August 25, 2025 • 49 mins
Pastor Lance continues in 1 Thessalonians, with The Model Life. He discusses the Model Life of Adoration this week with his message exhorting us to live a life that adores the Lord through prayer and helps us understand how to do so.
Come study God's Word with us! We invite you to connect with us each week. For the full series plus more messages and resources, please visit www.ccc-online.org.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to the 17th
verse of the 5th chapter of the first book of Thessalonians.
We are literally going verse by verse as we conclude our study
of this great epistle, this great letter to the Church of
(00:20):
Thessalonica. We spent two weeks on verse #16
which says rejoice always. We'll spend two weeks on this
verse, pray without ceasing, andthen we'll probably spend at
least two weeks on in everything, give thanks for this
(00:40):
is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
And why are we doing that? It's many because it's all about
the model life of 1 of adoration.
The Lord is seeking true worshippers, those who adore
Him, those whose affection is completely his, who want to
(01:03):
truly worship Him in spirit and in truth, and requires that
number one, we be joyful #2 we be prayerful and #3 we be
thankful. And for the most part, we have
joy. We pray and we give thanks.
(01:27):
The problem is, is that we're asked to do it always, that is
rejoicing and pray without ceasing and to give thanks and
everything. That's the problem.
How do we actually do that? And so we, we spent a couple of
weeks looking at what it means to to rejoice always and how you
(01:49):
can actually rejoice in every situation in circumstance
because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
This trilogy of being joyful, being prayerful, and being
thankful is a trilogy that is the will of God for your life.
This is God's desire for you. The life of adoration to the
(02:12):
King, living for the glory and honor of his name, learning to
rejoice always, to pray without ceasing.
What on earth does that even mean?
How do you do that? Do you live a life of
uninterrupted prayer, walking around with your eyes closed
(02:32):
wherever you go? What does it mean to pray
without ceasing? It deals more with the attitude
than the ACT. The attitude that is conscious
of God's presence at all times. It's, it's an attitude that
(02:58):
signifies I never give up when it comes to prayer, that I pray
always without ceasing, never giving up simply because I am
conscious of the presence of Godin my life, in my family, in my
(03:26):
work, everywhere. And so my attitude is always
directed upward toward God. Prayer is is a foreign land to a
lot of us. When Arthur said it this way, he
(03:49):
says prayer is like a foreign land.
When we go there, we go as tourists.
Like most tourists, we feel uncomfortable and out of place.
Like most tourists. We therefore move on before too
long and go somewhere else that that signifies most of our
(04:15):
prayers. It it's a foreign land to us to
sit and to pray and to commune with the living God.
Sometimes it's so foreign to us that we act as tourists.
We can't wait to get out of there and move on to someplace
else or something else, and that's unfortunate, The great
(04:37):
theologian Leon Morris said. We are to live in the spirit of
prayer, realizing our dependenceon God for all we have and all
that we are, being conscious of his presence with us wherever we
may be, yielding ourselves continually to Him to do His
(05:03):
will. Those who pray without ceasing,
living in constant communion with God, notice this about our
Lord. Take your Bible and turn with me
to the Gospel of Luke, the thirdchapter.
(05:29):
You need to note that prayer is what commenced the other worldly
ministry of Jesus. We call it the other worldly
ministry because He He came downfrom above.
(05:49):
He came down from a perfect world to a sinful world, and so
prayer would would commence his other worldly ministry.
Luke 3 verse 21. Now when all the people were
baptized, Jesus was also baptized.
And while he was praying, heavenwas opened and the Holy Spirit
(06:14):
descended upon him in in bodily form like a dove, and a voice
came out of heaven. You are my beloved Son, and you
I am well pleased. You will note that that prayer
commenced the otherworldly ministry of of Christ.
You will also know that prayer is that which characterized the
(06:39):
daily ministry of Christ. Just turn over, if you would,
your Bible to the 5th chapter ofLuke says in verse #16 But Jesus
himself would often slip away tothe wilderness and pray.
(07:01):
What a statement. Not only did prayer commence the
otherworldly ministry of Christ,but prayer was that which
characterized the daily ministryof Christ.
Just read through the the Gospelof Luke which emphasizes the
(07:22):
humanity of deity and to recognize how often Christ was
slipping away to be by himself to pray.
You will also note that prayer is that one thing that
(07:42):
consummated His earthly ministry.
If it commenced His otherworldlyministry and characterized His
daily ministry, then it consummated His earthly
ministry. All you have to do is read John
17, which is truly the Lord's Prayer on the eve of His
(08:08):
crucifixion. All you have to do is examine
His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was
crucified. All you have to do is listen to
his words on the cross. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they are doing. My God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? Father, into your hands I
commend my spirit. Prayer was which which
(08:30):
consummated his his earthly ministry.
And then in Luke 24 at the end before His ascension, He lifted
up his hands and begin to bless and pray for his disciples.
But not only did did prayer commence His otherworldly
ministry and characterize His daily ministry and consummate
(08:51):
His earthly ministry, you need to know that prayer constitutes
His heavenly ministry. Hebrews Chapter 7 verse #28 I'm
sorry. Hebrew 7 1st #25 Therefore he is
(09:18):
able also to say forever those who draw near to God through
him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Prayer is that which constitutesHis heavenly ministry.
(09:42):
He is our advocate. He intercedes on our behalf.
It's no wonder that when the disciples came to the Lord in
Luke 11, they asked the Lord to teach them how to pray.
You know, they never asked the Lord to teach them how to lead.
We need a seminar in leadership.Lord, teach us how to lead.
(10:08):
They never asked that question. Lord, teach us how to be
apostles, how to be representative of your Kingdom.
Never ask them that question. Lord, help us to teach us how to
be better fathers. Never ask that question either,
Lord, Teach us how to be men of God.
(10:30):
Never ask that question either. Never ask that question.
But the one question they did ask was Lord teach us how to
pray because you see, every timethey saw him, He was praying.
(10:55):
And so when you when you come tothe, the 11th chapter of Luke,
it says these words, it happenedthat while Jesus was praying in
a certain place. Chapter 11 verse #1 After he had
finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to
pray, just as John also taught his disciples.
(11:19):
Lord, teach us how to pray. Now you can imagine the scene.
Jesus is often praying. So Jesus is praying and they're
waiting for him to to stop, to be done.
They're sitting around thinking,is he done yet?
Not, not done yet. How about that?
Nope, still not done. Is he ever going to stop
praying? When can we ever talk to him?
(11:41):
And there he was praying. Finally, he's done.
Lord, teach us how to pray. Teach us how to commune with our
Father in heaven. Because you see, this is what
Jesus did, Deity communicating with deity in the most intimate
(12:04):
times throughout his life. It must have been fascinating to
be with Jesus when he prayed. We had the that long prayer in
John 17 that speaks of his communication with his Father in
glory in the Garden of Gethsemane, Gethsemane and how
(12:25):
he communicate with his Father in glory.
But to the disciples that they they wanted to know how to pray,
it's the Lord teaches them what is commonly called the disciples
prayer. It's not the Lord's Prayer, it's
the disciples prayer. And it gives them a pattern on
(12:46):
how to do it because prayer is is centered around a a divine
pattern, God and his glory man and his needs.
