SPEAKER_01: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_00: Sleeping on the job is serious business, especially during wartime.
SPEAKER_00: So it was for Private Jack Dunn.
SPEAKER_00: He would learn this the hard way during the climactic point in the Gallipoli campaign during World War I.
SPEAKER_00: Private Dunn, an infantryman from New Zealand, was posted in one of the trenches as a sentry to alert everyone of enemy activity.
SPEAKER_00: So it was during the night Private Dunn dozed off for a minute or two, but one of his officers startled him and reported him to the commanding officer.
SPEAKER_00: In a subsequent court martial, Private Dunn was given, get this, the death penalty for the dereliction of his duties and endangering not only himself, but his entire unit.
SPEAKER_00: And if it was not for General Sir Ian Hamilton, who rescinded his sentence on August 5th, 1915, he would have certainly gotten the death penalty.
SPEAKER_00: Because Dunn suffered from several ailments, the general felt sorry for him and gave him 10 years of hard labor.
SPEAKER_00: When unfortunately, Dunn died weeks later in the Battle of Gallipoli.
SPEAKER_00: But if we have a look here at Mark chapter 14, verses 32 to 42, and I want to read this for us.
SPEAKER_00: Because here, in a sense, Jesus is posting his disciples to be serving as sentries, to be on their guard for the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: And they too doze off.
SPEAKER_00: And hence the title of today's message is three lessons about prayer to sleepy soldiers of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read for you.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to his disciples, Sit here until I have prayed.
SPEAKER_00: And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be very distressed and troubled.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.
SPEAKER_00: Remain here and keep watch.
SPEAKER_00: And he went a little beyond them, and he fell to the ground, and he began to pray that if it were possible the hour might pass him.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 36 of John Four Mark 14.
SPEAKER_00: And he was saying, Abba Father, all things are possible for you.
SPEAKER_00: Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but you what you will.
SPEAKER_00: And he came and found them asleep.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep?
SPEAKER_00: Could you not keep watch for one hour?
SPEAKER_00: Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
SPEAKER_00: And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.
SPEAKER_00: And again he found them sleeping, for the eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.
SPEAKER_00: And he came the third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting?
SPEAKER_00: It is enough, the hour has come.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
SPEAKER_00: Get up, let us be going.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples of Jesus who were with him in the garden of Gethsemane were asked a few simple things.
SPEAKER_00: Watch and pray.
SPEAKER_00: Like good soldiers and supporters of Jesus to watch and pray needed to face the enemy and the portrayer to come.
SPEAKER_00: There's no doubt that these disciples were sincere and genuinely committed to the cause of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But they failed in one thing to watch and pray.
SPEAKER_00: They failed to watch and pray simply because they failed to understand what it means that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
SPEAKER_00: This statement of Jesus is often construed differently, but I would like to posit that this phrase, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, is something to say about self-confident bravado that usually ends in disaster.
SPEAKER_00: Was it not Peter who several verses ago proudly said, If I must die with you, I will not die, deny you.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 14, 31.
SPEAKER_00: But only hours later, Simon Peter was fast asleep, and he could not even pray for an hour, let alone die with Jesus and never deny him.
SPEAKER_00: And sure enough, not only Peter failed dismally, alongside him plummeted headlong eleven other disciples into diverse temptations.
SPEAKER_00: But all the disciples had one thing in common.
SPEAKER_00: They failed to pray.
SPEAKER_00: They failed to pray because they were too confident in themselves.
SPEAKER_00: And so the scene here at Gethsemane would go down in history as the story of the sleepy saints who could not even watch and pray for one hour.
SPEAKER_00: But amongst the sleepy disciples, there are three valuable lessons to be learned for the Church of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And hence, the title here this morning, the title here this morning is three lessons about prayer for sleepy soldiers of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: The scene here is Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: And the Aramaic word for Gethsemane means oil press or olive press.
SPEAKER_00: This was an especially pressing time for our Lord Jesus Christ because Satan tempted him and exploited the situation.
SPEAKER_00: Prior to drinking the cup of suffering and of shame, Satan was exploiting the situation.
