Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Good morning Christ Church.
[00:00:04] It's good to see your beautiful faces today.
[00:00:09] As Tina said, I can't believe next Sunday is Palm Sunday preter and then Easter is right after that. And I want to encourage you to invite someone with you. We're going to have fun events. But I'm also going to be preaching next week on Luke 15.
[00:00:26] And if I were to kind of make like a Mount Everest of scripture, like I could only pick a couple chapters and that was it, Luke 15 would be one of them. Because it so clearly and powerfully helps us to understand who Jesus is and what this all means and how he works in our life. So it's an awesome opportunity to bring someone with you. And I'm gonna do my best to just share these next two weeks priester and Easter to share Christ in the most simple and clear way. So if there's people you've been praying for and you're like, man, I just, I pray their heart would be open to God. I pray I know if they knew him, everything would be different in their life. These next two Sundays are a great opportunity to bring them sound good. And you never know what God will do. So let me say a prayer for us. Father, we thank you for this time. I thank you for everyone that's here today. And Lord, as we continue to prepare our hearts and minds for this Easter season, I pray Lord that you could help us to see Christ more and more clear, Father, today as we talk about prayer. I pray Lord, we could really make it a greater part of our lives. And Father, I pray that we could see the reality of who you are as we practice it. And Lord, show us the way to do it as you taught the disciples. Teach us now, today. And I pray you'd be glorified in all this. In Jesus name, Amen. Amen. Well, we've been kinda walking through the book of Luke. And Luke is one of these biographies of Jesus that we have in the New Testament. And we can't go through every chapter cause that would take us a lot longer time than we have right now. So we've kind of been skipping around.
[00:02:17] But today we're gonna look at Jesus teaching on prayer. And if you remember, Luke said that he wrote this so we would be more certain about who Jesus is. So I know when we talk about Jesus and we talk about belief in God, one of the things we wrestle with is doubt and questions and uncertainty. And Luke wrote this whole gospel to, to help us get through those and to have a stronger confidence that Jesus is who he Said he was. That he died and rose again. That that changes everything for you and me. So all of this is meant to build your confidence and my confidence in the person of Jesus. And I wanna show you this picture of this lady. Her name's Mary Migdley. And, yeah, and she's a British philosopher. She's spent her whole life teaching in universities in Great Britain. And just kind of a really, really brilliant woman. She's written a lot of books. And what's really intriguing to me about her is that she's not a religious person.
[00:03:32] So she's not a Christian. She doesn't have religious beliefs. But she writes a lot about how in our world today, we try to replace religion with science and we try to replace religion with these other kind of what we would call more secular ways of thinking. And she ultimately says that you can't really do that and it doesn't actually make sense when you do it. And so she has these interesting books. One of them is called Science as Salvation.
[00:04:07] And so it kind of gives you a sense of what she's writing about. And she's a brilliant woman, very, very fascinating. But I find it interesting she's not religious, but she says, hey, Christianity actually does make sense. And she says, and in fact, in a lot of things that we try to replace it with in the world where we try to just kind of remove faith and say faith doesn't make sense, she said, we actually go too far in doing that. And so what I love about this woman is like, I greatly appreciate her intellectual honesty. I greatly appreciate that. Like, she's, you know, she's writing this even though she's saying, I don't believe it, but that still makes sense. And so many people have interviewed her and they said, you seem really open to the idea of God, and you seem. And you've said that this idea makes sense, but why don't you believe in God? What holds you back? And this is what she says. She said, I didn't exactly reject it.
[00:05:13] She says, I couldn't make it work.
[00:05:16] I would try to pray, and it didn't seem to get me anywhere.
[00:05:22] So I stopped after a while.
[00:05:25] But I think it's a perfectly sensible worldview.
[00:05:29] Don't you find that interesting?
[00:05:32] But isn't there something, though, that we can all relate to where, you know, you tried to pray and you couldn't make it work and yet it was a little bit confusing to you at some level? And ultimately, you know, she's saying, she's like, no, it does make sense. Like, it's not a.
[00:05:54] A view that is filled with problems. She said, just in my personal experience, I tried to pray and I couldn't make it work. Now, I think that language is really interesting that she's using. I couldn't make it work. Which kind of, to me sounds like her attempt was to try to make it a kind of formula, if you will, A recipe. If I get enough sugar in here and enough butter, it'll be good. Cause sugar and butter, they make everything. Amen. That's all you gotta do.
