WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.440 Thanks for listening. 00:00:47.160 --> 00:00:48.120 Well, good morning. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:50.140 We're glad that you guys are here with us. 00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:54.440 We got a little bit of a full crowd going on in here for the 11 o'clock service, so thank 00:00:54.440 --> 00:00:56.900 you guys for being here and worshiping with us. 00:00:56.980 --> 00:01:00.660 If you're joining us online, thank you as well for joining us. 00:01:00.720 --> 00:01:05.140 If you are a first-time guest with us here today, if you could, please, you've got one 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:06.480 of these cards on your chair there. 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:08.360 Let us know that you were here today. 00:01:08.440 --> 00:01:12.100 We'd love to be able to speak with you, love to be able to engage with you, and it's a wonderful 00:01:12.100 --> 00:01:13.720 way that we can do that. 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:17.440 If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to Luke chapter 10. 00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:22.820 We're going to continue on in our series of looking at the gospel of Luke. 00:01:22.820 --> 00:01:29.000 Now, I want to kind of recap and maybe explain a little bit better something that we talked 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:30.460 about last week, all right? 00:01:30.580 --> 00:01:36.320 So, we looked at Luke 9 over the course of three weeks, and what we looked at, kind of 00:01:36.320 --> 00:01:42.100 a pivotal moment for us last week, was found in Luke 9, was when it says that Jesus set 00:01:42.100 --> 00:01:44.400 his face to Jerusalem, all right? 00:01:44.600 --> 00:01:50.120 So, Jesus' ministry is going to be marked by three different areas, three different locations 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:51.300 of what Jesus is doing. 00:01:51.500 --> 00:01:57.800 The early parts leading up to that verse in Luke chapter 9 is more of Jesus' rural ministry, 00:01:58.160 --> 00:01:58.280 right? 00:01:58.320 --> 00:02:02.020 So, Jesus was in the area of Galilee, and that was kind of out in the country. 00:02:02.020 --> 00:02:05.340 It was away from the big city, and that's where Jesus was raised. 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:09.480 That's where Jesus grew up, and that's where Jesus began his ministry, and that's where we've 00:02:09.480 --> 00:02:12.980 been looking at the parables that he taught there and the miracles that he performed there. 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:19.540 So, he's out there, kind of in the country, and then Luke 9 marks a new phase of Jesus' 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:24.880 ministry, and this is the traveling ministry that Jesus is going to have as he travels from 00:02:24.880 --> 00:02:26.980 these rural places to Jerusalem. 00:02:27.220 --> 00:02:32.820 And so, the cities, the people, the villages that he encounters on the way from there to 00:02:32.820 --> 00:02:38.320 Jerusalem is the second part, and that part is marked by Jesus setting his face toward 00:02:38.320 --> 00:02:39.880 Jerusalem, that phrase. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:44.480 And what Jesus is setting his face toward, the reason why Jerusalem is important, is this 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:49.820 is where Christ is going to be betrayed, this is where he's going to be tried, convicted, 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:57.160 crucified, died, and raised again, which is the third part of his Jerusalem ministry. 00:02:57.480 --> 00:03:02.140 So, the reason why this is such a big deal, people are like, well, help me, I talked to 00:03:02.140 --> 00:03:03.780 somebody this week, like, help me understand. 00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:09.360 So, if I did not do that well last week, the reason why this verse is so important, it's 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:15.280 not that Jesus was being disobedient to his call to Jerusalem, it's that there was a different 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:17.500 determination now with Christ. 00:03:17.620 --> 00:03:19.460 And so, let me compare it to you this way. 00:03:19.700 --> 00:03:25.840 Let's say, at your job, or if you're in school, all right, and you've got a project that's 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:30.080 due, you've got something that you need to take care of, you've got to get this done for 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:35.000 work, and you know that it has to happen, and you know that there's a date that it is due. 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:37.100 You can't turn it in before, right? 00:03:37.140 --> 00:03:38.280 You can't turn it in after. 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:40.880 On this date is the date of importance. 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:46.040 And so, in your early days, you'll think about that, you'll lay the groundwork for it, you'll 00:03:46.040 --> 00:03:49.000 begin to ponder on what this will look like, right? 00:03:49.040 --> 00:03:54.840 But in the days or the weeks, maybe right before it's done, there's a different sense of determination. 00:03:55.300 --> 00:04:00.040 You're like, all right, now it's time to roll up the sleeves, now it's time to really press 00:04:00.040 --> 00:04:03.320 toward and do the hard work that this is going to require. 00:04:04.060 --> 00:04:11.220 And so, in Luke 9, I'm sorry, verse 32, when it says that Jesus set his face to Jerusalem, 00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:13.060 that's that piece, all right? 00:04:13.260 --> 00:04:18.680 There's no disobedience that we've seen in Christ, but instead, it's continued obedience, 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:21.600 and now what we're seeing is this determined obedience. 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:28.100 And on Jesus' way, the crowds are going to get smaller, the teaching sessions are going to be 00:04:28.100 --> 00:04:33.720 different, there's going to be less parables and more interaction between Christ and 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:37.320 smaller groups of people, and that's where we find ourselves. 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:45.720 Jesus, in this phase of heading toward Jerusalem, we've already seen where Jesus begins to receive 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:46.600 some rejection. 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:49.220 He said, I don't want you in my house. 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:51.260 I don't want you in my village. 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:57.060 I know what you're about and where you're going and what you plan on doing in Jerusalem, right? 00:04:57.060 --> 00:05:00.920 They don't know about the cross, but they know about his teaching ministry, and we don't want 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:01.420 that here. 