WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.720 You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.440 couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in 3 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:13.279 practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys, and 4 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:15.640 we are very excited to be back together. 5 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:16.519 Well here we are. 6 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:20.600 Yes. The platinum edition, however, was stellar, Jeff. 7 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:22.679 It was super great. Yes, yeah, that was a couple 8 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:24.320 weeks ago now, Chris, No. 9 00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:25.640 No, no, this week. I saw it today. 10 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:28.000 Yeah, yeah, yes, morning. Yeah, well that's what's playing this morning. 11 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:29.440 But you and I shot one last week, didn't we? 12 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:32.200 Oh okay, okay. 13 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:33.479 So the one that plays next week, the one we 14 00:00:33.479 --> 00:00:34.920 did last week, the one we're doing now is the 15 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:37.119 one that plays two weeks from now, or for the 16 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:37.960 people that are listening. 17 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.640 Hey, right, you ever watch Simpsons? We're Homer Simpson goes ye. 18 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:43.880 So so the Wesley thing was a couple weeks ago 19 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:44.600 for our listeners. 20 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:48.640 All right, well, hey, I watched The Bible Guys this morning, 21 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:50.079 and Wesley did a great job. 22 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:51.880 He did, he did super great. 23 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:56.679 So today, Jeff, we are talking about Jesus making the comment. 24 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.679 Then this then is how you should pray. 25 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:00.759 There you go. 26 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:02.520 And so before we get into that, we have a 27 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:06.200 segment by Desiree. And this is not a very common segment. 28 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.439 It is a segment called stump the pastor the pastor. 29 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:11.799 We do one of these every few weeks. 30 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:14.120 Yeah, I'd say three weeks, maybe once every three weeks. 31 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:18.519 But this this is when only people write in. And 32 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:21.719 so this one comes in from Patrick. H Hi Patrick, 33 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:25.400 And Patrick says, what does it mean to quote hear 34 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:30.120 from God? And how do we know it's him? That's 35 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:34.400 a good question, It's a great question, and especially you know, 36 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:36.480 and I wonder if it's a you know, I wonder 37 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.480 if Patrick's been a Christian a long time, or if 38 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:41.519 Patrick's a new Christian or not a Christian. I don't know, 39 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.159 but but I think across the board, even for mature Christians, 40 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:49.719 you know, it's it's it's still a question that we 41 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.120 have to pay attention to. Right. We may know the answer, 42 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.319 but we still have to be in tune, I think, 43 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.280 to God's voice, don't you think? Yes? Yeah? So what 44 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:01.120 is your first initial reaction to this? 45 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:04.480 I would say, first of all, great question, Patrick. I 46 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.640 think that this is a question every Christian has to 47 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:10.919 ask at some point, and the sooner the better, because 48 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:13.280 what you're looking for now is how do I know 49 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.400 what I'm supposed to do? How do I know if 50 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:18.439 I'm honoring God. I'm trying to figure out how to 51 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:21.680 maximize my life for the days I have left, and 52 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:23.520 I want to be bear much fruit as we talked 53 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:26.400 about last week in the podcast for Jesus whatever. So 54 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:28.599 I don't know what I'm supposed to do. First of all, 55 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:34.039 God will never give you something that is contradictory to scripture, right, 56 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:36.400 So the first place to go is God's word. He's 57 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:38.800 already spoken to you. This is the thing. A lot 58 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:41.000 of times people wish, I wish Jesus would just show 59 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:42.120 up at the foot of my bed in the middle 60 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:44.879 of the night like this nine hundred foot Jesus what 61 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:47.680 to do and say, Patrick, I want you to do 62 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:51.240 X y Z right. But He's already given you his word. 63 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:53.560 So you need to become a student of the Word, 64 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:55.680 and you need to spend time in God's word and 65 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:56.120 every day. 66 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:58.639 And by the way, that's important because some people, and 67 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:00.639 I'm sure you've had a two where they've come to 68 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.479 me and they say God told me this, and you're like, well, no, 69 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.199 I'm pretty sure that wasn't God. 70 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.879 Because in the thirty semid years we've been in ministry, 71 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:09.960 both of us. Right, I've had multiple people come and 72 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.199 tell me, man, I feel so much better. I feel 73 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.960 like God told me I'm supposed to divorce my spouse. Yeah, right, 74 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:17.159 why just because I'm sick of them? 75 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:18.080 Right right? 