I Pray For You

[0:00] Well, it's good to see all of you this morning. Open up, if you would, with me please, to Colossians chapter 1.

[0:12] This is the second week of our series working through this letter to the Colossian church. If you're using the Pew Bible in front of you, it's on page 983.

[0:24] Colossians chapter 1. We're going to begin in verse 9 this morning. Those of you who've been here for any length of time will know that I tend not to address contemporary things that are happening.

[0:41] I just want to make it about the Lord and about His Word. But it's filling up the news cycle. I'm sure you've been bombarded with it this week. Wherever you turn on the media and the news and the radio, wherever you go, you're hearing about this.

[0:57] Maybe there's a response in your own heart to this. And I just want to address the Charlie Kirk assassination. And I want to help us to see how the passage this morning that we're going to be dealing with helps to inform our hearts on how we, as believers, should respond.

[1:17] Those of you who may be like, ah, who is Charlie Kirk? I don't even know who Charlie Kirk is. Let me just give you a quick introduction. Well, he's the founder of ministry called Turning Point USA.

[1:30] It was his goal to empower young people to be able to think conservatively and understand Christian values. He had a daily radio show and podcast.

[1:41] And he was able to deal with contemporary issues from a Christian standpoint. He would go to often target universities and colleges. And he would go to those campuses.

[1:53] And he would have little forums where somebody could come to the mic and either ask a question or debate him on a contemporary issue. And Charlie Kirk would enter into that and provide some answers from the scripture and even from culture to help address those questions about contemporary issues.

[2:10] He was, however, a committed Christian. And I know what the media wants to draw a lot of attention to is that he was a political activist.

[2:22] And that may be true in some respect. But he was a committed Christian. Just a couple of months ago, there was an interview that took place where he answered this question.

[2:33] The interviewer said, Charlie, how do you want to be remembered? And Charlie answered that question saying, I want to be remembered for my courage and my faith.

[2:44] But that would be the most important thing. The most important thing, he says, and this is in quotes, is my faith. He said he gave his life to Christ when he was in fifth grade.

[2:56] He said that while he didn't really understand all that that meant, that God continued to develop this understanding of the gospel in his own heart. And he came to a place of recognizing that he was a, and these are his words, quote, a total, absolute sinner who fell short of God's grace, end quote.

[3:15] In addressing sin, he said it's actually a great comfort to know in total depravity. It's a great comfort to me that there is nothing in my heart that is worthy of salvation.

[3:28] And it's only due, only owing to God's grace in my life. He believed that Jesus' death on the cross paid the price for his sin. He believed that it was not about personal merit, these are his words, but about being rescued by God's grace.

[3:46] He believed that Jesus Christ was God in human flesh, who taught us to live and how to offer himself as a gift of salvation. Those who accept him as Lord and Savior can have eternal life, end quote.

[3:59] Those are his words. And by the way, in this moment right now, if you do not know Jesus as your Savior, and you have come to a place of recognizing that there are things in your life that are out of sync, out of step, that the Bible calls that sin, and by the way, you're in good company because everybody in this room has fallen short of the glory of God.

[4:24] We have all not met God's standard, but there is a way of salvation, an offer of salvation that comes through faith in Jesus in asking forgiveness for our sins, believing that he is the only way that we can enjoy forgiveness and cleansing is what we're going to look in our passage today, that he is the means of redemption, the forgiveness of sins because of his grace and his grace alone.

[4:48] That's how salvation happens. And that's what Charlie wanted the world to know. Now you can imagine there are a number of responses that have happened because of the events of this past week.

[5:02] On one side there is glee. They're giddy. You might say they're even dancing in the streets. A sense of relief that Charlie is dead. A sense of joy that finally the voice has been silenced.

[5:16] On the other side there's a range of responses from those who are simply devastated and confused to those who are full of rage.

[5:27] You are seething. Maybe even some of you in this room, and by the way, I've had to check my heart this week because, man, I'm angry. I want to be angry. And maybe we feel like in some way this is the inevitable conclusion for a society that's moving in the direction of rejecting God.

[5:47] And so, in large degree, you're right. But it causes us to answer the question, what are we to do? How are we to respond? What is to be the reaction of those who call themselves followers of Jesus, who have given their life to God?

