WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:00.640 Amen. 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:01.679 Good morning. 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:02.959 How is everybody? 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:03.680 We good? 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:04.719 Awesome. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:06.320 Man, thank you so much for being here today. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:10.080 If it's your very first time, I want to start by saying welcome to his hands. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:12.640 This place, it's really one big family. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:16.879 And we exist for one main purpose, that is to love people to Jesus. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:27.039 We believe very much when God's word says that it's his kindness that leads us to repentance, that it's experiencing the actual love of God that leads us to opening our hearts to him. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:34.399 And so we want everything that we do here to be about giving people God's love, growing in that love, and then helping people get it and receive it. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:39.920 So if you're here for the first time and you ever like more information about what's going on, you can always go to the info desk in the main lobby. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.240 We'll give you a packet that'll answer a lot of questions. 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:46.079 And you're also welcome just to come up and talk to us because we're all open books. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:49.600 I've got a few really quick announcements before we jump into what we're going to talk about today. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.840 Number one is that baptisms are next Sunday. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:53.359 That's always really exciting. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:58.240 And so uh so be here next Sunday, obviously, to celebrate a bunch of people going all in with Jesus. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:11.359 And if you're ready to make that step in your relationship with God, if you have decided that Jesus is yours, but you have not followed him openly, if you haven't made a statement yet, you haven't made it official, so to speak, then baptism is the next step. 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:13.599 And you can sign up to be baptized today in the lobby. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:15.840 We'll give you all of the information there. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:20.719 I want to encourage all of us as the fall is getting ready to come up to make sure that we're connected here. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.359 There is nothing wrong with just coming and checking things out. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:30.480 We always want this to be a place where you can just come and rest and relax and experience God however you would like to do that. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:36.719 But when we take the step and we go from just being someone that's here to being someone that's connected to other people, it's it's a big deal. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:38.159 It's a huge benefit for the church. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:39.840 It's also a huge benefit for ourselves. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:41.439 And there are so many different ways to do that. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:45.040 Every Sunday at the Connect Desk, you can go and find out more information about that. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:52.079 But the fall coming up, we're definitely going to need more people on our teams with the welcome team, the coffee team, our kids areas, you name it. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:02:03.200 And so I would love to encourage you today to sign up for a team if you've never been on one, to start using those amazing gifts and abilities that you have to uh to serve other people because it will definitely bless a lot of people. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:04.959 It'll bless you as well. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.719 In August, we are starting a brand new series that I'm really excited about. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:13.520 I've been thinking about and praying about this series for months, and it's called Who Do You Think You Are? 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:17.280 Now, this is not an accusatory, like who do you think you are? 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:19.680 This isn't a what gives you the right. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:21.680 It's not one of those types of series. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:23.199 It's a very serious question, though. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:24.560 Who do you think you are? 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:30.960 In other words, what or who has most informed your understanding of who you are. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:38.080 I believe that understanding who we are in God's eyes is one of the most important things in life. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:45.360 And we just so happen to live in a world and in a time when people look to about everything but God to define who they are. 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:51.199 And the problem is this that no one has a higher opinion of us than God. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:52.080 No one. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:59.439 God has a higher opinion of you than your spouse, he has a higher opinion of you than your parents, he has a higher opinion of you than yourself. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:07.599 And if we allow anyone but God to define who we are, we are settling for a lesser identity than the identity God wants to give us. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:11.360 I think this is a very timely series for just our nation, our culture. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:14.400 And I want to encourage you to uh to invite people, to invite friends. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:19.759 Because I really believe this series will be one that gives people a perspective on God they've maybe never had before. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.560 I think it's gonna be really eye-opening and I'm really excited about it. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:32.319 So think about someone that you believe needs to hear this, that you believe needs to understand, maybe for the first time, who they are in God's eyes, uh, and invite that person. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:37.599 Lastly, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who's helping out financially, everyone who supports this church. 