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Four-Dimensional Praying · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: In our previous message, the Israelites were faithful to reinstitute
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Speaker 1: the long-forgotten Feast of Tabernacles. You may recall that. On
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Speaker 1: the morning after that memorial celebration, they experienced another unforgettable
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Speaker 1: day of spiritual awakening as they met for a time
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Speaker 1: of corporate prayer. The celebration brought them to an understanding
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Speaker 1: of both the holiness of God and the depth of
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Speaker 1: their own sins. which led to an expression of profound
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Speaker 1: sorrow and deep humility. Together, as a group of people,
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Speaker 1: they prayed, offering up sincere confession as well as thanksgiving
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Speaker 1: and praise to God. And they committed to change, to study,
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Speaker 1: to obey God's commands from that point onward in their lives.
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Speaker 1: The Israelite spiritual awakening provides us with some outstanding guidelines
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Speaker 1: for the discipline of prayer that are meaningful, logical, and
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Speaker 1: relevant today. And so, would you please open your Bibles
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Speaker 1: to the book of Nehemiah, where we'll be reading a
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Speaker 1: number of excerpts from the ninth and tenth chapters of
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Speaker 1: that book. I want to begin with Nehemiah chapter 9,
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Speaker 1: beginning at verse 1. Now, on the twenty-fourth day of
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Speaker 1: this month, the sons of Israel assembled with fasting in
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Speaker 1: sackcloth and with dirt upon them. The descendants of Israel
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Speaker 1: separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their
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Speaker 1: sins and the iniquities of their fathers. While they stood
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Speaker 1: in their place, they read from the book of the
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Speaker 1: law of the Lord their God for a fourth of
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Speaker 1: the day, and for another fourth they confessed and worshipped
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Speaker 1: the Lord their God. Now the Levites cried with a
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Speaker 1: loud voice to the Lord their God, and said, Arise,
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Speaker 1: bless the Lord your God forever and ever. O may
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Speaker 1: your glorious name be blessed and exalted above all blessing
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Speaker 1: and praise. You alone are the Lord. You have made
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Speaker 1: the heavens, the heaven of heavens, with all their host,
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Speaker 1: the earth and all that is on it, the seas,
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Speaker 1: and all that is in them, you give life to
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Speaker 1: all of them, and the heavenly host bows down before you.
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Speaker 1: Drop down to verse 38. Now, because of all this,
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Speaker 1: we are making an agreement in writing, and on the
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Speaker 1: sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites,
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Speaker 1: and our priests. And following a long list of names,
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Speaker 1: we go on to chapter 10, verse 28. Now the
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Speaker 1: rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers,
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Speaker 1: the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had
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Speaker 1: separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the
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Speaker 1: law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters,
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Speaker 1: all those who had knowledge and understanding, are joining with
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Speaker 1: their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a
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Speaker 1: curse and an oath to walk in God's law, which
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Speaker 1: was given through Moses, God's servant, and to keep and
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Speaker 1: to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and
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Speaker 1: his ordinances, and his statutes, and that we will not
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Speaker 1: give our daughters to the peoples of the land, or
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Speaker 1: take their daughters for our sons. As for the peoples
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Speaker 1: of the land, who bring wares or any grain on
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Speaker 1: the Sabbath day to sell, We will not buy from
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Speaker 1: them on the Sabbath, or a holy day, and we
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Speaker 1: will forego the crops the seventh year, and the exaction
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Speaker 1: of every debt. And verse 39, For the sons of
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Speaker 1: Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution
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Speaker 1: of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to
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Speaker 1: the chambers. There are the utensils of the sanctuary, the
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Speaker 1: priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers, and the singers. Thus
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Speaker 1: we will not neglect the house of our God.
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Speaker 2: Not only is prayer hard to practice, believe it or not,
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Speaker 2: it is hard to preach on. Some of my most
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Speaker 2: boring messages have been messages on prayer. And ironically, some
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Speaker 2: of the most boring messages I've ever heard have been
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Speaker 2: messages on prayer. So to change things and to start
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Speaker 2: things off with a bang, let's begin with a quiz.
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Speaker 2: And this will be what I call a grace quiz,
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Speaker 2: meaning you don't have to write anything down. And second,
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Speaker 2: it means that you can grade your own paper. It's
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Speaker 2: also an honest quiz. Nobody looks on to someone else's
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Speaker 2: answer as you answer these five questions. I only ask
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Speaker 2: you one thing. I ask you to remember how many
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Speaker 2: yeses And how many no's you give in answer to
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Speaker 2: these questions? Because that will help you know how to
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Speaker 2: grade your own paper. Question number one. Are you satisfied
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Speaker 2: with your prayer life? Question number two. When you pray,
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Speaker 2: are you confident? I mean this. Do you pray with confidence?
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Speaker 2: Are you absolutely certain that you know what you're doing?
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Speaker 2: And when you finish, are you absolutely confident that God
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Speaker 2: is in control of the thing that you've prayed about?
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Speaker 2: Do you pray with confidence? Yes or no? Third, when
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Speaker 2: someone says to you, please pray with me about this.
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Speaker 2: Do you? A good checkpoint would be that three days
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Speaker 2: later you could tell someone else precisely what the prayer
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Speaker 2: request was and or you are back in touch with
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Speaker 2: that individual asking about the answer. When somebody else says,
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Speaker 2: pray for me about this, do you really do that?
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Speaker 2: Question number four. If you were asked to name four
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Speaker 2: or five specific requests that you have asked of God
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Speaker 2: this past week, without a hesitation, could you stand and
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Speaker 2: give those requests? Final question. Is your time in the
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Speaker 2: Word of God balanced with time in meaningful prayer. Now,
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Speaker 2: that wasn't too hard, was it? Let's grade our papers.
