Inviting You to Explore God

Speaker 1 0:30

Good morning . It's good to see you . It's going to be with you , friends . My name is Larry Jeff said . I'm one of the pastors here and you're with us online . I'm so glad to be with you and I want to invite you .

Speaker 1 0:40

Some of you maybe are even taking a peek in the window deciding if you want to come check this place out in person . Or some of you maybe , honestly , have just been living online for a long time and it's convenient . I just want to say this one thing , and those of you in the room know this there is something about corporate worship . You can listen to me online all day . You can listen to it in a podcast . You can listen to a tons of way better communicators than me , but when you get into a room , in a space and allow time and space for the spirit who does what you do , and where we're all a singing or experiencing the same thing but yet experiencing different things , there is something about that . So what ? I invite you in at least come check it out , see what that's like . And then also , I want to highlight another cool , exciting thing that we're doing Sorry , talking about this last two weeks .

Speaker 1 1:25

On the 24th of September , we're going to take a pause on our journey through Matthew , and we're going to do this thing called explore God . We're doing this in the Bay Area . We've got over 200 churches and paratroops organizations that are all going to pause everything they're doing because we feel like there's nothing better for us to do at that time than this . We can come up with any other kind of conversations or topics or discussions . This , we feel like , is the most important thing , and that is to open up opportunities to have discussions about the questions that you're thinking about and also the discussions about the people in your sphere of influence are thinking about .

Speaker 1 2:01

I don't know if you guys know this , but there are over two million searches a day for people wondering why I exist . What is the purpose of life , like who am I ? Is there a God that I can know relationally ? Over two million people a day are searching for this , and I can guarantee that what they're looking for is the same thing you're looking for . You're looking for someone , a person that you can have , a safe place to have these types of discussions and explore God and wonder about who God is and what this looks like in this life , and so we're inviting all of you to participate with that specifically . Here's a video that shows you just a little bit more . Check out the screen .

Speaker 2 2:44

Even if it is just all make believe . Sometimes people just need something to believe in . If there really is a God , great . If there isn't , I guess we're all just believing in something to give us hope . People have a desire for a sense of wonder . People have a desire for a sense of love . People want to figure out if something's true or not , and who can they trust .

Speaker 1 3:40

So I'm not talking about this stuff or going to be talking about this as we lead up to when we're going to do this explore God campaign together , for you to come and show up , participate in it . I'm talking about this so much because this is an opportunity for you Invite someone else to come with you in a safe place , whether it's in a discussion group or on a Sundays . We're doing this across the board . Our children's area is doing this . Yes , they think and wonder the same thing . This isn't just like a Noah's Ark story and rainbows and butterflies . It's like what does this even look like in my life , as they're trying to figure out what their identity is ? Our students are talking about this during the week and they get to be here in the weekend . Many of our students are already prepared and going to be starting groups where they can talk with us at a lunch period , and it's the same thing for you adults . We're providing videos that you can show on your phone or computer screen to just facilitate the conversation and host it . So what we've been asking for we have this audacious goal of 100 groups with our adults here , that we would do that , and I really believe that what you celebrate is what you value , and I value that . Right now we have 60 people or 60 groups that have already said yes . So thank you so much for the 60 . That's amazing . So I am so excited for what that looks like .

Speaker 1 5:00

So today , this is like your next step . This is the one next step . We want to resource you and support you and yes , you can do this and yes , you can be an inviter and yes , you can get the courage and faith and strength to do that and actually participate and partner with what's going on . So you're going to go out there , you can sign up to host this . We're going to train you , we're going to resource you , we're going to keep in conversation how can we help you . And so we can see I really believe we can see our goal of 100 after this weekend . You go out there and you say , yes , I know a lot of you has been stirring in you . You're like , oh , I kind of want to do it , but this is so scary . I'm with you , let's do it . We're doing it together , link in our arms . So that's exciting . Over the next couple of weeks we'll give you more information , other ways that you can participate . You're going to start seeing other campaigns and marketing . So we're giving an opportunity for it to kind of stir itself up and , naturally , to start conversations about it .

