The Sermon Prayer by David McGee
Jan 29, 2012
Prayer (30:52)
Referenced Scriptures: Isaiah 55:6-13
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The scriptures below are from the WEB Bible.
Isaiah 55:6-13
6) Seek you Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:
7) let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh.
9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10) For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn‘t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11) so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12) For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.
13) Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
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I chapter fifty five, verses six through thirteen and will be reading from the message Bible and it's on prayer. The descriptors talk about seeking the Lord while he may be found in chapter, chapter fifty five, beginning at verse six. Seek God while he is here to be found. Pray to him while he's close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil that way of thinking, what they come back to God who is merciful comeback to our God who is lavished with forgiveness. I don't think the way you think is God saying this. I don't think the way you think the way you work. Is it the way I work. Got degrees for as the sky soars high above the earth, and so the way I work surpasses the way you work the way I think beyond the way you think, just as rain and snow descend from the skies and on the back until they watered the earth doing the work of making things grow and blossom producing seed for farmers and food for hungry salt of the words that come out of my mouth, knocked him back in the hand they'll do the work. I sent them to do though complete the assignment I gave them so you'll go out, enjoy, you'll be led into a whole and complete life the mountains and hills were linked with kidney will be the perfect parade bursting with so all the trees of the forest will join in the procession, exuberant with applause, no more thistles but giant sequoias. No more thorn bushes, but stately pines monuments to me to God, living and lasting evidence to God are of God. So since God while he may be found, call me upon him while he is near you, whatever we think of praying with different thoughts about it we sometimes doubt while what I want is the definition of prayer means to be entreated to confirm whether someone else to confirm with another Joe mine had a settlement. It also means to interstate to make various state at various very serious or emotional request to make a request in a humble manner to address God with adoration to ask respectfully so whatever were thinking of prayer. What do we think how do we think of it. Sometimes we have really distorted views of praying gal because of things. Maybe on how we felt about it or what we've seen our maybe what we've been taught, but Isaiah tells us to seek God while he is while he may be found. What what what is going on here. It isn't that God is going to disappear, but that you and what's going on is that sometimes if we resist the resistance resist and resist and keep pushing and pushing and pushing that we learn is that connectedness that desire that we would feel that we could pray God always hears us. God always knows Mariah so we find that prior is recognizing that God is close at hand is never so far ways to be just near us, but that God is close to us and that we are to seek God to look for God in our line. The luck for God around us and how that he is helping us don't last night I I was writing off some copies and make my copier wouldn't work, and this is about it on. I had bought paper in yellow and had my favorite staples and and and I bought that the really cheap stuff as it was on sale and have been working my printer so I just decided I would take the risk the recent letter that you you received from your gathering, and I was very taken up the staples about getting a runoff water from running off of the individual who ran off. Look at the letter had and said all Assembly of God. I'm not looking for an Assembly of God church. While this is just ahead Iran-Iraq aligners often read a letterhead is all I'm looking for an assembly that church where are you my designed to develop felony candidates about how Jesse got here so. But whatever you again, we pray about little things, you know that half was about L Lewis to know that the copier was in the working works fine afterwards by a new paper go right through, I ran out the Sunday school lesson. I ran off. Other things instead. But I could not get the receipt letter to where it went. So I just came to this conclusion go to Staples top, but the idea of then is that every little thing that we do. Sadly a matter of prayer and our prayers are not to necessarily rearrange the circumstances, but to recognize the presence of God recognize the presence of God in our life. So seeing and seeking God is said to inquire of him, that God& I need you each day. God, I need it when the small thing I need to in the small things. My life. I need you to help me in my conversations. I need you Lord as we go about our daily lives. Now what are the compulsion to know whenever we think of prayer and admissible change about three little changes here, but I do have a prayer watch and taking our needs. The God we have these ideas were compulsions. The drive our life in the compulsions are the things that push us up or down. Now it is our things we pray about. These are things that push us to the things that we know that we have to do or know never did not, and it's if it's going to end this evidence that has to be adopted me, that when the rally. If it has to be adopting me if I was ever going to get done. I got to do or the opposite is it doesn't matter what I do not know where. So we have compulsions. We have ideas we have compulsive behavior that pushes us in one direction or the other