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Speaker 2: If you got all yeses, you have my absolute complete
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Speaker 2: approval to sleep all the way through the message this morning.
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Speaker 2: I have nothing to say to you. As a matter
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Speaker 2: of fact, you ought to be preaching. and I ought
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Speaker 2: to be listening. Now let's say that you got one
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Speaker 2: or two no answers. You passed. But you still have
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Speaker 2: some room for improvement, and so God has something to
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Speaker 2: teach you from the chapter we're looking at in Nehemiah.
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Speaker 2: Let's say that you got three or four no answers.
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Speaker 2: You are the reason God has led me to preach
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Speaker 2: on the subject of of prayer this morning. But for
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Speaker 2: you that are not laughing, those of you that got
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Speaker 2: all five no answers, the only thing I can say
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Speaker 2: is be glad nobody looked on your paper. But you
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Speaker 2: know something? Somebody did. Man is an expert in the externals.
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Speaker 2: God does an internal work. Man is exceedingly impressed with
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Speaker 2: the facade of the seen. God is deeply involved with
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Speaker 2: the truth of the unseen. If the truth were known,
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Speaker 2: most of us would be terribly embarrassed. if even those
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Speaker 2: closest to us knew how little we prayed. In fact,
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Speaker 2: it is remarkable how much superstition goes along with prayer.
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Speaker 2: The craziest things you've ever heard are believed by some
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Speaker 2: people to help enhance or change prayer. Charles Schultz brought
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Speaker 2: this home to me not long ago in his syndicated
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Speaker 2: cartoon column, Peanuts. Linus, the famous blanket carrying little one,
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Speaker 2: was kneeling down at the bedside and he was fiddling
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Speaker 2: around with his hands and he shouted, Lucy, I've made
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Speaker 2: an amazing theological discovery. And she bolted in the door
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Speaker 2: and said well what is it in her own quiet
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Speaker 2: fashion and he responded I found that if you hold
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Speaker 2: your hands upside down when you pray you get the
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Speaker 2: opposite of what you pray for but you know something
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Speaker 2: That isn't true. Neither are a host of other foolish
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Speaker 2: things we try to put into a prayer life to
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Speaker 2: make it work. Now I think what we need to
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Speaker 2: do is just get out of God's way this morning,
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Speaker 2: and for the few minutes we are together, let him
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Speaker 2: speak to every one of us from chapter 9 of
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Speaker 2: the book of Nehemiah. Believe it or not, that ancient
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Speaker 2: book And that chapter has a great deal to say
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Speaker 2: about how to pray and how to make it work.
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Speaker 2: I want to give you three general remarks about the
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Speaker 2: chapter itself. And because it is lengthy, we'll have to
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Speaker 2: just hit the high spots, unfortunately, to go through it
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Speaker 2: as we work our way through this great book. The
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Speaker 2: first general fact that we ought to know is that
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Speaker 2: this is the longest recorded prayer in all the scriptures.
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Speaker 2: Solomon's prayer was long when he dedicated the temple, but
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Speaker 2: not as long as this. David prayed often and prayed
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Speaker 2: at length, but never at length like this prayer is recorded.
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Speaker 2: This is the longest recorded prayer in all the Bible.
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Speaker 2: More significant than that This prayer was given in a
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Speaker 2: context of humility and purity. The people were prepared for prayer.
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Speaker 2: Let me show you. Verse 1. It was on the
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Speaker 2: 24th day of the month that the sons of Israel
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Speaker 2: assembled with fasting in sackcloth and with dirt upon them.
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Speaker 2: Any new Christian would wonder, Why in the world did
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Speaker 2: they do that? We who have known the Lord for
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Speaker 2: a number of years ought to deal with such things
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Speaker 2: as I have just mentioned. In fact, we pass them
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Speaker 2: over and we often don't know the obvious answers to
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Speaker 2: the simple questions. All the way through the Bible, we
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Speaker 2: read of people wearing sackcloth, putting dirt and dust on
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Speaker 2: their head, tearing their garments. and sitting in ashes. We
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Speaker 2: don't do that today. Why did they do it then? Well,
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Speaker 2: before that, let me have you notice that they were fasting.
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Speaker 2: Throughout Scripture, this is a practice that is carried on
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Speaker 2: by those who wish to set aside all of the
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Speaker 2: interrupting things of life and concentrate deep and maximum attention
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Speaker 2: for a period of time on the Lord God. And
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Speaker 2: so they don't bother with meal fixing and cleaning up
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Speaker 2: and the eating of it. They simply get alone and
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Speaker 2: for a period of time they fast. And that's what
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Speaker 2: these people did. And it says they wore sackcloth. What
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Speaker 2: is sackcloth? Sackcloth was a homely, ugly garment that had
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Speaker 2: no connections, buttons or loops or whatever. It hung open.
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Speaker 2: It was made of coarse goat's hair, designed to be uncomfortable.
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Speaker 2: It was worn by those who were in deep mourning, grief,
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Speaker 2: those who were undergoing a period of deep humiliation. The
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Speaker 2: throwing of dust and dirt upon the head is also
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Speaker 2: common in Scripture. It is a practice done by those
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Speaker 2: who wish to identify with the lowest depths of feelings
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Speaker 2: of people on the earth. When one would sit in
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Speaker 2: the ash heap, he would get as close as he
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Speaker 2: could and assemble to the place of death. Job did
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Speaker 2: that when he lost his family and lost his job
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Speaker 2: and lost his health, lost his home. It says that
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Speaker 2: he ripped his garments, he tore his garments, and he
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Speaker 2: put dust upon his head. He sat in the ash heap.
