Latest / Wesley at FSU & TSC / "Prayer" // Late Night Worship // Brooke Self // February 19, 2025

Transcript

"Prayer" // Late Night Worship // Brooke Self // February 19, 2025 · Wesley at FSU & TSC

• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, hey, hey.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Bryant wanted the night off, so he asked me to talk.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know me, hi, my name is Brooke.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and tonight uh we're gonna be talking about prayer.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so why is prayer important?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Prayer is important because it's how we build a relationship with God.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Think about your best friend, okay?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you never spoke to your best friend, would they be your best friend?
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: That would just be another person you pass on the street.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: So speaking and communicating with each other is how we build relationships.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it's so important to have prayer, because when we have prayer, that is our communication with our creator.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: That is our communication with God, and he gave us that gift.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, tonight we're gonna be looking at Philippians 4.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, you guys should all have some Bibles around you.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if you could flip to Philippians 4, that would be great.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: I bookmarked mine because I knew what passage we were reading.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'll give you guys a minute.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: While you're looking for it, it's in the New Testament, kind of towards the back.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're gonna do a little bit of context here.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is happening?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: I know we did Philippians 4, or we did Philippians a few weeks ago in Bible study.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: What did we talk about when we talked about Philippians?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: So in Philippians, Paul is in a Roman prison and he's writing to the people of Philippi because he was in Philippi a little while ago, and he left because of how badly the Christians are being treated and persecuted there.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: They left thinking that not much was gonna come from their ministering in Philippi.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Turns out that a lot happened while they were gone, and Paul is now writing to the people who are still ministering the word of God to the Philippians.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so this is the later half uh of the letter, but it's Paul writing from prison, giving them encouragement and advice on how to keep going.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So he says, Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: I entreat Udia, and I entreat Sinti.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: I looked up these earlier, these names, and I entreat Sinki to agree in the Lord.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women whom have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement, and rest in my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Rejoice in the Lord always.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Again I will say, rejoice.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord is at hand.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, which guards our hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, my brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commandable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you might be like, what did we just read?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: That was a lot of words.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: So let's go through it.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: First, we know that Paul is in a Roman prison and he's writing this as encouragement.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: But what does he do here in verse 2?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Udiah and Sintish.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: I can't say their names, I'm so sorry.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: But he calls out two women here who are in an argument, so much so that Paul, in a Roman prison countries away, is writing to them to tell them, stop fighting.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is a letter that would have been read out loud.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: So imagine getting up in front of the entire church and saying, Hey, these two people have Brooke and Bryant are in a beef.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: They are having such an argument, and you know what?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: You guys need to cut it out, and you need to take your grievances to God in prayer.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: That is what's happening.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And this would have been read in front of everybody.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how embarrassing.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: But it's important because Paul wants them to know that their grief isn't going to be solved by them just bickering back and forth.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be going to be solved by taking it to God in prayer.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he wants them to know that you should take everything, regardless of whether it's an argument with a friend or thanksgiving, literally thanking God for all the gracious things he's given you, and you should take it to God.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: So there's some parts that um one of my favorite parts actually is when he says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, at first when I read this, I was like, what is supplication?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've never heard this word before.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Supplication is the knowledge of knowing that your request can be fulfilled.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's praying to God and knowing He can give me that.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's having faith in God and knowing that He can solve all of your issues.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: But it's knowing that and having faith that He can.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it's having confidence in the Lord, and that can be really hard, especially when you're going through a really difficult time.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Personally, the last two days of my life have been absolutely terrible and a roller coaster of emotions.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't think at all to pray about it, which is terrible.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: But it just shows that we're all human and our first instinct isn't to pray.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: But that's why we have to have faith and supplication and we have to have confidence to go to the Lord and speak with him.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: So also, side note, um, if you don't know me, I'm a senior here, and I did not grow up Christian.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: I knew who God was.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, I knew what being a Christian was.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I had been to church, I had been to summer camps, and you guys know that friend who's like, you sleep over at my house, you got to go to church with us the next day.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you were that house.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how I originally got exposed to going to church was I had a really good friend, and that was the rule.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, great rule.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but then I came to college and I had a lot of struggles in my life right before coming to college.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: I had a lot of hardship, a lot of things happened, and I didn't have any faith in God.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: I thought what kind of God would make me go through all these hard trials.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: I just didn't have confidence in him.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I ran away from God.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that was even worse than before.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: That was the lowest point of my life, was when I ran away from him.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: But just like the prodigal, the prod the prodigal son, God opens us back with open arms.