in the way we stopped compulsive behavior is by stopping and asking God to be with us in this because if it's going to be, it's up to me if I stop and ask God to help me. That's a whole different story. In whenever we go about our life in your thinking of backing of being on the farm that you have a fit if if it's going to be gone. You got to do it. There's chores as cattle. There is there is fields. There is no harvesting this planting, there is the care. All they think that everybody had gone you about it. It went or won't be done because that was very committed to reporting so you develop an attitude of is going to be a company and so you you approach it, and you push it, and sometimes an extra, but we also recognize that God is there to be with us. My pushing and personal striving basically come from unbelief is not unbelief it comes from the belief is based upon some type of fear that it's all up to lots and if we don't do it succeed or fail. It's always our fault. I have to make it. As I have to make as much headway as I can before the bottom falls out and see how that we have these ideas in these compulsions that push us into life, and that your comment. We are sometimes neglecting our opportunities to pray because of these compulsions. Because of these and energetic. What is a healthy work ethic, you know you cannot be the work you do your job and you get up and go to work and do your job and you get up and go to work and do your job helping out people who don't get up and go to work and other. Their job to win how such people, and we would like to give them a healthy compulsion, if we went out that we like to help move them along. Get them on with their life, but there is an inner something wrong with a work ethic. But what were doing whatever were praying is asking God to be with us wherever the setback is a God, in a like live the farmer, the preacher cannot see the farmer and preachers down the farmer mind what God has done with this field. You know what a beautiful field that God has provided you with the corn they know what a beautiful field guide is provided to you with the Hague about what a beautiful field guides provided for you with the Yeltsin. The grain and farmers that I had enough of a seditious, even when God headed by himself. Okay, so moving right along the neck. The farmer had to participate in it so proud is not a long, drawnout speech, but a simple acknowledgment. The simple request. God help me as I say if I test people thinking test God direct my steps in my words as I go about my day it out, said Jesse last night. Yesterday afternoon we finally know where the looking for a washer and dryer for about six months guys are washers broke it only works half. He can't turn the knobs in England and educated not working, and also so we been looking and looking any other very expensive and didn't want to spend that money and so finally we found a very good salesman to sell myself, but the person we went and spoke with were talking with them, and the thing I've been there so long, they call me by name off looking and their lives. And while we were talking the lady found out you know about not working in hospice and you know tonight and I do grief counseling and her husband died about six months ago and she began to tell me about what's going on in her life and how it all and all the things about her grief, and where she's at and just little things than against each other began to help her where she was at because she was feeling really down this about six months, you should be down. This is probably the lowest point of your life. She says really, really, because it takes time for us to come to that realization. She does all I thought there was something wrong with me when buying a washing machine being in the right place at the right time to give someone a situation, you know how they make these cards into no Brenda back got no not playing cards thereby to dramatize the gift it out. My business card to yellow brown on brown on one side and José Brown on the front me on the back burner. We have run rampant. I want everywhere you want to get it, but you are probably around twenty five of these in the last week, people have asked me what do you have a car, you have a car diagonal and has likely I hear anything on the website and get czarina Elizabeth R Simons enlisted our church observers and things they are all so young. I'm haven't had cards since we came here I thought that you know I always denied the never never when and how close they come up with a new design put together and do there in the back and can take them and have sunk to give up, but the ideas whatever we begin it always shortly prayed about situations, but since I've been reading and during the study and trying to look at this. I'm a little more aware of asking God for the little things always pray for the big things but asking God for the little thing and talking to God about the little things of our life, which means so much to the people around us, being aware of the God is with us. We stop and ask God for help. We stop and ask God for direction. We stop and ask God for his word that we've read to become real to us at this very moment and anything. It's these stopping and positing this, which takes away the pressure to succeed, or the fear of failure because God is with us. And when God is with us. How can we say something is a failure or a success because the glory belongs to God and God is in the process of teaching us and this is not a failure. This is another step in my learning process. A pastor once asked his church to pray that God would shut down the neighborhood bar. Okay the whole church gathered for an evening prayer meeting and pleaded with the the neighborhood of the evils of this bar. A few weeks later, lightning struck the barn burned to the ground, having heard about the church 's prayer crusade. The bar owner. The bar owner promptly sued the church and when the when the quote when the