WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.740 So title tonight, Motivations for Prayer, if you like titles, you don't ignore. 00:00:07.860 --> 00:00:13.820 ! This morning was the model for prayer, Jesus giving out a form of prayer that helps us to 00:00:13.820 --> 00:00:19.219 ! shape our own prayers, to check our prayer life against the priorities that he sets. 00:00:20.219 --> 00:00:24.960 Perhaps you're one of those sorts of people who has sticky notes all around your workstation. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:32.880 I know of one man who has this phrase in capital letters above his workstation at home. It's a sign 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:43.040 that simply says, pray you fool. Pray you fool. Because prayer is both, on the one hand, natural 00:00:43.040 --> 00:00:50.980 to us, but on the other hand, very unnatural to us, isn't it? It's natural because you and I were 00:00:50.979 --> 00:00:57.419 designed to be in relationship with our Creator. So it should be natural that we communicate with 00:00:57.419 --> 00:01:04.539 him in prayer. But it's unnatural because we're rebels in God's world. And as Isaiah 59 puts it, 00:01:04.539 --> 00:01:12.060 your sins have separated you from your God. As Isaiah says to the people, God's people. 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:20.060 And so, without God's Spirit changing us, we naturally put up all sorts of barriers to communication 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:27.120 with him. Barriers that he's not interested in me, perhaps. That he doesn't have good things 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:33.980 for me. That he wants to spoil my fun. And even when someone does become a Christian, many 00:01:33.980 --> 00:01:39.300 of these uncertainties can remain. Surely he's got better things to do with his time than listen 00:01:39.299 --> 00:01:47.060 to my witterings and warblings. I'm too busy anyway. I'm serving him. I'm serving him all 00:01:47.060 --> 00:01:53.140 week. I don't have time to get up early to pray. Surely it's more useful to serve. And 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:59.920 of course I'm not really convinced of the usefulness of prayer. Isn't that a big one? Just kind of 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:05.819 deep down that we need to really root out. All sorts of things prevent us from praying. 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:12.379 And maybe you're someone here tonight and you've thought about talking to God. But you're 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:19.319 not yet a Christian. Perhaps you've nearly tried to. But something has prevented you from 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:27.400 doing so. Some sort of expectation, perhaps, of what prayer should be like. It doesn't sound 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:33.500 like that person who prays next to me at church, or that person I've heard, who prays so eloquently, 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:41.500 it feels fake when I talk. Who am I kidding? Or perhaps your own view of God just gets in 00:02:41.500 --> 00:02:46.639 the way. You can't help it, but you've got this vision of God from school days or Sunday 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:53.240 school or something, and it doesn't help you. And as a result, you're just not even convinced 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:59.780 that you want to open up a channel of communication with him. Well this passage has a lot to say 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:06.560 to us on all of those things. Jesus knows that we have and that we put up all sorts of barriers 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:13.560 to talking to God. And he knows that we very easily give up. It's a section about priorities 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:19.039 in Luke's Gospel. So end of chapter 10, as I pointed out this morning, the top priority 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:24.340 is to listen to Jesus. There's a big theme in Luke's Gospel. Of course, the voice of the 00:03:24.340 --> 00:03:30.620 Transfiguration got Moses, Elijah and Jesus, and the voice says, don't listen specifically 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:36.300 to Moses or Elijah. That would have been a shock to Jews like the disciples. Listen to 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:45.240 him. Listen to the Lord Jesus. And so Mary is showing in her posture, in her attentiveness 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:51.520 to Jesus. What it is to listen to him. And Jesus says, she has the one thing that is necessary, 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:56.760 it's the good portion. And it won't be taken away from her. Well, if that's the first priority 00:03:56.760 --> 00:04:04.780 for God's people, the second one is to speak back in prayer to God. And the basic invitation 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:12.500 is there in verse 9. Have a look at verse 9. And I tell you, ask and it will be given 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:21.139 to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. We know that's the basic 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:27.279 invitation because that's the only verse where there are three commands, three imperatives. 