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Well, it's great to see you here tonight.

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I wanted to share with you at the

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outset of tonight's word about prayer, our third

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in a four-part series ending next week,

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the little thing I found some weeks ago

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that really blessed my heart.

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It was a collection of children's prayers, and

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it's from a magazine that I was reading,

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and just listen to this from Wendy, age

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six.

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God, who do you belong to, kids or

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grown-ups?

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You have to pick one.

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No halfsies with flowers, signed Wendy, age six.

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And then here's one from Violet.

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God, I always spell your name in my

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alphabet soup.

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Violet, age nine.

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These are real letters.

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Listen to this one.

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Dear God, why do so many persons who

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began with the letter I fight in wars?

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Iranians, Iraqs, Israel, Indians, you name it.

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Is it just an accident?

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Maybe you should check on it.

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It gives all the I people a bad

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name.

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Best wishes, Ingrid, age nine.

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For God, why not try the gardens of

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Eden's again?

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Ever thought about it?

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This time you could try it without the

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apples and snakes.

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Very best wishes to you, Kim, age ten.

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Dear God, how long did it really take

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you to make the first people?

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Do you feel like you rushed too much?

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Keith, age ten.

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Dear God and your disciples, please forgive me

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for not being a better listener at church,

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but it's hard to learn about you all

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at once.

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Hello, Carmen, age ten.

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Gets better even.

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Dear God, I am sorry.

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I like to do religious things, but fasting

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is where I draw the line.

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A man has to take a stand in

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life.

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Neil, age ten.

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God, when you found Mary for the virgin

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birth and you decided she should have Jesus

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in the manger, what I want to hear

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is whether there were any other finalists.

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Hello, God.

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Brittany, age eight.

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And then just for this one, the last

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one this week, Jesus, you must have got

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a big smile on your face when you

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found out you was resurrected.

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I was glad when I heard about it,

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too.

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Love, Frank, age eight.

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Now, why do those little prayers seem so

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precious to us?

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Why do they seem so special?

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And they delight us.

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We kind of laugh at them, though, because

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you see, we hear something in them that's

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real and special and just transparent.

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And it is such a joy to hear

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that.

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But now we would never play like that,

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would we?

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Because we've become sophisticated and we've learned how

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to pray and kind of, you know, from

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other people.

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Consequently, when we look at these prayers, we

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kind of look at them and we can

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say, well, we know a little better than

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that.

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Have you ever really thought about how Father

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God, who is much higher than we are

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compared to these could look at our prayers?

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But you see, God is looking for the

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same thing in our prayers that you heard

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in those prayers.

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Something refreshing, something right down where you really,

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really live.

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Sometimes the deepest truths in the Bible elude

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us because they're so simple.

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We overlook them.

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We just jet right over them.

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Now, this is our third week.

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The first week we talked about the priority

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of prayer and we started with the Lord.

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Teach us to pray the priority of prayer.

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And we saw that it's God's priority for

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prayer, for individual and for the church.

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Last week we looked at the power of

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prayer and we saw that all success in

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spiritual things depends upon prayer and that it

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is God's way for the church to do

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her greatest work.

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Service is simply picking up the spoils of

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victorious prayer.

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But tonight I want to talk about the

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privilege of prayer.

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And maybe that word seems like a strange

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word to you personally, when you talk about

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prayer, the privilege of prayer, because to you,

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prayer doesn't really seem like a privilege.

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It may seem more like a pain.

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It's something that you don't delight in.

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It's rather a duty.

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It's something that when you think about you

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feel guilty that you don't do more of.

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Maybe you don't enjoy prayer.

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Maybe you endure it.

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You may do it, but you endure it.

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Well, instead of a blessing, it may have

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become a burden to you.

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Well, I want to read a scripture in

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Matthew chapter six with you.

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If you'll turn there and the Lord really

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ministered this scripture to my heart several weeks

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ago, as I went away with him and

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he took me to this passage and really

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spoke to my own heart.

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And I want to read with you, Matthew

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chapter six, beginning in verse five, Jesus is

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speaking.

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And he says, and when you pray, thou

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shalt not be like the hypocrites are for,

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they love to pray, standing in the synagogues

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and in the corners of the streets so

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that they can be seen of men.

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Verily, I say to you, they have their

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reward, but you, when you pray, enter into

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your closet.

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And when you have shut your door, pray

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to your father, which is in secret and

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your father, which sees in secret shall reward

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you openly.

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But when you pray, do not use vain

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repetitions like the nations or the heathen do,

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for they think they shall be heard for

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their much speaking be not ye.

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Therefore, like them for your father knows what

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things you have need of before you ask

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him father, I ask you to bless these

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words and bring to our soul, our spirit,

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that word of life that will give us

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what you died to present to your church,

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victorious prayer, deep, intimate fellowship.

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And this kind of prayer that we read

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about at the very beginning of tonight, that

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delights our heart and yours.

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We pray it in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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Before we go to our text, I want

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to say that real prayer is very, very

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personal and it's a family time of father

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with his children.

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Now, one of the key thoughts in Matthew

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chapter six is we have a father and

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another key thought that's repeated over and over

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is a secret life, a life in secret.

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And the whole context of this chapter is

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a life lived for the eye of God.

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And so before we begin, let me say

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to truly pray as God, the father intended

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for us to pray, we must be born

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into his family.

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It's a family time situation and you must

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be cleansed by the blood.

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But when I am cleansed by the blood

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of Jesus, the blood is on me and

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the blood is on the throne.

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I can come boldly to the throne and

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the father sees the same blood and says,

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you belong together.

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You're of Royal blood.

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It's a right relationship with God.

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That is the foundation and strength of all

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prayer.

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That's it.

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That's what made these prayers so precious because

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they were children talking to a father.

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And we have a perpetual audience with the

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king of the universe and open door right

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into the throne room of God.

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This is where angels cover themselves not to

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wilt in that holy light and they fall

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down.

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We come and contemplate freely on our knees

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what angels desire strongly to look into.

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And they cry, holy, holy, holy.

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And we as simple children just come right

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into the throne room of God.

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I heard a story about a king in

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England who was a very temperamental king, very

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powerful, but he had a glorious throne room

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and whenever he was in a bad mood,

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heads would roll.

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If you ever walked into his throne room

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without being invited, especially when he's in a

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bad mood, he would send you out and

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have your head cut off.

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Well, one day he was fit to throw

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things at people and the guards were walking

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around with itching necks.

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And as they were there, this, this noise

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was out on the outside of the throne

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room and the doors burst open.

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And in comes this little boy with mud

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all over him, just like a little person

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off the streets.

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And they say, oh no, somebody tell him

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not to.

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Before they can do anything.

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This child runs into the throne room with

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mud all over him, slinging mud, tracking tracks

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right across the marble floor.

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And he runs right up to the king.

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The men are going like this and he

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jumps into the king's lap, gets mud all

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over his clothes and they can hardly look.

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And the king puts his arms around this

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little boy and says, son, I am so

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glad to see you.

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Have you had a good day?

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You see, being the prince changed everything where

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others would fear to come in.

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This little bold boy comes running right in.

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Why?

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Because he's in the same family and this

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is not the king only to him.

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This is his father.

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This is his daddy.

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And you see this king welcomed him.

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And so it is with us that we

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can come boldly to the throne of grace.

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We can come with muddy feet, clay feet,

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right to the very throne of holy God.

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And you'll find that he yearns to take

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you to his bosom and spend quality time

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with you.

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There is no reluctance on his part.

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He yearns for intimacy.

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In fact, that's the thing he wants more

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than anything else.

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And I would say to you tonight, let

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this birth hope in you.

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Let the fact that God wants to be

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in intimate fellowship with you, birth hope, because

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you don't have to twist his arm.

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He is seeking you.

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And so the angels are amazed at our

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privilege.

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They see someone like me come into the

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throne room of God and they say, can

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you believe it?

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Amazing grace that such a one is that

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can come right to the throne of grace

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and they praise him and they're astounded at

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our privilege.

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I think the only thing that astounds the

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angels more than that is the fact that

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we don't come.

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They see us like little children down here,

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trying to bang a square peg in a

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round hole.

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And they say, look at them.

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Why don't they go ask their father?

276
00:10:56,950 --> 00:10:59,410
Why don't they go ask their father about

277
00:10:59,410 --> 00:11:00,550
this thing?

278
00:11:00,610 --> 00:11:01,330
How to do it?

279
00:11:01,470 --> 00:11:04,310
The angels are amazed at what we can

280
00:11:04,310 --> 00:11:05,410
have for free.

281
00:11:05,710 --> 00:11:08,990
And they, they long for us to do

282
00:11:08,990 --> 00:11:09,230
it.

283
00:11:09,230 --> 00:11:12,090
Now God himself longs for us to take

284
00:11:12,090 --> 00:11:12,930
up this privilege.

285
00:11:13,270 --> 00:11:15,170
He's amazed that we don't.

286
00:11:15,290 --> 00:11:16,950
The angels are amazed and father.

