Steve Gentry
[0:00] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to John chapter 17. [0:03] John chapter 17, that’s where we’ll be for the majority of this morning. [0:08] But just want to by way of announcement, last week [0:11] we heard from our children’s director, the director of Village Kids, [0:15] Kelsey McLean, about about volunteering. [0:18] And so I just kind of want to reiterate and remind
[0:20] sometimes it takes us a few times to hear things before we ever respond. [0:24] So I want to coax you a little bit more towards volunteering [0:28] on one of our teams here at Village Church. [0:30] If you’ve been here for for any significant amount of time [0:33] or maybe just a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months [0:35] for some of you looking at you a couple of years
[0:38] and you’re looking for a really good way to get plugged in, [0:42] build relationships and really feel at home at Village Church. [0:46] There’s frankly no better way [0:49] than volunteering in village groups. [0:51] And I just want to hold volunteering up on one of our teams before you [0:54] this morning, specifically village kids.
[0:58] Now, this is a vital aspect of the ministry here at Village Church, [1:02] because these are children that we’re not just corralling and watching [1:06] on Sunday morning, but rather what we’re doing is [1:08] is we’re trying to teach them the gospel and grow them in God’s word [1:12] so that they can be reinforced with what we hear in here. [1:16] And so the parents can go home and communicate with their kids
[1:18] about the scriptures, build kind of a culture in our homes after God’s word. [1:24] And I know I’ve got some kids out there. [1:26] And so so I highly value what goes on out there each and every week [1:31] with all of our volunteers. [1:32] But I want to call some of you that are looking for a place to plug in [1:36] and have the ability to pass a background check, which is vitally important
[1:40] to to maybe consider serving in village kids, specifically people who really [1:46] maybe you have a gifting or maybe you have some thoughts of of teaching [1:50] towards which is geared towards kids. [1:53] I really personally don’t have that gift. [1:54] They confuse me. [1:56] So if you have that gift and you you you can teach kids
[2:00] and you can relate with them very well, please help us there. [2:06] I’m going to invite you to teach my children personally. [2:09] And so what we’re doing here is not just a church with a service [2:14] and us just getting together, but rather what we’re trying to form [2:17] is a culture of people who value the gospel [2:20] as well as value giving the gospel to others.
[2:24] And so part of the mission that we have here when we invite the community [2:28] to be with us is that we want to care for their children [2:32] with very high standards, want to teach them the word of God. [2:37] So if you’re looking for a place to plug in or maybe you’re in a really bad boat [2:40] this morning and you’re sitting there saying, well, I’m not looking for a place [2:42] to plug in. Well, start looking.
[2:45] All right. You need to look for a place to plug in. [2:48] Look for a place to serve, because what you’re going to do is [2:50] you’re going to reap all the benefit. [2:52] You’re going to walk out the other side benefited highly and greatly [2:56] from serving. And I’m going to tell you, I’m going to be honest with you. [2:59] It’s going to take a certain level of commitment.
[3:01] We call our volunteers to commit to two Sundays a month [3:04] and we call our children’s workers to commit to that and sometimes a little bit more. [3:09] But when you’re following Jesus and you’re investing [3:12] in the lives of others for the gospel of Jesus Christ, [3:16] what we really show by how we invest our lives is what we value the most. [3:21] And so what I want to warn you about this morning is when you
[3:24] when you hold up all of these barriers to why you can’t serve.
[3:30] What are you saying about what you value most in your life? [3:34] Because that’s the question that I really want to put at the forefront [3:37] of your life and your mind this morning is, is what is your [3:41] servanthood or your capacity for servanthood or your willingness to serve? [3:46] What is it showing about the things that you value the most in your life? [3:50] And where do you need the gospel to begin to build a different culture
[3:54] for you as well as for others? [3:58] Because somewhere in there I see the great commandment coming out. [4:01] All right. So if you have your Bibles in John 17, you know, yesterday [4:06] I was doing some some yard work around my house and then I was like, [4:09] what a great opportunity for me to spend some time with with my son. [4:13] So I get my son out there and we’re doing some yard work together.
[4:16] And I’m trying to drop all of the wisdom that I have on him [4:21] while we do yard work. [4:23] And I’m of course the expert. [4:25] I’m I am Mr. Green Thumb while we’re doing it. [4:27] I’m explaining every little thing that we’re doing. [4:30] And and after a while, I can only assume he got fed up with my wisdom.
[4:34] And he began to play this new game that he loves. [4:38] It’s called the Y game. [4:40] And it’s a game that has one word and really no rules. [4:45] The rule is that word. [4:47] And regardless of what I would say, the response was the same. [4:52] Why? Why? Why?
[4:55] And so then, of course, you know, I’m really smart. [4:56] So I’m going to go back to him and I’m going to start saying why too. [4:59] And I’m like, who’s going to break first? Not me, buddy. [5:01] So after about two minutes, I sadly want to report to you this morning. [5:05] I lost. He broke me. [5:08] He’s he’s a better man than I were.
