Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Is it possible that the pain you're going through right
now is because you did not seek God, but you
just went ahead and made a decision without checking in
with him. Highly probable. And now God said, I could
have saved you a lot of effort if you just
sought me. Just have a conversation with you two or
three times a day and I'll go red light danger,
(00:24):
read Will Robinson, that's danger, don't go that direction. Is
it possible, Yes, that pain is because you did not
seek God in the past. You made a bunch of
dumb decisions, and now you're paying the results of it.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Okay, here's the third step.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
The third step in prayers that get answered is express
my desires with emotion. Express my desires. When I want
to ask God for something I'm praying about. God, I
need this, whether it's a physical need, a material need,
a spiritual need, and emotional need. Whatever you're asking for God,
in prayer, you express my emotion my desire with emotion.
(01:02):
So many of our prayers are just cut and dried.
We just say these words. We don't even know what
we're talking about. We have these little you know, things
we've memorized. Now I lay me down to sleep, I
pray the Lord my soul to keep you know, And
if I should die before I wake, I pray the
Lord my soul.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
To take That means nothing. It's just little thing.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Or you sit down fas it bless this food to
the nourishment of our bodies, the bless the gift and
the giver and it and it's it's not. There's no emotion,
there's no authenticity. It's just things you've learned. God doesn't
care how beautiful your prayer sounds. In fact, God doesn't
even care as much about the words as he cares
as much about the emotions. Have you learned that you
(01:42):
can say the right words and the wrong emotion and
your spouse doesn't get it. Yes, you can say all
the right things, but you didn't what do you mean
by that because of the tone of your voice? And
so he's saying, God is an emotional God. The only
reason you have emotions, the good ones and the bad ones,
(02:05):
is because you're made in God's image. Human beings have
emotions that none of the animals have.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
We have a whole.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Pentopy of emotions because God is an emotional god. The
Bible says God gets happy the Bible says God gets sad.
He's sad when he sees a rape, when he sees
a molestation, when he sees a war. God is sad
when he sees what people do to each other out
of selfishness. And the Bible says, God gets angry. That's
(02:33):
why you can get angry. You're made in God's image.
The Bible says, God gets jealous. Why and that's why
you get jealous, because when God sees you giving your
love to something else instead of him that belongs to him,
he gets jealous. The Bible says, God gets frustrated. He
looks down and he sees all of the stuff we're doing.
He goes, I told you not to do that, and
you're doing it anyway. It's gonna mess you up. He
(02:55):
gets frustrated. Now could God change it? Of course, he
could turn us all into puppets. But God's going to
just back out of your life.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Have it your way.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I'm not going to force you to love me. I'm
not going to force you to do the right thing.
So you and I make selfish decisions every day, and
people get hurt. That's why there's sin, that's why there's
evil in the world because God gives us the freedom
to choose. And so God just says, okay, I'll just
back off. Let let you reap the results of your
own own decision. But God says, I'm an emotional God.
(03:25):
Jesus dying on the cross was an emotional scene, highly emotional.
Jesus dying the cross was emotionally agonizing to him.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
It was agonizing to.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
God the father watching his son die that way, but
doing it for your benefit. It was agonizing with the
people who are watching. It's an emotional thing, and God
is very emotional about you. Do you realize this? God,
just go I love you now. God loves you passionately, emotionally.
God has deep, deep, deep feelings for you. How much
(03:59):
he loves you. If you don't know how much you
llwed you look at the cross. I'm willing to die.
I'm willing to die for you. That's how much God
has emotion for you. And so God says, I want
you when I have such emotion for you, I want
you to talk to me emotionally. Don't just do these
little prayer things where you read a prayer and there's
no emotion in it. Let me ask you, does tone
(04:24):
make a difference when you make a request. Of course
it does, you know. I mean, how about guys, if
you had said to your future spouse on a date,
you go, EX like you to marry me. Please, I
want you to marry me. She go, buddy. If you
can't say it with a little bit more passion than that,
(04:45):
forget it.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
That ain't going to happen.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Do any of you remember when you were little and
somebody was tickling you, and it was fun at the start,
and then it got too much, okay, And.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
When you wanted to stop taking you go please stop, no,
please stop tiggling me. I can't handle it anymore.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And you are passionate of passion intensity shows house up
much something matters to you now If you ask God
about something, God, I really like this, but you're not
passionate about it.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
God goes, w how.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Do I know it's just a if you only pray
about it once, you're not willing to pray about it
more than once, and you never talk to God about God, I.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Really need this.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I gotta have this. You know I've got to have it.
Then God goes, what is this a wish or a whim?
Or is it really a true? Desire, and so the
Bible says this. Here's the third thing Daniel did.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Verse three.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Second part of it, he says, I began pleading with
God earnestly in prayer circle. The word pleading, God listens
to pleading. Makes me think about a story I heard
a while back, where as a kid, a young kid
who at Christmas time he wanted a Star Wars watch
(05:56):
and it was really cool watch. I had Yoda on it,
and he just and so he was bugging his parents, Mom,
I want this Star Wars watch for Christmas, Dad, I
want this Star Wars watch for Christmas.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
He just keeps on and on.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And on, every conversation, every meal he's mentioning the Star
Wars watch, and finally his dad goes, Johnny, we got it.
