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The Model Life: Adoration, Part 4 · CCC West Covina

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This morning as we continue our journey through the 5th chapter
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of First Thessalonians, we once again look at the 17th verse
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which says that we are to pray without ceasing.
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The late Leonard Ravenhill was a British evangelist.
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He died in 1994. But listen to his words as he
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talks about prayer. He says no man is greater than
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his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is
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playing. The people who are not praying
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are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window
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to display one's talents. The prayer closet allows no
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showing off. Poverty stricken as the church
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is today and many things, she is most stricken here in the place
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of prayer. We have many organizers, but few
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agonizers, many players and payers, few prayers, many
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singers, few clingers, lots of pastors, few wrestlers, many
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fears, few tears, much fashion, little passion, many
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interferers, few intercessors, many writers, but few fighters.
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Failing here, we fail everywhere.
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The ministry of preaching is open to a few.
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The ministry of prayer, the highest ministry of all human
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offices, is open to all. He had his finger on the pulse
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of the modern church. He recognized that there were
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very few people committed to prayer.
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I don't know about you, but as you spend each day, there are
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times throughout the day that you waste.
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I think we'd all be have to be honest and say, yeah, there this
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was a wasted hour, or this was a wasted few minutes, or this was
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a wasted part of my day. I can guarantee you that there's
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one part of your day that you could honestly say is never
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wasted, and that's the time you spend in prayer.
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That time is never wasted. That time was always used to the
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highest degree. Yet the Bible says that we are
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to have an unceasing kind of prayer life and uninterrupted
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kind of prayer life. A life that's completely
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conscious of God all throughout the day.
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A life that's always in tune with the Spirit of God.
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A prayer that or life of prayer that that never ends, that never
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quits, that never gives up, that never gives in.
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Pray without ceasing. Peter would say it this way
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first. Peter 5 verse #7 Cast all your
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anxiety upon him, for he cares for you.
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Taken from Psalm 55 where the psalmist said cast your burdens
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upon the Lord and he will sustain you.
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I've come to realize that as I go through life, as it says in
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Luke 18 verse #1 we talked about last week, men, not always to
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pray and not to faint. You either pray or you faint.
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If you're fainting, you're not praying.
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Well, Peter says it this way. If you're not casting your
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burdens upon the Lord, you're crashing under the burdens that
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you bear you to cast all your anxiety, all your burdens upon
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the Lord. But so many times, when those
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fears arise, when those anxious thoughts come, when the
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nervousness begins to envelope us, very rarely do we cast it
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upon the Lord. Yet those who pray without
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ceasing understand the the importance of living a God
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conscious kind of life that they might be able to offer up a
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prayer to their God knowing that he is the one who hears.
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In fact, the psalmist said in Psalm 65 these words, You who
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hear prayer to you, all men come to you who hears prayer to you
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all men come. Psalm 65, verse #2 verse #4 He
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says, how blessed is the one whom you choose to bring near to
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you, to dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the
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goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.
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The blessed man is the one who who God chooses to bring near to
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him. And the Bible says that that God
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is near to all those who call upon him.
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Psalm 145 But there's a qualifier to that.
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The Lord is near to all those who call upon him.
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And then it says to all who call upon him in truth, He's not near
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to those who don't call upon him in truth, only to those who call
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upon him according to his truth, because he is the God of truth.
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And yet God who hears prayer brings men near to him.
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And if we are near to God, then we ought to be able to commune
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with him because the privilege of prayer is that we have access
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to the throne room of God. When the veil was was torn in
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two at count, when Christ was on the tree at Calvary in the
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temple, the veil of the temple was torn in two.
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Access to the presence of God. The holiest of holies was
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granted to all men. That's why I love what it says
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in the, in the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 2
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verse #18 For through him that is Christ, we both have our
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access in one spirit to the Father.
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And then in chapter 3 verse #12 Paul says, because of Christ, in
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whom we have boldness and confident access through faith
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in him, we have this access. We had this opportunity to
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always enter God's throne room and to call upon him.