That's why he says when you pray, pray this way.
He didn't say if you pray, pray this way.
He says when you pray, pray thisway, our Father in heaven,
(13:06):
hallowed be thy name, may your name be made holy in our lives.
Thy Kingdom come, praying for the return of the Christ in his
Kingdom. Thy will be done on earth as it
is in heaven. It's all about God's glory,
Lord, where our prayer is that your will be done in US that
(13:31):
your will would would be done onearth as it is in heaven.
Well, one of the ways you, you have the answer to that prayer
is that you are to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful because
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
So when you pray for the will ofGod to be accomplished, you're
asking the Lord, Lord, I want tobe joyful, prayerful and
(13:53):
thankful. And then he goes on to talk
about man and his needs. But what our Lord does next is
very important because he knows how hard it is to pray without
ceasing, how to never give up onprayer, never give up on asking,
(14:21):
beseeching the throne of grace. So he moves from the disciples
prayer to a parable. And so Luke 11 says these words.
Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and
says, Damn friend, lend ME3 loaves.
For a friend of mine has come tome from a journey, and I have
(14:43):
nothing to set before him. And from inside he answers and
says, do not bother me. The doors already been shut and
my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you
anything. I tell you, even though he will
not get up and give him anythingbecause he is his friend, yet
because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much
(15:07):
as he needs. It's a parable that describes
God's generosity and willingnessto answer your prayers.
And even though the reluctant friend doesn't want to get out
of bed, he does so anyway, begrudgingly.
(15:32):
The Lord is not that way. In fact, he gives a similar
parable in in Luke chapter 18 when he says this in verse #1
Now he was willing to tell them a parable to show that at all
times they ought to pray and notto lose heart.
Same thing. Pray without ceasing.
At all times you are to pray andnot lose heart.
(15:53):
So there are two avenues by which you can go.
You can lose heart or you can pray.
If you're praying, you're not going to lose heart.
If you're losing heart, it's because you're not praying.
In other words, when you pray, your heart does not shrivel up.
(16:17):
When you pray, you're able to remain steadfast and immovable.
But the reason we can't stand strong and steadfast is because
we don't pray. So the Lord says very easily,
listen, I tell you this, so thatyou will pray and you will not
(16:40):
lose heart. And So what do you say?
In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and
did not respect man. There was a widow in that city
and she kept coming to him, saying, give me legal protection
from my opponent for a while. He was unwilling, but afterward
(17:00):
he said to himself, Even though I do not fear nor respect man,
do not fear God or respect man, yet because this widow bothers
me, I will give her legal protection.
Otherwise, by continually coming, she will wear me out
(17:21):
again. The parables are one of
contrast. Our Lord is not like the
reluctant friend, nor is he likethe unjust judge, because you
can't wear out the Lord. He neither neither wearies nor
tires. He's always bending his ear to
(17:42):
hear the cries of his own. And so he goes on to say in Luke
18, these words he says, and theLord said, hear what the
unrighteous judge said. Now we're not going to bring
about justice for His elect who cried to Him day and night and
will delay long over them. I tell you that He will bring
(18:04):
about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man
comes, will he find faith on theearth?
In other words, when the Son of Man returns, will you find find
this kind of faith? What kind of faith?
The faith that believes that Godis not like the unjust judge,
but that he he spills out generously upon his own if they
(18:28):
come to him and seek, ask and knock?
The question is, will you as disciples?
Will you as believers be so committed to your God that you
believe exactly what he says, that you will pray without
(18:49):
ceasing, you will live a consciousness of of communion
with God that you never give up on your prayers.
I have several points I want to cover with you this week and
next. And, and the first one is this
that that prayer will will always challenge your
(19:11):
spirituality. There there's nothing that
challenges your spirituality more than prayer.
It it's the greatest challenge to your spiritual growth.
God doesn't excuse me. Satan doesn't care that I
(19:36):
prepare a sermon, but he does care that I prepare my soul to
preach the sermon. Same is true for you.
Satan's not concerned that you get married.
He's concerned that your heart is not right when you get
(19:58):
married. This is what your heart being
right. This is what your life being
right. It's all about the inner man and
the growth of the inner man. And we need to always be
persistent unto prayer. Prayer is, is, is everything.
You know, I, I know that we haveelectives that, that, that you
(20:20):
can engage in and, and learn from.
I know that we have classes thatyou can go to and, and involve
yourself with different groups of people.
I understand that, but that's the real know what the ideal is.
The ideal is that when we're done here, everyone of you would
gather together over there in another room and all of you be
(20:41):
in prayer for everybody in the second service, everyone of you.
And then everybody who's coming to the second service, we're not
engaged in some elective or or some class, but they would be in
prayer for you as you are in here.
That would be the ideal that everybody would pray for
everybody else. And then while those are
(21:02):
worshipping, after they're done worshiping, they would go and
pray for everyone else. Why?
Because the power of life resides in our prayers.
That's the that's the impetus, that's the motive, that's the
power behind everything. It's it's spending time on your
(21:23):
knees in prayer, asking God to do a great and mighty work.
It's learning to pray God consciously all throughout the
day, lifting your request beforethe Lord constantly because you
are heavily minded and you're asking God to do a great and
(21:45):
mighty work. Listen, prayer is the ministry.
Prayer is the ministry. If you don't have a ministry,
your prayer, you don't have a ministry.
Prayer is the ministry. And so praying without ceasing
(22:07):
is a command that Paul gives along with rejoice always along
with in everything. Give thanks because this is
God's will for your life. But prayer is that which
challenges our our spirituality unlike anything else.
(22:29):
We we have to wrestle with our ego when it comes to prayer.
We have to wrestle with with allthe effort put behind it when it
comes to prayer. But the thing we wrestle with
the most in prayer is the expectancy.
Let me illustrate it for you. Turn up in your Bible to Acts
(22:49):
chapter 12. Acts chapter 12, verse #1 Now
about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged
to the church in order to mistreat them, and he had James,
(23:11):
the brother of John, put to death with a sword.
When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest
Peter also. Now it was during the days of
Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put
him in prison, delivering him to4 squads of soldiers to guard
(23:31):
him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before
the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but
prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
That is just a marvelous statement.
(23:55):
Here's Peter in prison. The expectation is, is that
Peter's going to die, because James, the brother of John, has
already died. Peter now has been arrested.
The expectation is that he too will will die.
So the church gathers together and begins to pray rightly.
(24:16):
So that's what they should do. And they began to pray
fervently. Notice that the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man of death.
Much James 516 tells us. So he gathered together to pray,
and they were fervent in their prayers.
Read on verse 6. On the very night when Herod was
about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two
(24:38):
soldiers. Bow to chains and guards in
front of the door were watching over the prison.
Notice that Peter's sleeping. He's not anxious about his own
death, his impending death. He is fast asleep, it says.
(25:04):
And behold, an Angel of the Lordsuddenly appeared, and the light
shone in the cell and he struck Peter's side and woke him up,
saying, get up quickly. The chains fell off his hands.
And the Angel said to him, gird yourself and put on your
sandals. And he did so.