Speaker 1 5:54

So for today I wanted to start with a story . We have done a light show here for quite a few years and a couple of years back someone's car like broke down the light show and if you've ever been in a light show , we got to get cars out of there because somebody else got to park and watch the light show and this car broke down and I would have never thought to pray for the car . Ron , our facilities director , did . He decided to lay his hands on this car and pray and I found myself struggling to even believe having a faith that God , with everything that he has going on , would actually take the time to miraculously start this broke down car . It started , they drove off and I will just tell you in fact I low key wonder did God actually answer that prayer or did we just get lucky Right ? And I think a lot of us wrestle when feel that way with those kinds of questions in our own prayer life . We hear like these stories of , like these powerful , miraculous answers to prayer that we read about in the Bible , where we see in other people's lives and we see other people praying with like this kind of boldness and like eloquence and devotion , and we think I would love to get there . I'm just really not sure I'm even close to there . We even feel like that when we read about this stuff in the Bible , like in the book of Acts in the New Testament . We look at the disciples , for example , and we see their constant , passionate , bold prayer and then we see these like breathtaking , miraculous answers to prayer that they got to experience . But here's the thing Most of us don't think about this or know this . That's not how the disciples started . In fact , the passage that we're going to look and study today shows us how Jesus actually helped the disciples develop the kind of prayer life that so many of us want but are struggling to actually experience .

Speaker 1 7:52

We're going to discover today in Matthew , chapter 17 , as we continue our journey , and Mark 9 , and understand this from this story . First off , I want you to understand that the gospel of Matthew , if you're new to the Bible or new to the church , is this rich , historical , theological account of Jesus's life , his ministry , then his death and resurrection . But it's also an account of how Jesus prepared his disciples to live like him and continue his ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit . So we're going to read Matthew from chapter 17 , 14 through 21 . This is a story , but before we jump in this story , let me catch you up on just what happens before that . We've already gone over this in some earlier passages , but just in case you're jumping in at this point , jesus has been away on a retreat up a mountain with his three core disciples and they got to see Jesus's divine glory revealed in an absolutely undeniable way . Now , as Matthew's original readers , when they would have read this or they were listening to this being read to them , this story but when they were reading or even hearing this , they would have immediately picked up on these parallels between this story we're about to hear and the Old Testament story in Exodus , where Moses came down the Mount Sinai and he was literally glowing after having experienced the glory of God . And just like Moses , came down the mountain there , only to be disappointed by God's people who had relapsed into idolatry .

Speaker 1 9:38

Now Jesus , in Matthew 17 is coming down the mountain of transfiguration , only to be disappointed with the disciples who are floundering in their faith . Says this in verse 14 . When they this is Jesus in his three disciples that had been on the trip with them came to the crowd , a man came up to them kneeling before him and said Lord , have mercy on my son , for he has seizures and he suffers terribly , for often he falls into the fire and into the water . And I brought him to your disciples and they could not heal him . And Jesus answered O faithless and twisted generation , how long am I to be with you ? How long am I to bear with me ? You Bring him here to me . And Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him and the boy was healed instantly . Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said why could we not cast it out ? He said to them because of your little faith . For truly , I say to you , if you have faith , like a grain of a mustard seed , you will say to this mountain move from here to there , and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you .

Speaker 1 10:57

This is the story today that we're going to learn from , and this is Matthew's version , but it's the same moment as I actually talked about in the book of Mark . This is the first four books in the Gospel of Mark and Luke , and I think for today . I'm actually going to jump over to Mark now , because I think Mark gives us much more of the detail that we're wanting today . So we're going to move now over if you have a Bible or it's going to be up on the screen for you to Mark , chapter nine , starting in verse 14 , to give us a bit more breath to this whole story .

Speaker 1 11:30

Verse 14 , when they came to the other disciples , they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them . These were the teachers of the law . Were Sadducees Now , positively there ? If you're new to the Bible , the scribes of the teachers of the law were this group of religious scholars that were constantly trolling Jesus . They're constantly stirring up controversy in Jesus's ministry and since Jesus wasn't there and around , they see this opportunity to try to discredit Jesus's disciples . And then the crowd starts gathering to watch , like we all would . But then Jesus shows up .

