It Is Well | Prayer - Pastor Scott Silcox

We talk about what it feels like when Jesus seems quiet in the middle of chaos, and why God’s delay is not the same as God being late. We trace the storm in Mark 4 and learn how suffering can form a stronger prayer life that builds endurance, trust and a steady faith that others can see. 

• Celebrating Freedom Conference fruit, deliverance, baptisms and hunger for God 
• Naming the feeling that Jesus is asleep on the boat 
• Reading Mark 4:35-41 and facing the question “Do you not care?” 
• Reframing delay as purposeful formation, not abandonment 
• Learning the prayer of lament, honest grief aimed at God 
• Learning the prayer of surrender, releasing control we cannot keep 
• Recovering intercession as standing in the gap for others 
• Practicing trust when circumstances contradict it 
• Embracing silence when pain is too deep for words 
• Shifting from quick relief to prayer of formation and true victory 
• Noticing “other boats were with him” and how our response affects others 

Transcript

Welcome And Heart Of Worship

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Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week. For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily. Now join us for a message from Pastor Scott Zilcox.

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We want what the Lord wants more than anything else here. Amen? It really is our heart today. Our heart posture is just as Adam was leading us through the worship today. It's just to just, he's worthy. He's worthy of everything. He's worthy of our praise. He's worthy of honor. And uh, and I I just, man, I'm I'm just overwhelmed by what I sense in this room and the hunger that I sense is building week in and week out

Freedom Conference Stories And Baptisms

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here. And I'm gonna just say a big part of that today has everything to do with how yesterday went with Freedom Conference. And uh I just I I can't just let that slide by without mentioning it again uh because it was so impactful. And if you were here yesterday and you went through Freedom Conference and you have just been set free from some bondage, some hang ups, some things, can let's get a good amen from those who were here yesterday. I'm talking like I I'm I'm trying to I'm I'm gonna underplay this, but but mainly just because I I'm I know that I can gas this thing up a lot, uh, but it's worth it. I sat in the back interceding today. It's so cool, it's so so such a rare opportunity to be in a setting where there are hungry people who want who want to be set free. Okay, let's start with that. The second thing is there's a a group of hungry people who have been prayed up all year long, ready to pray and to lead people through that. On top of that, there's another layer of intercessors all in the balconies praying over what's happening while it's happening. Come on, somebody. This is like it it is a recipe, it is a recipe for Jesus to get some glory really, really fast, to get victory in people's lives. And I'm gonna just tell you, if you have not gone through freedom, I cannot encourage you enough to do it. And don't don't look at your neighbor and don't look inward and say, well, I've already done it, or I'm free, I'm all the free I need to be. Some of y'all kind of are all the free that we can handle, but this is the Jesus. I'm talking about the Jesus kind of free, is what I'm talking about. Right? That's the the freedom that that that'll be offered if you have not gone through it. I just encourage you, sign up, get ready to be a part of it. It will change your life. We didn't end there seeing people delivered and dancing all over their past, which was amazing. But then we ended it with baptisms in the I mean, what are we doing here? I I just love it when you see people in the moment say, I not only want more, but I I want to make this thing public. I want to do all of it, I need all of it. We had Holy Spirit infilling right here in this service. I if I if I might say this because I I mean, babe, you crushed it delivering that message on the Holy Spirit yesterday. It was just so good. I want to keep talking. I can't. Not about that, not about that. But I'm excited about what God's doing in this season. This series has been one of those things that has, if you're not careful, you can get into it and you can you can get in the feels too much, uh, to the point where it's hard to kind of see the light for all the things that are happening around us. But I'm hoping today that I can maybe guide us a little bit through that. And uh, but uh while I'm thinking about it, because I see Pastor Dad here today, we love you, sir, and uh so glad you're in service with us today. And uh most of you guys know this, but you know, last week we did a celebration of life for Miss Ruth, and it was just uh a special moment. And uh for those that got a chance to stay or to come back and to be a part of that, uh, I just here to tell you that there's nothing like being in the room uh of um let me say it like this. There's a there's a marked difference of celebrating someone's life who is unsure about their future, and then something altogether different when there has been a legacy of faithful following Christ, and that legacy shows up to to not just celebrate the life of Ruth, but then to be testimony that the devil loses again and and it was special. It was special when I saw that line just continue to wrap up outside, people just coming in from everywhere, driving in to