00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:33.340 There aren't any in the other verses. Ask, seek and knock. This is the point of Jesus' teaching 00:04:33.339 --> 00:04:40.019 here. Everything else is motivation. There's a progression, I think, from asking to seeking, 00:04:40.539 --> 00:04:45.699 being a bit more intentional about going after something, to knocking, taking action to find 00:04:45.699 --> 00:04:52.519 out something. Jesus wants us to persevere and to push in prayer. And he wants us to get 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:57.319 a glimpse, he wants us to get a glimpse of the nature of God when it comes to hearing our 00:04:57.319 --> 00:05:03.319 prayers. He wants us to know that we have a Father who is more willing to give than 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:11.099 we are to receive. I'll repeat that. I think that's important. We have a Father who is 00:05:11.099 --> 00:05:19.799 more willing to give than we are to receive. And Jesus wants us to get away deceiving thinking, 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:27.339 I need to pray and I want to pray. I pray that something will happen in our hearts that will 00:05:27.339 --> 00:05:35.139 give us a motivation to pray so that we want to. Well, either side of that verse 9, that invitation, 00:05:35.339 --> 00:05:43.159 are two analogies. We'll look at them in turn. First of all, Jesus invites you to pray with confidence, 00:05:43.939 --> 00:05:52.039 verses 5 through to 8, because of your great need. Jesus invites you to pray with confidence to him 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:59.920 because of your great need. This is the analogy of verses 5 to 8. Jesus is painting a picture here. 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:06.180 A friend arrives at midnight for some bread. In verse 5, he's had a friend arrive without warning 00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:11.320 and he's out of supplies. I'm sure you've had that happen to you. He's all tucked up with his family. 00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:17.640 In verse 7, there's an initial rebuff. Sorry, can't help. But verse 8, he wants some peace and quiet. 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:24.060 And he eventually decides to give this friend what he wants. And you may be thinking, well, 00:06:24.659 --> 00:06:31.199 what on earth does this tell us about how God listens to us? Is he really like someone who only 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:36.680 responds if you pester him hard enough? Well, of course, there's more going on than that. And, 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:43.639 of course, we need to make a 2,000 year leap between different societal expectations. In the 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:51.680 Eastern culture, there's an expectation and an understanding that lies behind it that we need 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:58.159 to understand. Certainly in this Middle Eastern culture, in Jesus' time, hospitality was one of 00:06:58.159 --> 00:07:04.439 the highest responsibilities that individuals had. And in that culture, because of those expectations 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:11.300 of feeding a guest when they came, you would have no shame whatsoever in going to a neighbour 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:17.100 and getting help. Because you've got a need. You really need to show hospitality. Otherwise, 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:25.399 it's shame on you, literally. Even at midnight. And so if you read Jewish teachings, the theme 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:31.420 of hospitality is really big. One writer who lived in the Middle East for 40 years puts it 00:07:31.420 --> 00:07:39.439 this way. Social behaviour is guided by a community sense of honour and shame, more than by means 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:47.520 of an individual sense of loyalty to an abstract principle of right and wrong. So to not be able 00:07:47.520 --> 00:07:55.860 to offer food to a guest just immediately makes you think, everyone's looking at me and I'm 00:07:55.860 --> 00:08:05.080 under shame as a result of that. Which is why this man is so bold in verse 8. Notice it uses a word 00:08:05.080 --> 00:08:10.699 in the ESP, impudence. He'll not get up and give him anything because he's his friend, yet because of 00:08:10.699 --> 00:08:17.060 his impudence he will rise and give him what he needs. You could translate that shamelessness, 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:23.080 because of his shamelessness he will rise and give him what he needs. He's got no shame in disturbing 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:29.579 his neighbour at midnight because he cannot risk the shame of being seen to be inhospitable. 