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Christianity 101 (How to Pray) · Heart Check Podcast

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If you've ever struggled with prayer or you feel like you're
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doing it wrong or honestly, you don't even know what it's
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supposed to be like, this episode's
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Yo, what's up, everybody? Welcome back to Heart Check
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podcast. I'm your host, Pastor Los.
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Yeah, let's go. Hey, I'm so excited you have
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joined me again. My Heart Check community or new
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friends who are tuning in. I'm so excited to dive in and
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continue our Christianity one-on-one series.
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I hope it's been blessing you and encouraging you.
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If it has, share the link, post it on your social media, let
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people know about this Heart Check podcast and community that
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we are a part of and what God is building here.
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I thank you guys for your constant support and
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encouragement you. If you have any other topics
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that you would like me to dive into within this Christianity
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one-on-one series, please message me social media e-mail.
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The link is on my YouTube channel and all my social medias
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and we would love to connect with you.
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I thank you guys for being a part of this.
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Today we get to dive into our new topic, our new Christianity,
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one-on-one where we're talking through the basics of
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Christianity. If you put your faith in Jesus
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and maybe you are wondering some of these questions of what does
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this look like to follow Jesus as we talked about in episode 1
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of this series, how to read the Bible.
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And then Part 2, who is Jesus? Who am I following and putting
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my faith in and believing? But today we're going to talk
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about a big topic, one that a lot of people struggle with.
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As I said in the beginning, if you've struggled with prayer or
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you feel like you're doing it wrong or you get anxious when
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you're sitting post Bible study and the leader says would
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anybody like to pray? As I see sometimes when I ask
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and everybody's like looking around the room or they're
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slowly drifting back into the bushes like the Bart Simpson
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Griff GIF. If that's you and you have felt
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that way or you feel like it's something you just don't know
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how to do or what it should look like.
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If you struggle with prayer, if it makes you anxious, wherever
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you're at on the prayer category, I hope you know that
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you are not alone or a bad Christian if you have felt that
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way. That's not true and that's not
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from God. And I hope this episode
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encourages you to live out a prayer life.
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I, I don't know if you guys have ever noticed this, but the
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disciples didn't ask Jesus to teach them how to lead or how to
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preach or how to teach, but they did ask him to teach them how to
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pray. Isn't that intriguing to you?
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Because it's intriguing to me that the disciples who walked
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with Jesus, who saw Jesus do all that he did first hand, they saw
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these things, witnessed them. The thing that most fascinated
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them and had them in awe of Christ was his prayer life.
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So much so they they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
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There's a book that I've read and I highly suggest all of you
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read if you want to dive a little deeper into this topic of
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prayer. It's very applicable.
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It's powerful, it's personal stories and I it's an easy read
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and it's just incredible, incredible read and has
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encouraged me in my prayer life. It's called Lead with Prayer and
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one of the quotes from the book that I've always loved.
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I want to read it to you. It starts like this.
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It says it's no surprise that Jesus's apprentice apprentices,
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captivated by their rabbi's beautiful life, once said to
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him, teach us to pray. It seems that after watching
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their Lord behind the scenes, they had come to the conclusion
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that Jesus's extraordinary outer life of power was the result of
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an even more extraordinary inner life of prayer.
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That in his frequent disappearances into the quiet to
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pray, Jesus was drawing from a deep well of wisdom, direction,
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power and cure. And courage, courage, goodness.
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I can't speak. Apologies guys.
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A direction, power and courage in God.
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And they wanted access to that same water.
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I love that. I love that quote.
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And instead of giving the disciples something complicated
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when they asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus gave them a
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framework to prayer as he gives it to us as well.
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His followers of Jesus. This is what he's given to us
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when he teaches us how to pray. Jesus's outer life overflowed
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from his inner life of prayer. He was intentional to disappear,
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as it says in Scripture. He was a withdrawal.
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He would withdraw into places of isolation, into places just
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alone with him and his Father. He intentionally did this.
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He would disappear to places of quiet and stillness before God
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that cultivated this deep well of wisdom, direction, power, and
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courage. And I love how the quote says
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they wanted access to that same water.
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And you know what's super dope? We also have access to that same
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water. If you've put your faith in
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Jesus, you are a follower of Christ.
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When we withdraw or we're intentional to seek those quiet
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places with God our Father, we also have access to that deep
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well, that same water that these disciples were seen overflow out
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of Jesus's life. They wanted access to that and
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they wanted to know what does it look like like for us to have a
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life of prayer that connects us to our heavenly Father?
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Like Jesus was so connected and one as he in John 17.
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Once John 17 says we are one, Him and the Father were one.
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He had access and connection to him in this intentional way as
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he withdrew to pray and talk with God the Father.
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But we have that same access. But my question is for you and
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I, are we even accessing it? Are we even being intentional to
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pray daily and deceit God's face to run after him, to make prayer
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a priority in our life, not just something we do here and there.
