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Grow Your Relationship with God Through Prayer Pt. 5 · Time with God with John North

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Good morning. We've been talking each morning this week about
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  Speaker 1: how to grow your relationship with God through prayer. There
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  Speaker 1: are a number of ways to grow your relationship with God,
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  Speaker 1: but the most important, the most
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  Speaker 1: Significant is your communication with God through prayer, not just
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  Speaker 1: talking to God, but communicating with God and putting that
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  Speaker 1: connection with God first in your day and letting the
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  Speaker 1: other things of your day fall in around it. God
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  Speaker 1: honors that, and He will help the other things in
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  Speaker 1: your day fall into place in the way that they
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  Speaker 1: need to.
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  Speaker 1: We need to learn as we listen to God, to
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  Speaker 1: also obey what he's saying to us.
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  Speaker 1: And to use the little in-between moments in our day
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  Speaker 1: to stay in constant contact with him.
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  Speaker 1: Well, today, I want to emphasize this with you.
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  Speaker 1: In your most desperate moments
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  Speaker 1: Turn to God as your first option.
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  Speaker 1: God is not your last resort in life. He's not
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  Speaker 1: the final bastion, the last thing to cling to. No,
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  Speaker 1: he's the most dependable place to turn to when your
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  Speaker 1: life spins out of control. Think about it. When you're desperate,
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  Speaker 1: you turn to the people closest to you, right?
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  Speaker 1: The people you know you can depend on.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you need to set this firmly in your mind.
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  Speaker 1: God is not just for Sundays. He's not just for
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  Speaker 1: your growth group meetings. He's not just your insurance policy
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  Speaker 1: for when you die. You don't do Christian things just
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  Speaker 1: to appease Him or because you know you should. No.
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  Speaker 1: God is the most important person in your life, more
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  Speaker 1: than your spouse, more than your kids, more than your parents.
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  Speaker 1: He is the most important person in your life. He
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  Speaker 1: loves you more deeply than your spouse, more deeply than
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  Speaker 1: your dearest friend. He is able to support you in
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  Speaker 1: desperate circumstances more than any other person in your life.
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  Speaker 1: He is what the Bible calls the friend that sticks
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  Speaker 1: closer than a brother.
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  Speaker 1: He'll be with you when you walk through the valley
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  Speaker 1: of the shadow of death.
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  Speaker 1: He's the one to cry your anguish to.
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  Speaker 1: When your spouse asks you to sign divorce papers.
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  Speaker 1: He's the one who understands when your son or daughter's
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  Speaker 1: life is hanging by a thread.
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  Speaker 1: When the business you've built with your sacrifices, your blood, sweat,
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  Speaker 1: and tears is ripped away from you and you're left
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  Speaker 1: with nothing but anger and a terrible sense of loss.
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  Speaker 1: That's not when you push God away. It's when you
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  Speaker 1: turn to Him and find His loving care and the
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  Speaker 1: strength to keep taking the next step in life. You know,
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  Speaker 1: Psalm 142 was written by David when he was hiding
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  Speaker 1: out in a cave. King Saul had the whole army
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  Speaker 1: out looking for David. He felt abandoned.
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  Speaker 1: He felt alone. The army kept unearthing more and more
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  Speaker 1: of his hideouts. Finally, David was in his last place
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  Speaker 1: to hide.
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  Speaker 1: There in his cave he's feeling hopeless and so alone.
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  Speaker 1: He's desperate he's discouraged. Where does he turn? Let me
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  Speaker 1: read you the 1st 5 verses of that chapter he
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  Speaker 1: wrote from that cave.
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  Speaker 1: With my voice I cry out to the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: With my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: I pour out my complaint before Him. I tell my
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  Speaker 1: trouble before Him. When my spirit faints within me.
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  Speaker 1: Lord, you know my way.
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  Speaker 1: In the path where I walk they have hidden a
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  Speaker 1: trap for me. Look to the right and see there
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  Speaker 1: is none who takes notice of me. No refuge remains
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  Speaker 1: to me. No one cares for my soul.
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  Speaker 1: I cry to You, O Lord. I say, You are
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  Speaker 1: my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you also need to learn in your most desperate
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  Speaker 1: moments to turn to God as your first option.
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  Speaker 1: I'm John North.
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  Speaker 2: To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.