Latest / The OneCry Podcast / #267 Praying Like Paul: #4 Keys to Walking Worthy
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker0: Listen, if you're praying for somebody and they've stumbled and they've fallen away
- 0:06Speaker0: or they're not walking worthy, or you just don't know what— where they are,
- 0:10Speaker0: your prayers matter. They matter so much.
- 0:15Speaker0: Welcome to the One Cry Podcast, a nationwide
- 0:19Speaker0: call for spiritual awakening. The goal: accelerating the movement
- 0:24Speaker0: of God through sharing revival truth, stories, and reports.
- 0:31Speaker0: Well, welcome to the One Cry Podcast, man. We are honored
- 0:35Speaker0: that you give us some time wherever you are— drive time,
- 0:38Speaker0: maybe in your quiet time— to just really think about
- 0:42Speaker0: what it means to position ourselves in prayer for personal revival,
- 0:46Speaker0: revival wherever God has placed you, and believing for awakening. I'm Kyle
- 0:51Speaker0: Reno. Bill Elif, my spiritual buddy, man,
- 0:54Speaker0: and co-laborer in the kingdom. that God really
- 0:58Speaker0: put in his heart. And I'm just going to say, Bill, man, this series has
- 1:02Speaker0: been fantastic on learning how to pray like Paul. And I'm grateful
- 1:07Speaker0: God gave you some clarity around that. And man, these last 3
- 1:11Speaker0: weeks, just going to say this, if you just jumped in today,
- 1:14Speaker0: so glad you're in this one. They all stand alone. But I'd really encourage you
- 1:19Speaker0: go back the last 3 weeks and really lean in. And today,
- 1:23Speaker0: man, we're going to continue the conversation and we're going to jump to the book
- 1:26Speaker0: of Colossians. So Bill, man, get us moving in that direction.
- 1:29Speaker1: All right, Kyle, you know,
- 1:33Speaker1: when we planned, we just— I think the Lord gave
- 1:37Speaker1: us the idea to equip our people
- 1:41Speaker1: to be able to pray like Paul through
- 1:46Speaker1: his prayers. One man said that he
- 1:51Speaker1: can identify 43 different prayers that Paul prayed,
- 1:55Speaker1: some of them just a sentence or two,
- 1:57Speaker1: and maybe so, but these are kind of
- 2:00Speaker1: 5 of the major prayers that He prayed,
- 2:05Speaker1: and we realized that these
- 2:09Speaker1: are not just some guy, you know, flapping his gums
- 2:14Speaker1: somewhere. These are Holy Spirit,
- 2:18Speaker1: you know. Paul prayed in Ephesians 6:18,
- 2:21Speaker1: that we would pray at all times in the Spirit.
- 2:26Speaker1: And what I think that means is Spirit-initiated prayers,
- 2:30Speaker1: that real prayer starts in heaven.
- 2:33Speaker0: That's right.
- 2:33Speaker1: And it comes through us, and then we get to participate
- 2:38Speaker1: with God. We're co-laborers with God in bringing that prayer up
- 2:42Speaker1: to the throne. And Kyle, the beautiful thing about God-initiated prayer
- 2:46Speaker1: is he loves to answer.
- 2:46Speaker0: That's right.
- 2:48Speaker1: And so Paul
- 2:50Speaker1: is full of this Spirit-led
- 2:54Speaker1: prayer. And if we will take the
- 2:58Speaker1: time— and that's the key— to study these prayers
- 3:02Speaker1: and learn them, maybe memorize them,
- 3:06Speaker1: it equips us to be able to pray like Paul. I don't
- 3:10Speaker1: know about you, Kyle, but I'd like to pray like Paul.
- 3:12Speaker0: Yeah, I'm in,
- 3:13Speaker0: bro.
- 3:14Speaker1: And one of the things you got to realize, though,
- 3:17Speaker1: is he prayed without ceasing. I mean, he says, I'm constantly praying.
- 3:21Speaker1: I'm always praying. I'm praying night and day for you.
- 3:25Speaker1: And this prayer in Colossians 1,
- 3:28Speaker1: beginning in verse 9, going down, it's just about
- 3:32Speaker1: 4 verses, verse 9 through 12.
