Review / Introduction:
James 4:2-3 - You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Three Powerless Prayers:
- The "pray it Safe" prayer.
- The "Santa Claus" prayer.
- The "public Performance" prayer.
How to Have Your Prayers Answered, Every Time (Matthew 7:7-11):
- Pray in Humility. (Matt 7:7-8)
- I need your Provision.
- I need your Wisdom.
- I need to Serve you.
- Receive like a Child. (Matt 7:9-11)
Proverbs 2:4 - if you seek it like silver and search for it as hidden treasure
James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Acts 14:7 - ...they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
1 Corinthians 16:9 - ...for a wide door for effective work has opened to me...
Psalm 62:11-12 - Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Pastor Jeff:
00:35-00:39
Grab your Bibles with me, please, and open up to Matthew 7.
Pastor Jeff:
00:40-00:49
Matthew 7, this month we're going through a series called "Harvest DNA." The question is, what kind of a church is this?
Pastor Jeff:
00:50-00:52
What kind of a church is this?
Pastor Jeff:
00:52-00:53
Well, our mission is to make disciples.
Pastor Jeff:
00:54-00:59
We want to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.
Pastor Jeff:
00:59-01:00
That's our mission.
Pastor Jeff:
01:01-01:02
We want to make disciples.
Pastor Jeff:
01:02-01:04
That was given to us by Jesus, by the way.
Pastor Jeff:
01:04-01:05
We didn't make that up.
Pastor Jeff:
01:05-01:09
Our elders didn't sit down and decide what do you think the church should do?
Pastor Jeff:
01:09-01:11
Jesus told us what the church is supposed to do.
Pastor Jeff:
01:11-01:12
We're to make disciples, right?
Pastor Jeff:
01:13-01:17
And we spent the first two weeks looking at what kind of a church is this?
Pastor Jeff:
01:17-01:21
We talked about pillar number one, which is proclaiming the authority of God's Word without apology.
Pastor Jeff:
01:21-01:30
We believe that God wrote a book, and God's Holy Spirit somehow works with His book to bring about life transformation.
Pastor Jeff:
01:31-01:35
That second pillar we discussed last week Jesus said worship.
Pastor Jeff:
01:36-01:40
That worship is the way that we can engage the Lord.
Pastor Jeff:
01:40-01:42
We can love the Lord.
Pastor Jeff:
01:42-01:45
We can have that relationship with the Lord with our very emotion.
Pastor Jeff:
01:48-01:53
And Jesus said that the Father is looking for worshippers, people to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Pastor Jeff:
01:53-01:55
And we want to grow as worshippers.
Pastor Jeff:
01:56-02:00
Today, we're going to talk about prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
02:02-02:05
And prayer is somehow the easiest
02:05-02:09
and the hardest thing to get down, when you think about it.
02:11-02:18
In James 4, verses 2 and 3, James says this very bluntly regarding prayer.
02:18-02:31
He said, "You do not have, because you do not ask." How many blessings in your life do you think you might have forfeited, Just because you haven't asked God.
02:34-02:34
Then he goes
Pastor Jeff:
02:34-02:39
on, he says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly.
Pastor Jeff:
02:40-02:50
Suspend it on your passions." So he says, the problem is when you do ask, when you do pray, you don't get what you want because you're asking wrongly.
Pastor Jeff:
02:50-02:55
So the bottom line is, we really only have two problems when it comes to prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
02:56-02:58
We either don't ask or we ask wrongly.
Pastor Jeff:
03:01-03:02
So how do we ask wrongly?
Pastor Jeff:
03:02-03:03
I want you to jot this down in your outline.
Pastor Jeff:
03:03-03:04
How do we ask wrongly?
Pastor Jeff:
03:05-03:06
Here are three powerless prayers.
Pastor Jeff:
03:08-03:10
These are prayers that have no power.
Pastor Jeff:
03:12-03:18
But these are prayers that every one of us, including myself, we have all been and are guilty of saying.
Pastor Jeff:
03:19-03:26
These are three powerless prayers, and my hope is that by calling them out, we are more able to recognize them and be done with them.
Pastor Jeff:
03:27-03:30
But the first powerless prayer is the "Pray it safe" prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
03:31-03:32
That's the "Pray it safe" prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
03:34-03:40
Meaning, when we pray, we don't want to pray too big or too specific because we don't want to get our hopes up.
Pastor Jeff:
03:40-03:41
We don't want to get disappointed.
Pastor Jeff:
03:42-03:43
So we are all guilty.
Pastor Jeff:
03:43-03:48
I have caught myself doing this, listen church, I've caught myself doing this while I was praying.
Pastor Jeff:
03:48-03:51
And literally, I've apologized to God in prayer for doing this.
Pastor Jeff:
03:52-03:54
Like, I'm sorry, what was that prayer?
Pastor Jeff:
03:54-03:55
That was a dumb prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
03:56-04:00
We pray dumb things because we're afraid to get our hopes up.
Pastor Jeff:
04:00-04:01
So we pray vague.
Pastor Jeff:
04:02-04:03
What do you mean dumb things?
Pastor Jeff:
04:03-04:05
We pray some dumb things.
Pastor Jeff:
04:07-04:12
For example, we often pray, "God be with me today." That's a dumb thing to pray.
Pastor Jeff:
04:13-04:14
You know why that's a dumb thing to pray?
Pastor Jeff:
04:15-04:17
He's already promised that.
Pastor Jeff:
04:17-04:19
Do you realize God said He'll be with you to the end of the age?
Pastor Jeff:
04:19-04:35
He said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." And we're like, "God, will you be with me today?" "Yes! I already told you that." It's like, "God, will you make the waters blue today?" "Yeah, they're blue, all right? I already done that." But we pray that all the time.
Pastor Jeff:
04:37-04:41
And I think we do that because we're afraid of being disappointed.
Pastor Jeff:
04:41-04:43
What if I pray really specifically and God doesn't do it?
Pastor Jeff:
04:45-04:46
We're going to talk about that today.
Pastor Jeff:
04:47-04:48
God be with me.
Pastor Jeff:
04:50-04:52
Here's another pray and save prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
04:54-04:55
How about this one?
Pastor Jeff:
04:55-04:58
"God bless grandma," or insert person of choice.
Pastor Jeff:
04:58-05:03
"God, I just prayed that you would bless grandma today." What is that? That is so vague.
Pastor Jeff:
05:03-05:04
Bless grandma with what?
Pastor Jeff:
05:05-05:08
Like, bless her with what?