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We do before we sleep or we do before we eat, but prayer being
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something we're consumed by that Paul tells us to pray without
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ceasing. Are we people of prayer?
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My prayer for you post this episode is you are more equipped
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and excited to be a person of prayer, to make prayer a
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priority in your life. Jesus did.
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And if we follow Jesus and we want to be more like Jesus, then
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prayer should be something that is on the top of our list in our
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lives and something we run after to access that same water, that
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deep well that Jesus was filled up by.
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So after the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
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He says this in Matthew 69 through 13.
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If you'd like to follow along, the disciples say Jesus teach us
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how to pray. And Jesus says this.
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This then is how you should pray.
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Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come,
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your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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Give us today Our Daily Bread, and forgive us our debts, as we
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also forgive, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
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And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil. 1
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So Jesus gives this powerfully packed, short but intentional
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prayer to the disciples as they ask him to teach them how to
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pray. And what we're going to do in
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this episode is we're going to unpack that prayer.
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The prayer that Jesus gave the disciples is what I want to
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hopefully encourage you and teach you what Jesus has taught
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me through my prayer life and what it looks like to apply this
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to our lives, to be people of prayer, to pray as Jesus taught
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us to pray, to make it a priority in our lives.
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And so as the disciples asked Jesus to teach us how to pray.
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If I'm going to give an episode on how to pray, yeah, I should
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probably go to Jesus words on when he taught his disciples how
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to pray. So we're going to break this
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down. It's going to be as a, you know,
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preachers, we like our alliteration.
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So this is going to be the five prayer PS, The five prayer PS
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and they're going to be this position, priorities, provision,
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protection and pardoned. We're going to talk through what
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each of those mean within this prayer that Jesus gives to the
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disciples and he gives to us. SO5 prayer, PS position,
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priorities, provision, protection and parting.
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And we'll talk through what that means within that prayer that
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Jesus gives to us. But number one position, Jesus
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starts the prayer. If you didn't notice, Jesus
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starts the prayer with what our Father in heaven hallowed be
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your name. Jesus starts by teaching us how
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to approach God. He says our Father, which this
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would have been very powerful language from Jesus to the
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disciples for him to use language of our Father.
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Jesus is showing us we don't just approach God as this
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distant dictator God, but we approach him as Father, that
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close relationship that he is our Father in heaven.
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The disciples would have heard this and this would have created
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an intimacy to our relationship with him as Jesus welcomes them
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into that intimate place of prayer that he has with God when
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they ask him to teach them how he prays.
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So he starts with our Father and not just a father, but our
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Father, which that means we've been adopted into a heavenly
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family. Romans 815 says now we call him
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ABBA father. We have been adopted into the
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family of God when we put our faith in Jesus and so we talk to
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God. He's not just a father, he's our
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Father. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
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we are a part of the same heavenly family if we've put our
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faith in Jesus, that now we have our Father when we pray to him.
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But don't miss this because even though he gives us what it looks
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like for who we are to him, the position also clarifies who God
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is to us. And so he also says in heaven
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hallowed be your name. So yes, God is Father, but He is
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also holy and sovereign and over everything.
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Prayer starts with position before petition, before we start
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petitioning things that God asking God or asking of these
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things happening in our lives or around us or for others.
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First and foremost is recognizing our position with
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Him, that we are His children, but that He is holy, that we
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have reverence for him. We approach God with confidence
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as his children, but also with reverence for a king.
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We don't play about that. God is holy.
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God is in heaven. God is sovereign.
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God is perfect, God is righteous.
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God is King of kings, Lord, O Lord, so when we approach him,
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He is our Father, but he is also holy and righteous.
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This is not a game You read through the Old Testament,
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Leviticus 10 as a story that I've told people go to.
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God didn't play games when you entered into the holy of holies
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in the way that you weren't supposed to.
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He is righteous and perfect. We were separated because of our
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sin. Now Jesus is our high priest
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that bridges that for us. But God is perfect.
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God is holy. He we have reverence before him.
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We don't just approach him in a comical, jokey way.
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Not to say God doesn't have humor.
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I've had this conversation with people.
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But do you realize that you are sitting there talking to the
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Lord of Lords, the King of the cosmos, God who created
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everything, and he is over everything.
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He is the God of the universe and the God of you and me.
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And so there is adoption into his family that we get to come
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to him as our Father. But we also have to remember
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that he is holy and he is righteous and we have reverence
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for him. We approach him as confident
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children, but also with reverence to the King of Kings.
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Or said another way, He is Father in relationship but holy
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in authority. So we have a relationship with
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our Heavenly Father, but He is holy in His authority over our
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lives, and we better recognize that as well.
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Revelation 411 reminds us He is worthy of all glory and honor.
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So we hold both intimacy and all.
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We hold both of those things when we go to prayer with God,
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the position of intimacy with our Father.