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:06.740 He sent his followers into villages, and they would be rejected as well. 00:05:07.820 --> 00:05:15.100 And so we see what could be this lonely pursuit of Jesus and the disciples and probably a handful 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:21.120 of others, and most of the handful of others probably females, that are journeying with Jesus 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:22.300 to the cross. 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:25.040 This isn't a big caravan of people. 00:05:25.940 --> 00:05:28.380 It's a very small group of people. 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:33.660 And it's where we're going to see Jesus and where we find him in our study today. 00:05:33.840 --> 00:05:36.540 In just a moment, we're going to start reading verse 38. 00:05:37.980 --> 00:05:41.420 As we look at this, here's something that I want us to think about. 00:05:43.020 --> 00:05:45.600 I want you right now to think about this question. 00:05:46.860 --> 00:05:53.460 What is your greatest hindrance in life to following Jesus? 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:06.080 What is the greatest thing that exists in your life right now that prevents you from following 00:06:06.080 --> 00:06:08.640 Christ with everything that you are? 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:13.920 Now, if you know me, you know that I love whiteboards, right? 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:18.360 Like, every good idea that has ever happened on the face of this earth happened on a whiteboard. 00:06:18.440 --> 00:06:19.560 I just believe that, right? 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:23.280 So if I were to roll one of the whiteboards out, I got two of them in my office, right? 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:28.740 If I were to bring them out and begin to whiteboard the things, the answers to those questions, 00:06:28.900 --> 00:06:30.400 we would come up with a lot of answers. 00:06:31.520 --> 00:06:34.060 We'd come up with some personal answers, some generic answers. 00:06:34.260 --> 00:06:36.320 We'd come up with some other people answers. 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.360 There's lots of answers that we would come up with. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:46.420 But as I've been praying through this, as I examine my life and the lives of many of those 00:06:46.420 --> 00:06:54.900 that I know, here's what I believe is the greatest hindrance to our walk with Jesus, is the person 00:06:54.900 --> 00:06:59.020 that you and I look at in the mirror every single day. 00:07:00.020 --> 00:07:08.240 It's easy and maybe makes us feel better to blame others for our lack of obedience, for our areas of struggle. 00:07:08.380 --> 00:07:13.940 But when the truth be told, like, I am my worst enemy, right? 00:07:14.440 --> 00:07:16.580 I'm the one that gets in my way. 00:07:17.380 --> 00:07:20.320 I'm the one that gives in to sin. 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:23.500 I'm the one that pursues after things that aren't Jesus. 00:07:23.840 --> 00:07:26.100 That's me, right? 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:28.400 It's not anybody else. 00:07:29.760 --> 00:07:37.700 So the greatest hindrance in my walk with Jesus isn't a circumstance, it isn't a past, it isn't a failure. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:39.680 Those have been covered by the blood of Christ. 00:07:40.820 --> 00:07:42.040 It isn't others. 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:44.440 It's me. 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:45.920 It's me. 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:55.340 And what I want us to see is that you and I, that within ourselves, there's this pit of selfishness 00:07:55.340 --> 00:07:59.500 that when we get into it and when we give into it, it is huge. 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:02.060 And it's what kind of rings true. 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:04.680 And it rings true in cultures. 00:08:05.400 --> 00:08:07.000 It rings true across languages. 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:09.880 It rings true across genders. 00:08:10.320 --> 00:08:12.260 And it rings true across ages. 00:08:12.260 --> 00:08:21.780 And I'd like for a moment maybe to try to prove that to you by looking at the first sin that every individual kind of plays out in their life, all right? 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:26.220 And I call this the sin of mine, right? 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:36.840 Give a baby or a toddler something, something that they'd want or enjoy, and then take it away from them. 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:38.500 What do they say? 00:08:39.160 --> 00:08:40.680 Mine, right? 00:08:41.400 --> 00:08:42.180 No, no. 00:08:44.020 --> 00:08:44.460 Mine. 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:46.220 The sin of mine. 00:08:46.300 --> 00:08:46.460 Why? 00:08:46.560 --> 00:08:47.640 Because it's theirs. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:49.240 It's the perception of theirs. 00:08:49.380 --> 00:08:50.780 It's what makes them happy. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.380 So you can't have that because that's what I want. 00:08:54.580 --> 00:08:58.640 So what's the first behavior that we oftentimes try to teach our kids, right? 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:00.040 Is share, right? 00:09:00.180 --> 00:09:03.080 Take what was here and play with others. 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:04.440 Play nice with others. 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:05.900 Share with others. 00:09:06.060 --> 00:09:06.520 Why? 00:09:06.520 --> 00:09:15.440 Because every saved person and every lost person in this world knows that selfishness comes from us. 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:37.880 And this morning we're going to look at two encounters, one encounter that Jesus has and a teaching that Jesus does where he speaks through the heart of selfishness that helps you and I see that we can remove ourselves as a hindrance from following and from pursuing after Christ. 00:09:37.880 --> 00:09:41.220 We just got to get out of our own way, right? 00:09:41.800 --> 00:09:43.520 So that we can chase after Jesus. 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:45.660 So let's look at verse 38. 00:09:48.140 --> 00:09:55.820 It says, now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 00:09:55.900 --> 00:09:57.120 Okay, this is significant. 00:09:57.260 --> 00:10:01.100 Remember we just said as Jesus is on the journey, many are rejecting him. 00:10:01.580 --> 00:10:05.720 But there's a lady, Martha, who says, no, no, no, you come in my home. 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:07.140 You can come in here. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:07.860 Verse 39. 00:10:07.860 --> 00:10:14.700 And she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 00:10:15.680 --> 00:10:18.660 But Martha was distracted with much serving. 