Latest / CCC West Covina / The Model Life: Adoration, Part 3

Transcript

The Model Life: Adoration, Part 3 · CCC West Covina

0:00
Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to the 17th
0:03
verse of the 5th chapter of the first book of Thessalonians.
0:10
We are literally going verse by verse as we conclude our study
0:15
of this great epistle, this great letter to the Church of
0:20
Thessalonica. We spent two weeks on verse #16
0:26
which says rejoice always. We'll spend two weeks on this
0:31
verse, pray without ceasing, and then we'll probably spend at
0:36
least two weeks on in everything, give thanks for this
0:40
is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
0:47
And why are we doing that? It's many because it's all about
0:50
the model life of 1 of adoration.
0:54
The Lord is seeking true worshippers, those who adore
0:58
Him, those whose affection is completely his, who want to
1:03
truly worship Him in spirit and in truth, and requires that
1:08
number one, we be joyful #2 we be prayerful and #3 we be
1:16
thankful. And for the most part, we have
1:21
joy. We pray and we give thanks.
1:27
The problem is, is that we're asked to do it always, that is
1:33
rejoicing and pray without ceasing and to give thanks and
1:39
everything. That's the problem.
1:43
How do we actually do that? And so we, we spent a couple of
1:45
weeks looking at what it means to to rejoice always and how you
1:49
can actually rejoice in every situation in circumstance
1:52
because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1:57
This trilogy of being joyful, being prayerful, and being
2:01
thankful is a trilogy that is the will of God for your life.
2:06
This is God's desire for you. The life of adoration to the
2:12
King, living for the glory and honor of his name, learning to
2:17
rejoice always, to pray without ceasing.
2:23
What on earth does that even mean?
2:25
How do you do that? Do you live a life of
2:28
uninterrupted prayer, walking around with your eyes closed
2:32
wherever you go? What does it mean to pray
2:34
without ceasing? It deals more with the attitude
2:42
than the ACT. The attitude that is conscious
2:48
of God's presence at all times. It's, it's an attitude that
2:58
signifies I never give up when it comes to prayer, that I pray
3:07
always without ceasing, never giving up simply because I am
3:16
conscious of the presence of God in my life, in my family, in my
3:26
work, everywhere. And so my attitude is always
3:32
directed upward toward God. Prayer is is a foreign land to a
3:45
lot of us. When Arthur said it this way, he
3:49
says prayer is like a foreign land.
3:52
When we go there, we go as tourists.
3:57
Like most tourists, we feel uncomfortable and out of place.
4:05
Like most tourists. We therefore move on before too
4:09
long and go somewhere else that that signifies most of our
4:15
prayers. It it's a foreign land to us to
4:20
sit and to pray and to commune with the living God.
4:23
Sometimes it's so foreign to us that we act as tourists.
4:26
We can't wait to get out of there and move on to someplace
4:30
else or something else, and that's unfortunate, The great
4:37
theologian Leon Morris said. We are to live in the spirit of
4:42
prayer, realizing our dependence on God for all we have and all
4:48
that we are, being conscious of his presence with us wherever we
4:55
may be, yielding ourselves continually to Him to do His
5:03
will. Those who pray without ceasing,
5:07
living in constant communion with God, notice this about our
5:18
Lord. Take your Bible and turn with me
5:22
to the Gospel of Luke, the third chapter.
5:29
You need to note that prayer is what commenced the other worldly
5:38
ministry of Jesus. We call it the other worldly
5:45
ministry because He He came down from above.
5:49
He came down from a perfect world to a sinful world, and so
5:56
prayer would would commence his other worldly ministry.
6:01
Luke 3 verse 21. Now when all the people were
6:04
baptized, Jesus was also baptized.
6:08
And while he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit
6:14
descended upon him in in bodily form like a dove, and a voice
6:19
came out of heaven. You are my beloved Son, and you
6:22
I am well pleased. You will note that that prayer
6:27
commenced the otherworldly ministry of of Christ.
