The Disciples Prayer

0 (0s): oh, 1 (8m 32s): To Jesus. We worship you this morning. We are your children. We are here to see 2 (9m 16s): Where it used to be. I will never be There is no other name, but the name that is 0 (12m 11s): He, 2 (12m 11s): Who was and still is and will be through it Monday in the space between all the things I've seen and the striking. He, I know I will never be. 0 (12m 31s): I 2 (12m 32s): Know 0 (12m 36s): let's pray. 3 (14m 2s): Thank you for this time, Lord, as we spent time worshiping you and your name now, as we open up your word, Lord, that you would speak to us again, meet us here now in this place, Lord, in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. All right. You may be seated youth group. You guys are staying here the Sunday. So glad to be here once again. It's it's, it's a, it's a message that I've been kind of laboring and working through and really just been on my heart. It's it was fun for service to kind of bring it to the light Allister. 3 (14m 44s): Beg would say it was it's the closest he's ever felt to being pregnant and giving birth is, is you, you hope that's not offending, but it's this thing that for me, it's, it's just it Wells up and it's growing. And then it's, it's, it's amazing to see how it comes out. So I pray just, today's just a blessing. My, my brother and I growing up, and I know I've told a story in the past that wasn't true about the poison. If you're here for that one, this is it. This is actually a true story. So let me tell you about this. My, my brother, we had a lot of hobbies. We were always interested in trying to, we were always inquisitive about different things. So we would, hobbies would pop up, we'd see something on TV or in a book. 3 (15m 28s): And we're like, wow, we want to know more about this. So my mom, she would always, she would just take us to the library and we'd go look up whatever we wanted to. And it was fun to be able to research these things. And our tree was one of those things. I don't know where we inherited it from, but we found this red fiberglass, recurve bow, and my brother and I wanted to know everything about archery and we wanted to find out more. So that's what we did. We went to the library, he got all the books and began reading, studying, okay, how this is how you do it. Well, we also made a range in our backyard and we found, I don't know why we had it, just a random closet door, those kind of hollow core doors. And we set it up in our backyard as a target. 3 (16m 9s): And of course, boys, what do you want to do? You want to shoot at something real? So we set up, we drew an outline of a person like this on that door, and that was our target. And then after a while that just that stagnant target, we decided that we'll, let's, let's make this a little more realistic because when you shoot something that needs to die. So we tried to like prop up the door in a way that, you know, a little stick or something would hold it. Then when you, when it gets shot with the arrow would fall over, be a little more realistic. Well, that didn't work out too well. So we decided, well, the best thing is probably just to hold the door up and you can't stand behind the door. Cause every once in a while, the arrow will go straight through the door, you know? And so my brother, we just held it at arms length. 3 (16m 52s): We'll be okay. And we were my brother and I were really, we were good. We were good. We were good shots. You know, we'd a lot of practice. Once in a while, our friend Mike, he would come over and he'd he'd practice with us too, but he wasn't, he just hadn't been practicing as long. So it wasn't as good. Well, it was the nineties and Robin hood, prince of thieves came out and we we've loved that show. We love that movie, especially cause there was archery in it. And there was one scene where Robin hood, he draws his arrow and he flips around any shoots. And I think it was like through the trees or something, it was like this really cool movie shot and hits his target. So my brother and I are like, yes, we can do this. 3 (17m 33s): So in the backyard practicing and we started working on our Robin hood shot, you know, he turned around real fast, let the arrow go. It hits his target. Cause my brother and I were, we were decent. We were good. We were practicing. Well, Mike, he came over that day and he's like, wow, I want to try this too. I've seen this in the movies. I can do this too. Well, my brother was, it was his turn to hold the door, the target. And so he's kind of holding it at arms length like this. And Mikey turns around, flips round releases the arrow and it Nicks the edge of the door and goes in my brother's arm. So I have this image of my brother going as the arrows flopping around his arm. 3 (18m 15s): And we're like, Brian, you can't tell mom and dad. And he's like, my brother who has like the highest pain tolerance. He he's like, no, it hurts going to tell him I'm down. And I know, you know, we'll get into so big trouble because we had really, really wanted to get to the broad heads. Those like arrows with the razors on it. We thought that would be really cool to have those. My mom had said no, so I'm really glad she said no. So I was like, okay, I'm the oldest here. I will be the one to deliver the news to my parents. So I run around our backyard slide, open the sliding glass door. And my dad's there sitting on the couch, reading his newspaper and I'm my Brian's