Pastor Rick shares biblical truth and practical tools for living the full life God desires for everyone.
#Religion
#Prayer
#Encouragement
#Relationship with God
#Father
#Word of God
#Rick Warren
#Ecclesiastes 3:11
#Romans 8:26
#Luke 11:1
#Matthew 6:7
#Psalm 103:13
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Pastor Rick's Daily Hope | A Beginner's Guide To Prayer Part 1 | March 27, 2022
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- Pastor Rick Warren: Now, you know, prayer is such a
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- huge subject.
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- I just have to confess to you that as I was preparing this
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- message, there's so many facets to it, I didn't know where
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- to start.
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- I went online and I did a search of the word "prayer" on
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- Amazon.com,
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- it brought up 136.000 books on prayer.
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- So I thought, well, that's not enough for this weekend, I need
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- a little bit more research.
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- So I went to Google, typed in "prayer," it brought in over 130
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- million webpages about prayer, including four million videos on
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- prayer, four million books on prayer, and six million news
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- articles on prayer.
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- So, there's a lot of different facets to what we're gonna be
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- talking about the next 40 days.
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- You know, as a pastor over the past 40 years, I've learned a
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- number of things about prayer, and the first thing that I've
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- learned is that prayer is universal.
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- We're wired as human beings to pray.
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- Everybody prays, Buddhists pray, Hindus pray, Muslims pray, Jews
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- pray, Christians pray, non-religious people pray, even
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- atheists pray.
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- Just hit him in the chest and they go, "Oh, God."
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- Atheist gets in pain, he doesn't say, "Oh, Buddha," he cries out
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- to God.
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- Why is that?
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- Why does everybody around the world pray to someone
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- or something?
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- Everybody prays 'cause we're hardwired for prayer.
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- Your Creator made you capable of talking to him.
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- It's what makes us different from animals.
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- Cows don't pray.
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- Slugs don't pray.
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- Birds don't pray.
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- Worms don't pray.
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- Only human beings pray 'cause we're created in the image
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- of God.
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- Prayer and the ability to pray is actually one of the things
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- that makes you human.
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- It's what makes you different from everything else in
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- the universe.
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- You have the ability to commune, to contact, communicate
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- with God.
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- It's one of the great gifts of being a human being, and
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- everybody prays.
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- They may pray to the wrong thing or a wrong person, but they all
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- have that inborn instinct, particularly in a tough time.
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- We're wired for prayer.
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- The Bible says this in Ecclesiastes 3 up here on the
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- screen, "God has planted eternity in the human heart."
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- It's inside of us.
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- It's in our DNA.
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- So, everybody prays.
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- The second thing that I've learned is that we're not very
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- good at prayer.
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- We're just not very good at it.
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- In fact, as I've talked to people as a pastor over the
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- years, everybody feels inadequate about prayer.
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- In fact, a lot of people are afraid to pray out loud.
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- They're afraid to pray in public.
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- And if I called some of you up on stage and said, "Would you
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- lead us in prayer?"
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- you'd just pass out.
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- Why is that?
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- Why are we--why do we feel we're not very good at prayer?
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- You know, a couple weeks ago I took a survey, and I asked you
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- to write down the word that best describes your feeling toward
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- prayer as we're getting ready to start this campaign.
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- And the words that came in were some of the words like
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- frustrated, I feel inept, awkward, unsatisfied, confused.
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- Prayer is a mystery to me.
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- I don't understand how it works.
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- I want it better.
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- I need help.
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- And the truth is, I've never met anybody who thought they were
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- outstanding at prayer.
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- In all my life, I've never thought, I've never met anybody
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- that says, "I'm a PhD in prayer.
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- I'm a pro at prayer," because everybody knows that they could
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- be better.
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- I mean, even Saint Paul, who was the greatest Christian besides
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- Jesus Christ himself, said this, Romans 8:26, look here on
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- the screen.
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- Paul says, "We don't even know what we should pray for, or how
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- we should pray," that's in the Bible, friends.
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- And Paul is saying that.
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- "We don't even know what we should pray for or how we should
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- pray," which is why we need the Holy Spirit in our lives.
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- And even the disciples, the 12 guys who lived with Jesus for
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- three-and-a-half years, followed him everywhere, did everything
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- with him, they said this in Luke chapter 11, here on the screen.
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- "One day when Jesus was praying in a certain place, when he
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- finished, one of the disciples said, 'Lord, teach us to pray.'"
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- Now, it's interesting to me that the disciples saw Jesus do all
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- kinds of miracles, they never said teach us to do miracles.
