WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.900 If you have your Bibles, open them this morning to Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 6, 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:08.679 and we're going to begin our reading in just a moment with verse 5. 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:11.179 You recognize this is a part of the Sermon on the Mount. 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:17.859 It's the portion where Jesus turns his attention to the matter of teaching his disciples how to pray, 00:00:18.240 --> 00:00:24.199 and it's the definitive passage in all the Scripture of Jesus on the subject of prayer. 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:28.120 I want you to know I'm beginning today a new series. 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:35.280 We've been doing the Jesus Effect, and beginning today I'm going to do a four-part series on the enemies of prayer. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:43.840 Throughout my lifetime, I've tried to read the Scripture and to pray and to witness and do things that believers want to do, 00:00:44.400 --> 00:00:48.540 but when I talk to other believers and they're transparent and open, 00:00:49.219 --> 00:00:55.980 I find that pretty much a lot of us, maybe most of us or maybe all of us, kind of share this in common. 00:00:55.979 --> 00:01:02.199 Of all the Christian disciplines, the one that we think would bless in our lives the most is prayer, 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:06.799 and yet that's the one that we perhaps do the least of. 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:11.219 It's the one that we don't feel very good about oftentimes in our life. 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:15.280 Every one of us today, if I said, how many of you believe in prayer, would raise your hand? 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:22.039 If I said, do you think there's power in prayer, that God will move as we come to him in prayer, 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:31.700 every one of us would acknowledge that, but we would probably be a little embarrassed if folks knew sometimes how little we pray. 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:37.760 And so I want to preach for the next four weeks because I think there's nothing more important in our life than prayer, 00:01:38.360 --> 00:01:40.840 very openly and honestly about prayer. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:43.240 And I want to talk about the enemies of prayer. 00:01:43.340 --> 00:01:48.760 And so if you have something to take some notes on, I want to encourage you just to write down these enemies. 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:51.960 We're going to see a number of them over the next few weeks. 00:01:52.380 --> 00:01:54.140 But today we want to start with the first one. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:58.980 It doesn't mean it's the first of importance, but it's simply the one that we're coming to first here in the Scripture, 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:02.640 and that is praying with wrong motives. 00:02:03.060 --> 00:02:07.060 If you pray with wrong motives, you're not going to be effective in prayer. 00:02:07.160 --> 00:02:10.159 And let me tell you what I mean when I say the enemy of prayer. 00:02:10.659 --> 00:02:14.520 I'm not talking about just lifting up words to God. 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:18.180 I'm talking about those words getting higher than the ceiling. 00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:24.500 I won't ask for a show of hands, but my guess is probably everyone in this room has had occasion where you prayed 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:27.699 and you walked away wondering, man, did God hear that? 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:30.719 Did it get any higher than the ceiling? 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:34.060 Was I just talking to myself or did God really hear? 00:02:34.239 --> 00:02:39.899 So when I talk about prayer, I'm talking about effective prayer, not just the uttering of words, all right? 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:46.400 And so the first thing I'd tell you is that praying with wrong motives is the enemy of prayer. 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:51.319 Look with me to chapter 6 and verse 5 and hear what Jesus says about that. 00:02:52.140 --> 00:02:55.180 Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:01.439 because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen. 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:03.060 That's the reason they're doing it. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:05.080 To be seen by people. 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:09.719 I assure you, they've got their reward. 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:14.320 Now, obviously, he's thinking of the Pharisees. 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:17.380 And boy, we like to give the Pharisees a hard time, right? 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:20.200 And Jesus gave them difficult moments. 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:26.660 He called them snakes and vipers and compared them to whitewashed tombs and graves. 00:03:27.220 --> 00:03:29.820 He recognized they were phonies, right? 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:38.219 And so oftentimes, I hear folk in church criticize the Pharisees because they love to impress people. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:43.620 In fact, Jesus gives us a number of ways in which they tried to impress people. 00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:47.079 They would wear wide hems around the bottom of their garments. 00:03:47.659 --> 00:03:51.159 They would put scriptures in little boxes and place them on their head. 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:52.959 They call them phylacteries, right? 00:03:53.359 --> 00:03:56.280 And they would even pray on the street corner. 00:03:56.500 --> 00:03:57.799 Now, here's what Jesus is saying. 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:01.600 He says, people come to the temple and they pray. 00:04:02.100 --> 00:04:05.780 And they stand when they pray, perhaps out of respect to God. 00:04:06.100 --> 00:04:07.540 And they do that in the temple. 00:04:08.160 --> 00:04:13.219 But these self-righteous Pharisees who want folk to see them, 00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:18.160 they'll even go out on the street corner and they'll begin to pray. 00:04:18.780 --> 00:04:22.040 Imagine you're downtown Pickens on Main Street. 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:28.700 And there's a guy and he's just talking to the top of his lungs and he's talking to God, right? 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:31.620 Now, you know, one of two or three things has to be going on. 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:38.800 There's either something wrong with this guy, maybe mentally, or maybe he's just that spiritual. 00:04:39.540 --> 00:04:45.700 Maybe he's just a guy who is just so moved by God and so in love with God that he's walking down the street. 00:04:45.780 --> 00:04:47.259 And suddenly, it dawns on him. 00:04:47.340 --> 00:04:49.080 There's something he needs to call out to God about. 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:53.219 And so right there on the corner, he just stops and he prays, right? 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:56.120 That would be a pretty unusual sight, though, to see. 00:04:56.819 --> 00:05:03.579 And Jesus is talking about these folk because I believe that's the conclusion a lot of their peers, 00:05:03.779 --> 00:05:06.659 a lot of the folks who weren't Pharisees had concluded. 00:05:07.419 --> 00:05:08.419 They had come to the place. 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:10.779 They saw these people stand on the street corner praying. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:13.079 And they thought, man, what a godly guy. 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:17.899 I mean, he is just so moved to talk to God right here out in public. 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:25.259 But Jesus says, I want you to be aware the reason they do that is to be seen of men. 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:29.839 Now, like I said a moment ago, we can get pretty hard on the Pharisees, right? 00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:34.719 We don't like it when people are hypocrites, when they're phonies, when they come across as holier than thou, 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:37.339 and they're legalists and all that sort of thing. 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:41.779 But can I tell you something, and you don't want to hear this, and I'm including myself in this. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:47.259 We're more like those Pharisees than we like to let on that we are. 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:58.719 Every one of us, if we're absolutely honest, we struggle with doing things not so much to please God but to please man. 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:02.059 Now, some of you are saying, well, preacher, you just don't know me. 00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:03.000 I just don't do that. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:08.959 When I worship, when I serve, whatever I do, I'm doing it to please God, and I don't even think about men. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:09.279 Really? 00:06:10.019 --> 00:06:15.220 How many of you right now hold an office in church that you don't really want to have, but you didn't want to disappoint the preacher? 00:06:16.339 --> 00:06:18.579 You don't want to disappoint somebody on the nominating committee. 