6:34
You will also know that prayer is that which characterized the
6:39
daily ministry of Christ. Just turn over, if you would,
6:44
your Bible to the 5th chapter of Luke says in verse #16 But Jesus
6:53
himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
7:01
What a statement. Not only did prayer commence the
7:07
otherworldly ministry of Christ, but prayer was that which
7:13
characterized the daily ministry of Christ.
7:17
Just read through the the Gospel of Luke which emphasizes the
7:22
humanity of deity and to recognize how often Christ was
7:26
slipping away to be by himself to pray.
7:36
You will also note that prayer is that one thing that
7:42
consummated His earthly ministry.
7:49
If it commenced His otherworldly ministry and characterized His
7:53
daily ministry, then it consummated His earthly
8:00
ministry. All you have to do is read John
8:02
17, which is truly the Lord's Prayer on the eve of His
8:08
crucifixion. All you have to do is examine
8:12
His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was
8:16
crucified. All you have to do is listen to
8:19
his words on the cross. Father, forgive them, for they
8:22
know not what they are doing. My God, my God, why has thou
8:25
forsaken me? Father, into your hands I
8:27
commend my spirit. Prayer was which which
8:30
consummated his his earthly ministry.
8:34
And then in Luke 24 at the end before His ascension, He lifted
8:37
up his hands and begin to bless and pray for his disciples.
8:43
But not only did did prayer commence His otherworldly
8:47
ministry and characterize His daily ministry and consummate
8:51
His earthly ministry, you need to know that prayer constitutes
9:01
His heavenly ministry. Hebrews Chapter 7 verse #28 I'm
9:11
sorry. Hebrew 7 1st #25 Therefore he is
9:18
able also to say forever those who draw near to God through
9:22
him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
9:35
Prayer is that which constitutes His heavenly ministry.
9:42
He is our advocate. He intercedes on our behalf.
9:47
It's no wonder that when the disciples came to the Lord in
9:50
Luke 11, they asked the Lord to teach them how to pray.
9:55
You know, they never asked the Lord to teach them how to lead.
10:02
We need a seminar in leadership. Lord, teach us how to lead.
10:08
They never asked that question. Lord, teach us how to be
10:12
apostles, how to be representative of your Kingdom.
10:16
Never ask them that question. Lord, help us to teach us how to
10:20
be better fathers. Never ask that question either,
10:26
Lord, Teach us how to be men of God.
10:30
Never ask that question either. Never ask that question.
10:36
But the one question they did ask was Lord teach us how to
10:44
pray because you see, every time they saw him, He was praying.
10:55
And so when you when you come to the, the 11th chapter of Luke,
11:01
it says these words, it happened that while Jesus was praying in
11:05
a certain place. Chapter 11 verse #1 After he had
11:08
finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to
11:13
pray, just as John also taught his disciples.
11:19
Lord, teach us how to pray. Now you can imagine the scene.
11:23
Jesus is often praying. So Jesus is praying and they're
11:26
waiting for him to to stop, to be done.
11:30
They're sitting around thinking, is he done yet?
11:32
Not, not done yet. How about that?
11:34
Nope, still not done. Is he ever going to stop
11:37
praying? When can we ever talk to him?
11:41
And there he was praying. Finally, he's done.
11:45
Lord, teach us how to pray. Teach us how to commune with our
11:52
Father in heaven. Because you see, this is what
11:56
Jesus did, Deity communicating with deity in the most intimate
12:04
times throughout his life. It must have been fascinating to
12:12
be with Jesus when he prayed. We had the that long prayer in
12:16
John 17 that speaks of his communication with his Father in
12:21
glory in the Garden of Gethsemane, Gethsemane and how
12:25
he communicate with his Father in glory.
12:28
But to the disciples that they they wanted to know how to pray,
12:36
it's the Lord teaches them what is commonly called the disciples
12:39
prayer. It's not the Lord's Prayer, it's
12:42
the disciples prayer. And it gives them a pattern on
12:46
how to do it because prayer is is centered around a a divine
12:51
pattern, God and his glory man and his needs.
12:55
That's why he says when you pray, pray this way.
12:57
He didn't say if you pray, pray this way.
13:00
He says when you pray, pray this way, our Father in heaven,
13:06
hallowed be thy name, may your name be made holy in our lives.