- 3:36Speaker1: He prays that they would walk worthy
- 3:41Speaker1: of Christ. So let's think
- 3:44Speaker1: about this for a minute before we walk through it. If you have somebody
- 3:50Speaker1: that is walking unworthily of Christ,
- 3:55Speaker1: maybe they know Christ. It's, it's a
- 3:58Speaker1: relative, it's a friend, it's a neighbor that knows
- 4:02Speaker1: Christ. But something is happening and they're not walking worthy
- 4:07Speaker1: of Christ. By the way, the context of this passage In the next
- 4:11Speaker1: verses is the greatest passage in all the Bible
- 4:14Speaker1: on the supremacy of Christ, who he is and what
- 4:18Speaker1: he's done. So Paul is saying, look at Jesus. Now,
- 4:22Speaker1: what I'm praying for you is that you would live, you would
- 4:26Speaker1: walk worthy of this. That doesn't mean that we're perfect. That doesn't mean we deserve
- 4:31Speaker1: anything. It means that we want to glorify Christ the best
- 4:35Speaker1: that we possibly can. and people need help in that,
- 4:39Speaker1: it's going to come through your prayers. So look what he
- 4:43Speaker1: says beginning in verse 9. He said,
- 4:46Speaker1: for this reason— this is Colossians 1— for
- 4:51Speaker1: this reason also, since the day we heard of it— here it is
- 4:54Speaker1: again, Cal— we have not ceased to
- 4:59Speaker1: pray. We just hadn't let up. This is the thing about Paul,
- 5:02Speaker1: he was a bulldog.
- 5:04Speaker0: Yeah.
- 5:04Speaker1: You got on his prayer list,
- 5:05Speaker1: you never got off, right? We have not ceased
- 5:10Speaker1: to pray, and look how personal, for you.
- 5:14Speaker1: We're praying for you, and he calls them by name later
- 5:18Speaker1: in these books, right? I'm praying for you.
- 5:21Speaker1: I'm praying for you. I'm praying for this gal and the church that meets
- 5:26Speaker1: in her house, on and on, and to ask
- 5:29Speaker1: That you would be— and look at these 2 things— filled
- 5:34Speaker1: with the knowledge of his will and
- 5:37Speaker1: all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
- 5:41Speaker1: Now just stop right there. Paul prayed,
- 5:46Speaker1: you need to know God's will.
- 5:49Speaker0: That's right.
- 5:52Speaker1: How many of us,
- 5:54Speaker1: if you have a question, you know, Kyle,
- 5:57Speaker1: I've pastored in college towns, and invariably,
- 6:01Speaker1: if I see some college student coming towards me through
- 6:05Speaker1: those years, they were going to ask me something about the will of God.
- 6:08Speaker0: Hmm.
- 6:08Speaker1: What should I major in? What should I do? Should I marry
- 6:11Speaker1: this girl? You know, what should I think about this?
- 6:14Speaker1: Well, they need to know God's will. They need to know
- 6:18Speaker1: the will of God, the desire of God.
- 6:23Speaker1: We know our will and it's selfish and messed
- 6:28Speaker1: up. We know Satan's will. We know the world's will,
- 6:32Speaker1: what it wants, what its desire is. But Paul
- 6:35Speaker1: said, I'm praying, and not that
- 6:38Speaker1: you would just know it, that you'd be filled with it.
- 6:41Speaker0: That's right.
- 6:43Speaker1: You'd just be filled with a
- 6:46Speaker1: knowledge of his will. in all spiritual wisdom.
- 6:50Speaker1: He talked about that, prayed for that a lot. In all spiritual
- 6:54Speaker1: wisdom and the depth of understanding.
- 6:58Speaker1: So you really know what God wants
- 7:02Speaker1: so that something would happen.
- 7:06Speaker0: Hmm.
- 7:07Speaker1: Now, whenever you see so that in the
- 7:10Speaker1: Bible, there's a reason. In other words,
- 7:14Speaker1: he says, this is this so that. So he says, I'm praying that
- 7:19Speaker1: you would be filled up with all the knowledge and wisdom
- 7:23Speaker1: of God's will so that— and here it is,
- 7:27Speaker1: verse 10— you will walk in a manner worthy
- 7:32Speaker1: of the Lord. Number 2, you will please him
- 7:35Speaker1: in all respects. Number 3, You will
- 7:39Speaker1: bear fruit in every good work. And number 4,
- 7:43Speaker1: you will increase in the true knowledge
- 7:47Speaker1: of God.
- 7:48Speaker0: Wow.
- 7:48Speaker1: Oh my goodness, Kyle.
- 7:50Speaker0: So rich.
- 7:51Speaker1: Well, it's just so rich.
- 7:54Speaker0: Well, you know what I love?
- 7:55Speaker1: You're worthy. Please him in all respects.