[6:06] What are we to do? Well, we need to start by remembering five truths, okay? And this, by the way, is going to be our message in a nutshell, and then we'll get to the passage, okay?

[6:18] We'll talk about the passage. We'll generalize these things, and then we'll talk about the specifics as we get into our message this morning. The first thing that we need to understand is that as bad as things are, as hostile as our world seems to be, as aggressive and as wicked as our world tends to be, and we see it, we feel the darkness, we feel like our world is crashing in on us, we have to remember, as bad as it is right now, it isn't even close, not even close to as bad as it was when the Apostle Paul wrote this letter.

[7:03] Not even close. You remember where Paul is? Where is Paul when he writes this letter to the church of Colossae? He's in prison. He's in prison. In Rome.

[7:14] And wherever the Apostle Paul goes, he gets run out of town. He's either beaten with rods, he's stoned, and to the point of death, they think he's dead, the mobs are riled up, and injustice is being done, and we're going to see this in our passage today.

[7:33] What is the heart of the Apostle Paul? What do we see? It's incredible. His perspective was not anchored to culture. His perspective was tethered to God.

[7:47] That gave him stability. And by the way, it can give all of us in this room stability. It's not as bad today as it was then.

[7:58] But even if it were, it doesn't matter. Second truth. What stabilized Paul was not winning arguments.

[8:09] What stabilized Paul was not winning arguments. Not fighting for justice. Not bringing the force of human power to bear on the situation.

[8:23] But in depending on something much greater, by the way, uncontested power. That's what we're going to see in our passage today.

[8:34] Unrivaled, uncontested, unstoppable power of God that we have access to. And if you are a believer today, is living within you through the Spirit.

[8:48] Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 10, 3-4. He says this, For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

[9:00] Can we show that verse, please, Larry? If we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

[9:20] Did you get that? There is divine power that you have access to. So what are we doing? Chasing the weak, ineffective strategies of the world.

[9:36] Stop playing their games. Stop dipping in to fleshly, carnal weapons and strategies. Access divine strength.

[9:49] Stop using their tactics. There is no wonder why we keep losing ground. Because strength comes from God. Not from your ability to win an argument.

[10:01] Not in your ability to be able to put somebody in their place. Not in your ability to outdazzle somebody with your intellectual capability. It comes in the power of God to change a mind and change a heart.

[10:16] Stop depending on human, carnal tactics. Number three. Third. The opposition that we face is not primarily physical, but spiritual.

[10:32] We're not fighting against people or shooters or assassinators or people in government who we don't agree with. Lawmakers.

[10:43] You fill in the blank. That is not our fight. Our fight is not in the flesh. Our fight is a spiritual one. That's what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6. He says, Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

[10:57] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

[11:11] There is no wonder why we keep losing because the target of our battle tends to be physical rather than spiritual.

[11:24] So there's no wonder why we fight with physical weapons because we think we're fighting a physical battle. We are in a war, but it has nothing to do with physicality.

[11:35] It has everything to do with God. And so we fight the spiritual battle not by doing it in our own strength, but by calling attention to God and inviting God, asking God, pleading with God to work in a situation.

[11:51] Fourth, God's rescue plan for transforming the world is not political activism. It's not winning arguments.

[12:04] God's plan for changing the world is God's church. God's church that takes God's word to the people of this world.

[12:16] And it starts with us, by the way, and us being transformed by that very word and so that we can begin to do what Christ calls us to do in Matthew chapter 5 when he says this, you are the salt of the earth.

[12:32] But if the salt of the earth loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything. You might say, it is good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

[12:45] You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

[12:56] God has called the church to an incredible mission of transforming the world not with power of us but with a message.

[13:11] A message of the gospel that has transformed us first. Unfortunately, we tend to be as much of the problem as our world is. Our words do not reflect the heart of God that what we learn about Jesus, he was full of truth and grace that when people hear us and when we speak there might be a lot of truth there but there's not a whole lot of grace and so they can't see Jesus in our life because we're not reflecting Jesus' heart.

[13:42] And then in our private lives, we tend to be just as bound by lust, just as bound by impurity, just as bound by bitterness, just as bound by anger and unforgiveness.

[14:00] We, we haven't risen above the world. We are living in it and there's almost no difference except for the fact that we come to church on Sunday and maybe some of the words we use don't use profanity but other than that, our tactics at work and our lifestyle and deep down inside, we have the same, we're bound in the same way our world is bound.