[00:06:29] Or if it's meat, just put more salt on it. Amen. That's it. The recipe will work. But do you see? She kind of is. Approached it that way. And she said, and because of that, it actually has sort of kept me away. Now, here's what I find interesting about this, is that we're gonna see that Jesus teaches us about prayer. But he says, look, I wanna help you approach it in the right way. Because if you do, it won't make you question God. It will make you more confident that he exists, that he's good, and that he's generous. See, what we're gonna see in the Gospel of Luke is that Jesus shows us that prayer is actually one of the things that we can experience that will deepen our certainty about God. And I believe that with my whole heart that when we approach prayer in the way that Jesus is gonna teach us today, it will give you convincing evidence in your own personal life about the existence and the goodness and the wisdom of God. But we have to approach it Jesus way. And that's the key thing. Many times we approach it our way. We do it in a way that seems to make sense to us, but we have to hear how he teaches us to do it. And that's the pathway. So we're gonna look at Luke chapter 10 today. I've got a lot of text I'm gonna try and get through, so I hope you're really comfortable.
[00:08:10] But I'm gonna try and hit the highlights of this because Luke, the one who wrote this, he organizes these ideas together. So we're gonna read a story, a teaching and a parable. But Luke, as this writer, they're all about prayer. And they're all meant to help us to understand how to approach prayer in the right way. So let's start with the first one. This is a story as Luke 10, verse 38. And it says this. Now, as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. Now, this phrase should kind of make us pause for a second, because what was happening here was Mary was being. She was kind of formally learning from Jesus. Jesus was a rabbi. And so in the ancient world, a rabbi would have students, and they would learn from them. They would learn about God. They would learn how to live their lives. And this language here, that she sat at his feet and listened to his teaching means that ultimately she was acting as one of his students, and she was just listening to him and being present with him. And what's fascinating about this is that in the ancient world, women were generally not afforded the right to do that or really to get any education.
[00:09:44] But here, Jesus is breaking conventions as he typically does. And it's amazing the emphasis that Luke has on the place of women in the ministry of Jesus. And this is one really cool example of it. So she's learning at Jesus feet, but verse 40. But Martha was distracted.
[00:10:05] She couldn't get off her phone.
[00:10:11] Wasn't that. But she was still distracted.
[00:10:15] This story, I feel like, is so relevant to modern life, written 2,000 years ago, and yet we still struggle with distraction. Like, oh, life was so simple. Just put me on one of those Discovery Channel shows where I gotta chop down trees and I'll never be distracted. No, you'll still be distracted. It's a human problem. And she was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
[00:10:48] Now, when you're throwing your sibling under the bus before Jesus, like, it's one thing to tell mom and dad, but I'm telling Jesus on you. Like, dude, that is a new low right there. Amen.
[00:11:04] Lord, this. My sister's a lazy bum.
[00:11:09] She's just sitting there. I'm doing all the work I'm trying. I got a prime rib in the oven here. There's stuff that needs to be done.
[00:11:17] Don't you care? Tell her to help me.
[00:11:20] But the Lord answered her.
[00:11:22] Martha. Martha. There's actually a lot of tenderness in this. I could almost hear the sigh. Ah, Martha, you hear your wound a little tight, girl.
[00:11:39] Time to relax. Amen.
[00:11:41] Don't worry. The Lord says that to you sometimes, too. Chill out a little bit. All right, Take a deep breath. Martha. Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.
[00:11:54] I'm not laughing at her.
[00:11:56] But one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. Now, this story is very unique. It's only in Luke, so it's not in Matthew, Mark or John. But it's in this whole context of prayer. And there's a lot of great lessons to learn from this. But let me just pull out a couple. Number one, notice that Jesus is showing us what a relationship with him is meant to look like.
[00:12:29] It's not about activity, it's about presence.
[00:12:35] Mary's trying, or Martha's trying to do everything for God.
[00:12:41] Mary's trying to be with God. You see the difference?
[00:12:45] And Jesus is saying, ultimately, that's the relationship that I want with you. It's a relationship of delight that I wanna be with you. See, when our relationship with God feels all duty bound, we're missing the point when we feel like, man, I've gotta drag myself to church.