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:22.180 Brian singled you out and said, well, you've got a good voice, and you ought to be in the choir. 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.500 And so you said, well, okay, because you didn't want to disappoint Brian. 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:36.660 You see, the truth of the matter is, a lot of the things we do, if we're honest about it, we do to be seen to men, and not because it's necessary for God or what we feel in our heart. 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:38.920 There's sometimes a combination of both, right? 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:41.899 We want to please God, but we really are motivated oftentimes. 00:06:42.660 --> 00:06:47.899 What I really want is for these folk to think I'm a good guy, and I'm just doing exactly what I need. 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:49.100 Let me give you another example. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:51.939 I know probably none of you in this room would ever do this. 00:06:51.939 --> 00:06:55.480 But have you ever had a quarrel with your wife or husband on the way to church? 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:58.000 Or maybe you're getting on the kids. 00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:06.139 You're having to get on to them because they were late getting in the car, or they don't dress the way you want them to dress, or there's something coming up in the afternoon. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:07.199 They're already starting to argue. 00:07:07.379 --> 00:07:10.399 And it's just bitter as it can be getting to church, right? 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:16.420 But you pull into the parking lot, and as soon as you park that car and open the door, well, there's the pastor. 00:07:17.159 --> 00:07:18.579 Or there's Deacon Joe. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:20.180 Or there's your son's school teacher. 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:20.839 What do you do? 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:23.279 You go from, hey, teacher. 00:07:25.219 --> 00:07:27.479 So good to see you today. 00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:32.639 Isn't it going to be a blessing to be here at church today and to hear from God? 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:34.899 Now, why do you do that? 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:38.339 You do that because you don't think bad, or you don't see you fighting. 00:07:38.979 --> 00:07:47.539 It didn't bother you that God was watching that argument in the car, heard every word of it, saw you misbehave, 00:07:47.540 --> 00:07:54.700 but you get here in front of folk that respect you and think well of you, and suddenly you've got to change all that, right? 00:07:54.699 --> 00:08:01.899 So oftentimes we do what we do because we're motivated for men to see us and think well of us. 00:08:02.219 --> 00:08:06.500 In truth, we like to impress others sometimes as much as the Pharisees. 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:11.379 Several years ago, it was two elections ago, right before President Trump was elected, 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.199 they hadn't had the Republican primary here in South Carolina yet, 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:17.360 and some of the candidates were coming here to South Carolina. 00:08:17.479 --> 00:08:18.279 You'll remember that. 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:23.939 In fact, I'm not even sure that President Trump had declared that he was going to be a candidate at that point, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.500 but they had, remember about 18 candidates at that time? 00:08:26.979 --> 00:08:29.399 Well, some of them came to the upstate, 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:33.639 and a friend of mine who pastors a large church in the upstate called me, 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.139 and he said, Ralph, I'm going to bind. 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:40.819 He said, we've got about 2,000 people coming to our church who want to meet these politicians 00:08:40.819 --> 00:08:44.840 and hear what they've got to say, and my grandson has just passed away, 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:47.019 and I've got to go to Charleston. 00:08:47.179 --> 00:08:51.500 I've got to be in Charleston, and I need somebody who will come and sit on the stage with these guys 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:52.620 and ask them questions. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.460 I want to tell you, that's so far out of my element, you can't even imagine, right? 00:08:56.980 --> 00:09:02.139 And so I just hem-hawed around, but his grandson had died, and I didn't want to disappoint him, 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:04.720 so finally I said, well, okay, I don't know what I'll say. 00:09:04.860 --> 00:09:05.659 Do you have questions? 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:07.360 He said, no, you've got to come up with your own. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:11.980 Okay, so I go and agree to do that, right? 00:09:12.259 --> 00:09:17.279 Well, I get there, and they've got the bomb-sniffing dogs and all this mess and secret service, 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:20.939 and they're checking you out, and I'm nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:24.899 and finally they come out, and they say, these guys are here in the back, 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:26.500 and we want you to come back and meet them, 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:28.480 so the first time you meet them is not on stage. 00:09:28.580 --> 00:09:29.439 It's not going to be a debate. 00:09:29.500 --> 00:09:30.399 It's just a one-on-one. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:32.159 Then we go to the next one, the next one. 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:33.279 So I say, okay. 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:39.939 I go back, and this first politician to meet, one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet in your life. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:42.579 Felt like you knew him forever, okay? 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:45.259 He says, there's another one over here. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:45.919 I want you to meet him. 00:09:46.199 --> 00:09:48.899 I go over, and I stick my hand out, and this was a senator. 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:52.159 He was probably leading the polls at that time, 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:56.879 and I stick my hand out, and I said, hi, I'm Ralph Carter. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:01.740 And he says, well, I'm, and he calls his name Senator so-and-so, 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:06.700 and when he does, when he's telling me who he is, he takes his hand, he puts it on my hand, 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:09.559 he's shaking my hand like this, so warm and endearing. 00:10:10.100 --> 00:10:10.779 But guess what? 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:11.860 He's not looking at me. 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:14.460 I'm here, and he's not looking at me. 00:10:14.939 --> 00:10:19.179 He's looking over here and over here, and he's scanning the room, 00:10:19.179 --> 00:10:22.239 and I've got enough sense that I figure it out. 00:10:23.199 --> 00:10:24.139 I'm a nobody. 00:10:24.819 --> 00:10:27.099 I could have told him that before I came in the room, right? 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:29.919 He's not interested in talking to me. 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:34.959 He's interested in meeting this other politician or this news reporter 00:10:34.959 --> 00:10:38.079 or somebody who can do something for his campaign, right? 00:10:38.819 --> 00:10:43.500 So as quickly as I shook his hand, I just let it go and said, nice to meet you, 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.199 and turned because I thought, well, if you don't talk to me, 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:50.340 then, you know, I don't want to be in your way, and I just went on my way. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:55.000 When I was writing this message a couple of years later, 00:10:55.080 --> 00:10:57.259 I followed that incident, and you know what occurred to me? 00:10:58.040 --> 00:11:00.980 I wonder if sometimes it's that way with God. 00:11:02.340 --> 00:11:06.580 I wonder if when we gather with God and we go through the pretense of prayer, 00:11:07.800 --> 00:11:11.360 if really and truly our mind is on other things and on other people, 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:14.320 and we're praying not for his benefit but for others, 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:16.680 and I wonder if God ever gets that feeling where he's going, 00:11:17.040 --> 00:11:18.320 are you talking to me? 00:11:19.760 --> 00:11:21.580 Are you really in conversation with me, 00:11:21.700 --> 00:11:26.340 or are you just trying to impress through your prayer somebody else? 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:30.000 The enemy of prayer is praying with wrong motives. 00:11:30.280 --> 00:11:32.980 The second enemy of prayer, and this one's going to surprise you, 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:36.660 praying in public, praying in public. 00:11:37.560 --> 00:11:40.160 Look at chapter 6 and verse 6. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:43.360 Jesus continues this same idea. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.000 When you pray, go into your private room, 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.319 shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, 00:11:49.439 --> 00:11:52.719 and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:55.699 And some translations tack on that word openly. 