Latest / The OneCry Podcast / #237 MADE TO PRAY (Part 4 - Stewardship)

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#237 MADE TO PRAY (Part 4 - Stewardship) · The OneCry Podcast

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  He is building a forever family.
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  And what He wants us to do is as we walk through life and go, hey God, we've got this thing
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  going on today.
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  And I want to ask you to be the God that I just worshipped a moment ago in the middle
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  of this right here.
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  I want to ask you to be the God that I just asked to let your kingdom come in these things.
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  Let it come right here as well.
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  And to leave, listen, to leave nothing in our lives unprayed for.
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  Welcome to the One Cry Podcast, a nationwide call for spiritual awakening.
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  The goal, accelerating the movement of God through sharing revival truth, stories, and
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  reports.
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  Well, Kyle, we're here one more week as we're learning how to pray, that we were made to
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  pray.
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  And we're so glad that people are joining us on this new series that we're doing probably
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  five or six weeks, maybe more as we really learn how to join with God in this incredible
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  partnership through learning how to do what we were made to do.
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  And you remind us of where we've been here in the last few weeks, because today's going
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  to be a lot of fun.
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  But it falls right in the flow of everything He's taught us.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  And the Lord knows how to take us on a journey, don't He?
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  I mean, like He knows and, you know, the disciples said, Lord, teach us how to pray.
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  We want to know what you just did.
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  We're watching you set aside these times, these places where you go get in the presence
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  of the Father.
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  You know, they've heard the Lord pray for people and in their presence.
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  And there's something just so innately different about it.
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  And they just want to learn from Him.
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  And they ask the best question, which I'll continue to encourage you to ask, ask the
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  Lord to teach you how to pray in this season.
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  And then the Lord says, I will gladly do that.
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  And what I think He gives us is the way to approach God in prayer.
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  And it starts with week one with the relationship, Father.
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  And until that, honestly, is settled, that you're going to struggle praying until you
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  realize that God is a Father that is perfect and welcoming you, wanting you to come and
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  commune with Him and that you don't have to come into His presence browbeat, but you can
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  come because of the blood of Jesus Christ, joyfully into the presence of your Heavenly
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  Father.
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  And so the relationship was first, and then we move out of that and the Lord teaches them
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  and is teaching us to hallow His name, to worship Him, to spend time to rightly attribute
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  worth to our great God in worship, to recognize His character, His power, attributes.
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  As I said in that session, man, to take time to let the Lord know you know, to the measure
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  you know at this moment, who He is, and to take time to worship Him for what He's done.
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  So to do that and all those things, man, honestly, are rightly ascribing worth to God, but it
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  does something for our faith as well.
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  It lifts us, it helps bolster our belief and even how big a God we serve so that we might
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  partner with Him, partnership is what we learned last week, to ask, Lord, let Your
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  kingdom come, let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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  And man, I hope if you didn't listen to that, go back and listen.
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  If you did listen, how did you pray differently this last week?
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  How did that change the way that you prayed for God's kingdom and power to be displayed
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  in lots of people in your area and region, to come to understand what those things, to
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  let God give you His heart for that, and to pray His heart back to Him?
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  And Bill rightly said, man, prayers that start with God are heard very well by God because
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  He wants to see that happen as well.
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  And today, man, and even next week too, it seems to get personal in ways.
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  It's almost like that God's got our eyes up and then our eyes out, you know, that we're
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  not selfish in this, that we can look in and recognize some things that we might need.
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  And so, go back to verse 2, it says, and He said to them, when you pray, say, the things
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  we've already covered the last three weeks.
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  And then verse 3, it says, give us each day our daily bread.
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  And that context, culture, they would have known, there's a little looking back, shadows
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  of what would have been true in the need for daily manna and the wilderness experience
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  that the people of God were dependent on God for everything, every day.
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  And what the Lord is trying to lead the disciples to rightly understand, and I want us to sit
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  and think about for a second, every one of us are dependent on God for everything, everything.
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  That's what James 1.17 says, every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from
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  the Father of lots and whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
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  The breath that we have right now has been provided to us by God, the opportunity to
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  embrace another day, the opportunity to earn in life, if you have an occupation or job,
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  the talents and gifts, natural abilities and supernatural abilities that God's given
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  are all right gifts from Him.