[00:13:16] Oh my gosh, it's gonna snow again today.
[00:13:22] And I got like, no, like, I wanna be in the presence of God. Amen.
[00:13:29] I like seeing you people.
[00:13:32] Most of you. No, I'm just kidding. I really do. I'm just kidding.
[00:13:37] I like thinking about God. I like talking, I like praying.
[00:13:42] It's meaningful to me, right? And a relationship with God is not driven by duty, it's driven by delight.
[00:13:52] And this is what Jesus showing us, that this relationship is built.
[00:13:58] And I wonder, how many times in our life do we like Martha? We just get so distracted with everything and we're doing so much that not only are we missing connecting with God, but we also become resentful of other people. Cause that's what happens here, doesn't it? Martha's like, I'm the only one that cares here. You ever been there? You look around and I know, hopefully you don't say it out loud in our hearts is bad enough. But you look around and you're like, what's up with all these losers? God, I'm the only responsible one. Man, I'm glad at least there's one person you can count on here, Lord.
[00:14:41] But could you deal with these people?
[00:14:44] And what got Martha to that point? Well, like, she was all about doing for God, but she lost being with him. She lost the joy. And Jesus says, hey, Mary, Mary's got this right. She understands this.
[00:15:03] And she's making get this church. Her priorities are in order.
[00:15:10] Yes, stuff needs done, but more than that, you need to be in my presence.
[00:15:16] And as I was just thinking about this, just asking myself, what kind of priority does God really get in my life?
[00:15:26] What kind of attention do we give to him? Not saying, what do we do for him, but what time and Space do we make in our lives to just say, lord, I want to be with you. I want to hear from you, I want to learn from you, I want to receive from you?
[00:15:50] And this is ultimately what Jesus is showing us, is this is the approach to prayer.
[00:15:56] This is the way to enter into prayer, to say, lord, I want to be here, and I wanna be with you. And here's what I found in my life. When I make the priority to do that, a lot of my life actually becomes more effective because I'm avoiding the things that are not as wise. I'm more in tune where God is directing me. I have a clear outlook on things. I have more inner strength because I'm receiving from him. And so, interestingly enough, that it actually helps with all of it. You with me on this. And I wanna challenge you. And I wanna challenge me that, as we are in this Easter season, what would it look like in our busy lives? Cause I know we're all busy. And here's the thing. Martha's not busy doing bad stuff.
[00:16:53] You know, she's not like, kicking the neighbor's dog and, you know, throwing rocks at.
[00:17:04] Yeah, she's not doing that kind of stuff. She's making, you know, probably, I presume, making a meal or doing something that is a good thing.
[00:17:14] But Jesus says, but there is an ultimate greater thing. And in our busy lives and in this busy season, could we make a little time every day to be with God? I think it would. I think it would change things in the best of ways. So Jesus tells this story, and then we get into chapter 11. And now he's gonna give us a model of what prayer looks like. Now let me read it to you. He says this. Now, Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, lord, teach us to pray. As John taught his disciples, he said to them, when you pray, say this. And for many of us, this prayer will sound very, very familiar. We call this the Our Father, the Lord's Prayer. But you will probably recognize most of this. Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done. That's in Matthew. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins for we ourselves. Forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation. Sound familiar?
[00:18:29] And what Jesus is doing here, the disciples say, hey, we see that prayer is a big part of your life. And interestingly, when we read through, like Luke, we will see Jesus go and pray, withdraw from places, and it's a part of his rhythm. It's not just an occasional thing. It's part of how he lived life. And so the disciples notice this and they say, all right, teach us how to do that, what that looks like to be part of our lives. And he gives them this prayer. And what's cool about this prayer is it's not a magical spell.
[00:19:09] It's not like, okay, I say these words and I say them at the right tempo and with the right pronunciation, and then good stuff happens. He's not showing it as this is just a routine thing to say again and again. But it's a model, it's a paradigm for how to practice prayer in our lives. That in other words, there are so many different ways to pray.
[00:19:40] And I think that God is honored in so many different ways that we pray. But what Jesus is saying, he's saying, but here's a fail safe model to pray that if you can kind of pray along these ideas, it will be a meaningful experience. You with me on this?
