WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:10.160 This morning we're continuing in our series Holy Habits, where we're looking at how we build strength through spiritual discipline in our lives. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.759 And this morning we're talking about the habit of prayer. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:20.399 And here's what I want to cause us to consider as we engage with the text. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:26.719 Prayer is a habit that often seems very difficult for us to develop in our lives. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.079 We tend to pray ritually, right? 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.719 Around meals and bedtimes. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:40.320 Or we tend to pray when the presence of fear, pain, or sorrow grabs our immediate attention. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:47.920 You see, our prayer life is usually rooted in either religion or rescue. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:54.159 But it struggles to find its foundation in relationship. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:01.280 Prayer as a means of intimacy and communion with God, as an essential means of abiding in him. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:07.760 Jesus had a persistent and personal prayer life with the Father. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:23.120 Not because he was functioning in some disciplined ritualism, or because he was constantly in need of some rescue by the divine, no, but because he loved, he enjoyed, he depended upon and abided in the Father. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:37.920 Nowhere is this made more clear than in the Gospel of Luke, which records almost a dozen times Jesus prayed, including many that are not mentioned in the three synoptics. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:54.719 And this morning, what we're going to do is be working through Luke 11, where Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray, but more importantly, why they should pray, so that we might cultivate this habit of prayer in our own personal life. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:57.680 So let's look at Luke 11, 1. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:09.680 Now, Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:16.400 Now, the opening of this passage shows this brief discourse between Jesus and one of his disciples. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:17.599 Jesus was praying. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:21.039 This was a very regular and common rhythm for him. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.800 And as one of his, as one of his disciples observed him, he got curious. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:31.280 And he asked Jesus to teach them how to pray as he does. 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:38.400 In fact, the disciple asked Jesus to teach him to pray as John taught his disciples. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:50.080 I think it's for us this morning to focus on and realize how learning to pray was understood as a necessary part of discipleship. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:03:08.319 You see, it was common practice in those days for rabbis to teach their followers a specific form of prayer, each one kind of having their own structure and style that was imparted to their followers through both modeling and teaching. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:13.680 We need to learn how to practice these spiritual disciplines. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:19.520 We need to be discipled in how to build and function in these holy habits. 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:26.639 John the Baptist, he had followed this model of discipleship and teaching his own followers how to pray. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:31.439 And now Jesus' disciples were desiring to learn from their rabbi also. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:40.800 Both teaching and learning how to pray, this functioning within spiritual disciplines, it's an essential part of discipleship. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:49.840 Now, in November, our team who leads Mission Equip is actually going to be leading a class on Sunday mornings called How to Pray Like Jesus. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:52.560 We want to be able to carry on that tradition. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:58.000 We want to teach you and equip you on how to build these holy habits in your life. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.719 We'd love for you to be a part of that class. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:08.879 But Jesus proceeds to teach his disciples how to pray through what you and I know as the Lord's Prayer. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:16.959 Now, this is the second time that Jesus has taught his disciples how to pray using this specific prayer model, right? 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.879 The first time being in Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 through 13. 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.959 That's the more familiar, longer version that we're used to. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:27.759 This just seems to be more abbreviated. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:37.920 Now, we're not going to spend too much time this morning diving into the gritty details of the prayer because we have a four-week series dedicated to this next year. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:50.399 But this prayer, what we want to see this morning, it's not necessarily something we're expected to pray word for word, like some sort of spiritual invocation. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:05:02.399 No, this prayer is a model for how to pray and what we are to pray, a structure for faithful, formational, God-glorifying prayer. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.639 And it's structured in these two interdependent parts. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:13.920 The first part is prayers for God, and the second part is prayers to receive from God. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.160 So first part, prayers for God. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.959 Second part, receiving from God. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:25.439 It opens though with this intimate acknowledgement of our relationship with God as our Heavenly Father. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:29.360 Here's where Jesus wants to draw our attention immediately. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:32.480 What place are we praying from? 