1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,040 Welcome to Heaven Earth Church. My name is Ross Stackhouse. 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:10,280 I'm the founding pastor of Heaven Earth Church. From the beginning, 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,600 our heart was to be a church for people who don't fit neatly into 4 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:18,720 church. Our heart is to meet people where they are, to learn their 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,320 stories, to honor their stories. Because in every human story 6 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,680 is God's story. In this podcast, you'll hear more about the 7 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,080 people who now call Heaven Earth Church home. Their stories, 8 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:34,260 in many cases of misfits who are discovering or rediscovering 9 00:00:34,260 --> 00:00:38,140 faith. If you want to know more about us, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org 10 00:00:38,620 --> 00:00:41,660 Otherwise, we invite you now into the story. 11 00:00:44,060 --> 00:00:47,300 Hello, good people. Brad Miller here, the producer of the 12 00:00:47,300 --> 00:00:52,500 Heaven Earth Church podcast. One of the main benefits of being 13 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:57,180 a part of the Heaven Earth Church community is our Sunday morning 14 00:00:57,180 --> 00:01:02,170 conversations taught by founding pastor Ross Stackhouse. 15 00:01:03,450 --> 00:01:08,250 You can watch and participate in the Sunday morning conversation 16 00:01:08,810 --> 00:01:17,210 this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern time at YouTube.com heavenorthchurch. 17 00:01:18,730 --> 00:01:23,690 The audio version of the Sunday morning conversation is available 18 00:01:23,690 --> 00:01:28,370 here on the podcast, which you can find at Apple Podcasts, Spotify 19 00:01:28,850 --> 00:01:37,490 and on the website, which is heavenerthchurch.org Here is heaven 20 00:01:37,490 --> 00:01:41,810 Earth Church pastor Ross Stackhouse with the Lenten message. 21 00:01:41,810 --> 00:01:47,650 The mystery and frustration of asking God for anything in prayer. 22 00:01:48,610 --> 00:01:52,750 The Lord says, be still and know that I am God. I'm exalted among 23 00:01:52,750 --> 00:01:56,990 the nations. I'm exalted throughout the earth. Habakkuk the 24 00:01:56,990 --> 00:02:00,150 prophet says, surely the knowledge of the Lord's glory will 25 00:02:00,150 --> 00:02:05,030 cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. Lord, grant us assurance 26 00:02:05,030 --> 00:02:10,030 of that beyond what we could achieve with our human mind. Speak 27 00:02:10,030 --> 00:02:16,990 to us in this time. In Jesus name, Amen. So I, I told you that 28 00:02:17,270 --> 00:02:22,630 not too long ago I had this great experience where I was at like 29 00:02:22,630 --> 00:02:28,150 a renewal sort of retreat for a day, retreat for a day. And one 30 00:02:28,150 --> 00:02:32,830 of the leaders had us go to St. John the Evangelist in Indianapolis. 31 00:02:32,830 --> 00:02:38,150 I told you about it at the time. And she invited us to pray 32 00:02:38,150 --> 00:02:41,230 till we were released. And what she meant by that was just try 33 00:02:41,230 --> 00:02:45,060 to be still and present and attentive to God until you sense 34 00:02:45,060 --> 00:02:49,220 that you're finished. And so we could walk around and do Stations 35 00:02:49,220 --> 00:02:55,380 of the Cross, but there was this one station that I loved that 36 00:02:55,860 --> 00:03:00,500 basically, I know you can't read that, but there were, there 37 00:03:00,500 --> 00:03:04,060 was the, these prayers that they received from, they're part 38 00:03:04,060 --> 00:03:09,180 of this greater effort where they, they collected prayer intercessions 39 00:03:09,180 --> 00:03:14,980 from lots of people all over the world. And they, they collected 40 00:03:14,980 --> 00:03:19,540 some in this basket and you could Just pick one out. So I got 41 00:03:19,540 --> 00:03:25,620 this one. I pray for my career and for my mom's papers so she can 42 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:33,820 go home to her mom in Mexico. And so I prayed over that. Stuck 43 00:03:33,820 --> 00:03:36,860 in between, as we'll talk about, as Tyler Staten says, like, 44 00:03:36,860 --> 00:03:41,720 in between the mystery and wonder of prayer. I have no idea 45 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:47,960 if through my praying, if that person's career had any significant 46 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:53,000 improvement. I'm not sure. I don't know if my prayer helped this 47 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,040 person's mom get her papers and see her mom in Mexico. But there 48 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:01,480 is something so powerful about doing it. I felt the mystery of it. 49 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,120 Like, I don't know what this is doing, to be honest with you, 50 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:10,130 but I felt because I was fully present, my spirit was sort of workable. 51 00:04:10,450 --> 00:04:15,050 I just felt present to God and my. My love for God increased. I 52 00:04:15,050 --> 00:04:18,650 felt like it was a privilege to care for God's people. But I also 53 00:04:18,650 --> 00:04:22,170 felt more connected to humankind, to. To my neighbors, to 54 00:04:22,170 --> 00:04:25,450 this stranger whom I've never met. And that's why we've been in 55 00:04:25,450 --> 00:04:28,850 this. This series called the Prayerful Life of Conversations for. 56 00:04:29,010 --> 00:04:34,060 For beginners, experts and skeptics. Maybe it's just me, but 57 00:04:34,060 --> 00:04:37,420 I need some help with prayer. I want to carry forward two images, 58 00:04:37,420 --> 00:04:39,900 and then I. And then I want to talk to you about kind of. We're 59 00:04:39,900 --> 00:04:41,860 going to talk about something specific today. We've been talking 60 00:04:41,860 --> 00:04:45,580 about prayer more as a. A garden. It's not just a religious 61 00:04:45,580 --> 00:04:49,060 task we do, but it's. It's where we go. We get our hands in 62 00:04:49,060 --> 00:04:53,340 the soil with God and we cultivate love of God, love of self, 63 00:04:53,340 --> 00:04:57,220 love of neighbor, even as we feel like we're stumbling through 64 00:04:57,220 --> 00:05:00,540 it. I said an ugly garden can produce fruit. Secondly, last week 65 00:05:00,540 --> 00:05:04,200 we talked about the city of go. Psalm 46 has this image of the 66 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,320 city of God that has this river flowing through it, that it's 67 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,000 a river of gladness. There's a song lyric that says, river of gladness, 68 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,120 fill my soul, Jesus, you're my greatest thought. God, I know when 69 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,080 we pray, it's like we're taking residence in God's city for 70 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,400 a while. Even if we don't know what we're doing, we're taking residence 71 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,920 in God's city and such that we realize it's our true home and we 72 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,720 never leave it. Part of our destiny is to bring God's city here. 73 00:05:30,030 --> 00:05:33,590 I want. Let's be honest, there's some scriptures about prayer 74 00:05:33,590 --> 00:05:37,950 that are. They're. They're tough. Like, it's like, really is 75 00:05:37,950 --> 00:05:42,910 that. Is that I don't know if that's true. Like this one, Jesus 76 00:05:42,910 --> 00:05:47,070 says, so I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, whatever you 77 00:05:47,070 --> 00:05:50,310 ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it 78 00:05:50,310 --> 00:05:54,550 will be yours. John 14. This is Jesus's farewell discourse. I 79 00:05:54,550 --> 00:05:58,190 will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified 80 00:05:58,190 --> 00:06:02,760 in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. 