He said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.
(25:26):
And he went out and continued tofollow.
And he did not know that what was being done by the Angel was
real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
They'd passed the 1st and 2nd guard, they came to the iron
gate that leads into the city which opened for them by itself,
and they went out and went alongone street and they need to
(25:47):
leave. The Angel departed from him.
When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I know for sure that
the Lord has sent forth his Angel and rescued me from the
hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were
expecting. What were they expecting?
His death verse 12 When he realized this, he went to the
(26:12):
House of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark,
where many were gathered together and were praying.
When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named
Rhoda came to the to answer Whenshe recognized Peter's voice
because of her joy, she did not open the gate, but ran in and
(26:34):
announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
Now you have to understand the scene.
They are praying for Peter and Peter shows up and Rhoda goes to
open the gate, recognizes it's his voice, but doesn't let him
in. What does she do?
(26:54):
She goes back to where everybody's praying because she
has to make the announcement that prayers have been answered.
So the Bible says this. It says she ran in and announced
(27:15):
that Peter was standing in frontof the gate.
And they said to her, Hallelujah, God has answered.
That's not what they say. What did they say?
You are out of your mind, Rhoda.You're a crazy woman.
You snap the twig. You don't know what's going on.
(27:37):
They kept saying it's his Angel.It's his Angel.
What do you mean it's his Angel?But Peter continued knocking,
and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were
what? Amazed.
Listen, how do you know When youpray?
You pray with wrong expectations.
(27:59):
When God answers, you're amazed.We should never be amazed when
God answers. We should just be praising God
and thanking Him. But they were amazed.
Why? Because they didn't expect their
prayers to work anyway. They gathered together to pray
for for Peter and pray for his release.
(28:21):
But when they were praying for his release, they really weren't
expecting him to be released. I mean, after all, James is
dead, Peter's in prison, he's going to die, but let's pray for
his release anyway. And then when he's finally
released, they're absolutely astonished.
Because God works in conjunctionwith man's prayers.
(28:42):
And that's why prayer challengesyour spirituality more than
anything else, because you live in a life of, in the realm of,
of, of, of not expecting God to do what we ask him to do.
And yet we're told to keep seeking, keep asking, keep
(29:02):
knocking continuously. In other words, pray with
without ceasing. Go back to to Luke 11.
In the Luke 11, Christ knows that persistence and prayer is
(29:27):
going to be lacking in the life of the disciples.
He knows that like he knows it'slacking in your life and mine.
So he gives this parable becausethe Lord is not like the
reluctant friend, and Luke 18 isnot like the unjust judge.
(29:50):
He is generous, he is kind. They says this verse 9.
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and
you will find, knock, and it will be open to you, for
everyone who asks receives, and he who knocks finds.
And to him who, excuse me, who seeks, finds and to him and
knocks, it will be open. Now suppose one of you fathers
(30:13):
is asked by his son for a fish. He would not give him a snake
instead of a fish, Willy. Or if he asked for an egg, he
would not give him a scorpion Willy.
If then you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the
(30:33):
Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
This is Speaking of the generosity of God.
You have an earthly father. When you ask ask for a piece of
bread, he doesn't give you a snake.
When you ask for a fish, he doesn't give you a scorpion.
No, because your Father loves you.
He's kind, he's generous. Well, how much more will your
(30:58):
heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit to them?
It asks. Now the parallel account in
Matthew 6 said it doesn't say Holy Spirit, it just says give
to you that which is good. Interesting.
Give that which is good to thosewho keep asking, seeking and
(31:19):
knocking. We know that only God is good.
The Holy Spirit is God, therefore the Holy Spirit is
good. Very interesting.
Matthew 6 also tells us that that the Lord knows what you're
going to ask before it's ever onyour lips.
(31:42):
So he already knows what you're going to ask him.
He already knows that because heknows everything in advance.
God never finds out anything. He just simply knows everything.
So he knows what you're going toask before you even speak it,
because He knows your heart, knows everything about you.
(32:05):
And so he makes a statement that's absolutely profound for
the disciples. Why?
Because they lived in expectation of the coming of the
Spirit of God. How do we know that?
Ezekiel chapter 36, Ezekiel 36 says it this way.
(32:27):
Verse 25. I will sprinkle clean water on
you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your
filthiness and from all your idols.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
within you. I will remove the heart of stone
from your flesh and give you heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my
(32:49):
statutes, and you will be careful to observe my
ordinances. That's a new covenant promise.
They know new covenant promise that the greatest gift that God
will give them is the Spirit that indwells them.
So because the Lord knows what you ask before you even ask it,
(33:10):
He says, look, the Lord is so gracious, so kind, so generous,
He will give you the Spirit of God.
Everything that you've longed for, you're going to get.
That's so important. Why?
Because everything you are asking God for is already
(33:32):
embodied in the Spirit of God. Think about it.
You ask God for courage, for power.
And the Lord said in Acts chapter 1 that you will receive
the Holy Spirit and when you do,His power will over shadow you.
(33:57):
You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
We ask God for power, we ask Godfor courage.
And we had the Spirit of God whois all powerful already within
us. We, we, we need comfort, comfort
during times of sorrow, comfort during times of trouble.
(34:19):
And Christ says in John 14, I'm going to give you another helper
or another comforter, not one ofa different kind, but one of the
same kind as me. So when you need comfort, you'll
have the spirit of comfort already within you.
When you, when you want to receive guidance, the Spirit of
(34:43):
God will give you the guidance that's necessary because He will
guide you into all truth. So everything you're looking to
receive you already have in the Spirit of the living God.
You're dwelt by the Spirit, you're sealed by the Spirit,
you're saved by the Spirit, right?
You're convicted by the Spirit and the Spirit makes his home,
(35:05):
his abode with you. God gives you everything that
you need in the arrival of the Spirit of God.
You ask for the supply of something, and God gives you the
source of everything. Interesting you ask.
(35:29):
You ask for God to give you joy and the fruit of the Spirit is
what? Joy You, you, you.
And I've heard this many times. I, I, I just don't love my
husband or my wife anymore. What do you mean you don't love
them anymore? I just don't love them anymore.
(35:50):
No, you, you're saying you can'tor you don't want to love them
anymore because you have the Spirit of God in you.
And the Spirit of God produces love.
So you can love your enemies, you can love your wife, you can
love your husband, you can love your children.
Why? Because the Spirit of God gives
you love. The fruit of the Spirit is
Lovejoy and peace. See I'm I'm so anxious.
(36:12):
Why are you anxious? You should be at peace.
You have the Spirit of God within you to give you peace.
How can you have peace when the Spirit of God reigns within your
heart? How about long-suffering?
For the Spirit is patience, long-suffering, gentleness,
meekness, kindness. Oh by the way, the fruit of the
(36:34):
Spirit is self-control. So I just can't control my
anger. Yes you can.
I can't control. I can't control my, my, my, my
sexual tendencies. Yes you can, if the Spirit of
God is within you, because He isa spirit that produces
self-control. You might be unwilling to yield
(36:55):
to the power, unyield to the spirit, unyield to the call of
God in your life, but the sourceof everything is there.
