April 21, 2025 • 24 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Prayer is something that happens when you understand who God
really is, and you understand who God really is when
He reveals himself through his word, and the promise given
to christ followers is the moment you and I are
born again by the.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Spirit through faith in Jesus.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
The Spirit shows us that we're not simply God's subjects,
but we're also.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
His what children.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is unique to Christianity father child relationship.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Today Today, Today Today with Jeff Fines, pastor, apologist and
Bible teacher.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Today with Jeff Fines.
Today we have another message from Pastor Jeff from his
Dirt Road discipleship series. In this message, he's talking about
the power of prayer and reading from Psalm twenty five,
verse fourteen.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I want to get started because you know, we have
a lot to cover, right, So I have every you know,
I always have these great stories and funny jokes I
have to take out because they think come too much
time and most of the say, well, you're not funny anyway,
so we're all happy. So I'm twenty five fourteen. I'm
gonna be looking at one verse now selected scripture. This
sermon is about prayer. Let me just get it out
(01:32):
so you know where we're going, and let me tell
you what I've discovered over the course of my life
in ministry. Everybody prays when they get desperate enough. I
don't care who they are, Atheist, agnost.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Think, whoever they are.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
When your world starts to fall apart, you'll get down
on your knees and start to pray. One of my
favorite shows that I've mentioned numerous times, everybody loves Raymond.
Everybody goes to church, but Raymond doesn't. Never ask him
why don't you go to church? And he has a
lame answer. He says, it's not my fault. God put
football on Sunday. And she says, God can hear you,
(02:05):
you know? And he says to her, why do you
go to church? And she goes, well, I go to
church to pray, Well, why do you pray? I pray
because I want to thank God for my husband and
the kids. And I pray because I want to beg
God to help me get through another week with my
husband and the kids.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Everybody prays.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
The other thing is that God desires that all men
and women pray. Everyone we were made to pray, third
not all prayers are equal. Many prayers are uninformed and misdirected.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
We're going to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
But most importantly for our series, a disciple of Jesus
has a passion to pray, understands the nature of prayer,
in fact, wrestles with prayer most of their lives. A
disciple of Jesus has a passion to pray, understands the
nature of prayer, and wrestles with prayer. And now with
this renewed interest in spirituality comes in a renewed desire
(03:02):
to connect with God through prayer and meditation. And this
should not be surprising because according to Genesis chapter one
twenty six through twenty seven, we are all made in
the image of God, and burying that image means we
were designed designed to reflect and relate to God. That
means that the instinct of God is in every single
(03:23):
one of us. And you've heard me say, if you
just leave a child alone, the child will automatically believe
in God. You have to convince a child there is
no God. The child has been created the image of God.
As he or she grows older, that child, unless misdirected
by the parents, will actually seek to connect with God.
(03:45):
Every person sooner or later, though, comes to a point
when they feel their own smallness over and against the
greatness of God, and they begin to seek communication with God.
Here's the thing, though, and so important. According to the Bible,
which is God's revelation to us, we learned that prayer
(04:05):
is profoundly impacted by your knowledge and understanding of God.
The way you pray prayer is impacted significantly by your
understanding of the character and the nature of God. So
the question, then, is how do you know what God
is like? It can't be on the basis of feeling.
(04:25):
We've already talked about that. It has to be on
the basis of some objective truth. And the objective truth
you know about God comes in the Bible. That's the
only objective truth source. Just because you feel God is
a certain way or shouldn't be a certain way doesn't
make it true.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
There must be an objective source.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So the question, and then, what happens when you fashion
God together in your own image and you begin to
interact with Him on the basis.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Of erroneous information. All right, Let's say that you had a.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Special radio that you developed, and you're now able to
talk with the aliens, and the problem is the aliens
don't speak your language. They're talking, but you can't understand them.
So you create what you think aliens are and you say, well,
they're obviously friendly and loving and kind things. So you
give them your address and they show up and they
(05:19):
slaughter you. You have no objective proof of their identity.
You're totally guessing. And that's what most of the world does.
I'm not saying that aliens and I'm not saying that
aliens are mean.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
It's just an illustration.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
The reason the revelation of God to us is so
important so that we can know who God truly is,
what he's like, in order that we might relate and
communicate with him, because relationships require communication.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
My wife has been telling me this for years. You
can have a marriage without having a relationship. Correct, people
lived in for many, many years. There's no relationship there
because there's no communication. And where you're gonna have a relationship,
you have to have an understanding or knowledge about the
other party. Right now, stay with me again, it goes back.
