WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:06.799 We are beginning a new series today titled Teach Us to Pray. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:16.320 And so we're going to be looking at Jesus' teachings on prayer in a number of different spaces, but primarily focused in Matthew 6. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:20.719 And so I'm going to read the teaching text for today and then we'll get started. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.120 But this is Matthew 6, beginning in verse 5, all the way through verse 8. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.359 This is what Matthew writes about Jesus. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:38.320 He says, Jesus is saying, And 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. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.880 Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:49.759 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:54.240 Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:58.399 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.079 For they think they will be heard because of their many words. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:04.000 Do not be like them. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.920 For your father knows what you need before you ask him. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:10.000 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:20.400 Ten years ago, I really was a pastor, but I didn't know how to pray. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:26.000 I knew how to pray out loud, and I could do that because give me a microphone, I can talk to it. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:30.319 But I didn't genuinely know how to pray, and I did not love praying. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.879 I honestly think I like I wasn't supposed to think this way, but I was like, this doesn't really matter. 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:36.879 God's gonna do whatever he's gonna do anyways. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:42.879 This is more from my formation, and honestly, I feel really formed, so I don't really want to do this anymore. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:59.760 Um and then 10 years ago, I met these people who loved prayer, like they loved it and they talked about it differently and they prayed differently, and they really believed that it would shift and change things and that God would respond to it. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:13.199 And um basically what they said to me was people who pray, and I have a slide for it, people who pray will experience more from God and with God than people who don't. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.199 That was like the gist of everything they taught. 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:22.479 It was people who pray will experience more from God than people who don't. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:35.439 And then as I just spent time listening to them, spending time hearing their teachings on some of these things, one of the things that they said, they said, But prayer has to be learned. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:37.039 It has to be learned. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:39.680 And it can be learned, but it has to be learned. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:40.960 It is something that you learn. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:55.039 And they referenced Luke 11, and they said, even the disciples around Jesus, like they they see him do something, they see him praying in a certain place, and then when he finished praying, his disciples, one of them was like, Hey, you gotta teach us how to do that. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:59.520 Like, I don't know what you just did, but I need you to teach us how to pray. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:10.479 And so their response to this and their teaching to me was like, this is the only thing that the disciples, you this is the only time they ever asked Jesus for anything about what to teach them. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:16.879 He didn't ask, the disciples didn't ask Jesus how to teach me how to preach, teach me how to raise the dead, that would have been pretty cool. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:22.240 Teach me how to walk on water, pretty strong, teach me how to turn water to wine, that'd be helpful. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:24.240 Like they didn't ask for any of those things. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:26.159 Like they they asked for one thing. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:29.039 We just want you to teach us, and he taught them so many things. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:33.360 But the thing that stood out to them was like, I need you to teach us to pray. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:39.360 Um, and so for them, uh, these people in my life, they were like, look, you'll experience more if you pray. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.800 And honestly, it's something that you you have to learn. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:47.039 It takes learning, it takes being taught, but then it can be taught. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:48.159 It is something that you can learn. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:51.520 And so over the last 10 years, I have learned how to pray. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:58.240 And prayer now is the thing that I've, if I get to preach on anything, I want to preach on praying. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:00.719 The fact that I get to do this for 10 weeks is just, I'm thrilled. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:01.439 This is so exciting. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:05.680 I'm gonna download 10 years' worth of information to you guys in 10 weeks. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:08.080 Um, but I love it. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:09.120 I love prayer now. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:10.080 It's shaped my life. 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:11.280 And what they said is true. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:20.319 Over the last 10 years of my life, I've experienced more from God and more with God than over the previous 29 years of my life. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:27.680 And so out of 39 years of my life, in the last 10, I've experienced more from God and more with God just because I've learned how to pray. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.759 Leonard Ravenhill says this about prayer. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:37.680 He says, the greatest undiscovered area in the resources of God is in the place of prayer. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:45.120 One might estimate the weight of the world, count the stars of heaven, measure the speed of lightning until the time of the rising and setting of the sun. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.920 But you cannot estimate the power of prayer. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.800 Prayer is as vast as God because God is behind it. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:54.959 Prayer is as mighty as God because God has committed Himself to answer it. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:57.279 And I love that, and that's been my experience. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:03.519 My experience has been the greatest undiscovered area of resources in the realm of God is in the place of prayer. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:08.639 You will learn more and experience more from him if you will learn how to pray, but it must be learned. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.439 It is something that you actually need to go to school about, not literally, but like figure. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:19.040 If you're seeking to learn a language, you're probably not like, I'll probably just figure it out if I just try to talk in Spanish. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:20.079 It's not gonna work. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:22.000 You need somebody to teach you. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:26.399 You need some kind of learning, some type of thing that you need to press into in order to learn it. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:28.240 And prayer is very, very similar. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.920 And the good news is Jesus actually does want to teach us to pray. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:38.480 When the disciples asked him, teach us to pray, he wasn't like, you know, honestly, it's really personal, and it's honestly just for me and the Father. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:43.360 No, he answers it and he gives them a framework to work from and he teaches them how to do this thing. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:45.199 And so he wants to teach us how to pray. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:57.040 And so for the next couple of weeks, we're gonna look at the things that he teaches on prayer in hopes that we actually learn to do this thing, that we discover the undiscovered resources that are found in the place of prayer. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:09.120 And so, today, from this passage from Matthew 6, starting in verse 5, I just want to look at three things that Jesus wants us to know about prayer that in many ways just shape the vision of what prayer is. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:14.639 I think many times prayer is confusing, and how do we do it, and what's it supposed to sound like, and all these different things. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:18.879 And Jesus is trying to craft an environment that we understand to go. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:28.879 When you're pressing into prayer, you need to think of it like this, you need to process prayer like this, because if you miss this first bit, you're not gonna want to do any of it, and you're gonna miss everything else. 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:33.199 And so, three things that we need to know about prayer from Jesus. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:40.000 The first is this the first thing that we need to know is that God actually wants to meet with you in prayer. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:42.000 He actually wants to meet with you. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:49.920 It's not just a space where you're just trying to meditate like a Buddhist and you're just like just trying to like just willpower it, like God actually wants to meet you in the place of prayer. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:56.800 He says this in verse 6 When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:59.680 You can't see him there, but he is there. 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:02.959 Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:07.120 And the commentator, which I'm gonna quote this bro, a lot, okay? 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:09.360 His name's Frederick Dale Bruner. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:11.120 Brilliant commentary in Matthew. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:12.240 If you want to read it, please read it. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:13.600 But I'm gonna quote him a lot. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.240 But he explains what Jesus is saying in this passage. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:22.879 Jesus says, and your father who is watching there in secret, he's watching that place in secret. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:23.839 You cannot see him. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.120 The father has a special affinity for the secret place. 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:32.319 As the present tense participle stresses, he is continuously watching there. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:38.000 The father is continuously watching in the secret place, in that place behind the closed door. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:39.759 He is watching in that space. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:48.480 And so the idea that Jesus is giving is that God gives his attention, he gives his presence and attention to any place of intention. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.120 He gives his attention to the place of intention. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:54.240 I didn't mean to make it sound like that, but maybe you'll remember it. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:56.319 He gives his attention to the place of intention. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:57.839 Go to the next slide. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:07:59.279 There it is. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:01.600 He gives his attention to any place of intention. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:08.160 This is why he says, this is why Jesus is saying, go into your, go into your room and close the door, go into your closet and close the door. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:12.959 The idea isn't like you literally have to go into a space and shut the door. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:25.439 It's just he's trying to present the idea like if you were trying to have a real conversation with someone where you needed no interruption, what you would normally do is you would go to a space where it's quiet and you'd have that conversation. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:34.080 Or if you're like my wife and me, when our kid is doing something in one room and we need to have a private conversation, we go into a space and shut the door. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:35.919 Or he's in a space and we shut that door. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:40.799 It's just the idea that Jesus is trying to present is like be intentional with him. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:49.039 When you're entering into a conversation with God, when you're doing that, you just need to know that like he actually responds to your intention to go. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:55.759 I'm moving into a state of like, I'm just moving into a place of where I just want to spend time with you. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:03.519 And any time that we choose to move into a space where we just want to spend time with him, Jesus is saying, God is there in that moment, he is there in that space. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:09.360 He gives his attention to the any place, any place that we choose to be intentional to meet with him. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:14.320 And so that exact space, that exact time becomes the space where he actually is. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:21.200 And this is what James talks about in his epistle where he says, like, if you draw near to God, he will draw near to you. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:28.559 If you are intentional about, like, I just want to, I just want to meet with you, I want to talk with you, he is like right there in that space. 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:36.559 He watches that place so that if anybody ever intentionally seeks to spend time with him, he is constantly watching there to meet with that person. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:37.759 And it can be anywhere. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:41.120 It doesn't have to be in a room or a closet behind closed doors. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:42.240 It can be anywhere. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:45.120 You can be intentional to meet with God in your car. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:46.799 You can do this on a walk. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:49.120 You can do this in a room or a closet. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:58.960 This could be this space could just be a space where you have the time and the capacity just to close your eyes for a minute and go, I'm going to close my eyes and focus my attention on God. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:01.039 That can be a space of intention. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.000 We're just like, I'm just closing my eyes to focus on Him. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:08.399 And Jesus is saying that space of intentional focus, he is meeting you in that space. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:17.200 It could be while you cut the grass, while you do the dishes, while you make dinner, while you read, if you're bird watching, I don't know who does that, but if you're bird watching, you can meet with God in that space. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:20.879 It can be taking a nap, like I'm just taking a nap to the glory of God. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:24.879 I'm just like, but I'm intentionally taking a nap to spend time with him. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:28.799 Because I love when my son wants to take a nap and lit and lay on my shoulder. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:30.720 I'm a father who loves his kid doing that. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:32.879 I'm not sitting there going, like, why aren't you talking to me? 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.960 And like, I love that kind of thing. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:37.679 And so in the same way, like I'm intentionally doing this space. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:38.960 You actually see this in the Old Testament. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:48.240 Samuel does this, but but it could be taking a moment to put your hands over your eyes and just taking an intentional moment just to be quiet before him and want to talk to him. 00:10:48.480 --> 00:11:06.399 Susanna Wesley, who was um the mother of like 19 kids, but the notable ones were John and Charles Wesley, um, the founders of the Methodist, she's while she was cooking or in her kitchen, she would take her cooking apron and put it over her head, uh, and while the 19 kids are apparently doing whatever they're doing. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:08.080 And like that was her secret place. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:10.080 And it was like, this is my time with God. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:11.360 And it was this thing. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:12.559 And like that's what she did. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:16.159 It was like she's intentionally seeking God just in that particular space. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:30.159 Every now and then, if you're um, hopefully it doesn't happen when we're at lunch, but uh, every now and then, if I'm at lunch and the lunch meeting just isn't going well, just a hard meeting or something like that, whether it's family or church related or whatever. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:36.720 Every now and then I'll excuse myself, just go, I just gotta go to the restroom real fast, and I will excuse myself to go to the restroom. 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:47.039 But really, what I'm doing is I'm just trying to find an intentional space to ask for wisdom or to ask for help or to ask for the strength to love this person that I'm struggling not to hate. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:50.000 Like I'm just like I have to go into a space. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.279 And Jesus is saying, He meets me in that sushi bathroom. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.559 Like he is right there in that space, meeting me in that space. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:01.840 Because I'm intentionally taking, now I have to be careful not to take too long because then they're gonna think I got like issues or something. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:03.360 So I gotta be careful. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:08.639 But it is like I will excuse myself, just be like, I love the idea that I can steal away. 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:16.480 And where when I'm choosing to steal away intentionally to go and talk with God, that he's like, I am desperate to meet you in that space. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.120 I will never leave you in that particular space. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:20.320 I will meet you right there. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:25.519 It could be as long or as short as you want it to be, but when you choose to intentionally spend time with me, I promise. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:26.799 And that's what Jesus is saying. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:27.759 He promises. 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:29.679 That's where he runs to. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:31.440 He runs to meet you in that space. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:37.120 This is supposed to be for us and for them, what Jesus is saying. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:47.279 It's supposed to be a gift that you can meet him, that the temple, the place where you encounter God, is no longer this particular space, but it's any space of intention that you set aside for him. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:56.879 And so any space that we decide, any time that we want to spend in that space, that particular time and space becomes the space where God is actually meeting you. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:58.559 He really does want to do that. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:04.399 And so, again, even if you're just taking a few seconds to, like, I just want to focus my intention on you. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:08.480 Wherever that is, and whenever that is, he runs to that place. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:12.879 He is unseen and you will not see him there, but he runs to that space. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:15.519 And he is actually sitting there with you in that space. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:17.440 You are with him and he is with you. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:20.639 And it's a space of intention, and that's what Jesus is trying to get us to. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:28.960 Like, you need to believe when you step into this, when you intentionally seek to focus on him and to give him your attention, you need to know that God is there first. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:32.080 He is ready to meet you, he's excited for that meeting. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:33.360 So that's the first thing. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:37.600 And the second thing that Jesus teaches is that your prayers can be very short. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:42.159 Hopefully, this is the favorite of anybody who thinks that prayers have to be long. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.080 Your prayers can be very, very short. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:51.279 He says this in verse 7 When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:52.960 Do not be like them. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:55.039 Brunner again says this. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:14:00.000 He says, The pagan rule to get your prayer heard is much. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:04.879 The philosopher Seneca said, Fatigue the gods with your requests. 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:10.480 And the Roman poet Marshall Valerius said, Let each one wear himself out with his petitions. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:16.799 The pagan conviction taught that the gods are reluctant to hear prayers unless the prayers are long. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:24.799 And that only when the petitioner has proven oneself by spending time in confession, praise, or even quiet, do the divinities begin to listen. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.679 You have to prove how sincere you are first. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:32.240 And Jesus attacks the misconception that there must be much prayer before it works. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:34.720 This belief makes God into a grudging giver. 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:38.720 And that conception of prayer in Jesus' teaching, that's unworthy of God. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:40.320 That is not what he's like. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:44.639 And so what Jesus is saying is don't view God the way that other people do. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:48.720 Don't begin thinking that you have to work hard to get his attention. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:57.919 Don't think that you have to do the work on the front end to prove yourself worthy to get him to actually respond to you or to get him to actually hear you. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:14:59.279 That's not what he's like. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:00.879 You don't have to prove yourself. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:02.559 You don't have to show him your work. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.320 You don't have to show him your commitment. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:06.879 You don't have to do those things in order to get his attention. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.759 Jesus is saying you have his attention. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:13.600 Whether you feel like praying or not, you have his attention. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:20.240 You don't have to like muster some willpower, like, I'm really feeling like praying right now, and then all of a sudden he turns his ear to you. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:21.600 Jesus is like, he is not like that. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:23.200 He is not a grudging giver. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:26.320 He is there, ready, and he is listening. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:31.440 And so this means for us that we have the freedom and the access to pray at any time. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:38.080 Whether you have five seconds or less than five seconds or five hours, like you can just pray for as long or as short as you want. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:46.879 And you automatically have his ear without ever having to like make sure, like, are have I done something worthy enough for the God of the universe to hear me? 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.200 It's like you don't have to do any of that. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:56.559 And this is important for us because I think many times one of the reasons why people don't pray a lot is because they feel like they don't have enough time. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:58.559 Like, I just don't have enough time to pray. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.480 And I get the idea, but I think Jesus would say it's like, sure you do. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:05.600 You got do you have just say help? 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:06.879 He hears help. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:08.720 Just say, I'd like some wisdom. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:09.679 He hears that. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.159 Time isn't the important thing, it's not the factor. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:16.240 He doesn't need the length of your prayer from you in order to begin listening. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:23.200 You don't have to conjure him, motivate him, stir him to hear you by showing him that you have the grit to stay in there. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.000 Your prayers can be very, very short. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.919 And this should encourage us more than anything. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:32.480 The fact that they can be short, it should encourage us more and more and more to actually pray. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:38.000 Because we can do it in one second, in half a second, or whatever, or it can be an hour. 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:39.759 It can take as long as you want. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:41.360 Bruner again says this. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:47.200 He says, It is a relief to know that the father to whom prayer is addressed is not a reluctant listener. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:52.720 Few facts encourage prayer like release from the burden of having to pray much to get through. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:58.559 When people know that they don't have to pray much to get God's attention, they will surprisingly desire to pray more. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:00.559 And I think this is so true, you feel this. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:15.920 If every time, if every time you felt like I need to pray, and every time that came into your mind, I need to pray, what you thought was like, I gotta get ready, I gotta like make sure my posture is correct, I gotta make sure my words are right, I gotta make sure I know what I'm about to say, I gotta make sure I'm gonna say the right things. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:29.680 Like, if every time we thought to do that, and it needed to be a certain length of time, and I needed to like, I, you know, if if that's what we had in prayer, we'd have a trouble in our day-to-day life, like trying to find space where we can actually do that. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:39.039 It'd be just it would just genuinely be harder to go, like, I gotta work this in, I gotta schedule this in to make sure that I have time to do that, because I gotta be ready, I gotta make myself ready. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:44.960 So, for example, I have this friend who I love, and hopefully he doesn't listen to our podcast. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:46.880 Because this is a bad story. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:53.039 Um but every time he calls me, his phone, his name shows up on my phone. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:56.640 I know this is gonna be an hour or longer conversation. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.359 We do not talk for long for shorter than an hour. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:00.640 Like, this is what it is. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:10.079 Because of that, I don't answer the phone really at all unless I have, unless I know I have a full hour to give myself to this. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.400 Because I think he'd just rather me quit my job and just give him all the time in the world. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.119 I'm like, dude, I cannot talk this long. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:27.519 And so because I know it's gonna, I have to prepare an hour for this, we don't talk that much because I know the length of time that I actually have to spend doing this thing has to be longer than I actually have to give. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:34.400 But if I knew, if I knew that it was like he calls, I answer, and if I said, like, hey man, only got like 10 seconds. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:34.799 What's up? 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:35.279 You good? 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:36.400 All right, love you too, bro. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:40.240 Bye, and I can hang up, then I would be more willing to answer the phone. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.359 But because I know it's gonna take too long. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:54.079 It's gonna take so long to talk to this person, and it's not because I don't love him, it's not because I don't think he's important, it's just genuinely because I don't have enough time to press into this every single time we chat to talk for an hour. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:57.920 And so because that's the way it is, we don't talk that much. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:06.000 And I think what Jesus is trying to say with us in prayer is that if you believe that you have to do the exact same thing, you won't press into prayer that much. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:13.759 But if you believe that it could be as short as you want it to be and that God still hears you, that would be more readily available to us to press into. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:14.799 It's so much easier. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:18.079 If we really believe what Jesus is saying, that we could just say, help me. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:23.200 God help me, God protect me, God give me wisdom, God bless them, God, I'm sorry. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:31.440 If we really believe that that was enough, that that wasn't like lesser than, that he looks at all the prayers of the people and then he sees that and he's like, This is all you got to give me? 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:33.839 This is it, like I'm not gonna listen to that. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:46.319 Like if we if we believe that he wasn't like that, which is what Jesus is saying, he's not like that, but we believe that he's just interested in any single word or any expression of prayer that we have, we would press into that more. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:51.279 And we wouldn't sit there and be like, Well, it's gotta be this long, drawn-out thing. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:53.440 And that's what Jesus is trying to tell us. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:57.519 You do not have to have a long conversation with God for him to hear you. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.559 And this is why Paul would say, you should pray without ceasing. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:04.640 It's not continuate, one long run-on sentence of conversation with God. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:10.720 He's just like, you could just have this posture with him to where at any moment in your day something good happens, you can say thank you. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.359 And he hears you and receives that. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:19.920 You're going through something difficult, you're walking into a tough meeting, or you get bad news, or something like, Lord help me, Lord protect them. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:28.799 Like when someone asks you to pray for them and you're like, I don't have five minutes to break this down with you and to hear the entire story, you can just literally just, Lord, I lift up that person to you. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:33.440 Like it's easier to pray without ceasing when it doesn't have to be an hour long or 15 minutes long. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:35.359 And that's what Paul's referencing. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:40.319 Just this constant ability to pop in and out of conversation with him. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:46.799 Now, some people, when I talk about this, say, What about persistence? 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.200 Jesus says, We gotta persist in prayer. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:51.359 Like persistence matters, and I agree. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:52.880 Jesus does talk about persistence. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.680 We'll actually get to that a little bit later in this teaching series. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:57.839 Persistence in prayer is a good thing. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.000 He does tell us to persist in prayer. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:05.039 But Jesus does not say you have to persist in order to be heard. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:09.519 Persistence matters, but it's not that persistence opens his ears to you. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:21.440 And so that's very important because if we, to be honest, if you didn't think that he heard you, you would not be able to persist because nobody persists in a conversation when the other person, you don't you're not really sure if they hear you or not. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:25.119 If you're on the phone with somebody and you go hello, and you get nothing. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.680 Hello, how long do you stay saying hello? 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:28.559 Three seconds? 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:30.000 I don't know why I'm doing this. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:31.519 Um, how long do you do that? 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:32.880 Like three seconds, five seconds? 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:37.119 If it's somebody you really care about and you're like getting some like the static, you might stay on a little bit longer. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:39.759 But if you don't think they hear you, you're gonna hang up. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:41.599 You're not gonna continue the conversation. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:44.160 You're not gonna continue to persist in that conversation. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.240 You hang up that phone and try again. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:48.640 Or you call somebody else who can hear you. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:53.440 And so persistence does matter, but persistence doesn't open the doorways of his ears to hear you. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:59.680 It actually is a space where like we can be persistent in prayer because we know the short amount of prayer, the the whatever. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:02.559 We have to offer him, he hears those things. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:07.359 It's so much easier to persist when we know every single time I talk to you, you hear me. 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:09.920 I can persist in talking to people who hear me. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.480 And I won't persist in talking to people who don't hear me. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:17.440 And so persistence doesn't open the doorways to his ears to hear you, but it is a good thing. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.519 But he's not saying that you need that in order for him to actually listen to you. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:23.920 Short prayers are things that Jesus is saying. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:25.279 Look, he loves you so much. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:26.960 You have so much access to him. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:31.359 You do not need to try and motivate him to hear you, he hears you. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.000 Bruner again says that much prayer is not the mediator to God. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.599 Much prayer does not mediate get you access to God. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:40.799 Jesus does. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:50.000 And so because Jesus is the mediator and not your the strength of your prayer or the length of your prayer, it has nothing to do with that. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:23:00.960 And so Jesus is just taking your shortened words or your whatever you have prayer, that just a groan to heaven, like life is terrible right now, and that's what you're saying. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:03.519 Jesus takes that thing before the Father. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:10.720 Not how strong the prayer is, not how much you can motivate yourself, not how much you feel about praying. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:12.559 They're like, I don't really feel like praying. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:16.400 It's like that doesn't make him go like, well, if you don't feel like praying, I don't feel like listening. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:18.480 That he doesn't respond that way. 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:21.200 He's willing and ready to listen. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:23.200 All right, that's the second thing. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:25.440 Your prayers can be as short as you want them to be. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:33.680 Third, Jesus says, and what he's teaching is that the God the Father knows how to help you the most. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:35.759 This is the third thing that he's communicating. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:37.759 He knows how to help you the most. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:43.839 In verse 8, this is how it reads your father knows what you need before you ask him. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:46.559 Your father knows what you need before you ask him. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:52.720 Now, most people hear this and they go, then why pray? 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:56.079 If he knows what I need before I ask him, why should I even pray? 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:57.519 And I get that. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:20.799 But what you're missing is the truth and the awesome truth that Jesus is actually trying to communicate through this, because all of us to a person, all of us know that the people who know us best, who already know what we're going through, who already know what we need, the people who know what we need and know how to help us, those are the people we love talking to the most. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:24.640 We love talking to people that know, that understand us deeply. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.359 That that like when we're talking to them, they know what we need. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:37.759 We hate talking to people, we're trying to explain our situation, and they're just like, oh, I totally know what you're talking about, and either start talking about their story or they start trying to give you advice and they actually don't know what you're going through. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:38.960 We hate talking to people like that. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.599 It's like, thank you so much for the advice, that's terrible, I'm not gonna do any of that. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:43.920 Or I've heard that a billion times, that doesn't help. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:50.079 But people who listen and understand what we're going through that actually know how to help us, we love talking to those people. 00:24:51.519 --> 00:25:02.160 My sister, um, after her husband died in the line of duty, um, she had a hard time talking to people about what she was going through. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:08.799 Um, and maybe you've experienced this too, but what she found was like she couldn't find anyone that understood her. 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:15.119 Like she couldn't find someone that understood the loss and the pain and the just the ache that she felt. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:20.400 She had a she had so many people, me included, who did not fully understand her and what she was going through. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:28.799 She had so many people who loved her, but she just could not find a single person that, like, I understand exactly what you're going through. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:42.640 And then she goes, she went to this conference uh a couple years after the loss, and she entered this room, and the whole conference was just for women who have lost loved ones in the line of duty. 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:53.920 And so she enters into this conference space where she is surrounded by people that have literally walked in her shoes, have actually been there and been there longer than she has been there. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:26:07.279 And she was finally in a place where the people knew, because they had been there, because they understood her deeply, they knew what she needed, and because they knew what she needed, they were actually able to offer her help. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:10.319 And she loved those people. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:15.839 Like she goes to that conference, she's still friends with these people, and it's because they know what she needs. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:20.480 Before she walks in the room, and as she walks in the room, they all know everybody's here for one reason. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:26.480 They knew what she needed before she ever had to share her story. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:29.839 And she loved that environment because we love the people that know us. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.400 We love talking to people that understand us, and because they knew what she needed, they were actually able to help her. 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:40.559 Before she's talking to me or she's talking to my other family members and going, We're asking, how can we help you? 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:42.799 We're asking her, we're putting the burden on her. 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:43.759 How can I help you? 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:44.559 How can we help you? 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:46.640 And her answer was, I don't know. 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:48.079 I've never been here before. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:51.920 I don't know how to, I don't, I wish someone knew what I needed. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:53.519 That's what she was saying. 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:55.119 I wish someone knew what I needed. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:27:00.559 I wish someone knew what I needed before I asked, because no one can help me because nobody knows what I need. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:03.920 And what Jesus is saying is like, that's what he's like. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:06.240 He already knows what you need before you ask him. 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:09.440 So it doesn't lead, it should never lead you to be like, so why pray? 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:11.519 It's like, those are the people we love to talk to. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:13.920 Those are the people we love to spend time with. 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:18.960 We hate going to doctor after doctor after doctor, and they go, I don't really know how to help you. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:20.799 It's like, great, then why am I here? 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:22.880 And why am I paying for this? 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:31.200 But finally, when somebody actually is able to look into our lives and look into our diagnosis and give us one and go, here's what you need, it's like, I love that person. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:33.039 I love spending time with that person. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:35.200 And that's what Jesus is trying to communicate. 00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:36.480 He is saying about God. 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:43.119 He knows you, he understands you more deeply than you understand yourself, and he knows what you need. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:49.680 And because he knows what you need, he's actually able to provide the help that you long for and desire. 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:53.759 He knows what you need, and therefore he knows how to actually help you. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:28:06.799 And because he is actually, he has all that, knows what you need, is able to help you, and he has promised to actually meet our needs, we can be confident that when we go to him, that he is going to supply the things that we actually need. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:13.440 And so this text is supposed to lead us into, oh, thank God, you're the person who knows me the most. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:17.039 You're the person who knows what I need even when I don't actually know what to pray for. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:18.559 I don't actually know what I need. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:19.359 You know that. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:22.799 And so I can go to you and just go like, just give me what I need. 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:27.440 I'm not even sure what that is, but God, please give me what I need because you know and I don't know. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:31.519 It's the exact same way my sister was going up to people, be like, would you please comfort me? 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:33.119 Will someone comfort me? 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:36.400 Can someone hit this ache in my heart and soothe it? 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:37.279 Can anybody do it? 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:42.079 And everybody around her was going, We don't know how to help you because we don't know what you need. 00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:46.720 And she's like, I don't either, until she found people that knew what she needed. 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:50.079 And so Jesus is saying about the Father, like, that's who he is. 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:56.480 He has promised to fulfill your needs and to actually meet those needs, and he knows how to help you because he knows what they are. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:06.160 This is why later, we'll get to this later, but this is why later Jesus says, like, when in the prayer, he's like, pray, ask, Lord, give me this day my our daily bread. 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:07.839 And it's like super vague. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:09.599 Like, I don't actually need bread. 00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:11.920 Just super vague prayer for our needs. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:14.400 And Jesus is like, be as vague as you want. 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:16.240 You can be as specific as you want. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:20.640 You can talk about like use it as daily bread as a metaphor and be like, I need my daily bread. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:24.000 I need a little bit of money here, I need some time here, I need some strength here. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:32.400 You can be as specific as you want, or you can be as vague and as sure as you want, and just go, God, I don't know what my needs are today, but you do. 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:34.559 Would you give me my daily needs? 00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:36.400 And Jesus is like, that's plenty. 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:38.160 He will take that and run with it. 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:47.200 He does want you to ask, because he's never gonna force his way or will into your life, because that would make him a tyrant and not a loving father. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:52.799 He does want you to ask, but he's like, but you can be super vague and be like, I'd like some daily bread. 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:54.400 Do you actually want some food? 00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:56.160 No, but he knows what I need. 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:59.200