been shot. And my dad looks up the newspaper and he's like, is the BB still in him? 3 (18m 57s): I'm like, no, it was the arrow. And he lost his color for a split. Second only to jump up straight army through the door. I was standing at the door, just waiting for his response. He's straight arms me runs around the backyard, picks up my brother, lifts them up and then carries him into the house. So these are these images that are just stuck in my head. Well, fast forward to a few months. And I decided that I think I've matured a little bit that I won't, that I know my targets now. And so I've decided to, I got, I got up. I was able to buy a compound bow. All right. That was pretty exciting. I've been talking about it for a number of years. In fact, my middle daughter, her name is Posey Archer. So you can calculate her age and how many, how long I've wanted to get back into archery. 3 (19m 42s): So I got this compound bow and the guys at central coast archery have just become like my best friends. I've been down there. I taught a lot. They're like, teach me, okay, this is your target. Don't you know, all this safety, all that stuff, but I've been learning a lot. And so I have a little bit of background as a kid in our tree, but I realized I need to relearn a lot. And that's what I wanted to do with this morning. You see growing up in the church, I think there's a, there's a familiar, it's wonderful. It has way more advantages the disadvantages. But I think one of the disadvantages for growing up in the church, as you begin to be really familiar with the Bible and it becomes something that you just know. 3 (20m 24s): I remember in high school thinking, well, I know everything about the Bible I know about Noah. I just, it just became like I know about it. But for those who have been able to walk with this in their, in their new life of faith and their new trust of Jesus, having come from a, not a biblical background, I've seen this awe and wonder and just a refreshing like, whoa, what is the Bible teaching? What is it? And so that's why I want to approach this morning. Scripture of Luke chapter 11. It's a prayer that I know we've all maybe memorized that we've all looked at it, but let's this morning. Look at it with two staff, fresh sense of vision this morning. 3 (21m 5s): So Luke chapter 11, we'll be in verses one and two this morning. Sometimes it's it's, it's, it's been titled the Lord's prayers. I don't agree with that because of later on, but we'll call it the model prayer, the disciple's prayer, the believers prayer, but Luke 11, there's some Bibles in the back. If you want one of those, I love my youth group will say, I know I love hearing the Bible's turn. It's my favorite sound. So Luke chapter 11 verse one says now it came to pass. As he was praying in a certain place. When he ceased speaking about Jesus. And he's praying that one of his disciples said to him, Lord teach us to pray. 3 (21m 48s): As John also taught his disciples for the Jew, living in that culture, in that context, prayer was just a central part of what you did throughout the day. It was what you did. First thing, when you woke up, it was what you did right before you went to bed. It was just throughout the day, you just had these prayers and you just, it was just central in the life. But yet the disciples, they realize they witnessed something different in Jesus. When he prayed and they waited for him to stop. And then they approach him with a request. They said, Lord, teach us to pray. And I find it interesting that they didn't say Lord, didn't say, Lord, teach us to preach because Jesus was powerful. 3 (22m 36s): Preacher. He preached with authority. They didn't say, Lord, teach us to heal like you do. It's wow. These things that you're doing, it's amazing. They didn't say they didn't ask the question. Lord, teach us how to pray. They just said, Lord, teach us to pray. There was something remarkably different about the way that Jesus prayed and the disciples noticed that. And you see that. We often ask the best of what someone has to offer. We asked the best of what someone has to offer. If I want to know about golf and I go ask, you'd want to seek out a professional golf player. 3 (23m 20s): Archery has become one of my new hobbies. One of my new interests. I'm at central coast archery probably way more than I should be. Scott. Joel, what about this? What about that? Hey, can you look at my bow? Is it tuned? Right? Is everything okay? And they are their world-class archers. They're best of the best. Scott's been a worldwide Archer he's they have a gal that I think just graduated high school. That's shot for the women's team. They're like, they know what they're doing. They are a world-class. So we want to ask the best of what someone has to offer. And the disciples witnessed in Jesus that his vibrant prayer life was something special. It was the best of what he had to offer. 3 (24m 0s): And so they ask him. Now this prayer that we find in Luke chapter 11 is also found in the beatitudes in Matthew chapter six and Matthew chapter six. That was part of his sermon as he preached on this prayer. And that prayer was given before Jesus's disciples were all there. At that time, there was only about four disciples with him. It was Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and now Jesus is going to reteach it to all of his disciples. And so he says to them, when you pray, say this, he's not going to define prayer. Prayer was already defined in the life of the Jew. We would define it as talking to God, just like in the garden of Eden, Jesus walked. 