81 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,600 I'm not finished. There's a thing that Jesus says several times 82 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,800 on that day, same farewell discourse. On that day, you will 83 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,400 ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of 84 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,400 the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you have 85 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,640 not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive so 86 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:25,720 that your joy may be complete. How you doing with these verses? 87 00:06:31,860 --> 00:06:47,100 Go on. How are you doing, Cara? One more. Okay. I'll do whatever 88 00:06:47,100 --> 00:06:49,620 you ask my name so the Father may be glorified in the Son. 89 00:06:51,860 --> 00:06:57,660 Like, for me, it's like, even if you ask for a prayer, there's 90 00:06:57,660 --> 00:06:59,140 a reason why you just don't know it. 91 00:06:59,620 --> 00:07:02,860 You feel like if you've asked for something and you perceive that 92 00:07:02,860 --> 00:07:06,380 it's not been answered, there's a reason you just don't know 93 00:07:06,380 --> 00:07:09,780 it. All right, I think it's the. 94 00:07:10,580 --> 00:07:13,420 You've asked for something and you have a vision of the way you 95 00:07:13,420 --> 00:07:16,820 think it should be played out or how it's going to happen and what 96 00:07:16,820 --> 00:07:20,050 you know. And we all know that it doesn't always happen that way 97 00:07:20,050 --> 00:07:24,410 or the way people would wish for it to. To occur. So it's hard 98 00:07:24,410 --> 00:07:27,810 to struggle with that. But it's, you know, you got to remind 99 00:07:27,810 --> 00:07:31,050 yourself that it's, you know, he's going to do it in according 100 00:07:31,050 --> 00:07:34,490 to his will, not yours. She said it better than me. 101 00:07:34,570 --> 00:07:39,810 Okay, so we've got another vote for, like, sometimes what gets 102 00:07:39,810 --> 00:07:44,730 in the way, perhaps, is our. Our preconceived notions, our expectations. 103 00:07:48,060 --> 00:07:48,300 We. 104 00:07:50,700 --> 00:08:14,780 Okay. What else? How you doing with this, Debbie? Yeah, God isn't 105 00:08:14,780 --> 00:08:19,020 Robin Williams. Like, and you got three wishes, right? And you 106 00:08:19,020 --> 00:08:23,020 can't trick God. And like, oh, that. Oh, that was a wish and you 107 00:08:23,020 --> 00:08:27,379 granted it. But, you know, like, sometimes Debbie's like, I 108 00:08:27,379 --> 00:08:30,620 agree with what has been said, but also sometimes, especially when 109 00:08:30,620 --> 00:08:35,980 people are sick and dying and maybe they're young, that's just 110 00:08:35,980 --> 00:08:57,110 an unanswered prayer for Debbie. What else? So sort of another 111 00:08:57,110 --> 00:09:05,120 vote for. Maybe our perception is that it went unanswered, or maybe 112 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:09,920 the answer was no. Okay. All right, Sarah, 113 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,680 Because then when you're looking back and I'm like, oh, God, 114 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:25,880 that isn't answering that. Just stop yourself and figuring out 115 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:27,040 what you truly are. 116 00:09:28,490 --> 00:09:28,770 Yeah. 117 00:09:28,770 --> 00:09:31,730 It might be, like, when some. I don't know if you're saying this, 118 00:09:31,730 --> 00:09:35,290 but maybe when it's unanswered, maybe it's an invitation 119 00:09:35,290 --> 00:09:37,850 to look at, like, our intentions and our motives and our 120 00:09:37,850 --> 00:09:41,330 hearts and, like, what. Why were we asking what we were asking 121 00:09:41,330 --> 00:09:54,210 for? Ellie, These right here. So John chapter about 13 to 17 is 122 00:09:54,210 --> 00:09:57,730 what's called the farewell discourse. So there's no last supper 123 00:09:57,730 --> 00:10:03,250 in John. There is in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but there is this 124 00:10:03,250 --> 00:10:06,890 sort of last speech that Jesus gives to his disciples who's getting 125 00:10:06,890 --> 00:10:11,250 ready to leave. And he has this whole. There's the foot washing. 126 00:10:11,250 --> 00:10:17,210 Right. So John chapter 13, he does that. He's serving them, and 127 00:10:17,210 --> 00:10:19,930 then he starts telling them about the role of the Holy Spirit. 128 00:10:19,930 --> 00:10:26,710 John 14, John 16. And so he's preparing them that for his departure. 129 00:10:27,750 --> 00:10:34,110 And so he's like, hey, once I leave, you're gonna learn how to, 130 00:10:34,110 --> 00:10:43,110 like, abide with me when I'm not here physically. Brad, 131 00:10:45,110 --> 00:10:50,630 over 50 years ago, Janice Jordan. We're safe business. And 132 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:56,560 I think these types of verses justify prosperity gospel imagery 133 00:10:56,560 --> 00:11:00,640 or prospects. You know, Lord, if you pray such a thing, you know, 134 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,640 I'm going to be wealthy, rich and beautiful and all that good stuff. 135 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,720 And yet I really think you got to balance that out with many, many 136 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,080 verses about serving for and humility and so on. 137 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:11,600 Yeah. 138 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,480 This justifies kind of a skewed understanding. 139 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:20,360 Sure. The verses like this have justified what's called prosperity 140 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:25,480 gospel that, you know, like, I remember when Jesse Duplantis, if 141 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,920 you don't know who he is, don't worry about it. Not worth your 142 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:33,080 time. He's. He was. He was on a video, said saying, like, I believe 143 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:37,440 God. I'm believing you for a Falcon F7 or something. It was a 144 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:42,600 jet. And he was the pastor of a congregation, and he was asking 145 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,160 his congregation to raise money so he could have a jet. 146 00:11:47,370 --> 00:11:47,610 So 147 00:11:49,450 --> 00:11:53,690 that's a preface to, like. Yeah. So anyways, what I want to 148 00:11:53,690 --> 00:12:00,610 say is, like, I'm believing. I want a G7. Guys. Like, yeah, yeah. 149 00:12:00,610 --> 00:12:03,810 No, like, this can. This. This stuff can justify, like, you can 150 00:12:03,810 --> 00:12:07,650 warp the Bible to whatever you want it to be for you. But you. Again, 151 00:12:07,650 --> 00:12:10,490 like, we talk about, like, are you looking at the whole library 152 00:12:10,490 --> 00:12:19,970 of scriptures and what some of the big themes are? I mean. Yes. 153 00:12:20,610 --> 00:12:24,290 So I mean, maybe a different audience. I mean, obviously. 154 00:12:31,090 --> 00:12:34,210 Yeah, that's a Great point. He's talking to people. He spent 155 00:12:34,210 --> 00:12:38,860 like three years training, so he's. He's sort of worked on their 156 00:12:38,860 --> 00:12:44,260 hearts. They're probably not going to ask for a jet. Probably 157 00:12:44,260 --> 00:13:16,390 not. Because they've watched him. Shelby? Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So 158 00:13:17,590 --> 00:13:22,350 on the surface level, it's like if these were true, then we 159 00:13:22,350 --> 00:13:25,710 wouldn't have all these bad outcomes that we have. But there 160 00:13:25,710 --> 00:13:28,750 is an element, a huge element of faith and trust that enters the 161 00:13:28,750 --> 00:13:34,040 equation here. Let's segue on that. So I'm going to read a little 162 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,920 bit from this book. Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools. Here's 163 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:39,760 what we've got for the rest of our time. Today we're going to make 164 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,840 it a little excerpt from Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools. 165 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:47,760 Then we're going to spend time in Luke 11 with the Lord's Prayer 166 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,640 and a weird parable and then going to. We're going to end with 167 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,880 like, so what? All right, you think we can make it, Christie? 168 00:13:55,030 --> 00:13:55,510 We can do it. 169 00:13:55,510 --> 00:14:00,750 Let's go. Are you awake? Do we need to do jumping jacks? Anyone? 170 00:14:00,750 --> 00:14:06,470 We good? All right. Praying like monks, Living like Fools. He 171 00:14:06,470 --> 00:14:10,350 says prayer is a compelling wonder. This is in a section called 172 00:14:10,350 --> 00:14:15,070 Paralyzed between Wonder and Mystery. Paralyzed between one. Prayer 173 00:14:15,070 --> 00:14:19,350 is a compelling wonder. God acting on earth in response to conversation 174 00:14:19,350 --> 00:14:24,610 with a human being. How can it be? How can there be a God this powerful 175 00:14:24,610 --> 00:14:29,530 and yet this personal? It's better than we dare to imagine. Most 176 00:14:29,530 --> 00:14:33,010 of the time, Walter Wink confidently explains, history belongs 177 00:14:33,010 --> 00:14:36,610 to the intercessors who believe the future into being. And 178 00:14:36,610 --> 00:14:41,130 prayer is also a confounding mystery. Some readers will be inspired 179 00:14:41,130 --> 00:14:46,130 and motivated by those stories of answered prayer, but at least 180 00:14:46,130 --> 00:14:51,950 as many will be confused or even angered by the same stories. 181 00:14:52,350 --> 00:14:55,270 Quote, he says, like, that's great. Your brother in law was healed. 182 00:14:55,270 --> 00:14:59,390 But why some and not others? What about all the similar prayers 183 00:14:59,390 --> 00:15:03,750 that went unanswered? If we insist on celebrating divine action, 184 00:15:03,750 --> 00:15:08,310 can someone please explain divine silence? What took God so 185 00:15:08,310 --> 00:15:11,470 long? Why wait decades to answer prayer and then answer it? 186 00:15:11,470 --> 00:15:14,630 Is there some kind of divine equation with just the right combination 187 00:15:14,630 --> 00:15:18,340 of time spent praying, plus a number of people praying, plus method 188 00:15:18,340 --> 00:15:23,060 of praying that finally gets God's attention? Or is God just unmotivated 189 00:15:23,060 --> 00:15:26,660 most of the time and she finally caught God at the right moment? 190 00:15:27,540 --> 00:15:30,700 And in what other context does withholding that kind of power for 191 00:15:30,700 --> 00:15:33,700 years make sense? Doesn't that story speak more of the cruelty of 192 00:15:33,700 --> 00:15:36,820 a God with the power to act, who carries out the action slowly, 193 00:15:36,980 --> 00:15:39,740 apathetically and randomly, more than it does to the kindness 194 00:15:39,740 --> 00:15:44,010 of a God who acts in response to prayer. The question we're circling 195 00:15:44,010 --> 00:15:50,130 around is this. Do my prayers matter in any visible, tangible sense? 196 00:15:50,450 --> 00:15:53,810 Is God carrying on the way he would always carry on? Regardless 197 00:15:53,810 --> 00:15:58,849 of whether or not I pray? Do my requests exclusively reform my 198 00:15:58,849 --> 00:16:01,770 heart in some divine equation? Or do they carry the power to change 199 00:16:01,770 --> 00:16:06,610 real people, conditions and circumstances in the world I inhabit? 200 00:16:06,850 --> 00:16:13,770 Do my prayers actually matter? Prayer is between wonder and mystery. 201 00:16:14,010 --> 00:16:17,690 Here's what I want to say to you today. I'm asking, like, why 202 00:16:17,690 --> 00:16:23,530 ask anything in prayer? Like Jesus says, ask for anything. So 203 00:16:23,530 --> 00:16:26,490 whether we're asking for confession, like we're asking for 204 00:16:26,490 --> 00:16:30,490 forgiveness, we're asking for, like, someone to be healed, we're 205 00:16:30,490 --> 00:16:33,810 asking for God to provide something like, why do we do it in 206 00:16:33,810 --> 00:16:37,560 the first place? Why do we do it at all? Here's part of my response 207 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,800 that I want to hang out with today. God wants us to ask in prayer 208 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,720 because it draws us into intimacy with God. It's like when 209 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,600 my son was going to bed one night, I told you this story, and 210 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,880 he said to me, daddy, why doesn't God answer our prayers? And 211 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:57,720 that gave me a chance for closer, to draw closer with my son. 212 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,160 There's a moment of intimacy that his question, that's a prayer 213 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,120 like the Psalms, like God, what? Where are you? How long's it 214 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:09,240 going to take? God wants us to ask in prayer first because it draws 215 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,640 us into intimacy with God. It transforms us into whole and loving 216 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:18,360 people in God, and it enriches our love for God's people and God's 217 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:24,320 world. Oh, and I believe this with all my heart. It actually tangibly 218 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:29,760 changes things. How you ask, I don't have a clue. I have no idea. 219 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:33,680 But it exists between wonder and mystery. I guarantee you, everybody 220 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,800 in this room has had at least. Maybe you're like, nope, not me. 221 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,800 Ross, you've probably had some experience in your life where you 222 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,160 felt like your faithful involvement in the situation did 223 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:47,400 something. You can't explain it, you're not sure how, but there 224 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,160 was an outcome that you feel like was affected. Some of you are 225 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,960 like, there are times. Jen gave us a powerful example in Discovery 226 00:17:54,960 --> 00:18:00,080 1, and she beared witness to it. Like, she told about her daughter's 227 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,960 healing. Can they go ask you about it? Jen? Absolutely. And she's 228 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:09,080 got plenty of stories of unanswered prayers, too. Prayer exists 229 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,840 between wonder and mystery. So I want to talk to you about that 230 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,280 today. Okay, we're to Luke 11. We're on a part two. We're moving 231 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:21,290 fast. We're doing okay for spring forward. Yeah. Okay, let's 232 00:18:21,290 --> 00:18:26,410 do it. Here's what I love about Luke's version of the Lord's 233 00:18:26,410 --> 00:18:28,970 Prayer. Did you know the. The Lord's Prayer? There are two versions 234 00:18:28,970 --> 00:18:32,570 of it. There's Matthew and there's Luke. We're looking at Luke 235 00:18:32,570 --> 00:18:39,050 today. Luke chapter 11. In this one, Jesus was praying in a 236 00:18:39,050 --> 00:18:42,330 certain place. Last week we talked about Henry Noun's quote. 