court date arrived. The bar owner, passionately argued that God struck his barn with lightning because of the church members prayer. While the pastor while he backtracked. He brushed off the accusation, and he admitted that the church prayed, but he also affirmed that no one is really his congregation really expected anything to happen. The judge leaned back in his chair with a mixed almond of amusement and perplexity, and he spoke, he says, I can't believe what I'm hearing right in front of me as a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer for pastor who doesn't. I have gotten this from a book called the Christian atheist and and it has many of these types of things that I see there are many Christians who believe in God but don't believe in prayer because we don't pray with my claim that prayer works, but we don't pray and we don't expect anything to change, and we don't pray because while many different reasons at times. At times. I had a very hard time with friends. I mean it. I grew up in the church I grew up when I'm in Westerly solo I was in church when I was four weeks four years old timer I/O five years old. Whenever I remember going down the altar. Follow my grandfather. My grandmother was a preacher young spoke a different different meetings and things like that was on the board for thirty seven years thirty five years on, whenever I was always in church every Sunday Sunday night and tonight we were always in church with the Bible school. We been in ministry so I've always been in the church, and I've been to all-night prayer vigil and I've been to prior conferences and at times, you know, you feel very intimidated by this whole pretense of praying because to listen to some people pray it's like God hasn't a clue what you're talking about. I had also present your go like this gone. I'm praying for hostility in all, the guy who lives in November, who pastors a church onto Wall Street insiders at the time, quality, now has a beard. He has to get his narrative. The teacher and company logo and site you think God that you got to tell primary lives before you ever get to that the need to know and some airline and flight. What's that all about the sad part of what we should be praying that God, we have to make sure that God gets to the right person because there may be another factory, Germantown, was balding, barrel, there is now a visit like we got a be that that specific or the shouting prayers like God is that, or the one I( as somebody watching about the afraid to speak prayers might say something wrong, God will misunderstand what I want to confuse. I have all these ideas and conflicts over prayer itself, and you think about it. We all have our own understanding or misconceptions about praying that it's for somebody else and not for me it's I'm not worthy. I not good enough for all. I mean, you're just name it, and we've got somebody has sorry to say it all in church. I do most of the prey for meaning prayer requests than offering and things like that because you know, I know that our congregation. Many of the remaining minibus are intimidated by public speaking, so if I called on you to pray. Would you while I was picked on Bob Knight 's, this one but I'm electric all anyone's name and would you be intimidated by praying in public, or if I didn't find one or two that pray and don't mind it been somebody's a bodies laying favorites see that Sullivan is just easier for me to pray and outlast anybody. So let's mount full, but we create long list of reasons why we don't do certain things from feelings that were not good enough to being bored whatever we pray from not wanting to bother God with the small stuff to not thinking our prayers can actually make a difference. So we have many reasons for not praying and ale again, some as they are legitimate in our own month in our own eyes in our own minds, but not legitimate to God because God will help us get over the hurdles and God knows the thoughts and the intense of a heart. God knows if we pronounce a word that's not the word. We met that God can interpret the groanings. The groanings what does that mean, what does that mean inside of us and what, what message are we conveying and in what direction are we for training, issue tracking baby. The heartbeat of our home. All that we do practically the heartbeat of everything that we do, and it's not that we spend hours on our knees are the yelps of evil Cannondale and that's in handle of a maiden router that you got to start with where we are starting with Barbara how to suggest Parsons saying you know when you hear a prayer request. Someone called you and says it out. Pray for sounds stop at that moment and offer a prayer. God be with. Was it a step as it's the business like Scott has like they has an infection in his leg, so would you pray for Scott Sullivan comes, you say, God be with Scott and be with him, and am very sad and Engler touches life what's that that's at your prayer. The only give you going to make a decision about something are or are you going somewhere. Whenever God be with us as we travel your prayer you stop in that moment of time to acknowledge that God is with you and you asking for directions a while for the bad things happen. God is with you, even when the bad things happen, God is still there. It isn't like it's a magic bottled it. You now a enclosure self into nothing bad will ever happen to you. Could you walk around his neck. God is with me. No bubble can. Nothing can enter my bubble. The word out of your broke so prior is about acknowledging elbow. What about your friends and what about your help. The people that user with every day. Pray for their friend. They might have the right were due to having a test and school prayer as you study the belt to the E! Online study in the talk about how they dealt passes that won the deciding know what it got been answered my prayer needs that so prayer can be the heartbeat of all that we are people told