00:11:57.199 --> 00:12:01.079 Now, Jesus has just told us not to be motivated 00:12:01.079 --> 00:12:03.120 by trying to get the attention of men. 00:12:03.319 --> 00:12:05.159 So now he follows that up with the idea of, 00:12:05.159 --> 00:12:09.899 to prevent that, go into the closet where no one sees you but God. 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:13.139 Why would I mean go into a closet and pray? 00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:14.719 Have you ever thought about that? 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:16.439 It seems a little odd, doesn't it? 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:17.639 Go into a closet and pray. 00:12:17.740 --> 00:12:19.279 Why would you go into a closet and pray? 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:20.019 I'll tell you why. 00:12:20.339 --> 00:12:20.939 One reason. 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:24.059 Because no one sees you in the closet but you and God. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.199 It helps make your motives more pure. 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:29.179 Do you understand that? 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:33.419 If I'm standing here praying, I can be trying to impress you. 00:12:33.419 --> 00:12:36.120 But when I get alone and I know my wife's not watching, 00:12:36.219 --> 00:12:38.299 my children are not watching, my church is not watching, 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:40.339 it's just me and God here, 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.539 I've got to believe that God's listening. 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:44.479 I've got to believe that God's going to answer, 00:12:44.979 --> 00:12:46.159 or why would I pray? 00:12:47.079 --> 00:12:48.979 So it indicates sincerity. 00:12:49.139 --> 00:12:51.219 It indicates real faith in God. 00:12:51.319 --> 00:12:52.360 But there's another reason. 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:58.199 It also enables me to be transparent with God. 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:03.520 It enables me to be honest with God and come clean with God 00:13:03.520 --> 00:13:06.080 and say what's really on my mind and heart. 00:13:06.180 --> 00:13:06.840 And I'll tell you something. 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:10.060 That is virtually, I'm not going to say it's impossible, 00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:14.600 it's virtually impossible to do in public prayer meeting. 00:13:15.180 --> 00:13:18.220 It's hard to do even with two or three folk holding hands, 00:13:18.540 --> 00:13:21.640 but much less in a room full of folk like this. 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:23.879 I've been pastor in 50 years. 00:13:23.960 --> 00:13:25.280 I've preached a lot of places. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:28.799 I've shared my testimony with people in their homes. 00:13:29.139 --> 00:13:31.000 I've done funerals and weddings. 00:13:32.100 --> 00:13:35.779 I've done about everything I guess a pastor is called upon to do, 00:13:35.839 --> 00:13:36.459 but I'll tell you something. 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:40.039 The hardest thing I've ever been asked to do is to pray publicly. 00:13:40.899 --> 00:13:43.919 In fact, if I were honest with you, 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:47.519 I'm not sure that I could say over a handful of times 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:49.220 in my whole 50-year ministry, 00:13:49.459 --> 00:13:51.480 I've ever felt in my heart 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:55.700 that I walked away from praying in public successfully, 00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:59.080 that I did that really the way I should have done. 00:13:59.139 --> 00:13:59.560 You know why? 00:14:00.060 --> 00:14:02.000 Because every time I pray, 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:03.659 when I pray in a crowd like this, 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.620 no matter how hard I try to block you out, 00:14:06.980 --> 00:14:08.840 it's virtually impossible to do so. 00:14:09.560 --> 00:14:10.279 Do you understand that? 00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:12.320 If you're in a Sunday school class, 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:13.100 if you're in a small prayer, 00:14:13.300 --> 00:14:16.259 it's just hard to not think of the fact, 00:14:16.820 --> 00:14:18.580 well, so-and-so's here, and they're listening. 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.139 And you want your theology to be right, 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:24.060 and you want to make sure that you touch all the bases, 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.259 that you mention all the things that were requested, 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.360 and that you get the names of folk right, 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:33.520 it's a difficult thing to pray in public. 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:35.340 And so I want to tell you, 00:14:35.500 --> 00:14:40.500 public praying can be the enemy of real, genuine prayer. 00:14:40.820 --> 00:14:43.120 Let me prove it to you from another perspective. 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:46.540 Go with me to Matthew's Gospel. 00:14:46.540 --> 00:14:48.280 Keep your hand here in Matthew 6. 00:14:48.580 --> 00:14:50.280 And if you're using your Bible this morning, 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:51.420 and not just reading off the screen, 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:54.180 go with me to Matthew chapter 26. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.220 And I want you to read three verses with me. 00:14:57.900 --> 00:15:00.200 Matthew chapter 26, 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:05.080 and verse 36. 00:15:08.180 --> 00:15:09.379 Here's what we read. 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:14.019 Then Jesus came with them to the place called Gethsemane, 00:15:14.779 --> 00:15:15.939 the night before he dies. 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:17.799 And he told his disciples, 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:19.539 sit here while I go over there and pray. 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:22.539 Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:25.580 he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:27.179 Then he said to them, 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:29.179 my soul is swallowed up in sorrow. 00:15:29.419 --> 00:15:31.919 To the point of death, I'm ready to die. 00:15:32.659 --> 00:15:34.960 Remain here and stay awake with me. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:36.800 Going a little farther, 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:39.920 he fell face down and prayed, 00:15:40.060 --> 00:15:41.480 my father, if it is possible, 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:43.120 let this cup pass from me, 00:15:43.620 --> 00:15:46.420 yet not as I will, but as you. 00:15:47.420 --> 00:15:48.240 I'm going to tell you, 00:15:48.300 --> 00:15:49.879 this is the most intense moment, 00:15:49.960 --> 00:15:52.740 I believe, in Jesus' earthly life. 00:15:53.560 --> 00:15:55.200 He's left the upper room. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:56.740 They've gone to the garden. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:58.600 He knows he's about to be betrayed. 00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:02.120 He leaves those disciples behind, 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:03.279 eight of them. 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:04.860 He goes a bit further, 00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:06.620 and he asks these to pray. 00:16:06.700 --> 00:16:07.519 He goes a bit further 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:09.320 and leaves his inner circle, 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:10.960 Peter, James, and John behind. 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:13.740 Pray, watch, be vigilant. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:14.840 He goes further, 00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:15.860 and the Bible says this, 00:16:16.220 --> 00:16:19.100 he falls face down on the ground. 00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:22.179 Some of you may have prayed like that, 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:24.519 but most of us have not had that experience. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.120 He falls face down on the ground. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:30.360 His heart is broken. 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:31.500 His heart is heavy. 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:32.340 He says, Lord, 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:34.320 they're about to put me to death. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:35.860 If there's any way possible, 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:38.360 if there's any way for humanity to be saved, 00:16:38.419 --> 00:16:39.899 is what he's in essence saying. 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:42.399 Other than me dying on the cross, 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:44.659 I pray God you'd find it 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:46.159 and let this pass from me. 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:48.159 Nevertheless, not my will, 00:16:48.259 --> 00:16:49.019 but thy will be done. 00:16:49.179 --> 00:16:50.840 He comes back and he finds them sleeping. 00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:52.159 He goes back and prays 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:53.600 and comes back and finds them sleeping. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:54.980 Goes away and prays, 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:56.480 comes back and finds them sleeping. 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:58.720 The Bible tells us in another gospel, 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:01.080 he prays so intensely, 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:04.440 it looks as though he's sweating drops of blood. 00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:06.100 I've talked to physicians about this. 00:17:06.140 --> 00:17:06.860 You know what they say? 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:09.839 That he was so intense under great stress, 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:11.759 the capillaries in our forehead 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:13.240 can actually burst, 00:17:13.620 --> 00:17:15.059 and that's what gave the appearance, 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:16.700 he's sweating blood. 00:17:16.700 --> 00:17:20.200 I'm saying to you today, 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:22.460 Jesus could not have prayed that prayer 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:24.480 in the midst of Peter, James, and John. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:26.120 He wasn't able to pray that 00:17:26.120 --> 00:17:29.120 with those other disciples who waited behind. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:31.880 That kind of intense honesty, 00:17:32.120 --> 00:17:33.200 transparency with God 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:36.220 comes only when we are alone. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:39.779 Remember David in Psalm 51? 00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:41.879 In Psalm 51, 00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:46.259 David has committed adultery with Bathsheba. 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:49.960 He's had Uriah, her husband, murdered. 00:17:50.619 --> 00:17:52.680 He sends him to the front and withdraws. 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:53.319 Can I tell you something? 00:17:53.619 --> 00:17:55.220 He was as guilty of murder 00:17:55.220 --> 00:17:57.019 as if he had taken out a handgun 00:17:57.019 --> 00:17:58.660 and stuck it to the back of the head of Uriah 00:17:58.660 --> 00:17:59.460 and pulled the trigger. 00:18:00.299 --> 00:18:01.440 He's that guilty. 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:04.740 Nathan comes and confronts him with his sin. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:08.079 He prays this beautiful prayer in Psalm 51. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:09.839 I think it's the most beautiful prayer you read 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:11.899 of confession anywhere in Scripture. 00:18:12.399 --> 00:18:13.519 And he calls out to God. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:16.740 He says, God, you know everything about me. 00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:18.000 And then he says, 00:18:18.199 --> 00:18:20.899 Lord, cast me not away from your presence. 00:18:21.199 --> 00:18:23.439 Take not your Holy Spirit from me. 00:18:23.879 --> 00:18:25.759 Create to be a clean heart, oh God. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:28.179 Renew a right spirit within me. 00:18:28.579 --> 00:18:30.879 He's a broken, broken, broken man. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:32.000 I want to ask you something. 00:18:32.399 --> 00:18:33.939 Could he have prayed that leading worship 00:18:33.939 --> 00:18:35.379 at First Baptist Church of Pickens? 00:18:35.939 --> 00:18:37.299 Not in a thousand years. 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:40.519 Could he have prayed that with his wife, Michael, 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:41.259 at his side? 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:41.919 Never. 00:18:42.639 --> 00:18:44.559 Could he have prayed that in front of his boys? 00:18:44.659 --> 00:18:45.659 He had a number of sons. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:46.859 Could he have said, guys, come here. 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:47.859 I got to tell you something. 00:18:48.059 --> 00:18:49.960 Your dad's failed and prayed that prayer. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:51.700 Could he have prayed it with his soldiers? 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:55.359 That kind of sincere transparency and honesty, 00:18:55.480 --> 00:18:55.879 I don't tell you something. 00:18:56.139 --> 00:18:58.799 It only comes when you get along with God. 00:18:59.879 --> 00:19:01.379 There have been moments in your life, 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:03.299 maybe not as dark as in David's life, 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:05.119 but there have been dark moments in your life. 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:07.739 Some folk get the mistaken notion, 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:09.339 what I need to do is get on a stage 00:19:09.339 --> 00:19:10.419 and confess it to the world. 00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:11.099 I want to tell you something. 00:19:11.379 --> 00:19:15.679 What you do in public that becomes public knowledge, 00:19:15.739 --> 00:19:17.139 you need to confess publicly. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:19.500 But those things that are private knowledge 00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:21.019 that only you and God know about, 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:23.659 you need to confess those privately. 00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:26.340 But that means getting along with God 00:19:26.340 --> 00:19:28.120 and bearing your soul to God and saying, 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:32.360 God, here's the honest truth about my life. 00:19:33.580 --> 00:19:35.259 Third enemy of prayer, 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:39.120 and that is creating false assumptions. 00:19:39.980 --> 00:19:42.040 Now, I'm going to mention two of these, 00:19:42.140 --> 00:19:43.580 but there are others, okay? 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:46.600 Again, just look up and listen for a minute. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:48.460 Let me preface what I'm going to say 00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:49.519 by telling you this. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:53.920 In the Baptist church, we're pretty bad about this. 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:56.139 If we own an answer to something, 00:19:56.680 --> 00:19:57.960 we like in our mind to think, 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:01.740 well, how should it be according to how I think 00:20:01.740 --> 00:20:06.460 instead of how should it be according to what God thinks? 00:20:06.879 --> 00:20:08.420 And if we don't see a clear answer, 00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:09.579 we'll just make up one. 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.139 And that's how we come sometimes 00:20:12.139 --> 00:20:13.799 to get these false assumptions. 00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:16.579 And when I mention these two false assumptions to you, 00:20:16.579 --> 00:20:19.019 you're going to readily say, I've heard that. 00:20:19.299 --> 00:20:20.799 I've even thought that way 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:22.960 or maybe even I think that way now. 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:25.759 Here's false assumption number one. 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:26.039 You ready? 00:20:26.899 --> 00:20:30.399 That praying longer is better than praying shorter. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:36.419 That lengthy prayers are better than short prayers. 00:20:37.419 --> 00:20:38.379 You know what that says? 00:20:39.339 --> 00:20:41.599 What that says is this, just logically, 00:20:42.439 --> 00:20:44.740 that God's got this scale in the heavens 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:47.019 and he's saying, okay, they prayed this much, 00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:48.180 but no, I'm not going to answer yet. 00:20:48.859 --> 00:20:50.240 No, well, that's a lot of more. 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:51.500 No, not yet. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:53.799 Okay, now I will. 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:57.900 The little bit of praying doesn't matter, 00:20:58.420 --> 00:20:59.680 but a whole lot of praying is really, 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:02.180 and the more words they use, 00:21:02.700 --> 00:21:03.960 the better I like it. 00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:05.620 Can I ask you, 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.339 where did we ever get that silly notion? 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:10.220 Because I'm going to show you clearly, 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:12.279 it's not a biblical notion. 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:14.500 I want you to look at what Jesus said 00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:17.619 in chapter six and verse seven. 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:19.740 Listen to Jesus. 00:21:21.299 --> 00:21:22.539 In verse seven, he says, 00:21:23.339 --> 00:21:26.619 when you pray, don't babble. 00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:29.000 We all know that, right? 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:30.200 What babble is. 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:33.180 Just to go on and on to yak it up. 00:21:34.099 --> 00:21:36.500 When you pray, don't babble like the idolaters 00:21:36.500 --> 00:21:38.539 since they imagine they'll be heard 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:40.279 for their many words. 