SPEAKER_00: Gethsemane is a wonderful lesson because it gives us not only insights of Jesus praying, but also perspectives on how he prayed.
SPEAKER_00: So here's a wonderful lesson here.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, three lessons for us here.
SPEAKER_00: If we want to be watchful, alert, and prayerful, we need to learn from Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: And here are three things that I think we can learn.
SPEAKER_00: If we want to stand strong during temptation, it will require prayer.
SPEAKER_00: If we want to have a steady submission to do our Lord's will, it will require prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And if we want to be sustained and strengthened for the battles of life, that, my dear brothers and sisters, will require prayer.
SPEAKER_00: So let's think of the practice of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He would often retreat to prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Some say his place of private retreat was indeed the garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 135 and 646.
SPEAKER_00: This was his place of seclusion where he could retreat in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: He leads these disciples to a place named Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to the disciples, Sit here until I have prayed.
SPEAKER_00: He took three of his most trusted disciples, Peter, James, and John, with them, and he says to them, You sit here, watch, and pray.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 34, Jesus said, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.
SPEAKER_00: You remain here, keep watch while I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus leads his disciples in the late hours of the night into his inner sanctuary for a private prayer retreat in the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: This is an hour and a time of intense turmoil of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The situation here upon him brings him deep anguish.
SPEAKER_00: He says, My soul is deeply grieved even to the point of death.
SPEAKER_00: What could have caused our Savior so much grief?
SPEAKER_00: I will speculate like everybody else, but I would say this.
SPEAKER_00: He was concerned about his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: He knew that Satan asked to sift them like wheat, and yet he knew they were very self-confident and they did not understand the power and the need for prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, the thought of becoming sin on the cross and the separation of fellowship between God and his son might have caused Jesus some deep grief and anguish.
SPEAKER_00: And then thirdly, Satan was no doubt tempting Jesus and his disciples in a crafty way, perhaps tempting Jesus to abandon the thought of dying on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Satan may have tried to persuade Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus, if you don't become sin, you will not be broken in your fellowship with your Father.
SPEAKER_00: But then again, if Jesus abandoned the thought of the cross, in all honesty, all of humanity will be condemned to eternity of hell.
SPEAKER_00: In these trying circumstances for Jesus Christ, it demonstrates something about how he dealt with difficult circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: Verse thirty-five.
SPEAKER_00: And he went a little beyond them, a stone's throw away from them, and he fell to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: The idea here is he collapsed.
SPEAKER_00: And he began to pray.
SPEAKER_00: And likewise, he it also commanded his disciples to do likewise in verse 38, keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation.
SPEAKER_00: And here's lesson one.
SPEAKER_00: On prayer and the need for prayer, if we as the saints of Jesus Christ, the soldiers of the cross, want to stand strong in times of temptation, we need to be a praying people.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus was praying during the hours of peril, how much more should his disciples, he's trusted three, and us pray?
SPEAKER_00: Stay close to me, stay awake, and be on the alert for these schemes of the devil, and pray that you do not fall into temptation.
SPEAKER_00: That was a simple set of instructions.
SPEAKER_00: And he came, verse 37, and found them what?
SPEAKER_00: Sleeping.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Peter, Simon, are you asleep?
SPEAKER_00: Could you not keep watch for one hour?
SPEAKER_00: Keep watching and praying that you do not come into temptation.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus was praying and he was not making silent mutterings with his lips, but the indication here from this passage is that Jesus fell to the ground and cried out in audible supplications to his father.
SPEAKER_00: Just to earshot away in the camp of the disciples, there was an eerie silence.
SPEAKER_00: But the eerie silence in the camp of the disciples was loudly resounding the voice of self-confidence that is so common among sleepy saints.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what Daniel Henderson wrote in his book Transforming Prayer.
SPEAKER_00: I would highly recommend that book.
SPEAKER_00: He says, prayerlessness is our declaration of independence from God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the disciples did not bother to pray even for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: There's no indication that they even bothered to pray for even 30 seconds.
SPEAKER_00: We can do it.
