Praying to See God Move.

Nate Schlomann

[0:00] !

[0:07] Good morning everyone go ahead and have a seat. My name is Nate I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. Happy Independence Day. Freedom is a wonderful thing to celebrate, especially the freedom that we have to worship Jesus. [0:20] I know that some of you might be coming from traditions where July 4th church services are patriotic celebrations or you’re not really sure what to expect here on a morning like this at Village Church. [0:32] I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with celebrating your home, celebrating your history, celebrating where you are from. That’s true for Christians everywhere across the world. [0:42] I’ll go a little bit further though. As a Christian here in America there is a lot in our country’s founding ideals that should be celebrated and we’d be a lot better off if we didn’t ignore a lot of those ideals these days. [0:55] So as you’re celebrating later today or tomorrow don’t let anyone tell you that there is anything wrong with that. We should be a people that celebrate. [1:04] But having said all that Sunday morning worship has a purpose and an aim and an intent and it is not that kind of celebration.

[1:12] We are gathered here as God’s people to worship God and that’s where our focus should be. That’s where our attention needs to be and so we’re kind of unapologetic about that at Village Church. [1:21] That doesn’t mean though that we’re unpatriotic. Far from it. What that means is we do believe that this the ordinary practice of God’s people gathered worshipping God is the most important thing that can happen for any nation at any time in history anywhere. [1:38] And so that is just what we’re going to do this morning. We’re going to continue our worship to God by looking at his word and continuing in this goals series that we’ve been in. [1:47] So picking back up now our hope for the church in this series goals is that we want to look at some goals that we believe God has given us through scripture for a vision for his church on where he would want us to go. [2:00] Goals grounded in scripture and so far we’ve talked the first week about worshiping Jesus in both word and deed. [2:07] The next week we talked about the goal of discipleship and having relationships for discipleship.

[2:14] Last week Steve talked about growing in our understanding of scripture with the purpose of knowing God better and this week we’re going to talk about prayer. [2:23] Where does God want us to go when it comes to prayer praying more would be a great goal. [2:29] I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you even maybe had the goal of praying more as a New Year’s resolution this year. [2:35] It’s a pretty common one when I’m talking to people about discipleship and about growing in faith it’s pretty often that praying more is mentioned as an important next step to take. [2:46] So prayer is a big topic and this morning I just want to narrow in and focus on one aspect of prayer and that is this. [2:53] What does it look like to pray to see God move in our lives.

[2:58] We need to expand our vision of prayer to match the vision God gives us in his word. [3:05] There’s a big difference between asking for things that we think we need and praying to see God mood God move. [3:13] It’s not that we don’t ask for things scripture absolutely tells us to do that. [3:17] It’s not that we don’t ask for healing when we’re sick scripture very specifically tells us to do that. [3:23] It’s not that we don’t ask for guidance when we don’t know what to do scripture tells us to do that. [3:28] But in all our asking God for things are we asking God to do what he wants to do.

[3:34] Are we asking God where he wants us to go as we follow him. [3:39] So yes I do hope this morning will help us all to pray more but much more than that I hope that we’re going to gain an understanding from scripture about how God actually uses prayer to grow us and make us more like Jesus. [3:53] Did you know that you can pray for the wrong thing. [3:57] Did you know that you can pray in the wrong way. [4:00] Look at James chapter four verse three and verse will be on the screen too. [4:05] It says this you ask and you don’t you do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your own passions.

[4:13] Scripture is pretty direct here. [4:15] If we pray for what we want and not for what God wants that’s not going to be a productive prayer. [4:21] Sometimes that can be about the thing we’re asking for us the wrong thing. [4:24] Sometimes that can be about having the wrong motivations and how we approach God in prayer. [4:31] Now God is not being tough with us here. [4:33] This actually is for our own good.