Speaker 1 12:07

Verse 15 , as soon as all the people saw Jesus , they were overwhelmed with wonder . Now , I really wanted to just do a whole message just on that one line . What does that look like ? I mean , just take that in for a minute . People saw Jesus and they were overwhelmed with wonder and they ran to greet him . What are you all arguing about with them , he asked . Now , mark never explicitly says what they're arguing about , but most scholars believe that it's most likely what we read and it's related to what happens next , verse 17, . A man in the crowd answered "'Teacher , I brought you my son "'who is possessed by a spirit "'that has robbed him of speech , "'whenever it seizes him , it throws him to the ground , "'he foams at the mouth , nashes his teeth , "'and becomes rigid . "'i asked your disciples to drive out the spirit , "'but they could not'" .

Speaker 1 13:09

Now , before we continue the story , for some of you there's like alarm bells going off in your head right now as you read this . There's a bit of like uneasiness about the way this boy's condition is specifically being described , because it's clear , and we can see it here , that there's some kind of suffering and some kind of physical condition . In fact , when a lot of you look at the symptoms , a lot of people believe that he's suffering from severe epileptic seizures . But this uneasiness comes with the fact that Mark describes this boy as suffering is not just physical . He says that this source of suffering is actually spiritual , like this boy is being tormented by a demon , and that's where Mark loses some of us , right ? I'm just like whoa , I don't know about this . Here's the thing .

Speaker 1 13:58

The Bible is very clear that demons are real and there is an unseen spiritual dimension in our world . This is not mythology . Demons are not some symbolic character the author uses to personify evil in the world . The Bible teaches in fact , actually Jesus himself teaches that demons have joined Satan in rebellion against God and they're constantly working to deceive and to destroy and to distort the creation of God . Now , to be fair , there's also this and , to be honest , there's a lot of people , even societies , throughout history that didn't understand certain diseases , and so they just blamed it on demons . But here's the thing that's not what we actually see in the Bible . We've covered this in earlier messages .

Speaker 1 14:52

As you read the Gospel of Matthew , it's very clear that Jesus and his followers recognize the difference between disease and demon possession in other forms of affliction . Sometimes Jesus heals people with no mention of demons , sometimes casts out demons with no mention of disease . But a person can be experiencing such dark spiritual oppression that it manifests itself in this agonizing physical suffering and so , out of desperation , this father blurts out in the middle of all this controversy and arguing , trying to get Jesus' attention , I want you all to notice something , because I think it's so relevant in our situation today and in the American church Listen , when Jesus shows up , his disciples are caught in this weird controversy , while people who are actually suffering from that controversy are sitting on the sidelines . They're busy debating problems that hurting people actually are dealing with , and I think that this is part of the devil's work . The demons aren't just at work in this young boy , they're also working to distract the disciples and trap them in this endless insincere arguments about other people's pain . And the enemy , I believe , is doing the same thing in today's church over politics or social injustice or strongholds on someone's life , over why someone left the church staff , and the list goes on and on and on . And in hearing all of it out and being humble and gracious in process about people who disagree is fine , but there comes a point , friends , where we have to go , especially when we're talking about people who are suffering . There comes a point where we have to stop debating the work of Jesus and invest our energy into doing the work of Jesus , regardless of what people think .

Power and Necessity of Prayer

Speaker 1 16:55

So this father is desperate . He's desperate . I love that we get to see this . He's desperate . He doesn't allow his disappointment with the disciples of Jesus to keep him from seeking Jesus Good thing . So he complains to Jesus about the disciples . They weren't able to cast the demon out .

Speaker 1 17:19

And then Jesus responds in verse 19, . Jesus answered you unbelieving generation . Jesus replied . He's talking about their whole culture at the time , the disciples as well . How long shall I stay with you ? How long shall I put up with you ? Bring the boy to me . So they brought him .