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- They have watched Jesus preach the greatest sermons ever
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- preached, they never said teach us how to preach, but they did
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- say teach us how to pray, because they knew that was the
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- secret of the source of his strength.
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- That everything God accomplished through his Son, Jesus Christ,
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- on earth, he did because the Son was connected to the Father.
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- And Jesus prayed constantly, morning, evening, afternoon,
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- long periods, by himself, in public, and private.
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- We'll look during this series at the prayer life of Jesus.
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- And so, none of us really feel that adequate about prayer, even
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- if you've been a Christian for years.
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- You say, "Well, I'm still in the kindergarten of prayer," and
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- that's why I titled this message, "A Beginner's Guide
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- to Prayer."
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- We all have the ability to pray, but none of us feel that good
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- at it.
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- The third thing that I've learned is that our frustrations
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- to prayer, you might write this down, our frustrations with
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- prayer are caused by our misconceptions.
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- Our frustrations about prayer are caused by our misconceptions
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- about prayer.
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- And there's a lot of weird ideas out there, there's a lot of
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- phony-baloney, there's a lot of false information.
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- So many false ideas out there about prayer.
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- And so, as we're starting this campaign together for spiritual
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- growth, let me just mention four of the more common ones.
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- Some ideas about prayer that people have today.
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- I wrote 'em there on your outline.
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- One of them is that prayer is not a magic wand.
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- In other words, it's not some enchanted tool like Harry Potter
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- has that he just kinda, you know, waves it over a situation,
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- things instantly change.
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- Prayer doesn't do that.
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- Prayer is not some magic bottle with a genie in it that you rub
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- and then all of a sudden, you know, God comes out and he says,
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- "Your wish is my command."
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- God is not your genie.
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- He's not your servant.
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- You are God's servant, he's not your servant.
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- So, prayer is not a wishing wand.
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- It's not a genie.
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- It's not some enchanted words, or you know, incantation, or
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- chant, or you know, special words to get your own way.
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- "Abracadabra, you're now a good husband."
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- You know, "Hocus pocus, I got the promotion."
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- By the way, do you know where the phrase "hocus pocus"
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- comes from?
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- It is a corruption of the Latin that a priest prays when he's
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- doing mass in a Catholic church, which is hocus es corpus, hocus
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- es corpus maum, which means this is the body of Christ.
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- And some guy in the back row thought, "Hmm, he's turning
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- bread into Jesus, that's hocus pocus.
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- I'll figure out how to do this."
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- That's where the term came from.
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- But prayer is not some magic wand.
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- Number two, prayer is not a fire extinguisher, and a lot of
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- people treat it that way.
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- It's kinda like, break the glass only in case of emergency, and
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- then pull out the fire extinguisher and, you know, hose
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- the place down with a big prayer.
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- The fire-extinguisher mentality of prayer is you only use it in
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- extreme emergencies as an act of desperation.
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- And you hear people say this all the time, they say, "Well, all
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- we can do now is pray," like, has it come to that?
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- Has it gotten that bad?
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- All we can do now is pray.
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- Prayer should not be your last resort, it should be your
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- first choice.
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- But the fire-extinguisher attitude toward prayer is you
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- don't pray until you get bad news, and then when you get bad
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- news, hurricane's coming, start praying.
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- And you know, and you start praying, "God, if you'll just
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- get me out of this mess."
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- That's the fire-extinguisher approach to prayer, but that's
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- not what God says.
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- Now, there's another misconception, it's this one
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- here that prayer is not a tug of war with God.
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- And a lot of people think that prayer is this thing where you
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- have to wear God down until finally he goes, "Okay already,
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- I'm crying uncle.
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- I give in, I'll give you what you ask for."
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- Like God is reluctant to give you what you need, and that it's
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- this battle of wits, or patience, or endurance, and you
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- have to beg, or you have to bargain, or you have to bribe.
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- You beg God and say please, please, please, please, oh God,
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- please, please, pretty please with sugar on it, and you just
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- keep begging until finally God goes, "Okay, enough already,
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- I'll give in."
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- That's the tug-of-war mentality toward prayer, or the bargain
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- with God.
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- If you'll just do this for me, then I'll do this for you.
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- I remember actually trying to use this in high school when
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- there was a girl I wanted to date.
- 00:10:28.453 --> 00:10:29.821
- God, if you'll just make her be interested me.
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- That doesn't work.
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- Begging doesn't work.
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- Bribing doesn't work.
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- Bargaining, making a sales pitch to God, this idea that you have
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- to keep pestering and badgering until God gives in.