76 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.520 I'm like, trust me, don't blame that on God, right right. 77 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:22.840 He didn't tell you to do that. There's a lot 78 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:24.520 of those kinds of things that people will do. 79 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:24.840 Yep. 80 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:27.479 So I said, that's first God's word. Man, you need 81 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:29.879 to know God's word. And if you're not positive where 82 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.840 to start start? Jump in with the words of Jesus 83 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:36.439 and then the teachings of Paul. I think those two 84 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.520 things would really really help you. So, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 85 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:43.000 and John are the teachings of Jesus for the most part. 86 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:45.159 And then you know, you get into the Book of Acts, 87 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:47.439 which is the story of the church. Luke wrote that 88 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:49.479 he also wrote the Book of Luke and then from 89 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:52.240 Romans on. The big chunk of the next portion of 90 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:56.080 the Bible is the teaching teachings of Paul about how 91 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.159 to follow Jesus and act like a Christian. I'm not 92 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:01.439 minimizing the rest scripture. But as you're looking for what 93 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:03.919 should you do in your life, that's going to be 94 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:04.439 the beginning. 95 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:05.319 It's the place to start. 96 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:08.919 Yeah. Yeah, so God's word, I would say, you need 97 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:12.159 to be spending meaningful time in prayer, and when you 98 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:17.040 don't know what to pray, pray for wisdom, pray for discernment, 99 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:20.879 and let not let God know you're willing to do 100 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:23.399 whatever he says. Have it be kind of a surrender 101 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:25.920 prayer to him. It doesn't have to be super long, 102 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:28.000 just I think it needs to be consistent, right, that 103 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:29.480 you need to be spent time per which by the day, 104 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:32.079 we're talking about prayer today, so that'll be great. The 105 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:34.360 other one is I think the Bible says in Book 106 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:36.199 of Proverbs, which by the way, I think you should 107 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:38.839 be reading the Book of Proverbs every day too for wisdom. 108 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:42.560 But in the Book of Proverbs, Solomon says multiple times 109 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:47.800 that counselors, godly counselors will help you and protect you 110 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.480 from making bad choices. One of the verses he uses, 111 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.000 one of the quotes, he says, there's safety in a 112 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:58.040 multitude of counselors, and so having godly counselors and you 113 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:02.079 measure the good counsel that you're getting against scripture. And 114 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:03.639 so the way you know whether or not you're getting 115 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:06.040 good advice from a godly counselor is does it align 116 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:09.680 with scripture? And are they're using scripture as the basis 117 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:12.040 of what they're trying to say rather than just their opinion. 118 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:14.839 A lot of people. Everybody has an opinion, right, right, 119 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:17.000 everybody has an opinion. So what you want to know, 120 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.040 what you want to hear is somebody saying, these are 121 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:21.360 God's words and this is how I think you apply 122 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:22.160 him to your life. 123 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:25.240 Yeah. And then I also think that there are times 124 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:29.279 where God will speak and and just like you said 125 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.879 number one, He's already given us a lot of commands 126 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:35.120 through his word. That's God speaking, uh. And then through prayer. 