Speaker 1 17:40

When the spirit saw Jesus , it immediately threw the boy into convulsion . He fell to the ground and rolled around , foaming at the mouth . And Jesus asked the boy's father how long has he been like this ? From childhood ? He answered it is often thrown him into the fire or water to kill him . But if you can do anything , take pity on us and help us . I want you to notice how much this dad is identifying with his own son . He uses the word us twice . Why ? Because when your loved one suffers , you suffer with anxiety , with grief , with long days , dark nights , with agonizing senses of hopelessness , because it's out of your control and you wish you could take control and you would do anything to fix it , but you can't . And that's why this father feels this desperation that actually drives him to Jesus and he says if you can do anything , have compassion and help us .

Speaker 1 19:08

And here's the climax of this story in verse 23 and 24 . If you can , jesus said everything is possible for one who believes . Now that raises all kinds of questions about what Jesus actually means here , and we'll come back to this . But for some of us also , I think this is where we begin and we're just like well , like what if I'm struggling to fully believe ? And that's why verse 24 is one of the most popular verses in the Bible .

Speaker 1 19:47

Immediately , the boy's father exclaimed I do believe , help me overcome my unbelief . And when Jesus saw that the crowd was running to the scene , he rebuked the impure spirit , you deaf and mute spirit . He said I command you come out of him and never enter him again . And the spirit shrieked , convulsed him violently and came out . The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said he's dead . But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet and he stood up .

Speaker 1 20:22

After Jesus had gone indoors , his disciples asked him privately why couldn't we drive it out , which is actually a really reasonable question , because Jesus had already given them authority over demons . Matthew chapter 10 , verse one . You see this in Mark , chapter six , verse seven , and also Luke , chapter nine , verse one . In fact , on top of that , he had already , mark says cast out many demons the disciples had in Mark , chapter six , verse 13 . So why weren't they successful this time ? Verse 29 , he replied this kind can only come out by prayer . Some versions , and in Matthew later translations , added this by saying this doesn't happen by anything but prayer and fasting .

Speaker 1 21:11

Now I don't think that Jesus here is trying to say like stronger demons require prayer and weaker ones don't . First of all , if you notice , jesus didn't even pray before he cast out the demons . I don't think he's trying to like prescribe or be super technical here and how to cast out different kinds of demons , and this is honestly , if you don't know this . This is why some wings of the church have gone off and created all these kind of different crazy things , starting like these hierarchies and categories of different kind of demons and different kinds of intense prayer and rituals and techniques . Here's the deal . The demon is not the point here , so we'll just move past that .

Speaker 1 21:50

I think Jesus is using this opportunity to emphasize the necessity and the power of prayer . I mean , if you read the scriptures , he's constantly challenging the disciples to be prayerful in every situation . But here's the thing even when we are neglecting prayer , sometimes , god will still allow us to be successful for a season until we hit a brick wall . And brick walls have a way of stopping us . They have a way of stopping us right in our tracks and humblest and showing us how much we actually need God . So in verse 29 , jesus tells the disciples you couldn't cast out these demons right now because you went on autopilot , you stopped relying on God in prayer and I really wish that Mark had given us a little bit more of the conversation after verse 29 . He doesn't .

Speaker 1 22:44

But I wonder , I wonder about them like , well , okay , let me sit in their seat . How do they feel ? Do they like feel stupid for overlooking such an obvious answer ? Maybe they felt foolish for neglecting a powerful privilege , or guilty or embarrassed for once again feeling like I disappointed Jesus . We don't know . But I'll tell you what we do know . We know that there is consequences in their own prayerlessness . And I think one of the most scary lessons I have learned in my relationship with God is times of prayerlessness . Because , friends , I'll tell you , there's always consequences in prayerlessness , even when we don't immediately see them . Yet there's hope . There's hope Because then you read you read this in all the Gospels you read .

Speaker 1 23:37

After coming face to face with inadequacy , time after time after time , the disciples actually humble themselves and they approach Jesus and they said you remember this story when they say Lord , teach us how to pray . And the truth is , we don't often feel the desire for prayer until we feel our need for prayer . So what is the Holy Spirit trying to tell us through this story ? What is God trying to get our attention about in this passage ? Because there is a whole lot going on in this passage . It's controversy , it's demons , it's suffering , it's grief , it's doubt , it's like 100% , something we would all binge watch Like we're hooked . But when you zoom out of this and really think , I think that the main point that the Holy Spirit is saying to us is pretty simple . Here's my summary of the main point that God has actually given us direct access to His divine power and he wants us to take a hold of it in prayer .