237 00:18:42,330 --> 00:18:46,370 Like, without solitude, a spiritual life is virtually impossible 238 00:18:46,910 --> 00:18:52,630 without times of just like you and God. And like, that's it. No 239 00:18:52,630 --> 00:18:57,710 noise. It's just you and God. Jesus did it all the time. He was 240 00:18:57,710 --> 00:19:00,470 praying in a certain place. And after he'd finished, one of his 241 00:19:00,470 --> 00:19:04,950 disciples said to him, lord, teach us to pray as John taught his 242 00:19:04,950 --> 00:19:07,870 disciples. And part of me is like, are the disciples, like, envious? 243 00:19:08,990 --> 00:19:13,640 They want what other people got. They want to be like, good prayers 244 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:17,800 because they want to get a trophy, or are they witnessing how 245 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:23,600 amazing Jesus prayer life is. Like, man, this guy, it looks like 246 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:28,640 prayer is actually doing something for him. I want that. Help 247 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,920 me. Maybe it's both. I love this, though. They see something 248 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:38,330 so dynamic in Jesus way of prayer. They're like, show us. And 249 00:19:38,330 --> 00:19:43,850 then he's like, you betcha. So he said to them, when you pray, say, 250 00:19:43,850 --> 00:19:48,770 father, may your name be revered as holy. So typically we 251 00:19:48,770 --> 00:19:52,370 say, our Father who art in heaven. I told you, when I was little, 252 00:19:52,370 --> 00:19:55,050 I didn't understand, like, why would you want God to be hollow? 253 00:19:55,050 --> 00:19:57,730 I don't get that. And then I became an adult, and I was like, 254 00:19:57,730 --> 00:20:01,650 oh, there's an A. I don't know what that word means. And I'm still 255 00:20:01,650 --> 00:20:05,450 learning what it means to hallow God's name. I'm still learning 256 00:20:05,450 --> 00:20:10,210 that. I prayed that again this morning. I'm still learning. But 257 00:20:10,210 --> 00:20:13,690 it starts with, I know you all have heard this. Ross, I've heard 258 00:20:13,690 --> 00:20:16,210 20 sermons on the Lord's Prayer. You're not doing it again, 259 00:20:16,210 --> 00:20:21,530 are you? Yes. Some of you understandably, even struggle with 260 00:20:21,690 --> 00:20:25,410 applying that word Father to God. I understand that there are 261 00:20:25,410 --> 00:20:28,250 plenty of people in Jesus's time who had the same problem. And 262 00:20:28,250 --> 00:20:31,730 yet Jesus is saying, this is a different one. He had an intimacy 263 00:20:31,730 --> 00:20:35,570 with God that he expressed in his prayer life. He would use the 264 00:20:35,570 --> 00:20:40,770 term abba, which is an Aramaic term. It's a term of, like, closeness, 265 00:20:41,730 --> 00:20:46,050 friendship, intimacy. That's where prayer starts. The center of 266 00:20:46,050 --> 00:20:50,290 prayer, the center of all spiritual practices is relationship. 267 00:20:50,610 --> 00:20:55,490 And relationships are beautiful and frustrating. Amen. 268 00:20:56,780 --> 00:21:01,980 You got any relationships like that are, like, deep Close, intimate, 269 00:21:02,220 --> 00:21:06,540 that don't have frustration in them. Anybody have no frustration 270 00:21:06,780 --> 00:21:14,060 in an intimate relationship. If you do, come coach me up. Angela 271 00:21:14,060 --> 00:21:20,500 just did this from behind, from the back over there. Our relationship 272 00:21:20,500 --> 00:21:23,440 with God will be no different. And yet the center of everything 273 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:27,000 is relationship. Everything that we're doing is not a religious 274 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,240 task. It's to strengthen a relationship with the one who made 275 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,560 all things. So Jesus is like, hey, I'm coming to spend time with 276 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,360 you. Lord, I wish your name would be revered as holy Is Jesus, 277 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:41,840 like, God, I want you to be famous like LeBron James. Jesus is 278 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:46,560 like, I know how good you are. I know how just you are. I know how 279 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,160 compassionate you are. And if people only knew it, too. If they 280 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,840 knew your name, which from Exodus is, I am who I am, or I will 281 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,240 be there. Howsoever, I will be there. If they knew how true that 282 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:02,240 is, if they knew how perfectly your character reflects your name, 283 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:08,160 they would rejoice. Let it be. May your kingdom come. That's the. 284 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,000 That's why. Oh, that we moved the banner. You know who moved the 285 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,680 banner? I did. And it's not there anymore. It's back there. The 286 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,780 name of our church is. Every time I say it, people are like, heaven 287 00:22:18,780 --> 00:22:24,260 and Earth. Heaven. Oh, Heaven on Earth. It was a bad name choice, 288 00:22:24,340 --> 00:22:28,100 right? It's a weird name. One time I was speaking to a bartender, 289 00:22:28,100 --> 00:22:33,460 she was like, it sounds like a cult. And so we put on the sign once. 290 00:22:33,460 --> 00:22:40,020 We're not a cult. At least we think, right? Because Jesus whole 291 00:22:40,020 --> 00:22:45,290 life in all of prayer is a joining together of realities. It's 292 00:22:45,290 --> 00:22:49,490 a collision of our reality with God's reality. And we're asking 293 00:22:49,490 --> 00:22:55,610 for it. When I pray, I've turned this phrase in to this. Lord, 294 00:22:55,610 --> 00:22:59,570 the same power that runs the kingdom of the heavens is coming 295 00:22:59,570 --> 00:23:03,850 here. Praise God. The same power that runs the kingdom of the 296 00:23:03,850 --> 00:23:08,490 heavens is coming here. Let it be like I'm asking for that in my 297 00:23:08,490 --> 00:23:13,990 life, in the smallest matters of my life. May your reality crash 298 00:23:13,990 --> 00:23:19,110 into mine. Shape my reality with yours. Shape this world with 299 00:23:19,110 --> 00:23:21,990 your reality, and teach me how to be a part of it. We're almost 300 00:23:21,990 --> 00:23:26,510 through the Lord's prayer, and here he does it. It's like this. 301 00:23:26,510 --> 00:23:30,110 He's got these big cosmic prayers. Lord, may your kingdom, 302 00:23:30,430 --> 00:23:33,390 your reality. Or maybe it's not up there. Maybe it's over there, 303 00:23:33,710 --> 00:23:39,070 your reality. Oh, like here. But then he gets into the most ordinary, 304 00:23:39,150 --> 00:23:42,680 mundane stuff. Because you know what? Jesus was watching day 305 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:47,080 in and day out in his little region of Galilee. People were grinding 306 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:52,240 to get Bread. Literally. Hopefully the harvest went well enough 307 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:57,640 so they had some grain they could put on a stone and then have 308 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,480 this donkey work this millstone. So this stone would walk 309 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,520 around and crush it and mill it and they'd have to grind it to 310 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:10,830 make bread. Every day is a grind. 