If you mentioned this one more time, you're not gonna
get the watch.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Smart kid backs off, doesn't doesn't do anything.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
About a week later, they're having the whole family sitting
at dinner and the dad says, hey, you know what,
it's good for us to talk about the Bible. So
everybody just share your your favorite Bible verse, anything or
Bible verse that you know you could say. And so
one of the kids goes John three sixteen, because everybody
(06:46):
knows that one for God still love the world. And
the teenager goes John eleven thirty five. Jesus wept, shortest
verse in the Bible. Anybody can memorize that two words,
Jesus wept. So okay, John John love their right.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Jesus wept. That's his verse.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So they go around the room and they come to Johnny,
and Johnny goes So they said, Johnny, what's your favorite verse?
He said, well, my favorite verse would be Mark thirteen
thirty seven, where Jesus said, I told you once and
I sand you again. Watch look at this verse in
the message paraphrase, Daniels nine three says, I poured out
(07:22):
my heart to God, bearing my soul to God.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Have you ever done that?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Have you ever poured out your heart to God? Have
you ever bared your soul to God? This is not
wimpy week praying. This is got cease praying. This is
gut wrenching praying. I'm pouring out my soul to God.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
God.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
I gotta have your help in this business. I gotta
have your help in this marriage. I've got to God.
I am telling you, I'm pouring out my heart I am.
I am being authentic. I'm baring my soul. It's kind
of like Jacob wrestling with the Angel. I'm not gonna
let go until you bless me God. Now, when was
(08:02):
the last time you ever prayed like that, pouring out
your soul to God emotionally?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I can tell you.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
You may have forgotten, but I can tell you the
last time you prayed like that, As your pastor friend,
spiritual coach, the last time you prayed like that.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Is when you were in deep, deep pain.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Because we don't pour out our hearts to God like
that when we're things are going great and we're skipping.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
The hills of Jerusalem picking flowers and.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Talking about peace, love and Bobby Sherman, you know, just
to have a happy day, smiling faith. No, you pour
out your God when you are in deep pain? Is
that the only time you pour out your heart to
God when you're in deep pain?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Can you do it any other time?
Speaker 1 (08:46):
This is called praying with emotion, called quote crying out
to God. Someday you may want to do a study
of this in the Bible, about all the times God
talks about quote crying out to God. There are many
many Euss samples of people of all sorts who cried
out to God and God heard their prayer. There are
many many promises in the Bible about crying out. God
(09:08):
does not listen to just complaints. He listens to crying
out in emotion to God, saying God, I really need
your help. Now, it says Daniel, he said he was pleading.
He's crying out. What is he pleading? What is Daniel
pleading with God about? He's going God, I want to
go back home. I'm an old man. I'm eighty five
(09:29):
years old. I spent my entire life serving pagan kings.
I've done good. I stayed true, kept my integrity in
a pagan world. I didn't deny my faith, and I
kept getting promoted. I'm pretty influential guy in the whole
kingdom here. But God, I want to go back home.
I really I'm going to go. I'm going to die
in my home country now. Jeremiah, the other guy at
(09:51):
the same time, had predicted that after seventy years, Babylon
would fall, and that then the people of God in
Babylon would start praying and pleading God let us go
back home. Here's what it says, Jeremiah chapter fifty. This
was his prediction. He says, then my people will join
together in tears. That's emotional praying. They'll join together in
(10:15):
tears to seek the Lord. And they will ask the
way to Jerusalem. What because it had been seventy years,
they didn't even know how to get back home. They
will ask the way to Jerusalem, and then we'll start
back home again. That is one of the most beautiful
phrases of hope in the Bible. They will start back
(10:37):
home again. America needs to do that and needs to
start back home again, and other nations need to do that.
They need to start back home again. You may need
to do this personally. I need to start back home again.
(10:58):
And maybe you've been so far away from God for
so long you don't even know how to get back
to Jerusalem.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I don't even know how to get back.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I've been so disconnected, disc combobulated and apart from God.
I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
And so what do you do?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
You plead, you pour out your heart. You joined together
in tears. When does God answer that kind of prayer?
When God's people join together in tears. I know many
(11:34):
of you use the daily Hope devotionals as part of
your regular Bible study. And so I want to share
some exciting news. We've put three hundred and sixty five
of the best devotionals into a brand new book that
we're calling the Daily Hope Devotional Purpose, Peace and Promise
for every Day. This devotional book is designed with clear,
(11:56):
practical biblical teaching to help you make knowing God your
numberumber one priority. I believe it will help you stay
focused on God throughout the day as He provides you
with real purpose, lasting peace, and his unfailing promises. Imagine
starting every day like that. This book is a great
way to share the hope you have in Jesus with
(12:17):
your friends, coworkers, and relatives.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I hope you'll get a copy for everyone you know.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Be sure and request your copy when you partner with
Daily Hope to take the word of God to a
hurting world.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Okay, here's the fourth thing. Here's the fourthie. There's six keys.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Number four. I need to demonstrate my seriousness. When you're
praying about something, you need to signal to God that
you mean business about this, that it's not just a
little whim, it's not just a casual thought. But you're
really serious about this. You want to let God see
how important whatever you're praying about is to you. Now. Daniel,
(13:01):
in the next part of this verse, mentions three ways
he shows he signals his seriousness to God. Two of
them were cultural customs, which we don't do in America
or anywhere I think today. But one of them is
a spiritual discipline that had been going on for centuries
and thousands of years, and people still do it today.
