The Secret Sauce

If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 6, people that know what they're doing in the kitchen

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

have special touches that just set off a dish and make it right.

Somebody confessed to me between the worship hours

that today they were going home and serving an experiment with a stow-bought cake.

Wow. I said, that's the stuff you do at home.

Don't bring that stuff to church. You bring the good stuff to us.

Sometimes folks do stuff like that and they don't tell you what they do.

It's a secret. They don't want you to know how good, how they got what they got.

The secret formula for Coca-Cola is 130 years old

and it sits in a vault at the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta.

KFC's original recipe is a secret.

11 herbs and spices.

And I thought Heinz 57 had 57 ingredients,

but I found out that J.H. Heinz' favorite number is 5

and his wife's favorite number is 7.

And that's where they came up with the name.

So I know Dawn's grandmother's secret recipe was bacon grease.

And she served bacon grease with about anything.

And I'm convinced that you could pour bacon grease on something in the yard and eat it

and it would be good.

I haven't tried that and I encourage you not to try that,

but I'm just saying.

It's the secret sauce that makes one dish stand out from another.

Now I realize it is Christmas time and we're all ready,

but I got to finish what I start.

And so today I want to conclude a series on the real war.

Because folks, we're in a war that we can't see.

We see the evidence of it.

A war that is filled with battles that we need to win.

And our goal is to win every daily battle.

That's the goal, okay?

Now I will tell you that we were born in sin

and we're sinners by our own commission.

So we will not win every battle, okay?

You will fail.

But our effort is to win every daily battle.

At least as many as we possibly can.

And to be clear, the war has been won, thank God.

Christ won the war on the cross,

but now we're fighting skirmishes that we don't need to be fighting.

And we lose too many battles.

We've been talking about spiritually defending ourselves

and we talked about the offensive weapon being the word of God.

Now, what I want you to know today

is what will really set you off for victory.

It's what I call the secret sauce.

For context, I want to read Ephesians chapter 6,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 16, where it says this.

In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith

with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one

and take the helmet of salvation

and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

Our key passage today,

praying at all times with all prayer and supplication.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance,

making supplication for all the saints.

And also for me,

that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly

to proclaim the mystery of the gospel

for which I am an ambassador in chains,

that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

The secret sauce of spiritual victory

is consistent, heartfelt, dedicated,

life-surrendering prayer.

Like a secret sauce,

you need to make sure that prayer is part of your processes.

Now, how do we do that?

Well, this passage tells us how to do that.

First, it tells us to pray on all occasions.

When do we pray?

Do we pray in the morning?

Or do we pray in the evening?

Yes.

Both.

When we think we need to pray,

we pray.

When we don't think we need to pray,

we pray.

When we want to pray and feel like praying,

we pray.

When we don't want to pray

and don't feel like praying,

we pray.

When we feel strong in prayer,

we pray.

When we feel weak in prayer,

we pray.

Verse 18 says,

Praying at all times in the Spirit

with all prayer.

All prayer means that's the kind of prayer

you pray on your knees.

It's also the kind of prayer

you pray driving down the road.

It's the kind of prayer you pray

with your hands folded in front of you.

It's the kind of prayer that you pray

with your hands up in the air.

And I discourage you from doing

either one of those

when you're driving and praying.

Okay?

It's about praying publicly.

It's about praying privately.

It's about praying with loud cries.

It's about praying with silent whispers.

Pray prayers of praise

because of who he is.

Pray prayers of thanksgiving

because of what he's done.

Pray prayers of confession

because of what we've done.

Pray prayers of petition

for what we want him to do.

Pray prayers of intercession

for what you want,

who you want him to do it through.

and with.

We're to pray at all times.

It is to be an ongoing conversation.

1 Thessalonians 5, 17 says,

Pray without ceasing.

Now, that means

when a burdensome thought

crosses your mind,

give that to God.

When a hateful thought

crosses your mind,

give that to God.

When an impure thought

crosses your mind,

give that to God.

When an inappropriate thought

crosses your mind,

give that to God.

When a negative thought

crosses your mind,

give that to God.

2 Corinthians 10, verse 5,

2 Corinthians 10:5

says take every thought captive

to obey Christ.

I compared it a couple weeks ago

to playing the arcade game

Whack-A-Mole.

When them things popped up,

you hit them with a hammer.

When another one popped up,

you hit it with a hammer.

And the reality is

in our life,

we need to be whacking the moles

that come up with prayer.