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But all of the King of kings, Lord of Lords, the God of the
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universe, the holy and righteous judge, we have intimacy with
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him. And we also have awe and
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reverence of him as well. Because familiarity with God
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should never replace reverence from God for God, 'cause
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sometimes I think we have familiar familiarity with God
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and we kind of treat him like, what's up bro?
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What up, dawg? Oh yeah, what's up, dude?
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Jesus is our friend. Jesus is also our Lord.
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This isn't something we just play games with or we go up and
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just kind of hit with the elbow. What up, yo?
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What up my dog? Yo.
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We kind of treat like our Bros, right?
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As I jokingly say this, any parents who's also experienced
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this, you know, when you're, when your kid likes you and goes
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what bro? And you're like, who are you
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calling bro? I ain't your bro.
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I'm your father in that same regard.
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That's where I'm getting at of sometimes I think we just treat
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God as if like oh you're just my bro.
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He is your father and he is your king.
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He is your Lord. We come to him with intimacy as
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his children, but we also come to him and all in reverence cuz
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he is worthy of our worship 100%.
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Ain't nobody like him. Won't nobody ever be like him?
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So when we come to him, we come to him, recognizing who He is
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but also who we are in him. It's both, and as Jesus teaches
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them with this first line, the position of children in the
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position of servants, position of children while also being in
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the position of slaves to the King of Kings.
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We serve Him, He doesn't serve us, He loves us, but we come to
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Him in reverence and awe. So I love how Jesus begins his
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prayer and I think for you and I, what is your prayer sound
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like when you start, when you're talking with him?
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Are you coming to him in a way that you are reminded that you
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are his child and you are also talking to the King of kings
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that you get to go to the God of the universe who created you and
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I and all the things that we see and know?
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Do you come to him with faith, knowing that the God who created
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it all you are now communicating with, you have the ability to
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have access to him through faith in Jesus, through his Son.
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That's incredible. And I hope we don't take that
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for granted or we just make it something that we just kind of
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take flippantly or again, we just approach like what up dog?
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What up dog? He is our friend.
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He is our Father, but he is our Lord and we have access to that.
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Well, as we read in that quote, we have access to that deep well
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that Jesus had access to, and he's teaching us what that looks
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like. Our Father who art in heaven,
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hallowed be your name, Holy is his name.
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He is worthy of our worship. So first and foremost, I want to
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encourage you in your prayer life.
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When you come to God, be reminded that you are his child.
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You. You don't pray to get God's
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attention. You already have it as his
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child. But I also want to encourage
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you. Let's start praying like
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children who know their Father is listening, that he says I
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hear your prayers, He sees our tears, He's with us, He is
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always with us as Jesus says. But come to him also remembering
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who he is, that He is mighty, that he is power, that he is
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good, that he is over everything.
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He is sovereign, He is holy, He's got you.
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Don't forget who He is also after he calls you who you are
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to him, his child. So first position is how we
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start in our prayer. We acknowledge who we are and
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remember who we are in him, but we also acknowledge who God is
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over US25 Prayer PS Remember 5 prayer.
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PS First position #2 priorities. Then Jesus goes on to say what
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your Kingdom come, your will be done.
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Before we ask anything, before we talk and get into the
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logistics of our prayer, before we start to pray for others,
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pray for our family, pray for us, pray for things and talk
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with God about anything and everything.
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Before we ask of anything. Jesus aligns our hearts.
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We asked his desires that we delight in the Lord, and then he
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gives us the desires of a heart, but first we delight in him.
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Before we ask anything, we have to ask Jesus to align our hearts
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to him because prayer isn't about getting God on our agenda.
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It's about getting aligned with his.
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It's not about God getting aligned with our agenda.
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Hey, God, this is let me, this is my notes, this is what I
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need. This is what I want you to do.
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This is what I want. No, it's about us getting
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aligned with His agenda, His plan, His purpose, His will.
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Your Kingdom come. Your will be done.
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It's His Kingdom over my comfort.
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It's His will over my wants. When we say your Kingdom come,
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we're not just talking about a place.
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We're talking about God's authority now.
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We're asking for His sovereignty over all things in the world and
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in our lives, that we are giving over power to Him, making His
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Kingdom priority. Seek first the Kingdom of God
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above all else and live righteously, and He will give
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you everything you need. Come on guys, it's in the Word.
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He's teaching us what this looks like.
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It's His priority, His will, His wants, His desires.
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He comes first, His Kingdom ushered in through His children.
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And so when we think about priorities, what are the
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priorities of your prayers? Are the prayers God?
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Are we praying God? Your Kingdom come, Your will be
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done? Are we praying?
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God? I really want this to happen in
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my life. I want this to go how I want it
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to happen. God, I need this.
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I'm struggling because I don't have what I want.
