Bro John Pople, from the series “Growing Closer to GOD” which was given at the 2015 New Zealand Bible School, class 4 was used for GCT episode #224

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This is the 50th, New Zealand
christadelphians Bible School.

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Our third period study is
Brother, John poeple, on growing

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closer to God.
The subtitle for today is

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learning to pray.
This is the fourth talk in the

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series and the introductory
reading is Luke 15 verse 11 to

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The End by the John.
Good evening.

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Once more, my dear brothers and
sisters, I do offer an apology

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considering its come, this late
in the week, but I should

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explain all these slides can be
made available to you.

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Not only brother tone is
cleverly, encrypting them along

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the DVDs.
But if you have your own flash

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drive, I can happily give you
any of the PowerPoint series,

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you need.
So don’t feel that you have to

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take notes to get the
information, but if you like to

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take notes, obviously, please
continue to do.

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So, this is the last talk.
Of this series of for growing

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closer to God.
And now we’re going to look at

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the best example of all.
We’re going to look at the Lord.

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Jesus Christ.
We don’t therefore look at his

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life as we do at the others, to
see how he closed the Gap with a

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by overcoming a shortcoming that
he had.

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Because it’s not, it’s not
possible for us to tag

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shortcomings in the development
of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

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But if there’s something, I
think we’re Jesus really stands

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ahead and shows us a way in
which we can All improve, it’s

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about learning to pray.
I’m not suggesting.

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You don’t know how to pray but
how to develop one’s prayer?

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Life prayer.
I speak personally, but perhaps

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I speak for more than just one
prayer, is a very difficult

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activity.
It’s very difficult to know the

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point.
The reason the correct manner of

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construction, you already know
that the Lord God knows

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everything.
You think and feel even before

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you express it.
So you wonder even about its

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value.
You so it is a very difficult

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thing, but I have every
confidence that if a disciple

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will really just say to me, I
want to be a better disciple.

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What should I work on almost
certainly, the idea answer would

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be improve your prayer life.
I just feel that that’s likely

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to be the case, a very difficult
answer, but perhaps the

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necessary one.
Why pray?

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Straight question.
Why pray?

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I think many good answers.
Could be given?

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What might you suggest?
To talk to God, and that’s good.

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And yet, you know, if I were to
be adversarial, I would say.

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But God already knows what I
think, but you’re still correct.

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I don’t dispute that.
And perhaps, I think it’s a

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really good answer.
If you didn’t hear Brother Paul.

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The idea is that in articulating
and vocalizing your own

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thoughts, you begin to
crystallize them.

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In other words, yes.
God knew what you were thinking

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before you prayed, but you might
not have done.

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And as you actually begin to
find words or at least feelings

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in which to express that prayer,
we learn to refine our feelings

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and understand more about what
it is that we really want.

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We’re acknowledging God, we
acknowledge In his presence.

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Yes, we’re acknowledging.
That we know that he’s there and

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here’s a very simple answer that
attracts me, why pray?

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Because Jesus did We’re told he
is our example and if his

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resonance with the almighty
father was even greater than

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ours.
IE his distance between him and

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his father was less than ours.
Then God knew what Jesus was

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thinking, even more, if it’s not
a foolish statement, then God

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knows what we’re thinking.
And yet, Jesus prayed, and if

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Jesus did it, we can trust.
It’s the right thing.

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Remember, one of the charges we
have in discipleship is become

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like Jesus.
Well, to become like Jesus.

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Isis.
We do what Jesus did.

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Not just in appearance, but more
in actual lifestyle, we’re going

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to try a little bit later on to
become like the 1960s that’s all

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rather fun and realistically the
only thing we can modify in an

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evening isn’t our outward
appearance.

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So we’ll probably be modifying
our dress code and our outward

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appearance to become like the
1960s.

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That’s just an external match.
But if we’re going to become

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like Jesus, we become like Jesus
by doing what Jesus did the news

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about Jesus spread all the more
So the crowds of people came to

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hear him and to be healed of
their sicknesses but Jesus often

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I noticed that whether Jesus
often withdrew to lonely places

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and prayed Jesus prayed
frequently do I pray frequently

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I’m not sure it’s frequently
enough.

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Why don’t I pray frequently
enough?

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Because my life is already full
of stressful activities that’s

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perhaps the stupidest answer you
can ever give to a question.

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Isn’t it?
My life is full of stress, so I

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don’t have time to pray.
What were you hoping prayer

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would do?
Well, reduce the stress but I

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don’t take time to reduce the
stress because I’m stressed, you

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see?
And, again, that’s Brother,

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Paul’s Point.
By the time I say it out loud.

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I suddenly realized, that’s
ridiculous.

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I need to change what I’m doing.
Jesus was the closest to the

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father of closest of all to the
father I and the father are one.

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He said, what a beautiful
statement and given doctrinal

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concerns.
We often And take that statement

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and listen to it and say, yes.
But he doesn’t mean well, never

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mind what he doesn’t mean.
Let’s pause for a moment’s

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reflection amongst those of
like-minded spirit and pause to

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consider what he did mean.
I and my father are one.

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I don’t need to add anything.
That’s a beautiful statement.

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Why pray?
Your kingdom come for example.

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Jesus instructed.
His disciples asked Lord, how

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should we pray?
And he gave them some suggested

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ideas and one of those was your
kingdom.

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Come.
I hope we believe that.

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Do we believe that God’s kingdom
will come?

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I’m hoping that’s a general.
Yes, a little quieter than I

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hoped for but it’s still a form
of a sensor will go with that.

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Will it?
Come?

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Yes, we believe it will come
brothers and sisters.

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Will God’s kingdom, come if I
don’t pray for it.

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Yes.
Let me go one step further, will

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it come if I pray for it, not to
come.

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Yes. so, I pray Why pray for
that?

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That’s not a case of
articulating.

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My understanding any better?
I already know what the

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understanding is your kingdom
come.

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It’s a very direct statement.
It’s not a complex feeling.

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So why pray?
It helps our conviction, that’s

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an excellent answer.
We’re going to come onto that.

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I think there’s one I’m going to
come to that just directly but

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just before I come to that one.
Let the days may be shortened,

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who said that very good.
TJ the back there.

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It very well may change the
speed at which the kingdom comes

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that.
The days may be shortened.

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His brother, TJ said there’s
good scriptural evidence.

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Not only in that promise for
something that hasn’t yet

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happened.
But for the things that did

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happen when they were prayed for
that the fervency and the

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multitude and the magnitude of
prayers offered actually

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affected the speed at which the
answer arrived.

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And the more people praying
often affected the speed at,

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which God’s will played out.
And I think that’s maybe why one

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of the reasons it’s said in the
scriptures.

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No, man knows the day, or the
hour or the year when the son of

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man shall return.
And I think one of the reasons,

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no man knows the day is because
the day is not fixed.

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And one of the parameters on
which it flexes is, how much

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prayer and how much desire we
express and that the father

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hears US Express, Do You Really
Want Jesus to come if you do

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pray, pray more frequently for
it.

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Pray harder for it and it very
well.

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According to the promises of
scripture may come sooner that’s

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reasonable.
Every time, God speaks about the

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coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He tends to use the analogy of

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I’m somehow this Diwali or wheat
or anything ask any farmer.

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Don’t look at me the closest
I’ve got to farming is a

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roommate growing tomatoes on the
windowsill that’s about as close

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as it gets but that’s that’s the
limit of my understanding of

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farming but even then I gained
enough education from that to

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think about the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ on what day

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are you going to pick those
Tomatoes roommate?

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Well, What did the roommate
reply?