When thoughts cross our mind

that don't need to cross our mind,

we take those thoughts to God.

We catch them.

We take them captive

to obey Christ.

When good things come,

give God praise.

When bad things come,

give that over to God.

Trust Him with it.

Don't wait until the evening

when that time comes.

Don't wait until the morning

when that time comes.

Don't wait until you get still.

There's great value

and very biblical value.

And the men that journey with me

on Tuesday mornings know

we've been over this again

and again and again.

There is a need in your life

to have a still time

with the Lord,

quietly,

quietly,

alone,

with His Word in your lap

and seeking His face in prayer.

There is desperate need of that

in all of our lives.

It needs to be a habit,

a practice

that we do every day

that God allows us to.

But we also address the Lord

in an ongoing fashion.

I get confused these days

between who's crazy in the world

and who's got an earbud in.

When I'm in the store

and somebody's having

a full-blown conversation

with nobody

and I don't know

that they got something

in their ear

and they're talking to somebody

or maybe they're just

talking to themselves,

you know.

I want to help,

but it don't seem appropriate,

you know.

Whether verbal or not,

that's the kind of ongoing prayer

that we ought to have

with the Lord.

When things come up,

give them over to God.

I mean, prayer is about

taking time to be still

and alone and before the Lord.

However, it's also about

walking with Him

and talking with Him.

That's what praying

in the Spirit is all about.

Part of what praying

in the Spirit is all about.

Now, how do we do that?

Well,

the way it works is

we need to be filled

with the Holy Spirit.

Now, let me explain

something to you.

As a child of God,

if you surrender your life

to the Lord Jesus Christ,

you receive all the Holy Spirit

you're ever going to get.

Okay?

The Holy Spirit

in several things happen

when we're saved

and one of them is

the Holy Spirit

indwells us.

Okay?

So we have the Holy Spirit

in our lives.

But there are times

when we can be filled

with the Holy Spirit.

Okay?

It's kind of like a balloon

for lack of a better.

There's not a good illustration.

I'll promise you.

But it's kind of like a balloon.

It can be there,

but it can be deflated

or it can be inflated.

There's times when we walk

with the Lord faithfully,

obediently,

taking matters

that are not obedient

and laying them before Him

and asking Him to forgive us

and then walking away from Him

that He fills us

with His Holy Spirit.

We already got the Holy Spirit,

but we get filled.

Our balloon gets inflated,

if you will.

We're where we need to be.

I make it a practice

not to run out of gas

in my vehicle.

Okay?

Just don't do that.

I'm not going to do

the push of shame.

I'm not going to do it.

Okay?

But at the same time,

it's not always full.

And the reality is

that we always have

the Holy Spirit,

but we're not always

filled with the Holy Spirit.

Our lives don't reflect that.

And I wish

that by your attendance

this morning

that you'd just be

fully inflated

and leave here

filled with the Holy Spirit.

But the reality is

that's not what it's based on.

It's not based on

your appearance here.

It's not based on

your presence here.

It's not based on being

excited about the music.

It's not based on

enjoying the sermon.

All of those things

can play into it,

but the reality is

it's got to do

with your personal

relationship with Christ.

Where are you at

with the matters

that He's laid before you

that you know

you need to deal with?

What have you done

with that?

And when you walk

away from that,

God blesses such as that

and He'll fill you

with the Holy Spirit

of God.

You'll be filled.

The Holy Spirit

will take over your life.

You'll make good decisions

because you're not

leaning on yourself.

You're leaning on

the Holy Spirit

of God to do it.

You'll live more godly.

And that kind of

relationship,

you don't fall out

of relationship

with the Lord

when you're not

walking with Him

if you're a child

of God.

But you're not

filled with the Holy Spirit.

You're not making

good decisions.

You're not doing it right.

And so the challenge

for us is to keep that,

to be filled

with the Holy Spirit

and we're filled

with the Holy Spirit

when we take

God's Word in

and when we respond

obediently to it.

There's not a ritual

we can do with that.

It's a life.

We live for that.

And God loves us

regardless of our actions

but He does greater things.

Get this now.

He does greater things

in those

who are filled

with the Holy Spirit

of God.

He does greater things

in those

that are walking

obediently to God

that are conversing

with the Lord

about matters

that they need

to deal with

and are walking

away from the things

that become a hindrance

to them.

God blesses

such as that.

James 5, 16 says

the prayer

of a righteous person

has great power

as it's working.

But it does make

a difference

in what kind of life

we're living.

