Understanding Prayer
Series: INTIMACY & AWE
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 9th February 2019
Passage: Psalm 145:1-21
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Good morning, everyone. Great to be in church with you this morning. If you haven't met before,
00:00:03 --> 00:00:10 I'm Stephen, senior pastor here at St. Paul's, and I haven't preached in a while, so I'm looking
00:00:10 --> 00:00:16 forward to getting back into it today. And if you are new here, if you just missed us in the last
00:00:16 --> 00:00:24 couple of weeks, we're on five weeks of prayer. And today, our job is to try and understand
00:00:24 --> 00:00:33 something of the nature of prayer. One of the things that I've loved about being a father is
00:00:33 --> 00:00:44 seeing my own children develop in their prayer life and how children pray with a great deal of
00:00:44 --> 00:00:50 simplicity and ease. You just tell them it's just talking to God. And so they talk to God as if
00:00:50 --> 00:00:58 they're talking to anyone else. One of my girls consistently prays to this day, ends her prayers
00:00:58 --> 00:01:08 with, Dear Jesus, I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow. Now, I kind of work on the assumption
00:01:08 --> 00:01:14 because he exists in eternal bliss that he will. But she's kind of committed to the idea of Jesus
00:01:14 --> 00:01:19 having a lovely day each day. Sometimes, however, when your kids pray, some of the prayers you don't
00:01:19 --> 00:01:24 kind of want to answer, you know, Dear Jesus, help my sister to stop being a rat bag or stop picking
00:01:24 --> 00:01:28 on me or stop, you know, at that point, you kind of go, well, maybe it's more of an announcement,
00:01:28 --> 00:01:36 you know, than an actual prayer. But kids pray with such simplicity. Here's a few other samples from
00:01:36 --> 00:01:41 the lips of children. Dear God, my mum tells me that you have a reason for everything on earth.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:49 I guess broccoli is one of your great mysteries. Dear God, please make my parents understand that if I
00:01:49 --> 00:01:55 don't eat salad, I do better at school. Dear God, please forgive me for hiding my sister's favourite
00:01:55 --> 00:02:03 doll and please don't tell her where it is. Dear God, I need you to make my mum not allergic to cats.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:12 I really want a cat and I really don't want to ask my mum to move out. Dear God, can you get me a
00:02:12 --> 00:02:21 iPhone? It turns out Santa forgot. Dear God, when will my sister stop being annoying? I'm down to my
00:02:21 --> 00:02:28 very last patience. Dear God, please don't let it rain on Saturday. The first ball I hit will be for you.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:36 Dear God, I hope my dog is in heaven with you. Please take care of him and sorry if he chews your sandals.
00:02:36 --> 00:02:46 It's just so easy for kids to pray. Much harder as an adult to say I'm meant to sometimes,
00:02:46 --> 00:02:55 but so easy to pray. But prayer is an almost universal activity. It's part of every culture,
00:02:55 --> 00:03:02 every generation and people group. Muslims pray five times a day while Jews have traditionally prayed
00:03:02 --> 00:03:08 three times a day. And each branch of the Christian church is saturated with various traditions of
00:03:08 --> 00:03:16 common prayer and private prayer and pastoral prayers. Buddhists use a prayer wheel which flings
00:03:16 --> 00:03:24 prayers for compassion into the atmosphere in order to knit the spiritual and the natural to relieve
00:03:24 --> 00:03:32 suffering and to release kindness. Hindus pray for help or peace in the world to any of several
00:03:32 --> 00:03:40 gods. And the ultimate goal of their praying is the union with their supreme being, Brahmin,
00:03:40 --> 00:03:48 and escape from the cycles of reincarnation. People in other cultures, like the Beaver Indians in
00:03:48 --> 00:03:55 southwestern Canada and the Papago Indians of the US southwest, pray through their singing.
00:03:56 --> 00:04:01 Their poetry and their music serve their prayers that unite the spiritual and the physical
00:04:01 --> 00:04:08 realms together. Prayer is one of the most common phenomena of human life.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:20 Even deliberately non-Christian people pray at times. One study from 2004 found that nearly 30% of
00:04:20 --> 00:04:30 atheists admit that they prayed at least sometimes. And another found that 70% of non-believers in God
00:04:30 --> 00:04:42 prayed in fact regularly. Now though prayer is not literally a universal phenomenon in the fact that every single
00:04:42 --> 00:04:52 person prays, it is a global one. And it inhabits all cultures and involving the overwhelming majority
00:04:52 --> 00:05:02 of people at some point in their lives. In fact, there has not been a single culture yet discovered that does not pray in some form or another.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:09 To say prayer is global is not, however, to say that all prayer is the same.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:14 You look at the same. You look at the same. You look at the same. You look at the religious trances of the Native American
00:05:14 --> 00:05:22 shamanists, the chanting of the Benedictine monasteries, the hour-long pastoral pairs of the 17th century Puritan
00:05:22 --> 00:05:28 ministers, the speaking in tongues in Pentecostal churches, Muslims with their forehead and their hands and their knees on the
00:05:28 --> 00:05:36 ground towards Mecca, the strict Orthodox Jew swaying and bowing in prayer, and the Anglican priests reading from the Book of
00:05:36 --> 00:05:45 Common Prayer. So what is prayer? That's really what we're seeking to do today, to try and understand
00:05:45 --> 00:05:54 something of prayer from a biblical perspective. And this is going to be a brief, no, this is going to be a summary,
00:05:55 --> 00:06:02 if you like, of it all, at least to try and capture an idea of it. I've got three main things that I want to try and
00:06:02 --> 00:06:06 understand this morning about prayer. So if you're someone who writes stuff down, this might be helpful
00:06:06 --> 00:06:10 for you. First of all, I'm going to ask the question, what is prayer? Followed by two kind of connecting
00:06:10 --> 00:06:18 answers that sort of, they do flow from one another. That is, it's conversing with God and it's encountering
00:06:18 --> 00:06:24 God. So what is prayer? First of all, I'm using a whole range of different Bible verses. You might want
00:06:24 --> 00:06:32 to just jot them down as we go through. The Christian faith isn't surprised by the global phenomenon
00:06:32 --> 00:06:38 of prayer. That's because at the beginning of the Bible, we are told that all human beings are made
00:06:38 --> 00:06:48 in the image of God, Genesis 1, 26, 27. Bearing God's image means that we are designed by God to reflect