You ask the Lord for money and he gives you the bank.
Would you rather have a portion of money or would you rather
have the bank? I'd rather have the bank.
(37:16):
Why? Because with the bank comes all
the money you you could possiblyever want to need.
So God says I'm going to give you the Spirit because in all
your search for truth, He's the Spirit of truth and all your
search for direction, He guides you and all the desire for
comfort. He's the one who comforts you
and your desire to be controlledin life with your emotions and
your thoughts. He is a spirit that produces
(37:37):
self-control and your desire to love others, love your enemies,
He gives you the love to do so. It's all within the spirit of
the living God. That's why we say that prayer
will challenge your spirituality.
More than anything else, we needto understand prayer and why the
(38:01):
command is giving. Pray without ceasing.
Be conscious of God's presence as you walk through every
situation in life, no matter howdifficult it is, how painful it
may be, no matter how depressingthe circumstances might be
around you. God is walking with you through
(38:22):
those times that as you learn tolean upon them, you trust Him
and you rely upon Him. That's why not only does prayer
number one challenge my spirituality, but prayer #2
certifies my dependency. Prayer certifies my dependency.
(38:44):
In other words, it helps establish the fact that I am not
an autonomous being. I can't function independently,
Christ said. Without me ye can do nothing.
John 15-5 But see, we don't believe that we we think that we
can go through life and rely on my intellect, rely on my
(39:08):
ingenuity, rely on my money, rely on my expertise, rely on my
giftedness, rely on the things that I already have.
And so we go through life independently of from God,
trying to establish our life without him simply because we
think we're good enough and excellent enough.
(39:30):
But you are not. Remember Luke chapter 5?
Probably not, so let me read it to you, Luke chapter 5.
It says now it happened that while the crowd was pressing
around him and listening to the word of God, he was standing by
the Lake of Geneseret or the Seaof Galilee, and he saw two boats
(39:54):
lying at the edge of the lake. But the fishermen had gotten out
of them and were washing their Nets.
In other words, they were done fishing.
They were now cleaning their Nets.
And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and
asked him to put out a little while from the land.
And he sat down and began teaching the people from the
boat. So the disciples have come in
(40:14):
from a from a early morning fishing and they are washing
their Nets and Christ decides toteach.
So he occupies Simon's boat and he says pushed out a little ways
and I'll teach him the boat because the crowds were pressing
against him and he was backing up against the water.
And so he says, I'll just go in the boat and begin to preach and
teach, and people will be able to hear me from there.
(40:39):
And so he says when he finished speaking, he said to Simon, put
out into the deep water and let down your Nets for a catch.
In other words, in the modern vernacular, Peter, I'm done
preaching, let's go fishing. Let's go fishing.
(41:06):
This Simon answered and said, master, we worked hard all night
and caught nothing. He says, Master, Lord Jesus,
you're a teacher, you're a preacher.
(41:26):
But me, I'm a fisherman. I don't tell you how to teach.
You don't tell me how to fish. This is what I do.
My whole family fishes. I was raised this way.
This is how I live my life. I'm an expert fisherman.
I'm not an expert preacher or teacher, but I am an expert at
(41:50):
fishing. And so Peter says, but I would
do as you say and let down the Nets.
In other words. Nevertheless, if that's what you
want, Lord, then that's what we will do, just to prove to you
(42:10):
that you're not a fisherman and just a teacher and a preacher,
that I'm the true fisherman and you are not, because I'm an
expert at it. So Needless to say, we'll push
out into the deep and I will show you, Jesus, that I am right
(42:31):
and you, Jesus, are wrong. And so they says when they had
done this, they enclosed a greatquantity of fish.
So you don't fish during the day.
Why? Because during the day the fish
go further down into the water. Why it's cooler down there in
(42:52):
the early morning. In the evening they rise to the
top. But during the day, the heat of
the day, they, they go down to the to the bottom.
Peter knows that. But they cast the Nets over the
side of the boat and they caughta great quantity of fish.
So and so the Nets began to break.
(43:15):
So they signal to their partnersin the other boat for them to
come and help them. And they came and filled both of
the boats, so that they began tosink.
But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus's feet,
saying, Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.
For amazement had seized him andall his companions because of
(43:38):
the catch of fish which they hadtaken.
And so also were James and John,the sons of Zebedee, and we're
partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not
fear, from now on you will be catching men.
And when they had brought their boats to land, they left
everything and followed him. Here is Peter, depart from me.
(44:06):
I'm a sinful man. Depart from the fact that even
though I think I know more than you, I don't.
I thought I did. I thought I could act
independently, God of you, But Ican't.
In the arena in which I am the most skilled, in the arena in
which I am the most intelligent,in the arena in which I am the
(44:28):
most experienced, in the arena in which I am the best at, I
still need God. That's the point.
But see, we we go through life thinking, well, I don't need
need God in my job. I can do that.
I mean, come on, who needs God for that?
(44:51):
I don't need God to help me raise my family.
I know how to raise my family. I know how to get them to church
and read the Bible with them. I don't need God to help me with
this or help me with that. Why?
Because I'm smart. But in the arena in which you
think you don't need, God is what you need in the most,
(45:14):
because you see, it certifies your dependency upon Him.
And that's why the story in Mark9 is so important.
When the disciples remember whenPeter, James and John and Jesus
came down from the mountain, transfiguration, and they
couldn't cast out the boy who had a demon in him, in Christ
was frustrated with his own men.Oh, unbelieving generation, how
(45:36):
long shall I be with you? Bring the boy to me.
He cast out the demon. And they wonder why they
couldn't do that. Because he had learned to live
independently of God in the arena which he'd called him to
live for him, he says. He says he's only come out by
prayer. Your dependence upon me for
everything. That's why prayer will challenge
(46:01):
your spirituality more than any other aspect of the spiritual
disciplines. It will certify your dependency
that I need God in every situation, in every
circumstance, no matter where I'm at, no matter what I'm
(46:21):
doing. I am not gifted enough nor
talented enough nor experienced enough to do it without my God,
for without me ye can do nothing.
You need me prayer will challenge my spirituality,
(46:42):
prayer will certify my dependency, and thirdly, prayer
will confirm my loyalty. And to understand that, you'll
have to come back next week. Let's pray.
(47:03):
Father, we thank you for today. It is a challenge to every one
of us to understand we are to pray without ceasing.
We are to never give up. We are to never quit on prayer.
We are never to throw in the towel on prayer.
(47:25):
There, there might be someone inthe room today who said I, I
prayed for a year. Well, you say, keep asking, keep
seeking, keep knocking. We need to learn persistence.
We need to learn steadfastness and prayer.
(47:48):
We can never afford to give up praying for your will to be
done. Why?
Because your will is that we pray unceasingly, that we pray
at all times for all men, that we be the kind of people that
(48:13):
continue to commune with the true and living God as we go
through each part of each day. As you have taught us, Lord, to
rejoice always, teach us now to pray unceasingly.
Why? Simply because you've told us in
(48:35):
John's Gospel, the 14th chapter,the 13th verse, that the reason
you answer prayer is not to get our needs met, but that the
Father would be glorified in theSon.
