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Houston's First Baptist Church is a relevant biblical community where we gather our hearts, grow our souls and give our lives as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). This podcast provides weekly messages from Pastor Gregg Matte and others. Visit us at HoustonsFirst.org to learn more about HFBC, and visit us in person the next time you're in Houston!
SPEAKER_1: You're listening to the teaching ministry of Houston's First Baptist Church, a relevant biblical community.
SPEAKER_1: For more information, visit houstonsfirst.org.
SPEAKER_2: My name is Stephen Trammell.
SPEAKER_2: I have the joy of being the Executive Pastor here at Houston's First, and always an honor.
SPEAKER_2: When Pastor Gregg asked if I'd be willing to preach God's Word, to represent him here at Houston's First, and it's always an honor.
SPEAKER_2: And so thankful you're here this morning.
SPEAKER_2: And we also want to welcome those who've joined us online and our digital family from literally all over the world.
SPEAKER_2: And we're so grateful for you.
SPEAKER_2: And this is perfect timing because we're launching a new series today.
SPEAKER_2: So join me in Matthew chapter 6.
SPEAKER_2: We're continuing our journey in Matthew, but launching a new series today.
SPEAKER_2: And to help set up the series, I want to bring you back to my earlier days of marriage.
SPEAKER_2: When our children who are now grown, Tori and Austin were younger, and I was out of town at the church.
SPEAKER_2: I was pastoring, preaching at an event, then coming to Tanya's parents' home, the grandparents' home, late that night.
SPEAKER_2: And so it was really late, like almost midnight.
SPEAKER_2: And my father-in-law and I went out into the garage because we were building a trampoline for a special day the next day.
SPEAKER_2: And so we were out in the garage, really cold outside, but I mean, it's a trampoline, it's one of the round trampolines, you just clip it all together.
SPEAKER_2: And we even put the springs around the entire trampoline, then we unfolded the mat, put the mat in the middle, and then we would just hook up one spring at a time.
SPEAKER_2: And so we just talked about our strategy.
SPEAKER_2: And we said, let's get this thing done.
SPEAKER_2: This will be just a few minutes.
SPEAKER_2: And so how about we began at 6 o'clock on the dial, and if you'll go toward 3 o'clock, I'll go toward 9 o'clock, and we'll meet at 12 o'clock, and then it'll be done.
SPEAKER_2: So we started at 6 o'clock, there were the springs, you stretch them out and clip the mat, then you go to the next one, and then the next one, and he went to the next one, and the next one, and by the time he got to 3 o'clock, and I got to 9 o'clock, the tension was so immense, and we still had half the mat to go.
SPEAKER_2: And so we went to the other side to try to pull the mat that way, and it wouldn't even get near.
SPEAKER_2: I mean, we would stretch the spring almost 2 feet, and we still couldn't clip it, because of the great distance.
SPEAKER_2: And then we did something that you should never do.
SPEAKER_2: We broke the man code, and we actually dug the Owner's Manual out of the box, and we read it, and it said, do exactly what we had done, except go 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 9 o'clock, click, and just do that.
SPEAKER_2: And I want you to know, in less than 12 minutes, we completed, it was about 1 a.m., but we completed the entire trampoline by simply reading the Owner's Manual.
SPEAKER_2: And I've come to announce to us this morning, we have a lot of springs out of place in our culture.
SPEAKER_2: And what we need today, more than any other day in history, is to elevate the Word of God, which is God's Owner's Manual for your life and my life.
SPEAKER_2: And we're going to read, actually, this morning, from the Owner's Manual.
SPEAKER_2: Would you join me, Matthew chapter 6, and we'll pick up in verse number 5.
SPEAKER_2: And we're going to talk about this morning, not only doing life God's way, but specifically how to pray and fast God's way.
SPEAKER_2: And I want you to really assess where you are in your prayer journey.
SPEAKER_2: Maybe for you, you would say, Pastor Stephen, I'm flowing and going.
SPEAKER_2: My intimacy with God is so sweet and vibrant.
SPEAKER_2: Or you may say, my prayer life has drifted and it needs more attention.
SPEAKER_2: And I want to encourage you this morning, let's unite together to take our prayer lives to a whole new level.
SPEAKER_2: Because it matters to God and it matters to our culture and our country.
