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Pray About It- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: I'm thinking that God is writing a new chapter in
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: your life, that it's going to be marked by increasing
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: peace and diminishing panic. Anxiety comes with life, but it
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: sure doesn't have to stay in your life. God has
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: a prescription and antidote for anxiety. It's found in the
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Book of Philippians. In this summer, we're going phrase by
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: phrase through this peace giving paragraph. The words are about
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: to appear on the screen. I'd love for you to
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: sit up straight and fill your lungs with air and
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: your hearts with hope, and say these beautiful passages out
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: loud with me. If you have the passage memorized, go
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: ahead and close your eyes and give it a shot.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: I won't think you're asleep. Let's say it together.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Rejoice in the Lord always again, I say, rejoice. Let
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: your gentleness the Lord is at hand.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Be anxious for nothing but of prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Let your requests be made known to God, and the
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: peace of God.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Will guard your.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, Brethren, whatever things
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: are true, whatever things.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Are, things are of good report.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: If there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: On these things. Great job.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, grant that these words could become not just
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: a part of our vocabulary, but they could become the
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: way we cope with the anxiety that enters our world.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Our hearts are heavy as a result of the that
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: we saw on the news that took place in Charleston.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, grant mercy to be upon the victims, upon
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: that church, upon that city, and yes, mercy upon the perpetrator.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Father.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: It heavies our heart to see racism and violence, and
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: especially within a church, how much more it must have
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: a yours. We offer this prayer through the name of Christ,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: asking that we see Jesus in Jesus only, and that
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: you forgive the sins of our speaker for their many
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Through Christ we pray and all the Church said. And
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: so we begin today's message with a very simple yet
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: important question have you prayed about?
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: I'll start over?
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: And so we start the message with a very simple
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: but important question, have you prayed about? It is what
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: troubles you. It is whatever fatigues you. It is whatever
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: keeps you awake at night. It is what is stealing
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: your joy. It is the disease that you cannot cure,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the marriage that you cannot fix, the job that you
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: cannot stomach, the rage that you cannot tame.
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: It looms over life too, towering letters that march into
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: your world like Frankenstein's steps.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Clump clonk clonk clump clump, dominating every thought, taking all
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: of your attention, stealing all of your peace.
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: It hurts.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: I can't take anymore. Look out here comes? Will somebody
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: take away from me?
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: It dominates our thoughts, our lives, and our future unless
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: we learn to follow the counsel of the apostle, Paul,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: who encourages us to take and place it behind two
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: other words.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Pray about there now doesn't seem so mean anymore.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Placed in its proper position, it is reduced to science.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Prayer is the act of taking it, whatever it is,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: to God before it can get to you. Prayer is
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: the act of taking it, whatever it is, to God
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: before it can get to you. Prayer slaps the handcuffs
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: on the cul print culprit. I know it's kind of
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: a reach, and march is the culprit it into the
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: presence of God, and we say, God, I can't handle it,
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  Speaker 1: but you can't. I can't deal with it, but you can.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: I don't know what to do with it, but you do,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to leave it here with you. Peace
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: happens when, rather than focus on it, we pray about it.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: This is the idea behind the Apostle's admonition. We've been
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: looking at this passage in the Book of Philippians. It's
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: our summer project, phrase by phrase each week. We're about
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: midway through, and here the Apostle calls us to action.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: He says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Lets your requests be made
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: known to God. Here we're called to action, rather than
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: giving in to it or being dominated by it. Our
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: response is to rejoice in the Lord, pursue gentleness or
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  Speaker 1: level mindedness, Be aware that the Lord is near, and
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  Speaker 1: now take it to God as quickly as we can.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: Pray first and pray most. That every time these anxious
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: thoughts appear, we can choose either their prayer or despair.
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  Speaker 1: So choose wisely, and the Apostle urges us to be
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  Speaker 1: those who pray about everything and do so with thankful hearts,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: making our request known to God.
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  Speaker 2: If you like to fill in the blanks.
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  Speaker 1: His point is simple, pray about everything everything. What Jesus
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  Speaker 1: said to the blind man is what he is saying
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  Speaker 1: to you today, and that is simply this, what do
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  Speaker 1: you want me to do for you?
