Why should I pray?

0 (1s): Well, good morning. Harvest Church family. How is everybody doing? Good to have some folks in the house this morning and hello to everyone who's watching around campus and at home this morning, if you're able to, why don't you stand with me as we begin this morning, if you're at home, find some worshiping space, Let's just invite the Lord. The Lord's presence this morning. Let's go before him in prayer. God, we just look to you as only as you are our source for the well that never runs dry. So we drink from the well this morning, 1 (45s): Deeply, 0 (47s): God, we pray that you would refreshes renew us, strengthen us, protect us, give us, give us provision Each day for those mercies that are needed. And so we just pray that you would pour out your spirit on your sons and daughters today, as we gather to worship on this campus and all around this County, 40 even others watching all over the world, that tune in it's amazing. We just are so grateful that we get to come and to worship you to spend time in your presence together. 0 (1m 29s): So would you put things giving in our hearts and a song on our lips today? Hang on. Are you in worship today in Jesus name? 1 (1m 38s): 0 (7m 40s): Let's just bring us some thanks and praise this morning and you just want to speak it out of a choir of res. Now we just thank you for your faith in your first . I want to teach you a new song this morning. It's being confident in God's faithfulness 1 (8m 14s): 0 (20m 15s): And you know, there's no pants so deep or dark that your love can't find us. Would you remind us more that we're never alone. You are always with us pray for anyone this morning, that is feeling that sense of loneliness. How would you just scoop them up just in your loving arms, your loving presence, just in such a tangible way that they would sense or how near that you are. You're aware of every circumstance, every care, every concern way on our heart and mind as you know, every pain in our bodies, you know, the very number of the hairs on our head. So what other details would you not know? So remind us again, again, we forget that you never forget us sick, grateful for your presence and how you need us. 0 (21m 9s): We honor you to Jesus, but Church said, Hey man, amen. What does it be a great time to greet your neighbor? If you feel safe doing so say hi to somebody, you can always do an elbow bump or away, but to stay safe, we'll be back in just a few moments with some announcements. 2 (21m 39s): All right, good morning. Church so glad to see you all. Hey, my name is Jeremy. I have to write that on my list. I forget to forget to say my name. My name is Jeremy. I'm the, I'm the youth and family pastor here. So glad you're here. If you're joining with us here in person, just glad to see you all. And if you're joined online so glad that you're, you're, you're taking part in that way. I have a quick story. Quick story. So years ago I used to work at a outdoor shop down in Santa Barbara, and I'm feeling out all the gear and checking out. I grew to really enjoy this, this company, Ark, Terex. I love their jackets. And one day I was working in the shop and, you know, testing out their jackets and I, and I was wearing one around the shop. 2 (22m 24s): I was like, Ooh, I really like the way this jacket feels. It's a good jacket. And a guy came in and he starts asking me, Hey, you looking for a jacket? I'm like, Oh, well these are great jackets. And I tell him why. And he's like, Oh yeah, yeah, I think I'm a large, I'm like, okay, let's go. Let's go to the rack. So we go to the rack and I look small, medium, extra large. And I realize I'm wearing the only large and the tags are stuff from the back. And I, and I, and I, and I was like, well, let me look in the back and see if we have a jacket back there. So I quickly go back there, pull off the large and bring it out to them. And, and I think I threw on an extra large just to make it look like I saw the CA jacket, but he bought the jacket. He loved the jacket. And I, and while I was working there as sales for Arc'teryx actually went up because a lot of customers came in and I convinced them to, you know, pay a little extra money for this jacket. 2 (23m 12s): This is a 15 year old jacket. So they last, and, and the reason I saying that is because I was able to like really to help you about this product, because I believed in it. I really believed in it. And so, because I believe in it, I kind of pass it on. Well, family Church, this is family Church. And I really believe in family. Church I, I love that students are in here with your parents. I grew up at a church where we go to Sunday school together, and then we'd go to our, our different scheduled classes. But we had a church. I grew up worshiping with my father, and it's so important for young kids to see their parents worshiped. So I really believe in that. 2 (23m 53s): So I'm so glad that we have this church that believes the family needs to be together and today's community and Sundays to get to partake in that together. And yes, kids, they can make a little more money, 3 (24m 3s): Boys, all that stuff. And that's okay. That's okay. So it's, 2 (24m 6s): It's all part of just that family we're here together. So I'm glad that you guys are joining us a family Sunday, and we have donuts. You have donuts the breezeway. So it's a good Sunday. Hey, we sent out the giving statements for 2020 this week. If you did not get