Here's what he says in verse three, the third part
(13:24):
of the verse. He said, I started fasting, which means
he's going without food. That's a spiritual discipline. He said,
I started fasting and went without food, and to show
my sadness, to demonstrate my seriousness, I put on rough
clothes and sat in ashes. Now nobody does this today.
This is called sackcloth and ashes, and it was done
(13:48):
for hundreds and hundreds of years in the Middle East
and in the Orient. I don't know that anybody does
this today. Jesus said, there are some miracles that happen
only by prayer and fasting, not by prayer alone. Why,
because it says God, I'm super serious about this. I'm
super serious enough to go without food that's how discipline
(14:08):
and serious I am about this prayer request. Moses fasted
before he received the Ten Commandments. The Israelite fasted from
before they went into many, many major battles. Daniel fasted
in order to receive guidance from God. Neamiah fasted before
he began a major building project. You should too, business guy.
(14:29):
Jesus fasted and victory over temptation. The very first Christians
fasted during decision making times in their life. We'll I'll
teach a whole lot more about this, but this is
the point of simply saying, I demonstrate my seriousness.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Okay. Number five.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
The fifth thing, Thank God for his love and promises.
Thank God for his love and promises. The Bible says,
when you ask, ask with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not a holiday.
If you're a believer, it's the attitude of your entire life.
You are to live with the attitude of gratitude. And
(15:07):
the fifth thing Daniel does in his prayer is he
reminds himself of how good God is, how gracious God is,
and how grateful he is to God. Daniel ninety four.
Then I prayed to the Lord, and I said, Lord,
you are great you are an awesome God. You always
fulfill your promises. You keep your word, you say it,
(15:28):
you keep your word. You always fulfill your promises of
constant love. And I'm flaky, you're not. I'm unfaithful to you,
but you're not unfaithful to me. You keep your promises
of concile love to those who love you, and keep
your commands down in Verse ninety says, and even though
we have rebelled against you, you Lord are merciful and forgiving. You.
(15:49):
Just tell God, God, I'm grateful that you're God, and
I'm not God. I'm grateful that you're loving, You're forgiving
your good You're merciful, and so you thank God for
his love and his promises. And then number six, the
sixth thing do you do? Is you humbly confess? I
(16:10):
humbly confess my sins. Confess just means to admit, that's
all it means. The word confessed in Greek is the
word homo lookgeo homo meaning same homosexual, Homo sapien homogenized
milk means same homo look geo means to speak the same.
To confess means I just agree. You're right God. That's wrong.
(16:34):
I agree with you. Got I was wrong, you were right.
And that's what confession is. And so God responds to humility.
When I'm prideful, God didn't hear my prayers. Man, God,
prideful prayers. God resists the proud, the Bible says, but
gives grace to the humble.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
But when I go God, I really blew it. In fact, I've.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Been blown it for a long time. And let me
tell you it's specifically how I'm blowing it. Daniel gets
very very specific in confessing. I just wrote some of
the verses. I'm just going to read them to you
and not even comment. And I want you to circle
the verbs which are the sins. Okay, He says, we've
sinned none wrong. Then he says, we've rebelled against you.
That's one rebelled circle that we've rebelled against you. He says,
(17:20):
we've ignored your commands, circle ignored. He says, we've rejected
your laws. We made up our own morality. We've rejected
your laws. He says, we have refused to listen to
your servants. The prophets refused who spoke the message to
our kings and our leaders and our parents and everybody
(17:40):
else in our nation. He says, this is very specific.
We're all at faultier every generation. It's not like one
generation in America. Every generation's got part of the blame.
And then in verse seven and eight, he says this,
we've brought disgrace and shame on ourselves as a nation
because we've been unfaithful to you. You know what, God,
We've committed spiritual adultery. We gave our love to somebody
(18:03):
else when we're supposed to give our love to you.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
We've been unfaithful to you.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
And he said, this is true of all of us,
including our kings, our leaders, and our parents. He said,
we next verse verse ten, we paid no attention to
you when you told us how to live. You told
us what's right and wrong, what's morally good, what's not.
So this clear teaching came through your promise verse thirteen,
(18:28):
but we kept on sinning. We never gave you a
second thought. We were oblivious to you the clear warnings.
So God, he says that you had no choice but
to let disaster loose in our nation on us, since
we persistently and defiantly ignored you. And then he sums
(18:50):
it all up in verse sixteen, and he says, and
now all the other nations, mock us. Does any of
this sound vaguely familiar to you? I just read you
a laundry list of America. I just read you the
last fifty years of America right there. Now, Daniel knows
(19:17):
we don't deserve God's blessing, but he casts himself on
the grace of God. He goes, God, we could never
earn this, we could never deserve this. We don't deserve
to get back to home, get back to you. We
don't deserve your blessing. But I'm going to cast myself
on your mercy. And in the next verse he says this,
Oh God, Oh God, listen to me. Hear my request.