SPEAKER_2: It's time for the Church of the Living God to take the Owner's Manual serious, and our intimacy with the Lord must become a priority.
SPEAKER_2: Join me now.
SPEAKER_2: Matthew chapter 6 verse 5, where Jesus says, Whenever you pray, not if you pray, whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people.
SPEAKER_2: Truly, I tell you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_2: But when you pray, not if you pray, but when you pray, go into your private room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret.
SPEAKER_2: And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
SPEAKER_2: When you pray, don't babble like the Gentiles since they imagine they'll be heard for their many words.
SPEAKER_2: Don't be like them.
SPEAKER_2: Don't miss this.
SPEAKER_2: Because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.
SPEAKER_2: How to pray God's Word, God's Way.
SPEAKER_2: Number one, start your day in your private place of prayer.
SPEAKER_2: Start your day in your private place of prayer.
SPEAKER_2: Here Jesus is identifying the hypocrites.
SPEAKER_2: He's speaking of the religious leaders who had this pomp and circumstance, and they were acting one way on the outside, but they weren't that way truly on the inside.
SPEAKER_2: They were like hypocrites, where they had an, it comes from the language of the New Testament, a concept of wearing a mask, but it's not in alignment with who you really are.
SPEAKER_2: And they would be so religious in public, but not that way in private and walking with God.
SPEAKER_2: So what does that look like in our passage here?
SPEAKER_2: They are the hypocrites.
SPEAKER_2: They love to be seen.
SPEAKER_2: And Jesus said they had their reward.
SPEAKER_2: They had their reward.
SPEAKER_2: But when you pray, and here's where it gets more intimate, you go into your private room.
SPEAKER_2: Jesus demonstrated this.
SPEAKER_2: Every morning, Jesus would get up early and go to a private place, often a desolate place, and there he prayed.
SPEAKER_2: Elisha had a private place of prayer.
SPEAKER_2: Daniel had a private place of prayer.
SPEAKER_2: You go in to your private place, shut the door, and then you pray to your Father who is in secret and then enjoy the promise.
SPEAKER_2: Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
SPEAKER_2: And Jesus adds, when you pray, don't babble.
SPEAKER_2: Don't be like the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_2: They babble.
SPEAKER_2: They imagine they'll be heard because of their many words.
SPEAKER_2: Don't be like them.
SPEAKER_2: Instead, pray with sincerity.
SPEAKER_2: Pray with sincerity.
SPEAKER_2: And then we get to enjoy the promise.
SPEAKER_2: Look at it here in verse 7.
SPEAKER_2: Your father knows the things you need before you ask.
SPEAKER_2: So it's very simple.
SPEAKER_2: This morning, I'm asking you, do you have a private place of prayer?
SPEAKER_2: Do you have a place that you go to for unhurried, unbroken time alone with God?
SPEAKER_2: You're going to recognize this movie clip.
SPEAKER_2: It's two minutes long.
SPEAKER_2: It's from an amazing movie that many of us have seen.
SPEAKER_2: It's going to bring back some memories.
SPEAKER_2: Let's hear from Ms.
SPEAKER_2: Clara.
SPEAKER_3: Now, this is where I do my fighting.
SPEAKER_4: A closet.
SPEAKER_3: I call it my war room.
SPEAKER_4: So, so you wrote prayers for each area of your life?
SPEAKER_3: A prayer strategy, yes.
SPEAKER_3: Now, I used to do what you and your husband are doing, but it got me nowhere.
SPEAKER_3: And then I really started studying what the scriptures say.
SPEAKER_3: And God showed me that it wasn't my job to do the heavy lifting, no.
SPEAKER_3: That was something that only he could do.
SPEAKER_3: It was my job to seek him, to trust him, and to stand on his word.
SPEAKER_5: Ms.
SPEAKER_5: Clara, I have never seen anything like this.
SPEAKER_5: And I admire it.
SPEAKER_4: I really do.
SPEAKER_5: I just...
SPEAKER_5: I don't have time to pray that much every day.
SPEAKER_3: But you apparently have time to fight losing battles with your husband.
SPEAKER_3: Elizabeth, if you will give me one hour a week, I can teach you how to fight the right way, with the right weapons.
SPEAKER_5: Since you're good with the asking price, I'll go ahead and list the house.
SPEAKER_5: I'd like to think about our other discussion.
