WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.400 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:13.119 Good morning. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.960 It's great to be with you if you're new or we just don't know each other yet. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:21.760 My name's Ryan, and uh today we're actually finishing out a series we've been in. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:25.199 It's part five called For All People. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:31.760 And here's what we said over the last several weeks is that Jesus was actually explicit. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:39.600 He was absolutely clear on this one thing that following him is actually good for all people. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:48.560 Following him and his ways aren't just good for some people or a few people, perfect people, special people. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:52.799 Following him is actually good for every single person on the planet. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:04.799 Here's how we said it: that the gospel, which is Jesus' life, his death, his resurrection, the ways of Jesus, is good news, fundamentally good news for all people, not just some people. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:07.040 And then he went further than that. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:20.719 He went beyond that and he said, according to Jesus, and so if it is really good for every single person according to Jesus, then we are, as his followers, to go share it with all people. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:31.760 And we've been journeying through the book of Acts, which actually chronicles the uh very origins and history of how this movement and church began. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:33.840 Uh how think about this. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:56.640 How did this Jerusalem centric Jewish-based group explode in the obscure part of uh the Roman Empire, this little area in the Palestinian region, into what now revolutionized and changed the world as we know it. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:02.560 And in fact, how it began to spread from Jerusalem is so counterintuitive and so incredible. 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:04.799 It's not the way we would have written the story. 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:17.840 And we began all the way back in Acts chapter 7, that this spread from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, as Jesus said, actually began with Stephen, who was martyred or killed for his faith. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:23.280 And Saul, he's overseeing and approving this execution of Stephen. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:31.199 And it says in the beginning of Acts 8 that a great persecution broke out then on all the church. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:33.599 And as they went, think about this. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:42.960 As they were experiencing one of the worst experiences of their life, the good news is still so good, they can't help but share it as they're going. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:48.080 And as they go, persecution broke out, and then revival broke out as well. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:52.319 And they began to share it with the Samaritan people in Acts chapter 8. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:53.120 Amazing. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:56.560 And then on Easter Sunday, we talked about this, Acts chapter 9. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:57.520 This is incredible. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:17.520 That the great persecutor of the faith, Saul, who was the point leader for persecuting Christians on the road to imprison Christians in Damascus, encounters the risen Savior Jesus, gives his life, and he moves from persecutor to apostle, persecutor to preacher of the gospel. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:29.120 And it moved from Samaritan people, it moved from uh, you know, persecuting, you know, those who are persecutors of the faith, then to Gentile people. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:04:08.240 And we looked at Acts chapter 10, where many of us uh fall into that category as Gentiles, and Peter has this vision, and and God says, you know, the good news is good for all people, and I can't underscore how radical, disruptive of a concept this would have been for the Jewish believer that it would expand beyond not just Jewish people or Samaritan people, but then to all people, Gentile people, Cornelius type people, who was a Roman centurion in Caesarea, which was the center of you know Rome's power in the Palestinian area. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:14.000 And then Acts chapter 11, we looked at last week, and Chris taught on it, and it was the church in Antioch. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:21.279 It's where they're first called Christian, that they looked and sounded so much like Jesus, it was a put down and said, You're your little Christ. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:22.639 And this is incredible. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:29.199 This is the first picture we get this, that the first great multi-ethnic church. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:47.040 There was believers from Africa to Asia in this church, Jewish and Gentile, men and women worshiping together, and we see this incredibly profound church that is not just for a certain people or a few people or the right people or anytime. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.000 It was for all people. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:05:15.680 Now, as we conclude, we're in Acts chapter 12, and it's actually a parentheses in the storyline for Luke, and he actually moves back from Antioch all the way back to Jerusalem, and he's gonna focus in on Peter, and he's gonna highlight something because Peter's in Jerusalem and he finds himself in an absolutely desperate, impossible situation. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:24.800 And I don't know about you today, or you this last year, or last month, but what do you do? 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:28.000 What do you do when you're absolutely desperate? 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:32.240 What do you do when it all feels hopeless? 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:43.120 When you have no ability to change the circumstances in your life, when you feel like you're stuck in just an impossible place. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.439 What do you do when you're absolutely desperate? 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:53.120 And maybe that's where you walked in today, and personally you feel absolutely desperate, and there's been some things that have been gripping your heart. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:06:03.439 You might have feel absolutely hopeless in the sea of anxiety or perhaps depression, or or or maybe an addiction has gripped your life. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:05.439 It might be your marriage. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:11.199 We've talked about COVID as being the great reveal, and it's revealed what's under the surface. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:15.759 And for many, I've talked with their marriage, it's been like, man, this I'm desperate now. 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:17.040 This has been hard. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:19.360 We're really struggling. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.079 It might be with some of your kids. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.360 It might be with maybe some of your parents. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:27.680 A relationship. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:34.560 Maybe it's with someone outside of you that you're in a desperate situation for someone else, and it's a health issue. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:45.439 You know, I asked us to pray uh a few weeks ago for my friend Judy, who this last week underwent brain surgery. 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:51.120 What do you do when you're in that desperate situation and you feel hopeless? 00:06:51.360 --> 00:07:03.600 Well, Peter, Peter's in an absolutely desperate situation, and in Acts 12, we discover what we are to do, what we can do when it feels like we can do nothing at all. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:06.639 If you got your Bibles, would you open up to Acts chapter 12? 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:08.959 We pick up the story in verse 1. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:10.480 It begins this way. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:17.680 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:29.680 Now, King Herod isn't the same Herod, I want to give you a little context, as Herod the Great, if you remember the Christmas story, and he's the one that uh was so threatened by a new king that he killed all the babies. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:39.360 This is actually Herod's grandson, uh, and they were a fan ruling family power in the Judean area, put in power by Rome itself. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:44.160 And so Herod, he had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.199 Now, there's a couple James also in the Bible here. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:51.199 This is James and John, who Jesus invited to be his disciples. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:52.959 They were fishermen, if you know the story. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:58.480 And he's walking along and said, Come follow me, and they leave their nets and their father and follow him. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:01.680 Now, Jesus also has a brother named James. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:18.160 Uh, and his brother named James ends up being the leader of the Jerusalem church, and we'll hear about him in a little bit later, but I want you to know that there's two different James, and this is the only place we see the clear in scripture, one of the apostles where they were killed. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:26.240 Now, all eleven of the apostles were all martyred for their faith, but this this is the one where it says, James, he was put to death by the sword. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:33.120 Now, notice Herod, he says, when he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:40.320 Politically, it's advantageous to persecute the church, and so this is a political, not a religious movement. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:43.120 This happened during the festival of unleavened bread. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:50.559 After they're arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squadrons of four soldiers each. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:54.559 Now, why in the world would he need so much guard for one guy? 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:59.919 Well, this is actually Peter's third time being arrested so far in the book of Acts. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:04.480 And each time God has shown up and he's been miraculously delivered. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:06.080 Herod's gone, ain't no way. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:10.000 This time I'm gonna have four guards of four squadrons each. 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:11.840 We're gonna bound, we're gonna chain him. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.440 We're not letting this go. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.799 In fact, I have big plans for you. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:21.200 Uh, because Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after Passover. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:28.879 He's thinking this is going to really promote his uh good, you know, policy with the Jewish people. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:33.200 He's excited, he he's got a whole campaign planned. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.759 And so Peter was kept in prison. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:40.480 But by the way, when you see butts in the scripture, pay attention to them. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.639 I love big butts, uh, not that kind. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:49.279 Um, but anyways, they're so incredible because they're the turn to you just got it. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:50.399 That's fantastic. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:10:07.200 Um, they're just these turns of phrases that should draw our attention to something's going one direction, and there's these reversals, and there's these incredible reversals in the scripture of God acting and working. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:14.639 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:17.519 He's stuck in an impossible situation. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:23.279 There's nothing the church can do, they have no power, they have no political pull. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:24.799 There's nothing. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:26.879 They're desperate. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:30.159 And so, what do the desperate people do of God? 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:31.919 They earnestly pray. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:36.960 It says then that the night before Herod was to bring Peter to trial. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:42.879 Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains, and the sentry stood guard at the entrance. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:46.720 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:48.240 He struck Peter on the side. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.639 Woke him up, quick, get up, he said. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.440 And the chains fell off Peter's wrist. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:11:01.600 You know, that line right there the night before is where we get the title of our ser of our sermon today, on the very night. 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:06.720 You know, as we're praying, as we're in these desperate situations, we so long for God to show up. 