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Speaker 2: When his counselors came to bring him comfort, they did
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Speaker 2: the same. For seven days they did that. They identified
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Speaker 2: with that humiliating experience. The king of Nineveh did it
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Speaker 2: after Jonah had preached to those people. Joshua did that
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Speaker 2: after they had been defeated at Ai. He was so
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Speaker 2: humiliated he led the people into sackcloth and ashes. So
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Speaker 2: these people were prepared with a pure and humble spirit.
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Speaker 2: They had confessed their sins, it says in verse 2.
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Speaker 2: They had separated themselves from all the non-Israelites. They had
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Speaker 2: wanted to be known to God as his pure people.
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Speaker 2: And so they said to the Lord in these symbols,
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Speaker 2: we are ready to contact you. We want you to
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Speaker 2: know that our heart is without reservation, open to you.
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Speaker 2: The third observation is that the prayer falls simply into
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Speaker 2: four parts. It's not hard to detect if you will
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Speaker 2: take the time to read through the prayer. Verses 5
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Speaker 2: and 6, the people look up in adoration and praise.
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Speaker 2: But the lengthy part of the prayer is verses 7
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Speaker 2: to 31, where they look back and they reflect in
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Speaker 2: thanksgiving upon all that God has done in their past.
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Speaker 2: And we will see this morning how systematic their review
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Speaker 2: really was. In verse 32 through 37, the next to
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Speaker 2: last verse, there is a section that is dealing with
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Speaker 2: the now. They're looking at their present situation. Look at
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Speaker 2: verse 32, for example. Now, therefore, our God. We have
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Speaker 2: looked back long enough. We have looked up in praise.
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Speaker 2: We have reflected with thanksgiving. Now, Lord, will you look
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Speaker 2: upon our present situation? And these are our requests. So
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Speaker 2: when they deal with the now dimension of prayer, they're requesting,
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Speaker 2: they're giving their petitions to God. And then the last
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Speaker 2: verse represents the last dimension in this prayer. And they
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Speaker 2: look ahead in a very unique way. Let's go back
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Speaker 2: to verse 5, shall we? Let's look up with the
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Speaker 2: prayer warriors in Nehemiah's day. For what do you praise God?
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Speaker 2: Praise is an unusual and it is an unpopular practice.
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Speaker 2: So we're confused about it. For what do you praise God?
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Speaker 2: What does praise mean anyway? Before I look at the verse,
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Speaker 2: let me say that praise is leaving self out of
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Speaker 2: the way and being occupied in adoration of God. That's praise.
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Speaker 2: You will hardly see the mention of man in these verses.
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Speaker 2: Look at verse 5. Arise, say these men of God
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Speaker 2: who call the people to prayer. Arise, bless the Lord.
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Speaker 2: That's the word for praise. Bless the Lord your God
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Speaker 2: forever and ever. Praise is not something that takes place
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Speaker 2: just on the 24th day of the month. Let your
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Speaker 2: praise be heard constantly. May it be a daily, regular,
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Speaker 2: consistent practice. Now, for what should we praise our Lord? Well,
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Speaker 2: look at the verse. Oh, may thy glorious name be blessed.
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Speaker 2: We praise his glorious name. We meditate upon the names
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Speaker 2: of God and we express them to him in the
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Speaker 2: deepest of thanksgiving and gratitude. Do you know the names
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Speaker 2: of God? What a study that is. And then in prayer,
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Speaker 2: to call the names to the Father, all of his names,
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Speaker 2: and all the names of his Son, and the names
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Speaker 2: given to the Holy Spirit. We praise his name. Then
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Speaker 2: we praise his exalted position. exalted above all blessing and praise.
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Speaker 2: I'll tell you it does something to you therapeutically. When
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Speaker 2: you go to your knees and you exalt the name
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Speaker 2: and the position of God, it's remarkable how when that
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Speaker 2: comes into clear focus, how out of focus and insignificant
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Speaker 2: are the daily trivia upon which we spend so much
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Speaker 2: of our time. And so the writer says, exalt his
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Speaker 2: position in your praise. Moving along, he praises the Lord
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Speaker 2: also for his solitude. for his solitude. Thou alone art
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Speaker 2: the Lord. There is no other deserving of praise. And
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Speaker 2: then he praises God for his unparalleled character. All of
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Speaker 2: it is seen in this verse, sixth verse. You've made
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Speaker 2: the heavens. That's his power. The heaven of heavens you
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Speaker 2: have made with all their hosts. That's his infinite nature. God,
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Speaker 2: I am shackled to this period of time which wouldn't
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Speaker 2: make a thimble of water in comparison to the Pacific.
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Speaker 2: But you are from beginning to ending, God. You have
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Speaker 2: made the earth and all that is on it. That's mercy.
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Speaker 2: That's faithfulness. That's grace. And so the writer praises the
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Speaker 2: Lord saying, These people praise the Lord for his mercy
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Speaker 2: and grace, the seas and all that is in them.
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Speaker 2: Thou dost give life to all of them. None other
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Speaker 2: can give life. But Lord, you give life, the eternal God.
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Speaker 2: The heavenly host bows down before thee. In our rapid
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Speaker 2: transit instant age, you don't come across many praise warriors.
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Speaker 2: I love the writings of this man. Since God is
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Speaker 2: the being supreme over all, it follows that he cannot
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Speaker 2: be elevated. Nothing is above him. Nothing is beyond him.
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Speaker 2: Any motion in his direction is elevation for the creature.
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Speaker 2: Away from him is descent, for he is the highest.
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Speaker 2: He holds his position out of himself and by leave
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Speaker 2: of none. As no one can promote him, so no
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Speaker 2: one can demote him or degrade him. It is written
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Speaker 2: that he upholds all things by the word of his power.