(19:43):
We don't ask because we deserve out We don't. We
don't ask because we deserve, but because you are so merciful.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
You are a You're a good, good father, and you
are merciful.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
How does God respond to this kind of prayer, the
six things that we just taught you. Well, in verse twenty,
here's how God responds. Daniel says, well, I kept on praying.
Let me stop right there circle the phrase kept on.
Daniel didn't pray this prayer one time. He's prying it
over and over and over and over. God, I need
(20:21):
your help. He's praying this over and over.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
He said. I kept on praying.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
If you don't you pray about something one time, you
don't care about it, he says. While I kept on
praying and confessing my sins and confessing the sins of
my people and pleading with the Lord. He's emotional in this.
Suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared in my vision. Now you
guys know who Gabriel is. There are three arch angels.
(20:49):
There was Lucifer, he fell, he became Satan. There's Michael,
and there's Gabriel. Gabriel's the guy who shows up at Christmas.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
So I actually know the names of these guys. And
this is so important that God sends the angel Gabriel
in a vision to Daniel, and he says, suddenly, while
I'm doing all this praying, the Angel Gabriel peared in
my vision and said this, Daniel, I've been sent, obviously
by God. I've been sent to help you understand God's plan. Now,
(21:24):
the moment you began praying, the answer was given, and
I'm here to tell it to you. For God loves
you very much. Now, God doesn't have to send Gabriel
to me, and he doesn't have to send Gabriel to
you because we have the second half of the Bible
that was written that tells us all about Jesus, and
(21:46):
so I can tell you right now what God will.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Say to you. I love you very very very very
very very much. I feel very very deeply have deep
feelings for you.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
God says, I saw you born, I saw you grow,
I saw it hurts, I saw the happy times sat
I've seen everything in your life. And I have a
plan for your life, and I have a timetable for
your life. And when you start praying, I heard that prayer,
and I want to help you understand my plan for
your life because I love you very very much. Now
(22:20):
you say, well, wait a minute, Rick, this is God
talking to Daniel.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
I'm not Daniel. No, You're not neither am I. But
I know this prayer will work for you.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
And the reason I know it will work for you
is because the exact same formula is given in another
part of the Bible to anybody.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
It's to all of God's people.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
It's called Second Chronicle seven fourteen, one of the most
famous promises in the entire Bible. Now, before I read
this promise, I want you to understand it's one of
the most misused, misquoted versus in the Bible. I've actually
heard politicians quote this verse as a promise to America.
(22:59):
It is not a promise to America. It is not
a promise to any nation. It is a promise to
God's people. And God's people are in every nation. So
this is not a promise for America. This is a
promise for you and me and believers anywhere else in
any other nation of the world. And it is for us,
it's not for everybody. Second Chronicle seven fourteen, God says,
(23:21):
I got four conditions. If you'll do these four things,
I'll do three things. If my people, if my people
who are called by my name, are you called my name?
Are you called a Christian? That's being called by the
name of Christ. So if you're a Christian, you call
yourself a Christian. If my people who are called by
(23:42):
my name, and here are the four things, will humble
themselves that's confession, and pray that's pleading, and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will
hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and I
will heal their land. All of the elements of Daniel's
(24:07):
prayer are in that promise. We're gonna claim that promise.
Anybody with me, anybody with me? Okay, okay. God says
that I don't know what you need. Healing and healing
in your mind, healing in your heart, healing in your body,
(24:29):
healing in your business, healing in your finances, healing in
your relationships, healing of your fears. Your business needs healing,
your family needs healing, your marriage needs healing, your nation
needs healing.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
If my people.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Who are called by my name, God says, will humble themselves,
I blew it, Lord, I just blew it and pray.
I'm pleading God. I did not seek you, and I
made a bunch of dumb decisions, and now I'm paying
for it. We'll humble themselves and pray and seek my face.
(25:14):
You got my attention. God, I'm looking at you, and
turn from their ways, They're wicked ways. Then I will
hear from heaven. I will forgive their sins, and I
will heal their land.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Period done. That's it.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I know many of you use the Daily Hope devotionals
as part of your regular Bible study, and so I
want to share some exciting news. We've put three hundred
and sixty five of the best devotionals into a brand
new book that we're calling the Daily Hope Devotional Purpose, Peace,
and Promise for every Day. This devotional book is designed
(26:01):
with clear, practical biblical teaching to help you make knowing
God your number one priority. I believe it will help
you stay focused on God throughout the day as He
provides you with real purpose, lasting peace, and his unfailing promises.
Imagine starting every day like that. This book is a
great way to share the hope you have in Jesus
(26:23):
with your friends, coworkers, and relatives. I hope you'll get
a copy for everyone you know.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Be sure and request your copy when you partner with
Daily Hope to take the word of God to a
hurting world.