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:10.320 And yet he rarely shows up in our timing, does he? 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:15.759 You know, wouldn't it be nice if he just showed up early once in a while? 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:24.879 And like on our schedule, in our time frame, under our expectations, and we're just waiting and wondering, and it's always on the very night. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:31.519 The night before, see, God, God rarely shows up on our time frame, but he is never late. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:37.120 And the night before, Peter's to go to trial and to be publicly executed. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:40.559 An angel shows up and miraculously delivers him. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:47.200 Now, now the angel tells Peter and says, Hey, Pete, because that was short, and that's the way angels talk to people. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:53.360 Uh, hey, Pete, I need you to grab your stuff, get your cloak on, and and come follow me. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:57.279 I mean, and he gets up and he literally thinks this is a vision, a dream. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:58.480 He's not sure what's going on. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:09.759 He gets up, he walks past the guards at the, you know, that are guarding him, he walks through the prison gate, down the street, the gate to the city opens this huge, massive gate that was built for protection of the city. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:10.879 It opens on its own. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:16.960 He walks down the street and then the angel's gone, and he's like, wait a second, this was for real. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:21.840 I thought I was having an awesome dream, but this is an awesome reality. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:33.600 Then Peter, the text says, came to himself and said, Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:41.840 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:50.240 John Mark's home, the house of Mary was Jesus' base of operation when he did ministry in the Jerusalem area. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:56.320 Many people believe this is where uh the upper room discourse and time with the Last Supper was. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:02.000 Uh, this is uh many where people believe where Pentecost took place, and where the 120 were praying. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:18.000 Peter knows this is the place that people are praying, and he shows up and he knocks on the door, and a servant girl comes to the gate and hears his voice so excited, leaves them at the door, runs in, tells everyone, Peter's at the door. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.080 They're praying for a miracle. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:24.639 She tells them, and they go, No, no, no, that can't be right. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.039 And she's insisting, and they're trying to explain up. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.360 Maybe it's his angel, and we don't even know what that means. 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:31.759 And she keeps insisting, and Peter's just still knocking. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:33.200 He's going, Come on, come on. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:37.840 And eventually they go to the door, open it up, and sure enough, there's Peter. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:46.320 And he begins to tell them all how God had worked and how he showed up and saved and how he miraculously delivered. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.399 And he says, Go tell James, the brother of Jesus, and the other disciples. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:56.799 And then Peter high-tailed it out of there and got away from Jerusalem quickly. 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:07.759 Now, you can imagine the next day, Herod was not so pleased when he came to find out his high-profile uh public trial is now canceled. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:19.200 And so he does what any disgraced uh public person does, he holds accountable those he wants to hold accountable, and so he executed the soldiers right then and there. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:26.559 And what I love about the way Luke masterfully tells this story is then he zooms in on Herod now. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:36.879 And he zooms in on the end story of Herod, and he picks it up, and he says, This, then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:37.279 Why? 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:43.360 Well, he had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they now joined together and sat in audience with him. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:51.279 Verse 21 On a the appointed day, Herod, wearing his royal robe, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:54.879 They shouted, This is the voice of God, not a man. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:02.720 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:06.080 That is a terrible way to go, I think. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:10.799 And then verse 24, Luke's gives us this incredible summary statement. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:15.440 But the word of God continued to spread and to flourish. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:20.240 I love how John Stott, theologian, summarizes chapter 12. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:26.000 He writes, the chapter opens with James dead, Peter in prison, and Herod triumphing. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:31.759 It closes with Herod dead, Peter free, and the word of God triumphing. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:33.360 What do you do? 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:36.159 What do you do? 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:47.679 When you're absolutely desperate, when it all looks hopeless, when you have no power to change the circumstance. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:59.440 The key verse, the thing that Luke wanted us to like highlight is Acts chapter 12, verse 5, where he says, So Peter was kept in prison. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:06.080 And the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:15.200 Luke's connecting Peter's dramatic, miraculous release with the church earnest prayer. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:18.799 Peter doesn't want us to miss this. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:23.120 Because I think sometimes we just go, well, Pete's a good guy, and God would do that. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:24.960 And he's saying, you know what? 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:34.480 The church earnestly was praying, and because of their prayers, then Peter experienced this miraculous release. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:46.960 That there's this connection point between the activity and what we see in our physical world and what we do in our private prayer life. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:17:03.840 And what I love about this, what I love about chapter 12 is Luke doesn't try to answer the mystery that so many of us wrestle with when it comes to prayer and especially unanswered prayer, or when God shows up or when he doesn't. 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:16.000 Chapter 12 opens with James, an apostle, being executed, and Peter being miraculously released. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:25.200 And honestly, the wise in many of these areas will never know this side of eternity. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:28.400 And and Luke doesn't try to resolve it for us. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:31.599 Here's what we do know from scripture as you study it. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:40.240 The first is you see God delivering us out or from something. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:44.000 The way Peter was delivered out miraculously from this. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:48.079 And many, that's your story, maybe even from addiction that God delivered you. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:52.079 Like you were addicted one day, God showed up, and you were completely free. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:55.200 Or maybe you were healed physically. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.000 That's one of the ways that God delivers. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:03.920 Another way that God delivers is not just out, but sometimes he delivers us through. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:12.640 Like Psalm 23, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:32.960 That this process of God walking with you and walking through that situation, and many that is your story as you walk with him, and he delivers you through that circumstance, and you experience such a deeper understanding of who God is, his care in the moment. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:40.160 And finally, we see that sometimes God delivers not just out or through, but unto. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.359 And this is where James's experience. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:19:02.640 And that to be absence in the body is to be present with the Lord, and that sometimes, and we don't always understand the whys, but sometimes it is so better for God to bring his loved one home. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:05.759 And he does that as well. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:11.440 And in this tension, Luke doesn't want us to miss something really important. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:17.359 Because we can get sidelined on the questions of why. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.359 He wants us to see the connection here. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.079 It's a simple point, really. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:27.920 It's one that many of you probably intellectually agree with. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:32.559 It's really more the practicality of it, isn't it? 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.480 And the point is simply this prayer is powerful. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.000 Prayer is powerful. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.720 Let me say it again. 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.000 Prayer is powerful. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:52.160 What do you do when you're absolutely desperate? 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:53.839 Pray. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:08.640 That word earnest that Luke uses here, by the way, is only he uses it one other time, and it's in his gospel, and it's at the end of Jesus' earthly uh ministry. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:26.400 It's on the night he was to be betrayed and the next day executed, and it says in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus is preparing for the what's next, it says that Jesus earnestly prayed to the point where he was sweating drops of blood. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:38.640 That earnestly, persistently, focusedly, that he was praying, there was an intensity of prayer, there was a fervency of prayer. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:51.759 See, prayer is not just sending, you know, good thoughts out, or you know, just sending something out to the universe. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:21:08.079 Prayer is coming before your perfect and good heavenly father who has invited you in, longs to hear your voice, and to bring the needs and concerns, the desires of your heart before him. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:30.000 And just as you would to perhaps uh someone that you know is all good for you, that has your best interest for many and for some, it would be a paternal figure, whether it's a literal family uh paternal figure, or maybe just someone that you've experienced in your life that you know, I'm gonna go to them and they're gonna bring help in this season. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:34.079 Prayer is when you bring that before him and you say, God, would you help? 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:35.920 God, would you help? 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:41.039 And it's this earnest type prayer, this focused prayer. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:42.000 Why? 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:43.680 Because prayer is powerful. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:46.079 Prayer changes things. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:54.880 James, the brother of Jesus, wrote it this way that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.039 Like when you pray, it's powerful. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:09.839 I just want Later on, he just he writes about you know Elijah and when Elijah prayed and the heavens stopped uh with rain and praise God there's no rain today. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:13.519 Uh and then he prayed again and the heavens poured down in rain. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:22.640 But I just wonder when he pinned that, if he he was brought back reminded when Mary came and brought the news of Peter's release, when John Mark stopped by and said, Guess what? 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:33.920 We were earnestly praying, and as a group, we were praying fervently, and God showed up and he says, Yes, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:37.119 What would change? 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:51.599 Friends, if we really believe that prayer is powerful, what what would change in your life if you truly believe that when you pray, uh things change? 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.960 Like I don't fully understand it. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:23:02.960 God's fully sovereign and he works, and he said in his sovereignty that when we pray, he moves and he works and it changes the outcomes. 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:12.960 I love how Richard Foster, in his book, um, celebrating the disciplines, he writes this we are working with God to determine the future. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:17.839 Certain things will happen in history if we pray rightly. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:22.079 That there are some things in your life that can only come about by prayer. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:28.720 That there is no king more powerful than a believer on their knees in prayer. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:42.319 There are no chains too strong, no guards too great, no prison too impenetrable, no gate too massive for the power of prayer. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:44.400 Let me ask you. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.640 Where in your life do you need the power of God to fall? 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:55.200 Where in your life do you need the power of God to reside? 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:00.400 Wherever prayer focuses, the power of God falls. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:06.160 You know, there's some things that will never change. 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:13.440 God says, unless we pray that he longs to work in cooperation with us. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:38.559 In fact, Jesus one day, he sent out his disciples to do ministry, and he gave them the authority to heal and to cast out demons, and and they're having this incredible ministry time, and God's, you know, they're just flying high, and they come across a man who's possessed by an impure spirit, and they're going like, All right, we got this, and they, you know, try to cast out this demon, and it's not, it ain't working. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:47.599 And then Jesus comes and they say, We need your help, and he and he and he he cast out the demon, and then later they ask Jesus, what happened? 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:54.480 And he goes, This kind can only be cast out by prayer and fasting. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:25:17.200 Like there's some things in your life, there's some things like in your marriage with your kids, with some circumstances, with your job, like like that you would really believe that prayer is powerful and that it changes things, and that you get on your knees and you go, Okay, I'm gonna come earnestly, fervently, persistently, I'm coming to you no matter what. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:22.079 Well, how do we begin to pray like that? 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:49.759 You know, Jesus, as he was teaching his disciples how to pray in the um Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter six, before he gets to what we know as the Lord's Prayer, he gives some instruction on how to pray, how to pray earnestly, how to pray effectively, how we can partner with God and what he wants to do. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:57.599 And here's what he says he says, when I when uh hang on, here's what he says, and I don't have the right page. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:25:58.400 There we go. 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:10.720 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and on the street corners to be seen by others. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:14.160 True I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:19.599 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who's unseen. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:24.079 Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:30.799 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they'll be heard because of their many words. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:36.799 Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:38.799 When you pray. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:41.599 How do we pray earnestly? 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:47.759 Let me give you three aspects of effective prayer or earnest prayer from Jesus here. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:58.319 And the first is simply this it's a perspective shift that you would begin to view prayer as something that's necessary and not just a nice idea. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:01.839 That is actually necessary. 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:10.240 Uh, you know, I think many of us view prayer the way I view flossing. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:15.359 And I'm in dangerous territory because my dentist is here. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:21.119 And we're I was just at the dentist and she asked me, How often do you floss? 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:26.640 And you know my answer was not as often as I should. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:34.079 So that I could get out of answering how often that I should actually do floss. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:41.039 You see, I I I know that flossing is important, intellectually up here. 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:52.000 But if I'm honest, it really falls in the land of the nice idea, and so I floss when I get around to it, when I think about it, and especially when I need it, when something's not quite right. 00:27:53.119 --> 00:28:10.640 See, we have to move from this idea of prayer just being a nice idea of like, yeah, I'll get around to it, and you know, I don't pray as much as I should, you know, I really should pray more, but it but I'll get around to it, and when I really am in this desperate place, then I'll pray and it moved to necessary for life. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:16.960 Notice that Jesus said, when you pray, when you pray, when you pray, not if you pray. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.039 It's just part of prayer. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:28.000 I remember when it moved from me from being a nice idea to being necessary. 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:39.440 Um, we planted awakening church eight and a half years ago, and it was a nice idea that in my heart and my head, I'm like, when we lead this church, I want to lead from my knees. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:40.960 And doesn't that sound good? 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:42.559 I'm like, yes, it does. 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:45.920 I just, it was a nice idea, but let's be honest. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:50.079 The first two years, that was not a reality, that was just a nice idea. 00:28:50.319 --> 00:29:02.960 And then we hit some really hard times, hit some leadership challenges, hit some things that over the course of a few months of times, I was like, I don't even know if we're gonna make it as a church. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:05.119 I don't even know if awakening's gonna exist. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:07.759 I don't know if I'm gonna make it as a pastor. 00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:10.799 And it was in the crucible of pain. 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:19.200 It was in the challenges and in the trials of my life that it prayer moved from that nice idea to necessary. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:24.480 And could it be that maybe God's doing some of that in your life right now? 