127 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:39.000 And then sometimes during prayer we will get hit with 128 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:44.360 a thought or or something that feels like a directive 129 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:47.199 from the Holy Spirit. And and I don't know about you, 130 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:49.319 but like most of the time for me, it's like 131 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:52.199 that was out of nowhere, and and and and it's 132 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:56.120 like and that that's I think that's probably the wrestling 133 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.560 part of his question, which is like how do I 134 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:02.639 know this is from God? Versus like my thoughts and 135 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:07.319 in which I would say, I would say that you know, 136 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:09.959 first of all, In John ten, Jesus says that my 137 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:12.319 sheep know me, and they know my voice. And I 138 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:14.319 think that the longer that you pray and the longer 139 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:18.000 you align yourself with getting to know God, the easier 140 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.639 it is to recognize what is from God in the 141 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:24.079 Holy Spirit. So that's that's a good thing. Uh. Secondly, 142 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:28.399 Proverbs thirty seven says, delight yourself and the law of 143 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.480 the Lord, and he will give you the desires of 144 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:34.319 your heart. Right, So the best thing to do is 145 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:37.000 to want to do good. And so when you when 146 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.560 you throw yourself into God's word, he is going. 147 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:42.120 To which is the law of the Lord's side, which is. 148 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:44.920 The law of the Lord's sides. Right, then he is 149 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.199 going to direct you. And you're going to say, oh, man, 150 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:49.360 I want to go tell that person, I want to 151 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:52.360 do good, I want to bless others, and and and 152 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.120 it's gonna it's just going to come out in the 153 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:57.639 form of uh, something that you want to do, I think, 154 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:02.120 And then uh. And then I would say, also, the 155 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:04.600 godly counsel is the only thing we didn't talk about, right, right, No, 156 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.720 you did. Yeah, but but but yeah, I would definitely 157 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:11.639 say if if you feel like something's from God measured 158 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:17.000 against God's word measured against you know, godly counsel, So 159 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:19.480 get the advice of people around you that you know 160 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.680 are good Christians and and and and see what they 161 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:25.360 say as well. And I think that God will use 162 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:27.399 people to nudge you along the way. 163 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.800 Yeah. So then Matthew six thirty three says, seek first 164 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:34.160 his kingdom and his righteousness, which is just good living, 165 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:36.680 and all these things will be added under you, right, 166 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:40.600 So seek first his kingdom. So what's God's plan for 167 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:43.399 the world, and and and be a part of that, 168 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:46.360 and then his right living and then all the other 169 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.000 things he'll add to you. So then that's why you 170 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:50.639 need to know God's word, because then you'll know God's 171 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:53.079 plan for the world and how, and then all you 172 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:54.439 have to do is figure out your part in it. 173 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:57.120 So then there's there's two more things. I would say. One, 174 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.680 I pray often that God will close the doors, and 175 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:03.079 then He'll throw open the right doors and then give 176 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:05.519 me the courage to walk through them. So what I 177 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:08.199 don't do is shove on doors. I don't I don't 178 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:10.319 find the thing I want to do and push on 179 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:13.920 that instead, I let God know, Hey, I'm thinking this, 180 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:15.839 but I'm not sure. If you open the doors, I'll 181 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:17.519 walk through it. If you close, if you slam the door, 182 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:20.240 you know, make it obvious. And and so I see 183 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:21.680 him do that a lot of times where a thing 184 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:23.639 I thought was a good idea, he just slam the door. 185 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:26.000 I don't keep shoving on that one. But then there's 186 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.240 other times when doors are wide open, and then you're 187 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:30.519 just a little nervous about it. You're not sure. And 188 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:33.840 if if you're seeking his kingdom, it's it's for him first, 189 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:37.159 and you're you're living right according to his words, then 190 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:38.600 all these other things to be added to you just 191 00:08:38.679 --> 00:08:40.799 walk through the door, have courage to go through that 192 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:43.519 door and see what God's going to do. And then 193 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:45.960 that doesn't mean that you're never going to fail, but 194 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.639 failure is a great teacher. And then you just get 195 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:50.639 back up, you know, rise back up and go again. 196 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:53.600 Yeah, that's great. Hey, great question, Patrick. 197 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:55.840 I think that that's not all of it, but that's 198 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:56.360 a good start. 