00:08:31.539 --> 00:08:37.279 What's a reaction might he get in our culture? Well, go away, I'm getting a train at 6am in the 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.659 morning, there's a 24 hour shop down the road and if it's shut, well you should have thought 00:08:41.659 --> 00:08:50.480 about that before. And, you know, of course we're in a society we don't even know on here most of the time. 00:08:51.419 --> 00:08:56.279 And yet I think we can start to understand what's going on here, if we think about it differently. 00:08:56.419 --> 00:09:04.159 So one modern day example of this is perhaps if somebody is seriously unwell in your home. 00:09:04.199 --> 00:09:10.439 Imagine somebody suddenly is in need of a doctor of serious medical attention. Let's make it really 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:18.940 black and white. Imagine somebody has a heart attack at night. Now, you'd have no shame, would 00:09:18.940 --> 00:09:24.740 you, in doing whatever it took to make sure that person got the help they needed. I know 00:09:24.740 --> 00:09:28.880 what I'm like if I took my daughter into hospital, she's one of those kids who always needs to 00:09:28.880 --> 00:09:34.660 be glued up. It's amazing, they use glue nowadays, don't they, to your cuss. She's that sort of 00:09:34.660 --> 00:09:39.440 girl. If I take her in, and you're a parent, you'll be able to relate to this, you don't kind 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:44.200 of sit there in a corner, it's, excuse me, my daughter needs seeing to, she needs seeing 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:50.240 to now. That's just for a little cut. Imagine it's a heart attack or something like that. 00:09:50.360 --> 00:10:00.240 There would be no shame in saying I need medical help and I need it now. Your knowledge of your 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:07.660 need would make you completely shameless in asking. That's what's going on here. When we think 00:10:07.659 --> 00:10:14.360 that, actually, in hospitality terms, there was a huge need, if you needed to provide for a guest, 00:10:15.059 --> 00:10:19.319 then you would be shameless in asking somewhere else. That helps us know what's going on here. 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:23.719 Well, so what? How does that help and what's the point? Jesus' point is this, when you really, 00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:33.319 really know that you need something, you ask for it and you persist until you get it. And if even a 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:40.740 neighbour who loves his bed would be willing to respond, how much more would God, who in verse 13, 00:10:41.800 --> 00:10:51.100 gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. So Jesus' invitation is to pray, to keep pushing in prayer, 00:10:51.240 --> 00:11:01.480 to do so with confidence, with shamelessness, because you and I have a truly great need and only he can meet it. 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:08.940 Which leads to the question, well, what is your need and mine? There's nothing less than life itself. 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:18.180 It's something no hospital can provide. It's even greater than that. Verse 13 tells us what our need is 00:11:18.180 --> 00:11:23.860 and what we should be asking him for. It's the Holy Spirit. That might sound a little bit odd. 00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:28.519 Maybe you're here tonight and you're not even sure who this Holy Spirit is. 00:11:31.340 --> 00:11:41.940 But the Holy Spirit, the Bible says, is essentially God living in you when you become a Christian. 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:49.580 Through you, in a way which takes your old self with all of its brokenness and confusion 00:11:49.580 --> 00:11:58.300 and meaninglessness and separation from God and infuses you, the real you, infuses you with life 00:11:58.300 --> 00:12:05.040 so you become the person God intended you to be. That's God's Holy Spirit. It's essentially becoming a Christian. 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:12.520 And if you're not a Christian yet, Jesus is saying in these verses that the Holy Spirit 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:18.460 is your greatest need. You may not have realised that yet. 00:12:19.579 --> 00:12:26.299 But without the Holy Spirit, we're like a toy without batteries or like a bulb without electricity 00:12:26.299 --> 00:12:29.919 flowing through it. It wouldn't be light in here, as Chris said it was. 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:32.399 Obviously, you've got improved bulbs or something? Great. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:37.059 If we didn't have the power, we wouldn't have the light. 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:38.519 Same with the Holy Spirit. 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:42.240 We'd be like bulbs without power. 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:45.240 And if you're a Christian, of course, it's different for you. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:48.039 You have the Holy Spirit already. 00:12:49.079 --> 00:12:53.299 So you might be thinking, well, how's this relevant for me to ask for the Holy Spirit? 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:00.159 But actually, the same basic need is for the Christian as well, isn't it? 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.559 We need the Holy Spirit every day. 