[00:20:02] And he begins. And notice he begins with Father, Father. Now that is really, really significant because again, Jesus is gonna show us again and again that in prayer we are talking to our heavenly Father that there's freedom, there is trust, there is healthy expectation that this is not a cold religious experience, but this is a personal, meaningful experience. Experience.
[00:20:42] And I think about this a lot because, you know, I got a son now, which is awesome. Teddy, he's one. And sometimes, you know, the girls usually go to bed a little bit earlier than he does. And so me and him will just be hanging out. He loves this YouTube guy named Danny. Go. Anybody hear of this? It's pure torture.
[00:21:05] Kid's obsessed with it. So we watched Danny go videos ad nauseam. And the other night we were watching these videos and he kind of like snuggled up on the couch and I was like, oh, man, this is cute. And he was standing on the couch, he was getting excited, and all of a sudden he like double fisted me on the chest.
[00:21:27] And I just kind of like, was like, oh, made a little noise. And he started cracking up. He thought it was hilarious. So guess what we did for the next half hour?
[00:21:40] You didn't know a 1 year old could actually bruise your chest?
[00:21:45] I'm a delicate flower now, you know, I get.
[00:21:49] But you know, he's just pounding my chest, he's laughing, you know. But again, in no other relationship in my life would that be okay. You with me? And no other relationship is that standing.
[00:22:04] But yet there is something about a father, son, a child, parent relationship is unique.
[00:22:11] And Jesus is saying, you have that with God, and you cannot forget that when you pray that this is the relationship that is behind our connection. You with me on this. And then Jesus says, he is our Father, but we still honor him. Hallowed be your name. Yes, I can go freely to him. Yes, I can bring anything to him. Yes, I can expect unconditional love, unconditional help. I can expect protection. I can expect provision. But Jesus says, yes, but you must also revere him because he is your Father. But he is your heavenly Father, and he is worthy of respect and worship. Hallowed be your name. That's a statement that says, God, you are worthy of honor. You are unique. There is no one like you. And here's what I would say when you and I. When you begin your prayer with honoring God, man, you're starting out on the right foot when we just take a moment and just say, all right, Lord, I know I have freedom to come to you, and I thank you for that. But first and foremost, let me just honor you and thank you. You are God. There's no one like you.
[00:23:33] I revere you. I respect you. I worship you. And then Jesus says. And then we say, your kingdom come. And here's what that means. It means that in my prayer, the first thing that I'm gonna go to is, lord, let your purpose stand in my life. Cause here's one of the big problems in our life. We don't say, your kingdom come. We say, my kingdom come.
[00:24:01] And the Lord's like, your kingdom stinks.
[00:24:05] And we're like, no, it'll be great. The Lord's like, no, it won't. And in prayer, we can reset our hearts and our spirit by saying, may God, your kingdom is way better. I don't always have to understand.
[00:24:20] Doesn't always have to make sense to me. It doesn't always have to be the way I see things unfolding. But I'm just asking that what you want to happen in my life, God, I pray. That happens. Church, you pray that every day you're on a good path. You don't even have to believe it. You just pray it. And you'll start to believe it, and you'll start to see it, and things will start to look different. And then Jesus says, and then we can get to our needs. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins. Now, these pairings are really great. One is a physical need, and one is a spiritual need. And guess what? In your life, you have physical needs and you have spiritual needs. You might need money you might need food, you might need jobs. You might need certain health issues. Those are all physical needs. And Jesus says, yes, bring those to God. Say, lord, provide for those. But you also have spiritual needs. We got junk in our soul that needs cleaned.
[00:25:24] We need forgiveness that needs to come through our system.
[00:25:28] We need bitterness, that needs rooted out. We need healing in our emotions, in our soul. And Jesus says, yes, ask God for that too, and he will do it. And we bring all our needs to him. Remember, he's your father. I've heard people say. They've almost kind of said something along these lines, like, I don't wanna bother God with this issue in my life. And Jesus is saying, it's not a bother at all.
[00:26:01] He invites you to bring your requests big and small.
[00:26:08] He wants that relationship with you. He invites us to that in prayer. And then Jesus says, forgive us our sins, for we forgive those who sin against us. Now, notice that's not really a request.