[5:09] That game is concerned. [5:11] But but as that was going on and as I’ve been talking to people, [5:14] about the subject that we’re going to cover this morning about prayer, [5:19] I really think that that’s the game that we play with God. [5:23] I think sometimes when we’re dealing with the issue of prayer, [5:26] sometimes when we’re wondering about why is it that we pray,
[5:30] we begin to look to God and maybe you even begin to look at others. [5:34] And you ask a simple question. [5:36] Well, why do we pray? [5:38] Maybe you’ll hold up some really brilliant theological treatise [5:42] in front of everyone and you’ll say, well, look at this sovereignty [5:45] that God has. Why does he need me to pray?
[5:50] But what I think we actually find when we begin to hold up [5:54] these types of questions and when we begin to hold up these reasons [5:58] why something doesn’t make sense to us. [6:02] So we’re not as willing to enter into these environments of growth [6:06] that God tells us to come into. [6:09] We’re actually exposing our own sinfulness.
[6:13] Because when we begin to ask why, what we’re really beginning to ask [6:17] and what we’re really beginning to say to God is more so God, [6:21] if it doesn’t make sense to me or if I can’t fully wrap my mind around it, [6:27] then it is not worthy of me. [6:30] Because you. Have to make sense to me.
[6:36] When at the end of the day. [6:38] When this God. [6:41] Who loves us so much that in order for us [6:44] to be able to come into his presence, to be able to be in a communicative [6:50] relationship with him, he goes so far as to send his son [6:56] to take the penalty for my rebellion against him, my disobedience towards him.
[7:02] And Jesus dies for me, then rises from the dead to give me brand new life. [7:07] This is the level this is the love with which God is giving towards me. [7:11] And the scriptures say he does that specifically so that I can draw near [7:17] into his presence when I look at that and I say, well, why?
[7:27] I don’t think it’s going too far to say [7:30] that the greatest reason why is because God commanded it.
[7:36] And when we look at something like that and we go to the point [7:40] where we say, well, God commanding it is not a satisfactory reason for me.
[7:49] Question I have for you this morning is what does that say about our faith?
[7:56] This God who goes to such great lengths [7:59] to reconcile our relationship towards one another.
[8:04] Holds out this what really is an amazing privilege, an amazing gift [8:09] that when we see it in scripture, when we see it jump off the page, [8:13] people praying to him, people in his presence making their requests known to him, [8:19] coming to praise him, coming to adore him. [8:23] When we see all of that jumping out at us and our response is, well, [8:28] since I can’t wrap my mind around it.
[8:32] What we’re doing is we’re saying, God, your authority is not great, as great as mine. [8:38] God, your identity is not as great as mine. [8:41] God, your mission is not as great as mine.
[8:45] And as we’ve been going through this series, we’ve looked at it from those three points. [8:49] And we’ve been saying that are the gospel makes Jesus our ultimate authority. [8:55] The gospel means that Jesus rose from the dead, has the power to take death, make life. [9:00] This is the God who spoke into the existence, everything that is out of absolutely nothing. [9:06] And when he says something, I think it’s just enough for us to say, [9:10] well, while it may not make full sense to me, I know I need to be there.
[9:15] I know that’s the God that I want to be with.
[9:19] And then we look to Jesus, who takes sin, gives us his righteousness, forms our identity. [9:24] And then last week we saw giving us a new mission.
[9:28] This is the God that we need to follow. [9:31] This is the God who’s been pursuing us in our sin, pouring love that really doesn’t make sense. [9:40] And so I’ll grab as much of that redemption. [9:43] So I don’t want to go to hell. [9:44] I don’t want to feel his wrath. [9:46] I’ll grab as much of that as I can get.
[9:48] But all the other stuff, well, that’s just on the periphery. [9:50] So I don’t need to worry myself with all of that.
[9:54] As I was preparing for this sermon, [9:58] I wrote out all of the subject matter and all the subjects that would be preached [10:01] throughout this series, and I got to praying life. [10:05] And I realized that I was looking at it and I said, man, [10:07] I really should have summed it up better than praying life. [10:12] Because I began to look in scripture at all of the different prayers
[10:16] that are offered to God in the scriptures by all of the different people [10:20] and all of the different commands about prayer, [10:22] and then all of the things that the scriptures tell us about prayer. [10:26] And it is so vast that we cannot even begin [10:31] to tip the iceberg on this subject.
[10:37] And when we’re thinking about a real life, [10:40] it gives us a forgiven life [10:43] that makes us having a discipled life, [10:46] a surrendered life, [10:48] it gives us a missional life to live. [10:51] A praying life is where all of those
[10:54] different things that are going on in our life because of the gospel, [10:58] where they all connect and they all weave us into a life [11:02] in which we are completely united with God, [11:06] understanding who we are in light of who he is.