SPEAKER_00: We okay, we can do it.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be here, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna we gotta see you through and we're gonna see ourselves through.
SPEAKER_00: We're very confident.
SPEAKER_00: And you see, dear brothers and sisters, the absence of prayer in the Christian church is always a sign of not just sleepy soldiers of the cross who will be caught off guard when the enemy strikes, but it's also a sign of self-confident saints.
SPEAKER_00: Think upon the past year how much time you devoted to prayer.
SPEAKER_00: I mean just devoting time to prayer, not praying while you do a hundred other things.
SPEAKER_00: I mean taking time and seek the face of God, the Father, in prayer and in supplication.
SPEAKER_00: But maybe the silence even amongst us is an indication that we don't understand what it means that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
SPEAKER_00: That statement should say everything that we should not be confident in ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Because we might be eager, we might have good intentions, but we are still at best human.
SPEAKER_00: I think Paul picked up on this thing in 1 Corinthians 10 12.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he falls.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: You see, like sleepy saints, there's a prayerlessness in the community of the saints, who are wise in their own estimation, and they rest confidently in their own abilities.
SPEAKER_00: We can just buckle up and get through this.
SPEAKER_00: There is no time to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Life is way too busy.
SPEAKER_00: But will the Church of Jesus Christ be ready for the onslaughts and the attacks of the enemy?
SPEAKER_00: Will they not be caught off guard like these disciples and like Private Dunn at Gallipoli?
SPEAKER_00: You see, the eleven disciples were resting rather than resisting.
SPEAKER_00: They were resting rather than resisting.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because they were self-confident.
SPEAKER_00: John Piper once said, prayer is the antidote to the disease of self-confidence.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is the antidote for the disease of self-confidence.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus prescribed an antidote to the disease of self-confidence amongst these sleepy disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Pray that you do not come into temptation and be aware.
SPEAKER_00: You might be willing, eager, and confident, but you're still a fleshly creature.
SPEAKER_00: You're still human.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the eleven sleepy disciples, or at least ten.
SPEAKER_00: No, eleven, but Judas is gone.
SPEAKER_00: Will be caught off guard when the enemy strikes.
SPEAKER_00: They should be dressing themselves in the armor of God, but the armor of God is lying on the floor like dirty laundry.
SPEAKER_00: They are vulnerable to the schemes of the wicked one.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Paul says.
SPEAKER_00: We all familiar about the armor of God.
SPEAKER_00: We often say, even to our children and young people, you gotta dress yourself in the armor of God, but the armor is often sloppily put on.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Ephesians 6, 11.
SPEAKER_00: It says there in verse 10, finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
SPEAKER_00: How?
SPEAKER_00: Put on the armor of God.
SPEAKER_00: Put on the full armor of God, and there's a whole list of what the armor looks like.
SPEAKER_00: So that we will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: But how do we put that armor on?
SPEAKER_00: How do we put that armor on, and how do we tighten that armor armor so there's no breaches for the fiery darts of the enemy to go through those?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: Through all prayer and supplication.
SPEAKER_00: Your translations may read differently, but I can just say this that the first word in the Greek New Testament there in verse 18 is Dia, which means through.
SPEAKER_00: That's how you put the armor on.
SPEAKER_00: So if you don't pray, guess where the armor is lying?
SPEAKER_00: On the floor.
SPEAKER_00: Can any soldier go into battle with a breastplate that's flopping around?
SPEAKER_00: This is what one Puritan writer once said.
SPEAKER_00: He said, the absence of prayer in the times of temptation is the breach in the Christian's armor.
SPEAKER_00: Those who don't pray will become the devil's prey.
SPEAKER_00: Well said, Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Puritan.
SPEAKER_00: So let's summarize here.
SPEAKER_00: Our first lesson.
SPEAKER_00: If this congregation, if you as an individual want to stand strong during times of temptation and times of trials and tribulation, you need to put that armor of God on.
SPEAKER_00: But taking up the armor of God and tightening the buckles on the armor will mean you will have to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Let's transition here in the scene here at Gethsemane as we get a glimpse here into a very private subject matter.