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Or are we asking God to align our hearts with what He wants in
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our lives? When we say your Kingdom come,
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we are asking for God's authority over our our lives,
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our spaces we step into, our jobs, our workplaces, our
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family. We're giving Him full authority
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over everything, our homes, everything of who we are.
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We're asking for His authority over.
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We're praying, God, let your rule be recognized in the world
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and in me. I want to recognize your rule
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and reign over my life, and I want to acknowledge it and I
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want to ask for it. I want to say, God, you have
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your way with my life. You do what you want to do in me
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and through me. I trust you.
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My priority is you seeking first you, your Kingdom being done in
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my life and around me. That's my prayer because God's
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Kingdom comes wherever His authority is welcomed.
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God's kingdom's going to be ushered in.
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He's going to have authority over it, but are we even asking
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for His Kingdom be ushered in over our lives, over our homes,
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over our families, over our relationships, over our job
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place, wherever we're at? Are we saying, Holy Spirit, you
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are welcome here, God, your authority be over all of my life
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is your prayer. That's my question for you guys.
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Is your prayer aligned with His promises or your preferences?
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Is it more about what you want or about what he's already
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promised that he's going to do? That you're trusting in His
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word, His never, His never failing love, his unchanging
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character, or you just trying to pray your preferences and what
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you want. But then it gets personal,
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'cause it says your Kingdom come, but then Jesus says your
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will be done. Prayer shifts us from control to
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surrender. And here's the tension.
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You can't pray Your will be done while living My will be done.
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You can't do both. You can't be praying God your
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will be done in my life while still trying to live out your
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own will in your life. It's a surrender.
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It's giving over control. It's saying God, even though I
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have things that I want to happen that I want to do, I am
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saying God, your will be done. As Jesus prayed in Gethsemane
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while he's sweating blood asking can this cup of suffering pass
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me? He's he's petitioning to the
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Lord God, if, if this, if this could be any other way besides
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me going to the cross, me about to get whipped and beat and spin
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on and mocked and carry a cross and have my skin ripped and my
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lungs collapse while I'm hanging from a cross, have my nails
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pierced and my feet pierced to a wooden cross.
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If there's any other way, God, please let this cup of suffering
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pass me. But as Jesus says, your will be
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done, not mine. Are you praying in that way that
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you're saying, God, I want your will to be done even though I
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have, even though I maybe don't want to go through what I'm
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going through, that I don't want this to be the situation I'm in,
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that I don't want to be in this suffering.
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I don't want to be in this pain or this loss or this tragedy
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that has just happened in my life.
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But you know what God, your will be done, not mine, 'cause I know
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you see the bigger picture. I know you are working all
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things together and I trust you in that.
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Jesus modeled this perfectly in his prayer in Gethsemane.
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Not my will, but yours be done. So this isn't just about the
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world changing. We don't just pray for change,
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we participate in it. We participate in God's, in
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God's work. As God says, the the workers are
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few. The harvest is plenty, but the
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workers are few. There's a lot of people out here
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who don't know Jesus and they're ready to hear the good news.
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As Romans 8 says, how beautiful are the feats that bring the
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good news of Jesus. Some of us are just chilling,
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man. We're not willing to step into
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his will being done because maybe we're stuck in our own
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sin, or we're stuck in our own struggles, or we're stuck in
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what we want and so we're just stuck there and we're
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complacent, or we're just going through the motions within our
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walk with Jesus. We become lukewarm and God
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saying, man, the harvest is plentiful, man.
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There's people out here who want to put their faith in me, but my
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children aren't going to them. The workers are few.
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They're stuck in what they want to be stuck in.
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They're more concerned about themselves that they want their
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will to be done that they're saying, you know, God, I really
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need this to happen for me. I want this, I want this, I want
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this. And God's saying, yo, look at
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your Co worker right now who doesn't know me and you're so
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stuck in your stuff that you're not even opening your eyes to my
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will being done. And I have you placed in a job.
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I have you placed in a situation that you're in so I can use you
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for my glory, for my will to be done.
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And you're so stuck in what you want and your desires that you
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become blinded to what I'm trying to do that you're not
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surrendering to my will because you want to control the
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situation. And so your priorities are
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messed up. Your priorities are wrong.
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And so when we come to God, we seek His position.
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We seek our position in Him, but then we also give up control and
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we surrender to His priorities, His will being done.
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Stop asking God to bless your plans, but rather start asking
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Him to usher in His. That's what we need to do in our
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walks with Jesus. Because let me ask this guys,
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because if God answered every prayer you prayed this week,
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would your life change or just your circumstances?
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Would your heart look different? Would you be more like Jesus or
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would just your circumstances change?
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It's the good old vending machine relationship.
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I put my money in. I get what I want out of it.