Pastor Jeff:
05:10-05:11
Does grandma need healing?
Pastor Jeff:
05:13-05:20
What if grandma gets coupons for Wendy's in the mail?
Pastor Jeff:
05:20-05:22
Is that how grandma's blessed?
Pastor Jeff:
05:22-05:24
Is that an answer to the God bless grandma?
Pastor Jeff:
05:24-05:25
What does that mean?
Pastor Jeff:
05:25-05:32
Why can't we get specific to say, God, here's what she is dealing with, and God, here's what I'm asking you to do for her.
Pastor Jeff:
05:34-05:35
But you see that we don't do that.
Pastor Jeff:
05:35-05:36
We pray it safe.
Pastor Jeff:
05:36-05:37
We pray it safe.
Pastor Jeff:
05:38-05:43
That way, if we say, God bless grandma, anything that happens in her life, we can just say that must have been God blessing grandma.
Pastor Jeff:
05:45-05:51
Or if you really wanna be lame, just pray, God, I'm asking that you be with and bless grandma today.
Pastor Jeff:
05:53-05:58
And then if you listen real close, you could probably hear the head slaps happening in heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
06:00-06:02
Number two, the Santa Claus prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
06:03-06:04
The Santa Claus prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
06:05-06:10
We're so guilty of this, we treat God like he's Santa Claus Or we treat God like our aforementioned grandma.
Pastor Jeff:
06:11-06:13
Or we treat God like a vending machine.
Pastor Jeff:
06:16-06:17
Does anybody have this book?
Pastor Jeff:
06:18-06:19
Mike, can you put that book up?
Pastor Jeff:
06:20-06:20
Here's a book.
Pastor Jeff:
06:20-06:22
This was sent to me by a pastor friend.
Pastor Jeff:
06:22-06:24
He asked what I was preaching on.
Pastor Jeff:
06:24-06:28
I said, "I'm preaching on prayer." He goes, "You need to read this book." He said it jokingly.
Pastor Jeff:
06:29-06:49
It's "May I have your order, please?" Subtitle here is "How to Get What You Want from God." And I don't have a picture of the back cover, but the back cover says this, "Praying is like ordering off a menu and God is our waiter." I almost didn't wanna say that for fear of lightning bolts coming down on my head.
Pastor Jeff:
06:50-06:57
But prayer is like, it's like we're in the restaurant and we're like, "Chop, chop, more bread, more bread.
Pastor Jeff:
06:57-07:00
I asked for no ice in my diet Coke.
Pastor Jeff:
07:00-07:03
Come on, God, what's the matter with you?" Like treating God like our waiter.
Pastor Jeff:
07:03-07:05
How many people think that's a horrible idea?
Pastor Jeff:
07:06-07:08
Okay, good, good.
Pastor Jeff:
07:08-07:10
Get that garbage off the screen.
Pastor Jeff:
07:12-07:14
God is not our waiter, he is our God.
Pastor Jeff:
07:14-07:17
All right, we better get some things straight here, right?
Pastor Jeff:
07:19-07:21
Number three, the public performance prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
07:21-07:24
This is a prayer specifically that Jesus warned us against.
Pastor Jeff:
07:25-07:29
The public performance prayer is this, the only time you pray is in small group or church.
Pastor Jeff:
07:30-07:30
The only time.
Pastor Jeff:
07:31-07:39
The only time you pray is when you're in small group or when you're in church or when you're around other Christians or whatever, but you don't really have a private prayer life.
Pastor Jeff:
07:39-07:41
You really don't have a secret prayer life.
Pastor Jeff:
07:42-07:46
And when you only pray in church or in small group, the prayer is just for show.
Pastor Jeff:
07:46-07:48
That's not my opinion, that's God's opinion.
Pastor Jeff:
07:49-07:51
If you don't have a secret prayer life, then your prayer is just for show.
Pastor Jeff:
07:54-08:15
Because Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Jesus said, "Reward from prayer comes from praying in secret." And if you don't have secret prayer, you don't have a prayer line.
Pastor Jeff:
08:19-08:23
You know it's real, you know it's not just for show when it's just you and God together.
Pastor Jeff:
08:24-08:25
That's real prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
08:26-08:32
We often set ourselves up for discouragement When we pray wrongly.
Pastor Jeff:
08:34-08:37
James 4.3 we saw that it's praying selfishly.
Pastor Jeff:
08:39-08:42
We don't ask, we talked about this last week.
Pastor Jeff:
08:43-08:45
We have unbiblical expectations when we pray.
Pastor Jeff:
08:49-08:54
So, all of that said, we get to this passage we're going to look at, Matthew 7.
Pastor Jeff:
08:55-08:59
And our experience doesn't match up with what the Bible says, if we're honest.
Pastor Jeff:
09:02-09:12
"How do we reconcile what we seem to have seen in our lives and what Jesus said?" But I want you by faith to receive the Word of God for what it is.
Pastor Jeff:
09:12-09:14
These aren't my words, these are God's words.
Pastor Jeff:
09:16-09:21
And I'm not going to sugarcoat this or lessen the impact of what our Lord has said.
Pastor Jeff:
09:22-09:25
I'm not going to try to explain around it, I just want to explain what He said.
Pastor Jeff:
09:26-09:29
So if you're sitting here today and you're like, "I need an overhaul in my prayer life.
Pastor Jeff:
09:30-09:34
Your prayer life has been weak for a very long time.
Pastor Jeff:
09:34-09:36
I want to see God move when I pray.
Pastor Jeff:
09:36-09:37
Well, Jesus tells us how.
Pastor Jeff:
09:37-09:47
Matthew 7, verses 7-11, and the title of this part on your outline, "How to Have Your Prayers Answered Every Time." Again, not my opinion. This is what Jesus said.
Pastor Jeff:
09:47-09:49
How to have your prayers answered every time.
Pastor Jeff:
09:50-09:51
Look at what Jesus said.
Pastor Jeff:
09:52-09:55
He said, "Ask, and it will be given to you.
Pastor Jeff:
09:57-09:59
"Seek and you will find.
Pastor Jeff:
10:02-10:12
Knock and it will be open to you." Now I imagine, just at this point, I imagine there were some people while he was speaking kind of turned to each other and they were like, "Did he really say that?" Because look at the next verse.
Pastor Jeff:
10:13-10:18
The next verse, "For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds.
Pastor Jeff:
10:19-10:26
And to the one who knocks, it will be open." Jesus is like, "Yes, I said it, and I'm doubling down on it.