287
00:11:17,030 --> 00:11:19,410
God is amazed back in the old Testament

288
00:11:19,410 --> 00:11:21,490
in Isaiah chapter 59.

289
00:11:21,970 --> 00:11:26,050
God saw in verse 16, there was no

290
00:11:26,050 --> 00:11:26,590
man.

291
00:11:26,930 --> 00:11:29,390
And he wondered the word in the Hebrew

292
00:11:29,390 --> 00:11:32,910
means he was astonished that there was no

293
00:11:32,910 --> 00:11:33,490
intercessor.

294
00:11:33,950 --> 00:11:35,110
He's astonished.

295
00:11:35,210 --> 00:11:38,050
God was astonished with the open door that

296
00:11:38,050 --> 00:11:39,690
he gives to his children, that there wasn't

297
00:11:39,690 --> 00:11:41,150
someone there praying.

298
00:11:41,510 --> 00:11:44,650
And he says again in Isaiah 63, I

299
00:11:44,650 --> 00:11:46,930
looked to see if there was someone to

300
00:11:46,930 --> 00:11:48,750
help, but there was no one.

301
00:11:48,850 --> 00:11:51,170
I wondered, I was astonished that there was

302
00:11:51,170 --> 00:11:52,370
no one there to uphold.

303
00:11:52,690 --> 00:11:56,450
God was astonished in Mark chapter six, verse

304
00:11:56,450 --> 00:11:56,790
six.

305
00:11:56,910 --> 00:11:59,930
It says that Jesus looked around and he

306
00:11:59,930 --> 00:12:01,850
marveled at their unbelief.

307
00:12:01,930 --> 00:12:05,750
The word is, uh, to be astonished, marveled,

308
00:12:05,910 --> 00:12:08,150
to be, to be alarmed, to be amazed

309
00:12:08,150 --> 00:12:10,310
at the fact that people are so slow

310
00:12:10,310 --> 00:12:11,190
to believe God.

311
00:12:11,470 --> 00:12:13,490
Now, all of that was before the cross.

312
00:12:13,890 --> 00:12:16,070
All of that was before the Bible was

313
00:12:16,070 --> 00:12:18,430
canonized together for us by the spirit.

314
00:12:18,730 --> 00:12:20,590
All of that was before the resurrection.

315
00:12:21,030 --> 00:12:22,850
All of that was before Pentecost.

316
00:12:23,090 --> 00:12:25,030
If he was astonished, then what do you

317
00:12:25,030 --> 00:12:28,410
think he is now with the Bible in

318
00:12:28,410 --> 00:12:29,030
our hand?

319
00:12:30,190 --> 00:12:32,950
Jeremiah two, verse 32 is the lament of

320
00:12:32,950 --> 00:12:33,870
the Holy spirit.

321
00:12:34,170 --> 00:12:36,970
He says, my people have forgotten me days

322
00:12:36,970 --> 00:12:40,270
without number days without number.

323
00:12:40,370 --> 00:12:42,030
My people have forgotten me.

324
00:12:42,170 --> 00:12:44,770
And then he says in Isaiah 64, verse

325
00:12:44,770 --> 00:12:48,310
seven, there is none says the prophet that

326
00:12:48,310 --> 00:12:49,990
calls upon thy name.

327
00:12:49,990 --> 00:12:53,790
There is no one get this, that stirs

328
00:12:53,790 --> 00:12:56,310
up himself to take hold on you.

329
00:12:56,550 --> 00:12:58,390
You see, that's what I believe God wants

330
00:12:58,390 --> 00:13:00,510
us to do during these weeks to stir

331
00:13:00,510 --> 00:13:03,690
ourselves up, to take hold upon God.

332
00:13:03,810 --> 00:13:05,850
God wants you to get ahold of him.

333
00:13:06,330 --> 00:13:07,730
He wants you to lay hold of him

334
00:13:07,730 --> 00:13:08,270
in prayer.

335
00:13:08,710 --> 00:13:11,190
So from our text tonight in Matthew six,

336
00:13:11,250 --> 00:13:13,490
I want to look at three key ingredients

337
00:13:13,490 --> 00:13:18,530
that will restore prayer to its rightful level

338
00:13:18,530 --> 00:13:21,470
in the life of one who has become

339
00:13:21,470 --> 00:13:22,970
drudgery instead of a delight.

340
00:13:23,110 --> 00:13:25,310
It will restore this to you.

341
00:13:25,390 --> 00:13:27,770
If you will see prayer in this dimension

342
00:13:27,770 --> 00:13:31,930
and in this Matthew chapter six, we see

343
00:13:31,930 --> 00:13:33,150
three keywords.

344
00:13:33,610 --> 00:13:36,170
The first keyword let's read verse five.

345
00:13:36,450 --> 00:13:40,050
When you pray, thou shall not be like

346
00:13:40,050 --> 00:13:41,710
hypocrites are two faced people.

347
00:13:41,970 --> 00:13:44,370
They love to pray standing in the synagogues

348
00:13:44,370 --> 00:13:45,750
and in the corners of the streets that

349
00:13:45,750 --> 00:13:47,010
they can be seen of man.

350
00:13:47,610 --> 00:13:50,170
Verily, I say to you, that's their reward.

351
00:13:50,310 --> 00:13:50,790
They have it.

352
00:13:50,950 --> 00:13:54,350
The praise of men, but you, when you

353
00:13:54,350 --> 00:13:57,690
pray enter into your closet and when you've

354
00:13:57,690 --> 00:13:59,430
shut your door, pray to your father, which

355
00:13:59,430 --> 00:14:02,190
is in secret and your father, which season

356
00:14:02,190 --> 00:14:06,230
secret shall reward you openly in this chapter.

357
00:14:06,370 --> 00:14:08,950
As I said, secret is a key word.

358
00:14:09,330 --> 00:14:12,530
It's used when they talk about giving and

359
00:14:12,530 --> 00:14:14,410
when they talk about praying and when they

360
00:14:14,410 --> 00:14:17,390
talk about fasting, each one says your father

361
00:14:17,390 --> 00:14:20,290
in secret sees don't do these things.

362
00:14:20,430 --> 00:14:24,150
So men can evaluate or be impressed, but

363
00:14:24,150 --> 00:14:25,630
your father is in secret.

364
00:14:25,790 --> 00:14:27,810
And so the first keyword, if you want

365
00:14:27,810 --> 00:14:30,270
your prayer life restored and brought to what

366
00:14:30,270 --> 00:14:33,290
God wants is secrecy, secrecy.

367
00:14:34,070 --> 00:14:36,910
Now the word here for secret is crypto

368
00:14:36,910 --> 00:14:40,470
crypto, like cryptographic message.

369
00:14:40,470 --> 00:14:40,990
It's hidden.

370
00:14:41,150 --> 00:14:43,130
It's, it's, uh, it's inward.

371
00:14:43,370 --> 00:14:45,030
It's even used in some places of the

372
00:14:45,030 --> 00:14:47,070
new Testament for like the spiritual part of

373
00:14:47,070 --> 00:14:50,170
man, the hidden part it's translated, but it

374
00:14:50,170 --> 00:14:53,550
means secret, like, uh, like unknown to the,

375
00:14:53,670 --> 00:14:54,530
to the common eye.

376
00:14:54,590 --> 00:14:56,630
It's not just laying on the surface and

377
00:14:56,630 --> 00:14:58,050
what this secret means.

378
00:14:58,070 --> 00:15:01,110
It's a life that is lived before just

379
00:15:01,110 --> 00:15:03,910
the eye of God alone, just before his

380
00:15:03,910 --> 00:15:06,850
eye unto him three times in this chapter,

381
00:15:07,410 --> 00:15:11,910
open reward is promised to secret faith, open

382
00:15:11,910 --> 00:15:12,470
reward.

383
00:15:12,630 --> 00:15:14,210
God will reward you openly.

384
00:15:14,550 --> 00:15:16,330
If you sow in the closet, you will

385
00:15:16,330 --> 00:15:17,250
reap in public.

386
00:15:18,130 --> 00:15:20,090
But if you don't sow in private, you'll

387
00:15:20,090 --> 00:15:23,050
never reap in public five times in the

388
00:15:23,050 --> 00:15:23,410
chapter.

389
00:15:23,410 --> 00:15:26,270
We're told not to be seen of men,

390
00:15:26,330 --> 00:15:27,850
not to be seen of men.

391
00:15:27,950 --> 00:15:29,730
When you give, don't let the, the, your

392
00:15:29,730 --> 00:15:31,130
right hand know what your left hand is.

393
00:15:31,270 --> 00:15:32,550
Don't let your left hand know what your

394
00:15:32,550 --> 00:15:33,270
right hand is doing.

395
00:15:33,270 --> 00:15:35,290
I can't remember which hand is in ignorance,

396
00:15:35,450 --> 00:15:38,250
but anyway, the point is, uh, this kind

397
00:15:38,250 --> 00:15:42,870
of prayer, the secret prayer dies when it's

398
00:15:42,870 --> 00:15:45,670
exposed to the glare of a man's gaze.

