Intercessory Prayer

So, what we will do is, I'm going to pray for us, but I don't want it to just be me praying.

Part of actually what we want to do in the life of the church is we need to, as we're

going through this series on prayer, we need to come before God as a congregation and pray

together.

So, I'm going to lead us in prayer, but don't just kind of switch off at this moment.

Really engage with this.

You can feel free to say amen, feel free to just agree in your heart with what God wants

us to pray for.

So, I ask you to just bow your heads and let me pray for us.

Oh, great and awesome God, the one who stretched out the galaxies and the stars, what is man?

What are us human beings that you think about us?

What are we that you actually even care for us?

And yet you do.

And yet you came from heaven to identify yourself with us and more than that, to take the weight

of our sin upon yourself, to take the punishment for us that we could come and we could call

you Abba Father.

Father, thank you so much that you're our great high priest, the one who enables us to

enter into your presence.

Thank you that we have this privilege of being called your children.

Thank you for the privilege of prayer this morning.

Oh, forgive us, Lord, how lightly we take the privilege of prayer.

Forgive us, Lord, because we are a prayerless church in many ways.

We're a church who prays as a last resort, not as a first resort.

Forgive us.

We worry about our bank accounts.

We worry about our careers.

We worry about our convenience.

We have made luxuries our necessities.

And we complain when life doesn't work our way.

And yet we fail to see many who have far less than us have a greater faith, a greater joy,

a greater peace, a greater love.

And we long for that, Lord.

So please change us.

In your mercy, in your great love, would you change us, Lord?

Would you forgive us where we are judgmental and critical, where we see everyone else's

problems but we don't see our own?

Would you show us grace as we remember even this Good Friday of what it costs you to bring

us to yourself?

Father, detach our hearts from the treasures that consume us so we may see the beauty of

your glory.

Show us your glory, Lord.

Show us who you really are.

Make your face to shine upon us, that your presence would fill us, would capture our

hearts so we're more consumed with you than what everyone around us is chasing after.

Give us strength to be faithful because it's hard to stay focused on you when there are

so many other distractions, Lord.

So we ask for you.

We ask for your presence.

Show us yourself.

And Lord, we want to pray, Father, also in this city.

We want to pray for inner city ministries, which is that amazing ministry serving ethnic

minorities in Jordan and Yamate.

Lord, thank you for the work that they're doing.

Thank you that they're a beacon of light in that area.

Lord, we pray that for all those kids and mothers and fathers from the Nepalese and South

station communities that they're reaching out to, Lord, we pray that they would experience

your favor and your blessing.

And many people will come to know you through that ministry.

Please, would you open up the hearts of the dads there who often prevent their families

from coming to church and coming to faith?

Would you show them mercy?

And even as they struggle with funding, would you provide for them with the resources they

need so they can carry on that ministry?

Father, we also want to pray in this city for the different faith groups that there are

here.

We want to pray for the Jewish community that meets up in Robinson Road.

We want to pray for the Muslim community across this city.

We want to pray for the Hindu community and the Buddhist community.

Father, you've shown us that you are the only way, that Jesus is the only way to reach you.

And yet there are many who are desperately seeking you in this city.

Would you show yourself to them?

Would you reveal yourself to them?

Would you make us a people who are willing to go out of our comfort zones and the church

in Hong Kong, a church that is willing to go out beyond the four walls to reach out

to people that they might find you as they seek you, Lord?

Lord, you're a God who saves.

So we ask that you would save many people in this city through your beautiful, glorious

name.

Amen.

Let me invite Echo and Grace to come and read to us.

The scripture reading comes from Daniel chapter 9.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen.

In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, by descent Amid, who was made king over the

realm of the Chaldeans.

In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that,

according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the

desolations of Jerusalem, namely, 70 years.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleased for mercy with fasting

and sackcloth and ashes.

I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,

O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love

him and keep his commandments.

We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments

and rules.

We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings,

our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men

of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those

who are far away in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery

that they have committed against you.

To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because

we have sinned against you.

To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him, and have not

obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his

servants, the prophets.

All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice, and the

curse and oath that are written in the law of Moses, the servant of God.

Have been poured out upon us because we have sinned against him.

He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our rulers who ruled

us, by bringing upon us a great calamity.

For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against

Jerusalem.

As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us, yet we have not

entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by his

truth.

Therefore, the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us.

For the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed

his voice.

And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand

and have made a name for yourself, as at this day we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from

your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers.

Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.

Now, therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy,

and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.

O my God, incline your ear and hear.

Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that is called by your name.

For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

O Lord, hear.

O Lord, forgive.

O Lord, pay attention and act.

Delay not for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God,

while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight.

At the time of the evening sacrifice, he made me understand, speaking with me and saying,

O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.

At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you,

for you are greatly loved.

Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.

This is the word of God.

Amen.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Chris.

I'm one of the leaders here.

We've been going through this series on prayer.

We've been looking at the Sermon on the Mount, and then we've paused for three or four weeks

just to really go deeper into this issue of prayer and what it means to be a praying church.