Pastor Jeff:
10:27-10:33
Because not only is this true, this is true for everyone, right?
Pastor Jeff:
10:35-10:41
And then he illustrates it in verse 9, "Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Pastor Jeff:
10:42-10:44
If he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
Pastor Jeff:
10:45-11:01
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more Will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who..." Say it.
Pastor Jeff:
11:03-11:08
"Ask Him." Now, ask, seek, knock.
Pastor Jeff:
11:08-11:11
Let's talk about this trifecta here.
Pastor Jeff:
11:12-11:17
Actually, some of you probably know this and studying this in the past time, but this is in the present imperative.
Pastor Jeff:
11:19-11:23
What Jesus was saying was keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.
Pastor Jeff:
11:26-11:27
But here's something that I learned this week.
Pastor Jeff:
11:28-11:33
You see, I used to think that these three things were just synonyms.
Pastor Jeff:
11:35-11:37
Like Jesus was just being poetic.
Pastor Jeff:
11:38-11:44
Instead of just saying, hey, when you pray God answers, instead of saying that, Jesus was getting real poetic with us.
Pastor Jeff:
11:44-11:46
And he's like, oh, ask and seek and knock.
Pastor Jeff:
11:46-11:50
And I did a lot of study on this this week.
Pastor Jeff:
11:50-11:55
While you were doing what you were doing this week, my face was buried in this.
Pastor Jeff:
11:56-12:08
And I have to tell you, I am convinced that there is a much, much, much, much deeper truth here than I thought there ever was.
Pastor Jeff:
12:09-12:15
See, what Jesus is talking about here, we're not talking about three synonyms for prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
12:15-12:17
We're talking about three levels of prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
12:18-12:20
Of increasing maturity.
Pastor Jeff:
12:21-12:26
These are three types of prayer of increasing intensity.
Pastor Jeff:
12:26-12:32
Now, I want you to understand as we go through this, that these are not stages that you go through.
Pastor Jeff:
12:36-12:41
Meaning, as a young Christian you ask, and then as an older Christian you seek, and then as a mature Christian you knock.
Pastor Jeff:
12:41-12:42
I'm not saying that at all.
Pastor Jeff:
12:42-12:44
Yes, these are increasing maturity.
Pastor Jeff:
12:44-12:59
these are increasing intensity, but these aren't stages that you go through as in, "Well, now that I'm done seeking, I'm done asking." I want you to think of these in terms of...
Pastor Jeff:
12:59-13:05
Ask, seek, knock. I want you to think of these three things in terms of communication with an earthly friend of yours.
Pastor Jeff:
13:08-13:10
There are three different types of communication.
Pastor Jeff:
13:10-13:12
There's probably more, but we're going to say three.
Pastor Jeff:
13:13-13:18
There are three types of communication that you can have with an earthly friend of yours.
Pastor Jeff:
13:19-13:21
And one of them is texting.
Pastor Jeff:
13:23-13:25
Do you know Mark Ord is texting me right now?
Pastor Jeff:
13:26-13:29
Kristen, will you please tell him that I'm working and I'll get back to him?
Pastor Jeff:
13:29-13:35
He texted me right before service and said he's praying for us, and it wasn't literally right this minute.
Pastor Jeff:
13:35-13:39
But texting is one form of communication, right?
Pastor Jeff:
13:42-13:44
But there's other forms of communication with your friends.
Pastor Jeff:
13:44-13:46
Sometimes a text isn't appropriate.
Pastor Jeff:
13:47-13:48
Sometimes you get a call, right?
Pastor Jeff:
13:49-13:50
Sometimes you actually have to call.
Pastor Jeff:
13:51-13:53
But sometimes that's not enough either.
Pastor Jeff:
13:54-13:58
Sometimes you need to put the phone away and you need to show up at the person's house.
Pastor Jeff:
14:00-14:01
And so hear me on this.
Pastor Jeff:
14:03-14:12
The situation determines which avenue you're going to use and communicate it.
Pastor Jeff:
14:13-14:15
The situation determines which avenue you use in communication.
Pastor Jeff:
14:16-14:21
For a lot of things, a text will do, but sometimes you actually need to talk to the person.
Pastor Jeff:
14:23-14:27
And some things have to be discussed in person.
Pastor Jeff:
14:28-14:29
Right?
Pastor Jeff:
14:29-14:44
For example, I wouldn't show up at my brother's house at 3 in the morning, and he answers the door like, "Yeah?" "Hey, did you see that new show on Netflix?" He'd be up, but he wouldn't appreciate.
Pastor Jeff:
14:45-15:08
Like, "Dude, why didn't you just text me that?" Like, "Oh yeah, that was an inappropriate way of communicating, wasn't it?" Or it would also be inappropriate if I texted my brother and said, "Oh, by the way, I know you didn't know, but it was my job to inform you that mom died.
Pastor Jeff:
15:09-15:10
Is that something that you text?
Pastor Jeff:
15:11-15:13
No, that's not something you text.
Pastor Jeff:
15:16-15:20
So you see different situations call for different types of communication.
Pastor Jeff:
15:21-15:24
And I believe that's exactly what Jesus is talking about here.
Pastor Jeff:
15:24-15:31
As he's increasing maturity and intensity, the situation dictates the type of communication.
Pastor Jeff:
15:33-15:35
So we're asking ourselves today, What are we talking about?
Pastor Jeff:
15:35-15:37
How do I pray and receive answers?
Pastor Jeff:
15:39-15:40
Well, it's two things today, right?
Pastor Jeff:
15:41-15:42
And the first has some sub-points.
Pastor Jeff:
15:43-15:44
Two things today.
Pastor Jeff:
15:44-15:45
We're going to pray in humility, first of all.
Pastor Jeff:
15:45-15:46
Pray in humility.
Pastor Jeff:
15:48-15:49
Pray in humility.
Pastor Jeff:
15:49-15:52
How do I pray and see my prayers answered every time?
Pastor Jeff:
15:53-15:55
Well, we're going to pray for the things that God's already promised to answer.
Pastor Jeff:
15:56-16:05
I promise you, if you guarantee yourself that, "Hey, I'm going to pray for these things that Jesus told me to pray about," because He's already promised to answer, He's going to answer those prayers.
Pastor Jeff:
16:05-16:10
He's already told us ahead of time, "Yeah, you pray like this, you're going to get answers." So we can unpack this a little bit, right?
Pastor Jeff:
16:12-16:12
Pray in humility.
Pastor Jeff:
16:13-16:17
First of all, letter A, what kind of prayers are prayers of humility?