[11:14] That ultimately, prayer is an absolute admission
[11:20] that we are dependent upon someone other than ourselves. [11:25] The posture of prayer and the environment of prayer [11:28] is really the ultimate surrender. [11:32] To God’s authority.
[11:36] Because prayer is you admitting that you cannot control the world.
[11:45] Prayer is you admitting [11:47] you do not have the power to change yourself or someone else.
[11:55] Prayer is you saying, God, [11:58] I can’t do life on my own.
[12:06] And the scriptures do not present these, [12:08] what we would call weaknesses as a negative thing, [12:11] but rather as a thing that we need to desperately [12:15] admit to each hour of every day, [12:20] because we were created a dependent people on God.
[12:28] And our sin and our ultimate act of rebellion is us denying that fact.
[12:36] And so prayer becomes our great work of repenting of sin.
[12:46] And holding fast to the God who saves us.
[12:50] And apart from prayer.
[12:55] All of that’s lost.
[13:01] So the question inevitably comes up. [13:04] But what do we pray for?
[13:07] What do we pray for?
[13:10] The best answer that I have to offer you this morning.
[13:14] Is everything.
[13:18] Everything.
[13:21] Absolutely everything in your life, [13:26] day in and day out, [13:28] needs to be saturated in prayer because it needs to be presented towards God.
[13:37] My hope today is to build a base from which the life of prayer will spring out of. [13:43] There’s so much more than we can even hope to cover today. [13:47] So so many more things are going to arise. [13:50] But what I want to do at minimum is build this base upon which you can begin [13:54] to experiment in prayer, you can begin to go into the journey of prayer in your life. [14:01] And I want to begin there in John 17.
[14:05] Because when I think about prayer, [14:08] I constantly go here because I think what we find in John 17 is one of the most [14:11] important passages on prayer in the entire Bible, because it comes out of one [14:16] of this lengthy sermon between John 14 and 16 that Jesus gives to his disciples [14:21] about what life without him physically in front of them is going to be like [14:27] and where he’s going, what he’s about to do.
[14:30] And right before he gets to the Garden of Gethsemane, John, the beloved apostle, [14:35] offers this as what Jesus prayed to the father. [14:39] In verse one, it says, when Jesus had spoken these words, [14:42] he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. [14:47] Glorify your son that the sun may glorify you since you have given him [14:52] authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
[14:57] And this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, [15:01] whom you have sent. [15:03] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [15:08] And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I [15:12] had with you before the world existed.
[15:19] Number one, this morning, [15:21] prayer should submit your life to the mission of Jesus. [15:26] Prayer should submit your life to the mission of Jesus. [15:31] What Jesus presents here to us in these first few stanzas of his prayer [15:35] is that life and prayer are all about the glory of God. [15:41] Jesus knows what he’s headed towards.
[15:44] Jesus knows the cross that he’s going to have to endure.
[15:48] Jesus knows the pain that’s coming at him. [15:50] He knows that in a few moments, his friends are going to abandon him. [15:54] He’s going to be arrested by people he created. [15:56] He’s going to go in front of a court of law [15:58] that’s going to claim that they have authority over him. [16:00] The God of the universe that spoke everything into existence.
[16:04] People are going to have authority over him. [16:05] They’re going to mock him. They’re going to beat him. [16:07] He’s going to suffer many things.
[16:11] And ultimately be ridiculed, handed over to executioners, [16:15] lifted up onto a cross where he will die a sinner’s death. [16:21] Probably the most embarrassing death at that time. [16:26] As you’re quite literally on a roadside. [16:29] Stripped naked. To die in shame.
[16:36] And in this moment, Jesus does not begin his prayer. [16:42] God, may all of that be avoided. [16:46] That’s not coming yet. [16:48] He immediately begins where we would typically end, [16:52] because here’s where we end our prayers. [16:54] We say what? In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
[16:57] Now, you won’t hear me tell you to stop doing that, continue to do that. [17:00] But maybe your focus should not be on the prayer. [17:03] Be that towards the end as a token sign off.
[17:09] When really everything that came before that was about your needs, [17:14] your wants, your discomforts, your desires, your dreams, [17:19] the discomforts that you want to avoid, [17:22] everything that you want God to give into your life, [17:25] that you’re building under your authority. [17:27] Oh, and so that I can maybe get it answered, I need to say in Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
[17:35] I kind of want us to be a little honest and introspective with ourselves this morning. [17:40] And look at the way that we actually pray. [17:44] And what’s the focus of my actual prayer? [17:46] And then look here at what is the focus of Jesus’s prayer? [17:50] Where is he going immediately to the glory of God? [17:53] Note what the text says.