00:06:48 --> 00:06:56 and relate to him. And that's why the 16th century of former John Calvin wrote of the, what he said is
00:06:56 --> 00:07:04 the sense of the deity that, that all human beings have. He wrote this, he said, there is within the
00:07:04 --> 00:07:14 human mind and indeed by natural instinct and awareness of divinity. Other theologians have also understood
00:07:14 --> 00:07:26 this sense of the divine as the reason prayer is so pervasive in the human race. Romans 1, 19 to 20 says
00:07:26 --> 00:07:36 that we look at the world and we conclude that some great power created and sustains it. An experience
00:07:36 --> 00:07:45 of powerlessness in our world is often the thing that triggers this general knowledge into a prayerful
00:07:45 --> 00:07:50 cry for help. We see it in the media all the time, tragedy strikes and people are feeling powerless
00:07:50 --> 00:07:55 and they don't know what to say and how to close it off. And so they just would, you'd often hear them
00:07:55 --> 00:08:02 say our thoughts and our prayers are with all involved. I've heard that come out even in the,
00:08:02 --> 00:08:08 from the mouth of declared atheists, our thoughts and our prayers are with all that are involved.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:22 So in a very basic way, you can define prayer as a personal communicative response to the knowledge of God.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:27 All human beings have some knowledge of God available to them.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:36 And prayer is seeking to respond and connect to that being, to that reality,
00:08:37 --> 00:08:41 even if it's no more than calling out into the air randomly for help.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:53 However, because prayer is a response to our knowledge of God, it means that prayer is profoundly
00:08:53 --> 00:09:07 altered by the amount and the accuracy of that knowledge. Our prayer is shaped, it is defined by the being to whom we pray.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:17 So the Buddhist spinning their prayer wheel, the Hindu sitting in mystic silence, the Muslim with his face
00:09:17 --> 00:09:31 facing Mecca five times a day, are all reflecting something of the character of the God or the gods to whom they're praying to
00:09:31 --> 00:09:35 and what they think their relationship with this being is.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:49 Again, John Calvin observed that we are all, that all of us refashion that sense of deity that we have
00:09:49 --> 00:09:53 to fit our own interests and our own desires.
00:09:54 --> 00:10:05 He says, unless that is, God clearly communicates to us about who he is, what he's like,
00:10:05 --> 00:10:14 that is, unless our view of God is corrected by God himself, we will refashion God into our own image.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:26 So what that means for the Christian is that prayer is not just an instinct that we have common to all people,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 it is in fact a unique gift from God.
00:10:30 --> 00:10:37 Christians believe that through the Bible and the work of God's spirit in our lives,
00:10:37 --> 00:10:43 our understanding of God becomes unclouded because he makes it clear.
00:10:44 --> 00:10:45 He clears the cloud.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 True knowledge of God is a gift from God.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 It's not because Christians are more clever or anything like that.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:55 It's because God has revealed himself clearly.
00:10:55 --> 00:11:01 He has spoken and he has spoken clearly in the person of the Lord Jesus.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:15 In the fullest sense then, prayer for the Christian is really quite simply continuing the conversation
00:11:15 --> 00:11:21 that God has already started with us through his word and his grace,
00:11:21 --> 00:11:26 which eventually becomes a full encounter with him.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 So let's have a look at the second point here, conversing with God.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:35 You see, what Christians know about God comes to them through the words of the Bible
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 and its main message, the gospel.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:43 What we discover in the Bible is that God is a personal God.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 We discover that he is a triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:54 The Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches that there is one God in three persons
00:11:54 --> 00:11:58 who have known and who have loved each other before the dawn of time.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:06 If God is triune, then words and language are seen in a very new light.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:13 In fact, in John 14 to 17, we're going to be launching into that after we finish with prayer.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:23 Jesus refers to his life within the Godhead before he even created the world.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:30 He says, speaking of the glory I had with the Father before the world began.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 John 17, 5.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:41 And he also speaks of the words that he received from the Father in John 17, 18.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 Sorry, John 17, 8.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:51 So within the Trinity itself, within the Godhead, there has been communication with words.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 The Father speaks to the Son.
00:12:53 --> 00:12:54 The Son speaks to the Father.
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 The Father and Son speak to the Spirit.
00:12:57 --> 00:13:01 And since the Godhead contains a community of persons,
00:13:01 --> 00:13:07 and because language is intrinsic to personal relationship,
00:13:07 --> 00:13:12 there is every reason to expect that God communicates through word.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:18 This is the nature of reality.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:25 And this is the gift and the wonder of prayer for the Christian.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:35 What it means is we're not plunging ourselves into the abyss of the unknown when the Christian prays.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:44 Christian prayer is fellowship with the personal God who reveals himself and his plans and his purposes
00:13:44 --> 00:13:48 and befriends us through speech.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:54 And we exist in a world of words.