yours, send us email info at EG Harvest dot org. And we'll make sure to get you the right giving statement for last year. And lastly, lifeline, baby bottle drive it. They're accepting their bottles back this Sunday. And I believe next Monday as well. So if you've been filling up your bottles with change or dollar bills or checks, whatever, they'll, they'll, they'll be here to grab them. 2 (24m 46s): So thanks so much. I'm glad to glad to partake 3 (24m 51s): Family. Send it with y'all. There we go. Grab my coffee. Do you guys get your communion elements already? It's communion. Sunday. We got elements. Yeah, it's good stuff. So there's a, we've got these little crazy little COVID safe communion elements. So make sure you grab that. If you haven't, if you haven't received it and you would like to receive a good and raise your hand and we'll make sure we get them to you, Ron, where you want to pass those things out. As we get ready to go, Hey, we're in second Thessalonians chapter three today, we're going to get through a whole five verses in second Thessalonians, chapter three, we're talking about prayer. Why should I pray. 3 (25m 32s): It's not Why should I pray. So that little girl was in the garden and she was trying to pray, but she didn't really know what to pray. So she just started in kind of this peripheral way, got to go in through her ABCs and her grandmother listed. And she's like, what are you doing? And she said, well, I want to pray, but I don't really know what to pray you ever been there. And so I decided I would just pray my ABCs and God knows me so well that he'll take the ABCs and just make them whatever prayer I need for my life. And so that was her prayer for the, for the day. Isn't that cute? 3 (26m 12s): I think, I think that childlike faith is something that God responds to. I think sometimes we feel like we've got to have all the right words and we've got to say all the right things in order for God to hear us. But the reality is this, that God already knows what we need before we ask. And as we just humbly come before him with broken and contrite hearts and with hearts, not just that are broken a contract, but hearts that are filled with gratitude, with appreciation. And we just come before the Lord and offer up a sacrifice of praise and prayer. 3 (26m 55s): God hears us and he responds. And so with that, let's go ahead and stand up and pray for this service. And, and We'll just, we'll just take a moment. I know that we're online and, and some things won't be heard as we pray in the crowd. So I'm going to just invite you guys to pray for a moment. And just for just a moment, just pray something that's on your heart and just preparation for this message. So whatever venue you're in, if you're at home or if you're in the loft, or if you're on the patio, wherever you might want to might find yourself, let's just, let's just take a moment. 3 (27m 37s): I know this is awkward for people at home who can't hear, but just trust that the Lord's doing something as we pray. So I'm going to pray and then I'm going to just open it up. And then as you feel led, just, just pray for the day, pray for the service, pray for whatever's on your heart. And we're not going to take a long time to do this, but we're just going to take some time. So Lord, we just want to pray. We, we give our hearts to you this morning and in our prayers, God, we declare that our time is yours this morning. And, and we want to be tender before you and available before you. So God help us to learn something today and be able to apply what we've learned in Jesus name. 3 (28m 20s): Thank you, Lord. 1 (28m 29s): I thank you that you bless us, that you keep us providing your love for us father. Even now God, I know the father of the lines in the sand had been drawn. Father. I just thank you, God, that we can come to you and that we can ask you in all things and that God is faithful to deliver us. God has already begun to answer affairs, God, that you are faithful students and God, I just thank you that God, most of all, that you love. 1 (29m 18s): And if you have a purpose for our lives and then our lives are to serve you in Jesus name. I thank you, Lord, Lord Jesus. I just want to ask him to teach us all to put our fears and our cares at the foot of the cross. Lord, let you worry about our situations. So frees us up are unsafe because we know that you love so much. 1 (31m 31s): 3 (33m 30s): Thank you Lord, for the opportunity to pray and offer up our hearts and minds and lives to you in this sweet way. Jesus, I pray that God would just childlike faith, that we would pray always all the days of our lives. Lord God, that we would at be expectant, expecting something as we pray because of the God of the universe is listening and we can actually have great expectations from a great God. 3 (34m 13s): And so Lord, we pray that you would raise, raise our expectations. As we pray to you, you have all resource, you have all power, have all authority. You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And so we can have great expectation because we serve a great God. So I pray God that in our dark moments, when we feel like we don't want to pray that we would pray anyway, God, when we don't feel like we've got anything to say that we would just say, what's in our hearts, Lord God, that we would rest in you, that you know, all things you know our needs before we declare them. 3 (34m 55s): And, and you are faithful. Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. We bless you all over this campus and wherever we're watching online, Lord, we just, we want to bless you Lord. And so I pray that you Lord God would touch each person gathered wherever they're gathered Lord, and you'd have your way and you're accomplish your will today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. You can be seated. You can be seated. Why should I pray. Well, I think it's obvious why we should pray. 3 (35m 36s): I mean, as we just take a moment to pray, 4 (35m 42s): We hear the cry of people's hearts, the gratitude that people expressed, and it's a sweet thing. And if it's sweet to our ears as brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to our Christian family, praise it as if it sweet you our ears, how much more sweet to God's ears. God has never worn out by our prayers. He's just not, he he's got a heart that longs to hear from his kids and we have this great opportunity to, to communicate our hearts to him. Let's jump into second Thessalonians, chapter three and 3 (36m 21s): Paul, 4 (36m 22s): The first word in chapter one or chapter three verse one is finally Paul uses that, that terminology, that word, because the main issue of the letters already been dealt with the issue concerning the confusion regarding the second coming of Christ. So he says, finally, not that not 3 (36m 40s): Because he's done, but because 4 (36m 43s): The main issue that he wrote the letter for has been accomplished. We've been talking about last couple of weeks, the second coming of Christ. We've been talking about the rapture, the second coming. And so Paul saying finally, finally, because all of that's already been handled, your brothers and sisters verse one says, we ask you to pray for us. 3 (37m 3s): Okay? 4 (37m 3s): Many he's got some specific things that he wants the church to pray for him. And I think there are timeless things that we can always be praying for. Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us, pray that the Lord's message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes. That the message is literally the terminology means that the message was speed ahead, that it would move forward and that it would have the effect that it's meant to have. That the people who hear the message would hear it 3 (37m 34s): And believe it, they would hear it, receive it and believe it. And so that's what Paul's prayer. 4 (37m 40s): There is four. So maybe we've got, you got somebody in your life that you've been praying for for a long time. Diane prayed that our unsaved loved ones would come to know Jesus. I know she's been praying that prayer for a years, for people in her family for decades probably. 3 (37m 55s): And that's it that all 4 (37m 60s): And with the early Church, as people got a passion in their heart for the loss, those who don't know Jesus yet, when we say the loss, we mean those who don't know Jesus, 3 (38m 11s): Jesus 4 (38m 12s): Has put something in our hearts to pray, to participate in that salvation work by praying for them. So Paul says pray that the Lord's message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes just as when it came to you. So that can be your prayer. So this Church received the gospel message that Paul proclaimed, and now he's asking them to remember the message and pray that as it's proclaimed further, that it's believed the way it was believed when they believed it. You remember when you first believed the message, the gospel. I remember, I remember when it finally hit home with my soul. I mean, like I had heard it before. There's one thing to hear it, right? It's, there's another thing to hear it. 4 (38m 54s): Like when it is driven home to your soul and all of a sudden you just know that that message is true and, and you receive it. I, I remember just being 3 (39m 5s): Broken, crying with 4 (39m 10s): W a couple of things were, a lot of things were going on in my soul. I was a junior higher and we were at a camp. And I remember when I was broken with the gospel, I was broken with the reality that God loves me because I certainly didn't deserve it and don't deserve it, Thomas. So just so grateful, but also at the reality of, of my family and how much my family needed Jesus. And I wanted them to understand him the way that I was beginning to understand him as a, as a young person, I was beginning to understand that the gravity of his love and the gravity of a sacrifice for me, that I might come to faith in him. And that's what Paul Paul had this same experience. He had the same experience. He was a very devout religious person, but he hadn't heard the message. 4 (39m 51s): He had probably heard the message, but he didn't hear it. He didn't hear it until God revealed it to him and just this profound way. 3 (39m 59s): And then he heard it and then 4 (40m 1s): It wrecked his life for good. I mean, like all of his previous pursuits were done with, he was done pursuing the things that he had been pursuing. And then now he was pursuing Jesus. This is, this is the heart that we have the capacity. This is the way that we can pray for people in our lives. Paul Paul is addressing, I love Paul's tenderness with all of the stuff that he was exposed to and experienced as an apostle. It would have been easy for Paul to become either proud because of his great 3 (40m 37s): Backed or Harvest 4 (40m 43s): Partly because of all of his persecution, He could have become anything, but what he did become. And he became just this, this tender man, it seemed like the more that the difficulties in Paul's life, the more tender he became. 