November 2, 2025 • 43 mins
In this message given at Vanguard Church of Colorado Springs, Tosha Williams shares how a pre-dawn vision sparked a new journey when God whispered two unexpected words: “Transfiguration Prayer.” From that moment, she invites us up the mountain where Jesus shines, showing that real prayer isn’t about polished words but about a surrendered heart that practices seeking God's presence.
Drawing from Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9, Romans 12, and 2 Corinthians 3, we discover that beholding Christ changes us and sends us back into the valley with courage, compassion, and power that truly help people. Along the way, Moses and Elijah step forward as mentors in intercession and faith, while Peter, James, and John teach us through both their weakness and their yes.
The Father’s voice reframes our priorities with the words “Listen to Him,” calling us to shift our focus from good things to the greatest thing. This message connects the dots between a private encounter and a public mission: from cloud to crowd, from awe to action, from seeking Him to speaking Him in our families, friendships, and neighborhoods.
This message also launches a week of intentional prayer featuring short daily podcasts, devotion-driven guides, and an open Encounter Room to make space for God. The goal is not hype but intimacy that fuels impact.
If you have felt stuck, tired, or wordless, let this be your invitation to go somewhere new with Jesus and to carry His presence into the places you live. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and ask yourself, Where will you meet with God this week? Your mountain might be a chair, a car, or a quiet corner. When you listen to Him, heaven meets here.
#TransfigurationPrayer
#ToshaWilliams
#VanguardChurch
#PrayerAndTransformation
#BeholdingChrist
#ListenToHim
#SeekHimSpeakHim
#IntimacyWithGod
______________________
The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.
Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Good morning, Vanguard Church.
Good morning.
You know, I had a veryinteresting morning a little
less than four weeks ago.
It was a really important day inmy family's life, and there was
a lot involved in that day.
Before I even woke up to facethe day, though, the Lord gave
(00:22):
me a dream, a vision.
It's been a really curiousseason in that it seems like
He's spoken to me multiple timesthrough dreams and visions
recently.
But that morning was anunexpected dream, an unexpected
vision.
Before I even opened my eyes,the Lord spoke to me.
And he said two words.
(00:44):
He said, transfiguration,prayer.
And I remember in my dreamsaying, What?
What?
My devotions had been in the OldTestament.
I had not been reading in theGospels recently, particularly
regarding that.
So the Lord saying thistransfiguration prayer was a
(01:09):
little bit out of the blue.
And so in my dream vision, I'mlike, Lord, what?
And he said, Mount ofTransfiguration, you know the
story.
And then he started justdownloading images to me.
And with that, I woke up.
I went into the kitchen, Igrabbed my coffee, I grabbed my
Bible, and I went outside whereKelly was already sitting with
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his coffee and his Bible doinghis devotions.
And for the next hour and a halfor so, I sat there and I was
just writing down what the Lordwas showing me about
transfiguration prayer.
It was astounding.
It was a moment I did notexpect.
When I got up from that moment,I told Kelly, I think the Lord
(01:55):
just gave me enough to write awhole book.
Wow.
What was that?
And the rest of the day I keptthinking about that theme:
transfiguration prayer.
The thing was, throughout theday, I was also having
conversations with the Lordabout this very thing because
you see, that day I had a fiveo'clock deadline for this
(02:16):
message.
And I kept talking to the Lordsaying, Well, thank you for what
you're showing me regardingtransfiguration prayer.
That's amazing.
I'll be happy to write thatcontent, do those podcasts,
write those conversation guideslater.
But Lord, just so you know, Ihave a five o'clock deadline
today.
You see, I had been invited byPastor Jenny to be the global
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speaker for this month.
And every year, Vanguard Churchhas Glocal Month in November.
And every year, Vanguard Churchinvites one of those local
ministries to come and be thefeatured speaker.
And Jenny had invited me to dothat this year for Vanguard,
representing Family Disciple Me.
(03:02):
What an honor! There's so manythings I want to tell you about
Family Disciple Me.
This ministry is eight yearsold.
This ministry is a 501c3nonprofit.
This ministry is birthed out ofmy own life as a mom and my life
as the co-founder of VanguardChurch.
My life involved in thisministry from the groundroots,
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from the bottom to the top.
My life being involved inchildren's ministry for so many
years.
My life as a heartbeat for thischurch, wanting to see
discipleship happen.
This ministry, Family DiscipleMe, is online.
It's on podcast platforms.
It's recently come on YouTube,and that's a very scary thing,
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but there we there we begin.
This ministry is atfamilydiscipleme.org where
there's devotion-drivendiscipleship guides.
And this ministry is about tolaunch an app next year.
Can't wait for these resourcesto become more easily
accessible.
I could tell you about thisministry that our heartbeat is
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to make devotion-drivendiscipleship as easy as every
conversation you have along theway.
Because we believe thatdiscipleship starts with a
conversation and that God wantsevery single Christ follower to
have those conversations withthe people that God's entrusted
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to you.
There's so much I can tell youabout family disciple me.
But all day long I was saying,Lord, which piece do you want me
to tell Vanguard Church on localweekend about family disciple
me?
And he said to me, He said,Tasha, I've already given you
the message.
Because Tasha, I don't want youto tell Vanguard Church what
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Family Disciple Me does.
I want you to show them whatFamily Disciple Me does.
And I want you to talk to themabout, say it with me,
transfiguration prayer.
Yes.
Yes, Lord.
I hear you.
I understand what you want me todo.
Because you see, this is the oneSunday of the whole year in the
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Vanguard calendar that thespeaker gets to choose what they
talk about.
And so I had been talking to theLord about prayer at Vanguard
and wanting to see Vanguardiansrise up in prayer in a new way.
And so the Lord said, I've givenyou the platform and I've told
you what I want you to talk toVanguard Church about.
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So, Vanguardians, today, today,we're talking about
transfiguration prayer.
And here's the tagline whereheaven meets here.
I don't know about you, but Iwant a little bit more of that
in my life.
I want to see a little bit moreof that in this church.
I want to see more of that inthe reach that we have in our
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families, in the people that arewatching online, in the people
that are listening.
I want heaven to meet here justa little bit more because
there's been enough hell.
Anybody want to agree with me onthat?
It's time for us to talk to Godin a new way.
So if you will, if you will openyour programs, if you'll open
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your Bibles, if you'll open yourinternet devices, we're going to
be looking at various scripturesthroughout the New Testament, in
particular the three Gospels,where we see the Mount of
Transfiguration.
But before we get there, we'regoing to look at Luke chapter
11, verse 1.
Now, Jesus was praying in acertain place.
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And when he finished, one of hisdisciples said to him, Lord,
teach us to pray.
And when Jesus taught them topray, he taught them the Lord's
Prayer.
So I want us to stand.
Go ahead, let's stand.
And we're going to say theLord's Prayer.
Ready?
Our Father who art in heaven,hallowed be your name.
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Thy kingdom come, thy will bedone on earth as it is in
heaven.
Give us this day our daily breadand forgive us our sins as we
forgive those who sin againstus.
And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and thepower and the glory forever.
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And all God's people said, Amen.
Yes.
All right.
You may be seated.
You know, are you ready for Godto teach you something new about
prayer?
Okay.
Are you ready?
Okay.
So I believe, I believe there inLuke chapter 11 in Matthew 6,
when Jesus taught the Lord'sPrayer, He was giving them the
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eloquence of prayer.
Okay?
But today I want to show yousomething where He showed the
disciples the experience ofprayer, the encounter of prayer.
Because the more and more time Ilook at this topic,
transfiguration prayer, Ibelieve it's not just about our
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words, it's about ourwillingness.
It's about our heart posturebefore God in his presence.
It's not about just the thingsthat we say.
So with that, we're going tolook at Luke chapter 9, verse
28.
Now, the Mount ofTransfiguration is a story that
I've heard about my whole life.
I've been in church andChristian schools and seminary
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and all that my whole life.
I've circled this story 50million times, but not once has
it ever been more to me than anyada yada.
Okay, he went up a mountain, hesaw some people, that's great,
and I just kept going.
But God has stopped me in thisplace.
He's stopped me.
And this story of the Mount ofTransfiguration is told in three
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of the four Gospels.
It's told in Luke chapter 9, inMark chapter 9, and in Matthew
chapter 17.
