Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 551 | The Elements of Prayer - Part 1 - Talk to God Like a Friend

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551 | The Elements of Prayer - Part 1 - Talk to God Like a Friend · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman.
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  At the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Prayer is our means of talking to God. It is the way we invoke God's presence, help, and guidance.
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  Yet many of us don't pray.
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  Join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim opens the Holy
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  Scriptures and reveals what the Bible says about prayer.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  I feel just incredibly honored that the Lord would allow me to spend this time
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  chatting with you about such a wonderful topic and such a wonderful gift as prayer.
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  And I believe that for many of us, we neglect the greatest gift that God gives
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  us, and that is that gift of prayer.
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  Besides salvation, I believe in my own
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  personal heart that that is the greatest gift He gives
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  us because it is what allows us to
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  stay in constant contact with Him as the Holy Spirit inside
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  of us prays for us and he interprets the
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  moanings and groanings that we have and and sends those
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  to jesus and as we pray to jesus ourself and
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  as jesus prays for us to the father these are
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  all the things that happen because god
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  allows us to have prayer and it's amazing if you think about it that the god
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  of the universe is interested in what you think in what you want what you care
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  about and he wants to hear you say that to him.
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  And you say, well, Kim, what is the purpose in praying?
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  Why do we bother to pray? God knows all things. He knows my heart.
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  He knows what I need before I even ask.
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  And all of these things are true.
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  God knows exactly what you need before you even ask.
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  God knows your heart inside and out.
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  He knows you better than you know yourself. Yet God wants a relationship with.
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  He proves that he wants a relationship with you because in Revelations chapter
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  3, and I believe it's verse 20, he stands at the door and he knocks.
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  And I believe that's your heart's door. And he wants to sup with you and have you sup with him.
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  In other words, he wants to fellowship with you.
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  And if he was just standing around like a clairvoyant, looking through your heart,
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  looking through your mind, knowing exactly what
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  was going on and never interacting with you he would
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  not have a relationship with you and my
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  friend jesus said that i
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  am your friend and he
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  said that because he said greater love hath no man than this then
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  a man lay down his life for his friends and
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  then he proceeded to do so he says
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  if you love me you'll keep my commandments and they're not grievous he
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  spoke in john chapter 11 very pointedly that
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  lazarus and martha and mary were his friends
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  god himself spoke of abraham
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  as abraham being the friend of god jesus said i don't call you servants but
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  i call you my friend and my friend that means something very special because if he.
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  Didn't want a personal relationship with us he
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  would not invite us to come to him and cast our cares upon him as he does in
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  first peter 5 7 he wouldn't invite us to come boldly to the throne and chat
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  with him as he does in hebrews chapter 4 beginning in verse 14 and traveling
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  down to the end of the chapter to verse 16.
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  If he didn't want a personal relationship with us, he wouldn't require a personal repentance.
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  He wouldn't have said in Romans 10, 13, that whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved.
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  He wouldn't have said in John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave
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  his only begotten son, that whosoever.
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  You see, the world in the beginning of John chapter 3 and verse 16 means that
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  everybody has equal opportunity.
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  The whosoever in john
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  chapter 3 and verse 16 means that it's a
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  personal relationship between you and god
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  and friends i know for a fact you can't
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  have a relationship if you don't have some communication
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  going on the courthouses are full
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  today of people going in and dissolving
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  marriages and the major reason is
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  is they say they grew apart they basically stopped talking friends have been
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  separated by trials and troubles and weaknesses and challenges in their lives
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  that they absolutely positively just chose not to work out because they didn't communicate.
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  Brothers and sisters don't speak to each other today. That ought not be,
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  but they don't speak to each other today because of misunderstandings that happened yesteryear.