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Speaker 2: How can he be raised or supported by the things
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Speaker 2: he opposed? Were all human beings suddenly to become blind,
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Speaker 2: still the sun would shine by day and the stars
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Speaker 2: by night. For these things owe nothing to the millions
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Speaker 2: who benefit from them and from their light. So were
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Speaker 2: every man on earth to become suddenly atheistic, it could
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Speaker 2: not affect God in any way. He is what he
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Speaker 2: is in himself without regard to any other creature. To
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Speaker 2: believe in him adds nothing to his perfections. To doubt
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Speaker 2: him takes nothing away from him. Probably the hardest thought
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Speaker 2: of all, our natural egotism. To entertain is that God
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Speaker 2: does not need our help. There is no sign in
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Speaker 2: heaven that says help wanted. Inquire within. No such thing
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Speaker 2: as that. No help is wanted. Worship and adore. That's
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Speaker 2: what it says. I was teaching a class of collegians.
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Speaker 2: The whole idea of a ministry of prayer. Self-ministry. Prayer
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Speaker 2: with others. And we got into the subject of praise.
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Speaker 2: It was exciting. We were in Revelation chapters 4 and
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Speaker 2: 5 where the people of the heavens gathered before the
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Speaker 2: Lamb on the throne and said, Worthy is the Lamb
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Speaker 2: that was slain. And they bowed before Him and they
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Speaker 2: sang to Him and they expressed in their own creative
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Speaker 2: ways their words of praise. Man, for an hour we
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Speaker 2: were on the edge of our rugs sitting on the
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Speaker 2: floor thinking about the whole scene in heaven Okay? One
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Speaker 2: week passed. We came back together. This time there was
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Speaker 2: a visitor there. He hadn't been there before when we
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Speaker 2: all became fanatics, you know, the subject of prayer. And
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Speaker 2: so there he was in the midst of us as
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Speaker 2: we were oohing and aahing over these verses in review.
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Speaker 2: He leaned over and he said to his buddy, how
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Speaker 2: come you guys are learning all this stuff? And I
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Speaker 2: thought the answer that this friend gave was great. He said, man,
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Speaker 2: we're boning up for heaven. That's what they do up there.
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Speaker 2: And this visitor looked up like this. Wow, that's what
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Speaker 2: he said. Wow, that's what they do. Heaven will be
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Speaker 2: a fantastic surprise for those that have never learned to
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Speaker 2: praise the Lord. Suddenly he is surrounded by a full
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Speaker 2: context of nothing but praise. And the lamb is on
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Speaker 2: the throne and the creature is at his footstool. And
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Speaker 2: we're lost, as the writer put it in wonder, love
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Speaker 2: and praise. And we rap on someone's door and we say,
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Speaker 2: tell me how to do it. It's new to me.
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Speaker 2: They began, even though they were in a miserable situation,
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Speaker 2: still under the government of Persia, by saying, God, there's
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Speaker 2: no other like you. That's the place to start. Looking up.
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Speaker 2: Then they look back. I love this section. This is super.
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Speaker 2: I want you to observe it with me. Look at
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Speaker 2: verse 7. I want you to see how systematic and
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Speaker 2: logical their review of the past was. Because there's a
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Speaker 2: project that is so neat, I can hardly wait to
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Speaker 2: share it with you. But I'll hold back. Verse 7,
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Speaker 2: verse 8 is the book of Genesis. They go back
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Speaker 2: to Abram and they say, Lord, you gave us Abram.
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Speaker 2: You changed his name to Abraham. You started it all
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Speaker 2: right there. Verse 8, you found in his heart that
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Speaker 2: he was faithful before you. You made a covenant with him,
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Speaker 2: this great Abrahamic covenant, and it swept all the peoples
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Speaker 2: of their day. You promised to give to his descendants
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Speaker 2: your promise because you're righteous. That's Genesis. Beginning at verse
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Speaker 2: 9 down through verse 12 is the book of Exodus. Lord,
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Speaker 2: you saw our forefathers when they were in bondage in Egypt.
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Speaker 2: And you beautifully led them through the Red Sea. You
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Speaker 2: led them out from under the hand of Pharaoh. That's
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Speaker 2: verse 10. You divided the sea before them. Verse 11.
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Speaker 2: They had a pillar of cloud by day and a
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Speaker 2: pillar of fire by night. Verse 12. What are they doing?
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Speaker 2: They're reviewing biblical history. Not just biblical history. Their history.
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Speaker 2: And they say, oh God, we remember what you did
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Speaker 2: with Moses in that great land. Look at verse 13.
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Speaker 2: They pick up with the book of Leviticus. You came
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Speaker 2: down on Mount Sinai and you gave us your word.
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Speaker 2: From the word came the commandments. That's verse 13. And
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Speaker 2: then right on through to the time where it says
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Speaker 2: that you did swear to give us a land. That's
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Speaker 2: right in the middle of that Old Testament section known
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Speaker 2: as the Pentateuch. Those first five books. Turn the page
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Speaker 2: and look at verse 19. They review Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
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Speaker 2: Deuteronomy in 19 through 21. The wandering in the land
27:39
Speaker 2: of wilderness. Even that cloud did not leave them. You
27:43
Speaker 2: did not forsake them. In fact, it says in verse 21.
27:47
Speaker 2: For 40 years you provided for them, and their clothes
27:50
Speaker 2: did not wear out, nor did their feet swell. I
27:53
Speaker 2: love that. We take a walk around the block and
27:56
Speaker 2: we feel like martyrs. They went 40 years and they
28:00
Speaker 2: never wore their shoes out. Their feet never did swell.
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Speaker 2: We remember that, Lord. We thank you for that. What
28:12
Speaker 2: does verse 22 begin with? You gave them kingdoms and peoples.
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Speaker 2: You allotted to them as a boundary the lands. They
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Speaker 2: took possession in the land. You made their sons numerous.