3 (24m 46s): They heard the sound of Lord God, walking in the garden of Eden. When you walk with somebody, when that relationship is there, you walk and you talk and you share life and talking with God. Prayer is just that same thing in Matthew chapter six, Jesus would give warnings about prayers. Shouldn't be like, cause there was a lot of bad examples out there. So this is what prayers shouldn't be like in Matthew chapter six. He says, when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do for, they think that with, for, they think that they will be heard for their many words. It's not about how many words we use Jesus doesn't then teach them on the posture of prayer. 3 (25m 28s): You know, being in the church and the Sunday school you're taught. Okay. When you pray, you gotta put your hands together, close your eyes and bow your head. That's what you have to do. And I love that prayer because it keeps kids from being distracted, right? And sometimes me and that's what I need. That's the prayer posture that I need. I need to bow my head, close my eyes and put my hands together. But that doesn't always work because the Bible also says in first Thessalonians five, pray without ceasing. So if I'm supposed to only pray this way and pray without ceasing, the joke is we get in my car to drive, you know, go visit the cousins. And I said, all right, girls, we're going to pray before we go. Let's all bow our heads and close your eyes. 3 (26m 9s): And you know, as we're driving down the street and they're like, dad, don't close your eyes, don't do it. You know, you trick them. And I guess that would only work. If you had a Tesla, then you could actually bow your head, close your eyes and trust in the machinery. So scripture gives us many different ways. Sometimes we are called to bow the head. Sometimes we're called to look up into the sky, as Jesus would do up to the heavens. There's definitely many different postures. Sometimes you go into prayer closet. There's many, many ways of the external posture of prayer. But what the most important posture of prayer is that, which the hearts, posture of prayer. Can you agree with that? Our hearts, posture, prayer and Jesus teaches just that in this prayer, in that prayer that he, that the disciples were watching him do. 3 (26m 58s): And it doesn't seem that the prayer was recorded. Doesn't say if it was a short prayer, doesn't save. It was a long prayer. It doesn't seem how simple or elaborate it. Just that prayer that the disciples watch, the Jesus did made an impact on his disciples. And they knew that it was making a kingdom impact. Sometimes it's the simplest of prayers. George Miller, have you have you all heard of George Mueller? Great, great man of faith, great rate, man of God. And this story was related by another well-known evangelist named Charles Ingles on the prayer life of George Mueller. 3 (27m 40s): So Charles Ingle angles is he was crossing over to America and he was recounting this story of how he met this captain of a steamer. And he was saying, wow, this man, this captain is just, he's a man of faith. There's something different this man. And he, so he began to ask us this captain of the steamer. What, what marks, what, what marks the life of your faith? W what, what, what is this about you that's so different. He said, well, this is what happened five weeks ago. Let me share a story from you. About five weeks ago, he said it was the most incredible thing. He was saying that the captain said that I have, he was there, sorry, let me collect my thoughts. 3 (28m 21s): He was there at the helm, this captain of the steamer, they were crossing over from the Atlantic, by the Newfoundland coast. There had been 22 hours of fog, unrelentless, thick, thick fog. So much fog that he hadn't left the bridge in 22 hours. And all of a sudden he feels a tap on his shoulder and he turns around kind of frightened. And there is George Mueller and George Mueller simply says this. He said, captain, I've come to tell you that I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon. And it was Wednesday on that day. The captain says, that's impossible. George Mueller replies very well. If your ship can't take me, God will find some other means of locomotion to take me. I have never broken an engagement in 57 years, George Mueller said, let's go down to the chart room and pray. 3 (29m 8s): The captain said, captain said, I looked at this man. And I thought to myself, what lunatic asylum could this man have come from? I've never heard of such a thing. Leave the bridge, go down to the chart room to pray like that. Prayer is going to make anything different. The captain said, Mr. Mueller, do you not know how dense this fog is? Mr. Mueller replied with George. Mueller said, no. My eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance in my life, the captain said, well, he went down to his knees and he prayed one of the most simplest of prayers. 