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Collierville First Baptist Church
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So the title of the message is "The Practice of Prayer." The practice of prayer. John Grisham is a lawyer who's written many spine-tingling novels, some of which have been turned into movies. Do you enjoy reading a great novel?
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If you do, then you would really enjoy
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the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts that Luke wrote to a gentleman who didn't live in Israel. His name was Theophilus.
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I'll tell you, these two books in the Bible have a lot of action in them.
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And there's a lot of spiritual truth. The details in the Gospel and its sequel are absolutely fascinating,
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like the miraculous ministry of Jesus,
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the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins,
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that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day,
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that Jesus appeared to his disciples after he rose from the dead,
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that he taught them for 40 days about the kingdom of God, that Jesus ascended back to heaven,
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and he made a promise that he's coming again, amen?
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Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would not come to indwell believers until Jesus ascended back to heaven.
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That waiting period turned out to be about 10 days. Do you know what the disciples did while they waited?
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They prayed.
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Just like we did today, they prayed. Now prayer played a significant role in the development of the infant church that Jesus promised to build.
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In Acts chapter four, the believers prayed for courage to witness. In Acts chapter nine, Saul of Tarsus prayed after his conversion and asked the Lord, what do you want me to do? In Acts chapter 10, Cornelius, the Roman centurion prayed that God would show him how to be saved.
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In Acts chapter 10, Peter was praying when God instructed him to go and share the Gospel with Cornelius.
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In Acts chapter 12, the believers prayed for Peter's deliverance from a death sentence while he was in jail. God came through. Acts chapter 13, the church at Antioch fasted and prayed before sending out missionaries to the world. Acts chapter 16, at a prayer meeting in Philippi, God opened Lydia's heart to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 27, during a ferocious storm, as Paul and his, the guys on the ship with him were about to be sunk and drown, he prayed for God's blessing during the midst of that storm and God saved everybody on board.
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In almost every chapter of Acts, you find a reference to prayer.
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This is no accident.
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This is a providence of God. The Holy Spirit emphasized the practice of prayer in the New Testament church.
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Now, I've got a thought, a sentence I want to drop in your heart. It's a challenge for everybody in this room, everybody watching live stream.
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Pray like it matters.
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It does, it really does.
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What we did a few moments ago, it matters big time.
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Dr. Steve Gaines was a man of prayer. I almost felt a little intimidated around Steve because he meant that guy could pray. He carried around in his pocket prayer cards where he has people's names and he prayed for them.
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And Steve made this statement in his little book. The book is entitled, "Pray Like It Matters." And here's what he said, "Do our prayers matter?
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Do they really make a difference?"
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"I believe they do," he said, "they matter to God.
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They matter to the circumstances and people around us and to each of us as well."
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Things turn out differently when we pray than when we do not pray.
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God will do some things whether we pray or not, but there are some things God will only do only if we pray.
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In many ways, our lives are the result of the prayers we prayed as well as the ones we have not prayed. Now that's true for us as individual Christians,
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but let me tell you that's also true for the church as a corporate body of Christ.
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Now, what are some characteristics of a church that practices prayer? There's four of them in our text today, Acts chapter one, verses 12 through 26. Here's the first one, the passion of a praying church. In Acts chapter one, verses 12 and 13,
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then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.
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When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying, that is Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus and Simon the zealot and Judas, the son of James, not Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus, it was another Judas.
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I would have loved to have heard the conversations that those disciples were having after the crucifixion and the resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely they were rehashing his post resurrection appearances to them. They were rehashing his masterful teaching concerning the kingdom of God. The Lord's commission to take the gospel to the world still rang in their hearts.
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The sight of Jesus ascending to heaven, within their, they saw it happen. They saw him ascend into heaven. It must have made an indelible impression upon their hearts and their minds. These men were radically transformed by the gospel.
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I tell you, their lives would never ever be the same.
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Their passion for Jesus was off the charts.
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Hey, if you're going to be a Christian who prays and an active participant in a church that practices prayer,
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then you've got to have a passion for Jesus. I can tell you this, your prayer life will be like a yo-yo.
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If you don't have a passion for Jesus.
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Now, you know what a yo-yo is?
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That's back in my childhood.
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That thing you do this and it comes up and goes out, goes up, you don't want your prayer life to be like a yo-yo.
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You want a strong, powerful prayer life. This church needs a strong, powerful prayer life. And in order to have that, we've got to draw close to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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It starts with our daily quiet time.
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It starts with us getting up and reading the Bible and praying and seeking the face of the Lord on a consistent basis. I've discovered this, the more time I spend with Jesus, praying and reading the Bible, the closer I get to Him, the deeper my relationship to Him becomes. So the first characteristic of a church that really practices prayer is the passion of a praying church. Here's the second characteristic, the harmony of a praying church.
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Jesus right now is seated on His throne in heaven.
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He's at the right hand of the Father.