00:13:55 --> 00:14:00 Apparently our information is doubling every six, seven years or something like that,
00:14:00 --> 00:14:05 which is just mind-boggling and helps you understand why we need things like Google.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 We exist in a world of words, lots of different words.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 Men apparently speak a minimum of 7 words a day,
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 and women around 20 words a day.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:20 I think it's mainly because women have to keep repeating themselves
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 because we're not listening.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:23 We're not listening.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:32 And so we are inundated with information each day,
00:14:32 --> 00:14:36 and we are losing the ability to listen.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:42 We skim and we flick articles on our iPads and phones.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:44 We skim reading.
00:14:44 --> 00:14:50 We are losing the ability to follow a train of thought,
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 to engage with a train of thought.
00:14:57 --> 00:15:01 So why would we want to listen to God speaking?
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 Why would we want to listen to the God who speaks?
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 Why would we listen to his words?
00:15:06 --> 00:15:13 The reason we need to listen to God's words and know them and reflect on them and apply them
00:15:13 --> 00:15:18 is God's words have power infinitely beyond any other word.
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 More powerful than our words.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:27 See, God conversing with us is not a take it or leave it transaction.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 It is, in fact, a matter of life and death.
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 In Genesis 1-3, right at the beginning of the Bible,
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 God says,
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 Let there be light.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 And the very next statement is,
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 And there was light.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 The verse does not say,
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 First of all, God said,
00:15:49 --> 00:15:49 Let there be light.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:54 And then he went and built a power station.
00:15:54 --> 00:16:02 When he speaks,
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 It happens.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 His word itself brought the light about.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 Now, I can say,
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 In this room,
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 Let there be light.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 And then I've got to walk over to the corner and go,
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 Flick everything up.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:29 That is, my word in itself does not switch the lights on in this room.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 Because my words do not have power.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 They need actions to back them up.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 Or they fail to achieve their purposes.
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 We can make a promise to do something,
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 but in fact lack the power to fulfill what we promise.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 We may have every intention of fulfilling the promise.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 I might say to my kids,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 I'll pick you up at 3 o'clock this afternoon.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 And because of bad traffic or for some other reason,
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55 I get there at 3 o'clock.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 It's something totally out of my power.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 I cannot fulfill my promise.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 Because my words do not have power.
00:17:02 --> 00:17:05 They need actions to make them powerful.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:11 God's words, however,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 cannot fail their purposes,
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 because for God,
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 speaking and acting are exactly the same thing.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:25 The God of the Bible is a God who by his very nature acts through speaking.
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 God's word creates.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 Jesus commands very specifically,
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 Lazarus being dead in the tomb for four days,
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 Lazarus come out.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 He didn't just say to the tomb,
00:17:42 --> 00:17:42 come out.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 Everyone in the tomb would have walked out at that moment.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 Just you, Lazarus.
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51 Come out.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 He tells the waves to stop,
00:17:57 --> 00:17:57 and they do.
00:17:58 --> 00:17:59 No further action.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 When the Bible talks of God's word,
00:18:01 --> 00:18:06 it is talking about God's active presence in his world.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 To say that God's word goes out to do something
00:18:10 --> 00:18:14 is the same as saying that God has gone out to do something.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:18 To break one of God's commands or his words
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 is to break relationship with him.
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 So how are we to receive God's words?
00:18:25 --> 00:18:27 They come to us,
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 and I'm going to shorten everything here,
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 they come to us in the Bible.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 The Bible says that God
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 will put his words in the mouth of prophets.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 Deuteronomy 18, 15 to 20,
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 Jeremiah 1, 9 to 10.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 And once a prophet receives God's word,
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 they can be written down
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 and can effectively be read
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 as God's speech
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 when the prophet is not present
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 or even after he's long dead,
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 according to Jeremiah 36, 1 to 32.
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 The Bible then is God's written word,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 and it remains God's word
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 when it's read today.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 And the conclusion is clear.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 God acts through his word,
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 and his word is alive and active,
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 according to Hebrews 4.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 And therefore,
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 the way to have God
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 active,
00:19:15 --> 00:19:21 let's just say active,
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 in your world,
00:19:24 --> 00:19:25 in your life,
00:19:25 --> 00:19:26 is through the Bible.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:27 You see,
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 to understand the Bible
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 is not simply
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 to get information about God.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 When you attend to it
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 with trust and faith,
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 the Bible is the way
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 God continues
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 his conversation
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 with us.
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 It's hearing God speak.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:52 We know who we are praying to
00:19:52 --> 00:19:56 only if we first learn it
00:19:56 --> 00:19:56 in the Bible.
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 And we know
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 how we should be praying
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 only by getting
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 our vocabulary
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 from the Bible.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 which means
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 that our prayers
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 should arise
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 out of immersion
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 in the Scriptures,
00:20:13 --> 00:20:13 in the Bible.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 We should plunge ourselves
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 into the sea
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 of God's language.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 And what we discover
00:20:22 --> 00:20:22 in the Bible
00:20:22 --> 00:20:25 about this God,
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 and as we just read
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 from Psalm 145,
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 this God is simple
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 and he's complex,
00:20:33 --> 00:20:33 complex,
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 he's majestic
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 and he's tender,
00:20:37 --> 00:20:37 he's holy
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 and he's forgiving,
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 he's loving,
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 he's personable
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 and he's mysterious.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:43 Therefore,
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 as we listen
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 and as we study
00:20:47 --> 00:20:47 and we think
00:20:47 --> 00:20:47 and reflect
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 and we've pondered
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 this God
00:20:49 --> 00:20:49 in the Bible,
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 our response
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 to him in prayer
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 in our hearts
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 and our minds
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 is going to be
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 multifaceted.
