and so it's
22:24
really important
22:24
that we think
22:26
about what we
22:27
are going to
22:27
do when we
22:28
pray with
22:29
others
22:30
it's important
22:32
that we have
22:33
biblical
22:33
priorities
22:34
it's important
22:36
that we allow
22:36
the example
22:38
that we set
22:38
to be shaped
22:39
by what
22:41
Jesus has
22:41
done
22:42
what the
22:42
apostles have
22:42
taught us
22:43
what the
22:44
Bible teaches
22:44
us throughout
22:45
it
22:45
so you know
22:48
for example
22:49
if
22:49
if you have a
22:52
habit of
22:52
addressing God
22:53
in the third
22:53
person
22:54
you know as if
22:55
your prayer is a
22:56
formal letter
22:57
written to a
22:58
distant sovereign
22:58
where you're
23:01
asking the
23:01
Lord to do
23:02
things and you
23:02
hope that the
23:03
Lord is going to
23:03
do this and
23:04
the prayer is
23:05
constantly never
23:06
addressed to
23:07
you Lord
23:08
even if you use
23:09
these and those
23:10
prayers in your
23:10
prayer but if
23:10
you simply
23:11
address your
23:11
prayer never
23:12
to you
23:13
personally to
23:14
God you
23:14
don't speak
23:15
directly to
23:16
God you
23:16
speak of him
23:17
in your
23:17
prayer but
23:18
never to
23:18
him something
23:20
like that can
23:21
be passed on
23:22
and be so
23:22
damaging in the
23:26
way younger
23:26
Christians growing
23:27
up think about
23:28
their relationship
23:28
with God
23:29
and so we have
23:31
to think
23:32
carefully about
23:33
how we speak
23:34
and what we
23:35
speak as we
23:36
speak to our
23:37
God in prayer
23:38
as well as
23:40
one other
23:40
quick point as
23:41
well just to
23:42
think about is
23:42
that prayer
23:43
corporately is
23:46
a covenanted
23:46
activity it is
23:49
an activity of
23:50
a covenanted
23:51
people by a
23:53
covenanted
23:54
people what I
23:54
mean is a
23:55
people who
23:55
have been
23:55
bought by
23:57
the blood
23:58
price of
23:58
Christ's blood
23:59
shed for
24:00
us and
24:02
where we are
24:03
brought through
24:04
that into a
24:05
new relationship
24:07
relationship with
24:08
a triune
24:09
God and so
24:10
when we think
24:11
about prayer we
24:12
need to understand
24:13
it as having a
24:14
relationship with
24:15
God our
24:16
father but we
24:18
do so as a
24:18
body of people
24:19
who are united
24:20
with Christ
24:21
and we are as
24:25
a body indwelt
24:26
by the Holy
24:27
Spirit which is
24:28
why I think that
24:28
passage that we're
24:29
looking at tonight
24:30
in Acts 4 is so
24:31
crucial when they
24:32
had prayed they
24:33
were filled with
24:34
the Holy Spirit and
24:36
they continue to
24:36
speak the word of
24:37
God with boldness
24:38
so the presence of
24:41
a triune God is
24:42
there they've
24:43
addressed prayer to
24:44
the father they've
24:45
been told that the
24:46
main point of the
24:47
prayer is actually
24:48
about proclaiming
24:49
the name of the
24:50
son proclaiming the
24:51
name of Jesus and
24:52
the person who
24:53
operates in them is
24:54
the Holy Spirit who
24:56
comes and gives them
24:57
boldness to go on
24:58
preaching fills the
25:00
church with boldness
25:01
as they go on we
25:04
are as a body
25:05
children of the
25:06
most high God we
25:07
come to him as a
25:08
father we come to
25:09
him clinging the
25:10
the royal promises
25:13
of Jesus and we
25:16
come also to the
25:18
hope and power of
25:19
the Holy Spirit and
25:22
so because of that
25:22
it's helpful to think
25:23
of prayer corporately
25:25
as a pact you know
25:28
a pact is an
25:29
agreement that we
25:30
make with one
25:30
another and when we
25:33
pray together it's
25:34
good to have a
25:35
thought about what
25:36
we're doing in that
25:37
pact that consignment
25:40
of of intention
25:42
towards one another
25:43
as we pray and one
25:45
of the small things
25:46
and this is a very
25:46
incidental thing it's
25:48
about the language
25:49
that we use when we
25:50
do it I mean plenty
25:52
of people will quote
25:53
scripture in their
25:54
prayers and if the
25:55
scripture you're
25:56
familiar with is the
25:56
King James version
25:57
it's fine under these
25:58
contexts I think to
25:59
quote scripture in
26:00
that way but very
26:02
few people today
26:03
fluently speak 16th
26:05
century Elizabethan
26:06
language and when
26:09
you try to contort the
26:11
way you speak to God
26:12
into that because you're
26:14
not familiar with it
26:15
yourself sometimes what
26:16
comes out is gibberish
26:17
and so we should try
26:20
and the confession
26:21
teaches us this we
26:23
should try to speak in
26:25
the ordinary language of
26:26
the people around us
26:27
when we're engaged in
26:29
these activities
26:30
together so the
26:32
language we use is
26:33
important because of
26:34
not reverence for God
26:37
that we think we're
26:37
emulating but because
26:39
of respect for the
26:40
people around us who
26:42
we're seeking to be
26:43
blessed when we pray
26:45
together and it's that
26:48