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:43.440 In the crucible of what you're walking through and what you're going through, and what he's wanting to so lovingly draw you to, that you many of us miss out on the power and the transformation of prayer, not only in our lives but in the world around us, that it's necessary. 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:48.880 First, we have to begin to see it as necessary, not just a nice idea. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:50.880 I like how Corey Timboon said it. 00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:56.559 She asked this question Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:05.519 Is it the thing that's directing your life, or is it just in the back and you pull it out in an emergency? 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:08.960 Prayer is necessary, not just a nice idea. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:12.799 The second thing is to pursue the father with a sincere heart. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:15.680 Pursue the father with a sincere heart. 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:17.920 Like, how should I pray, Ryan? 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:20.240 I don't really even know how to pray. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:25.920 That feels so intimidating and like I'm supposed to use certain words, right? 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:28.319 And uh, Lord God, these thou's. 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:29.759 I mean, do I say thou? 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:32.079 What do I say, Ryan? 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:33.920 How do I talk to God? 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:36.960 Just sincerely, from the heart. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:42.480 Notice Jesus said when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites and don't keep on babbling like the pagans. 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.480 Well, the hypocrites were the Pharisees. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:46.720 The Pharisees made prayer performance. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:49.920 In fact, there was multiple times, three times a day, they would pray. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:31:03.680 They would stand out on the street corner and they'd be in their full garb and they would pray very loudly for all people to hear, thinking in their performance it made them holier, more acceptable to God. 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:11.759 Jesus says, you know, just pray with an honesty, not for other people, but for your own heart. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:14.400 And he says, Don't keep on babbling like the pagans. 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:22.400 The pagans in their rituals, uh, they would use repetitive words over and over somehow to coerce the gods to move on their behalf. 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:24.480 They they thought it like there's a secret formula. 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:32.799 If I just use this right word, if I have this combination, you know, uh, you know, if I say this and that and these and amens, and then maybe God will move. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:37.279 No, just just just come to God with a sincere heart. 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:39.680 God hears what's in me. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:41.359 In fact, I like how C.S. 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:42.319 Lewis said it. 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:47.920 He said, we must lay before him what is in us, not what ought to be in us. 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:50.000 Like, what's in you? 00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:53.519 What are the things that you're struggling with? 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:57.200 What are your doubts and your concerns? 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:02.640 What are the things that even you if you you don't want to bring to God? 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:03.839 You're afraid to bring to God. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.480 You're like, I couldn't utter that before Him. 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:09.279 And the reality is He already knows it. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:13.920 And as a perfect Heavenly Father, he says, Bring it to me. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:16.000 I want to hear what's on your heart. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:18.319 Just bring it to me. 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:28.640 The Psalms inform us and teach us how we can lament, how we can even argue and have such heartache with God and bring the full honesty to him. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:32.079 And yet in that he draws us to himself. 00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:36.079 You know, one of the prayers I pray is this is to God. 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:38.559 Is there anything in me that's not of you? 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:41.680 Is there anything in me that's just not of you? 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:43.680 God, would you show me about that? 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:47.519 By he answers that prayer like real quick. 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:57.039 Because I just I just want to know, like, if there's anything in me, if there's any motives, you know, in this season, just there's been a lot going on. 00:32:57.119 --> 00:32:58.799 There's been a lot of leadership challenges. 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:10.079 There's been uh, you know, a lot of friends and people that we love going through difficult times, and something that I've done more in the last several months than I've probably done in the last several years is just fast. 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:13.680 Like you said, there's some things that just won't happen unless you fast. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:20.240 And so, like for me, just the sincerity of heart is just going, God, I'm gonna bring all of me to you. 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:28.319 And so I'm fasting and I'm fasting in this area for this outcome, for this person or for this situation. 00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:34.079 But let's be real, I recognize by fasting I'm gonna lose a few pounds, and I like that. 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:38.079 And so, Jesus, I bring that before you too. 00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:43.759 I just bring that dual motive there, and I just confess that's in me. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.880 I want my heart to be full of here, but I have this too. 00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:52.480 And he meets you there, and where you just bring your heart before him. 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:56.799 I love how Anne Lamont said it the most important first prayer is help. 00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:09.280 Sincerity of heart, where you just bring the most important first prayer, and it might be the only words that you can get out of your mouth right now is just help, and he meets you there, he meets you there, he meets you there. 