[4:36] What God wants is what is best for us and that’s what we need to learn to pray for. [4:42] If we only think about praying for what we want God is not interested in giving us what’s not going to be best for us. [4:49] So that ultimately is going to lead to a very stale prayer life if we’re just praying for what we want and not considering what God wants. [4:57] Scripture has a bigger vision for prayer. [5:00] Scripture says we need to learn to pray for God to move in our lives and to do that we have to learn what God wants. [5:07] And the good news is God has told us what he wants in his words.

[5:11] So my first point this morning first thing I want to see about prayer. [5:14] Praying to see God move teaches us what God wants. [5:19] The most powerful motivation for learning to do something is necessity. [5:24] It’s often hard to learn to do something until you really have to or until you really need to know it. [5:30] And we instinctively know this on the job training is just the best training you can get when you don’t have the money to pay for people to do stuff around your house. [5:38] It is amazing what you can learn on YouTube when you have to.

[5:41] And maybe the best example of this I think is parenting. [5:44] No one is ever ready for that. [5:46] You try to prepare people pretend like they’re preparing. [5:50] But it’s not until the kid is there that you get on the job training. [5:53] It’s out of necessity. [5:55] But then you do learn if you want to pray to see God move.

[5:59] It’s a necessity that you learn what God wants for your life. [6:04] You’ve got to learn that if you don’t know what God wants you don’t know how to pray for him to move in your life and in the life of others. [6:10] What could be more important than knowing what God wants. [6:13] God loves us. [6:14] He wants the best for us. [6:16] And so knowing what God wants is a big deal.

[6:19] And so out of necessity praying to see God move having the boldness to pray that prayer that you want to see God move in your life and in the life of others that is going to teach you what God wants because out of necessity you’re going to be required to learn that to pray that prayer. [6:33] One of the best passages of scripture that shows us this is First Timothy two verses one through four. [6:40] And that says this. [6:42] First of all then I urge that supplications prayers intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people for kings and all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life godly and dignified in every way. [6:56] This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [7:05] So Paul just kind of covers it all in this passage doesn’t he talking about supplications prayers intercessions thanksgivings.

[7:12] He doesn’t want to leave anything out and he doesn’t want to leave anyone out either. [7:16] He says all people that includes the lowest person you can think of all the way up to kings and leaders and Paul prays for everyone to lead a peaceful quiet godly life pretty general there’s a lot of things that could fall under that category. [7:31] But what Paul says right after that is key that God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [7:39] This is the key to knowing what God wants and how to pray for God to move. [7:43] You see God moving is all about mission. [7:47] If you search the scriptures you’re going to find one big redemption story of God saving a people for himself.

[7:55] God moving is the aim of Paul’s prayer here he prays supplication that’s asking for things or circumstances he prays intercessions praying on behalf and for others. [8:05] He prays thanksgivings and he prays all these things for all people and he wants what everyone to lead a peaceful godly life that leads to as many people as possible coming to faith in Jesus because God wants all people to know him. [8:21] I think it can be a very daunting thing to think about what God wants. [8:26] He’s God. [8:27] He’s infinite. [8:28] He’s everywhere.

[8:29] He knows everything. [8:32] But despite how big God is he’s not left us guessing what he wants in any given situation because his mission is actually very clear. [8:40] And what that means is in any situation that we find ourselves us or those that we are praying for even if we don’t know the details we do know how to pray for God to move. [8:51] We know that we can always pray that people would know God more. [8:54] We can always pray that those who do know God would have their faith strengthened. [8:58] And that is just in those instances where we don’t have a lot of details and we don’t know what to pray for.

[9:05] The truth of the matter is often we do have much more details than that. [9:09] We sell ourselves short too often or we’re not bold enough. [9:12] After we’ve matured in our faith and we know God more we often do know how to pray in a given situation very specifically for what God wants. [9:21] We know what outcomes would probably advance God’s mission more and we can pray for those things. [9:26] We can pray for health and protection in ways that submit to God’s mission our ways of praying for loved ones and especially children can be directed towards what will move them closer to God even if that’s not always what is easiest for them. [9:42] When you start to really learn what God wants you’re able to boldly pray for God to move in your life and in the lives of others.

