WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:02.479 Good morning. 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:04.400 How's everybody doing? 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:05.120 We good? 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:06.879 Good good. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:09.439 Well, I'm so excited that you're here this morning. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:12.960 If you're here for the very first time, we want to start by saying welcome to his hands. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.199 We're a big family of people that love one another. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:16.640 We love Jesus very much. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:22.480 And really, we exist to help everyone in this community, everyone in this world get a taste of God's love. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:28.879 We we want to love people to Jesus, and so everything we do here is to help people get his love, grow in his love, and give it away. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.000 I want to thank all of you who who do that every single week. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:33.119 You guys are amazing. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:44.799 And uh and if you're here for the very first time and you'd like more information on what that looks like, go to the infodesk, grab a first-time visitor packet, and it'll give you a lot of information as well as a few uh few coffee coupons you can use, and and that's good. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:46.880 Um we run on the Holy Spirit and caffeine. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:48.000 That's what we say here at His Hands. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:49.439 That's that's what gets us through. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:53.200 Uh, I've got a couple of really quick announcements before we jump into the message this morning. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:01:00.240 Number one, uh, something we're we're really excited about is I'm gonna let it come up on the screen because I forgot the order, baptisms. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:02.399 All right, it's always really well planned out. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:07.840 Baptisms are next Sunday, and next Sunday it's gonna be an amazing day because it's Father's Day. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:19.519 And there's no better day to get baptized, in my opinion, than Father's Day, because the Bible says that when we give our lives to Jesus, that God the Father literally adopts us, that he sees himself as our Father. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:21.120 That's the relationship that we get. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:27.359 And so next Sunday will be a really exciting day as several people go all in with Jesus and they get a new father. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:28.319 It's incredible. 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:30.879 And so be here next Sunday to cheer those people on. 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:40.959 We are a family, and so whenever people get baptized up in front of everybody, it can be a little nerve-wracking until they realize that these people love them and are gonna cheer them on and support them. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:41.760 That's what we do. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:43.280 So next Sunday will be great. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:48.799 If you want to get baptized, if you're ready to make that step in your relationship with Jesus, sign up in the lobby today. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:50.319 You'll see a sign that says baptisms. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:51.040 It'll be easy. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:52.959 We'll give you all the information there. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:57.519 July 4th is coming up really soon, which is uh always a blast here at His Hands. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:03.439 If you've never been here on the 4th, the City of Woodstock shoots off their official fireworks display right above our building. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:04.959 I mean, we have a front row seat. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:13.599 In fact, three years ago, we learned a lesson that we have to turn our smoke detectors off right before they shoot them off because it all settles and then the fire trucks arrive, and that's a party. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:14.960 That's a lot of fun. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:27.919 So that's that's how close we are to the to the show, and we just open our building up, we have food, we have music, we have stuff for the kids to do, we just make a whole event out of it, and it's really the best place to be in this area on the fourth. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:30.159 So be here this this fourth. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:36.240 I think it's on a Saturday this week, because I know yeah, it is a Saturday, and the next day's Sunday, so we'll be really awake that next day. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:37.280 It'll be awesome. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:38.879 But it's uh it's gonna be a great day. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:40.080 Just mark it on your calendar. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:43.919 It's probably already marked because it's a holiday, uh, but you'll get it all figured out. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:44.800 It'll be good. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:50.159 Give a kid a chance is an organization we have worked with for almost seven years, I believe. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:57.360 It's an incredible organization that's local, and what they do is they make sure that needy kids in the community have school supplies when they start back to school. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.319 And so we help out with that every single year in a really simple way. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:13.280 Different people from our church go to the info desk, you grab a sheet that'll have all the information you need, you go buy a backpack, you fill it with the school supplies on the list, and you bring it back here, and then we make sure that gets to the kids that need it. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:14.719 And so that's all you have to do. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:21.039 Go to the info desk today, grab a sheet, you'll get all that stuff, get good sales, do all that kind of thing, and uh bring it back here. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:25.360 We make sure that kids start school prepared and equipped. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:28.400 I want to say a big thank you to everyone who helps out financially. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:29.360 You guys are incredible. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:32.800 Your generosity is being used by God in some amazing ways. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:41.280 Uh, we don't pass a plate or anything like that if you're here for the first time, but at the back four columns, we do have four stations where you can give electronically or give with check or cash. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:43.039 And I got to share this last week. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:52.560 If if you give here and you weren't here last Sunday, listen to the message from last week because we got to talk about some big wins that have happened in the last year as a result of your generosity. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:58.639 One of the wins I got to share was that so far this year we've been able to give away over$52,000 as a church. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:00.319 Just give it away to people in need. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:01.439 That's awesome. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:02.560 I love that. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.280 There's obviously a lot more to share than that in there. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:10.000 So take a take a look at that if you weren't here last week. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:11.840 And thank you for your for your generosity. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.520 Thank you for being people who give. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.480 Um, that's also where you can you can go get prayer as well. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.439 You can fill out prayer requests, drop them in, and we'll pray for you this week. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:20.560 We love to do that. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:24.399 Uh, one more thing I want to share before we we pray and then talk about prayer. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:31.120 Um, people are always sharing stories about things that God has done. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.959 And our high school kids just got back from their summer road trip. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.199 And they are. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:44.319 I I think the official number was 103 high school students on the trip, so it was awesome. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:52.480 We'll share a lot more details about some great things that happened next week, but I got this story in, I got this email to me uh from a dad on Thursday. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:56.079 He said, Dear his hands, my son David was on your high school trip. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.920 He was looking forward to this trip since y'all started talking about it, and he actually typed out y'all. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:00.480 That's not me. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.160 He he spelled it right and all that. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:09.360 Um Wednesday, while he was there, he felt God calling on his heart to be baptized and to go all in with Jesus. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:11.839 I'm so proud of him, and I'm so proud of our church. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:24.240 See, my wife and I have been to many different churches, and it never felt like home, but ever since we've been here, my whole family's attitude about God has changed, our attitude about life has changed, and I really feel like it's because of the love that this church shows. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:27.439 My kids cannot wait till Sunday so they can go to church. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.240 So thank all of you so much, and God bless all of you. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:32.879 I can't wait to see what else God is going to do. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.000 I love that. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:36.160 That's awesome. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:42.160 Well, hey, pray with me, and uh, and then we're gonna talk about prayer. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:46.240 Jesus, thank you so much for being here, for being in this place. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:53.279 Holy Spirit, thank you for filling all of us with passion, with excitement, with joy, with everything that we need for life. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:06:01.759 God, we ask that right now that you would bless us, that as we read your word, as we explore what you have taught us, God, that our hearts and our minds would be open. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:04.480 We want to grow into the people you created us to be. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:05.920 And so equip us for that, God. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.600 And we we pray this in your name, Jesus. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:08.399 Amen. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:09.360 Amen. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:12.639 So we're beginning a conversation today about prayer. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:14.160 I'm really excited about this. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:16.399 This summer, we're doing a series we're calling how-to. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.920 And really what we're doing is looking at some how-to teachings by Jesus. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:22.319 All these are in Matthew chapter six. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:26.160 There's a group of everyday people like you and me who want to know how to grow. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:31.839 They want to know how they can move forward in their relationship with God, move forward in life in general. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:34.800 And so Jesus gives them three how-to's. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:38.879 He teaches them how to give, how to pray, and how to fast. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:49.920 It's these three spiritual disciplines, you might call them, three practices, that Jesus says, look, if you will do this and if you will do them and approach them in the right way, you will see amazing results in your life. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:56.079 And so he lays out some steps that we can take to begin growing closer to God. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:58.000 We want to get a how-to. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:09.759 I don't know about you, but in situations in life where I have not been given a proper how-to, where no one's really told me what to do, I have to rely on my own knowledge, I have to rely on my own ability to figure things out. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.199 And usually what that means for me is that I'm just winging it. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.160 I mean, how many of us have to wing it in major aspects of life? 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:17.839 It's called being a parent, right? 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:19.839 When you have kids, you don't really know what to do. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.399 You can read a book, but every kid's different, and so you just wing it. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.000 You just try to figure it out as you go. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.480 Eventually, you need help, you go to your parents, you go to someone else, and you ask the tough questions. 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:30.160 How do you make a baby fall asleep? 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:31.839 Tell me, please, how do you do it? 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.240 And if you know that, write it on a card. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:35.439 I have two of them. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:36.319 How do you do that? 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:37.040 Please tell me. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:38.480 I'm serious, this is for me. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:40.480 Um we have to wing it, right? 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:42.720 But eventually winging it's not good enough. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:46.639 Winging it does not produce the greatest results in our lives. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:50.319 It really doesn't ever, I mean, the whole phrase winging it, it's a theater term. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:51.759 It's over a hundred years old. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:56.639 It came from the world of theater when actors and actresses did not know their lines. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:02.480 They relied on someone who was waiting in the wings, someone on the side of the stage to tell them their lines. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:14.319 So you picture an actor or actress on a stage giving a performance, they don't know what to say, and someone is on the side of the room whispering loud enough for them to hear what they're supposed to say, but not loud enough for the audience? 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:27.680 I'm just gonna guess that those plays never made it to Broadway, that they were not classics, those were not the plays that were really successful because winging it is never the best practice, but we're we're forced to do it so often in life. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:32.879 How many of us have jobs that require us to wing it because no one has ever really told us what to do? 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:34.000 No one's ever trained us. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:36.080 We're just expected to produce results. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:38.399 Some of us have jobs like that right now. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:43.679 When I graduated from college, I got a job at this really small marketing company in Kansas City, Missouri. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:44.960 And by small I mean small. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.840 It was me, it was the owner and a designer, three people. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.879 The owner and the designer had worked together for over 20 years, so I was the newbie, and I had no idea what I was doing. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:56.720 I had no clue, but I wasn't that worried because the owner was there. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:00.879 And he'd been doing this for over 30 years, and so I knew he would show me the ropes. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:05.039 It would be like this apprenticing relationship, and he would just teach me as we went. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:06.960 But there was one problem with that. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.360 The owner loved to play golf. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.200 And he loved to play golf. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:19.440 And so I remember I started in May, and one day, like two or three days into me working there, he looks out the window and he says, Man, this is amazing golf weather. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:24.879 And I learned very quickly that, man, this is amazing golf weather means I'm about to leave and go play golf. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:25.600 That's what it meant. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:26.799 That was his code for saying that. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:30.399 And see, when he would leave, the designer would just say, Well, when he goes, I go. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.120 And she would go home and she'd say, I'm gonna go work from home. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:40.000 And I put quotes around that because I learned very quickly that work from home means I will not answer an email, you cannot get a hold of me, and I will actually do no work. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:42.960 That's what work from home meant to our designer. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.360 And so I would be there alone, by myself. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:46.240 I'm the new guy. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.960 I don't know, I don't have a clue what I'm doing, and I'm there by myself. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:51.759 And he would always say the same thing to me when he left. 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:55.360 He would say, Justin, I need you to hold down the fort while I'm gone. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.080 And I did not have a clue what he meant by that. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:00.639 Because the analogy didn't make sense. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:07.039 You know, hold down the fort, command the troops, command the troops while I'm gone, protect this place from invaders. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:09.279 I get that, but that was not our situation. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:11.120 There were no troops for me to command. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:12.480 There were no other employees. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:14.080 It was me by myself. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.639 We weren't even a company that had walk-in business. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.120 No one ever showed up at our door to buy marketing. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:23.600 We set up appointments and we would go meet with those people on their turf or at a coffee house. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:27.200 But I was supposed to just man the fort, to hold down the fort. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:29.919 No one was gonna invade us as far as I could tell. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.960 There was a Burger King across the street, but they didn't seem that aggressive. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.559 They never seemed like they were eyeing us or anything like that. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:44.399 So I just sat there and I held down the fort, which for me meant ESPN.com for hours on end. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:54.720 And don't judge me, I was 21 and the owner was playing golf, our designer was working from home, and so me being on ESPN, I think was actually more productive than anyone else. 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:56.240 I was just fitting in with corporate culture. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:58.399 That's what I was that's what I was doing. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.360 And see, the truth of the matter is I really wanted to do well. 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:04.240 I wanted to excel, but I did not know what to do. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:07.120 No one told me what to do, and I felt alone. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:08.559 I had to wing it. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:12.159 I had to wing it, and winging it is not the best practice. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:16.480 We have a God that loves us so much that he does not ask us to really wing it. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:18.240 I mean, yes, we have to step out in faith. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:30.879 Yes, we have to live life not knowing exactly what to do in every situation, but we underestimate so often how much God wants to equip us and empower us to succeed in our life, to succeed in our relationship with Him. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:37.200 And Jesus loves us so much that He has given us a how-to for virtually every aspect of life you can imagine. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:45.679 If I'm gonna look at my life and talk about how I've approached prayer for most of my life, I would be honest and say I've pretty much winged it the whole time. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:55.279 The most intense training I ever got with prayer was when I was a kid praying before meals, and the only thing I learned there is that it's really good if your prayers rhyme, but that's a difficult thing to take into adulthood. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:56.480 That's hard. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.879 See, no one ever sat me down and said, This is how you pray. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:02.480 This is what you do. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:08.480 And prayer is meant to be this passionate, incredible experience that we have where we're growing with God. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:21.039 Prayer is meant to be something that we look forward to, but when we don't know how to do it and all we can do is wing it, we rarely feel confident about what we're doing, we rarely feel confident about the results. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:23.919 Jesus wants us to have that confidence. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.799 One of the phrases I hear the most in regarding regarding prayer is that I'm not good at prayer. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:29.919 I hear a lot of people say that. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:31.600 I'm not good at prayer. 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:34.559 I understand that, I feel that. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:36.960 Many of us feel the exact same way. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.279 We say, look, I don't understand prayer. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.080 It's confusing, it's foreign to me. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:43.519 I didn't grow up with this whole God thing. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:44.960 I'm still figuring the God thing out. 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:47.200 So prayer is a strange practice in my mind. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:48.159 I get that. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:50.960 Maybe we believe in God, but prayer is intimidating. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:54.080 We don't know how to approach it, we don't know how to do it the best way. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:13:00.159 Maybe for us it's praying in front of other people, it's it's praying with our family, it's praying for a friend when they're having a hard time. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:09.200 We feel a desire to pray in our hearts, but we don't feel like we're spiritual enough to actually say, Hey, can I pray for you and pray something out loud? 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:17.279 Many of us have been praying for years, and for us, it's not that prayer is intimidating, it's that it's become routine, it's become a little bit mundane. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:18.320 We've gotten used to it. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:20.879 We find ourselves going in autopilot when we pray. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:26.320 We just start saying the same phrases that we've said a million times before, and our heart's not really in it. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:29.759 We want it to be, it's just become routine for us. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.679 So Jesus teaches us how to pray. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:35.200 Matthew chapter 6. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:36.480 We're gonna look at it here in just a moment. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.600 Jesus teaches us how to pray, how to approach God in prayer. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.919 Because I want all of us to understand something very important. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:43.679 You are good at prayer. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:46.320 You are good at prayer. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.879 Some of you in the room might say prayer is kind of my thing. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:50.720 And you wouldn't be saying that with pride. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:54.799 You would be saying that knowing that prayer is a key part of my life, it's elemental for me. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.440 I've developed a strong life of prayer. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:58.720 I pray often. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.519 I love to pray, I look forward to pray. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:04.639 Some of us are even gifted at prayer. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:06.000 It's a talent that we have. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:08.639 In fact, in the Bible, prayer is listed as a spiritual gift. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:11.519 Some people have a knack for prayer that is God-given. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:13.600 That is not my spiritual gift. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:18.240 Prayer is not my spiritual gift, but it's still essential for me to pray. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.039 It's still important for me to pray. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.039 Prayer is still meant for me. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:25.360 All of us are good at prayer. 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:31.120 You may not know it yet, you may not realize it, but God designed you to pray. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.480 God created you to have a conversation with Him. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.759 God wants to know you, He wants to be known by you. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.919 And prayer is it's our means of communicating with God. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.720 You are good at prayer. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:50.080 And over the next month or so, I don't know exactly how many weeks we're gonna talk about this. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:51.679 I'm still praying about it, and that's not a joke. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.679 It's it's real, and you know, it would fit as a joke right now, but seriously, I'm praying about it. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:59.279 Over the next month or so, we're gonna look at prayer from many different angles. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:11.519 Every single week, we're gonna we're gonna focus on one word, one word that we can take and apply to our lives in the area of prayer, one word that can help us take steps forward and grow and become comfortable with prayer. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.320 See prayer as something that's approachable, something that's powerful, something that is meant for us. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:21.039 And I believe that at the end of this month, all of us can say, you know what, prayer is my thing. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:22.960 Prayer's my thing. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.840 Now it's important that we have the right expectation. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:28.399 Rome wasn't built in a day. 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:34.240 It takes a while to grow, especially in an area of weakness or an area of difficulty. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:35.919 And prayer is not easy. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:37.679 It's not always easy. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:44.639 But just like anything else in life, there are steps that we can take that help us grow, but it's when we take those steps consecutively. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:49.200 It's when we apply many fundamental practices to something that we see real results. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:55.840 If you want to lose weight, you walk up to someone on the street that has you know a great physical uh figure and you say, Hey, how did you get like that? 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.360 They're not gonna look at you and kind of look to the side and go, Okay, come here. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:01.440 See, I have this pill that no one knows about. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.399 And this one pill, you take it one time and you become skinny and strong. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:05.440 That's that's what I do. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:06.799 That's never gonna happen. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:08.399 And if they give you a pill, don't take it. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:09.200 That's a bad pill. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:10.559 Don't do that, right? 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:12.000 It's bad. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:18.799 In fact, if you ever meet someone who is in the kind of shape you want to be in, that happens to me all the time. 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:23.120 Uh I uh I meet someone, I'm like, hey, how do what do you do? 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:24.399 And it's always things I already know. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:29.279 It's frustrating because I'm expired deep down inside I want there to be some hidden secret that no one's ever told me about. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:30.559 Some magic food, right? 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:31.840 That's gonna make me lose weight. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:33.919 But they go, Oh, I I don't eat fast food. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:41.279 I I don't eat a lot of fried stuff, I work out five times a week, I do this, I do that, and it's always stuff that I'm like, yeah, but there's gotta be something else, right? 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.120 Like there's gotta be, I know all that. 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.559 I don't want to do all that, so tell me the other thing that you do. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:52.720 Deep down inside, we want there to be this magic experience, this one thing that that just changes everything. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:17:02.399 See, the difference between working out and being in shape and prayer is that in our culture, we're inundated with information about how to be in shape, so we know all the answers. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:04.400 It's not the case with prayer. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:11.599 So many of us, we we understand that there are fundamental practices that we need to start applying to our lives, but we may not know what those are. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:14.799 And I'm excited that this month we get to look at those. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:18.640 You are good at prayer, you are meant for it. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:22.240 The word we're gonna focus on today is a very simple word. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:23.920 In fact, the word is simple. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.599 We're gonna learn today and talk about today how to pray simple prayers. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:32.240 If prayer is something you don't do very often, then praying simple prayers is a way to get the ball rolling. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.039 It's a way to start moving forward with prayer. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.440 Eventually, prayer will be something you'll get lost in. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:41.599 Prayer will be something that you'll start and you'll you'll lose track of time. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.720 But to begin, we want to look at simple prayers. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:46.480 How to pray simply. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:52.480 And if you're someone that's been praying for a long time and prayers become routine or monotonous, praying simple prayers, it'll change that. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.200 It's like hitting the reset button on your prayer life. 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:58.960 I'll never forget the first time I read the message translation of the Bible. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:09.920 I grew up reading the Bible, and I had this one Bible, the same translation, I had read it many different times, especially the New Testament, and I would sit down to read it on a regular basis, and I would just start to drift away mentally. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:11.839 Because I had read all these words before. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:21.200 I had read it all before so many times that I could read it, and I was actually reading, but my mind was elsewhere, and I would read two or three pages and then go, whoa, I don't have a clue what I just read. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:22.160 I have to flip back. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.759 I'm sure I'm not the only one. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:27.599 But then I got the message translation, and I'd never read it before. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:35.680 It's in really simple language, and just the simplicity of it, and even just hearing it in different words than I was used to, I didn't do that. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.960 My mind was engaged in a way it hadn't been in a long time. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:41.920 It refreshed my passion for God's word. 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:46.400 Praying simple prayers will refresh your passion for prayer. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:53.920 But in order for us to pray simply, we have to understand this one critical thing, this one shift that has to happen in our minds. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:58.799 And it's a shift that we're gonna see happening in the minds of the people that Jesus is talking to in Matthew 6. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.640 It's something he's trying to help them see. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:03.039 We'll see that in just a second when we open it up. 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:12.160 But in order to pray simple prayers, we have to understand that prayer is not an exercise of religion, it is an expression of relationship. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:26.640 If we see prayer as an exercise of religion, we will never experience the passion, the reality, the joy, and the fullness that prayer is meant to bring to us. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.359 Because religion does not value those things. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:35.200 We'll never be able to have simple prayers because religion does not value simplicity. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:37.519 Religion values extravagance, right? 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.240 Extravagance is really it's a really good thing in religion. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:43.200 If you can do something extravagantly, that's celebrated, that's good. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:45.599 But in relationship, it's a little bit different. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:20:04.319 If my wife comes home from work tomorrow and there are roses all over the living room, and there's balloons in every room of the house, and there's like a mariachi band that's playing on our front porch, and there's balloons on the top of our roof, and there's an airplane that flies by that says Justin loves Megan, and then fireworks go off in the sky, she's gonna be blown away. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.960 That is an extravagant display of my love. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:08.559 And she will appreciate it. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.119 I think I'll win a few brownie points for that. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:23.119 If she shows up from work on Tuesday, and there is a mariachi band on our front porch, and there are flowers and balloons everywhere in our house, and there's a there's fireworks, she'll be like, this again, okay. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:25.039 All right, this is this is really nice. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:26.079 This is this is good. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:27.839 I I appreciate that you love me this much. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:33.119 If she shows up on Wednesday and there is a mariachi band, we're gonna have problems. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:43.759 Because extravagance in religion is great, but extravagance in a relationship, it's it's good in its place, but simplicity is really what is what is valued. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.640 Think about the closest relationship you have with someone. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:49.680 What makes that relationship so close? 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:58.160 Is it how extravagantly you prove your love to one another, or is it the ability that you have with that person to look them in the eye and say, tell me what you're thinking? 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:00.160 Tell me how you feel. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:05.680 It's the ability to have simple conversations where you can cut right to the heart of the matter. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.480 That's what that's what strengthens a relationship. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:13.599 Ladies, you have a big leg up on us as men because you are just much more complex than we are. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.319 So we must seem really simple to you all the time. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:18.640 We are not hard to figure out. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:20.880 On the flip side, men, you'll understand this. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:25.200 It is hard to understand if you're married or yet you're in a relationship with a woman, you understand this. 