Latest / The Higher Pursuit Podcast / Why Isn’t God Answering My Prayers? | What Jesus Really Taught About Prayer

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Why Isn’t God Answering My Prayers? | What Jesus Really Taught About Prayer · The Higher Pursuit Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_00: But in this episode of the Higher Pursuit, we're going to be looking at the Lord's Prayer and tackling a topic that every single one of us, if we're honest, has struggled with or maybe is struggling with right now.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: And that's how to pray and what to do when it seems like God isn't answering our prayers.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: Come on, somebody.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Anyone, can you relate to that?
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Give me a thumbs up in the chat if you've ever struggled with prayer, knowing that you should pray, but you often don't have either the motivation or the vision or the confidence to pray.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes, when it seems like our prayers aren't getting answered, like maybe they're bouncing off the ceiling, we question if we're the problem.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: We start, you know, smelling our own armpits.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: Am I doing something wrong?
0:50
SPEAKER_00: Is this my fault?
0:52
SPEAKER_00: Or we look at God and say, you know, is God holding out on us?
1:08
SPEAKER_00: Hey there, friends.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: I'm Cecily LaChapelle, and this is the Higher Pursuit Podcast.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad that you're tuned into this podcast where we talk specifically about things that will encourage you and strengthen you in your pursuit of the Lord.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: For more content, check out our ministry website at HigherPursuit Ministries.com.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: You can also find me on YouTube at Cecily LaChapelle with Higher Pursuit Ministries.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay, now let's dive into the podcast.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Hey everybody, welcome to the Higher Pursuit live stream and podcast.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: In case you're newly joining us, the Higher Pursuit is not just a podcast, it's a community where we are pursuing more of Jesus in our everyday lives.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: We're discovering how to bring Jesus into the messes, the distractions, and the busyness and the celebrations, and how to create a lifestyle that fosters and maintains an awareness of Jesus, not just with us, but in us, no matter what is happening around us.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: And listen, guys, it's a journey, not a destination.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: So as your host on this podcast, I'm just honored to be a part of your journey.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: So if you answered any of those review questions, hey Manu, good to see you.
2:31
SPEAKER_00: Harmony is here.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: So awesome.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: So good to see you, ladies.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: All right.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, in case you were wondering what the answers to the review questions are, the first review question was when Jesus said he came to fulfill the law rather than abolish it, what did he mean?
2:47
SPEAKER_00: And so the answer is Jesus didn't throw away the law, he brought it to its intended fulfillment.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: Like a bud that becomes a flower, the bud isn't destroyed when it blooms.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: It becomes what it was always intended to become.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the fully bloomed flower.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay, second review question.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Hey, Lisa, good to see you.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: So, second review question according to Jesus, what kind of righteousness surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees?
3:18
SPEAKER_00: So, what Jesus was saying was righteousness that he describes is righteousness that comes from a transformed heart, not merely outward rule keeping.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: So, those are questions from last week's live stream on if Jesus said that we're supposed to fulfill the law, what does he expect of us?
3:36
SPEAKER_00: So you can go back and catch that entire live stream on YouTube, or you can find the audio version in Spotify, Apple, all the places.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: But in this episode of the Higher Pursuit, we're going to be looking at the Lord's Prayer and tackling a topic that every single one of us, if we're honest, has struggled with or maybe is struggling with right now.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: And that's how to pray and what to do when it seems like God isn't answering our prayers.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: Come on, somebody.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: Anyone, can you relate to that?
4:09
SPEAKER_00: Give me a thumbs up in the chat if you've ever struggled with prayer, knowing that you should pray, but you often don't have either the motivation or the vision or the confidence to pray.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes, when it seems like our prayers aren't getting answered, like maybe they're bouncing off the ceiling, we question if we're the problem.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: We start, you know, smelling our own armpits.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: Am I doing something wrong?
4:35
SPEAKER_00: Is this my fault?
4:36
SPEAKER_00: Or we look at God and say, you know, is God holding out on us?
4:41
SPEAKER_00: So give me a thumbs up in the chat if you have ever struggled with any of what I just described.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: And while I don't promise to solve all of your issues with prayer, we're getting thumbs up all over the place here.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: So true.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I think we've all struggled with this, haven't we?
4:58
SPEAKER_00: So I don't promise to solve all of your issues with prayer.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: I do promise that you will come away from this episode with more revelation about prayer and a deeper motivation for prayer.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, ladies and gents, grab your Bibles and your handout and let's turn to Matthew 6, 5 through 8, where Jesus is talking about prayer.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: Linda Nardella is in the house.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: So good.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: All right.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus says, and when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: And your father who sees in secret will reward you.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they'll be heard for their many words.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: And then verse 16, and when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: All right, Pat Hodgkin is in the house.