Pastor Jeff:
16:17-16:21
We say, "I need your provision." I need your provision, that's asking.
Pastor Jeff:
16:22-16:23
That's the asking part.
Pastor Jeff:
16:24-16:31
Asking is pleading, but asking by its very nature, asking by its very nature is humility.
Pastor Jeff:
16:33-16:36
Like you have that friend that refuses to ask for help.
Pastor Jeff:
16:36-16:37
Why? Because they're proud.
Pastor Jeff:
16:39-16:49
They won't ask for help. "I don't want any help." Humility says, "I need help." Humility says, "Look, I really need you." That's humility.
Pastor Jeff:
16:50-16:53
And that's the attitude that has to start your prayer life.
Pastor Jeff:
16:54-16:59
To say, "God, I need you." Jesus illustrated this in Luke 18.9. I'm going to paraphrase.
Pastor Jeff:
17:01-17:17
Luke 18, verse 9, Jesus told this story about this Pharisee was praying, and the tax collector was praying, and the Pharisee was like, "God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, and I give and I tithe and I'm awesome." And Jesus said he was just standing and talking to himself.
Pastor Jeff:
17:18-17:21
Then the tax collector wouldn't even look up to heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
17:21-17:26
He says, "God, have mercy on me because I'm just a sinner, God, and I'm miserable.
Pastor Jeff:
17:26-17:35
God, please have mercy on me." Jesus said, "That man went home justified." Because everyone who exalts himself is going to be humbled.
Pastor Jeff:
17:35-17:39
Whoever humbles himself is going to be exalted.
Pastor Jeff:
17:39-17:47
And the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee saw no need, there was no desperation, there was no urgency, and the tax collector had all of that.
Pastor Jeff:
17:49-17:57
He's like, "I have the need, I have the desperation, I have the urgency." So ask. Ask. Ask.
Pastor Jeff:
17:57-18:03
Jesus said to ask. He says it like three times just in these couple verses that we look at today.
Pastor Jeff:
18:03-18:04
So what's keeping you from asking?
Pastor Jeff:
18:06-18:06
Ask Him!
Pastor Jeff:
18:07-18:08
Ask Him!
Pastor Jeff:
18:10-18:12
Ask how? Well, here's two words I wrote down.
Pastor Jeff:
18:13-18:15
Ask specific and ask big.
Pastor Jeff:
18:16-18:18
Ask specific and ask big.
Pastor Jeff:
18:19-18:27
And I can tell you as a parent, I get so frustrated when my 11-year-old is asking me for something, but he wants to be vague and beat around the bush.
Pastor Jeff:
18:27-18:41
"Dan, what do you want, Cade? What would you like to do?" "I was kind of hoping..." "Just spit it out, man! Just tell me what you want!" "I can't help you unless you're specific." God wants us to be specific.
Pastor Jeff:
18:43-18:47
How do I know I'm giving my son what he wants unless he's specific in what he's asking for?
Pastor Jeff:
18:49-18:49
Ask specific.
Pastor Jeff:
18:50-18:54
How do you know that God's answering your prayers unless you're specific?
Pastor Jeff:
18:54-18:55
Can I say ask big?
Pastor Jeff:
18:56-19:07
Do you think you're gonna ask God for something that God's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down." That's a little steep, don't you think?
Pastor Jeff:
19:07-19:19
To be asking the owner of everything who creates things by speaking it into existence, whoa, you might have to let me get some stuff together here, maybe call in some help and maybe I can get back to you and help.
Pastor Jeff:
19:20-19:22
Do you think you're going to overwhelm God with a request?
Pastor Jeff:
19:23-19:23
Do you think?
Pastor Jeff:
19:24-19:27
God's like, you know, you want me to heal him of what?
Pastor Jeff:
19:28-19:29
I don't know how to do that.
Pastor Jeff:
19:31-19:33
Ask specific and ask big.
Pastor Jeff:
19:34-19:36
You're like, but I don't have the faith to do that.
Pastor Jeff:
19:39-19:41
You don't need a lot of faith.
Pastor Jeff:
19:43-19:48
Like to remind you, quick analogy, I've shared this before, but it's so important and so appropriate here.
Pastor Jeff:
19:51-19:53
and very applicable now considering our weather.
Pastor Jeff:
19:53-19:57
But the story goes of the kid who wanted to ice skate and the pond near his house froze.
Pastor Jeff:
19:58-20:05
So he put his skates on, he runs down and he jumps on, but the ice was only like an inch deep because it hadn't frozen very long, he fell right through.
Pastor Jeff:
20:06-20:09
Dad saw what happened, dad rescues him, kids traumatized.
Pastor Jeff:
20:11-20:15
Well, the next week, ice freezes again, deeper freeze.
Pastor Jeff:
20:17-20:20
The ice was two feet thick.
Pastor Jeff:
20:21-20:22
Plenty strong enough to hold the kid.
Pastor Jeff:
20:24-20:25
Well, this time the kid puts his skates on.
Pastor Jeff:
20:26-20:28
He doesn't run and jump on the ice all boldly this time.
Pastor Jeff:
20:28-20:29
This time he does it very hesitantly.
Pastor Jeff:
20:30-20:39
He kind of goes out and very slowly, very deliberately, takes his time and then he starts skating.
Pastor Jeff:
20:40-20:41
What's the point of the story?
Pastor Jeff:
20:41-20:42
The point of the story is this.
Pastor Jeff:
20:43-20:44
The first time he went out, his faith was strong.
Pastor Jeff:
20:45-20:48
But what he had faith in was weak. Right?
Pastor Jeff:
20:48-20:54
The second time, his faith was weak, but what he had faith in was strong, and it held him.
Pastor Jeff:
20:55-21:01
And that's why people think, "Oh, you've got to have a lot of faith." No, you don't. Jesus said you need to have faith like a mustard seed.
Pastor Jeff:
21:02-21:09
If you just have a little bit of faith to step out onto that ice, that's all you need.
Pastor Jeff:
21:10-21:14
It's not about the size of your faith, it's about the size of your God.
Pastor Jeff:
21:15-21:20
So pray in humility, "God, I need your provision." Letter B, "I need your wisdom." That's what we're praying.
Pastor Jeff:
21:20-21:30
"I need your wisdom." But Jesus said, "Ask." Jesus says, "To seek." That's even more mature. Seeking that single-minded desire.
Pastor Jeff:
21:32-21:40
"God, there's a truth that I need to know here." What He's talking about here specifically is seeking wisdom.