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He is the head of the church. We're the body, we're little fingers and toes and thumbs, we're the body of Christ, but He is the head. He drives everything. He is Lord. We just sang about His Lordship.
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He promised His disciples that He would build His church. And that's what He do and prayer is such a part of it. And harmony within the church is such an important ingredient of a praying church. In Acts chapter one, verse 14, the Bible says, "These all with one mind were continually "devoting themselves to prayer along with the women "and Mary the mother of Jesus and with His brothers." Now look at that little phrase, "These all with one mind."
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The word with one mind here means unanimous consent.
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It's a musical term that means to strike the same notes together. I praise God for our worship ministry. I praise God for an orchestra that strikes the same notes together and they're not playing different stuff, right? That would be disastrous, wouldn't it? I'll tell you, it is disastrous in the church when there is not harmony and unity in the body of Christ. The resurrected and reigning Lord was smashing cultural norms in this newly found church that He would build. Let me give you an example.
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In Judaism, you would have never found a Jewish man praying with a Jewish woman in the Jewish temple. That would never have happened. But you know what was happening in the upper room?
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Men and went Christian, men and women were coming together in the upper room and they were all praying together. They were praying in agreement together.
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Jesus was smashing cultural and religious norms. Listen, this harmony is so important in the kingdom of God. It's something Jesus prayed for before He was crucified.
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In John 17, verse 11, Jesus said, "I'm no longer in the world," He's praying to the Father.
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"I'm no longer in the world, and yet they themselves," His disciples are in the world. "And I come to you, Holy Father, keep them in your name,
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the name which you have given me." Now listen to this, here's what Jesus prayed.
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"That they may be one even as we are one."
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You see, there's supernatural unity in the Trinity. God the Father, God Son, God the Holy Spirit. They've always been on the same page together for all of eternity. And He desires that in this church. Now let me say this, there's probably 3,000 members of this church, let's say, a lot of members.
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And we can only have nine members
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on this pastor search team, along with two alternates.
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So don't get your feelings hurt
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if you're not on this pastor search team. There's a lot of people. We've got to trust a sovereign Christ
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to put the people on this team that He wants to be on this team. We've got to have unity and harmony in the body of Christ.
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It's so important that in the upper room, they prayed in agreement.
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They weren't all over the map, this one praying this one, this, this one praying that. They were praying together about common prayer need. Maybe they were praying about some stuff like this. I'm just guessing I don't have biblical proof for this. Maybe they were praying that they wouldn't grieve or quench the Holy Spirit.
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Maybe they were praying that God would soften the hearts of the Jews.
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Maybe they were praying that hundreds, even thousands would be saved. Maybe they were praying that the great commission would be fulfilled.
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Maybe they were praying that they would stand firm during times of persecution.
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I'll tell you, here's our challenge folks.
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We got to pray like it matters because it does. Listen, what's the characteristic of a church that prays like this?
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Well, it is a church.
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Let me get back here. It has a passion for Jesus. It has a harmony in the church. And listen to this, here's the third characteristic, the devotion of a praying church.
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Look at verse 14 again. Notice that phrase continually devoting. It's a picture of endurance. It's a picture of perseverance. They didn't pray in spurts.
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They prayed with endurance. They persevered in their prayer lives. Listen, the word here carries the idea of obstinate determination. I like that.
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Obstinate determination. I hope and pray that every member of this body is obstinately determined that you're going to pray and seek the face of God as we move through this season in our life as a church.
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They were deadly serious about prayer and seeking the face of God.
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Now this principle of devotion and prayer is found throughout the Bible. In fact, in Colossians 4, 2, Paul wrote, "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving."
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In Romans chapter 12, verses 10 to 13, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love." That's that harmony we're talking about. "Give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality."
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During the Apollo missions to the moon, the lunar capsules were off course more than 90% of the time.
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Now I wouldn't have wanted to be on those missions as an astronaut, knowing that we're off course, right? But you know what they did? Through continual communication with mission control, they were able to make the necessary adjustments and get back where they were supposed to be. Many times a church can get off course.
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By devoting ourselves to prayer,
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we can make course corrections and we can accomplish what our Lord wants us to accomplish.
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Hey, many times we as individual believers get off course. And I tell you, if we go to the sovereign Lord and we seek His will and His way, He will get us where we need to be. Billy Graham said, "There are three secrets to successful ministry."
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Now this is complicated, so you better remember this. Here's his three secrets to ministry, successful ministry. Pray, pray, pray.
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You got it? You'll never forget that, will you?
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Now listen, that's the practice of prayer. Now we've looked at three characteristics of a praying church, the passion of a praying church, the harmony of a praying church, the devotion of a praying church. And here's a final characteristic,
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the confidence of a praying church.
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Prayer played a significant role in the development of the New Testament church.
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I want you to see that the believers prayed for guidance
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in making a crucial decision. Remember, Judas, the apostle who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, committed suicide.
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He committed suicide.
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And Peter and James and John and the leaders of the church got together and they began to pray, "Lord Jesus, who do you want to take Judas's place? Who do you want to be the 12th apostle?"