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  And so the way that I framed this up in my mind is that this ship, the fourth one would
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  be stewardship, that everything that I have comes from Him anyway.
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  So God is allowing me to be a steward of these things in life, which rightly recognizes
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  I'm dependent on Him.
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  So the first way to really even lean into this praying is one, to be thankful for everything
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  you already have, for every way that God has already provided.
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  Bill, I know your family story and you know mine, I mean, how many times God's had to
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  break in on our behalf and to provide for us to establish our families and seasons
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  and all those things.
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  And it'd be good to really set up some places of remembrance and remember God's faithfulness
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  in previous seasons that'll help you to rightly believe in future seasons, how God provides.
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  So I would encourage our listeners, as you approach God in prayer, remember the ways
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  that He has provided daily for you already and give thanks for that, thank Him, celebrate.
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  But don't just stop there.
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  What things do you need today?
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  I think we're leaving way too much on the table to not bring into the presence of the
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  Lord.
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  I think one of the saddest things a lot of believers do is they carry a lot of things
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  that they should be casting on the Lord.
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  They got a lot of things that they need God to provide in certain ways, but they've not
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  learned how to ask Him for that, they've not learned how to unpack that in the presence
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  of God.
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  And so for me, each season, Katie and I, Bill, I know this is true for you, Katie and I,
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  in raising our family, we know the things that we're asking God for, that we need some
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  help.
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  I got every kid in my house, Bill, looks like they're going to need braces.
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  And I recently found...
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  Well, I need to start praying with you about that then.
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  And I have found out how much those are, you know, but you know, here's the thing, honestly,
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  and I know my God, and I know how He's provided for my family, richly, abundantly more than
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  we could ask or think.
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  But I'm going to ask Him about it.
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  I'm going to ask Him to help provide for us yet again, in light of my kids needing braces
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  or kids tuition for school, you know, or provision for to help be a part of this ministry effort
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  and work here.
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  But let me tell you what I've learned, you've heard me say this before, Bill, I'm way less
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  concerned now, the longer I've walked with the Lord and in prayer specifically, I'm way
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  less concerned about the things that seem to go unanswered.
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  And I'm way more concerned about the things that go unasked, unasked.
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  I don't want to, because here's the truth, to be prayerless about it is to be prideful.
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  Well, to be prayerless about it, to look out at the situation that you're facing today
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  to our listeners, and to not pray.
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  And one way is to say to God, I got this, I got this.
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  And instead of inviting God into the midst of your everyday life, and ask Him to be a
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  part of seeing that provision come about, and that's not just monetary, that's emotional,
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  and that's relational, that's provisional in ways for sure, but that's holistic in our
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  lives to learn how to say, you know what, Lord, because you are my Father, because you
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  are almighty, and because you want your kingdom to come, I'm going to come and ask you about
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  this I have going on in my everyday life.
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  Don't you know that, man, our perfect Heavenly Father wants to hear those things, Bill, from
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  us.
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  Boy, you know, to not do that, I was reading one day, and I had a big problem, I can't
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  even remember what it was, but it was just some need, you know, probably financial.
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  And I came to this passage in the Psalms, and the Psalmist said, the Lord will accomplish
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  what concerns me.
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  And it just came off the page, and said, Bill, do you care about your children?
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  I said, yeah, if something concerns them, does it concern you?
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  I said, absolutely, I want to know about it, and if I can help, I want to help.
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  But don't you think your Heavenly Father is more concerned, and more capable?
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  So the Lord will accomplish that which concerns you.
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  This is all part of the partnership, right?
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  This is all part of the relationship, but the more we're walking with Him, and communing
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  in prayer, the more He wants us to realize, hey, I can bring, if I've lost my keys, He
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  wants me to pray about that.
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  If we need braces for my kids, He wants me to pray about that, and to pray in the way
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  that He's describing in this passage.
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  Yeah, and it all comes, you're exactly right, the way that this progression moves is the
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  perfect picture of what Jesus says in Matthew 6.
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  Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all these things will be added unto you.
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  And honestly, in the first three parts, the approaches, is the seeking of the Kingdom.
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  It's the King, He's worshiping, He's wanting His Kingdom to come, but now we're getting
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  down to the brass tacks of everyday life.
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  And what God is saying, hey, invite me into that.
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  Invite me into those things that are concerning you, cast your cares upon me, because I care
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  for you.