Because I don't know if around you, but as you look around at the world,

I mean, this week has just been a very interesting week, even on the news.

We've had Brexit has been postponed.

We've had the leaders of the Occupy Central movement found guilty and facing jail sentences.

We've had calls to boycott Brunei-run hotels because of introducing Sharia law.

Everywhere we look around, there is segregation.

There is division.

It just shows us that we live in a world where we desperately want harmony.

We desperately want peace.

We desperately want to be able to be together.

But there's something that is wrong.

There isn't harmony.

There isn't peace.

And as we look today at this prayer of Daniel, we're going to see, and this is an incredible prayer,

we're going to see that Daniel is going to show us something about what it means to be a people who intercede,

who pray in the midst of a broken situation.

And just by way of background, Daniel is an old man.

This is written a few hundred years before Christ.

He's been in exile in Babylon with many of his Jewish companions for over 50 years.

The last time he saw his homeland in Jerusalem, it was burning and being destroyed by the Babylonians themselves.

And as we looked at last week with Nehemiah, who was also in this foreign land,

this Daniel had been faithful to God throughout the whole of his life.

He'd been so faithful, he'd even been willing to be thrown to the lions rather than disown his God.

Every day he spent time with his God in prayer and reading the Scriptures for the last 40 years, 50 years, maybe longer.

And you know, no one has a strong relationship with God who goes through the trials of life

unless they are a person of God's Word and a person of prayer.

But one day, Daniel is doing his Bible reading plan.

And he gets to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 25.

Jeremiah 25 · chapter mention

Do you know people in the Bible read the Bible, right?

Did you know that?

So he reads this bit of Jeremiah, which was written just like 70 odd years before.

And he realizes something.

He realizes that God had been speaking through Jeremiah, saying that the end of this mess that the Jewish people were in is going to come.

The end of this exile in Babylon is going to come.

And it's going to last only 70 years in total.

And so Daniel goes and looks at the calendar and he says, whoa, 70 years is almost up.

So God is going to deliver his people.

God is going to restore.

God's going to do something.

His sovereign plan, he's promised he's going to rescue us.

And so what does Daniel do?

Does he kind of sit back, watch TV and go, hey, let's just wait for God to turn up?

No, he doesn't.

He says, then I turned my face to the Lord.

Literally, I gave my face to the Lord, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

You see, Daniel's not just kind of giving thanks.

God, thank you that you're faithful.

And let's just see what happens.

No, he sees that when God brings his word, that is also a call for action from him.

And he's on his knees in urgent petition and prayer for God to do what God has said that he will do.

He's requesting God to restore.

Do you know when you read a promise in the Bible, it's actually meant to lead you to pray that God would bring that promise to bear.

But I don't know if you've wondered actually how strange that is.

Because if God is sovereignly going to work out his plan, why do you need to pray?

He's going to do it anyway.

Right?

And don't we often feel like that?

Things just going to happen regardless of whether I pray or not.

So, I mean, it doesn't really make much difference.

But the thing is, Daniel knows that God is sovereign, which means he will work out his purposes.

And there will some things that he will do regardless of whether I pray about them or not.

He's going to bring the sun up tomorrow, probably regardless of whether I pray about it or not.

I'm going to die regardless of whether I pray about it or not.

There are some things he calls people like Abraham regardless of whether people have prayed about Abraham coming or not.

Because he's sovereign.

He works out his plans and purposes.

But there are also some things that God will only do in response to the prayers of his people.

That's the way he has chosen to work.

And so, Daniel knows that a few hundred years before this time, that Solomon had dedicated the temple in Jerusalem.

And he'd also prayed a prayer where he said, God, he predicted that God's people would be taken into exile.

And he says, if they hear and if they turn from their sin and from their wicked ways,

and if they say we have sinned and we've acted wickedly,

then God will hear from heaven and he will forgive their sin and he will heal and he will restore them.

And Daniel knows that the healing of God's people only comes when God's people get on their knees and they pray.

Do you know, there are things God wants to bless this church with.

There are things that God wants to bless your life with.

There are things that God wants to bless your family with.

There are things that God wants to bless this city with that he will only do when we get on our knees and we pray

and we repent and we turn to him.

Do you know that?

One person knows that.

You see, James 4 says, you do not have because you do not ask.

Meaning that there are some things you won't get until you ask for them.

And so we must pray, which is what we looked at two weeks ago.

But last week, we also saw that we need to have a conviction of who we're praying to.

Do you notice that Daniel doesn't start his little prayer going,

hey mate, I'm just kind of needing a little bit of help down here.

He goes and he says, just like Nehemiah, it's almost word for word what Nehemiah said last week.

He says, I pray to Yahweh, my God, O Lord, the great and awesome God,

who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commands.

You see, Steve, who preached last week, he mentioned the way that God is this great and awesome God,

and that changes the way we pray.

I was so blessed by the sermon last week from Steve.

It just opens our eyes.