[17:54] It says, and when Jesus had said these things, he looked. [17:59] Lifted his eyes to heaven. [18:03] When it says that in that culture, the first century, [18:06] it’s not so much saying that he had this physical looking into heaven as rather [18:11] it’s about a frame of mind that you’re in in the original language, [18:16] what your focus of your prayer is on,
[18:20] that you’re concentrating on something specific. [18:23] He looked towards his focus on heaven and said, Father.
[18:30] In Matthew, Chapter six, Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray. [18:37] And he begins that prayer by saying, pray, then, like this, our Father in heaven, [18:41] hallowed be your name. [18:44] Oftentimes, maybe we read that and we think that it’s just a statement. [18:48] It’s just Jesus saying that God is holy, but it’s more than a statement. [18:52] It’s actually a request in the original language.
[18:56] God, may your name be hallowed. [18:59] May your name be made holy by me.
[19:06] May your holiness be the focus of my life. [19:11] And this is where the prayer is beginning. [19:13] And if we begin our prayer from that base, from that foundation, [19:18] I believe it will transform the rest of it because it will no longer just be you [19:23] asking God to give, give, give. [19:25] But rather, maybe your prayer will be a little more like Christ when he looks and he says,
[19:30] God, the hour has come. [19:33] Glorify your name.
[19:37] Restore to me the glory that we’ve had from before the foundations of the earth. [19:43] Look at Jesus’s focus. [19:44] Look at Jesus’s mission. [19:46] His mission is to follow the will that the father has given him for all time.
[19:54] It’s the base, the focus of your prayer must be the mission of Jesus because prayer is [20:02] the fuel to trust the gospel and live for Jesus.
[20:09] When Jesus looks to heaven, he begins to say of the things that he’s going to do.
[20:17] He says, you’ve given me authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you’ve [20:22] given him. [20:23] What is he praying? [20:24] He’s praying for the mission.
[20:27] He’s summarizing everything that he has said from John 14 to 16. [20:32] He’s praying the word of God right here.
[20:38] That God’s glory may be made full by every step that he is about to take.
[20:45] And in this moment, he prays the Lord’s prayer.
[20:52] It’s a posture of submission and desire for the mission of God above every other pursuit [21:00] in life. [21:01] But what do we initially bring before God? [21:04] We bring before God every pursuit of our lives and then ask God to submit his will to those [21:10] things.
[21:15] And I think that’s why often we get completely frustrated with prayer.
[21:24] I mean, maybe you’re like me and you have a little bit of an ADD prayer life that not [21:29] long after you’ve begun this, you know, this amazing momentous holy prayer that very quickly [21:35] you’re hungry.
[21:38] What’s for lunch?
[21:40] Did I lock the door? [21:43] Is my cell phone on vibrate? [21:45] What’s going on on Facebook?
[21:49] So very quickly, our focus is so on us and what we want from God that our focus begins [21:59] to go deeper into ourselves completely off of God and just back on to what we’re doing.
[22:08] So what we need to understand is that prayer is this great repentance. [22:13] It’s this great turning from myself to focus on God. [22:18] And when I do that, then maybe my focus will be on a singular mission, the mission of [22:26] Jesus. [22:27] And I will begin to find myself caught up in who he is praying what he has given more [22:34] than I’m just praying for him to give to me.
[22:39] Number two, this morning, what your life depends on and desires most is often revealed [22:48] in how we pray. [22:51] Where your life depends on and desires most is often revealed in how you pray. [22:58] You know, prayer instructs the focus of your life. [23:04] Because prayer is the gift of focus from God. [23:07] It is for us to focus on that relationship that God quite literally sacrificed his life
[23:14] to give us. [23:15] It’s for us to come united with him, for us to come together with him, and that is [23:19] what Jesus gives us when we begin to look in verse six. [23:22] Note what Jesus says.
[23:25] He looks to the Father and he says, I have manifested your name to the people whom you [23:29] gave me out of this world. [23:31] Yours they were, and you gave them to me. [23:34] And they have kept your word. [23:36] Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you, for I have given them [23:42] the words that you gave me.
[23:43] And they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you. [23:49] And they have believed that you sent me. [23:53] I am praying for them. [23:55] I’m not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me. [24:00] For they are yours.
[24:04] Jesus gets very specific right here as to what his gaze and what his focus is going [24:10] to be. [24:11] He would say just a few lines later, a few verses down, that I’m not only praying for [24:16] the disciples who are physically with me, but I’m also praying for all those who will [24:21] be brought into the kingdom by the disciples. [24:24] So we can quite literally look at this, and it’s not overreaching to say that Jesus is
[24:29] praying for us right here.
[24:34] And what he says about us is that our focus when it is on this world, we are denying who [24:40] we are. [24:40] Because what does he very quickly say? [24:41] He says, I have taken them out of this world.
