Good morning. My name's Chris. For those of you who don't know me, I help oversee the community groups here in Watermark.
And we're going through a series on what it looks like to be a healthy church.
And last week, Eric introduced really well what it means for us to be a community together, brought together by Jesus' death,
which reconciles us, even though we're from so many different backgrounds, and brings us to be one family together,
sitting here this morning at this time in October. I think it still is. And it's because Jesus has done that.
And today we're going to look at what does it mean to be a healthy church in praying together.
And this is just kind of one of those topics where if I was going to ask you, how's your prayer life?
Most people start shuffling rather nervously and then kind of change the topic of conversation.
Because it's one of those things as Christians we know we should do, but we kind of seem to have problems doing.
And part of the problem is that we live in a society which tells us that only material things matter.
You know, the grades you get, the food you eat, the achievements you get.
Everything in society tells us, just get stuff.
And you know, our whole lives are like this hamster wheel, you know, in Hong Kong,
where we're just crazily busy, frenetically trying to produce, trying to be productive, trying to be efficient,
trying to do all the things that we think will make a good, satisfying life.
And it may be getting your kids into the right school.
It may be just getting to the place where you want into society.
But we're so busy, we're like on this treadmill.
And you know when you're on the treadmill and you're going along,
but the problem is you look over next to you.
And even though you might want to think, I want to get off the treadmill,
the person next to you is already going faster than you.
And you've got to compete with them.
So you've got to keep running faster and faster.
And then the problem is, even once you get to the point you're exhausted
and you're just trying to slow down and you just press the slow down button,
and then you look over at the other side and you see there's a three-year-old there
who's already going far faster than you.
They're doing somersaults on the treadmill and you feel like,
I can't slow down because there's so much more that I've got to do.
And the problem is the whole of our life in Hong Kong is exhausting
and sometimes it's lonely and sometimes it's empty
because we think material things are what matters.
And the problem is with this is that we try and then fill this kind of vacuum,
this kind of void inside of us with yoga, with meditation,
with charity work, with sex, with vacations,
a million things that we think will fill this void which is inside of us.
And it's a void that was only meant to be fulfilled by prayer.
Prayer, intimacy, belonging, approval.
That's where we were meant to find all of those things.
The book of Jeremiah in chapter 2 says this.
It's an extraordinary picture.
It says,
My people have committed two evils.
They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and they have dug out wells for themselves,
broken wells that can't hold water.
And what he's saying in this passage,
he's saying we do two things.
One is when we turn away from God
and we stop running to God in prayer,
what happens is we're like this thirsty, dry people.
We've left behind this beautiful well
and we've turned to this dry, dusty ditch water.
And there's heavenly periate on offer
and we're just going to the ditch to drink.
And if the church is to be the church in this society
which is to be different, not on the treadmill,
then we've got to rediscover what it means to pray
because otherwise we'll be as thirsty
and as parched as everybody else.
So let's think about prayer
because your prayer life,
and here's a very powerful thing,
your prayer life will tell you more about
your spiritual health than anything else.
You can be full of so much activity,
you could be serving in a million ways,
but your prayer life,
nobody will see that.
It will tell you where your spiritual health is.
Someone once said,
a man is what he is on his knees before God
and nothing more.
That's a painful thing to say.
So we're just going to scratch the surface
on this topic today.
There's so much we could say,
but we're just going to look in three things.
We're going to look at what is Christian prayer,
why don't we pray,
and how does prayer change us?
Okay?
What is Christian prayer,
why don't we pray,
and how does prayer change us?
Because the thing is,
prayer is not uniquely Christian.
Buddhists do it,
Muslims do it,
Hindus do it,
in fact,
even those who don't believe in God,
atheists,
at least 20% of them from studies
say that at some time in their life,
they pray.
But Jesus,
in the passage we're looking at today,
says there are right ways to pray
and there are wrong ways to pray.