[9:48] In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus actually models this for us praying to see God move but I think it is just so familiar that we kind of pass over what he’s actually saying. [9:58] But look there in just the beginning of it Matthew six verses nine and ten and Jesus says this going to be familiar pray then like this our father in heaven how it be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [10:13] I think it is way too easy to just take your kingdom come your will be done as a blanket prayer of God whatever you want to happen that’s what I’m praying is going to happen and that’s not technically wrong. [10:26] All right God’s kingdom is coming his will is going to be accomplished but there is just way more behind that prayer. [10:32] It’s actually much better to take the time to understand and consider God’s will his mission and to pray for that to happen it’s much better to consider for any person that we might be praying for for our own situation. [10:45] What does the kingdom coming and what does God’s will being done look like in this situation and let me pray for that.

[10:53] Have you ever considered the grace that is being able to know God and to think about life from God’s perspective. [11:01] That’s one of the things that I think really should blow our mind if we think about it that we can know God in that way God created everything he knows everything he sees everything. [11:11] God is perfect and he’s completely unlike anyone and anything else and yet something about being made in God’s image means that we can think the same way that God thinks. [11:24] And this allows us to communicate with God through prayer but don’t miss that this also allows us through God’s word and through what God has told us about himself to understand what God wants and to think about how God might view our situation and what we’re praying for. [11:40] That is an unbelievable grace that we have the ability to pray for what is happening in our lives and the lives of others in a way that is informed by how God might be thinking about this situation because he’s told us. [11:53] So because God can be known and because we can understand what he wants that means we can also grow in our ability to consider God’s will and perspective as we pray.

[12:03] This is something that we learn to do more and more as we learn more and more about God the more we know God and what he wants the more we’re able to pray very specifically for God to move in our lives. [12:15] For another example of this before we move on look at first John five fourteen through fifteen first John five fourteen through fifteen. [12:24] And this is the confidence that we have towards him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. [12:38] So earlier I said there’s a big difference between asking for things we think we need and praying to see God move. [12:44] And this does not mean that we never ask for things we think we need but it does dramatically change how we think about what we think we need. [12:54] When you learn to first consider that you need to approach every situation from God’s perspective that will change how you ask for things.

[13:01] And this is what John means when he says if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [13:07] God loves you. He’s interested in your life but he’s interested in what is best for your life. [13:12] And when you really consider verses like this let’s not pretend that there isn’t something here that can rub us the wrong way because essentially what God is saying is as long as you ask me for what you know I want to give you then I will give it to you. [13:26] If you’re a snarky person at all I don’t blame you if you think to that gee thanks God. [13:31] If I ask you for what you want to give me then you’re going to give it to me. Well of course you will. [13:35] And that would be a reasonable reaction if this wasn’t God that we’re talking about.

[13:39] If I look to my spouse and I say you can pick where we want to go to dinner tonight but then every option that she gives me is no unless it was where I already wanted to go. [13:49] I can see the elbows because I know we all do this. That’s not very generous is it. It’s not generous at all. [13:55] But this is God. It is completely different because what he wants to give us is what is best for us without a doubt. [14:03] And so when God tells us I’ll give you what you want if you ask for what I want for you he is being gracious. [14:11] He is loving us when he says that he is saving us from ourselves and wrapped up in this understanding that when we pray we need to ask for what God wants for us is the reality that the only way for us to do that is to get to know God better. [14:25] So Steve preached a whole sermon on that last week. You need to listen to that.

[14:28] We’ve got to study the Bible with the intent to know God more. [14:32] And that is for our good. [14:34] Praying to see God move teaches us what God wants in learning more about what God wants and submitting to that will always make our life better. [14:42] Now better is not easier. [14:45] I promise when you learn more about what God wants you will learn some things that actually make some parts of your life a little harder a little more difficult. [14:54] In praying for what God wants means understanding that sometimes his best does not remove suffering from our lives.