13:14
Thy Kingdom come, praying for the return of the Christ in his
13:18
Kingdom. Thy will be done on earth as it
13:23
is in heaven. It's all about God's glory,
13:26
Lord, where our prayer is that your will be done in US that
13:31
your will would would be done on earth as it is in heaven.
13:34
Well, one of the ways you, you have the answer to that prayer
13:38
is that you are to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful because
13:43
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
13:46
So when you pray for the will of God to be accomplished, you're
13:49
asking the Lord, Lord, I want to be joyful, prayerful and
13:53
thankful. And then he goes on to talk
13:57
about man and his needs. But what our Lord does next is
14:02
very important because he knows how hard it is to pray without
14:12
ceasing, how to never give up on prayer, never give up on asking,
14:21
beseeching the throne of grace. So he moves from the disciples
14:26
prayer to a parable. And so Luke 11 says these words.
14:32
Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and
14:35
says, Damn friend, lend ME3 loaves.
14:39
For a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have
14:43
nothing to set before him. And from inside he answers and
14:46
says, do not bother me. The doors already been shut and
14:51
my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you
14:54
anything. I tell you, even though he will
14:57
not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet
15:01
because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much
15:07
as he needs. It's a parable that describes
15:13
God's generosity and willingness to answer your prayers.
15:22
And even though the reluctant friend doesn't want to get out
15:25
of bed, he does so anyway, begrudgingly.
15:32
The Lord is not that way. In fact, he gives a similar
15:35
parable in in Luke chapter 18 when he says this in verse #1
15:41
Now he was willing to tell them a parable to show that at all
15:44
times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.
15:48
Same thing. Pray without ceasing.
15:50
At all times you are to pray and not lose heart.
15:53
So there are two avenues by which you can go.
15:56
You can lose heart or you can pray.
15:59
If you're praying, you're not going to lose heart.
16:02
If you're losing heart, it's because you're not praying.
16:08
In other words, when you pray, your heart does not shrivel up.
16:17
When you pray, you're able to remain steadfast and immovable.
16:23
But the reason we can't stand strong and steadfast is because
16:29
we don't pray. So the Lord says very easily,
16:33
listen, I tell you this, so that you will pray and you will not
16:40
lose heart. And So what do you say?
16:43
In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and
16:47
did not respect man. There was a widow in that city
16:51
and she kept coming to him, saying, give me legal protection
16:54
from my opponent for a while. He was unwilling, but afterward
17:00
he said to himself, Even though I do not fear nor respect man,
17:06
do not fear God or respect man, yet because this widow bothers
17:10
me, I will give her legal protection.
17:14
Otherwise, by continually coming, she will wear me out
17:21
again. The parables are one of
17:22
contrast. Our Lord is not like the
17:25
reluctant friend, nor is he like the unjust judge, because you
17:30
can't wear out the Lord. He neither neither wearies nor
17:35
tires. He's always bending his ear to
17:42
hear the cries of his own. And so he goes on to say in Luke
17:48
18, these words he says, and the Lord said, hear what the
17:54
unrighteous judge said. Now we're not going to bring
17:57
about justice for His elect who cried to Him day and night and
18:00
will delay long over them. I tell you that He will bring
18:04
about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man
18:08
comes, will he find faith on the earth?
18:13
In other words, when the Son of Man returns, will you find find
18:17
this kind of faith? What kind of faith?
18:19
The faith that believes that God is not like the unjust judge,
18:24
but that he he spills out generously upon his own if they
18:28
come to him and seek, ask and knock?
18:34
The question is, will you as disciples?
18:40
Will you as believers be so committed to your God that you
18:44
believe exactly what he says, that you will pray without
18:49
ceasing, you will live a consciousness of of communion
18:54
with God that you never give up on your prayers.
19:02
I have several points I want to cover with you this week and
19:05
next. And, and the first one is this
19:08
that that prayer will will always challenge your
19:11
spirituality. There there's nothing that
19:16
challenges your spirituality more than prayer.
19:25
It it's the greatest challenge to your spiritual growth.