399
00:15:45,870 --> 00:15:47,070
It dies.

400
00:15:47,550 --> 00:15:48,750
It's secret prayer.

401
00:15:48,890 --> 00:15:51,810
It says here, enter into your closet.

402
00:15:52,030 --> 00:15:53,210
That's secret prayer.

403
00:15:53,310 --> 00:15:56,090
Closet is the word tamey on, tamey on

404
00:15:56,090 --> 00:15:58,290
it's used four times in the new Testament.

405
00:15:58,310 --> 00:16:00,970
And this word is translated in different ways,

406
00:16:01,310 --> 00:16:04,490
a private family, inner closet, like your messy

407
00:16:04,490 --> 00:16:05,910
closet that nobody ever sees.

408
00:16:05,910 --> 00:16:08,130
You hope that private closet.

409
00:16:08,790 --> 00:16:11,190
Secondly, it's translated like a secret chamber that

410
00:16:11,190 --> 00:16:12,310
you take a honeymoon in.

411
00:16:13,370 --> 00:16:15,590
And thirdly, it's translated like a treasure vault

412
00:16:15,590 --> 00:16:17,070
where you keep all your valuables.

413
00:16:17,390 --> 00:16:18,550
And it's just for you alone.

414
00:16:18,630 --> 00:16:19,550
It's a private place.

415
00:16:19,610 --> 00:16:23,430
When you enter into your closet secretly, that's

416
00:16:23,430 --> 00:16:26,090
your place, that place of secrecy, the closet,

417
00:16:26,350 --> 00:16:27,750
it suggests here.

418
00:16:27,750 --> 00:16:28,950
It's a definite place.

419
00:16:29,050 --> 00:16:30,470
Do you have a place to meet with

420
00:16:30,470 --> 00:16:30,830
God?

421
00:16:31,750 --> 00:16:33,090
You see, what you need to do is

422
00:16:33,090 --> 00:16:33,770
make an altar.

423
00:16:34,630 --> 00:16:36,750
The family altar will alter the family, but

424
00:16:36,750 --> 00:16:39,010
the personal altar will alter you.

425
00:16:39,610 --> 00:16:41,750
And you need a place throughout the scriptures.

426
00:16:42,630 --> 00:16:44,170
There's a place to meet with God.

427
00:16:44,290 --> 00:16:46,690
And the saints of old always had what

428
00:16:46,690 --> 00:16:49,250
they called a twisting place, a trusting place

429
00:16:49,250 --> 00:16:51,110
where they would always get along with God

430
00:16:51,110 --> 00:16:53,030
that was reserved for prayer.

431
00:16:53,610 --> 00:16:55,190
Do you have a place like that?

432
00:16:55,190 --> 00:16:58,830
Enter into your closet, a definite place to

433
00:16:58,830 --> 00:16:59,970
meet with God.

434
00:17:00,070 --> 00:17:02,030
I'll tell you, I was away on that

435
00:17:02,030 --> 00:17:05,170
retreat and the words that the Holy Spirit

436
00:17:05,170 --> 00:17:07,630
laid on my heart were these get back

437
00:17:07,630 --> 00:17:08,589
to the closet.

438
00:17:09,630 --> 00:17:10,410
Five words.

439
00:17:10,950 --> 00:17:11,710
And I pray.

440
00:17:12,589 --> 00:17:14,710
I know not like the Lord wants me

441
00:17:14,710 --> 00:17:16,230
to pray, but I'll tell you this.

442
00:17:16,290 --> 00:17:19,310
The Lord raked my heart over his coals

443
00:17:19,310 --> 00:17:21,670
and said, get back to the closet, get

444
00:17:21,670 --> 00:17:24,450
back to the closet and tell my church

445
00:17:24,450 --> 00:17:25,190
the same thing.

446
00:17:25,390 --> 00:17:27,510
Get back to the closet, trust in the

447
00:17:27,510 --> 00:17:30,490
secrecy of a hidden life with God secret.

448
00:17:30,610 --> 00:17:32,710
It says in verse six here that your

449
00:17:32,710 --> 00:17:35,850
father, he says, it says first he is

450
00:17:35,850 --> 00:17:36,630
in secret.

451
00:17:36,830 --> 00:17:39,930
And secondly, your father sees in secret.

452
00:17:40,910 --> 00:17:43,330
He's in secret and he sees in secret

453
00:17:43,330 --> 00:17:46,310
now to the Hebrew mind and to the

454
00:17:46,310 --> 00:17:48,370
Jewish people, to whom he was speaking.

455
00:17:48,890 --> 00:17:51,350
This suggests that secret place.

456
00:17:51,950 --> 00:17:55,610
In the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies,

457
00:17:55,710 --> 00:17:58,990
he dwelleth in the secret place of the

458
00:17:58,990 --> 00:18:02,030
most high shall abide under the shadow of

459
00:18:02,030 --> 00:18:06,090
the almighty, the inner sanctuary, that room that

460
00:18:06,090 --> 00:18:08,730
nobody ever went in except for God.

461
00:18:08,810 --> 00:18:09,810
He lived there.

462
00:18:09,890 --> 00:18:10,630
It's his closet.

463
00:18:10,810 --> 00:18:11,770
It's his place.

464
00:18:11,970 --> 00:18:13,890
So when you come into your secret place,

465
00:18:13,970 --> 00:18:16,850
your hidden sanctuary, the place where you meet

466
00:18:16,850 --> 00:18:20,730
with God, it suggests that you dwell in

467
00:18:20,730 --> 00:18:22,190
the shadow of the almighty.

468
00:18:22,630 --> 00:18:25,390
You have made the Lord, your, your dwelling

469
00:18:25,390 --> 00:18:25,930
place.

470
00:18:26,190 --> 00:18:28,810
Now, a secret kind of prayer is the

471
00:18:28,810 --> 00:18:30,370
first kind of prayer to go when you

472
00:18:30,370 --> 00:18:30,890
get busy.

473
00:18:32,370 --> 00:18:33,250
No way, miss.

474
00:18:34,350 --> 00:18:35,550
How about some old minds?

475
00:18:36,350 --> 00:18:37,270
It's true.

476
00:18:38,270 --> 00:18:40,390
Being in the closet seems like such a

477
00:18:40,390 --> 00:18:41,150
waste of time.

478
00:18:41,310 --> 00:18:42,610
Now it's so unproductive.

479
00:18:42,970 --> 00:18:45,050
Haven't we thought that I thought it, I

480
00:18:45,050 --> 00:18:45,690
said it.

481
00:18:47,030 --> 00:18:49,450
But this attitude is the reason we're so

482
00:18:49,450 --> 00:18:51,790
impotent, because we think we have to always

483
00:18:51,790 --> 00:18:52,870
be doing something.

484
00:18:53,230 --> 00:18:55,950
The secret of all failure may be the

485
00:18:55,950 --> 00:18:58,210
secret, the failure of secret prayer.

486
00:18:59,030 --> 00:19:01,130
Listen to what Oswald Chambers said.

487
00:19:01,250 --> 00:19:03,810
The central thing in the kingdom of Christ

488
00:19:04,410 --> 00:19:08,770
is a personal relationship, a personal relationship to

489
00:19:08,770 --> 00:19:15,570
himself, not public usefulness to make a relationship

490
00:19:15,570 --> 00:19:16,150
of intimacy.

491
00:19:16,310 --> 00:19:18,130
Of course, we do more than just be

492
00:19:18,130 --> 00:19:19,930
in the closet, but you'll never have a

493
00:19:19,930 --> 00:19:21,030
holy life without it.

494
00:19:22,950 --> 00:19:27,610
And so the secret of Christianity is Christ

495
00:19:27,610 --> 00:19:32,810
in secret, living a life before God, when

496
00:19:32,810 --> 00:19:34,550
no one else can see, but him.

497
00:19:34,970 --> 00:19:37,230
When your pastor walks by, you suddenly change.

498
00:19:37,510 --> 00:19:38,770
Well, that's not a life in secret.

499
00:19:38,890 --> 00:19:40,670
That's a life lived for man.

500
00:19:41,050 --> 00:19:43,430
So the power of my public life must

501
00:19:43,430 --> 00:19:45,910
flow from the, from the, from the beauty

502
00:19:45,910 --> 00:19:48,010
of my private life with God.

503
00:19:48,390 --> 00:19:50,730
And the man who prays in public will

504
00:19:50,730 --> 00:19:52,950
have a hollow ring to it.

505
00:19:53,010 --> 00:19:55,230
If he doesn't also propel it from his

506
00:19:55,230 --> 00:19:56,370
closet in private.

507
00:19:57,050 --> 00:20:00,710
And so a pragmatism and a lust for

508
00:20:00,710 --> 00:20:05,570
results has bred endless energy and activity that

509
00:20:05,570 --> 00:20:07,290
have never been birthed in God.

510
00:20:08,010 --> 00:20:10,290
And they have robbed the church of its

511
00:20:10,290 --> 00:20:11,670
private life with God.