That's what we're asking for, that you would receive all the
(48:58):
glory. So Lord, whatever we are asking
for today, whatever we're beseeching the throne of grace
for today, may we do it for one reason and one reason only, the
glory of the true and living God.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to the 17th
verse of the 5th chapter of the first book of Thessalonians.
We are literally going verse by verse as we conclude our study
of this great epistle, this great letter to the Church of
(00:20):
Thessalonica. We spent two weeks on verse #16
which says rejoice always. We'll spend two weeks on this
verse, pray without ceasing, andthen we'll probably spend at
least two weeks on in everything, give thanks for this
(00:40):
is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
And why are we doing that? It's many because it's all about
the model life of 1 of adoration.
The Lord is seeking true worshippers, those who adore
Him, those whose affection is completely his, who want to
(01:03):
truly worship Him in spirit and in truth, and requires that
number one, we be joyful #2 we be prayerful and #3 we be
thankful. And for the most part, we have
joy. We pray and we give thanks.
(01:27):
The problem is, is that we're asked to do it always, that is
rejoicing and pray without ceasing and to give thanks and
everything. That's the problem.
How do we actually do that? And so we, we spent a couple of
weeks looking at what it means to to rejoice always and how you
(01:49):
can actually rejoice in every situation in circumstance
because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
This trilogy of being joyful, being prayerful, and being
thankful is a trilogy that is the will of God for your life.
This is God's desire for you. The life of adoration to the
(02:12):
King, living for the glory and honor of his name, learning to
rejoice always, to pray without ceasing.
What on earth does that even mean?
How do you do that? Do you live a life of
uninterrupted prayer, walking around with your eyes closed
(02:32):
wherever you go? What does it mean to pray
without ceasing? It deals more with the attitude
than the ACT. The attitude that is conscious
of God's presence at all times. It's, it's an attitude that
(02:58):
signifies I never give up when it comes to prayer, that I pray
always without ceasing, never giving up simply because I am
conscious of the presence of Godin my life, in my family, in my
(03:26):
work, everywhere. And so my attitude is always
directed upward toward God. Prayer is is a foreign land to a
lot of us. When Arthur said it this way, he
(03:49):
says prayer is like a foreign land.
When we go there, we go as tourists.
Like most tourists, we feel uncomfortable and out of place.
Like most tourists. We therefore move on before too
long and go somewhere else that that signifies most of our
(04:15):
prayers. It it's a foreign land to us to
sit and to pray and to commune with the living God.
Sometimes it's so foreign to us that we act as tourists.
We can't wait to get out of there and move on to someplace
else or something else, and that's unfortunate, The great
(04:37):
theologian Leon Morris said. We are to live in the spirit of
prayer, realizing our dependenceon God for all we have and all
that we are, being conscious of his presence with us wherever we
may be, yielding ourselves continually to Him to do His
(05:03):
will. Those who pray without ceasing,
living in constant communion with God, notice this about our
Lord. Take your Bible and turn with me
to the Gospel of Luke, the thirdchapter.
(05:29):
You need to note that prayer is what commenced the other worldly
ministry of Jesus. We call it the other worldly
ministry because He He came downfrom above.
(05:49):
He came down from a perfect world to a sinful world, and so
prayer would would commence his other worldly ministry.
Luke 3 verse 21. Now when all the people were
baptized, Jesus was also baptized.
And while he was praying, heavenwas opened and the Holy Spirit
(06:14):
descended upon him in in bodily form like a dove, and a voice
came out of heaven. You are my beloved Son, and you
I am well pleased. You will note that that prayer
commenced the otherworldly ministry of of Christ.
You will also know that prayer is that which characterized the
(06:39):
daily ministry of Christ. Just turn over, if you would,
your Bible to the 5th chapter ofLuke says in verse #16 But Jesus
himself would often slip away tothe wilderness and pray.
(07:01):
What a statement. Not only did prayer commence the
otherworldly ministry of Christ,but prayer was that which
characterized the daily ministryof Christ.
Just read through the the Gospelof Luke which emphasizes the
(07:22):
humanity of deity and to recognize how often Christ was
slipping away to be by himself to pray.
You will also note that prayer is that one thing that
(07:42):
consummated His earthly ministry.
If it commenced His otherworldlyministry and characterized His
daily ministry, then it consummated His earthly
ministry. All you have to do is read John
17, which is truly the Lord's Prayer on the eve of His
(08:08):
crucifixion. All you have to do is examine
His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was
crucified. All you have to do is listen to
his words on the cross. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they are doing. My God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? Father, into your hands I
commend my spirit. Prayer was which which
(08:30):
consummated his his earthly ministry.
And then in Luke 24 at the end before His ascension, He lifted
up his hands and begin to bless and pray for his disciples.
But not only did did prayer commence His otherworldly
ministry and characterize His daily ministry and consummate
(08:51):
His earthly ministry, you need to know that prayer constitutes
His heavenly ministry. Hebrews Chapter 7 verse #28 I'm
sorry. Hebrew 7 1st #25 Therefore he is
(09:18):
able also to say forever those who draw near to God through
him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Prayer is that which constitutesHis heavenly ministry.
(09:42):
He is our advocate. He intercedes on our behalf.
It's no wonder that when the disciples came to the Lord in
Luke 11, they asked the Lord to teach them how to pray.
You know, they never asked the Lord to teach them how to lead.
We need a seminar in leadership.Lord, teach us how to lead.
(10:08):
They never asked that question. Lord, teach us how to be
apostles, how to be representative of your Kingdom.
Never ask them that question. Lord, help us to teach us how to
be better fathers. Never ask that question either,
Lord, Teach us how to be men of God.
(10:30):
Never ask that question either. Never ask that question.
But the one question they did ask was Lord teach us how to
pray because you see, every timethey saw him, He was praying.
(10:55):
And so when you when you come tothe, the 11th chapter of Luke,
it says these words, it happenedthat while Jesus was praying in
a certain place. Chapter 11 verse #1 After he had
finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to
pray, just as John also taught his disciples.
(11:19):
Lord, teach us how to pray. Now you can imagine the scene.
Jesus is often praying. So Jesus is praying and they're
waiting for him to to stop, to be done.
They're sitting around thinking,is he done yet?
Not, not done yet. How about that?
Nope, still not done. Is he ever going to stop
praying? When can we ever talk to him?
(11:41):
And there he was praying. Finally, he's done.
Lord, teach us how to pray. Teach us how to commune with our
Father in heaven. Because you see, this is what
Jesus did, Deity communicating with deity in the most intimate
(12:04):
times throughout his life. It must have been fascinating to
be with Jesus when he prayed. We had the that long prayer in
John 17 that speaks of his communication with his Father in
glory in the Garden of Gethsemane, Gethsemane and how
(12:25):
he communicate with his Father in glory.
But to the disciples that they they wanted to know how to pray,
it's the Lord teaches them what is commonly called the disciples
prayer. It's not the Lord's Prayer, it's
the disciples prayer. And it gives them a pattern on
(12:46):
how to do it because prayer is is centered around a a divine
pattern, God and his glory man and his needs.
That's why he says when you pray, pray this way.
He didn't say if you pray, pray this way.