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  Speaker 2: I've always thought that was interesting.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: The blind man on the side of the road cries
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: out for help he can't see, and Jesus says, no,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: what do you want me to do for you?
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Well, everybody knows, but.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Jesus wanted to hear him articulate the specific request, and
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: he wants us to articulate our specific requests. There are
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: several reasons for this. Before I share the reason, so
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: just look at the commands in scripture that urge us
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: to be careful and pray specifically about everything. When we
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: were taught to pray by Jesus, the Lord's prayer, he said,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: pray this way, give us this day our daily bread.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: That's a very specific prayer, isn't it. Rather than make
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  Speaker 1: sure I never go hungry, give me today what I
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  Speaker 1: need to eat for today. His mother Mary did this
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  Speaker 1: when she came to him and said they have no
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: more wine. Very specific statement of the problem. The thief
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: on the cross turned to Jesus and said, remember me
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  Speaker 1: when you come into your kingdom, a very specific and
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: defined request. There was a needy man in a parable
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  Speaker 1: on prayer that Jesus told. The needy man came to
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  Speaker 1: his friend's house and said, friend, can you lend me
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: three loaves? He could have said I'm out of food,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: but he had a specific request. Even Jesus in the
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Garden of God Simony, on the night before his crucifixion, prayed, Lord,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: take this cup? What cup? This cup of suffering? Can
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: you take this cup away from me? There are pictures
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  Speaker 1: and examples in scripture of the power of specific prayer
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: telling God exactly what you need. And that is also
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: a part of what the apostle is saying here when
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: he says, in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: let your requests be made known to God. In everything
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: by prayer, there's one word by supplication. There's another word,
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  Speaker 1: with thanksgiving. I'm going to save that word for just
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: a second. Let your request be made known to God.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: So prayer, supplication, and requests three words that are very similar,
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  Speaker 1: but they're not identical. The word prayer refers to a
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  Speaker 1: standing of a posture in front of God, a recognition
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: that God is God, and I'm here to talk to him.
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  Speaker 2: It's a big word.
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  Speaker 1: It's a large canvas word. It umbrella is over anything
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  Speaker 1: that we might do in conversation with God. Supplication suggests
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: the person who is the supplicant, the one who is umble,
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  Speaker 1: who umbles himself in front of God. This might make
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  Speaker 1: us think of our posture before God. We supplicate. That
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  Speaker 1: is to say, we don't demand, or we don't walk
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  Speaker 1: into the throne room with a swagger, but we do
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  Speaker 1: acknowledge that God is God and he is our heavenly Father,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: and we come with our supplicants, our humble requests. And
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: there's the word request. And the word request is simply
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  Speaker 1: that it is a specific request. It is as specific
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  Speaker 1: as a request you might give a waiter when you
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  Speaker 1: walk into a into a restaurant. You say, Lord, this
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  Speaker 1: is exactly what I need. I am facing this challenge.
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  Speaker 1: Would you please help me?
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  Speaker 5: Now?
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  Speaker 1: Why would specific requests be helpful in our prayer lives? Well,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: I can think of two or three reasons. Number one,
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  Speaker 1: A specific prayer is a serious prayer. A specific prayer
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  Speaker 1: is a serious prayer. If I were to see you
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: today and say, hey, come over for dinner sometime. To
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  Speaker 1: be honest, I'm not expecting you to show up tonight.
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  Speaker 1: That's just a statement, right, And you're not expecting you
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  Speaker 1: to come over tonight. But if I were to say
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: to you tonight at six o'clock, we're going to be
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: cooking hamburgers out on the grill, and Denlan's whooped up
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  Speaker 1: some of that banana pudding that she makes, and it's
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  Speaker 1: really going to be good, and we're going to have
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  Speaker 1: some extra patties on the grill. I wish you'd come
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  Speaker 1: over and pray me. You should bring some soda to you.
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  Speaker 1: Why I still make that good pecan pie. Why don't
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  Speaker 1: you show up at six o'clock and we'll have a
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  Speaker 1: place for you. Here's how you get to my house.
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  Speaker 1: Here's the gatecoade. Be sure in park.
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  Speaker 2: What am I saying to you?