He says this,
verse 7,
he says,
when you pray,
not if you pray,
when you pray,
do not heap up words like the Gentiles do,
like the pagans do,
that's the word,
for they think they will be heard
because of their many words,
do not be like them.
Jesus is saying,
there's two main ways you can pray.
You can pray like a pagan,
or you can pray like a Christian.
And the difference between them
is you pray based,
is the basis on which you pray.
Pagans pray on the basis of their performance.
Christians pray on the basis
of their status before God.
Pagans pray on the basis of their performance.
They think they'll be heard
because of their many words.
Christians pray on the basis of their status.
Now let's think about it.
Probably most of you don't think you're pagan.
But pagans are extremely religious people.
Okay?
They're not irreligious,
they're religious.
They talk religious talk,
they serve,
they go to community groups,
they even pray regularly.
But they're still pagans.
Because pagans are users.
Okay?
If you were a pagan in Jesus' day,
you were always anxious
because you didn't know
if your God was in a good mood or not.
A bit like your boss.
You know,
is it a grumpy day?
Is it a good day?
You're never quite sure.
And so the pagan,
if they wanted to get something out of God,
they would have to make sure
they did everything right in their prayers.
And so they would list off
all the names,
the possible names that God might have,
just in case they missed one
and the pagan God would not be happy with them.
And so they would heap up empty phrases
by listing every name they could think of.
And here is a prayer
slightly adapted
from the first century.
Okay?
So say,
Dear Apollos,
son of wise and thundering Zeus,
big guy in the sky,
spirit up above,
oh powerful and mighty God,
whatever name you like to be called by,
please,
I've been a good boy,
I've given you offerings
these last few weeks,
and you're an amazingly awesome,
great, powerful, wonderful God.
And if it doesn't trouble you,
greatly,
I ask humbly
you to provide me
with the names of all the horses
that are going to win
this Wednesday at Happy Valley.
For your glory,
amen.
That's how a pagan would pray.
You check it out online,
check it out on Google,
you'll see.
And you could substitute
horses for kids' education,
for health,
for money,
for career,
any of those things,
that's what a pagan would pray like.
And why did they do that?
They did that
because their relationship with God,
they saw it a bit like,
you know,
a relationship manager at a bank.
You know,
one UK politician,
he was arrested,
actually,
for fraud.
And he was a church-going guy,
but when he got arrested,
he became a Christian,
and he realized,
this is what he said
about his relationship with God,
he said,
God for me was like my bank manager.
I spoke to him politely,
visited his premises intermittently,
occasionally asked him
for a small favor or overdraft,
death to get myself out of difficulty,
thanked him condescendingly
for his assistance,
kept up the appearance
of being one of his reasonably
reliable customers,
and maintained superficial contact
with him on the grounds
that one of these days
he might come in useful.
You see,
it's a user system.
God is just your bank manager.
Your relationship manager.
Your account manager.
And the reason pagans do it like this
is because most of our interactions
in society work like this.
You know,
it's about trade and performance.
You know,
even as kids,
you grow up thinking,
okay,
if I get good grades,
my parents will be pleased with me
and they will love me.
If I fail,
they will shout at me.
So I will work hard
so they will love me.
It's a trade,
right?
I do this,
you do that.
We do the same
in relationships,
in dating.
You know,
you assess somebody
based on whether
they're going to fill
that social,
emotional,
spiritual kind of
grand canyon
that's in your soul.
And if you think
they're going to fill that,
they're going to satisfy,
they're going to make you feel good,
then you'll go into
the relationship with them.
Then you'll perform.
Then you'll love them.
Then you'll serve them.
As long
as they're doing their part.
But if your spiritual
or social ATM machine,
as these people become,
malfunctions,
if your spouse
or your friend
or your colleague,
whoever you've come
into this interaction with,
is disrespectful,
they're out of order,
they don't give you
what you want,
then you get angry.
Then you get bitter.