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when they’re ready, when the red
not green, And so, who are the

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tomatoes?
That’s us.

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Our color dictates the coming of
harvest time.

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So that’s a very good reason why
to pray.

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It also changes us, two people
have already commented

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particularly to that end.
It changes us.

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It increases our desire by
making our vision more tangible,

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the more we picture something,
even if it isn’t physically in

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front of us, if there’s a
picture of it in our mind, then

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the more we are attached to it.
So as you You pray for the

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kingdom paint pictures of it in
your mind think what certain

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parts of the earth will look
like physically or

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geographically, or
socioeconomically, or whatever

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paint, those pictures and look
at those pictures and describe

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those pictures in your prayer
that you desire, because then

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the picture will make things
more tangible to.

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You are, are there any in the
room who have a predilection for

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chocolate?
Perhaps, raise a hand.

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Warrick.
Your hand was up faster than

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anyone else’s.
I’m, I’m very impressed.

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Oh, I’m always guilty.
That’s just taking his red.

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I am.
Yes, that’s right.

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It’s not get, it’s not a guilty
thing.

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Don’t worry.
Chocolate is not bad.

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So this is rapidly.
Coming to my own defense.

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Anyone would fancy some
chocolate right now.

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Realize you’ve just had dinner.
Andrew would good for Andrew.

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Okay.
So think about how much you

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might like that chocolate now.
Have a look at that for a few

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seconds.
Yeah, there you go.

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There you go.
Let’s go.

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And you may notice that your
disease.

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If you had that desire to start
with that, your desire may

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actually increase.
Why is your desire increased?

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Because there’s a visual
realization of the desire

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itself.
That’s if that’s true for

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chocolate, something that’s
simple and something that

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meaningless.
Then my goodness.

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How much more true is that going
to be for the kingdom of God.

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Paint a picture, see the
details.

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Describe the details in your
prayer, so it changes us

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Desiring.
The kingdom actually makes us

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more suitable for the kingdom,
God is love and so those who

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populate his kingdom best, are
those who love it.

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Most those who Love it.
Most of those who desire it,

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most, and those to desire it.
Most are those who have

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increased their Desire by
whatever.

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Becca’s, let me take that
picture away because otherwise,

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you’ll, you’ll be thinking of
them.

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Right.
Very good.

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You’re welcome.
That’s how we can operate in our

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prayers to a change, both
ourselves and potentially, can

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we believe it even potentially
the start time of the kingdom?

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It is still likely though, ever
less probable.

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The kingdom will come in 2015,
but if not In is put around the

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corner and awaits our
opportunities.

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Three words, when preparing, for
the kingdom was on, Jesus mind,

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and he spoke to that, that
affected all of a sudden, he

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spat out three random words
right in the middle of his

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dialogue.
And he said, Remember Lot’s,

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wife.
What was that about?

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Why remember Lot’s wife we don’t
even know her name.

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Remember Lot’s, wife, desire.
Where is your desire?

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We are going forwards out of
Egypt so to speak.

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Not backwards.
Where is your desire?

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Your desire is where your vision
is, where was lots wife’s Vision

220
00:12:55,900 –> 00:13:02,700
pointing forward for a while.
And then, well, well, Kind of

221
00:13:02,700 –> 00:13:05,400
like what was back there.
The Israelites in the

222
00:13:05,400 –> 00:13:08,500
wilderness, said similar things
and perished there in remember

223
00:13:08,500 –> 00:13:11,300
Lot’s, wife her desire was
behind her.

224
00:13:11,500 –> 00:13:17,600
Ours needs to be ahead.
Lord, teach us to pray, they

225
00:13:17,600 –> 00:13:22,100
said and so, Jesus gave them
this prayer, Our Father in

226
00:13:22,100 –> 00:13:25,900
heaven Hallowed Be Your Name,
Your Kingdom Come your will be

227
00:13:25,900 –> 00:13:27,800
done on Earth as it is in
heaven.

228
00:13:28,500 –> 00:13:32,400
Give us today our daily bread
forgive us our debts as we also

229
00:13:32,400 –> 00:13:36,700
have forgiven, our debtors and
lead us not into temptation, but

230
00:13:36,700 –> 00:13:41,500
Deliver Us from Evil.
I’ve divided, if you are able to

231
00:13:41,500 –> 00:13:46,000
discern colors, I’ve divided
that prayer into three separate

232
00:13:46,000 –> 00:13:50,800
colors because I think there are
three separate sections that are

233
00:13:50,800 –> 00:13:52,600
in that prayer.
And I think that’s as much of

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00:13:52,600 –> 00:13:56,900
the instruction Jesus gave as
ever the words were, I think he

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00:13:56,900 –> 00:14:00,100
wants us to learn and use.
I don’t want to wish to

236
00:14:00,100 –> 00:14:03,600
criticize my friend, but I have
a friend who is now of

237
00:14:03,600 –> 00:14:07,400
relatively great age over the
age of 80, not a brother, but he

238
00:14:07,400 –> 00:14:10,000
prays at mealtime, which is
Good.

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00:14:10,000 –> 00:14:12,700
And he is thankful to God, which
is excellent and at every meal

240
00:14:12,700 –> 00:14:18,000
time, he says these words and no
other and he eats three meals a

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00:14:18,008 –> 00:14:20,600
day and he’s over 80 years of
age.

242
00:14:21,200 –> 00:14:23,500
And if that’s three meals a day,
I have going to get in trouble

243
00:14:23,500 –> 00:14:26,100
here.
Three meals a day at about 300

244
00:14:26,100 –> 00:14:29,900
work days per year, that’s going
to be about a thousand prayers

245
00:14:29,900 –> 00:14:32,500
per year.
And he’s done this for at least

246
00:14:32,500 –> 00:14:36,800
50 years.
He said this prayer 50,000

247
00:14:38,000 –> 00:14:43,000
times, I’m unable to persuade
him to try anything different.

248
00:14:43,000 –> 00:14:47,100
Now, was that what Jesus wanted
from us to say this prayer

249
00:14:47,400 –> 00:14:50,800
50,000 times?
I think it’s an excellent

250
00:14:50,800 –> 00:14:53,500
prayer, but I think he wants us
to learn the principles in the

251
00:14:53,500 –> 00:14:57,500
structure as well as the content
of the prayer and use it in

252
00:14:57,500 –> 00:15:00,600
designing and adapting, our own
prayers to that end.

253
00:15:00,600 –> 00:15:04,000
What do you notice about the
purple section?

254
00:15:04,000 –> 00:15:09,000
What That prayer about.
It’s about things about God.

255
00:15:09,000 –> 00:15:10,500
We don’t need complex language
here.

256
00:15:11,000 –> 00:15:18,500
What’s the green words about?
Things about God’s will I like

257
00:15:18,500 –> 00:15:19,500
that?
I heard that from somewhere

258
00:15:19,500 –> 00:15:25,700
things about God’s plans and
what’s the blue part about But

259
00:15:25,700 –> 00:15:29,800
us things about us.
Lord, teach us to praise at the

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00:15:29,808 –> 00:15:33,300
disciples.
Okay, said Jesus, do this first.

261
00:15:33,300 –> 00:15:39,300
Pray about God mention him,
comment on him, comment on your

262
00:15:39,300 –> 00:15:43,200
relationship with him.
Then think about the plans that

263
00:15:43,200 –> 00:15:49,300
God has in place and then think
about you I’ve known that for a

264
00:15:49,308 –> 00:15:53,300
long time and to this very day,
I can still catch myself in

265
00:15:53,300 –> 00:15:56,300
prayers, private prayers, that
immediately launched into, it’s

266
00:15:56,300 –> 00:15:59,400
about me.
Thanks, and I catch myself on

267
00:15:59,400 –> 00:16:03,200
that on at least a weekly basis.
And yet, the Lord has said, this

268
00:16:03,200 –> 00:16:08,300
is how to pray in this order.
There’s another sequence of

269
00:16:08,300 –> 00:16:10,300
things that has this same
structure.

