WEBVTT 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:06.559 Welcome to KCC Church at Home. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:07.360 My name is Brian. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:08.480 I'm one of the pastors here. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.240 We're so glad that you could join us. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:14.320 Take a minute, wherever you are, drop a comment, let us know where you're watching from. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.879 Take a minute and share the stream and let your friends know that church is happening this morning. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:21.120 So you may have received an email. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:29.839 This coming Sunday, September 13th, we are actually opening up our doors for two services for live in-person Sunday service. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.000 We're so excited that we get to be able to do this. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:33.520 It is going to look a little bit different. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:38.240 We have a 9 15 service and a 10:30 service, only going to be an hour long. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:45.600 The reason we did that is if you have a family and kids and one of the parents wants to come, it's not so far, not so long to be away. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.399 We're so excited that we actually get to be able to do this. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.359 Because of the high demand, we are asking one thing. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:56.000 We ask that you take a look at the registration and only register once every couple weeks. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:03.920 What this allows us to do is to be able to get as many of our church back into the doors over the course of a month and be able to make room for all of them. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:10.719 Our online experience will continue to happen on Saturday nights at 6 and the next morning at 9.15. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:15.040 And that registration for our online church will be live every Monday morning. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:16.480 You'll be able to see that email. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:23.920 So as you know, we've been in our 21 days of prayer, and this is our last week of that 21 days of prayer. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:27.599 And the title for my message today, I'm actually calling it the engine room. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.359 Or the engine, but the engine room. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:35.599 And the reason I'm saying that is prayer as a believer is a big part of who we are. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.439 This is where we get our confidence. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:47.760 This is where we experience God's strength and his peace and revelation of God's word, where we connect the heart that we need to live forward in the abundant life that God's called us to. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:55.200 When we pray, we're adding fuel to the engine, and we run that engine fired up for what God's called us to do. 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:10.000 I think one of those things is that prayer for part of it may be an untapped resource, it's kind of like an unexplored part of the ocean that maybe we don't know what's down there or what kind of things God wants to share with us because we're not maybe spending that time in prayer. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:10.960 But uh F. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:11.199 B. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:20.400 Meyer, the author of this little book called The Secret of God, and said, the great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but an unoffered prayer. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:31.039 Prayer is something that should be as natural to us as eating, or as breathing, or as walking, or maybe walking and chewing gum at the same time, if you can do that. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:37.199 Sometimes it seems that we use prayer as a break in case of an emergency mentality. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:39.120 That's the kind of perspective that we have. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:45.680 We get in trouble, we send up the prayer filler, we break the glass, saying, God, you gotta do something, you gotta help me. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:53.680 Too oftentimes, in my own life, as well as maybe some of yours, is that prayer is often associated with only crisis. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:59.759 For instance, I heard a story the other day about a man who had uh he was flying a small plane and he called the control tower. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:06.960 He says the pilot to tower, I'm 300 miles out from the airport, 600 feet above the ground, and I am almost out of fuel. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.759 I'm descending rapidly, please advise over. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:15.919 Tower to pilot says, the dispatcher says, Repeat after me, our father who art in heaven. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:23.199 We oftentimes carry the mentality and perspective that the only time I'm gonna pray is if I'm in trouble. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:33.919 Um, and what I'm gonna speak today, I think is maybe a simple message, but I I felt even I was I've heard this before, I've researched this before, but I got some really cool things out of Genesis today. 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:35.840 But I want us to refocus. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.360 We've done these 21 days of prayer, we've prayed in, out, and up. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.280 We want to refocus our life into a life of prayer. 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:47.919 Um and, you know, as a church, we've there's seven different kinds of prayer. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:55.439 I could walk you through communion or what the prayer of spiritual warfare looks like or or the or repentance or forgiveness. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:57.120 There's all kinds of different prayers. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:04.800 But and if we think about it, prayer is one of the most mentioned or talked about subjects possibly in church. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:14.479 If you've ever been to KCC or to our campus, we start with prayer, we have prayer in the middle, then we have prayer at the end, and then after church is over, there's more prayer. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:17.120 We talk about prayer all the time. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.199 We pray after worship, we pray, we pray, we pray. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:30.480 And as I was thinking about this, I'm like, you know, prayer may be one of the most important gifts God gave us, other than the gift of salvation. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:36.639 He died on the cross for our sins, but he also made a way for us to communicate with him. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:41.759 Wasn't something he did on the cross, and that's the last experience that we ever have. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:48.800 He's not just a statue, he's not a cross on the wall, but he's a living God that we actually get to communicate with. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:53.439 From the beginning, even as I mentioned before in Genesis, there's this pattern. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:56.800 A part of our purpose is to pray. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:02.399 It's almost like we need a reminder sometimes to get fired up for the assignment, like, hey, I'm gonna pray. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:03.920 This is a part of who I am. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:17.199 I can say that after I want more prayer, I want more prayer in my own life, I want more prayer in church, I want more prayer in our homes, in our families, in our cars, in our schools. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.800 We need to be a people of prayer, but we need more prayer. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:30.639 The thought came to me as I was reading some of the scriptures about Jesus as he was praying, he prayed continuingly, continuously, constantly, earnestly. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:35.120 He knelt down to prayer, he rose to pray, he prayed in the dark, he prayed in the daytime. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:39.439 Jesus was God in the flesh, walking the earth. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:47.199 Jesus was so dependent on prayer for his ministry that he didn't do his ministry without prayer to his father. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:54.720 Sometimes, really, we are in the position to live life without prayer. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:57.120 Especially in the Western culture. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:58.240 It's so easy for us. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:06.079 I can get food when I want, I have a job, I can have a cell phone, everything is handed to me, and there's not a whole lot of dependence on prayer. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:12.399 But what we do in the moment when things get tough. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:19.839 So I want to follow us in this is that we know that we need to pray, but sometimes we just don't. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:27.839 It's inconvenient, maybe it's not as fun as we want it to be, maybe it's you find it just a real drudgery to sit down and just try and communicate and listen. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:30.879 But here's something that I learned out of Genesis chapter 3, verse 8. 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:36.319 It says, And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:42.079 And the man and his wife hid himself from the presence of God, or presence of the Lord God, among the trees of the garden. 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:47.360 This is an interesting bit because this is the first clue that we had that God came down. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:50.319 There was a pattern in this moment, there was a discipline. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:52.240 There is something that we can pull from this. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:56.560 The scripture says walking, not running, not sprinting, not kneeling. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:57.680 He was walking. 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:01.519 It implies ease, it implies a steady progression. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:06.639 The key to a relationship with God is a daily walk with him. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:09.120 A daily walk with him. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:15.439 It's not those who can sprint, it's not those who can go all out all the time, it's those who go wide open. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:21.519 It's the key to having a powerful relationship and communication with God is the daily walking. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:34.639 It's the daily praying, it's the daily reading of the word, it's the daily seeking of Him, it's the consistency of those things, consistency of walking and talking and communicating with God. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.519 Think about it this way: the verse in Genesis says, in the cool of day. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:45.680 That implies to me anyway, as I live in Kelowna, that the cool of day is a comfortable spot. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:49.839 We think of it as a refreshing place to go when things are hard. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:58.079 And I think I needed to shift my perspective that when things are good and there's not a lot of pressures from the outside world, that that actually is a place of refreshing. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:09.519 In that time, we can spend time getting to know God and refreshing ourselves so when the heat comes around, the heat of life, the pressures of things happen, we are actually refreshed and ready to take on those things. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:15.120 When you come to Him in prayer, He says, I will ease your burden. 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:16.959 I will free you from that burden. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:22.399 I will carry your weight, I will break that chain of fear or abandonment or anxiety or depression. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:27.279 I will come where you are and make that place a refreshing place. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:30.000 That's a communication between you and God. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:32.080 That is a promise that he says. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:41.200 He will release us from those things that we carry, those things right now that you're carrying that you're just not willing to let go of. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:44.159 So they heard the voice in the garden, in that cool place. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.000 In the garden, they heard it walking. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:55.600 The amazing thing about prayer and communicating with God is that we don't have to climb the highest mountain or get on a ladder or stand on the top of the house. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:00.320 He comes down to where we are to meet with us in that moment. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:06.080 The God that died on the cross for our sins, that's the creator of the universe, wants to know me. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:08.240 And we do that through prayer. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:13.039 The beautiful thing about this is that we don't ascend to him, he comes to us. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:15.919 It's about a relationship with God. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:18.399 And we build that relationship through prayer. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:20.879 That's what fires us up, that's what gets us going. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.080 That's the engine of a believer. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:26.080 I heard it put it this way. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:32.000 You hear that scripture, and you hear Adam and Eve are walking in the garden to hear his voice. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:35.039 What did Adam and Eve have to talk about? 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:36.080 Really. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:39.120 They have no kids, which means no problems. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:47.759 They have no stress, they have no sickness, they have no financial needs, they have no dilemmas, they have no loud neighbors next door that they have to forgive. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:52.559 They simply, think about it this way, wanted to have a relationship with God. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:10:01.519 The pattern of that relationship is laid out at the very beginning of your Bible that God wanted to have a relationship with Adam and Eve. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:02.320 He came down. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:05.120 We didn't have to hear the voice from on high. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:12.799 When we make time and we pray, we seek after him, he says, I will meet you where you are. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:24.720 No matter the issues, no matter the situations, the weight that you're carrying, the things that are happening in the middle of all of COVID, he will come to you when you carve out that time and you pray. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:30.159 The beginning of prayer, the goal of prayer at the very beginning was just to be with God. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:41.519 We didn't have to complicate it with all the extras and this and the these and the thou's and all the things that maybe you think prayer is, but the beginning, the goal of prayer is just to connect with God. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:46.240 That when we draw near to him, he draws near to us. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:49.840 And when we get to draw near to him, it's not draining. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:51.679 We get energized out of it. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.399 We feel life and strength and peace. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:02.000 Sometimes when the only time that you connect with God is when you're in trouble, and you maybe you're going to stay there until you search him out. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:10.320 And oftentimes we blame God because you send up the prayer flare, you broke the glass, things didn't go the way that you wanted. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:17.039 And you created this situation, that situation is of your design, not God's, but we blame him, so we stop praying. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:21.279 We're not maybe carving out time the way we feel that we should. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:34.240 I can say that even as I was thinking about this social media or TV, prime time, Instagram, whatever it may be, that's actually preventing you from getting close to God in prayer. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:37.440 Maybe you just need to think a minute and just remove it. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:42.080 Because I can tell you, as a pastor, I can get wrapped up and doing the good things of the ministry. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:46.320 But in that time, I can actually forget to connect with God. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:51.679 This is what John 17 says, and it's it's really profound. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:54.799 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.120 They are in the world, I am coming to you. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:03.759 Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:07.279 This is Jesus talking to his Father. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:10.480 That they may be one even as we are one. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:14.799 The goal of prayer is not that God doesn't give you everything that you need. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:36.000 The goal of prayer is that my attitude would be one with the Father, that my spirit would be one with the Father, that my character, my nature, that I am one with the Father, that what we do is meshed together, that I think like him, I love like him, I forgive like him, I act like him, I live like him, and I serve like him because we are one. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:42.399 Because we are building that relationship that I am communicating with the God that came to where I was. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:49.759 Even Pastor Malachi, just in his message this last couple weeks, says we do not pray to change the situation, but pray to change us. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:56.000 We connect with God not so that the situation can be repaired, but that we can be changed in that moment. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:57.919 That we can be more like him. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.600 When we are close to him, we change. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.120 Our capacity to love grows. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.879 Our capacity to be generous changes. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:12.559 Our capacity just to be compassionate and care changes. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:18.000 Our capacity to honor changes, to forgive changes. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.200 So you may be wondering, all of this sounds great. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:24.240 I gotta carve out time. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:27.440 Now you're feeling like, man, I'm really gonna spend some time in this, but what happens? 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:28.960 How do we pray? 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:30.559 And when do we get to pray? 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:44.960 He said here's here's Ephesians chapter 6, verse 18 says this praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:48.159 Praying is the engine room of the believer. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:55.919 This is where we get our oomph, this is where we get our power, this is where we get our strength, this is where we get refreshed for the battle ahead. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:57.840 Without prayer, we are defenseless. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:00.320 It's like having a gun with no bullets. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:02.320 It's like having an engine with no fuel. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:06.240 And the thing about prayer is that it involves trusting in him. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:09.200 We make our request known. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.440 We come to him just to even have a conversation. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:12.559 We have to trust him. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:14.320 We have to pray and trust him. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:20.080 The result of not trusting him is like putting gasoline in a car without an engine. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:23.279 You could do it, but it's a bit of a waste. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.799 When you're facing that mountain, pray. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:30.000 When you're facing no job, pray. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:32.240 When you're facing the addiction, pray. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:37.279 When you're facing a really tough pregnancy, pray, or you're struggling to get pregnant, pray. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.559 When you're dealing with a tough financial thing, pray. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.519 When you're struggling with depression, pray. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:48.960 When you can't get to church on the 13th because all the seats are taken up, pray. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:54.000 On the other side, what this scripture is saying is that to pray in all situations. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.759 When things are good, we're supposed to pray. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:01.120 When you have a job, pray. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.120 When your kids are healthy, pray. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:06.159 When you get to go to church on the 13th, pray. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:10.000 When you things are good and you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, pray. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:11.759 When you have a new baby, pray. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:13.120 When you got pregnant, pray. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.919 When the things are good, we still get to pray. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:27.279 But oftentimes we remember to pray and be thankful in the good times, but when the moment that the bad times come, we actually stop being grateful and maybe forget that God is good. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:32.559 But what can solve that is a relationship with Him, because He gives good gifts to His children. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.320 He loves us and cares for us. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:39.840 And even in that time when we feel like He's not listening, He still is good. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:44.080 This is what Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 says. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:51.759 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:55.600 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18. 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:57.039 Rejoice always. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:58.000 Always. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:15:59.120 That's not a maybe. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:01.440 That's not a rejoice only when things are good. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.039 That's a rejoice always. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.320 Pray without ceasing, that's a relationship. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:09.759 You can pray for 24 hours a day for 48 hours, 72 hours. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:13.679 Chances are you're gonna need to sleep, you're gonna need to use the washroom, and you're gonna need to eat. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:20.559 But when we're in relationship with Him, we can be in communication, and that's talking to God back and forth. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:27.039 You pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:29.279 What are these verses saying? 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:31.679 When are we supposed to pray? 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:33.120 How long should we pray? 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:34.080 We should never stop. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.559 We should be praying for every situation, good or bad. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:38.639 That doesn't mean when we pray when we're in trouble. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.320 That means we pray when things are good, and I'm not in trouble. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.679 It means when things are good or bad, we pray. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:47.759 When things are ugly or not ugly, we pray. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:49.840 When we're safe or unsafe, we pray. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.960 When we're on the mission field or not on the mission field, we're praying. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:55.840 When we have health or no health, we're praying. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:57.279 You get the point. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.559 To pray, we're supposed to pray. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:06.160 The number one priority of the Christ follower is to connect with God. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:13.200 When we connect with God and we have a relationship with Him, all these other things will fall into place. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:18.799 John Bunyan said this way to pray rightly, you must make God your hope. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:20.319 Stay and all. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:25.519 Right prayer sees nothing substantial or worth being concerned about except for God. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:34.880 When our focus is on building that relationship and having that relationship with God and we're communicating with him, all the other things can fall into place. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:45.359 Those things that were pressures of the heat of the battle, the pressures of life, God can make that a refreshing place for you if we have that relationship with him. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:51.440 The goal of prayer is not that he would give us everything, that my attitude would be one with him. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:58.160 This is one of the highest, uh, greatest things that we can do is be in relationship with God. 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:04.400 The purpose of my prayer is not that my problems will be solved, but I become one with him. 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:08.400 So here's something I wanted to do. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:09.920 Prayer is communicating with God. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:11.359 I think you've gotten my point. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:14.880 This is what Psalms 5, 1 to 3 says. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:19.039 It says, give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:29.359 Listen to my cry for help, my king and my God, for you to pray in the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my request before you and wait in expectation. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:34.160 This is David speaking to his God that he had a relationship with. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:42.000 When he even speaks the way he speaks this, it's something that's personal to him because he developed that relationship between him and God. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.240 So I want to issue a challenge. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.759 I know how much you love challenges, and you're gonna be excited for this one. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:50.319 I want you to talk to God. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:54.000 Big surprise, the pastor is asking you to talk to God, right? 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:57.279 But there's four things I think that we can accomplish out of this. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:01.519 Number one is I want you to talk to God differently than you ever have before. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:05.279 Now, if you are actually doing some of these things I'm saying, great. 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.119 Help someone else that's close to you. 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:10.960 Help them through the challenge, help them be closer to God. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:15.680 But one, walk with God and talk with him in a gut level honesty. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.119 Be specific. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:19.920 There's a scripture in Exodus. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:24.880 Uh, Moses was talking to God, and he was he was saying, Why have you brought trouble upon all these people? 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:26.240 Is it because of me? 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:31.519 I went to speak your name to the Pharaoh and he brought trouble upon his people, and you have not rescued your people at all. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:34.799 He thought it was him, and he was talking in a gut level to God. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:36.400 Hey, this is what's going on. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:38.720 We can pray, Lord, help me have a good day. 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.319 That's not very specific. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.319 Lord help me as I go through this meeting and I have to talk with this person. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:47.519 It's gonna be a difficult conversation about their performance. 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:50.559 Lord, give me the strength and the wisdom and the words to say. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:51.759 Be specific. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:52.720 Open up. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:58.640 I can I can tell you for certainty that God has big shoulders and He can handle whatever you're gonna say to Him. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:06.799 That no matter what the situation, no matter how deep and dark you think things are, God is gonna hear you and He's not gonna love you any less. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:12.400 Oftentimes we pray these general prayers, and this is what Tony Evans is, a pastor in the States. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:17.279 He said, we pray these general prayers because we want to let God off the hook. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:27.279 We pray those general prayers instead of say asking for specific things because we're afraid he can't pull it off. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:30.559 So we ask for general things. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:36.720 When my sons come to me or my daughter comes to me, we have a relationship. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:43.119 So when they ask for something or they just want to sit and be with me, when they ask for something, it's gonna be specific. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:48.480 Not can I maybe have some money sometime during the next three weeks or something like that. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:52.319 But they talk to me in a very specific manner, in a very specific way. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:57.039 Number two, talk to him about everything that matters to you. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:58.880 This is what we read Philippians 4. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:00.319 Do not be anxious for anything. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:06.559 1 Peter 5, verse 7 says, Cast all of your anxieties on him because he cares for you. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:16.400 I think that we can be in a relationship with God, cast all of those cares for you, and he can build you and build you up into that place that's refreshing where you feel at peace. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:18.640 Cast all of your cares on him. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:22.480 Number three, we pray continually. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:28.400 Me and my wife are in a relationship, and just because we're not talking in that moment doesn't mean that we're not in a relationship. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:30.640 We want to develop that uh relationship. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:34.319 I heard a quote um from Smith Wigglesworth. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.759 Someone asked him, um, how often do you pray? 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:40.319 And he said, Well, uh, I pray for 20 minutes. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:44.559 And and they said, You in in that way, he's like, No, I pray every 20 minutes. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:47.279 He goes, doesn't go 20 minutes without praying. 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:56.319 And if you read the story of Smith Wigglesworth, he spent a lot of time in prayer, a lot of things in miracles and doing things for God because of the the amount of time that he spent in prayer. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:06.000 Number four, and this may be a challenge for you, stop, turn off your Instagram, turn off your Facebook, and listen to what he's saying to you. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:13.680 Even if you have to put your phone in the fridge or stick your phone in the dishwasher or something so it's away from where you are. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:16.480 Take a minute, pray continually. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:28.799 Pray about everything that matters, talk to him about everything that matters, lay it on his shoulders, and just be honest with everything, and then stop and listen to the response that he has. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:32.960 John chapter 10, 27 says this. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:37.279 My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:51.200 God, when we build that relationship, we spend that time in prayer, when we pray up and out and in and we do all of those things the way that we need to as someone who's praying, praying, and building up that prayer. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.079 We know his voice when it speaks to us. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:58.720 We know his refreshing, we know his touch, we know when he's saying something to us. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:01.920 So when you are weak, God is your strength. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:06.799 When you have that relationship with him, when you feel the world is unstable, God is always faithful. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:09.839 When you're anxious, unsure, afraid, God is with you. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:10.960 He is your hope. 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:14.880 When you are feeling isolated, hurting, and alone, God is near. 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:22.640 I want that relationship so I can hear him all the time and just feel the things that God has for me moving forward. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:34.160 So in this minute, if this is your first time ever logging on, and you want to understand or you want to have a relationship with Jesus, and you're just thinking, man, there's something about this. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:36.240 I want to have that relationship with the Creator. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:42.000 I want to have that relationship where I could be refreshed even in the hardest parts of my life. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:46.319 I want you to close your eyes wherever you are, and I want you to pray this with me. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:50.799 Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:53.519 I ask for your forgiveness. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:58.799 I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:05.440 I turn from my sins and invite you to come into my heart and my life. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:13.440 I want to experience your strength, your faithfulness, your hope, your nearness. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:19.039 I want to trust and follow you as my Lord Savior. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:26.160 If you said that prayer, let us know in the comments, send us an email, go where you got to on kcc.net. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:29.599 We just want to know that you gave your life to Jesus and celebrate that with you. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:33.359 And those of you that are here and you're watching this, be encouraged. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:38.079 God wants to know you, He wants to be able to take the weight of the world that you have on your shoulders. 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:47.680 But more than anything else, on the seven different types of prayer or the types of spiritual warfare, he wants to know you and be in relationship with you. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:51.119 And the way that we do that is by prayer and communicating with him. 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:53.119 Thank you so much for joining us today.