Then you get critical.
It's no more
Mr. Nice Guy.
Look at what you've done
to me.
Because you've performed
your side of the deal,
but they haven't done theirs.
Your bank has not been
a very good bank.
And it works the other way too.
If you feel like
your performance
hasn't been very good,
you haven't paid off
all your debts
to the other person,
you failed in some way
in your relationship,
you don't perform
up to the standard
they're expecting.
Then you feel guilty,
you feel lacking
in confidence,
and maybe you blame yourself,
you blame others,
you justify yourself.
And you know,
as I go around Hong Kong
and I listen to the conversations
on the streets,
I think pretty much
most of our relationships
are based on this trade.
We're users,
we're performers,
and as long as we perform okay,
then we feel good.
If we don't,
then we feel terrible.
And it's a little wonder
that,
actually could I get
a drink of water?
It's a little wonder
that we actually feel,
we kind of transfer this
onto God
because this is how
all our other relationships work.
Because we expect God
to be that trader too.
And so as long as
we come into God
and we fulfill our part
of the bargain,
you know,
we're like an account holder
in his bank.
And we expect him
to give us a good service
because we've been loyal
and we're trusting him
as our bank provider.
But you know,
if you suddenly realize
your account is very low,
you've got an exam,
your kids are sick,
something like that,
you come to your manager then
for the blessing,
for the loan,
the spiritual loan
that you want from him.
And if you think
you've been a good,
loyal Christian
and he doesn't answer
your prayer,
then you get angry.
If you've asked him
to help you with the exam
but you fail your exam,
then it's like,
God,
what were you doing?
I can't believe
you let me down
in this one
and we're angry,
critical,
and we're bitter.
Or if you realize
you actually haven't been
a very good customer
of God's recently,
then you think
if he doesn't answer
your prayer,
then maybe it's because
I wasn't good enough.
Maybe he's punishing me
because I didn't kind of
give enough to him.
I haven't been loyal enough.
Maybe he won't listen to me
because of what I've done.
And we're not confident
in prayer.
And Jesus says
that's how pagans think.
And he says,
don't be like them.
And the reason,
it sounds nice,
but you know,
every single one of us
in this room,
I can guarantee
at some point or other
you're a pagan.
How do I know?
Because I am one.
Because we're hardwired
and the whole of society
is telling us like this.
And Jesus is trying
to come to us
and say there's
a different way
you don't come to God
based on your performance.
performance.
Because think about it,
frankly,
your performance
has been shocking.
Your spiritual performance
before God
is so bad
that no bank
would ever have you.
Because mine is too.
And if you were listed
on the heavenly stock market,
nobody would invest in you.
Because it's a bad investment.
But the thing is,
we are the ones
who make up the church.
And as a church,
we don't come
because of our great performance.
Don't be like the pagans.
He says this,
don't you know
your father knows
what you need
before you ask him?
Pray then like this,
our father in heaven.
Christian prayer comes
not on the basis
of your performance,
but it comes on the basis
of your status
as a child
of a living God.
He is your father,
not your bank manager,
your account.
You're not an account holder.
And this is so radical
because he could have said,
our king,
our creator,
and he is.
And every other religion
would be very happy
with you doing that.
But if he's your king,
then he can punish you
for your poor performance.
He can throw you
out of his kingdom.
But a father,
a good father,
is not going to throw you
out of his family.
And he says this.
This is not,
as Alfie was saying,
this is not some distant father.
It's a relationship
with someone who knows you.
He knows you.
He knows,
I don't know what's gone on
with you this week.
He does.
I don't know what your fears are.
He does.
I don't know what your darkest,
deepest secrets are.
He does.
He knows what's happened,
what your complaints are,
what your hopes are,
what your dreams are.
He knows them.
And many of us
have grown up in families
with fathers
that we wanted to be,
to have known us,
but they were more like
our relationship manager
at the bank
because all they would do,
they would dispense cash to us.