[24:49] I’m not praying for everyone. [24:51] I’m praying for those whom you’ve given me, Father. [24:54] I’m praying for those who have faith in me, Father. [24:56] I’m praying for those who have been drawn to the gospel, have placed their trust, their [25:00] hope in the gospel. [25:01] And he says, I’ve taken them out of the world and put them into his, Jesus’ world, into
[25:09] kingdom, into Jesus’ church. [25:11] And so when our prayers are simply consumed with the life that we are building apart [25:18] from God, the life, the plan that has nothing to do with Jesus, then we are denying the [25:26] faithfulness that he desires to give us, because he’s drawn us out of this world.
[25:33] So that we can fix our gaze onto his world. [25:36] So that we can fix our attention onto what he’s doing. [25:40] So that we can fix our attention onto what he has revealed to us about the cross. [25:45] I mean, he’s talking to a group of people, then praying for a group of people and us [25:50] who are about to witness him physically die in front of many of them, and then three days [25:56] later come back to life.
[25:58] And when you see something like that, you may begin to say, there’s something more than [26:02] what’s going on in this world.
[26:08] And my fear is that our prayer will never outgrow this world.
[26:17] So consider just for a moment the most pressing needs that you have in your life, the most [26:23] pressing needs that you bring before God, the most pressing thing that’s been invading [26:28] your prayer life right now. [26:29] And I know some of you, hey, if we’re totally honest this morning, we’re struggling in [26:33] prayer, right? [26:35] But when you do pray, what commands it?
[26:41] And then imagine, would you still need that if you didn’t have faith in Jesus?
[26:48] And what is it that’s consuming your prayer life that’s totally dependent on Jesus? [26:53] Because the biggest problem that most of our prayer lives have is that we don’t need God [26:57] to actually work in that because we can handle it.
[27:04] If you’re not doing anything in your life that needs the power of God, then maybe that’s [27:12] why you’re not spending a ton of time in the presence of God.
[27:20] When I consider the intentions of my prayer and the focus of my life, and I see this [27:27] singular, I mean, when you read here in John 17, he has a laser sharp focus. [27:33] He’s fixed his eyes on the mission. [27:36] He’s headed straight to the cross and he prays for us.
[27:44] I begin to understand that my prayer is about my discipleship, about me growing towards [27:49] that singular focus and that singular vision on God where I’m becoming more and more dependent [27:55] on him day in and day out. [27:57] But that is the difference between what this world will call me towards and what Jesus [28:01] will call me towards.
[28:04] The world is saturated with independence. [28:06] The world is saturated with enough strength to fix yourself with enough self-help books. [28:12] You can fix your self-esteem. [28:13] You can fix your debt. [28:15] You can fix. [28:15] You can fix.
[28:16] You can fix. [28:17] And it’s all here. [28:19] All the answers are right now. [28:20] And Jesus says, no, I’ve taken you out of the world. [28:23] The answers are with me. [28:25] Focus on my mission through it all and you will walk victorious because you’re in him
[28:30] no matter what happens.
[28:33] And in Luke 11, I find some great wisdom to help me understand what is he talking [28:39] about here? [28:40] So should I not offer things up to him? [28:44] No. [28:45] Note what he says to the disciples and he says this directly after the Lord’s Prayer [28:51] in Luke 11.
[28:53] And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you. [28:56] Seek and you will find. [28:58] Knock and it will be open to you. [28:59] For everyone who asks, receives and the one who seeks finds into the one who knocks, [29:03] it will be opened. [29:05] What father among you, if the son asks for fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?
[29:11] Or if he asks for an egg, we’ll give him a scorpion. [29:13] If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more [29:17] will the heavenly father give you the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? [29:21] And I would say 95% of that text makes great sense to you and you glory in it. [29:26] And you’re like, ask and I’ll receive. [29:28] Seek, I’ll find.
[29:29] Knock, the door will be open. [29:30] Sounds good. [29:31] I’ve got a list. [29:33] I’m going to start knocking. [29:34] And he better start giving.
[29:38] But then he begins to compare it to the relationship between a father and son and we’re still tracking [29:43] with him, especially if you’re a parent. [29:45] Even if you’re not a parent, I think you can understand that type of love where it’s like [29:49] you are not going to do something harmful to your child when they ask and even looks [29:56] them and says a very secret sensitive thing. [29:58] How much more would you who are evil would do good to your kids?
[30:01] How much better is God than that?
[30:04] But then he throws us all for a loop. [30:08] And his answer is not my list.
[30:12] His answer is not the stuff I want. [30:14] If I’m honest. [30:16] He says, how much more will the Heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit? [30:21] When you ask him. [30:25] So I’ve got this list of stuff that I want and Jesus says, awesome. [30:29] Here’s the spirit.
[30:31] Jesus, that’s not what I was asking for. [30:33] I think there’s some breakdown in our communication. [30:35] The signal is not that great.