90% of people can't read or 311 00:24:10,830 --> 00:24:14,910 write. You had to have five. You had to have five births to have 312 00:24:14,910 --> 00:24:20,870 one child reach maturity. Bart Ehrman is the statistician of the 313 00:24:20,870 --> 00:24:24,910 history. Not on that. God help us in the most ordinary stuff we 314 00:24:24,910 --> 00:24:30,910 need. Jesus is saying God cares about the ordinary stuff big 315 00:24:30,910 --> 00:24:35,860 time. God isn't just some cosmic galaxy producing God. You 316 00:24:35,860 --> 00:24:39,340 know how, you know, Jesus became. Came here and became a poor 317 00:24:39,340 --> 00:24:44,220 dude grinding for bread just like everybody else. He fasted for 318 00:24:44,220 --> 00:24:47,780 40 days and 40 nights. He suffered and died on a cross. He 319 00:24:47,780 --> 00:24:53,740 is with us. Amen. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive 320 00:24:53,740 --> 00:24:57,340 everyone indebted to us. This is a joining together of realities. 321 00:24:58,300 --> 00:25:00,860 Prayer is not just an individual reality. It's so that 322 00:25:00,860 --> 00:25:04,320 you get joined up with your brother and your sister. It's a reconciling 323 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,560 of you to God and a reconciling to you to your enemy. 324 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,320 Jesus, like, hey, anyone can pray for people they like. Can you 325 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:13,920 pray for your enemies? Because I'm telling you to do it. And do 326 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,120 not bring us to the time of trial. Jesus. He's not pulling any 327 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:20,320 punches. Evil's a part of this world. I don't know the answer to 328 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,720 that one either. Don't know how that works. The devil's all over 329 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,040 in the Bible. I have no idea how that works. Lots of books on 330 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,910 it. I've read several of them. It helps them. I know there's evil. 331 00:25:31,390 --> 00:25:36,790 Like all of this stuff is. It goes back to, like, the center of 332 00:25:36,790 --> 00:25:40,270 prayer is that God wants us to ask because it draws us into intimacy 333 00:25:40,270 --> 00:25:44,670 with God. The very act of asking draws us into relationship. 334 00:25:44,910 --> 00:25:48,710 It transforms us into whole and loving people in God. Start praying 335 00:25:48,710 --> 00:25:53,030 for your enemy. Watch what it'll do. Watch what it'll do. And 336 00:25:53,030 --> 00:25:56,270 it enriches our love for God's people in God's world. And it tangibly 337 00:25:56,270 --> 00:26:00,290 changes things. All right. We made it to the parable. Are you doing 338 00:26:00,290 --> 00:26:06,730 okay? How's your. Are you sleepy? I just saw a yawn. Are we 339 00:26:06,730 --> 00:26:10,890 all right? We're almost there now. It's complicated. Jesus tells 340 00:26:10,890 --> 00:26:15,530 us. What is he doing? Man? He's always telling these par. He 341 00:26:15,530 --> 00:26:19,770 speaks in riddles. Why? Why would you do that? All right. I'm 342 00:26:19,770 --> 00:26:22,010 gonna give you the answer. Strip Sometimes I'll answer it and 343 00:26:22,010 --> 00:26:22,850 sometimes I won't. 344 00:26:23,500 --> 00:26:23,700 What? 345 00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:26,900 How? The reason Jesus teaches us parables is the same thing that 346 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:31,260 we can learn about why prayer, how prayer works. How many of you 347 00:26:31,260 --> 00:26:35,580 do well, when someone comes up and gives you unsolicited advice, 348 00:26:36,220 --> 00:26:40,500 you do okay with that? They say, they say in recovery and, you 349 00:26:40,500 --> 00:26:44,660 know, anybody know what I'm going to say? Unsolicited advice 350 00:26:44,660 --> 00:26:49,820 is always received as criticism. Jesus is not. He is not 351 00:26:49,820 --> 00:26:53,220 like a person just coming and just throwing advice at you. He's 352 00:26:53,220 --> 00:26:56,220 not like the teacher you've known either. Emily and I talked 353 00:26:56,220 --> 00:27:00,420 about this. You go to school, right? And it's like you've got a 354 00:27:00,420 --> 00:27:04,660 test coming down the line. And the teachers role, they're wonderful 355 00:27:04,660 --> 00:27:08,580 teachers, by the way, who don't teach all like this. But it's 356 00:27:08,580 --> 00:27:11,300 like, hey, I got to prepare Julie for the test. So I just got 357 00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:14,500 to give you the facts you need to get the multiple choice questions 358 00:27:14,500 --> 00:27:18,140 right. Or at the very least, I got to give you the formulas and 359 00:27:18,140 --> 00:27:22,180 teach you. I gotta teach you how to use the formulas, the equations 360 00:27:22,180 --> 00:27:26,900 to get the problem sorted out, right? At the very most, they might 361 00:27:26,900 --> 00:27:29,340 help you with some critical thinking because you got to do that 362 00:27:29,340 --> 00:27:32,660 on a test too. We're getting a little closer to Jesus there. But 363 00:27:32,660 --> 00:27:35,860 at the end of the day, when Jesus tells you a riddle, what do 364 00:27:35,860 --> 00:27:38,940 you have to do to gather a pearl out of a parable or gather 365 00:27:38,940 --> 00:27:41,610 something valuable out of a parable? What do you got to do? You 366 00:27:41,610 --> 00:27:46,130 gotta show up, you gotta stick with it, you gotta ask questions, 367 00:27:46,130 --> 00:27:50,130 you gotta draw nearer. If you just go to the riddle and scoop the 368 00:27:50,130 --> 00:27:54,690 surface, you'll miss it. In fact, there's a risk which I don't 369 00:27:54,690 --> 00:27:57,570 get why Jesus would do this. There's a risk you'll take away the 370 00:27:57,570 --> 00:28:01,930 exact wrong thing. The same is true with prayer. It's all about 371 00:28:01,930 --> 00:28:05,170 drawing us into intimacy. If you read something weird in the Bible, 372 00:28:05,170 --> 00:28:09,480 draw closer. God, this is weird. Help me understand. Jesus 373 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,360 teaches in a way such that when we gather the wisdom, we admire 374 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:18,160 the wisdom and we admire the one who gave the wisdom. That's why 375 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,920 he teaches the way he does. So watch this. At first you're gonna 376 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,640 be like, man, this, he says. And he said to them, suppose this 377 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,600 is right after the Lord's Prayer. And suppose one of you has 378 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,280 a friend and you go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, 379 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:38,600 lend me three loaves of bread. So this is me. I go to Ashley's house, 380 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:44,280 I knock on the door at midnight, Ashley, I know you're sleeping. 381 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:52,560 I know the boys are sleeping. Get up. I need some bread. The millstone 382 00:28:52,560 --> 00:29:00,690 is broken. The donkey, he's worthless. Here's what's worse. I 383 00:29:00,690 --> 00:29:05,370 hosted some other people at my house and I didn't invite you. A 384 00:29:05,370 --> 00:29:08,050 friend of mine has arrived and I have nothing to set before him. 385 00:29:08,290 --> 00:29:12,090 And he answers from within, do not bother me. The door has already 386 00:29:12,090 --> 00:29:16,210 been locked and my children are with me in bed. Ashley says, 387 00:29:16,290 --> 00:29:21,730 ross, go away and go to sleep. I cannot get up and give you anything. 