3 (41m 1s): And I, I think 4 (41m 4s): That can be the reality for our lives as well. We can become more tender as we experience persecution, difficulty challenge. And then out of that tenderness, we can learn to pray differently. And so we're not just praying out of our heads out of our understanding, but we're praying out of our souls from our hearts, praying that that God would work in a new and a profound way. So Paul is addressing the family of God with tenderness and gentleness, inviting them to pray for him. And then for the fruitfulness of the gospel, do you ever have a hard time praying? I do. At times I find like, I, I sometimes I just don't know what to say. 4 (41m 44s): There are times when it's difficult to pray, 3 (41m 48s): But 4 (41m 49s): In those moments, I feel like God's wanting to do something that is beyond our expectations. There's something profound that happens when we press through and pray. Even when we don't feel like it, we battle not against flesh and blood enemies, but we have this spiritual battle that we're a part of an Inn. And the enemy wants to keep us from praying. He wants to keep us from pressing in, but when we press in, when we press in and we'll be praying in spite of how we feel, God just begins to do something. First of all, our mind changes our attitudes change. Our heart changes. Everything begins to transform when we invite God into it, because that's essentially what we're doing. 4 (42m 30s): Prayer is just inviting God into our lives, into our circumstance. We're saying, God, I invite you. Please come into my life. I'm in my, into my temptation, into my fear, into my anxiety, my doubt, my relationship, whatever it may be, Lord, come into it. That's what prayer does. It invites God. And when we pray in any way, when we don't feel like praying, God does wonderful and profound things, supernatural things. I think that's the way he works in our lives. When we're in a bad season, a difficult season where you can be sure that God's just about to do something that will cause us to turn the corner. He's just about to bring something that will encourage us. If we'll just hang in. Often our faith is tested. 4 (43m 12s): Well, what we hang in when we don't feel like hanging in what we pray, when we don't feel like praying, I promise this, that God is faithful and he hears us. And if we'll just hang in there and pray, I remember praying for family members for decades, some family members I'm still praying for, for 3 (43m 31s): Decades like 30, 40 years, 4 (43m 37s): Praying for family members. And we're watching them one by one by one. Sometimes whole families come to faith 3 (43m 45s): And they're still 4 (43m 46s): Some on the outskirts that we're praying in the kingdom. We're praying them in the kingdom. But for a lot of my, my grandparents and aunts and uncles, before they died, they gave their life to Jesus. And we're believing the same thing 3 (44m 1s): For cousins and siblings and all of the above. There are times when it's difficult to pray, pray anyway, watch what the Lord will do. Watch what the Lord will do. There are times when you don't want to pray. I would just 4 (44m 20s): Ask you in those times to ask God for renewed, renewed desire to pray. And I find that when we pray anyway, when we don't feel like praying, God begins to stir us. And we remember the things that we need pray for. There are times 3 (44m 33s): When you feel you're all prayed out. Like Lord, I had been praying for this person for this situation, for this circumstance. I've been praying forever. There's there's a time when it's time just to rest in the Lord and believe that he's heard your prayers. I remember my mother-in-law's had been praying for her parents for years forever. And at one point, the Lord said, it's okay. You don't need to pray anymore. The work's done. And the truth was that both of them gave their lives to Jesus before they died. I'd been praying for them for years. And then the Lord said, it's, it's done. And so she was able to just rest and believe that he had heard her prayers and it was made obvious later on when he saved their lives and added them to the kingdom. 3 (45m 23s): Max Lucado said, our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble, but since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference. W we think it's all up to us sometimes. Like, I can't get the words, right? Lord, just pray your hearts and watch what the Lord he knows what's going on in your soul and in your lives and your circumstances. First, John, five, 14 and son on the slides. But it says this, and this is the confidence that we have toward him. That if we ask anything, according to his, will he hears, we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 3 (46m 4s): I prayed plenty of things. It didn't come to pass. And I just had to realize that it wasn't his timing, or it wasn't as well. And, and, and I have to be okay with that. And, and the reality is, is that when, when, when you want to please the Lord, you don't want anything. That's not his will anyway. You just don't want it because it's just going to Jack you up. It's going to confuse you or cause your heart to go in the wrong direction. It's going to it's it's, it's just not what God has for you. And when, when we are submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, that's okay. That w cause he knows all things. We, we don't understand the, the, the future and what he's got in store for us clearly. So when he says no, or he doesn't answer, we just have to rest in that and be okay with that. 3 (46m 49s): Why should I pray. Number one, our prayers are heard by God. Our prayers are heard by God amazing. He's the King of all Kings. He's the Lord of all Lord. He's the president of all presidents, right? He's above all things. He's before all things he's created all things. He sustains all things. He is, he is in all things. Our prayers are heard by the King of Kings. Our prayers are heard by God. So let's do this. I want you to say this, make it personal. Say my prayers are heard by God. Yeah. My prayers are heard by God, Psalm one 16 one, and two says this. 3 (47m 34s): I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy because he bends down to listen. I will pray as long as I have breath that just a beautiful picture. God bending down to listen. My daughter's praying. What is she saying? My son he's praying. What is, what is his need? He bends down. I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy because he bends down to listen. I will pray as long as I have breath. I think that's God's design is that we'd pray. 3 (48m 17s): As long as we have breath that we pray without ceasing, that we would never stop praying. And that as we pray, we have confidence knowing that God hears us, that he hears us. What's what's on your prayer list. It's new year new opportunity for making a prayer list. What, so what is on your prayer list and then who, who is on your prayer list and what should we, we pray about? What should we pray about? So we have a new president. We can pray for our new president. It's our responsibility to pray for a new president. 3 (48m 57s): Amen. I just had that realization a couple of days ago, and I been praying for our leaders for a long time. But as I was thinking about president byte and I thought I got to pray for that guy. I'm just going to pray for him. Pray for him. Amen. Pray for him. And then as a church we've got work to do as a church. So we can pray for our effectiveness. Like Paul said, Hey, pray for the gospel. That it would speed ahead that it would have impact in that it would be believed even as we have believed it, we have a divided nation. We need to be praying for unity in our nation. Only God knows what that looks like. You know, people who need Jesus, we need to pray for their salvation. 3 (49m 40s): You know, people who are sick, we need to be praying for them. There's never a shortage of things to be praying for the best kind of prayer, the best kind of prayer. The very best kind of prayer is when we're not asking for anything, it's adoration prayers. And we're just in the presence of the Lord. Not because we need anything, but because we adore him, it's a strange concept for some, but we're called to this relationship whereby we call God our ABA father. And so we are in this suite and this is tough to grasp for those of us who didn't have a great relationship with our earthly fathers. 3 (50m 23s): It takes some work for us to get there because we feel awkward about this ABA father. But yeah, 4 (50m 32s): And we begin to get the intimacy and understand the intimacy. And for some of us, that's difficult for us to understand the intimacy with God because we've been burned by relationships. We don't understand intimacy when it comes to God, it's been that terminology. You've been perverted, been perverted in our hearts and minds. And so we don't understand intimacy. We're uncomfortable with it. But if we understand that the relationship that Jesus had with his father, it's a relationship that we too can have with our father. He often would get away to be with the father and he would just be in connection with the father being infused with the power of the father and with the love of the father. He would just be with the father. 4 (51m 13s): And so the best kind of prayer, 3 (51m 15s): Not prayers for a things, but prayer 4 (51m 17s): That are filled with gratitude, love, prayers, prayers of adoration. 3 (51m 24s): It takes them some practice 4 (51m 28s): If you will, to pray like that because it's so contrary to our typical prayers, Lord, we typically pray, Lord, help me with this heal. This person, save this person. And we have a shopping list and the God's okay with all of that stuff. 3 (51m 46s): He's 4 (51m 46s): Okay with that shopping list. But he also longs for us 3 (51m 51s): To just have intimate connection with him. It's like just hanging out with your best friend and just kind of 4 (51m 59s): Having conversation. And you're not asking that person for anything, but you're just enjoying your laughing together. Just enjoying time together. It's just, there's, there's a connection that takes place. And it, it moves God off of the to-do list and into the enjoy less like I'm just going to enjoy some time with God. He's not, he's not just on my to-do list where I'm just checking a box, but I'm enjoying him for some reason. I, I I've got this new phone, right 3 (52m 23s): Appreciation. So why 4 (52m 29s): Should we pray? Well, God hears us. We 3 (52m 30s): Need to pray. We need to pray praise, prayers and thing, prayers, both praise, 4 (52m 37s): Adoration, thankfulness, but then also thing price as well. And Paul asked us to pray for a few things. Paul