sense of a community
26:49
bound together through
26:51
the blood of Jesus
26:52
under the sovereignty of
26:53
God connected by the
26:55
Holy Spirit uniting us
26:56
and binding us together
26:57
in the love of Christ
26:58
that we should seek to
27:00
be a blessing towards
27:01
one another so what
27:02
does this pact look
27:03
like the first thing
27:06
is that there's praise
27:07
you see it in the
27:08
prayer here in Acts
27:09
4 when the disciples
27:10
and their friends come
27:12
together they begin
27:15
their prayer by saying
27:16
sovereign Lord maker of
27:17
heaven and earth and so
27:18
on and what they're
27:20
doing by that is
27:21
elevating their
27:22
perception of who God
27:23
is and the majesty of
27:24
God and you see it in
27:27
plenty other places in
27:28
scripture I've got an
27:29
example for you the
27:30
notes tonight the
27:31
bulletin have these
27:32
cross references you can
27:33
go and read them when
27:33
you when you go home
27:34
perhaps if you want
27:35
Solomon's prayer of the
27:37
dedication of the
27:38
temple he begins his
27:39
prayer by saying oh God
27:40
God of Israel there is
27:42
no God like you he calls
27:45
out the uniqueness of
27:47
God the marvel of God
27:49
the the the blessedness
27:51
of God's connection to
27:53
his people and he is
27:56
leading the people as he
27:59
prays into praise for God
28:02
that's one of these things
28:05
to remember as you pray
28:06
with others you're
28:09
privileged as you pray
28:11
with others to bring them
28:13
into the presence of God
28:16
with you you have an
28:19
opportunity to bring the
28:21
people you're praying
28:22
with to see and marvel
28:25
and wonder at a God who
28:27
loves them a God whose
28:30
care for them sent his
28:31
son into this world to die
28:33
in their place a God who
28:36
seeks to indwell within
28:38
them and bless them through
28:39
his presence and his power
28:41
administered through the
28:43
power and working of the
28:44
Holy Spirit and that's true
28:45
in every context in which
28:47
you can pray with others
28:48
so it is of course true in
28:51
the context of prayer with
28:53
your spouse with your
28:54
husband with your wife
28:55
when you pray with them
28:57
it's it's easy it's
28:59
tempting I know from my
29:00
you know from from from
29:01
married life you know
29:02
sometimes the problems and
29:04
the things that you're
29:05
wanting to pray about are
29:05
so overwhelming and so
29:07
pressing you would almost
29:08
rush towards the shopping
29:09
list of things you want to
29:10
pray about but but how
29:13
good it is to bless your
29:14
husband your wife your
29:16
spouse that when you come
29:18
in prayer you draw them
29:19
into the praise of God
29:20
it's the same with your
29:23
kids you're having family
29:24
worship bring them into
29:28
the praise of God with
29:29
you with your Sunday
29:30
school class I hope the
29:31
Sunday school teachers are
29:33
not afraid to pray with
29:34
their Sunday school
29:34
classes it's a good place
29:36
to teach them to bring
29:38
them into the presence of
29:39
God if you're with a
29:42
seeker and you're opening
29:44
up the Bible together and
29:46
you're wanting to read
29:46
scripture together in a
29:48
one-on-one Bible study
29:49
again you've got an
29:51
opportunity there to pray
29:52
with them it's always good
29:53
to pray before we open the
29:54
word anyway but to pray
29:57
with them and draw them
29:58
into the presence of God
29:59
and worship and praise
30:01
with a Kirk session with the
30:07
deacons court finance
30:08
subcommittee with the
30:10
vacancy committee with the
30:14
group that are praying for
30:15
Muriel and Cambodia you
30:18
know these are practical
30:19
things that we think we
30:20
need to pray about the
30:21
practicalities yes there are
30:23
practicalities to pray for
30:25
but lead people into the
30:26
praise of God bring them
30:30
with you to the adoration of
30:32
our God and Father maybe it's
30:35
with your prayer triplet a lot
30:38
of Christians have
30:38
accountability structures like
30:40
that people that you're close
30:42
with and you walk with God
30:43
you meet with them regularly
30:45
you pray with them remember
30:46
in that place praise of God
30:48
is so crucial you don't know
30:50
how much of a blessing you'll
30:51
actually be to the others
30:51
who are there perhaps you're
30:54
confused and you're thinking
30:55
well they're confused and
30:58
thinking I don't know where
30:58
God is in all of this life that
31:00
I'm going through just now and
31:00
I haven't even shared with this
31:01
people I'm praying with and
31:03
yet the fact that you can lead
31:04
them to a place of praise is
31:07
such a blessing maybe it's with
31:10
your businessman's lunch or with
31:14
a road to recovery group or
31:17
with a WFM or maybe it's a
31:19
same grace before you eat your
31:20
dinner but in all of these
31:22
contexts there's an opportunity
31:25
to praise God and to bring