270
00:16:11,100 –> 00:16:12,400
You know what it is?
I’m sure you do.

271
00:16:17,600 –> 00:16:20,500
The Ten Commandments was
nervously, whispered over here,

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00:16:20,500 –> 00:16:24,100
but was more Well confidently
said over there I think,

273
00:16:24,100 –> 00:16:26,100
absolutely, right.
If we look at the Ten

274
00:16:26,100 –> 00:16:30,200
Commandments, No other gods
before me.

275
00:16:30,200 –> 00:16:32,600
Love the Lord your God.
You shall not bow down to Idols.

276
00:16:32,600 –> 00:16:34,800
You shall not misuse the name of
the Lord.

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00:16:34,800 –> 00:16:38,700
Your God.
Those are things about God then

278
00:16:39,000 –> 00:16:41,100
you have remember the Sabbath
day by keeping it.

279
00:16:41,100 –> 00:16:45,800
Holy honor your father and your
mother things about God’s plans,

280
00:16:46,000 –> 00:16:49,600
he had a plan and a structure
for the week and for the family

281
00:16:50,200 –> 00:16:54,600
and finally things about us.
In fact, if there are Ten

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00:16:54,600 –> 00:16:59,500
Commandments on two tablets of
stone and Like the example given

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00:16:59,500 –> 00:17:02,000
in the background, the Bible is
clear that the tablets were

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00:17:02,000 –> 00:17:06,800
written on both sides, most TV
and movie representations mess

285
00:17:06,800 –> 00:17:08,400
that.
But if there are Ten

286
00:17:08,400 –> 00:17:12,700
Commandments written on both
sides on two tablets, it’s

287
00:17:12,700 –> 00:17:15,000
perhaps reasonable to suspect
that they were five Commandments

288
00:17:15,000 –> 00:17:17,099
on one tablet and five
Commandments on the other

289
00:17:17,200 –> 00:17:20,500
speculation.
If so, there was an entire

290
00:17:20,500 –> 00:17:24,200
tablet, about things about God
and an entire tablet.

291
00:17:24,200 –> 00:17:27,300
The second tablet, things about
us, there’s an actual

292
00:17:27,300 –> 00:17:29,700
separation.
There, even physically.

293
00:17:29,900 –> 00:17:32,000
I notice if that’s speculation
is true.

294
00:17:32,600 –> 00:17:36,200
So always God’s things guards
guard.

295
00:17:36,200 –> 00:17:42,300
God’s plans, our needs.
So You shall not murder.

296
00:17:42,700 –> 00:17:46,500
Its number 6.
It’s the most important offense

297
00:17:46,500 –> 00:17:49,500
that can ever be committed
against, man.

298
00:17:50,600 –> 00:17:52,900
And all too often.
I will see in the online

299
00:17:52,900 –> 00:17:55,400
newspapers.
People talking about murder as

300
00:17:55,400 –> 00:17:58,800
the ultimate crime, it is the
ultimate crime.

301
00:17:59,300 –> 00:18:03,000
Only if there is no God, once
you’ve thrown the first tablet

302
00:18:03,000 –> 00:18:06,300
of stone out the window, then
it’s the top commandment and

303
00:18:06,308 –> 00:18:08,000
that’s what’s happened in our
world today.

304
00:18:08,400 –> 00:18:13,200
But in actual fact, God says
this is number six but number

305
00:18:13,200 –> 00:18:18,500
three might be don’t misuse my
name which people Cheerilee do

306
00:18:18,800 –> 00:18:22,200
multiple times per day.
Our prayers need to have the

307
00:18:22,200 –> 00:18:24,100
same structure.
So if we’re going to learn how

308
00:18:24,100 –> 00:18:27,200
to pray, I would say.
That’s a one concrete, way we

309
00:18:27,200 –> 00:18:30,200
can learn how to pray.
Analyze your own prayers whilst

310
00:18:30,200 –> 00:18:32,800
you’re saying them.
Am I praying about God before?

311
00:18:32,800 –> 00:18:39,500
I’m praying about me. if I could
add any, Thoughts or learning

312
00:18:39,500 –> 00:18:42,200
from personal experience.
I would say this would be my

313
00:18:42,200 –> 00:18:45,800
second piece of advice.
Pray directly.

314
00:18:46,500 –> 00:18:51,100
What do I mean by that?
I mean pray for what you want

315
00:18:51,500 –> 00:18:52,900
and you might say well that’s
stupid.

316
00:18:52,900 –> 00:18:56,600
I do.
Do you ask yourself?

317
00:18:56,600 –> 00:18:59,000
Do you actually pray for what
you want?

318
00:18:59,200 –> 00:19:02,300
Here’s my guess at the things
that we want.

319
00:19:02,300 –> 00:19:04,100
I can’t speak for all of you.
I have to guess.

320
00:19:04,500 –> 00:19:06,700
We want to be happy and
fulfilled.

321
00:19:06,800 –> 00:19:08,600
We want to save the lives.
Of others.

322
00:19:08,700 –> 00:19:11,200
Genuinely, we want to be closer
to God.

323
00:19:11,700 –> 00:19:14,200
We want to have protection.
For our loved ones.

324
00:19:14,700 –> 00:19:17,400
We want to have our minds
transformed so that we desire

325
00:19:17,400 –> 00:19:20,800
the things of Christ, not the
things of the world, we want to

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00:19:20,800 –> 00:19:25,300
feel secure about our future.
We want peace of mind.

327
00:19:25,800 –> 00:19:31,900
Do we pray for those things?
I wonder those are the actual

328
00:19:31,900 –> 00:19:35,400
goals, but I wonder if the
prayers that I hear and the

329
00:19:35,408 –> 00:19:38,000
prayers often for which I am
solicited.

330
00:19:38,100 –> 00:19:42,500
Please, would you help me pray
for this tend to look like this.

331
00:19:44,200 –> 00:19:48,400
Their prayers for a home.
A spouse.

332
00:19:48,600 –> 00:19:55,200
A baptism.
A job children. and I suppose,

333
00:19:55,200 –> 00:20:00,400
my guess is, the reason that we
pray for these is because we

334
00:20:00,400 –> 00:20:08,400
believe these will fulfill these
I want to be fulfilled, so I

335
00:20:08,400 –> 00:20:11,800
pray for a partner but what did
I do that for?

336
00:20:11,800 –> 00:20:16,400
I should pray for fulfillment.
I want to be closer to God.

337
00:20:16,700 –> 00:20:19,600
So I pray to be involved in a
big preaching campaign.

338
00:20:20,900 –> 00:20:24,900
I want to feel secure about my
future, so I pray that I’ll get

339
00:20:24,900 –> 00:20:29,700
that job but I might get that
job and not be the slightest bit

340
00:20:29,700 –> 00:20:34,200
secure in my future.
I might be married and not feel

341
00:20:34,200 –> 00:20:37,400
the slightest bit fulfilled.
Why didn’t I pray for what?

342
00:20:37,400 –> 00:20:40,500
I actually wanted.
And so over the years, I’ve

343
00:20:40,500 –> 00:20:46,400
learned to pray for this column
and not for any of the tangibles

344
00:20:47,300 –> 00:20:50,600
that I might trick my mind into
thinking, what will actually

345
00:20:50,600 –> 00:20:55,700
come in this column, and there’s
another advantage to praying

346
00:20:55,700 –> 00:21:01,600
directly, you’re able to catch
yourself out when you cheat.