- 7:58Speaker1: Bear fruit in every good work and increase in
- 8:02Speaker1: the knowledge of God.
- 8:04Speaker0: Yeah, well, something to really take note of,
- 8:06Speaker0: to slow down. It's just reminding me and patterns of
- 8:09Speaker0: prayer. You know, Paul is, is teaching us yet again because this
- 8:14Speaker0: is the Holy Spirit working in Paul in such a way to pray for
- 8:18Speaker0: a church that God loves. And Paul doesn't merely
- 8:22Speaker0: say, hey, praying for you.
- 8:23Speaker1: Yeah.
- 8:24Speaker0: He goes, I'm praying for
- 8:26Speaker0: you and I am praying these things for you.
- 8:29Speaker0: And I'm praying. Yeah, I am praying in this way. And each one
- 8:33Speaker0: of those ways is a whole vein of praying,
- 8:37Speaker0: you know, he's— I— and, and take— and we need to take note of this.
- 8:40Speaker0: There's consistent things that pray— that Paul prayed for every one
- 8:44Speaker0: of these churches.
- 8:44Speaker1: Yeah.
- 8:45Speaker0: He prayed for them that they'd have knowledge,
- 8:48Speaker0: that they would know what God knows, be able to discern what God
- 8:52Speaker0: is doing, to have wisdom that is not of this
- 8:56Speaker0: world. And he's like— and, and here— and what I'm gonna tell you, what Paul
- 8:59Speaker0: shows us, because he says he does it without ceasing, This is not a
- 9:03Speaker0: pray at one time kind of thing. Yeah, this is, this is a
- 9:07Speaker0: continually praying that you would know what the
- 9:10Speaker0: will of God is, continually praying you have the wisdom
- 9:14Speaker0: of God, continually praying that you'd have understanding
- 9:18Speaker0: in this because you're going to need it tomorrow in a way that you
- 9:22Speaker0: don't need it today. You're going to need it in the next season.
- 9:25Speaker1: You know, what you're saying is so is so
- 9:29Speaker1: important for our learning.
- 9:31Speaker0: Yeah.
- 9:32Speaker1: If you look
- 9:33Speaker1: at all of Paul's books, they have usually 2 halves.
- 9:38Speaker1: The first half, like in the book of Ephesians,
- 9:42Speaker1: it will say, boy, look what God has done for you.
- 9:45Speaker1: Praise God. And then the second half is now.
- 9:49Speaker1: So I'm telling you that so that Romans,
- 9:53Speaker1: first 4 chapters, this is what God has done for you in salvation.
- 9:57Speaker1: Therefore, chapter 5, this is the way you're supposed to
- 10:01Speaker1: live. He does this over and over again. I've never thought about it, Kyle,
- 10:04Speaker1: but he even does that in his prayers.
- 10:06Speaker0: Hmm.
- 10:07Speaker1: He starts
- 10:08Speaker1: out with his thanksgiving, praise. I'm praying
- 10:11Speaker1: for this for you, but so
- 10:15Speaker1: that this behavior might
- 10:18Speaker1: be in your life. And here he says,
- 10:22Speaker1: I'm praying that you would You would— you'd grow
- 10:26Speaker1: up. You'd begin to walk worthy. There's more in you,
- 10:29Speaker1: bud. There's more that you can be experiencing.
- 10:34Speaker1: And, you know, Kyle, I've prayed this prayer many,
- 10:39Speaker1: many— I don't know how many times. Lord, may this please
- 10:43Speaker1: you.
- 10:43Speaker0: That's right.
- 10:44Speaker1: So often I'll come to worship service and
- 10:47Speaker1: I say, Lord, all we want from this worship moment is
- 10:51Speaker1: at the end of the day for you to say, that really
- 10:54Speaker1: pleased me.
- 10:55Speaker0: That's right.
- 10:56Speaker1: That was exactly what I wanted
- 10:58Speaker1: to have happen. That's what he's praying for the Colossians,
- 11:02Speaker1: that you walk worthy on your everyday walk and
- 11:06Speaker1: that you would please him in every respect.
- 11:10Speaker1: Yeah, there'd be no place where the Lord says, oh, whoa,
- 11:13Speaker1: whoa, whoa, I don't— that's— that grieves me.
- 11:17Speaker1: But you would just more and more— that doesn't happen overnight,
- 11:21Speaker1: does it? But you would— God would be pleased in
- 11:25Speaker1: all respects, and their lives would start to bear fruit.
- 11:29Speaker1: And as they bear fruit, they're seeing God, and they're going to increase
- 11:33Speaker1: in the knowledge of God.