[14:24] so it essentially takes away any opportunity for us to speak into a world when our own lives are just as broken. So, what can we do?

[14:41] And that's why we come to this passage today. We come to this passage because Paul is offering to us a strategy, a way for us to begin this process personally and corporately to begin to change ourselves or allow change, I should say, to be very careful, to allow God to change us first and allow that word to transform the people around us and then as that word begins to grow in us, then transformation will begin to happen.

[15:13] So, what stabilized the Apostle Paul? Well, let me just read a couple of these verses and I want you to see what seems to stabilize the Apostle Paul.

[15:24] What is the mark of his language throughout these first several verses? Notice, Colossians 1, 3, he says, we always thank God for you. God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you.

[15:42] And then in verse 9 he says, and so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

[15:52] Now, verse 12, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. What do you hear from him? What do you hear coming from the Apostle Paul?

[16:05] I'll tell you what you don't hear. What you don't hear is, oh, woe is me. Huh. I'm in prison again. I'm all alone. I'm just scraping by.

[16:16] Nobody cares about me. I can't earn a living. Nights are cold. These shackles keep chafing at my hands and feet. I didn't do anything to deserve this.

[16:27] There is no justice in this world. If we could just change the government then everything would be fine. No, you don't hear that because that's not Paul's perspective. Instead, you hear this.

[16:41] We are so grateful for you. We're so grateful for you. We pray for you all the time.

[16:53] I want to commend your faith in Christ Jesus. I want to commend your love for all the saints. I want to commend that your hope is not in this world and the situation, the circumstances of this life.

[17:05] Your hope is in heaven. It's removed. It's outside. And so, we're asking, my team, myself, we're praying for you. We're praying that as the word of God is spreading that you would pay attention to that.

[17:22] Let the power of the ineffectiveness of the word of God, the perspective that God is working, let that settle your heart. That it is bearing fruit.

[17:33] That it is increasing. When you see what God is doing in spite of the culture, Lord, that that should lift your spirits and help you to grow in faith, we ask that you would bear fruit as well.

[17:49] That God's power would capture you and energize you and strengthen you. And that all this would lead to your own hearts being overcome by God's abundant goodness.

[18:01] That it would gush forth like rivers, like geysers, exploding. This thanksgiving is erupting from within you because you see what God is doing.

[18:12] And that gratitude and joy and endurance would mark your life. Oh, that you would grow in knowledge and intimacy with the creator of the universe.

[18:25] And that the experience would stabilize you in this life. In spite of darkness, and when you would reflect your hope in heaven, in your current position of having been transferred into the kingdom of light.

[18:41] Oh, that you would live in the light, dear ones. That's this passage in my words. That's his prayer.

[18:53] That's what we hear. And that so often is not reflective or representative of what's in our own hearts. But that's how Paul inspires faith.

[19:04] That's how Paul's message is reinforced by personal conviction. What makes his words convincing is that he's not bogged down.

[19:16] He's not discouraged. He's not in despair. He's not throwing up his arms. Like, what in the world do we do now? He has come to terms with the fact that God is over this, that God is working in spite of this, and God's plan is going to move forward regardless of all of the seeming obstacles and tragedies that are taking place in Paul's life.

[19:39] Instead of being bogged down and cranky and frustrated, he's free. Paul is free. Don't you want to be free?

[19:52] Don't you want to enjoy the freedom of faith and trusting in God? See, he's positive because his outlook is propelled by a perspective that is not anchored to circumstances.

[20:13] He's doing what we find in the middle of this letter in Colossians chapter 3 where he sets his mind on things above. If Christ is above all and over all, and in verse 15 through the remainder of the chapter, we're going to get there next week, Christ is above all.

[20:34] Whether it's thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, that God is over it. He's over the physical. He's over the spiritual. He's over heaven. He's over earth.

[20:44] He's over it all. He's in control. You can trust him. He's not letting go. His plans are not failing. No wonder why the Apostle Paul is so free.

[21:00] And I think everyone in this room wants that. I think you want that. I sure do. I want that. Well, guess what? You can have it. It's not elusive.

[21:13] It's not out of your reach. And what we're going to see in this passage this morning is that God will offer that to us through his son, through faith in Jesus.