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:05.519 Romans 8.5, we need to walk in accordance with the Spirit. 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:09.759 Don't you need to ask God for more of that day by day? 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:13.419 Because I know with my sinful nature, I don't walk in accordance with the Spirit. 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:15.799 I do need to keep praying for that. 00:13:16.460 --> 00:13:22.199 I need to ask for God's Holy Spirit more and more, so that I can put the sinful nature behind me. 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:31.340 So that first analogy, Jesus invites you to pray with confidence, first of all, because of your great needs. 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:38.860 That's verses 5 to 8, the first analogy, that comes before that invitation of verse 9. 00:13:38.940 --> 00:13:44.480 And the second analogy, which comes after the invitation, is in verses 11 to 13. 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:48.399 And here I'm summarising it in this way. 00:13:48.540 --> 00:13:53.800 Jesus invites you to pray with confidence because of your generous Father. 00:13:54.740 --> 00:13:56.320 Because of your generous Father. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:04.360 So Walter Raleigh is said to have had the following dialogue with Queen Elizabeth I. 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:08.400 To her question, when will you leave off begging? 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.180 He replies, when your Majesty leaves off giving. 00:14:14.780 --> 00:14:15.840 That's a good answer, isn't it? 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:20.440 A generous Queen led to somebody who kept asking. 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:27.840 And a generous Father should lead, Jesus says, to children who ask and ask freely. 00:14:28.800 --> 00:14:33.580 Now of course we're not to lower our Heavenly Father to the level of our earthly standards. 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:40.040 And yet Jesus does take the earthly sinful examples to illustrate God's character. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:45.380 And to show that we have a Father more willing to give than we are to receive. 00:14:45.379 --> 00:14:50.039 He appeals to fathers, Jesus says in verse 11, what father among you? 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:54.559 I guess there were perhaps more fathers around as he spoke to the crowds. 00:14:56.360 --> 00:15:05.220 And says, if his son asks for a fish, what father among you will give, instead of a fish, give him a serpent? 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.740 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:12.100 If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:18.480 how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? 00:15:21.800 --> 00:15:24.500 Simon Cowell is a pretty well-known figure, isn't he? 00:15:25.040 --> 00:15:28.220 Pop idol, ex-factor, Britain's got talent. 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:32.580 And of course gave birth to his first son. 00:15:33.860 --> 00:15:35.759 Not his wife, but whoever. 00:15:36.300 --> 00:15:39.340 Gave birth to his first son, Eric, in February. 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:49.040 And, um, now I don't know, I, for most parents a McLaren buggy or pram or something normally does the trick. 00:15:50.019 --> 00:15:52.340 Um, but not for Simon Cowell. 00:15:52.860 --> 00:16:00.600 He had to go for a Silver Cross surf, um, buggy, which is modelled on an Aston Martin 177. 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:04.500 Um, most buggy's aren't modelled on Aston Martin's. 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.779 Um, you can get it from, from Harrods for a couple of thousands. 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:10.080 Um, if you're interested in that. 00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:13.519 Now, what's the point? 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:15.899 It's a father. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:18.639 It, there's something natural in parents. 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:21.240 If you're a parent here tonight, you'll, you'll know that instinctively. 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:23.220 If you're a father or a mother, 00:16:24.040 --> 00:16:26.460 you will know that it, there's a natural thing. 00:16:26.540 --> 00:16:28.920 You just want to lavish something. 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:32.319 Now, of course, this is not about spoiling your child. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:35.679 Um, this is about having their best interests at heart. 00:16:36.699 --> 00:16:39.799 Um, and yet, even in, even in the Simon Cowell example, 00:16:39.959 --> 00:16:44.360 there's a sense in which that's his way of giving the best that he can in that area. 00:16:45.319 --> 00:16:51.199 And, um, you know, as parents, if you're a parent, then you, you know that instinctively, as I say. 00:16:51.379 --> 00:16:55.079 My, when I look at my children, I, I just want, 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:58.759 I don't want to withhold anything that is bad from them. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:06.039 Jim Packer, who wrote that little book, Knowing God, 00:17:06.120 --> 00:17:08.000 that so many people have found so helpful, 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:11.160 says this, as he comments on these verses. 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:17.740 We need not hesitate to imitate the sublime cheek of the child, 00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:21.220 who is not afraid to ask his parents for anything, 00:17:22.080 --> 00:17:25.820 because he knows he can count completely on their love. 00:17:26.660 --> 00:17:28.000 And then he quotes verse 9, 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.880 Ask, and it will be given you, and so on. 00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:35.519 Now, of course, it doesn't mean for a minute that God just answers our prayers 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:37.359 in the form that we offer them. 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:39.799 We often ask for the wrong things, 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:41.339 or with the wrong motives, 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:44.619 and his prerogative, of course, is to give good things, 00:17:45.099 --> 00:17:46.019 as Jesus says. 00:17:46.099 --> 00:17:48.819 And so he reserves the right, like any good parent, 00:17:49.339 --> 00:17:51.619 to say, no, that is not good for you. 00:17:51.700 --> 00:17:52.460 Don't have that. 00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:53.880 Trust me. 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:57.019 And, of course, we see that even in the Apostle Paul, don't we? 00:17:57.019 --> 00:18:01.900 He'll ask for three times for his thorn in the flesh to be taken away from him. 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:06.480 And yet God says, no, that's for you. 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:08.859 My strength is made perfect in your weakness. 00:18:11.700 --> 00:18:14.519 And every father wants the best, 00:18:14.579 --> 00:18:17.139 and even those who go against this rule 00:18:17.139 --> 00:18:19.599 and give their children things that aren't good, 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:22.960 well, they're exceptions, aren't they, that prove the rule. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:27.660 It's worth saying, probably, at this point, 00:18:28.660 --> 00:18:30.019 in case it's not clear, 00:18:30.120 --> 00:18:34.340 that God is not the Father to all people. 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:38.240 So as we think, as we hear these words from Jesus, 00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:41.259 he's talking about God's children, 00:18:41.620 --> 00:18:44.220 those who relate to him in love and trust. 00:18:44.220 --> 00:18:47.940 But we must remember also that the Bible's message is, 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:52.000 OK, maybe God is our Father in the sense that he's the creator of mankind, 00:18:52.259 --> 00:18:53.360 as everyone is. 00:18:53.460 --> 00:18:57.039 And yet, John chapter 1, what do we read there? 00:18:57.140 --> 00:19:02.640 We see that actually it's those who receive his Son. 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:05.519 He gives the right to become children of God. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:10.339 So we mustn't say that this God is the Father of everyone. 00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:17.119 There is a sense in which we are only children of our Heavenly Father 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.420 when we have received his Son and received the Lord Jesus. 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:28.139 I like the fact that this second analogy is the Father analogy. 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:32.200 Otherwise we'd end on this friend or the neighbour 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:33.940 who sort of says, don't bother me at first, 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.000 and then eventually gives. 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:38.580 I like the fact that we're not meant to, 00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:40.340 we can't misunderstand that first one, 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:43.120 because the second one rams home the fact 00:19:43.120 --> 00:19:45.400 that he's our Heavenly Father. 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:48.120 It's not about putting pressure on. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:49.220 It's about a relationship. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:53.980 And it's about his willingness and desire to give us good things. 00:19:55.900 --> 00:19:58.259 Now just before I close, 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:00.519 before we come to the table in a moment, 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.139 I asked right at the start, 00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:06.740 what are the things that stop us talking to God? 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:09.279 He's not interested in me. 00:20:10.639 --> 00:20:13.039 Well actually, he invites you. 