asked the church that they would pray for him 3 (52m 46s): Thing prayers for the 4 (52m 48s): Fruitfulness of the gospel message that the gospel message was spread rapidly and believed. And then what else did Paul asked for first to pray to that? We will be rescued from wicked and evil people for not everyone is a believer 3 (53m 2s): Pray 4 (53m 3s): Too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people for not everyone is a believer. So Paul saying, Hey, not everybody agrees with us. And so we need to pray for those people who might try to persecute us pray that we are rescued from wicked and evil people. Prayer works. Our prayers are heard by God. Number one, number two, our prayers invite God's protection. And as we opened the service this morning, at least in the sanctuary, we heard prayers of protection, inviting God's protection. We say, God protect us. Guide us, direct us, help us. Paul was rescued many times throughout his life, many, many times. 4 (53m 44s): And I think it's because of prayer because everywhere Paul went, Paul was asking for prayer. He was always asking people to pray in acts 27. He was shipwrecked. Remember that Paul was shipwrecked. And what did he do? He's swam to safety that the captain of the boats wanted to kill all the prisoners because Paul was a prisoner, but they instead just let him swim to shore. Paul swam to safety. And while he was there, he was cold on the shore there. And while he was cold, he decided to build a fire. So he's gathering sticks and a snake latches onto him. Remember that acts chapter 28 was the snake lashes onto him. It's a Viper, it's a deadly poisonous snake. And what does, what does Paul do? 4 (54m 25s): He shakes it off right shake. And everybody's waiting for him to swell up and die, right? And when he didn't swell up and die, what did they think then? Oh, he must be a God. Paul is a God. And so God used that to open up doors for him to minister to others. And then instead of dying, like you should have died when a snake bit, a hold of him got ahold of him instead of dying, God saved his life so that he could pray for healing and pray for, I pray for grace and mercy upon others, there was just this powerful, profound thing that God wanted to do in Paul's life. And so he kept him safe in prison for his faith in Rome, his enemies wanted him executed. 4 (55m 6s): They said, let's just kill him. But Paul lived to see another day. Why? Because God protected him. He lived to see many more days and he continued to preach the gospel. Paul always asked for prayer. What was the last time you asked her prayer? I think it's okay for us to ask for prayer. I think it's even, God's designed as part of the fellowship that we enjoy as, as brothers and sisters in Christ, that we would be available to one another. Pray. This is what Paul prayed and asked people to pray for. In Romans 1530, dear brothers and sisters. I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying, join in my struggle by praying to God for me do this because of your love for me given to you by the Holy spirit. 4 (55m 52s): So Paul is saying, Hey, I'm in the midst of a battle. I'm proclaiming the gospel. I'm spreading the gospel, the love of Christ to everywhere I go. Would you join in my struggle? You know, we often wonder what can we do for missionaries who are abroad and what can we do for people who are serving on the front lines of ministry? We can join in the struggle by praying for them. So we have missionaries really scattered all throughout the world. We've got opportunity to join in the struggle. Believe me, there's struggle is we have people ministry in the middle East and, and all over in Southern CA in, in, in Mexico. And in Greenland, we've got people ministering all over the place and we have an opportunity to join in the struggle. So Paul said, join, please join me in my struggle by praying for me, Ephesians six 19, he says, and pray for me to ask God to give me the right words, ask God to give me the right words. 4 (56m 43s): So I can boldly explain God's mysterious plan. That the good news is for the Jews and Gentiles alike. So as he was proclaiming, Paul writes United his need for the right words. And he knew that if people pray that God would give him the right words, do you think Paul believed in prayer? Absolutely. This is not some religious exercise for Paul. This is out of desperation that Paul is asking people to pray. He's saying, join me in my struggle. I pray that God gives me the right words. Ephesians six 20 says, I'm in chains now still preaching this message just God's ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly. He's in chains. What's the temptation that he would with her, that he would just give up. 4 (57m 27s): You can't tell me that wasn't a temptation. He's being beaten, imprisoned. He's been shipwrecked. He's been snake bitten. He's been, he's kind of, you might be worn down at different times in his life. So he's praying, praying that he would continue to speak boldly. We can join in the struggle and pray for God to get people the right words and that that those people would continue to speak. And then, then we could pray for ourselves. God, would you give me the right words as I'm encountering people at work or people at school, would you give me the right word so that I might speak boldly for you? We can have all of the right eloquent words, but if, if God's not speaking through us, the right eloquent words won't have the impact, but simplistic words, simple words of love. 4 (58m 18s): And grace will communicate deeply to people's souls because we pray, Lord, I don't know what to say to this person, but you do. Would you help me? God will speak through us Philippians one 19 for, I know that you, that as you pray for me and the spirit of Jesus Christ helps me. This will lead to my deliverance. Pray as you pray for me. And the spirit of Jesus Christ helps me. This will lead to my deliverance. Paul was often asking people to pray for him. Oswald chambers said this. We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties that will raise our level of faith right there. 