31:27
others into that praise
31:28
perhaps it's a funeral perhaps
31:35
perhaps it's when you go to visit
31:36
people who are grieving
31:37
perhaps it's when you're going to
31:40
hospital to see someone who's
31:42
battling an incurable cancer
31:45
there is no context where the
31:49
praise of God is not relevant
31:51
there's no context where it's not
31:54
needed it's not necessary it is a
31:56
right place for us to bring people
32:00
into the awe of God and so we we begin
32:06
with praise secondly there's also
32:08
admission I see the time is very much
32:11
tramping on again it's a big topic I'm
32:14
sorry there's a place of an admission
32:17
of sin a recognition of sin that the
32:20
disciples when they pray in Acts 4 they
32:24
talk about the death of Jesus and they
32:26
recognize that there is a sense in
32:27
which it has happened under the
32:29
planning and the foreknowledge and the
32:30
predestination of God but they don't
32:32
say the Gentiles did it they don't
32:35
point the finger at Herod and
32:37
Pontius Pilate although they
32:38
recognize Herod and Pontius Pilate
32:40
and the Gentiles had a role to play
32:41
it was a Roman execution detail that
32:43
killed Jesus but they also say also
32:46
the peoples of Israel and they
32:49
include themselves in that if you're
32:50
familiar with the opening chapters of
32:52
the book of Acts they see themselves
32:55
themselves as Israel and so they put
32:59
themselves into the heart of that
33:01
confession that's why I highlighted
33:02
Daniel 9 as a great example of this
33:04
Daniel is acknowledging the sins of his
33:07
people of his nation and he includes
33:10
himself in that we have sinned we have
33:12
done wrong we are responsible for the
33:15
exile that has now come to us we are
33:18
responsible for the fact that we are
33:19
separated from the place of the temple
33:21
where we can worship our God we did
33:23
this and one of the great practical
33:27
applications of this is that when we
33:29
come to confession of sin when we're
33:32
praying with others we need to own it
33:36
we need to own it and very often when
33:42
we come to confession of sin we're we're
33:44
really thinking about confession of sins
33:45
of our community of our nation a good
33:50
example would be abortion the steadily
33:54
worsening abortion laws that our
33:57
country is enacting and a situation
34:00
that seems to be just slipping away
34:02
into worse and worse outcomes all the
34:06
time and it's almost as if we might
34:10
want to point the finger
34:11
and yet it's us
34:19
we're not admitting the sins of others
34:24
we are confessing our sin our nation's
34:31
sin our need of God's grace our nation's
34:38
need of God's grace
34:40
it's a place to confess
34:48
not a place to complain
34:52
it's not a place to complain about the
34:58
things we don't like in the church
35:00
I'd say this when you're gathering with
35:02
your brothers and sisters in Christ
35:04
your private opinions stay at the door
35:08
if you don't like the church's church
35:12
planting policy the gathering of the
35:16
saints is not a place to just rant about
35:19
that it's a place to pray it's a place
35:23
to intercede it's a place to seek God's
35:27
blessing
35:27
and so remember prayer together it's a
35:33
place for confession
35:34
not a place for just generally complaining
35:39
about what's going on
35:41
and so we come and confess
35:44
it's a place as well for calling out to
35:48
God so we have praise we have
35:50
acknowledgement of our sin it's a place
35:53
for calling to God for requesting his
35:56
help and his blessing second chronicles
35:58
chapter 20 Jehoshaphat calls for God's
36:01
help on behalf of the people
36:03
we don't know what to do in this
36:06
situation he says
36:07
but our eyes are on you
36:11
that's one of the great privileges of
36:14
praying together as a church as
36:18
individuals gathered together as
36:20
people who want to pray to God in
36:22
all of these different contexts that
36:23
I've already mentioned one of the
36:25
great privileges that we have is of
36:28
expressing our dependence on a
36:31
covenantal God
36:32
do you not think that God who did not
36:38
spare his only son
36:39
will he not now bless you
36:43
abundantly more than you can ask or
36:45
think
36:46
that means we pray big
36:50
and with this I am nearly done
36:54
it means we pray with boldness
36:57
we pray with boldness and confidence
37:02
in a God who holds the entire cosmos in
37:05
his hands
37:06
and that's one of the things that I fear
37:10
when the church prays together
37:11
I always fear that we we forget how
37:15
great our God is and how bold we can be in
37:20
coming to him in prayer the great
37:23
things that we can ask for the wonderful
37:25
things that we can request the marvel of
37:27
his grace we can ask for those who are dead in
37:33
their sins to come to life
37:36
you see it in the way the disciples do it
37:40