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  Without communication, you don't have
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  a relationship and Jesus Christ
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  wants a relationship with you so badly that
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  he gave his only begotten son to pay your penalty for sin and then because he
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  loved you so much when he went away to prepare a place for you a mansion not
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  built with hands eternal into the heavens he didn't want to be away from you
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  as he told us in Hebrews when he said I will never leave you nor forsake you.
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  And he put inside of you the Holy Spirit. And he refers to the Holy Spirit as the comforter.
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  And he says that the Holy Spirit will bring to your mind those things that you
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  have need of when you need to know them. He says the Holy Spirit will be your guide.
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  Freud liked to call him your conscience. Let me tell you what,
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  the Holy Spirit is not your conscience, it's your guide.
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  And it is connected wholeheartedly to Jesus Christ.
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  And it will never steer you wrong, it will never tell you wrong,
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  it will never let you down. but you can ignore the unction of the Holy Spirit
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  and you can ignore his call on your life and you can ignore his teachings.
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  Because basically, you can neglect your relationship with Jesus Christ.
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  You can neglect your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Yes, I said that.
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  The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity. He's as real as Jesus Christ.
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  He's as real as God the Father. And he is part of the Trinity.
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  And he lives and dwells inside of you.
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  It's the part of Jesus that we have in our heart. And you can have a relationship with him.
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  And he is begging you to listen to him
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  and he is opening up himself to you right now
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  that you would hear what God would have you to say he would
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  hear what God would have me to say as he
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  begins to open up the scriptures because this relationship you
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  have with Jesus Christ this relationship you
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  have with God because you can fully know God because
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  you can fully know Jesus because from Genesis to Revelations
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  the life of Christ is foretold in the Old Testament is
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  prophesied and fulfilled in the new testament and you can know his life you
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  can know his purpose because in luke chapter 19 and verse 10 he said i have
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  come to seek and to save those which were lost my friend that's you his entire purpose.
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  Was all about you. It was all about making sure that you could have a home not
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  made with hands eternal into the heavens.
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  It was all about having a personal relationship with you.
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  If you would, I'd like for you in your mind's eye to just walk with me through
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  the scriptures, and I'd like for you to remember little Zacchaeus.
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  This was a guy who wanted to see Jesus, and he was a short little guy and he
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  couldn't see him in the crowd.
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  So little Zacchaeus climbed up in a sycamore tree and he looked out for the Lord he wanted to see.
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  And he's looking and he's watching for Jesus.
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  Are you looking and watching for Jesus?
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  And as Zacchaeus is up in that tree, Jesus comes by.
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  He says, Zacchaeus, you get down from that tree, for I'm coming to your house today.
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  Friends, that's how real Jesus Christ is this moment.
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  He is knocking on your heart's door and he's telling you whoever you are,
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  the whosoever that is listening right now, he's saying, I want a relationship with you.
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  I'm knocking on your heart's door.
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  And you've not got to know I'm coming to your house. I'm already there.
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  I am the great I am. And just in case you didn't notice today,
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  I put the sun in the sky for you.
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  I made sure there was just enough oxygen for you to breathe.
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  And I placed plenty of people in your path today that you might see me and know that I am God.
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  And I loved on you with every flower that I sent your way, that you walked by.
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  And I loved on you with the tender drops of dew that crossed across your feet
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  as you walked to your car.
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  And I loved on you as the wind brushed across your face, though it may have
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  been cold and chilly. It made you realize that you were alive.
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  And I am the one who makes that happen.
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  And I love you. And I want a relationship with you.
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  And in this lesson, what we're talking about is how to build that relationship
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  with Jesus Christ and how we maintain that relationship.
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  Make no mistake. It's not of works lest any man should boast. It is the gift of God.
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  And by grace we are saved. That's Ephesians 2, 8, 9, thrown in all kinds of different directions.
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  But that's what Jesus says. And he says that it's free for all.
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  And he said, Marvel not that I say unto you, ye must be born again in John chapter 3.
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  Friends, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
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  I believe it's 3, 3 in John 2.
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  You must have a personal relationship with him.