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- Did you know that Jesus told a parable that teaches the exact
- 00:10:45.270 --> 00:10:49.274
- opposite of that?
- 00:10:49.274 --> 00:10:51.776
- You know, some parables he says God is like this person, in this
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- parable of the persistent widow, he says God has not like her and
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- the judge, and we're gonna look at that in our small groups
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- during this series.
- 00:11:02.954 --> 00:11:04.355
- So, prayer is not a tug of war, then a fourth attitude is this
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- prayer is not a ritual to relieve guilt.
- 00:11:08.493 --> 00:11:12.330
- Some of you grew up with this, where the whole attitude of
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- prayer was when you've really blown it, when you have sinned
- 00:11:14.866 --> 00:11:19.237
- really bad, then you have to go and make up for it through a
- 00:11:19.237 --> 00:11:22.107
- bunch of prayers.
- 00:11:22.107 --> 00:11:23.775
- And like, you pay off your sin by praying a certain number of
- 00:11:23.775 --> 00:11:27.112
- prayers, maybe even a certain number of ritual prayers or
- 00:11:27.112 --> 00:11:29.714
- things like that.
- 00:11:29.714 --> 00:11:31.082
- But actually, Jesus taught the exact opposite of that.
- 00:11:31.082 --> 00:11:35.153
- In Matthew chapter 6, look up here on the screen, verse 7,
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- Jesus says this.
- 00:11:37.689 --> 00:11:39.090
- "When you pray, do not."
- 00:11:39.090 --> 00:11:42.193
- "Do not use meaningless reputation."
- 00:11:42.193 --> 00:11:45.497
- That means praying the same thing over, and over, and over,
- 00:11:45.497 --> 00:11:47.499
- and over, and over.
- 00:11:47.499 --> 00:11:48.833
- Jesus is saying this.
- 00:11:48.833 --> 00:11:50.201
- "When you pray do not use meaningless repetition thinking
- 00:11:50.201 --> 00:11:53.404
- that you will be heard for your many words."
- 00:11:53.404 --> 00:11:58.543
- Prayer is not a ritual, and prayer is not a repetition, it's
- 00:11:58.543 --> 00:12:03.314
- neither of those.
- 00:12:03.314 --> 00:12:04.816
- And he's saying it's not mindless repeating of cliches.
- 00:12:04.816 --> 00:12:10.688
- Pastor Rick: Every year, Christians from all over the
- 00:12:14.793 --> 00:12:17.462
- world remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by
- 00:12:17.462 --> 00:12:20.598
- traveling to Jerusalem where they walk the path that Jesus
- 00:12:20.598 --> 00:12:24.536
- took on the way to the cross.
- 00:12:24.536 --> 00:12:26.004
- That path is called the Via Dolorosa.
- 00:12:26.004 --> 00:12:28.740
- Now, since you may not be able to ever travel to Jerusalem, I
- 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:31.943
- want to suggest a way for you to celebrate, and reflect on, and
- 00:12:31.943 --> 00:12:35.880
- pray about what Jesus did for you on the cross, so I've
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- created a brand new, one-of-a-kind resource, "Journey
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- with Jesus."
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- illustrated with really beautiful, high-quality, glossy
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- photos of mosaic-tile artwork that reflect each of the stops
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- that Jesus made on his journey to the cross.
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- You're not ever gonna forget this gift.
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- It's a great book to keep and to study over and over again, and
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- it'd make a great gift for your family and your friends, too.
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- Pastor Rick: Now, I want us to begin this journey that we're
- 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:30.668
- goin' into for 40 days on prayer by beginning to look at four
- 00:13:30.668 --> 00:13:35.173
- foundational truths.
- 00:13:35.173 --> 00:13:37.141
- These are the pillars of prayer.
- 00:13:37.141 --> 00:13:40.345
- Everything else we'll look at in the next 40 days are based on
- 00:13:40.345 --> 00:13:43.848
- these four statements out of the Word of God.
- 00:13:43.848 --> 00:13:46.818
- They're the things on which everything else builds.
- 00:13:46.818 --> 00:13:49.120
- These are the foundational pillars.
- 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.156
- You know, the famous legend of Vince Lombardi is that every
- 00:13:52.156 --> 00:13:56.594
- year when he was coach, he would bring everybody in as they would
- 00:13:56.594 --> 00:13:59.898
- start the new season of football, and in the first
- 00:13:59.898 --> 00:14:02.734
- session, he would stand up and hold up a football, and say,
- 00:14:02.734 --> 00:14:04.903
- "Gentlemen, this is a football."