23:44
Or do you want God to transform you to mold you more into his
23:49
image, to convict you, to lead you more into who he created you
23:54
to? Because that's not going to be
23:57
easy, and it's going to look like stepping into situations,
24:00
conversations, relationships, going through things that the
24:04
world says, man, you should crumble, man, why do you still
24:07
praise God? Why do you still want to have a
24:08
relationship? Why you still believe in Him
24:10
when you're going through what you went through and that's when
24:13
God shows up. That's when God works through
24:16
your situation, when He works all things together for the good
24:19
of those who He loves according to His purposes.
24:22
So my prayer is that you start to pray your will be done, not
24:25
my own. That you give up, that you
24:28
surrender and give up control to God, the one who should have
24:32
control over your life in the 1st place.
24:33
Usher in His authority over you. So #3 we've got position, we've
24:40
got priorities, and we got provision.
24:43
Jesus says what? Give us today Our Daily Bread
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and when you hear that word, provision sounds like a pretty
24:50
big Bible lead word that maybe thrown around to the church.
24:53
You heard you like. What's provision really mean in
24:55
the Bible terms? God.
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One of God's names is Jehovah Jaira, and Jehovah Jaira means
25:01
the Lord will provide, God provides.
25:04
God gives us what we need. That's he is a provider God.
25:08
He is our provider Father. He overseas us, He blesses us,
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he watches over us, He gives us what we need, not necessarily
25:15
what we want, but he does give us what we need.
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And Jesus says God give us today Our Daily Bread.
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This is about dependence. Back then people didn't even
25:25
know if they would eat the next day.
25:26
They didn't even know if they'd have food for the day.
25:28
So when Jesus is teaching them this prayer, some of them
25:31
probably got stomachs growling. So what Jesus says, give us
25:34
today Our Daily Bread. Physically they didn't even know
25:36
if they'd even have food for that day.
25:39
So this was real for us. This is easy to miss, but Jesus
25:43
is teaching its daily dependence, not occasional
25:46
reliance. This is a daily thing that we
25:49
ask Jesus to give us today, our dear, Our Daily Bread, not
25:53
yearly, not only in emergency mode as we've talked about
25:56
before, but daily seeking Our Daily Bread from God, and not
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just physically as Jesus is talking about.
26:03
Jesus is also saying spiritually too, for us who live in a
26:07
society and an economy that we don't understand what it looks
26:10
like to not have to maybe not have food for the day or
26:12
tomorrow or the week. We don't even know where we're
26:14
going to get food. We don't live in that way in
26:16
2026 in America especially, we can go grab fast food whenever
26:20
we want. We have resources that we can
26:23
actually eat and not feel like we don't know if we're going to
26:25
have a meal for the day. But Jesus is also speaking to us
26:29
spiritually. Jesus says in John 635, I am the
26:34
bread of life and Matthew 4 four man shall not live on bread
26:39
alone. So yes, God provides what we
26:43
need, but He provides what we need, not always what we want.
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And don't miss this. We need physical provision in
26:51
our lives, but we also need spiritual nourishment.
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That's why I love when Apostle Peter says in first Peter 2
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verse 2 through three, he says like newborn babies, you must
27:03
crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full
27:07
experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment now
27:12
that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness.
27:16
So Peter's saying like newborn babies, you should crave pure
27:19
spiritual milk. You should want to grow into a
27:22
full experience of salvation. You should be crying out for
27:26
spiritual nourishment now that you have had a taste of the
27:29
Lord's kindness. That all you want is Jesus.
27:31
You want His Word, you want to be in prayer, you want to spend
27:34
time with Him. You are so fixated on Him
27:37
because you know you need Him daily to be filled up by Him, to
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have his provision over your life spiritually to seek that
27:46
daily bread and dependence on God.
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I was saying this, listen man, if you've had young children or
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you have young children, you know, as a father, when I walked
27:56
into that room when my youngest was crying and she wanted her
27:59
milk from Mama and she saw me open the door and looked at me
28:02
like you best get up out of here.
28:05
You do not have what I need. And she cried out for her
28:09
nourishment. In that same way, do we cry out
28:13
to God for our spiritual nourishment?
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Do we crave Him? Do we?
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Do we? Are we?
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I use this word. God, give me an insatiable
28:22
appetite for your word. I want an insatiable appetite
28:26
for Him. I want to constantly want to
28:28
feast on God's word, to pray and talk with Jesus that I'm fixated
28:33
on it. I want to be obsessed with
28:35
Jesus. Obsession sometimes is a bad
28:37
thing. I want to be obsessed with
28:39
Christ. I want to be focused on.
28:40
I want to be thinking about things of heaven, not things of
28:42
earth. Praying without ceasing, having
28:45
a mindset of man. Jesus could come back at any
28:48
time 'cause he said he's going to return.
28:50
And I want to crave him. I want to seek him.
28:52
I want to be all about him. I want to seek his provision in
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my life. Because if you only feed your
28:57
body, you are starving in places that matter most.
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We trust God for eternity but struggle to trust Him for today.