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  But we love him because he first loved us and he's knocking at your door.
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  So the first thing we have to do to build this relationship with Jesus Christ
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  is to receive the free gift he has for us.
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  Because of his works of righteousness, we can be part of his family.
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  What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that he would call us the
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  sons of God. We are adopted into his family.
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  We're not strangers. We're not even pilgrims to him. We are family.
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  And when the banquet table on that wedding day of the feast is taking place,
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  when the marriage supper of the Lamb is going on, I've got a place at that table.
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  And let me tell you what, I've got a name card on that table, and it is only my seat.
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  And that marriage supper of the Lamb cannot take place until I get there,
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  because that's how close I am to Jesus Christ.
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  I'm family. And when the bride comes, he's going to take me home.
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  And when he celebrates that marriage supper of the lamb, he's going to do it
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  with his family. And that's me.
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  And it can be you too, if you just receive.
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  What I want you to see is that the relationship is personal and it's real.
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  And that means we have to keep talking to him.
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  We've got to keep in the word of God. 2 Timothy 2.15
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  says that we are to study to show ourselves to prove unto God a
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  workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word
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  of truth the psalmist David wrote that it was a light unto our feet a lamp unto
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  our path the psalmist David also said that I put his word in my heart that I
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  might not sin against God Ephesians chapter 6 tells us that we need to put all
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  of these things on that he gives us the helmet of salvation is where he starts points.
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  And that means we need to cover our head with Jesus Christ and his righteousness.
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  We need to put our mind under subjection unto the heart that's been given to Jesus Christ.
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  And we need to begin that relationship that he started on the cross of Calvary,
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  but that we have to receive that we might have our names written down in the
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  Lamb's book of life. Why do we pray?
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  We're commanded to do so. In 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, he says to pray without ceasing.
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  Prayer is an attitude. It's a condition of the heart.
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  It is my earnest prayer that each of you have someone in your life that you
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  have the privilege of hearing just pour their life out to God as they speak to him.
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  There's not big words and there's not some recipe for success.
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  There's not some written down prayer.
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  It's not some, now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
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  which is a fine prayer if you say it from the heart.
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  But so is Lord help me. Probably one of the most beautiful prayers that I've
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  ever seen or heard in my entire life.
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  Peter prays as he's sinking in the water. And it wasn't big.
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  It wasn't huge. Do you remember what it was?
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  Peter's walked out upon the water and he's doing just fine.
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  And he starts looking around him and his face begins to dwindle because he sees
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  the storm and he forgets who God is.
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  And he gets his eyes on circumstances and he forgets who God is.
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  And as he begins to look around him and his face begins to wane and he begins
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  to find himself falling his heart knew what to do peter raised his hands up and he said save me.
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  And immediately Jesus reached down and picked him up. That wasn't a huge prayer.
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  That wasn't a prayer that took a lot of thought, because you know what?
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  Peter knew in whom he could trust.
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  Peter knew where his strength was. Peter knew what God could do.
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  Peter knew the power of Jesus and his presence. Friends, that's the kind of
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  relationship you can have, and it only comes by having a conversation with him.
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  In first thessalonians 5 17 he says to
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  pray without ceasing a more obscure
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  verse or perhaps one that is not spoken about nearly as much
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  as first chronicles 16 11 and he says seek
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  the lord and his strength seek his
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  face continually some of
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  you within the sound of my voice haven't spoken to god since the
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  last time you were in church perhaps you
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  didn't speak to him then but someone leading you in prayer did some of you speak
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  to him only at night right before you go to sleep and maybe you pray yourself
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  to sleep there's nothing wrong with praying yourself to sleep my mother has
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  done it her whole life but you see that wasn't the only time she prayed that day.
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  It was just all she ever wanted to do and so she prayed as she fell asleep but
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  she had already spent time with god in the morning and she'd spent time with
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  god in the afternoon and she'd spent god time with God in the evening,
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  and she had spent time with God all day long.