When Jesus Feels Asleep

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be a part of it. It was amazing. You probably, if you were here last week, you heard me talk about this little Jesus right here. Still have mine. Uh got a bunch of them. Just tell you a quick little fun story. Um, we these were handed out to everybody at the funeral, which I thought was just so appropriate, so cool. My uh daughter, uh, well, uh, she had an opportunity for well, let me just say, let me start with this story first, and then I'll tell you what my daughter did. But uh I got home a little late that Sunday, right? We were with the family, we were doing dinner, we did all the things, and and I got home, I got home kind of late, and and I was toast, ready to go to bed, right? Uh I walk into my room, and uh everybody's just kind of like piled up in our bed, just kind of like toast. This is like a Sunday afternoon thing for us. Everybody's just in the same bed, and we you know, we're communal living here. So we're all just everybody's in there, we're all just relaxed. So I'm walking in, they're already ahead of me by a few hours, and I'm just thinking, so like, oh, I can't wait. So I dip into the right to the restroom, I go to the bathroom, and when I get in there, I see this sign on the shower door. And on the sign it says, Hey, I'm watching you sign Jesus. I was like, what is going on in this house? I opened the door and there are 32 small tiny baby Jesuses posted up in every corner of this bathroom, sitting on every shampoo bottle on the ground, on the little nozzle, up at the top, one hanging down in the corners, and I mean 32 of these guys looking at me saying, hey, I'm watching you. And I thought, that's hysterical. That has to be my boy's doing, and it was. I got a good laugh out of it. We got to talking about it later uh that night, and then again the next day, and was explaining that, hey, these things are meant to be given out. Like, that's awesome that we get to have them, but it's it's a tool. And so, fast forward on Monday, I think it was Monday or Tuesday this week, uh, Evie got an opportunity to give her first one out, Pastor Dad. It was really cool. Uh, she saw somebody that she thought needed to hear. Now she's she's at the beginning stages of this. So if you know anything about the beginning stages of working with kids, is really they need this, mom, you need to give it to them. Uh we had to work through that side of it. She's not quite got that boldness yet, but we're praying Holy Spirit get a hold of her soon and give her the boldness she needs to witness. But her recognition, this person needs this, and I remember dad saying that's what this is for. And so she got mom to hand it off to them. They got a chance to minister to this guy. And so, anyway, just so special, and I'm just gonna set this one right here. By the way, this is my uh uh yellow one. Uh if you're wondering, it's one of my 13 that I have. Uh, today is going to be a good day. It is well with our soul, is it not? You ever asked yourself this? Have you ever felt like Jesus was asleep on your boat? Come on. You ever just felt like the way life is going? I I just turn around and I think about my life and I think about all that's going on. And then there are days, and I'll just being totally transparent here, where I just kind of feel like, where are you? Where are you and why are you so quiet? Anybody else? You ever just been in that place where you're just like, do you not know that all hell is breaking loose in my life? And have I not been a good son? Where are you? You ever been in a situation where life is just so difficult around you that that that you you almost, and you don't mean this in, I guess maybe sometimes we do mean this. I shouldn't say that, but sometimes, Rico, I can get a little like sideways with the Lord. Yeah, I can just get a little sideways with him. Like, like I'm a little frustrated with you. You you're faithful to Henry Lee. You show up to all his stuff. I mean, do I have to put a man on the moon for you to hear me? Is that what it is? Is that the criteria, Lord? Rusty Nelson never goes through anything. His foot won't dash or touch a stone. You just carry him all throughout life, blessing on blessing, like a cat. Nine lives. He just lives and lives and lives. From one glorious victory to the next. Where are you in my situation? Anybody else? You got people like that in your life where you look on and you're just saying, why is it that Jesus shows up at the perfect timing for you, Tom? But for me, it's always about a month and a half behind when I need it or when I think I need it. This is this is a real conversation that we, all of us, have likely had at some point. Could be when it was the darkest hell you've ever been in. And it was so dark. You you ever been in a place so dark you can't you can't find like your surrounding? I mean, there's there they have these like wild places that you can go to isolate. And and people do this, which I think is kind of bizarre and weird. But they have these like rooms specifically built where there's no light that you can even get into. And in fact, it is it is so dark you can't actually stay in there for a long period of time because you will start to walk out with depression because you'll feel so isolated alone. And they have all these experience experiments where people go in and see how long they can last. I'm thinking like that, I'm out, I'm good. I'm good. How many know my life is like dark enough? I don't need to just then isolate myself even further. But the enemy oftentimes will try to drive you into that place. And and it and it and it this is interesting because it doesn't always look like uh uh situational, meaning the situation isn't dark, uh so dark that that you can't be seen. It's that your perception of where he is in conjunction to your darkness is where you say, I can't, I can't find the light. I can't find the light. I'll tell you how you you know you've been there before. It's like you can you can be anyone been around somebody who who can see something positive and find the negative in it. Look at look at what God has done. Just a minute ago, I was just expressing this amazing look what God has done moment of people who have been set free, and I guarantee you, I guarantee you, there's at least one person in this room that said to yourself, Well, get ready, because it gets worse after this. Well, I hope that was fun for everybody. Dancing on their past. Will you wait till the past starts chasing you again? We're laughing, we're laughing. I'm gonna tell you, don't look to the person to the left or right. It's likely them. It's just likely them. That that that is that's just the thought that comes to your mind. And this is how you know you've been affected when you have you have at some point felt like Jesus was distant. He was distant. And that's that's how these guys felt uh in this passage here. Mark 3. If you have your Bibles, you open it up and we'll read this. Uh I'm only using this kind of like a uh uh jumping off point today. Uh there are hundreds and hundreds of scriptures uh dedicated uh to the idea of what it means to feel distant from the Lord, and and there's these redemptive stories all throughout the Bible. In fact, the whole Bible is full of redemptive stories where he rushes in and he shows up. There's also stories kind of buried in there that sometimes we read over where he is in delay. Yeah, that's good news this morning. Where he's in delay. How many know that when God is in delay, he's not late? When you're in delay, you're probably in denial. I'll just let that sit with you for a second. When you're in delay, it's that he's never gonna show up. And so we just drag our feet to come to him. But but when he is in delay, there's purpose attached to it. He's teaching us something. I I I love this series because it's teaching us how to uh work through this idea where there if uh where there's a where there's a stronghold and where there feels like there is a a distance between the Lord, it's teaching us how to work through that and get uh to persevere. Like last week we talked about patience. He's growing something in us. How do we navigate suffering? How does the Christian, how does the believer navigate suffering? We know how the world navigates suffering. It they bury it. Suffering is is like it's like um um it's like avo it's like avoiding the pain that you know you need to deal with, so you just you just figure out a way to silence it long enough that you can get through the day. Anybody ever done that before? It's a painful awareness of who you're not and what this circumstance is bringing out of you, and it's just like how do I avoid facing that problem? Do you know what I'm talking about? Right? That that how do we suffer? That for the Christian, though, we have a new and a more appropriate response to suffering. We have we have we have we have been called to turn and face the Lord who suffered first for us, who bore on his back all suffering, and is now inviting me into a freedom to walk out. Come on, somebody. I'm talking like you've never heard this before. This is worrisome a little bit. I'm talking to the believer today. There is an invitation to something better, more appropriate. There's a better response. But can I tell you before we get there, oftentimes it's it's chaos, it's pandemonium. Like here, Mark 3. Now, let's just know this. Like, well, I'll get to it in a second. Let's

Mark 4 Storm And Great Calm

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read it together. Let's read it together. It says, On that day when evening had come, he said to them, Let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. Verse 38. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Teacher, do you not care? What did I say? Three? It's four. Forgive me. Thank you. Thank you. Look at all the sweet people giving me. Let's do it together. Let's do it together. And now you've passed the test. It's amazing. And this is why we have such an incredible body. See, Christian? It works. Shall we continue? And he awoke, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, peace be still. And the wind did what? Yes, and there was a great calm. He said to them, Why are you so afraid? You still, have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear, said to one another, Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? What an absolutely fantastic passage. And then can you put yourself in there for a second? Can you imagine the scene? Can you imagine the scene? Absolute chaos. It's chaos because everyone on the boat feels like this is the last day that we're gonna see. Now, this is fascinating because if you follow through with Mark, you understand that they've already seen miracle upon miracle upon miracle upon miracle upon miracle. They've already seen God do all this miraculous stuff. He's already shown himself to be God of the universe. He's in control of everything. So they have all this testimony of his living and of his experiencing all of this miraculous work, and then all of a sudden they're on a boat, a windstorm comes up, and now they think this is the end. Now, how is it that the guy who can heal and deliver not be able to bring freedom to their situation? And this this is such a picture perfect image of us as believers because we know what he's done, and I know what he's done for me, and I know what he's done for Tim, and I know what he's done for you, and yet this feels more real than that. Why is it? Is because it's more personal? See, it's it's not hard to turn around and rejoice, Barry, when God does something great with you. Yeah. Look at what he's doing. That's our God. But it wasn't my problem. It's easy for me to celebrate when I'm not the one carrying the pain and the weight of the pain of it. Celebration is easy. Watching him do it in your life, that's amazing. I just hope I never need him to do that for me. That's what you're really saying. Oh my gosh, I'm so happy, Alex. Look at what he's done. Ha ha. Don't touch me if it rubs off. I don't want what you have, right? I don't that that is that's just the way we oftentimes think of it. It isn't until it comes home to roost, like, now we're actually the ones who can die from this thing, and all of a sudden this thing gets kicked up. So today I want to I want to walk through some things that I believe. And in this case, I think that's there's no doubt this was present, even though it's not written explicitly like this, but there's no doubt that in each one of the people that were on the boat with Christ are presently going through something and are believing some false reality about the situation, and they're using some either past experience to justify their fear and anxiety. There's no question. When you get 12 men on a boat, 13 with Christ, how many know there's a lot of life experience right there? There are gonna be those that that say, hey, get out of the way, let me show you how to do this. Right? Those people who've been on the water, who are like, I've seen this before. Right? So brave, just got you a little captain's hat, gonna put it on, and you're gonna lead the way until it's too big for you. Oftentimes when that person takes to leading the boat, that often turns into when it gets too big for them, they end up blaming everybody else. You're the one who picked up the captain's hat, you're the one who had the good idea. And all of a sudden we're looking around and it's like, no, it's got to be this guy. He's the worst. He's not even a sailor. This guy, we got a tax collector out here. Throw him over the boat. Isn't there a story about this? Right? Can you imagine? It's like, didn't we read something about Jonah? Who needs to be tossed over this boat? There's always gonna be that person who's looking for the quickest way out. And it has to be somebody but themselves. What I'm saying is like the boat is full of doubt and fear and anxiety. So How do then we grow as believers? There is something that is formed in each and every one of us through suffering that I think sometimes we don't talk about. I want to put a label on it and I want to try to help guide us through it because I would bet that today, everything I'm going to talk about today is going to hit somebody in this room. Alright, are you ready? Can't