[15:02] If that suffering is advancing his purposes in us and through us. [15:06] That’s not easier but it is better. [15:09] And that’s one thing to say but it takes faith to believe that that’s true. [15:14] In fact I would say scripture shows us that building up our faith is one of the main goals that God has for us in prayer. [15:21] God knows that as we take prayer seriously as we consider what God would have us to pray for this can’t help but cause us to trust God more and more. [15:30] When you study who God is and what he says one thing you can’t miss is that he is bigger than us.

[15:35] He’s smarter than us. [15:36] He loves us more than we love ourselves. [15:38] He knows things that we don’t know. [15:40] And so when we pray with all of this in mind that puts us in a humble posture that builds our faith. [15:46] Look at Ephesians 3 20 and 21. [15:51] And Paul saying this to the church.

[15:53] Now to him who as he’s praying Paul’s praying right here he says now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. [16:08] Amen. [16:09] So this is in Ephesians. [16:11] Paul’s praying for the mission of the church and Paul knows that God wants to build the church because Paul knows God Paul knows what God is about Paul knows what God’s mission in the world is. [16:22] And Paul knows that the Holy Spirit is going to work through the people but Paul doesn’t know the details of how that’s going to work. [16:27] And you can just sense here in Paul’s language Paul’s complete trust and faith in God with all of those details as he says to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think.

[16:42] So Paul is praying for God to move and you see that building Paul’s faith right there in the words of scripture praying to see God move builds our faith is my second point this morning praying to see God move builds our faith it builds our faith because it forces us to trust God for him. [16:57] For who he is not for who we want him to be when you pray to see God move in and through your life. [17:04] The first thing that scripture is going to show you is that in order to do that you have to learn what God wants. [17:09] We’ve already talked about that that God wants us to live for his mission that God loves people and wants them to know him. [17:15] But here’s what builds faith. [17:18] We’ve got to believe that what God wants is what is best for us.

[17:22] It is a good thing to know what God wants and we need to strive for that. [17:26] But trusting and believing that what God wants is good for us. [17:30] That is what faith is. [17:32] Look at Matthew 6 7 and 8 says this and when you pray do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do for they think that they will be heard for their many words do not be like them for your father knows what you need before you ask him. [17:48] Learning to pray for God to move will keep you from formulaic prayers that don’t actually mean anything. [17:54] There is a way to pray that is faithless and that is what Jesus is really talking about here.

[18:00] That’s what he means when he says empty phrases in many words we already saw in James 4 3. [18:04] It’s possible to pray for things in the wrong way. [18:07] It’s possible to pray for things with the wrong motivation. [18:10] But this should not discourage you at all because praying the right way is not harder. [18:14] It is actually easier. [18:16] God wants you to know him.

[18:17] You don’t need fancy words. [18:19] You don’t need many words. [18:20] You just need genuine words. [18:22] Isn’t that amazing that that’s what God wants from us. [18:25] He does he wants you to know him and to pray simply from that basis and that’s much better than lofty fancy phrases that don’t mean anything. [18:34] When you learn to know who God is and get away from formulaic prayer that doesn’t really mean anything that’s going to build your faith.

[18:40] And then there at the end of verse 8 in Matthew 6 we’re reminded that God knows what we need before we ask him. [18:47] And this would include God knows what we need whether we know perfectly what to ask for or not. [18:53] When you’re praying for God to move do you have the faith that God knows what you need before you ask him. [18:59] And even if you don’t know what to ask for God knows praying for God to move is trusting that whatever he has for you is for your best. [19:08] Look at Hebrews 11 6 Hebrews 11 6. [19:13] And without faith it is impossible to please him for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

[19:23] You can’t pray without faith and you can’t have faith unless you believe God can be known. [19:28] We’ve talked about that and that he rewards those who pray and seek to follow him. [19:33] Here’s a question I think looking at this verse we need to ask ourselves. [19:36] What would a reward from God look like. [19:40] All right answering this question is how learning to pray for God to move actually builds our faith. [19:46] Are the rewards that come to your mind when you consider this things that you want for your life or are they things that God wants for your life.