here when they pray they pray about the
37:42
persecution they're facing they pray about the
37:44
the affliction that they are under the
37:46
threats that they have received
37:48
but they're not rushing to pray for
37:50
something small
37:51
what they're rushing to pray for is the
37:55
mercy of God
37:56
not judgment over all those who are
37:59
opposing them
38:00
and over the preaching of the word and
38:02
for all of the countless hundreds and
38:03
thousands of people
38:04
who are still there to hear the gospel in
38:06
Jerusalem
38:07
let us be bold in how we pray
38:11
let us also be indicative
38:13
let us be deliberate about what we pray
38:16
for
38:16
you know when we're praying with one
38:19
another we can pray specifically for
38:21
the matters at hand
38:22
we don't need to be vague
38:24
our God is big enough to hear our
38:29
specific prayers
38:30
in fact that's part of God's condescending
38:32
he comes down to the level at which we
38:34
are at
38:34
and he hears the specific things that
38:36
we're praying for
38:37
and the things that we're interceding for
38:39
and we can be such a blessing to one
38:41
another with specific prayer
38:43
and to encourage one another along
38:46
that way is
38:46
a covenanted community praying to God
38:49
and the other thing about being praying
38:50
big is also not just to be bold and
38:52
indicative in what we pray for but to
38:53
be God glorifying
38:54
you know there's often a feeling
38:58
perhaps that
38:59
God will not be glorified if we pray
39:01
for things that we want
39:02
but actually if we want God's glory
39:05
we will be satisfied with the things
39:09
that glorify God
39:10
and that is what we'll pray for
39:13
and so let us have that kind of boldness
39:17
that John Piper speaks of
39:19
that God is most glorified in us
39:21
when we are most satisfied
39:23
in him
39:25
that's what it means to pray with
39:28
hearts alight
39:29
for God
39:30
burning with a passion for the glory of God
39:33
and the things that we are asking for
39:35
and the intercessions that we are raising
39:37
acknowledging God's great mercy
39:40
and the blessing that he will give
39:42
the final thing just is thanksgiving
39:44
praise
39:48
acknowledgement of sin
39:53
calling out for God's blessing
39:56
and doing so with thanksgiving
39:59
Ezra's
40:01
public confession
40:02
and the renewal of
40:03
the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem
40:05
there in Nehemiah as well
40:07
actually you can read in both passages
40:08
but
40:08
but Ezra is heavy
40:10
his prayer is heavy with confession
40:11
but
40:12
but he also acknowledges God's mercy
40:14
and his preservation
40:15
and he goes through the whole history of the nation
40:18
and all of the things that God has done
40:19
to preserve Israel
40:20
and he just pours out thanks
40:22
that's what we do
40:25
that's how we're going to conclude our worship just now
40:28
praising God
40:30
for the certainty of his mercies
40:33
and the enduring grace that he shows
40:38
and how firm and sure that is
40:40
to all eternity
40:43
that is our God
40:45
that is a God that we can come to
40:46
with praise and thanksgiving
40:48
and so let us bow in prayer to him just now
40:51
for just a moment
40:52
heavenly father
40:58
we want to come before you this evening
41:00
and seek your blessing upon us
41:03
lord
41:04
we thank you for the privilege
41:06
of being able to come before you in prayer
41:08
as a church
41:09
as a gathering tonight
41:11
and we pray father that as we do so
41:15
we would be reminded of just how glorious a God you are
41:17
you are worthy of our praise
41:20
because you have loved us
41:21
and you have sent a salvation for us
41:23
and you have glorified your name
41:25
and redeeming us
41:26
through the blood of Jesus
41:29
and I pray tonight father
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that that would be
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what we make most of
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what we rejoice in
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where we find our hope
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and our confidence
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and why we remember
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that we have every reason
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to be bold
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in coming to you in prayer
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because you have done so much
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in working out our salvation
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for us
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we thank you that you are a God who hears
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we thank you that all of us tonight
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can perhaps speak of times