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  Man, like unpack these things that will become a burden to you, and believe that I actually
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  care about that, and can move on your behalf, and can give you the endurance if it's something
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  that you'll have to endure, walk through, or can give you the provision to break you
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  through that, and to actually believe that God's a God that actually cares and wants
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  to bless His people.
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  There's no health and wealth gospel part to this, but what there is, is a Father that
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  wants to raise healthy children.
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  He is building a forever family.
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  And what He wants us to do, is as we walk through life and go, hey God, we got this
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  thing going on today, and I want to ask you to be the God that I just worshiped a moment
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  ago, in the middle of this right here.
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  I want to ask you to be the God that I just asked to let your kingdom come in these things.
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  Let it come right here as well, and to leave, listen, to leave nothing in our lives unprayed
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  for.
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  To leave, Nick, can you use some, to unpack it all, by praying over it all.
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  And to bring everything of it, every aspect.
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  What I found, man, if I, because I'm a dude, I'm a fixer, I want to find a way to either
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  power our way past it, or find a way around it, or whatever it might be.
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  But what God wants me to do, is to unpack it, and to say, hey Lord, here this is right
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  here, I don't know what to do, honestly.
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  I don't know how this is, but I know you, and so I'm going to be faithful with what
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  you've given me.
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  I'm going to be faithful, I'm going to practice good stewardship, I'm going to be disciplined
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  in all these things, but with this right here, I'm going to give it to you, and ask that
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  you would supply all of our needs according to your riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
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  I'm going to ask you to be you, and I'm just going to tell you, God's track record is
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  impeccable.
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  Impeccable.
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  In light of caring for his kids, I can't tell you the amount of times, that in our lives,
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  that the Lord cared for the details, in such a way.
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  And I think, you know Bill, last week we were talking about partnership, but people ask
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  like, I wonder why God decided to do it this way?
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  You know, why did God decide to do it in partnership with his people?
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  I mean, there's a lot of it.
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  I think you're right.
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  He's building a family, building an army, all those things, but I think there's just
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  nothing that brings God more glory, than a prone to wonder people, choosing to pursue
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  him and pray, and to seek his face, and to ask him, like there's something that just
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  says to the world, and to the enemy, all that, look at them, they're looking to me.
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  Look at them.
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  They're pursuing me.
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  And there's few things that declare the goodness of God to a watching world, than the fact
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  that we are dependent on him.
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  We are dependent on him.
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  I love what Paul says, 1 Corinthians, what do we have that we've not received, so we
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  do not boast as those that have not received it.
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  Everything we've got has come from him.
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  So we're not going to stop seeking him now.
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  So my encouragement for our listeners, man, unpack it all with the Lord, regularly, regularly
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  pray for things.
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  Bill, I'm going to give a little sneak peek into one of my prayer cards.
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  I prayed, you know, man, you know the journey we were planting churches, and all that stuff.
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  We had more faith than we had resources some seasons, didn't we?
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  But I had a prayer card that I prayed in light of making memories with my family, and said,
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  Lord, for opportunities to take my kids on vacations here, do things there.
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  I tell you, there's been several times where out of nowhere it would seem.
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  Someone would say, hey, we have this beach house that's open this week, why don't you
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  bring your family to do it?
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  And I knew that that was the Lord answering that prayer to provide a memory and a moment
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  with my kids.
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  And you know what that was, building my faith, glorifying our God, and I got to look into
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  my eyes of my kids and say, hey, he did it again, he did it again, he takes care of his
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  kids, you know, and all those things, because he's raised in a family, right?
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  Yeah, you know, one of my mentors was a man named E.F. Halleck, who was a pastor for 40-something
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  years in Norman, Oklahoma, where later I would go pastor in that same town.
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  And Preacher Halleck, he was called a great man of God, and a great man of prayer.
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  And Preacher Halleck, he had one son, and he was teaching on prayer.
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  And so he thought, I'm going to teach my son, and they came to this town close to Christmas,
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  and he said, now son, I want you to learn how to pray too.
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  He said, what do you want to pray for?
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  He said, Dad, I want to ask Jesus for something.
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  And they said, okay, well, just ask him.
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  And he said, Jesus, I want for Christmas, a white puppy and a train set.
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  And Preacher Halleck thought, oh, no, what's he doing here?