- 00:14:04.903 --> 00:14:08.139
- You don't get any more basic than that.
- 00:14:08.139 --> 00:14:10.375
- And so, I'm starting this 40 days by saying this is what
- 00:14:10.375 --> 00:14:14.212
- prayer is built on, four foundational truths.
- 00:14:14.212 --> 00:14:17.215
- Write these down, number one, God loves for me to talk
- 00:14:17.215 --> 00:14:23.488
- with him.
- 00:14:23.488 --> 00:14:25.056
- God loves for me to talk with him.
- 00:14:25.056 --> 00:14:28.192
- And I'm quick to add about anything.
- 00:14:28.192 --> 00:14:31.930
- God loves for me to talk with him about anything.
- 00:14:31.930 --> 00:14:37.568
- Did you know that God loves for you to talk to him?
- 00:14:37.568 --> 00:14:40.805
- He's waiting for you to talk to him.
- 00:14:40.805 --> 00:14:42.674
- He's willing, he loves it, he enjoys it when you talk to him.
- 00:14:42.674 --> 00:14:47.612
- And you don't have to talk to him about religious things,
- 00:14:47.612 --> 00:14:51.249
- that's the big myth.
- 00:14:51.249 --> 00:14:52.784
- You can talk to him about anything that you're
- 00:14:52.784 --> 00:14:54.819
- interested in.
- 00:14:54.819 --> 00:14:56.254
- I'll tell you this, if you're interested in something, God
- 00:14:56.254 --> 00:14:59.991
- wants you to talk to him about it.
- 00:14:59.991 --> 00:15:02.226
- And if you're interested in something, he's interested in
- 00:15:02.226 --> 00:15:05.163
- it, too.
- 00:15:05.163 --> 00:15:06.497
- You say, "Are you kidding me?"
- 00:15:06.497 --> 00:15:07.832
- No, I'm not.
- 00:15:07.832 --> 00:15:09.200
- Anything you're interested in, God is interested in.
- 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:12.103
- You say, "How do you know that?"
- 00:15:12.103 --> 00:15:13.438
- Well, I know it for three reasons.
- 00:15:13.438 --> 00:15:14.806
- First, he loves you, and when you love somebody, you're
- 00:15:14.806 --> 00:15:17.775
- interested in what they're interested in.
- 00:15:17.775 --> 00:15:20.011
- I'm interested in things that I would have never been interested
- 00:15:20.011 --> 00:15:22.613
- in except my wife was interested in them, and I love her, so I'm
- 00:15:22.613 --> 00:15:27.585
- interested in that.
- 00:15:27.585 --> 00:15:28.920
- And God loves you, he's interested in everything in
- 00:15:28.920 --> 00:15:31.089
- your life.
- 00:15:31.089 --> 00:15:32.423
- Second, where do you think you got those interests?
- 00:15:32.423 --> 00:15:36.060
- He gave you those interests.
- 00:15:36.060 --> 00:15:38.463
- The very things you love to do, your hobbies, where do you think
- 00:15:38.463 --> 00:15:41.799
- you got those interests?
- 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:43.134
- You got them from God.
- 00:15:43.134 --> 00:15:45.536
- Your Creator wired you that way.
- 00:15:45.536 --> 00:15:47.438
- He knows more about you than you do.
- 00:15:47.438 --> 00:15:49.207
- In fact, he knows what you like better than you know what
- 00:15:49.207 --> 00:15:51.542
- you like.
- 00:15:51.542 --> 00:15:53.311
- He knows what you dislike, and he knows some stuff you dislike
- 00:15:53.311 --> 00:15:56.214
- if you experienced it, too, because he made you.
- 00:15:56.214 --> 00:16:00.151
- God gave you your interests, so he's interested when you talk to
- 00:16:00.151 --> 00:16:04.188
- him about anything you're interested in.
- 00:16:04.188 --> 00:16:06.691
- And the third thing is, he's your Father.
- 00:16:06.691 --> 00:16:09.093
- The Bible says, "Our Father, who art in heaven," and fathers
- 00:16:09.093 --> 00:16:13.765
- enjoy talking to their kids.
- 00:16:13.765 --> 00:16:17.035
- So, we know that no matter what you want to talk about, doesn't
- 00:16:17.035 --> 00:16:19.203
- have to be spiritual, God wants to talk to you about anything
- 00:16:19.203 --> 00:16:21.973
- that's on your mind.