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:40.680 Words. 00:21:41.899 --> 00:21:43.700 He says, that's what the idolaters do. 00:21:43.879 --> 00:21:46.200 You see an example of it in 1 Kings 18. 00:21:46.940 --> 00:21:48.160 Elijah takes the bullet. 00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:49.559 They create two altars. 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:51.039 He says, you got to pray. 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:54.059 The prophet of Baal prays first. 00:21:54.299 --> 00:21:54.960 Remember what they did? 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:56.700 They jumped up and down on the altar. 00:21:57.240 --> 00:21:58.379 He kind of made fun of them. 00:21:58.639 --> 00:21:59.319 God not listening. 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:00.539 They began to cut themselves. 00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:03.740 They began to chant and rant and rave. 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:05.680 No one answered. 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:07.460 And so Jesus says, 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:09.120 don't be like the idolaters. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:12.200 Don't just babble and use a lot of words. 00:22:12.600 --> 00:22:15.740 Look at the very next verse he gives us. 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:16.500 Verse eight. 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:19.779 Don't be like them because your father knows 00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:24.019 the things you need before you ask. 00:22:24.860 --> 00:22:28.400 So Jesus, he's got a different assumption. 00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:30.620 Jesus says, I want to tell you something. 00:22:30.619 --> 00:22:34.459 It'd be better if you were briefer in your praying 00:22:34.459 --> 00:22:37.159 than verbose in your praying. 00:22:37.659 --> 00:22:38.939 I want you to go with me 00:22:38.939 --> 00:22:42.039 to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter five. 00:22:42.139 --> 00:22:44.019 And I know some of you probably are wondering, 00:22:44.199 --> 00:22:45.539 where in the world is Ecclesiastes? 00:22:45.719 --> 00:22:47.259 Go to Proverbs and turn right. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:49.139 You'll be right there. 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:53.719 Ecclesiastes chapter five and verse one. 00:22:53.859 --> 00:22:54.199 You ready? 00:22:54.199 --> 00:22:54.259 You ready? 00:22:56.719 --> 00:23:00.079 Guard your step when you go to the house of God. 00:23:01.399 --> 00:23:02.519 You hear that? 00:23:04.459 --> 00:23:07.379 Guard yourself, your step, 00:23:07.479 --> 00:23:08.739 when you go to the house of God. 00:23:09.459 --> 00:23:11.839 Better true draw near in obedience 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:16.039 than to offer sacrifices as fools do 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:18.919 for they are ignorant and do wrong. 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:22.519 A lot of folk in the Old Testament hide the idea 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:23.959 if I didn't show up with a sacrifice, 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:24.839 I'm good to go. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:28.579 And God makes it clear through the prophet Isaiah 00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:29.719 and Jeremiah and others 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:33.819 your sacrifices have become a stench in my nostrils. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:35.980 What I want from you is obedience 00:23:35.980 --> 00:23:38.700 and faithfulness and openness and transparency. 00:23:39.100 --> 00:23:40.360 Look at verse two. 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:42.799 Do not be hasty. 00:23:43.019 --> 00:23:43.920 Don't be quick. 00:23:44.620 --> 00:23:47.620 To speak and do not be impulsive. 00:23:48.620 --> 00:23:50.319 To make a speech before God. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:52.700 God is in heaven and you are on earth 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:56.500 so let your words be few. 00:23:57.299 --> 00:23:58.059 What about that? 00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:00.779 It's pretty clear. 00:24:01.420 --> 00:24:03.860 Solomon is telling us the same thing Jesus says 00:24:03.860 --> 00:24:05.319 in Matthew chapter six. 00:24:05.819 --> 00:24:07.640 You don't have to be verbose. 00:24:08.660 --> 00:24:10.660 Now, a lot of you in this room 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:11.580 are not going to get this, 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:13.940 but Brother Mendel and those in here my age, 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:14.840 you will. 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:18.459 Back in the 70s when I was a seminary student 00:24:18.459 --> 00:24:19.579 at Fort Worth, Texas, 00:24:19.579 --> 00:24:21.659 my folks lived over in Anderson, South Carolina. 00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:24.000 You know when we called home? 00:24:24.699 --> 00:24:26.939 Same time everybody in this room 00:24:26.939 --> 00:24:28.500 who's my age called home. 00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:30.199 You called home on the weekend, 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:31.759 you called home after nine o'clock. 00:24:32.819 --> 00:24:34.079 And the reason is because 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:36.899 you could do it for 10 cents a minute, right? 00:24:37.639 --> 00:24:39.439 Some of you think that's just the craziest thing ever. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:41.019 But really true, in those days, 00:24:41.080 --> 00:24:42.140 if you were poor the way we were 00:24:42.140 --> 00:24:43.880 and most folk were in seminary, 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:46.160 you'd wait till Saturday night 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:47.500 and honest to goodness now, 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:48.600 we'd look at our watch and say, 00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:49.900 okay, you got three minutes. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:50.759 Go. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.100 And they'd call 00:24:52.100 --> 00:24:53.640 and you'd talk to them for three minutes. 00:24:53.840 --> 00:24:54.920 That's not what he's saying. 00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:58.240 He's not saying God's somewhere so far off 00:24:58.240 --> 00:24:59.380 you don't want to bother him, 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:00.420 you don't want to take his time. 00:25:00.620 --> 00:25:02.279 He's got a lot of other people 00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:03.440 who need to talk to him. 00:25:03.620 --> 00:25:04.680 He's not saying that at all. 00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:05.380 You know what he's saying? 00:25:06.259 --> 00:25:08.380 He's talking about the holiness of God. 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:09.800 And he says, 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:10.580 you need to remember 00:25:10.580 --> 00:25:12.840 you're immortal on this earth, 00:25:13.280 --> 00:25:15.100 but God is in heaven. 00:25:16.360 --> 00:25:17.280 He's holy. 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:18.060 He's righteous. 00:25:18.220 --> 00:25:18.940 He's sovereign. 00:25:19.620 --> 00:25:21.280 He knows everything. 00:25:21.700 --> 00:25:22.640 So when you come to him, 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:24.800 you don't have to explain things to him. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.280 You don't have to argue with God. 00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:30.140 Just come to God and be transparent 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:31.920 and tell God what's on your mind 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:33.940 and on your heart. 00:25:34.780 --> 00:25:36.540 So a lot of words 00:25:36.540 --> 00:25:38.340 is not important with God. 00:25:38.940 --> 00:25:41.020 Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:25:41.800 --> 00:25:42.680 21 words. 00:25:43.600 --> 00:25:45.480 Jesus' prayer in John 17, 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:49.120 the longest prayer we ever hear Jesus pray. 00:25:49.780 --> 00:25:50.680 You know how long it is? 00:25:51.220 --> 00:25:53.080 Go home today and see if I'm telling you the truth. 00:25:53.340 --> 00:25:54.180 If you read it, 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:56.360 it lasts about four minutes. 00:25:57.640 --> 00:25:58.740 About four minutes. 00:26:00.940 --> 00:26:03.500 We don't need to pray long, verbose prayers. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:06.359 Here's the second thing and final thing 00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:07.460 I want to say to you today. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:11.319 It's another false presumption about prayer. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:15.420 Prayer doesn't get us what we want. 00:26:15.420 --> 00:26:18.580 The false assumption is that prayer does, 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:21.300 that prayer gets us whatever we want. 00:26:22.120 --> 00:26:23.180 Now let me just ask you, 00:26:23.220 --> 00:26:24.220 have you ever watched television, 00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:25.740 seen one of those televangelists, 00:26:26.580 --> 00:26:28.800 one of those prosperity preachers, 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:31.399 and he makes a statement something like this, 00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:33.799 you just love God, 00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:35.879 be filled with the Holy Spirit, 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:38.299 probably send me some money, 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:39.000 an offering, 00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:40.799 and pray, 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.480 and you can expect the Wells Fargo truck 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:44.379 to pull up any minute. 