SPEAKER_3: Elizabeth, please forgive me for being so direct.
SPEAKER_3: But I see in you a warrior that needs to be awakened.
SPEAKER_3: But I will respect whatever decision you make.
SPEAKER_5: Thank you, Ms.
SPEAKER_5: Clara.
SPEAKER_5: I hope you have a good day.
SPEAKER_2: You too.
SPEAKER_3: Don't let me push too hard, Lord.
SPEAKER_3: I know I got a big mouth.
SPEAKER_2: Let's give Ms.
SPEAKER_2: Claire a big hand.
SPEAKER_2: That's so powerful.
SPEAKER_2: What a great reminder.
SPEAKER_2: So do you have your place of prayer?
SPEAKER_2: And you can call it your war room.
SPEAKER_2: It's where you engage God in prayer, and you nurture your love relationship with God.
SPEAKER_2: It's where you do battle and prayer for other people as you intercede for them and pray for our nation.
SPEAKER_2: That's the point number two, how to pray God's way.
SPEAKER_2: Pray through the Lord's prayer relationally and thoughtfully.
SPEAKER_2: Let's look at the Lord's prayer together.
SPEAKER_2: In verse 9, Therefore you should pray like this, our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
SPEAKER_2: Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_2: Give us today our daily bread.
SPEAKER_2: And I'm reading from the CSB version.
SPEAKER_2: That's also in the seat in front of you, page 659.
SPEAKER_2: And forgive us our debts.
SPEAKER_2: And we'll use trespasses at the end of the service when we say this together.
SPEAKER_2: And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
SPEAKER_2: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
SPEAKER_2: And the later manuscripts add, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_2: Now what I want to do is just teach a few moments on each phrase.
SPEAKER_2: And I'm going to give you three practical steps to plug in on Monday morning to take your prayer life to a new level.
SPEAKER_2: Look at verse 9.
SPEAKER_2: Therefore, you should pray like this.
SPEAKER_2: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
SPEAKER_2: You'll notice there are no singular pronouns in the Lord's Prayer.
SPEAKER_2: They're plural.
SPEAKER_2: And as we pray the Lord's Prayer, we say our Father, we're joining all the believers who have gone before us and all the believers who are on the planet today.
SPEAKER_2: When we pray our Father, we're connecting with our globally global family of God.
SPEAKER_2: And we pray to our Father.
SPEAKER_2: And Jesus used the word Father, the name Father, ten times in verses 1 through 18, addressing his Father.
SPEAKER_2: And we get to address our Father.
SPEAKER_2: Now, the truth is, as you're praying and you address God as Father, sometimes the name Father can generate very positive images in your mind.
SPEAKER_2: Maybe you were blessed to have an engaging Father who was present in your life and who lived out the one-anothers of Scripture, who would demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, who lived to serve God and to benefit your family.
SPEAKER_2: Maybe you were blessed to have a godly daddy.
SPEAKER_2: I know in my journey, my dad became a severe alcoholic.
SPEAKER_2: And when I was 7, my mother had to draw the line in the sand to protect my brother and I and our safety, the sanctity of our home.
SPEAKER_2: And my mother had to divorce my dad.
SPEAKER_2: And so for me, the name Father was not a positive.
SPEAKER_2: The name Father meant I'll be at your game, and then I look in the stands, he wouldn't be there.
SPEAKER_2: Our Father would mean he may abandon us.
SPEAKER_2: He may not keep his word, or when he's sober, he's so kind and gracious and fun and loving, but when he's drinking, he's verbally abusive and physically aggressive.
SPEAKER_2: So when I came to faith in Jesus Christ on March 28, 1979, and introduced to a father who would never let me down, it was in that moment that I came to realize that our Father in heaven is the safest person to be real with in the whole world.
SPEAKER_2: That God knows us and loves us and God pursues us.
SPEAKER_2: And when we pray our Father in heaven, we recognize that God is so present, but yet He is over the entire universe.
SPEAKER_2: And here we are at Houston's First Baptist Church in this worship center, and those joining us online, the reality is that we are on a speck of dust called earth, in the speck of dust in the universe called the Milky Way Galaxy.
SPEAKER_2: And yet God says that He knows every single person, even the hairs upon our head, are numbered.