So we're gonna look at parts ofall three of those narratives so
that we can see the biggerpicture of what happened on the
Mount of Transfiguration.
But we're gonna start here inLuke chapter 9, verse 28.
Now, after about eight daysafter these sayings, he, that's
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Jesus, took with him Peter andJohn and James and went up on
the mountain to pray.
Now, why did Jesus take Peter,James, and John?
I don't know.
He had 12 disciples.
Why did Jesus go up a mountainfor this experience?
I don't know.
(09:34):
It's just where he decided togo.
What I do know is this going upa mountain takes work, it takes
effort, it takes a willingness,it takes a desire.
And he took three of hisdisciples up there on the
mountain with him for somethingthat was really important.
And that was this two words topray.
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Come on, guys, I want you tocome with me.
Maybe he invited all thedisciples, and only three were
willing to take the hike.
I don't know.
Maybe the others were occupied,maybe they had other stuff to
do.
Sounds a lot like our prayerlives, doesn't it?
And Jesus invited at least thethree, because at least three
went with him up the mountain topray.
So how do we rebegin with Jesusin prayer?
Here's point number one (10:21):
accept Jesus' invitation to take you
somewhere.
Accept Jesus' invitation to takeyou somewhere.
He wants to take you out of yourcomfort zone, out of your
regular life, out of the chaosof your life, out of the stuff
of your life, out of theproblems of your life, about
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whatever it is that's going onin your world right now.
And he wants to take yousomewhere.
Where's the new place he'scalling you today?
Where is he calling you?
I hope by the end of thismessage you hear his call really
loud and clear, clear to prayer.
Here's what I do know as he'scalling us, it takes our
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willingness to follow him.
And when I talk about prayerthis morning, I'm not just
talking about words.
I don't know about you all, butsometimes I run out of words
when it comes to prayer.
I was telling Gary and Virginiathis morning, my my prayers have
have boiled down to one reallyeasy four-letter word.
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Help.
And God's okay with that.
He's inviting me to gosomewhere, just like he's
inviting you, just like heinvited those three disciples.
And so the question is (11:38):
will you let him guide you into some
place new in your relationshipwith him?
I don't care how long you'vebeen a believer or how short
you've been a believer.
I don't care whether you're oldor whether you're young.
I don't care whether you're agrandparent, a parent, an
auntie, an uncle, a youngperson, a teenager, a young
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adult.
It doesn't matter.
Jesus is inviting you somewhere.
Are you willing to go there?
Are you willing to go?
And then scripture continues.
And this time we're going tolook at three different of the
gospels.
Matthew 17, verse 2 says, and hewas, here's the word,
transfigured before them, andhis face shone like the sun, and
his clothes became white aslight.
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And then Mark 9 says, and he wastransfigured before them, and
his clothes became radiant,intensely white.
No one on earth could bleachthem as bright as that.
Luke chapter 9, 29 says this,and as he was praying, the
appearance of his face wasaltered, and his clothing became
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dazzling white.
So how do we rebegin with Jesusin prayer?
Here's point number two.
Look what he will show youthere.
Got a little poetry going onhere, okay?
It's a little bit broken meter,but accept Jesus' invitation to
take you somewhere.
And then number two, look atwhat he will show you there.
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With Family Disciple Me, we havea theme.
It's on the back of our shirtstoday.
Seek him, speak him.
I believe that this prayer thatencounters God, it starts with
those two words, seek him.
Because here's what he promises.
When we seek him, he will befound by us.
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When we seek him, he will showus his presence.
And when we seek him, we'regoing to see his glory.
Prayer opens our eyes to what isalready true about God's
character.
And then it changes us.
Look what Romans 12, verse 2says.
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed by the
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renewal of your mind that bytesting you may discern what is
the will of God, what is goodand acceptable and perfect.
And then look at 2 Corinthianschapter 3, verses 16 through 18.
When one turns to the Lord,shall we say, when one seeks
Him, the veil is removed.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, andwhere the Spirit of the Lord is,
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there is freedom.
And we all with unveiled face,catch this next phrase, because
it's important.
We all with unveiled facebeholding the glory of the Lord.
That's what happened on theMount of Transfiguration that
God's offering to us.
We all beholding the glory ofthe Lord are being what?
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Transformed into the same imagefrom one degree of glory to
another.
For this comes from the Lord,who is the Spirit.
Accept Jesus' invitation to takeyou somewhere and then look at
what he will show you here.
And here's the thing (14:51):
when we encounter Jesus in
transfiguration prayer, hebegins this renewal work of
transformation in us.
Transfiguration is what we willexperience someday in eternity
when we are with him.
But transformation is what he'sdoing in us right now as we seek
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him.
Anyone want a little bit of thatin their lives?
I do.
Prayer doesn't change God,prayer changes our capacity to
see God, to know God, and bechanged by him.
Prayer is where, I believe,transfiguration meets
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transformation.
Show it to you this way.
Transfiguration, transformation,and prayer is what holds those
two and brings those twotogether.
Standing in the gap.
Prayer is where transfigurationmeets transformation.
It's where heaven meets here.
(15:56):
That's the truth.
It's not just about our words.
It's not just about saying allthe right things or oops, I said
the wrong things.
It's it's about our presencewith Jesus.
Look what happened.
Luke chapter 9, verse 30 and 31.
And behold, as all this washappening, two men were talking
with him.
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Moses and Elijah, who appearedin glory and spoke of his
departure, which he was about toaccomplish at Jerusalem.
That verse stopped me in mytracks.
It stopped me in my tracks.
You have to know that here'sJesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
Moses died 12 to 14 centuriesprior.
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Elijah died about nine centuriesprior.
We are talking 900 to 1,400years prior.
These guys died.
But here they are on the mountof transfiguration, and they are
picking up their conversationwith Jesus right where they left
it off, you know, a fewcenturies prior.
That's amazing.
So they're on the Mount ofTransfiguration, just chatting
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with Jesus, old friend.
They're just talking to him, butthey're talking to him about
what is about to happen.
They're talking prophecy withhim.
They're talking about Jesuscoming, crucifixion, and what
redemption he's going to bringwith that.
There are so many threads to theOld Testament here.
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This is amazing.
Moses led the first exodus ofthe people of God from Israel.
And now Jesus is about to leadhis people out of the Exodus
from the bondage of slavery.
And here they are on the Mountof Transfiguration, just
chatting it up, having aconversation with Jesus.
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That says so much to us.
If you have a loved one who'salready gone to be with the
Lord, just think about that fora few minutes.
Okay?
Let that comfort you.
Let that be a rabbit trail thatthe Lord takes you down this
week.
But there is something thathappens in this moment that I
want us to sit on.
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Because Moses teaches us aboutprayer.
Elijah teaches us about prayer.
And so let's go back to thelittle poetry.
Accept Jesus' invitation to takeyou somewhere.
Look at what he will show yousomewhere.
And here's point three (18:25):
consider his examples and become aware.
So this is where God stopped mein my tracks and he said, I want
you to look at each of thepeople who were on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
And I want you to learnsomething from them about
following me and specificallyabout prayer.
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Moses has so much to teach usabout having conversations with
God.
So much.
Elijah has so much to teach usabout having conversations with
God.
But you know who else hassomething to teach us about
prayer?
Turns out Peter, James, andJohn.
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They all have something to teachus about prayer.
And see, here's the thing.
With family disciple me, wealways say seek him leads to
speak him.
Can you all say that with me?
Seek him, speak him.
There's no comma in betweenthose two words, those four
words, that that phrase, becauseit's one run-on.
Seek him, speak him.
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That's what Moses did.
Moses sought the Lord face toface as a man has conversations
with a friend, and then he turnsaround and he speaks the Lord
into the lives of his people.
Same thing with Elijah.
Elijah sought the Lord.
Elijah encountered the Lord andthen he turned around and he
spoke him into the people.
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Turns out Peter, James, and Johndid that too, each in their own
ways.
And this week, I'm going toinvite you to go on a journey
with me and with Family DiscipleMe as we look at the lives of
the people who were on themountain of transfiguration.
This week, I'm going to inviteyou into something challenging
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to spend about 30 minutes a daylooking at each of these lives,
listening to a podcast thattalks about them a little bit,
and then spending time withJesus with the accompanying
devotion-driven discipleshipguide.