(06:15):
I wish someone would have had this conversation with me
when I was younger to understand what prayer is all
about because what is prayer.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Prayer is a.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Response to the knowledge of God, your knowledge of who
God is, what he's like, and it really reveals itself
in two levels. Level one, prayer is a human instinct
to reach out for help based on a very general
and unfocused sense of God. So it's a time when you.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Say, God, if you're there, help me.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Well, the problem with that is it can't be real
conversation between you and God. I mean, that's a worthy
prayer to pray, but there's no real relationship there because
your knowledge of God is too vague. Level two is
what happens to the committed Christ follower and dirt road discipleship.
Prayer becomes a spiritual instinct informed by the Holy Spirit,
(07:10):
who lives in the heart and mind of the believer,
and who grants understanding and clarity to God's true character
and identity through the revelation of God's Word. All that
to say, the summary of prayer is something that happens
when you understand who God really is, and you understand
who God really is when he reveals himself through his word,
(07:32):
and the promise given to Christ followers is the moment
you and I are born again.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
By the Spirit through faith in Jesus.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
The Spirit shows us that we're not simply God's subjects,
but we're also His what children, and we can converse
with God.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Folks.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
This is unique to Christianity father child relationship. You find
this in no other philosophy, no other religious system. You
would never read in any other religious work, a passage
like you read in Galatians four four through six. But
when the said time had fully come, God sent his son,
(08:10):
born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem
those under the law, that we might receive adoption to
sonship because you are His sons. God sent the spirit
of his Son into our hearts.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
The spirit who.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Calls out Abba, Father, Abba is an incredibly tender word.
So God is not only our heavenly father, He's much
more tender to than that.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
He's Abba.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
He's the best English word I can give you. He's daddy,
he's loving, he's nurturing. There is no other God in
any other religion that wants to be your loving father.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
No God comes even close to that.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Moreover, there's especially no God that wants to be called
your friend. And that's where Psalm twenty five to fourteen
comes in the friendship of the Lord is for the
those who fear him, and he makes known to them
his covenant. The Hebrew word for friendship is so it
(09:07):
means intimate counsel. Now you think about for a moment,
how many of you love? Okay, maybe I shouldn't do that,
don't raise your hands, keep it quiet, But how.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Many of you really enjoy?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You think your life has made that much more special
by friends, hanging out with friends, telling your problems to
your friends, your deepest secrets to your friends, seeking the
wise counsel of your friends, spending time with friends, celebrating
in mourning with your friends.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
That's a big part of life is friendship.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Basic friends you have something in common with, But intimate friends,
the kind of intimacy the Bible talks about in friendship
with God. Those are the friends you discuss the deeper
things of life with. Right, that's the husband and wife
issue as well. You're not just basic friends. You discuss
the intimate things of life. The problem is in our
(10:00):
world today. Although we're very happy that there's a renewed
interest in spirituality, the common phrase I keep hearing is this,
I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Now what does that mean. Well, I'll tell you what
it means.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
It means I want to have a spiritual connection with
the divine, something beyond me, but without authority over me.
I still want to live my life the way I
want to live my life. No discipleship, no discipline.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
No community. But I want to feel God.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
But I don't want to come so close that he
becomes authoritarian. That's not a relationship. The problem with this
type of spirituality is what happens. You end up defining
God and then you search for experiences that harmonize well
with the deay it that you've created for yourself. You know,
anybody who's been married for any length of the time.
(10:51):
I don't think it's a mistake that the Bible compares
your relationship with God to marriage, groom and bride, to
father and son, all anthropomorphic lay which is somewhat limited,
but there's still a point to be made. And how
many of you guys, after you were married ten years
you realize you had no clue about your wife.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I mean, you thought you had women figured out, You
thought you had her figured out.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
About ten years, after frustration of banking your head against
the wall, you realize I know nothing about this woman.
And a good marriage at that point happens when the
man says, I've got to do some learning and you
start asking questions. C. S.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Lewis, in the work.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Called The Four Loves, talked about two kinds of love.
One aneros, which is romantic erotic. It's romantic love, and
it's when two people, he said, look into each other's eyes.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
That's romantical. If you just stare in each other's eyes.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
The other love. Some of you women are saying, boy,
I wish my husband. Yeah, you didn't even know the.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Color of my eyes.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
But erros staring into each other's eyes. Then he said,
you've got phileo or philo really and filo is it's
different than a ross. In that aros you're looking into
each other's eyes. But filo friendship love is two people
staring at something else. Two people side by side looking
(12:12):
at something.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Else, that's friendship.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Friendship begins with the implicit or explicit statement, you too, right,
what you like the raiders too, or you hate the
raiders too. Or you're a Democrat, or you're a Republican,
or you're a libertarian, or you're religion.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
You're a Christian or.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
You love dogs, or you hate cats, or you avoid
mother in laws. I mean, whatever it is you have
in common.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Suddenly you look at the persons you know you two.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So the key, oh man, can you imagine trying to
do a whole thing on prayer in one message, But
we have to do it.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Listen the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Then the key to understanding prayer, which so few disciples do,
is to understand that old it is friendship with God.