Speaker 1 24:39

I love how Tyler Staten and author and pastor in Portland , oregon , puts it when he writes about inaccessory prayer . This is when you're praying on behalf or with someone . You're interceding here in prayer . He says when we engage in inaccessory prayer , we are loving others on the basis of heaven's resources . Prayer is heaven's highest security of clearance , free access to stroll right into the heavenly vault , gather up whatever we can carry and hand it out to the world .

Speaker 1 25:12

This is why Jesus is so disappointed in verse 19 when he says you , faithless generation , how long am I to be with you ? How long am I to bear with you ? He's lamenting the fact that the disciples have been given access to the spiritual riches of God's kingdom and yet they're still living below the spiritual poverty line . Philip Yancey says it this way of all the means God could have used , prayer seems like the weakest , slippery and easiest to ignore . So it is , unless Jesus was right in the most baffling claim . He went away for our sakes , as a form of power sharing , to invite us into direct communion with God and to give us a crucial role in the struggle against the forces of evil . If you don't know what I'm talking about , I'm talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit . And although he's disappointed here in Matthew , chapter 17 and Mark , chapter 9 , what he's doing is he's training . He's training the disciples and preparing them to actually have confidence in their ability to access God's power , even when he's no longer physically with them .

Speaker 1 26:27

And so this passage is this invitation for us to experience the wonder and the power and the awe of God in prayer . Aw Tozer put it whatever God can do , faith can do . Whatever faith can do , prayer can do when it is offered in faith . An invitation to prayer is therefore an invitation to inipotence , for prayer engages the inipotent God and brings him into our human affairs . Nothing is impossible to the man who prays in faith , just as nothing is impossible with God . This generation has yet to prove all that prayer can do for believing men and women .

Speaker 1 27:11

So it struck me that before we can even begin to experience the power of God in prayer , we first have to be honest about why don't we prioritize prayer to begin with and why this is such a struggle for so many of us . Why don't we prioritize prayer ? I think the most obvious answer is our own sense of self-sufficiency . We don't prioritize prayer because we don't really believe that we need prayer . At least , that's what some of our lifestyles , communicate . But even if we get over that hump and we force ourselves to make prayer a priority , we're still only halfway there , because the moment we decide to actually get our knees and be like , alright , I'm here , I'm ready to pray , that's like when the real work begins for most of us .

Overcoming Fears in Prayer

Speaker 1 28:05

It's like that relationship , that new relationship you have . You are going out on your dates and you're like , okay , we got here , but now how do I keep the conversation going ? Or what do I talk about ? Or do I talk about everything ? Or is that like TMI ? Or like what do I eat ? Do I just order something really manageable and neat ? Or do I order the sloppy hamburger that I really want and we're really going to show off Like you get all of me up in this situation right now . These struggles are real and it's the same when it comes to being before God . Showing up is one thing , but knowing what to expect and how to navigate this relationship is another thing and , by the way , that's why it's called a relationship with God . Earlier I quoted Tyler Staten .

Speaker 1 28:47

Over the summer I have been reading a book that he wrote called Praying Like Monks , living Like Fools , and it makes this point that I think is true of a lot of us , and it actually brings to the surface a lot of anxiety that we all feel about our relationship with God . And so I want to press into what some of that actually happens for us , our fears and how we face those and how we actually experience God in prayer in a way that God wants to us . And I can tell you the reason is this is because every revival or revelation that I've seen someone or I've seen people experience or read about , always starts with honest , real confession before God . And so I want to encourage you that , even as I'm teaching , if one of these fears that I'm bringing up resonates with you , I want to encourage you to even just pray while I'm teaching , to just say in the quietness of your own heart God , ask me , god , will you help me with that ? So what keeps us from prioritizing prayer ? Number one we are afraid of getting our hopes up .

Speaker 1 30:02

Like in my own personal life and my work as a pastor , I have often found that prayer is one of the most painful parts of walking with God . And here's why because there's no praying without risking . It's one thing to decide to pray in your own head about a situation . It is another thing to pray out loud where people can hear you , because then you're really risking it . I can either deal with the consequences of it either happening or not happening internally , or have to deal with it externally .