They would give us gifts.
They would give us
the good education.
And we wanted relationship.
We wanted them to know us.
And they never did.
And this is aching
in our heart to be known.
And those of you
who have had good fathers
will know
what an amazing thing it is
to have somebody
who knows you,
who knows what you need,
and who cares for you.
Because we want relationship.
God doesn't,
when you come to God in prayer,
God doesn't kind of
go through his records
and say,
oh yes,
I remember what your issues are.
You can,
if you're an account holder
and you go to your finance manager
or whatever
and you say,
listen,
I've got some real issues
with my sex life at the moment,
they're going to freak out.
But,
when you go to your father
who knows everything
that's going on with you,
he's not going to freak out.
It's amazing.
So,
we don't come to God
as an ATM machine.
We don't come to God
as someone
who is just there
to distribute some blessings
to make our life easier.
You come as a child
who always has the ear
of his father.
Think about it.
Who could
go to the president
of the United States
at three o'clock
in the morning
and ask him
to take you
to the bathroom?
Can any of you do that?
I suggest
you might get arrested.
But his child could.
Only his child could.
Because a child
has an intimate relationship
and the father knows them.
In John chapter one,
it says,
those who received Jesus,
he gave them the right
to become
children of God.
Gave them the right
to become children of God.
How do you become
a child of God?
You don't become a child
based on your performance.
You become a child
based on Christ's performance.
Christ died
on the cross
so that you might be
adopted into his family
and be,
know that status
that you don't have
to perform anymore.
You are his child.
You are in the royal family.
You are in his family.
And you know
with adopted children,
have you noticed,
some of you have got
adopted children,
but you know
with adopted children,
I don't see the parents
treating adopted children
and biological children
differently.
I see them
treating them
with equal value,
with listening to them
with equal concern
and love.
Now think about this.
Jesus is God's son,
his true son.
We are adopted sons
and daughters.
So the way Jesus,
God the Father
looks at Jesus
is the way that he looks
at you and me.
And that means
he's delighted.
He's pleased.
And so Matthew 7 says,
if you who are evil
know how to give good gifts,
if you're a mother or father,
don't you want to give
your children the best?
If you're evil
and you know how to do that,
then how much more
will your Father in heaven
give good gifts
to those who ask him?
How much more will God,
is he longing
to give you good gifts?
And the thing is this,
if your Father
doesn't give you
what you want,
if he doesn't give you
what you want,
if you're an account holder,
you'll be angry.
But if you know
that your Father is good,
then you can trust him.
You can trust him.
And in the Bible,
it says this.
It says,
in Romans chapter 8,
it says,
if God,
who gave his only son
for you,
if he was willing
to give his only son
for you,
he wouldn't spare him,
he paid the ultimate cost
for you,
then how much more
will he give you
everything
that you need?
Graciously pouring out
all the things
that you need.
If he's already given
everything,
the most precious thing
to him,
he's not going to hand back.
And you know,
sometimes,
I didn't get,
when I was a kid,
I wanted to watch TV
in my room.
But my parents
wouldn't allow me
to have a TV
in my room.
I'm so glad,
looking back,
that they didn't allow me
to have a TV
in my room.
Because I did so many
other things,
and I would have been
probably seriously
messed up.
Some of you may think
I already am,
but...
But my father
knew what I needed.
Sometimes he knows
more than I know
what I need,
because he can see
the big picture.
If you know he's your father,
you can trust him
when he doesn't answer
as well.
So that's Christian prayer.
Christian prayer starts
with knowing God
as your father.
It starts with God.
It doesn't...
You see the Lord's Prayer.
You see the first half
of the Lord's Prayer.
There's nothing
to do with you.
Did you notice that?
Nothing to do with you.
First half,
you've got to go
halfway through
before you start
asking for your daily bread.
Why?
Because it's all about
him as a father.