Suffering Forms New Kinds Of Prayer

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you ready? Then get your notes out. You've got to be ready for this. Like, get ready to write this down because I think it's gonna matter. And what is this? Is that in every suffering moment, no matter what it is, and in this case, it's a boat full of men who think they're gonna die. But in your case, it might be Jesus being quiet in your journey right now. It might just be that you are in a habitual thing over and over and over again, you can't get breakthrough in it. It could be that you're in a lie that you continue to tell yourself because somebody said something or did something to you and you can't get out of the cycle of that. And so you're constantly in the way of yourself. It could be in the deep pain of loss right now, where you're just like, I don't even know how to regulate my emotions because it's all over the place. You may have been triggered this week because you're in a conversation with somebody who looks and sounds like your mom who you have a terrible relationship with. I don't know where it's at, but I guarantee you somebody's in there. So what do you do? And I believe this in every one of those situations, God is actually forming a new level of prayer in you. As a believer, if you can look for it, he's actually going to build in you a dimension of prayer that I think is the thing that he's really trying to form in you to begin with. Can we go there for a second? So check this out. I'm gonna go through a few, and that is prayer produced in suffering.

Prayer Of Lament And Honest Grief

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What is the type of prayer that is produced in suffering? First one is this the prayer of lament. Prayer of lament. Now, we don't use this word very often. In fact, it's an old word. I had a conversation with some friends on Wednesday, and we actually used this word in that meeting, and we were all just kind of looking at each other like, yeah, that's an old word that's never used. And I was like, surprise, I'm using it this Sunday. Lament. Lament. What does it mean? What is it? So this is kind of our structure today: what it is, how it's formed, and where do we find it? What it is is honest, unfiltered grief directed towards God, not away from him. It's unfiltered, directed directly to God Himself. And you say, well, this is a little strong. Yeah, it is strong, but that is the point. It's a lament. It's God, why is life like this? It shouldn't be, and I want to contend for something different. You may be here today and you've experienced that. You may be in the middle of it. How is it formed? You don't learn lament and comfort. It's when faith refuses to die but doesn't have any answers. It's when you say, I'm gonna anchor myself deeper. I'm stuck in this thing. My faith is secure, but nothing around me makes sense right now. Where do you find it? Psalms 13, 22, 88. Which, by the way, 88 in Psalms, go read it. Fantastic passage. 22, which Christian, I think maybe brought out a few weeks or months ago. I think we talked about this. Uh 22, that is a direct tie back to 27 that you see here. When Jesus is on the cross and he is crying out to the Lord, when we find out he's using the same language as actually Psalms 22. And so oftentimes we think he's just crying out to God. Is it possible that he had possibly been worshiping God through a psalm that he knew very well? Go check it out. This is what that means to lament. So Int. If you don't know In T. Wright, he's a New Testament scholar. He's in Oxford. I had the opportunity to hear from him a few years back. I was there. He drove up on his little, like, I don't, so it was so British of him. His little, his little tin speed pedaled it up to an Anglican church, propped it up against the door, and walked in and taught us for two hours, and my mouth is on the floor. Because he's brilliant. If you don't know anything about this guy, I encourage you. He's got tons of books out there. He wrote one in particular about suffering that I think is important that you should go and check out. He wrote it during the COVID years. He's got tons of books. Really, you just dive in. He deals with this a lot in his teaching. But he says it like this lament is an act of protest rooted in hope. It says, this is not how the world is supposed to be. Right? The phrase that you usually hear with lament is, how long, O Lord. So so get in your head. When we're talking about lament, what's being formed in you through suffering and lament is to look at something that is that is so wrong, heinously wrong, and you stand in the gap for it. Okay. Example. I remember we took a bunch of kids and we stood at the courthouse for uh uh uh for life when we were standing against abortion. Because in this world, as believers, we understand that this is something we have to put our voice to. We actually have to stand in the gap of of this atrocity, and we will not be quiet. And then we must say to him, Why do you allow it, Lord? These are your children, this is your life. Right? Come on, somebody. So there there's lament. You have to you have to get in a place and it crushes you because nothing around you says it's gonna change, but you know God's got to do something here. There are gonna be things like this in your life you come across that you know are just wrong. And he wants to teach you how to lay into prayer. He is not afraid of you pointing that prayer at him. Why are you letting this happen? And you're like, man, that's that's just too aggressive to the Lord. Guys, he's the Lord. He's like super secure in his role. He he he's he he, you know, seriously, I I know we're laughing. I'm just saying, he's like super secure. He's not insecure like the people around you. He's not insecure that when you get direct, he gets he gets silenced and quiet and reclusive. No, no, no. He likes the direct because it is something he's trying to form in you. He's saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Lay into that. Yeah, okay, yeah, you're right. Yes, yes. Let me teach you something about why things are the way they are. Let me let me let me stir something in you. Let me build a lament prayer in you. Lament is not weakness. Only those who believe God is good dare say this isn't right. Now, now I this this is worded kind of funny. I couldn't quite get it right, but I think I can expound on this for just a second. And that is this it says, only those who believe in believe God is good. Let me just tell you something. If it's not lament, it's complaining. I've just got to say it. You it's complaining and accusatory when you don't already have him as good established. You you you cannot actually have a lament in prayer. You cannot lament in prayer if you haven't already established he is good, he is righteous, he is just. From there you can lament. But if you are not in the place where you know him to be good, then all you are is accusing him of not being who he said he's gonna be. You're accusing him that he failed, you're accusing him that he has left people, you're accusing him that he is intentionally turning his back on people. And can I tell you that is not on him, that's on your posture. I want to learn how to lament. We we used to do this, we used to do this back in the day. We used to we used to do this where the body of Christ would rally around causes that needed to change, and now we're the number one cause. Comfort. Our peace of mind became the number one priority. And so we've lost the skill of lamented prayer. What kind of prayer is being established?