Is it possible that the pain you're going through right
now is because you did not seek God, but you
just went ahead and made a decision without checking in
with him. Highly probable. And now God said, I could
have saved you a lot of effort if you just
sought me. Just have a conversation with you two or
three times a day and I'll go red light danger,
(00:24):
read Will Robinson, that's danger, don't go that direction. Is
it possible, Yes, that pain is because you did not
seek God in the past. You made a bunch of
dumb decisions, and now you're paying the results of it.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Okay, here's the third step.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
The third step in prayers that get answered is express
my desires with emotion. Express my desires. When I want
to ask God for something I'm praying about. God, I
need this, whether it's a physical need, a material need,
a spiritual need, and emotional need. Whatever you're asking for God,
in prayer, you express my emotion my desire with emotion.
(01:02):
So many of our prayers are just cut and dried.
We just say these words. We don't even know what
we're talking about. We have these little you know, things
we've memorized. Now I lay me down to sleep, I
pray the Lord my soul to keep you know, And
if I should die before I wake, I pray the
Lord my soul.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
To take That means nothing. It's just little thing.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Or you sit down fas it bless this food to
the nourishment of our bodies, the bless the gift and
the giver and it and it's it's not. There's no emotion,
there's no authenticity. It's just things you've learned. God doesn't
care how beautiful your prayer sounds. In fact, God doesn't
even care as much about the words as he cares
as much about the emotions. Have you learned that you
(01:42):
can say the right words and the wrong emotion and
your spouse doesn't get it. Yes, you can say all
the right things, but you didn't what do you mean
by that because of the tone of your voice? And
so he's saying, God is an emotional God. The only
reason you have emotions, the good ones and the bad ones,
(02:05):
is because you're made in God's image. Human beings have
emotions that none of the animals have.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
We have a whole.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Pentopy of emotions because God is an emotional god. The
Bible says God gets happy the Bible says God gets sad.
He's sad when he sees a rape, when he sees
a molestation, when he sees a war. God is sad
when he sees what people do to each other out
of selfishness. And the Bible says, God gets angry. That's
(02:33):
why you can get angry. You're made in God's image.
The Bible says, God gets jealous. Why and that's why
you get jealous, because when God sees you giving your
love to something else instead of him that belongs to him,
he gets jealous. The Bible says, God gets frustrated. He
looks down and he sees all of the stuff we're doing.
He goes, I told you not to do that, and
you're doing it anyway. It's gonna mess you up. He
(02:55):
gets frustrated. Now could God change it? Of course, he
could turn us all into puppets. But God's going to
just back out of your life.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Have it your way.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I'm not going to force you to love me. I'm
not going to force you to do the right thing.
So you and I make selfish decisions every day, and
people get hurt. That's why there's sin, that's why there's
evil in the world because God gives us the freedom
to choose. And so God just says, okay, I'll just
back off. Let let you reap the results of your
own own decision. But God says, I'm an emotional God.
(03:25):
Jesus dying on the cross was an emotional scene, highly emotional.
Jesus dying the cross was emotionally agonizing to him.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
It was agonizing to.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
God the father watching his son die that way, but
doing it for your benefit. It was agonizing with the
people who are watching. It's an emotional thing, and God
is very emotional about you. Do you realize this? God,
just go I love you now. God loves you passionately, emotionally.
God has deep, deep, deep feelings for you. How much
(03:59):
he loves you. If you don't know how much you
llwed you look at the cross. I'm willing to die.
I'm willing to die for you. That's how much God
has emotion for you. And so God says, I want
you when I have such emotion for you, I want
you to talk to me emotionally. Don't just do these
little prayer things where you read a prayer and there's
no emotion in it. Let me ask you, does tone
(04:24):
make a difference when you make a request. Of course
it does, you know. I mean, how about guys, if
you had said to your future spouse on a date,
you go, EX like you to marry me. Please, I
want you to marry me. She go, buddy. If you
can't say it with a little bit more passion than that,
(04:45):
forget it.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
That ain't going to happen.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Do any of you remember when you were little and
somebody was tickling you, and it was fun at the start,
and then it got too much, okay, And.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
When you wanted to stop taking you go please stop, no,
please stop tiggling me. I can't handle it anymore.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And you are passionate of passion intensity shows house up
much something matters to you now If you ask God
about something, God, I really like this, but you're not
passionate about it.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
God goes, w how.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Do I know it's just a if you only pray
about it once, you're not willing to pray about it
more than once, and you never talk to God about God, I.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Really need this.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I gotta have this. You know I've got to have it.
Then God goes, what is this a wish or a whim?
Or is it really a true? Desire, and so the
Bible says this. Here's the third thing Daniel did.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Verse three.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Second part of it, he says, I began pleading with
God earnestly in prayer circle. The word pleading, God listens
to pleading. Makes me think about a story I heard
a while back, where as a kid, a young kid
who at Christmas time he wanted a Star Wars watch
(05:56):
and it was really cool watch. I had Yoda on it,
and he just and so he was bugging his parents, Mom,
I want this Star Wars watch for Christmas, Dad, I
want this Star Wars watch for Christmas.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
He just keeps on and on.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And on, every conversation, every meal he's mentioning the Star
Wars watch, and finally his dad goes, Johnny, we got it.