- 11:35Speaker0: Well, just to back up and build
- 11:36Speaker0: and just look at it, man, for a second, like, I think often— and
- 11:41Speaker0: you said it so correctly, ministering in a college town for
- 11:45Speaker0: years— when the college-age guy or girl's coming towards you and they got a question
- 11:49Speaker0: and that they want to know the will of God many times in light of
- 11:52Speaker0: some major decision. You know, this— should I marry this guy,
- 11:56Speaker0: this girl? Should I pick this degree type, that? Should I
- 12:00Speaker0: go this? And hey, I'm— and God does care about all
- 12:03Speaker0: those things.
- 12:04Speaker1: Yeah.
- 12:04Speaker0: And he does. But what I think Paul's speaking
- 12:07Speaker0: to here is like, I want you to know the will of God for your
- 12:10Speaker0: everyday life.
- 12:12Speaker1: Right.
- 12:12Speaker0: I want you to know, I want you to know what I'm
- 12:15Speaker0: praying is that you would know what things to move away from and
- 12:20Speaker0: to move toward.
- 12:21Speaker1: Right.
- 12:23Speaker0: In light of your
- 12:23Speaker0: purity, in light of your holiness, in light
- 12:27Speaker0: of, in light of picking better missional moments
- 12:31Speaker0: and things that will matter a million years from now, for you to not feed
- 12:35Speaker0: your flesh but to feed your spirit. And he said, I want God
- 12:38Speaker0: to make that because it's, you know, we think big
- 12:43Speaker0: moments and I love them, grateful for them, big decisions.
- 12:46Speaker0: Yeah, but the everyday walk of
- 12:50Speaker0: a follower of Christ is what is going to make the greatest declaration.
- 12:54Speaker1: Please him in all respects. And, you know, David,
- 12:58Speaker1: David prayed, Lord, let me know your ways.
- 13:02Speaker1: And Moses prayed the same exact same prayer. Let me
- 13:05Speaker1: know your ways. The Bible talks about the ways, the will
- 13:09Speaker1: of God, the way. So, so just
- 13:13Speaker1: think if, if, if a parent spent the next
- 13:17Speaker1: 18 years every day praying
- 13:21Speaker1: these 4 things for their child.
- 13:24Speaker0: Mm-hmm.
- 13:25Speaker1: That, Lord, I want them to know your— the knowledge
- 13:28Speaker1: of your will. I want to know the way you operate So much so,
- 13:32Speaker1: like you're saying, Kyle, so much so that it's not just in the big
- 13:36Speaker1: decisions. When we come to the big decisions, it's no problem because
- 13:41Speaker1: we've been walking with him all along and we just know God.
- 13:44Speaker0: Yeah.
- 13:44Speaker1: We just know God wouldn't do that. God operates like this.
- 13:48Speaker1: And we're easily led by God because we've
- 13:53Speaker1: been walking in his will and walking in his,
- 13:57Speaker1: ways, and the— and we're increasing in knowing God.
- 14:02Speaker1: We just know God better. And so we know how to walk with him
- 14:06Speaker1: and walk in a manner that's really worthy.
- 14:09Speaker0: And he's
- 14:10Speaker0: praying it. He is praying it. Just to double down here, Paul is saying,
- 14:14Speaker0: I am praying for you, church, that the way in which you
- 14:17Speaker0: live would be worthy of the name of Jesus.
- 14:20Speaker0: It'd be worthy that, that people would watch your walk
- 14:24Speaker0: and go, Man, that makes me think about Jesus. You know,
- 14:28Speaker0: the old coach part, you know, in me, you know, is the,
- 14:33Speaker0: hey, your name on the back of the jersey doesn't matter as much as the
- 14:37Speaker0: name on the front of your jersey.
- 14:38Speaker1: You know, like, you know, you've seen a
- 14:41Speaker1: guy that's a really
- 14:44Speaker1: godly man.
- 14:46Speaker0: Yeah.
- 14:47Speaker1: And boy, everybody thinks
- 14:49Speaker1: so highly of him. And then for whatever reason, there can be a lot
- 14:53Speaker1: of ways this happens. But here's
- 14:56Speaker1: a son that just is a prodigal and just
- 15:00Speaker1: takes off and lives a profligate life
- 15:04Speaker1: over here. And, you know,
- 15:08Speaker1: you're not trying to make him like his dad,
- 15:12Speaker1: but he ought to walk worthy.
- 15:14Speaker0: Yeah.