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:35.839 What place are we praying from? 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:40.720 We come to God first and foremost from a place of sonship. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:46.240 A child who is petitioning their father to be intimately involved in their life. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:49.040 We're not praying as a slave to a master. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:56.560 We're not praying as devout followers to some distant deity, nor as some wishful thinkers to a mystical force. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:57.120 No. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:07.519 We are praying relationally as children to their father who is near to them, who longs to hear the voice of their heart, who loves them with a steadfast love. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.279 That's the place we're praying from. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:19.600 And then he walks us through this model of prayer, starting with God's reputation. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:23.839 This is the first appeal made in the prayer. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:27.120 Hallowed be your name. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:34.399 It's an appeal for God's reputation throughout creation and within the hearts of men. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:38.959 That word hallowed, it means to be revered as holy. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:45.279 And what we have to understand this morning is this isn't a prayer that God would become holy. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:47.600 No, God is fully holy. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:50.240 He already is fully such. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:07:08.399 It is for God to make all of creation aware and in awe of his holiness, that his holiness would be revealed, that the blindness would be removed from us, that we might clearly see he is completely other, and his name alone deserves all glory and praise. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:09.839 He is holy. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:15.199 You see, the name of God refers to all that God is. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:12.399 Give us each day our daily bread. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:16.320 I love the simplicity of this prayer. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:20.720 We live in a world of consumerism in excess. 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:28.399 My wife just had to go to Walmart and buy 50 more hangers for our closet. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:31.039 Well, not just for my closet. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:32.399 I have three daughters. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:34.320 That context is helpful. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.639 Uh for their closets. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.159 Because we have too many clothes to hang up. 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:48.639 I remember living in Norwood, and my closet was shallower than this pulpit because they had like two shirts and a pair of pants. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:53.840 We have abundance, we have excess. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:00.879 And the prayer that Jesus puts forward is for the Father to provide us our bare necessities. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:02.480 What do we need? 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:05.840 We have to wrestle at a soul level with that question. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:07.440 What do I need? 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:16.879 The Father is present and willing to supply us with the sustenance that we need to daily live. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:25.840 And by teaching us to pray this way, Jesus is calling us to daily ongoing dependence on our Father in heaven. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:30.480 Father, give us each day our daily bread. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:34.799 I think this prayer is also formative in our spiritual life. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:45.519 It's this rhythm, this liturgy that contends against our propensity for overindulgence, to have more and more and more. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:53.840 Here's what this beautiful sentence does: it tempers a lustful and overly desireless heart. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:57.919 Father, would you give me my daily bread? 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:04.399 Not only do we ask for God's provision, but we ask for his pardon. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.399 Next is a prayer of forgiveness. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:14.559 He goes on, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:25.840 You see, forgiveness in that we're asking the Father to forgive us for the sins we have committed, of both sins of commission, right? 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:34.879 Things that we should not have done, and sins of omission, things that we didn't do but we should have. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.440 Both of these we need forgiveness for daily. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:52.960 But this isn't just a plea for forgiveness, it's also formational in its very essence, in that it cultivates an eagerness and a readiness for us to be forgivers of those who have sinned against us. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:12:14.399 It's a daily reminder of the beauty and glory of the gospel, that you are one who has sinned and is sinful and in need of forgiveness and in need of grace, and daily you go before the Father pleading for that pardon and being reminded of that beauty and that grace and that mercy that you've received. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:20.799 Your heart is conditioned and formed to be ready and quick to forgive others. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.279 As we were undeserved of his grace. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:30.720 Last week we pray for protection. 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:39.120 We plea with the Lord to protect our very souls and lead us not into temptation. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:47.919 Now, we need the forgiveness of sins that we commit, but I would submit to you that it would be better for us to not sin at all. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:48.879 Right? 