388 00:29:21,730 --> 00:29:24,490 Ashley wouldn't do that. Ashley would give me bread. She's 389 00:29:24,490 --> 00:29:30,220 awesome like that. So either. So this guy who's inside the house, 390 00:29:30,300 --> 00:29:33,460 either he like, it's been a long week. Do you know how hard this 391 00:29:33,460 --> 00:29:38,900 guy worked to put the kids to bed? Or actually, maybe the wife 392 00:29:38,900 --> 00:29:42,580 did. Either way, if the kids, as I told Emily, the kids or the 393 00:29:42,580 --> 00:29:48,340 wife wake up, who's gonna get unalived? In this case, it's not 394 00:29:48,340 --> 00:29:52,290 the guy knocking. It's gonna be the husband who, you know, this 395 00:29:52,290 --> 00:29:56,010 is not a good situation. Listen to what Jesus says. I tell 396 00:29:56,010 --> 00:29:59,010 you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out 397 00:29:59,010 --> 00:30:01,810 of friendship, at least because of his persistence, he will 398 00:30:01,810 --> 00:30:07,250 get up and give him whatever he needs. There's a riddle. So God 399 00:30:07,250 --> 00:30:13,290 is telling us to be persistent in prayer? Yes. Nope, nope. Really? 400 00:30:14,250 --> 00:30:18,050 God is the kind of person that will not grant you things out of 401 00:30:18,050 --> 00:30:20,490 friendship. But if you keep bothering, God will give you stuff. 402 00:30:21,590 --> 00:30:24,990 It could be there's value to persistence in our relationship with 403 00:30:24,990 --> 00:30:30,390 God. Hey, full stop. There's value to steadiness, persistence, 404 00:30:30,630 --> 00:30:34,430 grit in every relationship, some relation. All relationships. 405 00:30:34,430 --> 00:30:42,590 You need some grit, right? Marriage. This is why, like, we have 406 00:30:42,590 --> 00:30:47,390 to draw closer. Don't just skim the surface. Don't skim the 407 00:30:47,390 --> 00:30:51,270 surface in your prayer life. Hey, if all you got some days is, 408 00:30:51,270 --> 00:30:55,190 like, praying on your way to work, that's fine. But do you also 409 00:30:55,190 --> 00:30:59,390 have times when it is prayer time? You carved out the time and 410 00:30:59,390 --> 00:31:02,990 the space for it. Sometimes we got to do fast food, right? Hopefully 411 00:31:02,990 --> 00:31:07,070 that's not all you're eating, right? Don't skim the surface. Watch 412 00:31:07,070 --> 00:31:11,390 what Jesus says. So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to 413 00:31:11,390 --> 00:31:15,160 you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be 414 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:16,000 open for you. 415 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:17,280 What? 416 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,680 Huh? I thought you just said the guy. Wait a minute. This guy 417 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,680 said, don't bother me. Guy comes knocking, he says, don't come 418 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:29,080 bother me. Then Jesus says, so I say to you, knock, and the door 419 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:34,240 will be open for you. What? Jesus says? So I say to you, I don't 420 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,400 know if this is the right meaning of the parable. By the way, 421 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,920 that's what I'm thinking today. Jesus says, if you think God 422 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,760 is like that friend who gets frustrated when you knock at midnight, 423 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:47,000 you've missed out on who God is. Who created the problem in this 424 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,000 parable? Who created the problem? The guy that ran out of 425 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:52,920 bread. He hosted people and didn't go to the grocery store. And 426 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,240 then he said, hey, I didn't invite you, but can you help me out? 427 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,960 God says, christy, even if you create the problem and the timing 428 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,240 is bad, you come knocking at my door anytime and I'll open it 429 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:07,590 for you. If you create the problem, you messed it up. You got 430 00:32:07,590 --> 00:32:12,470 nowhere to go. You come knock at my door and I'll open it for you. 431 00:32:12,630 --> 00:32:16,190 Ask. And like, I'm going to open the door, I'm going to be there 432 00:32:16,190 --> 00:32:19,950 for you. And then Jesus says something mean. For everyone who 433 00:32:19,950 --> 00:32:23,710 at not this. This is nice. We like this. For everyone who asks, 434 00:32:23,710 --> 00:32:25,950 receives, and everyone who searches, finds. And for everyone 435 00:32:25,950 --> 00:32:29,950 who knocks, the door will be opened. Jesus is not God, is not 436 00:32:29,950 --> 00:32:31,430 this friend who's like, you've been. 437 00:32:31,430 --> 00:32:31,740 You've been. 438 00:32:31,890 --> 00:32:36,370 You knocked and you bothered me. My kids are already asleep. Not 439 00:32:36,370 --> 00:32:40,330 like that. Here's what he says. Is there anyone among you who, 440 00:32:40,330 --> 00:32:42,810 if your child asked for a fish, would give a snake instead 441 00:32:42,810 --> 00:32:45,610 of a fish, or if the child asked for an egg, would you give 442 00:32:45,610 --> 00:32:50,770 a scorpion? Not sure why he chose those images. Ouch. If you, 443 00:32:50,770 --> 00:32:53,130 then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, 444 00:32:53,130 --> 00:32:55,530 how much more will Heavenly Father give you? The Holy Spirit 445 00:32:55,530 --> 00:32:58,650 to those who ask him. Sometimes Jesus speaks harshly, so 446 00:32:58,650 --> 00:33:03,350 it has a way of breaking through your shell. We made it through 447 00:33:03,350 --> 00:33:08,390 Luke 11. All right. You get three minutes for your thoughts about 448 00:33:08,390 --> 00:33:11,710 it. You can disagree, agree, say what you're thinking, and then 449 00:33:11,710 --> 00:33:14,590 I just have a few practical points. We're going to end at 10:45. 450 00:33:14,590 --> 00:33:30,520 Hard stop. What do you think? Do we need to do jumping jacks? Jim, 451 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:32,240 in this day and age, I 452 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,600 think we expect everything immediately. 453 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:41,320 In this day and age, we expect everything immediately. We don't 454 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:43,400 know how to wait. Very true. 455 00:33:51,690 --> 00:33:56,250 Not, you have to do some work to get there. You have to be the 456 00:33:56,250 --> 00:33:56,810 one to ask. 457 00:33:56,890 --> 00:34:02,490 You have to search, which is sometimes pretty hard to do. 458 00:34:03,050 --> 00:34:08,170 It says, ask, search. Not so what Michael says. And by the way, 459 00:34:08,250 --> 00:34:11,770 sir, where's that wonderful pajama suit that was in the picture 460 00:34:11,770 --> 00:34:12,330 yesterday? 461 00:34:13,450 --> 00:34:15,210 That was from, like, five years ago. 462 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:25,120 Ask, search, and knock. Like, there is a level which. Okay, hold 463 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:29,120 that thought for the practical points. There is some work that we 464 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:35,480 do. It's not like we're. Like, we see a person on the street or 465 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:39,400 we see a person who needs bread and we go, God, we see that 466 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,600 person go, hey, I'm going to pray for you. And right. There's 467 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:47,510 a grocery store. Hey, I'm gonna pray for you. There's some 468 00:34:47,510 --> 00:34:50,510 work we do. Right. Okay. What else, Joanne? 