3 (29m 48s): He said, I thought to myself, that would suit a child's class where the children were not more than eight or nine years old. His prayer was basically saying, oh Lord, if it is consistent with your will, please remove this fog in five minutes. You know, the engagement you made for me in Quebec is this Saturday. And I believe it is your will. That was his prayer. The captain said when we had finished, I was going to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray. He said, sir, first, you do not believe that God will do it. And second, I believe he's already done it. There's no need for you to pray about it. I looked at him and George Mueller said this captain. I have known my Lord for 57 years. 3 (30m 30s): And there's never been a single day with which I have not gained his audience. Captain, get up, open the door and you'll find the fog is gone. The captain got up, the fog was gone and George Mueller made it to his appointment. What a, what? A mark of faith to have a simple prayer of faith, the simple believing faith in the God who did that, prayer changes us. And it changes around us. Jesus, didn't see the preparation for the prayer. As the preparation for the battle. Jesus saw prayer as the battle, as Jesus was in the garden of right? 3 (31m 15s): Leading up to his betrayal. He bled great drops of blood recorded in Luke 22. And he prayed and he said, Lord, take this cup from me, but nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. He didn't pray. He didn't bleed in pilot's court as he's being tried, but he bled in the garden in prayer. Jesus, didn't see that prayer was a preparation for a battle. Jesus saw prayer as the battle. So Jesus, after teaching us to pray, he tells us how we address God when we pray to him. And this is what he says to his disciples. He says our father in heaven. 3 (31m 56s): That's how he starts his prayer. Our father in heaven. Let me say father, that brings up a lot of thoughts about our own earthly fathers, but yet Jesus tells us that father is the most important way. The most important thing when approaching God and that word, father has a lot of connotation in the old Testament. It's only used seven times about God. It was a very old, old Testament. They saw where a witness God in a very different aspect, but you're now Jesus is telling his disciples. When you pray, say father 275 times, actually in the new Testament, see God uses many names in the scripture. 3 (32m 41s): But father I think is one of the most intimate of names that we can call our heavenly father. We can call God, there's a picture on my desk. And it was a good reminder of this week is some studying and prayed and working through this is my it's me. Six days old, just on the, on the, on my, my dad, my, my dad's chest. Just that simple. Like I am in need of everything. I can't control anything. And there's my father with me on his bosom. So often our view of God is shaped by our earthly fathers. Just like my dad picking up my brother after he'd been injured by that arrow carried him to safety. 3 (33m 27s): He carried him into the house and my mom wants to always treat everything with the bag of ice, right? Isn't that the way moms treat best the wounds she put on his, she put on his arm, a bag of ice and hope that would help it. You know, he just had a little hole in the skin. It didn't go all the way through. And a couple weeks later, my mom grabbed my brother and you know, Hey, come do this, come do that. And he flinched and he was like, ouch. My mom's like, oh no, is it still hurt? He's like, yeah, it still really hurts. So she took him to the house, took him to the, her doctor, his doctor and the doctor's like, Ooh, well let's, let's look at the x-ray. 3 (34m 8s): Let's check out the x-rays. So they get the x-rays of course my mom was so embarrassed to have to take my brother to the hospital. Cause he shot by an arrow that was like, just did not, she was avoiding him. It probably because of that. And as she takes him to the Haas or it takes him to the doctor and sure enough, the x-ray reveals there's a hole right there in the middle of his, his bone with little fractures going out. And my mom thought that was the worst knew she could not believe she was so ashamed. And the doctor's like that is, this is the coolest x-ray I've ever seen. This is like the cowboy and Indian days, he was all fired up. My mom was, oh, embarrassed. My dad carried my brother to safety on, on that aspect of asking others what's the best they have to offer CS Lewis, who I think we would all agree is one of the best authors out there. 3 (34m 59s): He looked and he spoke about his favorite author, another George and a guy named George McDonald, the Scottish writer. And he said this in his like opening to his book about George MacDonald, CS Lewis said this. We said, we have learned from Freud and others about the distortions and characters and errors of thoughts, which result from man's early conflicts were from his father. Freud has a lot to say about fatherhood and how that shapes and mold us. He said far off. The most important thing we can know about George McDonald is that his whole life illustrates the opposite process. He said an almost perfect relationship with his father was the earthly root of all of his wisdom from his own father. 3 (35m 44s): He said, he first learned that fatherhood must be at the core of the universe. He was thus prepared in an, in an unusual way to teach the religion in which the relation of the father and the son was the most central, something about the father that shapes our view of God. And then when he says, when Jesus says, we must say our father in heaven, he says our father, as in not just my father, not just father, but our father and that's the unifying call for the body of Christ to be United. When we pray, when we lift up our prayer requests, it's not just me. It's just as I it's, we as a whole, some of the greatest prayers in the Bible, I'm thinking like in, especially in Daniel, where Daniel includes himself in the nation's rebellion and he says, forgive us, our sins, forgive us, our trespasses. 