[19:53] That perspective is all the difference. [19:56] One thing this means is that success and serving God should be on our minds as a reward. [20:02] Having a strong marriage as a reward having kids who love and serve the Lord is a reward. [20:06] Are you praying for those things discipling and building up other Christians as a reward. [20:11] Are you praying towards that the perspective of what God wants for our life changes how we pray for other things as well. [20:20] There’s nothing wrong at all with praying for a promotion at job or praying for business success or praying for financial needs or health needs or things like that.

[20:29] There’s nothing wrong with that at all. [20:30] But is it submitted to God for his glory. [20:33] Does it fall under that perspective. [20:35] Remember that First Timothy 2 says we should pray for a quiet and peaceful life to be used for mission. [20:42] So it is good to pray for healing and to pray for peaceful relationships to pray for protection. [20:48] These are all rewards that are good things to pray for if they are done under the submission and for the purpose of seeing God move in the world and seeing his mission go forward in our lives.

[20:59] But in order for those things to be rewards and this is where the faith comes in. [21:04] You have to trust God enough to submit to him how that goes. [21:08] If you don’t get that promotion do you still trust him. [21:11] If that relationship isn’t restored do you still trust him. [21:15] If the healing never does happen do you trust him. [21:18] If life isn’t peaceful even though you ask for that for all the right reasons for God’s mission.

[21:23] Do you still trust him. [21:24] That is the overarching perspective that will build your faith as you pray for God to move. [21:31] Now look at one last thing when we’re talking about faith in prayer. [21:34] Go to Romans 8 26 says this. [21:38] Likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know what to pray for as we ought. [21:43] But the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

[21:48] When we’re praying for God to move for God to use our lives for his mission. [21:52] We’re not always going to know exactly what God wants. [21:55] He’s God. He’s infinite. [21:56] There’s no way we can know everything he wants. [21:59] And I hope that you’ve seen though that we can know God a lot. [22:02] We can grow in that tremendously.

[22:05] We have a lot of room to grow in our understanding of who God is and what he wants. [22:09] But we’ll never fully know exactly how to pray for God to move. [22:13] Which is why God also promises us that the Holy Spirit will pray for us. [22:18] We can trust that when our will is submitted to God the Holy Spirit is in us. [22:22] And as the text says interceding for us. [22:25] And again this is how praying for God to move will build your faith.

[22:28] Because it is a matter of trust and faith that when you’re praying for God to move with the right motivations. [22:33] You trust that God is hearing you and that the Holy Spirit is interceding even when you don’t have words. [22:39] And that understanding that will build your faith. [22:43] So first big idea praying to see God move will teach us what God wants. [22:47] Second big idea trusting that what God wants for us is the best will build our faith as we pray those prayers. [22:56] There’s one more aspect of praying to see God move that I want us to consider from scripture this morning.

[23:01] And that is that praying to see God move changes our desires. [23:06] It changes our desires and I think that’s a really good thing. [23:09] As we learn what God wants and we submit to him God actually changes our desires. [23:14] And God is always for our good. [23:17] So our desires changing is good because our old desires before we were submitting to God were often not good. [23:23] We can know this intellectually and submit to God because we know he’s for our good.