Pastor Jeff:
21:40-21:43
Do you know how many verses there are in the Bible talking about seeking wisdom?
Pastor Jeff:
21:44-21:52
Proverbs 2.4 says, "If you seek it like silver and search for it as hidden treasure." That's how we're to search for the wisdom of God.
Pastor Jeff:
21:55-22:02
If you discover a treasure map that you're sure, if you follow this treasure map, it'll take you to a treasure worth millions of dollars.
Pastor Jeff:
22:03-22:05
You're absolutely sure of that.
Pastor Jeff:
22:05-22:07
But there's one problem, the map is written in Spanish.
Pastor Jeff:
22:08-22:10
Would you learn Spanish? I would.
Pastor Jeff:
22:11-22:13
I'd be watching Dora the Explorer on loop.
Pastor Jeff:
22:15-22:17
Right? I'd learn Spanish.
Pastor Jeff:
22:17-22:24
It would be my life's mission to learn Spanish so that I could use this map to find this treasure.
Pastor Jeff:
22:25-22:28
The Bible says that's how we need to diligently go after seeking God's wisdom.
Pastor Jeff:
22:29-22:31
That's how diligent we need to be.
Pastor Jeff:
22:32-22:33
That's the urgency that we need to have.
Pastor Jeff:
22:33-22:37
Seeking to know and apply and understand the things of God.
Pastor Jeff:
22:38-22:39
That's a prayer God always answers.
Pastor Jeff:
22:40-22:42
How can I be a better spouse, God?
Pastor Jeff:
22:42-22:44
Give me wisdom to be a better husband to my wife.
Pastor Jeff:
22:44-22:46
God, give me the wisdom to be a better parent.
Pastor Jeff:
22:47-22:49
God, how should I deal with this conflict at work?
Pastor Jeff:
22:49-22:52
Give me wisdom on how to represent You here.
Pastor Jeff:
22:52-22:54
God, how can I resist this temptation?
Pastor Jeff:
22:54-22:57
God always answers those prayers every single time.
Pastor Jeff:
22:59-23:00
But you have to be willing to seek.
Pastor Jeff:
23:02-23:09
Right? Jesus said, "If you seek, you're going to find." So what are we praying for? We're praying in humility.
Pastor Jeff:
23:09-23:11
I need your provision. I need your wisdom.
Pastor Jeff:
23:12-23:13
Thirdly, I need to serve you.
Pastor Jeff:
23:14-23:15
I need to serve you.
Pastor Jeff:
23:17-23:27
So Jesus says, "Ask and it will be given. Seek and you will find." Look at the third one, "Knock and it will be opened to you." Three types of prayers - increasing maturity, increasing intensity, like communicating with a friend. Everybody with me?
Pastor Jeff:
23:28-23:30
The third one is, "I need to serve you." This is even more mature.
Pastor Jeff:
23:30-23:39
This is more than just, "God, I'm asking You for something." This is more than just, "God, I'm seeking You for something." This is banging on the door.
Pastor Jeff:
23:40-23:41
Diligence. Diligence.
Pastor Jeff:
23:41-23:43
"Hey, hey, I'm here. Let me in.
Pastor Jeff:
23:43-23:48
I'm not leaving until you let me in. Let me in." Like, but what door?
Pastor Jeff:
23:50-23:52
What door are we banging on?
Pastor Jeff:
23:53-23:58
The door that we're banging on is the door to God's kingdom.
Pastor Jeff:
23:59-24:04
Like, well, wait a minute, didn't I enter God's kingdom when I received Jesus? Absolutely. Yes.
Pastor Jeff:
24:04-24:06
And that's just one application here.
Pastor Jeff:
24:07-24:12
But there's more application here actually, because this is beyond salvation here.
Pastor Jeff:
24:13-24:26
This is, "God, I want to be a part of what You are doing." Opening doors is a common phrase for God granting access to serve Him in a particular venue.
Pastor Jeff:
24:28-24:30
You know, believe me, here's a couple of verses.
Pastor Jeff:
24:30-24:31
Remember this from Acts 14?
Pastor Jeff:
24:32-24:40
They declared all that God had done with him and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
Pastor Jeff:
24:41-24:59
Again, 1 Corinthians 16.9, Paul says, "For a wide door for effective work has opened to me." So when the Bible talks about opening doors, and when Jesus here is talking about knocking on the door, He's talking about serving God.
Pastor Jeff:
25:02-25:05
And I've met a lot of Christians in my life, and this is absolutely true.
Pastor Jeff:
25:05-25:10
Every single sincere, honest, born again follower of Jesus Christ, this is absolutely true.
Pastor Jeff:
25:10-25:12
They desperately want to serve Him.
Pastor Jeff:
25:13-25:14
Every one of them.
Pastor Jeff:
25:15-25:29
Whether it's making videos, or discipling kids, or leading a small group, or running the AV, or whatever.
Pastor Jeff:
25:30-25:46
Every sincere Christian that I've met desperately has something in them that says, "I just want to serve God with the talents He's given me." If you're diligently seeking for Hal to be a part of His work, Jesus said He always answers that prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
25:47-25:51
When you're knocking, the door is always going to be open for you.
Pastor Jeff:
25:53-25:55
He's going to open doors for you to glorify Him.
Pastor Jeff:
25:56-26:04
I'm sure you notice these three things - asking, seeking, knocking - maturity, but they also increase in your participation with God in the prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
26:04-26:05
Did you see that?
Pastor Jeff:
26:07-26:11
In every one of these three things, your participation increases.
Pastor Jeff:
26:13-26:14
Like asking, anybody can ask.
Pastor Jeff:
26:14-26:19
A child can ask, "Hey, can I have, can I please have, give me..." Anybody can ask.
Pastor Jeff:
26:19-26:23
Seeking requires more participation though, because now you're the one looking.
Pastor Jeff:
26:24-26:28
requires even more participation because you're banging on the door.
Pastor Jeff:
26:31-26:36
This involvement is about a greater participation in prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
26:37-26:39
And that's about a deeper relationship with God.
Pastor Jeff:
26:41-26:44
Like how many people here would say, "Yeah, I want a deeper relationship with God." Anyone?
Pastor Jeff:
26:44-26:46
"A deeper relationship with God, that's what I want.
Pastor Jeff:
26:46-26:48
I want a deeper relationship with God." Well, how does that happen?
Pastor Jeff:
26:51-26:57
happens when you are participating in the prayers with God.
Pastor Jeff:
26:59-27:00
Like, what do you mean by that?
Pastor Jeff:
27:01-27:02
Let me give you a couple of examples.