3 (36m 37s): And there's not one marked sin recorded for Daniel, but yet he still includes himself in that it's that our father, Jesus is one of Jesus's last prayers in John chapter 17. He prays that there may be unity among the believers. He prays first for himself. He prays for his 12 disciples. And then he prays for all believers. We need to have unity in the church. And then he says, our father in heaven and heaven is that theoral place. Isn't it is that place where we're only a few have been able to just witness and how to had a key, whole image of, we see Isaiah has a throne room experience. 3 (37m 24s): ZQ Daniel. And then John later on in revelation, on the island of Patmos, they have this throne room vision of who God is. It's our father in heaven. So if we were to address him, if Jesus saying we are to address our heavenly, God is our heavenly father. He said to first start out by talking to the father about the father. That's how we pray. We talked to the father about the father. So how does he do that? He says, hallowed, be your name, how it is like a strange word. I had to look it up and Dixie dictionary to make sure it was there. And I have this dictionary, which is it's huge. 3 (38m 4s): It's like 1907. And this is his definition of Howard. It says to devote to holy or religious uses to consecrate, to reverence is sacred or to set apart. I know there's there's you have dishes in your house that are hallowed or set apart, right? So those dishes that your grandma gave to you at your wedding and you put them up in the cabinet with the glass counters and you only pull out for Thanksgiving for special meals for Christmas dinners. Those are the Hollywood plates. So those are the set apart only for specific uses. 3 (38m 44s): That is how Jesus that's how God's name is to be. We already keep his name as holy. His name is holy. The Jewish scribes had a way of doing that practically. As they copied the texts, they didn't have coffee machines, so they didn't have to copy out the texts. Every time they came to the hallowed name of God, Yahweh God, they would have to go cleanse the pen and they'd have to go take a bath every time they were to copy that scripture. So there they are. That was their way of keeping his name's holy to keep it set apart and names carry importance, right? Whenever I see a Jeremy on TV, I'm like, you better represent the Jeremy's cause I'm a Jeremy. You're a Jeremy. And we represent that. 3 (39m 24s): There's something special in a name, especially in the old Testament times. There's something special. Now there's something I want all the Jeremys to represent a good character, integrity. All those things. Names are important. They're linked to our character. Jacob was born, Jacob, his name meant he'll snatcher. God says no longer. We would call you Cobe, but I'm going to call you Israel governed by God. God would change Abrams named Abraham. He would change Sarah, his name to Sarah. He would change Saul to Paul. And then later on Simon to Peter, because God was speaking something into their character and he was changing their name in our heaven. 3 (40m 11s): In revelation. It talks about this new names that we will get it says, and we will give and revelation two 17 and we will get sorry. And I will give him a white stone. And on that stone, a new name written, which no one knows except him. Her receives it. God has a name that aligns with your character and who you are. The name character of you always to be set apart from any other God. Any other spiritual being his name is lifted up. Your name that your name quote in the old Testament is used over 119 times. Let me give you a few examples in his second Samuel seven, we have says, so let your name be magnified forever saying the Lord of hosts is the God over Israel and let the house of your servant. 3 (40m 58s): David be established before you second, Samuel 22 says, therefore, I will give thanks to you. Oh Lord. Among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. Psalm 22 says I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly, I will praise you. Psalm 54 to the chief musician was stringed instruments. Contemplation of David. He says, is David not hiding among us? Save me, oh God, by your name and vindicate me by your strength. Psalm 63. I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name, David, and through the Psalms he's linking name to character. 