6:16
SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: So, folks, if you have been with me for a minute on this Word Alive series where we're learning how to study the Bible, you know that I have told you you've got to read your Bible like Sherlock Holmes.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: We have to be looking for repetitions.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: We have to read and slow down and notice things.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: And so I hope you noticed the repeated language that Jesus used throughout that.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: In Matthew 6, 5, 6, and 7, he says, when you pray, when you pray, when you pray, and then verse 16, when you fast.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: So tell me in the chat, why would Jesus repeat himself when he speaks?
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Speaking the gospel, good to see you here.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: All right.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: So tell me in the chat, people, why would Jesus repeat himself when he speaks?
7:11
SPEAKER_00: Is he just forgetful or does he need reading glasses?
7:16
SPEAKER_00: And he keeps looking down at his notes and running into the same sentence.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: Like, why would Jesus repeat himself?
7:22
SPEAKER_00: And while you're typing, I just want to point out that Jesus doesn't say, if you pray, or oh, wait for it, if you fast.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: He assumes that these will be normal rhythms in the life of his disciples.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: So here's my opening thought prayer is not presented as an emergency measure for desperate people.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: That's often how we use it, but that's not how Jesus sees it.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: He sees it as part of the normal life of someone walking with God.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Emphasis.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Pat Hodgkin says, emphasis.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: Yes, ma'am.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: Jesus repeats himself, or God in the Word repeats himself for emphasis.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: 1000%.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: So when he, when Jesus is saying, when you pray, when you pray, when you pray, our takeaway from that is that he's expecting that we are going to pray.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: And speaking the gospel says he reinforces and speaks with intention.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Linda says, to get our attention, all of these awesome answers.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly right.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Because when somebody says something, when they repeat something, it's one of the things that I teach people when they're when I'm training people how to um to speak from the pulpit or to deliver a message or even just to deliver a message to people to their colleagues.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: You want to repeat one sentence or phrase.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: If you repeat a sentence or phrase, people, that's the one thing they'll walk out remembering.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: And how many of us have walked away from a sermon or a talk or a message that we've heard on a podcast and we can't really remember.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: We remember vaguely some things that the speaker said.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the topic, but man, when you insert a phrase that you repeat, people remember that phrase.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: In fact, they could probably even say it with you by the end of your talk.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: And it's so key.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus, obviously, the best orator ever, has given us some repetition.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: And I think so.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to prayer.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: I think one of the main reasons that many Christians don't pray is because they struggle with feeling inadequate about technique.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: Hi, everybody.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: While I hate to interrupt a good discussion, I do want to tell you about my book, Repurpose Your Pain: Moving from Pain to Purpose and From Instability to Firm Faith.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: In the book, I share 10 pain points that are common to most people, and I share my personal stories, my experiences with those pain points, and how I repurposed that pain.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: Then we dive into what the Word of God has to say about how we repurpose that pain.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: You need to know that this book is really two books in one because it includes workbook activations to help you apply the truth that you've learned to your life.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: So grab your copy today on Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, or any place books are sold.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: But as Jesus is teaching us in these verses, it's not about saying all the right things, it's about having the right heart.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: And before Jesus ever gives them the words of the Lord's Prayer, he teaches them something about the heart behind prayer.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: And what you're gonna also notice is that before Jesus teaches us how to pray, he teaches us how not to pray.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 5, 6, 5, and 6, sorry, chapter 6, verses 5 and 6.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: He tells us don't pray to be seen by people.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: There's a difference between praying to God in front of people and praying in front of people to be noticed by them.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: Jesus isn't condemning public prayer.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: Scripture contains plenty of public prayer.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is confronting motive.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: He's specifically confronting the Pharisees who used to stand outside the temple in the courts, rocking back and forth, praying prayers on prayer beads or tassels, repeating the words without thinking about what they were saying or to whom they were saying them to.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: So tell me in the chat, you can give me a thumbs up, or you could say that's me.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: If you were raised in a religious tradition like this, where you prayed prayers over and over and over and over to the point that you could say it by heart and you had no idea what you were even saying.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: I was raised in a church like that.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: And when I got born again and spirit-filled, and I went back to that church, and all of a sudden I heard these prayers through, yeah.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: Manu says, you know, thumbs up on that.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, when I said those prayers with uh the heart, a renewed heart, I wanted to jump up on the pew and be like, guys, this is really good stuff.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: Is anybody paying attention?