- 15:14Speaker1: You know, of what
- 15:15Speaker1: he's received. And, and but even more than
- 15:18Speaker1: that, that's kind of a weak illustration. But here's the
- 15:23Speaker1: Lord Jesus Christ, supreme above all. And we're not
- 15:27Speaker1: going to walk perfect. He didn't say walk perfect. He said,
- 15:30Speaker1: just walk worthy.
- 15:31Speaker0: Yeah.
- 15:32Speaker1: Just give it a shot.
- 15:34Speaker1: I mean, just stay on the road.
- 15:36Speaker0: Yeah.
- 15:36Speaker1: And in
- 15:37Speaker1: order to do that, here's what I'm praying for you, that you'll have all knowledge
- 15:41Speaker1: of God's will and all wisdom and understanding.
- 15:45Speaker1: And that you can walk in that worthy way.
- 15:49Speaker1: And then, Kyle, in verse 11 and 12,
- 15:53Speaker1: in this prayer, somebody might say, well, I don't
- 15:57Speaker1: know if that prayer is going to work.
- 16:00Speaker1: I don't know if that can happen in my life. What does
- 16:04Speaker1: he tell us? How does he pray for them for
- 16:08Speaker1: this worthy walk? That they would have what they needed
- 16:12Speaker1: To really do that.
- 16:13Speaker0: Mm-hmm. Yeah. May you be strengthened
- 16:16Speaker0: with all power according to his glorious
- 16:20Speaker0: might for all endurance and patience with
- 16:24Speaker0: joy, giving thanks to the Father. This is awesome. Now,
- 16:28Speaker0: who has qualified you to share in the
- 16:31Speaker0: inheritance of the saints in light? He has delivered us from
- 16:36Speaker0: the domain of darkness and delivered us and transferred
- 16:40Speaker0: us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, to whom we have redemption for the
- 16:44Speaker0: forgiveness of sin. Amen. Like he says,
- 16:48Speaker0: he says, all right, so let me just make, make sure you understand how this
- 16:52Speaker0: is even possible to walk in a manner worthy.
- 16:56Speaker0: It's because of his— it's interesting, Bill, and as we're
- 17:00Speaker0: doing this, he says again, he says might
- 17:04Speaker0: And here, glory again, this glorious,
- 17:07Speaker0: this weight of God, the strength of
- 17:11Speaker0: God that is available to us to give us the endurance to
- 17:16Speaker0: do it all over again tomorrow.
- 17:17Speaker1: Yeah. Steadfastness.
- 17:19Speaker0: Steadfastness. Yeah. I heard a guy say one time,
- 17:23Speaker0: it was just so good. The hardest part of the Christian life is that it's
- 17:27Speaker0: just so daily.
- 17:29Speaker1: Yeah.
- 17:29Speaker0: Yeah. And I thought,
- 17:30Speaker0: boy, that is a great statement. And so what you need
- 17:34Speaker0: is you need that everyday endurance, that every day
- 17:38Speaker0: that God is saying— so Paul's saying, hey, I'm praying for you that
- 17:42Speaker0: God's glory, God's might might be displayed
- 17:46Speaker0: in your worthy walk because,
- 17:49Speaker0: because he has qualified you.
- 17:53Speaker1: Well,
- 17:53Speaker1: and look at this. He says, I pray that
- 17:57Speaker1: you would do that and you'd have this power and might,
- 18:01Speaker1: that you would attain 3 things: steadfastness,
- 18:06Speaker1: patience, and joyously giving thanks.
- 18:08Speaker0: Hmm.
- 18:09Speaker1: So in other words, while you're on this walk worthy,
- 18:13Speaker1: you got to stay on the walk. You got to be patient
- 18:17Speaker1: with all the, the dips and turns
- 18:20Speaker1: and obstacles. You can't just Give up. You just got to keep
- 18:25Speaker1: patiently, steadfastly going. But it's not— it's
- 18:29Speaker1: not, Kyle, just gritting your teeth. Yeah, it's joyously
- 18:33Speaker1: giving thanks to God.
- 18:34Speaker0: Amen.
- 18:35Speaker1: I mean, that all along the way,
- 18:36Speaker1: people look at you and they say, why is that guy so happy? He just
- 18:39Speaker1: stays on the path, man. I tell you, Kyle,
- 18:42Speaker1: you and I know some men that were
- 18:47Speaker1: men that walked worthy all the way to their death.
- 18:51Speaker0: That's right.