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:54.480 Not that we can obtain perfection in this life, that's not what I'm saying. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:07.840 But we can, what we can do is by the Spirit and His strength in us, we can live out the realized righteousness of Jesus that has been imputed to us by grace through faith. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:20.639 In our progressive conformity to the image of Christ, you and I must realize that that image is fundamentally progressively absent of sin. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:32.159 You see, Jesus uses this simple two-part prayer model to help his disciples understand how their prayer should be structured. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:39.279 Two prayers for God's reputation and rule, three prayers to receive from God our daily provision, pardon, and protection. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:53.919 But immediately after Jesus informs his disciples how to pray, he shares with them a parable about a persistent neighbor to show his disciples why they should pray at all. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:59.840 You see, when Jesus taught them how to pray, he simply informed their mind. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:05.919 But as he shares this parable of why we should pray, he stirs the heart to action. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:18.320 You and I need less of how, and we need more of the why, so that the value of what God calls us to grows and increases in our life. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:33.600 Jesus wants to show us that the reason why we should be persistent in prayer is because we have a good and loving Father who will always answer, and he will always answer with what is good. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:38.879 Church, we are called to persist in prayer. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.000 We are called to persist in prayer. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:49.039 So the parable in Luke 11 is called the parable of the persistent neighbor. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:56.159 And it's about this unprepared man who has an unexpected guest arrive at his house at midnight. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:05.200 And so he goes to his neighbor's house and he asks him for some bread to be able to provide for his guests who have showed up unannounced. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:11.679 Now, hospitality, it was a highly valued and it was a strictly observed custom in their culture. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:20.720 And any man who was caught without bread for a visitor, without a meal to provide them, would be in a shameful and desperately needy position. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:38.159 Only such a need would drive this man to his neighbor's house at midnight, bang on his door, and drive him to this level of persistence to beg for bread that he might give it to his guests. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:46.639 Now in verse 8, Jesus shares the reason that the man would actually get up and answer his neighbor's request at such an inconvenient time. 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:48.080 Luke 11, 8. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:16:00.879 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:03.840 Here's what Jesus is saying. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:11.600 You see, the the language of that word impudence, it implies audacity. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:14.639 It actually implies disrespect. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:23.200 Listen to how Jesus is saying we ought to pray with such persistence that it almost seems disrespectful. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.039 The NIV actually translate this boldness. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:32.320 The NASB translates it persistence. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:45.039 What Jesus is saying should be our attitude as we approach the throne of grace is one of a confident boldness that persists in pursuing God until he grants us mercy and grace. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:50.080 Because it's a persistence that is met with an answer. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:55.919 You see, Jesus goes on to intensify the ways that we should be in persistent in prayer. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:00.480 He says in verses 9 through 10, and I tell you, ask and I it will be given to you. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:03.279 Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:10.400 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:13.599 What should our prayer life look like? 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:24.880 It should look like desperation of a man who will not relent until he finds what he is looking for. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:34.559 Asking, seeking, knocking, looking like a lunatic, unwilling to stop until we found some sense of resolve in our prayer life. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:40.799 And here's the beauty of what's presented there's actually a promise of resolve. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:43.359 There's a promise of being answered. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:47.279 We receive, we find, the door is open to us. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:54.319 And so our call to persistence is rooted in a promise to be answered. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.559 But we aren't just answered, right? 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:04.000 We're answered by a loving father who is supremely good. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:06.720 Jesus continues. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.839 If his son asks for a fish, would instead of a fish give him a serpent. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.799 Or if he asks for an egg, we'll give him a scorpion. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:26.000 If you then are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:28.559 Listen to what he just said. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:47.680 If we are evil and in our wickedness are still able to answer the requests of our children with care and kindness, then how much more will God our Father, who is supremely good, generously answer us with our own good? 00:18:50.160 --> 00:19:00.000 You see, when teaching his disciples about prayer, Jesus actually spends more time teaching them why they should pray than how they should pray. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:03.599 A prayer of persistence. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:13.599 Because they are children of a good and loving Father who will answer them with their ultimate good. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.559 But you and I, we fail to persist in prayer. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:24.799 We struggle cultivating this habit of prayer in our life. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.839 And I believe there are two primary reasons. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:33.839 We not only struggle to form this habit, but we ultimately fail to persist in it. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:42.160 If we're honest with ourselves this morning, there are many of us who do not believe that God will answer us. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:46.400 Or we do not believe that he is good when he does. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:53.440 Some of us in this room, we don't believe that he will answer us. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:58.880 And so we become hyper-dependent on ourselves. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:04.400 Maybe we've prayed for things in the past that we felt went unanswered. 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:08.079 We didn't receive the outcome that we had hoped for. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:13.359 And so our absence of prayer is really a means of self-protection. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.400 I'm not gonna be let down like that again. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:21.519 I'm not gonna be disappointed, I'm not gonna be hurt, I'm not gonna experience pain. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:27.039 I'm going to build this wall of self-protection and I'm gonna rely on myself. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:32.240 You see, it isn't that God didn't answer you. 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:34.960 Please hear me. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:38.160 God always answers. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:48.640 But often his answer of good isn't aligned with our own perception of what good ought to be. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.440 We're gonna speak on that more in just a moment. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:59.279 Or maybe some of us in this room we view prayer as this transactional formula, right? 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:15.759 If I can just say the right words, if I can get it down right, if I speak it with the right zeal or I use the right amount of our fathers or daddy gods, or whatever your preference is in that, I'm gonna be able to provoke him to answer me when I cry out. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:22.480 If I just can say it the right way, God will answer me. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:27.119 But when it seems as though that magical formula did not work, what do we do? 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:31.119 We retreat from persistence because we're fear we're just doing it wrong. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:39.599 This leads us to shame and a prayer life that's driven by performance rather than relationship. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:48.880 Or maybe you feel this morning like your life doesn't measure up to be worthy of God answering your prayers. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:59.200 You know the ways that you have sinned and fallen short, you know the areas of your life that need grace upon grace, you know you have messed up. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.559 And so you think, how could I ever come before God? 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:04.480 And how would he ever hear my prayer? 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:07.279 And how might I ever expect him to answer? 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.480 You retreat from God because you feel unworthy. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:19.200 Rather than drawing near to him because Christ has made you worthy. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:31.519 You see, we believe that we are saved by our works rather than being saved by the grace of Christ in his finished work. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:37.519 You see, there can be multiple reasons for why we feel like God won't answer us. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:43.680 Past disappointments or even present personal disqualifications. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:51.680 But here's what we have to understand: the call to persist in prayer, it's not rooted in us. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.519 It's rooted in the nature and character of God. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:58.799 Why should we persist in prayer? 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:01.279 Because he hears us and he is good. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:05.359 Not because of anything about us. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:12.400 But some of us, we actually struggle that if he was going to answer us, he's not good. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:22.640 I think this touches on a deeper struggle, and I want to be tender and aware of some of the pain that's even in this room. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:28.319 You see, it's not just whether God hears us, that's a different question. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:37.839 The question on the table right now is whether we can trust his heart and wisdom in how he answers our prayer. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:47.200 You see, we often define good as immediate relief, instant comfort, grand success. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:51.759 We define good as getting what we want. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:24:16.799 And when God's answer involves pain and heartache, when his answer involves waiting and patience, when his answer is even loss, we question his goodness rather than trusting in his eternal perspective. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:25.519 Look, you and I, we want good feelings, God wants good character. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:28.240 We want relief. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:30.960 God wants a purified faith. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:33.119 We want rescued from suffering. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:39.039 God wants to push us through the fiery trial that we might come out more dependent upon Him. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:42.799 God wants what's best for us. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:49.359 And too often, like toddlers, we just want what we want right now. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:54.880 Man, some of us we've prayed for healing. 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:59.440 Someone we deeply loved died. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:06.880 Some of us we've prayed for our marriages to be restored, and we've walked through divorce court. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:12.960 Some of us we've prayed for families and we've been left with empty arms. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:19.680 All of us in this room, we've been tempted to conclude that God either doesn't care or that he just isn't truly good. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:35.599 You see the pain, it makes it hard to believe that no or wait or different could actually be some sense of a loving response from our Heavenly Father. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:44.079 Because you and I, we only see the small piece of our story, but God, He sees all of eternity. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:53.839 And He's working every single aspect of our existence for His glory and the good of His church. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:57.359 You see what feels devastating now? 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:04.559 Honestly, it might be protection from something worse, or it might even be preparing your heart for something better. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:14.000 And it's our inability to see the bigger picture that breeds doubt about his wisdom and his goodness. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:16.880 And so our hearts are filled with distrust. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:23.279 Listen, many of us we don't struggle with prayer because we don't know how to pray. 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:33.279 We struggle with prayer because we really don't believe he's gonna answer us, and we're really not confident he's good when he does. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.279 It's an issue of faith and belief. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:40.000 It's not an issue of knowledge and performance. 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:45.279 The how is subjected to the why. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:54.720 But though we fail to persist, church, we have a Savior who never ceases to pray for us. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:03.119 Before our Heavenly Father, for our ultimate good, stands Jesus. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:07.200 Jesus persists in prayer for us. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:11.519 Listen, Jesus doesn't just model the way we ought to pray. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:14.960 We've gotten this wrong in the church for way too long. 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:18.880 He's not just a good example that our lives should aspire to. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:34.559 And when we fail to pray, Jesus never fails to pray for us. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:39.519 Jesus never ceases to persist. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:49.680 He is ever before the Father, petitioning him for all our ultimate good, as the writer of Hebrews declares, to save us to the uttermost. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:52.000 Hebrews 7, 25 says this. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:57.359 Consequently, he being Christ is able to save us to the uttermost. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:01.440 Those who draw near to God through him since. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:02.079 Why? 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:06.880 Because he always lives to make intercession for them. 00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:27.200 Our doubts about whether God wants to answer our prayers, our confusion and distrust about whether he is good is shattered, like a window bursting to the ground by the reality that Jesus is constantly bringing our knees before the Father. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:35.279 Our true and elder brother stands before his good, steadfast, loving Father, and he petitions him for us. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:41.759 He doesn't just pray once, just sorry, ritualistic thought-through prayer and then move on. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:57.519 No, he is ongoing intercession means for us that our daily struggles, our repeated failures, our persistent needs daily that we have are worthy of constant, unceasing attention in heaven. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:12.480 When we're tempted to give up on prayer, because we doubt God's willingness or his wisdom, we can remember that Jesus never gives up on praying for us. 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:33.920 His persistent intercession is not just the model of our prayer life, but it is the guarantee that our prayers are heard, that they're purified, and they're presented to a Father whose heart is completely good toward us. 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:41.279 So my prayer for us, Sacred Mission, is that we would be a people of persistent prayer. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:47.279 Where are you at this morning? 00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:52.240 Are you someone who just doesn't even believe God's gonna answer? 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:56.160 So I'm just gonna be completely dependent on myself. 00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:08.400 I'm gonna be relentlessly isolated from this relationship with the Father because if it's gonna come down to me being protected and cared for and my needs met, I'm gonna have to do it myself. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:13.039 So your prayer is just ritual, religion. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:23.519 Or are you someone, I mean, I want to be sincere to your pain and your heartache, your sorrow, your anger, your doubt. 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:26.880 You've really wondered if God is even good. 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:34.960 We need the Spirit to help us. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:40.720 We need to be reminded of the truth and beauty of the gospel to encourage us. 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:45.680 Church, we need to pray without ceasing. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:50.480 Because the Lord hears us. 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:56.319 Our Father answers us, and he answers us with our good. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:58.000 Let's pray.