347
00:21:02,600 –> 00:21:06,800
Do not be, do not be surprised
that the human mind is deceitful

348
00:21:06,800 –> 00:21:09,800
above all things.
You might pray that this

349
00:21:09,800 –> 00:21:12,700
preaching campaign, be
tremendously successful, and we

350
00:21:12,700 –> 00:21:16,600
have at least five, maybe ten
baptisms as a result of three

351
00:21:16,600 –> 00:21:21,100
months work, for example, that’s
a beautiful thing to pray for.

352
00:21:22,400 –> 00:21:25,700
Isn’t it?
But what if I’m praying

353
00:21:25,700 –> 00:21:30,200
actually, to be proved right.
I designed this preaching

354
00:21:30,200 –> 00:21:34,100
campaign and I said, do it like
this and the other guy had tried

355
00:21:34,100 –> 00:21:36,700
to do it like that for six
months and nothing happened.

356
00:21:36,700 –> 00:21:39,600
So if we do it like this, like I
said and we get a lot of

357
00:21:39,608 –> 00:21:41,600
baptisms.
That’s why I’m praying for the

358
00:21:41,600 –> 00:21:45,100
baptisms and I can catch myself
in things like that.

359
00:21:45,400 –> 00:21:48,000
Sometimes what I’m really
praying for is to be proved

360
00:21:48,000 –> 00:21:53,100
right or to indulge myself or to
look Superior and that can

361
00:21:53,100 –> 00:21:57,000
happen when we play Pray for
these indirect tangibles because

362
00:21:57,000 –> 00:22:00,900
in the indirect tangible, you
can hide a lot of things that

363
00:22:00,900 –> 00:22:05,100
your little undermined will
sneak in under the tangible.

364
00:22:05,100 –> 00:22:10,200
But when you pray directly for
fulfillment or protection for

365
00:22:10,200 –> 00:22:13,700
loved ones, without any of the
tangible coverings, you will

366
00:22:13,700 –> 00:22:15,800
discover.
If any of these, rather less

367
00:22:15,800 –> 00:22:19,700
worthy things have crept in with
your thinking, because you’ll be

368
00:22:19,700 –> 00:22:22,300
analyzing your desires,
absolutely directly.

369
00:22:22,300 –> 00:22:25,100
So, that’s my second piece.
Of advice.

370
00:22:25,400 –> 00:22:28,600
Pray directly.
God will choose whatever

371
00:22:28,600 –> 00:22:34,100
tangibles to supply in order to
to fulfill the direct goal for

372
00:22:34,100 –> 00:22:39,100
which you’re praying.
So at this point, we come to a

373
00:22:39,108 –> 00:22:48,600
rather unusual section.
I’m going to show you a literal

374
00:22:48,600 –> 00:22:54,700
testimonies of real people.
Neither of whom, you know, who

375
00:22:54,700 –> 00:22:58,400
have commented and agreed to
comment publicly on their prayer

376
00:22:58,400 –> 00:23:01,000
life.
Now, at some point particular in

377
00:23:01,000 –> 00:23:02,900
the second case, it’s very
personal.

378
00:23:02,900 –> 00:23:04,800
I’ve cut out, the bits that are
sort of a little bit too

379
00:23:04,800 –> 00:23:08,200
gruesome.
But it’s I think it’s useful to

380
00:23:08,200 –> 00:23:12,500
see real people.
In action in their prayer Lives

381
00:23:12,500 –> 00:23:16,300
who are happy to comment upon
them and one of them is a very

382
00:23:16,300 –> 00:23:18,900
happy story that will be the
second one there.

383
00:23:18,900 –> 00:23:21,300
For a first will address this
one.

384
00:23:21,300 –> 00:23:25,300
The name is a pseudonym, not her
real name and she comments in

385
00:23:25,300 –> 00:23:29,100
this way.
If you had asked me as a young

386
00:23:29,100 –> 00:23:32,300
Christian, whether I believed in
prayer, I would have quickly

387
00:23:32,300 –> 00:23:35,900
said, yes, I would have told you
about the time I spun out in the

388
00:23:35,900 –> 00:23:38,800
snow and didn’t get hurt.
Well, the time I dropped a house

389
00:23:38,800 –> 00:23:43,000
key somewhere in my 74, Dodge,
Dart, and couldn’t find it for

390
00:23:43,000 –> 00:23:46,500
hours.
Until I prayed, maybe God takes

391
00:23:46,500 –> 00:23:48,700
care of, neophyte Believers.
I don’t know.

392
00:23:49,100 –> 00:23:51,500
He doesn’t seem to take care of
Old-Timers though.

393
00:23:52,800 –> 00:23:54,700
I could list probably 100
prayers.

394
00:23:54,700 –> 00:23:57,600
That haven’t been answered.
I’m not speaking of selfish

395
00:23:57,600 –> 00:24:01,900
prayers but important prayers,
God keep my kids safe.

396
00:24:02,100 –> 00:24:04,200
Keep them away from the wrong
crowd.

397
00:24:04,600 –> 00:24:08,200
All three ended up in trouble
with the law abusing drugs and

398
00:24:08,200 –> 00:24:12,200
alcohol.
I’ve got to say Jesus story of

399
00:24:12,200 –> 00:24:16,000
the persistent Widow Sowers,
thousands of people pray for a

400
00:24:16,000 –> 00:24:18,600
Christian leader, who has cancer
and he dies.

401
00:24:19,000 –> 00:24:22,300
What did Jesus mean by the
parable that we keep beating?

402
00:24:22,500 –> 00:24:27,200
Our heads against a wall.
I’d guess maybe 20% of my

403
00:24:27,200 –> 00:24:29,100
prayers, get anything like the
answer.

404
00:24:29,100 –> 00:24:33,900
I want over the time I give up,
I pray for those things, I

405
00:24:33,908 –> 00:24:36,700
believe will happen, or I just
don’t pray.

406
00:24:37,300 –> 00:24:40,900
I review my journal and see God,
doing less and less.

407
00:24:41,500 –> 00:24:44,600
I get mad like a child.
I stop talking.

408
00:24:44,600 –> 00:24:48,800
I’m passive aggressive with God.
I put him off maybe later.

409
00:24:49,700 –> 00:24:53,600
I went to a mentor and poured
out, my soul describing in

410
00:24:53,600 –> 00:24:55,200
detail.
All, I’ve been through in the

411
00:24:55,200 –> 00:24:58,300
past few years with my health
and especially with my kids.

412
00:24:58,800 –> 00:25:02,500
What do I do?
I asked he set there for the

413
00:25:02,500 –> 00:25:06,700
longest time and said, I don’t
know, Joanne, he sighed.

414
00:25:07,000 –> 00:25:09,800
I waited for words of wisdom.
None came.

415
00:25:10,700 –> 00:25:15,700
That’s how it is with prayer,
too. so, One thing we can

416
00:25:15,700 –> 00:25:19,900
conclude the prayer.
Life was a bad experience.

417
00:25:20,500 –> 00:25:22,900
What had gone wrong challenge
yourself.

418
00:25:23,600 –> 00:25:27,600
That woman has come to you
earlier, on this afternoon, sat

419
00:25:27,600 –> 00:25:31,000
down next to you on the bench
and said, precisely that.

420
00:25:31,900 –> 00:25:35,400
What’s your response?
If we Disciples of Christ, we

421
00:25:35,408 –> 00:25:37,900
should be ready for moments such
as these.