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I, I love what the the songwriter said.
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Oh, oh, what peace we often forfeit.
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Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry
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everything to God in prayer. Everything.
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Cast all your burdens upon the Lord.
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Not just some of them, all of them.
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Prayer is the great privilege of the believer.
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That is we, We can enter the throne room of God and we can
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call upon our God to do great and mighty things.
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So last week we, we began to talk to you about some of the,
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the principles surrounding prayer, telling you that it that
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it, that certifies my dependency upon God.
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Nothing certifies your dependency more than your prayer
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life. That's why Paul says pray
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without ceasing. He gives these commands.
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Be joyful, be prayerful, be thankful.
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Why? Because this is the will of God
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in Christ Jesus concerning you. These three commands are the
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will of God for your life. You need to be joyful, prayerful
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and thankful in all things. And as believers in Christ, we
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we we hasten to obey the commands of God.
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Listen to what the psalmist said in in Psalm 119, verse #60 I
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hastened and did not delay to keep your commandments.
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That's the, that's the heartbeat of the believer.
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I hastened and did not delay to be joyful.
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I hastened and did not delay to be prayerful.
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I hasten and did not delay to be thankful.
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In fact, he goes over and says this in verse #112 of Psalm 119.
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I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever
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until the very end. I've determined in my heart that
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I perform Your commandments, Your statutes forever.
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So I will be joyful forever. I will be prayerful forever.
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I will be thankful forever, even until the very end.
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That's the heartbeat of the believer.
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So Paul rattles off his commands.
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Be joyful, prayerful, and thankful.
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I love what Leon Moore said in his book Heart Cry for Revival.
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He said it is not possible for us to spend all our time with
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the words of prayer on our lips, but it is possible for us to be
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all our days in the spirit of prayer, realizing our dependence
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upon God for all that we have in our, realizing something of His
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presence with us wherever we may be, and yielding ourselves
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continually for the doing of His will.
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Where there is such an inward state, it will find outward
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expression in verbal prayer. And in this connection we should
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notice the frequent ejaculatory prayers throughout Paul's
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letters. Prayer was so natural and so
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continual with the great apostle that it found its way inevitably
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into his correspondence. That's the way it should be for
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us. Praying without ceasing it
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certifies our dependency upon God.
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Turn turn back with me, if you would, to to the book of Second
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Chronicles, a book that you probably read every day in your
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devotions. But Second Chronicles chapter 20
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and I want to show you how how prayer certifies our dependency
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upon the Lord. This is so important.
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Now it came about verse one after this that the sons of Moab
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and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Edomites came
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to make war against Jehoshaphat. Then some came and reported to
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Jehoshaphat saying, a great multitude is coming against you
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from beyond the sea out of Iran. And behold therein in Getty.
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For those of you who've been to Israel, you know where in Getty
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is. It's in the, the, the wilderness
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of, of the Judean, the Judean wilderness.
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It's there. And that's where David will hide
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from the apostle, not from the apostle, but from Saul himself.
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Excuse me. And and it's a good place to to
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enter into Jerusalem because of all the mountain ranges that
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hide you. And they say, King Jehoshaphat,
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they've come against us. Verse 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid
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and turned his attention to seek the Lord.
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That's good. When you're afraid, what do you
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do? What do you turn your attention
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to? Jehoshaphat turned his attention
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to to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast sweat all
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Judah. So Judah gathered together to
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seek help from the Lord. They even came from all the
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cities of Judah to seek the Lord.
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Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem
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in the House of the Lord before the new court.
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And this is what he said. Oh Lord, the God of our fathers,
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are you not God in the heavens? He appeals to the preeminency of
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God, does he not? Our Father, who art in heaven,
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hallowed be thy name. Here is Jehoshaphat appealing to
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the God of the heavens, and he says, are you not ruler over all
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the kingdoms of the nations? Don't you rule over everyone?
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It speaks not only of his preeminence, but it speaks of
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his Providence that he is in complete control of everything.