[21:26] It's available. And so I just want to, I want to pray that God will do that work for us. We'll begin our time in prayer. It'll be brief. I want to pray through this passage for us so that God will do this for us too.

[21:40] and then we'll dig in and try to bring these truths out in a little bit fuller measure. Okay? Let's pray. Lord, we need you because as we evaluate our week, and I say this personally, it is so easy to get bogged down.

[22:02] It's so easy to be discouraged. It's so easy to allow the circumstances of life to just cloud my perspective. Lord, thank you.

[22:13] It doesn't have to be that way. And so, Lord, I pray that you would do for us a work. That you would allow us to be filled with the knowledge of your will.

[22:24] So that we can walk in a manner that's worthy of the Lord. That we can be fully pleasing to you. That we can bear fruit in every good work. That we can increase in our knowledge of you.

[22:36] Oh, Lord, would you strengthen us with that divine power? That power that is resident in the life of every believer. May we access that.

[22:47] May we turn it loose. May we yield ourselves to it and allow it to have its way instead of pushing it down and trying to do things our own way.

[22:59] Lord, I pray that our hearts would be full of thanks. That gratitude would erupt from us. That enduring joy and patience in hard things would mark us as those who are people of faith.

[23:15] And Lord, I pray that all of this would flow to the glory of God. That as you work this change in us and you work this change in our church and you work this change in our families and in our communities, wherever that change will happen, Lord, may you get the glory for it.

[23:34] And we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. So here we are again. Here we are again. We're looking at Paul's prayer. Look at this. Verse 9. And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all might according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.

[24:13] Here Paul is again praying for the church. Remember, he did that in verse 3. He says, we pray for you. We thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.

[24:25] This prayer permeated his life. It was a consistent theme of what the Apostle Paul believed would change the situation.

[24:37] He says, from the day we heard of your faith in Christ, your love for the saints, your hope in heaven, he kind of pushes back to verses 3 to 5.

[24:48] Those things that we've seen in you, that evidence, by the way, not of you pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and putting on this gospel life.

[24:58] This is a work of the Word. It's the Word that's bearing fruit. It's the Word that's increasing. You have opened your heart and your life to what the Word says and you've followed it and you've let it lead you and that's why you're experiencing the evidence of a gospel life.

[25:18] So from the day we heard of this, we have not stopped praying for you. Now, Paul's ministry in Ephesus took about three years.

[25:29] It began probably in A.D. 52, went to A.D. 55 or so and the Apostle Paul would go to Macedonia and then he would make his way back to Jerusalem and sometime in that period, Epaphras likely was in Ephesus with the Apostle Paul, learned at the school of Tyrannus, which happened for three years and then Epaphras went to Colossae, his hometown.

[25:58] He shared the Word. People responded. A church was born. And then Paul made his way from Jerusalem.

[26:08] Then he was put into captivity with Felix. Remember that? That was a two-year process. And then he was transferred to Rome. And there's somewhere between five, six, seven years that have kind of gone by, that have transpired and the Apostle Paul was like, I want you to know from the day that I heard that you had a sincere and authentic love for Jesus and faith in Him, I've started praying for you and I've kept praying for you until this day.

[26:42] Five, six, seven years. This consistent life of prayer. The Apostle Paul in his life of prayer. This consistency of Paul's prayer.

[26:53] We see this. And notice that it's not just the Apostle Paul who's praying. What does it say? It says, we pray for you.

[27:05] We pray. It's part of the understanding of our entire team. We know as a team we can't be effective. We can't have any vitality.

[27:15] We can't help you have any endurance or strength or joy. We can't do that. But God can. So we're praying that He will do that for you. It wasn't something that Paul could do.

[27:28] It wasn't something he could offer. He was in a prison. And even if he was with the people, it was something that comes from God, not from Paul. He knew that God could provide.

[27:40] And this is why the Apostle Paul is so dependent on God. Pray. And Paul's dependence on prayer is clear. We see that twice in the last several verses.

[27:52] We see that in almost every single letter the Apostle Paul writes, prayer is the stuff that makes Paul effective. It's the stuff.

[28:04] And we know that it's the stuff. And we believe that God answers prayer. We believe that God works through prayer.

[28:15] We believe that God is listening to prayer. So why don't we pray? Why don't we pray like this? What's the problem?