And the reason you're having to try so hard to
pray is because you're not yet friends with God. Prayer
and friendship with God are the two most important aspects
(13:13):
of a true disciple, a true follower of Jesus. So first, quickly,
and I want to do this in an orderly fashion
so we can stay on courts here. Number one, is
friendship really possible with God in every other religion? No
God is impersonal. There's no personal, relatable God in any
other religion, even in Islam. Islam is monotheistic. Yes there's
(13:36):
one God, but this God does not require relationship. Islam
means submission, and what it really means is submission without discussion.
You just simply submit to all law's will. Stop A
two way. Conversation does not happen in Islam. And I'm
not picking on Islam. I'm simply giving you this is
the theology of Islam. There are plenty of prayers in Islam,
(14:00):
but there's no expectation for God to talk back you
with me. Verses like this are only found in the Bible.
Excepdus thirty three eleven. The Lord would speak to Moses
face to face as one speaks to a friend James
two twenty three. And the scripture was fulfilled that says
Abraham believed God. It was credited to him as Rises,
(14:21):
and he was called God's friend. So God talked to
Moses as a man talks to a friend.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
You don't find that anywhere other than in Christianity, face
to face conversation, kindness, gentleness, loving compassion. Aristotle, the first
century philosopher, said, this is impossible.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
The idea that we can be friends with God is impossible.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And here's why. There's never a moment with God where
you can say you two, because we're nothing like God.
He's holy, we are not. He's forgiving, we seldom are.
He is all powerful, we are very weak.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
He's omniscient.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
And we Well, every time I think of this, I
remember this quote somebody said life is hard, it's even
harder if you're stupid. I mean, our wisdom pales in
comparison with gods. The bottom line is there's no utube
moment with God. But I've just finished reading this incredible book.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
I've read books on prayers before, but not a book
this good and I really encourage. It's Tim Keller's book
on prayer. And in his book he says that every
part of Biblical theology shows you that Aristotle is wrong.
One the doctrine of God, the triune God. If God
were only uni personal, then love could not have existed
(15:42):
until God.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Began creating other beings. Do you know what he means
by that?
Speaker 1 (15:46):
The trinity means that God is one in three persons,
which means those three persons have been loving each other
in community before the foundations of the world, before creation,
and that community and communication occurred law before Genesis won
So even before God used his power to create anything.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
There was love. Love precedes power.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Before creation, the Father was speaking to the Son, the
son of the Father, and the Father and the Son
of the Holy Spirit. God did not create out of loneliness.
He created out of love. So in the Godhead there
is an assumed friendship that is occurring long before creation.
And because you and I are created in the image
of God, that's why you and I long for friendship,
(16:31):
because we.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Are like God.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Augustine also said that if God were only unit personal,
then a God who existed as one person and then
began creating an the angels, that God would have been
power before he was loved, and therefore power would be primary,
love would be secondary. But because we have a trial
(16:55):
in God, that means love is primary. Again, love precedes creation.
Therefore God is love. And if you and I want
friendship with God, and again this is totally unique to
the Christian world view, You've got to have an understanding
of why it is you yearn for love and friendship. Okay,
the second thing he mentions is the doctrine of man.
(17:16):
You and I, we just said, are created in the
image of God. We are formed in his image. The
Bible says that you and I are partakers of the
divine nature. We have a desire for community, a desire
to love and be loved, a desire for friendship. Those
realities exist within the divine nature, and God passed them
on to us. Now, my father in law has usually
(17:37):
comes most of you know, Charlie Delaney and my mother
in law, Betty Delaney. I do make statements about my
mother in law, but I really don't believe some of them.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
And so and so, okay most of them.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yeah, But they come out every Christmas and they tend
to stay till Easter.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
But this year they've already gone. They left last week sad.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
And now Robin's with him as well, because Charlie had
two very close friends that have passed away and he's
been asked to do the funeral and it's been a
very tough season for him, and he's he's become. The
older Charlie gets, the more gentle he has become. I've
noticed very compassionate. He's always been that way, but even
(18:19):
more so. As you get older, you begin to recognize
your own mortality. You start thinking about the things you
wished you had done. And I thought about my father
in law sitting on the bedside with all these families,
getting ready to do the funeral of people that are.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Very dear to him.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
And if you've been around any length of time, you
know that what is it that people regret when they're
on their deathbed. It's never I wish I'd have made
more money. I as a pastor, I have never heard
anybody say that before I go, I wish I had
more money, or more stuff or bigger houses. Every single time,
it's the same thing, I wish I would have spent
(18:53):
more time with the people I love. The reason that
happens is because every single one of us has been
created in the image of God, and deep down inside
we know what we truly long for. And the only
time we say we don't long for that is when
we don't have it and we've been hurt so much
we live in denial.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
So Keller's right.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Everything about the theology of God says that we can't
have friendship the doctrine of God, the triune God, perfect
unity and fellowship even before the creation the doctrine of man.