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  Speaker 1: This is a specific quest, This is a serious invitation.
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  Speaker 2: I really want you there. When you come.
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  Speaker 1: Before your heavenly Father and say Lord, I've got a
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  Speaker 1: anxiety about tomorrow, Well he hears you, of course. And
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  Speaker 1: remember the power of prayer really doesn't depend upon the
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  Speaker 1: way we say our prayer. But there is something wonderful
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  Speaker 1: about getting specific about the prayer so that it is
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  Speaker 1: communicated to your heavenly Father that this is seriously where
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: I need your help. So you say, Heavenly Father, tomorrow afternoon,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: Monday afternoon, at two o'clock, I'm having that meeting with
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  Speaker 1: my supervisor. And you know, she intimidates me. I know
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  Speaker 1: she doesn't mean to, and I don't know why she does.
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  Speaker 1: But every time I'm with her, I get nervous, I
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  Speaker 1: get dry mouth, and I get moist palms, and I
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  Speaker 1: lose my train of thought.
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  Speaker 2: So this time, Heavenly Father, would you go ahead of me.
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  Speaker 1: Would you do for me what you did for Joshua
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  Speaker 1: and the Jordan River and go upstream and prepare the way.
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  Speaker 1: Would you help me as I collect my thoughts? Would
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  Speaker 1: you help me to assemble my thoughts today? I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to do my part. I'm going to put my thoughts
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  Speaker 1: on an index card. I'm going to go into the
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  Speaker 1: meeting prepared. But would you, Father God, help her to
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  Speaker 1: be prepared, to to come in with a generous spirit
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  Speaker 1: and help us to have a good, clear conversation.
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  Speaker 2: My request is specifically this, would you.
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  Speaker 1: Help us to have a good conversation in which both
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  Speaker 1: of us benefit and your name is glorified. This is
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  Speaker 1: my request. Now there's a prayer that's specific, right, And
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: you know what happens when you offer a specific prayer.
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  Speaker 1: When you do that, well, then you give God a
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: chance to show off because you've asked him to do
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: a specific thing. And then when he does it, you
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: can close your eyes at the end of the day
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: and say, boy, God was involved in my day today.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: There's a beautiful picture of a specific prayer and it's
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: found in the Old Testament. And we don't have time,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: so we won't take time to retell the whole story.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: But it involves the patriarch Abraham. Abraham sent his servant
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: to pick out a wife for Isaac, Abraham's son, but
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: he didn't want a wife from that area where Abraham
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: was living. He wanted one from his home country in Mesopotamia.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: So this servant went as an ambassador for Abraham to
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: this land to pick out a wife. That's a pretty
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: amazing assignment. I mean, how do you pick out a
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: wife for someone. Well, this servant did it through prayer.
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  Speaker 2: Look what happens.
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  Speaker 1: He's in Mesopotamia and he offers this prayer, Oh Lord
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: God of my master Abraham. He prayed, please give me
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: success today and show unfailing love to my master.
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  Speaker 2: Abraham.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: See, I'm standing here beside this spring, and the young
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: women of the town are coming out to draw water.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: This is my request. I will ask one of them
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: please give me a drink from your jug. If she
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: says yes, I have a drink, and I will water
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: your camels too.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: Let her be the one you have selected as Isaac's wife.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: This is how I.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Would you call that a specific request? I mean, he said,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: here I am, Here's what I want to do. Here's
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: what I suggest. Create this dialogue, and then I will
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: know The very next verse verse says before he had
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: finished speaking, Rebecca of Beard, God honored that specific prayer.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: She said the words the servant hadn't answered prayer, and
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: he saw God at work. Specific prayer gives us an
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: opportunity to see God at work. It also gives us
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Enjoy a lighter load.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: If you wake up in the morning and say Lord
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: help me, that's wonderful, and you know God loves you
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: and he is going to help you. But if you
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: say Lord, help help me, with this and this and
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: this and this and this that I see coming up today,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: then you have created a lighter load a part of
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: my morning routine. On the days that I do it well,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: I wish I could say I do it daily. But
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: on my good days, I make a list of what
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: could be a challenge in that day, and as I'm
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: sipping on the morning coffee, I just say, Okay, Lord,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I've got this meeting at ten o'clock. Will you please
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: help me. I've got to have this assignment done by noon?