All of this is available atfamilydiscipleme.org.
Let this guide you in yourpersonal devotions so that you
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meet with God.
But here's what happens when youmeet with God.
One of my very favorite versesin all of Scripture has always
been Exodus chapter 33, verse11.
The Lord used to speak to Mosesface to face as a man speaks
with a friend.
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I love that.
But here's the part that justgets me.
When Moses turned again into thecamp, his assistant Joshua, the
son of Nun, a young man, wouldnot depart from the tent.
You see, here's the thing.
When we meet with God and makehim known, there's other people
watching us.
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They're watching how we spendtime with the Lord.
They're watching whether or notwe're going to press into him,
whether we're willing to climbthe mountain and get outside of
our comfort zones, whether we'regoing to spend time with Jesus
in his word, whether we're goingto pray about everything,
whether we're willing to confessour sins, even as we sin against
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others, forgiving, like they arewatching us.
I love that Joshua was in thetent, watching Moses.
I have no greater honor than tosee my son Joshua stay in the
tent meeting with God longerthan I do.
That is the best, best thingthat as a mom I can watch
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unfold.
And I believe that's the bestthing that every single person
in this room watching online andthe sound of my voice, when we
seek him and our lives speakhim, we get to see the next
generation move into the tentand experience God.
When we go up that mountain andmeet with God, whatever that
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mountain looks like, for some ofus, the mountain is the car.
For some of us, the mountain isour rocking chair at home.
For some of us, the mountain iswhen we're putting on our
makeup, getting ready for theday.
And we've also got the wordopen.
The mountain is your space andplace with God.
But when we're willing to go upthe mountain and meet with God,
there's other people standing atthe base of it saying, Oh,
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that's how you walk up thatmountain.
And we are going to startfinding that they're going to
start coming up that pathbecause they have a guide
through us.
That's the call and that's theinvitation and that's the
challenge of family disciple me.
So will you pay attention to theexamples that God's placed
before you?
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Examples here in his word,Moses, Elijah, Peter, James,
John, Jesus, specifically thisweek.
Will you pay attention to the tothe examples God's put in your
life here in this room, here inyour life?
And I learn about prayer fromyou.
You have been an example to me.
John and Sandy, you've beenexamples.
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So many people in this churchare examples.
God gives us examples to follow,but here's the thing.
And this is for every singleperson.
It's not just about followingthe examples, it's about being
the example.
And that's the call ofdevotion-driven discipleship.
Scripture goes on and it says,Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is
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good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make threetenths here.
One for you, one for Moses, onefor Elijah.
Mark 9 gives us thisperspective.
And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi,it is good that we are here.
Let us make the three tenths.
One for you, one for Moses, onefor Elijah.
For he did not know what to say,for he was, they were terrified.
And then Luke 9 says, Now Peterand those who were with him were
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heavy with sleep.
But when they became fullyawake, they saw his glory and
two men who stood with him.
And as the men were parting fromhim, Peter said to Jesus,
Master, it is good that we arehere.
Let us make three tents, one foryou, one for Moses, and one for
Elijah, not knowing what hesaid.
Here's the thing.
How do we rebegin with Jesus inprayer?
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Point number four, let him shiftyour focus elsewhere.
Let him shift your focuselsewhere.
I do not have time to talk aboutall the emotions that we see in
these scriptures, but we gotfear, we got terror, we got
exhaustion, we got foot andmouth disease, we've like we've
got it all.
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This is true for us too, by theway.
What's encapsulated here is truefor us in prayer and in faith as
well.
But Jesus wants us to encounterhim, he wants us to see him on
the mountain, he wants us toexperience something with him,
and he wants us to let him shiftour focus elsewhere.
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Here's the thing that the Lordhighlighted to me, and I'll just
say this one thing.
Honoring Moses and Elijah is nota bad thing.
We're gonna be honoring themthis week in our follow-up
conversations.
Moses has so much to teach usabout how to intercede.
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Elijah has so much to teach usabout how to believe.
The thing is, God doesn't wantus to just focus on the good
things, He wants us to shift ourfocus to the greatest thing.
Our focus always has to go backto Him.
So our families are really goodthings, right?
But they're not the greatestthing.
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Our church is a really goodthing, but it's not the greatest
thing.
Family disciple me ministry, areally good thing.
It's a pretty great thing, butit's not the greatest thing.
The greatest thing is that ineverything we do, when we pray,
when we go up that mountain, ourfocus is to be on him.
(26:21):
He is the one.
So listen to what, listen towhat happens.
Matthew 17, verse 5.
While Peter was still speaking,God cut him off.
Oh, it doesn't say that exactly,but that's what happened.
While Peter was still speaking,behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them, and a voicefrom the cloud said, This is my
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beloved son, with whom I am wellpleased.
Listen to him.
When the disciples heard this,they fell on their faces, they
were terrified.
But Jesus came, Jesus touchedthem, and Jesus said, Rise, have
no fear.
And when they lifted up theireyes, they saw no one but Jesus
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only.
How do we rebegin with Jesus inprayer?
Point number five.
Be sure to hear what hedeclares.
Listen to him.
Listen to him.
It's great that you're listeningto me right now, here in person,
watching online, listeninglater.
It's great if you will join meand the Family Disciple Me
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podcast this week.
I hope that you will.
I hope that you will become partof this prayer initiative, but
ultimately, those are justresources, examples, content to
get you to focus on the one whois the one that we're ultimately
to listen to.
We seek him.
We want to listen to his voice.
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True prayer isn't just measuredby how much or what we say, but
I believe it's just as muchmeasured by how much we hear and
how much we listen.
Jesus came, he touched thedisciples, and he spoke to them.
And when we listen to Jesus likethat, when we encounter him,
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he's going to do the same in ourlives.
That's where we begin a livingconversation with the God of the
universe.
And that's where we begin withdevotion-driven discipleship.
So look at Matthew 17.
Because once we're up on themount of transfiguration with
Jesus and we have this Godencounter where we meet with him
in this transfiguration prayerthat transforms us, well, the
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thing is, the mountain alwaysleads to the mission.
We're not just meant to stand onthe mountains forever.
God wants us to take thatencounter with him down into the
valleys of our lives, down intothe regular days of our lives,
down into our houses, down intoour neighborhoods, down into the
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grocery store, down into thecar, down into wherever we go.
And look what Jesus and thedisciples encountered.
We're going to pick up inMatthew 17, verse 14.
And when they came to the crowd,a man came up to him and
kneeling before him said, Lord,have mercy on my son, for he has
seizures and he suffersterribly, for often he falls
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into the fire and often into thewater.
And I brought him to yourdisciples, and they could not
heal him.
And Jesus answered, Oh,faithless and twisted
generation, how long am I to bewith you?
How long am I to bear with you?
Bring him here to me.
And Jesus rebuked the demon, andit came out of him, and the boy
(29:37):
was healed instantly.
They came down from the cloud ofGod's presence into the chaos of
people.
Anyone have that in their lives?
Am I the only one?
Oh, are there a few in thisroom, maybe?
You know, we meet with God andthen we come down into a world
(29:58):
where we make Him known and It'sa messy world.
It's a chaotic world.
It's a world filled with hurtingpeople.
It's a world filled with peoplewho've got illnesses and
sicknesses.
And let's face it, it's a worldthat's filled with demonic
activity that wants to steal anddestroy and kill everything
about our lives.
That's the enemy's goal.
(30:20):
And yet into that place, Jesusstepped.
He was merciful, he was kind, hewas truthful, he was direct.
He didn't pull any punches here,but he was also powerful and he
spoke healing.
So how do we rebegin with Jesusin prayer?
(30:40):
We watch Jesus' example of care.
We watch his example of care.
You see, mountaintop momentsleads to mission.
And every single one of you hasa mission that God has given
you.
(31:16):
But if you're going to have anycare that flows out of you to
them, any care that goes beyondrandom acts of kindness, any
consistent care and compassionthat reflects the face of the
Father, well, you have to be inthe face of the Father because
then you glow with His presence.
And when you step from mountaininto mission, you carry His care
(31:38):
and His compassion with you.
What we experience, what weexperience in our intimate time
with Jesus should impact ourrelationships with people.