Prayer Of Surrender And Letting Go

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Here's another one prayer of surrender. Prayer of surrender. The prayer of surrender. What is it? It's what? Releasing control when outcomes don't align with desires. Surrender. How about this? How is it formed? How is it formed? This is critical. Write this one down, take a picture of it, look on your app, it's all there. You don't surrender what you still think you can fix. Well, I'm gonna tell you what. This one happened to me a couple weeks ago, and I just I couldn't break the thought. You cannot surrender what you're still in control of. What you intend to fix on your own, because I got myself here, I'll get myself out. Well, that's not surrendered prayer. That's not surrendered prayer. That can't be determined. That can't, you ain't, you ain't even you ain't even getting that skill set. God's trying to grow your prayer life up. Come on, Paul, how many times have we talked about this? We come in on Tuesday, all we want to do is worship, but nobody knows how to pray. We lost the skill, the gift, the quality of prayer with him because we don't know how to maybe label what he's building in us. And one of these is learn how to surrender. Prayer of surrender sounds different. Anybody ever had a prayer of surrender? Maybe not. How do we know? It's N.T. Wright says, true Christian prayer is not about bending God to our will, but aligning ourselves with his new creation purposes. It's I'm I'm giving up what I want and I'm surrendering to what he's building in this day. We talked about this. I am a new creation in Christ. I am the embodiment of the Spirit of God through the Holy Spirit. I am the expression, you are the expression on the earth of the redemptive work of what God is doing and has been doing from the beginning of time. Me living that out faithfully is the testimony to the world that there's hope.

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Thank you.

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Sounds like not my will but yours. Surrender is not passive resignation, it is active trust in the character of God when outcomes are unclear. I know who he is, and so I can surrender my will. Amen. Alright, I have a lot. I told you I have a lot to get through. Uh hey, look, Johnny, I don't know where you're at. When I get to like a picture or something, like it has a picture of a boat, come and come and help these people. Here's one that we're familiar with prayer of intercession.

Intercession And The Long Game

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Anyone ever heard that word before? Intercession. Raise your hand. Come on, let me see. Oh, good. Everyone knows about intercession. Yeah, most people know it's just a bunch of old ladies that are up in the corner. See, in your mind, that's yeah, I'm only saying what I heard you saying, and I see the thought bubbles like, oh, intercession, yes. I remember her. Like, what are you talking about? Who are you talking about? No, these are these are people who have a heart to stand in the gap. Right? They they understand something. They they've been building a a a a a a a uh a a okay. So do y'all laugh at everybody that stutters? I mean, what are we doing? Rude. Sorry, I made myself laugh. I'm sorry. Intercession, what is it? Carrying the burden of others before God. Intercession. These people have a strength, they have a muscle that they've developed over time, right? Standing in the gap. They have the ability to stand there, and this is why it matters. Intercession is is the long game. See, see, any of us can pray the dinner prayer prayer. Huh? Huh? Here comes our food. Lord, bless it, cleanse it. Right? Bless the hands that prepared it. Right? Bless and cleanse it. Depending on where you're eating. You know? That one comes up often in ours. It's just in a little rotation. Right? Bless and cleanse it, Lord. We don't know about these cats in this house. Bless it, Jesus. Everybody got that prayer down pad. We got that prayer. But but but intercession is the long game. Intercession is the people who will not move till it's turned. That's a strength. That's a that's that's a that's a that's a that's a muscle that that many of us are aren't willing to stick around long enough to develop. I'm just telling you, there's people in this room that I can I can call them out. I'm gonna just I'll call out one. I'll call out one. She's serving today in the ready room. Cheese one. Intercessor. Holy smokes. This lady can lock in, has been doing it for years. She understands. She's been building this. So what is it? It it's how how is it formed? Pain deepens empathy. Those who suffer often become those who pray for others differently. Now, now let me just, can I just map? I'm gonna help somebody. Maybe, maybe, just maybe, if you'll allow the Lord to put purpose to your pain. Is it possible that the pain that you and I have suffered over time is only meant to give us the ability to hold others when they can't hold themselves up? And it and if you're not careful, you'll discard it and say, He's asleep on the boat. You'll discard it and say, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I need, I need what I need, and I'm not gonna get. No, but what God is trying to say is in the middle of your worst pain, if you'll allow it, he'll actually form in you. He'll actually establish something in you that can then hold others beyond here. We talk about this in a way, uh we talked about it in keys. Have you ever heard about this? Like in keys. You have the key to breakthrough. Have you ever heard this before? I had a conversation with a young man the other day, and I was telling him, hey, listen, your persistence in prayer, your faithfulness to the Father, your willingness to be obedient, even when your call to ministry looked like it was starting to phase out, your willingness to lay hold of that, you have earned a right and a key for others who are struggling with those things because you've spent two years not in ministry, not doing the thing you feel like you're called to do, not doing the thing that you you you said, this is all I ever want to do in my life, and for two years it's been silent. And you know what this person did? Faithfully showed up every single week right here. You don't even know him. Oh, you probably sat by him and you didn't even know it. Daily dying to an expectation that was unmet, and yet refused to let go. And in that, it's gonna walk away with the ability to now the Lord, and let me just tell you something. When the Lord is in delay, it's oftentimes, again, it's not an accident on his part, it is him developing something in you. And I'll say it this way: he will oftentimes take your big idea in your dream, which is amazing. The one that you got scriptures for, the one that you got journals written about, the one that you and your wife sit around and and talk about. Yes, this is what he showed me, and this is an amazing dream, and we're gonna be great one day for the kingdom. He oftentimes takes that, and then he reworks it, and then by the time you're done dying to self, he says, Oh, I guess you might want this back. And when he gives it back, this is the beauty. It's that it actually looks like him now, less like what you want it to be, and more like what he wants to use to advance the kingdom. And when you trust him in that process, when you do it, like this young man that sat here for two years, he got a call just a couple of days ago. He's interviewing for a ministry job right now, and it's awesome. He's gonna get an opportunity again. And I love it. But what I wanted him to understand is don't waste the two years as in like you just waited him out. No, you were being formed in something, and now you can intercede on behalf of somebody. Sometimes your pain is not just for you, it is actually for others. Let's let the Lord do something with it, huh? Instead of just wasting it. How about this? Uh, prayer is participation in God's work. Intercession is how we partner with God in healing the world. It's a partnership. Intercessors understand this. It's not what they do, it's their connection to God and being a great conduit between what God is saying and how He wants us to pray. And how many know this? That that conduit, it's real important for that to be like hindrance-free. If there is a uh anybody ever had like a stopped-up pipe in your house before? I won't have to go any further there, I think. If you have kids, you know that that's gonna happen. Because they have a heavy hand. That might be the way we say it in our eyes. That's a heavy hand. Like, rolling toilet paper like this around the arm. It's like, hey, man, don't put that in there. That's gonna what? That's gonna stuff up the pipes. We're gonna that thing's backing up. There ain't no way. You never had that? You know, you got kids, man, they're eager. They're excited, just want to be clean. So it's just like, but how many know, like, there that, if we're not careful, we can we can put filters in there that filter what God is actually trying to do. And if you're not careful, you'll put your own experience and your life in it. This is why you have to be submitted to the Holy Spirit in this. Intercession, you can't do selfishly. Intercession can't be done selfishly. It's a selfless act. If there is a shred of humanity there that wants some kind of credit for the intercession, it's not intercession anymore. Because now it is filtering what the Father's trying to accomplish through whatever your pride or your desires or whatever that is. And can I tell you, he is not going to work through us for very long like that? He wants a steady flow. Intercession taps me into God's intent for the moment. And then I start declaring it. Does that make sense? I partner with him. I don't give him a suggestion. God, this is how you want to move on the earth. And now we will declare. It's like, what, what, what are we doing? No, no, no. Hear the Father's heart and then move out accordingly. This is a stand in the gap moment, right? Suffering expands our capacity to carry others. Gives us more. Okay, what's another uh prayer that is is is formed in suffering?