19:30
God doesn't excuse me. Satan doesn't care that I
19:36
prepare a sermon, but he does care that I prepare my soul to
19:43
preach the sermon. Same is true for you.
19:50
Satan's not concerned that you get married.
19:53
He's concerned that your heart is not right when you get
19:58
married. This is what your heart being
20:00
right. This is what your life being
20:02
right. It's all about the inner man and
20:06
the growth of the inner man. And we need to always be
20:10
persistent unto prayer. Prayer is, is, is everything.
20:17
You know, I, I know that we have electives that, that, that you
20:20
can engage in and, and learn from.
20:24
I know that we have classes that you can go to and, and involve
20:27
yourself with different groups of people.
20:30
I understand that, but that's the real know what the ideal is.
20:35
The ideal is that when we're done here, everyone of you would
20:38
gather together over there in another room and all of you be
20:41
in prayer for everybody in the second service, everyone of you.
20:47
And then everybody who's coming to the second service, we're not
20:50
engaged in some elective or or some class, but they would be in
20:53
prayer for you as you are in here.
20:55
That would be the ideal that everybody would pray for
20:59
everybody else. And then while those are
21:02
worshipping, after they're done worshiping, they would go and
21:04
pray for everyone else. Why?
21:09
Because the power of life resides in our prayers.
21:16
That's the that's the impetus, that's the motive, that's the
21:19
power behind everything. It's it's spending time on your
21:23
knees in prayer, asking God to do a great and mighty work.
21:29
It's learning to pray God consciously all throughout the
21:33
day, lifting your request before the Lord constantly because you
21:40
are heavily minded and you're asking God to do a great and
21:45
mighty work. Listen, prayer is the ministry.
21:56
Prayer is the ministry. If you don't have a ministry,
21:59
your prayer, you don't have a ministry.
22:02
Prayer is the ministry. And so praying without ceasing
22:07
is a command that Paul gives along with rejoice always along
22:12
with in everything. Give thanks because this is
22:15
God's will for your life. But prayer is that which
22:22
challenges our our spirituality unlike anything else.
22:29
We we have to wrestle with our ego when it comes to prayer.
22:33
We have to wrestle with with all the effort put behind it when it
22:36
comes to prayer. But the thing we wrestle with
22:40
the most in prayer is the expectancy.
22:46
Let me illustrate it for you. Turn up in your Bible to Acts
22:49
chapter 12. Acts chapter 12, verse #1 Now
22:58
about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged
23:05
to the church in order to mistreat them, and he had James,
23:11
the brother of John, put to death with a sword.
23:17
When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest
23:19
Peter also. Now it was during the days of
23:23
Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put
23:27
him in prison, delivering him to 4 squads of soldiers to guard
23:31
him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before
23:36
the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but
23:41
prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
23:50
That is just a marvelous statement.
23:55
Here's Peter in prison. The expectation is, is that
24:00
Peter's going to die, because James, the brother of John, has
24:04
already died. Peter now has been arrested.
24:09
The expectation is that he too will will die.
24:13
So the church gathers together and begins to pray rightly.
24:16
So that's what they should do. And they began to pray
24:20
fervently. Notice that the effectual
24:23
fervent prayer of a righteous man of death.
24:25
Much James 516 tells us. So he gathered together to pray,
24:29
and they were fervent in their prayers.
24:31
Read on verse 6. On the very night when Herod was
24:35
about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two
24:38
soldiers. Bow to chains and guards in
24:42
front of the door were watching over the prison.
24:47
Notice that Peter's sleeping. He's not anxious about his own
24:52
death, his impending death. He is fast asleep, it says.
25:04
And behold, an Angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and the light
25:08
shone in the cell and he struck Peter's side and woke him up,
25:12
saying, get up quickly. The chains fell off his hands.
25:17
And the Angel said to him, gird yourself and put on your
25:19
sandals. And he did so.
25:22
He said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.
25:26
And he went out and continued to follow.
25:27
And he did not know that what was being done by the Angel was
25:31
real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
25:36
They'd passed the 1st and 2nd guard, they came to the iron
25:40
gate that leads into the city which opened for them by itself,
25:45
and they went out and went along one street and they need to
25:47
leave. The Angel departed from him.