We long for it because we're created in the image
of God. And then, third, the whole history of redemption
history is one gigantic, cosmic act of friendship. God becomes
(19:34):
a human being to come alongside of us. Let me
read you Hebrews chapter two, verse fourteen. Since therefore the
children share in flesh and blood. He himself, speaking of Jesus,
likewise partook of the same things, that through death he
might destroy the one who has power of death, that
is the devil, and deliver all those who, through fear
(19:55):
of death, were subject to a lifelong slavery. Isn't that
a great line? We all, he's no death there. It's
an overarching enemy, and it goes with us wherever we go,
and we're somewhat a slave to it, trying to defeat it.
But Jesus did something for us we could not do
for ourselves verse sixteen. For surely it is not angels
that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
And what that just simply means is mankind. Therefore he
(20:19):
had to be made like his brothers in every respect,
so that he might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for
the sins of the people. For because he himself has
suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who
are being tempted.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And what does that say?
Speaker 1 (20:34):
By the way, the word tested and tempted are very similar.
Here in the Book of Hebrews, Hebrews. What he's saying,
God became a human being. He was tempted and tested
in every single way like us, so that you and
I would know, not because God was lacking in knowledge
of what it was like to be human, but so
that you would know he knows what it's like to
be human. And then in John fifteen thirteen, greater love
(20:58):
has no man than this, that someone lay down his
life for his friends. Now, let me say again, this
is so unique. No other god, if any other religion,
could possibly lay his life down for his friends, because
no other God went through the act of incarnation.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
No other God is willing.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
To become vulnerable, killable. And then on the cross, what happens?
Stay with me now, on the cross, what happens. Jesus
becomes likeness.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
He has his.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Darkness, he's suffering death, he has our lostness, and somewhat
you can say that he experiences what we experience to
a deeper degree. Why well, in Luke chapter twenty two,
do you remember what happened? We're told that Jesus withdraws
his stone throw away and kneels down and begins to pray.
And he says, Father, if you are willing remove this
cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.
(21:46):
And there appeared to him an angel from Heaven's strengthening him.
And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his
sweat became like great and drops of blood falling down
to the ground. Now theologians have talked about this for centuries.
This doesn't seem like Jesus. Jesus usually takes pain and
suffering and stride. So what is it that is causing
(22:08):
such anxiety in the Son of God that he begins
to sweat drops some blood, which is an actual medical
condition hematridosis. It's where blood seeks into this sweat glands.
But why it only happens under severe cases of anxiety?
So what is causing such anxiety? For the first time,
Jesus is beginning to feel what it's like to be
(22:29):
separated from the Father, perfect unity in diversity within the Trinity,
and suddenly for the first time he's being abandoned by
the Father. The Father turns his face away from his
son so that he would never have to turn his
face away from us.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
So in the.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Redempson story, what do we see in Jesus in his humanity?
He gets hungry, he's tired, he's pursued by his enemies.
They're sorrow, their sadness, they're weeping, they're suffering, there's dying,
the feeling that God has abandoned us so much so
that he says, why have you forsaken? Alienated from God?
Now you know the conclusion right, Aristotle was wrong. You
(23:06):
and I do look at Jesus and we say you too,
you too. Every aspect of biblical theology tells you and
me that it's possible to be friends with God. So
the question that happens, remember this whole sermons about prayer.
So the question happens is how does friendship with God occur?
How can we cultivate it? And here's how quickly?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Number one.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Now you're not gonna like number one, but you're gonna
love number two.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Number one obedience.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Did you read the rest of John fifteen where it
says greater love has no man than this than someone
laid down his life for his friends. You are my
friends if you do what I command you.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
You've been listening to today with Jeff Fines. Thanks for
joining us. Next time we'll bring you the rest of
this message from past to Jeff.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
The reason many of you have never felt the friendship
of God is because you've never intended on obeying him,
and you're not obeying him now. You want savior without lordship.
You want the salvation, you just don't want the authority.