[28:26] What seems to be the disconnect in our hearts? We know the truth. And by the way, I'm just as guilty as the rest of you.

[28:37] Okay? And this is one of those areas. By God's grace, He will help me do better in. We, we can't do it.

[28:50] But God can. So we need to pray. And Paul is, is driven. He's driven by this life of prayer. I love how Charles Spurgeon says, he says this, I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.

[29:10] The reason for that is because God works through prayer. And everybody in this room who has a relationship with Jesus can pray. You can do it. So why don't we pray?

[29:21] And there are at least three reasons I see in this passage. And so I'm gonna, I'm gonna bend this a bit, so forgive me. But I wanna apply this specifically to what is our problem?

[29:32] What's going on? And so, boy, I've got ten minutes to try to do this quick. Okay? Have I gotten through one point yet? I think I have. Phew. Here we go.

[29:47] What, what propelled the Apostle Paul for his love for this church is he was driven by the knowledge of God's will. He was driven by the knowledge of God's will.

[29:59] So what's our problem? Well, our problem is rather than praying like Jesus and the model that we see from Jesus to his disciples, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

[30:15] Instead, we say, our kingdom come, our will be done. We don't wanna know God's will, really. We just want God to bend himself to our will.

[30:26] We approach prayer and I know that we've all done this and it's a tendency for every single one of us. Our tendency is to say, Lord, here's what's happening today, please help me.

[30:38] Lord, here's my problem today, please fix it. Lord, here's an issue in my life, resolve it. Lord, here's a person in my life I don't really like, please get them out of the way.

[30:48] And so we're praying that God's will, excuse me, we're praying our will is gonna be done and that God will do our business for us. That's not how it works.

[31:01] It's just not how it works. That his will would be done. And by the way, here's the beauty.

[31:13] That Paul, in praying that God's will would be known means that God's will is accessible to you. God's will is absolute.

[31:25] God's will is revealed. God's will is available. We don't have to wonder what his will is because he's carried it. He's shared it to us in his word.

[31:36] And I love the superlatives in this passage. Just look at them with me briefly. Look, verse 9, filled, filled with the knowledge of his will.

[31:50] And that's a word that is to is to fill it up so much we're bursting. Like if he gives us any more, there's going to be an explosion that takes place. That's the kind of filling that God wants to do.

[32:03] Filled with the knowledge of his will. He's done that through his word. He's given us access to his will through his word. And notice verse 9. All spiritual wisdom and understanding.

[32:20] That God will give us his will. He's not going to hold it back. All of it is there. Every single bit. Not just a minuscule measure.

[32:31] And it reminds us of what we know from James chapter 1. That if we lack wisdom, we ask from God. It says, and he gives to us in super abundance without holding back.

[32:42] He just kind of boom! Lays it on us. His will. All the will that we need to know in God's word. We can find it through his power and help.

[32:53] Notice verse 10. Fully pleasing to him. This is another superlative. This is another one of those words that Paul is trying to describe the breadth of what God will do through prayer.

[33:06] He's going to allow us and help us to be fully pleasing to him. Notice verse 10. Bearing fruit in how many good works? Every good work. Notice verse 11.

[33:17] Strengthen with how much power? All power. Notice verse 11. According to his glorious might. Uncontested present power that God allows every believer to have.

[33:34] And so we don't enjoy the blessing of this because we really don't care about God's will. We want ours. we have so many inferior loves.

[33:48] We call them by the way distractions. We call them things we got to do. We call them you know I'm busy. I've got stuff to do.

[33:59] And the truth is that what that means is those things are more important than God. And when I do that and I do that more than I'd like to admit.

[34:10] When I talk about distractions or I say I'm way too busy what I'm saying is God is not as important as my things. So no wonder why God won't answer prayer.

[34:26] Knowledge of his will. God wants to unleash that knowledge to us. Second the apostle Paul he wants that knowledge to be applied to the way in which we live.

[34:41] That's the goal. So knowledge that relates to life. And that's my second problem by the way. So often my knowledge makes me feel better about myself and what I know and what I can defend and how I can articulate truth but that knowledge at times has little compatibility with my life.

[35:07] I'm not walking worthy of the gospel. That's the point here so as to walk in a manner worthy. That's the point of having knowledge.

[35:20] Knowledge that helps us to walk. Walk in a way that pleases the Lord. And that knowledge of God's will is meant to produce something. It's meant to produce in my heart and life something tangible.