12:14
SPEAKER_00: Some of these prayers are amazing.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Manu says, raised in the Catholic Church.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm not saying all Catholic churches are like that, but Manu, I was too.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, whether I was praying a rosary or a prayer for um after confession, I was told to say a certain number of prayers and say them in a certain order.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: And it meant nothing to me.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: My motivation wasn't there.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus goes on to say, but you, when you pray, now this is talking to us how we're supposed to pray, go into your room and close the door.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: And then comes the beautiful promise.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: And your father who sees in secret will reward you.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: There is a dimension of relationship with God that is only cultivated in secret.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: And before there's ever going to be comfort praying in front of other people, there has to be comfort praying in private.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: The more we pray in private, the more confidence we gain, and the more motivation builds around the practice of prayer.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: And listen, guys, full disclosure, I still struggle with prayer.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: The only possible difference between me and the person who doesn't pray is that I don't let that discomfort or feelings of uncertainty or unworthiness stop me.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: I press through them because I know they're just feelings.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: If I have sin weighing me down, I know that I can repent right away and get it behind me so I can press into the presence of God in prayer.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: If the obstacle is not knowing what to say, I can use prayer guides.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: I have tons of books on prayer on my shelves.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: I can also even Google it to find scriptures or other prayers.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: I can go back to my prayer journals and find when a place when I've been praying about a certain circumstance and the prayers and the scriptures that the Lord highlighted to me in that season.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Or we can go to the Lord's prayer as we're about to discover.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: So tell me in the chat where you have found inspiration for the prayers you pray when you haven't been sure what to say.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: And while you're doing that, I want to quickly pause here to say that if you're on a journey to find deeper intimacy with Jesus, please subscribe to this YouTube channel or the podcast and let's pursue him together.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: I know you want to grow in your walk with Jesus.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: So I'd be honored if you become a member of this higher pursuit community by subscribing.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
14:58
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15:02
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15:08
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15:12
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15:24
SPEAKER_00: But it also helps the YouTube and podcast algorithms know that the content should be made visible to people who are looking for deeper Bible content just like you.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay, back to the topic of prayer.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 6, 7 to 8.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: Jesus tells us don't confuse too many words with effective prayer.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Now, I have to say this.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I have to go through a lot of words before I get to effective prayer.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: So don't think that if you have to sort of do a brain dump of the heart to get to the place where you are truly connecting with God, that Jesus looks down on that.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: He's just saying, don't put your faith in the fact that you can say a lot of prayers and then walk away empty.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: The point is, oh, and and Manu says use fancy words too, right?
16:16
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to use all the these and the thous and other fancy words.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: God just wants to have a relationship with us, and prayer is talking to our Father.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is just saying, don't use vain repetitions or empty repetitions, like people who believe that they're going to be heard because they can say a lot of fancy things.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: They can say a lot of theological things, they can drop a lot of scripture, but it doesn't really land in their heart.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Then he gives us one of the most important foundations for understanding prayer.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: He says, For your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but that raises an obvious question to me.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: If God already knows what I need, why am I praying?
17:01
SPEAKER_00: What why does he need me praying for?
17:04
SPEAKER_00: And the answer to that question is the vital key to gaining understanding, motivation, vision, and endurance in prayer.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: It's this prayer is not about informing God.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: God didn't turn his back to go take care of somebody in Uzbekistan and forget about you.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden something unfolded in your life that he was unaware of.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: And now he's going, Oh, wow, how did that happen?
17:33
SPEAKER_00: I had no idea.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for telling me.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: No, it's not about information.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: It's because prayer is a relationship.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is communion and dependence, it's agreement with God, participation with God.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: It's bringing our desires under his will.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: And prayer is one of the means that God has ordained through which his purposes enter our lives and the world.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: Because when our prayer is focused on our lack, our insufficiency, our weakness, our questions, our doubts, we're not praying according to the kingdom pattern.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: We're not looking to God.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: We're not surrendering our need to have all the answers.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: And we're certainly not seeking the kingdom and the pattern that Jesus is about to lay down for us.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: So now we arrive at Matthew 6, 9 to 13, which your Bibles probably describe as the Lord's Prayer.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: And what we're going to discover is that the Lord's Prayer isn't just a prayer to recite.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: While it can be recited, it's also a pattern to follow.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: Put a thumbs up in the chat if you have ever heard the Lord's Prayer described as an outline or a pattern.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: Many of you probably have.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus says in verse 9, then pray like this.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: Our Father in heaven, hallowed or holy be your name.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: My friends, this prayer can certainly be prayed word for word, but Jesus introduces it as a model.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Luke, the writer of Luke, gives us another setting for Jesus' teaching.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: Harmony says, That's how I pray.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: I followed the outline of the Lord's Prayer.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: Speaking the gospel, thumbs up.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: You do that as well.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: So in Luke chapter 11, the disciples come to Jesus and say, Lord, teach us to pray.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Guys, I find this fascinating.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: They watched Jesus preach, they watched him heal, they watched him cast out demons, they watched him perform miracles.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: And yet, Scripture does not record them saying, Teach us how to open blind eyes, teach us how to raise the dead, teach us how to um uh teach us how to heal the lame, drive out demons.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: They say, Teach us to pray.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: Why?