3 (41m 44s): We don't worship a name. We worship God's character and who he is. And later on in the new Testament, Jesus, wouldn't give a blink blink check to us. When he says this in John 14, most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me the works that I do, he will do also and greater works than these will he do because I go to my father and whatever you ask in my name that you will do in the father will be glorified in the son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. There wasn't a blank check. That was, if you call upon the, will you call upon God to do something, he will do it within his character. If we ask something in the character of God, he will do it. 3 (42m 26s): The father son relationship is modeled just after that prayer. Look at me with me to Luke chapter 11, verses nine through 13, he's going to speak on the importance of a father, son relationship, a father, child relationship verse nine says who I say to you and I will be given to you. Sorry. I say ask. It will be given to you seek and you will find knock and will be opened them to you for everyone who asks receive. And he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone free, asked for a fish? Will you also give him a serpent instead of a fish? 3 (43m 7s): Or if he asks for an egg, will you, will you offer him a scorpion? If you then speaking of the earthly fathers, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children? How much more will your heavenly father give you the holy spirit? When you ask? I was asking in the character of God. So we talk then to the father about his kingdom. After talking to him about him, we then talked to the father about his kingdom and he says, this, Jesus said your kingdom come your kingdom come. And that's where this message has kind of been brewing on my heart. And maybe it's just something. Maybe it's just something I needed to hear. 3 (43m 47s): Maybe I need to preach to myself these last few weeks months they've been tough. There's been a number of situations in my life that just led me to just drop to my knees in prayer or teach me to pray. So I'm looking around, Lord teach me to pray prayed for the recall vote that didn't, that didn't go through, begin to feel anxious and concerned and worried for the future about what would happen if that wasn't, if welfare outcome is what it is now, begin to look around to the kingdom of now the kingdom around us. 3 (44m 31s): And it's, it's frightening, honestly, a year ago, I would have been thought that it'd be a conspiracy theory because I've thought that someday there'd be vaccine passports and mandates. I thought that's coming down the line a year ago, but here we are. And that's slowly becoming reality. They're talking about now a digital currency in the next two years, that will no longer have paper that everyone will have a digital concurrency. That lines right up with what we read in the book of revelation. So I love the lessons that God has been teaching me through archery and he'd can. And he does. 3 (45m 11s): So I got a little proud. I got a little boastful. My first couple of weeks of archery. You see, I went from a grouping at 20 yards of about a dinner plate and I got them down to about an inch and a half and a groupings. When you shoot multiple arrows at a target and they start getting closer, that means that you're getting accurate. You're like, you're working your skills. Well, I was getting really good. I started sending pictures to my friends like, look, look, look how good I'm doing. Look at it. This is awesome. They're like, oh yeah, good job. Wow. You're really, you're really getting this. And then one night they're in practice in the backyard and I got lined up. I'm looking at my, through my scope and it's so compound bows, have they have a little peep site that's on the string. 3 (45m 51s): And then, and then next you have the scope or the, the scope with the little target pins. All right. And you want to get your peep and you want to aim it at the target pins onto the target. Yeah. So that's kind of how, the way it lines up. And I lined up for the shot. I had it right over the target and all of a sudden I was like, this isn't my body just did this, like this like jitters. I was like, what was that? And my arrow actually went off and miss the target into the wall. I was like, what was that? Where did that come from? I've been really accurate. That was weird. So a few more shots. And it's like, my body is preparing for this arrow to be released. And it, and it just tightens up. 3 (46m 33s): I was like, what? In the world's happening? Like I've got, I've got my S my pin on my target. And all of a sudden, my body as is movement. I was like, I can't control. I'm like, what in the world is going on? So I went down to central coast, archery, and Scott was in there and I walk in the door and no one else is in the shop. And Scott and another worker were there and I'm like, Scott, I got target panic. He's like, oh no, you got target panic. He got target. Everybody gets the target. Hey, everybody knows about this target panic thing. Like, I'm like, well, I didn't know about it. Tell me about this. Like, oh yeah. It's like, when your body kind of is reacting to the shot before it happens and you start to get messed up and everybody deals with everybody. I was like, okay, well, you got to help me overcome this because I don't want to have target practice, target anxiety. 3 (47m 18s): This is not okay. So one of the things that Scott recommended was this. He said, what's your probably focusing on, we can only, our eyes can only focus on one thing. Okay. He says, one of the things that you want to work on is not focusing on the pins that are right in front of you. You want to focus on the target and see the target through those pins that are right next to you right there. And he talked about how he worked through his target anxiety. He was coached through it, and he was working on a target at 50 yards. And he said, this guy was like, just, just, just concentrate the target. You'll get it. And sure enough, Scott said he at 50 yards, he Robin hood in a Robin, Robin hood had eggs or egg Robinhood, an arrow. 