199 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:58.200 Yeah, that's a good start. I think we took a 200 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:01.559 stab at it, but but yeah, I think that definitely 201 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:05.600 as we begin as Christians to get to hear from God. 202 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:09.039 We just continue to pray, pray, pray, and the bigger, 203 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:10.879 the bigger the thing that you hear from God, the 204 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:13.840 longer you should wait and go to God and say, God, 205 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:16.440 please help me confirm this is from you. Right? Right, 206 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:18.919 So you know, start a business. Oh that's a pretty 207 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:22.000 big decision, you know, then you better pray through that 208 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:22.919 pretty hard. 209 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:25.759 Sure, right, yeah, But if you know, if you know 210 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:31.519 all of God's promises, especially with regard to right living, tithing, 211 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:34.240 placing Him first in every area of your life being 212 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:36.679 a holy person, I think you can have a reasonable 213 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:40.039 expectation then that in all the things you're doing as 214 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:42.799 you move forward. Next, if you if your genuine heart 215 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:45.360 is that God be first in everything, you have a 216 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:48.159 reasonable expectation that God's going to take care of you. Right, 217 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:50.000 It's not like he's going to go There's only one 218 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:51.919 linear path for your life, and if you step out 219 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:55.679 of that zap you know. Instead, it's if you're doing 220 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:57.840 all the things you know to do, and you're growing 221 00:09:57.879 --> 00:09:59.679 in your walk with God, you getting God to counsel, 222 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:01.559 you spend it time in the world, you're generous with 223 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.240 your resources, you're holy in your life. God says He's 224 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:07.840 gonna bless that kind of person. And so we you 225 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:11.399 have a reasonable expectation that Hey, whatever path you're deciding 226 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:14.039 to go forward now, if it's moral and legal and 227 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:16.799 ethical and biblical, then you can expect that God's going 228 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:18.600 to give you his favorite. God's for you, He's not 229 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:19.159 against you. 230 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:22.080 That's great. Well, hey, a lot of that answer revolved 231 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.440 around prayer and speaking of prayer. Hey, that is exactly 232 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:26.399 what Jesus is. 233 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.279 That was a good transition teach us to do. Y. 234 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.440 Are we moving into good transitions now? 235 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:31.399 Is what we're doing? 236 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:33.799 Hey, that was a good one. 237 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:35.240 Wow, Yeah, you're right. 238 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:37.559 It really likes that. Oh it's great. 239 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:39.279 You know what, I'm going to leave it a good 240 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:41.039 I was going to try to correct it and make. 241 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:43.720 It bad, but it was a good one. So talking 242 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:48.879 about prayer. So in Matthew chapter six, Jesus teaches about prayer. 243 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:52.519 And we're just going to read from Matthew six, verse 244 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:57.440 five to verse fifteen, and it just simply says, when 245 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:00.759 you pray, don't babble on. Oh I'm sorry, When you pray, 246 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:03.840 don't be like the hypocrites who I was getting to 247 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:06.480 the babbel part, which is my favorite part for you. 248 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:09.759 When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love 249 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:12.840 to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues 250 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:15.120 where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth. 251 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:17.080 That is all the reward they will ever get. But 252 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.840 when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door 253 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:22.480 behind you, and pray to your father in heaven. Then 254 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:25.759 your father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray. 255 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:28.399 Don't babble on and on as the gentiles do. They 256 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.200 think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words 257 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:33.799 again and again. Don't be like them, for your heavenly 258 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:36.120 father knows exactly what you need before you ask him. 259 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.360 Pray like this, our Father in Heaven, May your name 260 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:42.519 be kept holy. May your kingdom come soon. May or 261 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:44.279 will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 262 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:47.519 Give us today the food we need. And forgive us 263 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.279 our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 264 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.559 And don't let us yield the temptation, but rescue us 265 00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:56.840 from the evil one. If you forgive those who sin 266 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:59.120 against you, your heavenly father will forgive you. But if 267 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:01.759 you refuse to for give others. Your father will not 268 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:03.000 forgive your sins. 269 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:05.759 Well, that's a nice little tag at the end of 270 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:10.759 that you, So it's a good one. So as Jesus 271 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:15.559 is talking about prayers, I love how he starts by saying, 272 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.360 don't do it this way, right, here's what not to do. 273 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:20.759 Don't do that. 274 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:24.559 Did I ever tell you I interviewed at Charles Stanley's church? 