20:15
SPEAKER_00: Because they repeatedly saw Jesus withdraw to pray, and then what?
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Return in power.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: Luke 5, 16, Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness to pray.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: Mark 1.35, he rose early, went to a solitary place, and prayed.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: Luke 6, 12, he prayed all night before choosing the 12.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: Luke 9, 28, Jesus was transfigured as he prayed.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: There was something about the prayer life of Jesus that made his disciples say, Whatever he has with the Father, we want that.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: We want to learn that.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: They knew that the prayer life of Jesus was the key.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: Tell me in the chat if you have ever met someone whose exterior life of faith made you hungry to know what they did in private to have that.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: And as you're responding, I want to walk us through the Lord's prayer as a model.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus starts with our Father who is in heaven.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to his father.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: So prayer begins with relationship, it doesn't begin with our problems.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: He begins with your father.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: So before we rehearse what we need, we need to remember who we're talking to.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus moves on to hallowed or holy is your name.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: We go right from addressing our Father to worship, saying, Almighty God, I worship who you are.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: Holy is your name, holy is your character.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Character, holy are your ways.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: Way before asking God to change my circumstances, I turn my attention to his character.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus says, Your kingdom come, your will be done.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: Remember, guys, all through the Gospel of Matthew, what is Matthew portraying Jesus as?
22:23
SPEAKER_00: What is he portraying Jesus as?
22:26
SPEAKER_00: He's portraying Jesus as the king.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: And what is the king hath?
22:32
SPEAKER_00: A kingdom.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: So all through the Gospel of Matthew, we are looking for all the references of king, kingdom, and authority.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: And right here, Jesus is saying, Father God, let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: And yet he's saying he's the king coming to bring a kingdom that is now accessible to mankind.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: So if you say A equals C and B equals C, then A equals B.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: If God is bringing the kingdom and Jesus is bringing the kingdom, Jesus is God.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus also teaches us that prayer is surrender.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: Prayer isn't merely trying to persuade God to do my will, it's me aligning myself with his.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: Manu says, Amen, amen.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Next, Jesus says, Give us this day our daily bread.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: Now we're talking provision.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus explicitly teaches us to ask.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Bring your needs to your father.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: Paul reiterates this in Philippians chapter 4, 6 and 7.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: He says, in everything, everything, by prayer and supplication, that's asking, with thanksgiving, because you expect that your father hears you and he's going to bless you.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: Let your requests be made known to God.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: So it's okay to ask.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus goes on, forgive us our debts, or some translations say trespasses.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: So we're talking about forgiveness.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: Prayer includes regular heart examination and repentance.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: But notice the second half.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: As we forgive our debtors, we have to release them.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Prayer doesn't merely change what's happening around me.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: Prayer must also change what is happening inside me.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: I would actually say it especially has to change what's happening inside me.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: It will, it'll change what's happening inside me well before it changes what's happening around me, usually.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus emphasizes this again immediately after the prayer in Matthew chapter 6, 14 to 15, where he says, do not lead us into temptation.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: So he's saying, God, give us guidance.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: Lord, order my steps.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: Keep me from the past that will destroy me and deliver us from evil.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: That's asking God for protection and also admitting that we are in spiritual warfare.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: Prayer recognizes that there is a spiritual battle.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: That, I mean, the moment you accepted Jesus, you were signed up into the army.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Whether you like it or not, you now have a target on your head, a target on your back, a target on your family.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
25:29
SPEAKER_00: You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: And greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: And like many preachers have blithely said, I read the end of the book and we win.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't mean we don't engage in a battle and that we don't need God's protection and deliverance every day.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: So the Lord's Prayer gives us this beautiful movement: relationship to worship, to surrender, to provision, to forgiveness, to release, to guidance, and finally protection.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: And as we've been discussing in the Gospel of Matthew, Harmony says, hallelujah.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: I've taught you to look up parallel accounts in other gospels, haven't I?