25:50
When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I know for sure that
25:53
the Lord has sent forth his Angel and rescued me from the
25:57
hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were
26:02
expecting. What were they expecting?
26:06
His death verse 12 When he realized this, he went to the
26:12
House of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark,
26:17
where many were gathered together and were praying.
26:21
When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named
26:24
Rhoda came to the to answer When she recognized Peter's voice
26:29
because of her joy, she did not open the gate, but ran in and
26:34
announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
26:38
Now you have to understand the scene.
26:41
They are praying for Peter and Peter shows up and Rhoda goes to
26:46
open the gate, recognizes it's his voice, but doesn't let him
26:50
in. What does she do?
26:54
She goes back to where everybody's praying because she
26:58
has to make the announcement that prayers have been answered.
27:05
So the Bible says this. It says she ran in and announced
27:15
that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
27:16
And they said to her, Hallelujah, God has answered.
27:22
That's not what they say. What did they say?
27:25
You are out of your mind, Rhoda. You're a crazy woman.
27:32
You snap the twig. You don't know what's going on.
27:37
They kept saying it's his Angel. It's his Angel.
27:42
What do you mean it's his Angel? But Peter continued knocking,
27:47
and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were
27:50
what? Amazed.
27:53
Listen, how do you know When you pray?
27:55
You pray with wrong expectations.
27:59
When God answers, you're amazed. We should never be amazed when
28:05
God answers. We should just be praising God
28:08
and thanking Him. But they were amazed.
28:11
Why? Because they didn't expect their
28:13
prayers to work anyway. They gathered together to pray
28:18
for for Peter and pray for his release.
28:21
But when they were praying for his release, they really weren't
28:24
expecting him to be released. I mean, after all, James is
28:26
dead, Peter's in prison, he's going to die, but let's pray for
28:29
his release anyway. And then when he's finally
28:31
released, they're absolutely astonished.
28:36
Because God works in conjunction with man's prayers.
28:42
And that's why prayer challenges your spirituality more than
28:45
anything else, because you live in a life of, in the realm of,
28:51
of, of, of not expecting God to do what we ask him to do.
29:00
And yet we're told to keep seeking, keep asking, keep
29:02
knocking continuously. In other words, pray with
29:08
without ceasing. Go back to to Luke 11.
29:16
In the Luke 11, Christ knows that persistence and prayer is
29:27
going to be lacking in the life of the disciples.
29:32
He knows that like he knows it's lacking in your life and mine.
29:39
So he gives this parable because the Lord is not like the
29:44
reluctant friend, and Luke 18 is not like the unjust judge.
29:50
He is generous, he is kind. They says this verse 9.
29:55
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and
29:59
you will find, knock, and it will be open to you, for
30:02
everyone who asks receives, and he who knocks finds.
30:05
And to him who, excuse me, who seeks, finds and to him and
30:09
knocks, it will be open. Now suppose one of you fathers
30:13
is asked by his son for a fish. He would not give him a snake
30:18
instead of a fish, Willy. Or if he asked for an egg, he
30:22
would not give him a scorpion Willy.
30:24
If then you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
30:28
children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the
30:33
Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
30:37
This is Speaking of the generosity of God.
30:40
You have an earthly father. When you ask ask for a piece of
30:46
bread, he doesn't give you a snake.
30:47
When you ask for a fish, he doesn't give you a scorpion.
30:50
No, because your Father loves you.
30:53
He's kind, he's generous. Well, how much more will your
30:58
heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit to them?
31:01
It asks. Now the parallel account in
31:05
Matthew 6 said it doesn't say Holy Spirit, it just says give
31:08
to you that which is good. Interesting.
31:12
Give that which is good to those who keep asking, seeking and
31:19
knocking. We know that only God is good.
31:24
The Holy Spirit is God, therefore the Holy Spirit is
31:29
good. Very interesting.
31:32
Matthew 6 also tells us that that the Lord knows what you're
31:37
going to ask before it's ever on your lips.
31:42
So he already knows what you're going to ask him.
31:44
He already knows that because he knows everything in advance.
31:51
God never finds out anything. He just simply knows everything.