And that's what eventuallyhappened with the disciples.
You see, those three wereinvited up to that mountain
(31:58):
moment, then they came down intothe world.
They were struck in the face bythe chaos.
And listen to what they said,Matthew 17, verse 19.
Then the disciples came to Jesusprivately and said, Why couldn't
we cast out that demon?
He said this to them, because ofyour little faith.
For truly I say to you, if youhave faith like a grain of
(32:21):
mustard seed, you will say tothis mountain, Move from here to
there, and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible foryou.
But this kind never comes outexcept by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9 says, and when he hadentered the house, his disciples
asked him privately, Whycouldn't we cast out that demon?
(32:41):
And he said to them, This kindcannot be driven out by anything
but prayer.
Oh friends, how do we rebeginwith Jesus in prayer?
Here's the final point.
We let Jesus transform ourprayer.
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We let him transform it.
We let him change it.
You know, I think it's soamazing.
He said, you are powerless inprayer because you don't have
enough faith.
I want you to have more faith,people who follow me, because if
you start with a little grain ofmustard seed faith and you let
(33:23):
it grow, you can say to thismountain, move, and it's gonna
move.
You know the amazing thing aboutthis?
Here's a big theological word,pericope in scripture.
They started out on the mountainof transfiguration where Jesus
went to pray.
And they get over here andthey're saying, But, but why?
(33:44):
Why why?
And he's like, What you'refacing, you can't do anything
about except by prayer.
And by the way, if you want tomove that mountain over there,
it's through prayer.
And he points back up to thatmountain and he says, he says,
get this.
My words to articulate hisprayer is where heaven meets
(34:09):
here.
You want to move that mountain?
Well, this kind doesn't come outexcept by prayer and fasting.
Jesus wants to transform yourprayers.
And the question, why couldn'twe?
Why couldn't we cast out thatdemon?
Why weren't our prayerseffective?
Why didn't why, why, why?
Jesus says, I want you to stopfocusing on your inadequacy, and
(34:31):
I want you to come back tointimacy with me because that's
where it is.
That's where it is, that's thecall.
So this week, this week,Vanguard Church, this week,
people who are watching online,this week for people who are
listening later online, thisweek, wherever this week begins,
(34:53):
we are going to lean into prayerin a new way.
I challenge you, I challenge youto use the Family Disciple Me
resources this week.
Each day, starting today,there's a podcast.
Yes, you will hear yours truly.
You're gonna hear me.
(35:14):
Go past my voice.
Listen to his voice.
Listen to that short 10 to 15minute podcast, and then I
challenge you to follow that upby spending time in the
devotion-driven discipleshipguide.
All this is available on yourhandy dandy smartphone.
I'm pretty sure everybody inhere has one.
(35:35):
You're gonna pull up that familydisciple me,
familydiscipleme.org.
You're gonna come to the homepage, and when you scroll down,
you will see all the links forall the podcast, for all the
conversation guides.
Just a little sneak peek.
When our app comes out nextyear, it's gonna be really fun
and easy, and it's all gonna bein one place.
(35:56):
But the thing is, discipleshipdoesn't start with an app.
Discipleship starts with afamily disciple meeting,
conversation.
Discipleship starts with aconversation, and that's
something that we can do today.
So this week, I challenge you totake a mountain hike with me.
(36:18):
Take a mountain hike with thefamily disciple meet ministry,
and we're gonna go back up thatmountain of transfiguration.
We're gonna look at the livesMoses, Elijah, Peter, James,
John, Jesus, and our hearts aregonna be transformed by prayer.
I want to tell you how this haschanged me already.
I've learned how to intercede ina new way, like Moses.
(36:41):
Interceding, meeting with Godface to face, as best as I can
in my broken way, but learninghow to stand in the gap for
others.
Pray for the prodigals, pray forthe people that puts on my
heart, pray for those who arecaptured in human slavery.
(37:01):
This week there was a majorbreakthrough where God did
something powerful because God'speople were interceding.
Just look up scam compounds andsee what God has done, acts of
mercy.
God has been teaching me how tobelieve like Elijah because I
don't know about you, but I needsome miracles in my life.
(37:23):
Anyone need some miracles?
We were saying about thatearlier.
Yeah, Caitlin, I need somemiracles.
Elijah believed God formiracles.
The question is, will we praylike that?
And then we come to Peter andPeter messes up.
Peter's always got foot andmouth disease, but you know
what?
I love Peter so much because I'mjust like him.
(37:44):
Just like him.
Jesus said to Peter, Peter,you're gonna mess up, but I'm
praying for you.
And when I get finished prayingfor you and you rise back up,
just like I pray for you to bestrengthened, I want you to go
strengthen somebody else.
Peter lived out devotion-drivendiscipleship.
And we're gonna pray like Peterthis week.
(38:05):
And then we're gonna come toJames.
And James is the guy who didn'thave any of his exact words
recorded in Scripture.
He was, I don't know, lessimportant, even though he was
called James the Greater.
But he's like the rest of us.
He was just a normal guy.
He wasn't important enough to bequoted.
And yet Peter lived a life oftransformed prayer and faith
(38:28):
that echoes through time.
And James teaches us to follow.
John, he was one of the sons ofthunder, booming, arrogant,
wanted to place a position.
He wanted to call down fire fromheaven.
That's the truth of that son ofthunder.
But Jesus transformed him into adisciple who abides.
(38:48):
And there's no one in Scripturewho loved Jesus more than John.
And God's gonna transform ourprayer life to abide as well.
Jesus teaches us to surrender inprayer.
And in all of this, as we walkthrough that each day this week,
Vanguard Church, my prayer foryou, my prayer for us, my prayer
(39:10):
for everybody, and the sound ofthe voice of Family Disciple Me
Ministry is that through thisprayer initiative this week,
that God lights a spark in us,that then it becomes that little
spark that we light into ourchildren and our children's
children and our friends and ourextended family and our
(39:31):
neighbors and other believers,those that are on the other side
of the country and those thatare on the other side of the
world.
God wants to do something withus so that when we come to those
moments where we say, Whycouldn't we cast this out?
And Jesus says, This kind canonly come out through prayer.
We say, Oh, thanks for thereminder.
(39:52):
And we get ourselves back on upthat mountain to meet with God
like never before.
That's the invitation oftransfiguration prayer.
That's the invitation to gowhere heaven meets here.
My prayer and our prayer isthis.
(40:15):
And if it's in, if you have yourprogram, I invite you to open it
and say it with me.
If you're watching online, ifyou've got the online, you'll
see it in there.
I want us to pray this, and I'mgonna pray it as a prayer
blessing over us as we close theservice.
God transform me and transfiguremy prayer life for your glory,
(40:41):
my good, and the good of allthose you entrust to me.
In the name of the Father andthe Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Friends, go with God this week.
Go with him.
Listen to his voice, walkthrough each of these
conversations.
(41:01):
We're gonna be doing this as achurch this week.
We're starting here at VanguardCentral.
Vanguard Trilakes is going onthis same journey with us.
And then we're gonna close thisprayer initiative next weekend
with Pastor John as he gives usmore leading and direction in
prayer.
Vanguard, Vanguard, we arelaunching an encounter room here
(41:24):
in our premises where you canmeet with God, with other
believers, and you can pray likenever before.
Vanguard, I invite you onWednesday, come anytime during
the day on Wednesday as thestaff is in and out.
Come kneel in T6 during the day.
Pray with us at noon.
This week at noon, this weekfrom 8 to 8:30.
(41:46):
We're gonna be in that room as astaff worshiping and praying.
Vanguard Church, don't leavethis week the same.
Don't, don't, don't leave thesame person.
When the calendar rolls aroundto next weekend, say, God, I've
met with you like never before,and I want to make you known now
(42:07):
like never before as well.
That is the mission of VanguardChurch, and that's the mission
of Family Disciple Me.
Let me pray for us.
Lord God, I pray anointing overthis message.
It's not my message, this isyour idea.
Because I did not think of thisone on my own.
This is of you.
(42:28):
And I believe with all my heartthat this is the invitation that
you have for every person in thesound of my voice.
Every person who will be seeingthis through social media or
however it comes to them thisweek and in the weeks and the
months to come, Lord God.