4 (59m 3s): If we just decide, I'm praying with my eyes on God, not on the difficulties. And we need to pray with a new level of faith, believing that God is abled capable, strong, our prayers invite God's protection. Have you asked 3 (59m 22s): People to pray for you lately? And have you been faithful to pray for others? Paul asked others to pray for him and he prayed for others. And this gave him confidence in the faithfulness of God. Number one, our prayers are heard by God. Number two, our prayers invite God's protection. And number three, our prayers give us confidence in God's faithfulness. Our prayers give us confidence in God's faithfulness. Paul wrote this in verse three, he said, but the Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4 (59m 57s): And the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. Paul saying this with confidence and the Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. You can't know that this is true without a prayer life. You can't have this. You can't speak this kind of statement with confidence, unless you have a prayer life. You can't know of the faithfulness of God without a prayer life. You just can't know of the faithfulness of God, unless you are praying and praying regularly 3 (1h 0m 24s): Early and making it part of your regular, your time with the Lord praying you can't know of the faithfulness of God without a prayer life. Paul was built up at a fight in his most Holy faith because of his prayer life that gave him faith in God's faithfulness. 4 (1h 0m 42s): And he was able to proclaim that truth 3 (1h 0m 44s): Because we don't live our Christianity in a bubble where we're meant to actually as iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another. So one woman sharpens another. So we have this responsibility to strengthen one another. 4 (1h 0m 55s): We can't speak with confidence and with faith encouragement about God's faithfulness, unless we have experienced it. And we need to be able to speak that to people's lives. 3 (1h 1m 7s): God is faithful. You can't have confidence that God will strengthen and guard you unless you are praying. 4 (1h 1m 15s): There's there's confidence that comes and it's not an arrogance. It's just a knowing. It's just a knowing God's God's faithful. He will strengthen, strengthen and guard us. God is faithful. 3 (1h 1m 29s): We'll take care of us. Verse four. And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing, and we'll continue to do the things we commanded you. So Paul spoke some commands to them, some things that they should be doing, and he had confidence that they were doing those things. And then verse five, our last verse this morning, he says, may the Lord leads your hearts into full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ? Not just a, a great prayer. I want that to be my prayer. Lord, may you lead me my heart into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. 3 (1h 2m 25s): As we read verses like this, and we make them personal, they begin to speak to us. Let's do that together. May the Lord 1 (1h 2m 33s): Lead me? 3 (1h 2m 35s): Lord, may you lead me so that my heart is it's full of understanding God that I, that I might be the expression of the love of God with all patient endurance that comes from Christ 1 (1h 2m 56s): Why 3 (1h 2m 56s): Oh, I should we pray? I pray. We pray because it takes us to a new level spiritually. Some of us have been dry spiritually. And if you don't know how to pray, I would just encourage you to pray the scripture, just open up the scripture and just begin to pray the scripture, just like we did there. I'll read it again. May the Lord leads your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient Durance that comes from Christ is the verse. Let's put the verse up there. Let's just practice. And you guys all read that and see that. And it kind of in your own mind, in your own heart, just make that a personal prayer to the Lord. Pray that verse. I'm just going to do it out loud again. 3 (1h 3m 36s): No, you do it. Don't listen for me. I'm not going to do it out loud. Actually. I knew as soon as I said, I was going to do it out loud, you guys wouldn't listen, do it, do what you're supposed to do. Do you, do you do it? I'll do it quietly as well. That, that verse that we may just gloss over it just, we just got some roots to it in our soul right now. It's like personal. There's something person. When we pray the scripture, it takes on new life. 3 (1h 4m 17s): It's like, it just, it takes root in our lives. And now we get almost just without even looking at the verse, recite that prayer. We get almost make that our own prayer. Now, as we move forward throughout the balance of this day, there's something deep that takes place. When we do that, why should we pray? Our prayers are heard by God. Even in that little exercise, God heard that our prayers invite God's protection and our prayers give us confidence in God's faithfulness. 