If you mentioned this one more time, you're not gonna
get the watch.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Smart kid backs off, doesn't doesn't do anything.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
About a week later, they're having the whole family sitting
at dinner and the dad says, hey, you know what,
it's good for us to talk about the Bible. So
everybody just share your your favorite Bible verse, anything or
Bible verse that you know you could say. And so
one of the kids goes John three sixteen, because everybody
(06:46):
knows that one for God still love the world. And
the teenager goes John eleven thirty five. Jesus wept, shortest
verse in the Bible. Anybody can memorize that two words,
Jesus wept. So okay, John John love their right.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Jesus wept. That's his verse.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So they go around the room and they come to Johnny,
and Johnny goes So they said, Johnny, what's your favorite verse?
He said, well, my favorite verse would be Mark thirteen
thirty seven, where Jesus said, I told you once and
I sand you again. Watch look at this verse in
the message paraphrase, Daniels nine three says, I poured out
(07:22):
my heart to God, bearing my soul to God.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Have you ever done that?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Have you ever poured out your heart to God? Have
you ever bared your soul to God? This is not
wimpy week praying. This is got cease praying. This is
gut wrenching praying. I'm pouring out my soul to God.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
God.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
I gotta have your help in this business. I gotta
have your help in this marriage. I've got to God.
I am telling you, I'm pouring out my heart I am.
I am being authentic. I'm baring my soul. It's kind
of like Jacob wrestling with the Angel. I'm not gonna
let go until you bless me God. Now, when was
(08:02):
the last time you ever prayed like that, pouring out
your soul to God emotionally?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I can tell you.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
You may have forgotten, but I can tell you the
last time you prayed like that, As your pastor friend,
spiritual coach, the last time you prayed like that.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Is when you were in deep, deep pain.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Because we don't pour out our hearts to God like
that when we're things are going great and we're skipping.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
The hills of Jerusalem picking flowers and.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Talking about peace, love and Bobby Sherman, you know, just
to have a happy day, smiling faith. No, you pour
out your God when you are in deep pain? Is
that the only time you pour out your heart to
God when you're in deep pain?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Can you do it any other time?
Speaker 1 (08:46):
This is called praying with emotion, called quote crying out
to God. Someday you may want to do a study
of this in the Bible, about all the times God
talks about quote crying out to God. There are many
many Euss samples of people of all sorts who cried
out to God and God heard their prayer. There are
many many promises in the Bible about crying out. God
(09:08):
does not listen to just complaints. He listens to crying
out in emotion to God, saying God, I really need
your help. Now, it says Daniel, he said he was pleading.
He's crying out. What is he pleading? What is Daniel
pleading with God about? He's going God, I want to
go back home. I'm an old man. I'm eighty five
(09:29):
years old. I spent my entire life serving pagan kings.
I've done good. I stayed true, kept my integrity in
a pagan world. I didn't deny my faith, and I
kept getting promoted. I'm pretty influential guy in the whole
kingdom here. But God, I want to go back home.
I really I'm going to go. I'm going to die
in my home country now. Jeremiah, the other guy at
(09:51):
the same time, had predicted that after seventy years, Babylon
would fall, and that then the people of God in
Babylon would start praying and pleading God let us go
back home. Here's what it says, Jeremiah chapter fifty. This
was his prediction. He says, then my people will join
together in tears. That's emotional praying. They'll join together in
(10:15):
tears to seek the Lord. And they will ask the
way to Jerusalem. What because it had been seventy years,
they didn't even know how to get back home. They
will ask the way to Jerusalem, and then we'll start
back home again. That is one of the most beautiful
phrases of hope in the Bible. They will start back
(10:37):
home again. America needs to do that and needs to
start back home again, and other nations need to do that.
They need to start back home again. You may need
to do this personally. I need to start back home again.
(10:58):
And maybe you've been so far away from God for
so long you don't even know how to get back
to Jerusalem.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I don't even know how to get back.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I've been so disconnected, disc combobulated and apart from God.
I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
And so what do you do?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
You plead, you pour out your heart. You joined together
in tears. When does God answer that kind of prayer?
When God's people join together in tears. I know many
(11:34):
of you use the daily Hope devotionals as part of
your regular Bible study. And so I want to share
some exciting news. We've put three hundred and sixty five
of the best devotionals into a brand new book that
we're calling the Daily Hope Devotional Purpose, Peace and Promise
for every Day. This devotional book is designed with clear,
(11:56):
practical biblical teaching to help you make knowing God your
numberumber one priority. I believe it will help you stay
focused on God throughout the day as He provides you
with real purpose, lasting peace, and his unfailing promises. Imagine
starting every day like that. This book is a great
way to share the hope you have in Jesus with
(12:17):
your friends, coworkers, and relatives.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I hope you'll get a copy for everyone you know.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Be sure and request your copy when you partner with
Daily Hope to take the word of God to a
hurting world.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Okay, here's the fourth thing. Here's the fourthie. There's six keys.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Number four. I need to demonstrate my seriousness. When you're
praying about something, you need to signal to God that
you mean business about this, that it's not just a
little whim, it's not just a casual thought. But you're
really serious about this. You want to let God see
how important whatever you're praying about is to you. Now. Daniel,
(13:01):
in the next part of this verse, mentions three ways
he shows he signals his seriousness to God. Two of
them were cultural customs, which we don't do in America
or anywhere I think today. But one of them is
a spiritual discipline that had been going on for centuries
and thousands of years, and people still do it today.