- 18:52Speaker1: And you look at them even towards their death,
- 18:56Speaker1: they were steadfastly walking. They were
- 19:00Speaker1: patiently walking, even when you just wanted to
- 19:04Speaker1: be impatient and give up. And even in their final breaths, they were joyously
- 19:09Speaker1: giving thanks to the Lord because they know
- 19:13Speaker1: that it was him who had qualified them To have an
- 19:17Speaker1: inheritance with the saints in the light. And, you know,
- 19:21Speaker1: it's fascinating, Kyle. I'd like to
- 19:24Speaker1: go back and study how many times in
- 19:28Speaker1: his prayer Paul reminds them of their inheritance.
- 19:32Speaker0: Yeah.
- 19:33Speaker1: In other words, look, you're not somebody that doesn't have
- 19:36Speaker1: anything now. And, you know, you're not somebody that
- 19:40Speaker1: doesn't have stuff tomorrow. And you're not somebody that's not
- 19:45Speaker1: going to have something in the future. So just stay at it.
- 19:48Speaker0: Right.
- 19:49Speaker1: And I'm praying that you will comprehend the
- 19:53Speaker1: riches of your inheritance with
- 19:57Speaker1: the saints in the light.
- 19:58Speaker0: Well, it ends with this and we'll pray it in,
- 20:00Speaker0: Bill. He ends this thought with,
- 20:03Speaker0: hey, don't forget, he has delivered us from
- 20:07Speaker0: the domain of darkness. to the kingdom of his beloved Son. And so
- 20:11Speaker0: he's like, hey, we're already on the march.
- 20:15Speaker0: Like, he's moved us from— we were slaves,
- 20:19Speaker0: now we're sons and daughters. Like, we were dead, now we're alive.
- 20:23Speaker0: And you know, you've heard me say this 100 times, when the Lord helped me
- 20:27Speaker0: understand sanctification—
- 20:29Speaker1: Right.
- 20:31Speaker0: It's that sanctification is just when you're— When
- 20:35Speaker0: your identity becomes your reality.
- 20:38Speaker1: Yeah.
- 20:39Speaker0: Like, and then, hey, that I am identified with
- 20:42Speaker0: Christ. So in light of that, in my real life,
- 20:46Speaker0: I'm going to follow him.
- 20:47Speaker1: Yeah. Live it out.
- 20:49Speaker1: Work out your salvation.
- 20:51Speaker0: Right. I didn't, I didn't start
- 20:52Speaker0: this, uh, but I, but I am now called to cooperate.
- 20:57Speaker1: Yeah.
- 20:57Speaker0: Yeah.
- 20:58Speaker1: And to walk worthy, to really I mean,
- 21:00Speaker1: walking worthy is a— you're not trying to,
- 21:04Speaker1: again, to appease him somehow.
- 21:09Speaker1: You just— I want to walk worthy.
- 21:12Speaker0: Yeah,
- 21:12Speaker0: right.
- 21:12Speaker1: I mean, what's the alternative? Walking like a
- 21:16Speaker1: scumbag? What's the— missing God's best?
- 21:20Speaker0: Yeah.
- 21:20Speaker1: Living a miserable life, missing my destiny
- 21:24Speaker1: in life, not knowing his will. That's the alternative.
- 21:27Speaker0: Yeah.
- 21:27Speaker1: And so
- 21:28Speaker1: I want you to know his will so that you can
- 21:31Speaker1: walk worthy and please the Lord in all respects.
- 21:36Speaker1: What a prayer.
- 21:37Speaker0: Amen.
- 21:38Speaker1: What a prayer. I tell you,
- 21:40Speaker1: if one time I took this passage and I
- 21:43Speaker1: pulled out 8 things and I was discipling
- 21:48Speaker1: a group of 100 men and I just said, look guys, if you will
- 21:52Speaker1: take these 8 things in this passage And,
- 21:56Speaker1: and just pray them every day for your kids.
- 22:00Speaker1: You're good. Okay. I promise
- 22:03Speaker1: you, they're good and they're going to be good because you have interceded.
- 22:08Speaker1: And intercession, the prayer— people don't
- 22:12Speaker1: realize, Cal, is our prayers can
- 22:16Speaker1: bring heaven to earth.
- 22:18Speaker0: Amen.
- 22:19Speaker1: The kingdom of
- 22:19Speaker1: God can come in my child's life. And his
- 22:23Speaker1: will— there it is, that word again— his will be
- 22:27Speaker1: done on earth as it's right now being done in
- 22:31Speaker1: the halls of heaven. And that's, and that's what we need.