me to the library once it didn't work what you pray for. I pray for world peace. Okay, enough is like flat out get all your daily needs you many feel not good enough. Many feel that the not eloquent enough, but others say the right thing. There are not passionate enough that they're not firmer and enough that they're not. This is not been bad enough with the ideas are words are enough there. Your words. They are your feelings. These are events in your life God is concerned about you where you are at what is going on in your life, and we then are responding to that by asking God inviting God was already there is a it isn't that I'm inviting God to be with me. I'm making myself aware that God is here. I'm helping me understand that God is here, I am placing the attention away from my not good enough job of God, but it's got to be done. It's up to me. I'm taking that idea is still going on asking God to be a company in this whole process to get me the strength I asked about whatever you go to pray there is the wandering mind syndrome. There is a down and say why you know I would pray and what you do you remember everything you hadn't done hollow about you remember everything you have done wrong in your life and you're not good enough to sit there for a T they are distractions. These are distractions to our prayers and we just need to refocus and let God be with us and not allow them to distract us from one the most important part of our communion with God is equal. How is there no real cliché when the devil reminds you of you of your past remind him of his future enough so you see your past is forgiven. Whenever you remember those things always yell if you carry any grudges in your mind, now the Bible says that whenever you kneel at the altar, and you remember something new has you remember somebody who has something against you, go to that individual. Make a right. Because every time you hear what the author that configure my wife Michael get rid of it just got a part of it now safer in the far help make it right. Mister Wright is a remember who you're talking to. We need to remember who were talking to the God of the universe. He spoke everything into existence, the God of the universe who nearly when I was yet in my mother 's room had a plan for my life gave me and all the opportunities that are in my life, and the experiences that I am encountering are bringing those things out in a way that will make me prove God wants me to be. So I am asking God for direction and how these things come out of my life on my talents and personality and how that might give things and that things are important in my life. How that experiences bring face of the sharpest on asking God to help me interpret them and help me to integrate them into his word, and into his spirit and into my life and how this all works out for me and for the glory of God, because prayer is an about me, for I was about when you are focused from ourselves from our success or failure to God working in our life through our successes or failures in our successes and failures. We are not reminded that we're not reminding ourselves of our failings were much more reminding ourselves of God sufficiency prayer is like talking to a close friend with whom you share your heart, your fears, your dreams and you not worried about what you're saying because it's just who you are then instead of a lifeless one-way conversation, we remember that God is working with us in working through us in speaking back to us. Prayer with God is our our father forever. God becomes an exhilarating thing that God is our father, and he is working with us and walking with us. One of the hardest obstacles to overcome this to my prayers make a difference in my prayers really matter when we start off with this in the sense that remembers not about the need is not about the rearrangement of the circumstance. It's about God 's presence that makes a difference in our life. And as we pray were asking God to be with us, his presence is with us, and that presence gives us the strength to go through any obstacle in our life. You see the people. We pray for his presence makes a difference in their life. Now I'm naturally were to pray about the things and friendly direction that we feel would be best, but you see in the Scriptures that we read, what does it say it says I don't think the way you think and the way you work the way I work, God declares first disguise sores high above the earth. Insult the way I work surpasses the way you work God has a plan is far beyond our edit is greater than anything we could ever imagine. So pray about whatever is on your mind run it by God wanted by Gaudio, why is it that is in your mind, what is it that you're about to do where you're going and you're just asking God to be with you to give you direction it. The pastor tells the story, and this is a close with this pastor tells a story of how his six children, one of the puppy, they begged him for years about getting a dog. Finally he agreed that if God always with a clarification here. If God wanted them to have a dog. The dog which all the good things in dog that needed all so that night, six children. Pray for a perfect dog. The next day when the pastor arrived home the kids were jumping up and down and running and celebrating. Evidently, someone had dropped off a copy nearby and it wandered into their yard. God heard the prayer of a few children about something as small as a puppy when when we see God answering our Pacific prayers. Nothing will ever change us about God. That's why when we pray we pray specifically about situations so that we believe that God is going to work with us. He's going to work through us is going to work in the situation that we are praying about and if it doesn't work out the way we want. We know that God has a better plan. He has a better way we don't lose hope we don't lose direction. We continue to know that God is there and if you don't want a copy. Don't