422
00:25:39,200 –> 00:25:43,000
We’ll think about that in just a
minute, but before we do, let’s

423
00:25:43,000 –> 00:25:51,300
introduce our second testimony.
Hilda, my family in Costa Rica

424
00:25:51,300 –> 00:25:53,500
had no money.
And so when I was four years

425
00:25:53,500 –> 00:25:55,900
old, my mother sold me into
sexual slavery.

426
00:25:56,400 –> 00:25:58,600
Men pay a lot of money to have
their way with children.

427
00:25:59,100 –> 00:26:02,600
So while other kids, my age went
to school, I worked in a brothel

428
00:26:02,800 –> 00:26:06,000
turning over all my earnings to
my mother, all my life.

429
00:26:06,000 –> 00:26:09,900
I felt ugly and dirty ashamed.
I learned to drink alcohol, and

430
00:26:09,900 –> 00:26:13,000
use cocaine very early as a way
to dull the pain.

431
00:26:13,800 –> 00:26:17,300
When I was a teenager, I had two
children of my own from, then

432
00:26:17,300 –> 00:26:18,200
on.
I worked hard.

433
00:26:18,500 –> 00:26:20,200
Earn money to support my
children.

434
00:26:20,800 –> 00:26:22,900
It was the only way I could show
my love for them.

435
00:26:23,700 –> 00:26:25,600
One day, a customer.
Got Furious.

436
00:26:25,900 –> 00:26:27,500
When I wouldn’t do what he
asked.

437
00:26:27,800 –> 00:26:30,200
He pulled a knife on me.
Then hit me with a baseball bat,

438
00:26:30,200 –> 00:26:34,100
splitting my head open, they
took me to the hospital and I

439
00:26:34,100 –> 00:26:36,400
lay in that bed plotting to kill
myself.

440
00:26:37,100 –> 00:26:40,600
Finally, I got down on my knees
beside the bed and plead with

441
00:26:40,600 –> 00:26:45,100
God, I wanted somehow to escape
prostitution to become a real

442
00:26:45,100 –> 00:26:48,200
mother to my children and God
answered that prayer.

443
00:26:48,300 –> 00:26:50,400
With a miracle.
He gave me a vision.

444
00:26:50,700 –> 00:26:54,600
I actually saw the words look
for Rahab Foundation.

445
00:26:55,200 –> 00:26:58,300
I was barely literate and didn’t
know the word Rahab, it’s not a

446
00:26:58,300 –> 00:27:00,500
Spanish word.
One of the nurses.

447
00:27:00,500 –> 00:27:05,300
Help me find their number though
and I called the phone rang and

448
00:27:05,300 –> 00:27:08,300
rang and I prayed Lord, if you
really exist, make somebody

449
00:27:08,300 –> 00:27:11,900
answer that phone at last a
woman named Marie, Liana.

450
00:27:11,900 –> 00:27:15,100
Answered turns out.
She was the director of Rahab,

451
00:27:15,200 –> 00:27:18,200
which was closed for the day,
but she had stopped by to pick

452
00:27:18,300 –> 00:27:20,800
Pick up some papers.
I need help.

453
00:27:20,900 –> 00:27:24,300
I told Maria Liana, I’m dying.
I can’t take it anymore.

454
00:27:24,800 –> 00:27:27,700
She told me that God loved me
and would not leave me alone.

455
00:27:28,100 –> 00:27:30,800
She would help me get away from
prostitution and start a new

456
00:27:30,800 –> 00:27:33,800
life.
A few days later, she brought me

457
00:27:33,800 –> 00:27:36,700
to her home, bruised and
bandaged fresh from the

458
00:27:36,700 –> 00:27:39,300
hospital.
She welcomed me with a huge hug

459
00:27:39,300 –> 00:27:43,400
and said you’re safe here Hilda.
She told me Rahab was named for

460
00:27:43,400 –> 00:27:46,400
a prostitute in the Bible.
One who became a heroine.

461
00:27:47,000 –> 00:27:49,600
I couldn’t believe the Hope on
really Anna’s face.

462
00:27:49,900 –> 00:27:53,700
It felt like a dream.
She gave me a clean bed flowers

463
00:27:53,700 –> 00:27:56,900
in the room and a promise that
no man would harass me, she

464
00:27:56,900 –> 00:28:00,000
introduced me to other women who
had left, prostitution, she

465
00:28:00,000 –> 00:28:01,400
taught me how to be a real
mother.

466
00:28:01,700 –> 00:28:05,200
And now I I am studying a trade
to live for the glory of God.

467
00:28:06,100 –> 00:28:09,700
Now some fairly Stark details in
there and I apologize for any

468
00:28:09,700 –> 00:28:12,900
shock they cause, but I think
it’s valuable to consider this

469
00:28:13,100 –> 00:28:17,000
testimony because one thing we
can conclude in opposite to the

470
00:28:17,000 –> 00:28:19,900
first testimony.
The prayer life had been a very

471
00:28:19,900 –> 00:28:23,500
beneficial experience.
What had gone right?

472
00:28:24,200 –> 00:28:28,300
Why has God chosen one and
ignored the other or so, it

473
00:28:28,300 –> 00:28:31,700
seems Where should we find an
answer?

474
00:28:32,300 –> 00:28:35,100
We will find an answer where we
always find an answer.

475
00:28:35,400 –> 00:28:38,000
It’s the word of God that will
give us the answer.

476
00:28:40,300 –> 00:28:43,700
Luke chapter 15 and will find
that here.

477
00:28:44,000 –> 00:28:47,000
Lies a very good key to the
answer and that’s why thank you,

478
00:28:47,008 –> 00:28:49,800
brother.
John he read that passage for

479
00:28:49,800 –> 00:28:52,900
us.
Luke chapter 15 begins this way.

480
00:28:54,600 –> 00:28:56,700
There was a man who had two
sons.

481
00:28:57,000 –> 00:29:01,700
The younger ones said, father,
give me my share of the estate.

482
00:29:01,700 –> 00:29:05,000
We’re going to focus just on
that youngest, son for the

483
00:29:05,000 –> 00:29:07,900
purpose of this evening and
we’re going to focus on two

484
00:29:07,900 –> 00:29:11,900
prayers.
This is his prayer In a before

485
00:29:11,900 –> 00:29:13,800
State and the other Pro we’re
going to look after.

486
00:29:13,800 –> 00:29:17,300
Look out for is the same man,
even though it’s a hypothetical

487
00:29:17,300 –> 00:29:20,000
character after his
transformation.

488
00:29:22,100 –> 00:29:24,700
When he came to his senses, he
said, father I have sinned

489
00:29:24,700 –> 00:29:28,000
against heaven and against you,
I am no longer worthy to be

490
00:29:28,000 –> 00:29:32,200
called your son, make me like
one of your hired men and we

491
00:29:32,200 –> 00:29:34,100
know the education.
We’re going to get from these

492
00:29:34,100 –> 00:29:37,300
words is excellent because they
were never spoken by a fallible

493
00:29:37,300 –> 00:29:42,200
human mind rather Jesus crafted
them himself in a parable for

494
00:29:42,200 –> 00:29:44,400
us.
Do you see the difference

495
00:29:44,400 –> 00:29:47,200
between those two prayers?
Look again.

496
00:29:48,400 –> 00:29:51,400
There was a man who had two sons
the younger one said, father,

497
00:29:52,000 –> 00:29:54,800
give me.
Let’s just stop there.

498
00:29:55,200 –> 00:29:57,800
That’s really all we need.
We just need those three words.

