WEBVTT 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:37.359 I can't tell you how many times I've been paused in prayer and really um, you know, I don't know, just being in worship or praying for something that's on my mind, and had God like paused and just listened and had God just drop somebody on my mind, and then I'd shoot him a text. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:38.719 Hey, thinking about you. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:39.519 How you doing? 00:00:39.760 --> 00:00:44.159 Welcome to the Midweek Motivation Podcast, where we bring practical help for your faith and life. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:45.679 Here's today's episode. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:48.560 Hey guys, welcome to this week's Midweek Motivation. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:56.799 My name is Jess, and today we are going to talk about how prayer changes everything, changes everything. 00:00:57.040 --> 00:01:00.079 And so um we are just kicking off. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:11.599 Like last week, we started this conversation about how to engage with other people and do the very thing that Jesus um encouraged and told us that we had to do. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:23.599 And that was to share the good news, to tell our own stories and share how Jesus um has had an impact in our life and who Jesus is and to share the good news. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:42.719 And so um, Pastor Game Gabe joined us last week, and um, we got to chat a little bit about a step-by-step process of how to do that and how might look different than um what you know we've come to know about this thing called evangelism. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:59.280 But really, it is just sharing the good news with the people in our lives, our neighborhood, our friends, our family, investing in those people and developing relationships with them to be able to earn the trust and the ability to share our own story with them. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:05.280 So um, we're learning a new thing and and um uh learning how to do it well. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:09.360 And the best way that we can do that is by following the example of Jesus. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:11.599 And so that's what we're jumping into. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:17.439 So the process, the step-by-step process that we talked about last week was is called bless. 00:02:17.920 --> 00:02:22.240 And um it is real simple: B-L-E-S-S. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:35.599 B is begin with prayer, L is listen, E is eat, s is share, or excuse me, s is serve, and then s is a share, ends with share. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:43.759 So there's a lot of stuff that happens between the very beginning of an engagement with somebody and all the way to sharing. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:03:01.199 And it really is about building up trust, building up a relationship, um, and getting to the point where we um have earned uh a place to share our story and share who Jesus is to us and how he's had an impact in our life. 00:03:01.359 --> 00:03:04.159 So we're gonna dump, we're gonna jump into B. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:06.639 Begin with prayer. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:14.479 So, number one, the very first thing that we can see in Jesus' ministry is that he begins with prayer. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:33.120 As soon as he's baptized and he is launched into his full-time ministry, the very first thing that he does is he goes out into the wilderness and he spends time with God and he prays and he gathers instruction and he faces his um his foe, his resistance, the enemy, the devil. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:38.960 And um, but he goes into the wilderness and he begins with prayer. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:41.840 Then we see prayer through his whole ministry. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:48.159 He's got regular rhythms where he retreats and he spends time with the Father and he prays. 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:54.479 Before any big thing or big decision happens, um, we see in the Bible that he prays. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:59.359 And even right before he goes to the cross, he spends time in prayer. 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:12.240 So we can see from the example that Jesus gives us that prayer is a uh non-negotiable when it comes to ministry, when it comes to engaging with other people and sharing the good news. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:16.079 So that's the very first thing to take away is Jesus did it. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.000 So we should do it too. 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:31.520 So in the very beginning of Acts, we see in Acts 1.8, um, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:48.560 You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, so in their neighborhood, and throughout Judea, so like in the neighboring um areas in Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:56.560 So we see that Jesus is commissioning them, he's giving them a big ministry, a big job to continue his work. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:00.800 But he says, before you do that, you need the Holy Spirit. 00:05:02.719 --> 00:05:08.959 So connecting with um the Holy Spirit through prayer is significant. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:11.839 Um, and so that's what these guys did. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:28.480 They were sensitive to the Holy Spirit and they spent a lot of time in prayer and connection um to um be able to get next steps, to be able to gain instruction and insight and discernment and um and all that they need from the Holy Spirit, right? 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:38.000 So, what happens when they connect through prayer um is they find a space of surrender. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:45.120 That's my personal experience with prayer as well, like pausing and praying. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:06:12.560 Um, we see examples in the Bible of prayer where you begin with worshiping God, and that's just an acknowledgement of who God is, who he is in my life, who he is in the world, um, his character, his love, how he's consistently shown up, how much I can depend on him, his provision, all of the things helps me to set God in the right place and surrender myself to him. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:23.600 So when I pray, I know that um he is the one that um causes change. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:28.959 So I can go to God and I can pray and ask for um open hearts. 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:35.040 I can go and pray for um for opportunities, for open doors. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:38.560 I can go and pray for um to be received well. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:44.800 I can pray for favor and all of those things I can pray for before I even engage. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:47.920 And I can pray for instruction. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.959 But I know that he's the one that's making the change, not me. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:56.399 Man, that sure does take a load off of my shoulders. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:10.240 Um, and so that's the first thing that I can count on when I'm praying, is I can count on my surrender, and his power is the one that makes the change. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:21.680 Um, I when I'm praying, I can rest assured that and be encouraged in the fact that I get to join what God is doing. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:44.639 So I can't tell you how many times I've been paused in prayer and really um, you know, I don't know, just being in worship or praying for something that's on my mind, and had God like paused and just listened, and had God just drop somebody on my mind, and then I'd shoot them a text, hey, thinking about you, how you doing? 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:45.600 Kind of a thing. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:50.079 And then they'll come back to me and let me know what it is that's going on in their life. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:54.639 And it gives me an opportunity to connect and to listen to that person. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:05.120 So um that's a really incredible thing about prayer is when we pause and allow God to give us instruction, he does. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:14.079 And generally speaking, those are open doors that wouldn't have been open or that we wouldn't have even known to knock on without God's instruction. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:17.120 So we get to join what he is doing. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:48.399 And um, another thing that we can look forward to is the fact that when we pray, when we surrender, when we connect with God, um, he changes us, he changes my mind and my heart and prepares me to be in the right place um and in the right space to be able to engage with other people in the way that God would call me to be instead of in the way that I would uh seek for myself, right? 00:08:48.800 --> 00:09:09.840 So here's some things that you can pray for when you are getting ready to go on mission, when you are being intentional about engaging in the neighborhood, in uh with your friends and family to develop these kinds of relationships where you um have the ability to share your story. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:24.640 Some things that you can pray for is um salvation and recognizing in that salvation that the power of salvation, the work of salvation that is God's. 00:09:24.880 --> 00:09:27.920 And uh, but ultimately that's what we're shooting for, right? 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:37.200 Ultimately, what we want is for people to see and recognize and experience the life change that we have by following God uh Jesus. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:41.040 What else can we expect? 00:09:41.520 --> 00:09:42.800 Or what else can we pray? 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:46.320 We can pray for um an outward focused heart. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.280 That's one of my biggest prayers. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:10:00.000 Um, as uh just for my own self to be focused outwardly, to be focused on opportunities and open doors that might be right in front of me. 00:10:00.160 --> 00:10:02.080 That's one of my biggest prayers. 00:10:02.400 --> 00:10:05.120 We can pray for opportunities to engage. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:30.640 Um, that uh, you know, a quick text message because somebody jumped on my mind, uh popped into my mind, is an opportunity to engage somebody who uh one of my my favorite ways to engage with people is to see, you know, what it is that I like you can just see a demeanor in on someone sometimes when they've when they're going through something heavy. 00:10:30.800 --> 00:10:41.520 And you can just pause and ask them what's going on, you know, and it might be an open door, an opportunity for you to be an encouragement and to listen to their story. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:11:02.720 We can pray for open and receptive hearts, um, for God to go before us and to create a space or uh an engagement with that person where they are open and willing to have a conversation or to share their story, whatever that might be. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:25.120 And we can pray for alignment with God and a heart like God, um, a heart like gods, so that we can see the people around us the way that God sees them and see their um that they were created in His His image and see their value and see those people the way that God sees them. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:31.040 And we can pray for boldness to share the good news. 00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:35.760 All right. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:53.600 Lastly, I think the um the biggest encouragement that I might have that I actually heard from somebody else, Rebecca McLaughlin, she says, she said that we should that my weakness shows me that I need the power of the Holy Spirit in me. 00:11:53.760 --> 00:11:56.800 And it brings me to us, these are my words. 00:11:57.040 --> 00:12:01.440 I I can definitely um that resonates with me, right? 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:13.520 My weaknesses show me that I need the power of the Holy Spirit in my life, and so my encouragement to us is let our weaknesses lead us into prayer with um God. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:21.920 And let our like uh my biggest encouragement in that is that I need to connect with the Holy Spirit. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:33.120 And so if I am pausing and I'm praying and I'm spending time with him, then uh you know, his strength is in my is found in my weakness. 00:12:33.280 --> 00:12:35.680 So um spend time in prayer. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:40.320 This is uh it's a big deal, and it's the way that we should kick all of our things off. 00:12:40.560 --> 00:12:49.600 And when we pray and we engage with the Holy Spirit, the big amazing things happen that change everything. 00:12:49.920 --> 00:12:52.480 All right, guys, I hope this is an encouragement to you. 00:12:52.640 --> 00:12:56.240 I hope that you pause and you spend some time in prayer today. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:02.560 Um, ask God for impact, ask God for direction and opportunity. 00:13:03.040 --> 00:13:08.160 And um, I'm praying with you all for those things, and we'll see you next week. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:10.880 We hope you enjoyed this episode of Midweek Motivation. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:20.160 To make sure you don't miss any content in the future, please subscribe, share, and if you enjoyed this, give us a like and consider popping by a Westside service some weekend. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:23.360 You can find out more at Westside Community Church.com.