ask, don't ask six kids to pray for. Isaiah chapter fifty five verse six, seek God walking while Segar always here to be found. Pray to him lies close at hand. God isn't far away. God is always here, it's me who are opening our lives to allow God to touch us and to work in our life in this place in this situation of our life. God is at work. Open our hearts to receiveI chapter fifty five, verses six through thirteen and will be reading from the message Bible and it's on prayer. The descriptors talk about seeking the Lord while he may be found in chapter, chapter fifty five, beginning at verse six. Seek God while he is here to be found. Pray to him while he's close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil that way of thinking, what they come back to God who is merciful comeback to our God who is lavished with forgiveness. I don't think the way you think is God saying this. I don't think the way you think the way you work. Is it the way I work. Got degrees for as the sky soars high above the earth, and so the way I work surpasses the way you work the way I think beyond the way you think, just as rain and snow descend from the skies and on the back until they watered the earth doing the work of making things grow and blossom producing seed for farmers and food for hungry salt of the words that come out of my mouth, knocked him back in the hand they'll do the work. I sent them to do though complete the assignment I gave them so you'll go out, enjoy, you'll be led into a whole and complete life the mountains and hills were linked with kidney will be the perfect parade bursting with so all the trees of the forest will join in the procession, exuberant with applause, no more thistles but giant sequoias. No more thorn bushes, but stately pines monuments to me to God, living and lasting evidence to God are of God. So since God while he may be found, call me upon him while he is near you, whatever we think of praying with different thoughts about it we sometimes doubt while what I want is the definition of prayer means to be entreated to confirm whether someone else to confirm with another Joe mine had a settlement. It also means to interstate to make various state at various very serious or emotional request to make a request in a humble manner to address God with adoration to ask respectfully so whatever were thinking of prayer. What do we think how do we think of it. Sometimes we have really distorted views of praying gal because of things. Maybe on how we felt about it or what we've seen our maybe what we've been taught, but Isaiah tells us to seek God while he is while he may be found. What what what is going on here. It isn't that God is going to disappear, but that you and what's going on is that sometimes if we resist the resistance resist and resist and keep pushing and pushing and pushing that we learn is that connectedness that desire that we would feel that we could pray God always hears us. God always knows Mariah so we find that prior is recognizing that God is close at hand is never so far ways to be just near us, but that God is close to us and that we are to seek God to look for God in our line. The luck for God around us and how that he is helping us don't last night I I was writing off some copies and make my copier wouldn't work, and this is about it on. I had bought paper in yellow and had my favorite staples and and and I bought that the really cheap stuff as it was on sale and have been working my printer so I just decided I would take the risk the recent letter that you you received from your gathering, and I was very taken up the staples about getting a runoff water from running off of the individual who ran off. Look at the letter had and said all Assembly of God. I'm not looking for an Assembly of God church. While this is just ahead Iran-Iraq aligners often read a letterhead is all I'm looking for an assembly that church where are you my designed to develop felony candidates about how Jesse got here so. But whatever you again, we pray about little things, you know that half was about L Lewis to know that the copier was in the working works fine afterwards by a new paper go right through, I ran out the Sunday school lesson. I ran off. Other things instead. But I could not get the receipt letter to where it went. So I just came to this conclusion go to Staples top, but the idea of then is that every little thing that we do. Sadly a matter of prayer and our prayers are not to necessarily rearrange the circumstances, but to recognize the presence of God recognize the presence of God in our life. So seeing and seeking God is said to inquire of him, that God& I need you each day. God, I need it when the small thing I need to in the small things. My life. I need you to help me in my conversations. I need you Lord as we go about our daily lives. Now what are the compulsion to know whenever we think of prayer and admissible change about three little changes here, but I do have a prayer watch and taking our needs. The God we have these ideas were compulsions. The drive our life in the compulsions are the things that push us up or down. Now it is our things we pray about. These are things that push us to the things that we know that we have to do or know never did not, and it's if it's going to end this evidence that has to be adopted me, that when the rally. If it has to be adopting me if I was ever going to get done. I got to do or the opposite is it doesn't matter what I do not know where. So we have compulsions. We have ideas we have compulsive behavior that pushes us in one direction or the other in the way we stopped compulsive behavior is by stopping and asking God to be with us in this because if it's going to be, it's up to me if I stop and ask God to help me. That's a whole different story. In whenever we go about our life in your thinking of backing of being on the farm that you have a fit if if it's going to be gone. You got to do it. There's chores as