But would you light a spark herethis morning at Vanguard
(42:51):
Central?
Would you light a spark atVanguard Trix even right now?
God, would you do something inus and through us for your glory
like we've never seen orexperienced before?
Because, God, we believe thatprayer is where transfiguration
meets transformation.
(43:12):
So, God, do that in us andthrough us this week.
And all God's people said, Amen,yes, amen.
Good morning, Vanguard Church.
Good morning.
You know, I had a veryinteresting morning a little
less than four weeks ago.
It was a really important day inmy family's life, and there was
a lot involved in that day.
Before I even woke up to facethe day, though, the Lord gave
(00:22):
me a dream, a vision.
It's been a really curiousseason in that it seems like
He's spoken to me multiple timesthrough dreams and visions
recently.
But that morning was anunexpected dream, an unexpected
vision.
Before I even opened my eyes,the Lord spoke to me.
And he said two words.
(00:44):
He said, transfiguration,prayer.
And I remember in my dreamsaying, What?
What?
My devotions had been in the OldTestament.
I had not been reading in theGospels recently, particularly
regarding that.
So the Lord saying thistransfiguration prayer was a
(01:09):
little bit out of the blue.
And so in my dream vision, I'mlike, Lord, what?
And he said, Mount ofTransfiguration, you know the
story.
And then he started justdownloading images to me.
And with that, I woke up.
I went into the kitchen, Igrabbed my coffee, I grabbed my
Bible, and I went outside whereKelly was already sitting with
(01:31):
his coffee and his Bible doinghis devotions.
And for the next hour and a halfor so, I sat there and I was
just writing down what the Lordwas showing me about
transfiguration prayer.
It was astounding.
It was a moment I did notexpect.
When I got up from that moment,I told Kelly, I think the Lord
(01:55):
just gave me enough to write awhole book.
Wow.
What was that?
And the rest of the day I keptthinking about that theme:
transfiguration prayer.
The thing was, throughout theday, I was also having
conversations with the Lordabout this very thing because
you see, that day I had a fiveo'clock deadline for this
(02:16):
message.
And I kept talking to the Lordsaying, Well, thank you for what
you're showing me regardingtransfiguration prayer.
That's amazing.
I'll be happy to write thatcontent, do those podcasts,
write those conversation guideslater.
But Lord, just so you know, Ihave a five o'clock deadline
today.
You see, I had been invited byPastor Jenny to be the global
(02:40):
speaker for this month.
And every year, Vanguard Churchhas Glocal Month in November.
And every year, Vanguard Churchinvites one of those local
ministries to come and be thefeatured speaker.
And Jenny had invited me to dothat this year for Vanguard,
representing Family Disciple Me.
(03:02):
What an honor! There's so manythings I want to tell you about
Family Disciple Me.
This ministry is eight yearsold.
This ministry is a 501c3nonprofit.
This ministry is birthed out ofmy own life as a mom and my life
as the co-founder of VanguardChurch.
My life involved in thisministry from the groundroots,
(03:25):
from the bottom to the top.
My life being involved inchildren's ministry for so many
years.
My life as a heartbeat for thischurch, wanting to see
discipleship happen.
This ministry, Family DiscipleMe, is online.
It's on podcast platforms.
It's recently come on YouTube,and that's a very scary thing,
(03:46):
but there we there we begin.
This ministry is atfamilydiscipleme.org where
there's devotion-drivendiscipleship guides.
And this ministry is about tolaunch an app next year.
Can't wait for these resourcesto become more easily
accessible.
I could tell you about thisministry that our heartbeat is
(04:08):
to make devotion-drivendiscipleship as easy as every
conversation you have along theway.
Because we believe thatdiscipleship starts with a
conversation and that God wantsevery single Christ follower to
have those conversations withthe people that God's entrusted
(04:29):
to you.
There's so much I can tell youabout family disciple me.
But all day long I was saying,Lord, which piece do you want me
to tell Vanguard Church on localweekend about family disciple
me?
And he said to me, He said,Tasha, I've already given you
the message.
Because Tasha, I don't want youto tell Vanguard Church what
(04:51):
Family Disciple Me does.
I want you to show them whatFamily Disciple Me does.
And I want you to talk to themabout, say it with me,
transfiguration prayer.
Yes.
Yes, Lord.
I hear you.
I understand what you want me todo.
Because you see, this is the oneSunday of the whole year in the
(05:15):
Vanguard calendar that thespeaker gets to choose what they
talk about.
And so I had been talking to theLord about prayer at Vanguard
and wanting to see Vanguardiansrise up in prayer in a new way.
And so the Lord said, I've givenyou the platform and I've told
you what I want you to talk toVanguard Church about.
(05:36):
So, Vanguardians, today, today,we're talking about
transfiguration prayer.
And here's the tagline whereheaven meets here.
I don't know about you, but Iwant a little bit more of that
in my life.
I want to see a little bit moreof that in this church.
I want to see more of that inthe reach that we have in our
(05:58):
families, in the people that arewatching online, in the people
that are listening.
I want heaven to meet here justa little bit more because
there's been enough hell.
Anybody want to agree with me onthat?
It's time for us to talk to Godin a new way.
So if you will, if you will openyour programs, if you'll open
(06:19):
your Bibles, if you'll open yourinternet devices, we're going to
be looking at various scripturesthroughout the New Testament, in
particular the three Gospels,where we see the Mount of
Transfiguration.
But before we get there, we'regoing to look at Luke chapter
11, verse 1.
Now, Jesus was praying in acertain place.
(06:40):
And when he finished, one of hisdisciples said to him, Lord,
teach us to pray.
And when Jesus taught them topray, he taught them the Lord's
Prayer.
So I want us to stand.
Go ahead, let's stand.
And we're going to say theLord's Prayer.
Ready?
Our Father who art in heaven,hallowed be your name.
(07:02):
Thy kingdom come, thy will bedone on earth as it is in
heaven.
Give us this day our daily breadand forgive us our sins as we
forgive those who sin againstus.
And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and thepower and the glory forever.
(07:24):
And all God's people said, Amen.
Yes.
All right.
You may be seated.
You know, are you ready for Godto teach you something new about
prayer?
Okay.
Are you ready?
Okay.
So I believe, I believe there inLuke chapter 11 in Matthew 6,
when Jesus taught the Lord'sPrayer, He was giving them the
(07:45):
eloquence of prayer.
Okay?
But today I want to show yousomething where He showed the
disciples the experience ofprayer, the encounter of prayer.
Because the more and more time Ilook at this topic,
transfiguration prayer, Ibelieve it's not just about our
(08:06):
words, it's about ourwillingness.
It's about our heart posturebefore God in his presence.
It's not about just the thingsthat we say.
So with that, we're going tolook at Luke chapter 9, verse
28.
Now, the Mount ofTransfiguration is a story that
I've heard about my whole life.
I've been in church andChristian schools and seminary
(08:29):
and all that my whole life.
I've circled this story 50million times, but not once has
it ever been more to me than anyada yada.
Okay, he went up a mountain, hesaw some people, that's great,
and I just kept going.
But God has stopped me in thisplace.
He's stopped me.
And this story of the Mount ofTransfiguration is told in three
(08:49):
of the four Gospels.
It's told in Luke chapter 9, inMark chapter 9, and in Matthew
chapter 17.
So we're gonna look at parts ofall three of those narratives so
that we can see the biggerpicture of what happened on the
Mount of Transfiguration.
But we're gonna start here inLuke chapter 9, verse 28.
Now, after about eight daysafter these sayings, he, that's
(09:13):
Jesus, took with him Peter andJohn and James and went up on
the mountain to pray.
Now, why did Jesus take Peter,James, and John?
I don't know.
He had 12 disciples.
Why did Jesus go up a mountainfor this experience?
I don't know.
(09:34):
It's just where he decided togo.
What I do know is this going upa mountain takes work, it takes
effort, it takes a willingness,it takes a desire.
And he took three of hisdisciples up there on the
mountain with him for somethingthat was really important.
And that was this two words topray.
(09:57):
Come on, guys, I want you tocome with me.
Maybe he invited all thedisciples, and only three were
willing to take the hike.
I don't know.
Maybe the others were occupied,maybe they had other stuff to
do.