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:25.920 And she went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:28.020 Tell her to help me. 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:30.660 Let's kind of pause here for just a moment, all right? 00:10:31.680 --> 00:10:35.160 Hospitality was big during the time of Jesus, all right? 00:10:35.160 --> 00:10:45.480 We think it's big here, but it was customary for travelers as they walked from one city to the next for the people of the village to take them in. 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:53.920 In fact, Paul instructs his churches like, hey, as missionaries are moving from town to town, bring them into your home. 00:10:54.040 --> 00:10:56.500 Now, that's different than set them up at the hotel. 00:10:56.880 --> 00:10:58.060 Bring them into your home. 00:10:58.500 --> 00:10:59.140 Feed them. 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:00.180 Care for them. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:04.020 Send them on their way, right, with more money that they can do, right? 00:11:04.020 --> 00:11:06.060 Hospitality is a big deal. 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:10.740 And what we see here is Martha has embraced hospitality. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:12.600 So Jesus shows up. 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:13.820 She welcomes him. 00:11:14.140 --> 00:11:15.920 She welcomes the rest of the disciples. 00:11:16.400 --> 00:11:19.500 She welcomes the rest of the people who are with them. 00:11:19.760 --> 00:11:21.640 And she's doing things like she's feeding them. 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:24.940 She's making sure that the house stays clean. 00:11:25.660 --> 00:11:29.460 She's making sure that everyone has something to drink. 00:11:29.460 --> 00:11:37.240 It would have been customary for her to make sure that there was water for people to wash their feet and to wash their hands after they've been traveling. 00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:40.300 And it's a lot that falls on one person. 00:11:40.640 --> 00:11:42.000 Now, y'all know this, right? 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:45.680 Like, you welcome some guests into your home and you need some help. 00:11:45.900 --> 00:11:47.020 And who do you turn to? 00:11:47.140 --> 00:11:48.360 You turn to family, right? 00:11:48.420 --> 00:11:52.320 Like, you're kind of a guest in my house, but you're not really because you're my sister. 00:11:53.300 --> 00:12:00.100 And she's like, Jesus, get Mary to get off her tail and come help me. 00:12:00.800 --> 00:12:05.340 Now, this seems like a really reasonable response. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:08.900 It doesn't say that Martha's chasing idols. 00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:15.720 It doesn't say that she's trying to schmooze with somebody to find out some level importance of what's there. 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:19.760 It doesn't say that she's off in the corner gossiping with somebody. 00:12:20.020 --> 00:12:20.900 None of those things. 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:24.160 Scripture says right there, what is she doing? 00:12:24.760 --> 00:12:25.580 She's serving. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:27.620 She's serving. 00:12:28.620 --> 00:12:34.560 So, yes, we need more, we need more, we need more so that more people can be served. 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:37.300 Jesus, your Lord, help me with this. 00:12:38.380 --> 00:12:39.300 Look at verse 41. 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:49.460 But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. 00:12:49.800 --> 00:12:54.220 And then verse 42, but one thing is necessary. 00:12:54.220 --> 00:12:57.560 Now, I want you to underline those words in your Bible. 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:01.180 But one thing is necessary. 00:13:02.260 --> 00:13:08.840 Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her. 00:13:09.640 --> 00:13:18.120 And what we are going to see in these verses, in this encounter with Mary and with Martha, 00:13:18.380 --> 00:13:32.900 is that even in Martha's service, even in Martha doing what she thinks is good, even in Martha trying to do the right thing in the moment, she misses it. 00:13:33.940 --> 00:13:40.920 And what Jesus is going to do is speak to the heart of the self-obsessed individual. 00:13:41.780 --> 00:13:47.340 Now, as we look through this, I wish that my biggest stumbling in life was serving others too much, right? 00:13:47.900 --> 00:13:52.320 That's like when you're interviewing someone and you ask them, like, tell me, what are your biggest failures? 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:54.320 What are your biggest struggles in life? 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:57.740 You're like, well, I really, I work too hard and I care too much, right? 00:13:57.780 --> 00:14:00.640 Like, that's kind of the feeling that we get from here, right? 00:14:00.760 --> 00:14:02.160 Like, this is a big struggle. 00:14:02.340 --> 00:14:03.440 But here's what we're going to see. 00:14:03.900 --> 00:14:06.520 Here's what Jesus wants Martha to do. 00:14:06.880 --> 00:14:12.980 And as you and I, as we hinder ourselves in a walk with Christ that he wants from us, 00:14:13.180 --> 00:14:16.420 here's what I believe Jesus is telling us to do this morning. 00:14:16.800 --> 00:14:17.240 Stop. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:18.760 Stop. 00:14:19.920 --> 00:14:20.680 Just stop. 00:14:21.780 --> 00:14:23.080 That's what he tells Martha. 00:14:23.760 --> 00:14:24.240 Stop. 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:26.400 No one's asked you. 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:27.620 No one's called you. 00:14:27.880 --> 00:14:28.400 Stop. 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:33.920 Mary's chosen the one thing that is necessary. 00:14:33.920 --> 00:14:35.840 I want to ask you this question this morning. 00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:42.200 What in your life right now do you deem as necessary? 00:14:43.380 --> 00:14:50.480 What in your life fills your calendar, fills your plans, and fills your mind as necessary? 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:52.740 Now, these aren't my words. 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:54.780 These are Jesus' words. 00:14:55.880 --> 00:15:01.640 Jesus says, one thing is necessary. 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:10.620 As I prayed through this and read through this, there's the truth that I'm trying to teach myself every single day and relay, 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:16.220 and it is this, that you and I, oftentimes, we are as busy as we allow ourselves to be. 00:15:18.800 --> 00:15:22.340 We are as busy as we allow ourselves to be. 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:30.060 And if we're not careful, what we leave behind us on an earthly side says poor time management, 00:15:30.060 --> 00:15:35.360 but on a heavenly side, the legacy that we leave behind is Christ neglecting. 