WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.679 For more information on our church, please visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:11.759 Well, Grand Parkway is my sincere joy to be with you this morning. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:16.960 I uh really uh rejoice, um, and I don't want this to sound like pastor talk. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:19.199 You know how pastors talk, they talk kind of weird. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:23.600 Um so I want to be as sincere as I can uh in what I'm about to say. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:27.679 I really rejoice in what God is doing here at Grand Parkway. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:31.679 Uh it is just it is a joy to me when I hear about what the Lord's doing here. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:48.479 Um I I've been friends with your pastor for over 15 years, and um just hearing about the stories about what God's doing here with missions and in the community and reaching people and and the truth of God, just another another place and community in Sugarland where the gospel is preached. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:55.600 And um, we are an area of of the city, I think you would agree, that has a lot of churches, but sometimes we don't have a lot of gospel. 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:58.560 And so I I really rejoice in Grand Parkway. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:10.400 And just to just to say, uh, so you know my heart, um, like I said, I've I've known Neil for over 15 years, and I just want to tell you, um, I got no funny stories, because you probably got funny stories. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.480 Uh I got no pictures of him I want to show you uh or anything like that. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:18.959 I just want to tell you, um, just so you know where I'm coming from, um, I love that man. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:24.560 Um he makes me love Jesus more and uh makes me want to be a better man. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:31.680 And that's pretty much all I need to say about my heart for him, and uh you should um just pray for him and and thank the Lord for him. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:34.000 So uh that's all we'll really say about that. 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:36.640 We have a Bible this morning if you want to open Luke chapter 11. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:37.439 Luke chapter 11. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:41.840 You've been in the parables for a little while, and um we're gonna talk about the parable of the midnight friend. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:51.680 And the parable of the midnight friend uh is really about prayer, and so I don't know how you are about prayer, and maybe you're a prayer giant, and if so, you probably should have the face mic this morning. 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.200 I'm not a prayer giant. 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:56.159 I I have a schizophrenic relationship with prayer. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.799 Um, where one moment I just love to pray. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:04.560 I I I long to pray because I don't know about you, but sometimes I just have things I can't get out. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:09.759 It's like what it says in Romans, how there's just longings and groanings that you can't express. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:15.520 And and and I and I really hope that in that that text it talks about the Holy Spirit expressing that for you. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:19.520 I'm just trusting that's true because there's just sometimes I just don't know what to say in prayer. 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:21.280 I got stuff I want to pray for my kids. 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:27.840 You know, as it Wade said earlier, I have four kids, and so I just got stuff I want to pray, and sometimes I just can't get that out. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:37.280 And I just have this holy longings that they just would love him, and that all the junk out there that you know, I you know, I get all caught up like, you know, do I want to put them in a bubble? 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:37.759 Yes, I do. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:40.719 No, no, no, put them out in the world, let them let them equip them for the world. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:41.680 No, God just help them. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:48.400 I don't know how to pray sometimes because I just have this longings I want to pray, and so I just want to pray and long to pray. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:50.560 And then sometimes I run from prayer. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.159 I don't know if you ever run from prayer. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:58.479 Sometimes, I'll just be real honest with you, and I know it's early on Sunday morning, we should be careful with this, but um, you'll just be real honest with you. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:02.800 Sometimes I'm in a situation, someone says we should pray, and I'm like, it's come to that. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:04.960 I mean, really? 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:08.960 I mean, I I've gotten in more than one argument with my wife. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:10.879 She'll be here later uh this morning. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:12.960 Uh, she loves y'all having 11:30 service. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:14.800 She's like, amen, that is awesome. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:17.039 So she may be coming here from now on. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:19.599 Um just because of that. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:28.479 And so I've gotten more than one argument before because we've been having this discussion about whatever, a need we need to miss, something going on with our kids, parents, wisdom we need, or something like that. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:33.199 And we're we're I'm we're trying to figure it out and discuss it, and she'll say, We should pray. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:36.639 And I had the audacity once to say, why? 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:39.840 That did not go well after that. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.879 I was put in a corner for a long time and thought you should think about why that's a bad answer, Pastor. 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:48.159 You know, whenever pastor is using our home, that's not a good thing. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:49.919 That's not a good thing. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:52.479 So that's how I that's how I am with pray. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:56.960 I I sometimes I run to pray, and sometimes I run away from it. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.199 And hopefully, hopefully I'm not alone. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:03.599 Um because no matter where you are, you you probably haven't arrived. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.479 You know, we live in a world where prayer is not an alien thought. 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:08.319 Prayer is out there, it's all over the place. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:12.080 Uh, we have temples in our county where people pray to dead people. 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:21.279 They actually um get on their knees and look at these statues representing a dead person just a few miles up the road from here, and they pray to that dead person. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:27.040 We have uh people in our city that they get out mats and they point themselves in a certain direction so they can pray. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:33.600 We have people that that pray to um figures that have been dead that have been given the mantle of saint. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:37.120 Maybe you're from that tradition, and that's always maybe been confusing for you. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.040 Prayer is not something that is is out there in our culture. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:42.160 It's it's right up front. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:52.160 It's you will even you'll even hear on the news every now and then when something happens, like tragedies and you know, with the tornadoes in Oklahoma, you'll hear a newscaster say our our hopes and prayers are with them, and you're like, what does that mean? 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.079 Our prayers are with them. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:05:07.839 And without the gospel, without an understanding of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us through his sinless life, his sacrificial death, and his glorious triumphant resurrection, prayer is really, you know, it's it's pretty religious. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:09.279 It's pretty much groveling. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:12.240 You know, oh, please help us, big deity. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:13.439 Don't hurt us. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:18.480 It's groveling, it's begging, or it's it's showing kind of my merits to him. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.439 It's it's me being a lawyer and presenting my case to the judge. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.920 Here's why you should bless me and bless my kids, because I'm a really good guy. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:30.639 You know, I give to this, I help this, I once helped an old lady cross the street. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:33.759 I've never kicked a cat in my life except that one time, but it was a mistake. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:36.800 And, you know, you just you pour it all out there because that's kind of prayer. 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:39.360 It's groveling, it's pleading, it's showing your merits. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:49.680 But the gospel, having an understanding of the gospel and an encounter with Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and understanding all that he's done in the gospel, it changes our understanding of prayer. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:54.160 Jesus himself changes prayer. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:59.600 So I hope we'll read this with fresh eyes today, and I hope we'll walk through some of these things with fresh eyes and fresh heart. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:15.360 My whole hope for us this morning is just that the Holy Spirit would just kind of ignite a little bit more passion in us to want to pray and draw out, if you're a follower of Jesus, you're a believer, you have the Holy Spirit in you, draw out some of those holy longings that you and I have and give maybe some words to it. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:23.439 And if you're not a follower of Jesus, you're not sure you're a follower of Jesus, maybe you'll hear some things today, and the Holy Spirit will show you this is what you're missing. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:29.759 This is what you're looking for, but you haven't still opened up your heart to Jesus yet. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:35.920 And you haven't just laid down your arms and wave the white flag and go, I surrender. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.040 And maybe today that would be you. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.800 So Luke chapter 11, starting in verse 1. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:52.879 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:58.160 Now, let's not run past that verse very quickly because that's an amazing thing right there to read. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:00.319 Because you, you know, he's praying in a certain place. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.120 You know, you just kind of put your Bible story glasses on, at least I do. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:04.399 He was praying and it was over. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:07.759 One of his disciples, the guy in the robe, just said, You know, Master. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:10.319 You know, he put the Passion Play voice on. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:16.319 I was in passion plays growing up in church when I started going to church, you know what a passion play is where they reenact the life of Christ on the stage there. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:22.000 And I and then it's like you get 50-year-old guys and up there with Rolex watches on, but they're wearing Bible robes. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:24.240 That just, oh, it's like, take the watch off. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:26.959 They didn't have glasses, dude, take them off before they got up. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:30.079 But they I I feel like they had that voice of Lord, teach us to pray. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:32.079 But I I I picture something different. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:36.560 I picture Jesus praying, and what an amazing sight that must have been. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:43.680 An amazing sight to see the Son of God through the Holy Spirit of God communing with the Father God. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:45.600 That must have been an amazing thing to hear. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:47.199 What did it sound like? 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:54.399 How sweet, how strong, how tender, how intimate, how amazing that must have sounded. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:59.519 You've heard people pray and you've gone, wow, that person, that person knows how to pray. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:00.720 Man, I'd like to pray like that. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:03.279 You've heard people pray and say, Please stop. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:06.800 You've heard people pray and go, oh, they asked so-and-so to pray. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:09.759 Oh, this is not, this meal's gonna get cold. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.319 But what was it like to hear Jesus pray? 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:22.079 It must have been amazing because when he's done, I picture it in my mind, it doesn't say in the text, but I picture it in my mind, he's done, he looks up, and this guy's leaning in going, Teach me how to do that. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:24.079 What you just did. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:25.680 Teach us to pray. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:29.279 I mean, that's what John did with his disciples, and you're way better than John. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:31.040 Teach us to pray. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:38.320 Verse 2, and he said to them, When you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:47.360 Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:57.759 And he said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:04.960 And he will answer from within, Do not bother me, the door is now shut, my children are with me in bed, I cannot give up and give you anything. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:15.600 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything, because he is my friend, because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:19.759 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:22.559 Seek, and you will find. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:25.360 Knock, and it will be open to you. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.600 For everyone who asks receives. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.759 And the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks it will be open. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:39.759 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent, or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:50.399 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:52.000 I want to just give you four things. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:10:03.519 I think the that Jesus and the gospel, which when I say gospel, uh as we've already sang and proclaimed, I am talking about Jesus himself, the good news about him and everything he does. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:13.600 Okay, so everything about his sinless life, his substitutionary death in our place, and his resurrection, everything he accomplished in his life on earth in ministry. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:17.759 How does that change prayer and how does he explain that through this passage? 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.559 Well, the first thing is the gospel brings a new relationship. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:22.559 The gospel brings a new relationship. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:31.679 It changes prayer from groveling and pleading and plea bargaining now to a different relationship, all with that simple word father. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:39.279 It changes now from a word where God is not some absentee boss or someone we have to send an email to, but he is our father. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:50.240 The great uh doctrine of adoption, that when you become a Christian, you were a creation of God, you have dignity before God, you're made in the image of God. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:52.639 But the scripture says you're not a child of God. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:11:08.000 You're not a child of God, and so you come to faith in Jesus Christ, and you're reconciled to God because of his death, and you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit who causes you to be born again and causes you to have a relationship with God, and you now have the right to be called a child of God. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.039 He adopts you into his family. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:14.399 Galatians chapter 4, verses 4 and 7 says this. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:26.320 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:40.000 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father, so you're no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:43.600 See, the gospel changes our praying from being some report. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:47.600 You ever felt like you're hearing someone pray or you've prayed before and you feel like you're giving a report to God? 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:56.159 You know, God, I'm praying about such and such, and as you know, this is such and such, and this is happening here, and this is happening here, and it's almost like you've given a whole kind of report to him. 00:11:56.559 --> 00:11:59.679 Well, it's not me reporting, it's me relating. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:03.519 It's us relating to him now through Jesus as our Father. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:05.840 And the Holy Spirit causes that longing. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:16.960 The Holy Spirit causes a longing in a believer to want to move past ritual and move deeper into relationship, deeper into intimacy, deeper into a place where I know him and I can call upon him. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:27.759 And this relationship now that I have with him in the gospel, all because of Jesus, what Jesus has done, I now relate to God not based on what I have done, but based on what Jesus has done. 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:33.360 I relate to God not based on how faithful I've been this week, but how faithful Jesus has been for all eternity. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:43.679 I relate to God not based on all that I've earned spiritually and all that I've worked up to and all that I've attended and all that I've memorized and all my efforts. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:48.559 I relate to him based on the efforts of Jesus Christ alone. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.679 It changes the game when it comes to prayer. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:55.840 Because when you come to prayer and I come to prayer, you don't got to put the prayer voice on. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:59.279 You have the prayer voice, you don't have to put that on. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:11.759 I remember I worked at this church once and you'd talk to these normal guys, and we I worked at this church for a while, and we would have a deacon close us in prayer uh every Sunday, and they'd come up and say the prayer, or it was the offertory prayer, or something like that. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:13.440 And if you don't, if you do that, sorry. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.240 Uh I don't mean that, but this was just this church, okay? 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:24.159 But you'd talk to these normal guys that were deacons, and they had normal, happy, normal voices, and then they got to pray, and they're like, our most gracious heavenly father. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:27.120 You're like, wow, what just came out of that guy? 