26:17
SPEAKER_00: To get a broader understanding of what you're reading.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: And in this case, there's a parallel account of the Lord's Prayer and an expanded teaching on prayer by Jesus in Luke 11, like I mentioned earlier.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: And we need to look at that because immediately after teaching the Lord's Prayer, which is shorter in Luke's account, and I have a little theory about that.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it's probably a teaching that happened at another time.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, Jesus probably repeated his main teachings everywhere he went.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: He might do some of this sermon here for these people and a little bit of that one here for those people.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: So different audiences would have heard these same messages because Jesus is teaching the truth of God, the truth of the kingdom.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, Jesus tells the story afterwards, after the Lord's Prayer, of the friend who comes at midnight asking for bread.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: And though the friend who's being asked for the bread is reluctant to get up, his friend's bold persistence eventually gets a response.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus follows all this up by saying, Ask and you will receive.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: Seek and you will find.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: Seek and you will find.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: Knock and the door will be opened.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: And then he repeats it for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: And what follows here in Luke is really crucial.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: Jesus immediately starts talking about the Father, telling us that if earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more your heavenly father.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: Ask, seek, and knock isn't a formula.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: It's an invitation based on the goodness of the Father, based on the generous hesed that we've been talking about, his loving devotion, his mercy, his goodness, his kindness.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: And this is all throughout the Bible.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: I mean, check it out.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: Let me get uh let me get us this rolling for you.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: Look at that.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah 33, 3, Psalm 34, 17, Psalm 50, 15, Isaiah, this is going too fast for me.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, let me get back to my notes.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh, all of these places that Jesus is talking about or the Bible is talking about, asking.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: God says in Jeremiah 33, 3, call to me and I will answer.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: In the Psalms, the righteous cry out and the Lord hears.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says in Matthew 7, ask, seek, knock.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: He also says in Matthew 21, 2, whatever you ask in prayer, believing you will receive.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: John 14, 13, Jesus says, Ask in my name.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 4, 16 says, Come boldly before the throne of grace and make your petitions.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: James 1 says, You do not have because you do not ask.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Do you see the pattern?
29:48
SPEAKER_00: God repeatedly invites his people to ask.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: Guys, there are so many more scriptures.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: And if you have your handout, all those scriptures that are running along the bottom are in your handout.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: But I want to give us one more.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Let me stop this.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: John, first John 5:14.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, we have that he hears us.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: So good.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: But what about unanswered prayer you ask?
30:33
SPEAKER_00: I know that there are some people listening who have prayed for years about something.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: I know I have.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: And you might hear all these promises and then quietly think, okay, well, then hold up.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: What's wrong with me then?
30:49
SPEAKER_00: Am I doing something wrong?
30:51
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: We need to look at some of the boundaries and context around these promises.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: James 4, 3 says that motives matter.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: 1 John 5, 14 says that God's will matters.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: John 15, 7 says abiding in Christ and his word matters.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: Mark 11, 25 says forgiveness matters.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: In Psalm 66, 18 says cherishing sin affects fellowship with God.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 12, 7 to 10 says sometimes God answers differently than we requested.
31:25
SPEAKER_00: Paul, for instance, asked three times for the thorn to be removed.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: And God's answer was grace.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Luke 18, 1 to 8 says, sometimes the instruction is to keep praying and don't lose heart.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: So the answer, guys, is don't stop praying because you haven't seen the answer yet.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: Luke 18, 1 says that men ought always to pray and not lose heart.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: I know that that's a word for somebody watching.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you from my own personal experience, from praying for certain things for years.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: Then all of a sudden, there's a sudden delay does not automatically mean denial.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: Look at Daniel.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: He prayed, and there was spiritual resistance before the answer was manifested.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: I have a screensaber on my phone, and it says, um, it's a scripture that I put it on my phone from Isaiah 48.3.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: It says, The former things I declared of old, they went out from my mouth and I announced them.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: And then suddenly I did them and they came to pass.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: Guys, sometimes we're just in a season of waiting, and then all of a sudden, there's a sudden.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: Jesus himself taught persistence in prayer.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: So when you're tempted to give up, get discouraged, lose heart, or lose faith that God wants to move or that he will answer.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: We need to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking, keep believing, keep abiding, keep surrendering, keep humbling ourselves, keep praying.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Prayer says, God, I need you.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: And the confidence in our prayer is not ultimately, I know how to pray perfectly.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: God help us if that's what our confidence is in.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: No, it's not in that.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: Our confidence is the fact we can say, I know my father.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: According to the word, I know he hears.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: According to the word, I know he cares.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: I know he is good.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: I know he knows what I need.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: He has invited me to ask.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: He is able to do exceedingly abundantly all above all that I ask or imagine.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: And I know and I believe that he is moving and working on my behalf, even when I don't see it and I don't feel it.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: And because he told me to come, I come boldly.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: So, guys, as I wrap up this episode, I want to ask you this.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: After everything, all the scriptures that we have just talked about, and it was a lot tonight, what would happen if we actually believed Jesus?
