WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:06.400 Well, this morning we are in our fourth Sunday talking about prayer. 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:12.240 Each sermon has built upon the last, so I encourage you if you've missed one to go back and listen online. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:16.000 Now, this week on Amazon, I ordered some shoo. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:17.679 Does anybody use shoe goo? 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:18.559 Anyone else? 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:19.600 Like a couple of us. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.920 It's a shoe goo is this special glue. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:26.480 Like if the sole of your shoe comes off, you know, like it peels off, but you're not done with the shoes yet. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.960 You get shoo and you can glue it and you put it back on. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:30.000 I ordered that on Amazon. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:33.439 Here's actually my orders from last week of Amazon. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.320 Um some new bleacher seats. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.520 It was time to up the game, you know, like at the bleacher seat game. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.840 And so we got some new bleacher seats, shoe gu. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.600 Uh one of my girls ordered a phone case, got some ink. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:52.159 Uh my buddy Kurt, he texted me and said he had he had ordered and started using a weighted vest to work out in. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.079 And I thought, you know, it's January. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:55.840 I'm inspired to hit fit. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:57.840 So I ordered a weighted vest. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:02.799 Um, and so that's all incredibly exciting, real life, right? 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:04.079 Very incredible exciting. 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:14.159 Now, also this week I read that Jeff Bezos, with all the money that we're sending him, he uh bought three lots on Indian Creek Island in Florida. 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:15.680 Here that is, that private island. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.519 He paid just 90 million dollars for the lots, pretty good deal, I think. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:21.120 Um just 90. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:23.439 You know, it was a good deal, could have been a hundred. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:28.000 Uh so Bezos is mega wealthy, right? 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:29.040 We know that. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:31.040 Mega powerful. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:34.640 Um, and he is also involved in my life, right? 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.560 He helped Shugu come come to me this week. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:40.640 Like he's involved in our lives. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:46.560 So he's powerful, he's involved in our lives, but he is distant. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:49.599 Jeff Bezos is not personal. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:51.200 Now, back to my friend Kurt. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:52.640 Here's a picture of my friend Kurt. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:54.319 He's a pastor down in Florida. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:55.760 That's us on a friend trip. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:58.480 He's the one in the front with the beard. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:04.879 Now, Kurt uh invited me this week to come down and play golf with him in Florida and go to the players' championship. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:05.840 And I thought that was so nice. 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:07.519 What a friend just inviting you to come do something. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:08.240 That's so great. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:11.039 Um, but Kurt does not have uh wealth. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:12.639 Kurt is not powerful. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:14.960 Kurt lives in a very middle class neighborhood. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.560 He drives a Nissan truck, he's just an ordinary guy in this world. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:23.680 Uh so Kurt does not have power, but Kurt is personal. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:31.199 So Matt was preaching last week, and Matt said, we pray to a God that is personal and powerful. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:41.360 And I thought to myself, what if, what if Kurt and Jeff Bezos were the same person in my life? 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.479 I mean, I wouldn't be on Delta anymore, right? 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:48.400 Like I'm not on, I'm I would never be on Delta again in my life, right? 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.960 I'd just be like, yeah, I'll come play golf, send the jet up, you know, I'll come down for the day. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:55.360 You can fly me back in the evening, right? 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.000 My life would change because personal and powerful together. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:14.000 What would it look like for this person to be powerful, but then also to care about my anxieties, my family issues, my money worries? 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:19.039 What would it look like to pray to a God who is both personal and powerful? 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:21.840 So our question this morning is this how do we pray? 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:23.680 How do we pray? 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:31.439 And so I want to teach us through the Lord's Prayer, how does Jesus, what does Jesus teach us to pray? 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:33.039 I'm gonna do that quickly. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:39.840 And then, second part, I want to quickly talk about practical ways to practice prayer. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:41.680 All right, so what are we gonna pray? 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:42.719 Jesus is gonna tell us that. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:44.960 And then how are we actually gonna do this? 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:46.560 Matthew 6, 9. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:47.599 Pray then like this. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:48.719 This is the beginning of the Lord's Prayer. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:49.759 Jesus is teaching us. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:55.680 Our Father in heaven, the very beginning, puts us relationally in our positions. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:58.719 We as children are praying to the Heavenly Father. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:03.680 Point number one is that prayer is relational, a child speaking to the loving Heavenly Father. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:06.159 That was our first sermon of the series. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:10.879 We praise beloved sons and daughters of God, which means we are children. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:11.599 Right? 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:16.879 And children are imperfect and they're needy and they're messy and they're little sinners, right? 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:18.959 I mean, this is just what children are. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:20.160 This is who we are. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:23.199 We are children in front of the loving Father. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:24.879 God knows this. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:33.759 Not as he knows this, he moves toward us, invites us to voice all those worries and that mess and that neediness we have. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:35.600 Back to 6.9. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.399 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.800 Hallowed be your name is ancient language. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:46.079 We could say, May your name be sanctified, is us saying, Praise you, God, I praise you. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.360 I'm your child, you're the loving Father, I praise you. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:53.519 It's an affirmation of God's holiness and majesty into verse 10. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:55.920 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:57.199 So praise your name. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:01.920 Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:08.639 Point number two is this prayer is reverence to God, aligning our hearts with His. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:15.519 So, you're my Father, I praise you, and I have all these plans for my life. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.600 I have all these great ideas for my life, I have all these great ideas for all the people of my life. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:21.920 See, I actually have a plan for all of your lives. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.399 I could give you a plan for all of your life, right? 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:25.360 This is what we do. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:33.360 We try to control everybody in life, and then we're praying it to God, all the great ideas, all the great plans we have for our lives and our family and our friends. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:34.399 We're praying all this. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:36.480 And God wants to actually hear all that. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.360 He wants to hear all of our great, amazing plans we have for our lives. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.720 But it's in this framework where we say, your kingdom. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:47.439 Right? 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:52.560 It's a way to say, I'm gonna hold all this with open hands. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.360 Praying something with tight hands is incredibly tiring. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:05:59.279 You're not surrendering anything. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:03.279 But open hands say, your kingdom come. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:08.639 It's a way to say, God, I want your influence into all of this. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.319 God's kingdom is God's influence in our lives. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:16.480 In the book of Matthew, the kingdom is never spoken of as something we do. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.680 In Matthew 6, 33, we seek the kingdom. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.040 Matthew 12, 25, we enter into the kingdom. 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:27.439 But Matthew, Matthew never speaks of the kingdom as something we do. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:33.439 For Matthew, the kingdom is connected to God's activity coming into our lives. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:35.120 Your kingdom come. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:38.879 In Matthew 12, 28, the kingdom overcomes us. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:43.680 Matthew 18, 23, the kingdom is likened to God's forgiveness. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 Matthew 13, the kingdom grows of its own accord. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:52.959 Swiss theologian in the 1900s, Carl Barth, he said this. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:58.720 The coming of the kingdom is totally independent of our powers. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:04.160 We are as incapable of doing something toward its coming as creation itself. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:12.240 So it's a way, when we say your kingdom comes, it's a prayer of saying, I welcome your influence. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.800 I welcome your influence into the very concern, desire, anxiety. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:17.360 I'm praying. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:22.480 I think I have a great plan here, God, because I'm full of great plans, but I'm going to hold it with open hands. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:27.040 And I want to align my heart to yours. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:30.319 And I'm welcoming you to even change my heart. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:35.360 A transition occurs in verse 11 to voicing our needs. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:38.399 Give us this day our daily bread. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:43.439 So point number three is this God delights to hear our needs, anxieties, and concerns. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:44.879 He actually delights to hear it. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:47.120 He wants to hear this from you. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:51.680 Daily bread is speaking of all of our daily needs. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:58.000 This is the asking for the very things that we would think He is below, is below him. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.720 There's no way he could be interested in that. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:02.560 There's no way he could. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:04.480 He's God, He's the creator. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:13.120 Our bills, our food, our friends, our stress, the way you're not getting along with your dad or your cousin or your neighbor. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:19.839 See, God's greatness is shown in his majesty, his creativity. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:21.920 Anybody see the sunrise this morning? 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:23.279 It was amazing. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.560 I mean, God's glory is seen in that. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:34.080 And God's glory is seen in his ability and desire to actually care about your anxieties. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:35.840 What's more glorious? 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 For him to only care about the huge majestic issues? 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:49.279 Or is it more glorious that he can do that and he can also care about your heart, your concerns? 