cattle. There is there is fields. There is no harvesting this planting, there is the care. All they think that everybody had gone you about it. It went or won't be done because that was very committed to reporting so you develop an attitude of is going to be a company and so you you approach it, and you push it, and sometimes an extra, but we also recognize that God is there to be with us. My pushing and personal striving basically come from unbelief is not unbelief it comes from the belief is based upon some type of fear that it's all up to lots and if we don't do it succeed or fail. It's always our fault. I have to make it. As I have to make as much headway as I can before the bottom falls out and see how that we have these ideas in these compulsions that push us into life, and that your comment. We are sometimes neglecting our opportunities to pray because of these compulsions. Because of these and energetic. What is a healthy work ethic, you know you cannot be the work you do your job and you get up and go to work and do your job and you get up and go to work and do your job helping out people who don't get up and go to work and other. Their job to win how such people, and we would like to give them a healthy compulsion, if we went out that we like to help move them along. Get them on with their life, but there is an inner something wrong with a work ethic. But what were doing whatever were praying is asking God to be with us wherever the setback is a God, in a like live the farmer, the preacher cannot see the farmer and preachers down the farmer mind what God has done with this field. You know what a beautiful field that God has provided you with the corn they know what a beautiful field guide is provided to you with the Hague about what a beautiful field guides provided for you with the Yeltsin. The grain and farmers that I had enough of a seditious, even when God headed by himself. Okay, so moving right along the neck. The farmer had to participate in it so proud is not a long, drawnout speech, but a simple acknowledgment. The simple request. God help me as I say if I test people thinking test God direct my steps in my words as I go about my day it out, said Jesse last night. Yesterday afternoon we finally know where the looking for a washer and dryer for about six months guys are washers broke it only works half. He can't turn the knobs in England and educated not working, and also so we been looking and looking any other very expensive and didn't want to spend that money and so finally we found a very good salesman to sell myself, but the person we went and spoke with were talking with them, and the thing I've been there so long, they call me by name off looking and their lives. And while we were talking the lady found out you know about not working in hospice and you know tonight and I do grief counseling and her husband died about six months ago and she began to tell me about what's going on in her life and how it all and all the things about her grief, and where she's at and just little things than against each other began to help her where she was at because she was feeling really down this about six months, you should be down. This is probably the lowest point of your life. She says really, really, because it takes time for us to come to that realization. She does all I thought there was something wrong with me when buying a washing machine being in the right place at the right time to give someone a situation, you know how they make these cards into no Brenda back got no not playing cards thereby to dramatize the gift it out. My business card to yellow brown on brown on one side and José Brown on the front me on the back burner. We have run rampant. I want everywhere you want to get it, but you are probably around twenty five of these in the last week, people have asked me what do you have a car, you have a car diagonal and has likely I hear anything on the website and get czarina Elizabeth R Simons enlisted our church observers and things they are all so young. I'm haven't had cards since we came here I thought that you know I always denied the never never when and how close they come up with a new design put together and do there in the back and can take them and have sunk to give up, but the ideas whatever we begin it always shortly prayed about situations, but since I've been reading and during the study and trying to look at this. I'm a little more aware of asking God for the little things always pray for the big things but asking God for the little thing and talking to God about the little things of our life, which means so much to the people around us, being aware of the God is with us. We stop and ask God for help. We stop and ask God for direction. We stop and ask God for his word that we've read to become real to us at this very moment and anything. It's these stopping and positing this, which takes away the pressure to succeed, or the fear of failure because God is with us. And when God is with us. How can we say something is a failure or a success because the glory belongs to God and God is in the process of teaching us and this is not a failure. This is another step in my learning process. A pastor once asked his church to pray that God would shut down the neighborhood bar. Okay the whole church gathered for an evening prayer meeting and pleaded with the the neighborhood of the evils of this bar. A few weeks later, lightning struck the barn burned to the ground, having heard about the church 's prayer crusade. The bar owner. The bar owner promptly sued the church and when the when the quote when the court date arrived. The bar owner, passionately argued that God struck his barn with lightning because of the church members prayer. While the pastor while he backtracked. He brushed off the accusation, and he admitted that the church prayed, but he also affirmed that no one is really his congregation really expected anything to happen. The judge leaned back in his