275 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:25.159 Did I ever tay that? 276 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:28.720 Yeah? And he had a prayer closet, And everything I 277 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:31.440 read about Charles Stanley and heard from his sermons, I 278 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:34.120 know that he was a super praying guy. Right. Just 279 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:38.600 you know, some people just lean more heavily toward prayer. 280 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.279 They're just prayer warriors. They're built that way. They spend 281 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:43.320 so much time in prayer. And he's one of those guys. 282 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:46.600 And so anyway, I saw his prayer closet and I 283 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.559 thought it's built right onto his office, and it was 284 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:51.679 just pretty amazing, and I thought to myself, Wow, And 285 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:54.679 but it dawned on me that most of his praying 286 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:56.399 that he had done and what I read about in 287 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:02.559 his books happened in private, right, not publicly. Right. But 288 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:07.000 Jesus is talking about praying for show with the wrong motives. 289 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:09.919 So the Pharisees would stand on the corners, you know, 290 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.919 and they would you know, praying fast and put ashes 291 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:15.279 on their forehead and they would make it sort of 292 00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:18.960 a public display. And and and apparently their motives were wrong. 293 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:21.519 We don't, you know, it doesn't say that, but that's 294 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:25.039 the indication that that because well, actually Jesus does say it. 295 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:26.360 Well, he calls them hypocrites. 296 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:29.159 He calls them hypocrites, and he says for everybody to see, 297 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:30.919 all right, I was trying to give him credit, right, 298 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:36.240 but then he says, don't do it repetitively. And and 299 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.639 you know what's interesting is that he said, don't babble 300 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.480 on and on and on repeating the same thing. And 301 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:44.799 then he gives us the Lord's prayer. And it's so 302 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:47.759 funny because many of our listeners, probably like myself, grew 303 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:53.120 up saying, okay, send say ten Hell Mary's and say 304 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:58.320 twenty our fathers. And it's like, it's so interesting because 305 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:01.039 here he's saying, you think your prayer's going to be 306 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.120 heard because you repeat over and over and over, but 307 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:05.799 don't do that, and then he gives us the Lord's prayer. 308 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:09.120 And I grew up saying, I grew up with somebody 309 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:09.919 telling me to do that. 310 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:12.559 I led a guy to Christ a few years ago 311 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:17.559 and he got baptized here at Heritage Church. And then 312 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:19.799 he was started reading through the Bible. He was in 313 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.960 one of our New Believers kind of classes. Starts getting 314 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.519 excited about spend a little bit of time in God's 315 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:26.240 word every day. So what he decided, He's going to 316 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:29.320 spend time about ten to fifteen minutes a day reading 317 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:31.080 the Bible. He was going to spend a few minutes 318 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.360 a day learning how to pray. He wanted a weekly 319 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.879 tithe for God. And he wanted to be on a team, right, 320 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:38.799 some kind of a ministry team for God. Those are 321 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:40.919 the three things he was doing so, which I think 322 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:43.440 is great first steps for new believers, right, a daily 323 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:45.200 time with God, a weekly tithe to God, and a 324 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:48.480 committed team for God. So he was doing those things, 325 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:50.440 and he came to me after like two or three 326 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.480 weeks of this new believers reading his Bible and praying 327 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:58.240 every day, and he said, man, I just read Matthew 328 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:01.879 chapter six and Jesus says, don't Babylon and on he said, 329 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:03.759 but I only know three prayers. And he said, those 330 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.720 three prayers. I know that our father, right, I know 331 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:10.639 the Hail Mary. And then he had one more. He 332 00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:13.039 had one more out of a prayer book probably, and 333 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:15.960 so there were three prayers that he knew. He said, Man, 334 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:18.200 I do those every day, he said, So now it's 335 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:20.759 been like three or four weeks. Yeah, he said, I'm 336 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:22.679 twenty something days in those are the only prayers. They 337 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:24.759 pray all three of those prayers every day, he said. 338 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:26.600 But then Jesus says, don't Babylon and on as a 339 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.039 dentile's do do you think I should find some other prayers? 