WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:21.600 Welcome if you're new. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:22.879 My name's Ryan. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:25.839 We're thrilled to have you join us today. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:29.440 And today we're kicking off a series, as you've heard, called When We Pray. 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.719 Why don't you go ahead and say that to your neighbor when we pray? 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:39.679 No, say it with conviction to your other neighbor when we pray. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.280 Notice that it isn't if we pray. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.039 It's like, yeah, huh, maybe if if if you're gonna pray, maybe. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:52.320 Or should you pray like this heaping guilt? 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:58.240 Well, you should, you ought to, but when we pray, and can you turn me down in the house? 00:00:58.320 --> 00:00:59.119 I'm a little loud. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.000 I'm gonna get louder and I don't want to annoy everyone. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:03.439 Um thank you. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:11.359 Uh but it's when we pray, because actually part of the human instinct is prayer. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:14.400 It's your natural instinct and response. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:20.560 Did you know that 71% of Americans report to praying regularly? 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:22.799 This is a little wild. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:28.000 20% of agnostic and atheists say they pray daily. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:29.359 I know, right? 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:33.280 I'm like, I wait, I'm so confused at this moment. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:36.159 Why? 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:50.239 Because there's something hardwired in you and me, this instinctual desire to connect and something beyond us that we're just designed for. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:56.159 There's something in us that knows that prayer is powerful, even though we don't know how it works. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:10.319 Like that prayer changes things, and that's why even people who wouldn't believe in um prayer or God would even say, no, no, no, I'm sending you good juju, okay, thoughts too, or whatever. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:12.080 Yeah, good vibes. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:13.919 Because there's something about it. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:21.360 We just find that there's something other beyond us that we long to pray. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:28.719 And yet, prayer, doesn't it, for most of us, it often um it often still remains mysterious, doesn't it? 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:34.400 It's like, okay, does God really hear me? 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:40.240 I mean, of all the billions of people on this planet, did he hear my one voice? 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:55.759 Like, doesn't it feel like sometimes when you pray, like you're just praying and you're lifting your voice and it just rises to the ceiling and it hits it, and then it falls flat to the ground? 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.520 You're like, it didn't break through. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:00.560 Whatever the ether, whatever that is, it did not break through. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:02.879 I'm like, did I use the right words? 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:04.639 Is there some way to say it? 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:13.039 Maybe I I wasn't in the right position, like like prayer remains this great mystery and this great need of the human soul. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:20.319 And so, how do we pray where we experience the presence and power of God? 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:25.039 Because that's what you need, that's what we long for. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.719 That is the ache of the human heart. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:38.960 There is the deep, intrinsic desire of the human heart upon which only the very presence of God will satisfy. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:44.879 And how do you pray in such a way where you experience the presence and power of God? 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:52.639 How do we pray in a way that develops this life-giving, soul-shaping relationship with our Heavenly Father? 00:03:53.439 --> 00:04:00.400 Not duty, not ought, not a list of rules, a checklist, like, hello, I got it done. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:06.000 I woke up this morning, checked, done, moved on, and you're like, it's just this rote activity. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:10.560 I do it because somebody told me to, but it has no impact into my life. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:11.520 You ever been there? 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:12.800 Me too. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:23.360 How do you pray in a way that develops this life-giving, not soul sucking, life-giving, it's soul shaping. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:30.399 It's what you're designed for, this relationship with your heavenly father. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:38.160 Well, we're gonna spend the next six weeks learning and growing and developing this as a community. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:44.720 And like Christina said, we have this journal that our team put together 40 days of prayer. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:57.920 And friends, I just gotta let you know that if you will dive into this together over the course of 40 days, you will then at the end begin to go, oh, I'm starting to get it. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:00.879 Oh, I'm starting to understand. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:17.040 Oh, I'm starting to get to know my heavenly father, and it just gets deeper and it gets richer, it gets more beautiful, and there's things about who God is that you go, like, I I never would have imagined. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:21.839 And now I'm experiencing this life-giving, soul-shaping relationship. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:31.439 By the way, you were designed, you were created for a life-giving, soul-shaping relationship with your heavenly father. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:39.759 And prayer, well, it's the pathway to experiencing intimacy with God. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:47.199 It's the pathway upon which we experience intimacy with God. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:53.680 And so today we're gonna talk about the basics of prayer. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:56.480 Go ahead and just turn to your neighbor and say basic. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.279 And I'm not meaning it the way it does mean today. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.959 Um the basics of prayer. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:12.079 Today we want to get back to like how do we get to the foundation and the starting point together? 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:14.879 Um, I like how Tim Keller talks about prayer. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:20.399 He says prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:26.639 It is also the main way we experience deep change, the reordering of our loves. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:32.240 Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things He has for us. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:37.519 Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:42.000 It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:48.800 Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:53.120 How do we learn to pray that way? 00:06:53.759 --> 00:07:03.759 Well, you know that the disciples, the only thing they asked Jesus, at least that we have recorded, to teach them. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:06.000 They said, Jesus, would you teach us something? 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:09.439 And they didn't say, Jesus, teach us how to do all those miracles. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:10.480 Those are fantastic. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:12.160 That's amazing, right? 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:16.079 They didn't say, Jesus, that walking on water is pretty awesome. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:18.560 Um, can can we do that? 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:24.560 They said, Jesus, would you teach us to pray? 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:42.720 See, there's something about the way Jesus prayed that was radically different than the way everyone else prayed, that was so intimate and engaging and soul-shaping that that they said, I want what you have, and the way you talk to God is the way I want to talk to God. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:43.759 I want that. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.160 Would you teach us that? 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:55.920 And in the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus', you know, incredible, it's one of the greatest sermons ever, the greatest sermon ever. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.120 You know the lion's share of the sermon? 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:08.480 Jesus is talking about prayer and life in the kingdom of God and this relationship with your heavenly father. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:15.360 And in it, he begins to explain the basics of prayer, of this foundation, of how do we do this? 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:19.279 How do we engage in this ongoing love relationship with our heavenly Father? 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:24.000 If you got your Bibles, would you open up to Matthew chapter 6, verse 5? 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.720 Matthew 6, verse 5. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:39.600 And Jesus says this, and when you pray, again, not if you pray, but when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.000 Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:50.159 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.080 Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:09:00.080 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they'll be heard because of their many words. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:05.120 Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask them. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:07.600 All right, here's what I want to do with our time. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:10.159 I want to first declutter prayer. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:13.039 Jesus is gonna tell us actually a couple of ways not to pray. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:24.399 He's gonna say, Don't do this, and you just saw a couple of those in here, and then give us some really practical steps to begin developing intimacy through prayer with God. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.080 What are some real practical ways that we can take steps today? 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.080 All right, so decluttering prayer. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:35.360 Where does Jesus say, hey, let's drop the baggage off that we have with prayer? 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:39.279 The first is prayer is not a performance. 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:40.639 It is not a performance. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:43.039 It says, when you pray, do not be like who? 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:43.679 Anyone? 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:46.480 Hypocrites! Who are the hypocrites? 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.159 Thank you, one of you. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:52.080 Pharisees. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:52.559 Yeah. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:54.080 The Pharisees. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.559 Now the Pharisees were the religious elite. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:05.039 In fact, they began with very good intentions, by the way, back in the day, to draw Israel into uh purity and right relationship with God. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:17.120 Uh, they set up all these lists of rules to make sure they didn't uh blow any of the other rules so they had rule on top of rule on top of rule, and they heaped them on other people, but they didn't live them themselves, hence hypocrites. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.679 And he says, Don't pray like the hypocrites. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:29.519 Now, in the ancient Jewish day, a devout Jewish man would first wake up in the morning and quote the great Shema, Hero Israel, is the Lord your God. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:31.600 And the Lord is one. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:38.399 And then he would um quote that in the evening, and then there would be three specific times throughout the day that they would pray. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:45.919 And often they would be praying uh, you know, very um scripted out or written prayers back to God. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:55.120 Now, a Pharisee would be in full uh garb, very ornately dressed to show the sign of their kind of piety and who they were. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:11:02.399 And during those times of prayer, uh they would make sure they were in a very public place. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:19.679 Um, because by the way, not everybody prayed three times a day, and life was busy and full, and there's lots of people going about their day and work and all these sort of things, and so they would stand on the street corner, oh Lord, you know, and they would pray out loud so everyone would see them. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.320 And Jesus saying, Don't be like that. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:24.720 Don't be like that. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:37.200 Prayer is not a performance, it's not a performance for other people, like when you're praying out loud in a group, it's not somehow that other people think you're more spiritual. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:42.320 But I think more often today for us, it's we're trying to perform for God, isn't it? 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:54.240 Like I'm somehow trying to perform for you, and if I kind of use churchy words, or maybe even I change my voice when I pray, you know, like like maybe you'll hear me. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:12:01.279 Like I'm somehow before in this dance, and God, if you like it, then maybe you'll respond to me. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:07.279 Think about this religion is all about performance. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:12.559 Relationship is all about presence, it's all about presence. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:22.559 See, prayer is not a performance, it's about presence, it's about being, it's about keeping company with God. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:29.679 Being in his presence and enjoying him, and him enjoy you. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:31.600 I like how C.S. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:32.960 Lewis said it. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:39.360 Um, he said, Bring to God what's in you, not what ought to be in you. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:43.360 Like I think some of the ways we perform, isn't it? 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.559 It's like we bring what should be in us. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:53.279 Like, this is the way I should pray, or what I think God wants to hear from me. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:00.559 And if you ever read through the Psalms, you realize David just brought before God what was in him. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:03.440 And God met him there. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:06.720 Where you just bring to him what's in you. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:14.240 You don't have to somehow, you know, measure up, just bring to God who you are. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:15.600 Prayer is not a performance. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:19.120 Then we go on to see prayer is not a secret formula. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:23.440 He goes on and says, When you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.320 And so you had these two different pictures in the ancient day of prayer. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:34.320 You had the Pharisees and how they prayed, and then you had uh the pagans in the temple worship of all the gods and goddesses. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:55.519 And the way they prayed uh was to evoke their God to move on their behalf, they would pray long, repetitious, loud, and the longer and the louder and the more ecstatic that they became, they thought their God would actually hear them and respond. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:03.200 And if they were in real need, they'd begin to cut themselves and do all sorts of things just to evoke the gods to respond. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:08.480 Jesus says, prayer's not a performance and it's not a secret formula. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:16.480 There aren't these like magic words that if you use them, all of a sudden, like, oh, God's like, oh, yes, genie in the bottle. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:18.559 Yes, here I come, I'll come do that. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:23.279 There's not a length that is a proper length. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:29.279 I remember when I was like in my twenties, I was wanting to really learn how to pray, and someone said, You should pray 30 minutes a day. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:30.240 That's not bad. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:31.279 Keeps the devil away. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:32.879 I'm like, I don't know if that's true. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:40.159 Um and so I tried it, but I couldn't do it. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:46.799 I run uh and I enjoy running, but I can run about three to five miles. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:51.679 If I tried to go run a marathon right now, I'd be dead. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:59.120 That's a lot of the ways it is with us with prayer, too, is we kind of have like spiritual greed. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:00.080 I want to get all the way here. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:03.600 I'm like, no, you're right here at the five-minute range, not the 30-minute range. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.120 And there's no shame on that. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.200 Short prayers or long prayers. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:10.559 It's not like the longer it is, the more impactful it is. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:18.000 I remember my fifth grade Sunday school teacher, yes, fifth grade Sunday school teacher, like ruined prayer for me. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:23.440 It's kind of a strong statement, um, but it's true, so here we go. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:29.279 Uh, you know, he really did, and I he was a well-intended, wonderful Pharisee. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:30.559 He really was. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:34.799 It means good-hearted, and it was so dogmatic. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:40.639 And I remember he asked me, and I was the preacher's son, he asked me to pray, and and I would get up there, pray, and I just say amen. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:47.759 He said, Ryan, in front of everybody, you have to say in Jesus' name, Amen, and you have to close your eyes, and you have to fold your hands. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:54.320 And I mean, he was dogmatic, and every time, then I came in there, I'm like, in Jesus' name, amen. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:01.200 As if it's this magical incantation, and if we say it, somehow God will respond. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.840 By the way, you can play with pray with your eyes open or your eyes closed. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:07.519 God still hears you. 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:12.080 I pray with my eyes open because of my fifth grade Sunday school teacher. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:14.639 Seriously. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:20.799 Those words are powerful if we understand what they mean in Jesus' name, amen. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:23.759 But a lot of times we just tag them on to the end. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:28.399 See, in Jesus' name, Jesus actually called us to pray in his name. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:31.120 He didn't mean just tag in Jesus' name at the end. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.399 You don't have to say in Jesus' name for it to be in Jesus' name. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:35.840 Let me explain. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:43.600 To pray or to speak someone's name meant in a line with their character and their will. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:49.840 The character of Jesus, who you are, and your will, what you want to be done. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:57.279 That my prayer aligns with your character, who you are, and your will, what you want to be done. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.919 That's what it means to be in the name of Jesus. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:07.680 And when we say in the name of Jesus, is what I'm saying is what I prayed was in alignment with your character and with your will. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:17.680 So by the way, when you say, bless this food to my body and its Taco Bell, it's not in align with his character or his will. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:21.119 And he cannot bless it. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:27.519 I'm sorry. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:30.079 God just says, nah. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:32.720 Ain't gonna do it. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:34.640 Right? 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:38.079 It's in his name, his character, and then amen. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:42.160 Let it be so is what the amen says. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:43.599 Let it be so. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:46.079 May it come about. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:49.519 I've prayed this prayer and I've thought about it. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:52.400 It's in line with your character, your will, and who you are. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:53.920 Let it be so. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:18:02.160 See, they're there words powerful when we understand them, but they're not magical incantations or something secret formula. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:07.759 If I just say that, then I evoke God to somehow and work and move on my behalf. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.519 Decluttering prayer, it's not a performance, it's not a secret formula. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:16.240 Okay, so how do I develop intimacy with God in prayer? 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.079 How do I take some of these steps? 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:24.960 The very first step is we need to view prayer as necessary, not just a nice idea. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:31.920 A lot of us, I think, when we think about prayer is the same way I think about flossing. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:34.960 It's a nice idea. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:40.559 Now, for all you haters, um I'm 41. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:43.759 I've never had a cavity. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:45.119 I know. 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.599 Thank you, thank you, thank you. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.079 I don't know why I bowed, that was awkward. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:53.839 I'll never do that again. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:00.240 It actually bugs my wife because we'll go to the dentist, and I every time I do it tongue in cheek. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:00.720 What'd they say? 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.720 I'm like, teeth are perfect. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:04.319 I don't floss. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:05.200 I don't floss. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:07.440 I'm sorry, I don't, I don't, I don't do it. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:12.559 But you know what I do do is when I go to the dentist, and hello, my dentist isn't here, praise God right now. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:15.920 Um, but when I go to the dentist, they ask, How often do you floss? 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:20.319 And my answer is the closest thing to lying, but not lying. 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:23.519 Not as often as I should. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:30.079 Which is true. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:34.880 And that's kind of how we think about prayer. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:43.440 When it comes up, and even this conversation, there's like a little bit of a wave of guilt that comes over us because it's like, oh, I I know I should. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.640 Not as often as I should. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:53.119 The first step into really beginning to develop prayer in this intimate relationship is we begin to shift. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:54.640 Oh no, it's necessary. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:56.160 It's not just a nice idea. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:03.119 Did you know Jesus said when you pray, when you pray, when you pray, not if you pray? 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:09.920 That this is again it's the pathway. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:14.640 It's a pathway to experiencing intimacy with God. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:19.599 And Jesus, God Himself in flesh. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:20.720 Notice this. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:29.359 Like even when his life got busy, especially when his life got busy, he carved out time for prayer because he knew it was necessary. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:39.599 Notice this, Luke 5, 15 says, Um, yet the news about him spread all the more so crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed by their sickness. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:44.400 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:51.200 Jesus gave a special time to prayer when life was unusually busy. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:21:03.359 I just wonder what would happen and change in your life, because what happens is when life gets unusually busy, prayer is way off the table, right? 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:04.720 It is for me. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:19.519 So if we understood, oh, I have a good, loving heavenly Father who knows all things, who's all powerful, who understands my day, who has already seen what's gonna happen in my day, wants to prepare me, wants to speak to me, encourage me, equip me. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:26.799 And if I stop and I meet with him, he may just want to move in my life to prepare me and use me for the day ahead. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:33.200 See, we've got to begin viewing prayer not just as a nice idea, but necessary. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:35.680 And then how how we approach God. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:39.920 You approach your heavenly father who loves you. 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:45.680 Let me ask you who do you pray to when you pray? 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:51.279 I mean, like what picture comes to your mind? 00:21:52.799 --> 00:22:08.160 I think for many of us, the picture might be of a God that is down on you, it might be of someone who's Withholding that, like, you know, when you finally get your act right, then I'll actually, you know, give you something good. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:15.519 A God with crossed arms, toe tapped, just waiting for you to blow it. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:20.000 Did you notice that Jesus said, pray to your help me out? 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.079 Father. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:25.680 Your father who sees. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:27.680 Think about that. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:32.720 The God of the universe, Jesus invites you to call Father, and He sees you. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.759 He sees what you're walking through. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:36.960 You're seen. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:37.920 You're not overlooked. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:38.720 You're not unseen. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:39.920 You're not invisible. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:42.640 You're not just hoping somebody will notice you. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:50.480 And I know that for some is how you're walking through life, but your Father sees you, and He knows what you need even before you ask Him. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:58.079 We take this for granted often in our day. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:08.559 In Jesus' day, the Jewish idea of God, and especially the name of God, was so sacred, so holy, you wouldn't even utter it. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:13.920 And for Jesus to then call God as father was scandalous to them. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:19.920 He said, when you have God as your father, what that means is you have access. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:24.960 The way a daughter or son has access to a father. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:29.440 You have authority because you carry the family name. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:37.759 You don't come begging, you don't come hoping, you don't come wishing, you come to a father. 00:23:39.519 --> 00:24:00.319 In fact, a little bit later on, Jesus would say this in the Sermon on the Mount, because I think our tension then with father, isn't it true that like we have earthly fathers, and many have had earthly fathers who have let us down, who have hurt us, who've wounded us, who've been absent, or abusive. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:05.039 And our picture of God is just gets wrapped up into that brokenness. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:10.400 And I love how Jesus then paints our heavenly Father. 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:11.519 Notice what he says. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:15.519 He says, which of you, if your son asks for bread, we'll give him a stone? 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:22.160 Um not many of you, uh if he asks for a fish, we'll give him a snake. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:26.480 Most of us wouldn't, and the ones that would should go to jail. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.359 It's a true story. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:42.240 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, if we as human parents are broken and most of us know how to give good gifts to our kids. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.559 Notice this how much more. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:57.119 What if in your mind, when you approach your heavenly father, you understood that you approached the God of the how much more, not the God holding out on you, the God who says, I have how much more? 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:03.680 If you think as the best version of an earthly parent that you could come up with, God is how much more. 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:06.480 He is your perfect heavenly father. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:10.960 How much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who love him? 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:14.000 See how that changes? 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.759 When you approach that, God, think about this. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:19.920 When you pray, you come. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:21.680 Listen, next slide. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:22.640 You come. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:24.799 It's wholly accepted. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:31.359 You don't have to earn it, you don't have to try to get it, you don't have to somehow eke your way, you're fully loved. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:35.279 Nothing you can do will ever change that reality. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:43.200 You're cherished, daughter, son of a good and loving heavenly father. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:49.839 Think about this, who delights to hear your voice and loves to give you good gifts. 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:53.680 That's who you approach. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:58.000 And so, how do we develop intimacy with God? 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:01.680 We begin to understand it's necessary, not just a nice idea. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:12.400 Approach our Heavenly Father who loves us, and then we have to set aside a specific time and a sacred space. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:19.279 Notice Jesus said, but when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who's unseen. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:23.200 Then your father who sees what's done in secret will reward you. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:27.200 Set aside a specific time and a sacred place. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:31.440 Jesus modeled this. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:33.839 He had a time and place. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:46.000 Mark 1.35 says, very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, went off to a solitary place where he prayed. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:48.400 Set aside a specific time. 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.160 I have it on the calendar, and then a sacred space. 00:26:52.400 --> 00:27:12.319 Your sacred space can be your couch, it can be your bed, it can be a coffee shop, it can be your car, it can be a walk on your lunch break, but what is your sacred space where you just go, man, this space, I know during other times it's an ordinary space, but in this moment it is a sacred space, and I meet with God. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:14.640 And then set aside a time. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:19.279 You might be an morning person or you might be an evening person. 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:26.400 Well, Jesus was a morning person, so no, I'm just kidding, you don't have to be a morning person. 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:31.200 But I think sometimes we think a certain time is a better time, don't we? 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:40.480 And sometimes pastors like me go because we're often cerebral and uh generally early risers and journalers, and like, well, should I journal? 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:41.279 I don't know. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:42.319 I like to. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:43.599 If it's helpful, wonderful. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:44.640 If not, don't. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:47.119 Freedom. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:51.359 But you have a specific time. 00:27:51.519 --> 00:28:01.200 If you're a morning person, maybe it's at lunch, maybe it's in the evening, where you set aside a specific time to be with him. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:03.519 What time are you going to do it? 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:05.519 Write it down, set it on your calendar. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:07.279 I like how Eugene Peterson said it. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:14.319 I can be active and pray, I can work and pray, but I cannot be busy and pray. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:19.359 I cannot be inwardly rushed, distracted, or dispersed in order to pray. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:27.279 I have to be paying more attention to God than what people are saying to me, more attention to God than to my clamoring ego. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:37.519 Usually, for that to happen, there must be a deliberate withdrawal from the noise of the day, a disciplined detachment from the insatiable self. 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:45.759 And I got to give you a word of warning at the beginning, this will be a little bit challenging. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:50.160 In fact, I love how Tim Keller said it in his book on prayer. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:55.119 Because I want to highlight that this is going to be a process and a practice as you step into it. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:58.000 It's not going to be like, oh, this is amazing right at the beginning. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:00.319 It might be a little awkward and challenging. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:04.880 He wrote, most contemporary people base their inner life on their outward circumstances. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:11.920 Their inner peace is based on other people's valuation of them and on their social status, prosperity, and performance. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:19.200 If we give priority to the outer life, Silicon Valley, our inner life, he didn't write Silicon Valley, I did. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:22.160 Our inner life will be dark and scary. 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:34.640 We will not know what to do with solitude, we'll be deeply uncomfortable with self-examination, and we'll have an increasingly short attention span for any kind of reflection. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:36.480 And so it's going to be a process. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:42.160 That's why, even with these booklets, like it can be five minutes or it can be 15 minutes. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:44.000 Just take those steps. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:47.920 Developing intimacy with God, view prayer as necessary. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:56.960 We approach our perfect Heavenly Father who loves us, set aside a specific time, a sacred place, and then finally pray. 00:29:58.799 --> 00:29:59.519 Pray. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:02.400 You just gotta pray. 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.960 You can read about prayer. 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.960 You can come listen to sermons about prayer. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:17.200 You can find the best podcast on prayer. 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:26.960 And yet you will not develop intimacy with God until you start praying. 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:28.960 Now think about this. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:34.640 Imagine if we were friends. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:49.920 And imagine if the only time I talked to you was about every three to four weeks when life was going really badly, and I just needed something from you. 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:54.079 How good of a friendship would we have? 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:02.559 Imagine just maybe if you don't have kids, if that's your relationship with your kids. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:06.400 How good of a relationship would you have? 00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:08.000 No. 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:11.359 Me and my kids? 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:16.960 If they only come with need, I want so much more, but I'm not gonna, I'm gonna meet them in their need. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:27.599 See, part of the process is just beginning that conversation, beginning that relationship and starting to get to know God and developing that. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:30.160 And that just begins with a consistency. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:32.400 That's why we're doing 40 days. 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:38.400 We have it all outlined so you can just take that step together as easy as possible. 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:40.160 Would you join us? 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:55.519 Because you'll be incredibly amazed at what God wants to do in you, what he wants to do through you, and the depth of relationship, his presence and power that he wants to meet you in on this journey. 00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:00.880 And so, I like how Richard Foster says it as we take steps forward. 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:07.920 He says, the same way, a small child cannot draw a bad picture, so a child of God cannot offer a bad prayer. 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:09.759 Take the pressure off. 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:12.480 Just start. 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:20.640 Take the pressure off and just start and begin to learn how to pray together. 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:23.519 And so, here's how I want to close our time. 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:29.440 Jesus, the disciples asked him, teach us how to pray, and he gave them the Lord's Prayer. 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:33.680 And this is what comes directly next in the text on the Sermon on the Mount. 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:39.839 I just want to take a moment and lead us in prayer, not just talk about prayer, but lead us in prayer. 00:32:40.160 --> 00:32:44.240 Would you take a breath, keep your eyes open or closed? 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:48.319 Jesus says, this then is how you should pray. 00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:57.359 And we'll be walking through each of these stanzas each day for the next week, but I just wanted to get our hearts oriented. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:00.400 Begin first with worship. 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:04.799 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:08.400 Literally, how it means let your name be sacred to me. 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:11.519 I don't want to pull you down into my world. 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:14.559 I always want to keep you in your proper place. 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:21.440 And worship is ascribing proper worth to the greatness of who God is. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:24.880 Would you just begin by thanking God? 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:30.240 Thank him for what he's done, where he's working, who he is. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:47.200 The next movement, one of surrender. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:54.480 Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:13.440 Would you just begin to pray that prayer, your kingdom done, your will be done in my marriage, in my singleness, in my finances, in my workplace, in my thought life, as it is in heaven. 00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:18.719 And begin to surrender those areas where you go, you know, I want your kingdom and not my kingdom. 00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:36.480 And then Jesus moves to requests. 00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:40.000 Give us this day our daily bread. 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:41.440 What do you need today? 00:34:41.679 --> 00:34:43.679 Isn't it amazing that God invites us? 00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:45.599 He longs to hear our requests. 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:48.480 He tells us to ask, to seek, to knock. 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:50.639 What do you need today? 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:56.159 What are the concerns of your heart, the worries? 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:00.320 Bring those to God. 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:17.199 And then confession, forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:24.239 Some of you walked in with shame and baggage that He does not want you to live in. 00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:33.280 There is therefore no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, where you confess it, you say, God, would you forgive me? 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:36.880 And you leave it at the cross and you walk out free. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:59.039 And then Jesus closes with protection. 00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:04.719 Have you ever noticed that when you take a step towards God, it seems like all hell breaks loose? 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:11.119 Maybe that habit that you had kind of under control, it raises its head. 00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:14.000 Maybe a relationship just begins to go south. 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:21.760 Pray protection as you take this journey and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:26.079 God, would you protect me from me, my natural bent away from you? 00:36:26.719 --> 00:36:33.280 And would you protect me from the enemy who wants to entice and pull me away from you? 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:44.960 For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. 00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:47.360 Amen. 00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:51.760 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:56.400 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:36:56.559 --> 00:36:58.639 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:04.719 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.