00:26:46.639 --> 00:26:47.859 Have you ever heard him say, 00:26:48.740 --> 00:26:50.119 name it and claim it? 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:51.339 That's the one I hate the most. 00:26:52.180 --> 00:26:55.440 As though you had power to just order God, 00:26:55.539 --> 00:26:57.019 God, I need a new Cadillac, 00:26:57.379 --> 00:26:58.759 he's gonna give you a new Cadillac. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:00.879 Or God, I need a new Volkswagen, 00:27:01.299 --> 00:27:02.460 he's gonna give you a new Volkswagen. 00:27:04.639 --> 00:27:06.339 It just doesn't work that way. 00:27:07.299 --> 00:27:08.159 And I want to tell you something. 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:09.580 As a result, 00:27:09.720 --> 00:27:11.759 a lot of folk get discouraged about prayer. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:13.860 In fact, my guess is there's some of you in here 00:27:13.860 --> 00:27:15.740 who pretty much stop praying. 00:27:15.860 --> 00:27:18.400 You go through the formality of it at mealtime, 00:27:18.820 --> 00:27:20.180 but in a meaningful way, 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:21.360 many of you have stopped praying 00:27:21.360 --> 00:27:22.880 because you've listened to that nonsense 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:24.019 and bought in that nonsense, 00:27:24.300 --> 00:27:25.060 and you think, 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:26.840 when I pray, God will act. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:29.320 He'll just meet my request. 00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:30.980 The Bible says if I just pray believing, 00:27:31.080 --> 00:27:31.920 he'll do anything. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:34.540 And there are two, three passages 00:27:34.540 --> 00:27:35.940 that kind of give us that appearance. 00:27:35.940 --> 00:27:38.040 If you just look at that, 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:38.980 in isolation. 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:41.680 But I want to tell you, 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:43.680 experientially, if we're honest today, 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:46.560 we just know that's not so, isn't it? 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.920 Does God give you everything you ask for? 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:52.840 You ever prayed for anybody to get well who was sick, 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:53.700 somebody you loved, 00:27:54.460 --> 00:27:55.060 and they died? 00:27:56.320 --> 00:27:58.360 You ever prayed for a child to get a job, 00:27:58.420 --> 00:27:59.779 and it didn't happen? 00:28:00.820 --> 00:28:03.140 You ever prayed for a situation at church, 00:28:03.180 --> 00:28:04.200 or at work, in your home, 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:05.779 to be turned in a different direction, 00:28:05.779 --> 00:28:07.240 and it didn't? 00:28:08.660 --> 00:28:09.279 I'll tell you something. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:11.019 We're just lying to one another 00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:11.879 if we say, 00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:12.920 when I pray, 00:28:13.059 --> 00:28:14.339 everything I ever ask God for, 00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:15.619 he's gonna do. 00:28:16.839 --> 00:28:18.480 It just doesn't work that way. 00:28:20.500 --> 00:28:24.200 Because that's not what prayer is about. 00:28:25.139 --> 00:28:28.759 I want to tell you what prayer is about. 00:28:29.639 --> 00:28:30.920 If you've got a sheet of paper and pencil, 00:28:31.399 --> 00:28:33.000 I'm gonna tell you five things to write down. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:35.279 I hope you'll write them down and go home and think about it later. 00:28:36.619 --> 00:28:39.000 Prayer is about praise. 00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:46.019 It is about acknowledging the existence and the greatness of God. 00:28:47.380 --> 00:28:48.519 It is about praise. 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:52.359 It is about acknowledging the greatness and the existence of God. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:55.480 I'm gonna close this message today with a verse 00:28:55.480 --> 00:28:58.359 in just a minute from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6. 00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:00.659 But I'm telling you, 00:29:00.719 --> 00:29:01.839 what that verse says is this, 00:29:01.919 --> 00:29:04.039 without faith it is impossible to please God. 00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:05.619 More than anything else, 00:29:05.959 --> 00:29:07.359 faith is an expression 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:10.240 of our confidence in God. 00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:13.139 It says to God when we pray, 00:29:13.299 --> 00:29:16.199 God, I know you exist. 00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:18.500 I wouldn't be praying if you didn't exist. 00:29:18.659 --> 00:29:19.679 I think you're real. 00:29:20.519 --> 00:29:22.099 You're not make-believe. 00:29:22.639 --> 00:29:23.359 You're real. 00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:23.939 And so, 00:29:24.740 --> 00:29:26.279 prayer is about praising God, 00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:28.099 acknowledging his existence and greatness. 00:29:28.759 --> 00:29:30.379 Prayer is also this. 00:29:30.959 --> 00:29:32.000 It is petition. 00:29:33.099 --> 00:29:35.639 It is asking God to help us. 00:29:35.740 --> 00:29:38.619 It is relying and depending on God. 00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:40.799 You know the difference principally 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:43.359 between people who are believers and not believers? 00:29:44.259 --> 00:29:46.259 People who are non-believers believe 00:29:46.259 --> 00:29:48.939 they're capable of getting through life on their own. 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:52.359 And believers are people who believe God exists 00:29:52.939 --> 00:29:54.339 and I can't do this on my own 00:29:54.339 --> 00:29:55.599 and the only way I can do it 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:57.699 is to rely on him, 00:29:58.299 --> 00:30:00.379 to depend on him. 00:30:00.819 --> 00:30:01.599 Can I ask you today, 00:30:01.659 --> 00:30:03.079 are you relying upon God? 00:30:04.299 --> 00:30:05.279 Man, I hope you are. 00:30:05.480 --> 00:30:06.720 I hope you've come to the place 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.199 that you recognize 00:30:08.199 --> 00:30:11.199 you're just not able to do it on your own, 00:30:11.259 --> 00:30:12.419 that you need help in life 00:30:12.419 --> 00:30:13.419 and you've turned to God and said, 00:30:13.500 --> 00:30:15.099 God, I need your help. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:17.439 That's one of the elements of prayer. 00:30:17.659 --> 00:30:19.759 A third element is thanksgiving. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:23.839 expressing our gratitude to God. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:26.079 God, thank you for what you're doing. 00:30:26.259 --> 00:30:27.500 Thank you for what you have done. 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:30.640 Thank you for what you're yet going to do. 00:30:31.140 --> 00:30:31.980 A fourth element, 00:30:32.140 --> 00:30:34.500 and this is one of the most important in my opinion, 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:36.740 is transparency. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:39.119 Transparency. 00:30:39.660 --> 00:30:41.559 Now look up and listen and get this. 00:30:41.660 --> 00:30:42.660 I know you're trying to take notes, 00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:43.779 but you need to hear this. 00:30:44.900 --> 00:30:47.099 You can never pray effectively. 00:30:47.099 --> 00:30:49.639 Never once 00:30:49.639 --> 00:30:53.179 until you become transparent with God. 00:30:54.459 --> 00:30:56.219 That means taking off the mask 00:30:56.219 --> 00:30:57.480 and taking off the mascara 00:30:57.480 --> 00:31:00.500 and taking off your Sunday go-to-meeting clothes 00:31:00.500 --> 00:31:03.219 and taking off all those things that we do 00:31:03.219 --> 00:31:04.779 to make ourselves appear nice 00:31:04.779 --> 00:31:07.659 and coming clean with God. 00:31:09.259 --> 00:31:11.419 You see, in life, 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:13.439 we are basically two people. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:17.380 We are the person that everybody sees us 00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:19.340 and knows us to be, 00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:22.259 the public recognizable figure, 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:24.140 who your wife sees, 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:25.120 who your children see, 00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:26.500 who your husband sees, 00:31:26.860 --> 00:31:27.860 who your pastor sees, 00:31:27.940 --> 00:31:28.640 who the deacon sees, 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:29.440 who the congregation sees, 00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:32.580 but you're also somebody else. 00:31:33.360 --> 00:31:36.240 You're that person who you and you alone, 00:31:36.360 --> 00:31:37.200 others know you, 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:38.440 and they may know you well, 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:41.100 and they may know you intimately and extremely well, 00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:41.860 but I'm going to tell you something. 