[35:34] You see so often when we might know God's will but our problem is this. We might know what God says but we don't do anything about it.

[35:49] How many of us feel very comfortable with the sin in our life? How many of us have been struggling with certain besetting sins for weeks months years?

[36:04] Those besetting sins they're private they're inside no one knows about them but in your heart it's just okay because God will forgive me.

[36:16] And so the knowledge of God's will not applied is not going to do anything for you. And by the way God cares about you enough he's gracious enough to you that he's not going to reveal more knowledge until you act on the knowledge you have.

[36:34] And so we give ourselves a pass we say it's okay it's okay for me to have besetting sins it's okay for me to be angry anger is justified it's okay for me not to forgive have you seen what they did to me it's okay for me to be angry with somebody for an injustice it's okay for me to tell somebody off well you fill in the blank!

[37:04] And so there's no wonder why God doesn't answer our prayer it's not having the work that it's meant to do and finally here Paul wants this church to experience God's presence in everyday life he wants them to experience God's presence in everyday life and he uses four participles and a participle is just something that is an action that continues and normally in the English language you can identify it with the ending ing okay so let me just read this what is it meant to produce notice we're in verse 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of Lord fully pleasing to him and here's the first one bearing fruit in every good work and second one is increasing in the knowledge of God the next one is being strengthened with all joy the next one last one here giving thanks to the father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance!

[38:13] God wants us to be people who demonstrate and illustrate this work of the gospel in living color you might say HD high definition color contrast your life on display not because of the way you're living because what Paul will say Christ who lives in you he says that in Galatians chapter 2 20 he says I am crucified with Christ it is not I who live it is not me but Christ who lives in me in the life which I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me and so when your life shows these qualities people will say ha God is at work God is doing something in that and our problem our problem is often how do

[39:19] I put this as great as that sounds it's too much work you know what I'm saying like I'm feeling feeling okay life is good I got what I need you know things are generally working for my favor and so yeah I can see that bearing fruit and increasing in knowledge and and all of these things and giving thanks that's important but but you know my life is kind of okay there's no wonder then why we as a person and we as a church will never change this world because it's about us and not about God it's about our glory and our will and our comforts and not about God's glory and God's kingdom and God's purpose and God's good name in this world and I think a good starting place and there's so much more to say by the way we're going to come back to this tonight in our time of communion we're going to talk about why give thanks and there's three things that have been done for you you've been qualified we see that in verse 13 12 13 you've been qualified by him you have been delivered by him you've been transferred by him these are all in the past tense there are things that have already happened for those who are in faith and so there's no wonder why we should be thankful because of the work of

[40:59] God on our behalf oh may God help us to be a thankful people oh may God help us to be a praying people will you join me in the next three months of committing ourselves to faith in God through prayer and thanks will you just experiment with me see what God might do as we set aside time the best time I would say if that's for you in the morning if that's for you in the afternoon if that's for you in the I don't know when that's going to be but it's got to be a time that's free of distraction it's got to be time you push things away it's got to be time that you are able to focus and concentrate your heart for any length of time without interruptions so you can devote your heart to him and plead for his help the knowledge of his will that you're bearing fruit and having a worthy walk and that

[42:05] God is pleased through our lives oh what might God do with a heart that is yielded to him in this way walk this journey with me and we'll see oh father thank you for your patience with us thank you for your work of salvation we can think about the last verse of this passage which talks about the fact that we have been redeemed through him we have redemption the forgiveness of sins and that is only possible because of Jesus God we praise you for that and we ask that our lives would be marked with thanksgiving for what you have done in Jesus name amen will you stand with me and we're just going to end up just end with this thanking Jesus with every breath sing together with every breath

[43:12] I long to follow Jesus for he has said that he will bring me home and day by day I know he will renew me until I stand with joy before the throne to this I hold my hope is only Jesus all glory evermore to him with the races complete still my lips shall repeat yet not I but through Christ in me yet not I yet not I but through Christ in me prayer prayer and thanks that will not only be the anthem of our hearts but it will be the invitation really of those around us to know hey there's not only something quite profound and powerful but it's something maybe that

[44:32] I can have too may our lives reflect the wonder of God this week thanks! for coming God bless! you I hope to see! night come tonight