- 00:16:21.973 --> 00:16:23.474
- Psalm 103 verse 13 says this, "The Lord is like a father to
- 00:16:23.474 --> 00:16:27.211
- his children, tender and compassionate to those who
- 00:16:27.211 --> 00:16:31.315
- reverence him."
- 00:16:31.315 --> 00:16:32.683
- He's compassionate, he's tender, he's interested.
- 00:16:32.683 --> 00:16:36.154
- He's a Father.
- 00:16:36.154 --> 00:16:37.522
- You know, babies are loved long before they can talk.
- 00:16:37.522 --> 00:16:43.628
- When Kay had our three babies, I loved every one of 'em when all
- 00:16:43.628 --> 00:16:48.199
- they could do is gurgle, and spit, and poop.
- 00:16:48.199 --> 00:16:51.702
- They couldn't communicate, particularly that first year.
- 00:16:51.702 --> 00:16:55.139
- There's very little communication, except a smile
- 00:16:55.139 --> 00:16:57.742
- here and there, a giggle, and a burp, and I loved them
- 00:16:57.742 --> 00:17:02.713
- completely, even though they couldn't communicate with me.
- 00:17:02.713 --> 00:17:07.251
- But I longed for the day that I could have a sit-down
- 00:17:07.251 --> 00:17:09.687
- conversation with my own kids, and if that had never happened,
- 00:17:09.687 --> 00:17:13.624
- it would've been tragic.
- 00:17:13.624 --> 00:17:15.893
- The same is true with you and God.
- 00:17:15.893 --> 00:17:18.596
- God loves you desperately, deeply, and intensely, whether
- 00:17:18.596 --> 00:17:23.434
- you ever talk to him or not, because he made you.
- 00:17:23.434 --> 00:17:27.238
- He's your Father.
- 00:17:27.238 --> 00:17:28.606
- Whether you ever talk to him or not, God is gonna love you
- 00:17:28.606 --> 00:17:31.542
- intimately and deeply.
- 00:17:31.542 --> 00:17:33.778
- But he longs, he longs for you to talk to him.
- 00:17:33.778 --> 00:17:39.817
- He wants you to grow up and learn to talk to him in prayer,
- 00:17:39.817 --> 00:17:44.522
- and that is the mark of spiritual maturity.
- 00:17:44.522 --> 00:17:48.693
- Babies can't talk 'cause they're immature, but as they mature,
- 00:17:48.693 --> 00:17:51.896
- they learn the language.
- 00:17:51.896 --> 00:17:55.133
- And learning to pray is like learning any other language.
- 00:17:55.133 --> 00:17:59.103
- Whether you're going to learn Spanish, or English, or French,
- 00:17:59.103 --> 00:18:01.506
- or German, or any other language, learning to pray is
- 00:18:01.506 --> 00:18:05.910
- learning the language of God.
- 00:18:05.910 --> 00:18:07.912
- You can learn it just like you can learn any other language,
- 00:18:07.912 --> 00:18:10.882
- and how do you learn a language?
- 00:18:10.882 --> 00:18:12.216
- Well, you listen, you hear other people talking, you practice,
- 00:18:12.216 --> 00:18:18.089
- and over time you get better and better at it, and pretty soon
- 00:18:18.089 --> 00:18:22.527
- you're saying some words, and then pretty soon the words start
- 00:18:22.527 --> 00:18:25.696
- making sentences.
- 00:18:25.696 --> 00:18:28.232
- It's the same thing with prayer.
- 00:18:28.232 --> 00:18:29.567
- Prayer is like learning a language, and to learn the
- 00:18:29.567 --> 00:18:33.271
- language of prayer is to grow up, just like you had to learn
- 00:18:33.271 --> 00:18:37.508
- the language of your birth.
- 00:18:37.508 --> 00:18:39.744
- You listen, you practice, you get better.
- 00:18:39.744 --> 00:18:41.512
- Now, let me ask a question.
- 00:18:41.512 --> 00:18:43.147
- When you were first learning to speak, did your first sentences
- 00:18:43.147 --> 00:18:45.816
- makes sense?
- 00:18:45.816 --> 00:18:48.252
- Of course not.
- 00:18:48.252 --> 00:18:49.687
- In fact, you probably mispronounced the words, and
- 00:18:49.687 --> 00:18:52.557
- then you got the words out of order, but the parents could
- 00:18:52.557 --> 00:18:55.226
- figure out what you were saying.
- 00:18:55.226 --> 00:18:56.561
- God can figure out what you're saying even when you don't even
- 00:18:56.561 --> 00:18:59.764
- know what you're saying.