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:19.599 He's the one who seeks to open up communications with you. 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:26.119 Maybe you think, well he doesn't have good things for me. 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:32.579 Actually, he has the one truly great thing that you and I need. 00:20:32.699 --> 00:20:34.159 He has the Holy Spirit, 00:20:34.919 --> 00:20:38.359 without which none of us can truly live, 00:20:38.479 --> 00:20:39.979 none of us will live. 00:20:40.979 --> 00:20:43.279 He has life itself for you. 00:20:43.379 --> 00:20:46.099 He has the ultimate good for you. 00:20:47.859 --> 00:20:49.259 He wants to spoil my fun. 00:20:49.439 --> 00:20:52.419 Well no, he wants us to enjoy the relationship 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:53.779 that we were designed for, 00:20:53.880 --> 00:20:55.960 to enter into this relationship 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:58.100 that would define as fun, 00:20:58.279 --> 00:20:59.720 but far more than that. 00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:00.320 Wonderful. 00:21:01.980 --> 00:21:04.980 He's got better things to do than listen to my witterings. 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:07.259 Well, no. 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:09.039 He invites every child 00:21:09.600 --> 00:21:11.440 to bring everything to him. 00:21:11.500 --> 00:21:12.980 We're going to sing about that in a moment. 00:21:13.300 --> 00:21:14.220 You know, children might believe 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:15.519 that Father Christmas can deliver 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:16.900 to all the chimneys around the world. 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:18.100 We believe, 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:20.200 I won't comment on that, 00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:20.880 whether it's true or not, 00:21:20.980 --> 00:21:21.420 just in case. 00:21:22.840 --> 00:21:26.300 We believe that God is fully able 00:21:26.300 --> 00:21:30.019 to hear all the prayers of his people, 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:31.519 whatever those prayers might be. 00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:33.060 We hear them all, 00:21:33.140 --> 00:21:34.320 his shoulders are big enough 00:21:34.320 --> 00:21:35.180 to cope with, 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:37.600 with all of them as well. 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:42.100 We thought about having some sort of expectation 00:21:42.100 --> 00:21:43.080 of how to pray. 00:21:43.380 --> 00:21:44.620 I don't sound as eloquent 00:21:44.620 --> 00:21:46.160 as that other person who prays. 00:21:46.900 --> 00:21:48.780 Well, Jesus gives us 00:21:48.780 --> 00:21:49.560 this model 00:21:49.560 --> 00:21:51.220 of how to pray. 00:21:51.460 --> 00:21:51.960 And actually, 00:21:52.540 --> 00:21:53.560 isn't it the prayers 00:21:53.560 --> 00:21:55.360 that sound the least religious? 00:21:56.420 --> 00:21:57.220 Aren't they usually 00:21:57.220 --> 00:21:59.320 the most honest 00:21:59.320 --> 00:22:00.940 and therefore the best? 00:22:02.180 --> 00:22:03.180 Jesus invites you 00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:03.980 to talk to him 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:05.100 in that way. 00:22:06.280 --> 00:22:07.460 Or perhaps your view of God, 00:22:07.540 --> 00:22:08.860 that's the thing that gets in the way. 00:22:08.980 --> 00:22:09.980 You just can't help it 00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:11.400 that you've got this image 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:12.019 from your past. 00:22:12.100 --> 00:22:13.160 Well, let it be informed 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:15.700 by what Jesus says. 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:19.259 He invites this father-child relationship 00:22:19.259 --> 00:22:20.940 where the father is not interested 00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:22.980 in giving anything bad 00:22:22.980 --> 00:22:23.920 to his child. 00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:27.200 He filters all of that 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:28.779 so that only the good 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:30.120 comes through. 00:22:31.460 --> 00:22:33.519 Jesus wants us to go away 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:33.960 thinking, 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:35.000 I need to pray 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:36.480 because we have a need 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:37.980 for his life-giving spirit. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:39.380 He wants us to go away 00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:40.759 from this passage 00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:41.440 thinking, 00:22:41.619 --> 00:22:43.319 I want to pray 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:45.019 because of his nature 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:46.500 and who he is. 00:22:46.500 --> 00:22:48.339 Let's pray.