3 (48m 3s): So he'd shot one arrow into the back of the other arrow. That's 50 yards. Cause he was focused on that target. It's kind of like mountain biking or biking. Anything. If you see a rock in the middle of the path and you start focusing on that rock, you're going to hit the rock. This is what happens. I don't know why it works that way, but that is. And so we need, and Jesus is reminding us your kingdom come. We need to focus on the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. But how do we do that? Because Jesus preached a lot about the kingdom that had arrived. And it was different than what his disciples or Jews are waiting for. At that time, you see the keynote, he, Jesus would say, the kingdom has come near to you. 3 (48m 44s): The kingdom has come upon you, but it doesn't let you look around. You're like that doesn't seem to be totally the way it is. I don't understand. And that's where we live in. We live in this tension of the already and not yet the already and not yet. It's a theological tension. It says by faith in Christ, all of these spiritual blessings are ours already. But the full enjoyment of these blessings is not yet ours. This is the life of faith. The assurance of things hoped for in the future and the convictions of things. Not yet seen in the present from Hebrews 11, this is life between the times. 3 (49m 24s): So if Satan tempted Jesus, all the kingdoms of the earth, when Jesus was being tempted out in the wilderness, how could Satan say all these kingdoms I'll give to you? If you fall down and worship me, Jesus, didn't say that's not theologically true. Actually, Jesus just outright rejected that. And he said away from me, I will worship the Lord. God alone. You see Satan has a kingdom. There are kingdoms in this world. There's the kingdom of now, but yet God has the kingdom of already. And not yet. Yes. Illustrate that with Daniel chapter five bell Schanzer was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, never could answer. 3 (50m 5s): He was the one that had this great image that he couldn't explain. That Daniel came later and explained the head of the head of gold, the arms and the chest of silver and bronze. And then clay mixed with iron all. He had that vision. And so Nebuchadnezzar kind of took that and ran, right? He made that big golden statue that everyone was to worship. And then the three other guys didn't want to worship that. Well, that was Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar's Keana was headed down to his son and his grandson. They, they were co regions and God had already weighed that kingdom in the balance. God already knew. So there was a feast that bell Shazard was going to throw that was in the kingdom of Babylon. 3 (50m 46s): Babylon was a Magnificant city. The walls surrounding Babylon were 17 miles long. The walls surrounding Babylon were 22 feet thick. You could re race for chariots on these walls. The walls of Babylon were 90 feet tall with towers that went another a hundred feet on top of that Babylon was so magnificent. Babylon had storage of food that could outlast there's people, years and years, they had the river Euphrates that flowed right through the center of Babylon. They gave them endless supply of water. They were good. So as they are being surrounded by the Medo-Persian empire, Belshazzar is like, we're going to have a feast. 3 (51m 33s): We're going to outlive this. We're good. Our kingdoms forever. We're good. And so what he did, what does he do? He calls for the golden instruments from the temple to come and be used it as feast. And it was then that up on the wall, the hand of God came in a wrote on the wall, wrote something that he didn't understand, wrote something that made his knees knocking. And he liked his lost strength. He couldn't do anything. This is bell Shazard and he couldn't do anything. So he began to call for all the magicians, the soothsayers. They couldn't say anything until Daniel was brought forth. And Daniel said, this is what it says many, many tekel who Farson, you've been weighed in the balance you've been found, wanting your kingdom has been weighed and has been found wanting why do I bring that up? 3 (52m 21s): Because I was one kingdom that was on the verge of collapse. You see, they didn't know that that very night, the Euphrates river had been diverted into a marsh and that the Mito Persian empire had entered into where the Euphrates river float. And they captured that city that night as he's feasting and think he's all good. That's the city was sacked and he, and he was killed that the king. And I bring that up because in Luke chapter 11, we find this interesting story that's linked and an interesting story because it's not, we don't understand the con the context to it. Totally. So let's check it out. Luke chapter 11 verses 14 through 23, it says, and he was casting out a demon and it was a mute. 3 (53m 4s): So it was when the demon got gone out that the mute spoke and the multitudes marveled note that note that the multitudes Marvel, but some of them said, he cast out, ruined demons by bells, above the ruler of the demons. Others tested him, sought him for a sign from heaven. But he knowing their thoughts said to him, every kingdom divided itself against itself is brought into desolation and a house divided against itself false. And if Satan is divided gets himself, how will this kingdom stand? Because you say, I cast out demons by bells above. And if I cast out demons by bells above to whom do your sons cast them out, speaking of the Jewish excersice verse 20. 