chair with a mixed almond of amusement and perplexity, and he spoke, he says, I can't believe what I'm hearing right in front of me as a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer for pastor who doesn't. I have gotten this from a book called the Christian atheist and and it has many of these types of things that I see there are many Christians who believe in God but don't believe in prayer because we don't pray with my claim that prayer works, but we don't pray and we don't expect anything to change, and we don't pray because while many different reasons at times. At times. I had a very hard time with friends. I mean it. I grew up in the church I grew up when I'm in Westerly solo I was in church when I was four weeks four years old timer I/O five years old. Whenever I remember going down the altar. Follow my grandfather. My grandmother was a preacher young spoke a different different meetings and things like that was on the board for thirty seven years thirty five years on, whenever I was always in church every Sunday Sunday night and tonight we were always in church with the Bible school. We been in ministry so I've always been in the church, and I've been to all-night prayer vigil and I've been to prior conferences and at times, you know, you feel very intimidated by this whole pretense of praying because to listen to some people pray it's like God hasn't a clue what you're talking about. I had also present your go like this gone. I'm praying for hostility in all, the guy who lives in November, who pastors a church onto Wall Street insiders at the time, quality, now has a beard. He has to get his narrative. The teacher and company logo and site you think God that you got to tell primary lives before you ever get to that the need to know and some airline and flight. What's that all about the sad part of what we should be praying that God, we have to make sure that God gets to the right person because there may be another factory, Germantown, was balding, barrel, there is now a visit like we got a be that that specific or the shouting prayers like God is that, or the one I( as somebody watching about the afraid to speak prayers might say something wrong, God will misunderstand what I want to confuse. I have all these ideas and conflicts over prayer itself, and you think about it. We all have our own understanding or misconceptions about praying that it's for somebody else and not for me it's I'm not worthy. I not good enough for all. I mean, you're just name it, and we've got somebody has sorry to say it all in church. I do most of the prey for meaning prayer requests than offering and things like that because you know, I know that our congregation. Many of the remaining minibus are intimidated by public speaking, so if I called on you to pray. Would you while I was picked on Bob Knight 's, this one but I'm electric all anyone's name and would you be intimidated by praying in public, or if I didn't find one or two that pray and don't mind it been somebody's a bodies laying favorites see that Sullivan is just easier for me to pray and outlast anybody. So let's mount full, but we create long list of reasons why we don't do certain things from feelings that were not good enough to being bored whatever we pray from not wanting to bother God with the small stuff to not thinking our prayers can actually make a difference. So we have many reasons for not praying and ale again, some as they are legitimate in our own month in our own eyes in our own minds, but not legitimate to God because God will help us get over the hurdles and God knows the thoughts and the intense of a heart. God knows if we pronounce a word that's not the word. We met that God can interpret the groanings. The groanings what does that mean, what does that mean inside of us and what, what message are we conveying and in what direction are we for training, issue tracking baby. The heartbeat of our home. All that we do practically the heartbeat of everything that we do, and it's not that we spend hours on our knees are the yelps of evil Cannondale and that's in handle of a maiden router that you got to start with where we are starting with Barbara how to suggest Parsons saying you know when you hear a prayer request. Someone called you and says it out. Pray for sounds stop at that moment and offer a prayer. God be with. Was it a step as it's the business like Scott has like they has an infection in his leg, so would you pray for Scott Sullivan comes, you say, God be with Scott and be with him, and am very sad and Engler touches life what's that that's at your prayer. The only give you going to make a decision about something are or are you going somewhere. Whenever God be with us as we travel your prayer you stop in that moment of time to acknowledge that God is with you and you asking for directions a while for the bad things happen. God is with you, even when the bad things happen, God is still there. It isn't like it's a magic bottled it. You now a enclosure self into nothing bad will ever happen to you. Could you walk around his neck. God is with me. No bubble can. Nothing can enter my bubble. The word out of your broke so prior is about acknowledging elbow. What about your friends and what about your help. The people that user with every day. Pray for their friend. They might have the right were due to having a test and school prayer as you study the belt to the E! Online study in the talk about how they dealt passes that won the deciding know what it got been answered my prayer needs that so prayer can be the heartbeat of all that we are people told me to the library once it didn't work what you pray for. I pray for world peace. Okay, enough is like flat out get all your daily needs you many feel not good enough. Many feel that the not eloquent enough, but others say the right thing. There are not passionate enough that they're not firmer and enough that they're not. This is not been bad enough with the ideas