469 00:34:50,910 --> 00:34:55,190 I think too just, I mean, I think about, you know, I have great 470 00:34:55,190 --> 00:35:00,470 relationships with my father, and he was my sole parent. And I, 471 00:35:00,470 --> 00:35:03,390 I kind of compare it that way, that sometimes the answer is no. 472 00:35:03,390 --> 00:35:06,630 He knows what I want. He wanted to give me the absolute world. 473 00:35:06,630 --> 00:35:10,160 He hated him for saying no to me, but, like, there was just some 474 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,560 moments when he knew it was best to say no to me. And I think 475 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:18,520 that my faith in what I've been shown over the years, when the 476 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:25,840 answer was no, and I asked God as me as the answer no, like, God, 477 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:29,480 I know that you know the desires of my heart, and so thank 478 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:34,240 you for being my benevolent heavenly father. And I know that 479 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:37,290 if you're not giving me this, it. It could be something else or 480 00:35:37,290 --> 00:35:39,970 some. I don't know, just having that faith, knowing the answer 481 00:35:39,970 --> 00:35:41,170 just simply could be no. 482 00:35:43,010 --> 00:35:47,250 The. The answer could be no. Like, Joanna likened it to our dad, 483 00:35:48,530 --> 00:35:53,650 who's not God, but who maybe had a better wisdom about what we 484 00:35:53,650 --> 00:35:57,410 actually needed. So maybe sometimes the answer was no for our 485 00:35:57,410 --> 00:36:01,650 good. By the way, in two weeks, the whole sermon is about 486 00:36:03,530 --> 00:36:08,130 when the prayer isn't answered. So that wasn't today. If 487 00:36:08,130 --> 00:36:10,690 you're like, Ross, you didn't address what happens, like what Debbie 488 00:36:10,690 --> 00:36:15,490 said when it really seems like it's the best, good outcome, it's 489 00:36:15,490 --> 00:36:19,130 the right thing by all accounts. And it still doesn't happen. 490 00:36:27,050 --> 00:36:29,470 Somebody else praying for the exact opposite. 491 00:36:29,710 --> 00:36:34,310 Right, right. Sometimes when you're praying for one thing, another 492 00:36:34,310 --> 00:36:45,390 person's praying for the exact opposite. Right. Joey? 493 00:36:45,870 --> 00:36:50,670 It's more maybe reframing of interpretations of prayer. Like, 494 00:36:50,830 --> 00:36:54,920 it's not a yes, no thing. And, and bear with me, it's like it's 495 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:55,600 a yes thing. 496 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,560 And so what I mean by that 497 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:02,200 is reframing prayer is like what I'm going to get out of this 498 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:02,400 is 499 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:07,120 a close, closer relationship with God. Yes, yes. It's not like 500 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:12,680 asking for things or, I mean, what you. What you can expect out 501 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:15,800 of prayer is that. That closer relationship with God and not 502 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:17,400 all these other things that. 503 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:23,770 Right. We just. Joey says it's not an E. It's not a yes or no thing. 504 00:37:23,770 --> 00:37:28,170 Again, sometimes we're looking at God like God is a human or a. 505 00:37:28,170 --> 00:37:30,490 A teacher we've known or whatever. It's not a yes or no thing. 506 00:37:30,490 --> 00:37:34,370 It's always a yes thing. Because we're. When we go to prayer 507 00:37:34,370 --> 00:37:37,450 earnestly, we're going to grow in intimacy and relationship with 508 00:37:37,450 --> 00:37:40,930 God. That's a big yes. I like that, Christie. 509 00:37:41,090 --> 00:37:45,580 I think it's, you know, to kind of segue off of that. It's like 510 00:37:45,580 --> 00:37:50,620 it's a, you know, a give and take relationship. All relationships 511 00:37:50,620 --> 00:37:51,380 are give and take. 512 00:37:51,380 --> 00:37:51,740 Right. 513 00:37:51,900 --> 00:37:56,940 And, you know, like, it's not just like asking, asking, asking, 514 00:37:57,260 --> 00:37:59,940 and trying to find what you're getting out of it. It's, you know, 515 00:37:59,940 --> 00:38:03,260 to this point, cultivating that relationship. And, you know, 516 00:38:03,260 --> 00:38:07,260 what can you offer? What can you do to help in this? You know, 517 00:38:07,260 --> 00:38:09,660 things like that, stuff like that internal reflection of that 518 00:38:09,740 --> 00:38:16,890 giving, take balance that we know, like our human relationships, 519 00:38:16,890 --> 00:38:18,930 when that's off balance, what that feels like. 520 00:38:18,930 --> 00:38:19,250 Right? 521 00:38:20,610 --> 00:38:23,850 Yeah. There's give and take in every relationship. Jill, go ahead. 522 00:38:23,850 --> 00:38:25,170 Jill's got the last point. 523 00:38:26,770 --> 00:38:31,290 I think from what Jeremy Christy just said, I. I feel like 524 00:38:31,290 --> 00:38:35,050 a lot of prayers, it. It is that conversation and relationship 525 00:38:35,050 --> 00:38:39,060 and, you know, in our humanness, we probably. Well, we 526 00:38:39,060 --> 00:38:43,460 definitely don't know what ultimately, what will God do with 527 00:38:43,460 --> 00:38:46,740 that prayer? So if it's a prayer of intercession, if you're 528 00:38:46,740 --> 00:38:50,620 healing, you know, underneath that, is it a prayer to end suffering? 529 00:38:50,860 --> 00:38:54,660 And while we might think, you know, it's the answer to that, prayer 530 00:38:54,660 --> 00:38:58,900 will look, you know, this way through our human eyes, that prayer 531 00:38:58,900 --> 00:39:03,470 might be answered, but not in the way that we expected. 532 00:39:04,030 --> 00:39:04,430 Right. 533 00:39:04,750 --> 00:39:08,230 And so I think. I don't know, I guess that's how I think about 534 00:39:08,230 --> 00:39:11,390 prayer. It's just more relational and lifting things up 535 00:39:11,790 --> 00:39:13,150 and then letting go. 536 00:39:13,950 --> 00:39:17,270 Prayer is relational and lifting things up, letting go and 537 00:39:17,270 --> 00:39:21,270 kind of surrendering that, as we'll talk about in two weeks. I 538 00:39:21,270 --> 00:39:24,310 love what Tyler Staten says in the book, that God is basically a 539 00:39:24,310 --> 00:39:29,570 collector of two things, tears and prayers. And we're going to talk 540 00:39:29,570 --> 00:39:33,610 about that. Oh, okay, Angie. Bonus. Okay, you guys did. It's your 541 00:39:33,610 --> 00:39:37,450 fault. We're not finishing at 10:45, but I 542 00:39:37,450 --> 00:39:41,530 feel like when you are having that relationship, when you're praying, 543 00:39:41,610 --> 00:39:47,250 it helps you to deal with disappointment because you are forming 544 00:39:47,250 --> 00:39:48,330 that relationship. 545 00:39:48,410 --> 00:39:54,370 Right? You're that relationship. If. If all you're doing 546 00:39:54,370 --> 00:39:57,610 is going in a transactional mindset, the disappointment hits 547 00:39:57,610 --> 00:40:03,250 harder. Right. And Emily, for a. For a epilogue after the Epilogue 548 00:40:03,970 --> 00:40:04,250 I 549 00:40:04,250 --> 00:40:07,610 think it's important to acknowledge too, like, sometimes 550 00:40:07,610 --> 00:40:12,410 we just don't know. And like, we don't have to defend God's response 551 00:40:12,410 --> 00:40:17,210 or lack of response. We can just hold the wonder. And I think 552 00:40:17,210 --> 00:40:22,140 it's also okay, like, to be angry with God sometimes. 553 00:40:22,140 --> 00:40:24,540 Yes, yes. 554 00:40:26,060 --> 00:40:28,740 And it's not even just like what we think it should it turn out. 555 00:40:28,740 --> 00:40:32,620 It's like, if I'm doing this in faith, if I'm doing the things 556 00:40:32,620 --> 00:40:35,860 I'm supposed to be doing, like who you are, like I'm trusting you 557 00:40:35,860 --> 00:40:39,260 in yourself, like it's okay to hold the angry with God in that space 558 00:40:39,820 --> 00:40:41,980 and to. To work that up with him. 559 00:40:42,220 --> 00:40:42,780 Yeah. 560 00:40:43,580 --> 00:40:44,400 And I think that. 561 00:40:49,430 --> 00:40:53,350 So part of the process is accepting and embracing the uncertainty. 