[23:28] And I think that is a good and healthy place to start wherever we are. [23:31] We still need to submit to God even if our desires have not changed yet. [23:36] But what is so amazing about God is he does not leave us there through prayer and submission to his will and following him in obedience. [23:44] God changes our desires. [23:46] Look at John 15 verse seven. [23:49] This is Jesus and he says if you invite in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

[23:58] And when we read a verse like that and there are several other verses like this in scripture we should think well can we really ask for whatever we wish and it will be done. [24:08] Is it really whatever. [24:10] But I think that doesn’t seem to fit with scripture that we’ve already seen earlier does it. [24:15] We’ve seen that there are ways to pray for the wrong things and there are ways to pray with the wrong motivations. [24:20] We’ve seen that God does want us to learn what he wants and pray for that because that is best. [24:26] Well the answer to this is at the beginning of the verse.

[24:28] And what is happening here is Jesus is describing how God changes our desires. [24:34] And it’s just the process we’ve already talked about this morning. [24:37] We’re submitting to God. [24:38] We’re abiding in him and then we’re studying scripture and God’s words are abiding in us. [24:43] We’re learning more and more of what God wants in our lives and we’re learning to trust him. [24:47] And this process of doing this actually changes our desires so that we are desiring above all else what God wants.

[24:55] And when that is true then it can also be true that whatever we ask for it will be done when our desires are aligned with God’s will and what God wants. [25:04] Then our prayers are answered even if we don’t understand everything at the time. [25:08] Praying to see God move changes our desires. [25:11] We see this clearly also in Psalms 37 verses three through five. [25:17] It says trust in the Lord and do good. [25:20] Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

[25:22] Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. [25:26] Commit your way to the Lord. [25:27] Trust in him and he will act. [25:31] We see the same exact pattern here. [25:33] Trust God. [25:34] Learn what he wants.

[25:36] Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. [25:40] Is this just any desires of your heart? [25:42] No. [25:42] Of course it’s not. [25:43] That would not be for your best. [25:45] That would not be loving of God.

[25:47] When you’re trusting in the Lord when you’re committing to his ways you will want what God wants more than what you want. [25:53] And then what does the end of the verse say in verse five says God will act. [25:59] You will see God move when God changes our desires. [26:02] It’s a great thing because our desires change to what really matters in life. [26:08] So many of our desires apart from God they’re fleeting and ultimately meaningless. [26:11] And the thing is deep down we know this.

[26:14] We know that we’re not enough to be the center of our worlds. [26:17] Whatever we want in the moment especially if it’s just stuff it’s never going to be enough. [26:23] So having God change our desires to match his is a wonderful blessing. [26:27] It gives life meaning and purpose. [26:30] Now does this mean that we don’t pray for our needs. [26:34] More importantly I think does this mean if God changes our desires that we don’t desire the very best for our loved ones and family.

[26:42] Of course not. [26:43] Praying to see God move will make our prayers for our family and loved ones that much more meaningful than they ever would have been without God’s desires in us. [26:52] When we pray for God to move and we go through the process of God changing our desires it allows us to love those close to us more than we ever could have apart from that process. [27:03] Because if your desires are not best for you do you think for example your desires are what is best for your kids if you have kids. [27:09] Absolutely not God’s desires are what is best for them. [27:13] If you’re married do you think your desires are what is best for your spouse.

[27:17] No your spouse is better off if you’re praying for what God desires for them and taking the time to know what that is. [27:25] And this principle applies to any of our needs. [27:27] Remember God knows what we need before we ask it. [27:30] Maybe your need thinking of those examples I just gave your need is that you need a spouse. [27:36] Maybe you want kids. [27:38] Those are good desires and if they’re submitted to God’s mission ask God to move in that area but trust him in that.

[27:45] Maybe your needs financial if you’re praying for God to move in that area you’ve got to submit your life to him. [27:51] He’s going to change your perspective on money and obedience to God’s going to change your perspective on work and diligence. [27:59] When you pray for God to move in your life there’s no part of your life God will not touch and mold for the better if you trust him and submit to him in obedience. [28:09] This does not mean everything will be easier. [28:11] Some things in fact will be harder but when you pray for God to move and you mean it and you move with him in obedience you’ll experience and know God and there’s nothing better than that. [28:22] It’s really quick this morning for application points as we think about prayer.