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:27.679 You know? 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:30.480 It's like there's a there's a baritone living in that fella, you know? 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:32.879 It's just Barry White comes out, Father in heaven. 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:34.240 You know, it's just whoa. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:37.120 Because they feel like they had to kind of get their prayer stuff on. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:48.879 You know, I gotta get in the prayer mood now, get focused, raise the shoulders, deepen the voice, grab the, grab the pulpit with both hands, kind of in a kind of in a kind of a 3-9 formation, and just stand and say, Let us bow. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:49.759 You know? 00:13:50.960 --> 00:14:04.799 And we sometimes we have that, those kind of thoughts where I have to I have to relate in a certain way, and it's not that we're irreverent, but I don't know about you, I have four children from 15 to 5, and none of them put on the daddy voice. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:11.600 They just come to me and they ask for what they need, and a lot of what they want. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:17.679 And and and they come and they talk to me, and they talk to me because I'm I'm their dad. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:25.039 They don't talk to me because it's it's that time of day where they're supposed to come to Father and and ask for what they need and get my blessing for the day. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:31.679 They come and talk to me because I have a relationship with them, and they know they're okay in that relationship. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:35.519 So the gospel brings us to a relationship of prayer. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:40.080 Do you do you think about that when you pray that I'm talking to my father in heaven? 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:47.200 And I'm talking to him, not trying to show him all my goodness, but I'm coming to him on a based on the goodness of Jesus. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:50.159 And do you understand what that means to be in Christ? 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:55.840 Because sometimes I forget what it means to be in Christ and standing in his grace. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:07.600 That means that when I call out to the Father, he listens to me with the same intensity, the same sincerity that he listened to Jesus when Jesus walked the earth. 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:09.600 Because I'm in him. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:11.200 Because I'm in Christ. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:15.759 When I say Father, he turns his ear toward me. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:18.720 And toward you if you're in Christ. 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:24.240 Then he looks at you and he looks at me when I come to pray and go, what are you gonna say this time? 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:25.519 Oh, it's you again? 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:27.279 Didn't we deal with that last week? 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:29.200 Oh, coming back to me with that issue? 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.120 You're confessing that sin again? 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.919 If you were really sorry, you would be different. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.399 No, he doesn't relate to us like that. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:44.000 He relates to us every time in Christ when we come to him to prayer, as he relates to his son. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:46.480 And how does he relate to his son, friends? 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:55.440 Remember when he came out of the waters and he was baptized, and they heard a voice that said, You are my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:57.759 That's how he relates to you. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:15:59.840 That's how he relates to me. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.480 And I did nothing to earn that. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:04.720 You did nothing to earn that. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.960 It was all the work of Christ that ought to change the way we pray. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:14.960 That ought to make us kind of relax a little bit on the inside and sit down and say, He's pleased with me today. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.159 It ought to humble us, it ought to empower us. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:28.240 But that one word and all the actions Jesus did to bring us back to the Father, to reconcile us to the Father, He changes prayer. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:31.360 No one prays like Christians. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:33.759 No one does. 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:40.320 Because no one knows the Father but to those who are in Christ. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:45.120 The gospel brings a new relationship to prayer. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.399 The second thing is it brings it brings a new purpose. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:49.679 It brings a new purpose. 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:55.279 And he goes right, he says, Father, in verse 2, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:57.120 That's the way the gospel works. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:59.440 The gospel works, it brings you in this relationship. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:05.039 You now call him Father, and it also brings you into a new kingdom and a new purpose for your life. 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:11.200 I don't know about you, but for me, sometimes when I I have to write out my prayer so my mind doesn't go everywhere. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:17.279 If I'm praying for more than just a quick little, you know, prayer that I'm shooting up to heaven, I gotta write them down. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:21.279 So I basically write letters and write out my prayer so I can stay focused. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:25.200 And, you know, not every day, some days I can stay focused, some days I can't. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:38.319 But as I'm doing that, if I go back and look over these journal entries and over these prayers I've written, I am really shocked and humbled by how the word me, my, I, it's everywhere. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:39.920 It's all over the place. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:48.880 And every now and then I have to stop and go, how much of me praying is really about me coming saying, Oh, Father, I'm so great you're my I'm so glad you're my father. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:51.279 Now, let's establish my kingdom. 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:54.160 Let's pray about my kingdom come. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:56.240 And we let's let's hallow my name. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:58.240 Let's get my problems out of the way. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:05.279 But but when I when you and I let the power of the gospel by the Holy Spirit remind us of all that Jesus has done for us. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:11.039 And what the Holy Spirit's trying to do is guide us into all truth, remind us of all Jesus said, draw us after the Father. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.640 It reminds us that my purpose now is to hallow his name. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:19.759 My purpose now is not my success, my reputation, my well-being, my comfort. 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:23.200 No, it transforms me now to live for him. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:27.039 And so the gospel gives me this new purpose in prayer. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:32.960 I don't just pray that my neighbor would stop messing up my side of the lawn. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:35.759 I realize he doesn't know Jesus. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:44.640 And I forget that my purpose on my little cul-de-sac is for me to be an ambassador for the kingdom, that the kingdom needs to come on my street. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:19:00.319 And I get real complacent and real apathetic fast because I come home from work, I pull in, I got four kids, I got all this stuff going on, I've got a wife I gotta talk to, we got house projects all the time, we got all this stuff, we got bills to pay, and I get real complacent and forget that I'm on that cul-de-sac for the sake of the kingdom. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:01.759 And what am I praying about? 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:05.039 Am I praying that more people on that street would love the name of Jesus? 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:10.960 Am I praying that my kids wouldn't just be nice, good moral people, but they would love him. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:24.720 They would lay their lives down for him, that they would be caught up not in their career and not in their degree plan, but they would be caught up in a kingdom that is bigger than them and it will consume their lives? 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:27.599 I mean, think about the way you pray. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:35.279 Not to make you feel guilty because you know you're in Christ, you're fully forgiven in Christ, but just to kind of awaken us going, what are my prayers oriented around? 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.079 What purpose are my prayers oriented around? 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:38.960 Is it purpose? 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:40.480 Let the kingdom come. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:50.480 Because what what what do you need more in your marriage than for God's rule and reign to show up in you and your spouse's heart? 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.599 What do you need more in your kids? 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:59.200 I mean, everyone's got little needs and special stuff going on with your kids and things like that. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:04.480 Sometimes it's developmental, sometimes it's this, sometimes it's relational, sometimes it's whatever. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:11.839 But their biggest need is that God's rule and reign would be established in their hearts. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.160 That's a different purpose than saying, Oh, I hope they make good grades. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:17.920 Now they're all making good grades. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:29.359 That's a bigger purpose than praying, maybe other things that my fear leads me to pray for instead of my confidence that when the king has them, he never loses one of his own. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:35.200 And his spirit is way better at convincing and convicting than my voice is. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:37.680 And sometimes that spirit uses my voice. 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:43.519 But I gotta come back to what what am I what is the overarching purpose when I pray? 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:46.960 I mean, where does his rule need to be more evident in your life? 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:52.559 You might be praying, God, provide this area for me financially, help us with this, give us wisdom. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:53.519 Or that's great. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:54.240 Pray for that. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:55.519 He's a giving God. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.240 It's amazing how generous and giving he is. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:05.359 But what if you started first with, Lord, let the kingdom come into my finances? 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:11.680 Let your rule and reign be evident with the resources you've entrusted to me. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:17.359 Let your rule and reign be evident in how I work Monday through Friday. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:20.000 Let the kingdom come. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:26.319 Let your name be hallowed more than my name, more than more than my words. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.480 What's your purpose when you pray? 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:35.759 Do you ever think about that? 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:37.759 I don't think about it much. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:43.839 I have to I have to pause and be intentional and go, wait, it's not about me. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:47.839 I get a lot out of this deal, but it's not about me. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:50.480 Third thing is the gospel brings a new attitude. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:52.079 The gospel brings a new attitude. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:55.119 It brings an attitude of a unique combination. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.440 And the first part of it is humility. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.759 It's a humility, it's an urgency of need. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.240 Need. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.559 And you see that as Jesus enters into the story. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:03.839 He enters into the parable. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:08.640 In verse 6, he talks about for this friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:09.440 So he's gone. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:12.480 This friend has showed up in the parable, and Jesus is telling the story. 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.920 And he's gone over to his neighbor, he's knocking on the door, and he's saying, Hey, my friend's here. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:22.559 I have no food, it's the middle of the night, you know, and they don't have H E B and Kroger and Walmart and all the little convenience stores. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:23.839 They don't have any of that, of course. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:26.880 And making all that food's a longer process for them. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:31.519 So he's going to his friend saying, Do you have anything now to give to my friend? 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:35.759 He has this responsibility because hospitality in this culture is a big part. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:37.359 It's a big part of the culture. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:42.160 It would be relationally offensive not to offer hospitality to someone. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:44.559 You know, someone calls and says, Hey, is this a good time to come over? 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:45.920 No, it's not a good time to come over. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:51.839 They don't even, they don't even they wouldn't even know how to think that way in the culture that Jesus lived in. 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:54.079 And so they have this urgency of need. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:58.000 Urgency of need comes from first this idea of God-given responsibility. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:07.279 I have a God-given responsibility, the friend here, to be hospitable, to open up their home, and to feed and care and love on this person. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:08.799 It was a responsibility. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:20.799 The responsibility laid before us is really lined out there in this version of the Lord's Prayer, to do his will, hallow his name, live in his kingdom, forgive people, walk and be led away from temptation, walk in holiness. 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:30.079 It's a God-given responsibility to live for I have this responsibility to live and love Jesus, live for Jesus and love Jesus and to be a holy man. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:32.720 I have a God-given responsibility to be a godly husband. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:37.759 I have a God-given responsibility to be a godly dad to these kids and to show them Jesus. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:42.880 I have a God-given responsibility in my job, in my profession, mine being a pastor, yours being whatever it is. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:45.599 And so I have these God-given responsibilities. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:46.960 And so it could be whatever. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:49.839 And you have responsibilities to be the lie of the world. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:51.920 That's what Jesus says we are. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.279 You're the lie of the world. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:59.440 You have responsibility to be a good church member and to make every effort to keep the unity of this church. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:00.880 Ephesians 4. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:02.480 That's a responsibility. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:11.599 You have responsibility to be a faithful worker on the job that shows that you're working for Jesus and not the guy that calls himself boss or the gal that calls yourself boss. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:17.839 Or maybe you're a child with aging parents, and now your responsibility, your God-given responsibility is to care for them. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:25.039 You have God-given responsibilities, and your humility comes because you realize you have no resources to fulfill it. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.240 You have no resources to fulfill it. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:33.759 The guy in the prayer, my friend's here, I got nothing for him. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:42.319 So he has the audacity, the boldness, the impudence, you know, to get impudence to go over there and knock on the door and just say, I need bread. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:47.599 It's the middle of the night, I know, but I got this God-given responsibility, and I have no resources to fulfill it. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:52.400 This is a guy that just wants to have bread and feed the guy that's come to visit him. 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:54.640 You're a husband, men. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:57.839 You're a dad, fathers. 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:02.720 Does the weight of the God-given responsibility ever weigh on you for that? 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:09.759 And do you ever have this moment you go, I don't have the resources to fulfill this apart from God intervening? 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:16.799 Because I don't have the resources to engage in life-giving conversation with my spouse after a long day at work. 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:25.279 I don't have the resources to always keep pointing my kids back to God when what I want to do is just say, hey, go play video games and leave me alone. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:27.440 Maybe that's just me. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:29.039 I got a few looks on that one. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:30.559 Okay, sorry, you can pray for me. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:34.000 Um but you have no resources to fulfill it. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:41.039 See, the gospel reminds us, the gospel makes us okay to say, I don't know what I'm doing sometimes. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:44.480 And we're Americans, we don't like to say that. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:46.880 It's why we don't pray. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:51.680 We don't pray because we don't like to admit that we lack. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:59.200 And that's why sometimes we don't have wisdom, because James says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:05.359 We don't have a lot of wisdom because we're not asking God, and we don't do that because we don't like to admit that we lack. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:11.200 But the key to prayer, and I think the key to growth in prayer is the gospel reminding me of this attitude. 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:16.000 I had no resources to make myself right with God when I became a Christian. 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:16.799 Guess what? 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:20.079 I still have no resources to make myself right with God. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:26.480 There wasn't a moment in my Christian life where he brought me here by grace and I said, Thank you very much, I'll take it from here. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:28.640 There's no moment where I take it from here. 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:42.079 I always have to have the humility of the fact that I have the God-given responsibilities, and I have no resources to fulfill it apart from the help and power of the Holy Spirit, that it'll fuel your prayer. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:48.640 It's very humbling because you have to admit you don't have what it takes without Him. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:50.720 And again, we don't like that. 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:57.039 And we live in a culture where you go to Barnes and Noble and there's a big section of books that tells you, oh, yes, you do. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:59.599 You do have what it takes. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:01.359 You're awesome. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:06.640 And the gospel, the first part of the gospel's message is no, you're not. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:08.160 You need a savior. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:10.799 You're in fact in big trouble without him. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:14.319 Oh, he loves you, but you're in trouble without him. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:22.880 And as long as I'm still here in this decaying body, in this wrecked world, I'm in trouble. 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:24.720 I need him. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:25.839 You need him. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:27.839 The gospel reminds me of that attitude. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:29.440 The attitude of dependency. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:38.240 The attitude of, I didn't get into this relationship based on my own merit and based on my works, and I'm not going to grow in this without him either. 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:42.960 I have God given responsibilities and I have no resources to fulfill them. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.279 So it's an urgency of need. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:48.480 And that just reminds me that asking. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:54.480 Asking, friends, it's it's the air that we breathe in prayer. 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:56.240 I mean, look at what Jesus said. 00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:58.880 He said, You're gonna say, forgive us. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:02.240 Forgive us, lead us. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:04.720 He's asking. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:10.319 And sometimes we get more spiritual than the Bible and we think, you know what, we're asking way too much. 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:14.079 Let's just pause and not ask for anything in this prayer. 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:16.480 And I get it, we should praise God a lot. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:21.200 Sometimes we jump right to the grocery list and we forget ever praising and thanking. 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:24.720 That's a good word for all of us, myself included. 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:30.079 But if you don't ask, you've forgotten the heart of your father. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:32.160 You've forgotten the heart of Scripture. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:44.160 You've forgotten that one of the reasons we turn to Him is to humble ourselves, and He gets great glory when we say, I can't, you can't, and I'm coming to you because only you can make me the husband I need to be. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:46.480 Only you can make me the father I need to be. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:50.720 Only you can help me be the son to aging parents I need to be. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:53.359 Because I am a selfish man. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.599 I have an urgency of need, I have responsibilities and no resources to fulfill it. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:01.119 So that brings one part of the attitude, a humility. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:03.599 But you know what else, the other part of the attitude is? 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:05.200 I have a confidence. 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:07.599 I have a certainty of answer. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:10.000 How do I have a certainty of answer? 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:22.400 See, as I was studying this parable, you know, some people say that Jesus is teaching on persistence in prayer because this person has gone over to their friend, they're just knocking over and over. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:28.880 Wake up! And you know, this person's, I mean, in bed with their with their kids, and you know, it's probably a very small home. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:34.000 It's, you know, it's not like, you know, and so don't think like, oh, my kids came down, they had a bad dream, we're cuddling. 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:39.039 No, that's probably how they went to bed, and they just they're all in there in this one bed, and he's like, no, go away. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:44.559 We're all in here, you know, and and and they probably have a large family, so you know, it might take them an hour to get out of bed. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:49.359 You know, we're all snuggle, it took a lot to get us all down, not getting up, go away, all this. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:52.960 And so a lot of people think that he's teaching about persistence in prayer. 00:29:53.279 --> 00:30:00.000 But as I was reading different things, I and I think that's a great thing to persist in prayer. 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:03.680 I also think he's teaching on the certainty of answer. 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:07.039 Because, do you have a friend like this? 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:09.440 I mean, basically, why do we have a certainty of answer? 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:11.599 Because we have a true and better midnight friend. 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:13.359 This person's not your friend. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:14.880 I mean, look at verse 5 again. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:20.319 And he said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves? 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:23.440 For a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, I have nothing to set before him. 00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:24.880 And he will answer from within. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.119 He doesn't even get up and open the door. 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:29.759 Do not bother me. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:32.079 The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:34.640