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:12.559 Just bring and pursue the Father with a sincere heart. 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:17.360 And finally, recognize the ground where you stand is holy. 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:21.599 Go into your room, close the door, and pray. 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:23.679 Did you know your room is holy? 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:27.360 Did you know your couch is holy? 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:30.159 Did you know your bathroom is holy? 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:33.599 I know some of you spend a long time on your phone in your bathroom, me too. 00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:39.440 And maybe, just maybe it's a holy place that God wants to do something there. 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:42.639 Did you know your car is holy? 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:49.679 Did you know on your walk you're walking on holy ground, you're running on holy ground? 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:52.880 Did you know your office place is holy? 00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:55.360 Do you know your campus is holy? 00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:02.000 Your dorm is holy, your apartment, like like you're presently right now on holy ground. 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:04.320 Wherever you're at. 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:16.960 Like if you just have that awareness, like I don't have to go anywhere, I don't have to do anything, like right now, this place is holy, and God wants to meet me, and I'm on holy ground, and he wants to have a holy conversation with me. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:26.639 Oh, that will draw us to him when we recognize that we're standing on holy ground before a holy God that welcomes us in and loves us. 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:30.159 Three aspects of effective prayer. 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:31.360 It's necessary. 00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:36.960 Come with a sincere heart, and where you are standing is holy ground. 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:40.880 What do you do when you're absolutely desperate? 00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:47.119 Earnestly, earnestly, prayer. 00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:48.000 Why? 00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:54.159 Because prayer is powerful and it changes, it's not just throwing things up into the sky. 00:35:54.480 --> 00:36:02.320 You have a God who welcomes you in and lovingly responds and moves on your behalf. 00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:09.119 Are you needing to experience the power and presence of God in your life in a particular situation? 00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:11.360 Pray. 00:36:12.719 --> 00:36:20.400 You know, I shared about uh Judy and her surgery and her recovery is hard. 00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:28.320 And I'm gonna ask you to continue to pray as she's still in the process, and it's a big process. 00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:31.119 Pray for her and Andre and the kids. 00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:32.079 Why? 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:36.480 Because when we earnestly pray, God moves and God works. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:42.400 Where do you need to experience the power and presence of God? 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:52.159 I just want to close by praying that we would pray together as a church. 00:36:53.599 --> 00:37:09.280 You know, one of our good friends or friends, and Andre and Judy's really dearest friends, he set aside a 24-hour prayer for Judy. 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:23.679 30 minutes each, and covered in prayer for 30 minutes each, and and you just get to see like his hand of protection over their life and intervene and strength that he's giving to the family. 00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:27.679 It's that fervent, that focused, earnest prayer. 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:33.519 And now, in this moment, would you pray and bring to him what's in you? 00:37:34.159 --> 00:37:36.719 We just want to pray through the Lord's Prayer with you. 00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:43.519 Lord's prayer begins this way: our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:58.480 God, we thank you that we come before our perfect Heavenly Father, that there is no problem in our life that is too great or need too small for your attentive care. 00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:07.679 You're not distant or aloof, you're present and concerned. 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:18.239 Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:37.679 God, we ask for your will be done in our lives, for your will to be done in this church, your will to be done in the Mariah family's life, that you would strengthen, that that there would be more of heaven taking place because of your people here on earth. 00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:42.400 Would you give us today our daily bread? 00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:46.079 What are the needs and the concerns? 00:38:46.639 --> 00:38:49.760 What are the the impossible situations? 00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:55.280 What feels absolutely desperate? 00:38:56.400 --> 00:38:58.400 Would you bring that to him now? 00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:04.559 He says, Bring it to me, bring it to me, bring it to me. 00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:18.639 God, we pray for Judy right now as a collective church with one heart and one. 00:39:19.599 --> 00:39:25.360 You would continue and bring healing and restoration, bring her to full health. 00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:35.840 God, we ask that you would strengthen, you would encourage, that your loving arms of comfort would bolster and hold their family. 00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:41.840 That your peace would surpasses all understanding. 00:39:42.320 --> 00:39:50.400 God, it just would be that supernatural peace for them that can only be the presence of God. 00:39:54.880 --> 00:40:03.920 And God, we ask as a church that you would forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, that we would be a people of grace and mercy. 00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:11.119 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:16.559 That you would protect us and allow us to walk closely with you. 00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:22.880 For yours is the kingdom and the power forever and ever. 00:40:23.920 --> 00:40:24.559 Amen. 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:32.400 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:37.599 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:40.079 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:40:40.320 --> 00:40:46.400 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash cards.