00:15:36.380 --> 00:15:36.760 Why? 00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:40.920 Because we've deemed other things as necessary. 00:15:41.920 --> 00:15:43.320 And Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:15:43.540 --> 00:15:44.880 There's one thing. 00:15:45.560 --> 00:15:51.360 There's one thing necessary, and that's Christ. 00:15:52.580 --> 00:15:53.500 So stop. 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:55.460 Stop. 00:15:56.400 --> 00:15:58.840 And here's what I want to coach you through. 00:15:59.040 --> 00:16:03.960 Here's what I'm trying to learn in my life and plead you to go on this journey with me. 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:14.200 Sometimes the most spiritually mature thing, the most spiritually mature word you and I can say is no. 00:16:15.660 --> 00:16:16.140 No. 00:16:17.180 --> 00:16:18.580 So how do we do this? 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:20.660 How do we do this? 00:16:20.760 --> 00:16:23.680 We could start a class on how to schedule better. 00:16:24.340 --> 00:16:26.300 We could start a class on how to prioritize. 00:16:27.300 --> 00:16:34.120 We could go around, in all honesty, for some of us, like it used to be impressive when we said, you know, we cut the cable, right? 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:36.020 We cut that, and we don't have cable TV anymore. 00:16:36.180 --> 00:16:37.000 But let's be honest. 00:16:37.140 --> 00:16:41.140 I now subscribe to 352 different streaming channels, right? 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:43.220 I've got more TV than I've ever had, right? 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:48.840 We can talk about how to eliminate those, but what does it look like to stop but continue? 00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:50.400 And I want to say this. 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.340 The first thing that God's teaching me is this. 00:16:54.340 --> 00:16:56.620 Stop scheduling Jesus. 00:16:57.960 --> 00:16:59.420 Stop scheduling Jesus. 00:17:00.220 --> 00:17:05.620 Now, I want to walk you through some things that God has graciously given me in my life. 00:17:06.080 --> 00:17:08.280 I need disciplines, okay? 00:17:08.580 --> 00:17:22.040 I need to build into my life a pattern of spiritual disciplines where there are things marked within my day that I do these things so that at the end of the day, what they've built in my life is behavior, okay? 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:30.240 So I need to build in my life that the first thing that I do when I come in my office is sit down and open up my Bible and read. 00:17:30.760 --> 00:17:39.880 I need to build a discipline in my life where one of the first things I do in the morning, right, as I wipe the sleep away and wake up is begin to pray. 00:17:40.080 --> 00:17:45.120 Why do I need to build those disciplines so they will continue on in behaviors throughout the end of the day? 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:48.860 So it's not high five and I read my Bible for five minutes this morning and I'm done. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.300 It's so that it builds that discipline in my life. 00:17:51.500 --> 00:17:56.700 So I'm not saying like wipe away the disciplines of your life that God's given you. 00:17:56.800 --> 00:18:00.140 And in his grace, he's using them to build you and to mature you. 00:18:00.280 --> 00:18:03.120 What I'm saying is stop scheduling Jesus. 00:18:03.360 --> 00:18:08.140 And so this might be an illustration that helps to understand this, okay? 00:18:09.220 --> 00:18:11.360 I don't schedule my wife. 00:18:12.660 --> 00:18:14.760 I have a relationship with my wife. 00:18:15.760 --> 00:18:17.720 I seek my wife. 00:18:18.540 --> 00:18:21.100 I desire to know my wife. 00:18:22.220 --> 00:18:23.580 So imagine this. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:31.580 Imagine I've got my phone sitting out on my desk tomorrow at work and it's 1105 and Aaron calls me. 00:18:32.020 --> 00:18:38.640 Let's say she's got a few moments during her lunch break and she calls me and I look down and see, oh, there's Aaron calling. 00:18:39.560 --> 00:18:40.220 Hold on one second. 00:18:41.260 --> 00:18:41.480 Hey. 00:18:42.900 --> 00:18:44.700 Oh, Aaron, here's the deal. 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:48.240 You've got the 130 slot, all right? 00:18:48.500 --> 00:18:50.540 So I'll call you then. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:54.740 How do you think that would go over, right? 00:18:55.620 --> 00:18:58.560 Pastor Dave, we'd be in your office very quickly, right? 00:18:59.000 --> 00:18:59.880 Walk us through this. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:00.720 Not good. 00:19:00.800 --> 00:19:01.080 Why? 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:06.240 Because she and her relationship with me is not someone to be scheduled. 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:09.460 But that's what we do with Jesus. 00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:12.640 I got my time with him. 00:19:14.420 --> 00:19:16.820 I'm looking forward to this Bible study with him. 00:19:17.900 --> 00:19:19.580 I've got these pieces for him. 00:19:20.860 --> 00:19:26.340 And Jesus simply becomes entries on our calendar that are appointments to be fulfilled. 00:19:28.020 --> 00:19:30.700 Stop scheduling Jesus. 00:19:31.260 --> 00:19:32.660 Just be with him. 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:35.360 Just enjoy him. 00:19:36.320 --> 00:19:38.120 Just seek after him. 00:19:39.320 --> 00:19:45.800 Let Jesus become more than your prayer time that you scheduled in the morning and more than your Bible study time that you have at night. 00:19:46.660 --> 00:19:52.060 Let Jesus become more than an entry on your schedule. 00:19:52.340 --> 00:19:54.060 Number one, stop scheduling Jesus. 00:19:54.540 --> 00:19:58.540 And then number two, this is going to seem weird, but let me answer this a little bit, all right? 00:19:58.780 --> 00:20:00.660 Stop prioritizing Jesus. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:04.240 That sounds bad, doesn't it? 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:06.720 Stop prioritizing Jesus. 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:08.840 Here's what we do. 00:20:09.900 --> 00:20:11.160 Here's what we've taught. 00:20:12.380 --> 00:20:19.340 I still hear this sometimes, and I've got to remember and graciously try to move away as I hear this taught. 00:20:19.560 --> 00:20:22.740 But what we do and what we say is we try to prioritize Jesus. 00:20:23.020 --> 00:20:24.120 And here's what that means. 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.520 We try to rank areas of importance in our life. 00:20:28.260 --> 00:20:33.360 And I believe the intent behind it is good, but I believe that the application of it is failing. 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:37.460 And what we say is, all right, Jesus is my top priority. 00:20:38.280 --> 00:20:41.620 And then after Jesus, I'm going to say my spouse. 00:20:42.260 --> 00:20:44.560 And then after my spouse, I'm going to say my kids. 00:20:45.020 --> 00:20:47.400 And then after my kids, I'll say my church. 