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It says power and might are in your hand so that no one can
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stand against you. So he appeals to God based on
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his preeminence, based on his Providence, and based on his
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power as the Lord God of Israel. And then it says, did you not,
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oh our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before
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your people Israel, and give it to the descendants of Abraham,
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your friend forever? They have lived in it and have
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built you a sanctuary there for your name.
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Now he appeals to the promises of God, got me to promise to
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Israel, got me to promise to Abraham, and God has fulfilled
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that promise. So he's appealing to God based
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on his character and based on his nature.
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You are preeminent, you are providential, you're powerful,
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and you're God who keeps his promises.
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So he says, verse 9, should evil come upon us, the sword or
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judgment or pestilence or famine, we will stand before
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this house and before you, for your name is in this house, and
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cry to you in our distress, and you will hear, and you will
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deliver us. They appeal to the presence of
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God, that we will come to you. We will come to Your temple,
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where Your glory dwells, where You are, and we will appeal to
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You and You will deliver us. Now behold the sons of Ammon and
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Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade.
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When they came out of the land of Egypt, they turned aside from
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them and did not destroy them. See how they are rewarding us by
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coming to drive us out from Your possession, which You have given
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us as an inheritance. Oh our God, You will not judge
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them, for we are powerless before this great multitude who
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are coming against us. Nor do we know what to do.
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But our eyes are upon you. That that's, that's, that's a
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dependent king. We don't know what to do, but
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our eyes are upon you. That was the the verse that that
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that Sandy, my first wife and I decided to put on a gravestone
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before she died. Many of you know that she had
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cancer and she suffered for 15 months and then she went home to
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be with the Lord. But we didn't know what to do.
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They had no idea. And so we cry out the Lord Lord,
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we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.
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And when you live in fear or anxiety or uncertainty, what do
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you do? Do as Jehoshaphat did.
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He lived in dependency upon God and sought the Lord of the
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universe, whose presence was with Him, whose preeminence was
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seen, because He's the God of the heavens, who providentially
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works in the hearts of man, who's the all powerful God of
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the universe, who keeps His promises.
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Prayer certifies our dependency. Prayer challenges our
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spirituality. It challenges our spirituality.
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You know that nothing will challenge your spiritual walk
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with the Lord than your prayer life or lack thereof.
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Just ask yourself, how much time did you spend in prayer this
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morning before you came to church, or yesterday, or the day
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before that? Your spirituality will always be
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challenged. Remember, on the eve of the
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crucifixion, Christ took Peter, James and John into the into the
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depths of the Garden of Gethsemane.
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Keep watch, pray. I'm going to go over here for a
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while. And he went over to pray.
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He came back and Peter, James and John were asleep.
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He says, could you not keep watch with me for one hour, just
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one hour? The Bible says that he was in
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great torment, our Lord was. And all he did was ask them to
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keep watching, pray lest they enter into temptation.
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So he went away, came back again, and they were asleep
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again. You see, they were being
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challenged spiritually and the Lord knew that the the challenge
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before them was going to be so great that if they didn't spend
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time in prayer, they would not be able to handle the
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temptation. And guess what?
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They failed miserably when they were tempted, especially Peter
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when he denied the Christ. Nothing would challenge your
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spirituality more than your prayer life.
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And then #3 we left off this last week.
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It will confirm your loyalty. It confirms your loyalty, that
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is, to the Lord God Himself, that you are loyal to keep the
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commands of God. The Bible says in First Timothy
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2 verse #1 that first of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers
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and petitions and Thanksgiving be made on behalf of all men.
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Paul is writing to Timothy. It's a pastoral epistle telling
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him how to set things in order in the church.
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He says in chapter 2 verse #1 First things first, that you
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should be in prayer for all men. You should be petitioning all
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men because the the ministry of the church is the ministry of
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prayer and that needs to be offered first.
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That's why over in Colossians 19 it says we have not ceased to
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pray for you. In Colossians 4/2 devote
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yourselves unto prayer, says in Second Timothy 13.