00:31:41.859 --> 00:31:43.619 Nobody really knows you, 00:31:44.179 --> 00:31:46.019 but God and you. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:48.319 At the end of the day, 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:50.639 a lot of folk can think they know you, 00:31:51.379 --> 00:31:54.039 but you are the only one who really knows you. 00:31:54.859 --> 00:31:56.259 And when you pray effectively, 00:31:56.419 --> 00:31:57.559 I don't tell you what has to happen, 00:31:57.699 --> 00:31:59.099 because this is a frightening thing. 00:32:00.299 --> 00:32:01.339 You've got to come to the place 00:32:01.339 --> 00:32:03.919 that you just get naked before God 00:32:03.919 --> 00:32:06.879 and take off all the religious clothing 00:32:06.879 --> 00:32:09.479 and let Him see you for what you are 00:32:09.479 --> 00:32:11.699 and be honest with yourself about it. 00:32:11.859 --> 00:32:14.240 Have you ever had that kind of frank discussion with God? 00:32:14.439 --> 00:32:15.740 God, I know that the people of the church 00:32:15.740 --> 00:32:16.519 think this about me. 00:32:16.599 --> 00:32:17.619 They think highly of me. 00:32:17.699 --> 00:32:18.199 They think this, 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:20.139 but God, you know the truth about me. 00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:23.139 You know the guy I am when no one is around. 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:26.740 You know the guy I am when things don't go my way. 00:32:27.419 --> 00:32:29.099 You know the guy I am when my wife 00:32:29.099 --> 00:32:31.099 and kids make me really, really mad. 00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:32.939 When that guy at work ticks me off, 00:32:33.219 --> 00:32:35.919 you know how I really am and who I really am. 00:32:36.139 --> 00:32:37.939 You know the thoughts that enter my mind. 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:39.839 You know the things that I think about. 00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:42.139 Sometimes I don't even like them myself, God. 00:32:43.419 --> 00:32:46.179 It's exposing to God that part of yourself 00:32:46.179 --> 00:32:47.859 that you don't like. 00:32:48.959 --> 00:32:50.839 And you've got a part like that, right? 00:32:51.899 --> 00:32:52.299 Right? 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:55.699 This is yes and no and don't know, right? 00:32:58.419 --> 00:32:59.539 You need to be honest. 00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:00.740 If you can't be honest in here, 00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:01.939 you won't be honest with God. 00:33:01.940 --> 00:33:05.259 You've got a part of you 00:33:05.259 --> 00:33:07.080 that you don't like, 00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:08.340 wish it wasn't a part of you, 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:09.240 but right now it is. 00:33:09.299 --> 00:33:10.180 When you're glorified, 00:33:10.340 --> 00:33:11.039 it won't be there, 00:33:11.120 --> 00:33:11.860 but it is now. 00:33:12.860 --> 00:33:14.820 And there's a part of Ralph Carter I don't like. 00:33:14.900 --> 00:33:16.759 There's a part of Ralph Carter I hide from Regina. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:18.640 There's a part of Ralph Carter 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:20.200 I don't want my kids to see. 00:33:20.320 --> 00:33:21.920 I'm not going to expose it to you. 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.500 But I'm going to tell you something. 00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:27.980 I cannot pray unless I can come to the place 00:33:27.980 --> 00:33:31.060 that sooner or later I get honest and open with God. 00:33:31.360 --> 00:33:34.019 And that's where we're transparent with God. 00:33:35.660 --> 00:33:36.620 When I pastored, 00:33:37.019 --> 00:33:38.019 I'd have a lot of people 00:33:38.019 --> 00:33:39.720 sometimes come to the altar and they'd pray. 00:33:40.180 --> 00:33:41.300 And on occasion I'd look over 00:33:41.300 --> 00:33:42.560 and see somebody who's really emotional 00:33:42.560 --> 00:33:43.880 and I might go over to them 00:33:43.880 --> 00:33:45.000 and just kneel quietly 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:46.779 or bend over and put my hand on their back 00:33:46.779 --> 00:33:47.160 and say, 00:33:47.300 --> 00:33:48.840 would you like me to pray with you? 00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:51.099 And sometimes, oftentimes they would say, 00:33:51.199 --> 00:33:51.859 yes, I would. 00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:53.859 But on occasion, 00:33:54.059 --> 00:33:55.079 I've had people say, 00:33:55.199 --> 00:33:56.079 no, thank you, Pastor. 00:33:56.859 --> 00:33:58.399 But I just need to be alone with God. 00:33:58.519 --> 00:33:58.980 I don't tell you something. 00:33:59.059 --> 00:34:00.559 It always thrilled me to hear that. 00:34:01.399 --> 00:34:03.579 Because I know what he's doing is, 00:34:03.679 --> 00:34:04.599 what she's doing is, 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:06.139 she's dealing with something 00:34:06.139 --> 00:34:07.659 that I don't need to know about. 00:34:09.139 --> 00:34:10.340 There are things in your life 00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:11.880 that nobody knows about but you, 00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:13.599 but you need to deal with those 00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:14.779 with God in prayer. 00:34:15.059 --> 00:34:16.819 That's what real prayer looks like. 00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:18.059 It's not just sitting down at the table 00:34:18.059 --> 00:34:18.619 and thank you, Lord, 00:34:18.619 --> 00:34:19.139 for the food 00:34:19.139 --> 00:34:20.920 and help us to be healthy today 00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:22.659 and you're such a good God. 00:34:22.739 --> 00:34:22.960 Amen. 00:34:24.579 --> 00:34:25.699 That's not real praying. 00:34:25.940 --> 00:34:26.639 You understand that? 00:34:27.059 --> 00:34:28.759 Everything we call praying is not praying. 00:34:31.400 --> 00:34:31.839 Fifthly, 00:34:33.380 --> 00:34:36.859 prayer is surrendering our will to God 00:34:36.859 --> 00:34:40.480 and asking God to bend our will to his. 00:34:40.779 --> 00:34:43.159 Now, you know what's wrong with that mentality 00:34:43.159 --> 00:34:44.519 I mentioned a moment ago? 00:34:44.519 --> 00:34:46.920 It started this point 00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:51.280 that prayer is God giving us what we want. 00:34:51.280 --> 00:34:54.880 If God doesn't want to give you something, 00:34:55.960 --> 00:34:57.540 why in the world would you want it? 00:34:58.820 --> 00:35:00.220 Who's smarter, you or God? 00:35:00.219 --> 00:35:04.119 In this situation you're praying about 00:35:04.119 --> 00:35:05.339 that you think you know the answer 00:35:05.339 --> 00:35:05.759 and you say, 00:35:05.859 --> 00:35:06.019 God, 00:35:06.519 --> 00:35:08.799 I just need you to come to see things 00:35:08.799 --> 00:35:09.679 from my perspective. 00:35:10.919 --> 00:35:11.459 Please, God, 00:35:11.459 --> 00:35:12.879 I need you to act in this fashion. 00:35:13.339 --> 00:35:13.699 I'm going to tell you, 00:35:13.859 --> 00:35:15.319 you're never going to be smarter than God. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:17.679 You're never going to know more than God. 00:35:18.559 --> 00:35:20.059 He's never made a wrong decision. 00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:21.039 You've made plenty. 00:35:21.159 --> 00:35:22.000 I've made plenty. 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:24.920 So why in the world would I want to persuade God 00:35:24.920 --> 00:35:25.960 to come to my position? 00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:28.179 Prayer is this. 00:35:28.300 --> 00:35:31.059 It's me praying and asking God for things 00:35:31.059 --> 00:35:32.260 but over time recognizing, 00:35:32.380 --> 00:35:32.780 you know what, 00:35:32.860 --> 00:35:33.820 God's not going to do that. 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:34.920 So what I've got to do is 00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:36.619 I've got to bend my will to his. 00:35:37.019 --> 00:35:38.699 There have been people I've loved dearly 00:35:38.699 --> 00:35:39.659 that I've prayed for, 00:35:39.780 --> 00:35:41.780 even some I've prayed for right now, 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:45.800 that I've just come to the place 00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:47.780 I've concluded God's not going to answer my prayer. 00:35:47.880 --> 00:35:48.699 He's not going to heal them. 00:35:48.760 --> 00:35:49.659 He's going to let them die. 00:35:49.659 --> 00:35:52.179 But I want to tell you something. 00:35:53.199 --> 00:35:56.699 It's better that I've been my will to suit his 00:35:56.699 --> 00:35:58.480 than for him to build his will 00:35:58.480 --> 00:36:00.819 than his will to suit mine. 00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:04.099 Because Ralph's been wrong many, many, many times 00:36:04.099 --> 00:36:05.079 and God never has. 00:36:05.819 --> 00:36:06.539 You understand that? 00:36:07.379 --> 00:36:11.079 Now, I want you to see this prayer that Jesus prays. 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:12.859 It's called the model prayer. 00:36:13.319 --> 00:36:16.899 It's found in chapter 6, verses 9 through 13. 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:17.759 Look there with me. 00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:21.120 Therefore, you should pray like this. 00:36:21.320 --> 00:36:22.800 Here's how Jesus says to pray. 00:36:23.720 --> 00:36:26.220 Our Father in heaven. 00:36:27.080 --> 00:36:30.260 You see what element that is in that outline I gave you? 00:36:31.080 --> 00:36:34.200 It's praising God, acknowledging his existence. 