[00:26:23] That's a commitment.
[00:26:25] Do you see the little difference there? So, Lord, forgive me our sins, my sins, for we forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
[00:26:37] Well, do we?
[00:26:41] Jesus says, well, make that commitment. And here's why I think that part is so important to see, because being a Christian is recognizing how freely and fully God has forgiven us.
[00:27:02] It's feeling that in a deeply personal way that, man, God had every right to reject me, but he fully forgives me.
[00:27:16] And so therefore, how can I hold all these grudges against everyone else? You see that if God so freely forgives me, how is it right of me to not freely forgive others?
[00:27:35] And so what this commitment means, it means that we actually get it.
[00:27:41] Do you know what our forgiveness problems in life are? It's because we don't actually fully understand God's forgiveness for us. As soon as that begins to make more sense, then forgiveness stops being an option to us. We're like, I have to, because Christ has forgiven me. And how could I go forward in that forgiveness and not give it to other people in my life? Now, it doesn't mean it's easy to give it to him. Doesn't mean you won't have to work through that, but you're committed to it, and that's what this prayer is. And then he says, and lead us not into temptation.
[00:28:20] Oh, Lord, protect me from me.
[00:28:24] Man, that's a wise prayer right there.
[00:28:27] You're worried about everybody else. The Lord's like, no, protect you from you.
[00:28:33] Lead me not into temptation. And so if you just kind of follow that pattern and you pray along those lines, man, you honor God, you say your kingdom come, Lord, I want your way, not mine. God, here's the needs in my life, Lord, I wanna remind myself that you've forgiven me. And Lord, will you protect me. It's a great approach to prayer. And then Jesus says this, right after this, he goes into this parable. He says, and he said to them, which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves.
[00:29:20] Don't come to anybody's house at midnight, church. Amen.
[00:29:26] There's people that live close to me and in the summertime, at like 10:00 at night, they shoot off fireworks a lot.
[00:29:35] There's few things that make me as angry as that.
[00:29:39] I just put the kids down.
[00:29:42] If you wake them up, I will kill you. No, metaphorically, that's what it feels like. This is kind of one of those scenarios. He just put the kids down, someone's at the door. I have nothing to. I need three loaves of bread. And he says he will answer them from within. Don't bother me.
[00:30:03] The door is now shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything. Get out of here. That's what he's saying. I tell you, though, he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend.
[00:30:19] This is a really funny passage. You don't think it's funny, but it's funny here. Like if you, some of you, you've lived this passage, you know. Exactly. But what Jesus is saying is saying someone's knocking at the door and the guy's like, I hate this man. Right now you're gonna wake up everybody in the house. We're all in bed, everybody's cozy. And Jesus is saying, he's not gonna get up and help this guy because he likes him. He's not gonna get up and say, oh, yeah, this poor man at my door, let me see what I can do. No, Jesus says that I tell you he'll get up because of his impudence. He will rise and give him whatever he needs because of his, the word. Actually there is shamelessness.
[00:30:58] He'll say, whatever I have to do to get this knucklehead out of here, I will do. That's the message of this parable. Come on, that's funny. Whatever I tell you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks, finds to the one who Knocks, it will be open.
[00:31:21] What father among you? If his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? If he asks for an egg, we'll give him a scorpion. If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
[00:31:43] This is. This is a really fascinating parable.
[00:31:48] And you know what I think the overriding message is? Is that prayer requires persistence.
[00:31:58] Prayer is not free from effort. And again, I think that's where we mistake it. Sometimes we think that effort and prayer are two different things. But what Jesus is saying is, no, they go together. And I think that's true in life. Like, I think you should pray with. With all your being that things depend on God. Cause they do. But then I think you should work as hard as you can. At the same time. You with me? I think prayer and effort go together.
[00:32:31] And I think that we're also meant to give effort to prayer.
[00:32:36] That Jesus is saying, hey, when you pray, you should expect to be the guy at the door.
[00:32:44] I don't know if they did that on purpose, but that was perfect timing.