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Would you please help me? A Lord, the church is
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: going to be mad if I don't get the sermon finished.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: Would you help me finish this? Or I won't ever
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: say that, but you know what I mean. But I
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: go specifically down my to do list and I just
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: give it to God. And what I have discovered is
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: if I do that, and when I do that, I
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: carry a lighter load all day because when I since
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: that deadline coming, when I am facing it, then I remember, oh,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: but I gave that.
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  Speaker 2: To God this morning. Hmm.
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  Speaker 1: I'm thankful because He's already gone ahead of me, and
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: I can be grateful, which leads us then to the
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: second point. The Apostle says, not only pray about everything,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: but also pray with gratitude. That you can be grateful
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: as you pray. You can even have gratitude as you pray.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Think about the verse yet again, be anxious for nothing,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. There
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: it is with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: to God. See the apostle says, you can begin to
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: discover thanksgiving in the midst of your anxiety. Here we go.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Our anxiety is being replaced with a spirit of gratitude.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Wouldn't you love to give your day of anxiety over
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: to a spirit of gratitude. Well, this happens as you
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: take your anxious thoughts to God and entrust them to him.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: I used to experience this immediate gratitude in a high
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: school algebra class. I don't know what part of the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: brain is designated to help a person understand algebra, but
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: I didn't get that part of the brain.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: I just didn't. You can crack my.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Skull and look in and there's a big piece missing
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: and it says intended for algebra, and it's just not there.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: I've looked for it. I've tried to buy a piece
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: at Walmart. They don't sell them. I just didn't have it.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: And so when I was in high school algebra class,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: I would look at that textbook and I would.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: See everybody gets this. With me.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: It's like everybody was speaking Mandarin Chinese, and I just
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: couldn't get it.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: But I had this going for me.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I had a wonderful math teacher, and he made the
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: statement and offered the invitation. At the beginning of the semester.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: He said, if any of you have with a problem,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: you bring your problem to my desk. You get up
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: out of your desk and walk to my desk. By
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: the end of the semester, there was a trail in
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: the carpet between my desk and his desk, and I
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: would walk up there and I would bring my problem
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: and I would place it on his desk and he
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: would look up at me, and I would always say this,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: you promised that if we have problems, we can bring
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: them to you, and he would.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: Smile and say, yes, what's your problem?
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: And immediately I would begin to feel a sense of gratitude.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Was the problem solved? Was that part of my brain
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: restored No, But I had entrusted the problem to someone
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  Speaker 1: who knew how to solve it. You can do that
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: right now, right now. This problem that's keeping you awake
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: with this, that's it, that's taking your joy. You can
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: give that to God and immediately begin experiencing a sense
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: of gratitude because you have entrusted the problem to him
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: and he is able to save you from bearing the
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: burden for it.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: He will help you.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: Here's a principle that I think is very very helpful,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: and I hope you'll consider it as well. Find a
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: promise of God and build your prayer around it. Find
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: a promise of God and build your prayer around it.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: When I went to the algebra teacher, I would say,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: now you promised, I would remind him of his promise,
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: and then I would make a request. Many times our
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: prayer times are nothing more than complaint sessions. Oh, the
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: mortgage is too high, the neighbors are too grumpy, the
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: sermon is too long. I know you never say that,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: but for the has become complaint sessions. Wouldn't it be better,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: rather than reciting our problems, to begin rehearsing God's promises.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Remind God of his promises, Remind God of what he
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: has said, I like to start my prayers with you
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: said statements. You said there is no condemnation for those
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: who are in Christ Jesus.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: I stand on that today.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Lord, you said that all things work together for good
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: for those who love you and are called according to
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: your purpose. I'm standing on that today.
• 21:32
  Speaker 6: Lord.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: You said that no weapon formed against me shall prosper.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: You said that I'll not be a lender, not a borrower,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: but a lender. You said that you would walk me
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: through every day. You said that you'd be my shepherd.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: You said that you'd take me through the valley of
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: the shadow of death.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: So you find a promise that fits your problem. Does
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: that make sense?