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:36.580 Your name be honored as holy. 00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:38.780 Praise, acknowledgement of God, his existence. 00:36:39.240 --> 00:36:40.420 Your kingdom come. 00:36:40.620 --> 00:36:41.660 Your will be done. 00:36:41.980 --> 00:36:44.300 It's bending our will to God's will. 00:36:44.560 --> 00:36:45.900 Not my way, but your way. 00:36:45.900 --> 00:36:47.860 Give us today our daily bread. 00:36:48.019 --> 00:36:50.340 Petition, reliance, dependence upon God. 00:36:50.700 --> 00:36:53.380 And forgive us our debts, sins, 00:36:53.480 --> 00:36:55.639 as we also have forgiven our debtors. 00:36:56.019 --> 00:36:58.660 That transparency, that confession of sin. 00:36:59.059 --> 00:37:00.980 And do not bring us into temptation. 00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:02.800 Reliance, dependence on God. 00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:04.900 But deliver us from the evil one. 00:37:05.059 --> 00:37:06.639 Reliance, dependence upon God. 00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:10.280 Surrender, aligning our lives to his will. 00:37:10.840 --> 00:37:13.460 For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory 00:37:13.460 --> 00:37:15.280 forever and ever, amen. 00:37:16.079 --> 00:37:17.579 Acknowledgement of his greatness 00:37:17.579 --> 00:37:21.179 and expressing our gratitude to him. 00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:26.199 My favorite verse, I close by telling you this. 00:37:27.460 --> 00:37:29.460 In all the scripture, I got a lot of favorites. 00:37:29.460 --> 00:37:34.960 But I think if I had to pick just one verse for me, 00:37:36.420 --> 00:37:39.760 it would be Hebrews 11.6. 00:37:42.579 --> 00:37:44.220 Hebrews 11.6 says this. 00:37:44.300 --> 00:37:46.820 It's in that chapter on the heroes of the faith 00:37:46.820 --> 00:37:49.179 and about the importance of faith. 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:51.480 Hebrews 11.6 says this. 00:37:51.480 --> 00:37:53.539 Without faith. 00:37:53.980 --> 00:37:54.740 Now get this. 00:37:54.860 --> 00:37:55.539 Absolute statement. 00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:56.880 Without faith. 00:37:57.719 --> 00:38:02.240 It is hard to please God. 00:38:02.559 --> 00:38:02.760 No. 00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:06.699 Really hard to please God. 00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:07.039 No. 00:38:08.539 --> 00:38:10.179 Next to impossible to please God. 00:38:10.280 --> 00:38:10.539 No. 00:38:11.740 --> 00:38:15.780 Without faith, it is impossible to please God. 00:38:15.900 --> 00:38:17.460 You hear the power of that? 00:38:17.460 --> 00:38:19.880 You can attend Sunday school. 00:38:20.039 --> 00:38:20.720 You can be baptized. 00:38:21.099 --> 00:38:21.980 You can be dunked. 00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:26.039 You can try to right all the wrongs in your life. 00:38:26.199 --> 00:38:28.179 You can say, I won't drink and I won't chew 00:38:28.179 --> 00:38:29.380 and I won't go to girls that do. 00:38:29.460 --> 00:38:31.019 You can get all that stuff right. 00:38:32.019 --> 00:38:32.880 Be here every Sunday. 00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:34.659 Have Sunday school pins down to your knees. 00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:36.240 Without faith. 00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:37.240 Sorry. 00:38:38.240 --> 00:38:39.579 You're not going to please God. 00:38:40.220 --> 00:38:41.599 So why is faith so important? 00:38:41.699 --> 00:38:42.820 Then he goes on to tell us. 00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:46.019 Without faith, it is impossible to please God 00:38:46.019 --> 00:38:49.460 because those who come to him. 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:51.280 Now how do you come to him? 00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:52.820 Can you visit heaven? 00:38:52.980 --> 00:38:53.980 Can you see God? 00:38:54.019 --> 00:38:54.599 He's invisible. 00:38:55.659 --> 00:38:56.900 The only way you can come to him, 00:38:56.980 --> 00:38:59.219 the only way you can come to him in this life 00:38:59.219 --> 00:39:01.259 is to come to him in prayer. 00:39:01.739 --> 00:39:02.400 You know that. 00:39:04.360 --> 00:39:05.179 So he says, 00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:07.159 Without faith, it is impossible to please him 00:39:07.159 --> 00:39:10.039 because those who come to him through prayer 00:39:10.039 --> 00:39:13.880 must believe that he exists. 00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:17.460 The only reason a man will ever get alone 00:39:17.460 --> 00:39:18.420 and pray by himself 00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:19.860 when no one's watching or listening, 00:39:20.440 --> 00:39:22.000 when there's no advantage to praying 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:24.340 other than that God hears it, 00:39:24.900 --> 00:39:28.519 is when he genuinely believes he exists. 00:39:28.599 --> 00:39:29.079 He's real. 00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:30.059 He's there. 00:39:31.260 --> 00:39:32.160 He's listening. 00:39:33.760 --> 00:39:36.460 And that he is the rewarder of those 00:39:36.460 --> 00:39:39.619 who diligently seek him. 00:39:39.619 --> 00:39:42.219 That there's a reason to pray 00:39:42.219 --> 00:39:43.239 because God answers 00:39:43.239 --> 00:39:46.199 and God blesses those who pray. 00:39:46.279 --> 00:39:47.839 Not always by giving us what we want, 00:39:48.440 --> 00:39:50.719 but by showing us what he's up to in our lives 00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:52.940 and bending our will to his. 00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:57.559 Can I ask you, 00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:01.319 is that indicative of your prayer life? 00:40:03.199 --> 00:40:04.019 Some of you, 00:40:04.219 --> 00:40:06.000 in just a minute we're going to have a hymn of invitation. 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:08.980 Brian's going to sing one verse of a song. 00:40:09.480 --> 00:40:11.159 I'm going to ask you just to remain seated 00:40:11.159 --> 00:40:12.920 because I want you to pray during that time. 00:40:13.099 --> 00:40:14.179 And I'm going to tell you specifically 00:40:14.179 --> 00:40:15.179 what I want you to pray about. 00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:18.500 I want you to pray, 00:40:19.139 --> 00:40:20.619 if you don't have faith, 00:40:21.659 --> 00:40:24.260 that God would build your faith. 00:40:26.099 --> 00:40:28.260 There's a man who came to Jesus on one occasion 00:40:28.260 --> 00:40:30.360 and Jesus asked him, 00:40:30.420 --> 00:40:30.820 do you believe? 00:40:30.900 --> 00:40:31.300 And he said, 00:40:31.380 --> 00:40:31.860 I do, 00:40:32.340 --> 00:40:33.460 but help my unbelief. 00:40:33.460 --> 00:40:35.340 In other words, 00:40:35.400 --> 00:40:36.579 my faith is not all it should be, 00:40:36.699 --> 00:40:39.380 but would you help it to grow? 00:40:40.519 --> 00:40:41.559 I'm going to ask some of you, 00:40:41.740 --> 00:40:42.659 right now in just a moment, 00:40:42.740 --> 00:40:43.400 to bow your head 00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:44.340 and I'm going to ask you to pray, 00:40:44.460 --> 00:40:44.760 God, 00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:46.179 I want to believe in you. 00:40:46.280 --> 00:40:47.019 I want to pray. 00:40:47.240 --> 00:40:48.179 I want to trust you. 00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:49.539 I don't want to just say that. 00:40:50.179 --> 00:40:52.280 I want to really be a person of prayer. 00:40:53.280 --> 00:40:53.860 But Lord, 00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:55.500 there's some doubts I have in my mind 00:40:55.500 --> 00:40:58.760 and I'm asking you to take those away. 00:40:58.940 --> 00:41:01.280 And I'm asking you to give me great faith. 00:41:01.280 --> 00:41:03.640 And then there's a second group of people. 00:41:04.019 --> 00:41:05.320 Some of you here in this room 00:41:05.320 --> 00:41:07.100 at one time had faith in God, 00:41:07.800 --> 00:41:10.200 but somewhere along the course of life, 00:41:10.280 --> 00:41:11.160 you've lost it. 00:41:11.740 --> 00:41:13.320 You've had a tragedy occur 00:41:13.320 --> 00:41:16.040 or something happened that disappointed you 00:41:16.040 --> 00:41:18.340 and you've lost confidence in God 00:41:18.340 --> 00:41:19.880 because God didn't answer your prayer 00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:20.640 the way you thought 00:41:20.640 --> 00:41:22.540 and you thought that if I prayed, 00:41:22.620 --> 00:41:23.480 he must answer. 00:41:23.860 --> 00:41:25.340 You listen to some of that nonsense. 00:41:26.260 --> 00:41:28.460 And so your faith in God has been shaken. 00:41:28.460 --> 00:41:30.579 And I'm asking you today to say, 00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:30.840 God, 00:41:30.900 --> 00:41:33.019 I want you to restore the faith I lost. 00:41:34.539 --> 00:41:35.380 Because some of you, 00:41:35.460 --> 00:41:36.720 I'm talking to some of you today 00:41:36.720 --> 00:41:38.220 that you know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:41:38.539 --> 00:41:39.880 There was a time you believed in prayer 00:41:39.880 --> 00:41:41.000 and you called out to God 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:41.840 and you cried out to God, 00:41:42.119 --> 00:41:43.280 but that day's passed. 00:41:44.900 --> 00:41:46.780 Maybe people around you don't even know it. 00:41:46.860 --> 00:41:48.280 You've kept up a facade, 00:41:48.840 --> 00:41:49.300 but you know, 00:41:49.360 --> 00:41:51.380 I just don't pray the way I once did 00:41:51.380 --> 00:41:54.260 because my confidence in God has been shaken. 00:41:54.860 --> 00:41:56.539 Ask God to give that confidence back. 00:41:56.599 --> 00:41:57.240 Would you do that? 00:41:57.239 --> 00:41:59.219 Bow our heads in prayer. 00:41:59.479 --> 00:42:01.159 You pray right now while he sings. 00:42:01.159 --> 00:42:01.519 Amen.