He says when you pray, pray thisway, our Father in heaven,
(13:06):
hallowed be thy name, may your name be made holy in our lives.
Thy Kingdom come, praying for the return of the Christ in his
Kingdom. Thy will be done on earth as it
is in heaven. It's all about God's glory,
Lord, where our prayer is that your will be done in US that
(13:31):
your will would would be done onearth as it is in heaven.
Well, one of the ways you, you have the answer to that prayer
is that you are to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful because
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
So when you pray for the will ofGod to be accomplished, you're
asking the Lord, Lord, I want tobe joyful, prayerful and
(13:53):
thankful. And then he goes on to talk
about man and his needs. But what our Lord does next is
very important because he knows how hard it is to pray without
ceasing, how to never give up onprayer, never give up on asking,
(14:21):
beseeching the throne of grace. So he moves from the disciples
prayer to a parable. And so Luke 11 says these words.
Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and
says, Damn friend, lend ME3 loaves.
For a friend of mine has come tome from a journey, and I have
(14:43):
nothing to set before him. And from inside he answers and
says, do not bother me. The doors already been shut and
my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you
anything. I tell you, even though he will
not get up and give him anythingbecause he is his friend, yet
because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much
(15:07):
as he needs. It's a parable that describes
God's generosity and willingnessto answer your prayers.
And even though the reluctant friend doesn't want to get out
of bed, he does so anyway, begrudgingly.
(15:32):
The Lord is not that way. In fact, he gives a similar
parable in in Luke chapter 18 when he says this in verse #1
Now he was willing to tell them a parable to show that at all
times they ought to pray and notto lose heart.
Same thing. Pray without ceasing.
At all times you are to pray andnot lose heart.
(15:53):
So there are two avenues by which you can go.
You can lose heart or you can pray.
If you're praying, you're not going to lose heart.
If you're losing heart, it's because you're not praying.
In other words, when you pray, your heart does not shrivel up.
(16:17):
When you pray, you're able to remain steadfast and immovable.
But the reason we can't stand strong and steadfast is because
we don't pray. So the Lord says very easily,
listen, I tell you this, so thatyou will pray and you will not
(16:40):
lose heart. And So what do you say?
In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and
did not respect man. There was a widow in that city
and she kept coming to him, saying, give me legal protection
from my opponent for a while. He was unwilling, but afterward
(17:00):
he said to himself, Even though I do not fear nor respect man,
do not fear God or respect man, yet because this widow bothers
me, I will give her legal protection.
Otherwise, by continually coming, she will wear me out
(17:21):
again. The parables are one of
contrast. Our Lord is not like the
reluctant friend, nor is he likethe unjust judge, because you
can't wear out the Lord. He neither neither wearies nor
tires. He's always bending his ear to
(17:42):
hear the cries of his own. And so he goes on to say in Luke
18, these words he says, and theLord said, hear what the
unrighteous judge said. Now we're not going to bring
about justice for His elect who cried to Him day and night and
will delay long over them. I tell you that He will bring
(18:04):
about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man
comes, will he find faith on theearth?
In other words, when the Son of Man returns, will you find find
this kind of faith? What kind of faith?
The faith that believes that Godis not like the unjust judge,
but that he he spills out generously upon his own if they
(18:28):
come to him and seek, ask and knock?
The question is, will you as disciples?
Will you as believers be so committed to your God that you
believe exactly what he says, that you will pray without
(18:49):
ceasing, you will live a consciousness of of communion
with God that you never give up on your prayers.
I have several points I want to cover with you this week and
next. And, and the first one is this
that that prayer will will always challenge your
(19:11):
spirituality. There there's nothing that
challenges your spirituality more than prayer.
It it's the greatest challenge to your spiritual growth.
God doesn't excuse me. Satan doesn't care that I
(19:36):
prepare a sermon, but he does care that I prepare my soul to
preach the sermon. Same is true for you.
Satan's not concerned that you get married.
He's concerned that your heart is not right when you get
(19:58):
married. This is what your heart being
right. This is what your life being
right. It's all about the inner man and
the growth of the inner man. And we need to always be
persistent unto prayer. Prayer is, is, is everything.
You know, I, I know that we haveelectives that, that, that you
(20:20):
can engage in and, and learn from.
I know that we have classes thatyou can go to and, and involve
yourself with different groups of people.
I understand that, but that's the real know what the ideal is.
The ideal is that when we're done here, everyone of you would
gather together over there in another room and all of you be
(20:41):
in prayer for everybody in the second service, everyone of you.
And then everybody who's coming to the second service, we're not
engaged in some elective or or some class, but they would be in
prayer for you as you are in here.
That would be the ideal that everybody would pray for
everybody else. And then while those are
(21:02):
worshipping, after they're done worshiping, they would go and
pray for everyone else. Why?
Because the power of life resides in our prayers.
That's the that's the impetus, that's the motive, that's the
power behind everything. It's it's spending time on your
(21:23):
knees in prayer, asking God to do a great and mighty work.
It's learning to pray God consciously all throughout the
day, lifting your request beforethe Lord constantly because you
are heavily minded and you're asking God to do a great and
(21:45):
mighty work. Listen, prayer is the ministry.
Prayer is the ministry. If you don't have a ministry,
your prayer, you don't have a ministry.
Prayer is the ministry. And so praying without ceasing
(22:07):
is a command that Paul gives along with rejoice always along
with in everything. Give thanks because this is
God's will for your life. But prayer is that which
challenges our our spirituality unlike anything else.
(22:29):
We we have to wrestle with our ego when it comes to prayer.
We have to wrestle with with allthe effort put behind it when it
comes to prayer. But the thing we wrestle with
the most in prayer is the expectancy.
Let me illustrate it for you. Turn up in your Bible to Acts
(22:49):
chapter 12. Acts chapter 12, verse #1 Now
about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged
to the church in order to mistreat them, and he had James,
(23:11):
the brother of John, put to death with a sword.
When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest
Peter also. Now it was during the days of
Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put
him in prison, delivering him to4 squads of soldiers to guard
(23:31):
him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before
the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but
prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
That is just a marvelous statement.
(23:55):
Here's Peter in prison. The expectation is, is that
Peter's going to die, because James, the brother of John, has
already died. Peter now has been arrested.
The expectation is that he too will will die.
So the church gathers together and begins to pray rightly.
(24:16):
So that's what they should do. And they began to pray
fervently. Notice that the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man of death.
Much James 516 tells us. So he gathered together to pray,
and they were fervent in their prayers.
Read on verse 6. On the very night when Herod was
about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two
(24:38):
soldiers. Bow to chains and guards in
front of the door were watching over the prison.
Notice that Peter's sleeping. He's not anxious about his own
death, his impending death. He is fast asleep, it says.
(25:04):
And behold, an Angel of the Lordsuddenly appeared, and the light
shone in the cell and he struck Peter's side and woke him up,
saying, get up quickly. The chains fell off his hands.
And the Angel said to him, gird yourself and put on your
sandals. And he did so.
He said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.
(25:26):
And he went out and continued tofollow.