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Speaker 2: What is that? That's Joshua. After the people came into
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Speaker 2: the land under Joshua, they took possession. And we remember
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Speaker 2: those days, Lord. Verse 27. You delivered them into the
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Speaker 2: hand of their oppressors who oppressed them And they cried
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Speaker 2: unto thee in the name of their distress. In the
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Speaker 2: time of their distress, you had compassion and you gave
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Speaker 2: them deliverers. That's judges. Isn't it interesting? They went from
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Speaker 2: the beginning of their history, Abraham, right up through the
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Speaker 2: land of Canaan, right through the times of the judges.
29:05
Speaker 2: You familiar with the judges? Most miserable time at that
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Speaker 2: point in the Israel's history. One cycle after another, I
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Speaker 2: count seven of them in the book of Judges. Where
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Speaker 2: they fall into sin, they cry for help. God sends
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Speaker 2: a judge, a deliverer. The deliverer comes and he leads
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Speaker 2: them into the whole freedom that God has for them.
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Speaker 2: Then he dies and they fail. They go into sin.
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Speaker 2: They cry for help. He sends them plan B, another judge.
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Speaker 2: Plan C, right on down the line. The book of
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Speaker 2: Judges is a book of wonders. one period of miserable
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Speaker 2: history after another. Where they failed and God compassionately led
29:46
Speaker 2: them through it. Verse 30. Thou didst bear with them
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Speaker 2: for many years. Samuel, Kings, Chronicles. You admonished them by
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Speaker 2: the Spirit and through the prophets. But they wouldn't give
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Speaker 2: ear to you, Lord. Nevertheless, in thy great compassion, thou
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Speaker 2: didst not make an end of them or forsake them.
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Speaker 2: You never did say, Lord, that's enough. As a matter
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Speaker 2: of fact, if you've been very careful in following us
30:18
Speaker 2: through these verses, you've noticed I've left out three verses.
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Speaker 2: 16 and 17 and 26. Verses of failure. Right along
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Speaker 2: with the same history, verse 16, our fathers acted arrogantly.
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Speaker 2: They became stubborn. They wouldn't listen. They refused to listen.
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Speaker 2: They didn't remember your wondrous deeds, verse 18, even when
30:47
Speaker 2: they made for themselves a calf of molten metal and said,
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Speaker 2: this is your God. You still did not forsake them.
30:57
Speaker 2: The same is seen in verse 26. Disobedience and rebellion.
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Speaker 2: Now let's bring it up to date. When we pray,
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Speaker 2: we look up in praise and adoration. But that's not
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Speaker 2: all we do. We look back. When is the last
31:15
Speaker 2: time you looked back? Honestly now, when is the last
31:20
Speaker 2: time you sat down and reflected? Last Thursday, God really
31:31
Speaker 2: did grip my heart with the whole idea of what
31:35
Speaker 2: I've shared with you. By Friday, I was hiring a
31:38
Speaker 2: kite with excitement. So I called my wife and I said, honey,
31:42
Speaker 2: something different is going to happen at supper table tonight.
31:46
Speaker 2: She thought she's going to get out of a meal,
31:47
Speaker 2: but that's not what I had in mind. My plan
31:50
Speaker 2: was what was going to follow the supper time. So
31:54
Speaker 2: she alerted the children as I shared with her my thoughts.
31:58
Speaker 2: Tonight we're going to have a time of reflection. So
32:02
Speaker 2: we did. For almost an hour. We look back beginning
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Speaker 2: at the time when God really began to take control
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Speaker 2: of our marriage and my life. About 1958-59. And we
32:15
Speaker 2: trace that first segment of 59 through 60, about 62.
32:27
Speaker 2: During that period of time, God gave us our first child.
32:32
Speaker 2: At the end of that reflection, we had one of
32:35
Speaker 2: our girls pray and thank the Lord for the birth
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Speaker 2: of her brother. My wife prayed and thanked the Lord
32:45
Speaker 2: for the things we learned at the school where we were.
32:49
Speaker 2: I prayed and thanked the Lord for a particular church
32:52
Speaker 2: at that time where we had invested our lives. Then
32:57
Speaker 2: we stopped from the prayer and we went on. 62
33:00
Speaker 2: through 65, 66. And once again, we did the same thing.
33:04
Speaker 2: Now the child was born. At every segment, a child
33:07
Speaker 2: was born. That was interesting to me. All the way along.
33:10
Speaker 2: And each time, we had another one of the children
33:12
Speaker 2: pray and thank God for the birth of the sibling.
33:17
Speaker 2: And we entered into it in a dovetail relationship so
33:21
Speaker 2: that when we finished, it was fantastic what God had done.
33:27
Speaker 2: When you reflect back over God's good hand upon you,
33:31
Speaker 2: Psalm 103, 2 ought to be in your head. Bless
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Speaker 2: the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.
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Speaker 2: Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul,
33:40
Speaker 2: and forget none of his benefits. Oh, we forget them.
33:44
Speaker 2: We remember only the hard times and we are to
33:46
Speaker 2: remember the good times. And we thanked him for it
33:51
Speaker 2: one segment after another. Before we go to the third phase,
33:55
Speaker 2: let me ask you if you remember One of the
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Speaker 2: characteristics of the last days is not only disobedience to parents.
34:03
Speaker 2: It's not only apostasy. Not only is it forsaking the
34:07
Speaker 2: things of God. It is ingratitude. The same pen that
34:14
Speaker 2: stroked those words of Paul to Timothy included ungrateful, unthankful.
34:22
Speaker 2: That's the characteristic of our day. More demands... More requests.
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Speaker 2: Send more, God. Rather than saying, don't send anything. Let
34:36
Speaker 2: me just think back. Let me remember your good hand
34:40
Speaker 2: on our lives. Dads. Moms. You that are rooming together.