are words are enough there. Your words. They are your feelings. These are events in your life God is concerned about you where you are at what is going on in your life, and we then are responding to that by asking God inviting God was already there is a it isn't that I'm inviting God to be with me. I'm making myself aware that God is here. I'm helping me understand that God is here, I am placing the attention away from my not good enough job of God, but it's got to be done. It's up to me. I'm taking that idea is still going on asking God to be a company in this whole process to get me the strength I asked about whatever you go to pray there is the wandering mind syndrome. There is a down and say why you know I would pray and what you do you remember everything you hadn't done hollow about you remember everything you have done wrong in your life and you're not good enough to sit there for a T they are distractions. These are distractions to our prayers and we just need to refocus and let God be with us and not allow them to distract us from one the most important part of our communion with God is equal. How is there no real cliché when the devil reminds you of you of your past remind him of his future enough so you see your past is forgiven. Whenever you remember those things always yell if you carry any grudges in your mind, now the Bible says that whenever you kneel at the altar, and you remember something new has you remember somebody who has something against you, go to that individual. Make a right. Because every time you hear what the author that configure my wife Michael get rid of it just got a part of it now safer in the far help make it right. Mister Wright is a remember who you're talking to. We need to remember who were talking to the God of the universe. He spoke everything into existence, the God of the universe who nearly when I was yet in my mother 's room had a plan for my life gave me and all the opportunities that are in my life, and the experiences that I am encountering are bringing those things out in a way that will make me prove God wants me to be. So I am asking God for direction and how these things come out of my life on my talents and personality and how that might give things and that things are important in my life. How that experiences bring face of the sharpest on asking God to help me interpret them and help me to integrate them into his word, and into his spirit and into my life and how this all works out for me and for the glory of God, because prayer is an about me, for I was about when you are focused from ourselves from our success or failure to God working in our life through our successes or failures in our successes and failures. We are not reminded that we're not reminding ourselves of our failings were much more reminding ourselves of God sufficiency prayer is like talking to a close friend with whom you share your heart, your fears, your dreams and you not worried about what you're saying because it's just who you are then instead of a lifeless one-way conversation, we remember that God is working with us in working through us in speaking back to us. Prayer with God is our our father forever. God becomes an exhilarating thing that God is our father, and he is working with us and walking with us. One of the hardest obstacles to overcome this to my prayers make a difference in my prayers really matter when we start off with this in the sense that remembers not about the need is not about the rearrangement of the circumstance. It's about God 's presence that makes a difference in our life. And as we pray were asking God to be with us, his presence is with us, and that presence gives us the strength to go through any obstacle in our life. You see the people. We pray for his presence makes a difference in their life. Now I'm naturally were to pray about the things and friendly direction that we feel would be best, but you see in the Scriptures that we read, what does it say it says I don't think the way you think and the way you work the way I work, God declares first disguise sores high above the earth. Insult the way I work surpasses the way you work God has a plan is far beyond our edit is greater than anything we could ever imagine. So pray about whatever is on your mind run it by God wanted by Gaudio, why is it that is in your mind, what is it that you're about to do where you're going and you're just asking God to be with you to give you direction it. The pastor tells the story, and this is a close with this pastor tells a story of how his six children, one of the puppy, they begged him for years about getting a dog. Finally he agreed that if God always with a clarification here. If God wanted them to have a dog. The dog which all the good things in dog that needed all so that night, six children. Pray for a perfect dog. The next day when the pastor arrived home the kids were jumping up and down and running and celebrating. Evidently, someone had dropped off a copy nearby and it wandered into their yard. God heard the prayer of a few children about something as small as a puppy when when we see God answering our Pacific prayers. Nothing will ever change us about God. That's why when we pray we pray specifically about situations so that we believe that God is going to work with us. He's going to work through us is going to work in the situation that we are praying about and if it doesn't work out the way we want. We know that God has a better plan. He has a better way we don't lose hope we don't lose direction. We continue to know that God is there and if you don't want a copy. Don't ask, don't ask six kids to pray for. Isaiah chapter fifty five verse six, seek God walking while Segar always here to be found. Pray to him lies close at hand. God isn't far away. God is always here, it's me who are opening our lives to allow God to touch us and to work in our life in this place in this situation of our life. God is at work. Open our hearts to receive