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 It's going to be varied.
00:20:58 --> 00:21:03 It may be one of shame.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 It may be one of joy
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 or of confusion
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 or of appeal.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:07 Our prayer
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 can never be
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 primarily
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 just confession
00:21:10 --> 00:21:12 or just praise
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 or just appeals.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:16 It in fact
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 can't be
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 primarily
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 any one type
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 of expression.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:21 Some prayers
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 in the Bible
00:21:22 --> 00:21:22 are like
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 an intimate conversation
00:21:24 --> 00:21:24 with a friend.
00:21:25 --> 00:21:25 Others are like
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 appeal to a great monarch.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 others are the wrestling match.
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 In every case,
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 the nature of prayer
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 is determined
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 by the God
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 who's revealed himself,
00:21:37 --> 00:21:37 by the character
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 of this God
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 who is at once
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 our friend.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 He is our father,
00:21:43 --> 00:21:43 our lover,
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 our shepherd
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 and our king.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 We pray
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 in response
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 to God himself
00:21:49 --> 00:21:52 and only
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 if we respond
00:21:54 --> 00:21:54 to his word
00:21:54 --> 00:21:56 will our own
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 prayer life
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 be as rich
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 and as varied.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 Edmund Clowney,
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 a theologian,
00:22:07 --> 00:22:07 wrote this
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 for all of you
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 who want to
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 get a book on
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 or love to
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 just get to the
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 cut of the chase
00:22:14 --> 00:22:14 on how I should pray.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 He wrote,
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 the Bible
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 does not present
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 an art of prayer.
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 It presents
00:22:23 --> 00:22:23 the God
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 of prayer.
00:22:24 --> 00:22:28 It doesn't present
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 the art of prayer.
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 It presents
00:22:30 --> 00:22:30 the God
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 of prayer.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 The more clearly
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 we grasp
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 who God
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 is,
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 the one who
00:22:38 --> 00:22:38 has spoken
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 to us,
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 the more
00:22:40 --> 00:22:40 our prayer
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 is shaped
00:22:41 --> 00:22:41 and determined
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 accordingly.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:45 But be patient,
00:22:45 --> 00:22:45 my friends.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 This journey
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 may be just
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 as slow
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 as a child
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 learning to speak.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:55 So who is the
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 God that we
00:22:56 --> 00:22:56 encounter
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 in the Bible?
00:22:58 --> 00:22:58 If prayer
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 is continuing
00:22:59 --> 00:23:00 a conversation
00:23:00 --> 00:23:00 that God
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 has started
00:23:01 --> 00:23:01 through his
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 word and his
00:23:02 --> 00:23:02 grace to us,
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 which eventually
00:23:04 --> 00:23:04 becomes a full
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 encounter with
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 him,
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 prayer is
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 continuing
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 a conversation
00:23:09 --> 00:23:09 that God
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 has started
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 with us
00:23:11 --> 00:23:12 through his
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13 word and his
00:23:13 --> 00:23:13 grace,
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 what is this
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 God?
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16 Now for the
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 Christian,
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 as I've said,
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 prayer is a gift
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 where God
00:23:21 --> 00:23:21 comes to us
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 by his
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 spirit and
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 illuminates the
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 darkness in our
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 lives so that
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 we might see
00:23:29 --> 00:23:29 him,
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 the God who
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 has revealed
00:23:31 --> 00:23:31 himself to
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 us.
00:23:35 --> 00:23:35 Conversations,
00:23:36 --> 00:23:36 however,
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 can be
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 mere
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 exchanges
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 of information
00:23:41 --> 00:23:45 that do
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 not always
00:23:46 --> 00:23:46 lead to
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 true
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 personal
00:23:48 --> 00:23:48 encounter
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 or
00:23:49 --> 00:23:49 relationship.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:51 Have a
00:23:51 --> 00:23:51 think about
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 that in
00:23:52 --> 00:23:52 terms of
00:23:52 --> 00:23:52 the
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 relationships
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 that you
00:23:54 --> 00:23:54 have and
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 if you're
00:23:55 --> 00:23:55 married or
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 in a
00:23:56 --> 00:23:56 relationship
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 with someone,
00:23:57 --> 00:23:57 have a
00:23:57 --> 00:23:57 think about
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 that.
00:23:58 --> 00:23:58 Your
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 conversations,
00:23:59 --> 00:23:59 are they
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 just mere
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 transfer of
00:24:01 --> 00:24:01 information
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 or is
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 there a
00:24:03 --> 00:24:03 desire to
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 seek the
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 person?
00:24:08 --> 00:24:08 You see,
00:24:08 --> 00:24:08 we do not
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 want to
00:24:09 --> 00:24:09 just know
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 about God,
00:24:11 --> 00:24:11 but to
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 know God,
00:24:12 --> 00:24:12 to seek
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 his face
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 and his
00:24:14 --> 00:24:14 presence.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:15 Truth
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 is crucial
00:24:17 --> 00:24:17 for knowing.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 But what
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 we really
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 need is
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 to experience
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 the truth.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 We need
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 an encounter
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 with God.
00:24:27 --> 00:24:27 And one
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 crucial thing
00:24:28 --> 00:24:28 that the
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 Bible reveals
00:24:29 --> 00:24:31 about God
00:24:31 --> 00:24:31 is that he
00:24:31 --> 00:24:34 is supremely
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 powerful and
00:24:35 --> 00:24:35 can achieve
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 anything that
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 he wants.