562 00:40:53,350 --> 00:40:56,230 Like, we don't have to know, we don't have to defend it, like 563 00:40:56,230 --> 00:40:59,870 God's response or lack thereof. But also it's okay to be 564 00:40:59,870 --> 00:41:02,950 angry with God. We see it all over the Psalms. We're going to talk 565 00:41:02,950 --> 00:41:08,150 about it in two weeks. All right. No more few things practical. 566 00:41:08,150 --> 00:41:12,080 Like, so what? When I look at the Lord's Prayer, back to this. 567 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:17,680 Come on, phone Jeepers. When I look at the Lord's Prayer and just 568 00:41:17,680 --> 00:41:22,960 like how Jesus prays, it makes this question less important to me. 569 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:26,320 Like, when I look at Jesus's intimacy with God and his relationship 570 00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:29,320 and the way he frames up prayer, like, I asked for things 571 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,720 because I've experienced it. This is me how I've experienced, 572 00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:35,960 how it draws me into intimacy with God such that I trust God for 573 00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:38,920 two things. One, to do something good in some way about 574 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:42,540 what I'm asking for, and two, to transform my heart through the 575 00:41:42,540 --> 00:41:47,340 asking. So that's one thing. Like, I think if we pay attention 576 00:41:47,340 --> 00:41:50,660 to Jesus prayer life and we just go and pray, it might reframe 577 00:41:50,660 --> 00:41:54,260 that question to begin with. That's number one. Number two, I 578 00:41:54,260 --> 00:41:57,220 do think that we're going to have to, like, let ourselves fall 579 00:41:57,220 --> 00:42:00,540 into trust of prayer again, especially those who are the skeptics 580 00:42:00,540 --> 00:42:03,820 in the room. And your heart's been hardened to prayer, understandably. 581 00:42:04,140 --> 00:42:06,860 I think you're going to have to let yourself wholeheartedly trust 582 00:42:06,860 --> 00:42:10,920 to try and pray again. And sometimes you're going to have to 583 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:13,400 accept this. Sometimes our experience in prayer is going to 584 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:17,080 be tilted towards goodness and glory. You're going to feel like, 585 00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:22,520 man, that was a glorious experience of prayer. And then sometimes 586 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,680 it's going to be tilted more towards frustration and anger or 587 00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:31,640 boredom and awkwardness. I'm here to tell you, Jesus says, even 588 00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:36,880 then it's all tilted towards glory, all of it. Two more points. 589 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:42,760 The way forward is discovery. I had somebody ask me this week, 590 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:46,520 like, I loved it so much. This is what showing up's about. We went 591 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:48,640 out together and they said, like, there's something happened 592 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:53,160 in their life. Somebody had passed away and they're like, why 593 00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:55,480 am I even praying for these things? Like, what am I praying and 594 00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:59,200 why do I even pray it? I love that question because I'd be asking 595 00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:04,450 it too. Basically, my response is just. Just go pray what your heart's 596 00:43:04,450 --> 00:43:08,850 desire is. Just go do it and keep your eyes and ears open. There's 597 00:43:08,850 --> 00:43:14,410 no book I could give you. There's no nothing except, like, 598 00:43:14,570 --> 00:43:19,450 we're going to learn through discovery. Go pray wholeheartedly. 599 00:43:19,770 --> 00:43:23,450 Take the time to do it and keep your eyes and your ears open. 600 00:43:24,410 --> 00:43:28,060 I don't know what you'll find, but you'll find something. If nothing 601 00:43:28,060 --> 00:43:30,820 else, your heart changes dramatically through the praying. 602 00:43:31,220 --> 00:43:34,060 And I also wager you'd find something in the situation that's 603 00:43:34,060 --> 00:43:38,500 changed, too. Last one. We made it. It is 1048. That's your 604 00:43:38,500 --> 00:43:46,780 fault today. There's no point to praying if we aren't willing to 605 00:43:46,780 --> 00:43:51,580 become our prayers. No point if you're not willing to become your 606 00:43:51,580 --> 00:43:55,070 prayers. For example, if you're praying for someone to have 607 00:43:55,070 --> 00:43:59,430 bread, how much bread do you have to give? There'll be many times 608 00:43:59,430 --> 00:44:04,110 where you are the answer to your prayer. Thoughts and prayers 609 00:44:04,110 --> 00:44:10,870 ain't gonna cut it. Prayers in action. I'm for it. Let's rephrase 610 00:44:10,870 --> 00:44:13,790 it. Let's not do thoughts and prayers anymore. Let's do prayers 611 00:44:13,790 --> 00:44:16,750 in action. Makes me think of Richard Orr, who has a center for 612 00:44:16,750 --> 00:44:24,930 contemplation and action. So, like, be willing to become your prayer 613 00:44:25,170 --> 00:44:28,690 now. I'm going to guide you through the Lord's Prayer. I'm going 614 00:44:28,690 --> 00:44:33,330 to say it slowly and let you fill in the gaps with the stuff of 615 00:44:33,330 --> 00:44:40,090 your heart. Let's pray. Father, may your name be revered 616 00:44:40,090 --> 00:44:44,520 as holy. May your kingdom come give us each day our daily bread 617 00:44:45,710 --> 00:44:50,710 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted 618 00:44:50,710 --> 00:44:54,750 to us and do not bring us to the time of trial. Amen. 619 00:45:00,750 --> 00:45:05,230 Thank you for participating in the conversation happening at Heaven 620 00:45:05,230 --> 00:45:10,140 Earth Church. Your next opportunity to do so live is this, 621 00:45:10,210 --> 00:45:15,330 this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern Time, either at the main 622 00:45:15,330 --> 00:45:20,490 campus at 309 East Main in Whiteland, Indiana, or online at 623 00:45:20,490 --> 00:45:26,930 YouTube Live. That's@YouTube.com HeavenEarth Church. 624 00:45:28,050 --> 00:45:34,130 The audio podcast is always available at Apple Podcast and on 625 00:45:34,290 --> 00:45:38,380 Spotify. You can. You can help others find out about the Heaven 626 00:45:38,380 --> 00:45:43,220 Earth Church podcast by going to Apple Podcasts and or Spotify 627 00:45:43,220 --> 00:45:48,260 and leaving a five star rating in your review. Instructions on how 628 00:45:48,260 --> 00:45:52,780 to do just that and links are in the show notes. You can always 629 00:45:52,780 --> 00:45:57,660 find out more by going to the church website, heavenearthchurch.org 630 00:45:58,620 --> 00:45:58,900 we 631 00:45:58,900 --> 00:46:02,180 want to thank you for spending time with us today. My name is Ross 632 00:46:02,180 --> 00:46:05,620 Stackhouse, the pastor to Heaven Earth Church, and you may 633 00:46:05,620 --> 00:46:08,940 think out there that your story is over, but in fact your faith 634 00:46:08,940 --> 00:46:13,100 story may just be beginning. If you want more information about 635 00:46:13,100 --> 00:46:15,540 our church or you're interested in the next step, you 636 00:46:15,540 --> 00:46:18,540 can go to heavenearthchurch.org Otherwise, 637 00:46:18,540 --> 00:46:21,740 we look forward to being with you next time at the Heaven Earth 638 00:46:21,740 --> 00:46:26,880 Church podcast.