31:58
So he knows what you're going to ask before you even speak it,
32:02
because He knows your heart, knows everything about you.
32:05
And so he makes a statement that's absolutely profound for
32:11
the disciples. Why?
32:14
Because they lived in expectation of the coming of the
32:17
Spirit of God. How do we know that?
32:21
Ezekiel chapter 36, Ezekiel 36 says it this way.
32:27
Verse 25. I will sprinkle clean water on
32:30
you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your
32:32
filthiness and from all your idols.
32:34
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
32:37
within you. I will remove the heart of stone
32:40
from your flesh and give you heart of flesh.
32:42
And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my
32:49
statutes, and you will be careful to observe my
32:53
ordinances. That's a new covenant promise.
32:57
They know new covenant promise that the greatest gift that God
33:02
will give them is the Spirit that indwells them.
33:07
So because the Lord knows what you ask before you even ask it,
33:10
He says, look, the Lord is so gracious, so kind, so generous,
33:15
He will give you the Spirit of God.
33:18
Everything that you've longed for, you're going to get.
33:24
That's so important. Why?
33:26
Because everything you are asking God for is already
33:32
embodied in the Spirit of God. Think about it.
33:39
You ask God for courage, for power.
33:45
And the Lord said in Acts chapter 1 that you will receive
33:50
the Holy Spirit and when you do, His power will over shadow you.
33:57
You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
34:02
We ask God for power, we ask God for courage.
34:05
And we had the Spirit of God who is all powerful already within
34:09
us. We, we, we need comfort, comfort
34:14
during times of sorrow, comfort during times of trouble.
34:19
And Christ says in John 14, I'm going to give you another helper
34:23
or another comforter, not one of a different kind, but one of the
34:29
same kind as me. So when you need comfort, you'll
34:33
have the spirit of comfort already within you.
34:38
When you, when you want to receive guidance, the Spirit of
34:43
God will give you the guidance that's necessary because He will
34:46
guide you into all truth. So everything you're looking to
34:50
receive you already have in the Spirit of the living God.
34:55
You're dwelt by the Spirit, you're sealed by the Spirit,
34:58
you're saved by the Spirit, right?
35:00
You're convicted by the Spirit and the Spirit makes his home,
35:05
his abode with you. God gives you everything that
35:10
you need in the arrival of the Spirit of God.
35:14
You ask for the supply of something, and God gives you the
35:20
source of everything. Interesting you ask.
35:29
You ask for God to give you joy and the fruit of the Spirit is
35:37
what? Joy You, you, you.
35:42
And I've heard this many times. I, I, I just don't love my
35:45
husband or my wife anymore. What do you mean you don't love
35:48
them anymore? I just don't love them anymore.
35:50
No, you, you're saying you can't or you don't want to love them
35:53
anymore because you have the Spirit of God in you.
35:55
And the Spirit of God produces love.
36:01
So you can love your enemies, you can love your wife, you can
36:03
love your husband, you can love your children.
36:04
Why? Because the Spirit of God gives
36:06
you love. The fruit of the Spirit is
36:08
Lovejoy and peace. See I'm I'm so anxious.
36:12
Why are you anxious? You should be at peace.
36:13
You have the Spirit of God within you to give you peace.
36:17
How can you have peace when the Spirit of God reigns within your
36:21
heart? How about long-suffering?
36:25
For the Spirit is patience, long-suffering, gentleness,
36:30
meekness, kindness. Oh by the way, the fruit of the
36:34
Spirit is self-control. So I just can't control my
36:38
anger. Yes you can.
36:40
I can't control. I can't control my, my, my, my
36:43
sexual tendencies. Yes you can, if the Spirit of
36:46
God is within you, because He is a spirit that produces
36:50
self-control. You might be unwilling to yield
36:55
to the power, unyield to the spirit, unyield to the call of
36:59
God in your life, but the source of everything is there.
37:03
You ask the Lord for money and he gives you the bank.
37:09
Would you rather have a portion of money or would you rather
37:11
have the bank? I'd rather have the bank.
37:16
Why? Because with the bank comes all
37:18
the money you you could possibly ever want to need.