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Find a promise that fits your problem, turn your attention
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: away from it and focus more on the problem. There's
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: a passage in the Old Testament that urges us to
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: do exactly this. The Old Testament prophet said, put the
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Lord in remembrance of his promises, and keep not silence.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Put the Lord in remembrance of his promises. You said
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: you would walk me through the waters. You said you
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: would lead me through the valley. You said that you
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: would never leave me or forsake me. These kind of
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: prayers activate the angels of heaven, and they touch the
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: heart of God.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: Miracles are set into motion.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: Your answer may not come overnight, but it will come,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: and in the meantime God will give you peace. If
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: a boy ten year old boy goes up to his
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: dad when his dad comes home from work and he says, hey, Dad,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: remember you said we were going to play catch when
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: you got home from work. That tells the dad two things.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Number One, the boy was listening, and the dad's integrity
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: is up for grabs. And so that dad is going
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: to say, Okay, you're right, I said it. How much
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: more will God, who wants to give you blessings, who
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: loves you, how much more will he be excited when
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: you come to him quoting to him, citing to him promises,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: and he'll smile and gladly give you exactly what you need.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: This is the promise in this wonderful parable that I'm
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: going to conclude with Out of Luke, chapter eighteen and verse.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: Two through eight. I hope you'll take time to read
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: it on your own. But it is the.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Most interesting story, very entertaining parable that Jesus told that
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: involved two characters. One is a persistent widow and the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: other is a cranky judge. Jesus says that this cranky
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: judge did not respect God or or care about people.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Can you imagine someone's life being summarized by those two phrases.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: He didn't respect God and he didn't care about people.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: He was a judge.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: He had a beautiful home up in the Hamptons. He
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: had all the money he could spend. He had a
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: chauffeur driven limousine. He lived in a gated community. He
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: had a big, old swimming pool that was shaped like
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: a dollar sign. He took all his money from the mafia.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: He didn't care about God, He didn't care about people.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: All he cared about was getting those bribes that kept
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: coming in, and so he made millions and millions of dollars.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: He was so happy.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: He didn't care about God, and he didn't.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Care about people.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: And he especially didn't care about that widow who kept
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: asking him for help. She is described as a persistent
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: widow in verse four and five. For a while, the
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: judge refused to help her, but afterwards he thought, oh,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I skipped verse three, sorry about this. In
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: that same town, there was a widow who kept coming
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: to this judge saying, give me my rights against my enemy.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: So two ends of the social system.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: A judge who's corrupt and who has a lot of money,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: a widow who has no clout and she's going broke.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: And so the widow has an enemy. I don't know
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: who it is, maybe a landlord who wants more money.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: And she comes to the judge pleading her case, and
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: she keeps asking the judge for help.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: She asked the judge for help so.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Many times that she drove this judge crazy. Now here's
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: what Jesus said. For a while, the judge refused to
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: help her. But afterwards he thought to himself, even though
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: I don't respect God or care about people, I'll see
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: that she gets her rights. Otherwise she will continue to
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: bother me until I am worn out.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: She was wearing the judge every day.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: When he showed up at work, she was sitting outside
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: his office. I need just a minute of your time.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: He ignored her. Every day when he went into the courtthouse,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: there she was sitting on the front row. He was
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: behind his bench. She held up a sign, I need
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: one minute of your time. Every day when he went
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: to lunch at Maggiano's she was waiting. She tapped him
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: on the shoulder when he sat down. I need just
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: a minute to get away from me, he said. She
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: was driving him crazy. It got so bad that he