Prayer Of Trust When It Hurts

SPEAKER_01 43:22

The prayer of trust. This is gonna sound like surrender a little, but I want you to look real close. It's not of trust. Choosing confidence in God when evidence is hard to see. How is it formed? Trust becomes real when circumstances contradict it. Anyone ever got into that like crazy prayer? I I call I I have it this listed like this. The prayer of trust is like, it's like, anybody ever done like the the fun uh um group learning trust fall? Do you guys know what I'm talking about? Trust fall? You know, where you know and it got to be kind of a joke years ago where kids would just kind of walk in the room, trust fall, and they'd fall, and then everyone scrambling to try to catch the person. Do you guys, did you ever see this? This was like a big thing. Alex Nelson used to do this a lot. He did. He used to, when that was big, he felt that was the greatest thing. He'd walk in the room and a group of people, trust fall, and he's out. He's done. And it was really what we didn't know, it was all part of our um uh uh our our Usher training here. You know, we're just just keeping us on our toes, you know. But but trustfall is is kind of that idea. It's like, no, I'm like all in. I'm not even holding back. It's just kind of like, God, this is you. I'm trusting you. I'm all I'm in a this is radical prayer. You ever been around radical prayer people? Radical prayer people make you nervous. There's people around here that got radical prayer. They they they're tapped in, and then then at some point I don't even know where they end and where they begin. You know, it's just like uh you know what I'm saying? It's just like you're in you're in radical prayer people. Trust it, we trust, you just trust it, we trust you just if you oh God, we've said that like a hundred times. Like, what do we how many know that I'm a little bit more calm? I'm I I like to wade into the water, right? Where where this is cannonball prayer. This is this is this is high dive prayer for you, Christian. This is that radical, radical deal. So, so what are we talking? Like, we that go back and read Job 13. Just read the book of Job. Lamentations, Tabak, all of them. They're all got enough suffering to last you forever. Right? There's a there's enough in there, but I'm gonna just tell you what. Job started praying crazy stuff. Hey, at some point, Job is just like, he's he is he's he's threatening God at times, it feels like. He's just like radical. He's like radical. He's even he's praying on himself harder things that are even happening. I'm like, Job, stop, just stop, just stop. You know, when I'm reading it, it's just like it's like Mayday, Mayday, don't, don't red flags, don't do that. You know, like, don't you know the devil can hear what you're saying, right? We got all that stuff that goes in our heads, right? If I don't say it out loud, then the devil didn't hear it and he won't attack me with it. All that crazy stuff we talked. Job. They'll tell you Romans 8, 28. Romans 8. Romans 8. Romans 8. You spend a lifetime in Romans 8. Just just working through this conflict. Who he is, who I'm not. Christian hope is not optimism. It is what? It's confidence in God's future breaking into the present. Isn't that a fun way to say that? It's confidence that who he is is about to break into what we've created. This is a this is a this sometimes can be a harsh world. And can I just say this? A lot of the world that we have, and I would say the majority of it is the world we built. And we don't like to talk about that. We just want to make it somebody else's problem. It's it's some other problem, it's some other universe, it's some generation before us made this mistake. But can I tell you, we're we're like presently building, we're aiding and adding to what we're living in. And oftentimes we don't want to take responsibility for that. But this is that place, this prayer of trust. I am praying to you, God, trusting that in any moment you're gonna break through even the worst of situations. And your reality is gonna become the new truth. Not the truth that I carry alone, but the global, universal, life-changing truth. Not just the truth from a person's perspective or where they sit. But this is a prayer of trust that what I'm contending for is gonna break through and it's gonna be him and not us. Amen? Trust is not built in explanation, it's built in. Anyone got some good friends? I got great friends. I got great friends. Most of them I trust. Just kidding. Just kidding. Isn't that funny to say it like this? Like, like, of course I trust them. Why? It's not because of what I know about them. It's not, it's not because I can explain it. It's not what I know about them, it's what they've proven in time. It's what they've proven in time. Anybody can be my friend, right, when we're on the top. Right? I used to have a buddy in high school, and he was. I I felt bad for him to start. We ended up becoming good friends, but I felt bad for him to start because he he he came from a family of some means. The problem was is he was hanging out with families and kids of no means. Zero means. And and anytime you're around someone like that, they they would they would jump on that because why? Because they see an opportunity to receive things that they would like. This is the type of kid where if he was going out to eat, he'd pay for everybody. This he was this kind of level. It was a it was a it was a crazy level. The kind where like, hey, he's shopping at the mall and you happen to be close, you're getting something too. And what was sad is that he began to use those things to as he was genuinely just trying to be like nice, and because he could, the people around him started to take advantage of it. And I hated that. I hated that because he turned out to be a pretty great guy, but he was being taken advantage of. So I remember this. So I I just jumped in full tilt with my dude, right? I don't want anything from you, man. I just want to be your friend. Anybody can be a friend when the credit card is out. Right? Anybody. Oh, you paying? Oh, I love hanging out with you. Come on, somebody. Apply it. This is my story. Apply it to your life. How many times have you been around people who love to be around you when everything is positive? But you let one thing happen in your life and you find out who's really with you. When everybody, when look, you've made a mistake, or you've done something you didn't mean to do, or maybe you got confused, or maybe you did something, or maybe something happened to you, and people just like, oh back up, back up. Hey, listen, listen, I'm praying for you. I'm praying for you from like way over here. And when everything gets cleaned up and I don't have to risk my own platform or my personality or who I am, if I don't have to risk anything on that friendship, uh we're good. So when all that gets cleaned up, so that I can become in safe distance to you again. What am I saying? I'm trying trying to identify who you can trust. Listen, this kind of prayer of trust is knowing that God has been faithful, he has done exactly what he's always said he can do, and because of that, he's never left me when it's gotten bad. He's never left me when I was on top, he's always guided me through it, then I can have this trust in prayer that he's trying to build in me because he is trustworthy. Why? Because he's been doing it a long time with me. We've built an endurance together. Okay. Alright, we're coming close. Two more. Prayer