[00:32:47] You should be knocking like that again and again. I remember a couple years ago, my neighbor had a trampoline in his backyard. And it was like one of those crazy windy days. And I saw out my back window, I saw it just lift up and go and start tumbling. So, you know, he's my neighbor, so I kind of know his rhythms. He works from home. The cars were there. So I'm like, I know this guy is home, and his trampoline's rolling through people's yards. I wanna go tell him. Cause I'll help him. I'm not bringing it back myself, but I will go with him to help him. So I went on the door and I was knocking. No one's coming. Rang the doorbell. No one's coming. And in my mind, I'm like, dude, I know you're home. You know what I'm saying? We're neighbors. I see your car. I know pretty much your work week. I'm not a stalker or anything. Relax. But you get the vibe.
[00:33:42] And I'm like. And I honestly, I just want to help you. Because, like, I don't want this thing going out in the street or blasting into some patio. And so, like, I was just knocking, knocking, ringing the doorbell. And, you know, normally, you know, it's like you maybe knock once or twice. I feel if you're ringing the doorbell twice, you're really Being pretty bold. Amen. Like. And I was like. But I just was not going away. Cause I was like, I know you're home and I want to help you.
[00:34:14] And eventually, after several minutes, he answered the door. But I've been on that same side too. Like, don't answer that. You know what I'm saying? He was in one of those moments, and we got the trampoline, and everything was good. But I remember that feeling of like, okay, this is a little awkward. Like, I know you're dogging me right now. And I know you're probably like, what is wrong with this guy? But I just stayed. And what Jesus is saying is that we have to persist in prayer.
[00:34:44] And, man, there's some things in our life that we need to just keep praying on.
[00:34:52] And the temptation is gonna be to give up.
[00:34:55] The temptation is gonna be to say, it's not working.
[00:35:00] It's not working. Well, no, maybe I haven't knocked enough.
[00:35:06] Maybe now you're saying, well, why does the Lord do it this way? There's probably a million reasons. But what Jesus is saying is he's doing it this way not to torture you, not because he doesn't wanna give you good things. Somehow this is connected to him giving you good things.
[00:35:24] This is connected to his fatherly heart. It's not against that. And when we approach prayer, Jesus said, look, I'm just telling you up front, keep knocking, keep seeking, keep asking, and the door will be opened. He will give you what you need. God doesn't bait and switch us. Oh, you want a bread? You want some bread? Here's a scorpion. No. And she said, no. And you know, man, the wisdom of Jesus is unbelievable. Because how many times in our life do we really wrestle with this idea that God is gonna bait and switch me if I really devote my life to God, what if it doesn't go right? If I really trust God with this area of my life?
[00:36:13] We're afraid of that. We're afraid God is gonna bait and switch us. And Jesus says, absolutely not. Not.
[00:36:20] He said, you're an imperfect father and you would never bait and switch your kids.
[00:36:25] How much more then will your perfectly heavenly Father not do that for you? He says, ask. And then he finishes it up this way. And notice this. He says he will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Don't miss that part. You're like, well, I asked for a job.
[00:36:49] I asked for health issues.
[00:36:52] I asked for something different in a relationship. I asked for this and that. And Jesus says, yeah, but here's what you really need the spirit of God to fill your life.
[00:37:06] See, he is a good father. He will give us what we need, not what we want. You don't want a God who gives you what you want. Cause our wants can be really messed up. You need a God who gives you what you need.
[00:37:20] And he says, I will give you the spirit. And I want to encourage you this week to make space to pray. And if all you do is just say, lord, fill me with your spirit, if that's your only prayer, I'll tell you what, that'll still be a powerful deal.
[00:37:41] That'll still be a great thing to do. Because as God's spirit fills us, everything else in life gets in order. Let's pray, Father. We thank you so much, Lord, that we can pray to you. Father. I don't even want to take that for granted.
[00:38:04] I thank you so much for the wisdom, the power, the clarity of this teaching. And Lord, I pray today that we could just become people of greater prayer. Father, I really believe that all the good things you've done in our church had their beginnings in prayer.
[00:38:26] I believe, Lord, all the best things you're going to do in our marriages, in our families and our workplaces, in our community, that prayer is gonna be central to it.
[00:38:37] All that you have for the future of our church, Lord, I believe, will come through prayer. And so, Lord, let us see the great value, power of it and let us make a real commitment to it in our lives. And we pray that you'd be glorified in all this. In Jesus good name we pray. Amen.