SPEAKER_2: Now for some people that's not a big miracle, but for others that's a big deal.
SPEAKER_2: So when you pray our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
SPEAKER_2: We're honoring God, we're reverencing God.
SPEAKER_2: And when you pray to your heavenly Father, you're not praying to the man upstairs, you're praying to the Creator of the universe.
SPEAKER_2: You're praying to the one who created you, the one who knit you together in your mother's womb and said that you're fearfully and wonderfully made, that He created you, and you are made in the image of God.
SPEAKER_2: So when you pray, you pray our Father, who art in heaven, holy be your name.
SPEAKER_2: As the angels said in Isaiah 6 and 3, holy, holy, holy.
SPEAKER_2: And then the four elders in Revelation said, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty.
SPEAKER_2: As we pray to our heavenly Father, we can also embrace that beautiful portrait that we're praying to Abba, Father, Daddy.
SPEAKER_2: Isn't that a great word?
SPEAKER_2: Let me read that to you.
SPEAKER_2: If you'll look with me or you'll write it in your notes, Ephesians 4.32, or excuse me, Romans 8.15, I love this.
SPEAKER_2: For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.
SPEAKER_2: You received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.
SPEAKER_2: So my question for you this morning is you secure your private place of prayer, and then we pray through the Lord's prayer relationally and thoughtfully.
SPEAKER_2: I want to know this morning, what are you doing with the access you've been granted to the Creator of the universe?
SPEAKER_2: How can we neglect that intimacy with the Lord?
SPEAKER_2: How can we not wake up with energy and passion and say, I want to meet with God.
SPEAKER_2: I want to encounter the Creator of the universe who loves me, and who gave his best for me, his one and only son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_2: And no one knows you better, and no one loves you more than your heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_2: And you can pursue him and go to him in prayer.
SPEAKER_2: Look at verse 10, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_2: It's so hard for us to reconcile when we see the presence of evil.
SPEAKER_2: And we're asking God that his kingdom come.
SPEAKER_2: And when I pray that every morning from my knees early in my private place of prayer, in my study at home, I literally, as I'm praying that I'm visualizing the entire planet, every inhabited continent being covered in the blood of Jesus, and every person submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ and saying, Jesus is Lord.
SPEAKER_2: Just envisioning the entire inhabited planet becoming fully devoted followers of Christ.
SPEAKER_2: Can you imagine what would take place on our globe?
SPEAKER_2: How we would treat one another?
SPEAKER_2: How we would engage one another?
SPEAKER_2: And we're praying, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_2: It's a great quote.
SPEAKER_2: Pastor Gregg has shared with us before, that I love so much.
SPEAKER_2: Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man's will done in heaven, but for getting God's will done on earth.
SPEAKER_2: That's by Robert Law.
SPEAKER_2: Look at verse 11.
SPEAKER_2: Give us today our daily bread.
SPEAKER_2: For some of you, you need God to come through for you.
SPEAKER_2: And it's so interesting that we're praying for our daily bread, not our weekly bread or monthly bread.
SPEAKER_2: Why is that?
SPEAKER_2: Jesus is the bread of life.
SPEAKER_2: Jesus is manna from heaven.
SPEAKER_2: Jesus is our living bread.
SPEAKER_2: And so often in your Christian journey, you will experience like Texas A&M did last night.
SPEAKER_2: So often you're in the fourth quarter of life, or this situation, or you're going through this transition, or you've been praying through this, and you're in the fourth quarter with a few seconds left, and you know, and you know, and you know, and you know, if God doesn't come through, it's over.
SPEAKER_2: And that's why we pray, give us this day, our daily bread.
SPEAKER_2: Look at verse 12.
SPEAKER_2: And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
SPEAKER_2: Forgive us our trespasses as we also have forgiving those who have trespassed against us.
SPEAKER_2: Here's the portrait I want you to remember.
SPEAKER_2: When you look at the cross, there's a vertical beam representing our relationship with God.
SPEAKER_2: God built this ultimate love bridge to come to our rescue in Christ.
SPEAKER_2: Then we're to live out the one and others of Scripture on the horizontal reality of life.
SPEAKER_2: So we're to have a right relationship with God through Christ, and then we demonstrate that relationship with God through Christ as we interact with other people.
SPEAKER_2: And what you'll learn is that you cannot have a right relationship with God if you have unforgiveness toward others.