499
00:29:58,300 –> 00:30:02,400
Father, give me.
That’s an excellent summary of

500
00:30:02,408 –> 00:30:04,100
that prayer.
What he was asking to be given

501
00:30:04,100 –> 00:30:06,100
doesn’t really matter.
We can take the code away.

502
00:30:06,300 –> 00:30:10,000
That was the nature of the
prayer and the second prayer

503
00:30:10,400 –> 00:30:16,000
when he came to his senses, he
said, father Make me.

504
00:30:17,100 –> 00:30:21,200
Those three words, sufficient I
think therefore we can just drop

505
00:30:21,500 –> 00:30:26,000
that quote away to those.
That’s the essence of the two

506
00:30:26,000 –> 00:30:29,200
different prayers.
Jesus is always teaching us

507
00:30:29,200 –> 00:30:31,700
everything.
He says everything he does and

508
00:30:31,700 –> 00:30:36,000
he’s saying there’s a man who
grew up and whilst he was still

509
00:30:36,300 –> 00:30:41,700
immature and spiritually young,
he prayed father, give me but

510
00:30:41,700 –> 00:30:47,700
after he had matured he prayed,
Father Make Me And you’ll notice

511
00:30:47,700 –> 00:30:52,900
the difference about give me and
make me, give me, I don’t have

512
00:30:52,900 –> 00:30:56,900
to do anything.
I just sit here and people give

513
00:30:56,900 –> 00:31:01,000
me things that’s actually true.
In the dining hall, I’m slow to

514
00:31:01,000 –> 00:31:02,300
get up and people bring me
things.

515
00:31:02,300 –> 00:31:08,100
It’s wonderful father, give me,
but in the second case, father

516
00:31:08,100 –> 00:31:11,500
make me there has to be giving
from both sides.

517
00:31:12,400 –> 00:31:15,600
Because the person who is about
to be made, has to give effort

518
00:31:16,300 –> 00:31:19,800
or give up control in order to
be changed.

519
00:31:21,200 –> 00:31:24,800
So let’s look at those two
prayers again and realize this

520
00:31:24,800 –> 00:31:28,900
may have been the reason of the
difference between them you put

521
00:31:28,900 –> 00:31:32,000
up the same words this time.
I’m just going to read the ones

522
00:31:32,000 –> 00:31:34,900
that I’ve highlighted in the
yellow typeface.

523
00:31:35,400 –> 00:31:39,400
I could list probably 100
prayers, that haven’t been

524
00:31:39,400 –> 00:31:41,700
answered.
How do you know they haven’t

525
00:31:41,700 –> 00:31:45,600
been answered because it wasn’t
the answer that I wanted.

526
00:31:46,400 –> 00:31:49,000
God keep my kids safe.
Keep them away from the wrong

527
00:31:49,300 –> 00:31:52,400
crowd.
I’d guess maybe 20% of my

528
00:31:52,400 –> 00:31:57,000
prayers get anything like the
answer I want.

529
00:31:58,000 –> 00:32:00,800
So God was never really given a
choice.

530
00:32:01,400 –> 00:32:04,000
God was given a set of
instructions.

531
00:32:05,000 –> 00:32:10,700
To fulfill a Santa Claus list.
Father, give me is the

532
00:32:10,700 –> 00:32:15,900
underlying Spirit of this prayer
and perhaps why it was indulged

533
00:32:16,000 –> 00:32:19,500
early on when she was still
young, but as she Grew Older,

534
00:32:20,000 –> 00:32:23,800
her prayer life never actually
matured, and she just became

535
00:32:23,800 –> 00:32:25,900
angry.
That things didn’t happen.

536
00:32:26,300 –> 00:32:30,400
We pray to God sometimes, but
sometimes insist on retaining

537
00:32:30,400 –> 00:32:32,900
control of what the outcome must
look like.

538
00:32:34,500 –> 00:32:36,400
We don’t pray and intangibles
that.

539
00:32:36,400 –> 00:32:39,800
Allow God to work.
We just say God, you need to do.

540
00:32:39,800 –> 00:32:42,100
God, give me.
Let me get that job.

541
00:32:42,100 –> 00:32:46,000
Let me get that job guard.
And you don’t get it.

542
00:32:46,700 –> 00:32:49,500
Did he really deny your prayer
or was the prayer not

543
00:32:49,500 –> 00:32:54,200
well-sculpted father, I’m
feeling very insecure about my

544
00:32:54,200 –> 00:32:58,700
financial future.
Please Salve, my insecurities, I

545
00:32:58,708 –> 00:33:00,700
might get a job that gives more
money.

546
00:33:00,900 –> 00:33:04,700
Well, the insecurity may be
taken away, some other means all

547
00:33:04,700 –> 00:33:06,700
prayers.
In this sense, become orders

548
00:33:07,000 –> 00:33:10,100
issued to God for him to perform
father.

549
00:33:10,200 –> 00:33:15,000
Give me this specific thing.
The consequences guard is Just

550
00:33:15,000 –> 00:33:19,200
to a cosmic slave.
He just gets to fulfill the

551
00:33:19,200 –> 00:33:23,200
orders that we send Heaven words
and any contradiction of our

552
00:33:23,200 –> 00:33:27,400
predetermined outcome can induce
a faith crash any horrific

553
00:33:27,400 –> 00:33:29,600
disaster.
We may observe in our personal

554
00:33:29,800 –> 00:33:33,900
or broader social life may
suddenly say how can there be a

555
00:33:33,908 –> 00:33:37,900
god when this happens?
And in a way that claim is true,

556
00:33:38,500 –> 00:33:43,300
that God is indeed dead.
That God must fail that God

557
00:33:43,500 –> 00:33:46,900
doesn’t exist.
God is not a cosmic slave.

558
00:33:47,400 –> 00:33:49,800
Volta our direction.
If we are giving the

559
00:33:49,800 –> 00:33:54,000
instructions of how God must
operate, who really is God to

560
00:33:54,000 –> 00:34:00,900
us, It’s us.
Rather Hilda’s prayer.

561
00:34:01,800 –> 00:34:06,400
I got down on my knees beside
the bed and plead with God, I

562
00:34:06,400 –> 00:34:12,500
wanted to become a real mother
to my children, how by being

563
00:34:12,500 –> 00:34:17,500
given what she doesn’t specify,
she specifies a Godly goal and

564
00:34:17,500 –> 00:34:20,199
says God, you will know the path
to get there.

565
00:34:20,600 –> 00:34:24,300
And I am open to your
manipulation and control to

566
00:34:24,300 –> 00:34:27,699
arrive at that ends.
Meridiana taught me how to be a

567
00:34:27,699 –> 00:34:30,699
real mother.
Oh and now I am studying a trade

568
00:34:30,699 –> 00:34:36,500
to live for the glory of God.
Father, Make Me is clearly the

569
00:34:36,500 –> 00:34:41,000
basis of this young lady’s
prayer and so we’ve seen the

570
00:34:41,000 –> 00:34:44,400
tangible results that happen
from a lifetime of Father.

571
00:34:44,400 –> 00:34:49,699
Give me prayers and a lifetime
of Father, Make Me prayers and I

572
00:34:49,699 –> 00:34:52,300
suppose the obvious question
that needs to be asked while we

573
00:34:52,300 –> 00:34:55,500
sit here in potential Judgment
of the lives of others.

574
00:34:57,000 –> 00:34:58,900
Which one is my most common
prayer?

575
00:35:00,300 –> 00:35:04,700
Think about the last 12, praise
you gave your memories, not so

576
00:35:04,700 –> 00:35:07,300
good.
Think about the last three which

577
00:35:07,300 –> 00:35:10,200
would be the best summary of
those three prayers.