Prayer Of Silence When Words Fail

SPEAKER_01 52:30

of silence. Two more? Yeah, we can do it. Two more. Prayer of silence. This is one we we we've lost, we've lost this skill set. Uh I would just tell you, uh, some of us could stand to do this one way more. Uh, we don't do this one very often because it feels like it it's like um it's like attached to like um um Catholicism or some kind of like formal prayer life, like quiet, solitude, just just time with him, just being with the scripture. Most people are just get nervous at that. Anybody ever been around someone who just can't be still? Come on, man. Come on, just the thought of me talking about this right now, I can just see people just like I hope he gets through this slide faster. Right? Because just got ants in your pants, man. My son gets like that. We laugh all the time. It's like the second he wakes up, it's like that all the way to you have to make him go to bed. Once he goes to bed, he's beautiful, it's wonderful there. There's rest, but the second the sun comes up, and it's like, it's and it's on. It's on. For the rest of the day, you just gotta keep up. Hey, we're just gonna rest. We're gonna sit. We're gonna let the Lord speak to us. We're just gonna sit. And before you know it, less what, Brett, 15 seconds? He may get 15 seconds. And he's trying, he's like gritting his teeth, like, mmm. Then his quiet sounds painful. This is like, oh loving Jesus. And then all of a sudden it's a song. Jesus! It's like, no man, we were quiet. This is the quiet. We're doing quiet, Jesus, right now. Am I lying? You know I'm not lying. It's not Jude, by the way. Jude is good with quiet. Jude, we have to raise him from the dead most of the time. He's just like, he's too much solitude, I think, just with the Lord. Like, but Jackson cannot. No, I love it. I love it. It's part of the energy, it's part of the deal. But but how how many know that silence is a is something we have to learn? Oftentimes, we don't learn this because we spend more time coming with a list than it is to just hear his heart. We've gotten accustomed that prayer is prayer I give to receive. And so if you make up your mind that all prayer is for you to receive, then you will come in with a different motive when maybe God is asking you to just be still. There's still a receiving part, but it's it's not an answer to all of my prayer requests. It there is, in order for you to learn how to pray in silence, you have to be confident in who you are in Christ. Because there are times where if you get quiet before the Lord, you start to reflect on who you're not. And he doesn't want that. He wants quiet reflection of who he is if he does nothing else. You guys tracking with me on that? Quiet communion when language fails. You ever gone through something so hard you can't get words to it? Remember when I lost my twin sister? I had spent weeks and months contending in prayer for my twin sister. I I had I had I had rallied up students and prayer meetings and right, we're we're we're doing all other things. I'll just say it like that. Come on, I'm when when you're facing death and trial, how many know you just you pull out all the stops? I mean, I don't know about you, but it's like I'm I'm I'm not I look, whatever God wants to do, he's gonna do, but I'm gonna tell you what, I'm gonna appeal to all the good things. I'm using all the weapons. Y'all be like, y'all think I'm crazy. I know you do, but I whatever. You guys have known that. And you showed up anyway today. But we lay hold, man. I'm talking about all of it. I'm talking about radical prayer, talking about trying everything. We lay our hands this way, lay it this way next time. We're speaking in tongues this time, nope, no tongues this time. We're gonna speak just the word. If there's a negative thought, everyone get out of the room. Come on, somebody. I'm deploying all of it. When you're in that moment, you're just you're desperate. I remember going so hard in the pain during that time, and then all of a sudden, when she had finally passed, I had nothing to say. I couldn't talk. In the very moment I remember my mom being like, you know, tell her, she's still here, tell her something, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it because I I was I was I was without a way to articulate the amount of grief, pain. Disappointment? Is that fair? Yeah? Anger? Afraid that if I do say something, then I'll I'll go back on all the things I did a month ago. So I can't say now what I'm really thinking because what I'm really thinking is not gonna encourage anyone right now. Especially my sister who is already halfway to heaven. I'm like, I have nothing to say. Because I'm afraid about what I would say. Have you ever been so at a place you just you're without words? I got news for you, you're not alone. And also, I'm gonna just tell you something. I've come to realize it's actually a weapon in the hands of God. You say, what are you talking about? If I can learn the discipline of silence in that moment, then I won't erode away the faith that I have built over enduring in time. Because if you're not careful, you'll turn around and talk yourself out of it. You'll let your flesh rise up and want to put words to a time you should just be quiet. Because he suffers with me. He hears me. My spirit is groaning in ways he and others will not understand. Only he understands. This is what we're talking about. Romans talked about that that very same thing. Talk about he is the spirit is doing what? He's groaning. The spirit of God is even. Can the Holy Spirit even be without words? And even the Holy Spirit groans. This is a thing for us. So it's it's quiet communion when language fails. How does it form? How do we get there? This is how it gets. There are pains too deep for sentences. There's a depth and a pain too deep to add words to. If you'll be quiet there, then we can have this idea. This is a be still and know that I'm God. This is a be still and know that I am God moment. You don't have to do more. You've contended what you're going to contend. Every one of those prayers have been heard. Every one of those have been gathered. Every tear been gathered. Where's the Father? Where is the Son right now? Come on, where's Jesus right now? He's at the what is he doing? In that place, he takes all of that angst and pain. And then he intercedes for my lack of sentences. I have nothing left to give. And he says, Got it. Let me take over from here. Because I know who you are, and I know what I'm building in you. And if you'll just be quiet and trust me. Oh, it won't. She's going to be in heaven. That's a big win. There's going to be pain and things you're going to have to go through. But in that, I will bring about purpose for it. And I just need you to just trust, lean back. This is that lean back into the Father's arms moment. And see what he does. I'm not saying it's going to be fixed in the hour, but I'm saying if you'll trust him with your silence in that moment, don't talk yourself out of it. Be quiet. And be still. Know that he's God. Silence is not absence. It's often the deepest form of presence. I got a chance to do that with Pastor Dad the other day. I was speechless when I came to see you the other day. It's hard to watch anyone grieve. Especially a hero in the faith. And then he does things like this, which I think is ridiculous. I'm just, no offense. But he'll call me his pastor. What are y'all talking about? You were her pastor. I said, Ruth hasn't been pastored by anyone for 40 years. Who ain't nobody been pastored. You didn't pastor your mom, Pastor Rusty? She pastored us. But just that that kind submission, I'm just like, no, no, no. I don't even know what to say to that. All I could give was some tears, and I sat in a chair next to him. And that's all I did. Pretty much for a couple hours. Let him talk. Let the family talk. Greg, watching you with your family and caring for them in that moment. I didn't have nothing else to say. I'm deeply cut to the core at that loss, and yeah, I don't know what to say in the moment. But can I tell you, there's something powerful with people who know how to just sit with you in the pain. You know who taught me that? Betty. Betty taught me that. You know Betty. Only a few of us know Betty, but those that know her, know her. Betty, I know you're watching today. I see you, girl. I love your new hair, too, by the way. It's amazing. I don't know. You always had new hair. I don't know. She'd be laughing at that right now, trust me. Betty was perfect at this. She was amazing. She knew how when someone was greeting, she didn't try to have an answer for it. She'd just come in and get quiet. Put her arm around you and hold you till you could work that out, you and the Lord. There's power in it. There's power in it. Power in you holding your tongue, but there's also power in you coming alongside someone in silence as well. It builds something. Amen? Okay. It's a bee still, know that you're that he is God. Last one, prayer