Here's what he says in verse three, the third part
(13:24):
of the verse. He said, I started fasting, which means
he's going without food. That's a spiritual discipline. He said,
I started fasting and went without food, and to show
my sadness, to demonstrate my seriousness, I put on rough
clothes and sat in ashes. Now nobody does this today.
This is called sackcloth and ashes, and it was done
(13:48):
for hundreds and hundreds of years in the Middle East
and in the Orient. I don't know that anybody does
this today. Jesus said, there are some miracles that happen
only by prayer and fasting, not by prayer alone. Why,
because it says God, I'm super serious about this. I'm
super serious enough to go without food that's how discipline
(14:08):
and serious I am about this prayer request. Moses fasted
before he received the Ten Commandments. The Israelite fasted from
before they went into many, many major battles. Daniel fasted
in order to receive guidance from God. Neamiah fasted before
he began a major building project. You should too, business guy.
(14:29):
Jesus fasted and victory over temptation. The very first Christians
fasted during decision making times in their life. We'll I'll
teach a whole lot more about this, but this is
the point of simply saying, I demonstrate my seriousness.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Okay. Number five.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
The fifth thing, Thank God for his love and promises.
Thank God for his love and promises. The Bible says,
when you ask, ask with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not a holiday.
If you're a believer, it's the attitude of your entire life.
You are to live with the attitude of gratitude. And
(15:07):
the fifth thing Daniel does in his prayer is he
reminds himself of how good God is, how gracious God is,
and how grateful he is to God. Daniel ninety four.
Then I prayed to the Lord, and I said, Lord,
you are great you are an awesome God. You always
fulfill your promises. You keep your word, you say it,
(15:28):
you keep your word. You always fulfill your promises of
constant love. And I'm flaky, you're not. I'm unfaithful to you,
but you're not unfaithful to me. You keep your promises
of concile love to those who love you, and keep
your commands down in Verse ninety says, and even though
we have rebelled against you, you Lord are merciful and forgiving. You.
(15:49):
Just tell God, God, I'm grateful that you're God, and
I'm not God. I'm grateful that you're loving, You're forgiving
your good You're merciful, and so you thank God for
his love and his promises. And then number six, the
sixth thing do you do? Is you humbly confess? I
(16:10):
humbly confess my sins. Confess just means to admit, that's
all it means. The word confessed in Greek is the
word homo lookgeo homo meaning same homosexual, Homo sapien homogenized
milk means same homo look geo means to speak the same.
To confess means I just agree. You're right God. That's wrong.
(16:34):
I agree with you. Got I was wrong, you were right.
And that's what confession is. And so God responds to humility.
When I'm prideful, God didn't hear my prayers. Man, God,
prideful prayers. God resists the proud, the Bible says, but
gives grace to the humble.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
But when I go God, I really blew it. In fact, I've.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Been blown it for a long time. And let me
tell you it's specifically how I'm blowing it. Daniel gets
very very specific in confessing. I just wrote some of
the verses. I'm just going to read them to you
and not even comment. And I want you to circle
the verbs which are the sins. Okay, He says, we've
sinned none wrong. Then he says, we've rebelled against you.
That's one rebelled circle that we've rebelled against you. He says,
(17:20):
we've ignored your commands, circle ignored. He says, we've rejected
your laws. We made up our own morality. We've rejected
your laws. He says, we have refused to listen to
your servants. The prophets refused who spoke the message to
our kings and our leaders and our parents and everybody
(17:40):
else in our nation. He says, this is very specific.
We're all at faultier every generation. It's not like one
generation in America. Every generation's got part of the blame.
And then in verse seven and eight, he says this,
we've brought disgrace and shame on ourselves as a nation
because we've been unfaithful to you. You know what, God,
We've committed spiritual adultery. We gave our love to somebody
(18:03):
else when we're supposed to give our love to you.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
We've been unfaithful to you.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
And he said, this is true of all of us,
including our kings, our leaders, and our parents. He said,
we next verse verse ten, we paid no attention to
you when you told us how to live. You told
us what's right and wrong, what's morally good, what's not.
So this clear teaching came through your promise verse thirteen,
(18:28):
but we kept on sinning. We never gave you a
second thought. We were oblivious to you the clear warnings.
So God, he says that you had no choice but
to let disaster loose in our nation on us, since
we persistently and defiantly ignored you. And then he sums
(18:50):
it all up in verse sixteen, and he says, and
now all the other nations, mock us. Does any of
this sound vaguely familiar to you? I just read you
a laundry list of America. I just read you the
last fifty years of America right there. Now, Daniel knows
(19:17):
we don't deserve God's blessing, but he casts himself on
the grace of God. He goes, God, we could never
earn this, we could never deserve this. We don't deserve
to get back to home, get back to you. We
don't deserve your blessing. But I'm going to cast myself
on your mercy. And in the next verse he says this,
Oh God, Oh God, listen to me. Hear my request.