So when you come in prayer,
if you realize
who he is,
that changes everything
about the way you pray.
But if you're just
based on your performance,
you'll be like
a manipulative teenager
who's asking for money
from their parents,
and you know the ways
to try and get them
to do that.
So do you come to God
on what basis?
Are you a pagan?
Are you an account holder?
Or are you a child
of a God who loves you?
That's Christian prayer.
Now let's think about it.
Sounds great.
Why don't we pray then?
Why don't we pray?
I mean,
if God's so good,
why don't we pray?
And you know,
normally the first reason
I give is
because I'm too busy.
But that's blatantly not true.
We're busy.
Hong Kong is busy.
But you know,
I find it extraordinary
in Hong Kong
that extremely busy people
can find time
to watch a rugby match
at incredibly early hours
in the morning.
It's extraordinary.
They have time
to go on Facebook.
I don't know how they do it.
They have time
to go to the toilet.
They have time to eat.
Okay?
Sometimes you might skip a meal.
Sometimes you might
hold your pee.
But you know,
later on,
you will find time.
Why?
Because you know
you need to.
And maybe because
you want to.
But prayer,
when you say,
our Father,
that says,
I'm a child.
But my problem is,
I think I'm an adult.
Okay?
I can manage life
by myself.
I have a driving license.
And prayer is for those moments
in life
when you're driving along.
You've taken your eye
off the road.
You're heading towards
the granny
who's just crossing
the pedestrian crossing.
And you're out of control.
And you cry,
Help!
God puts his hand
on the steering wheel.
Swerves the wheel
so you miss the granny.
And then afterwards,
you breathe a sigh of relief.
And then you say,
Thanks God.
Now leave it to me.
I can cope with the rest.
That's the way we do prayer
because we think we're adults.
We're self-sufficient.
We can do it.
And if you've ever driven
in a car with a man
who's got lost,
you know he could be
on his way to Honolulu
but he won't admit
that he's lost
until he's stuck
in some field somewhere.
And then maybe finally
he'll say,
Okay, I need help.
Right?
But that's what we're like
in prayer.
What stops me
from asking?
It's pride.
It's self-sufficiency
and it's actually childish.
Not childlike.
It's childish.
Because I'm so adult
and grown up
that I think
I can sort out the world.
And because you know
when you become an adult
you have responsibilities.
You have got to take care
of your kids.
You've got to take care
of those deadlines,
of those targets
you've got to meet.
You've got exams.
You've got a whole host
of pressures on you
and you think,
I'm doing well.
I can cope with it.
I can manage it.
And so we're driving along.
We're doing fine.
But you know,
sometimes
I just feel like
I mess up.
I don't always cope
with my responsibilities.
I let my family down sometimes.
I say things.
I do things.
And I feel the pressure
on my shoulders
and the burden
which is weighing me down.
And then maybe
I come to church
and hope that
God can just kind of
swerve me back
onto the path
so that I can just get back
on that treadmill again
of life.
So I can get back
and stay in the driving seat
in life.
And that's how
I view prayer.
You see,
you know what I do?
The way I do this
kind of self-sufficiency,
see, the other day
I needed a book
for an assignment
I was doing.
I ordered it
and then I discovered
it's not going to arrive
until after I need it.
So what do I do?
I stress.
And then I plan.
Okay?
Then I research
all the other options
and ways I can get the book.
And I found nothing.
I couldn't get
this book anywhere.
So I talk to some other people
about how I can get the book.
And then still nothing.
So I stress a little more.
And then I take some time out
just to de-stress a little bit
before I go back
to stressing again.
Okay?
And finally,
when I'm getting
absolutely nowhere,
then I say,
God, help me.
And that's the way
most of us do prayer.
Right?
How much stress
could I have avoided
if right at the beginning
of the process
I knew that I was a child,
I'd been less childish
and I'd said,
I'd taken it to my father
in prayer,
and I'd said,
Father,
you know my need.