[30:39] Here’s why Jesus says this to his disciples. [30:42] Between John 14 and John 16, when he’s giving this farewell address to his disciples, he [30:47] tells them, he says, I’ve got to leave you.
[30:51] Because I’m going to physically leave and when I leave, you’re going to get the greatest [30:55] gift that I could possibly give you. [30:57] One greater than I, is what Jesus says, is going to come. [31:01] And that’s the Holy Spirit. [31:04] He says the Holy Spirit will teach you all things. [31:07] The Holy Spirit will always lead you towards Jesus.
[31:10] The Holy Spirit will always remind you of everything that Jesus taught. [31:15] More than that, the Holy Spirit, Romans 8 says, will give us the presence to go towards [31:20] God and will even pray for us when we don’t know how to pray. [31:23] The Holy Spirit will help our faith. [31:25] The Holy Spirit will give us the strength to obey Jesus. [31:29] And so Jesus is saying, the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift that you could ever receive
[31:34] and the Father’s so good that he’s going to give it to you. [31:39] And what about everything else?
[31:42] I think Jesus has asked.
[31:46] Every need, every want, every healing that you need, every barrier in your life that [31:56] you need broken, everything that you need strength for, every job that you will ever [32:00] get, every illness that you’ll ever need to be healed from, pray for every single one [32:04] because the Father wants you to talk to him. [32:07] But then he uses this amazing example that hits home for me so much. [32:11] He says, what a loving father give a child that asks for a fish a serpent.
[32:19] No, no.
[32:22] But here’s what I do know is true.
[32:25] A foolish child will ask for a serpent.
[32:30] When he really needs a fish.
[32:33] A foolish child will ask for a scorpion when he really needs bread.
[32:41] I’ll be straight up with you.
[32:44] If I let my son or daughter do everything that they wanted to do, they’d be dead. [32:51] They would not have made it to where they are right now. [32:55] I mean, even before they could form questions, they were just running headlong towards fires.
[33:04] Yeah, I mean, I mean, just what they needed was someone with more perspective, someone [33:10] with a little bit more wisdom, the wisdom enough to say, hey, that thing you want, no.
[33:19] You cannot have a Pop-Tart for dinner.
[33:24] You will eat what I gave you, but I don’t want it. [33:27] But you need to. [33:30] Eat it. [33:32] And then ultimately, when you become a parent, that one thing that you always hated when [33:36] someone said to you, you begin to do is a reflex because I said so.
[33:44] And you begin to understand a little bit more of the wisdom behind a phrase like that.
[33:52] You see, I don’t think I’m a great father. [33:57] I don’t. I fail all the time. [34:00] But here’s what I do know. [34:03] I will never be as good of a father as God. [34:06] And that’s not a slight of me. [34:07] That’s just saying the truth about God.
[34:10] He’s a better father than I could ever hope to be.
[34:16] And there are so many times in my life. [34:20] Where I’ll ask and I’ll ask and I’ll ask, and I will unknowingly because of my lack [34:26] of perspective and his great perspective over all things, I will unknowingly [34:30] be begging God to give me the serpent that will poison my life.
[34:35] In that moment, the most loving thing a father could do is say no.
[34:42] And there are moments where we will ask God to take a pain out of our lives, to take [34:47] a discomfort, to take a trial, to take an illness, to take suffering. [34:52] And God will say no, and he will say no, and he won’t relieve us and we won’t understand. [34:57] And we will say, God, why are you giving me this serpent? [35:00] And in faith, we must trust his because I told you so, because I believe because of [35:05] the gospel that there’s coming a day where I will be in his presence and God will give
[35:10] me the perspective to look backwards and say, thank you, God, you were wiser than I was [35:15] all along because through those moments, I didn’t realize that I was headed towards [35:21] your glory.
[35:24] Even those hard moments where you left me in that suffering a little longer than I would [35:28] have been comfortable to be there.
[35:34] God is the wise father in heaven that saying.
[35:40] Trust me. [35:41] Trust me.
[35:44] And it’s not just because he told me so, it’s because we serve a God who loves us so [35:48] much that he sunk himself into the deepest depths of suffering that anyone has ever [35:53] known the cross.
[35:58] Where he took my suffering and your suffering onto himself.
[36:05] See, he’s a better father than I could ever be with more wisdom than I could ever have. [36:11] And when a foolish child asks for a serpent, when he really needs a fish, a loving father [36:17] will not give him the serpent, but will instead hold out in endurance to do the most loving [36:23] thing possible. [36:24] And that’s the gospel. [36:24] God that we serve.
[36:28] He never asks us for what he hasn’t already equipped us to do. [36:34] Through the power of the greatest gift possible, the Holy Spirit.
[36:40] In Matthew, Chapter six, when Jesus continues to unfold what prayer must look like to the [36:45] disciples, he says. [36:48] Give us this day. [36:50] Our daily bread.
[36:55] Quite often we begin to define for God what daily bread is.