Speaker 1 30:34

Let me tell you a really quick story . I mean , this is just a small one . I have so many but my oldest daughter was just recently not that long ago going to get her driver's license . This is the test . We're going to drive around , and so we're ready , she's ready , she's nervous , we're all nervous , you should all be . No , I'm just nervous . So we go there and we're like there's the horn , there's the hazard lights , we do all the things , and then we have this moment .

Speaker 1 31:00

I'm sitting there internally going , like you know , like a lot of your parents do , like please , lord , help her and help the person be nice . And then I say like , oh , you want to pray ? And she says yes , and I'm like , oh , God got it . I'm going to do this out loud , like you know , you know the struggle , right , this is pain . So we pray . We pray like , hey , you know , help her be calm . She already knows what to do . Help her have a good , nice person that doesn't freak her out . You know , help everyone else , move off of the road , all the things right .

Speaker 1 31:27

So we pray and she goes out and she does her driving test , and the guy comes back and you know I'm like do to do ? And then I get a wave to her and then I show up and she's sobbing Right , hot , take , check your blind spot . Okay , so she is sobbing because she didn't pass , she made a critical error , she didn't pass . And so then I'm like you know , trying to scoop it up , and we prayed out loud to God . And then she's looking at me being like I thought you were a pastor . You know like , why isn't this work ? You don't even know I'm doing ? That Actually didn't happen 100% , real quick . I 100% got her permission to share this story today . I don't even talk about that and she was like isn't it crazy ? We actually didn't blame God for that because I made the mistake . I'm like , yeah , okay , true stuff .

Speaker 1 32:13

So that's a real deal for us , right , we sit there and we're like oh , how many times ? And what happens is is because of that , because we risk and we pray for even like real heavy stuff . I mean , this is real light . But when we do that , it brings up this fear of getting our hopes up , because we're really afraid to pray , because praying really specific prayers we risk being disappointed or even embarrassed , like now I got to talk to my kid about like okay , yeah , so that didn't work , like it's not a gene in the bottle . So , like , what do we do next ? Right , if God doesn't answer , we risk the pain and delusion that settles in after yet another unanswered prayer shows up in front of us . And so what happens ? We either stop praying altogether Ready , there it was or we just hedge our . That was the stop praying part . That was a smooth move , right , we just get quiet , right when we hedge our prayers and we keep it really vague . So like , then God has it out Like , oh yeah , he didn't understand the whole thing , I get it Right .

Speaker 1 33:24

I know this temptation and unfortunately , and a lot of you do , you know this pain . I have prayed for so , so many people in the midst of crisis and tragic loss or injury , all over the above , for God to heal and intervene . I can say personally I have prayed for my even myself for years , literally crying out to God to heal , and he didn't heal . And then we read a verse like in Mark 9.23 , where Jesus said everything is possible for one who believes . And you're just like what ? Like you were literally turning the knife that has already been causing so much pain . So we are afraid I get . This is why some of you , we're afraid of getting our hopes up and being disappointed . Then we're afraid of our doubts . We read verses like verse 23 . It's like all things are possible and we're like skeptical , because we're like I have way more questions than confidence right now , because it doesn't seem to line up what we've actually experienced Real quick .

Speaker 1 34:35

On this specific topic , I want to clarify that this verse has been interpreted and misinterpreted and so misused in a lot of church circles or religious circles . Jesus is not saying that you can manifest whatever you want by just having enough faith . This is not the law of attraction . This is not Lucky Girl syndrome . You can look that up on your own later . Nor is Jesus saying that the reason things aren't working out for you is because you just don't have enough faith . Jesus is saying that when you face overwhelming challenges , that when you have an intimidating opportunity to do something for the glory of God , don't make the tragic mistake of believing that my power is somehow limited by your weakness .