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 Jeremiah 32,
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 17,
00:24:40 --> 00:24:40 our sovereign
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 Lord,
00:24:41 --> 00:24:41 you have
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 made the
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 heavens and
00:24:43 --> 00:24:43 the earth
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44 by your
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 great power
00:24:45 --> 00:24:45 and your
00:24:45 --> 00:24:45 outstretched
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 arm.
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 nothing is
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 too hard
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 for you.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 We've
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 just sung
00:24:51 --> 00:24:51 that as
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 a church.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:52 But we
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 also read
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 in Psalm
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 145 that
00:24:56 --> 00:24:56 this is the
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 God who
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 sustains and
00:24:58 --> 00:24:58 uphold all
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 things,
00:24:59 --> 00:24:59 all things
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 that says
00:25:00 --> 00:25:00 look to
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 you for
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 their food.
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 Now it's
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 often this
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 instinct about
00:25:06 --> 00:25:06 God that
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 causes many
00:25:07 --> 00:25:07 to pray.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:08 I'm feeling
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 powerless and
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 I need
00:25:10 --> 00:25:10 something that's
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 more powerful
00:25:11 --> 00:25:12 and so
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 God,
00:25:14 --> 00:25:14 you solved
00:25:14 --> 00:25:15 this problem.
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 We have
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 this instinct
00:25:18 --> 00:25:18 of the
00:25:18 --> 00:25:20 divine who
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 is supremely
00:25:21 --> 00:25:21 powerful in
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 some way.
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 But another
00:25:23 --> 00:25:23 crucial thing
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 that God
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 tells us
00:25:25 --> 00:25:25 about himself
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 in the
00:25:26 --> 00:25:26 Bible,
00:25:27 --> 00:25:27 as I've
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 already said,
00:25:28 --> 00:25:28 is that he
00:25:28 --> 00:25:28 is a
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 triune
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 God.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 He is a
00:25:31 --> 00:25:31 personal,
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 relational
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 God.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 And in
00:25:37 --> 00:25:37 the New
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 Testament,
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 the triune
00:25:39 --> 00:25:39 nature of
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 God becomes
00:25:40 --> 00:25:41 explicit,
00:25:42 --> 00:25:42 but few
00:25:42 --> 00:25:44 places are
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 as compressed
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 and as
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 direct as
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 Matthew 28
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 19.
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 And this
00:25:50 --> 00:25:50 is where
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 Jesus sends
00:25:51 --> 00:25:51 his disciples
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 out into
00:25:52 --> 00:25:52 the world
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 to baptize
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 in the name
00:25:54 --> 00:25:54 of the
00:25:54 --> 00:25:54 Father,
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 the Son,
00:25:55 --> 00:25:55 and the
00:25:55 --> 00:25:55 Holy Spirit.
00:25:56 --> 00:25:56 It does
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 not say
00:25:57 --> 00:25:57 in the
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 names of
00:25:58 --> 00:25:58 the Father,
00:25:59 --> 00:25:59 the Son,
00:25:59 --> 00:25:59 and the
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 Holy Spirit,
00:26:00 --> 00:26:00 but the
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 name.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 They have
00:26:04 --> 00:26:04 a single
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 name.
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 Now for
00:26:08 --> 00:26:08 us,
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 the term
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 name may
00:26:13 --> 00:26:13 be just
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 a label
00:26:14 --> 00:26:14 or a
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 brand
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 that can
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 be discarded,
00:26:17 --> 00:26:17 it can
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 be changed
00:26:18 --> 00:26:18 at will.
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 But in
00:26:20 --> 00:26:20 biblical
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 times,
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 first century
00:26:22 --> 00:26:22 Palestine,
00:26:23 --> 00:26:23 it denotes
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 the very
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 nature and
00:26:25 --> 00:26:25 the being
00:26:25 --> 00:26:25 of the
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 person.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 This
00:26:28 --> 00:26:28 means the
00:26:28 --> 00:26:28 Father,
00:26:29 --> 00:26:29 Son,
00:26:29 --> 00:26:29 and the
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 Holy Spirit
00:26:30 --> 00:26:32 all share
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 one divine
00:26:33 --> 00:26:34 nature.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:35 They are
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 one being.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 There is
00:26:37 --> 00:26:37 only one
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 God,
00:26:39 --> 00:26:39 not three.
00:26:40 --> 00:26:40 The
00:26:40 --> 00:26:40 Father,
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 the Son,
00:26:41 --> 00:26:41 and the
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 Holy Spirit
00:26:42 --> 00:26:42 are all
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 equal.
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 They are
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 three persons
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 within the
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 unity of
00:26:48 --> 00:26:48 God's
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 being who
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 are all
00:26:50 --> 00:26:50 equally
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 divine,
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 who know
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 and love
00:26:53 --> 00:26:53 one another,
00:26:54 --> 00:26:54 and who
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 from all
00:26:55 --> 00:26:55 eternity
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 have been
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 working
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 together
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 for the
00:26:59 --> 00:26:59 salvation
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 of humanity.
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03 And the
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 implications
00:27:04 --> 00:27:04 of the
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 Trinity
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 of God
00:27:06 --> 00:27:06 for prayer
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09 are just
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 never-ending.
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 for starters,
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 it means
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 that God
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 has always
00:27:16 --> 00:27:17 had within
00:27:17 --> 00:27:17 himself
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 perfect
00:27:18 --> 00:27:18 relationship.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 The
00:27:21 --> 00:27:21 Father,
00:27:21 --> 00:27:21 Son,
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 and the
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22 Holy Spirit
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 are adoring
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 one another,
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 giving glory
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 and love
00:27:27 --> 00:27:27 to one
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 another,
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 and delighting
00:27:29 --> 00:27:29 in one
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 another.