Help!
But I know
that you are my father,
you're my good father,
you've got this one
in your control,
I can trust you,
so I just lay this before you.
Now I can go about
all the rest of the things,
ringing around,
trying to find things,
but with a totally
different attitude
because I know
my father's in control.
But,
I don't do that
because I'm an adult.
But I'm childish.
not childlike.
The hymn says,
Oh, what peace
we often forfeit.
Oh, what needless pain
we bear.
All because
we will not carry
everything
to God
in prayer.
that is so true.
as I look around
your lives
and my lives,
I can tell you
that is true.
You can tell
when I am prayerless
because I am stressed.
You can tell
when I'm prayerless
because I'm critical.
You can tell
when I'm prayerless
because I'm complaining.
The reason we don't pray
is we're more childish
than childlike.
You know,
you don't see
your three-year-old
saying,
I've checked off
my grocery list
and I've just been
around five supermarkets
and I couldn't find
anything for lunch.
And so,
finally,
after I got a bit stressed
for a while,
I thought,
well,
maybe mom's got
something for lunch.
Does your three-year-old
do that?
Isn't that insane?
But you think
you're an adult.
But that's an account holder.
That's how an account holder,
that's how a pagan prays,
not a child.
Paul Miller,
in an excellent book,
I think there's a copy outside,
he says this.
He says,
less mature Christians
have little need to pray.
When they look at their hearts,
which they rarely do,
they seldom see jealousy.
They are barely aware
of their impatience.
Instead,
they're frustrated
by all the slow people
they keep running into.
He's watching me
going into Central,
you know.
Less mature Christians
are quick to give advice.
There's no complexity
in their worlds
because the answers are simple.
Just do what I say
and life will be easy.
Surprisingly,
mature Christians
feel less mature
on the inside.
When they hear Jesus say,
apart from me,
you can do nothing,
they nod in agreement.
Mature Christians
are keenly aware
they can't raise their kids.
It's a no-brainer.
Even if they're perfect parents,
they still can't get
inside their kids' hearts.
That's why strong Christians
pray more.
Husbands,
wives,
do you think
you can really
change your spouse?
Do you think
you can really
be the spouse
you want to be
without prayer?
Students,
do you think
you can really
honour God
with your studies
and yet not pray?
Church,
do you think
we can really
be the church
God wants us to do,
to be
and to just
have a hive
of activity
but not pray?
It's insane
because it's like
adults trying
to control the world
but actually
the world
is not in our control,
it's in our
Father's control.
And if we're
to be anything
different than
the rest of the world
around us,
if we're to not
be on this treadmill
and we can be
on a Christian treadmill
of doing a thousand
activities
but your activity
is meaningless
if you're not
coming to God
in prayer
and saying,
Father,
we need you.
If you would
spend ten
unproductive
minutes every day
in prayer,
you'd see the
long-term effects
produced far more
than you could
ever do
in those ten minutes.
I guarantee it.
That's why we
don't pray.
Because we're
self-sufficient.
We don't think
we need to.
Prayer is talking
to our Father.
It's not our
performance.
It doesn't matter
what you've done
this week.
You can come to Him.
Thirdly,
prayer changes us.
How does prayer
change us?
At the heart
of every
spiritual revival
that has ever
taken place
in the history
of the world
has been prayer.
Just check it out
in the history books.
everyone.
Because prayer
changes your
perspective on life.
You see,
what I tend to do
is I shrink
my world down
to my needs,
my desires,
my wants.
And the world
becomes this very
narrow focus.
But did you see
in that prayer,
it says,
Jesus says,
our Father.
Did you see that?
He didn't say,
my Father.
He said,
our Father.
Our,
that is plural.
That means
the world,
the God
who you are
speaking to
is a God
who has brought
us together
in a family.
We are part
of His family
together.
That means
the world
is not revolving
just around you.
It's not you,
just you and God.