Speaker 1 35:28

Mark 9 , 23 , in Matthew , 17 and Moving Mountains is not about the strength of your faith . It's about the strength of the one you put your faith in . That's why the Father's response should be so encouraging to us . He is so honest with Jesus . Immediately , the boy's father explained I do believe . Help me overcome my unbelief . Right in the middle of the story , it's like the Holy Spirit is highlighting the Father as this model for the disciples and what they're supposed to learn from that . Faith is never an absolute certainty . It's trusting God enough to put weight on what he actually says . I love how the New Testament scholar James Edward puts it . He says the Father becomes a believer not when he amasses a sufficient quantum of faith , but when he risks everything on what little faith he has . And I have found , friends , that you have not really learned how to pray until you've learned to keep praying in the midst of your doubts .

Speaker 1 36:45

Number three I think we are afraid of silence . Let's just be honest . We have become addicted to noise and busyness and entertainment and Netflix and social media and Spotify and emails and text messages background as you pick it and we feel awkward , I think , or even bored sometimes , when we're just sitting alone , quiet with God . See what I did there . You all felt awkward . It's the kind of awkwardness that I hear like empty nesters experience . Those of you who are empty nesters , you know . When all the kids finally leave the house , they're like whoa , just the two of us . This is weird . Nothing's making noise , right ? I actually have no idea what they're doing . I have four kids and like my kids leave and I'm like it's about to be popping . Come on , we don't care , this is good stuff right here . But I've heard when everybody leaves . It's the same . It's the same thing when you realize what it feels like to feel alone and quiet with God . And so what do we do ? We consistently distract ourselves rather than valuing the real condition of our soul . How many of us have found ourselves a mascot ?

Speaker 1 38:04

Number four , I think we are afraid of selfish motives . Some of us are so paralyzed by this because we have good theology and we know our hearts can be deceitful at times and we know so often that our desires can be impure , and so we've become paralyzed by that and then become sheepish and outright . Don't ask God for anything that we want , because we have hung on to this truth in scripture that our desires can be impure sometimes and cause us to miss what I think is even the way to your truth of scripture , which is , by his very nature , god loves to give good gifts to his children , not just the good gifts that we need , not just the good gifts that we would want if we were more mature and willing to take up our cross and surrender fully to him . But God loves us to give good gifts that we , just plain old , want . Sometimes I think he doesn't give us everything we want . Thank God , because I know even a lot of us even find ourselves thankful that we didn't give ourselves everything we wanted in one season of our life . But he delights in bringing us joy and it's okay to hold those desires loosely While still asking for them boldly , even when our desires aren't necessarily selfish .

Speaker 1 39:26

Number five we're afraid of bothering God . We're afraid of bothering God . We think our problems are too trivial . We think God just might say you should have gotten over that one a long time ago , or like , can you just accept it ? And so we become afraid of bothering God . So imagine this father in this crowd . Imagine him listening to this prestigious leader's talk and argue with each other , wondering do I bring up my son again ? But he still brings him to Jesus . And remember how Jesus responded in verse 21 . Jesus asked the boy's father how long has he been like this ? I haven't been able to get over that question all week Because I sat there and said why did Jesus ask him that ? Because it's like irrelevant to whether or not he heals him . Jesus isn't like a doctor , right Trying to diagnose and figure out what questions and asking questions so we can figure out what's wrong with him .

Speaker 1 40:27

I think what this actually does is it gives us this window into God's heart , towards us . Jesus is asking for information and he doesn't need . Let me just illustrate why I think he does this . Have you ever been in a situation where someone's complaining or crying about a situation in their life and you're listening and about 30 seconds in you already have the solution and you're prepared to give it , and what you think should just be a two minute conversation to fix it all ends up being like an 18 and a half minute that's extended into a 30 minute listen conversation . I'll tell you something that I have learned . My wife has taught me that she doesn't need a solution . She needs compassion . When Jesus asks how long has this been happening to your son , he's acknowledging that this is not just a problem to be fixed , but that this is a person to be cared for , that this man just doesn't have a demonized , suffering son . He has a devastated , broken heart and Jesus takes the time to listen to his pain . It's almost as if he's saying tell me everything , gosh , childhood friends , if it's on your heart , it's on God's heart . Why ? Because he's compassionate and he cares what you're struggling about , so bother him .