578
00:35:10,600 –> 00:35:13,800
Could you say it was this one?
Or would you say why?

579
00:35:13,800 –> 00:35:17,800
I was probably that one father
give me prayers are not Wicked

580
00:35:17,800 –> 00:35:21,400
or wrong.
But they are the neophyte level,

581
00:35:21,400 –> 00:35:24,100
they are the beginners level of
prayer and perhaps they still

582
00:35:24,100 –> 00:35:27,500
have some place in later life,
but we need to make sure that

583
00:35:27,500 –> 00:35:32,500
our prayer life is maturing from
father give me generically into

584
00:35:32,700 –> 00:35:37,600
father make me it can apply.
Even at that most intimate of

585
00:35:37,600 –> 00:35:40,800
times that we shared together as
a community as we pass Bread and

586
00:35:40,800 –> 00:35:44,200
Wine behind and sometimes we use
that time we don’t have to to

587
00:35:44,200 –> 00:35:47,700
think about the Forgiveness that
that selves as and joins us in

588
00:35:47,700 –> 00:35:51,800
closer Union with our mast.
Our Father, give me this bread.

589
00:35:52,700 –> 00:35:57,100
Father, give me this wine.
Father, give me forgiveness.

590
00:35:57,900 –> 00:36:04,100
Why not all three are freely
given or how about father with

591
00:36:04,100 –> 00:36:09,400
this bread?
And with this wine make me that

592
00:36:09,400 –> 00:36:13,200
better disciple.
I desire to be and yet cannot be

593
00:36:13,500 –> 00:36:20,100
alone.
I think the difference between

594
00:36:20,100 –> 00:36:23,000
the dramatic endings of the
father.

595
00:36:23,000 –> 00:36:26,500
Give me prayer in the Father
Make Me prayer come from their

596
00:36:27,000 –> 00:36:30,200
essential basis.
That one is based in entitlement

597
00:36:30,300 –> 00:36:32,500
and one in back is based in
Hope.

598
00:36:32,700 –> 00:36:36,000
Look again, at the words that
were in the testimony, I’ve got

599
00:36:36,000 –> 00:36:40,100
to say Jesus story of the
persistent Widow Sowers,

600
00:36:40,600 –> 00:36:43,900
thousands of people pray for a
Christian leader who has cancer

601
00:36:43,900 –> 00:36:47,700
and he dies.
Why does that make you annoyed?

602
00:36:48,500 –> 00:36:51,200
Because I had a right to see him
healed.

603
00:36:51,700 –> 00:36:55,000
Didn’t I just pray for it does?
God not here English.

604
00:36:55,200 –> 00:37:01,700
Is he deaf?
I had a right I was entitled to

605
00:37:01,700 –> 00:37:05,100
what I prayed for and if you
have if you’re entitled to what

606
00:37:05,100 –> 00:37:07,600
you pray for, that’s a bad
start.

607
00:37:07,600 –> 00:37:11,100
But entitlements and hope are
relatively similar things that

608
00:37:11,100 –> 00:37:14,100
they’re massively different in
end result but they can look

609
00:37:14,200 –> 00:37:17,500
similar to start with and it’s
why the confusion can come.

610
00:37:17,800 –> 00:37:21,900
He gave me a vision says held.
I couldn’t believe the Hope on

611
00:37:21,900 –> 00:37:25,400
me early on his face better.
Then that our prayers are

612
00:37:25,400 –> 00:37:28,800
grounded in.
Hope we know, Father is a loving

613
00:37:28,800 –> 00:37:32,800
father and whatever happens will
work out for the best loving

614
00:37:32,800 –> 00:37:38,400
care of all concerned.
Entitlements lead to demands.

615
00:37:38,800 –> 00:37:41,400
We have a right to see this man
healed.

616
00:37:42,300 –> 00:37:47,200
But hope leads to please finally
I got down on my knees beside

617
00:37:47,200 –> 00:37:53,400
the bed and pleaded with God, I
desperately desire to change.

618
00:37:53,400 –> 00:37:57,800
I acknowledge my inability to
make it happen, myself, and

619
00:37:57,800 –> 00:38:03,500
finally, therefore demands are
not met or if not met will

620
00:38:03,500 –> 00:38:06,800
necessarily lead to bitterness
and anger.

621
00:38:07,300 –> 00:38:11,200
I review my prayer journal and
see God, doing less and less.

622
00:38:11,700 –> 00:38:16,100
I Get angry.
Because why are you angry, my

623
00:38:16,100 –> 00:38:19,000
demand wasn’t mad.
Why did you have the right to

624
00:38:19,000 –> 00:38:21,300
make a demand?
Because I was entitled to see my

625
00:38:21,300 –> 00:38:26,300
prayer answer and this is the
pathway to a very unhappy prayer

626
00:38:26,300 –> 00:38:31,400
life that is still the hope that
leads to the plea that can lead

627
00:38:31,400 –> 00:38:33,900
to Joy and praise and
motivation.

628
00:38:34,000 –> 00:38:38,400
It felt like a dream.
She says, I am studying a trade

629
00:38:38,400 –> 00:38:43,500
to live for the glory of God.
Praise of God motivation with

630
00:38:43,500 –> 00:38:48,100
the Joy in the dream.
These are the natural emotional

631
00:38:48,100 –> 00:38:52,300
byproducts of going down a
prayer life, founded this way,

632
00:38:52,300 –> 00:38:56,200
the Father Make Me prayer so we
can see these words of

633
00:38:56,200 –> 00:38:59,400
scripture.
The Bible isn’t some dead old

634
00:38:59,400 –> 00:39:01,400
book.
Speaking from thousands of years

635
00:39:01,400 –> 00:39:05,300
ago in Easter, tarek terms, it
affects real people’s real

636
00:39:05,300 –> 00:39:09,600
lives, whether they see it, or
whether they don’t, we could be

637
00:39:09,600 –> 00:39:15,700
either one of these people.
Do we invite God to be present

638
00:39:15,700 –> 00:39:18,700
in our lives.
This is a matter very much

639
00:39:18,700 –> 00:39:21,300
centered in the United States
where I live where it is

640
00:39:21,300 –> 00:39:24,400
mandatory now that God is
removed.

641
00:39:24,400 –> 00:39:28,400
Even by reference from
educational and other state and

642
00:39:28,400 –> 00:39:32,300
federally run establishments for
years, we’ve been telling God to

643
00:39:32,300 –> 00:39:35,400
get out of our schools, to get
out of our government and to get

644
00:39:35,400 –> 00:39:38,400
out of our Lives, being the
gentleman that he is.

645
00:39:38,400 –> 00:39:40,800
I believe that he has calmly
backed out.

646
00:39:41,300 –> 00:39:45,000
How can we expect God to give Us
his Blessing and his protection.

647
00:39:45,300 –> 00:39:49,300
If we demand that he leave us
alone whilst that’s a good

648
00:39:49,300 –> 00:39:52,600
comments and excellently
insightful comment on a national

649
00:39:52,600 –> 00:39:56,700
and social scale.
I wonder to what level is that

650
00:39:56,700 –> 00:40:01,400
could that also be true in your
life and my life personally

651
00:40:02,000 –> 00:40:07,800
have, we invited God to be
present Do we need to invite God

652
00:40:07,800 –> 00:40:10,300
to be present?
Isn’t he with us anyway?

653
00:40:10,800 –> 00:40:14,500
Ah, you mean, do we have a right
to having God With Us?