You don't know your friend, and without the will to
discover and obey the will of God, friendship with God
(24:20):
is impossible.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
You can listen to more messages like this. Just search
for Today with Jeff Fines wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
You make me
Speaker 3 (24:35):
With every single friend Today, Today, Today, Today with Jeff Fines,
Prayer is something that happens when you understand who God
really is, and you understand who God really is when
He reveals himself through his word, and the promise given
to christ followers is the moment you and I are
born again by the.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Spirit through faith in Jesus.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
The Spirit shows us that we're not simply God's subjects,
but we're also.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
His what children.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is unique to Christianity father child relationship.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Today Today, Today Today with Jeff Fines, pastor, apologist and
Bible teacher.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Today with Jeff Fines.
Today we have another message from Pastor Jeff from his
Dirt Road discipleship series. In this message, he's talking about
the power of prayer and reading from Psalm twenty five,
verse fourteen.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I want to get started because you know, we have
a lot to cover, right, So I have every you know,
I always have these great stories and funny jokes I
have to take out because they think come too much
time and most of the say, well, you're not funny anyway,
so we're all happy. So I'm twenty five fourteen. I'm
gonna be looking at one verse now selected scripture. This
sermon is about prayer. Let me just get it out
(01:32):
so you know where we're going, and let me tell
you what I've discovered over the course of my life
in ministry. Everybody prays when they get desperate enough. I
don't care who they are, Atheist, agnost.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Think, whoever they are.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
When your world starts to fall apart, you'll get down
on your knees and start to pray. One of my
favorite shows that I've mentioned numerous times, everybody loves Raymond.
Everybody goes to church, but Raymond doesn't. Never ask him
why don't you go to church? And he has a
lame answer. He says, it's not my fault. God put
football on Sunday. And she says, God can hear you,
(02:05):
you know? And he says to her, why do you
go to church? And she goes, well, I go to
church to pray, Well, why do you pray? I pray
because I want to thank God for my husband and
the kids. And I pray because I want to beg
God to help me get through another week with my
husband and the kids.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Everybody prays.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
The other thing is that God desires that all men
and women pray. Everyone we were made to pray, third
not all prayers are equal. Many prayers are uninformed and misdirected.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
We're going to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
But most importantly for our series, a disciple of Jesus
has a passion to pray, understands the nature of prayer,
in fact, wrestles with prayer most of their lives. A
disciple of Jesus has a passion to pray, understands the
nature of prayer, and wrestles with prayer. And now with
this renewed interest in spirituality comes in a renewed desire
(03:02):
to connect with God through prayer and meditation. And this
should not be surprising because according to Genesis chapter one
twenty six through twenty seven, we are all made in
the image of God, and burying that image means we
were designed designed to reflect and relate to God. That
means that the instinct of God is in every single
(03:23):
one of us. And you've heard me say, if you
just leave a child alone, the child will automatically believe
in God. You have to convince a child there is
no God. The child has been created the image of God.
As he or she grows older, that child, unless misdirected
by the parents, will actually seek to connect with God.
(03:45):
Every person sooner or later, though, comes to a point
when they feel their own smallness over and against the
greatness of God, and they begin to seek communication with God.
Here's the thing, though, and so important. According to the Bible,
which is God's revelation to us, we learned that prayer
(04:05):
is profoundly impacted by your knowledge and understanding of God.
The way you pray prayer is impacted significantly by your
understanding of the character and the nature of God. So
the question, then, is how do you know what God
is like? It can't be on the basis of feeling.
(04:25):
We've already talked about that. It has to be on
the basis of some objective truth. And the objective truth
you know about God comes in the Bible. That's the
only objective truth source. Just because you feel God is
a certain way or shouldn't be a certain way doesn't
make it true.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
There must be an objective source.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So the question, and then, what happens when you fashion
God together in your own image and you begin to
interact with Him on the basis.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Of erroneous information. All right, Let's say that you had a.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Special radio that you developed, and you're now able to
talk with the aliens, and the problem is the aliens
don't speak your language. They're talking, but you can't understand them.
So you create what you think aliens are and you say, well,
they're obviously friendly and loving and kind things. So you
give them your address and they show up and they
(05:19):
slaughter you. You have no objective proof of their identity.
You're totally guessing. And that's what most of the world does.
I'm not saying that aliens and I'm not saying that
aliens are mean.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
It's just an illustration.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
The reason the revelation of God to us is so
important so that we can know who God truly is,
what he's like, in order that we might relate and
communicate with him, because relationships require communication.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
My wife has been telling me this for years. You
can have a marriage without having a relationship. Correct, people
lived in for many, many years. There's no relationship there
because there's no communication. And where you're gonna have a relationship,
you have to have an understanding or knowledge about the
other party. Right now, stay with me again, it goes back.