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.080 And so we get to voice those to God. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:54.879 Verse 12. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:59.279 And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:05.679 Point number four is this as we live in confession, we live forgiven, and we live forgiving. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:15.600 This is language that connects the idea of being forgiven fully in Jesus to the idea that we begin to live as forgiving people. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:27.440 It's almost like the grace of forgiveness has like a tag-along friend who's just always around. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.960 And that's us forgiving other people. 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.279 And the two just always go together. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:44.080 You're not forgiven because you're forgiving, but as you're forgiven, it just starts to produce in you the ability, desire, willingness to forgive somebody else. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:48.159 Last phrase, Matthew 6, 13. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.879 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:58.159 This is a confession to say, I don't always think rightly. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:02.639 My mental space is messed up, our hearts messed up. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:10.639 I think things, I want to do things I shouldn't, I do things I shouldn't, I don't do some things that I really should do, all that's going on in my life. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.200 God, I need your help. 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:15.679 Help me. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:21.120 Help me resist the lies that attempt to take good out of my life. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.000 Help me resist lies that destroy. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:26.159 Help me to see these. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:36.879 And as we pray that, as we slow down and we pray that, we speak those to God, God actually speaks to us and helps us and empowers us. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:41.840 Okay, so that was Jesus teaching us what to pray. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:43.039 The Lord's prayer. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:46.559 Now I want to turn, I want to get very practical. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:51.759 I want to resource you with 10 ways you can practice prayer. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:56.559 I'm gonna move through them pretty quickly so you can take a picture of the screens with your phone if you want to. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:59.679 I don't know if you'll be able to keep up with me by writing. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.919 It's possible that you've never really practiced prayer. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:08.480 It's possible you practice prayer, but it's just always been hard. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:14.240 I think at the beginning of the series in sermon number one, I said, you know, who's been a Christian for five years? 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:16.480 Who's been a Christian 10 years, 20 years, 30 years? 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:22.159 And then we say, like, who is uh it's it's always it's it's can be hard to pray. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:23.440 It can be difficult to pray. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:25.039 There's been a season where it was hard to pray. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:26.240 It's like everybody's hands go back. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:28.720 It's just hard for everybody. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:32.399 Prayer is just never gonna always be easy. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:35.440 It's also possible that you do have a prayer practice. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:41.279 You're pretty committed, you're dedicated, you're devoted, but it can feel stale, and sometimes it's just nice to switch it up and do something different. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:43.759 So, ten ways to practice prayer. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:45.679 And this is not an exhaustive list. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:50.399 There may be a number 11, and it's your number 11, and I welcome that number 11. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:54.080 So I don't want you to think this is the only 10 that exists. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:56.720 Prayer practice one, pray your heart. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:58.559 Bow, journal, walk. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.200 I just want to begin by saying it's relational. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.240 If it's in you, pray it. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:06.080 If it's in you, pray it. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:08.960 If it's going on in you, if it's a thought, if it's a concern, it's a desire. 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:12.159 Don't worry about the right words, don't worry about how selfish you are. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.720 Just begin, just pray it. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:19.039 Talk to God like He's a loving papa and you're the child. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:20.559 Let's begin there. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.360 Prayer practice two, the daily office. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:27.039 This is the Anglican prayer guide for morning and evening prayer. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.440 It gives you a scripture and it gives you a prayer. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.000 The daily office is part of the Book of Common Prayer. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.000 So you can buy the Book of Common Prayer as well. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:36.159 There's an app for that that you can use. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:44.399 It's a guide to help you to stop, to slow down, to pause to be with Jesus. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:47.120 This is a resource, a way that you can pray. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.279 Prayer practice three, acts. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.320 We got any good Baptists in here, right? 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:54.240 This is how I was taught to pray. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.440 The only way I was taught to pray was acts. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:59.840 I didn't even know you could use something else to pray. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:01.679 But this is the only way I was ever taught to pray. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.600 All the Baptists know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:07.120 Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:10.799 Supplication is a big word for petition or asking for stuff. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.279 And this is how good Baptists are taught to pray. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.039 And it is a great framework. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.120 It's a great model for how to pray. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:18.639 Adoration, I praise you, God. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:20.080 Confession, God, here's what's going on. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:20.960 I messed up here. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:22.399 Thank you that you fully forgive me. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:24.799 Thanksgiving, God, thank you for this, and thank you for this. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.399 Supplication, God, I need to ask for this and this and this is going on. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:29.519 Do something here. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:31.759 So that's prayer practice three. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:36.559 Prayer practice four, John Calvin's four rules of prayer. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:38.960 1500s theologian. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:46.000 He taught these as four guides: reverence, a deep sense of need, humility, and trust. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:48.320 So you can use that as a framework. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.000 Prayer practice five. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:51.840 Help, thanks, wow. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.679 This is Anne Lamont's book on prayer, her three prayer method. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.840 I love it because I just need things to be simple. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.320 Like Calvin's four rules of prayer. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:03.840 I'm like, that's great, man. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:07.759 But that feel that can even that can feel a little theological for me. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:09.360 Like, can we get it simple? 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:11.600 Hey, help, thanks, wow. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:14.879 Help me with this, help me with this, I need help with this, I need help with this. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:15.759 Thank you for this. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:17.679 Thank you for this and this and this and this. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:18.320 Wow. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:22.639 Wow, God, I didn't see that you you started to do this thing. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:24.639 Or wow, I thank you for provide. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:27.279 Wow, that's an amazing sunrise this morning. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.519 Help, thanks, wow. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:31.440 Prayer practice six. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:32.480 Pray the psalms. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.960 The psalms are considered the prayer book of the Bible. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:40.159 There are prayers of pain and sadness, there are prayers of joy, there's prayers of praise. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:46.399 All the wildness of the range of your emotions that you have are in the Psalms. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:49.039 Everything is in there emotionally. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:52.080 And so wherever you're at, you can pray the Psalms. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:53.519 You can pray your way through the Psalms. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:55.519 You can pray sections of the Psalms. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.399 Prayer Practice 7, the Valley of Vision. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:00.240 This is a Puritan prayer book. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.120 This is one of my prayer practices that I use. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.840 I keep this book with me wherever I go. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:09.679 And it's my morning devotion and my morning prayer. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:11.919 Prayer practice eight. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.720 Listening prayer or centering prayer. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:16.879 This is also called Lectio Divina. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:24.720 It's a practice of using scripture in prayer, where you read the scripture and then you sit quietly and reflect on it. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.240 You read it again, the same passage, and sit quietly again. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:33.440 And you're not just reading the scripture, you're letting the scripture read you. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:40.159 And as you let the scripture read you, you're listening to what God is saying to you. 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:43.200 And a word or a phrase. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:49.679 Lectio 365 is a great app, a guide for you to use for this. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:51.759 Prayer practice nine. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:53.279 Worship songs. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:54.799 This is one of my practices. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:56.480 I walk and I listen to praise music. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:58.480 Here's my Rust Worship 24. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:15:59.840 I made it at some point last year. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.240 This four-song list, I go for a walk. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:02.960 I listen to these. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.159 They're very prayerful, worshipful songs for me. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:07.440 You can make your own list. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:08.399 You don't need my list. 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:10.320 You can make your list and you can make a list. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.360 You can go for a walk, sit in a chair, ride in your car. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:15.919 That can be a prayer practice for you. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:18.159 Prayer practice 10. 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:20.320 Practice the presence. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:31.519 In the 1600s, Brother Lawrence was a friar, and he discovered, he discovered that he could include God into the everyday parts of his life. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.879 And so he wrote this book, The Practice of the Presence of God. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:47.360 That God didn't have to be segmented to just these sacred church moments, but actually doing the chores, working in the yard, doing the dishes. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:51.440 You can include God into your actual living. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:55.120 And he is a welcoming us as this is a prayer practice. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:02.720 Just welcoming God into that, to commune with you, to converse with you as you live your daily life. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:06.559 Now I give that, all of that to you, not to put you to work. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:10.960 Like I said, you may only connect with one or two of these, maybe three or four, maybe just one. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:12.720 Maybe you have an 11th or 12th one. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:13.680 I even think about. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:16.160 I just give them to you as ideas. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:18.000 But we cannot end there. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:20.000 We have to have one more point. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:28.720 Point number five: God delights in us, not because of our amazing prayer life, but because Jesus is enough for us. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:34.160 Our faith walk is inside of the secure relationship that we have with Jesus. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:38.799 Our prayer life is inside of the secure relationship we have with Jesus. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:43.680 His delight is not going up and down, whether we have a great prayer life or poor prayer life. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:46.480 God's delight in you is secure. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.000 It's relational, it's not transactional. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:56.079 A few weeks ago, our family went to Orlando to help my in-laws pack up their second home. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.160 They'd had this home for 25 years. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:03.759 It'd been a great retreat home for them, for family members, for friends would go to this home. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.559 But the seasons passed, and so they sold the home. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:12.880 They're giving stuff away, they're selling stuff, they're packing stuff up, and we went down to help them pack. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:18.720 One afternoon, my father-in-law stood on the little dock and we fished in a little fishing lake that they have. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.200 Here's a picture of that dock and that fishing lake. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:22.640 And we stood there and fished. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:29.279 And then the next day we stood and we watched some guys trailer the little pontoon boat and haul the pontoon boat off. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.880 Now, my father-in-law is a man of very few words. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:38.480 And so as we watched them trailer this boat, we stood there for like 10 minutes. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:43.039 Total silence sitting next to this man for 10 minutes, total silence. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.039 I've learned it's okay, is what I've learned. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.519 25 years it took me to learn it's okay. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:48.480 It doesn't mean anything. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:49.759 It doesn't mean he doesn't like me. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:51.599 It's just he's a quiet man. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:57.440 And then he says, We were the last two to fish from that boat. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:00.799 Translation. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:02.720 Translation. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:05.119 This place has meant a lot to me. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.400 And I am grateful that we got to fish together. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:10.160 That's the translation. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:13.680 That evening, Christy and I went to dinner with them. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:19.359 And we just talked about how God's been so faithful for the past 25 years. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:20.720 And so good. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:24.400 And then I got to reflecting on this prayer series. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:30.559 Because what if my relationship with my father-in-law was only transactional? 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:37.200 Just asking for something and getting it or not getting it and getting upset and then asking again and getting something or not getting it. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:40.160 Imagine if there was no fishing on the dock. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:52.960 Imagine if there were no meals, no conversation, no relationship, no real honesty, just ask, get, ask, don't get, ask again, just transactional. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:57.599 Well, that would feel incredibly surface. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.400 It would feel incredibly cheap. 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:07.200 See, prayer's not just asking. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:08.000 It is. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:09.440 It's not just asking. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:11.200 It's communion. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:13.039 It's being with God. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:16.079 It's including God into your life. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.319 It's relational. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:22.000 It's letting him into your heart and your life. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:26.720 I close reading again Pastor Scotty Smith's words about prayer. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:31.119 Prayer does not close the gap between us and God. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:33.920 The gospel abolished the gap. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:39.200 Prayer is where we risk believing there is no gap, just grace upon grace. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:47.119 God does not love us to the extent we are like Christ, but to the extent we are in Christ, which is already 100%. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:58.880 Prayer is the welcome, oxygen, landscape, surgery, feast, playground, ocean, horizon, and sanctuary, where we come alive to the God of love and the love of God. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:00.640 Let's pray together. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:15.119 Heavenly Father, we thank you that you see us as your children, and while we are messy and needy and sinful, you fully love us as the perfect, loving Abba in heaven. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:23.119 Thank you that you are not distant, that you are both powerful and personal, and that you are near. 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:25.759 Would you help us to pray more? 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:30.799 To include you more into the anxieties and fears that we have? 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:38.240 Would you help us to praise more, to thank more, to hold with open hands all of our great ideas? 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:41.119 Teach us to say, Your kingdom come. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:42.799 Teach us to say amen. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:45.119 To say so let it be. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.440 And help us to rest all the more in Jesus, who is enough for us. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:50.799 In Christ's name we pray. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:51.440 Amen.