Speaker 1 42:03

Read through the Psalms . Wake up and read through the Psalms and see what it really looks like to like in an unfiltered , raw way . Just pour your heart out to God . Number six we are afraid that we don't know how to pray . All right , nonsense . I'm just going to say that I don't have a lot to say , but this is it . We feel like a lot of people feel like I'm not eloquent enough . I don't have all the cool words , right as other people do . I'm going to tell you right now Hebrews 5-7, . He hears the messy stuff . He hears just the guttural cries . He takes it all . All right , that was that one , but here's the last one . I'm screaming now . I think that the last fear I think hold a lot of people back from prioritizing the kind of prayer that God wants us to experience is that we're afraid of rejection . Woo , we are so afraid of rejection .

Speaker 1 42:57

A couple of years back , I was invited to the NASCAR weekend in Sonoma to give the invocation to pray before the race and it was super rad , it was super fun . I didn't really realize what I was getting into or going to experience . And I'm like pulling up and I got to like call someone and they like take their little card out there and they take me to some VIP special parking spot and they're like whoa , and then I get like a special ride and then I got these special badges and I'm like walking around and people are staring at you and then , like I went to these seats and it was like the best seats in the place , like right up , like it was turn one , it was like no one else could have these seats and it was like the best seats . And there were other people there and I remember sitting there as I was approaching , thinking to myself what if they realized I don't actually belong here ? Because , like I can't afford these seats , I like I am not in this like social status of qualifications . What if they realize I don't have the qualifications nor the budget to be experiencing what I'm experiencing ? And I think that is how some of us feel when we become .

Accessing God's Grace Through Jesus

Speaker 1 44:05

When we come before God , we feel like our sins or our stuff or our decisions or our life is disqualified from us being able to come into His presence . Because we know who we are , we know what we think , we know what we've done and we fear we don't deserve to ask God for anything . Why would it come in prayer ? I do not . I don't even know how to start with that . What if I get seen ? And here's the bad news , friends , you're right , you are absolutely correct . You did not deserve to talk to God at all , much less ask Him for a single thing , much less expect Him to do anything good for you .

Speaker 1 44:43

But here's the thing none of us come before God on the basis of our own record . There is only one way to come before God with any ounce of confidence that he will immediately reject us and condemn us . And the only way you come before God with actual confidence is on the basis and the righteousness of Jesus , and he has given this to us by faith . So in our sin , yes , we have separated ourselves from God . Yes , our sin , we have chosen to throw it all away . Our privileges as a son or a daughter of God , our privileges of having access to God . We have thrown it all away and in reality , we have settled for cheaper things in this world that offend the love and the goodness and the mercy of God , and it has disqualified us . And God has every reason , in every right , in every intention of holding us accountable and judging us for that sin against them .

Speaker 1 45:45

But the gospel , by the way , the gospel means good news . The good news is that because he loves us so much and he wants us to enjoy intimacy with Him , and he wants us to delight and enjoy and enjoying intimacy with us , he made a way through Jesus and he came and he lived the perfect , righteous life and we have not and he died in our place on a cross and he took the punishment of sin for us , the wrath of God for us and all the shame associated with it , all the alienation associated with it . He took that on the cross and he paid for our sin and then he rose from the grave and he swung open wide the door for us to come before the grace and the throne of grace boldly , and you know what the scriptures say . Then it says that the veil was torn .

Speaker 1 46:46

That was made open for you and I , someone like you and someone like me , to be able to come before God and humble in audacious courage , before Him in prayer . And that's the kind of relationship that God wants with you . And it begins with you admitting you know I don't deserve it , admitting I don't get anything good from God until I trust in Jesus . That's exactly what Jesus said . He said this I am the way , the truth and life to the fullest . No one comes to the Father except through Him and putting your trust in Jesus . Because of that , friends , he is worthy of our song . Would you stand as Aaron prays for us , as we respond in worship ?

Speaker 3 47:48

Let me pray for you , god . We thank you so much that nothing that we've done disqualifies us from access and relationship with you . I thank you that there's nothing that can separate us from your love . So , god , in this moment , after hearing your word , after being reminded of your faithfulness , of your goodness , we simply say yes , yes to your will , yes to all that you are . God , we love you and it's in Jesus' name we pray Amen .