654
00:40:15,600 –> 00:40:18,100
There’s some very interesting
passages in the scripture.

655
00:40:19,200 –> 00:40:23,600
That show that God actually
looks for his disciples to

656
00:40:23,600 –> 00:40:27,100
invite him to be present.
You may not have noticed this

657
00:40:27,200 –> 00:40:29,300
because I certainly didn’t
notice this.

658
00:40:29,700 –> 00:40:34,800
But when Israel went out into
the Wilderness under Moses God

659
00:40:34,800 –> 00:40:39,300
has initially said, I’m not
coming with you to remember that

660
00:40:39,300 –> 00:40:42,700
I did I miss that – Reid so
fast.

661
00:40:42,700 –> 00:40:44,100
I just skipped right over the
top of it.

662
00:40:44,500 –> 00:40:48,600
God said, I’ll paraphrase.
You guys are really annoying and

663
00:40:48,600 –> 00:40:50,300
Heat take me off every five
minutes.

664
00:40:50,300 –> 00:40:52,400
I’ll tell you what.
If I come with you I’ll probably

665
00:40:52,400 –> 00:40:54,700
wipe you out.
At some point, I will meet you

666
00:40:54,700 –> 00:40:57,200
at the promised land off.
You go.

667
00:40:58,200 –> 00:40:59,800
Clearly, that’s a bit of a
paraphrase.

668
00:41:00,500 –> 00:41:03,100
You are a stiff-necked people.
If I were to go with you, even

669
00:41:03,100 –> 00:41:04,800
for a moment, I might destroy
you.

670
00:41:05,800 –> 00:41:08,600
It’s actually pretty accurate to
what was said, so which Moses

671
00:41:08,600 –> 00:41:12,600
were replied Lord, if your
presence does not go with us.

672
00:41:12,900 –> 00:41:15,900
Don’t even send us up from here.
How will anyone know that?

673
00:41:15,900 –> 00:41:18,800
You are pleased with me and with
your people, unless you go with

674
00:41:18,800 –> 00:41:21,000
us, what else will distinguish
me?

675
00:41:21,000 –> 00:41:24,100
And your people from all the
other people on the face of the

676
00:41:24,100 –> 00:41:27,600
Earth.
The Lord said to Moses, I will

677
00:41:27,600 –> 00:41:32,100
do the Everything you have asked
because I am pleased with you.

678
00:41:33,100 –> 00:41:35,800
That’s why God was with the
children of Israel.

679
00:41:35,800 –> 00:41:39,000
In the wilderness.
It actually was the basis of an

680
00:41:39,000 –> 00:41:41,600
invitation from Moses without
it.

681
00:41:41,700 –> 00:41:43,500
God wasn’t going to go with
them.

682
00:41:43,500 –> 00:41:45,800
He was going to meet them at the
Promised Land.

683
00:41:48,800 –> 00:41:53,000
God accompanies only when
invited to do so God will do as

684
00:41:53,000 –> 00:41:54,700
he will.
I’m not trying to say God is

685
00:41:54,800 –> 00:41:56,600
somehow constrained by our
thoughts.

686
00:41:56,700 –> 00:41:59,900
If he decides, he will bust into
someone’s life in any such way.

687
00:41:59,900 –> 00:42:04,200
He certainly will take Pharaoh
for example, but this is a text

688
00:42:04,200 –> 00:42:09,500
that least says God is looking
for us to invite him along if we

689
00:42:09,500 –> 00:42:13,100
want him to be present and
active in our lives.

690
00:42:13,800 –> 00:42:16,700
Guess what?
Jesus always does the same

691
00:42:16,700 –> 00:42:19,700
thing.
Jesus is the mirror image of his

692
00:42:19,700 –> 00:42:23,800
father, Perfect Image, and the
perfect representation of the

693
00:42:23,800 –> 00:42:26,100
father.
As they approached the village

694
00:42:26,100 –> 00:42:29,900
where they were going along the
road to Emmaus, Jesus acted as

695
00:42:29,900 –> 00:42:33,600
if he were going farther, but
they urged him strongly.

696
00:42:33,600 –> 00:42:38,300
Stay with us, for his nearly
evening, the day is almost over

697
00:42:39,000 –> 00:42:44,400
so he went in to stay with them.
They invited him and he went in.

698
00:42:44,800 –> 00:42:47,200
You’ll find the same thing in
John.

699
00:42:47,200 –> 00:42:51,000
Chapter 6, on the see, that time
that Jesus was walking on the

700
00:42:51,008 –> 00:42:54,000
water.
Don’t be misled into thinking,

701
00:42:54,000 –> 00:42:56,300
he was walking towards them to
come into the boat.

702
00:42:56,900 –> 00:42:59,700
He was walking towards, he was
walking and he came into their

703
00:42:59,700 –> 00:43:05,400
site and was going to go past
them and they called to him and

704
00:43:05,400 –> 00:43:08,200
it’s their call that made him
come to them.

705
00:43:08,800 –> 00:43:13,600
I believe Jesus operates that
way in your life and in mine, I

706
00:43:13,600 –> 00:43:18,000
believe he makes himself.
Clearly visible on the horizon

707
00:43:18,000 –> 00:43:23,300
and says, hello.
I’m walking by And then it’s up

708
00:43:23,300 –> 00:43:29,300
to us to say wait, no.
Don’t walk by, please.

709
00:43:29,300 –> 00:43:34,000
Come in, reside, with me.
And Jesus accepts, invitations

710
00:43:34,000 –> 00:43:38,400
to come and reside, have?
I invited Jesus to reside with

711
00:43:38,400 –> 00:43:44,200
me Have you?
Has it been a prayer of yours?

712
00:43:44,700 –> 00:43:46,700
Is it a constant prayer of
yours?

713
00:43:46,700 –> 00:43:50,500
Is it a rare prayer of yours?
Has it ever been a prayer of

714
00:43:50,500 –> 00:43:53,500
hours?
And that I think is the

715
00:43:53,500 –> 00:43:58,700
education we gained from how to
pray from the Lord Jesus Christ

716
00:43:58,700 –> 00:44:03,200
and that wraps up them.
Oh various series on growing

717
00:44:03,200 –> 00:44:06,300
closer to God and I thank you
very much for your attention in

718
00:44:06,300 –> 00:44:09,200
summary.
Then what did we see Ruth?

719
00:44:09,500 –> 00:44:12,600
Gave us this advice, spread your
wings.

720
00:44:12,700 –> 00:44:15,700
Meaning provide Mercy, you
spread your wings, you’ll learn

721
00:44:15,700 –> 00:44:20,600
to fly closer to heaven.
Jacob said no wrestling.

722
00:44:21,200 –> 00:44:25,000
The end never justifies.
The means wait upon the Lord.

723
00:44:25,200 –> 00:44:26,900
Took him a whole life to learn
that.

724
00:44:27,400 –> 00:44:31,400
John the Baptist told us.
You want to grow closer to God.

725
00:44:32,200 –> 00:44:38,000
Take care of the poor, and Jesus
says, pray more invite me to be

726
00:44:38,000 –> 00:44:41,500
part of your journey and part of
your discipleship.

727
00:44:42,300 –> 00:44:45,800
This is what we’ve learned from
these fascinating scriptural

728
00:44:45,800 –> 00:44:49,800
characters on the topic growing
closer to God.

729
00:44:51,000 –> 00:44:44,000
Thank you John.
This is what we’ve learned from

730
00:44:44,000 –> 00:44:48,300
these fascinating scriptural
characters on the topic growing

731
00:44:48,300 –> 00:44:51,500
closer to God.
Thank you John.

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