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  And she just couldn't think of a better way to bring peace to her
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  heart than to crawl up in her father's arms
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  and let him embrace her and to feel his presence and to just tell him about
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  what went on in the day of hers and how it made her feel and to seek his strength
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  for the rest of that day and for the one to come.
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  There's a reason why we pray. It's because we love him.
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  You talk to those you love. You want to be around them. You invoke their presence.
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  You want to hear what they have to say. You want to please them.
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  You want to play with them. You want to chat with them. You want to tell them your troubles.
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  And there's nothing more precious on this earth than a friend like that.
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  But regardless of how wonderful your friend is, they're not Jesus.
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  But oh, what it means to have a friend who will take you to Jesus.
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  Who will point you to Jesus, who will walk with you where Jesus is.
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  We pray for strength. We pray because we love him. We pray because we're commanded.
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  We pray because we get results. James chapter 5 and verse 16,
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  he says, Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed.
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  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
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  I believe I could probably spend the entire lot of time that I have for this
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  week's broadcast on that one verse.
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  But I will spare you that.
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  But let Jesus touch your heart and look at what he says.
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  He says to confess your faults one to
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  another don't harbor any hidden sins be accountable
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  to someone else let someone else see the
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  humanness that you have and begin to pray for
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  you and and begin to allow them into your
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  life so that they can have the confidence to see the strength of god
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  that works and walks inside of you he said
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  to confess your faults and then he said to pray for wonder don't be
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  so interested about your own self you
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  see jesus said continue ye in my love and jesus had
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  a selfless walk jesus thought
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  of others when you were on when he was on the cross you were on his mind when
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  you reject him he's still pleading for you when you ignore him he's still knocking
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  on your heart's door when you don't have anything to do with him he's still
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  drawing you by the power of the Holy Spirit to come to him,
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  that he could have a personal relationship with you.
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  Confessing your faults and praying one for another that you may be healed.
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  That that sin sickness that you have inside of you might go away.
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  That that selfishness which separates you from God would be gone.
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  That that fleshly desires, the motives that cause you to want to hurt others,
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  that cause you to step on other people to get where you want to get,
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  they'll all fall away when you begin to pray for someone else.
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  And you'll become the person that God wanted you to be because you are in prayer
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  with Jesus Christ. You're standing in his presence. You're feeling his power.
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  You've trusted in his power. You've trusted in what he can do.
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  And you're standing there and you can't help but that light that he shines upon
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  you to just melt away the things that are imperfect in you.
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  Because if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins
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  and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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  You'll be healed of the bondage of sin. But let me tell you what he says.
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  The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
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  There's power in prayer. There's results in prayer.
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  My friend, you want to get something done, you go to Jesus and you talk to him.
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  You want to make things right that are wrong, you let Jesus make them right.
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  You got a problem too big for you to handle?
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  You come to Jesus.
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  Because you know what? He said cast your cares.
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  I believe he meant cast like we cast a frisbee or cast a ball.
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  I don't think he meant cast like we cast a fishing pole.
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  Because when I cast my fishing pole, I'm still attached to the problem.
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  And that doesn't help me a lot. But when I throw that ball, it's gone.
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  And he said to just cast your cares upon me.
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  He also tells us that his burden is easy and his yoke is light.
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  And he invites us to trade our problems for his burden and his yoke.
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  And you know, he knows about that burden that you have.
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  Because he had a sin burden. Simon helped him carry his.
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  But nobody carried the sins of you and me but Jesus Christ.
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  Friends, we pray because he says, And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given
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  you. Seek, and ye shall find.
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  Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
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  and he that seeketh findeth.
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  And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
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  Eyes have not seen, and ears have not heard the glory that God has in store for each of his own.
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  Come to Him and live with the best friend you'll ever have.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
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  Well Ministries in your app store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  our Heavenly Father. and it is through your loving and generous support that
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.