- 00:18:59.764 --> 00:19:01.432
- And the Bible gives us a whole chapter on that in Romans
- 00:19:01.432 --> 00:19:03.401
- chapter 8.
- 00:19:03.401 --> 00:19:05.203
- And God can figure it out, he knows what your heart is.
- 00:19:05.203 --> 00:19:07.605
- The Bible says even when you don't even know what to pray,
- 00:19:07.605 --> 00:19:09.407
- the Holy Spirit prays for you.
- 00:19:09.407 --> 00:19:12.443
- But as you grow up, you begin to make more sense in your prayers.
- 00:19:12.443 --> 00:19:17.648
- Today my kids are adults, I love talking with my kids.
- 00:19:17.648 --> 00:19:22.720
- I look forward to talking with my kids.
- 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.790
- I enjoy talking with my kids, and they don't have to come and
- 00:19:25.790 --> 00:19:28.960
- talk to me about spiritual things, anything.
- 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:33.030
- That's the way God is with you.
- 00:19:33.030 --> 00:19:34.832
- God is your Father, and God loves for you to talk to him,
- 00:19:34.832 --> 00:19:38.803
- literally, about anything.
- 00:19:38.803 --> 00:19:41.839
- In fact, there's nothing off limits in your prayer time.
- 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:46.377
- First John chapter 5:14-15 says this.
- 00:19:46.377 --> 00:19:50.248
- "We can be confident in approaching God, knowing that he
- 00:19:50.248 --> 00:19:53.117
- listens to us whenever we ask him for anything according to
- 00:19:53.117 --> 00:19:59.023
- his will.
- 00:19:59.023 --> 00:20:00.825
- And since we know that he hears us when we make our requests,
- 00:20:00.825 --> 00:20:05.329
- then we can be sure that he will answer us."
- 00:20:05.329 --> 00:20:07.999
- Now, I want you to circle a couple of things, I've
- 00:20:07.999 --> 00:20:09.467
- underlined 'em here.
- 00:20:09.467 --> 00:20:10.835
- Notice, he says twice in that passage we know that he listens.
- 00:20:10.835 --> 00:20:14.772
- We know that he listens.
- 00:20:14.772 --> 00:20:16.207
- We know that he hears.
- 00:20:16.207 --> 00:20:17.808
- And as a result of that, we know that he listens, we know that he
- 00:20:17.808 --> 00:20:19.944
- hears, it says we can be confident, and we can be sure.
- 00:20:19.944 --> 00:20:23.481
- What is he saying there?
- 00:20:23.481 --> 00:20:24.849
- That when you pray, you pray without fear.
- 00:20:24.849 --> 00:20:27.752
- When you pray, you pray about anything you want to pray about
- 00:20:27.752 --> 00:20:30.187
- without shame.
- 00:20:30.187 --> 00:20:31.656
- When you pray, you pray about anything without hesitation,
- 00:20:31.656 --> 00:20:34.358
- because God loves it when you talk to him.
- 00:20:34.358 --> 00:20:38.896
- So, let me just summarize this first pillar in two statements,
- 00:20:38.896 --> 00:20:41.899
- write these down.
- 00:20:41.899 --> 00:20:43.234
- Prayer is a conversation, not a ceremony.
- 00:20:43.234 --> 00:20:48.005
- Prayer is a conversation, not a ceremony.
- 00:20:48.072 --> 00:20:51.375
- When I was a young man, I lived in Japan, I taught English and
- 00:20:51.375 --> 00:20:53.878
- helped plant a church, and one of the things they did in Japan,
- 00:20:53.878 --> 00:20:57.014
- they took me to a tea ceremony, which is an extremely elaborate,
- 00:20:57.014 --> 00:21:01.452
- highly-sophisticated, every detail of how you make a pot of
- 00:21:01.452 --> 00:21:05.356
- tea is far more detailed than you could ever want to
- 00:21:05.356 --> 00:21:09.060
- know about.
- 00:21:09.060 --> 00:21:11.495
- And you had to do it just this way and just that way, and put
- 00:21:11.495 --> 00:21:14.031
- your legs a certain way, and kneel a certain way, and turn
- 00:21:14.031 --> 00:21:16.467
- this way, and turn that way.
- 00:21:16.467 --> 00:21:17.835
- It's all regimented, that's a ceremony.
- 00:21:17.835 --> 00:21:21.172
- Prayer should never, never, never, never, never be a
- 00:21:21.172 --> 00:21:23.374
- ceremony, it's conversation.
- 00:21:23.374 --> 00:21:26.310
- And then, a conversation, it's not a monologue.