It's us
together
with our Father.
But what we do
is we think
actually the whole
of church
is centered
down around me.
My relationship
with God
is just centered
down around me.
Did you ever
see that movie,
Honey,
I Shrunk the Kids?
Anybody see that movie?
Okay,
if you didn't see it,
it's basically
a movie about
this kind of
inventor father
that invents
a shrink ray
and it kind of
accidentally goes off
and his kids
and his neighbor's kids
get shrunk down
to a quarter of an inch.
And what happens
is suddenly
they're now
a quarter of an inch
and the ants
are now like elephants
and the bees
are now like airplanes
and the grass
is now like a rainforest.
And suddenly
all these things
have become huge
in their eyes.
That's what we do
with our worlds
because when you
shrink it down
to just you,
your world
has just narrowed down
to this tiny little thing
and everything
seems massive.
But what prayer does,
prayer opens you up
to see our father
in heaven.
He's got this
bigger perspective,
this heavenly perspective
and it's one
which is not just
about you
but it's about
all of us here.
And prayer helps you
to see people
when you would only
ever see your issues
before.
I was walking
to work last week
and in front of me
there was a woman
sweeping the stairs
at the top
and just kind of
coming up to her
there was another woman
kind of dragging
her kid behind her
and as she saw
the woman sweeping
in front of her
she started shouting
at her to get out
of the way
and she just abused her
and demeaned her
completely
and then just dragged
her child on,
ran past
and walked on.
And I walked up
the stairs afterwards,
I looked at this
cleaner lady
and she was just
crushed.
You could just see it
written over her face.
Devastated.
And I said something
comforting to her
and I walked on
but I was furious
at that other woman
and for ten minutes
my mind was thinking
what a,
well I won't say
what I was thinking.
This is being recorded.
You can pray
but pray for me afterwards.
But as I walked along
then suddenly
I remembered
I'm supposed to be
speaking on prayer
and this little voice
came into my mind
which said
have you prayed for her?
And my instant reaction
was
for her?
And then I thought
well because I'm preaching
I guess I better try
and practice
what I'm preaching.
So,
so I prayed for her
and suddenly
and I prayed
our father,
father just
and then suddenly
I realized
that woman
doesn't know
her heavenly father.
Her whole life
is based on performance.
Her performance
and other people's performance.
if she knew
her father
just how much
would that transform
that angry
critical
bitter person.
And I stood
and I changed
from seeing
just with anger
to seeing her
with compassion.
She needs to know
our father.
And just think
how many of the things
would you change
if suddenly
you began to start
praying
for this church?
You began
to start praying
for the people
in your community group?
You began
to start praying
for the people
around you?
Our father,
would they know you
as father?
And the people
who just irritate you,
the things
which have just
driven you mad,
suddenly you go
from being a quarter
of an inch
to suddenly seeing
above
the,
just the normal
stuff of life.
You begin
to get perspective
and it changes
you.
And you begin
to change
with having
more compassion.
You begin
to see people
as you never
saw them before.
But you see,
prayerless people
complain all the time.
How do I know
because I do it?
Prayerless people
are critical all the time.
How do I know
because I am?
Prayerless people
only see
the problems.
And when they pray,
they only ever pray
for their issues.
But the thing is,
let's imagine
you go into
your community group
and you have a problem
and you say,
or somebody has a problem
and they say,
oh,
my little Johnny,
he's been struggling
at school,
I need you to pray
for him.
What do we normally do?
We say,
okay,
Lord,
please make his problems
better,
amen.
But what if you began
to pray our father
so you began to see
they need to know
God as father
in this.
So Lord,
you know their problems,
you know their needs,
you know their fears,
you know their struggles,
you're a good father
and I pray for that situation,
I pray that they would
know you in that,
but even more than that,
with their stress,
would they know
that you are their father
who cares for them
because that's what they need
in this situation.