(06:15):
I wish someone would have had this conversation with me
when I was younger to understand what prayer is all
about because what is prayer.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Prayer is a.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Response to the knowledge of God, your knowledge of who
God is, what he's like, and it really reveals itself
in two levels. Level one, prayer is a human instinct
to reach out for help based on a very general
and unfocused sense of God. So it's a time when you.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Say, God, if you're there, help me.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Well, the problem with that is it can't be real
conversation between you and God. I mean, that's a worthy
prayer to pray, but there's no real relationship there because
your knowledge of God is too vague. Level two is
what happens to the committed Christ follower and dirt road discipleship.
Prayer becomes a spiritual instinct informed by the Holy Spirit,
(07:10):
who lives in the heart and mind of the believer,
and who grants understanding and clarity to God's true character
and identity through the revelation of God's Word. All that
to say, the summary of prayer is something that happens
when you understand who God really is, and you understand
who God really is when he reveals himself through his word,
(07:32):
and the promise given to Christ followers is the moment
you and I are born again.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
By the Spirit through faith in Jesus.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
The Spirit shows us that we're not simply God's subjects,
but we're also His what children, and we can converse
with God.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Folks.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
This is unique to Christianity father child relationship. You find
this in no other philosophy, no other religious system. You
would never read in any other religious work, a passage
like you read in Galatians four four through six. But
when the said time had fully come, God sent his son,
(08:10):
born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem
those under the law, that we might receive adoption to
sonship because you are His sons. God sent the spirit
of his Son into our hearts.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
The spirit who.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Calls out Abba, Father, Abba is an incredibly tender word.
So God is not only our heavenly father, He's much
more tender to than that.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
He's Abba.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
He's the best English word I can give you. He's daddy,
he's loving, he's nurturing. There is no other God in
any other religion that wants to be your loving father.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
No God comes even close to that.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Moreover, there's especially no God that wants to be called
your friend. And that's where Psalm twenty five to fourteen
comes in the friendship of the Lord is for the
those who fear him, and he makes known to them
his covenant. The Hebrew word for friendship is so it
(09:07):
means intimate counsel. Now you think about for a moment,
how many of you love? Okay, maybe I shouldn't do that,
don't raise your hands, keep it quiet, But how.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Many of you really enjoy?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You think your life has made that much more special
by friends, hanging out with friends, telling your problems to
your friends, your deepest secrets to your friends, seeking the
wise counsel of your friends, spending time with friends, celebrating
in mourning with your friends.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
That's a big part of life is friendship.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Basic friends you have something in common with, But intimate friends,
the kind of intimacy the Bible talks about in friendship
with God. Those are the friends you discuss the deeper
things of life with. Right, that's the husband and wife
issue as well. You're not just basic friends. You discuss
the intimate things of life. The problem is in our
(10:00):
world today. Although we're very happy that there's a renewed
interest in spirituality, the common phrase I keep hearing is this,
I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Now what does that mean. Well, I'll tell you what
it means.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
It means I want to have a spiritual connection with
the divine, something beyond me, but without authority over me.
I still want to live my life the way I
want to live my life. No discipleship, no discipline.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
No community. But I want to feel God.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
But I don't want to come so close that he
becomes authoritarian. That's not a relationship. The problem with this
type of spirituality is what happens. You end up defining
God and then you search for experiences that harmonize well
with the deay it that you've created for yourself. You know,
anybody who's been married for any length of the time.
(10:51):
I don't think it's a mistake that the Bible compares
your relationship with God to marriage, groom and bride, to
father and son, all anthropomorphic lay which is somewhat limited,
but there's still a point to be made. And how
many of you guys, after you were married ten years
you realize you had no clue about your wife.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I mean, you thought you had women figured out, You
thought you had her figured out.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
About ten years, after frustration of banking your head against
the wall, you realize I know nothing about this woman.
And a good marriage at that point happens when the
man says, I've got to do some learning and you
start asking questions. C. S.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Lewis, in the work.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Called The Four Loves, talked about two kinds of love.
One aneros, which is romantic erotic. It's romantic love, and
it's when two people, he said, look into each other's eyes.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
That's romantical. If you just stare in each other's eyes.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
The other love. Some of you women are saying, boy,
I wish my husband. Yeah, you didn't even know the.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Color of my eyes.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
But erros staring into each other's eyes. Then he said,
you've got phileo or philo really and filo is it's
different than a ross. In that aros you're looking into
each other's eyes. But filo friendship love is two people
staring at something else. Two people side by side looking
(12:12):
at something.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Else, that's friendship.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Friendship begins with the implicit or explicit statement, you too, right,
what you like the raiders too, or you hate the
raiders too. Or you're a Democrat, or you're a Republican,
or you're a libertarian, or you're religion.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
You're a Christian or.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
You love dogs, or you hate cats, or you avoid
mother in laws. I mean, whatever it is you have
in common.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Suddenly you look at the persons you know you two.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So the key, oh man, can you imagine trying to
do a whole thing on prayer in one message, But
we have to do it.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Listen the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Then the key to understanding prayer, which so few disciples do,
is to understand that old it is friendship with God.