SPEAKER_00: We have known all through the Gospel of Mark and even the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus was a man of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: He would rise early in the morning and even late evenings, he would go to pray.
SPEAKER_00: But we don't always get a glimpse of the content and the subject matter of his prayer between him and his father.
SPEAKER_00: And so here is a camera zooming in with a microphone to and eavesdropping into the prayers of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this.
SPEAKER_00: This is so precious, verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: 36.
SPEAKER_00: Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.
SPEAKER_00: Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.
SPEAKER_00: These, my dear brothers and sisters, are loud cries.
SPEAKER_00: These are not silent mutterings, and guess what?
SPEAKER_00: His disciples are an earshot away.
SPEAKER_00: And here's a lesson to be learned, the second lesson is submission to the Father's will.
SPEAKER_00: If we commit ourselves and we say, we want to commit ourselves to God's will this year, dear brothers and sisters, this will require what?
SPEAKER_00: Prayer.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to hear any silence amongst the sleepy saints here.
SPEAKER_00: Have you heard people often argue this way?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's just me that have heard this.
SPEAKER_00: People will often say, well, you know, I have a hard time praying.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not particularly good at praying because, you see, I can't change God's mind.
SPEAKER_00: You know, he's made up his mind, you know, and I can't change his mind.
SPEAKER_00: Or some would say, you know, I pray for things, but God is just not answering my prayers.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm so meticulous to ask God for specific things, so I don't bother.
SPEAKER_00: Can't change God's mind.
SPEAKER_00: Why bother?
SPEAKER_00: I don't get what I want, so why bother?
SPEAKER_00: But let's take another look here at prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Let's zoom into the prayers of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.
SPEAKER_00: Remove this cup from me, yet, not what I will, but what you will.
SPEAKER_00: Now I think here's three observations that's helpful.
SPEAKER_00: Firstly, his prayer expresses something about intimacy and fellowship and relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Abba Father.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus sees God as a loving Father, not as a cosmic genie or a vending machine, but as a loving father.
SPEAKER_00: Something here about the prayer of Jesus expresses the sovereign wisdom, the power, the might, the potency of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: He can do anything he wants, but does not always choose to do what we ask for.
SPEAKER_00: And that seems to be fine for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is a difficult verse to interpret.
SPEAKER_00: But let me say this.
SPEAKER_00: I can say one thing, here is a steady submission to the Father's preordained plan, which is to drink the cup of suffering and shame for the salvation of his people.
SPEAKER_00: Acts 2.32.
SPEAKER_00: This plan was forordained and predestined by the predetermined plan of God.
SPEAKER_00: Acts 2.23.
SPEAKER_00: This man who is Jesus delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed him to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death.
SPEAKER_00: So why is Jesus asking to change God's mind if he knows that this is the plan?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's not trying to change the mind of God, but nevertheless expresses himself to God.
SPEAKER_00: He expresses his heart and pours out his heart to a loving father.
SPEAKER_00: For one, he knew that his father cared, and he knew that his father delighted to hear the prayers of his son.
SPEAKER_00: For God that was enough, and for Jesus that was enough.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 5, 7 summarizes this so well.
SPEAKER_00: It says during the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.
SPEAKER_00: And he was heard because of his reverent submission.
SPEAKER_00: There was submission.
SPEAKER_00: There was not this idea of trying to strong arm God to do his will.
SPEAKER_00: And God heard him.
SPEAKER_00: And that was okay.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus prayed to the Godhead as Father.
SPEAKER_00: A father who delighteth in hearing his son's prayers, and a son who delighteth in doing the Father's will, and that is a perfect combination.
SPEAKER_00: God delights to hear the prayers of submissive saints, saints who have a steady submission to do thy will.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus prayed here, I believe, in harmony with the Father's will.
SPEAKER_00: He expressed his commitments and submission to the Father's desired plan and mission.
SPEAKER_00: And the Father delighted to hear that.
SPEAKER_00: What did Jesus say to his disciples?
SPEAKER_00: They should pray.
SPEAKER_00: How should they pray?