512
00:20:12,210 --> 00:20:15,370
Many, many people have buried their spirituality in

513
00:20:15,370 --> 00:20:17,690
the grave of their activities.

514
00:20:19,940 --> 00:20:23,380
Almost always the reason that men fall in

515
00:20:23,380 --> 00:20:25,720
public is because before then they have failed

516
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:26,420
in private.

517
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,480
They have left the closet.

518
00:20:29,780 --> 00:20:31,820
So God has a secret service.

519
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,020
I heard about a man that died about

520
00:20:34,020 --> 00:20:35,520
12 years ago in February.

521
00:20:35,980 --> 00:20:37,500
They carried him out of his house.

522
00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,640
He had been a missionary 30 years before

523
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,520
that in Israel and come home for health

524
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:41,960
reasons.

525
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:43,300
They made him come home.

526
00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:44,400
He said, I want to stay and leave

527
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,480
my bones as a testimony to the Lord,

528
00:20:47,540 --> 00:20:48,620
but they made him come home.

529
00:20:48,620 --> 00:20:51,020
And so when he left his little house

530
00:20:51,020 --> 00:20:52,800
on that stretcher with the blanket pulled over

531
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,360
his face, it was the first time we've

532
00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,200
been out of his house in 12 years.

533
00:20:58,700 --> 00:20:59,760
His name was Rex.

534
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:01,180
He wouldn't even let you take his picture.

535
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,360
This man had not slept one night in

536
00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:05,480
30 years.

537
00:21:06,460 --> 00:21:08,200
He hadn't left his house in 12 years.

538
00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:08,780
What did he do?

539
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:09,780
He slept in the daytime.

540
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,320
He stayed up night after night and he

541
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:12,760
prayed.

542
00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:14,220
He was a hidden one.

543
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,240
He was a secret one, a man of

544
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:16,800
the closet.

545
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:18,560
And let me tell you when he died,

546
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,500
I believe it was a serious loss to

547
00:21:20,500 --> 00:21:23,140
the church and our nation as if some

548
00:21:23,140 --> 00:21:25,260
great preacher or the president died.

549
00:21:25,780 --> 00:21:27,820
People like that are very, very rare.

550
00:21:28,220 --> 00:21:31,700
Do you have a secret life with God

551
00:21:31,700 --> 00:21:35,520
that no one knows about, but you and

552
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,780
him, much like there are things that you

553
00:21:37,780 --> 00:21:39,860
and your wife share that no one knows

554
00:21:39,860 --> 00:21:42,420
about, but you and her, do you have

555
00:21:42,420 --> 00:21:45,100
that kind of secret life with God secrecy?

556
00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:46,420
You got to get back to it, get

557
00:21:46,420 --> 00:21:47,180
back to the closet.

558
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:51,460
The second word in these verses in Matthew

559
00:21:51,460 --> 00:21:54,820
chapter seven is also in verse six.

560
00:21:56,830 --> 00:21:59,190
And the word is suggested when it says,

561
00:21:59,290 --> 00:22:02,270
enter into your closet and shut the door.

562
00:22:03,470 --> 00:22:05,170
Solitude is the second word.

563
00:22:05,550 --> 00:22:09,930
Shut the door solitude, forget everything else.

564
00:22:10,370 --> 00:22:13,090
Shut out the world and shut in yourself

565
00:22:13,090 --> 00:22:14,390
with God.

566
00:22:15,010 --> 00:22:17,070
Seclusion might be another way to put it

567
00:22:17,070 --> 00:22:20,050
alone with God, not just a secret place,

568
00:22:20,190 --> 00:22:21,890
but alone with God.

569
00:22:21,930 --> 00:22:23,810
You see in the holiest of all, that

570
00:22:23,810 --> 00:22:25,390
was suggested under secrecy.

571
00:22:25,710 --> 00:22:28,570
Only one person ever went at a time

572
00:22:28,570 --> 00:22:31,350
ever, never were there two people in God's

573
00:22:31,350 --> 00:22:35,610
presence, only one God deals one by one.

574
00:22:35,730 --> 00:22:38,610
And in this verse six, you will see

575
00:22:39,530 --> 00:22:43,010
eight times that singular pronoun is used.

576
00:22:43,370 --> 00:22:47,070
Jesus, you, when you pray, enter into your

577
00:22:47,070 --> 00:22:47,490
closet.

578
00:22:47,650 --> 00:22:50,210
And when you have shut your door, pray

579
00:22:50,210 --> 00:22:51,830
to your father, that's in secret.

580
00:22:51,830 --> 00:22:54,790
And your father should you open eight times

581
00:22:54,790 --> 00:22:55,450
in one verse.

582
00:22:55,470 --> 00:22:57,210
He uses that singular pronoun.

583
00:22:57,470 --> 00:23:01,970
You he's trying to emphasize to us that

584
00:23:01,970 --> 00:23:04,810
the most important time is time alone with

585
00:23:04,810 --> 00:23:05,250
God.

586
00:23:05,630 --> 00:23:07,990
Many of you admire Dr. Oldford.

587
00:23:08,190 --> 00:23:10,710
Well, he, in a message once I heard

588
00:23:10,710 --> 00:23:12,950
him say, he asked Vance Havner.

589
00:23:13,790 --> 00:23:14,490
Vance was older.

590
00:23:14,590 --> 00:23:16,770
He asked Vance Havner when offered was young.

591
00:23:16,850 --> 00:23:17,850
He asked Vance Havner.

592
00:23:17,930 --> 00:23:20,170
He said, Dr. Havner, what is the secret

593
00:23:20,170 --> 00:23:22,290
for a young man, a life with God,

594
00:23:22,390 --> 00:23:23,730
a great walk with God?

595
00:23:24,230 --> 00:23:26,290
And Dr. Havner said in his own way,

596
00:23:26,630 --> 00:23:32,130
solitude, young man, solitude, solitude, time alone with

597
00:23:32,130 --> 00:23:35,270
God, the most important thing in your life,

598
00:23:35,530 --> 00:23:38,670
the time exposure of the soul, the film

599
00:23:38,670 --> 00:23:40,570
of your soul to the face of God.

600
00:23:41,150 --> 00:23:42,890
Be still and know that I'm God.

601
00:23:42,990 --> 00:23:45,670
The Psalm 46, 10 says, be still and

602
00:23:45,670 --> 00:23:46,990
know that I am God.

603
00:23:47,230 --> 00:23:49,710
That's why your closet will either be the

604
00:23:49,710 --> 00:23:52,350
best place on earth or the worst place

605
00:23:52,350 --> 00:23:53,090
on earth.

606
00:23:54,170 --> 00:23:56,350
There'll be no neutrality when it comes to

607
00:23:56,350 --> 00:23:58,810
the closet, but God is best known in

608
00:23:58,810 --> 00:23:59,490
silence.

609
00:24:00,210 --> 00:24:02,810
He is best known in that secret place

610
00:24:02,810 --> 00:24:04,710
in the closet with the door shut.

611
00:24:05,350 --> 00:24:05,790
But you know what?

612
00:24:05,830 --> 00:24:06,690
We're so busy.

613
00:24:07,290 --> 00:24:10,790
Fear seems to stalk most hearts as the

614
00:24:10,790 --> 00:24:14,450
silence of eternity soaks in.

615
00:24:14,690 --> 00:24:16,970
We get awkward even in a room full

616
00:24:16,970 --> 00:24:17,390
of people.

617
00:24:17,390 --> 00:24:19,810
When this silence, we feel very, very awkward.

618
00:24:20,150 --> 00:24:21,890
We don't know how to handle the creativity

619
00:24:21,890 --> 00:24:23,610
of God's kind of silence.

620
00:24:24,410 --> 00:24:25,790
People have been scratching their head.

621
00:24:25,850 --> 00:24:27,650
There was silence in heaven for about the

622
00:24:27,650 --> 00:24:29,070
space of a half an hour.

623
00:24:30,210 --> 00:24:31,630
I don't know, but I believe it may

624
00:24:31,630 --> 00:24:34,850
be the time of just combined glory to

625
00:24:34,850 --> 00:24:35,410
intercession.

626
00:24:35,550 --> 00:24:37,050
I don't know what that means, but that's

627
00:24:37,050 --> 00:24:37,810
just my own opinion.

628
00:24:38,770 --> 00:24:41,210
But silence makes us face reality.

629
00:24:41,610 --> 00:24:42,830
That's why we don't like it.

630
00:24:42,870 --> 00:24:44,870
Even as Christians, we get in our car,

631
00:24:45,050 --> 00:24:46,330
we slap in some tape.

632
00:24:47,490 --> 00:24:48,490
I'm serious.

633
00:24:48,910 --> 00:24:51,910
There's very few times in our lives when

634
00:24:51,910 --> 00:24:53,770
there's absolute silence.

635
00:24:54,770 --> 00:24:56,630
Be still and know that I am God.

636
00:24:56,910 --> 00:24:59,530
We cover reality with noise.

637
00:25:01,690 --> 00:25:04,530
Hearts shrink back from being alone with God.