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:43.680 If you're here for the first time, we don't pass a plate, we don't believe in pressuring people to give, but we are generous people. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.560 And we are generous people because God has called us to be generous. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.719 It is impossible for me to trust God with every aspect of my life but my finances. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:51.759 It doesn't work. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:53.439 And our approach is really simple. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:57.280 If this is your church, if this is your home, we just ask that you pray. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:01.360 Ask God to show you a percentage and then commit to that percentage every single month. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:02.719 That's that's how we do it. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:05.919 We don't tell you what that percentage is, that's between you and God. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:17.040 But if we all commit to that, if we all do that, then we have what we need as a church to do what God calls us to do, and we can bless this community, we can support this community in in so many big ways, like we're able to do right now. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:18.160 So thank you so much for that. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:22.079 Four columns at the back of the room if you want to do that, or go to His Hands Church online. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:24.959 Let's pray, and then we're gonna talk about prayer. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.000 Jesus, thank you so much for blessing us with another day. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:30.800 God, thank you for bringing all of us together. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:35.120 Holy Spirit, we are open to you. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:38.160 Our hearts are open to you moving. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:46.160 We want to hear from you, we want to learn from you, we want to move forward in our relationship with you, and so, God, we ask that this happens in the next few moments. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:47.839 And we ask this all in your name, Jesus. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:48.720 Amen. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:56.079 Well, we have spent the last month or so talking about prayer as part of our summer series that we're calling how to. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:03.839 One of the things I love the most about God is that he loves us so much that he not only asks us to live a certain way, but he actually teaches us how to do it. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:10.959 He actually walks with us, teaches us, works within us to help us live the life that he has called us to live. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:15.759 Jesus was very critical of religion in his day. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.040 And when I say religion, I don't mean worshiping God, I don't mean being devoted to God. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:24.160 What I mean is the rules and regulations that people will substitute for a relationship with God. 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:25.600 That happens very easily. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:26.800 We have a tendency to do that. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:30.639 All you have to do is look at the very first story in the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.199 Many of us are familiar with that story. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:34.879 They had a relationship with God. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:39.439 In fact, the Bible says they knew God so well they could identify God by the sound of his footsteps. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:41.759 Think about how intimate they must have been with God. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:47.600 They had a close relationship with God, and all God asked was for them not to eat from this one tree. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.519 It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:51.680 That was the forbidden fruit. 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.360 We like to think of forbidden fruit as being things like lust and power and greed. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:59.519 Those are obvious choices, but the original forbidden fruit was not one of those things. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.240 It wasn't some vice, it was the knowledge of good and evil. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.959 And that's that's another way of saying religion. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:11.439 It was accepting a relationship with God that was more like a contract, more like, hey, I just want to know the rules. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:19.519 You just tell me what to do and what not to do, and I'll trade that in for walking with you and having an intimate, close relationship with you. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:22.399 All through the Old Testament. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:24.639 All through the Old Testament, we see that in Scripture. 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:29.279 We see people wanting to do very religious things to please God, wanting to build God a temple. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.639 And when David said, God, I want to build you a temple, God said, Okay. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:34.639 You can. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:36.959 I don't really, I don't really need that. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:42.319 I'm I'm God, and while you have great building skills, there's no house that anyone has ever built that's going to impress me. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:43.839 Just look at the universe. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:46.800 But if you want to build me a house, fine. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:47.920 Go for it. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.600 The Jewish people had all of these rules and regulations. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:58.319 They had religion, they had all these laws they had to follow, they had sacrifices they had to make, but God Himself said, I would rather you just obey me. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:02.079 I would trade in all your sacrifices for obedience. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:06.399 I just want to have a relationship with you where you walk with me and you listen to me. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:14.800 And so when Jesus shows up on the scene, the people that he had the toughest words for were the hyper-religious leaders of his day. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:21.439 And his big criticism of them was that they demanded much of people, but they did not lift a finger to help, because that's what religion does. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:26.240 Religion says, look, you need to do more, you need to do better, but it offers no help. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:29.040 And Jesus says, I don't want that for you. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.879 I want a relationship with you. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:36.560 If we see prayer as an exercise in religion, we will miss what it really is. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:38.000 Prayer is so much more than that. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:41.120 It is an expression of our relationship with God. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.560 It is communication with God, and it's meant for you. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:46.560 It's meant for you. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:48.000 You are meant to pray. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:51.759 And you're not just meant to pray, you're meant to pray powerful prayers. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:55.519 Prayer is meant to be as natural for you as breathing. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.800 Prayer is meant to be real, it is meant to be fresh, and it is meant to be passionate. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.279 That is something that religion does not offer us, but a relationship with God does. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.120 So we want to approach prayer through the context of a relationship with God. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:19.199 And every week we've looked at one word we can apply to our to our lives in prayer, one word that has the potential to change the way we pray, to change our approach. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:23.759 And today we're gonna we're gonna add one more word to that list, and the word is big. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:27.759 We want to be people who pray big prayers. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:33.519 I asked myself this question today, actually, as I was getting ready. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:35.759 What's bigger? 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:38.159 My problems or my prayers? 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.840 Do I pray bigger prayers than the problems I face? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.480 And if I'm gonna be honest with myself, the answer is often no. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:55.440 So often in my life, my prayers, at least the way that I approach prayer, is smaller than the problems that I see in my life. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:00.879 And I don't want to be a person whose problems are bigger than his prayers. 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:09.039 A few weeks ago we talked about praying small prayers, and this might sound like it's the opposite of that, but but I want us to understand that small and big go together. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.080 If you'll notice, many things that are big were once small. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:15.519 And a lot of small things have the potential to be big. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:18.159 See, as people, our perspective is so often skewed. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.320 What we think is a big problem isn't really that big. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:23.759 What we might see as a small decision ends up having huge implications. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:27.440 So our ability to discern big from small, it's really tough. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:33.919 And if we're gonna pray big prayers, we've got to pray small ones too, because the small stuff might actually be the big stuff. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:36.480 So small and big, they really go together. 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:45.200 We want to be people who pray for the small things in life and remember that God cares about everything, even the small things that we might feel are not worth bringing to God in prayer. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:47.120 But we want to pray big prayers. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:50.639 We want to pray and ask God for exactly what we need. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:52.879 What is the biggest problem that we face today? 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.919 What is the biggest opportunity in our lives? 00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:04.000 What needs to change right now in your life for you to experience the abundant life that Jesus talks about. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:11.039 We need to pray big and pray for exactly what we need. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:19.360 I actually have a really hard time with praying big prayers, and so today I want this to be a lesson for all of us to not do what I do. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:20.960 That's the lesson today. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:22.639 Do not pray like I pray. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:27.840 Because as I prepare for this this week, it hit me really early that I am not good at praying big. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:33.919 I work hard, I toil, I sweat, I do everything I can to achieve big results. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:36.639 There are big needs that I know about in my life. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:37.759 There are big personal needs. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:41.120 I have big needs in my marriage, I have big needs with my kids and my family. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:49.840 There are big needs at this church, there are big things that I want to see happen in my life, and I'll even say this: I believe they need to happen in my life. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.080 And I work hard to make those things happen. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:11:03.840 I do everything I can in my power to produce those big moments, but it's rare for me just to stop and pray for God to do those things. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:06.720 I have a hard time praying big. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:09.120 And I was asking God why this week. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.440 I'm like, God, why do I have such a hard time with this? 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:22.799 Why is it so much easier for me to just try to make it happen, to try to do it, to try to somehow convince you that I'm worthy of you doing something big in my life instead of just asking you to do something big in my life? 