SPEAKER_00: Our Father, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Did you hear that?
SPEAKER_00: Your will.
SPEAKER_00: There's that steady submission even in prayer to not strong arm God's will.
SPEAKER_00: A steady submission to the will and the word of God is the attitude we are to have in prayer like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we express our heart to Jesus as a loving Father, yet our attitude is that of a steady submission to his will.
SPEAKER_00: And where do we find his will?
SPEAKER_00: In scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: John Piper says something here profound.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I have seen that those whose prayers are most saturate with Scripture are generally most fervent and most effective to pray.
SPEAKER_00: And where the mind isn't brimming with the Bible, the heart is generally not brimming with prayer.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to revive your prayer lives, I don't know what the New Year's resolutions are in this congregation, but my New Year's resolutions are, for one, to pray more and to pray correctly.
SPEAKER_00: And one way of getting into a habit of prayer is to come into the habit of being in the word.
SPEAKER_00: And as the word overflows in our hearts and minds, so will our mouths overflow with prayer, saturated and brimming with Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Keep this in mind.
SPEAKER_00: This is the confidence which we have before him that if we ask anything, if we ask anything, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty, that's pretty big.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, sometimes I put my orders into Amazon, it's like Christmas.
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I got three days.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta give my wife a gift, right?
SPEAKER_00: And they don't deliver the goods.
SPEAKER_00: And like we ran out, right?
SPEAKER_00: And Debbie left.
SPEAKER_00: Did that happen with you?
SPEAKER_00: It did.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's not in no even guarantees with even Amazon.
SPEAKER_00: But if we ask according to his will, he hears us and he will give us.
SPEAKER_00: According to his will.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the psalmist, Psalm 40, verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: I delight to do your will.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the attitude he comes to God with.
SPEAKER_00: I delight to do your word, O God.
SPEAKER_00: Your law is within my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
SPEAKER_00: So there's scripture in the heart of the saint, and the saint expresses himself as one who delights to do the Father's will.
SPEAKER_00: Should our prayers not sound more like the psalmist, where the word of God is brimming in the heart of the one who prayers, one who delights in doing the Father's will.
SPEAKER_00: For those are the prayers that the Father delights to hear.
SPEAKER_00: So let's summarize our second lesson here is uh in prayer, we see this attitude of Jesus of a steady submission and seeking and doing the Father's will.
SPEAKER_00: If we pray in such a way of seeking and doing and submitting to the Father's will, there will be no lack of confidence and assurance.
SPEAKER_00: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us, and we can go to the throne of grace with confidence.
SPEAKER_00: Let's move on to the third lesson here on prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Sustained strength for the battles of life requires prayer.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what 2022 is going to bring, but for the saints, there will be a fair share of struggle, I am sure.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 14, verses 41 and 42 says, and he came a third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting?
SPEAKER_00: It is enough, the hour has come.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
SPEAKER_00: Get up, let us be going.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand.
SPEAKER_00: Get up.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get going.
SPEAKER_00: I can imagine the sleepy saints.
SPEAKER_00: Huh?
SPEAKER_00: What's going on here?
SPEAKER_00: Where are we?
SPEAKER_00: They weren't prepared for this.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Are we going to meet enemies?
SPEAKER_00: Who's the enemy?
SPEAKER_00: Betrayal?
SPEAKER_00: Huh?
SPEAKER_00: What's going on here?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not tracking.
SPEAKER_00: I took a nap.
SPEAKER_00: The onslaught is imminent.
SPEAKER_00: The attack is unavoidable.
SPEAKER_00: But these saints will be useless in the cause of Christ from that point on.
SPEAKER_00: Until he obviously restores them after his resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: You see, since these disciples were resting and not resisting in prayer, because they fell into a self-confident slumber, they will scatter like sheep without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: They will be winnowed like wheat in the wind.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus, because he spent the hours in prayer, one Bible teacher says here's a final consideration here, coming to the last couple of verses of this passage.
SPEAKER_00: He simply calls it a triumphant submission, a triumphant submission.