Pastor Jeff:
27:03-27:06
If your prayer has been, "God, I want you to save my co-worker.
Pastor Jeff:
27:06-27:08
I have this co-worker that doesn't know you and God.
Pastor Jeff:
27:08-27:12
I'm praying that you would save him." How do you think God wants you involved in that prayer?
Pastor Jeff:
27:14-27:14
Any thoughts?
Pastor Jeff:
27:16-27:20
Maybe God wants to use you to witness to that co-worker.
Pastor Jeff:
27:20-27:22
God wants you to invite that co-worker to church.
Pastor Jeff:
27:22-27:37
So as you're praying, "God, I want this person saved," and then you're like, "Hey, I want you to come to my church," and they come to church, and they hear the gospel, and receive Christ, and get baptized, and all of that, you were participating in that prayer with God.
Pastor Jeff:
27:39-27:49
And you're just like, "Wow, God, look what you did." Another example is you could say, "God, help my financial situation." God, help my financial situation." Well, how are you involved in that?
Pastor Jeff:
27:51-27:54
Maybe you need to go to Financial Peace University.
Pastor Jeff:
27:54-27:58
Maybe you need to get another, maybe a part-time job or whatever.
Pastor Jeff:
28:00-28:05
"God, help my financial situation." Participating with God in prayer deepens your relationship.
Pastor Jeff:
28:07-28:12
This happened to me several years ago, many years ago, when our kids were babies.
Pastor Jeff:
28:14-28:17
We needed diapers, but we were completely out of money.
Pastor Jeff:
28:17-28:19
We just were completely out of money.
Pastor Jeff:
28:19-28:22
We had like 38 cents in the checkbook, I think.
Pastor Jeff:
28:23-28:34
And we needed diapers, and Aaron was like, "What do you want to do?" And I'm like, "Let's just trust that God's going to provide." I had no idea. I was just...
Pastor Jeff:
28:34-28:36
Maybe that was faith, maybe I was just blowing smoke, I don't know.
Pastor Jeff:
28:36-28:38
But I wasn't in a good place.
Pastor Jeff:
28:38-28:40
I was just like, "I don't know. I don't know what we're going to do.
Pastor Jeff:
28:40-28:42
We're just going to...
Pastor Jeff:
28:42-28:45
I guess God's going to provide, I don't know how though.
Pastor Jeff:
28:47-28:49
I think that was faith, I don't know.
Pastor Jeff:
28:50-28:54
But regardless, what are we going to do? We're out of diapers.
Pastor Jeff:
28:55-29:13
Wouldn't you know, by some strange coincidence, that week my brother calls me and says, "Hey, we're setting up this studio, taking pictures of this hospital equipment." It's like a one-day gig, pays really well, do you want to go do it?
Pastor Jeff:
29:13-29:32
And I'm like, "Yeah." So I hung out with my brother all day, we went to the studio, we built this, it was like an MRI machine or something, and he's like, "Hey, that was fun, you can have my share of the money too." And I went from having nothing to having way more than enough.
Pastor Jeff:
29:34-29:35
And that was how God provided.
Pastor Jeff:
29:38-29:54
So when we ask, when we seek, when we knock, you see, prayer isn't just, "I'm going to throw this prayer up here and hope that God does something." There's a participation that takes place, especially when we seek and when we knock.
Pastor Jeff:
29:56-30:11
And the promise is that if you come with the right attitude, which is humility and dependence, and you pray for the things that God would want for you, which is provision, wisdom, serving, your prayers are going to be answered every time according to Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
30:12-30:21
Because in verse 8, He says, "For everyone who asks receives." Everyone who seeks finds, everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Pastor Jeff:
30:22-30:25
Obviously, everyone implied for all of those.
Pastor Jeff:
30:26-30:30
So as we close here, how are we seeing our prayers answered?
Pastor Jeff:
30:30-30:31
Well, we're going to pray in humility.
Pastor Jeff:
30:33-30:35
But secondly, we can't leave this out because Jesus sure didn't.
Pastor Jeff:
30:35-30:36
we're going to receive like a child.
Pastor Jeff:
30:38-30:39
We're going to receive like a child.
Pastor Jeff:
30:40-30:42
I'd like to remind you of the illustration Jesus used.
Pastor Jeff:
30:42-30:46
Jesus said, "Which one of you, if a son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Pastor Jeff:
30:48-30:55
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?" Jesus drives the point home with a relatable illustration.
Pastor Jeff:
30:56-31:04
He says in verse 11, "If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven and give good things to those who ask Him.
Pastor Jeff:
31:07-31:08
Receive like a child.
Pastor Jeff:
31:09-31:10
Jesus said, "You know what?
Pastor Jeff:
31:10-31:27
By nature you're an evil person, but even you being a wicked, evil person, even you know how to take care of your kids." So how much do you think a perfect father who's perfectly loving, who's all wise, and has all resources is going to take care of his kids?
Pastor Jeff:
31:29-31:34
Because no decent parent is going to deceive their child.
Pastor Jeff:
31:34-31:36
That's the purpose of this bread and stone thing, right?
Pastor Jeff:
31:37-31:39
That's the issue with the fish and the serpent.
Pastor Jeff:
31:40-31:48
See these things look alike, but one is good for you, and one is harmful.
Pastor Jeff:
31:50-31:57
You know, a piece of bread, you know, Jesus' listeners wouldn't have thought of a big loaf of like wonder bread.
Pastor Jeff:
31:57-32:01
they would have thought of like a little roll, a little biscuit, which would have looked like a rock.
Pastor Jeff:
32:02-32:07
If your kid asks you for bread, you're gonna give him a rock, break his teeth on it.
Pastor Jeff:
32:07-32:09
No, you're not gonna do that.
Pastor Jeff:
32:10-32:12
You're an evil person and you wouldn't do that.
Pastor Jeff:
32:13-32:17
If your kid asks for a fish, you're gonna trick him and give him a snake.
Pastor Jeff:
32:17-32:19
No, you wouldn't do that.
Pastor Jeff:
32:19-32:24
You're not gonna deceive him and you're not gonna give him something that would hurt him.
Pastor Jeff:
32:25-32:28
You know, through the week, thinking about how to illustrate this stuff.
Pastor Jeff:
32:28-32:31
And sometimes meatballs just land on my lap.
Pastor Jeff:
32:32-32:37
But this week I went to Five Below, you know, the dollar store for rich people.
Pastor Jeff:
32:40-32:44
And I had to get an iPad charger for Owen or something.