(19:43):
We don't ask because we deserve out We don't. We
don't ask because we deserve, but because you are so merciful.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
You are a You're a good, good father, and you
are merciful.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
How does God respond to this kind of prayer, the
six things that we just taught you. Well, in verse twenty,
here's how God responds. Daniel says, well, I kept on praying.
Let me stop right there circle the phrase kept on.
Daniel didn't pray this prayer one time. He's prying it
over and over and over and over. God, I need
(20:21):
your help. He's praying this over and over.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
He said. I kept on praying.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
If you don't you pray about something one time, you
don't care about it, he says. While I kept on
praying and confessing my sins and confessing the sins of
my people and pleading with the Lord. He's emotional in this.
Suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared in my vision. Now you
guys know who Gabriel is. There are three arch angels.
(20:49):
There was Lucifer, he fell, he became Satan. There's Michael,
and there's Gabriel. Gabriel's the guy who shows up at Christmas.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
So I actually know the names of these guys. And
this is so important that God sends the angel Gabriel
in a vision to Daniel, and he says, suddenly, while
I'm doing all this praying, the Angel Gabriel peared in
my vision and said this, Daniel, I've been sent, obviously
by God. I've been sent to help you understand God's plan. Now,
(21:24):
the moment you began praying, the answer was given, and
I'm here to tell it to you. For God loves
you very much. Now, God doesn't have to send Gabriel
to me, and he doesn't have to send Gabriel to
you because we have the second half of the Bible
that was written that tells us all about Jesus, and
(21:46):
so I can tell you right now what God will.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Say to you. I love you very very very very
very very much. I feel very very deeply have deep
feelings for you.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
God says, I saw you born, I saw you grow,
I saw it hurts, I saw the happy times sat
I've seen everything in your life. And I have a
plan for your life, and I have a timetable for
your life. And when you start praying, I heard that prayer,
and I want to help you understand my plan for
your life because I love you very very much. Now
(22:20):
you say, well, wait a minute, Rick, this is God
talking to Daniel.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
I'm not Daniel. No, You're not neither am I. But
I know this prayer will work for you.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
And the reason I know it will work for you
is because the exact same formula is given in another
part of the Bible to anybody.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
It's to all of God's people.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
It's called Second Chronicle seven fourteen, one of the most
famous promises in the entire Bible. Now, before I read
this promise, I want you to understand it's one of
the most misused, misquoted versus in the Bible. I've actually
heard politicians quote this verse as a promise to America.
(22:59):
It is not a promise to America. It is not
a promise to any nation. It is a promise to
God's people. And God's people are in every nation. So
this is not a promise for America. This is a
promise for you and me and believers anywhere else in
any other nation of the world. And it is for us,
it's not for everybody. Second Chronicle seven fourteen, God says,
(23:21):
I got four conditions. If you'll do these four things,
I'll do three things. If my people, if my people
who are called by my name, are you called my name?
Are you called a Christian? That's being called by the
name of Christ. So if you're a Christian, you call
yourself a Christian. If my people who are called by
(23:42):
my name, and here are the four things, will humble
themselves that's confession, and pray that's pleading, and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will
hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and I
will heal their land. All of the elements of Daniel's
(24:07):
prayer are in that promise. We're gonna claim that promise.
Anybody with me, anybody with me? Okay, okay. God says
that I don't know what you need. Healing and healing
in your mind, healing in your heart, healing in your body,
(24:29):
healing in your business, healing in your finances, healing in
your relationships, healing of your fears. Your business needs healing,
your family needs healing, your marriage needs healing, your nation
needs healing.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
If my people.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Who are called by my name, God says, will humble themselves,
I blew it, Lord, I just blew it and pray.
I'm pleading God. I did not seek you, and I
made a bunch of dumb decisions, and now I'm paying
for it. We'll humble themselves and pray and seek my face.
(25:14):
You got my attention. God, I'm looking at you, and
turn from their ways, They're wicked ways. Then I will
hear from heaven. I will forgive their sins, and I
will heal their land.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Period done. That's it.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I know many of you use the Daily Hope devotionals
as part of your regular Bible study, and so I
want to share some exciting news. We've put three hundred
and sixty five of the best devotionals into a brand
new book that we're calling the Daily Hope Devotional Purpose, Peace,
and Promise for every Day. This devotional book is designed
(26:01):
with clear, practical biblical teaching to help you make knowing
God your number one priority. I believe it will help
you stay focused on God throughout the day as He
provides you with real purpose, lasting peace, and his unfailing promises.
Imagine starting every day like that. This book is a
great way to share the hope you have in Jesus
(26:23):
with your friends, coworkers, and relatives. I hope you'll get
a copy for everyone you know.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Be sure and request your copy when you partner with
Daily Hope to take the word of God to a
hurting world.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.