37:22
So God says I'm going to give you the Spirit because in all
37:24
your search for truth, He's the Spirit of truth and all your
37:27
search for direction, He guides you and all the desire for
37:30
comfort. He's the one who comforts you
37:32
and your desire to be controlled in life with your emotions and
37:35
your thoughts. He is a spirit that produces
37:37
self-control and your desire to love others, love your enemies,
37:41
He gives you the love to do so. It's all within the spirit of
37:45
the living God. That's why we say that prayer
37:51
will challenge your spirituality.
37:53
More than anything else, we need to understand prayer and why the
38:01
command is giving. Pray without ceasing.
38:04
Be conscious of God's presence as you walk through every
38:08
situation in life, no matter how difficult it is, how painful it
38:14
may be, no matter how depressing the circumstances might be
38:19
around you. God is walking with you through
38:22
those times that as you learn to lean upon them, you trust Him
38:27
and you rely upon Him. That's why not only does prayer
38:29
number one challenge my spirituality, but prayer #2
38:35
certifies my dependency. Prayer certifies my dependency.
38:44
In other words, it helps establish the fact that I am not
38:50
an autonomous being. I can't function independently,
38:53
Christ said. Without me ye can do nothing.
38:57
John 15-5 But see, we don't believe that we we think that we
39:04
can go through life and rely on my intellect, rely on my
39:08
ingenuity, rely on my money, rely on my expertise, rely on my
39:15
giftedness, rely on the things that I already have.
39:19
And so we go through life independently of from God,
39:23
trying to establish our life without him simply because we
39:27
think we're good enough and excellent enough.
39:30
But you are not. Remember Luke chapter 5?
39:35
Probably not, so let me read it to you, Luke chapter 5.
39:40
It says now it happened that while the crowd was pressing
39:46
around him and listening to the word of God, he was standing by
39:49
the Lake of Geneseret or the Sea of Galilee, and he saw two boats
39:54
lying at the edge of the lake. But the fishermen had gotten out
39:57
of them and were washing their Nets.
39:59
In other words, they were done fishing.
40:01
They were now cleaning their Nets.
40:03
And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and
40:05
asked him to put out a little while from the land.
40:09
And he sat down and began teaching the people from the
40:11
boat. So the disciples have come in
40:14
from a from a early morning fishing and they are washing
40:18
their Nets and Christ decides to teach.
40:24
So he occupies Simon's boat and he says pushed out a little ways
40:27
and I'll teach him the boat because the crowds were pressing
40:29
against him and he was backing up against the water.
40:32
And so he says, I'll just go in the boat and begin to preach and
40:34
teach, and people will be able to hear me from there.
40:39
And so he says when he finished speaking, he said to Simon, put
40:46
out into the deep water and let down your Nets for a catch.
40:53
In other words, in the modern vernacular, Peter, I'm done
40:57
preaching, let's go fishing. Let's go fishing.
41:06
This Simon answered and said, master, we worked hard all night
41:11
and caught nothing. He says, Master, Lord Jesus,
41:21
you're a teacher, you're a preacher.
41:26
But me, I'm a fisherman. I don't tell you how to teach.
41:31
You don't tell me how to fish. This is what I do.
41:36
My whole family fishes. I was raised this way.
41:40
This is how I live my life. I'm an expert fisherman.
41:45
I'm not an expert preacher or teacher, but I am an expert at
41:50
fishing. And so Peter says, but I would
41:56
do as you say and let down the Nets.
42:01
In other words. Nevertheless, if that's what you
42:05
want, Lord, then that's what we will do, just to prove to you
42:10
that you're not a fisherman and just a teacher and a preacher,
42:15
that I'm the true fisherman and you are not, because I'm an
42:19
expert at it. So Needless to say, we'll push
42:25
out into the deep and I will show you, Jesus, that I am right
42:31
and you, Jesus, are wrong. And so they says when they had
42:38
done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish.
42:42
So you don't fish during the day.
42:44
Why? Because during the day the fish
42:46
go further down into the water. Why it's cooler down there in
42:52
the early morning. In the evening they rise to the
42:55
top. But during the day, the heat of
42:57
the day, they, they go down to the to the bottom.