638
00:25:04,850 --> 00:25:05,290
You know why?

639
00:25:05,350 --> 00:25:07,530
Because reality is revealed in secret.

640
00:25:08,850 --> 00:25:10,510
Who can dwell in his presence?

641
00:25:10,850 --> 00:25:13,050
Who can dwell in his shadowless light?

642
00:25:13,330 --> 00:25:15,730
Only the man who's being willing to be

643
00:25:15,730 --> 00:25:17,630
reduced to nothing but grace.

644
00:25:18,750 --> 00:25:21,230
And from my smitten heart with tears, the

645
00:25:21,230 --> 00:25:24,410
song we sang to wonders, I confess the

646
00:25:24,410 --> 00:25:27,270
wonders of redeeming love in my unworthiness.

647
00:25:27,450 --> 00:25:29,390
When we get alone with God, we are

648
00:25:29,390 --> 00:25:32,270
no longer all the things we've convinced ourselves

649
00:25:32,270 --> 00:25:33,050
that we are.

650
00:25:34,090 --> 00:25:35,610
We're just needy people.

651
00:25:36,930 --> 00:25:39,050
Nobody can strut into our prayer into the

652
00:25:39,050 --> 00:25:39,710
prayer closet.

653
00:25:39,710 --> 00:25:40,870
We are naked.

654
00:25:41,110 --> 00:25:45,050
We're just people, gloriously unsophisticated.

655
00:25:45,450 --> 00:25:49,110
And our prayers, compared to his understanding, are

656
00:25:49,110 --> 00:25:50,190
very, very puny.

657
00:25:50,890 --> 00:25:53,530
But you see, in his presence, in his

658
00:25:53,530 --> 00:25:54,410
light, we see light.

659
00:25:54,490 --> 00:25:57,310
We see sin's enormity, and we see our

660
00:25:57,310 --> 00:25:58,090
deformity.

661
00:25:58,230 --> 00:26:00,450
And we're reduced to total trust and dependence

662
00:26:00,450 --> 00:26:01,990
as a child on God.

663
00:26:02,470 --> 00:26:04,610
There's a gray test of solitude.

664
00:26:05,970 --> 00:26:08,630
Hypocrites seldom pray in private.

665
00:26:09,710 --> 00:26:11,350
It's always got to be with other people

666
00:26:11,350 --> 00:26:13,670
around because we don't realize it, but we're

667
00:26:13,670 --> 00:26:15,890
doing it to reinforce our own idea of

668
00:26:15,890 --> 00:26:16,410
ourself.

669
00:26:17,170 --> 00:26:20,530
Everything that is vital to godliness is nurtured

670
00:26:20,530 --> 00:26:22,730
and nourished in the closet air.

671
00:26:23,830 --> 00:26:25,730
Everything that will make you grow as a

672
00:26:25,730 --> 00:26:27,770
Christian comes from your closet alone.

673
00:26:28,190 --> 00:26:30,550
Prayer is the roving room of the soul.

674
00:26:30,590 --> 00:26:32,430
It's like the it's like the locker room

675
00:26:32,430 --> 00:26:32,970
for life.

676
00:26:33,090 --> 00:26:36,150
God puts on us his his anointing, his

677
00:26:36,150 --> 00:26:38,310
spirit, the sensitivity of God.

678
00:26:38,390 --> 00:26:41,510
He says, smell the fragrance of Christ.

679
00:26:41,670 --> 00:26:43,250
Taste and see that the Lord is good.

680
00:26:43,450 --> 00:26:44,610
Senses become strong.

681
00:26:44,770 --> 00:26:46,710
Look and see who the Lord is.

682
00:26:46,850 --> 00:26:47,650
Learn of him.

683
00:26:47,870 --> 00:26:49,950
And and we put on the Lord Jesus

684
00:26:49,950 --> 00:26:50,450
Christ.

685
00:26:50,590 --> 00:26:54,170
God always says, hide thyself before he says,

686
00:26:54,250 --> 00:26:54,810
show yourself.

687
00:26:55,610 --> 00:26:56,570
He said it to Elijah.

688
00:26:56,650 --> 00:26:57,490
He said it to Moses.

689
00:26:57,570 --> 00:26:58,750
He said it to Paul.

690
00:26:58,990 --> 00:27:00,550
He says it to every man almost in

691
00:27:00,550 --> 00:27:01,750
the Bible that you can see.

692
00:27:01,930 --> 00:27:02,910
Hide thyself.

693
00:27:03,150 --> 00:27:05,230
And then once you heard something in the

694
00:27:05,230 --> 00:27:07,530
closet, then he says, go watch.

695
00:27:07,730 --> 00:27:09,230
I've spoken to you in darkness.

696
00:27:09,350 --> 00:27:11,130
Go out and proclaim that what you hear

697
00:27:11,130 --> 00:27:12,770
in the closet, shout on the rooftop.

698
00:27:13,290 --> 00:27:15,450
But too many people are out proclaiming and

699
00:27:15,450 --> 00:27:15,690
shouting.

700
00:27:15,790 --> 00:27:18,290
They haven't heard anything or seen anything.

701
00:27:21,060 --> 00:27:22,540
And that's why God says so much of

702
00:27:22,540 --> 00:27:23,520
it's a tingling symbol.

703
00:27:23,540 --> 00:27:25,980
It's got to be built upon reality and

704
00:27:25,980 --> 00:27:27,380
and prayer in our life.

705
00:27:30,130 --> 00:27:33,150
We learn the art of thinking about God

706
00:27:33,150 --> 00:27:33,990
only.

707
00:27:34,170 --> 00:27:36,130
It's called a single eye in this chapter.

708
00:27:36,130 --> 00:27:38,070
Matthew six.

709
00:27:38,930 --> 00:27:40,770
And it's not just passive kind of waiting

710
00:27:40,770 --> 00:27:41,390
in his presence.

711
00:27:41,550 --> 00:27:44,150
It's an exercise in keen attention.

712
00:27:44,510 --> 00:27:50,120
Every faculty of the soul is two ears,

713
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:51,320
one mouth.

714
00:27:51,900 --> 00:27:52,900
And we're listening.

715
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:54,120
Lord, speak.

716
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:54,760
I'm listening.

717
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:56,840
Oh, the richest man on earth is the

718
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:58,080
man who has a listening heart.

719
00:27:59,740 --> 00:28:01,620
Solomon said, Lord, give me wisdom.

720
00:28:01,820 --> 00:28:03,340
The Hebrew means a listening heart.

721
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:04,980
And the Lord says, because you've asked for

722
00:28:04,980 --> 00:28:05,700
this, I'll do it.

723
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,660
That's why we call him the Bible, because

724
00:28:08,660 --> 00:28:10,000
he heard God and then he wrote it

725
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:10,340
down.

726
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:11,800
He should have lived it out a little

727
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:13,820
more in his everyday life.

728
00:28:13,900 --> 00:28:14,340
He blew it.

729
00:28:14,420 --> 00:28:16,180
But he was a wise man because, you

730
00:28:16,180 --> 00:28:17,920
see, he spent time listening.

731
00:28:18,660 --> 00:28:20,320
We've got to get in the closet and

732
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:21,820
take every thought captive.

733
00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:25,460
Shut the door and take every flipping thought

734
00:28:25,460 --> 00:28:28,680
and bind it and focus our attention and

735
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:30,920
behold the beauty of the Lord and and

736
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,460
meditate in his word and contemplate his holy

737
00:28:34,460 --> 00:28:38,440
character and consecrate to his glorious will right

738
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:39,260
in his presence.

739
00:28:39,900 --> 00:28:41,300
Intimacy takes time.

740
00:28:41,660 --> 00:28:42,800
Any of you that have been married know

741
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,660
that it takes time.

742
00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:46,960
You don't just become intimate by living together.

743
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,980
You've got to have time communicating solitude, the

744
00:28:50,980 --> 00:28:54,920
cornerstone of all holy living solitude with God.

745
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,520
This kind of prayer will either keep you

746
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:02,100
from sin or sin will keep you from

747
00:29:02,100 --> 00:29:02,900
this kind of prayer.

748
00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:04,320
You can't stand the heat.

749
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,260
We'll never be able to live in God's

750
00:29:07,260 --> 00:29:09,280
presence in the prayer closet if we're tolerating

751
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:10,060
things he hates.

752
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:11,940
We just won't go in secret.

753
00:29:12,900 --> 00:29:14,660
You see secrecy.

754
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:16,820
It's time to get alone in the secret

755
00:29:16,820 --> 00:29:19,920
place at the most time in solitude, completely

756
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:20,520
alone.

757
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,020
And the third word is sacrifice, sacrifice.

758
00:29:25,460 --> 00:29:26,660
You say, where do you get that in

759
00:29:26,660 --> 00:29:27,260
that verse?

760
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,100
Because four times in three verses that we

761
00:29:31,100 --> 00:29:34,280
just read, the Lord says, when you pray,

762
00:29:35,020 --> 00:29:38,060
when you pray, not if, when.