And the reason you're having to try so hard to
pray is because you're not yet friends with God. Prayer
and friendship with God are the two most important aspects
(13:13):
of a true disciple, a true follower of Jesus. So first, quickly,
and I want to do this in an orderly fashion
so we can stay on courts here. Number one, is
friendship really possible with God in every other religion? No
God is impersonal. There's no personal, relatable God in any
other religion, even in Islam. Islam is monotheistic. Yes there's
(13:36):
one God, but this God does not require relationship. Islam
means submission, and what it really means is submission without discussion.
You just simply submit to all law's will. Stop A
two way. Conversation does not happen in Islam. And I'm
not picking on Islam. I'm simply giving you this is
the theology of Islam. There are plenty of prayers in Islam,
(14:00):
but there's no expectation for God to talk back you
with me. Verses like this are only found in the Bible.
Excepdus thirty three eleven. The Lord would speak to Moses
face to face as one speaks to a friend James
two twenty three. And the scripture was fulfilled that says
Abraham believed God. It was credited to him as Rises,
(14:21):
and he was called God's friend. So God talked to
Moses as a man talks to a friend.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
You don't find that anywhere other than in Christianity, face
to face conversation, kindness, gentleness, loving compassion. Aristotle, the first
century philosopher, said, this is impossible.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
The idea that we can be friends with God is impossible.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And here's why. There's never a moment with God where
you can say you two, because we're nothing like God.
He's holy, we are not. He's forgiving, we seldom are.
He is all powerful, we are very weak.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
He's omniscient.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
And we Well, every time I think of this, I
remember this quote somebody said life is hard, it's even
harder if you're stupid. I mean, our wisdom pales in
comparison with gods. The bottom line is there's no utube
moment with God. But I've just finished reading this incredible book.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
I've read books on prayers before, but not a book
this good and I really encourage. It's Tim Keller's book
on prayer. And in his book he says that every
part of Biblical theology shows you that Aristotle is wrong.
One the doctrine of God, the triune God. If God
were only uni personal, then love could not have existed
(15:42):
until God.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Began creating other beings. Do you know what he means
by that?
Speaker 1 (15:46):
The trinity means that God is one in three persons,
which means those three persons have been loving each other
in community before the foundations of the world, before creation,
and that community and communication occurred law before Genesis won
So even before God used his power to create anything.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
There was love. Love precedes power.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Before creation, the Father was speaking to the Son, the
son of the Father, and the Father and the Son
of the Holy Spirit. God did not create out of loneliness.
He created out of love. So in the Godhead there
is an assumed friendship that is occurring long before creation.
And because you and I are created in the image
of God, that's why you and I long for friendship,
(16:31):
because we.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Are like God.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Augustine also said that if God were only unit personal,
then a God who existed as one person and then
began creating an the angels, that God would have been
power before he was loved, and therefore power would be primary,
love would be secondary. But because we have a trial
(16:55):
in God, that means love is primary. Again, love precedes creation.
Therefore God is love. And if you and I want
friendship with God, and again this is totally unique to
the Christian world view, You've got to have an understanding
of why it is you yearn for love and friendship. Okay,
the second thing he mentions is the doctrine of man.
(17:16):
You and I, we just said, are created in the
image of God. We are formed in his image. The
Bible says that you and I are partakers of the
divine nature. We have a desire for community, a desire
to love and be loved, a desire for friendship. Those
realities exist within the divine nature, and God passed them
on to us. Now, my father in law has usually
(17:37):
comes most of you know, Charlie Delaney and my mother
in law, Betty Delaney. I do make statements about my
mother in law, but I really don't believe some of them.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
And so and so, okay most of them.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yeah, But they come out every Christmas and they tend
to stay till Easter.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
But this year they've already gone. They left last week sad.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
And now Robin's with him as well, because Charlie had
two very close friends that have passed away and he's
been asked to do the funeral and it's been a
very tough season for him, and he's he's become. The
older Charlie gets, the more gentle he has become. I've
noticed very compassionate. He's always been that way, but even
(18:19):
more so. As you get older, you begin to recognize
your own mortality. You start thinking about the things you
wished you had done. And I thought about my father
in law sitting on the bedside with all these families,
getting ready to do the funeral of people that are.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Very dear to him.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
And if you've been around any length of time, you
know that what is it that people regret when they're
on their deathbed. It's never I wish I'd have made
more money. I as a pastor, I have never heard
anybody say that before I go, I wish I had
more money, or more stuff or bigger houses. Every single time,
it's the same thing, I wish I would have spent
(18:53):
more time with the people I love. The reason that
happens is because every single one of us has been
created in the image of God, and deep down inside
we know what we truly long for. And the only
time we say we don't long for that is when
we don't have it and we've been hurt so much
we live in denial.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
So Keller's right.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Everything about the theology of God says that we can't
have friendship the doctrine of God, the triune God, perfect
unity and fellowship even before the creation the doctrine of man.