3 (53m 47s): But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus has relating this to the kingdom of Babylon. That was with the finger of God. The writing was on the wall. This is what we don't understand. This is what I've learned this last few weeks about the context around this, every time in the Bible, when Jesus casts out a mute spirit, the crowds Marvel, why do the crowds Marvel so much of this? There were other demons that were exercised. There are Jewish exorcists at the time that would cast out demons and their way of doing it was they had to find out the name of this, of this, of this spirit being, living inside this person. 3 (54m 29s): They would use that name in the incantations in different SANEs and using Proverbs or Psalms to cast this demon out, turn away, wrestle it out. Now Jesus comes on the scene and he is able to cast out the mute spirits. Why is that different? Because no one else could do that. Jesus, didn't say you have to find out the name to then call it out. Jesus has simply simply said, get out. The writing was on the wall that their kingdom, the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of now is being judged with the finger of God. Jesus said, I cast these demons out. So we're living in this already, but not yet. 3 (55m 9s): Jesus has done that, but it's not fully lived out. So then later we see that Jesus talks about, he said, we talked to the father about the will for his kingdom. Your will be done just like it. Isn't heaven. He says, you're a, will he wills in heaven? And it's done in our prayers. We must join with the character of what he wills to do. Even Jesus wrestle with that in the garden. He said, if it is your will take away this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will, but yours. Jesus says not your will, but your, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, the visible and the invisible realms, the kingdoms of this earth, the kingdom of heaven. 3 (55m 52s): These are where God reigns is there. It's a perfect harmony of what happens in heaven to what God wills in heaven. And that's what he's calling us to ask for. For prayer. You see, the more I focus in on those pins in the site, when I'm trying to shoot my archery, the more I focus on those things that are right there, the less I'll hit my target. But when my aim becomes my target and I just look through those things at that lens of the scope, I'll hit my target. We can only focus on one thing. So where is our focus this morning? 3 (56m 33s): Is it on the kingdoms of now? There's the kingdom of heaven, Daniel chapter seven. This is my last and I'm sorry, I'm over time. Dander chapter seven. It says this, this is Daniel's vision. He said, I was watching the night visions one and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him. Then he said to him then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all the peoples nations and languages should serve him. 3 (57m 15s): And his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed. That's why Jesus called himself the son of man in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. If I could summarize this first section of the R of this prayer, I would say this, let, let the Lord be the Lord. Let God be God in our prayers and our, in our will for what happens in around us, let God be, God let's pray. 3 (57m 57s): Laura, the kingdoms of the earth he knows of now are saying themselves against you. Lord. I'm thankful to have your word in front of us. That tells us the beginning from the end. It tells us, tells us that these nations have been judged by the finger of God. And someday you will come down with your full power, not just the finger of God. You will come down with might Lord. And the kingdoms of this earth will crumble and you will set up an everlasting kingdom. Lord, help us to keep our sites, our vision set on that future kingdom of God, Jesus name we pray. Amen. 0 (58m 42s): Please stand with us. what a beautiful name. 0 (59m 30s): 5 (1h 4m 30s): Thank you, Lord, For just the power of the name of Jesus. Thank you for just, just keep us focused on, on the kingdom of heaven. Lord, as we leave here today, I just ask you to just keep the kingdom of heaven in the forefront of our thoughts and our minds, and just the hope that we're aiming for that target Lord. And so I'm just thank you Jesus, for this day. 5 (1h 5m 14s): Thank you for, for what you're doing in our church, in our midst, in our hearts. Lord, I just think right now we should. I think it's, we should recite the Lord's prayer together. I think that's a good way to end the service this morning. So you could actually want to look it up. Ha ha. Cause everybody's got like a different, you know, I feel like growing up Christian, like I ha I, I like meld tons of different translations together. When I say the Lord's prayer. 5 (1h 5m 55s): Anyways, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us. Our sins forgiven you just not into temptation is the kingdom and the glory forever. Amen. Amen. 5 (1h 6m 35s): Thank you church. Thank you all for being here. Please come forward for prayer. Our prayer teams are waiting in discreet locations to pray for your, every need that you want to bring before the father today. So, but we'll see you guys next week. 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