00:20:47.700 --> 00:20:51.080 And after my church, I'll say my work. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.700 And then after work, I'll say my hobbies, the things that I do for fun. 00:20:54.840 --> 00:21:00.120 And we look at all those things, and we've got this nice, neat spreadsheet of priorities in our life. 00:21:00.120 --> 00:21:05.100 And we look at them, and we say, you know what, Jesus, you're here, and you're above all of these things. 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:12.880 But then there's going to come a time, Jesus, where it's my spouse, and then it's my kids, and then it's my church, and then it's my friends, and then it's my job. 00:21:12.940 --> 00:21:16.500 And it's whatever we've deemed important on the list. 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:18.900 And here's what I want to plead with you with your heart. 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:22.360 Jesus is bigger than any list you and I can try to put together. 00:21:24.360 --> 00:21:31.680 He does, none of the, my wife doesn't deserve to be on the same list that Jesus does. 00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:35.180 And I don't deserve to be on the same list for her. 00:21:36.800 --> 00:21:42.260 On that list, the priority is Jesus. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.940 He says, there's one thing necessary. 00:21:49.760 --> 00:21:50.280 One. 00:21:51.560 --> 00:21:52.040 One. 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:54.220 And here's what we find. 00:21:55.500 --> 00:22:01.380 That when I remove my wife from the list, that I remove my kids from the list. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:11.460 When I remove my job, and I remove my church, and I remove all the other things from my list, and I focus in on Jesus, and it's just him. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:20.940 It's amazing in his kindness and grace how I'm more engaged with my wife. 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:32.300 It's amazing in his kindness and grace how much of a better pastor I am for my church, of how more loving I am for my kids. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:35.500 It's amazing how much more joy I am for my kids. 00:22:35.500 --> 00:22:42.540 It's amazing how much more joy I have in my hobbies when I've kept my eyes focused on him. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:43.600 Right? 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:45.720 Stop trying to rank. 00:22:46.280 --> 00:22:47.940 Stop trying to figure out the order. 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:52.260 Just land in on Jesus. 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:54.340 Stop scheduling him. 00:22:54.980 --> 00:22:56.560 Stop prioritizing him. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:57.340 Right? 00:22:57.560 --> 00:23:00.140 Just be about him. 00:23:00.420 --> 00:23:10.020 And so the first, as we see, as Jesus kind of speaks in and attacks these senses of selfishness that rings true in you and in me, is stop. 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:13.840 The second thing that we're going to look at is this, it's pray. 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:15.060 Pray. 00:23:15.740 --> 00:23:20.200 Prayer will attack selfishness in your heart and in your life. 00:23:21.220 --> 00:23:22.520 Prayer is powerful. 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:31.060 And what prayer will do as we pray is it will draw us closer to him and eliminate the self that seeks to destroy us. 00:23:31.540 --> 00:23:34.760 In chapter 11, I want us to read verse 1. 00:23:35.600 --> 00:23:35.780 It says, 00:23:35.780 --> 00:23:42.020 Now, Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, 00:23:42.360 --> 00:23:46.140 Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. 00:23:46.280 --> 00:23:49.900 Now, a couple things that's really interesting about prayer, 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:55.000 and I really want to speak this into some lives of individuals who are here this morning, okay? 00:23:55.320 --> 00:24:04.100 Don't fall into the lie that prayer is solely yours to be used in private and personal means. 00:24:05.300 --> 00:24:11.980 Yes, there are times where I need to get away, and I need to be alone, and I need to fall on my knees, 00:24:12.100 --> 00:24:14.440 and I need to have a moment with just me and Jesus. 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:24.720 But there are times when I need to fall on my knees, surrounded by my wife and my kids and friends and family, 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:28.920 and you, and you hear me as I pray. 00:24:29.780 --> 00:24:37.460 When Jesus goes off to pray time and time again, what he will do quite often is bring others with him. 00:24:38.580 --> 00:24:44.240 In fact, even in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the cross awaits Jesus and he retreats to go pray, 00:24:44.460 --> 00:24:48.280 he keeps them within an earshot of him so that they can hear the words that he's saying. 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:53.080 So prayer isn't something that's just supposed to happen in a prayer closet, right? 00:24:53.120 --> 00:25:00.080 But prayer is something that should be modeled in the lives of the individuals that God has given us to disciple. 00:25:00.820 --> 00:25:02.140 They should see us. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:03.920 They should hear us pray. 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:06.940 So parents, let me press this in for just a second. 00:25:07.520 --> 00:25:12.820 Remove from your house, as your kids listen to you, 00:25:13.600 --> 00:25:14.820 no, I don't pray in public. 00:25:16.040 --> 00:25:16.640 Remove it. 00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:18.000 Remove it. 00:25:19.560 --> 00:25:23.060 In premarital counseling, one of the things that I love to do, and it is a, 00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:26.900 sometimes I love to create awkward moments for people, right? 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:32.780 And what I'll do, usually on the second time of premarital counseling, the second session that we have, 00:25:33.020 --> 00:25:36.220 and that's a pretty heavy session where we deal with a lot of things. 00:25:36.360 --> 00:25:41.160 I have couples tell me, like, hey, what are your biggest struggles relationally that you're going through? 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:44.880 And you're like, that's the time where you find out, like, she can't stand his mom, 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:47.700 and his mom can't stand her, and just all of these things. 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:52.640 And he's got $50,000 of credit card debt that they've got to work through, and we talk through. 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:57.060 We get all the ugly out in the open in that second session. 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:00.880 And then I end the second session by saying, all right, well, now we're going to pray. 