29:08
And Jesus is reminding us, you don't just need food on your
29:11
table. You need truth in your heart.
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I'll, I'll, I'll finish this provision with this.
29:17
A soul filled by the bread of life is a soul fueled to live
29:21
like him. If my soul's filled by the bread
29:24
of life, I'm going to have a soul that's fueled to live like
29:28
him. And I pray that for you.
29:30
Number 45 prayer 5 prayer. PS This is the fourth P is
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protection. Jesus then says what?
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Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil. 1
29:43
Let's be clear, God doesn't tempt us but he does allow
29:48
testing. We see that all throughout
29:49
scripture. I know it's a hard one to grasp
29:52
and understand but Jesus is teaching us to pray.
29:56
God, don't let me walk into something that will overwhelm
29:59
me. And if I do deliver me, if I'm
30:02
in a moment of testing, if I've stepped into something that's
30:05
gonna lead me from you or I'm making choices that are leading
30:08
me from you, God deliver me out of that.
30:11
Be my deliverer. Help me in those moments because
30:15
here's the truth. There is a real enemy, and the
30:18
enemy doesn't destroy you. With lies you reject, but with
30:20
lies you believe. When we listen to the Father of
30:24
lies and we keep soaking it in and letting it marinate into our
30:28
hearts and souls, and we keep accepting those lies over
30:31
ourselves, that is how the enemy gets us farther from the truth
30:35
that can be found in our Heavenly Father.
30:37
So we don't rely on ourselves. We need power.
30:41
His power over temptation, not just willpower, not just your
30:46
strength, not just I'm gonna get him out of here.
30:48
I'm gonna make this happen. I'm gonna stop the sin.
30:50
I'm gonna stop the struggle. I'm going to do it on my own.
30:53
No, we need the power of God, especially when we're
30:56
experiencing spiritual warfare. How do we battle spiritual
31:00
warfare? On our knees.
31:04
I I heard this quote from a pastor once, and I love it.
31:07
He said it's hard to fall when you're always on your knees.
31:10
It's fire. It's hard to fall to sin when
31:14
I'm always on my knees. It's hard to get caught up in
31:16
that sin and that lust and those decisions you make those
31:19
thoughts you have when you're constantly seeking Jesus in
31:22
prayer. When I'm constantly being a
31:24
withdrawal of Jesus was seeking those quiet places to be filled
31:27
up from that deep well from him. It is hard to fall when I'm
31:30
constantly on my knees. Get on your knees and seek
31:35
Jesus. Make prayer a priority.
31:38
It is spiritual awareness over self-confidence.
31:41
I want to be aware of spiritual warfare.
31:43
I want to be aware of what's happening in my life, the
31:45
decision I'm making, the things that the enemy's trying to get a
31:47
foothold in my life. I want to be aware of it.
31:50
Not just confident in my own power or my own willpower or my
31:55
own control. I want to surrender to gods
31:58
because sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is
32:01
walk away to choose Jesus. God promises in First
32:05
Corinthians 10/13 that He provides a way out, that you are
32:09
not alone in your temptation. All of us have temptations and
32:12
sins we struggle with. All of us fall short of the
32:14
glory of God. But hear this, God gives us a
32:18
way out, not always an easy way out, but he gives us a way out
32:22
that we can choose Jesus in those places and we can pray and
32:26
usher in his presence. When we are scrolling on that
32:29
website and we're about to, we're about to watch that video
32:32
we know we share, we can pray and say, Jesus, please enter
32:36
this place. Jesus, please take full
32:37
authority. God, you have full authority
32:39
over this room. You have full authority over my
32:40
thoughts. You have full authority over my
32:42
actions. Holy Spirit, fill me.
32:44
Give me a way out. Show me a way out.
32:46
Help me choose you. He gives us a way out.
32:49
He gives us him that we could rely on.
32:52
But for most of us, we just keep taking steps into the sin
32:55
because we want to. And Jesus is saying, pray, pray
32:59
for me to show you a way out. Ask for my protection over you
33:03
in this situation, over any situation you're even about to
33:06
step into or go through or are in.
33:08
Pray, I'm with you. You can literally call on me.
33:11
You have access to that same water that Jesus had access to.
33:16
That way out is often the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
33:19
We can, we can feel that nudge, that conviction, that pause.
33:24
The question is, do we listen and do we act or do we just keep
33:30
choosing to do what we want to do?
33:32
As as Paul says, I hate that I do what I don't want to do and I
33:35
don't do what I want to do. We live in that constant tension
33:39
as sinners, as broken people that want to do what we want to
33:42
do. But we have the Holy Spirit in
33:45
us now. For those who've put their faith
33:46
in Jesus, they've been filled with the Holy Spirit, the
33:48
Advocate, the helper who helps us, who Jesus tells to lead us
33:53
into all truth that convicts us, that leads us to be more like
33:56
Jesus we have in us. Because if you just continue to
34:01
ignore the Holy Spirit long enough, you'll start listening
34:04
to your flesh louder. You'll start choosing those
34:07
sins. You'll start continuing to live
34:09
in that. Are you praying for God's
34:12
protection over your life? Are you asking Him to protect
34:14
you in those situations? And whatever you're going
34:17
through to deliver you from the evil 1 to deliver him, to ask
34:21
him to deliver you from you from your own wants, your own
34:25
desires, your own choices that you want to make.