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Speaker 2: Take some time for reflection. Segment the time. Dwell on it.
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Speaker 2: Call from it. Glean from it. The good hand of
35:05
Speaker 2: God on your life. Talk about them. Why, until we
35:11
Speaker 2: were ready for bed, we were talking about those things.
35:15
Speaker 2: It has a good effect on you. The next time
35:18
Speaker 2: you're in a group and you don't really know what
35:20
Speaker 2: to do that evening, do that. It'll transform the whole
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Speaker 2: spirit of the group. Each one of you thinking back.
35:30
Speaker 2: But then they looked at the present. Very relevant. Now, therefore,
35:35
Speaker 2: our God, verse 32, the great, mighty, awesome God who
35:44
Speaker 2: does keep covenant and loving kindness. I find only one request.
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Speaker 2: Only one petition. Do not let all the hardships seem
35:55
Speaker 2: insignificant before thee. You ever say that to God? Isn't
36:00
Speaker 2: that honest? Don't you ever feel at times, God, you
36:04
Speaker 2: don't understand. Come here. I want to show you how
36:09
Speaker 2: hard it is. Why do we do that? Why do
36:12
Speaker 2: we feel that? Because we're not really convinced God has
36:15
Speaker 2: moved over the situation. So we want to get his attention.
36:20
Speaker 2: They felt that way. Lord, we live in a land
36:24
Speaker 2: that belongs to us. Our father's blood is in this land.
36:29
Speaker 2: But Persia rules over us. We're slaves. Don't take that
36:34
Speaker 2: slavery lightly, Lord. It hurts. It's a pain. When you're
36:40
Speaker 2: under the gun the next time, I want you to
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Speaker 2: remember saying to God, don't let the hardship seem insignificant
36:49
Speaker 2: is not blasphemous. It's biblical. Lord, please enter into my
36:58
Speaker 2: present predicament. Can you say that this morning? Some of
37:03
Speaker 2: you come with heavy, big hearts loaded with care. And
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Speaker 2: as you do, I remember Psalm 55, 22. It says,
37:15
Speaker 2: cast thy burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you.
37:20
Speaker 2: He will never suffer the righteous. To totter. But do
37:25
Speaker 2: you know what the word burden means? It means gift
37:28
Speaker 2: of God. Do you know that? Given by God. That's
37:35
Speaker 2: what it means. The very thing that you're under right now.
37:40
Speaker 2: What you're calling and I'm calling are hardships. Given by God.
37:48
Speaker 2: So when we lay them back on them, they fit.
37:52
Speaker 2: He gave them. You see, they were saying, verse 36, behold,
38:02
Speaker 2: we are slaves today. Don't let that seem insignificant. Verse
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Speaker 2: 36 concludes, behold, this fruitful and bountiful land, we're slaves
38:13
Speaker 2: on it. Verse 37 concludes, in spite of that abundant produce,
38:20
Speaker 2: we are in great distress. Don't take it lightly. Lord.
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Speaker 2: No friend ever takes the burden of a friend lightly.
38:36
Speaker 2: Joseph Scriven is a name I suppose no one could
38:40
Speaker 2: identify this morning with anything significant. But Joseph Scriven crosses
38:47
Speaker 2: our lives every year as Christians. He's an Irishman by birth.
38:55
Speaker 2: He was a And when he grew to a young manhood,
39:00
Speaker 2: he fell in love with a lovely woman, a little
39:03
Speaker 2: Irish lass, and made plans for marriage. But the night
39:09
Speaker 2: before they were to marry, in a freak accident, she
39:12
Speaker 2: was drowned. The grief and the sorrow of that turned
39:18
Speaker 2: him in his whole career to the beginning of a
39:23
Speaker 2: military career. He became a cadet in Ireland. And he
39:27
Speaker 2: began to work his way through the ranks. and before
39:30
Speaker 2: long it looked as though graduation was coming and then
39:33
Speaker 2: ill health pulled the rug out from under him. Tragedy
39:36
Speaker 2: stalked his steps. He was disqualified before he graduated. He
39:41
Speaker 2: turned to his friend, the Lord Jesus. Deeply committed Christian.
39:46
Speaker 2: He asked the Lord what direction should I take? He
39:51
Speaker 2: went to Canada, migrated, began to invest his life in
39:55
Speaker 2: an obscure and thankless task of working with the financially destitute,
40:03
Speaker 2: the physically handicapped, and scribing by and by became a
40:07
Speaker 2: faithful man in things that no one else wanted to do.
40:12
Speaker 2: He met another woman. This time he was sure, just
40:16
Speaker 2: as sure he had been the first time. And wouldn't
40:19
Speaker 2: you know it? A sudden illness a few days before marriage,
40:24
Speaker 2: she died. And in the sorrow of it, he got
40:28
Speaker 2: all alone, convinced that God had a plan only of
40:32
Speaker 2: loneliness and sorrow for his life. And he left a
40:38
Speaker 2: legacy of his pain. He wrote, what a friend we
40:44
Speaker 2: have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.
40:50
Speaker 2: What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
40:56
Speaker 2: Have we trials and temptation? Cumbered with a load of care,
41:01
Speaker 2: precious Savior, still our refuge. Take it to the Lord
41:07
Speaker 2: in prayer. Your closest friend today does not sit in
41:14
Speaker 2: this place. Your closest friend Is the friend that Scriven mentions.
41:22
Speaker 2: In his beloved hymn. That seems to follow us in
41:26
Speaker 2: every trial. That hymn seems to come to our minds.
41:32
Speaker 2: And then they looked ahead. Now because of this. I
41:37
Speaker 2: love that. Because of all this. All what? All the distress.