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: would send his bodyguards ahead to get her out of
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: the way. One day, he sent bodyguards ahead to make
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: sure there was a clear path between his office and
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: his limo. And when the bodyguard said it was, he
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: ran out and he jumped in the back of the
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: limo and guess who was in there.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: He said, how'd you get there? She said, I just
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: need a minute of your time. He said, you're driving
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: me crazy.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: If I promised to do what you say, will you
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: leave me alone? And she said yes, and she pleaded
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: her case and he said I'll do something, and he said,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: now get out, and she got out. And we look
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: at this story in Luke chapter eighteen and say, what
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: in the world, why is this story in the Bible.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: There's no compassion, there's no benevolent spirit, there's no willingness
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: to help, there's just a reluctant judge.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: Well, here's the punchline to that. Parable.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Jesus said, God will always give what is right to
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: his people who cry to him night and day, he
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: will not be slow to answer them. I tell you
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: God will help his people quickly. Remember some parables are
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: parables of comparison. Others are parables of contrast comparison, like
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: the parable of the prodigal son. We are like the son.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: God is like the Father. But this is a parable
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: of contrast, in which God is not like the judge,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: and we are not like the widow. God is not
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: like the judge. Jesus is saying, He's not hesitant to help.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: He does care about people, he is mindful, he is compassionate.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Yet if that self centered judge would help people, how
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: much more would God, who is kind and gracious, whose
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: middle name is love, how much more would he help you.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: You're not the widow. You're not at the end of
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: the line. You're not at the bottom of the totem pole.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: You're not forgotten and neglected and victimized. You're a child
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: of the Almighty God. You're endwelled by the Holy Spirit
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: of God. You're destined to reign with God forever. And
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: so God will respond to you quickly, and he will
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: do exactly what is right for you. This is the
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: promise of God. And so my invitation to you is
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: simply this. Don't let it get to you. Don't let
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: it take any more sleep, don't let it take any
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: more joy, don't let it rob you of being the
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: person God has called you to be. Whenever it comes up,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: you take it immediately to God, you pray about it,
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: you leave.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: It with him. That's your part. God's part.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: We'll talk about next week. But it has something to
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: do with a peace that passes understanding.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Amen. Lord.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: This would be our prayer that whenever we sense the
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: emotion of anxiety within us, that we would quickly respond
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: in a spirit of prayer.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: And then every time that emotion comes up, we would
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: pray again.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: And if we're praying all day, that's okay with us.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: We've had enough of this despair and anxiety. Help us,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: Dear Father, to learn to be people of prayer. To Christ,
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: we pray, and all God's people said, Amen.
• 30:06
  Speaker 7: Amen.
• 31:02
  Speaker 8: And loving you alone feels so beautiful, and yet it
• 32:47
  Speaker 8: hurts the most.
• 32:52
  Speaker 5: You became a quiet supress the dream I never dared
• 32:58
  Speaker 5: to say. Every smile you gave so freely took my breath.
• 33:04
  Speaker 8: A little away.
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: I held this love like.
• 33:09
  Speaker 5: Fragile glass, so precious, soft and true, but every bit
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: inside my heart was only reaching out to you. Unspoken
• 33:22
  Speaker 5: love is sweet and painful, like honey mixed with rain
• 33:28
  Speaker 5: a tender whole by all so sadly while it slowly
• 33:34
  Speaker 5: breaks me loving you from just one side, now leave
• 33:39
  Speaker 5: my soul in silent blue. Because the deeper that I
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: fall along, the lonelier I do. I can blame my
• 33:53
  Speaker 5: heart for choosing someone it could never keep, so I smiled, hidden,
• 34:00
  Speaker 5: hearty hell love you quietly spoke.
• 34:06
  Speaker 9: In love is sweet and.
• 34:08
  Speaker 10: Painful, like honey mixed with rain a'send the whole bile
• 34:14
  Speaker 10: so tightly Wally.
• 34:17
  Speaker 9: Slowly he breaks me.
• 34:19
  Speaker 10: Loving you from just one side, now leaves my soul
• 34:24
  Speaker 10: in silence.
• 34:25
  Speaker 9: Who because the deeper that I.
• 34:28
  Speaker 6: Follow, the only I do.
• 34:50
  Speaker 9: Maybe loving you in silence.
• 34:53
  Speaker 8: It's the closest DIE can stay.
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: Though leaves behind sorrow that may.
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: Never fat away. Spoken love is sweet and painful, like
• 35:11
  Speaker 6: horney mixed with rain a tender whole, vile holes so
• 35:16
  Speaker 6: tightly Wally slowly breaks.
• 35:20
  Speaker 10: Me loving you from just one side, Now.
• 35:25
  Speaker 9: Leave my soul in silence, because the deeper that I follow,
• 35:34
  Speaker 9: the lowly
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: Her to