34:24
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you, is there something you have stopped asking for?
34:29
SPEAKER_00: Is there something that you just decided would never change?
34:34
SPEAKER_00: What door have you stopped knocking on?
34:38
SPEAKER_00: What promise have you stopped believing?
34:43
SPEAKER_00: What word from God have you stopped trusting?
34:46
SPEAKER_00: What person have you stopped praying for?
34:50
SPEAKER_00: And what situation have you just resigned to or accepted that, you know, God may, this might be what God has for me, and I'm not going to press in and find out if this is his will.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: I guess I'm just resigned.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, ask, seek, knock.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't just teach us what to pray.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: My friends, he taught us, as you know, as you have seen, to approach a Father who hears, knows, responds, rewards, provides, forgives, guides, heals, leads, delivers.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, in everything, the good, the bad, the ugly, the highs, the lows, the losses, and the celebrations, pray.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: James says, you have not because you ask not.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: John says, this is the confidence we now have that when we ask according to his will, he hears us.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews says, come boldly.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah says, call to me and I will answer you.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: Luke says, always pray and don't lose heart.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: So, friends, we've been given an invitation into the throne room of God.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: Let's stop treating prayer as our last resort and begin treating it as the extraordinary privilege Jesus died to give us.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: So now, together, in these last few minutes, we're all going to pray through this slowly.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to say each line of the Lord's Praand, and I'm going to leave a little sacred silence for you to begin to go there in prayer.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: Because it's all well and good to teach about it.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: How much better to just jump in and put it into practice.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: All right.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: Our Father who is in heaven.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Right now, Lord, we turn our attention to you.
36:48
SPEAKER_01: And we greet you.
36:51
SPEAKER_01: We turn our eyes to you.
37:00
SPEAKER_01: Holy is your name.
37:03
SPEAKER_01: Holy is your character.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: Your nature, your being.
37:12
SPEAKER_01: Holy are you, Lord?
37:19
SPEAKER_01: Give us this day our daily bread.
37:24
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we ask for provision for ourselves, for our families.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: For our churches, for our nation.
37:37
SPEAKER_01: We ask for you.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: And forgive us, Lord, our trespasses.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: Our sins.
37:50
SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for our rebellion.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: Our revolt against your holy righteousness.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: And your holy love.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: As we forgive those who have trampled on us.
38:07
SPEAKER_00: We receive your forgiveness and we extend it.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: To those who have hurt us.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: Intentionally or intention unintentionally.
38:25
SPEAKER_00: Father, lead us not into temptation.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: Lead us out of ways that will cause our feet to stumble.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: Or the enemy has set a snare for our feet.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: Set us free from those the snare of the fowler and deliver us from evil.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: We're asking you, Lord, for guidance and protection.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: For us.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: For our children.
38:55
SPEAKER_00: Our children's children to a thousand generations.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: We pray for guidance and protection for our nation, Lord.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: Keep us safe in this day and hour.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: And today we seek first the kingdom of God and your righteousness.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: And we know that all these things will be added to us, all the things we know we need.
39:22
SPEAKER_00: So we bring our specific requests of our hearts before you right now.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: And we trust that in your goodness you hear us when we pray.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
39:34
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for joining me in this episode of the Word Alive series.
39:44
SPEAKER_00: This has been the Higher Pursuit, nurturing your faith, sharpening your endurance.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: I look forward to seeing you next time.
39:53
SPEAKER_00: God bless.
39:54
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining, everybody.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: Hey family, I pray that you were blessed and encouraged by that episode, and that you took away something you can use in your walk with the Lord starting today.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
40:13
SPEAKER_00: So I thank you for making me a part of your pursuit.
40:17
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, abide in Him.