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 God,
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 therefore,
00:27:32 --> 00:27:32 in and of
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 himself,
00:27:33 --> 00:27:35 is infinitely,
00:27:36 --> 00:27:38 profoundly happy,
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 filled with
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 perfect joy.
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 Not some
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 abstract
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 tranquility,
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 but the
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 fierce happiness
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46 of dynamic,
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 loving relationships.
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 And knowing
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 this God
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 is filled
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 with glorious
00:27:52 --> 00:27:52 love and joy
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 because that
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 is what he
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 has in
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 himself.
00:27:56 --> 00:28:01 which means
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 the only
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 reason
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 that this
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 God would
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 have had
00:28:07 --> 00:28:07 for creating
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 us
00:28:08 --> 00:28:10 was not
00:28:10 --> 00:28:10 in order
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 to abstract
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 some sort
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 of cosmic
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 love and joy
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 from having
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 relationship
00:28:16 --> 00:28:16 with us
00:28:16 --> 00:28:19 because he's
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 already got
00:28:20 --> 00:28:20 that,
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 but to
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 share his
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 cosmic love
00:28:24 --> 00:28:24 and joy
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 with us.
00:28:26 --> 00:28:29 And this
00:28:29 --> 00:28:29 is why
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 this God
00:28:30 --> 00:28:30 of this
00:28:30 --> 00:28:30 Bible
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 calls us
00:28:31 --> 00:28:31 to converse
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 with him,
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 to know
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 him,
00:28:34 --> 00:28:34 to relate
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 to him.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:37 Christianity
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39 is the
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 only
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 religion
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 in the
00:28:43 --> 00:28:43 world
00:28:43 --> 00:28:45 of all
00:28:45 --> 00:28:45 time
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 that declares
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 that God
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 is not just
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 all-powerful,
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50 but that he's
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 all-personable,
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 all-merciful
00:28:54 --> 00:28:54 and all-loving.
00:28:56 --> 00:29:00 this God
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 wants to
00:29:01 --> 00:29:01 share the
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 joy he
00:29:02 --> 00:29:02 has.
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 Prayer is
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05 our way
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07 of continuing
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 the conversation
00:29:08 --> 00:29:08 that God
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 has started
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 with us
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 by his
00:29:10 --> 00:29:10 grace
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 and
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 entering
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 into
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 the happiness
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 of God
00:29:15 --> 00:29:15 himself.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:21 what we
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 also discover
00:29:22 --> 00:29:22 is that
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 when the
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 Trinity
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 becomes
00:29:24 --> 00:29:24 explicit
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 in the
00:29:25 --> 00:29:25 New
00:29:25 --> 00:29:25 Testament,
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 the
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27 character
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 of God's
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 fatherhood
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 also
00:29:30 --> 00:29:30 becomes
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 prominent
00:29:31 --> 00:29:31 and clear.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 It's mentioned
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32 a couple of
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 times in the
00:29:33 --> 00:29:33 Old Testament.
00:29:34 --> 00:29:34 It becomes
00:29:34 --> 00:29:36 explicit in the
00:29:36 --> 00:29:36 New Testament.
00:29:36 --> 00:29:42 In Ephesians 1 verses 3 to 10,
00:29:42 --> 00:29:45 the Father sends the Son to save us from our sin
00:29:45 --> 00:29:48 that we might become God's adopted sons and daughters.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:51 In John 1, 12 and 13,
00:29:51 --> 00:29:54 we see that when we are born again through faith in Christ,
00:29:54 --> 00:29:58 we receive the right to be called God's children
00:29:58 --> 00:30:02 and we have the right to call him Father.
00:30:02 --> 00:30:07 In first century Palestine,
00:30:07 --> 00:30:10 when Jesus taught his disciples to pray and said,
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 you can call him Father,
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 that was offensive.
00:30:14 --> 00:30:17 It was offensive to the Jew and it was offensive to the pagan.
00:30:18 --> 00:30:22 No religion would ever declare such intimacy
00:30:22 --> 00:30:26 with the universal everlasting God.
00:30:28 --> 00:30:31 Galatians 4 verses 4 to 6 puts it succinctly.
00:30:32 --> 00:30:34 God sent his Son, born of a woman,
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37 born under the law to redeem those under the law
00:30:37 --> 00:30:40 that we might receive adoption to sonship.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:42 Because you are his sons,
00:30:42 --> 00:30:45 God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 the Spirit who calls out,
00:30:48 --> 00:30:50 Abba, Father.
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 Daddy.
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 Daddy.
00:30:57 --> 00:31:00 To be adopted is a legal event.
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04 But of course it means more than that.
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06 To be adopted into a new family means a revolution
00:31:06 --> 00:31:08 of how you live your life day by day.
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 In Jesus,
00:31:10 --> 00:31:12 believers are not only legally,
00:31:13 --> 00:31:18 but personally established in God's fatherly love.
00:31:19 --> 00:31:22 John 17, 23 is a remarkable verse
00:31:22 --> 00:31:24 where Jesus prays to the Father for his followers.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 And he prays,
00:31:25 --> 00:31:30 the world will know that you sent me
00:31:30 --> 00:31:32 and have loved them
00:31:32 --> 00:31:34 even as you have loved me.
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 To be adopted
00:31:37 --> 00:31:42 means that now God loves us
00:31:42 --> 00:31:44 as if we had lived,
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 as if Jesus had lived,
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 in the way that he lived.