SPEAKER_00: He says that he yields to the will of the Father in each of those prayer cycles.
SPEAKER_00: But he finally emerges triumphantly.
SPEAKER_00: The last temptation is over.
SPEAKER_00: He is resolved triumphantly, majestically, unhesitantly to do what his father has asked him to do.
SPEAKER_00: He is going to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine Jesus took a nap.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this will work out okay.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: God will work it out.
SPEAKER_00: No, he says, after a time of fervent prayers, seeking the face of God, not the hand of God, he says, enough.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, guys.
SPEAKER_00: Time's up.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get going.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go meet the enemy face to face.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, after his time of prayer, was resolved to go to the cross triumphantly, majestically, and confidently.
SPEAKER_00: And he was confident that he would be able to resist further enemy onslaught and attacks.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus embraced this cup of suffering that was ordained for him from before the foundation of the world.
SPEAKER_00: And after a time of prayer, he was ready and prepared for the task, the mission, and the ministry ahead.
SPEAKER_00: What do we do, dear brothers and sisters?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna wrap it up soon.
SPEAKER_00: We often do ministry and then we pray.
SPEAKER_00: We come up with a mission or a ministry and then we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Shouldn't the work of prayer lead us into the ministry and the mission?
SPEAKER_00: And Charles Bridges, also a Puritan, once said, he says, prayer is one half of our ministry, and it gives to the other half all its power and success.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is one half of the work, and it gives us power and success to the other half.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer bolstered Jesus' commitment to go from Gethsemane to Golgotha.
SPEAKER_00: He went without wavering, he went without hesitation.
SPEAKER_00: His time of prayer and fellowship with God, his father, gave him the strength and the courage to drink the bitter cup of God's wrath.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 138, verse 3 says, On the day I called, you answered me, my strength of my soul, you increased.
SPEAKER_00: The strength of my soul, you increased.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: How many of us are at a place where Jesus says, My soul is deeply grieved?
SPEAKER_00: You may sit here at the first of a new hear, at the beginning of a new hear, and you say, My soul is deeply grieved, my soul is deeply grieved even to the point of death.
SPEAKER_00: Can I say to you, dear brother and sister, pray.
SPEAKER_00: Your father in heaven delights to hear the prayers of a righteous.
SPEAKER_00: And if you want your soul, your burdened soul to be strengthened, as the psalmist says, pray.
SPEAKER_00: So let's wrap it up here, dear brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_00: What have we learned?
SPEAKER_00: We've learned something about ourselves, about sleepy saints.
SPEAKER_00: These sleepy saints were to be the soldiers, the future soldiers of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: They will learn how to pray.
SPEAKER_00: But sleepy saints are usually without strength, and they often lack the moral courage in the times of temptation to stand up for what is right and true, and therefore we need to pray like Jesus did.
SPEAKER_00: Sleepy saints are reluctant often to pray because they are unwilling to submit to God's will.
SPEAKER_00: But we must learn from the words of Jesus, your will be done, not mine.
SPEAKER_00: And then thirdly, sleepy saints will often have little strength, and their souls will be burdened by the enemy attacks, and they will have a hard time fulfilling the God-given ministries simply because they rest in self-confidence instead of praying.
SPEAKER_00: My goodness, dear brothers and sisters, Jesus, the Son of God, God, immortal, invisible, only wise, goes to his face and prays.
SPEAKER_00: Why should we not learn from this?
SPEAKER_00: A word of encouragement and exhortation from Daniel Henderson's book, Transforming Prayer.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Prayerlessness is my declaration of independence from God.
SPEAKER_00: We can no longer afford this sinful luxury of prayerlessness.
SPEAKER_00: We must become the praying, dependent people that Christ has designed us to be.
SPEAKER_00: By the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, let us change the dilemma of prayerlessness into victorious, prayerful dependence and see what a holy God can do with the church sold out for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You think God can do more than what he did with us in the year past?
SPEAKER_00: And not that I'm saying that we were sleepy saints, but maybe we were sleeping on the job.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Just imagine if we are unified in prayer, what God can do through his spirit with a church sold out for Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_01: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.