Sounds a lot like our prayerlives, doesn't it?
And Jesus invited at least thethree, because at least three
went with him up the mountain topray.
So how do we rebegin with Jesusin prayer?
Here's point number one (10:21):
accept Jesus' invitation to take you
somewhere.
Accept Jesus' invitation to takeyou somewhere.
He wants to take you out of yourcomfort zone, out of your
regular life, out of the chaosof your life, out of the stuff
of your life, out of theproblems of your life, about
(10:41):
whatever it is that's going onin your world right now.
And he wants to take yousomewhere.
Where's the new place he'scalling you today?
Where is he calling you?
I hope by the end of thismessage you hear his call really
loud and clear, clear to prayer.
Here's what I do know as he'scalling us, it takes our
(11:05):
willingness to follow him.
And when I talk about prayerthis morning, I'm not just
talking about words.
I don't know about you all, butsometimes I run out of words
when it comes to prayer.
I was telling Gary and Virginiathis morning, my my prayers have
have boiled down to one reallyeasy four-letter word.
(11:25):
Help.
And God's okay with that.
He's inviting me to gosomewhere, just like he's
inviting you, just like heinvited those three disciples.
And so the question is (11:38):
will you let him guide you into some
place new in your relationshipwith him?
I don't care how long you'vebeen a believer or how short
you've been a believer.
I don't care whether you're oldor whether you're young.
I don't care whether you're agrandparent, a parent, an
auntie, an uncle, a youngperson, a teenager, a young
(11:58):
adult.
It doesn't matter.
Jesus is inviting you somewhere.
Are you willing to go there?
Are you willing to go?
And then scripture continues.
And this time we're going tolook at three different of the
gospels.
Matthew 17, verse 2 says, and hewas, here's the word,
transfigured before them, andhis face shone like the sun, and
his clothes became white aslight.
(12:20):
And then Mark 9 says, and he wastransfigured before them, and
his clothes became radiant,intensely white.
No one on earth could bleachthem as bright as that.
Luke chapter 9, 29 says this,and as he was praying, the
appearance of his face wasaltered, and his clothing became
(12:43):
dazzling white.
So how do we rebegin with Jesusin prayer?
Here's point number two.
Look what he will show youthere.
Got a little poetry going onhere, okay?
It's a little bit broken meter,but accept Jesus' invitation to
take you somewhere.
And then number two, look atwhat he will show you there.
(13:06):
With Family Disciple Me, we havea theme.
It's on the back of our shirtstoday.
Seek him, speak him.
I believe that this prayer thatencounters God, it starts with
those two words, seek him.
Because here's what he promises.
When we seek him, he will befound by us.
(13:27):
When we seek him, he will showus his presence.
And when we seek him, we'regoing to see his glory.
Prayer opens our eyes to what isalready true about God's
character.
And then it changes us.
Look what Romans 12, verse 2says.
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed by the
(13:51):
renewal of your mind that bytesting you may discern what is
the will of God, what is goodand acceptable and perfect.
And then look at 2 Corinthianschapter 3, verses 16 through 18.
When one turns to the Lord,shall we say, when one seeks
Him, the veil is removed.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, andwhere the Spirit of the Lord is,
(14:14):
there is freedom.
And we all with unveiled face,catch this next phrase, because
it's important.
We all with unveiled facebeholding the glory of the Lord.
That's what happened on theMount of Transfiguration that
God's offering to us.
We all beholding the glory ofthe Lord are being what?
(14:36):
Transformed into the same imagefrom one degree of glory to
another.
For this comes from the Lord,who is the Spirit.
Accept Jesus' invitation to takeyou somewhere and then look at
what he will show you here.
And here's the thing (14:51):
when we encounter Jesus in
transfiguration prayer, hebegins this renewal work of
transformation in us.
Transfiguration is what we willexperience someday in eternity
when we are with him.
But transformation is what he'sdoing in us right now as we seek
(15:14):
him.
Anyone want a little bit of thatin their lives?
I do.
Prayer doesn't change God,prayer changes our capacity to
see God, to know God, and bechanged by him.
Prayer is where, I believe,transfiguration meets
(15:34):
transformation.
Show it to you this way.
Transfiguration, transformation,and prayer is what holds those
two and brings those twotogether.
Standing in the gap.
Prayer is where transfigurationmeets transformation.
It's where heaven meets here.
(15:56):
That's the truth.
It's not just about our words.
It's not just about saying allthe right things or oops, I said
the wrong things.
It's it's about our presencewith Jesus.
Look what happened.
Luke chapter 9, verse 30 and 31.
And behold, as all this washappening, two men were talking
with him.
(16:17):
Moses and Elijah, who appearedin glory and spoke of his
departure, which he was about toaccomplish at Jerusalem.
That verse stopped me in mytracks.
It stopped me in my tracks.
You have to know that here'sJesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
Moses died 12 to 14 centuriesprior.
(16:40):
Elijah died about nine centuriesprior.
We are talking 900 to 1,400years prior.
These guys died.
But here they are on the mountof transfiguration, and they are
picking up their conversationwith Jesus right where they left
it off, you know, a fewcenturies prior.
That's amazing.
So they're on the Mount ofTransfiguration, just chatting
(17:02):
with Jesus, old friend.
They're just talking to him, butthey're talking to him about
what is about to happen.
They're talking prophecy withhim.
They're talking about Jesuscoming, crucifixion, and what
redemption he's going to bringwith that.
There are so many threads to theOld Testament here.
(17:24):
This is amazing.
Moses led the first exodus ofthe people of God from Israel.
And now Jesus is about to leadhis people out of the Exodus
from the bondage of slavery.
And here they are on the Mountof Transfiguration, just
chatting it up, having aconversation with Jesus.
(17:49):
That says so much to us.
If you have a loved one who'salready gone to be with the
Lord, just think about that fora few minutes.
Okay?
Let that comfort you.
Let that be a rabbit trail thatthe Lord takes you down this
week.
But there is something thathappens in this moment that I
want us to sit on.
(18:09):
Because Moses teaches us aboutprayer.
Elijah teaches us about prayer.
And so let's go back to thelittle poetry.
Accept Jesus' invitation to takeyou somewhere.
Look at what he will show yousomewhere.
And here's point three (18:25):
consider his examples and become aware.
So this is where God stopped mein my tracks and he said, I want
you to look at each of thepeople who were on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
And I want you to learnsomething from them about
following me and specificallyabout prayer.
(18:46):
Moses has so much to teach usabout having conversations with
God.
So much.
Elijah has so much to teach usabout having conversations with
God.
But you know who else hassomething to teach us about
prayer?
Turns out Peter, James, andJohn.
(19:06):
They all have something to teachus about prayer.
And see, here's the thing.
With family disciple me, wealways say seek him leads to
speak him.
Can you all say that with me?
Seek him, speak him.
There's no comma in betweenthose two words, those four
words, that that phrase, becauseit's one run-on.
Seek him, speak him.
(19:29):
That's what Moses did.
Moses sought the Lord face toface as a man has conversations
with a friend, and then he turnsaround and he speaks the Lord
into the lives of his people.
Same thing with Elijah.
Elijah sought the Lord.
Elijah encountered the Lord andthen he turned around and he
spoke him into the people.
(19:49):
Turns out Peter, James, and Johndid that too, each in their own
ways.
And this week, I'm going toinvite you to go on a journey
with me and with Family DiscipleMe as we look at the lives of
the people who were on themountain of transfiguration.
This week, I'm going to inviteyou into something challenging
(20:10):
to spend about 30 minutes a daylooking at each of these lives,
listening to a podcast thattalks about them a little bit,
and then spending time withJesus with the accompanying
devotion-driven discipleshipguide.
All of this is available atfamilydiscipleme.org.
Let this guide you in yourpersonal devotions so that you
(20:33):
meet with God.
But here's what happens when youmeet with God.
One of my very favorite versesin all of Scripture has always
been Exodus chapter 33, verse11.
The Lord used to speak to Mosesface to face as a man speaks
with a friend.
(20:53):
I love that.
But here's the part that justgets me.
When Moses turned again into thecamp, his assistant Joshua, the
son of Nun, a young man, wouldnot depart from the tent.
You see, here's the thing.
When we meet with God and makehim known, there's other people
watching us.