41:46
Speaker 2: All the sorrow. We make an agreement in writing. On
41:55
Speaker 2: the sealed document are the names of our leaders, Levites,
41:59
Speaker 2: and priests. Isn't that an unusual thing to do in prayer? Lord,
42:06
Speaker 2: we brought to you our praise. We've looked up. We've
42:10
Speaker 2: looked back and we've said, thank you for the past.
42:14
Speaker 2: We've looked at our present situation and we've said, don't
42:17
Speaker 2: take it in an insignificant way, this hardship. Lord, we're
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Speaker 2: putting down on this sheet of paper. We're inscribing our names.
42:29
Speaker 2: You'll see the names listed in chapter 10, verses 1
42:32
Speaker 2: to 27. See them? One after another. And guess who
42:38
Speaker 2: it starts with? The leader. Nehemiah puts his name down first.
42:48
Speaker 2: Following him, all of these names, and then they tell
42:51
Speaker 2: the Lord in this written document, this is our commitment
42:57
Speaker 2: to you. For our future, we are trusting to you
43:02
Speaker 2: our lives. But please understand, Lord, in our future, we
43:07
Speaker 2: will not wander as our fathers did. We learned an
43:11
Speaker 2: unforgettable lesson that you cannot wonder without paying a terrible price.
43:17
Speaker 2: And so they wrote down their commitment. What was it? Well,
43:22
Speaker 2: in brief, verse 29 of chapter 10, down at the
43:26
Speaker 2: bottom it says, to keep and to observe all the
43:31
Speaker 2: commandments of God our Lord, his ordinances and his statutes. Lord,
43:38
Speaker 2: we want you to know that as you read these names,
43:40
Speaker 2: these names represent a promise. That whatever we come across
43:45
Speaker 2: in your word, we will do. There are some things
43:50
Speaker 2: we won't do, and I find three of them in
43:52
Speaker 2: this chapter. Verse 30, we won't give our daughters or
43:56
Speaker 2: sons to the peoples of the land. Verse 31, we
44:00
Speaker 2: won't buy or sell on the day you've declared to
44:03
Speaker 2: be important and holy and sacred. And in great Jewish tradition,
44:10
Speaker 2: they would not even exact a debt. Verse 39 concludes,
44:15
Speaker 2: we will not neglect the house of our God. That's
44:18
Speaker 2: the third thing. This is what we will do. This
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Speaker 2: is what we will not do. And here are our
44:24
Speaker 2: names written on our knees. They looked ahead and they
44:32
Speaker 2: made God some promises. Ever made God a promise? We
44:40
Speaker 2: make God promises all the time. Our problem is two
44:44
Speaker 2: weeks later we can't even remember them. You know, I'm
44:50
Speaker 2: just practical and earthy and literal enough to suggest that
44:54
Speaker 2: you write God a letter. That you take a sheet
45:01
Speaker 2: of paper dated at the top Place it in the
45:06
Speaker 2: privacy of your notebook that you are keeping in your life.
45:13
Speaker 2: And I hope you have some place where you're keeping
45:15
Speaker 2: some kind of journal as to what God is doing.
45:19
Speaker 2: And you begin day by day as God lays it
45:22
Speaker 2: on your mind to make him promises. Set it before
45:26
Speaker 2: him in writing and sign your name. Could it be
45:35
Speaker 2: that that explains why prayer is nothing more than a
45:38
Speaker 2: meaningless repetition of gibberish words? Could that be why the
45:45
Speaker 2: deepest prayer we ever utter is lead, guide, and direct us?
45:49
Speaker 2: And Lord bless the missionaries. Come on, come on now.
45:56
Speaker 2: That isn't prayer. God must say at times, don't say
46:01
Speaker 2: that to me again. Amen. Come to me in a fresh,
46:05
Speaker 2: new way. Get specific. Those on the field laboring with
46:10
Speaker 2: all their lives, nail down what you want me to bless.
46:14
Speaker 2: Talk about specifics with me and I will answer you
46:17
Speaker 2: in specific ways. Tell me to lead, guide, and direct.
46:22
Speaker 2: I'll ask you for another as soon as you're through
46:25
Speaker 2: with that meaningless cliché. I'll tell you, when Elijah prayed,
46:32
Speaker 2: he prayed it wouldn't rain for three and a half years. Now,
46:35
Speaker 2: don't pray that. But Elijah prayed that. And what happened?
46:39
Speaker 2: It didn't rain. When the church fell on their knees,
46:43
Speaker 2: Peter was imprisoned. What happened? He got sprung out of prison. Miraculously.
46:48
Speaker 2: When Jesus prayed, the disciples were on their tiptoes saying,
46:52
Speaker 2: teach us how to do that. We don't pray like that.
46:59
Speaker 2: When Knox prayed in Scotland, the Queen of Scotland said,
47:02
Speaker 2: I shake in fear. But when we pray, or should
47:07
Speaker 2: I say, if we pray, nothing happens. Now, we started
47:22
Speaker 2: with a quiz. It seems only fitting that we end
47:25
Speaker 2: with homework, doesn't it? I mean, what's a quiz without
47:31
Speaker 2: some kind of assignment after it? I have two things
47:37
Speaker 2: I would like to ask you to do for the
47:39
Speaker 2: next seven days. Next Sunday, we'll check up on how
47:45
Speaker 2: we did. You ready? First, memorize these four directions. Praising God.
47:58
Speaker 2: Looking up. Reflecting. Looking back. Petitioning or requesting. Looking at
48:06
Speaker 2: the situation. Commitment. Looking ahead. Not only do I wish
48:15
Speaker 2: for you to have those nailed down, but I wish
48:17
Speaker 2: for you when you pray to pray with that in mind.
48:22
Speaker 2: Spend a little time in praise. A period of time
48:27
Speaker 2: in thanksgiving. A period of time requesting of God specific things.