Pastor Jeff:
32:44-32:46
And it was Cage was with me.
Pastor Jeff:
32:46-32:52
And as we're walking through, Cage is like, "The Bean Boozled Challenge, the Bean Boozled Challenge." He starts like freaking out.
Pastor Jeff:
32:52-33:00
And I'm like, "What is the Bean Boozled Challenge?" He's like, "I watch videos for this on YouTube." I'm like, "What is it?" He's like, "Dad, we gotta do the Bean Boozled Challenge.
Pastor Jeff:
33:00-33:09
We gotta do a video of the Bean Boozled Challenge." And I'm like, "Okay." For as excited as he is, I knew the most I was gonna spend on it was $5.
Pastor Jeff:
33:10-33:17
So yeah, I'm like, "All right, we'll do the Bean Boozled Challenge." So, can we have a couple of volunteers to do the Bean Boozled Challenge right now?
Pastor Jeff:
33:19-33:19
Anybody?
Pastor Jeff:
33:20-33:21
You can't do it?
Pastor Jeff:
33:21-33:22
You know what it is.
Pastor Jeff:
33:23-33:24
Yeah, you know what it is.
Pastor Jeff:
33:24-33:25
That's why you don't want to do it.
Pastor Jeff:
33:25-33:25
Anybody?
Pastor Jeff:
33:27-33:28
Ryan will do it.
Pastor Jeff:
33:28-33:29
Yes!
Pastor Jeff:
33:30-33:31
Come on up here, Ryan.
Pastor Jeff:
33:33-33:35
Darren, did you say you'd do it too?
Pastor Jeff:
33:35-33:36
All right.
Pastor Jeff:
33:37-33:39
Now here's the BeanBoozled Challenge.
Pastor Jeff:
33:39-33:40
No, it's too late.
Pastor Jeff:
33:41-33:41
It's too late.
Pastor Jeff:
33:42-33:43
Set a good example for the flock.
Pastor Jeff:
33:44-33:52
Now in the BeanBoozled Challenge, these jelly beans are colored, but each color has one of two flavors.
Pastor Jeff:
33:53-33:56
For example, the white ones either taste like coconut or spoiled milk.
Pastor Jeff:
34:00-34:07
The ones that are like peach colored with the little flecks in it, they either taste like peach or they taste like barf.
Pastor Jeff:
34:10-34:13
Look, I did this with my 11 year old, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
34:14-34:15
This was the worst.
Pastor Jeff:
34:17-34:20
It's either strawberry banana smoothie or dead fish.
Pastor Jeff:
34:22-34:25
The brown ones were either chocolate pudding or canned dog food.
34:27-34:27
[LAUGHTER]
Pastor Jeff:
34:30-34:32
Oh, all right.
Pastor Jeff:
34:33-34:34
So we're going to get you guys the same color here.
Pastor Jeff:
34:35-34:36
What do you think?
Pastor Jeff:
34:36-34:37
Do you want to do the barf ones?
Pastor Jeff:
34:38-34:39
OK.
Pastor Jeff:
34:39-34:40
All right.
Pastor Jeff:
34:41-34:43
So these ones here, you can take those-- Which ones?
Pastor Jeff:
34:44-34:45
That one or that one?
Pastor Jeff:
34:45-34:45
Take one.
Pastor Jeff:
34:46-34:47
Don't worry about that.
Pastor Jeff:
34:47-34:47
Take that one.
Pastor Jeff:
34:49-34:50
Just take that color.
Pastor Jeff:
34:50-34:50
Yeah.
Pastor Jeff:
34:50-34:51
I'll eat this one?
Pastor Jeff:
34:51-34:53
Yeah, same color, same color.
Pastor Jeff:
34:55-34:56
Because I'm the pastor.
34:58-34:58
(congregation laughing)
Pastor Jeff:
35:01-35:02
Right, Mike?
Pastor Jeff:
35:03-35:05
I didn't think I had to spell that out for you, Ryan.
Pastor Jeff:
35:06-35:10
All right, so it's either peach or barf.
Pastor Jeff:
35:10-35:10
Who wants to go first?
Pastor Jeff:
35:12-35:13
Same time?
Pastor Jeff:
35:13-35:13
All right, everybody.
Pastor Jeff:
35:14-35:16
One, two, three.
Ryan:
35:19-35:19
Both.
35:20-35:21
(audience laughing)
Ryan:
35:23-35:23
This is peach.
35:25-35:25
(audience laughing)
Ryan:
35:30-35:31
I hate this.
Ryan:
35:31-35:33
I'm never coming home to this guy.
Ryan:
35:34-35:35
It was Sarah's fault.
Pastor Jeff:
35:35-35:37
All right, give him a hand.
Pastor Jeff:
35:37-35:38
Give him a hand.
Pastor Jeff:
35:44-35:46
You're like, what was the purpose of that illustration?
Pastor Jeff:
35:48-35:49
Jesus was saying God doesn't do that.
Pastor Jeff:
35:52-35:54
Like Pastor Jeff might, but God doesn't.
Pastor Jeff:
35:55-35:58
Look, listen, I have been telling you for years that I'm not God.
Pastor Jeff:
36:00-36:01
He is God and I am not.
Pastor Jeff:
36:02-36:03
God wouldn't do that.
Pastor Jeff:
36:03-36:04
You see, and that's the point.
Pastor Jeff:
36:04-36:06
One of those - was that really bad, Ryan?
Pastor Jeff:
36:08-36:08
Was it pretty bad?
Pastor Jeff:
36:11-36:15
Well, it's pretty rough.
Pastor Jeff:
36:16-36:16
It's pretty rough.
Pastor Jeff:
36:17-36:21
The point of that is just simply this, God isn't like that.
Pastor Jeff:
36:22-36:25
God, to use this illustration, God only gives peach.
Pastor Jeff:
36:26-36:27
That's all God gives.
Pastor Jeff:
36:28-36:30
God's not gonna give you a bar flavored jelly bean.
Pastor Jeff:
36:30-36:31
I want you to tweet that.
Pastor Jeff:
36:33-36:34
You don't have to put my name on that.
Pastor Jeff:
36:36-36:37
He only gives peach.
Pastor Jeff:
36:38-36:52
But maybe someone here is saying, you know, Jeff, I hear all you're saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, I see, knock, yeah, yeah, I see all you're saying, but listen, Pastor Jeff, I have sincerely asked from the Lord, unselfishly, and He hasn't answered my prayers.
Pastor Jeff:
36:53-36:54
So what's up with that?