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Paul's prayers were night and day.
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Romans 1212 be devoted to prayer.
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Listen, when you pray it confirms one thing, that you are
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loyal to your God, to obey the commands of God.
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So it certifies your dependency, it challenges your spirituality,
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it confirms your loyalty. And then note this, it catapults
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your productivity. It catapults your productivity.
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In other words, without prayer, nothing is accomplished, but
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with prayer, everything can be accomplished.
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Turn back to me, if you would, to the book of Exodus, Exodus
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chapter 17, another book that you read every day in your
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devotions. Second Chronicles, the book of
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Exodus. In the book of Exodus, you have
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Israel's first conflict, first war.
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It's the first mention of Joshua.
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Joshua will be mentioned some 200 more times in the Bible, but
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the first mention is in Exodus chapter 17 because Joshua is
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being prepared to take on Moses's responsibility.
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Doesn't know that yet, but but that's what God's doing in the
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life of Joshua. And so they come to fight
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against the Amalekites, and this is their first conflict as a
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nation where they go to war. It says this in verse #8 Then
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Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rafidum.
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So Moses said to Joshua, choose men for us and go out fight
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against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself
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on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.
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Joshua did as Moses told him and fought against Amalek.
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And Moses, Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill.
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So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel
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prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed.
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But Moses's hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put
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it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and her supported his
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hands on one side, one-on-one side, and 1:00 on the other.
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Thus his hands were steady until the sunset.
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So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the
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sword. Now you read that and you're
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thinking, OK, what does all that mean?
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Well, all throughout the Old Testament, you realize that when
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when Israel prayed, they would always pray, lifting their hands
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to God. The staff was a symbol of the
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power and presence of God. So Moses went up into a hill
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with Aaron and her, and he was going to beseech the Lord.
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He was going to pray to the Lord.
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He was going to intercede on behalf of Israel as they went to
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war. Joshua would carry the sword,
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Moses would carry the staff, and he would begin to communicate
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with his God by holding his hands up and appealing to God
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for his strength, for the power. But when his hands began to
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fall, Amalek prevailed. But when his hands went up
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again, Israel prevailed. And it went through this over
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and over again and lost. The text says, it says that
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Moses hands were heavy. Moses was becoming weary.
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This is very important. Why?
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Because listen to the book of Deuteronomy, the 34th chapter,
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right before Moses dies in Deuteronomy 34, he's 120 years
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old. And it says although Moses was
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120 years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor
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abated, in other words, nor was his strength gone.
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So go back now to exit 17 and say, why were his hands heavy?
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Was he, was he getting old? Was he weak?
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Oh no, his vigor never abated. He was strong even to the day he
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died, but that emphasized the fact that Moses was interceding
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on behalf of Israel as he would appeal to the power and the
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protection and the presence of God on behalf of the nation of
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Israel. And intercessory prayer is not
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light work, it's hard work. The effort is intense.
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That's why it says of Epaphras in the Colossians 4 verse #12
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that he labored fervently in prayer.
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Because prayer is hard work. Satan would do all he can to
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keep you off your knees. He'll do all he can to keep you
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from communing with your God. He wants you to do everything in
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the energy of the flesh. He doesn't want you to live in
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dependency upon God. Why?
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Because he knows that if you do, the power of God will be
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displayed, and great things will take place, and knows it.
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Says this verse 14. Then the Lord said to Moses,
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write this in a book as a memorial, and recite it to
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Joshua. Write it down, recite it #3 and
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remember it. He says that I will utterly blot
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out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.
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Remember this. Why?
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See, you have to realize that Amalek was was a nation that
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came against Israel. But Amalek also is a symbol of
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the flesh and a symbol of sin and a symbol of all those things
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that take us away from God. And that's why prayer is so
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hard, because when you're praying, you're moving away from
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those things. When you're not, you tend to
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move toward those things. And therefore we need to always
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be in the fervent spirit of prayer, beseeching the presence
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and power of Almighty God. Then it says this Moses built an
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altar, named it. The Lord is my banner, yave
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nisi. The Lord is my protector.