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:29.200 It's hard to understand what's going on sometimes because we just don't have as many emotions as you. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:30.319 We don't have as many. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:34.000 God did not put the same number of emotions into our into our DNA. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:35.759 I have three emotions that I feel. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:37.599 I am either mad, sad, or glad. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:38.640 That's all I am. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:44.960 And if if you're not if you're not glad, and you're not mad or sad, like I don't understand why you're not happy. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:45.920 It just doesn't make sense to me. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:48.079 If I say, hey, you don't look happy, are you sad? 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:48.559 No. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:49.759 Are you are you mad at something? 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:50.000 No. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:51.599 I'm like, well, you should be glad. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:53.359 Those are the three options. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:54.240 It's three. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:54.880 That's all you get. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:57.200 But see, ladies, you have emotions that are like in a spectrum. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:58.000 That's the word I would use. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.519 It's a it's a wide spectrum. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:00.799 Emotions. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:07.759 Just like we only see some of the colors in the in the spectrum of the universe, men, we only understand a few of the emotions in the spectrum of womanhood. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:12.240 And I know this because I'm married, and this is an actual conversation I had with my wife last week. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:14.480 This is a real conversation, wasn't a joke. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:16.640 This is me saying these exact words. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:18.000 Something was bothering her. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:18.559 I could tell. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.680 I could tell because she kept telling me she was fine, and that's a code word. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:22.799 Right? 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:25.200 I'm fine means I'm not fine. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:25.920 Figure this out. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.200 I've learned that. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:29.920 And so this is what I said word for word. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.079 And it's not eloquent, and it was not a joke. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.000 It's all I could figure out to say. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:39.519 I said, honey, it it appears to me that you are feeling an emotion. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.759 And I I do not know what it is. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:58.160 I don't I if you could tell me what you're feeling and maybe why, I would love to understand, I would love to help, but I just I don't I don't know what's happening right now. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:14.960 And see, that's funny and it's it's great to laugh at, but in reality, that's one of the things that makes our relationship work, is that I can simply ask her how she feels, I can simply look at her, she can do the same with me and say, please tell me what's going on. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:20.160 It's that kind of thing that makes a relationship strong. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:26.079 Prayer is not about religious extravagance, it's about relationship, it's about simplicity. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:28.400 And today we're gonna look at how to pray simple prayers. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:35.839 You've got to understand that that phrase, I'm not good at prayer, it's rooted in religion. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:39.680 See, if prayer is a religious exercise, you may not be good at it. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:41.440 In fact, you might mess it up. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:47.440 I think that's one of the reasons we get so nervous about prayer sometimes, is we we're afraid that we're gonna mess it up. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:50.799 But you cannot mess up prayer. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:24:00.880 Because you're praying to a God who loves you, a God who is so understanding, a God who is so gracious and merciful and incredible and loving, and all these other words we could use. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:04.480 He is so good, you cannot mess up a conversation with him. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:08.799 Some of the greatest men and women of God yelled at God in prayer. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:10.319 You can read about it in scripture. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:11.440 You cannot mess this up. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:15.519 You don't need to be nervous about prayer because you cannot botch it. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:17.759 It's about relationship. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:21.599 We're gonna see Jesus make that point in the people he's talking to. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:24.079 We're gonna start in Matthew chapter 6, verse 5. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:26.240 Jesus says now about prayer. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:32.799 When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on the street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:35.519 I assure you that is all the reward they will ever get. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:40.640 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your father secretly. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:44.640 Then your father who knows all secrets, he will reward you. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:53.680 So Jesus is describing the Pharisees, these men who prayed very extravagant public prayers, prayers that religion would celebrate. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:59.039 These men thought they were spiritually superior, everyone else thought they were spiritually superior. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:01.599 There is no such thing as spiritual superiority. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:02.640