[28:27] First is this develop habits of prayer. [28:30] There’s no way around this one. [28:32] You’ve got to start by making prayer a habit. [28:34] Don’t look for a magic bullet some little trick that’s going to help you all of a sudden just become good and consistent at prayer. [28:42] Don’t look for your desires to change first that happens as a process over time. [28:46] You’ve got to start now and then see your desires change.

[28:50] So what can you do to develop habits read a book on creating habits apply that to prayer and Bible reading. [28:56] What could be more important than that create a set time in your day every day for prayer. [29:02] Make it reasonable and short. [29:05] It’s way better to have five minutes of dedicated time for prayer than nothing. [29:09] If that’s where you’re at now. [29:11] So start somewhere and go from there.

[29:14] Set a reminder on your phone that goes off every day and it’s got to be cleared reminder to pray at that time when you’re going to pray. [29:20] It’s technology can help you. [29:22] And that’s something I started doing this year that’s been very helpful. [29:25] I pray in the car while you’re driving. [29:27] Find places like that that you can just start to use for prayer. [29:31] Second application write down your prayers.

[29:35] Now don’t do this while you’re driving. [29:36] Find another time for that. [29:38] But whether it’s on a computer in a journal on your phone. [29:42] Find a way to start writing down your prayers. [29:45] It will really help you to write down the things that you’re praying for especially in light of learning to pray for what God wants. [29:53] When you write things down it helps you think over them and you can think about OK in this situation.

[29:57] Am I praying for this for what I want or for what God wants. [30:01] And you’re going to have a lot of help doing that if you write down your prayers. [30:05] Third application strive to study to know God better. [30:09] Steve preached about this last week. [30:12] If you want to pray better you have to know scripture better and you have to know the God of scripture better. [30:18] Read good theology about God.

[30:19] There are many books in the foyer that can help you with this. [30:23] One of them is literally called knowing God. [30:25] If you need to know God better that will help you go get it. [30:30] Strive to know God better. [30:32] That is going to immensely help your prayer life. [30:35] And lastly get in the game and move with God.

[30:38] As you pray to see God move you’re going to have to move to join him where he’s working. [30:44] This is a reciprocal thing in any place is a good place to start. [30:47] But praying for God to move is a powerful prayer. [30:50] And when you take it seriously and take the time to know what God wants and to pray for God to move in your life and in the life. [30:55] Of others. [30:57] God is going to show you places where you need to join him and you need to get in the game and do that.

[31:01] That could be so many things something you need to start doing as a parent something new in your marriage discipling others serving the list goes on and on from here. [31:09] It can be a lot of different things. [31:10] But whatever those things are as you join God where he’s moving in your life you’ll find yourself more able to pray for God to move in other areas of your life and in the lives of others. [31:22] So learn to pray for God to move. [31:23] He will and then respond to where he prompts you to go with him. [31:27] When you do that God will grow you and you’ll know more and more how to pray.

[31:33] Every week at Village Church we take the Lord’s Supper together and in the pockets in front of you you will find a cup and in the top of that is some bread representing Christ’s body broken for you. [31:44] Cup represents Christ’s blood shed for you. [31:47] Now is a good time to pray and just consider that it is only through the work of Jesus that you are even able to approach God that you’re even able to pray and know God and what an amazing gift that is that’s possible through Christ’s death and resurrection. [32:05] So if you’re a believer communion is open to you. [32:08] I do want to say though if you are not a believer in Jesus we want you to know that you can be. [32:13] We’ve already talked this morning about how God desires that everyone knows him and God wants you to come to know him through the work of his son.

[32:22] So all you need to do if you don’t know him is pray. [32:25] He will hear you. [32:26] But if you do that please let us know that you did. [32:29] And go ahead and take communion when you’re ready.

[32:55] Thank you.