And he did not know that what was being done by the Angel was
real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
They'd passed the 1st and 2nd guard, they came to the iron
gate that leads into the city which opened for them by itself,
and they went out and went alongone street and they need to
(25:47):
leave. The Angel departed from him.
When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I know for sure that
the Lord has sent forth his Angel and rescued me from the
hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were
expecting. What were they expecting?
His death verse 12 When he realized this, he went to the
(26:12):
House of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark,
where many were gathered together and were praying.
When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named
Rhoda came to the to answer Whenshe recognized Peter's voice
because of her joy, she did not open the gate, but ran in and
(26:34):
announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
Now you have to understand the scene.
They are praying for Peter and Peter shows up and Rhoda goes to
open the gate, recognizes it's his voice, but doesn't let him
in. What does she do?
(26:54):
She goes back to where everybody's praying because she
has to make the announcement that prayers have been answered.
So the Bible says this. It says she ran in and announced
(27:15):
that Peter was standing in frontof the gate.
And they said to her, Hallelujah, God has answered.
That's not what they say. What did they say?
You are out of your mind, Rhoda.You're a crazy woman.
You snap the twig. You don't know what's going on.
(27:37):
They kept saying it's his Angel.It's his Angel.
What do you mean it's his Angel?But Peter continued knocking,
and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were
what? Amazed.
Listen, how do you know When youpray?
You pray with wrong expectations.
(27:59):
When God answers, you're amazed.We should never be amazed when
God answers. We should just be praising God
and thanking Him. But they were amazed.
Why? Because they didn't expect their
prayers to work anyway. They gathered together to pray
for for Peter and pray for his release.
(28:21):
But when they were praying for his release, they really weren't
expecting him to be released. I mean, after all, James is
dead, Peter's in prison, he's going to die, but let's pray for
his release anyway. And then when he's finally
released, they're absolutely astonished.
Because God works in conjunctionwith man's prayers.
(28:42):
And that's why prayer challengesyour spirituality more than
anything else, because you live in a life of, in the realm of,
of, of, of not expecting God to do what we ask him to do.
And yet we're told to keep seeking, keep asking, keep
(29:02):
knocking continuously. In other words, pray with
without ceasing. Go back to to Luke 11.
In the Luke 11, Christ knows that persistence and prayer is
(29:27):
going to be lacking in the life of the disciples.
He knows that like he knows it'slacking in your life and mine.
So he gives this parable becausethe Lord is not like the
reluctant friend, and Luke 18 isnot like the unjust judge.
(29:50):
He is generous, he is kind. They says this verse 9.
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and
you will find, knock, and it will be open to you, for
everyone who asks receives, and he who knocks finds.
And to him who, excuse me, who seeks, finds and to him and
knocks, it will be open. Now suppose one of you fathers
(30:13):
is asked by his son for a fish. He would not give him a snake
instead of a fish, Willy. Or if he asked for an egg, he
would not give him a scorpion Willy.
If then you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the
(30:33):
Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
This is Speaking of the generosity of God.
You have an earthly father. When you ask ask for a piece of
bread, he doesn't give you a snake.
When you ask for a fish, he doesn't give you a scorpion.
No, because your Father loves you.
He's kind, he's generous. Well, how much more will your
(30:58):
heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit to them?
It asks. Now the parallel account in
Matthew 6 said it doesn't say Holy Spirit, it just says give
to you that which is good. Interesting.
Give that which is good to thosewho keep asking, seeking and
(31:19):
knocking. We know that only God is good.
The Holy Spirit is God, therefore the Holy Spirit is
good. Very interesting.
Matthew 6 also tells us that that the Lord knows what you're
going to ask before it's ever onyour lips.
(31:42):
So he already knows what you're going to ask him.
He already knows that because heknows everything in advance.
God never finds out anything. He just simply knows everything.
So he knows what you're going toask before you even speak it,
because He knows your heart, knows everything about you.
(32:05):
And so he makes a statement that's absolutely profound for
the disciples. Why?
Because they lived in expectation of the coming of the
Spirit of God. How do we know that?
Ezekiel chapter 36, Ezekiel 36 says it this way.
(32:27):
Verse 25. I will sprinkle clean water on
you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your
filthiness and from all your idols.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
within you. I will remove the heart of stone
from your flesh and give you heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my
(32:49):
statutes, and you will be careful to observe my
ordinances. That's a new covenant promise.
They know new covenant promise that the greatest gift that God
will give them is the Spirit that indwells them.
So because the Lord knows what you ask before you even ask it,
(33:10):
He says, look, the Lord is so gracious, so kind, so generous,
He will give you the Spirit of God.
Everything that you've longed for, you're going to get.
That's so important. Why?
Because everything you are asking God for is already
(33:32):
embodied in the Spirit of God. Think about it.
You ask God for courage, for power.
And the Lord said in Acts chapter 1 that you will receive
the Holy Spirit and when you do,His power will over shadow you.
(33:57):
You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
We ask God for power, we ask Godfor courage.
And we had the Spirit of God whois all powerful already within
us. We, we, we need comfort, comfort
during times of sorrow, comfort during times of trouble.
(34:19):
And Christ says in John 14, I'm going to give you another helper
or another comforter, not one ofa different kind, but one of the
same kind as me. So when you need comfort, you'll
have the spirit of comfort already within you.
When you, when you want to receive guidance, the Spirit of
(34:43):
God will give you the guidance that's necessary because He will
guide you into all truth. So everything you're looking to
receive you already have in the Spirit of the living God.
You're dwelt by the Spirit, you're sealed by the Spirit,
you're saved by the Spirit, right?
You're convicted by the Spirit and the Spirit makes his home,
(35:05):
his abode with you. God gives you everything that
you need in the arrival of the Spirit of God.
You ask for the supply of something, and God gives you the
source of everything. Interesting you ask.
(35:29):
You ask for God to give you joy and the fruit of the Spirit is
what? Joy You, you, you.
And I've heard this many times. I, I, I just don't love my
husband or my wife anymore. What do you mean you don't love
them anymore? I just don't love them anymore.
(35:50):
No, you, you're saying you can'tor you don't want to love them
anymore because you have the Spirit of God in you.
And the Spirit of God produces love.
So you can love your enemies, you can love your wife, you can
love your husband, you can love your children.
Why? Because the Spirit of God gives
you love. The fruit of the Spirit is
Lovejoy and peace. See I'm I'm so anxious.
(36:12):
Why are you anxious? You should be at peace.
You have the Spirit of God within you to give you peace.
How can you have peace when the Spirit of God reigns within your
heart? How about long-suffering?
For the Spirit is patience, long-suffering, gentleness,
meekness, kindness. Oh by the way, the fruit of the
(36:34):
Spirit is self-control. So I just can't control my
anger. Yes you can.
I can't control. I can't control my, my, my, my
sexual tendencies. Yes you can, if the Spirit of
God is within you, because He isa spirit that produces
self-control. You might be unwilling to yield
(36:55):
to the power, unyield to the spirit, unyield to the call of
God in your life, but the sourceof everything is there.
You ask the Lord for money and he gives you the bank.
Would you rather have a portion of money or would you rather
have the bank? I'd rather have the bank.
(37:16):
Why? Because with the bank comes all
the money you you could possiblyever want to need.