[37:04] And God’s the father who says, I’ve got more perspective. [37:10] Here’s what you really need.
[37:14] So whatever need we have, we must take to him because he’s good enough to supply it [37:18] and more. [37:19] He’s also wise enough to know what we don’t need. [37:22] And the answer to that is not to stop asking.
[37:28] I mean, my children can just keep going on and on sometimes, and man, it’ll just start [37:33] to grate your nerves. [37:34] But the last thing that I would ever want is for them to stop asking.
[37:40] You’ll have a bag full of groceries and your child will lift up their hands and to pick [37:45] them up. [37:46] And the last thing you would ever want is for your child to stop lifting their arms [37:50] up for you to pick them up because it shows dependence, because it shows love, because [37:55] it shows that they trust you. [37:59] And so God says, keep asking.
[38:02] Keep knocking. [38:04] Keep coming.
[38:06] But while you do that.
[38:10] Keep trusting.
[38:12] The father knows what you need. [38:15] In Proverbs 30 verses 8 and 9, we see this amazing perspective of this. [38:21] When the author writes, remove far from me falsehood and lying. [38:25] Give me neither poverty nor riches. [38:27] Feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, who [38:32] is the Lord?
[38:33] Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of God? [38:37] Do you see the perspective here? [38:38] He’s saying, God, never let anything enter into my life that will drive me away from [38:45] my dependence, my love, and my trust of you. [38:49] It is a radical submission to God that He’s the greatest gift of all time.
[38:56] That His presence is what you really need.
[39:00] And then if God made you the wealthiest person possible.
[39:06] Or if you were in so much poverty.
[39:10] That you thought the thing that would give you satisfaction is just if you had money. [39:15] Or if you have so much wealth that you say, the thing that gives me satisfaction is that [39:18] I keep all of this. [39:20] Understand that they’re both lesser gods.
[39:25] And it’s the same idol. [39:26] The hope that something in this material world will fill the satisfaction that you [39:32] so long for. [39:33] And God is loving enough where He will say, no, that He is the one that will satisfy [39:38] you forever.
[39:41] This text comes from a perspective of understanding that there are not different gods than our [39:48] God. [39:48] There are lesser gods that we would easily give ourselves to and prostitute our lives [39:54] out for to gain the things of this world that Jesus has taken you out of.
[40:03] Thirdly, this morning, God invites us into a life of constant provision for His glory.
[40:13] There’s no need in my life that God will not provide. [40:17] And that’s true from the day I’m born to the day I die.
[40:25] Years ago, I was taught one of the wisest sayings I think I’ve ever heard that nothing [40:31] of eternal importance is ever accomplished apart from prayer.
[40:36] God in life has attested to the truth of that statement. [40:40] But what we must be honest about and what we must take enough inventory of our lives [40:45] to admit is answer the question, what is of eternal importance?
[40:53] If you do not submit your life to the gospel of Jesus, then you cannot hope to ever truly [41:01] desire what is of eternal importance.
[41:08] Jesus shows us over and over and over again that we’re to be dependent upon God and it [41:14] is by His grace that we will receive anything of value. [41:18] Look in verse 10.
[41:21] Jesus says, all mine are yours and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. [41:28] And I’m no longer in the world, but they are in the world. [41:31] And I am coming to you, Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you’ve given me, [41:38] that they may be one, even as we are one. [41:44] And then down in verse 23, Jesus says it this way. [41:47] I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know
[41:55] that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.
[42:03] He prays in verse 10 about this constant closeness that he has with the Father. [42:08] And then he says that all of mine, Father, are yours, Father, and all that are yours, [42:14] are mine, Father, and may they be perfectly one, as we are perfectly one. [42:22] I in you, you in me, me in them. [42:25] What he’s talking about is this amazing unity of purpose. [42:29] This amazing unity in relationship and community and in personhood that God Himself has shared
[42:35] within the Trinity. [42:36] God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. [42:39] And He’s inviting us through His prayer into this unity, into this relationship, [42:46] into experiencing the life of God inside of our very own. [42:50] But He’s explaining that’s only possible through the mission of Jesus.
[42:56] He says may they be one, as we are one. [42:59] He’s got that laser focus on eternal life that He’s going to give us. [43:03] He’s got that laser focus on the mission of forgiveness that He’s going to bring us. [43:08] He’s got this laser focus on us coming out of the world into the mission of Jesus to serve Him, [43:15] and Him alone, no matter where we are, no matter what we’re doing.
[43:22] Last week when we looked at the disciples, when Jesus had come to their business, [43:27] and they couldn’t catch any fish, and they caught more fish than they can handle, [43:31] and they’re in the greatest moment of success that them as fishermen had ever known, [43:35] and they’re probably planning their riches, and Jesus then looks to them and He says, [43:39] by the way, quit your business and follow me.
[43:46] What faith that must have taken.