- 22:34Speaker0: So I'll tell
- 22:35Speaker0: you this, let me tell you this story to build our faith, and we'll pray
- 22:38Speaker0: again. So this last Sunday, Bill, this last Sunday,
- 22:43Speaker0: uh, I can't get into all the story, but man, we had a young college-age
- 22:47Speaker0: girl that came to saving faith in Christ in a just
- 22:52Speaker0: demonstrative way. She was so overwhelmed, so broke, sobbing. I could see
- 22:56Speaker0: her and, and had long journeyed to
- 23:01Speaker0: come to this point where she'd come to know Christ. So we have some ladies
- 23:04Speaker0: that's counseling her and she's coming to Christ. And then I had—
- 23:08Speaker0: then it's simultaneous, unknown, these things interchange.
- 23:12Speaker0: Her father is at our Next Steps
- 23:16Speaker0: Center who's turning in a prayer card for his daughter.
- 23:21Speaker1: Oh my goodness, for the daughter that got saved?
- 23:23Speaker0: That got saved.
- 23:24Speaker1: Prior service. Wow.
- 23:26Speaker0: He is turning it in saying, I need
- 23:28Speaker0: people to pray. To stand there to see his daughter come
- 23:32Speaker0: out from being counseled, him being unaware of
- 23:36Speaker0: that, he is by faith holding a prayer card.
- 23:40Speaker0: Or, and has been praying. And I'm like,
- 23:43Speaker0: it's like the Lord's like, hey, I'm gonna go and answer that one. Uh,
- 23:46Speaker0: right.
- 23:47Speaker1: Yeah, yeah.
- 23:48Speaker0: No, and I just thought how many prayers
- 23:50Speaker0: in the moment it had have been stored up in heaven.
- 23:54Speaker0: He was praying for his— so I say that to say, man, listen, if you're
- 23:58Speaker0: praying for somebody and they've stumbled and they've fallen away, or they're not walking
- 24:01Speaker0: worthy, or you just don't know where, where they are Your
- 24:05Speaker0: prayers matter. They matter so much.
- 24:11Speaker1: Well, this is so rich because it's
- 24:15Speaker1: straight from God's Word and from the heart of the greatest apostle.
- 24:19Speaker1: And so we're going to pray to him for just a moment before we close.
- 24:22Speaker1: And we want you to join us in that prayer.
- 24:25Speaker1: And we'll begin in Colossians 1:9.
- 24:31Speaker1: we pray along with Paul,
- 24:35Speaker1: because since the day we heard of it, we— Lord,
- 24:39Speaker1: help us not to cease to pray for people.
- 24:42Speaker0: Yeah.
- 24:43Speaker1: I started to say we have not ceased,
- 24:45Speaker1: but Lord, we have ceased at times. And I pray that you would make
- 24:50Speaker1: us intercessors that just don't give up, that we're like an
- 24:54Speaker1: intercessory bulldog on behalf of people.
- 24:58Speaker1: We won't let go. We won't cease to pray for people.
- 25:02Speaker1: And Lord, I pray for our listeners that
- 25:06Speaker1: they would be filled, not just a little
- 25:10Speaker1: dab of this, but they would be filled to overflowing with
- 25:14Speaker1: the knowledge of God's will,
- 25:17Speaker1: that they would know what God wants. Some are listening
- 25:21Speaker1: today and they got some big decisions in front of them.
- 25:25Speaker0: Mm-hmm.
- 25:26Speaker1: Some are listening today and they don't
- 25:29Speaker1: even realize what they've— the decisions and the
- 25:33Speaker1: choices they have to make before the end of the day about your will.
- 25:36Speaker1: Lord, I pray they'd be filled with the knowledge of your will and all wisdom
- 25:41Speaker1: and understanding, just filled with it. Lord, we pray for our children.
- 25:45Speaker1: We pray for our grandchildren that they would be filled
- 25:50Speaker1: with the knowledge of your will.
- 25:53Speaker1: They would know what God wants and then give them the
- 25:57Speaker1: grace and the power and the strength to fulfill it so that
- 26:03Speaker1: they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, that their lives
- 26:07Speaker1: would step up to their destiny, that their— the
- 26:12Speaker1: truth about them would become the reality about them,
- 26:15Speaker1: as Kyle said. And they would please you in
- 26:19Speaker1: all respects. Bearing fruit in
- 26:23Speaker1: every good work. Lord, we want our lives to be fruitful.