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The Lord is my victorious warrior.
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The Lord is my satisfier. The Lord's presence gave us
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victory. The Lord is my banner.
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And he said the Lord has sworn the Lord will have war with
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Amalek from generation to generation.
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The Lord is your inspiration. He's your banner, He's your
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flag, He's your protector. He's your inspiration.
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That's why there's so much perspiration.
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Why? Because he's the one who
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inspires us. Look at what the psalmist said
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in in Psalm 20, Psalm 20 verse #4 or let me read the whole
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thing to you. First one, may the Lord answer
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you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob
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set you securely on high. May He send you help from the
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sanctuary and support you from Zion.
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May you remember all your meal offerings and find your burnt
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offerings acceptable. May grant you your hearts desire
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and fulfill all your counsel. We will sing for joy over your
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victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners.
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We will set up our inspiration because we will trust in God,
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the God who provides the power and His presence to give us the
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victory that we need. May the Lord fulfill your
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petitions. Now I know that the Lord saves
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his anointed. He will answer him from His holy
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heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
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Some boasts and Chariots and some of horses, but we will
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boast in the name of the Lord our God.
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They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stood
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upright. Save, O Lord, may the King
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answer us in the day we call. Wow.
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Talk about your dependency. Talk about, talk about your
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productivity. It happens because you live in
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dependence upon God and not in the flesh.
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You're trusting God to save your spouse.
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You're trusting God to bring the rebellious child home.
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You're trusting God for the salvation of your work mates and
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your classmates. You're trusting God for the for
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the for doing a a work in in your family with your friends.
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You're you're dependent upon God for everything.
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Why? Because that's the only way
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you'll ever be productive in the Kingdom of God is when you lie
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upon the King himself and trust in Him.
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Every one of us has to examine our own lives and realize there
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are so many things we want to see happen.
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We we want our family members saved.
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You can't save them. Only God does that.
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God does that. Listen to EM Bounds, if you've
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never read a work on prayer, read the multitude of volumes
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that EM Bounds has written on prayer.
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It will convict you so much that you'll want to stop reading.
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But you need not stop reading. You need to continue on.
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But this is what he says. Talking to men for God is a
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great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.
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Think about that. Talking to men about God's a
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great thing, but what's greater than that?
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Talking to God about that man, they says this, he will never
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talk well and with real success to men.
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For God who has not learned well how to talk to God for man, that
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is just so good. That's because we think we can
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convince men. We think we can persuade men.
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We think we can. We can convince our husband or
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wife to be saved or our kids. You can't, just can't.
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So talk to God about that person.
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As you talk to God about that person, watch what God does in
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the life of that person. Because you see, your priorities
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are set in order. You're trusting God to catapult
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all productivity. So God gets all the glory.
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See, we want to want to get the glory.
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Yeah. I LED my son or daughter to the
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Lord, or I LED my friend to the Lord.
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No, you didn't. You didn't lead them anywhere,
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God sought them. God saved them.
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God just used you as a vehicle, probably 1 of many vehicles over
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their lives to show them the direction of the Kingdom of God.
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God saves trust in Him to accomplish His great work.
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Prayer is that which certifies my dependency, challenges my
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spirituality, clarifies my loyalty, catapults my
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productivity. Prayer is that which
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characterizes my ministry. Prayer is the ministry prayer.
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Without prayer, there really is no ministry.
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It's just work done in the flesh.
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The prayer is that which characterizes the ministry of of
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the pastor, of the people. It characterizes your ministry
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at home. I mean, think about it.
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It's just gathering your family around.
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Hey, let's pray. Let's bring this before the
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Lord. Let's just trust the Lord here.
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Let's see what God's going to do.
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You got conflict at school, Let's give it to the Lord.
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You got conflict with relationships?
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Let's talk to the Lord about it. Let's just cast our burden upon
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the Lord you, you have situations that you're you're in
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need of. Lord, we need you to take care
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of this. We need you, Lord, to deal with
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these things. It characterizes our ministry.