48:38
Speaker 2: And then a period of time committing to God the
48:42
Speaker 2: day that is before you with certain commitments. Now the
48:47
Speaker 2: second part. Here's the homework assignment that I really hope
48:51
Speaker 2: will make a difference. For the next seven days, I
48:54
Speaker 2: want you to make prayer top priority. I don't care
48:59
Speaker 2: how old you are. I don't care if you'll never
49:01
Speaker 2: come back to the church you're visiting one time through,
49:05
Speaker 2: never to see us again. Or if you're here and
49:08
Speaker 2: you're here all the time, this applies to you. For
49:12
Speaker 2: seven days, let's make prayer top priority. How can we
49:18
Speaker 2: do that? I've got some practical suggestions. The first two minutes.
49:24
Speaker 2: No less. If you want to more. But for the
49:28
Speaker 2: first two minutes. Each morning. Before you slide off the bed.
49:34
Speaker 2: And your little pinkies land on the carpet. And you
49:37
Speaker 2: start that routine of rice through the day. Slide off
49:43
Speaker 2: and sit on the side of the bed and give
49:45
Speaker 2: God two minutes. Before you shave, before you prepare breakfast,
49:51
Speaker 2: before you prepare yourself for a shower or for dressing,
49:55
Speaker 2: two minutes. Give him your day. Second, during the day,
50:04
Speaker 2: Monday through next Saturday night, when worry or irritability arises,
50:12
Speaker 2: is about to come, and you know when it's about
50:14
Speaker 2: to come. Commit that instantly to prayer. You may be driving,
50:21
Speaker 2: you may be walking, you may be sitting at your desk,
50:24
Speaker 2: or in your home. Refuse the worry, replace it with prayer.
50:30
Speaker 2: Give it to God. Third, change one of your meals.
50:38
Speaker 2: Time in prayer. so that it is something more than
50:42
Speaker 2: just grace. Make the prayer time at one of the
50:50
Speaker 2: meals each of the seven days a significant time. It
50:55
Speaker 2: may not be lengthy, but it's different. And finally, the
51:05
Speaker 2: last five minutes before you retire Get on your knees
51:17
Speaker 2: and look back. Find a place where you can be
51:24
Speaker 2: alone and get on your knees for five minutes. Martin
51:35
Speaker 2: Luther used to say, prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance.
51:39
Speaker 2: It is laying hold of his willingness. Let's do that.
51:47
Speaker 2: Now may we bow together. The only prayer that some
51:52
Speaker 2: here today can pray that will be heard by God is, Lord,
51:57
Speaker 2: be merciful to me, a sinner. Some of you have
52:05
Speaker 2: never come to the cross. You have in your imagination
52:10
Speaker 2: walked where Jesus walked. But for you, you have not
52:17
Speaker 2: accepted the fact that for you he died. Maybe for
52:22
Speaker 2: these choir members, maybe for that preacher, maybe for those
52:26
Speaker 2: around me, but not I. So I want to say
52:34
Speaker 2: to you, as the Christians around you are praying, this
52:38
Speaker 2: is a magnificent opportunity for you to give God your life.
52:46
Speaker 2: Nothing in my hands I bring, Lord, simply to your
52:49
Speaker 2: cross I cling. I accept Jesus Christ's death and resurrection
52:58
Speaker 2: personally in my life. And that's the place for you
53:03
Speaker 2: to start. Please do that. And every Christian here, may
53:12
Speaker 2: we not take lightly one part of this four-dimensional prayer
53:19
Speaker 2: this week. Let's be committed to it.
53:24
Speaker 1: Father, we are grateful for the reminder in the study
53:28
Speaker 1: today that prayer remains of highest priority to you. That
53:35
Speaker 1: is how we seek God and His righteousness. That is
53:39
Speaker 1: how we understand kingdom life and what it means to
53:44
Speaker 1: put things in their proper perspective. Lord, forgive us for
53:49
Speaker 1: the wasted days that were marked by prayerlessness. So many
53:53
Speaker 1: of them we were operating our lives in the flesh.
53:57
Speaker 1: We realize today in all sorts of biblical as well
54:00
Speaker 1: as practical ways that the role prayer can play in
54:04
Speaker 1: the life of a people as well as in the
54:07
Speaker 1: life of a family, like my own family. Thank you, Father,
54:12
Speaker 1: for the things that can be learned as we pause
54:15
Speaker 1: and listen to you and talk with you and meditate
54:20
Speaker 1: on the things that are important to you. And now, Father,
54:25
Speaker 1: I pray that as a result of all of this
54:27
Speaker 1: time we've invested, that it may make a difference, that
54:31
Speaker 1: we would become people of prayer, that our lives would
54:36
Speaker 1: be marked by that, so that prayer would give us
54:40
Speaker 1: pause before we speak, and prayer would add wisdom before
54:46
Speaker 1: we offer counsel, and prayer would quiet us rather than
54:51
Speaker 1: our getting lost in panic and worry, and that prayer
54:55
Speaker 1: would prepare us not only for a good night's rest,
54:59
Speaker 1: but for the next day, even before we get out
55:02
Speaker 1: of bed. May we be people of prayer. Lord, I
55:07
Speaker 1: remember again those who've never met Christ, and I pray
55:10
Speaker 1: that their prayer would be, Lord, be merciful to me,
55:13
Speaker 1: a sinner. I come to Christ today. I trust him
55:18
Speaker 1: and him only for eternal life. These things, our Father,
55:22
Speaker 1: we pray confidently in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
55:30
Speaker 3: The preceding message, Four-Dimensional Praying, was copyrighted in 1974, 1983, 1990, 2007,
55:40
Speaker 3: and 2016, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2016
55:45
Speaker 3: by Charles R.
55:46
Speaker 2: Swindoll, Inc.
55:48
Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
55:52
Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.