3 (1h 4m 60s): We're going to take communion now. And so, as we transition about our conversation about prayer, we're gonna, we're gonna take communion and remember why it is that we have access to God. 5 (1h 5m 18s): We have access to God because Jesus died on the cross. He took the penalty for, for my sins, my penalty. He took that upon himself and gave me access to God, Mark 1422 through 25. And this is the institution of the Lord's prayer. As they were eating, as they were eating, he took bread and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them and said, take, this is my body. Let's go ahead and take the bread. 5 (1h 6m 7s): Thank you, Lord. Thank you God. For the incarnation, you became man to pay the penalty for man's sin so that we might have forgiveness and eternal life in you. Thank you Lord. For the reality of that sacrifice on that cross calibrate 2000 years ago, thank you that you instituted the Lord's supper and then went to the cross, any took a cup. 5 (1h 6m 49s): And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they drank and they all drank of it. And he said to them, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many truly. I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drank it, I knew the kingdom of God. Let's take the cup. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord God. I pray that we wouldn't be refreshed in our souls as we take communion. 5 (1h 7m 30s): And I pray that if there's any sin in us that needs to be confessed, that we would do that. Or I probably should have done that before communion, but we do it. Now we can do it. Now. I pray that the, the, the truth of your grace and your faithfulness, Lord would draw us close to you. For those of us who have been maybe feeling distant from you, or like we haven't been with you lately, Lord, I pray that you would restore our confidence. The fact that you love us and that your grace is sufficient. Thank you, Lord. Your grace is sufficient. Lord. 5 (1h 8m 11s): Thank you, Lord. Pray for those who are listening. Who've never accepted that. Grace. I pray that they would accept that grace Has given because the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of God's glorious standard. The Bible says for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. 1 (1h 8m 37s): So Jesus died on our behalf and has given us life for those who are 5 (1h 8m 42s): We'll receive it. So Lord, we want to receive it a fresh today. And if you're here and you've never received it, you just simply say, Lord, I receive your sacrificial work on the cross. I receive your grace, your mercy, your love. I give my life to 1 (1h 8m 56s): You. Bible says, 5 (1h 8m 58s): If you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and you believe in your heart, that God has raised him from the dead. You will be saved. So Lord, we, we believe we confess that we do believe Lord, and we want salvation. We need salvation and we need it by grace. Not because we're good, but because you're here, 1 (1h 9m 14s): Lord, thank you Lord for this time. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for renewed faith. Thank you that you hear our prayers. Lord, thank you that you heard our prayers. We love you Lord in Jesus name, amen. Let's stand and worship together. 1 (1h 9m 47s): 0 (1h 20m 4s): And I just really feel like there's so many who need to receive that message from your hearts this morning, where the enemy is trying to bring discouragements and Remind you of his promises that he works. All things Are morning at the DMC. Pray that those hearts that are hurting today, we just, just evidence of your goodness, this week, evidence of your mercy, following us through our day. Not that David just sense, Lord, that everything is under your control. There's nothing out of your sight. 0 (1h 20m 44s): So would you keep us safe until we gather here together again, one of the salt and light to all the earth, we share the love of Jesus with everyone 1 (1h 20m 53s): That we can make contact with this week, 0 (1h 20m 55s): They would know we're Christians by our love. 1 (1h 20m 57s): 0 (1h 22m 55s): So much for that word. There's anyone this morning, Alexa, if any of those things are just been stirring in your heart and you're like, Oh man, it's like the Lord's talking to me this morning. We to provide prayer 1 (1h 23m 6s): Service today. So don't hesitate to come on forward. 5 (1h 23m 30s): He was gay. It was first person. He was, he was, he was saying, come on to the Lord. And so, yeah, you don't want to go to Doug, but, but he isn't, it's an affirmation and encouragement to go before the Lord and not be afraid. Again, it's a little awkward because not everybody can hear us, but give an opportunity. One more. Anybody else have a word that, that they want to share expectation a prayer or anything. Before we wrap up one more. If we've got time, we've got it. 1 (1h 24m 2s): 5 (1h 24m 11s): So Lord, we love you. And we know that you're working in us, you're speaking to us and, and I pray God that we would be, we would be people with ears to hear Lord God that we wouldn't be afraid. Not given us a spirit. Thank you Lord. So God do what you're going to do in us and with us and through us, we pray. We submit to you 1 (1h 24m 36s): Jesus' name. Amen.