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:02.960 But here's how we're going to pray. 00:26:03.660 --> 00:26:07.800 I'm going to leave, and you two are going to stay here. 00:26:09.500 --> 00:26:15.960 And soon to be groomed, you're going to pray for her out loud. 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:23.240 And soon to be bride, when he's done, you're going to pray for him out loud. 00:26:24.300 --> 00:26:27.000 And there's great difficulty oftentimes. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:37.220 Because we've forgotten that God gives us prayer to communicate to him, but then challenges us as believers to model this. 00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:39.180 This is what Jesus does. 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:43.560 So his disciples, they see his prayer life, and they come to him and say, 00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:46.820 Jesus, teach us how to pray. 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:49.740 And so Jesus is going to do just that. 00:26:50.300 --> 00:26:56.880 And he's going to give them five requests, as we see in the Lord's Prayer, that they're to make to God. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:09.460 And in these five requests, what we'll see, it's a break away from the selfishness of the prayers that you and I oftentimes innocently pour out to God. 00:27:10.300 --> 00:27:11.600 And here's what I'd like to say. 00:27:12.280 --> 00:27:16.120 Because here's the thing, people say, well, I don't know the right words. 00:27:16.580 --> 00:27:23.560 Get past fear and understand it's not about the words as much as it is about the heart. 00:27:24.360 --> 00:27:25.280 Teach them to pray. 00:27:25.980 --> 00:27:26.920 So Jesus does that. 00:27:26.980 --> 00:27:29.040 Look at verse two, the first part of it. 00:27:29.300 --> 00:27:34.920 And he said to them, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name. 00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:40.720 The first part of prayer that Jesus teaches us is that God's name is holy. 00:27:41.580 --> 00:27:42.960 God's name is holy. 00:27:43.100 --> 00:27:44.940 That's what hallowed means. 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:46.880 Hallowed means holy. 00:27:47.740 --> 00:27:53.800 Now, during the time of Christ, a person's name was a description of them. 00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:54.640 All right? 00:27:55.040 --> 00:27:57.200 That's why we see Jesus of Nazareth. 00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:57.640 Why? 00:27:57.840 --> 00:27:59.520 It declared where he was from. 00:27:59.960 --> 00:28:06.360 When you read through Scripture, you'll see that two of the disciples were James and John, tagged with it, sons of Zebedee. 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:08.060 Zebedee was their father. 00:28:08.260 --> 00:28:12.460 So that when you read these names, you would know, oh, that's where they're from. 00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:13.980 That's who they come from. 00:28:14.080 --> 00:28:16.540 It gives you a connection to them. 00:28:16.540 --> 00:28:26.000 And so when Jesus says, Father, hallowed be your name, what he's declaring is that in that name embodies the holiness of God. 00:28:26.900 --> 00:28:41.440 That in the Old Testament, they were fearful to even say the name of God out of fear that they would get it wrong and it would take away from his holiness and God would pour out his wrath on them as a result of it. 00:28:41.580 --> 00:28:52.920 That's why, like, remove it from your vocabulary when we slip up and say God something or Jesus something, right? 00:28:53.500 --> 00:28:53.780 Right? 00:28:54.260 --> 00:28:54.560 Why? 00:28:55.480 --> 00:28:56.940 Because it's not an adjective. 00:28:58.860 --> 00:29:03.520 It's who he is found in that name. 00:29:04.600 --> 00:29:12.760 And so when Jesus says, Father, hallowed be your name, he's not telling us that we're asking God to make his name holy. 00:29:13.140 --> 00:29:14.800 God's name is already holy. 00:29:14.800 --> 00:29:21.680 What we're asking God to do is to help us make his name our highest priority. 00:29:23.260 --> 00:29:30.480 God, Father, hallowed, holy is your name. 00:29:31.560 --> 00:29:40.980 And may that not just be the declaration of my prayer, but may that be the position of my life, of who I live, and what I do. 00:29:42.080 --> 00:29:43.380 God's name is holy. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:52.100 And then Jesus comes, the second part of verse 2, and he says, your kingdom come. 00:29:53.480 --> 00:30:02.160 And what Jesus is pointing us to is asking that not God does this, but that we offer our lives as submission. 00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:11.580 In Matthew chapter 6, Matthew also records the Lord's Prayer, and what he adds that that Luke doesn't is your will be done. 00:30:12.280 --> 00:30:17.000 So what we see when we put these together is your kingdom come, your will be done. 00:30:17.580 --> 00:30:25.040 And what we begin to understand with this is there's two things that Jesus is communicating in this simple phrase. 00:30:25.040 --> 00:30:34.320 Number one, as believers of Christ, you and I need to long for the return of Jesus. 00:30:35.660 --> 00:30:37.700 Desperately long for it, right? 00:30:38.560 --> 00:30:42.220 As a kid waits for Santa Claus on Christmas morning, right? 00:30:43.260 --> 00:30:47.820 Would it bring a smile on their face and joy into their heart and excitement that comes from them? 00:30:48.080 --> 00:30:53.460 That's how you and I should be as we long for the return of Jesus. 00:30:54.320 --> 00:30:57.600 You know, it's funny in Christian context. 00:30:57.820 --> 00:31:02.520 When we, so many times when we open up the book of Revelation, number one, I'll give it to you. 00:31:02.620 --> 00:31:06.200 It's confusing and it's hard to understand for so many of us. 00:31:06.420 --> 00:31:13.620 But so many times we read it and there's things in here like wars and plagues and famines and dragons. 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:17.560 And we read it and we think, man, that's really scary. 00:31:18.080 --> 00:31:24.060 Like this apocalyptic literature that is laid out before us that talks about things of death and destruction. 00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:26.020 Like, I'm kind of afraid of this. 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.860 Not afraid that I won't understand it, but afraid of what's going to happen and take place. 00:31:29.860 --> 00:31:34.500 But you know what's remarkable about the book of Revelation is it wasn't written to scare people. 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:35.640 The exact opposite. 00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:37.120 It was written to encourage people. 00:31:38.080 --> 00:31:43.760 Because for Christians, we should not be terrified that Jesus is returning. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:49.960 We should be excited that Jesus is returning and anticipating that Jesus is returning. 00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:55.020 And so that's why Jesus says, your kingdom come, but also your will be done. 00:31:55.120 --> 00:32:02.240 Because we're living every single day with the mindset that this moment, this roof could rip off and there's God. 00:32:03.500 --> 00:32:05.100 And that's how we live our life. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:08.680 Your kingdom come, your will be done. 00:32:09.380 --> 00:32:18.800 Now, not my will, not my spouse's will, not my kid's will, not my job's will, but your will. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:21.100 Your will be done. 00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:24.300 Continue on in verse 3. 00:32:25.800 --> 00:32:30.020 He says, give us each day our daily bread. 00:32:31.320 --> 00:32:33.320 Jesus wants us to cry out for provision. 00:32:34.520 --> 00:32:40.900 This phrase, daily bread, it's a phrase that God's people would have heard before. 00:32:41.320 --> 00:32:46.720 It was the phrase used to refer to the manna that God sent his people as they were wandering in the desert. 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:53.160 And every morning he would send them this bread to give them provision, to get them through the day. 00:32:53.480 --> 00:32:59.360 Now, he didn't send everything that they would hope for, but he sent them what they would need. 00:32:59.520 --> 00:33:08.560 And so what we see in this, give us each day our daily bread, is the provision from God, that God's provision for us is to care for us. 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:21.200 And so what we need to be reminded of, what we need to be dependent on, is that, that God, each and every day, let me find my content, let me find my satisfaction in your care for me. 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:22.900 Now, here's what we battle with. 00:33:23.280 --> 00:33:26.820 Success sometimes ruins us, all right? 00:33:27.260 --> 00:33:33.400 Sometimes success in my life and in yours can create the sin of independence. 00:33:34.380 --> 00:33:39.760 I no longer need to depend on God for finances because I'm making this salary. 00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:45.920 I never, I don't have to depend on God for food because my pantry is full. 00:33:46.300 --> 00:33:52.600 I don't have to depend on God for my health because I pursue all of these things within my life. 00:33:52.740 --> 00:33:57.660 I don't have to depend on God for my spouse because he's already provided me one. 00:33:57.780 --> 00:34:02.820 I don't have to depend on God for the health of my family because I can manage that myself. 00:34:03.340 --> 00:34:04.560 Look at what they've done. 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:06.200 Look at what they've accomplished. 00:34:06.200 --> 00:34:16.460 But when we approach every day, as Jesus tells us, we'll approach it with the desperation for God to provide. 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:18.260 Here's what I want to say. 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:27.600 Your pantry and your bank account may be full, but where in your life is empty, right? 00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:33.720 Maybe you don't need to wake up in the morning and cry out to God for a job that he'll provide. 00:34:33.820 --> 00:34:34.540 Maybe he's done that. 00:34:35.680 --> 00:34:42.300 Maybe you don't need to wake up and cry out for food in the pantry that, in our area, within a radius of our church, all right? 00:34:42.600 --> 00:34:45.560 There's so many people who are waking up this morning without food in their pantry. 00:34:46.580 --> 00:34:48.840 But what area of your life is empty? 00:34:49.960 --> 00:34:57.540 And what you need is not an abundance, is not a surplus, but you need daily bread. 00:34:58.420 --> 00:35:01.620 It takes off of self and puts us where we need to be. 00:35:02.740 --> 00:35:06.720 Jesus continues on, verse 4, and says, 00:35:06.860 --> 00:35:13.700 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. 00:35:13.700 --> 00:35:20.940 Now, there's a part of this verse I really like, and there's a part of this verse that I really struggle with, all right? 00:35:21.020 --> 00:35:21.720 Let me read it again. 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:24.580 And forgive us our sins. 00:35:24.760 --> 00:35:27.320 I really personally wish that that was a period. 00:35:28.040 --> 00:35:28.600 Right? 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:32.320 Because I know that I need forgiveness. 00:35:33.200 --> 00:35:35.200 But remember, this is Jesus teaching them how to pray. 00:35:35.560 --> 00:35:37.180 Jesus hadn't sinned. 00:35:37.480 --> 00:35:39.340 Jesus didn't need forgiveness. 00:35:39.680 --> 00:35:44.240 So when Jesus says this, remember, he's modeling and setting an expectation. 00:35:44.240 --> 00:35:44.800 Expectation. 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:53.140 So the expectation of Christ is that we would forgive, that our sins would be forgiven, that we confess them. 00:35:53.400 --> 00:36:00.960 But then this, that we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. 00:36:01.080 --> 00:36:06.800 Now, I'm not trying to add to scripture, but if I'm there, like, I believe, like, Jesus kind of chuckles a little bit at this one now, right? 00:36:07.240 --> 00:36:09.480 Like, this is the joke for him in the room. 00:36:10.100 --> 00:36:10.360 Yeah. 00:36:10.640 --> 00:36:14.920 And ask that God will forgive, just like you forgave everybody else, right? 00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:24.780 Here's the thing, what we need every day is for God to give us grace and help us understand grace. 00:36:25.540 --> 00:36:26.060 Right? 00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:30.040 When we confess, when we repent, God graciously gives. 00:36:30.040 --> 00:36:39.700 And what should come in that process is a deeper understanding about what we deserve and what we extend. 00:36:40.420 --> 00:36:50.520 The deeper I dive into repentance before God, the more I understand how much God has graciously forgiven me time and time again, 00:36:50.700 --> 00:36:55.640 not based off of what I deserve, not based off what I've earned, but the exact opposite. 00:36:55.640 --> 00:37:00.960 The more that he draws and presses my heart to treat other people the exact same way. 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:03.540 Remember how forgiveness with God works. 00:37:05.060 --> 00:37:07.840 God forgave you before. 00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:09.260 Before. 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:11.940 On the cross, your sins were forgiven. 00:37:12.700 --> 00:37:13.760 You're like, but I wasn't born then. 00:37:13.940 --> 00:37:14.160 Yep. 00:37:15.780 --> 00:37:17.200 But I hadn't committed the sin then. 00:37:17.540 --> 00:37:17.880 Yep. 00:37:18.680 --> 00:37:21.300 But I hadn't asked for forgiveness then. 00:37:21.600 --> 00:37:21.840 Yep. 00:37:22.780 --> 00:37:24.240 And he forgave you before. 00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:28.460 So how do we take that and how do we extend that? 00:37:29.380 --> 00:37:33.120 How does that begin to change the way that I forgive others? 00:37:33.960 --> 00:37:35.620 Do I forgive when they're truly sorry? 00:37:36.540 --> 00:37:38.420 Do I forgive when they've repaid? 