Prayer Of Formation Over Quick Relief

SPEAKER_01 1:04:16

formation. Johnny, come. I said a picture, but now just do it now. Yeah. Prayer formation. What it is. It's not just praying for deliverance, but for transformation through it. Come on, I'm trying to teach you how. Hey, when suffering hits, I want you to be able to identify what it is God is actually building in you. And maybe He's trying to transform you. Yeah, believe it or not, you're not like perfect. You're in process. You're in process. He's trying to transform us. And he says, this is it. This is not just about being delivered from your problem. God, I come to you because I need this to be taken from me. Do you want temporary relief or do you want victory? Victory and temporary deliverance is not the same. Victory is power to move forward with not returning. Victory is to move beyond it with complete and total wholeness. But we're settling for temporary victories. Temporary just deliverance. Make it not be painful today. If you'll just take this way today, this is the um, this is what we call firecracker prayer sometimes. This is I didn't study for the test prayer. Did anyone have this prayer? How many up here have had that prayer? Up here. Come on. Come on, students. Hey, I didn't study for the test. God. Hear your servant. I come to you today. You know I've been faithful. If you will. But take hold of this pencil. I'll never do this again, right? And it the this is this I didn't study for the test prayer. Always comes with promises you can't keep. Because if you had kept them, you would have studied for that test. We want momentary deliverance. What God wants to do is teach us how to have victory and victory and victory and victory and victory. Why? He wants to transform me the way I think, the way I process. He's not trying to just fix my problem. He's trying to change the way I think. He's trying to transform the way I process trial, tribulation, hardship. Anybody tired of every time something goes bad, you go down. You go below. He's trying to say, no, I can show you through transformation the way you process, that I can actually carry you through trials as a testimony of my child. And you're in my faithfulness, God's faithfulness towards you. You don't need a box of wine to drink yourself into a temporary relief. Plus box wine is terrible. You shouldn't ever drink that. How's it formed? It doesn't only ask why, but it starts asking, What are you forming in me? It's when your prayer starts saying, why aren't you doing? and why this and why that and why me and why this instead, like what? What if you just change somebody if they've just changed their prayer today? Go to your car today. I'm gonna encourage you, start praying. What are you trying to do in me? This is painful, this hurts, this feels like abandonment, but you're good, and I want to know what it is you're doing in me. You start changing your prayer today. You want deliverance from something. What is it you see in me that I can't see myself? What potential is in me that I gave up on? That you continue to be relentless about. What is it? That's a different prayer. I would argue, a more productive prayer. One where he can transform you. Form in you. Formation, right? Prayer of formation. God uses present suffering as part of shaping people for his future kingdom. What God's doing in you is a testimony of what he's doing. He has come, he's coming. Right. He's been there, he's here, and he's on his way. He's all of that. What is breaking through in your life? What is what in the kingdom is breaking through your life into this present world? And I want to be a conduit for this. It starts with him teaching us how to pray through suffering. It sounds like this, right? The prayer starts saying, produce endurance in me. This is how the prayer should sound. Produce endurance in me. This is where suffering becomes discipleship. Is that crazy? Is that crazy thought? This is where suffering can become discipleship? Yeah. It's not meant to sideline you, it's meant to build you into the kingdom impact, into the child who is dependent on the Lord. This is just, it's, he's building this and strengthening this relationship. Amen? I used an analogy some time ago. I'm going to use it again today, okay? Is you all okay with that? Can I do a little rinse and repeat here? Thank you.

Rembrandt Boat Painting And Let Go

SPEAKER_01 1:10:46

The storm on the Sea of Galilee. This is a Rembrandt painting done in 1633. Amazing painting. One of the few times Rembrandt actually does kind of a landscape deal like this. And so it's really special, but I think it depicts just the chaos so well. And I got to looking at this. I kept thinking, like, how do I how do I talk about this some more? Because I just going back to our scripture in Mark 4. Started thinking about this guy right here. And I kept thinking to myself, that's me. That's 100% me. That's me literally holding on for dear life. Anybody when I said, Is Jesus asleep on your boat? It's not just the posture of seeing Jesus asleep on the boat, it's also what am I doing in the chaos? And I I just I resonate with this guy. I'm just holding on to the most secure thing in the boat, what I think it is, and that's the mast, and it's the thing that's right in the center of this deal. I'm let I've got the strongest thing going here. And I'm not letting go. It's interesting that his posture has his back completely turned on Jesus in the picture. This guy has no clue what's happening to Jesus because all he can see is his own circumstance. He doesn't even know how the master's responding because he's trying to survive himself. Can anyone relate? Have you been in a season where you're white knuckling it? Have you been in a season? Maybe you're not in it now, maybe you've been there before, but you can relate, where you were just holding on for dear life. I guarantee you there's people in this room have felt like that grip is starting to loosen. And I think it scares some of you to death. Because I actually think some of you think it's life and death. If I let go, I will die. Some of you think that if I'll just hold on and endure, it'll stop eventually. And here's one of those rare times, not so rare these days, but it's a partial truth, isn't it? Because in the kingdom, the dichotomy, the the the thing that's always in tension a little bit is this idea, right? It's this one thought. I have to let go to let him. And it's like, oh my gosh, how do I do that? When this is secure enough. Anyone tired of being just secure enough? Well, there's an exchange for you today. You gotta get a perspective, you gotta see something. You gotta find him in the boat. Oh, he's there. Well, I don't think he's here. He doesn't seem like he's here, he's not talking very much. I knew he got on the boat with me, but somehow, somewhere, he must have exited because he's nowhere to be found. But he is there. And our job is to look. To find him. Yeah, but you don't understand what's going on around me. You don't understand the storm, you don't understand the chaos, you don't understand what's happening. If I let go and start looking for God, then I'm doomed. And so I'm just gonna white knuckle it, I'm holding on. But, for those who are brave enough to let go and let the Lord, you'll get this image of a peaceful, confident, and restful Jesus. There he sits, unmoved, unbothered. Really? I don't know about you, but I look at images like this and I think, the audacity. Like he didn't know. He didn't feel the water. You didn't hear us yelling like a bunch of girls out here? You didn't hear Peter barking a bunch of stupid nonsense. Right? Come on. You aren't hearing us argue and fight? You aren't hearing us complain about the situation? You're not even a little damp. That is not concerning to you that we're taking on water. Come on, put yourself in the boat for a second. And this picture he just depicts so perfectly, he's just unmoved. It's like, mmm. This is unfortunate. Good news for you guys. I created all this. Rembrandt did something kind of unique in here in this picture because I think it's fantastic, because he does something that's pretty rare. It's not rare in this sense. First of all, it was not uncommon for painters to insert themselves into the picture, but Rembrandt inserted himself right here. He's the only one in the boat looking directly out of the picture and into the world, this world. He's not confused. He's everybody else, which I'll let me just show you. Give you an example. Everyone's either looking at the problem, trying to get Jesus involved, or what? Or what? Look at the one guy looking at us. Okay, yes, I did put that other one up there, and I think it's funny. That's a guy up chucking on the other side of this boat. All I'm trying to say is, we are all in very similar situations in our life. And maybe you're saying, how long, oh Lord? You're in the same exact boat. Totally different questions. How long, Lord? Produce endurance in me, God. What prayer do you have today? Though he slay me, Job. Though he slay me, what a confident, brave soul he was. Though he slay me. Come on, somebody, listen. We're talking about passionate, fervent prayer that is is needing to build up in the body of Christ again. But there Rembrandt puts himself right in the center of the picture. It's not weird for them to be in it, it's just weird. Because most people that put themselves, most artists who put them in, they put themselves either as the villain or the hero. And Rembrandt does something unique. He puts himself in the middle of the problem. And in the same state as the other 12. There's 13 men in this boat. It's really 14 with Jesus. There's 13 disciples, and the 13th disciple is Rembrandt himself. And this is what he's trying to say through the painting as he looks out through the painting to those who would be stepping up to it. I relate to this story. And I bet, I bet, if you can find me in this picture and lock eyes with me, there's a chance you understand this story as well. Anyone can celebrate the miracle of quieting the storm. You notice he doesn't paint on the side saying, hey, we saw this happen and it was amazing, and look at what God did. Anyone can stand sideline and celebrate the miracle. But how many of us can just admit that like Rembrandt, we can relate and find ourselves in the middle of the storm? The invitation for you today is to learn how to pick up a new prayer. And yes, sometimes your prayer sounds like my boy on the side of the boat right there. Or sometimes it sounds like be still. Sometimes it's it says stand in the gap. I wonder how many times God's asked us to stand in the gap, but we were too busy. Well, I'm not an intercessor. Yeah, that's a problem, because we all are intercessors. That's not actually a role here. It's not a hired position. It's a response to what God's calling out of the body of Christ. Would you stand your feet today? Not my will, Lord, but yours. I don't know, man. I don't know what God's trying to establish in you. I don't know what kind of prayer life he's trying to build in you, but I'm gonna tell you what. A body of believers who start to understand that what you're facing today has a has implications like you don't even understand. Can I just tell you? I wouldn't even talk about this, but I'm doing it just because I feel like I gotta say it. Go back and look at the passage of scripture. I'm gonna show you. I'm gonna go back. I'm going back, so let me go all the way back. I'm going back because I want you to see it. Don't look at the reference. Because it's off. But Mark IV. Well done. Mark IV. Can I point something out to you while you were trying to figure out if we were in Mark III or Mark IV? You skipped over a part that is often skipped out all the time when we talk about this passage.