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Now look, the Lord Jesus was no longer with them to give personal directions to them, but they had something that you and I have today. They had the word of God and they had prayer. The word of God and prayer. In fact, the word of God and prayer formed the foundation for the ministry of the New Testament church.
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I want you to look at verses 23 to 26.
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So they put forward two men, two men. Joseph called Bar-sabas, who was also called Justice,
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and Matthias, verse 24. And they prayed. Now notice that.
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They prayed.
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Not just Peter, James and John and the rest of the apostle. They, the entire church prayed about whom the Lord Jesus wanted to take the place of Judas as the 12th apostle. They prayed and said, "You Lord,
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who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen." Now they recognize something that you and I need to recognize.
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They recognize that Jesus gets to make the choices.
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We don't get to make the choices.
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Jesus makes the choices.
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And Jesus knows everybody's heart.
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Do you know why?
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Jesus, I'm gonna let you in on something. Jesus already knows who the next pastor is gonna be. He already knows. He knows.
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And he is getting him ready for this. That's one thing about this prayer, God.
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You've been so gracious to be praying for me and Darlene in this process. And we have been praying a lot for the next pastor and for the pastor search team. I like that.
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Now look at this. "You Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you've chosen.
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To occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. And they drew lots for them and the lot fell to Matthias. And he was added to the 11 apostles."
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Have you ever thought about Bar-Sabbas?
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He didn't throw a fit.
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He didn't cause disunity in the body.
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He believed that this was God's will.
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"So they chose Matthias and he was added at the 12th apostle."
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What confidence these believers had in the Lord Jesus.
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Look, I am absolutely confident
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that we're gonna have the nine people on this pastor search team and the two alternates that the Lord Jesus wants us to have. I believe he's gonna work it out.
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In John chapter 14, verses 12 to 14, Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in me the works that I do, he will do also and greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father," the ascension.
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Whatever, look at verse 13. "Whatever you ask in my name, that will I do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." That is an incredible promise.
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So we have asked what we pray today in the name of Jesus.
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Do you believe the promise of God? It's right here. He says, if we ask in Jesus name,
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that he will give us what he promised us.
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Now listen, it is very important that we understand
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that we've got to pray like it matters. I'm telling you folks, what we did today matters.
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It matters.
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We've looked at four key characteristics
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of a church that actually does more than talk about prayer
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but a church that actually prays.
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Hear those characteristics again in review. The passion of a praying church, the harmony of the praying church, the devotion of a praying church and the confidence of a praying church. So I'm asking you as a body of Christ here today, if you're born again, believe it.
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I'm asking you to devote yourself to prayer.
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Devote your, not just this morning,
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but for the rest of this process as we work through it. Devote yourself to prayer, to joining other members of this body in specific prayer for the Lord's will concerning who should be on the pastor's search team and who should be our next pastor.
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We got to pray.
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Now these men and women in the upper room had turned from their sin.
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They had placed their faith and trust in Jesus as their savior and their Lord.
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And they were forgiven.
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They were justified before living and holy God.
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And God says, if you believe in Jesus, you'll be a part of his forever family.
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And I praise God for that. Many of you in this room are part of the family of God because you repented of your sin and you placed your faith in Jesus.
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Some of you in here need to pray and ask Jesus to forgive you
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because you're not a believer.
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Let me give you a promise. Romans chapter 10 verse 13. For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
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Today I'm challenging you to turn from your sin. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus. Ask him to save you and to change your heart and life and your eternal destiny. I promise you, if you ask that in his name, he'll do it.
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He'll save your soul, he'll change your life. You will never be the same, just like the apostles.
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So I'm gonna ask our worship team to come, our staff to come,
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and we're gonna give you an opportunity
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to do whatever the Holy Spirit has led you to do.
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Now I remind you, when this is all over and we say amen and we're walking out the door, you can take your balance where you filled out. Now look, there's 11 lines on here. If you only know two people that you feel will be good on the pastor's church team, just put two. Just put two, but you do have to sign. You do have to print your name because some of you write like a chicken. So you have to print your name and you have to sign your name, okay? Sam Nichols, I can't read his writing. It's horrible. (Congregation Laughing) Horrible.
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So take this, the guys will be at the door when you leave with a basket and you can put it in there. So now I'm gonna invite you, if you, let's stand, let's stand. Lord Jesus, I pray that you would work powerfully in our hearts.
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I pray for those in the church who are looking for a church home.
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And Lord, if you want them to be a part of Cardible First Baptist, I pray they come to one of our staff members today and tell them that they're ready to become a part of this church. If they're here today, they need to be saved. I pray, Lord, you bring them to a staff member and that they would give their heart to Christ today.
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And heavenly Father, I pray for believers who are lukewarm and I pray, Lord, that you would bring revival to their hearts. And I pray you'll give us a passion for prayer. Lord, we love you. We give this moment to you in Jesus name, amen.
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