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That's why a couple of weeks ago we took you to Acts chapter 4,
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Where, when, when the city of Jerusalem or the leaders of
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Jerusalem came against the apostle said you cannot speak
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anymore in his name. What do they do?
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They went right to prayer as a community of believers and the
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whole place was shaken and they continue to speak the word
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boldness. Why?
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Because prayer catapults our productivity and characterizes
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our ministry. Prayer is the mainstay of every
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ministry. Your ministry to your wife, to
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your children, your ministry at church.
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It's all about prayer and commit committing everything to the
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Lord. Prayer is that which cultivates
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our maturity. Prayer cultivates our maturity.
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Prayer is a discipline like, like, like Bible study is a
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discipline, like meditation is a discipline.
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So prayer is, is a discipline. We discipline ourselves unto
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unto goddiness. And it's a hard work.
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It's a strenuous work because Satan will always bring
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interruptions to you, always take you away from spending time
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in prayer. So Paul knows that.
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So he says, pray without ceasing, always be prayerful,
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always be communing with the Lord as you go through the day.
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Why? Because this is what cultivates
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your maturity. This is what Paul says in
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Colossians chapter 1. For this reason also verse 9.
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Since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you,
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and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His
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will within all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you
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will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all
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respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the
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knowledge of God. Strengthen with all power
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according to His glorious might, for the attain of all
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steadfastness and patience. Joyously give me thanks to the
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Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the
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Saints. This is so beautiful.
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Paul knows that in order for them to be filled with the
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spirit of knowledge and and the spirit of his will, he's to pray
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that God does that. Over in Colossians 4 verse #12
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it says that Paul tapas labourly interceded for them earnestly so
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that they may stand perfect in the Lord.
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He prayed for his people. Paphos was the pastor in the
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Church of Colossae, so he prayed for his people.
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They would stand fast, stand perfect, stand mature in the
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Lord. Prayer is that which cultivates
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our maturity. Prayer is that which conquers
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our infirmity. You have an infirmity today.
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It might be a physical infirmity, It might be a
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spiritual infirmity, but prayer is that which conquers that
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infirmity. So we give it to the Lord, we
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bring it before the Lord. We commune with the Lord all
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throughout the day. The Bible says in in James
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chapter 5, these beautiful words, Is anyone among you
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suffering? Then they must pray.
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Let's pray. That's what you got to do.
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And then he says, is anyone cheerful?
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He's singing praises. Is anyone among you sick?
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That's not physical illness. It's a word that means weary,
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worn out, tired, that he must call for the elders of the
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church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with the oil
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in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offering in faith
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will restore the one who is weary, and the Lord will raise
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him up. If he's committed sin, they will
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be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to
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one another and pray for one another so he may be healed.
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The effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.
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What is your infirmity today? Paul had a physical infirmity.
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Second Corinthians chapter 12. So what did he do?
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He prayed, He prayed about this three times that the Lord would
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remove it. And God said, no, I'm not
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removing your infirmity. In fact, my grace is sufficient
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for you. In fact, you will be made
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perfect through your infirmity. Whatever that infirmity was.
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None of us knows, and it's good that we don't know because we by
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nature would compare our infirmity with Paul's infirmity.
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You can't do that. But the Lord said, my grace is
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sufficient for you. My power will be made perfect in
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your weakness. You ever notice that sometimes
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God allows an infirmity to come our way and never leaves us, so
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that we can depend upon Him for everything and learn to trust
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Him all the while? And Paul did.
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Paul was a dependent man. But but prayer certainly is that
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which conquers our infirmity. Prayer also combats our
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adversary. Prayer is the combat against
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your adversary. That's why over in Ephesians
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chapter 6, Paul says these words in verse 18 as he concludes this
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whole series on the armor of God.
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He says with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in
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the Spirit. And with this in view, be on the
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alert with all perseverance and petition for all the Saints, And
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pray on my behalf that the utterance may be given to me in
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the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the majesty
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of the Gospel. Prayer is is not a part of the
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armor. Prayer is woven in and around
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each and every piece of the armor.