Other Boats Watch Your Response

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Because there's only one person who documents it, and it's Mark. Mark is detailed. Part of what his job is to do is to be very detailed about what he has experienced. Can I show it to you? I'm talking about when I saw this, the Lord just convicted me fresh and he was. On that day when evening had come, he said to them, Let us go across to the other side, right? Verse 36. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And highlight it, underline it. This is important. You've missed it, I've missed it. We look over it every time. And what? Other boats were with him. When you and I think we're isolated in our confusion, in the way we respond to him, when trials come, when things don't work out the way you think they're going to work out, when you are disappointed and frustrated, your reactions are going to affect not just you, but there are other boats. And those other boats don't have the view you have. But if there's calm and there's collective thought and we are trusting in God and we're saying the things we're supposed to say, guess what's going to happen? People that are looking in are going to find a quiet confidence. Not because the storm's different in that boat than it is in this one, but that the way you're responding. Why are you responding this way? Because he can be trusted. Why? Why do you have confidence right now? Because my confidence isn't in our government, it's not in wars or rumors of wars, it's that I am in proximity to Jesus. And we read over it every single time. Because we want to get down to the point where Jesus does the big stuff. Where Jesus says, peace be still. And that is the most powerful spot. But it's also incomplete if I don't understand that how I respond is directly affected how others are going to also respond. This is an invitation for you to respond differently in your trial today. It's an invitation for you to no longer look at suffering as something that's trying to take your life, but maybe it's trying to give you a better version of your life. Maybe it's producing something in you. Maybe it's actually creating an intercessor out of you. Maybe, just maybe, maybe there's a surrendered prayer that's coming up in you. Maybe there's a prayer of what? Trust? Crazy trust. Maybe he's establishing an opportunity for you to just be quiet and let him be God. Bow your heads with me.

Ministry Prayer And Closing Invitation

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Heavenly Father, we love you today. We're so grateful. You're so good. You're so faithful towards us, God. And we we're just we're coming to you today, God, and we don't want to be an undeveloped body, God. We want to be those who who understand that what we get to do when we trust in you, you're forming us. You're forming prayer in us, you're forming trust and surrender, silence. God, you are giving us. You're giving us and equipping in us a way to pray through. Doesn't mean trials aren't gonna come, doesn't mean we're not gonna have problems, storms are gonna rise. What I do in that moment matters so. God, I'm asking for every single person in this room. If you're if you're here today and you say, I need this, I needed this today, and I need to respond to the Lord. I need to respond. I need to ask him to forgive me because I'm using the suffering the wrong way. If you're here today and that's you, I want you to raise your hand. I'm not gonna ask you to do anything, but raise your hand. I just want to pray over you. Come on, lift him up where you're at. I've been using suffering the wrong way. I've been using it, I've been feeling sorry for myself and not asking him to actually form something in me. Heavenly Father, I pray for every hand lifted in this room. God, I pray for every person who is in this room who has been battling, waging war, even, God, over problems, circumstances, things that have tried to cripple them or decrease their effectiveness for the kingdom, God, has tried to bring on depression, anxiety, and worry and all the things, God. I'm asking you, Holy Spirit, would you move on their hearts today? God, we make a holy exchange, God, who we aren't for who you are. And we ask you, Holy Spirit, would you reveal the specific area? God, I don't know. There's so many people going through so many things, so many trials, so many hardships. But God, you want to give us the proper way to walk it out. And it's not easy, but it is surrendered. God, we want to, we want, we want a fresh lament of prayer. Oh, convict us for what convicts your heart, God, what your truth is, and when it doesn't line up, God, we want to be a people who know how to lament in prayer. We want to see justice from a righteous, just God. We thank you for forming in us, God, using the pain, using the things we go through, and then empowering your people. To do something with it. To walk it out. Walk it out. Walk it out. With him. No more white knuckling it. No more your own strength. It's trust. It's surrender. It's this is yours. Now, God, use it. God, that's what we ask today. The pain, the trauma, the things that we faced, use it to advance your kingdom. To bring glory to your name. Why, why? Not because not because you just allowed it to happen. We don't, we're, God, all that anger that we've had towards you, we ask you to forgive us. Because you're the best things ever happened to us. You're the best things ever happened. You were in the boat. All you ask is come close. Get in proximity of me. Don't turn your back. Not in the middle of the storm. Don't get, don't look around for your surroundings to stabilize you. Look around and find the Holy Spirit. Find the cross. Come on, somebody, find the cross. Anchor ourselves to what is the only thing that is salvation for all mankind? That is the blood of Jesus Christ and the cross that he died on. We thank you for it today. And God, we're asking you to use it. Use it. Use it. Use the pain. Use the frustration. Use it, God. To bring glory to your name. You get the credit. You get the glory. And God, I pray for this endurance to be built in us. The body of Christ to endure again. Give us a grace to endure again. In Jesus' name, everyone said, Amen, amen, amen, amen.

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We hope and pray this message was encouraging and impactful. Join us live on our website or Facebook on Sundays at 9 and 11 a.m. You can stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at The Rock Family. Have a Jesus filled week.