SPEAKER_2: Now we're going to tie verses 14 and 15 to this text, and you'll see why.
SPEAKER_2: Look with me, verse 14.
SPEAKER_2: For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.
SPEAKER_2: But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
SPEAKER_2: Now, this does not mean that you lose your salvation.
SPEAKER_2: This means that in your journey with God, as you are a follower of Jesus Christ, saved by the grace of God, fit for eternity, now you're working out what God has worked in.
SPEAKER_2: When you harbor unforgiveness toward another individual, you're not going to lose your salvation, but it will inhibit the fruit of the Spirit in your life, and it's going to stifle your fellowship with God.
SPEAKER_2: It's going to hinder your intimacy with the Lord.
SPEAKER_2: Why?
SPEAKER_2: Because God's called us to have a right relationship with Him through Christ, and then to have a right relationship with other people.
SPEAKER_2: So on a personal note, is there anyone you need to forgive?
SPEAKER_2: Let me encourage you, Ephesians 4.32, and be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another just as, say that with me, just as, one more time louder, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
SPEAKER_2: Now, come in a little bit closer.
SPEAKER_2: I want us to look at verse 13, and then I'm going to give you the action points.
SPEAKER_2: And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
SPEAKER_2: Amen.
SPEAKER_2: As we come to this point of do not lead us into temptation, we have to be reminded of the human condition.
SPEAKER_2: We have three enemies, Satan, the world, and our flesh.
SPEAKER_2: And your flesh and my flesh has an appetite.
SPEAKER_2: And I love this quote you've heard be used from Dr.
SPEAKER_2: Adrian Rogers, one of my favorite quotes, that in temptation, Satan seeks to get you to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way.
SPEAKER_2: And when we pray, lead us not into temptation, we're asking for God's protection as we live out the Christian life on a broken planet, fallen and flawed, and fighting the human condition.
SPEAKER_2: You remember when I told you about meeting with a psychiatrist and he told me about the brain, and he said the brain was so complex electrically and chemically that it's a miracle you ever have a good day?
SPEAKER_2: So we combat the complexity of our mind and then the proclivities of our flesh that we're working out what God has worked in.
SPEAKER_2: We're living out our faith in the midst of a broken, fallen world.
SPEAKER_2: And then deliver us from the evil one.
SPEAKER_2: We're asking for God's protection in this life, on this planet.
SPEAKER_2: Deliver us from the evil one.
SPEAKER_2: We're praying God protect us.
SPEAKER_2: And then Jesus prayed for us at John 17, 15 in his priestly prayer.
SPEAKER_2: It's so profound.
SPEAKER_2: I'm not praying that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.
SPEAKER_2: And I want you to know this morning that the enemy is still at work.
SPEAKER_2: And the evil one knows that the time is short.
SPEAKER_2: And so he's intensifying his attack on people who are sold out the whole route, fully devoted to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_2: And what we're experiencing in our culture is we see God's will being fulfilled, God's plan being lived out through people who are walking with God.
SPEAKER_2: But we also see God loves us and has a purpose for our life.
SPEAKER_2: But we also encounter the enemy, the devil, who hates us, but also has a plan for our life.
SPEAKER_2: Church, it is time to rise.
SPEAKER_2: It is time for us to be the church of the living God as we have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_2: And we're going to walk not in our own strength and our own power, but to walk in the power of the empty tomb, because last time I checked, the tomb is still empty.
SPEAKER_2: In the same power, the same power that has raised Jesus from the dead is available to us.
SPEAKER_2: And to quote Pastor Gregg from two Sundays ago, God's calling us as followers of Jesus Christ to be salty and to be bright in this decaying and dark world, to hallow and revere God's name, to expand God's kingdom, and to elevate the Owner's Manual, the Word of God, and bring our lives in alignment with what God says and His holy word.
SPEAKER_2: And I've read the final chapter, we may lose some battles, but we win the war.
SPEAKER_2: We are victorious.
SPEAKER_2: So as we take our prayer life to a new level, as we intercede for our nation, we pray for our spiritual awakening in our nation, as we pray for revival in our churches, this is no time to be at ease in Zion.
SPEAKER_2: It is time to let Jesus be number one, elevate our prayer lives, and be serious about sharing our faith with other people.