763
00:29:38,340 --> 00:29:41,620
And the Lord again expects us to pray.

764
00:29:41,780 --> 00:29:45,320
He is saying, I expect this kind of

765
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:45,700
prayer.

766
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:48,940
And you see, pray to your father.

767
00:29:49,100 --> 00:29:53,060
I expect this kind of secret solitudinous prayer.

768
00:29:53,740 --> 00:29:56,560
When, when, when, when, when, when you pray,

769
00:29:56,780 --> 00:29:57,560
not if.

770
00:29:58,740 --> 00:30:01,600
And so this means that if this is

771
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,780
not happening, I must make time.

772
00:30:05,620 --> 00:30:07,280
I'll never find time.

773
00:30:07,780 --> 00:30:09,140
Hey, the devil will keep you so busy.

774
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,260
He makes sure you never find time.

775
00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:15,320
You have to prioritize and make time because

776
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:19,380
Jesus said when, and when something comes like

777
00:30:19,380 --> 00:30:22,380
this, it means that something else must go.

778
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,540
Something else has got to go in your

779
00:30:25,540 --> 00:30:25,960
schedule.

780
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:27,720
I tell you, God told me two weeks

781
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:28,960
ago, it had to go out of mind

782
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:33,780
and I didn't like it, but you know

783
00:30:33,780 --> 00:30:37,320
what I'm starting to because I see the

784
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,880
trade is so puny on my part compared

785
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:41,400
to what he is going to give me.

786
00:30:41,420 --> 00:30:44,400
As I dare to sacrifice the dearest idols

787
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:46,140
that I may have ever known and get

788
00:30:46,140 --> 00:30:48,760
along with him, he will reward me openly.

789
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:50,500
And I will see the power of God.

790
00:30:50,780 --> 00:30:52,600
We've got to quit giving God our leftover

791
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:53,140
time.

792
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,440
Most people are so used up after work.

793
00:30:56,500 --> 00:30:58,560
They have no time for prayer alone with

794
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,480
God intimacy takes time.

795
00:31:02,780 --> 00:31:05,420
And whatever is done without our hearts just

796
00:31:05,420 --> 00:31:08,980
done by routine, whatever's done without heart in

797
00:31:08,980 --> 00:31:12,120
the Christian life is done in darkness, darkness.

798
00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:14,140
It must have heart.

799
00:31:14,580 --> 00:31:18,880
So we've got to offer sacrifices of Thanksgiving,

800
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,240
the fruit of our lips, giving praise and

801
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:22,200
honor to his name.

802
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:24,460
See, there were two altars in the tabernacle,

803
00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,580
one in the outer court where sacrifice was

804
00:31:28,580 --> 00:31:30,000
done for me.

805
00:31:30,260 --> 00:31:32,580
The blood was shed that was brass and

806
00:31:32,580 --> 00:31:33,320
it meant judgment.

807
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:35,100
The fire fell and the blood was shed.

808
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,000
It's out in public one for me in

809
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,120
public, but the other altar that was an

810
00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:42,120
altar also was a golden altar.

811
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,700
And that was sacrificed by me in private,

812
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:49,660
the altar of prayer, golden altar of incense,

813
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,300
where prayer ascended before God.

814
00:31:54,290 --> 00:31:56,590
He that cometh to God must believe that

815
00:31:56,590 --> 00:32:00,610
he is and that God is a rewarder

816
00:32:00,610 --> 00:32:06,840
of those who casually inquire after him, diligently

817
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,340
seek him, which would describe your life, which

818
00:32:10,340 --> 00:32:15,740
would God say diligent search or casual slouch?

819
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,120
Which one would it be not to condemn

820
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,700
anyone, but to convict us and have it

821
00:32:23,700 --> 00:32:25,100
correct us by faith?

822
00:32:25,180 --> 00:32:26,660
We must give ourselves.

823
00:32:27,180 --> 00:32:28,940
Did you know that if you gave one

824
00:32:28,940 --> 00:32:31,460
hour a day for three hundred and sixty

825
00:32:31,460 --> 00:32:34,000
five days, that would be the equivalent of

826
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:38,560
forty five, eight hour working days in a

827
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:38,780
year.

828
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:41,040
You figure it out.

829
00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:43,200
And if you gave two hours a day

830
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,920
to the Lord for a lot for the

831
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,460
next forty years, if you have them, it

832
00:32:48,460 --> 00:32:51,380
would be the equivalent of adding ten full

833
00:32:51,380 --> 00:32:53,680
years of productivity to your life.

834
00:32:54,180 --> 00:32:56,440
Ten years, two hours a day.

835
00:32:57,420 --> 00:32:58,280
Think of it.

836
00:32:59,260 --> 00:33:01,160
And we say, Lord, there's just not enough

837
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:01,620
time.

838
00:33:01,980 --> 00:33:03,300
There is enough time to do what he

839
00:33:03,300 --> 00:33:03,840
says do.

840
00:33:04,060 --> 00:33:05,700
The problem is when we put other things

841
00:33:05,700 --> 00:33:07,560
in that he says aren't important.

842
00:33:08,580 --> 00:33:09,800
Wood, hay and stubble.

843
00:33:10,580 --> 00:33:12,720
And so a man who spends time communing

844
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,260
with God will see and feel the sorrows

845
00:33:16,260 --> 00:33:19,180
of the world in an acute way.

846
00:33:19,860 --> 00:33:21,780
He will begin to feel like God and

847
00:33:21,780 --> 00:33:23,280
he will begin to hear.

848
00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:25,900
Thou have awakened me morning by morning.

849
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:27,440
You let me hear.

850
00:33:27,620 --> 00:33:29,380
You've given me the ear to hear the

851
00:33:29,380 --> 00:33:31,860
learning, it says in Isaiah chapter 50.

852
00:33:32,340 --> 00:33:34,200
Then he says, you've made my tongue to

853
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:34,620
speak.

854
00:33:35,020 --> 00:33:37,340
Let me tell you, hearing precedes speaking.

855
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:41,160
God says that a listening, hearing heart is

856
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,140
the foundation of speech and he wants us

857
00:33:43,140 --> 00:33:45,980
to hear that which you hear in secret

858
00:33:45,980 --> 00:33:50,820
and shout upon the housetop secrecy, solitude and

859
00:33:50,820 --> 00:33:51,640
sacrifice.

860
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:53,880
The whole thing's got to be in perspective,

861
00:33:54,100 --> 00:33:55,960
though, because he says when you pray, don't

862
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:59,200
use vain repetitions like the heathen do vain

863
00:33:59,200 --> 00:33:59,780
repetitions.

864
00:33:59,940 --> 00:34:01,120
That means empty words.

865
00:34:01,700 --> 00:34:03,200
It sounds awesome, doesn't it?

866
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:07,380
To say secrecy, solitude, sacrifice.

867
00:34:07,659 --> 00:34:09,040
Oh, I could never reach to that.

868
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,120
But here again, we're getting down right to

869
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:12,520
reality.

870
00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:16,340
When you pray, be like a child back

871
00:34:16,340 --> 00:34:17,239
to simplicity.

872
00:34:18,139 --> 00:34:19,699
Don't use empty words.

873
00:34:19,739 --> 00:34:20,199
What's that?

874
00:34:20,340 --> 00:34:21,440
Words without heart.

875
00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,020
When you come before the father, don't try

876
00:34:24,020 --> 00:34:24,800
to give him advice.

877
00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:26,560
Don't kind of twist his arm.

878
00:34:27,219 --> 00:34:29,179
God listens to the language of the heart.

879
00:34:29,460 --> 00:34:31,520
You know, my kids, we get on the

880
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:32,340
floor, we pray.

881
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,239
And and one of them several years ago

882
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,120
had this habit, really concentrating.

883
00:34:37,179 --> 00:34:37,980
You know how kids are.

884
00:34:38,139 --> 00:34:40,580
You're sitting there thinking about something real hard

885
00:34:40,580 --> 00:34:41,620
and they're trying to join in.

886
00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:43,480
And I would see them putting prayers together,

887
00:34:43,580 --> 00:34:45,940
but they'd say, father, would you just bless

888
00:34:45,940 --> 00:34:46,980
and then name this thing?

889
00:34:47,020 --> 00:34:50,739
And then they go, they're thinking, they're smacking

890
00:34:50,739 --> 00:34:53,440
the lips, going, father, bless Bill.

891
00:34:54,940 --> 00:34:56,380
You know, just really thinking.

892
00:34:56,660 --> 00:34:58,340
And I said, this is strange.

893
00:34:58,420 --> 00:34:58,940
Listen to this.

894
00:34:59,100 --> 00:35:00,940
And you try hard not to laugh because,

895
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:02,700
father, I just love you.

896
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,720
And and but, you know, the amazing thing

897
00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:09,040
is God was listening to her heart.

898
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:11,180
And it was so amazing because I saw

899
00:35:11,180 --> 00:35:13,200
such powerful answers to prayer.

900
00:35:13,380 --> 00:35:14,760
And I said, wow.