- 00:21:26.310 --> 00:21:30.014
- One of the reasons why your prayers are boring is because
- 00:21:30.014 --> 00:21:32.616
- it's a monologue.
- 00:21:32.616 --> 00:21:34.085
- You're not ever being quiet to just let God put thoughts in
- 00:21:34.085 --> 00:21:37.555
- your mind, let God talk to you.
- 00:21:37.555 --> 00:21:40.591
- You're doing all the talking.
- 00:21:40.591 --> 00:21:42.893
- You're not reading his Word, you're not letting that filter
- 00:21:42.893 --> 00:21:46.597
- into your heart, you're not letting the Holy Spirit speak to
- 00:21:46.597 --> 00:21:48.899
- you, giving you ideas and impressions as you read
- 00:21:48.899 --> 00:21:51.202
- the Word.
- 00:21:51.202 --> 00:21:52.536
- Prayer is talking, but prayer is also listening.
- 00:21:52.536 --> 00:21:56.073
- It's a conversation.
- 00:21:56.073 --> 00:21:57.575
- It's conversation with God.
- 00:21:57.575 --> 00:21:58.943
- It's not a ceremony.
- 00:21:58.943 --> 00:22:00.277
- Second thing, prayer is a relationship, not a ritual.
- 00:22:00.277 --> 00:22:04.048
- Anytime you turn prayer into a ritual, it's gonna die, and
- 00:22:04.048 --> 00:22:09.253
- you're gonna feel it's a duty, and then it's a drudgery, and
- 00:22:09.253 --> 00:22:12.223
- then you feel guilty, and then you feel like, "Well, I ought
- 00:22:12.223 --> 00:22:15.025
- to pray."
- 00:22:15.025 --> 00:22:16.727
- Friends, the moment you start, saying I ought to pray, you're
- 00:22:16.727 --> 00:22:20.831
- using guilt motivation, and guilt motivation only lasts as
- 00:22:20.831 --> 00:22:24.201
- long as the guilt does.
- 00:22:24.201 --> 00:22:29.440
- When my wife and I were dating, we lived apart, we lived in
- 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:34.111
- different cities.
- 00:22:34.111 --> 00:22:35.446
- I couldn't wait to talk to her on the phone, 'cause I couldn't
- 00:22:35.446 --> 00:22:37.882
- see her that often.
- 00:22:37.882 --> 00:22:39.216
- And the longer we were apart, the more I want to talk to her.
- 00:22:39.216 --> 00:22:41.719
- When she'd call, I wasn't goin,' "Oh, no, she's calling."
- 00:22:41.719 --> 00:22:47.057
- It wasn't a drudgery.
- 00:22:47.057 --> 00:22:48.392
- There wasn't any duty sense to it.
- 00:22:48.392 --> 00:22:50.594
- I couldn't wait to talk to the person that I loved.
- 00:22:50.594 --> 00:22:54.665
- And when you understand how much God loves you, you're going to
- 00:22:54.665 --> 00:22:56.967
- want to talk to him.
- 00:22:56.967 --> 00:22:59.303
- It's a relationship, it's not a ritual.
- 00:22:59.303 --> 00:23:01.138
- If prayer is boring, you simply misunderstand the point of it,
- 00:23:01.138 --> 00:23:05.309
- and you're talking about the wrong things.
- 00:23:05.309 --> 00:23:07.144
- It's not a duty, it's a privilege.
- 00:23:07.144 --> 00:23:10.381
- God of the universe likes to talk to you, likes to listen to
- 00:23:10.381 --> 00:23:15.519
- you talk, enjoys it, he doesn't endure it.
- 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:19.590
- The first principle of prayer is that God loves for me to talk
- 00:23:19.590 --> 00:23:24.195
- with him about anything, and he's interested in anything.
- 00:23:24.195 --> 00:23:27.998
- If you're interested in it, he is, too.
- 00:23:27.998 --> 00:23:30.067
- Here's the second principle, second pillar.
- 00:23:30.067 --> 00:23:33.003
- God listens to prayers that are sincere and simple.
- 00:23:33.003 --> 00:23:39.076
- God listens to the prayers that are sincere and are simple.
- 00:23:39.076 --> 00:23:46.116
- God isn't looking for a masterpiece.
- 00:23:46.116 --> 00:23:48.319
- God isn't looking for an essay.
- 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:50.187
- God isn't looking for a poem.
- 00:23:50.187 --> 00:23:52.056
- God isn't looking for a work of art.
- 00:23:52.056 --> 00:23:55.025
- God is saying just talk to me.