We pray that you would answer,
we pray that you would
give them that situation,
but even if you don't,
would they know
that you are good
in this situation?
Because when you pray
like that,
do you see,
the world is not just
about your problems,
it's about knowing him,
it's about knowing
the God
who loves you.
What this church needs
more than anything else
is not more programs.
What this church needs
is not greater leaders,
greater sermons,
it's not greater kids program,
it's not all those other things,
great though those are.
The thing which this church needs
more than anything else
is that we would know God
as our father.
And the only way
that we will know God
as our father
is if we come to him in prayer.
And if you see
that we need each other
to come to God
for each other
in prayer.
So let me ask you,
this week,
what have you complained about?
What have you been critical of?
What have you been stressed about?
Have you narrowed
your world down?
And have you prayed?
Have you prayed?
Have you not just prayed
for a solution,
but have you prayed
that you would know
and that other people
would know your father?
The only way
that you can stop
being a pagan
is to know the father.
The only way
that we can know our father
is to pray.
We keep forgetting
that.
We keep needing
other people
to remind us.
So how are you going
to change?
I want you to think
for a minute
because it's nice
to talk about prayer,
but you know,
in the practical things
of life,
all the best intentions
to pray come to nothing.
You've got a plan
to pray.
You've got to put it
in your calendar.
You've got to put it
in your diary.
You've got to make time
like you do
with your family.
We have spaces
before the service.
We have people
who come to pray.
Do you see how much
this church needs us
to pray?
Your community group.
Do you just go
to your community group
and just turn up,
or have you actually
been praying
for the people there?
Will you set aside
time to pray?
For the leadership.
For all the things
which are going to happen
in our lives,
and happen in our life
as a church,
will you pray?
Will you put it
in your diary?
Will you make time?
Or are you too productive?
Are you too adult?
Are you too self-sufficient
to do that?
We have a couple
of great books outside.
There's some great books
on prayer.
There's one here
by Tim Keller.
Really thorough,
just understanding
what prayer is.
There's another one
here outside.
You can go outside
on the bookstore.
The problem with
recommending books
to pray,
about learning to pray,
is that you read the book
and then you don't pray.
Done that?
The problem is
when we start
coming to community group
and say,
let's have a time of prayer,
is we spend
35 minutes
talking about
what we're going
to pray about
and then 3 minutes
praying.
You done that?
Why?
Because we're
self-sufficient.
Because we don't
really think we need it.
But our Father
is longing
to hear us
and He wants
you and us
and as a church
to say,
our Father.
And that's
a spiritually
healthy church.
not a church
which has
great activities,
great sermons,
all those other things.
It's a church
which can say,
we need you.
We need you.
And God
will place us
in positions
where we have
to cry
like a child,
Father,
we need you.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Maybe you just want to stop for a minute.
And I want you to think,
do I treat God,
am I just an account holder with Him?
Am I just an account holder with Him?
Do I treat Him
as like some spiritual ATM
that I can just cash in on occasionally?
I want you to be real.
And if you think,
oh, my prayer life sucks,
I've been terrible,
just know the amazing thing is
we don't come to our Father
on the basis of our performance.
We come to Him
on the basis of His goodness.
That's why we start with Him in prayer,
not start with ourselves.
So stop for a moment.
What are you going to do?
What's your next step
this week?
How are you going to be too busy to pray?
How are you going to change?
Do you want to change?
Father, this spiritual vacuum inside of us
that we fill with so many other things
is meant to be filled by you.
It's meant to be filled by you.
I pray that we
would constantly remember,
remind each other,
remind ourselves
that in the midst of life
when we forget
who you are,
we try and be
self-sufficient.
We remember that we need you.
And that we turn to you,
not just when we have to,
but we turn to you
because we want to have
that relationship with you.
Change us, Lord.
Change us, Lord,
as a church.
Help us not be pagans,
but to become
people who live
as children of yours.
In your name.
Amen.