901
00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:18,140
And I got along with God and I

902
00:35:18,140 --> 00:35:19,140
said, Heavenly Father.

903
00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:24,220
And you know what I found out?

904
00:35:24,580 --> 00:35:25,940
It didn't work for me.

905
00:35:27,460 --> 00:35:28,720
You know why don't you?

906
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,100
Because moving your lips is not what makes

907
00:35:31,100 --> 00:35:31,940
prayer work.

908
00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:34,900
He's listening to the heart of my precious

909
00:35:34,900 --> 00:35:37,280
daughter, just like he hears the heart of

910
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:38,760
those things I read tonight.

911
00:35:40,060 --> 00:35:42,380
A sob can be eloquent to our Heavenly

912
00:35:42,380 --> 00:35:42,820
Father.

913
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:46,080
You're talking to a father, a sob, tears

914
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:50,200
and prayer go together and power liquid prayer.

915
00:35:50,340 --> 00:35:51,760
It's called by the old saints.

916
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,700
God, it says in Psalm 56, keeps our

917
00:35:54,700 --> 00:35:56,020
tears in his bottle.

918
00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:58,340
I kid my wife and say that my

919
00:35:58,340 --> 00:36:00,980
angel with my bottles got a little in

920
00:36:00,980 --> 00:36:03,760
hers is carrying that big.

921
00:36:03,940 --> 00:36:05,140
But it's like diamonds.

922
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,320
The Lord catches them and puts them in

923
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:08,940
the bottle and they're in his book.

924
00:36:09,020 --> 00:36:12,460
Psalm 56 says a sob can be eloquent.

925
00:36:12,460 --> 00:36:14,400
God knows our cry.

926
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,280
I have five kids and I can tell

927
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:17,780
you each one like tonight.

928
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,060
I mean, I was going absolutely bonkers because

929
00:36:20,060 --> 00:36:21,060
they were outside my study.

930
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:23,520
As I said, they had chickenpox.

931
00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:24,540
Remember four of them?

932
00:36:24,700 --> 00:36:26,360
It looks like a leper colony and they're

933
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:26,800
walking around.

934
00:36:27,660 --> 00:36:30,320
And I'm a little distracted right now, but

935
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,420
normally I can tell you by their cry,

936
00:36:33,500 --> 00:36:35,860
whether they're hungry, whether they need a spanking,

937
00:36:36,220 --> 00:36:37,360
whether they need to be cuddled.

938
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:38,700
I know their cry.

939
00:36:39,620 --> 00:36:40,500
And I'm going to tell you what our

940
00:36:40,500 --> 00:36:42,060
Heavenly Father knows your cry.

941
00:36:42,380 --> 00:36:43,760
And all he wants is for you to

942
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,080
come alone in secrecy, in your closet, in

943
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:50,100
solitude and very simply and sacrifice of what

944
00:36:50,100 --> 00:36:51,960
you think is important to spend time with

945
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,440
him to maybe all you can do is

946
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:55,720
sob in his presence.

947
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:56,760
But I'll tell you this.

948
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,160
It means a lot to a father.

949
00:36:59,020 --> 00:37:00,460
Maybe all you can do is sigh.

950
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:01,420
You don't cry.

951
00:37:01,500 --> 00:37:03,540
You can sigh or as the scriptures say,

952
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:06,560
groanings that cannot be uttered, groanings.

953
00:37:06,620 --> 00:37:07,820
All you can do is get before God.

954
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:10,020
You're hurting so badly.

955
00:37:10,860 --> 00:37:12,900
Well, get in his presence and groan like

956
00:37:12,900 --> 00:37:13,220
Paul.

957
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,120
I prevail in prayer until Christ be formed

958
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:16,580
in you.

959
00:37:16,820 --> 00:37:19,440
Some of history's best prayers have been prayed

960
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:20,700
from which end corner.

961
00:37:23,290 --> 00:37:24,870
Maybe you feel like a basket case.

962
00:37:24,990 --> 00:37:25,510
That's OK.

963
00:37:25,610 --> 00:37:27,630
Moses was a basket case and he made

964
00:37:27,630 --> 00:37:27,930
good.

965
00:37:29,070 --> 00:37:30,350
I mean, he was a great man of

966
00:37:30,350 --> 00:37:34,810
prayer, a sob or a sigh or pure

967
00:37:34,810 --> 00:37:35,410
silence.

968
00:37:35,630 --> 00:37:36,670
You don't even know what to do.

969
00:37:36,750 --> 00:37:39,370
You come before God and you're in a

970
00:37:39,370 --> 00:37:39,930
father.

971
00:37:40,250 --> 00:37:41,490
You don't know what to say.

972
00:37:41,590 --> 00:37:42,650
It's just pure silence.

973
00:37:42,870 --> 00:37:45,010
But I'll tell you what, silence to a

974
00:37:45,010 --> 00:37:47,230
father is absolutely encyclopedic.

975
00:37:47,530 --> 00:37:49,290
I tell you, in my case, that's when

976
00:37:49,290 --> 00:37:52,070
I really get worried when my children come

977
00:37:52,070 --> 00:37:53,410
and sit down and just be quiet.

978
00:37:54,950 --> 00:37:56,330
Boy, I start probing, what is it?

979
00:37:56,410 --> 00:37:56,830
What is it?

980
00:37:56,850 --> 00:37:57,610
What's on your heart?

981
00:37:57,690 --> 00:37:58,210
Tell me this.

982
00:37:58,310 --> 00:37:58,690
Tell me.

983
00:37:59,230 --> 00:38:01,330
You see, when you come before God, it's

984
00:38:01,330 --> 00:38:03,110
a whole lot better that your heart have

985
00:38:03,110 --> 00:38:06,530
no words than your words just have no

986
00:38:06,530 --> 00:38:06,930
heart.

987
00:38:07,790 --> 00:38:09,810
He listens to the heart.

988
00:38:09,970 --> 00:38:12,390
He is waiting for you, friend, to pour

989
00:38:12,390 --> 00:38:14,070
out your heart before him.

990
00:38:14,810 --> 00:38:16,430
He wants you to pour your heart out.

991
00:38:16,510 --> 00:38:18,850
Your father knows what things you need before

992
00:38:18,850 --> 00:38:19,690
you ask.

993
00:38:20,310 --> 00:38:21,110
Well, then why come?

994
00:38:21,290 --> 00:38:22,030
Because he loves you.

995
00:38:22,110 --> 00:38:23,530
He wants to spend time with you.

996
00:38:24,610 --> 00:38:26,070
He wants to be with you.

997
00:38:27,170 --> 00:38:28,830
That's why he says get alone in secret

998
00:38:28,830 --> 00:38:30,830
in the closet and sacrifice.

999
00:38:31,610 --> 00:38:32,970
And we don't have to impress him.

1000
00:38:33,050 --> 00:38:34,110
That means I don't have to make a

1001
00:38:34,110 --> 00:38:35,050
speech to him.

1002
00:38:35,450 --> 00:38:38,330
It's not just a nice shopping list I'm

1003
00:38:38,330 --> 00:38:38,830
giving him.

1004
00:38:38,850 --> 00:38:41,230
It's a it's a dialogue of listening and

1005
00:38:41,230 --> 00:38:41,870
then speaking.

1006
00:38:42,130 --> 00:38:43,490
And I'm going to tell you what, to

1007
00:38:43,490 --> 00:38:46,970
a father, a cry is more powerful than

1008
00:38:46,970 --> 00:38:48,590
a polished speech any day.

1009
00:38:49,050 --> 00:38:50,190
If I were out in the woods with

1010
00:38:50,190 --> 00:38:53,090
my little son, Ben, and we saw a

1011
00:38:53,090 --> 00:38:54,870
snake over there and he was right over

1012
00:38:54,870 --> 00:38:57,730
there by Ben, Ben, that snake went and

1013
00:38:57,730 --> 00:38:59,330
I was up like this ready to strike

1014
00:38:59,330 --> 00:38:59,510
him.

1015
00:38:59,670 --> 00:39:01,990
And my son says, daddy, daddy, a snake.

1016
00:39:02,130 --> 00:39:05,050
Can you imagine me saying now, son, I

1017
00:39:05,050 --> 00:39:06,870
told you to call on me like this

1018
00:39:06,870 --> 00:39:09,370
when you were in trouble, dad, there is

1019
00:39:09,370 --> 00:39:11,150
a reptile here.

1020
00:39:11,810 --> 00:39:14,230
You know, you didn't quite use the right

1021
00:39:14,230 --> 00:39:17,690
language or say something like this, son, do

1022
00:39:17,690 --> 00:39:19,870
you really believe that your daddy's going to

1023
00:39:19,870 --> 00:39:20,570
come help you?

1024
00:39:23,700 --> 00:39:26,800
I'll tell you what, on the strength of

1025
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:28,860
the fact that I was responsible for him

1026
00:39:28,860 --> 00:39:31,260
as my son, I would go over there

1027
00:39:31,260 --> 00:39:33,020
with my boots and I would turn that

1028
00:39:33,020 --> 00:39:34,640
reptile into a snake pudding.