It does make a difference

if we're trying

to be independent

or we're being

dependent upon Him.

I want you to listen

to what happens

when we pray

in the Spirit.

Romans 8, 26, and 27

says this.

Likewise, the Spirit

helps us

in our weakness

for we don't know

what to pray for

as we ought.

You ever been there?

When you're in a situation

and you need to pray

about it

but you don't know

how to pray?

Maybe I'm the only one.

But for we don't know

what we ought to pray

for as we ought

but the Spirit

Himself intercedes

for us

with groanings

too deep

for words

and He who

searches hearts

knows what's

in the mind

of the Spirit

because the Spirit

intercedes for the saints

according to the will

of God.

Now for that to happen

we have to pray

in the Spirit.

That means not

pray selfishly,

not pray about

what I want

but pray about

what God wants

because prayer

is not about

trying to get

my will into heaven.

Prayer is about

getting God's will

into my life

and on earth

and God moves

in such prayers

as that.

He'll move

in the prayer.

He'll move

in the prayer.

The one that's

doing the praying.

So we pray

on all occasions.

The second thing

is we pray

with every effort.

He says keep alert

with all perseverance.

Now I want you

to think about something.

I want to ask you

something.

If someone's trying

to break into your home

and you are

at home

and you know

he's trying to do it

when do you

give up

and open the door

and let him in

to do whatever

he wants to do?

Well I don't.

Okay?

I don't.

I warn him.

I call the law

and then I introduce

him to my little friend.

Okay?

However,

I'm not going

to stand by

and let somebody

endanger my family.

It's not

going to happen.

And I want to

advise you

something.

We're in a war

and someone

is pursuing

your family

and you better

be on watch.

And I'm telling you

don't get weary.

Fight,

defend,

do it on your knees.

When Jesus

was praying

in the garden

right before

his arrest

he told his disciples

to watch and pray.

And you know

what they did?

They fell asleep

is what they did.

And in Matthew 26

Matthew 26:40–41

verse 40 through 41

he says this.

And he came

to his disciples

and found them

sleeping and he said

to Peter.

And notice he's

talking to Peter.

Now why did he talk

to Peter about this?

Because they were

all sleeping apparently.

He says that

to Peter because

he knows Peter's

about to face

a huge temptation

that night.

The temptation

to protect himself

by denying Christ

and he falls to it

again and again

and again.

But he also

speaks to Peter

because he knows

that God's

going to use

Peter in a mighty way.

If you don't believe it

read the book

of Acts this afternoon.

Okay?

God's going to use

Peter in a mighty way

and Jesus knows that

so he speaks

specifically to Peter.

It relates to all of them

but he says

so could you not

watch with me

one hour?

Watch and pray

that you may not

enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed

is willing

but the flesh is weak.

Now when he's saying

watch there

he means prayerfully

prayerfully

be on your guard.

Paul says

to pray

with perseverance

steadfastness

don't let up.

Jesus left them

went back to pray.

Do you know

what they did

in the garden?

They went back

to sleep.

They went back

to sleep

their eyes were heavy

it was the middle

of the night

give them a break

but they went back

to sleep.

Listen

we may grow weary

but we can't

stop praying

folks.

Things may get tough

but we can't

stop praying.

Jesus tells a story

in Luke chapter 18

Luke 18 · chapter mention

of a widow

begging a wicked judge

for justice

against her adversary

and he would not

respond.

And so the woman

just kept on

and finally

the judge

gave in

because of

her persistence

and Jesus

said

if a judge

that does not

fear God

or respect people

will change

his mind

and relent

don't you think

a loving father

will?

And then he

asked

when I return

will I find

such faith?

Now people

have a hard time

with Luke 18

because

they say

is he saying

that Father God

is like the wicked judge

that wouldn't

listen.

No that's not

what he's saying.

He's saying

if a godless man

will finally

respond to somebody

who pursues

how much more

will a loving father

do that?

Take your matters

to the Lord.

Take them in prayer.

Leave them with him.

Luke 18

1 says

that he told

that story

listen

so they would

continue to pray

and not lose heart.

That was the point

of telling that story.

In Luke chapter 11

Luke 11 · chapter mention

he tells of a man

banging on a friend's door

in the middle of the night

wanting bread

for his family

and the man

didn't want to get up.

You know why?

Because they were

probably all

in the same bed

probably in some

big pallet

in that place

and he probably

had a baby

because if anybody

has a baby

they don't want

to get up in the night.

Don't mess with a baby.