SPEAKER_2: Here's how we take our prayer lives to the next level.
SPEAKER_2: Number one, embrace the gift of slow to grow your prayer life.
SPEAKER_2: So in your place of prayer, remove digital distractions and get into the Word of God.
SPEAKER_2: This is the Bible I use in my daily quiet time, and I pray from my knees every morning, and I've shared my journey about exactly what I do every morning in my prayer time.
SPEAKER_2: I've already preached on that and shared that with you.
SPEAKER_2: I read from the Holy Scripture, this Bible, and I journal with a red pen.
SPEAKER_2: I've always used a red pen.
SPEAKER_2: My professors loved it when I used a red pen.
SPEAKER_2: But I use a red pen to remind me of the shed blood of Jesus Christ that has given me access to God and His Word.
SPEAKER_2: And it makes me, as I journal my journey with God, it makes me slow down and really encounter Him in an unhurried fashion.
SPEAKER_2: Allow silence and solitude to become part of your daily rhythm.
SPEAKER_2: Number two, practice God's presence as you pray throughout the day.
SPEAKER_2: Practice God's presence as you pray throughout the day.
SPEAKER_2: In other words, don't treat your quiet time as a container.
SPEAKER_2: Leave the lid open and let what God shows you in your daily intimacy with Him overflow into your day.
SPEAKER_2: You'll be able to connect God's activity during the day with what He said to you in your quiet time.
SPEAKER_2: You'll see the connection.
SPEAKER_2: Brother Lawrence, a 17th century monk in Paris, was washing dishes and he came to understand the value of practicing the presence of God and ongoing conversation with God.
SPEAKER_2: Number 3, allow private prayer to sensitize your eyes to see God's activity.
SPEAKER_2: If you've ever been to a 3D movie without 3D glasses, you're like most Christians trying to live the Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_2: When you spend time in prayer, God will give you a lens upon which to see His activity throughout the day, and He'll invite you to join Him in what He's doing.
SPEAKER_2: And now we're going to end with my favorite point, because we're about to go to lunch.
SPEAKER_2: How to fast God's way.
SPEAKER_2: How to fast God's way.
SPEAKER_2: Look at verse 16.
SPEAKER_2: We're wrapping up.
SPEAKER_2: Whenever you fast, don't be glued to me like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so that their fasting is obvious to people.
SPEAKER_2: Truly, I tell you, Jesus says, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_2: But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn't obvious to others, but to your Father who is in secret.
SPEAKER_2: And your Father, here's our phrase, who sees in secret will reward you.
SPEAKER_2: Here's the action step.
SPEAKER_2: Select a fast that will help you reset, refocus, and restore.
SPEAKER_2: Now, Scripture talks about fasting in the New Testament 30 times.
SPEAKER_2: And it's primarily speaking of fasting from food, whether it's a partial fast or it's a total fast.
SPEAKER_2: But you can fast from sugar.
SPEAKER_2: That's my number one go-to for life and godliness, is sugar.
SPEAKER_2: I love sweets.
SPEAKER_2: And so when I go embrace a fast, often it's fasting from sweets, fasting from technology, fasting from social media actually is one of the most spiritual things you can do.
SPEAKER_2: Fast from technology, fast from your current pace.
SPEAKER_2: Parents, you can fast from screens just to pray together as a family where you're not interrupted and it's loud, but everything in your life will slow down so that you can make room to pursue God.
SPEAKER_2: Fasting creates space so that you hunger for God.
SPEAKER_2: And there's a difference between fasting to be seen and being seen fasting.
SPEAKER_2: Well, let me give you our life point before we pray.
SPEAKER_2: Praying and fasting God's way is not to obtain the applause of others, but to cultivate, here's the goal, intimacy with God.
SPEAKER_2: Walk in such a way that you can be so tuned in to the echo of God's whisper.
SPEAKER_2: Would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_2: Lord, we just pray you'll give us courage this morning, courage to respond in obedience to what you've spoken to our hearts, to make those adjustments in our lives, to align with your word as we read the Owner's Mail.
SPEAKER_2: We praise you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_1: Thank you for listening to the teaching ministry of Huston's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_1: We invite you to worship with us at one of our four locations, at The Loop, Cypress, Downtown or CNL.
SPEAKER_1: Follow us on social media or visit us online at houstonsfirst.org.