00:31:46 --> 00:31:51 We can run to this father without fear.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:53 We have the most intimate
00:31:53 --> 00:31:55 and unbreakable relationship possible
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57 with the God of the universe.
00:31:58 --> 00:32:02 To be a child means free access.
00:32:02 --> 00:32:07 And prayer for the Christian
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 is offered on the basis of God's
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 free, saving grace
00:32:10 --> 00:32:12 and his steadfast,
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 endless,
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 fatherly love.
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 How is it possible
00:32:17 --> 00:32:19 that we would have that access
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 and that freedom
00:32:20 --> 00:32:21 the only time
00:32:21 --> 00:32:23 in all of the Gospels,
00:32:23 --> 00:32:25 the only time,
00:32:26 --> 00:32:27 you hear me say only,
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 the only time
00:32:29 --> 00:32:31 in all of the Gospels
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 that Jesus Christ,
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 the Son of God,
00:32:33 --> 00:32:35 prays to his Father
00:32:35 --> 00:32:38 but doesn't call him Father
00:32:38 --> 00:32:40 is on the cross.
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 My God,
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 my God,
00:32:44 --> 00:32:46 why have you forsaken me?
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 Why have you abandoned me?
00:32:51 --> 00:32:53 Jesus lost his relationship
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 with the Father
00:32:54 --> 00:32:56 so that we could have relationship
00:32:56 --> 00:32:58 with God as Father.
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 Jesus was forgotten
00:32:59 --> 00:33:01 so that we could be remembered forever
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 from everlasting to everlasting.
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 Jesus Christ
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 bore all
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 the eternal punishment
00:33:06 --> 00:33:08 that our sins deserve.
00:33:08 --> 00:33:10 That is the cost
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 of our prayer.
00:33:13 --> 00:33:14 Jesus paid the price
00:33:14 --> 00:33:16 so God
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17 could be our Father
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 and we could have
00:33:18 --> 00:33:20 free access to him
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 to continue
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22 the cosmic conversation.
00:33:22 --> 00:33:26 and the Christian
00:33:26 --> 00:33:27 who understands
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28 this good news
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29 by the power
00:33:29 --> 00:33:29 of the Holy Spirit,
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 it's a gift,
00:33:31 --> 00:33:33 doesn't seek God
00:33:33 --> 00:33:33 primarily
00:33:33 --> 00:33:35 to gain reward
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 or to avoid punishment.
00:33:36 --> 00:33:36 Instead,
00:33:37 --> 00:33:37 Galatians 4
00:33:37 --> 00:33:39 verses 6 and 7
00:33:39 --> 00:33:39 says,
00:33:39 --> 00:33:40 the Spirit
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 leads us
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 to call out
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 passionately to God
00:33:43 --> 00:33:45 as our heavenly Father,
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 our loving Father.
00:33:46 --> 00:33:48 Paul refers to this experience
00:33:48 --> 00:33:49 as knowing God.
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 God.
00:33:51 --> 00:33:53 That's the ground motive
00:33:53 --> 00:33:55 of Spirit-directed,
00:33:55 --> 00:33:56 Christ-mediated prayer,
00:33:56 --> 00:33:59 to simply know God,
00:33:59 --> 00:34:00 to encounter God better,
00:34:01 --> 00:34:02 to enjoy his presence.
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 Prayer is about
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 encountering the God
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07 who has already
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 communicated to us.
00:34:08 --> 00:34:13 friends,
00:34:13 --> 00:34:15 just pause for a moment
00:34:15 --> 00:34:15 and consider
00:34:15 --> 00:34:17 how different
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 this is
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 from the way
00:34:19 --> 00:34:21 we normally pray.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 In our natural state,
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 we pray to God
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 to get things.
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 As I've said before,
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 he's like the
00:34:31 --> 00:34:32 cosmic vending machine.
00:34:33 --> 00:34:33 Drop the coins in
00:34:33 --> 00:34:34 and get the product
00:34:34 --> 00:34:35 you want.
00:34:35 --> 00:34:39 We may believe in God
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 but our deepest hopes
00:34:40 --> 00:34:41 and happiness
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 often reside
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 in other things,
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 in how successful
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 we are,
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 for instance,
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48 or in our social
00:34:48 --> 00:34:49 relationships.
00:34:50 --> 00:34:50 And so,
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 we pray mainly
00:34:52 --> 00:34:55 when our career
00:34:55 --> 00:34:56 or our finances
00:34:56 --> 00:34:56 are in trouble
00:34:56 --> 00:34:57 or when some relationship
00:34:57 --> 00:34:59 or social status
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 is in jeopardy
00:35:00 --> 00:35:00 or some other things
00:35:00 --> 00:35:02 need fixing.
00:35:02 --> 00:35:04 See,
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 when life is going
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 smoothly,
00:35:07 --> 00:35:07 our truest
00:35:07 --> 00:35:09 heart treasure
00:35:09 --> 00:35:11 feels safe.
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 It does not occur
00:35:14 --> 00:35:14 to us
00:35:14 --> 00:35:16 that we need to pray
00:35:16 --> 00:35:17 except out of a sense
00:35:17 --> 00:35:18 of duty to God.
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21 It also means
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 that our prayers
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 are not varied.
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24 They consist
00:35:24 --> 00:35:26 usually of petitions
00:35:26 --> 00:35:27 and occasionally
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 some confession,
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 particularly if we know
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31 we've done something wrong
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 and God might slap us
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 on the wrist
00:35:33 --> 00:35:33 by taking something
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 we want
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 or that we like
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 away from us.