I don't know

what his family

structure was

I'm just telling you

the man didn't

want to get up.

He had locked

the place down.

He had secured it.

He had everybody

bedded down.

He didn't want

to get up

and the dude

just kept knocking.

Why?

Because his family

was starving.

He wasn't asking

for a cup of sugar

he was asking

for bread

and the man

because he kept knocking

the man that was

in the bed

got up

and I want you

to listen to what

Jesus said

when he followed

up that story

you're familiar

with this probably

but I want you

to know the context

in which he says it.

It's in Luke 11

9 and 10

it says this

and I tell you

ask and it will

be given to you

seek and you'll find

knock and it will

be opened to you

for anyone who

asks receives

and the one

who seeks finds

and the one

who knocks

it will be opened.

We are in desperate

need to keep

spiritual watch

over our lives

over our loved

one's lives

and to pray

persistently

that God would

work and move

in our lives.

I don't understand

everything about

the economy of God

I trust it by faith

but I just have

to ask this question

what if we're

one prayer short

of the persistence

that God was seeking

and all I got

to say about that

is let's not be

let's not be

one prayer short

so pray with

every effort

also pray for

others

pray for others

the best way

to keep from

getting self-absorbed

about your own

pain and your own

worry is to

prioritize the

praying for others

because God blesses

intercessory prayer

intercessory prayers

are those prayers

that we pray for

other people

and intercede

on their behalf

and such prayer

puts us second

and puts the one

that we're praying

for first

when we take on

that concern

to the right place

to the throne

of God

and I'll just tell you

God blesses such as that

and if

we spend so much

time praying

for other people

that we run

out of time

and don't get

to our own needs

God's not

going to neglect

us

because we were

busy praying

for somebody else

I promise you

he'll provide

the devil would

much rather you

be concerned

about yourselves

he wants us

to want our way

he wants us

to look

out for ourselves

instead of prioritizing

the will of God

he wants us

to ask

well what's

in this for me

what do I get

out of this

nothing about

an attitude

like that

is godly

and it shows

up quickly

and the devil

uses those

attitudes

to divide

families

pray for

families

pray for

your family

pray for

other people's

families

families are

under attack

folks

families are

attacking each

other and they're

being attacked

all at the same

time

pray for

families

pray for

the church

I mean do you

think the devil

likes when a church

grows

do you think the

devil likes when we

reach people for

Christ

do you think he

likes when people

grow in the

Lord

do you think he

likes when we

preach on satanic

attack

we've poked a

bear folks

pray for the

church

Satan would

love for

selfishness to

come in the

way

selfishness takes

our mind off

what God wants

to do through

us and puts

our mind on

what's in it

for me and

God's plan is

bigger than me

and it's bigger

than you it's

bigger than all

of us it's

God's plan we

just get to be a

part of it we

just get to join

in so let's look

to him and pray

for the church and

and pray for this

nation

God's not done

with America I'm

convinced God's not

done with America

Jesus still saves

folks and pray

that God would

bring revival and

renewal to our

country and on

that note I want

you to notice how

Paul tells them to

pray he didn't ask

for them to pray for

his well-being he

didn't ask for them

to pray for his

ease he didn't ask

for him them to pray

for his comfort he

didn't ask for them

to pray that he'd

have his way no no

he asked in verse

19 that words may be

given to me in

opening my mouth

boldly to proclaim

the mystery of the

gospel so lastly

pray concerning the

gospel pray concerning

the gospel we are

quick to pray for

Christians to get

well man we spend a

lot of time trying to

keep Christians out of

heaven you know and

there's nothing wrong

with that there's

nothing wrong with

that but we spend a

lot of time praying

that Christians will

get well that they

won't hurt and that

they'll be healed and

there's nothing wrong

with that but I want

you to notice how

centered the message

that Paul gives them

is message of the

gospel Paul says pray

for boldness and he

describes it as the

mystery pray for boldness

and sharing the

mystery now what is the

mystery well this word

when it is used in the

New Testament it is

defined as either a

mystery or a secret and

that's two different

words in our language but

it's the same kind of word

in the Greek and it's

talking about the life

changing message of the

gospel of Jesus Christ

being a mystery or a

secret is it a secret no

however it's a mystery

because you don't

understand it until you

have it

years ago my family drove

out west I had seen

pictures of the Grand

Canyon all my life we had a

set of encyclopedias at the

house we didn't have

world book that was for

rich folks but we had

one and and when I when I

look in there I could see

those black and white

pictures of the Grand

Canyon I had seen

pictures of it I knew it

was big I knew something

about Paul Bunyan's axe and

all that stuff but I had

never been there before and