(21:15):
They're watching how we spendtime with the Lord.
They're watching whether or notwe're going to press into him,
whether we're willing to climbthe mountain and get outside of
our comfort zones, whether we'regoing to spend time with Jesus
in his word, whether we're goingto pray about everything,
whether we're willing to confessour sins, even as we sin against
(21:40):
others, forgiving, like they arewatching us.
I love that Joshua was in thetent, watching Moses.
I have no greater honor than tosee my son Joshua stay in the
tent meeting with God longerthan I do.
That is the best, best thingthat as a mom I can watch
(22:03):
unfold.
And I believe that's the bestthing that every single person
in this room watching online andthe sound of my voice, when we
seek him and our lives speakhim, we get to see the next
generation move into the tentand experience God.
When we go up that mountain andmeet with God, whatever that
(22:25):
mountain looks like, for some ofus, the mountain is the car.
For some of us, the mountain isour rocking chair at home.
For some of us, the mountain iswhen we're putting on our
makeup, getting ready for theday.
And we've also got the wordopen.
The mountain is your space andplace with God.
But when we're willing to go upthe mountain and meet with God,
there's other people standing atthe base of it saying, Oh,
(22:46):
that's how you walk up thatmountain.
And we are going to startfinding that they're going to
start coming up that pathbecause they have a guide
through us.
That's the call and that's theinvitation and that's the
challenge of family disciple me.
So will you pay attention to theexamples that God's placed
before you?
(23:07):
Examples here in his word,Moses, Elijah, Peter, James,
John, Jesus, specifically thisweek.
Will you pay attention to the tothe examples God's put in your
life here in this room, here inyour life?
And I learn about prayer fromyou.
You have been an example to me.
John and Sandy, you've beenexamples.
(23:30):
So many people in this churchare examples.
God gives us examples to follow,but here's the thing.
And this is for every singleperson.
It's not just about followingthe examples, it's about being
the example.
And that's the call ofdevotion-driven discipleship.
Scripture goes on and it says,Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is
(23:52):
good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make threetenths here.
One for you, one for Moses, onefor Elijah.
Mark 9 gives us thisperspective.
And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi,it is good that we are here.
Let us make the three tenths.
One for you, one for Moses, onefor Elijah.
For he did not know what to say,for he was, they were terrified.
And then Luke 9 says, Now Peterand those who were with him were
(24:15):
heavy with sleep.
But when they became fullyawake, they saw his glory and
two men who stood with him.
And as the men were parting fromhim, Peter said to Jesus,
Master, it is good that we arehere.
Let us make three tents, one foryou, one for Moses, and one for
Elijah, not knowing what hesaid.
Here's the thing.
How do we rebegin with Jesus inprayer?
(24:37):
Point number four, let him shiftyour focus elsewhere.
Let him shift your focuselsewhere.
I do not have time to talk aboutall the emotions that we see in
these scriptures, but we gotfear, we got terror, we got
exhaustion, we got foot andmouth disease, we've like we've
got it all.
(24:58):
This is true for us too, by theway.
What's encapsulated here is truefor us in prayer and in faith as
well.
But Jesus wants us to encounterhim, he wants us to see him on
the mountain, he wants us toexperience something with him,
and he wants us to let him shiftour focus elsewhere.
(25:18):
Here's the thing that the Lordhighlighted to me, and I'll just
say this one thing.
Honoring Moses and Elijah is nota bad thing.
We're gonna be honoring themthis week in our follow-up
conversations.
Moses has so much to teach usabout how to intercede.
(25:39):
Elijah has so much to teach usabout how to believe.
The thing is, God doesn't wantus to just focus on the good
things, He wants us to shift ourfocus to the greatest thing.
Our focus always has to go backto Him.
So our families are really goodthings, right?
But they're not the greatestthing.
(26:01):
Our church is a really goodthing, but it's not the greatest
thing.
Family disciple me ministry, areally good thing.
It's a pretty great thing, butit's not the greatest thing.
The greatest thing is that ineverything we do, when we pray,
when we go up that mountain, ourfocus is to be on him.
(26:21):
He is the one.
So listen to what, listen towhat happens.
Matthew 17, verse 5.
While Peter was still speaking,God cut him off.
Oh, it doesn't say that exactly,but that's what happened.
While Peter was still speaking,behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them, and a voicefrom the cloud said, This is my
(26:42):
beloved son, with whom I am wellpleased.
Listen to him.
When the disciples heard this,they fell on their faces, they
were terrified.
But Jesus came, Jesus touchedthem, and Jesus said, Rise, have
no fear.
And when they lifted up theireyes, they saw no one but Jesus
(27:03):
only.
How do we rebegin with Jesus inprayer?
Point number five.
Be sure to hear what hedeclares.
Listen to him.
Listen to him.
It's great that you're listeningto me right now, here in person,
watching online, listeninglater.
It's great if you will join meand the Family Disciple Me
(27:27):
podcast this week.
I hope that you will.
I hope that you will become partof this prayer initiative, but
ultimately, those are justresources, examples, content to
get you to focus on the one whois the one that we're ultimately
to listen to.
We seek him.
We want to listen to his voice.
(27:49):
True prayer isn't just measuredby how much or what we say, but
I believe it's just as muchmeasured by how much we hear and
how much we listen.
Jesus came, he touched thedisciples, and he spoke to them.
And when we listen to Jesus likethat, when we encounter him,
(28:10):
he's going to do the same in ourlives.
That's where we begin a livingconversation with the God of the
universe.
And that's where we begin withdevotion-driven discipleship.
So look at Matthew 17.
Because once we're up on themount of transfiguration with
Jesus and we have this Godencounter where we meet with him
in this transfiguration prayerthat transforms us, well, the
(28:33):
thing is, the mountain alwaysleads to the mission.
We're not just meant to stand onthe mountains forever.
God wants us to take thatencounter with him down into the
valleys of our lives, down intothe regular days of our lives,
down into our houses, down intoour neighborhoods, down into the
(28:55):
grocery store, down into thecar, down into wherever we go.
And look what Jesus and thedisciples encountered.
We're going to pick up inMatthew 17, verse 14.
And when they came to the crowd,a man came up to him and
kneeling before him said, Lord,have mercy on my son, for he has
seizures and he suffersterribly, for often he falls
(29:16):
into the fire and often into thewater.
And I brought him to yourdisciples, and they could not
heal him.
And Jesus answered, Oh,faithless and twisted
generation, how long am I to bewith you?
How long am I to bear with you?
Bring him here to me.
And Jesus rebuked the demon, andit came out of him, and the boy
(29:37):
was healed instantly.
They came down from the cloud ofGod's presence into the chaos of
people.
Anyone have that in their lives?
Am I the only one?
Oh, are there a few in thisroom, maybe?
You know, we meet with God andthen we come down into a world
(29:58):
where we make Him known and It'sa messy world.
It's a chaotic world.
It's a world filled with hurtingpeople.
It's a world filled with peoplewho've got illnesses and
sicknesses.
And let's face it, it's a worldthat's filled with demonic
activity that wants to steal anddestroy and kill everything
about our lives.
That's the enemy's goal.
(30:20):
And yet into that place, Jesusstepped.
He was merciful, he was kind, hewas truthful, he was direct.
He didn't pull any punches here,but he was also powerful and he
spoke healing.
So how do we rebegin with Jesusin prayer?
(30:40):
We watch Jesus' example of care.
We watch his example of care.
You see, mountaintop momentsleads to mission.
And every single one of you hasa mission that God has given
you.
(31:16):
But if you're going to have anycare that flows out of you to
them, any care that goes beyondrandom acts of kindness, any
consistent care and compassionthat reflects the face of the
Father, well, you have to be inthe face of the Father because
then you glow with His presence.
And when you step from mountaininto mission, you carry His care
(31:38):
and His compassion with you.
What we experience, what weexperience in our intimate time
with Jesus should impact ourrelationships with people.
And that's what eventuallyhappened with the disciples.
You see, those three wereinvited up to that mountain
(31:58):
moment, then they came down intothe world.
They were struck in the face bythe chaos.
And listen to what they said,Matthew 17, verse 19.
Then the disciples came to Jesusprivately and said, Why couldn't
we cast out that demon?
He said this to them, because ofyour little faith.