We long for it because we're created in the image
of God. And then, third, the whole history of redemption
history is one gigantic, cosmic act of friendship. God becomes
(19:34):
a human being to come alongside of us. Let me
read you Hebrews chapter two, verse fourteen. Since therefore the
children share in flesh and blood. He himself, speaking of Jesus,
likewise partook of the same things, that through death he
might destroy the one who has power of death, that
is the devil, and deliver all those who, through fear
(19:55):
of death, were subject to a lifelong slavery. Isn't that
a great line? We all, he's no death there. It's
an overarching enemy, and it goes with us wherever we go,
and we're somewhat a slave to it, trying to defeat it.
But Jesus did something for us we could not do
for ourselves verse sixteen. For surely it is not angels
that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
And what that just simply means is mankind. Therefore he
(20:19):
had to be made like his brothers in every respect,
so that he might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for
the sins of the people. For because he himself has
suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who
are being tempted.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And what does that say?
Speaker 1 (20:34):
By the way, the word tested and tempted are very similar.
Here in the Book of Hebrews, Hebrews. What he's saying,
God became a human being. He was tempted and tested
in every single way like us, so that you and
I would know, not because God was lacking in knowledge
of what it was like to be human, but so
that you would know he knows what it's like to
be human. And then in John fifteen thirteen, greater love
(20:58):
has no man than this, that someone lay down his
life for his friends. Now, let me say again, this
is so unique. No other god, if any other religion,
could possibly lay his life down for his friends, because
no other God went through the act of incarnation.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
No other God is willing.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
To become vulnerable, killable. And then on the cross, what happens?
Stay with me now, on the cross, what happens. Jesus
becomes likeness.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
He has his.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Darkness, he's suffering death, he has our lostness, and somewhat
you can say that he experiences what we experience to
a deeper degree. Why well, in Luke chapter twenty two,
do you remember what happened? We're told that Jesus withdraws
his stone throw away and kneels down and begins to pray.
And he says, Father, if you are willing remove this
cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.
(21:46):
And there appeared to him an angel from Heaven's strengthening him.
And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his
sweat became like great and drops of blood falling down
to the ground. Now theologians have talked about this for centuries.
This doesn't seem like Jesus. Jesus usually takes pain and
suffering and stride. So what is it that is causing
(22:08):
such anxiety in the Son of God that he begins
to sweat drops some blood, which is an actual medical
condition hematridosis. It's where blood seeks into this sweat glands.
But why it only happens under severe cases of anxiety?
So what is causing such anxiety? For the first time,
Jesus is beginning to feel what it's like to be
(22:29):
separated from the Father, perfect unity in diversity within the Trinity,
and suddenly for the first time he's being abandoned by
the Father. The Father turns his face away from his
son so that he would never have to turn his
face away from us.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
So in the.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Redempson story, what do we see in Jesus in his humanity?
He gets hungry, he's tired, he's pursued by his enemies.
They're sorrow, their sadness, they're weeping, they're suffering, there's dying,
the feeling that God has abandoned us so much so
that he says, why have you forsaken? Alienated from God?
Now you know the conclusion right, Aristotle was wrong. You
(23:06):
and I do look at Jesus and we say you too,
you too. Every aspect of biblical theology tells you and
me that it's possible to be friends with God. So
the question that happens, remember this whole sermons about prayer.
So the question happens is how does friendship with God occur?
How can we cultivate it? And here's how quickly?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Number one.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Now you're not gonna like number one, but you're gonna
love number two.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Number one obedience.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Did you read the rest of John fifteen where it
says greater love has no man than this than someone
laid down his life for his friends. You are my
friends if you do what I command you.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
You've been listening to today with Jeff Fines. Thanks for
joining us. Next time we'll bring you the rest of
this message from past to Jeff.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
The reason many of you have never felt the friendship
of God is because you've never intended on obeying him,
and you're not obeying him now. You want savior without lordship.
You want the salvation, you just don't want the authority.
You don't know your friend, and without the will to
discover and obey the will of God, friendship with God
(24:20):
is impossible.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
You can listen to more messages like this. Just search
for Today with Jeff Fines wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
You make me
Speaker 3 (24:35):
With every single friend Today, Today, Today, Today with Jeff Fines,
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