00:37:39.240 --> 00:37:41.280 Do I forgive when they've changed their behavior? 00:37:42.660 --> 00:37:43.020 No. 00:37:43.020 --> 00:37:47.980 Because God forgave you before you did any of those things. 00:37:50.060 --> 00:37:55.360 And lastly, he comes and says, and lead us not into temptation. 00:37:56.200 --> 00:38:03.700 The most gracious thing that for some of us, myself included, becomes so difficult for us to do. 00:38:04.660 --> 00:38:05.100 Help. 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:06.320 Help. 00:38:06.680 --> 00:38:07.900 What's Jesus saying here? 00:38:08.400 --> 00:38:14.420 Is Jesus saying that God puts out landmines to destroy us and to stop us? 00:38:14.500 --> 00:38:16.060 No, that's not what Jesus is saying is all. 00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:19.080 James 1, 3 tells us that God doesn't tempt us. 00:38:19.120 --> 00:38:20.820 So what is Jesus saying? 00:38:21.160 --> 00:38:26.780 Jesus is saying that we need God's help and we need God's protection in times of grace. 00:38:26.780 --> 00:38:37.780 That what we're saying is, God, as my path that I walk, as my path that I choose, as my path that I journey on will cause me and tempt me to wander this way and that way. 00:38:37.960 --> 00:38:40.940 God, let me lean in and depend on your grace. 00:38:41.180 --> 00:38:49.300 God, bring me back onto the path that is more difficult, the path that keeps me directed toward you, the path that has me in the center of your will. 00:38:49.520 --> 00:38:55.240 God, help me to eliminate all of those things and find myself focused in on you. 00:38:55.240 --> 00:39:02.380 And so when we look at the way that prayer, a way that Jesus taught us to pray, prayer is not a list of preferences. 00:39:03.600 --> 00:39:12.920 But prayer is instead a declaration of God's greatness and our desperation for him. 00:39:14.120 --> 00:39:19.000 God, we desperately, desperately need you. 00:39:20.740 --> 00:39:21.880 What's the one thing? 00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:24.640 What's the one thing? 00:39:26.340 --> 00:39:27.140 It's Jesus. 00:39:28.860 --> 00:39:29.620 Not you. 00:39:31.020 --> 00:39:31.740 Not me. 00:39:33.260 --> 00:39:33.660 Jesus. 00:39:35.380 --> 00:39:36.240 Would you pray with me? 00:39:44.620 --> 00:39:49.440 God, God, your name is great and worthy to be praised. 00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:58.060 God, in your holiness, may that be the pursuit of our life. 00:39:59.320 --> 00:40:04.300 May the declaration of your name be what drives us. 00:40:05.560 --> 00:40:09.040 May you be our highest priority. 00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:11.860 Lord, may we be like Mary. 00:40:11.860 --> 00:40:18.320 May we have chosen the one thing that matters. 00:40:19.320 --> 00:40:25.360 The one thing that exceeds the grave. 00:40:26.540 --> 00:40:30.020 The one thing that focuses us on you. 00:40:31.620 --> 00:40:33.020 Lord, hallowed be your name. 00:40:35.100 --> 00:40:39.360 Lord, may we submit our plans and our agendas. 00:40:40.320 --> 00:40:42.800 May we long for your returning. 00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:55.800 May we desire, Lord, to live every moment of every day as if you're right around the corner, ready to call back your bride into eternity. 00:40:57.980 --> 00:40:59.680 Lord, may your kingdom come. 00:40:59.680 --> 00:40:59.860 May your kingdom come. 00:41:01.320 --> 00:41:02.580 Lord, may your will be done. 00:41:05.640 --> 00:41:07.540 Lord, thank you for the blessings of life. 00:41:10.460 --> 00:41:12.860 Lord, I thank you that the bills are paid. 00:41:14.240 --> 00:41:15.460 There's food in the pantry. 00:41:17.680 --> 00:41:21.320 Lord, we thank you that in some cases, for some of us, maybe there's some extra. 00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:29.700 But Lord, we still need and ask that you give us each day our daily bread. 00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:35.300 Because there's empty areas in our life that we need you to fill. 00:41:36.640 --> 00:41:38.140 We need you to consume. 00:41:41.540 --> 00:41:43.940 So we'll stop trying to fill them with false gods. 00:41:47.180 --> 00:41:49.400 Lord, thank you for the grace that you give us. 00:41:50.460 --> 00:41:52.540 And help us understand grace more. 00:41:54.540 --> 00:41:56.540 Lord, from every sin that we've committed, 00:41:57.980 --> 00:42:03.580 we thank you that Jesus' blood paid the debt we've been forgiven. 00:42:05.480 --> 00:42:07.300 Help us pay that grace forward. 00:42:08.860 --> 00:42:10.020 To forgive others. 00:42:11.540 --> 00:42:18.660 So, God, forgive our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. 00:42:20.040 --> 00:42:21.080 Lord, help us. 00:42:25.940 --> 00:42:26.800 Help us. 00:42:28.700 --> 00:42:33.740 Whatever pits and failures we've put in our place, 00:42:35.440 --> 00:42:37.620 whatever struggles we have, 00:42:39.840 --> 00:42:40.920 Lord, just help us. 00:42:41.540 --> 00:42:43.360 We can't get out of our own way. 00:42:44.160 --> 00:42:46.100 We ignore the warning signs. 00:42:47.560 --> 00:42:48.660 We just need you. 00:42:50.300 --> 00:42:53.860 And so, Lord, lead us not into temptation. 00:42:58.980 --> 00:43:04.220 Lord, Lord, thank you for who you are, for what you've done. 00:43:05.480 --> 00:43:09.420 I thank you that 2,000 years ago, you drifted away. 00:43:10.700 --> 00:43:16.020 You got off with a group of guys and a group of ladies. 00:43:17.540 --> 00:43:18.160 And you prayed. 00:43:18.160 --> 00:43:18.460 And you prayed. 00:43:18.460 --> 00:43:20.880 And you modeled that for them. 00:43:22.100 --> 00:43:24.000 Lord, may we model that as well. 00:43:25.500 --> 00:43:27.300 May we model that in our homes. 00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:30.320 May we model that at work. 00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:33.280 May we model that at school. 00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:44.100 Would we overcome our fear by dependence on you for your name and for your glory. 00:43:45.600 --> 00:43:46.860 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:43:47.640 --> 00:43:48.000 Amen. 00:43:49.560 --> 00:43:50.300 Just a moment. 00:43:50.420 --> 00:43:52.660 We're going to stand and we're going to sing a couple songs. 00:43:54.180 --> 00:43:57.120 I'll be down front here if you'd like to come and pray with me. 00:43:58.100 --> 00:43:59.560 The altar is open. 00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:01.060 You can come down and pray right here. 00:44:01.340 --> 00:44:02.200 You can pray right where you're at. 00:44:02.260 --> 00:44:04.480 Maybe you just want to stand and respond in worship. 00:44:05.260 --> 00:44:08.920 Just respond however God is leading you today. 00:44:09.560 --> 00:44:10.800 Would you stand as we worship Him? 00:44:27.600 --> 00:44:30.740 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church Weekly Podcast. 00:44:31.280 --> 00:44:33.580 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:44:34.080 --> 00:44:37.580 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, 00:44:38.180 --> 00:44:42.620 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:44:42.620 --> 00:44:46.160 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.