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:29.519 And I identified four four behaviors, four prayer behaviors in my life that keep me from praying big. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:36.000 And I want to examine those today because I'm guessing that that some of you share some of these behaviors with me. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:42.799 And if none of you do, I'm just a terrible person, and uh we need to switch, things need to change. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:49.200 There are four behaviors in my life and how I pray that keep me from praying as big as I can pray, and it's really simple. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:51.759 Number one, I pray reasonable prayers. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.799 I pray very reasonable prayers. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:57.440 Number two, I pray general prayers. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.120 I like to pray with a lot of generality. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:00.320 God bless me. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:02.000 What does that mean? 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:05.279 This wide umbrella that I pray. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:14.879 I pray very reasonable prayers, I pray very general prayers, I pray very safe prayers. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.039 It's easy for me to pray, to pray safe. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:25.600 Sometimes if we're gonna pray big, we've gotta we've gotta pray for for risky things. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:30.799 And the last one, the one that I actually struggle with the most, is I pray very, very noble prayers. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:32.080 Very noble prayers. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.879 And I want to share a verse with you as we jump into these four categories. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:40.639 James 4, 2 says, you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:44.559 You don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:49.279 Now, this is a verse about prayer, obviously, and it's one that uh that definitely encourages us to pray big. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:51.519 And it gets it gets taken out of context often. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:59.039 Some people will take this verse and say, hey, this means that if you pray and you ask God for whatever you want and you ask in the right way, he will give it to you every time. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.080 And I I understand that mentality. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:04.720 God is not a vending machine, though. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:13.200 You know when you put money into a vending machine and you hit the button and you get something that you did not select, is that not one of the most infuriating experiences in the world? 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:15.840 I mean, it's definitely a first world problem, right? 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.080 Because here we are, and and usually what we're getting isn't even something that we need. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:25.519 But we push that button, and if we want a diet coke and we get a coke, we just go, are you kidding me? 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:26.799 Are you serious? 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:29.919 How inconvenient is this for my life? 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:34.639 If we have a vending machine mentality with God, we will experience that same disappointment all the time. 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:41.200 Because there are moments where we pray for something and God just knows better and God has a different plan and we have to submit our lives to Him. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:45.919 He doesn't submit Himself to us, but He loves us and He provides for us and He wants to help us. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.559 We need to understand this morning that God is for us. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.000 He is for you. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:56.240 When you pray, as a loving father, God desires to see your needs met. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:59.039 He is not a vending machine. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:03.679 We do not get everything we want every time, but he is for us and he loves us. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:10.000 James is not saying that God is a magic genie that we can just make requests of and we get it, but he is saying this, and this is powerful. 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:19.360 There are many experiences, there are many blessings in our lives that we will never have if we do not pray. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:25.679 In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus said that God knows what we need even before we ask. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.960 As a loving father, it's not like God's not gonna bless us because we don't ask. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:35.600 I don't wait for my kids to ask for food for me to remember to cook for them. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:38.320 I don't really cook, but frozen waffles count, right? 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:39.679 That counts. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:45.840 At the same time, though, there are many things that my children would not have if they hadn't asked me for it. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:57.519 I mean, there's there's whole sections of our house that wouldn't exist if my kids didn't ask, because we have whole rooms dedicated to the toys that my son has and all the stuff that my daughter is gonna have and going to enjoy. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:01.759 And my son would eat way less ice cream if he never asked me for ice cream. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:08.799 It's because he asked me for what he wants that stirs my heart to bless him and to give him what he desires. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:14.320 And even if I say no, even if I know that what he wants is not good for him, I still want to give it to him. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:14.720 It's weird. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.080 I have to fight that. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:21.279 When my children ask me for something they need, it stirs my heart because I'm for them. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:27.919 We need to understand that God is for us, and when we go to him with what we need, it stirs his heart. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.799 You affect the heart of God. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:34.639 So we need to pray big. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:37.360 Now, praying big means that we cannot pray reasonable prayers. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:41.039 I do that, it's it's kind of an aspect of adult life that we learn, right? 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:42.639 We ask for very reasonable things. 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:45.519 My son is five, and I use a lot of stories with my son Liam. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:46.799 If you've been here for a while, just know this. 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:48.720 He gets a commission on every story I tell. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:54.480 And so I don't want him to be embarrassed by the amount I talk to him, but he's very like motivated by that kind of thing. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:16:01.120 So he'll do things now and he'll say, Dad, you can use that, use that on a Sunday because there's an instant reward. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:03.120 So he's five now and he's learned. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:04.559 I've noticed this in the last year. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:07.279 He now, he now asks for more reasonable things. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.559 If he doesn't want to go to bed, he does not ask to stay up for an hour anymore. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:11.679 That's what he used to ask. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:14.720 Now he'll say, Dad, can I stay up for 15 more minutes? 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.080 It's because he knows that if he said an hour, I'd be like, Yeah, right. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:21.279 But if he said 15 minutes, I'm like, oh, that's pretty reasonable. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:23.200 That's, yeah, what's 15 more minutes? 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:23.679 Go ahead. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.000 So he's learned, he's learned, he's he's manipulating me. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:27.120 That's what's happening. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:28.720 That's exactly what's happening. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.960 But he's grown up enough that he hadn't he now has a filter for what's reasonable. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.679 Not that long ago, that filter did not exist. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:40.159 One of the best days of my life was Father's Day, 2013, two years ago. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:41.679 We hadn't had our daughter Lily yet. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:49.039 It was just Liam, and I wanted to have a very special Father's Day with my son, and so I decided that he was gonna catch a fish for the first time on Father's Day. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:49.919 That was gonna happen. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:54.320 We had gone fishing one time with Megan's parents, and Liam is really coordinated, he always has been. 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:58.159 So I was amazed that at three years old he could cast into the water with no problems. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:02.080 But patience and being three years old do not go together. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.759 And patience and fishing are really good friends. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:09.519 And so as soon as the lure would hit the water, I mean the second it hit, he'd be reeling it in. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:10.799 It was like, reel it in. 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:17.440 The only chance he had to catch a fish is if he happened to put the lure right into a fish's mouth as that fish was closing its mouth, and the odds of that are really small. 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:21.359 So I knew that if he was gonna catch a fish, it needed to be rigged. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:22.799 We needed to cheat. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:23.920 That's the only way. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.079 And what that meant for me was going to a trout farm. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.000 Now, I don't know if you've ever been to a trout farm. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.960 You may not understand the concept of a trout farm if you've never been. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:31.920 It's very simple. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:36.240 Take like a swimming pool-sized pond and fill it with 10,000 trout. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:36.880 Okay? 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.880 You've got a really good chance of catching as much fish as you want. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.359 And so I got online and I looked for a trout farm. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.880 I grew up in a part of the country that had a lot of those, and I couldn't find many locally. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.359 I found a few that had closed down in recent years. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:50.799 I found one that looked perfect. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:52.240 It was in North Carolina, though. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:53.519 That was the downside. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:55.680 Three and a half hours away. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:59.920 But I was determined that my son was gonna catch his first fish with me on Father's Day. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.200 I was selfish, I guess. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:04.640 And so we got in the car, we drove three and a half hours to North Carolina. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.480 We stopped at Waffle House on the way. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:11.920 Like I said, my son loves waffles, and he's only ever had the frozen waffles that his father cooks for him. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.920 And uh I'll never forget when he when he saw his first Waffle House waffle. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:16.960 He'd never been there before. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:18.240 He didn't know what to do. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:19.279 He didn't know what to do. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.559 If you've ever seen a Waffle House waffle, they're the size of a human face, right? 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:23.279 They're huge. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:27.119 And he just stared at it for 30 seconds, like, what do I don't know what to do with this. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:27.680 This is amazing. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:32.400 He was in awe of the waffle, and at the end of the day, that was right up there with catching fish. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:36.960 We finished the drive, we got to North Carolina, the weather was a little bit iffy, and we got out of the car. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:39.920 I went to the office of this trout farm, I paid for everything. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:45.119 We we got ready to fish, we had our rods in hand, and right before it was time to fish, this huge thunderstorm rolled in. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:46.400 I mean, it was massive. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:55.599 There was lightning everywhere, it was raining really hard, and I just grabbed Liam and ran to the car, but he didn't know the danger of holding a metal rod in a lightning storm. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:57.759 So this whole thing didn't make a lot of sense to him. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:02.960 He just knew that he had waited hours and hours to fish, and right before it was time to fish, I'm taking him back to the car. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:05.599 So he was screaming and crying, and I finally got him there. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:10.960 I calmed him down, I explained what was going on, and we waited the storm out for another 30, 45 minutes. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:13.039 Then it was time to fish. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:16.319 It did not take him very long to get one on the line. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:19.839 But see, I neglected to teach him how to reel a fish, and I hadn't thought that far ahead. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:21.039 I'm bad like that. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.440 And so he got it on, and all of a sudden he's just panicking. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:24.000 He's excited. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:26.160 If you've ever fished before, you you get a fish on the line. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:28.000 There's there's adrenaline that kicks in, right? 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.720 Something's fighting against you, and so Liam just started panicking. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.440 It was really funny, there were a lot of people there that were highly entertained by him. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:37.119 He's just going, Oh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, okay, I've got it, I've got it, I've got it. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:38.880 And he's reeling this thing in fast. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:43.599 And all I told him was reel it in, but I didn't tell him that there's a point where you have to stop reeling. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:20:00.720 And so he reeled this fish all the way in to the very end of the line where it hits the pole, and then he kept reeling it further, so that the pole went halfway down the fish's throat, and then that that sort of skewered and popped the fish off, and it went under the water or it died. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:01.839 How was that? 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:06.880 Trout farms are cruel places, but the lamb, he was he was dejected. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:15.519 He was he was so dejected because he had waited for so long, he had he had endured this storm, and then he gets the first fish on the line and it it goes off and he just sunk. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:17.599 And I said, Son, it's okay, we're gonna keep fishing. 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:22.240 He got another one on the line, but that one got caught on a log and it popped off as well. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.319 Finally, the third fish he got on the line. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:28.880 I had learned well enough at that point what to tell him. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:32.720 I'm saying, okay, reel it in slowly, a little bit more, a little bit more. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:35.359 Okay, lift the pole up, lift it out of the water, take a step back. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:36.960 And he he had it, he had his fish. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:37.759 He was so excited. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:40.400 I actually have a picture of that moment because uh, you know, I want to. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.240 That's Leon with his very first fish. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:43.759 Isn't that awesome? 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:47.440 That was Father's Day 2013. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:54.960 He caught five fish that day, and then we got back in the car, we drove another three and a half hours, we stopped for dinner, and we got home really late. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:58.400 It was a long, incredible, and exhausting day. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:02.160 But there's one part of that day that I will never forget. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:05.599 When we got home, we walked into the house, Liam looked at me. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.319 He said, Dad, can we do that again tomorrow? 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:11.920 Can we do that again tomorrow? 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:17.039 And that's a very unreasonable thing to ask because I mean we we drove for seven hours. 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:23.279 It was a very long day, it was hard, it was it was a lot, and for Liam to say, Can we do that tomorrow? 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:24.160 It was just unreasonable. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.799 And I had to say, No, son, I'm so sorry, we we can't do that tomorrow. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:31.279 I explained that you can't make seven-hour drives on a daily basis, I have to go to work, all these kinds of things. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:33.279 And he he just nodded his head in understanding. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:34.079 You know, he was three. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:35.359 He said, Okay, okay. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:37.920 So can we go on Saturday? 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.480 See, children ask for very unreasonable things. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:44.799 That that's second nature to them. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:51.519 It's as we get older that we learn how to how to lessen our expectations, and so we ask for reasonable things. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:53.599 We make reasonable requests of people, and we should. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:59.359 That's actually a sign of maturity because people have limited resources, people have limited time, we have limited energy. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:01.359 Finances. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:08.240 So it's a good thing in a lot of ways to go to people and ask for reasonable requests. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.079 But it is so easy to take that same approach with God. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:16.640 There's a problem with that approach, though, is that God is not limited. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:18.720 God does not have limited time. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:20.480 He does not have limited resources. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:22.000 He does not have limited energy. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:30.000 So what is the point in going to a limitless God with requests that are limited by our expectations of what is reasonable? 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:35.839 We can pray unreasonable prayers. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.880 What do you need in your life that sounds unreasonable? 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:44.480 What needs to happen that seems beyond the scope of what you should expect? 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:51.839 A great way to think about this is what do you need today that you wouldn't even think about asking from someone else because you know it would be too much to ask? 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:53.599 You should ask that of God. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:00.000 We should pray unreasonable prayers because we have a God who is unreasonably good. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:02.640 And we have a God who is unreasonably powerful. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:08.640 I tend to pray reasonable prayers, and it holds me back from praying big. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:13.119 I also tend to pray very, very general prayers. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:17.200 And if we're going to pray big prayers, we we can't pray very general. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.240 I pray for things I mentioned this earlier, like blessings. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:23.039 I'll say, God just bless my day, and that's a very general thing. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:26.720 And I'll be honest, I don't even know what I mean half the time when I pray things like that. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:29.440 I'm not even aware of what a blessing would look like. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.160 And I may I may ask God to bless my day and he might do it. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:37.440 I might not even realize that he's answered my prayer because I don't have a clue in my mind what I'm even asking for. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:42.079 There are times in life when we have to make more specific requests. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.799 Liam's gonna have a really good day and get a lot of commissions today because I've got another story with him. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:56.160 Um my wife and I have now learned, now that he's five and can dress himself, that asking him something general like go get dressed, it's not specific enough. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:57.920 Because the results will vary. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:58.480 Okay? 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:10.640 I mean, at five years old, if it's the middle of winter and we say, son, go get clothes on, go get dressed, he is likely to come out with a pair of sweatpants, no underwear, a t-shirt, a cap, a cape, and cowboy boots. 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:12.880 That's not out of the question. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:16.480 Because he just goes into his bedroom going, what do I want to wear today? 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:17.599 All of this is clothing. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:21.200 All mom and dad said was, get dressed and I have done what they have asked. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:22.640 We've learned we have to be specific. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:26.880 We have to say, go get dressed, and that means get underwear, get socks. 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.000 Megan cares about things like colors and matching socks. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:30.880 I don't even care about that. 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:34.240 I just say I just want you to wear underwear, forwards, backwards, inside out. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.119 I don't care as long as it's on the part of the body it needs to be on. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:37.839 I'm good. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:44.559 So go get underwear, go get socks, go get jeans, go get a sweater, go get a hat, just go get those things, and you're good. 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:46.079 I have to be specific. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:50.960 Do we pray specific prayers? 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:55.920 If you're gonna pray big, you're gonna have to pray specifically. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:01.440 If you're$70,000 in debt, do not pray for a raise. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:04.880 Pray for a$70,000 raise. 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:05.440 Okay? 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:13.680 If you need something specific to happen in your life, you need to pray for that specific thing. 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.559 Praying general prayers, there's nothing wrong with it. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.839 But it's hard to pray big when we're only praying general. 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:22.240 Pray specific. 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:28.720 One of the things that holds me back from praying big the most is praying noble prayers. 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:34.240 And we've talked a lot over the last few weeks about religion and this concept of how religion actually undermines faith. 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:44.720 It's when we start to add our understandings of what we think God must want, things that He doesn't actually want, that we start to lessen our experience with God and noble thinking, noble thinking. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:51.519 It's so celebrated in religion, but it's sometimes so opposite of how God wants us to think. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:55.119