1029
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:36,860
I would stomp him.

1030
00:39:37,700 --> 00:39:38,880
And I'm gonna tell you what, when I,

1031
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:40,860
when that snake rears his head in your

1032
00:39:40,860 --> 00:39:42,340
daily life, you don't have to sit there

1033
00:39:42,340 --> 00:39:44,740
and stream scripture verses together and say it

1034
00:39:44,740 --> 00:39:46,500
just right and have perfect faith.

1035
00:39:46,660 --> 00:39:48,200
You need to go and fall before your

1036
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:51,100
father in secret along with him and say,

1037
00:39:51,220 --> 00:39:52,200
father, a snake.

1038
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:53,620
And I'm gonna say what he'll make snake

1039
00:39:53,620 --> 00:39:54,840
stew of him.

1040
00:39:55,140 --> 00:39:56,840
He will turn on him.

1041
00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:58,640
He wants you to come and pour your

1042
00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:00,380
heart out before God.

1043
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,900
I want to encourage you tonight that Jacob's

1044
00:40:03,900 --> 00:40:06,920
ladder rests with his end in the closet

1045
00:40:07,540 --> 00:40:10,020
and his top part reaches the very throne

1046
00:40:10,020 --> 00:40:10,640
of God.

1047
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:13,400
Jacob's ladder with angels descending and ascending.

1048
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:15,740
And he is Jacob's ladder.

1049
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,320
Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

1050
00:40:17,420 --> 00:40:19,240
Get back to the closet tonight.

1051
00:40:19,740 --> 00:40:21,220
You say what you say is like a

1052
00:40:21,220 --> 00:40:22,260
foreign language to me.

1053
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:24,360
That's why you're so weak and miserable.

1054
00:40:24,540 --> 00:40:26,700
If you can say that, get back to

1055
00:40:26,700 --> 00:40:29,560
the closet and God will bless your life.

1056
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:34,220
Secret prayer, unveiled face, get honest, get real,

1057
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:35,380
get specific.

1058
00:40:35,380 --> 00:40:37,580
He says, when you pray, pray like this

1059
00:40:37,580 --> 00:40:38,440
and you get specific.

1060
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:42,040
Our father, which art in heaven, get specific.

1061
00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:45,940
If you do this, it'll change the lines

1062
00:40:45,940 --> 00:40:49,020
of the world, the worry into the shine

1063
00:40:49,020 --> 00:40:49,640
of the Lord.

1064
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:51,320
You'll come out and you'll not even know

1065
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:53,880
your face is shining and you'll change the

1066
00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:56,540
pressure of circumstance for the presence of Christ

1067
00:40:57,150 --> 00:40:58,160
in your daily life.

1068
00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:00,360
It'll be glorious and you won't even know

1069
00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:01,580
that your face is shining.

1070
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:09,500
Bold, childlike honesty, total helplessness, uncomplicated commitment, the

1071
00:41:09,500 --> 00:41:11,080
simplicity that is in Christ.

1072
00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:14,240
Doesn't it sound good to think you could

1073
00:41:14,240 --> 00:41:18,640
just dump all the burdens and the agonizingness

1074
00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:20,200
of it and just run and fall before

1075
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:21,280
the father and say, I don't know how

1076
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:22,080
to even say it.

1077
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:23,880
I don't know how to say scriptures, but

1078
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:25,060
what I just want to lay in your

1079
00:41:25,060 --> 00:41:25,600
presence.

1080
00:41:26,380 --> 00:41:28,400
Well, they that wait upon the Lord will

1081
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:31,000
renew their strength, return to the rest.

1082
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:33,420
Oh, my soul, it says.

1083
00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:35,380
So if you really want to put feet

1084
00:41:35,380 --> 00:41:38,540
to your faith, get on your knees, get

1085
00:41:38,540 --> 00:41:41,000
on your knees, get alone with God, get

1086
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,300
back to the closet, be simple and trust

1087
00:41:44,300 --> 00:41:44,620
him.

1088
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:50,540
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or

1089
00:41:50,540 --> 00:41:51,440
unexpressed.

1090
00:41:51,940 --> 00:41:55,740
The motion of a hidden fire that trembles

1091
00:41:55,740 --> 00:41:56,740
in the breast.

1092
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,640
Prayer is the burden of a sigh, a

1093
00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:05,080
falling of a tear, the upward glancing of

1094
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,480
the eye when none but God is near.

1095
00:42:09,620 --> 00:42:12,560
I'll tell you, God wants to change each

1096
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:16,820
of us by quality time in secret, in

1097
00:42:16,820 --> 00:42:20,360
solitude, in the closet, sacrificially spending time in

1098
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,420
his presence, simple childlike faith.

1099
00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:24,340
And he'll reward you openly.

1100
00:42:24,500 --> 00:42:25,500
He'll reward you openly.

1101
00:42:25,580 --> 00:42:28,980
He'll reward you openly, but it takes an

1102
00:42:28,980 --> 00:42:31,980
act of will and keen attention.

1103
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:34,860
The question is, if you know these things,

1104
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:35,820
will you do them?

1105
00:42:36,500 --> 00:42:38,000
Jesus said, if you did, you'd be happy,

1106
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:39,820
but will you do it?

1107
00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:41,240
I hope you will.

1108
00:42:42,180 --> 00:42:43,220
That's why we're here.

1109
00:42:44,500 --> 00:42:46,200
Well, let's pray together.

1110
00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:53,200
Father, we know that you're longing to put

1111
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:56,080
it into our hearts to have quality time

1112
00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:56,520
with you.

1113
00:42:57,800 --> 00:42:59,260
There are other things in the way we

1114
00:42:59,260 --> 00:43:01,960
must confess them as sin and distraction and

1115
00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:03,660
worthless playthings of dust.

1116
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:07,460
And whatever stands between us in our closet,

1117
00:43:07,660 --> 00:43:10,640
ultimately will end up fighting against us.

1118
00:43:11,500 --> 00:43:17,220
May we tonight be willing to sacrifice for

1119
00:43:17,220 --> 00:43:21,720
the win that you expect of the closet.

1120
00:43:23,830 --> 00:43:26,090
May we trust your word like a child

1121
00:43:26,090 --> 00:43:30,310
and absolute trust, knowing that if we do

1122
00:43:30,310 --> 00:43:32,190
come to you in secret in our closet,

1123
00:43:32,690 --> 00:43:36,950
trusting you, you will do more than you've

1124
00:43:36,950 --> 00:43:38,270
said to us.

1125
00:43:38,590 --> 00:43:39,330
You always do.

1126
00:43:40,110 --> 00:43:42,170
And much more than we even dreamed of.

1127
00:43:42,850 --> 00:43:46,570
Show us the keys to this closet tonight.

1128
00:43:47,250 --> 00:43:49,250
And may people in this room be deeply

1129
00:43:49,250 --> 00:43:53,150
encouraged in their spirit to act on these

1130
00:43:53,150 --> 00:43:53,570
words.

1131
00:43:53,750 --> 00:43:55,790
May they carve out of a full schedule

1132
00:43:55,790 --> 00:43:57,810
time with God permanently.

1133
00:43:58,710 --> 00:44:01,070
And we know this will alter their way

1134
00:44:01,070 --> 00:44:04,770
of life, but it will also open them

1135
00:44:04,770 --> 00:44:06,270
up to you in a fresh new way.

1136
00:44:06,510 --> 00:44:09,230
I pray tonight for real commitment in this

1137
00:44:09,230 --> 00:44:09,910
next moment.

1138
00:44:14,860 --> 00:44:17,460
Father, tonight you see on the altar in

1139
00:44:17,460 --> 00:44:20,660
the invisible, those gifts that have been sucking

1140
00:44:20,660 --> 00:44:21,600
the life out of us.

1141
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:22,640
We're laying them down.

1142
00:44:23,180 --> 00:44:25,720
We ask you tonight to put into our

1143
00:44:25,720 --> 00:44:29,980
hearts your faithfulness, that we might seek you

1144
00:44:29,980 --> 00:44:32,220
with our whole heart diligently.

1145
00:44:33,240 --> 00:44:38,620
With all of our heart consistently, insistently, persistently

1146
00:44:38,620 --> 00:44:40,900
calling upon the name of the Lord and

1147
00:44:40,900 --> 00:44:44,000
you showing us great and awesome things that

1148
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:45,240
we've never known until now.

1149
00:44:48,350 --> 00:44:50,150
Lord, I pray your spirit will bear witness

1150
00:44:50,150 --> 00:44:52,510
with these words tonight and make them living

1151
00:44:52,510 --> 00:44:54,430
truth in the soul and hearts of these

1152
00:44:54,430 --> 00:44:54,790
people.

1153
00:44:55,970 --> 00:44:58,370
And may there be permanent change because of

1154
00:44:58,370 --> 00:45:01,930
an act of faith on a word received.

1155
00:45:02,550 --> 00:45:04,330
And we pray it in Jesus name.

1156
00:45:05,510 --> 00:45:06,090
Amen.