00:35:38 --> 00:35:38 Seldom,
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 never,
00:35:41 --> 00:35:42 do we spend
00:35:42 --> 00:35:44 sustained time
00:35:44 --> 00:35:45 adoring
00:35:45 --> 00:35:45 and praising
00:35:45 --> 00:35:46 the God
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47 who's revealed
00:35:47 --> 00:35:47 himself to us.
00:35:48 --> 00:35:48 That is,
00:35:48 --> 00:35:49 we have no
00:35:49 --> 00:35:50 positive
00:35:50 --> 00:35:52 inner desire
00:35:52 --> 00:35:52 to pray.
00:35:53 --> 00:35:55 We do it
00:35:55 --> 00:35:55 only
00:35:55 --> 00:35:57 when circumstances
00:35:57 --> 00:35:58 force us to.
00:35:58 --> 00:36:01 why?
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 Have this sense
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 that God's there
00:36:04 --> 00:36:06 but we
00:36:06 --> 00:36:07 tend to see
00:36:07 --> 00:36:07 him
00:36:07 --> 00:36:09 as a means
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 through which
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 we get the things
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 that make us
00:36:11 --> 00:36:11 really happy.
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 For too many,
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 he's not
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 our happiness.
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 He's not
00:36:18 --> 00:36:19 our joy.
00:36:20 --> 00:36:20 We haven't
00:36:20 --> 00:36:22 truly encountered
00:36:22 --> 00:36:23 the God
00:36:23 --> 00:36:23 who exists
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 in supreme
00:36:24 --> 00:36:24 happiness
00:36:24 --> 00:36:25 and joy.
00:36:25 --> 00:36:27 we therefore
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 pray to get
00:36:28 --> 00:36:28 things
00:36:28 --> 00:36:29 not to know
00:36:29 --> 00:36:30 him.
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 All these
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33 changes
00:36:33 --> 00:36:33 when we
00:36:33 --> 00:36:33 discover
00:36:33 --> 00:36:34 that we
00:36:34 --> 00:36:34 have been
00:36:34 --> 00:36:35 bogged down
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 all of our
00:36:36 --> 00:36:36 lives
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 in all kinds
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38 of different
00:36:38 --> 00:36:39 forms of
00:36:39 --> 00:36:39 self-salvation
00:36:39 --> 00:36:41 and we
00:36:41 --> 00:36:42 turn to
00:36:42 --> 00:36:42 Christ.
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 We surrender
00:36:44 --> 00:36:44 to him.
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46 When we
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 grasp his
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 astonishing
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 costly
00:36:48 --> 00:36:49 sacrifice
00:36:49 --> 00:36:49 for us,
00:36:50 --> 00:36:51 we transfer
00:36:51 --> 00:36:51 our trust
00:36:51 --> 00:36:52 and our
00:36:52 --> 00:36:52 hope
00:36:52 --> 00:36:54 from other
00:36:54 --> 00:36:54 things
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 to Jesus
00:36:55 --> 00:36:57 and we
00:36:57 --> 00:36:57 ask for
00:36:57 --> 00:36:58 God's
00:36:58 --> 00:36:58 acceptance
00:36:58 --> 00:36:59 and his
00:36:59 --> 00:36:59 grace.
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 We begin
00:37:00 --> 00:37:00 to realize
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 the Spirit's
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 help,
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 the magnitude
00:37:03 --> 00:37:04 of our
00:37:04 --> 00:37:04 benefits and
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 the blessings
00:37:05 --> 00:37:05 that we have
00:37:05 --> 00:37:06 in Jesus
00:37:06 --> 00:37:07 and then we
00:37:07 --> 00:37:09 begin to
00:37:09 --> 00:37:10 want almost
00:37:10 --> 00:37:10 desperately
00:37:10 --> 00:37:12 to know
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 and love
00:37:13 --> 00:37:14 this God
00:37:14 --> 00:37:14 more.
00:37:15 --> 00:37:16 To know
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 him for
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 himself,
00:37:18 --> 00:37:19 for who
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 he is.
00:37:20 --> 00:37:22 his love
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 and regard
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 make popularity
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 and worldly
00:37:24 --> 00:37:25 status look
00:37:25 --> 00:37:26 just so pale
00:37:26 --> 00:37:26 and thin.
00:37:29 --> 00:37:30 Finally,
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32 the God
00:37:32 --> 00:37:32 who has
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 spoken,
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35 the God
00:37:35 --> 00:37:36 who has
00:37:36 --> 00:37:36 conversed
00:37:36 --> 00:37:37 with us,
00:37:38 --> 00:37:39 we've
00:37:39 --> 00:37:39 finally
00:37:39 --> 00:37:40 encountered
00:37:40 --> 00:37:41 him
00:37:41 --> 00:37:44 and being
00:37:44 --> 00:37:44 delighted
00:37:44 --> 00:37:45 in him
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 and
00:37:46 --> 00:37:47 delighting
00:37:47 --> 00:37:47 in him
00:37:47 --> 00:37:49 becomes
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 inherently
00:37:50 --> 00:37:51 fulfilling
00:37:51 --> 00:37:51 and
00:37:51 --> 00:37:52 beautiful.
00:37:52 --> 00:37:59 and
00:37:59 --> 00:37:59 him
00:37:59 --> 00:38:01 well
00:38:01 --> 00:38:01 he
00:38:01 --> 00:38:01 he
00:38:01 --> 00:38:02 he
00:38:02 --> 00:38:02 Jesus
00:38:02 --> 00:38:03 and
00:38:03 --> 00:38:03 he
00:38:03 --> 00:38:05 he
00:38:05 --> 00:38:06 he
00:38:06 --> 00:38:09 Black
00:38:09 --> 00:38:11 he
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 he
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 he