For truly I say to you, if youhave faith like a grain of
(32:21):
mustard seed, you will say tothis mountain, Move from here to
there, and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible foryou.
But this kind never comes outexcept by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9 says, and when he hadentered the house, his disciples
asked him privately, Whycouldn't we cast out that demon?
(32:41):
And he said to them, This kindcannot be driven out by anything
but prayer.
Oh friends, how do we rebeginwith Jesus in prayer?
Here's the final point.
We let Jesus transform ourprayer.
(33:01):
We let him transform it.
We let him change it.
You know, I think it's soamazing.
He said, you are powerless inprayer because you don't have
enough faith.
I want you to have more faith,people who follow me, because if
you start with a little grain ofmustard seed faith and you let
(33:23):
it grow, you can say to thismountain, move, and it's gonna
move.
You know the amazing thing aboutthis?
Here's a big theological word,pericope in scripture.
They started out on the mountainof transfiguration where Jesus
went to pray.
And they get over here andthey're saying, But, but why?
(33:44):
Why why?
And he's like, What you'refacing, you can't do anything
about except by prayer.
And by the way, if you want tomove that mountain over there,
it's through prayer.
And he points back up to thatmountain and he says, he says,
get this.
My words to articulate hisprayer is where heaven meets
(34:09):
here.
You want to move that mountain?
Well, this kind doesn't come outexcept by prayer and fasting.
Jesus wants to transform yourprayers.
And the question, why couldn'twe?
Why couldn't we cast out thatdemon?
Why weren't our prayerseffective?
Why didn't why, why, why?
Jesus says, I want you to stopfocusing on your inadequacy, and
(34:31):
I want you to come back tointimacy with me because that's
where it is.
That's where it is, that's thecall.
So this week, this week,Vanguard Church, this week,
people who are watching online,this week for people who are
listening later online, thisweek, wherever this week begins,
(34:53):
we are going to lean into prayerin a new way.
I challenge you, I challenge youto use the Family Disciple Me
resources this week.
Each day, starting today,there's a podcast.
Yes, you will hear yours truly.
You're gonna hear me.
(35:14):
Go past my voice.
Listen to his voice.
Listen to that short 10 to 15minute podcast, and then I
challenge you to follow that upby spending time in the
devotion-driven discipleshipguide.
All this is available on yourhandy dandy smartphone.
I'm pretty sure everybody inhere has one.
(35:35):
You're gonna pull up that familydisciple me,
familydiscipleme.org.
You're gonna come to the homepage, and when you scroll down,
you will see all the links forall the podcast, for all the
conversation guides.
Just a little sneak peek.
When our app comes out nextyear, it's gonna be really fun
and easy, and it's all gonna bein one place.
(35:56):
But the thing is, discipleshipdoesn't start with an app.
Discipleship starts with afamily disciple meeting,
conversation.
Discipleship starts with aconversation, and that's
something that we can do today.
So this week, I challenge you totake a mountain hike with me.
(36:18):
Take a mountain hike with thefamily disciple meet ministry,
and we're gonna go back up thatmountain of transfiguration.
We're gonna look at the livesMoses, Elijah, Peter, James,
John, Jesus, and our hearts aregonna be transformed by prayer.
I want to tell you how this haschanged me already.
I've learned how to intercede ina new way, like Moses.
(36:41):
Interceding, meeting with Godface to face, as best as I can
in my broken way, but learninghow to stand in the gap for
others.
Pray for the prodigals, pray forthe people that puts on my
heart, pray for those who arecaptured in human slavery.
(37:01):
This week there was a majorbreakthrough where God did
something powerful because God'speople were interceding.
Just look up scam compounds andsee what God has done, acts of
mercy.
God has been teaching me how tobelieve like Elijah because I
don't know about you, but I needsome miracles in my life.
(37:23):
Anyone need some miracles?
We were saying about thatearlier.
Yeah, Caitlin, I need somemiracles.
Elijah believed God formiracles.
The question is, will we praylike that?
And then we come to Peter andPeter messes up.
Peter's always got foot andmouth disease, but you know
what?
I love Peter so much because I'mjust like him.
(37:44):
Just like him.
Jesus said to Peter, Peter,you're gonna mess up, but I'm
praying for you.
And when I get finished prayingfor you and you rise back up,
just like I pray for you to bestrengthened, I want you to go
strengthen somebody else.
Peter lived out devotion-drivendiscipleship.
And we're gonna pray like Peterthis week.
(38:05):
And then we're gonna come toJames.
And James is the guy who didn'thave any of his exact words
recorded in Scripture.
He was, I don't know, lessimportant, even though he was
called James the Greater.
But he's like the rest of us.
He was just a normal guy.
He wasn't important enough to bequoted.
And yet Peter lived a life oftransformed prayer and faith
(38:28):
that echoes through time.
And James teaches us to follow.
John, he was one of the sons ofthunder, booming, arrogant,
wanted to place a position.
He wanted to call down fire fromheaven.
That's the truth of that son ofthunder.
But Jesus transformed him into adisciple who abides.
(38:48):
And there's no one in Scripturewho loved Jesus more than John.
And God's gonna transform ourprayer life to abide as well.
Jesus teaches us to surrender inprayer.
And in all of this, as we walkthrough that each day this week,
Vanguard Church, my prayer foryou, my prayer for us, my prayer
(39:10):
for everybody, and the sound ofthe voice of Family Disciple Me
Ministry is that through thisprayer initiative this week,
that God lights a spark in us,that then it becomes that little
spark that we light into ourchildren and our children's
children and our friends and ourextended family and our
(39:31):
neighbors and other believers,those that are on the other side
of the country and those thatare on the other side of the
world.
God wants to do something withus so that when we come to those
moments where we say, Whycouldn't we cast this out?
And Jesus says, This kind canonly come out through prayer.
We say, Oh, thanks for thereminder.
(39:52):
And we get ourselves back on upthat mountain to meet with God
like never before.
That's the invitation oftransfiguration prayer.
That's the invitation to gowhere heaven meets here.
My prayer and our prayer isthis.
(40:15):
And if it's in, if you have yourprogram, I invite you to open it
and say it with me.
If you're watching online, ifyou've got the online, you'll
see it in there.
I want us to pray this, and I'mgonna pray it as a prayer
blessing over us as we close theservice.
God transform me and transfiguremy prayer life for your glory,
(40:41):
my good, and the good of allthose you entrust to me.
In the name of the Father andthe Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Friends, go with God this week.
Go with him.
Listen to his voice, walkthrough each of these
conversations.
(41:01):
We're gonna be doing this as achurch this week.
We're starting here at VanguardCentral.
Vanguard Trilakes is going onthis same journey with us.
And then we're gonna close thisprayer initiative next weekend
with Pastor John as he gives usmore leading and direction in
prayer.
Vanguard, Vanguard, we arelaunching an encounter room here
(41:24):
in our premises where you canmeet with God, with other
believers, and you can pray likenever before.
Vanguard, I invite you onWednesday, come anytime during
the day on Wednesday as thestaff is in and out.
Come kneel in T6 during the day.
Pray with us at noon.
This week at noon, this weekfrom 8 to 8:30.
(41:46):
We're gonna be in that room as astaff worshiping and praying.
Vanguard Church, don't leavethis week the same.
Don't, don't, don't leave thesame person.
When the calendar rolls aroundto next weekend, say, God, I've
met with you like never before,and I want to make you known now
(42:07):
like never before as well.
That is the mission of VanguardChurch, and that's the mission
of Family Disciple Me.
Let me pray for us.
Lord God, I pray anointing overthis message.
It's not my message, this isyour idea.
Because I did not think of thisone on my own.
This is of you.
(42:28):
And I believe with all my heartthat this is the invitation that
you have for every person in thesound of my voice.
Every person who will be seeingthis through social media or
however it comes to them thisweek and in the weeks and the
months to come, Lord God.
But would you light a spark herethis morning at Vanguard
(42:51):
Central?
Would you light a spark atVanguard Trix even right now?
God, would you do something inus and through us for your glory
like we've never seen orexperienced before?
Because, God, we believe thatprayer is where transfiguration
meets transformation.
(43:12):
So, God, do that in us andthrough us this week.
And all God's people said, Amen,yes, amen.
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