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As you put on the helmet of salvation, as you take up the
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sword of the Spirit, as you, as you put on the the breastplate
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of righteousness, you do it in the spirit and attitude of
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prayer with all petitions. Why?
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Because prayer combats the adversary.
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Prayer is that one Ave. we have by which we are able to overcome
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our enemy. And so Paul says, pray
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unceasingly, pray, always pray without ceasing, be in the
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spirit of prayer all day long. Never give up, never give in.
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Just keep communing with your God because you are conscious of
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His presence and His power as you walk through the every
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single day prayer to give you another one.
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I'm not sure how many I've given you calms your anxiety calms
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your anxiety. That's good because at times we
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all can become anxious, but it calms your anxiety.
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That's why Paul says over in the book of Philippians.
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The 4th chapter of those very familiar words, but I'll start
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in verse #4 because it says rejoice in the Lord always.
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So He's saying be joyful. Be joyful before you're
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prayerful. Be joyful.
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Why? He says, let your gentle spirit
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be known to all men. The Lord is at hand, the Lord is
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present. You can rejoice in the Lord
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because the Lord is near. You can rejoice in the Lord
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because the Lord is present. And then he says this.
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Be anxious for nothing. Why?
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Because the Lord is near. Do you know why we become
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anxious? It's because we don't perceive
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that the Lord is near. Listen, when I walk with my
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children when they were younger, they were never afraid why?
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Their father was with them. They had No Fear of anyone else.
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And if a dog came out and started barking, they would just
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cling to my leg because I was near.
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They weren't afraid because their father was near.
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When you're afraid, it's because you don't perceive the nearness
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of God. He is near to all those who call
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upon him, to all those who call upon him.
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In truth to you, O Lord, who hear prayer, all men come, and
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you draw them near to you the Lord is near.
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Therefore be anxious for nothing but everything by prayer and
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supplication with Thanksgiving. Be joyful, be prayerful, be
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thankful with Thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known
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to God because He's near and the peace of God where it surpasses
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all human comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds
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in Christ Jesus. So God does someone that Paul
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says you got to pray without ceasing.
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It's so important. Back in 17 71, James Montgomery
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wrote these words. Prayer is the soul's sincere
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desire, uttered or expressed, the motion of a hidden fire that
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trembles in the breast. Prayer is the simplest form of
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speech that infant lips can try. Prayer, the sublime of strains
43:13
that reach the majesty on high. Prayer is the contrite sinner's
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voice returning from his ways, while angels in the songs, in
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their songs rejoice and cry. Behold, he prays, O thou by whom
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we come to God, the life, the truth, the way, the path of
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prayer, Thyself has trod. Lord, teach us how to pray.
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I would trust that you are learning to rejoice always and
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to pray without ceasing. And next week we'll look at what
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it means to give thanks in everything.
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Let's pray together. Lord.
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We are grateful for today, for the time that we could spend
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together as a church, as a church family.
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Pray that, Lord, the word of the Lord would seep deep into our
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hearts and that we would be men and women of unceasing prayer.
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Forgive us, Lord, for for not coming to you or communing with
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You as we should. Forgive us, Lord, for not
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recognizing that you are near, You are here, You are present
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with us. We cling to You because you are
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a banner. You are inspiration, You're our
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strength. Maybe live in the light of that.
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So many people here are going through things that Lord, they
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wish they were not involved in, they wish they didn't have to
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handle today or tomorrow, this week.
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But the pressures of of everyday life, the pressures of family,
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the difficulties that arise, they're insurmountable at times.
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Help us Lord to learn dependency upon you.
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Help us to learn as as King Jehoshaphat learned.
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Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes they are upon you.
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Why? Because Lord you know what to
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do. And we just leave it all in the
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hands of the all powerful God of the universe, who is the creator
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of heaven and earth and all things in it in Jesus name,
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Amen.