- 26:27Speaker1: We don't want to come to the end of our life and say, well,
- 26:30Speaker1: that didn't amount to much. And so, Father, we pray in the
- 26:33Speaker1: name of Christ for all of our listeners today, that they would bear fruit
- 26:38Speaker1: in every good work and increase every
- 26:42Speaker1: time they see good works done and a worthy
- 26:46Speaker1: walk. Lord, They just increase more in the knowledge
- 26:50Speaker1: of God, and they know you more and more and better and
- 26:54Speaker1: better. And Lord, you alone can
- 26:58Speaker1: provide that power. Kyle, just pray us
- 27:02Speaker1: on in.
- 27:03Speaker0: Yeah, Lord. So we thank you that all
- 27:06Speaker0: of this is possible because your word said that you have qualified
- 27:11Speaker0: us in Christ, that you have Transferred us
- 27:14Speaker0: from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of your beloved Son.
- 27:19Speaker0: So I pray for our listeners, Lord, for a great confidence no matter what's
- 27:23Speaker0: ahead, whatever step that you are even disclosing
- 27:27Speaker0: to them now, Lord, in whatever way that you would
- 27:31Speaker0: want them to walk differently into the future, that, that the power
- 27:35Speaker0: is possible because you've already accomplished it.
- 27:38Speaker1: Amen.
- 27:38Speaker0: That you've
- 27:39Speaker0: already provided it. We are yours. And so I,
- 27:42Speaker0: I pray that you would give us confidence in
- 27:46Speaker0: the finished work of Jesus Christ, and because of that,
- 27:49Speaker0: we would glorify your name. And we pray this in Jesus'
- 27:53Speaker0: name. Amen.
- 27:54Speaker1: Amen. Amen.
- 27:56Speaker1: Well, Kyle, you got some homework for us before we go?
- 28:00Speaker0: Yeah, bro, every week. I'm telling you, take your medicine. And when,
- 28:05Speaker0: when you walk away from here today Pray this in. I'm gonna tell
- 28:08Speaker0: you something, Bill. I was gonna share this earlier, and I'll share this with our
- 28:11Speaker0: listeners. As we've— in the course of us recording these, I got a,
- 28:15Speaker0: uh, just a spiritual journey ahead of me. I feel like the Lord's calling me
- 28:19Speaker0: to just new places in prayer, and I'm setting aside some days. And, uh,
- 28:23Speaker0: and I'll tell you what the Lord has said to me. I'm, I'm gonna,
- 28:26Speaker0: I'm gonna pray in, uh, these passages for a set
- 28:30Speaker0: number of days. And so I, I, I've committed it to
- 28:35Speaker0: to the Lord, even in my heart I have. And so I'm saying it to
- 28:39Speaker0: you guys as well. My encouragement, take just the next 7
- 28:42Speaker0: days and pray these passages in Colossians and slow
- 28:47Speaker0: down with it.
- 28:48Speaker1: Yeah.
- 28:49Speaker0: Sit with them, and the Lord
- 28:51Speaker0: will hear you and move in your life and in the life
- 28:54Speaker0: of others. I know it's been an encouragement to you, so if it has been,
- 28:58Speaker0: share it with somebody else as well.
- 29:01Speaker1: And,
- 29:01Speaker1: you know, Kyle, I say one other thing to add to that.
- 29:08Speaker1: People might be surprised at this. I don't think so. But when I
- 29:12Speaker1: read the Word in the morning, I don't— my goal is not to
- 29:16Speaker1: read every chapter on my list. My goal is to
- 29:20Speaker1: meet with God. And I may get 2 verses into
- 29:25Speaker1: that study.
- 29:26Speaker0: Yeah.
- 29:27Speaker1: And God shows up and I'm there for the next
- 29:29Speaker1: hour. And so your goal
- 29:33Speaker1: is to slow down and learn how to pray.
- 29:39Speaker1: And don't ever say— now listen carefully— we
- 29:44Speaker1: have taken away the excuse, if you've listened these last few weeks, for you
- 29:48Speaker1: to ever say, well, nobody ever taught me how to pray.
- 29:51Speaker0: That's right.
- 29:53Speaker1: You can't say that anymore. And you can't
- 29:57Speaker1: say it anyway because we have it right there in black and white. Probably got
- 30:00Speaker1: 10 Bibles in your house. So let's
- 30:05Speaker1: walk worthy—
- 30:06Speaker0: That's right.
- 30:07Speaker1: Of this high calling to be
- 30:08Speaker1: an intercessor for the kingdom, because prayer can
- 30:13Speaker1: do whatever God can do, and prayer really pleases
- 30:17Speaker1: him. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next