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where we have cried out to you
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and you have answered
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and so we pray father
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that you would continue to show yourself
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as a God who is faithful and merciful
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abundant in mercy in fact
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and may that overflow
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in our lives
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and be seen in how we glorify
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and exalt you continually
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help us Lord
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to bless one another then
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as we would seek to pray together
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multiply Lord
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the opportunities that we have
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to pray together
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as a congregation
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as individuals
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with in our families
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help us to cultivate good patterns
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and practices
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and how we do that
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help us not to be ashamed
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or afraid of praying together either
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but to have boldness
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in how we come to our God
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and to see the fruit
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of that prayer
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to see the answers to prayer
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to the praise of your glorious name
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and we ask these things
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for Jesus' sake
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Amen
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we're going to sing in conclusion
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in the Scottish Psalter
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Psalm 136
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the second version of the Psalm
42:59
page 428
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in the Blue Book
43:01
page 428
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we're going to sing
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verses 1-4
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so just two stanzas
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to the tune St. John
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praise God
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for he is kind
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his mercy lasts foray
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give thanks
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with heart and mind
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to God of God's always
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for certainly
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his mercy's durer
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most firm and sure
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eternally
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let's stand and sing
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two stanzas
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please
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please
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God, while he is kind, his mercy lasts foray.
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Give thanks with heart and mind to God of God's glory.
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For certainly his mercy's due, most perman should eternally.
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The Lord of Lords, praise ye, his mercy still endure.
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Faith wanders only he, that work by his great hand.
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For certainly his mercy's due, most perman should eternally.
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Now the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with each one of you now and always. Amen.
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Amen.