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so even though I hadn't prayed since going to summer camp or since being forced to go to church with my friends in the morning, I prayed to God.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And something in my heart just softened, and I knew that he would forgive me.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that was really, really difficult.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: That was the short version of the story because I don't think you guys want to hear the long tonight.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was really difficult to go to God and say, hey, I've messed up, I've run from you, I've gone off your path, and I haven't listened to you.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Please welcome me back.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: And he did.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he's gonna welcome every single one of you back every single time you make a mistake.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Every single time.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: There's not a limit on it.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Bring your grievances to God and He'll forgive.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Just as he told those two women arguing in Philippi, in Philippi, yeah, Philippi, um, to bring their grievances to God, he's ready and willing to be a part of your life.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now shifting.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, when is a time in your life when you could see prayer?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I want everybody to like close their eyes right now and think of your day, think of your morning, think of your night, think of your lunchtime.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: What time is a really good time for you to just be with God?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: For me, it's before I go to bed.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's when I'm I'm sitting in my bed and I'm waiting to go to sleep, and I'm like, let me just talk to God.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: We heard Bryant say a few weeks, you can open your eyes now, sorry.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: We heard Bryant say a few weeks ago it's best for him when he's in the car, because then he can't be distracted by his phone.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I agree, I do tend to pray a lot in the car also.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: But what time in your life works best for you?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to think about that and try to implement it into your daily life.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, why is prayer important?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, we've been told to pray, we've been now we've thought about when to pray, how are we gonna pray?
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, I'm gonna tell you guys what I like to do.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: I like to start with a greeting, just like I would greet a friend.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: I like to say, hey God, maybe you you want something more formal.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: You have to figure out what's gonna work for you.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: But for me, knowing that my God's gonna listen to me when I come to him humbly with a hey, we gotta talk.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's really encouraging to me.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I start with, hey God.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Then I like to start with gratitude.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: This was really, really longless when I first started because I was going through really rough times.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: I was having so much pain, and I hadn't been grateful for anything God had given me for so long that I felt this need to just keep listing things.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: But it can be as long or as short as you want.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: You can just say thank you for this day.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for this person I'm with.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for allowing me to talk to you.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for Wesley.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good one.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and then I like to go into a confession.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm so sorry this week I have not had faith in you.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: This week I have strayed from your path.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Today I had I I cried and I didn't think about you at all.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're all human.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I like to let God know that I'm sorry for the grievances that I've caused.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then I ask him for help.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: I ask him to help me do better, to help me seek him when I'm going through those hard times, uh, to help me have confidence in his plan, to help that friend who needs prayers, to help whoever it is in your life.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe for the first time you just need to pray for yourself.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I find it's really comforting to know that I'm praying for others, and it keeps me more accountable.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, speaking of accountability, well, then I like to end with an amen.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: So, amen.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: That was a good one.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, now what we're gonna do is we're gonna get in like little groups around us, and I want us to have a talk about what are some things in your life that you are grateful for, and what are some things in your life that you could be needing some prayer requests on.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna take like, you have enough time to like get into it if you'd like.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: So um get with the people around you and just each each one of you say something you're grateful for and something that you could use some prayer.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna bring it back.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm starting to see some eyes.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so this week, I want you all to be thinking about how you can implement prayer into your daily life, and I want you to think about who you can be praying for.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: And some great people to be praying for are the people you spoke with tonight.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Also, if you run into the people in your group tonight, I'd say you probably run into each other about twice a week.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe keep them accountable and ask them, hey, how's your daily prayer life going?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can always text them, or you could text the Slack, and you can say, Who needs some prayers right now?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: What can I be praying for for you?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Those are some really great ways to keep each other accountable, not just keep yourself accountable, but keeping your group mates accountable, which they also need.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm gonna pray us out, but I want to thank you guys all.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: That was great.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're not okay.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now grab the hand of the person next to you because that's how I do prayer.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, dear God, I want to thank you so much for everybody in this room.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak about prayer and to speak your word.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know that uh we don't always uh we fall short sometimes, and that's okay because you're gonna welcome us back with open arms every single time.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank you for the people in my group that I got to speak with tonight, and I want to lift up everybody in the room's prayer requests and our gratitude for everything that you've given us.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I want to ask that you continue to help us in our prayer journey and keep us accountable and allow us to love our neighbor and keep our neighbor as accountable as we may be.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, thank you for speaking to us through Paul tonight and be with each and every one of us in this room.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.