340 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:31.200 And I said, well, I think God's waiting for you 341 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:33.399 to start talking from your heart instead of quoting something 342 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:38.039 somebody taught you, right, And so I don't. I think 343 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:41.759 it's very interesting here he says, don't Babylon and then 344 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:45.960 he gives us this list or this this model prayer 345 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:49.360 that we use to Babylon and on with Yeah. 346 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:51.159 So two years ago we did a series. It was 347 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:53.720 a seven week series called Higher Power. And if you 348 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:55.480 want to go to hero ai Church dot com and 349 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:58.360 then just scroll back on the media, you can listen 350 00:15:58.440 --> 00:15:59.960 to the whole thing. But we broke down the Lord 351 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.080 prayer one by one. And what's so interesting is that 352 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.600 I honestly, from the bottom of my heart, believe that 353 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:11.799 Jesus didn't give us this prayer as a prayer to recite, 354 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.399 even though I'm very careful to always say reciting this 355 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:18.440 prayer is not a bad thing. It's it's a good thing. Uh, 356 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:20.360 you know, it's it's it's not a bad thing. But 357 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:25.480 but to to to think that saying that multiple times 358 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:29.720 over and over right is something that you know, equals 359 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.559 penance for the you know, for the different levels of 360 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:35.000 sins and things like that, that's where that that's where 361 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:38.320 the mistake comes from. But to quote this prayer once, 362 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:41.559 you know in your prayers is a good thing. But 363 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:43.240 Jesus gave it to us a model. How do we 364 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:46.240 know that, Well, because he taught us how to pray 365 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:48.519 in Matthew, but he also taught us how to pray 366 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:51.159 in Luke, and and in Luke he did a different 367 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.639 And if it was a prayer that we should quote, 368 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:55.879 then it's almost like we should say, Jesus, don't you 369 00:16:55.879 --> 00:16:58.799 know the Lord's prayer. It's like it's like it's like, Jesus, 370 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.480 you forgot a part. And it's like, no, no, no, 371 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:04.240 he didn't forget a part. It says that he gave 372 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.359 us a model, and the model is, you know, it's 373 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:11.039 basically a thing to follow. So if you'll notice, at 374 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:13.440 the very beginning, he says, our father were in heaven. 375 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.799 May your name be kept holy. We probably learned it 376 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:20.240 as hallo would be your name. Another translation says great 377 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:22.599 is your name, because that's what that means. And so 378 00:17:22.680 --> 00:17:24.720 what God's really doing is he's saying, like, hey, if 379 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.799 you want a prayer, you should pray like this, And 380 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:31.119 then he's basically saying, your first step is declare God's greatness. 381 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:33.519 That's right, you know, you should just just take a 382 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:35.359 moment at the beginning of your prayer, before you get 383 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:38.440 to your needs, wants and wishes, take time to rest 384 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:40.920 in just who it is you're praying to, because if 385 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:43.359 you do that, then maybe by the time you get 386 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.440 to your requests, then maybe you'll feel a lot better 387 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.920 about them. Recognizing just who it is that you're praying 388 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:52.720 to and who it is that's on your side, recognize 389 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:56.319 God's sovereignty, recognize God's greatness, and give God glory at 390 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:00.160 the beginning of your prayer, because it's going to reset, reframe, 391 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:05.559 and reshape everything about what's going on in your life. 392 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:08.400 And so I think that that's why that's there. And 393 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.319 then he goes on and then he actually, you know, 394 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:14.720 asks us to then lay out our dependency upon God. Right, 395 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.279 So God give us our daily bread, God give us 396 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:21.759 our needs, give us you know where we want your will, 397 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.599 not our own. God forgive us, right, and it's just 398 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:28.880 and it's our dependency upon God in every area of 399 00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:29.920 our life. 400 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:31.880 And I think that the first half of the prayer 401 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:34.240