34:28
I'll end with this on protection.
34:29
Evidence of a prayer filled Christian is one who obeys the
34:33
answers God has already given them.
34:35
God's already given us answers. God's already lead LED us to
34:38
truth. He's already shown us in his
34:40
word, Hey, I'm here, I can give you a way out, but we have to
34:44
choose the way out. We have to choose Jesus and
34:47
evidence of a prayer filled Christian, someone who is asking
34:50
for his protection looks like someone who's obeying the
34:53
answers that God has already given to them.
34:55
So I pray for you to ask for protection over your life, to
34:59
truly seek Jesus in all situations and all
35:01
circumstances. And so for our last P5 prayer,
35:05
PS we had position, we had priorities, we had provision and
35:09
we had protection. And now we have pardoned.
35:13
And when we get to pardon, I love this one.
35:15
Jesus says what? Forgive us our debts as we also
35:18
have forgiven our debtors. This one is heavy when it comes
35:24
to prayer in our lives. And we're asking these things
35:26
when we're knowing our position, knowing our priorities, knowing
35:29
provision, and knowing the protection we have.
35:31
We also have to remember that we've been pardoned by God.
35:35
Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
35:38
This one is real heavy for some of us because Jesus makes it
35:42
clear after this verse He says if you forgive others, your
35:47
Father will forgive you. Matthew 614 through 15 as he
35:52
follows up his prayer, as he teaches the disciples, he
35:54
follows up the prayer with If you forgive others, the Father
35:58
will forgive you, but if you don't forgive others, the Father
36:03
will not forgive you. So let's simplify it as people
36:07
say it. Forgiving people forgive people.
36:10
Forgiven people forgive others. Our debt has already been paid.
36:15
Jesus took it on the cross, you and I.
36:17
He's taken our sin. We've been forgiven of
36:20
everything. So now we are people who live
36:22
out that forgiveness to others as well.
36:25
Grace received must become grace released.
36:30
That we pour out grace to others as well in our lives because of
36:33
the grace we love. Because He first loved us, as
36:36
Scripture says, grace is getting what we don't deserve.
36:41
We don't deserve God's grace over our lives because of our
36:44
disobedience and sin and rebellion.
36:46
Yet He still freely gives it. We don't have to earn it.
36:49
It's freely given 'cause that's who He is.
36:53
And now if we're His children and we're called to be
36:56
ambassadors and representatives of Him, we should be people who
37:01
also forgive, cause forgiven people forgive people.
37:04
We reflect the one who's forgiven us.
37:06
Grace received must become grace released.
37:10
And here's the tension. You can't hold on to forgiveness
37:13
from God while withholding it from others.
37:16
It don't work like that. You can't be someone who has
37:20
received this forgiveness from God and then not give that to
37:24
others, but rather withhold it from others.
37:27
That's the work of the enemy that is not from Jesus.
37:31
The Holy Spirit leads us to be people who reflect God in our
37:34
forgiveness and in in our grace and love towards one another.
37:37
As we talk about first Peter 48, love covers a multitude of sins
37:41
for one another. Brothers and sisters, this is
37:44
how we live it out. This is what we pray for God to
37:48
help us be people who are pardon people and pardon others.
37:52
And we remember what we've been forgiven of because if God kept
37:55
score like we do, none of us would stand a chance.
38:01
All of us have fallen short of the glory God.
38:04
None of us should be forgiven. But we are because of God's
38:08
grace, because of who He is, not who we are.
38:11
And now that we've received that grace over our lives, we should
38:14
be people who now pour out that same grace and love and
38:17
forgiveness to others. And this is real.
38:19
Unforgiveness doesn't hurt them. It traps you.
38:23
Or as we talk about at our church, our lead pastor uses
38:27
this analogy. Unforgiveness is like drinking
38:29
poison and hoping the other person dies.
38:32
You're just killing yourself slowly.
38:34
That when you hold on to that bitterness and unforgiveness and
38:37
that anger towards somebody, you're really just poisoning
38:40
yourself. You're drinking the poison
38:41
hoping that it kills them. It makes no sense.
38:45
God caused us to live as people who forgive our debtors as well
38:49
because He knows what unforgiveness does to our soul,
38:53
that it quickly kills us. It quickly leads us farther from
38:57
God and who we are in Him. So unforgiveness doesn't hurt
39:00
them, it just hurts you. It traps you in that sin, it
39:04
traps you in that bitterness, it traps you in that unforgiveness.