[43:51] And I think some of the reason that we may avoid prayer is that we’re afraid that Jesus [43:55] may actually make that kind of demand on our lives.
[44:01] And He may, He may not, but I do know that even where you are, Jesus has designed in His mission [44:09] that the reasons that you were there, once you’re in faith in Jesus, [44:13] they’re not the reason you’re going to stay there. [44:16] The reason that you will be everywhere that you are, every moment that you are, [44:21] and every purpose that you have will from there forward be the mission of Jesus, [44:26] or you will never have a foundation of prayer for which to go to God with.
[44:34] When He talks about this love in verse 23, that the world may know the love that we have, [44:41] He’s talking about the mission, the love that this world needs radically.
[44:49] When Jesus ends His instruction on prayer in Matthew chapter 6 verse 12, [44:53] He wants us to offer forgiveness.
[44:58] He wants us to have power over temptation.
[45:03] But note that the gospel is the only answer to this. [45:08] Because where is real forgiveness of sin? Jesus.
[45:14] Where is real forgiveness that you can offer others? Jesus. [45:18] Where is power over temptation? [45:21] The cross. [45:23] Because it’s the power that defeats death. It’s the power that defeats sin. [45:27] It’s the power that vanquishes evil.
[45:31] Throughout this series, we’ve talked about different rhythms of life that we’re to enter into.
[45:39] This rhythm of prayer is an environment that God invites you to come into time and time again, [45:45] day in and day out to show your dependence on Him as well as your need for His strength to accomplish His mission.
[45:55] Let’s close in Ephesians chapter 3. I want to read this to you.
[46:01] Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, [46:06] according to the power at work within us,
[46:10] to Him be glory in the church, [46:12] and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
[46:20] See, we can ask because God has the power to do it all. [46:26] God has the power for me to keep asking. [46:28] God has the power for me to keep thinking because I never ask more than He can do. [46:33] I can never think or dream or hope of more than He could ever accomplish. [46:37] But then He defines the terms within which He works.
[46:44] He doesn’t leave us off into a pasture somewhere and then say, figure it out. [46:49] No, He says point blank, laser focused. My glory is in the church. [46:55] My glory is in Jesus.
[47:00] So if you want to see Him work, [47:01] believe the gospel and make your life’s mission to build the church.
[47:18] Since He’s got the power, frenzy also defines the path.
[47:25] As I follow Him and seek Him in prayer for what is real power, [47:29] I should expect to be able to do more than what He does. [47:31] I should be able to find that things that I wanted apart from Him seem less significant to me. [47:37] The troubles that I have aren’t as much of a worry because I trust Him more. [47:43] I’m more consumed with His life than I am my very own.
[47:49] If I’m following Jesus, I shouldn’t be surprised to find that the further we go, [47:55] the more my wants, my dreams, my hopes are the same as His.
[48:03] I won’t wait until I’ve tried to figure out the answers on my own before I bring them to Him.
[48:11] Rather, I’ll already be in His presence all the time, [48:14] so my wants, my needs will just constantly be before Him because He’ll be the first place I go. [48:22] That’s real faith.
[48:27] What I’ll find at the end of my days and the end of every prayer is that it’s all been about Jesus all along. [48:34] In the charade and the lie that I believed that it was ever about me,
[48:40] I’ll find real repentance of that.
[48:46] Prayer is all about Jesus.
[48:51] As the band comes up, we transition into a time of communion with the Father.
[49:00] It puts it at the forefront of our week. Communion does the truth, the grace of Jesus Christ.
[49:09] What’s in the cup represents His shed blood. What’s in the plate represents His broken body. [49:14] The grace of God on display.
[49:19] When you take those in, when you drink the cup, when you eat the bread, [49:23] what it represents is you proclaiming that you want the life of Jesus in your life constantly.
[49:31] That you believe the Gospel. That you desire to live in real faith of God.
[49:40] This morning, as you come, for those of you that believe, [49:43] what I’m asking you to do is I’m asking you to come and be in prayer.
[49:52] And may this morning, as you reflect on communion, may this be your prayer, [49:55] God, drive me into your presence day in, day out, constantly. [50:02] Remind me of my dependence on you, Lord. [50:05] Remind me of the grace that I’ll never receive, excuse me, the grace that I will never over ask. [50:12] The grace that I will never exhaust. The grace that will always be there for me.
[50:21] If you’re in here and you don’t know of that grace, and you’ve never trusted Jesus, [50:25] I want to invite you to do that this morning.
[50:29] What it is, is you coming to the end of your rope and admitting to God [50:34] that you can’t save yourself, that you’ve sinned against Him. [50:38] That you need Him. [50:42] And it’s turning away from your self-authoritative default mode and saying, [50:47] God, I need your authority. Save me through Jesus.
[50:55] Whatever boat you’re in this morning, when you’re ready, come.