So God says I'm going to give you the Spirit because in all
your search for truth, He's the Spirit of truth and all your
search for direction, He guides you and all the desire for
comfort. He's the one who comforts you
and your desire to be controlledin life with your emotions and
your thoughts. He is a spirit that produces
(37:37):
self-control and your desire to love others, love your enemies,
He gives you the love to do so. It's all within the spirit of
the living God. That's why we say that prayer
will challenge your spirituality.
More than anything else, we needto understand prayer and why the
(38:01):
command is giving. Pray without ceasing.
Be conscious of God's presence as you walk through every
situation in life, no matter howdifficult it is, how painful it
may be, no matter how depressingthe circumstances might be
around you. God is walking with you through
(38:22):
those times that as you learn tolean upon them, you trust Him
and you rely upon Him. That's why not only does prayer
number one challenge my spirituality, but prayer #2
certifies my dependency. Prayer certifies my dependency.
(38:44):
In other words, it helps establish the fact that I am not
an autonomous being. I can't function independently,
Christ said. Without me ye can do nothing.
John 15-5 But see, we don't believe that we we think that we
can go through life and rely on my intellect, rely on my
(39:08):
ingenuity, rely on my money, rely on my expertise, rely on my
giftedness, rely on the things that I already have.
And so we go through life independently of from God,
trying to establish our life without him simply because we
think we're good enough and excellent enough.
(39:30):
But you are not. Remember Luke chapter 5?
Probably not, so let me read it to you, Luke chapter 5.
It says now it happened that while the crowd was pressing
around him and listening to the word of God, he was standing by
the Lake of Geneseret or the Seaof Galilee, and he saw two boats
(39:54):
lying at the edge of the lake. But the fishermen had gotten out
of them and were washing their Nets.
In other words, they were done fishing.
They were now cleaning their Nets.
And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and
asked him to put out a little while from the land.
And he sat down and began teaching the people from the
boat. So the disciples have come in
(40:14):
from a from a early morning fishing and they are washing
their Nets and Christ decides toteach.
So he occupies Simon's boat and he says pushed out a little ways
and I'll teach him the boat because the crowds were pressing
against him and he was backing up against the water.
And so he says, I'll just go in the boat and begin to preach and
teach, and people will be able to hear me from there.
(40:39):
And so he says when he finished speaking, he said to Simon, put
out into the deep water and let down your Nets for a catch.
In other words, in the modern vernacular, Peter, I'm done
preaching, let's go fishing. Let's go fishing.
(41:06):
This Simon answered and said, master, we worked hard all night
and caught nothing. He says, Master, Lord Jesus,
you're a teacher, you're a preacher.
(41:26):
But me, I'm a fisherman. I don't tell you how to teach.
You don't tell me how to fish. This is what I do.
My whole family fishes. I was raised this way.
This is how I live my life. I'm an expert fisherman.
I'm not an expert preacher or teacher, but I am an expert at
(41:50):
fishing. And so Peter says, but I would
do as you say and let down the Nets.
In other words. Nevertheless, if that's what you
want, Lord, then that's what we will do, just to prove to you
(42:10):
that you're not a fisherman and just a teacher and a preacher,
that I'm the true fisherman and you are not, because I'm an
expert at it. So Needless to say, we'll push
out into the deep and I will show you, Jesus, that I am right
(42:31):
and you, Jesus, are wrong. And so they says when they had
done this, they enclosed a greatquantity of fish.
So you don't fish during the day.
Why? Because during the day the fish
go further down into the water. Why it's cooler down there in
(42:52):
the early morning. In the evening they rise to the
top. But during the day, the heat of
the day, they, they go down to the to the bottom.
Peter knows that. But they cast the Nets over the
side of the boat and they caughta great quantity of fish.
So and so the Nets began to break.
(43:15):
So they signal to their partnersin the other boat for them to
come and help them. And they came and filled both of
the boats, so that they began tosink.
But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus's feet,
saying, Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.
For amazement had seized him andall his companions because of
(43:38):
the catch of fish which they hadtaken.
And so also were James and John,the sons of Zebedee, and we're
partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not
fear, from now on you will be catching men.
And when they had brought their boats to land, they left
everything and followed him. Here is Peter, depart from me.
(44:06):
I'm a sinful man. Depart from the fact that even
though I think I know more than you, I don't.
I thought I did. I thought I could act
independently, God of you, But Ican't.
In the arena in which I am the most skilled, in the arena in
which I am the most intelligent,in the arena in which I am the
(44:28):
most experienced, in the arena in which I am the best at, I
still need God. That's the point.
But see, we we go through life thinking, well, I don't need
need God in my job. I can do that.
I mean, come on, who needs God for that?
(44:51):
I don't need God to help me raise my family.
I know how to raise my family. I know how to get them to church
and read the Bible with them. I don't need God to help me with
this or help me with that. Why?
Because I'm smart. But in the arena in which you
think you don't need, God is what you need in the most,
(45:14):
because you see, it certifies your dependency upon Him.
And that's why the story in Mark9 is so important.
When the disciples remember whenPeter, James and John and Jesus
came down from the mountain, transfiguration, and they
couldn't cast out the boy who had a demon in him, in Christ
was frustrated with his own men.Oh, unbelieving generation, how
(45:36):
long shall I be with you? Bring the boy to me.
He cast out the demon. And they wonder why they
couldn't do that. Because he had learned to live
independently of God in the arena which he'd called him to
live for him, he says. He says he's only come out by
prayer. Your dependence upon me for
everything. That's why prayer will challenge
(46:01):
your spirituality more than any other aspect of the spiritual
disciplines. It will certify your dependency
that I need God in every situation, in every
circumstance, no matter where I'm at, no matter what I'm
(46:21):
doing. I am not gifted enough nor
talented enough nor experienced enough to do it without my God,
for without me ye can do nothing.
You need me prayer will challenge my spirituality,
(46:42):
prayer will certify my dependency, and thirdly, prayer
will confirm my loyalty. And to understand that, you'll
have to come back next week. Let's pray.
(47:03):
Father, we thank you for today. It is a challenge to every one
of us to understand we are to pray without ceasing.
We are to never give up. We are to never quit on prayer.
We are never to throw in the towel on prayer.
(47:25):
There, there might be someone inthe room today who said I, I
prayed for a year. Well, you say, keep asking, keep
seeking, keep knocking. We need to learn persistence.
We need to learn steadfastness and prayer.
(47:48):
We can never afford to give up praying for your will to be
done. Why?
Because your will is that we pray unceasingly, that we pray
at all times for all men, that we be the kind of people that
(48:13):
continue to commune with the true and living God as we go
through each part of each day. As you have taught us, Lord, to
rejoice always, teach us now to pray unceasingly.
Why? Simply because you've told us in
(48:35):
John's Gospel, the 14th chapter,the 13th verse, that the reason
you answer prayer is not to get our needs met, but that the
Father would be glorified in theSon.
That's what we're asking for, that you would receive all the
(48:58):
glory. So Lord, whatever we are asking
for today, whatever we're beseeching the throne of grace
for today, may we do it for one reason and one reason only, the
glory of the true and living God.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.