when I stood on the south

rim of the Grand Canyon and

looked across that thing

those pictures didn't

didn't measure up

wasn't a secret I knew where

it was but it was a mystery

because I had never seen

anything like that from a

picture it was different when

I experienced it in a

similar way the power of the

gospel is not known until it's

experienced now understand we

have a responsibility to share

the gospel with folks and

they're not going to

understand it they may submit

to it they may give their

heart and life to the Lord

Jesus but they're not even

going to know what they're

getting when they do it until

they have it

and Paul says we pray that I'll

have boldness to to share that

because it's a mystery that's hard

to fathom

Alejandro is a Peruvian

he was on mission to God

years ago this church took a

mission trip to Peru and led

Alejandro to the Lord and

Alejandro got on fire for the

Lord and he served the Lord

faithfully and when you give to

First Baptist Church there's a

line besides the Lottie Moon and

side squad program besides that

there's another line a

significant line in our budget

that's international missions

there's another one called North

American missions anything we

don't spend in those lines goes

toward Lottie Moon Christmas

offering but but those lines are

set up for us to partner with

missionaries on the field with

ministries on the field and to

subsidize those who go from our

church on mission trips over

there short-term mission trips

that's what it's set up for

Alejandro is supported through that

budget line because of his

faithfulness and he

when we go over there he

translates for us and

when we're not there he boats up

into the jungles to reach tribal

people and recently he baptized 18

people there

one man that was baptized was

formerly

a shaman that is that he was a

wizard of sorts that practiced

rituals of witchcraft he had

always challenged those that tried

to share the gospel around him

however one day someone gave him a

gospel track in his own dialect he

had never seen the gospel in his own

language customized to his dialect and

the simplicity and the clarity of the

gospel just jarred him it was like a

mystery reveal he tried to challenge

the man but the man just kept giving him

biblical answers and the shaman asked

him he said why don't you run away from me like

everyone else does and the witness said it's the

holy spirit who convicts sin it's not man man that does that and he said I will

continue to pray for you and in due time you will listen and you will obey and two weeks

later the shaman came back got saved and he was baptized among those with Alejandro

that my friend is the power of the gospel

and it's through the gospel that God unites all people from every tribe every people and every

language and it's a mystery how all of the things that we have done wrong can be put upon Christ and

taken off of us for all of eternity but that's part of the gospel

when Paul was writing this to the church of Ephesus he was about to face the Romans

and he knew that was coming

and the Romans thought that Christianity was just a sect of the Jews and Paul was going to boldly go

and proclaim that Christ is where our hope is

and it is only in Christ alone

and so he concludes this by saying I want you to pray

that I'll speak boldly and that God will give me the words

to say

my friend that's a good prayer to pray every time the words preached

because God works

in and through such prayers

whatever we try to do for the kingdom

we can't make it happen

we can't conjure that up

only God can do that

and we must rely upon him

and how we rely upon him is through prayer

faithful

selfless

gospel driven prayer

Adrian Rogers said this

Satan can't keep God

from answering our prayers

but he will keep us from asking

and I'll just tell you friend

a prayerless Christian

is a powerless

Christian

with every head bowed and every eye closed

I want to ask you this morning

if you've ever surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus Christ

you say well I don't know about all that

well we'd love to guide you in that

it is a mystery

you'll be amazed

when you meet the Lord Jesus personally

but if you've never done that

we're going to stand and we're going to sing in just a moment

and I want you to obey God

maybe everybody around you thinks you have

but you've never done it

quit worrying about what everybody else thinks

and make it right with the Lord

maybe you've done that privately

you've never done that publicly

and you want to come and acknowledge that

biblically through baptism

you come

we won't baptize you this morning

but we'll line it up

and set it up

you come

and acknowledge that publicly

maybe God's drawing you to this church

God's doing a move at First Baptist

I'm thankful for that

and so

God's leading you here

I encourage you to come

we guide you in that process

or maybe you just got stuff

you need to deal with

and you can deal with that

when we stand where you are

or you can deal with this altar

or

this pastor would love to pray with you

if you'd like for me to

I don't know what God's doing in your heart

but you'll never be satisfied

unless you follow it

so just be obedient

Heavenly Father I love you

and I thank you Lord

for your love for us

and I ask right now

that you'll work

and you'll move in our midst

as only you can

Lord Jesus

in Jesus name

Amen