- 00:23:55.025 --> 00:23:58.696
- You don't have to use flowery words, you don't have to use
- 00:23:58.696 --> 00:24:02.900
- religious cliches, and in fact, they get in the way.
- 00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:05.503
- And you don't have to use fancy phrases, it can be as simple as
- 00:24:05.503 --> 00:24:11.475
- I need you, I need you.
- 00:24:11.475 --> 00:24:16.013
- It just has to come from your heart.
- 00:24:16.013 --> 00:24:18.749
- So many times, we start piling on, we'll hear somebody else
- 00:24:18.749 --> 00:24:21.952
- pray something and go, "Ooh, that sounds good, I think I'll
- 00:24:21.952 --> 00:24:24.054
- throw that into my repertoire."
- 00:24:24.054 --> 00:24:28.158
- And you know, we talk about, well, other religions have their
- 00:24:28.158 --> 00:24:31.395
- cliches and their rituals, well, Christians do, too.
- 00:24:31.395 --> 00:24:35.833
- I mean, how many times have you heard this one, "Bless this food
- 00:24:35.833 --> 00:24:38.636
- to the nourishment of our bodies and our bodies to thy service?"
- 00:24:38.636 --> 00:24:42.172
- Why don't you just say, "Thank you, God, for this food," and
- 00:24:42.172 --> 00:24:47.278
- mean it.
- 00:24:47.278 --> 00:24:48.812
- That's a whole lot better than, "Bless this food to the
- 00:24:48.812 --> 00:24:51.348
- nourishment of our bodies and our bodies to thy service."
- 00:24:51.348 --> 00:24:53.484
- That's a cliche, that's a ritual.
- 00:24:53.484 --> 00:24:57.688
- It'd be a whole lot better if you'd just paused for three
- 00:24:57.688 --> 00:24:59.790
- seconds and say, "God, I'm really hungry, and my salivary
- 00:24:59.790 --> 00:25:06.764
- glands are exploding right now as I smell this taco."
- 00:25:06.764 --> 00:25:12.836
- That's a prayer. That's a prayer.
- 00:25:12.836 --> 00:25:17.508
- And then to just say, "God, thank you for fast food.
- 00:25:17.508 --> 00:25:23.113
- Thank you for In-N-Out.
- 00:25:23.113 --> 00:25:24.548
- What a great God you are."
- 00:25:24.548 --> 00:25:27.718
- Okay, okay, you don't have to have a fancy, "O, thou most
- 00:25:27.718 --> 00:25:31.388
- blessed progenitor of humanity, who doth so beneficently bestow
- 00:25:31.388 --> 00:25:37.294
- upon us," and God's goin,' "Huh?"
- 00:25:37.294 --> 00:25:40.598
- You talk that way to your daddy?
- 00:25:40.598 --> 00:25:42.132
- Not me, I don't want my kids talkin' to me that way.
- 00:25:42.132 --> 00:25:46.070
- God listens to prayers that are sincere and simple.
- 00:25:46.070 --> 00:25:53.344
- Pastor Rick: You know, my hope is that God uses this broadcast
- 00:25:57.548 --> 00:26:00.884
- to help deepen your relationship with Jesus.
- 00:26:00.884 --> 00:26:04.388
- You know, relationships are being restored, and marriages
- 00:26:04.388 --> 00:26:07.257
- are being healed, and many people are saying that they
- 00:26:07.257 --> 00:26:09.960
- found their life purpose.
- 00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:13.063
- I want to say thank you to you, because we're only able to carry
- 00:26:13.063 --> 00:26:17.034
- the hope of Jesus to these people all around the world
- 00:26:17.034 --> 00:26:20.504
- because of gifts from generous listeners like you.
- 00:26:20.504 --> 00:26:25.209
- Now, if you do want to give a financial gift for the very
- 00:26:25.209 --> 00:26:29.313
- first time, I've got some really great news to share with you.
- 00:26:29.313 --> 00:26:33.851
- There's a generous friend of "Daily Hope" broadcast who is
- 00:26:33.851 --> 00:26:36.720
- offering to match the amount of your very first gift.
- 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:41.925
- Now, if you've never given a gift to "Daily Hope," I want you
- 00:26:41.925 --> 00:26:45.029
- to pray about partnering with us, so that together we can
- 00:26:45.029 --> 00:26:48.298
- continue to share the hope of Jesus throughout the
- 00:26:48.298 --> 00:26:51.802
- whole world.
- 00:26:51.802 --> 00:26:54.304
- ♪♪♪
- 00:26:57.608 --> 00:26:57.608