39:09
It's slowly killing you. It's poisoning you.
39:12
So we pray, God, give me the humility to remember what I've
39:16
been forgiven of and the strength to forgive others.
39:21
That is what we pray when it comes to pardon.
39:24
We remember, God, you have forgiven us.
39:27
Help us forgive others. So when Jesus teaches us how to
39:30
pray, he's not giving us something to memorize.
39:33
He's giving us a way to live. This is a pattern, not a
39:37
performance. It's connection over perfection.
39:41
You get to dwell in the presence of your Heavenly Father.
39:44
You get to connect to Him when you pray.
39:47
This isn't about performance. It's not about a list.
39:49
It's not about a duty that you have to do.
39:51
All I got to pray. I got to pray for you, got to
39:53
pray for a sleep hope. I got to talk with Him.
39:55
You get to connect to your heavenly Father, who knows the
39:58
number of hairs on your head, who loves you, who died for you,
40:01
who created you for a relationship with them.
40:04
You have access to heaven. You have access to the same
40:08
water that Jesus did, and you're not even utilizing it.
40:12
You're not even praying without ceasing.
40:13
You're not. Seeking His provision, His
40:16
protection. I just pray that this encourages
40:22
you to start with position in your prayer life.
40:25
Remember who He says you are and who He is.
40:29
But then also align your priorities with His, His will
40:34
over your own. Trust His provision.
40:38
Depend daily on Him. Not just once a week, not when
40:42
you just show up the Bible study or just Sunday morning.
40:45
Daily dependence on Him. Trust His provision.
40:50
Ask for protection. Take the attacks of the enemy
40:53
seriously. Spiritual warfare ain't no joke,
40:55
ladies and gentlemen, it is for real.
40:58
As Paul says, we we don't fight against flesh and blood.
41:02
We fight against powers and principalities in the unseen
41:05
world, The enemy, the enemy, the demonic powers.
41:10
They don't want you to live like Jesus.
41:12
They don't want you to choose him.
41:14
So take that very, very seriously.
41:16
Ask for protection over your life, over your family's life,
41:19
over your brothers and sisters life.
41:20
Pray for one another. The spiritual warfare is not a
41:24
made-up thing. Deliver us from the evil one.
41:27
And last but not least, walk in being pardoned.
41:31
Live and pray like someone who is forgiven.
41:34
Be people who remember these things.
41:37
When Jesus teaches us how to pray, to remember our position,
41:40
God's position, his priorities, his provision, his protection
41:45
and His forgiveness. The way He has pardoned us, that
41:49
now we show that forgiveness to others.
41:53
Because at the end of the day, you don't need better words.
41:56
You need deeper surrender and remember, remember, remember my
42:01
brothers and sisters, God isn't looking for perfect prayers.
42:04
He's looking for surrendered hearts.
42:07
So give yourself a heart. Check live out prayer in your
42:10
life. Make it a priority.
42:12
Don't keep putting it on the back back burner.
42:15
Give Jesus all of you through your prayer life.
42:18
Seek him, depend on Him, want him.
42:23
I love you guys. I'm thankful for you guys.
42:25
There's so much to unpack in prayer.
42:27
I hope this encouraged you and blessed you and gave you an
42:31
excitement to want to seek Jesus in prayer today and every day of
42:35
your life. And we will always unpack more
42:38
prayers. There is a lot to always talk
42:40
about, but I hope that this is a good starting point and
42:43
launching pad for you to be someone who has a prayer filled
42:46
life. Let me pray so we can get about
42:48
of here. Lord Jesus, my Heavenly Father,
42:58
our Heavenly Father, holy is your name.
43:03
I pray that your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it
43:06
is in heaven. God, I pray that you give us
43:10
today Our Daily Bread, that we are depending on you, seeking
43:13
you with all of us, God, that we want you, that we want you.
43:17
We want to depend on you. We want to seek your face.
43:20
Jesus, you are the most important thing in person in our
43:24
lives. Help us live like that and pray
43:26
like that. And God, I pray, Lord Jesus,
43:30
that you deliver us from the evil one, that you protect us,
43:32
you protect our families, you protect our souls, you, you
43:35
guard our hearts and minds. And you, Christ Jesus, that we
43:38
have peace that overflows, that comes from you, God.
43:41
And I pray, pray, Lord Jesus, that we live and love like
43:45
forgiving people. I pray that you transform those
43:48
who are listening to this episode, God, that they have
43:51
hearts that run after you, hearts that reflect you, hearts
43:54
that live like you. God fill us with your spirit.
43:56
Lord Jesus, help us be more like you.
43:58
And I pray that we have a prayer life, that prayer is something
44:03
that we make priority and that we talk with you, our Heavenly
44:06
Father, about anything and everything.
44:09
We love you. And we pray all this in Jesus
44:11
name, Amen. I love y'all.