43:02
Peter knows that. But they cast the Nets over the
43:06
side of the boat and they caught a great quantity of fish.
43:11
So and so the Nets began to break.
43:15
So they signal to their partners in the other boat for them to
43:19
come and help them. And they came and filled both of
43:22
the boats, so that they began to sink.
43:24
But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus's feet,
43:29
saying, Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.
43:34
For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of
43:38
the catch of fish which they had taken.
43:41
And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and we're
43:47
partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not
43:51
fear, from now on you will be catching men.
43:54
And when they had brought their boats to land, they left
43:57
everything and followed him. Here is Peter, depart from me.
44:06
I'm a sinful man. Depart from the fact that even
44:10
though I think I know more than you, I don't.
44:14
I thought I did. I thought I could act
44:16
independently, God of you, But I can't.
44:20
In the arena in which I am the most skilled, in the arena in
44:25
which I am the most intelligent, in the arena in which I am the
44:28
most experienced, in the arena in which I am the best at, I
44:33
still need God. That's the point.
44:39
But see, we we go through life thinking, well, I don't need
44:42
need God in my job. I can do that.
44:47
I mean, come on, who needs God for that?
44:51
I don't need God to help me raise my family.
44:53
I know how to raise my family. I know how to get them to church
44:56
and read the Bible with them. I don't need God to help me with
45:01
this or help me with that. Why?
45:03
Because I'm smart. But in the arena in which you
45:07
think you don't need, God is what you need in the most,
45:14
because you see, it certifies your dependency upon Him.
45:18
And that's why the story in Mark 9 is so important.
45:21
When the disciples remember when Peter, James and John and Jesus
45:24
came down from the mountain, transfiguration, and they
45:27
couldn't cast out the boy who had a demon in him, in Christ
45:33
was frustrated with his own men. Oh, unbelieving generation, how
45:36
long shall I be with you? Bring the boy to me.
45:38
He cast out the demon. And they wonder why they
45:41
couldn't do that. Because he had learned to live
45:44
independently of God in the arena which he'd called him to
45:48
live for him, he says. He says he's only come out by
45:52
prayer. Your dependence upon me for
45:56
everything. That's why prayer will challenge
46:01
your spirituality more than any other aspect of the spiritual
46:07
disciplines. It will certify your dependency
46:12
that I need God in every situation, in every
46:17
circumstance, no matter where I'm at, no matter what I'm
46:21
doing. I am not gifted enough nor
46:24
talented enough nor experienced enough to do it without my God,
46:30
for without me ye can do nothing.
46:36
You need me prayer will challenge my spirituality,
46:42
prayer will certify my dependency, and thirdly, prayer
46:46
will confirm my loyalty. And to understand that, you'll
46:56
have to come back next week. Let's pray.
47:03
Father, we thank you for today. It is a challenge to every one
47:08
of us to understand we are to pray without ceasing.
47:15
We are to never give up. We are to never quit on prayer.
47:21
We are never to throw in the towel on prayer.
47:25
There, there might be someone in the room today who said I, I
47:30
prayed for a year. Well, you say, keep asking, keep
47:35
seeking, keep knocking. We need to learn persistence.
47:43
We need to learn steadfastness and prayer.
47:48
We can never afford to give up praying for your will to be
47:54
done. Why?
47:59
Because your will is that we pray unceasingly, that we pray
48:07
at all times for all men, that we be the kind of people that
48:13
continue to commune with the true and living God as we go
48:17
through each part of each day. As you have taught us, Lord, to
48:22
rejoice always, teach us now to pray unceasingly.
48:30
Why? Simply because you've told us in
48:35
John's Gospel, the 14th chapter, the 13th verse, that the reason
48:42
you answer prayer is not to get our needs met, but that the
48:48
Father would be glorified in the Son.
48:55
That's what we're asking for, that you would receive all the
48:58
glory. So Lord, whatever we are asking
49:01
for today, whatever we're beseeching the throne of grace
49:05
for today, may we do it for one reason and one reason only, the
49:12
glory of the true and living God.
49:17
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.