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  I can't afford a train set, and I don't even want a dog.
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  But he just said, oh, okay, well, that's nice that you prayed for that.
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  And God doesn't always give us a thing, but every night, his boy would pray for a white
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  puppy and a train set.
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  Well, he didn't know what to do, and then he started thinking, man, I'm going to ruin
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  my son about prayer if this doesn't happen.
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  So he goes down to Sears back then, the company, and he doesn't have the money for it, but
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  he buys this train set and puts it on layaway, and thinking maybe God will provide some money
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  and I can, you know, at least half of this prayer will be done.
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  So about six days before Christmas, there's a knock on the door, and he goes to the door,
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  and there's a little boy standing there with a big box.
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  And it's a neighbor boy just down about a mile down the road, and he said, I'm getting
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  rid of these.
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  My mom says I have to get rid of these puppies, and I've got two left.
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  And he looked in, and one was white.
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  And he said, do you want one of these puppies?
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  And Preacher Halleck thought, well, the Lord has definitely provided this.
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  And so he said, yeah, I'll do it.
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  He took the puppy, and they hid it until Christmas.
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  But he said, I'm going to take care of the train set, you know.
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  So he goes down right before, hadn't told anybody, goes down right before Christmas
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  to get the train set out of layaway.
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  And you know, he doesn't know what he's going to do, but he's going to have to pay for it.
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  So he saved up some money to pay for it.
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  Goes in to pay, and the lady says, sir, that's already been paid for.
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  He said, no, I didn't pay for it.
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  He said, well, I don't know who did.
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  But somebody paid for that train set.
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  And he said, I thought, okay, gosh, you're teaching me, but you want to teach my son
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  how faithful you are.
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  Amen.
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  Hear and answer prayers.
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  Wow.
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  And that's God, man.
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  I mean, you've got stories.
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  I've got stories.
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  Every believer I know that really walks with God has got hundreds of stories of God's prayer
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  providing his provisions because he's a giver.
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  That's right.
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  And he loves to show us his nature and just build a relationship even more.
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  Amen.
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  Well, man, let's do that.
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  Let's go to him right now and even ask him to help us ask him in the future for things
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  that we need.
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  I just want to say this to somebody that's on here today listening.
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  He hears you.
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  He hears you.
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  So let's come back.
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  I think about the persistent widow that just had to keep on seeking for righteousness.
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  And I think about all the times it says, knock and keep on knocking.
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  Just keep presenting it before the Lord.
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  Just keep presenting it.
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  And I promise he'll be faithful to answer in his time.
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  Bill, why don't you pray for us, man, to close out this time?
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  I will.
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  Let's pray.
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  And as you're praying with us right now, let me ask you this question.
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  What daily bread do you really need right now?
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  What comes to your mind immediately?
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  Lord, I've got this need.
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  And God is knocking on your heart story.
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  He wants you to give him access.
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  He wants you to let him in by just saying, Lord, I'm not going to look to myself.
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  I'm going to do whatever you tell me to do.
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  But Father, I'm going to ask you, would you provide my daily bread?
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  And so right now, just ask him.
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  Just ask him.
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  You have not because you ask not.
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  And so, Lord, we just thank you that you're such a generous God.
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  You're incredible, Lord.
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  Your mercies are new every single morning.
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  Just when we think, well, we've gotten all the mercies that we deserve, all the mercies
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  maybe we should ever have, our quote is full.
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  Then you just say, I got some new ones for you.
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  I have mercies.
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  Great is my faithfulness.
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  So, Lord, I pray that you would meet your people.
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  Even now, you would teach us how to pray and how to bring every need to you because, Lord,
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  as we do that, as you hear and answer our prayers, you're seen for the great Father
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  that you really are.
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  Don't let us deprive you of that glory by not, Lord, giving you access to our daily
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  needs.
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  So, take us there in prayer.
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  Teach us how to pray, Lord, and we ask it in Jesus' name.
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  Amen.
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  Amen.
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  Amen.
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  Amen.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, again, thank you all for being a part of it.
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  I hope this series has been a blessing for you.
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  We've got a little bit more to go here in this journey.
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  Maybe share it with somebody, send it to somebody and discuss it, and Bill and I will be back
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  Lord willing next week to continue to unpack what it means to be made to pray.
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  Look forward to being with you then.