Pastor Jeff:
36:56-36:58
I have prayed, and He hasn't answered.
Pastor Jeff:
37:00-37:02
Well, we can certainly see the parent side of the illustration.
Pastor Jeff:
37:04-37:07
But can we look at the kid side of the illustration for a second?
Pastor Jeff:
37:10-37:19
For those of you that have kids of various ages, Parents, I want to ask you, do your kids always know what's good for them?
Pastor Jeff:
37:24-37:26
We have a little dispute up here, Stacy.
Pastor Jeff:
37:27-37:28
Do your kids always know what's good for them?
Pastor Jeff:
37:30-37:33
They think, oh, oh, oh, now we're onto something here.
Pastor Jeff:
37:33-37:36
Look, I love you boys, but look, I'm a parent too.
Pastor Jeff:
37:36-37:38
I gotta tell you, Alex is right.
Pastor Jeff:
37:39-37:41
Kids think they know what's best for them, right?
Pastor Jeff:
37:43-37:45
but do kids always know what's best for them?
Pastor Jeff:
37:46-37:51
I was thinking about this this week, I'm like, seldom they know what's good for them.
Pastor Jeff:
37:51-37:53
And I thought a little bit more about my kids.
Pastor Jeff:
37:53-37:54
I'm like, no, never.
Pastor Jeff:
37:54-37:56
My kids never know what's good for them.
Pastor Jeff:
37:57-37:58
If you ask my kids, what do you want?
Pastor Jeff:
37:58-37:59
Do you know what it would be?
Pastor Jeff:
37:59-38:07
It would be Pepsi and like cookies for breakfast, lunch, and supper, and lay on the couch and watch cartoons and play video games.
Pastor Jeff:
38:07-38:08
They think this is what I want.
Pastor Jeff:
38:09-38:11
Now, as a parent, am I gonna give my kids what they want?
Pastor Jeff:
38:12-38:15
No, like, look, that's not good for you.
Pastor Jeff:
38:16-38:18
That's not good for you, have some jelly beans.
Pastor Jeff:
38:18-38:19
That's not good for you.
Pastor Jeff:
38:20-38:22
It's not good for you.
Pastor Jeff:
38:24-38:30
Because here's the thing, parents, parents know better.
Pastor Jeff:
38:32-38:32
Parents know better.
Pastor Jeff:
38:34-38:36
And we are the kids in this equation here.
Pastor Jeff:
38:37-38:40
And like Alex says, we think we know what's good for us.
Pastor Jeff:
38:41-38:48
And we wrongly think that answered prayer, answered prayer means that God did what we told him to do.
Pastor Jeff:
38:50-38:52
That's what we think answered prayer means.
Pastor Jeff:
38:52-38:54
God did what we told him to do.
Pastor Jeff:
38:54-38:55
Well, God is not your waiter.
Pastor Jeff:
38:57-39:03
Maybe his answer in his perfect wisdom as a perfect parent is no.
Pastor Jeff:
39:05-39:11
Maybe the equivalent of what you're asking God for is can I drink nothing but Pepsi all day?
Pastor Jeff:
39:11-39:40
now. I'm not giving you that. Because I love you. Maybe the answer to God's prayer is not yet. Yeah, I hear what you're asking for and that's a good thing, but now's not the time. You know what, I have a date circled on the calendar of when I'm going to give that to you, but I'm not going to give that to you right now. You see, when God says no or when God says not yet, that is the good answer.
Pastor Jeff:
39:43-39:45
Because no can ultimately be good news.
Pastor Jeff:
39:47-39:54
God gives us what is good, or He withholds what we want because it might be bad.
Pastor Jeff:
39:56-39:58
Even if I don't recognize that.
Pastor Jeff:
39:59-40:03
Psalm 62, verses 11-12, I love these verses.
Pastor Jeff:
40:03-40:05
You should commit these to your heart.
Pastor Jeff:
40:06-40:10
If you commit these to your heart, this will revolutionize your prayer life right here.
Pastor Jeff:
40:10-40:27
"Once God has spoken, twice I have heard this, "that power belongs to God, "and to the you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, "for you will render to a man according to his work." Powerful prayer is backed by two things.
Pastor Jeff:
40:27-40:32
It's this, God will move because He is able and because He loves me.
Pastor Jeff:
40:35-40:36
That's what the psalmist said.
Pastor Jeff:
40:36-40:38
God has the power and God has the love.
Pastor Jeff:
40:38-40:42
And that is why God will move when we pray.
Pastor Jeff:
40:43-40:43
So pray.
Pastor Jeff:
40:44-40:47
Don't just say your prayers, get alone with God.
Pastor Jeff:
40:49-40:55
Get on your face and ask Him specifically for His provision and it's going to be given to you.
Pastor Jeff:
40:56-41:01
Seek His wisdom and you're going to find it.
Pastor Jeff:
41:02-41:11
Knock on the door to enter God's work I'm happy to be open for you, because if you pray in humility and receive like a child, you're going to have a powerful prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
41:12-41:13
Let's pray.
Pastor Jeff:
41:14-41:21
Father in heaven, I pray that you would change us today into people who say our prayers, into people who pray.
Pastor Jeff:
41:22-41:33
Into people who, instead of just praying, Father, we would be people who learn what it means to ask, learn what it means to seek, and learn what it means to knock.
Pastor Jeff:
41:35-41:37
God, You are the perfect parent.
Pastor Jeff:
41:37-41:41
So ultimately, God, we pray according to Your will.
Pastor Jeff:
41:42-41:46
Sometimes, Father, I'm like that foolish kid that thinks I know better.
Pastor Jeff:
41:46-41:47
I know what God should do for me.
Pastor Jeff:
41:48-41:50
I know what is good for me.
Pastor Jeff:
41:51-41:52
And I sure don't.
Pastor Jeff:
41:53-41:54
You do, God.
Pastor Jeff:
41:55-41:59
So let my prayers be, yes, big and specific, but also according to You.
Pastor Jeff:
42:01-42:08
believing firmly in the power of prayer, always be a pillar of this church that we go after consistently.
Pastor Jeff:
42:11-42:14
Share yourself mighty, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Matthew 7:7-11
Why do you think prayer is such a struggle for many sincere Christians?
How would you respond to someone who says, "I tried praying, and it didn't work."
State Jesus' teaching in Matt 7:7-8 in your own words, regarding "asking... seeking... knocking".
How does Jesus' parent / child illustration help you understand prayer in a better way (Matt 7:9-11)?
Breakout Questions:
Pray for each other, using Jesus' instructions here!