But you know, I never use the word awesome for anything other than what I see God doing,

what I see who God is.

Do you know why I don't?

The reason I don't is because the word awesome means it causes awe, it causes trembling and fear.

But we live in a culture which is starved of awe.

You know, we delight in YouTube mediocrity.

And so we have cheapened the word awesome to go things like,

that selfie is awesome.

That burger is awesome.

Now, I don't know the last time you got down trembling in fear before McDonald's, Big Mac.

But you see, we've cheapened the word, right?

But here's what is awesome.

Do you know this last week, astronomers discovered they just took a picture of a black hole

that is 40 billion kilometers across.

It's bigger than the size of our solar system.

And it's 500 million trillion kilometers away.

I can't count that high.

And then it says in scripture that God is the one who stretches out the heavens,

stretches out space like a tent.

He takes tent pegs and knocks them in one side, knocks them in the other side.

And in between is hundreds of hundreds of millions of trillions of kilometers.

I can't get my head around that.

That is who God is.

He is great and he is awesome.

And in prayer, why Daniel wants us to start with this is because we're so consumed with ourselves

that we lose perspective on life and we get wrapped up in the trivial.

You know, John Piper said this,

The healing of the soul begins by restoring the glory of God to its flaming, all-attracting place at the center.

We are all starved for the glory of God, not for self.

No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem.

Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding yourself.

Do you see what he's saying?

He's saying when we come in prayer, if you see who God really is,

that is going to bring a totally new perspective to your life.

And we see the glory of God.

We see in the light of who he is and what he's done.

And then we begin to pray like Daniel begins to pray.

And he begins to intercede for his people.

Do you see?

We need to pray.

We need to see who we're praying to.

But now I've got three things that I want us to just flesh out from this prayer.

And the first is Daniel identifies with the sinful.

This is, I find this very challenging, this part.

He says,

He says,

We have sinned.

We have done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.

He then says later on,

We've not listened to the prophets.

He says,

We've not obeyed the voice of our God.

He says,

We've not entreated the favor of the Lord our God.

Now it's very interesting he uses the word we.

Because we've already said that Daniel is a pretty righteous guy.

In fact, in the whole of scripture, other than Jesus,

Daniel is pretty much the only guy who doesn't have much on him.

And so, why does he say,

Daniel, the best of the best,

why does he say,

We have sinned?

Because he's actually talking about the rest of the generation before

who didn't listen to what God wanted to say through Jeremiah and other people.

It wasn't him.

It was everybody else.

So why does he say,

We?

Because he sees this broken down city of Jerusalem out there in front of him.

And he knows that he is part of this people,

this generation that is under God's judgment because of sin.

And this is his people.

He belongs to them.

He's not just an individual by himself.

Now I think we struggle with this

because we're actually a pretty individual kind of lot.

I'm from a western country.

We breathe individualism.

You know, but actually I think we understand the idea of being collective.

You know, if you work for a well-known successful company,

for example, like Apple or Google or Morgan Stanley,

you're very happy to introduce yourself and say,

Hi, I work for Apple.

You see, you're very happy that their success

helps you to feel like you can live in their success, right?

You want to be associated.

You want to be identified with them

because that kind of gives you a little bit of glory, right?

Even if you actually haven't really contributed anything to the company, right?

But when something goes wrong,

don't we all normally then start pointing the finger

and start saying,

Well, it wasn't me.

It was them.

It was the bosses.

It was the corporate culture.

It's everybody else.

It's not me, right?

We're collective and corporate when it suits us,

and then we're individual when it suits us, right?

And the reason we often fail to pray

is for many things that God calls us to

is because actually we think,

this isn't my problem.

This is their problem.

Daniel is not going.

It wasn't me,

as he looks at all the mess around him.

Neither.

He's not actually here.

He's not repenting instead of the people.

It's not like,

God will forgive me

because my wife prayed that I would be forgiven

so I don't really need to repent.

It's not that.

But he's saying,

this mess that we're in is us.

It's not just them.

Now, what does this mean for us?

Because this is challenging.

C.S. Lewis wrote a really great little book called

The Trouble with X Is.

You can get a hold of it.

It's quite fun.

He says,

don't we all in our lives have someone

that we can all see their flaws?

Everyone can see that that person has an issue.

Okay?

And we say things like,

the problem with X is they just talk too much.

Or the problem with X is he's just insensitive.

Or he's just defensive.

Or don't we?

Or he's just a gossip.

We say it all the time.

And the thing is,

you may even try and talk to that person

about their thing,

and they just don't see it.

They're just blind to it.

You can say it a hundred times,

they don't get it.

And so what we do

is the only person in the room

who doesn't understand that X has a problem

is themselves.

Right?

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

You do this with your spouse,

you do this with your colleagues,

you do this with everybody else.

But then he says,

as we look at this,

what we do is we complain about those people

and we segregate ourselves from other people.

Because we don't actually want to be around those people

that we see all these big problems with.

And so we divide ourselves off.

I read on internet forums about Western expats

who say things like,

the problem with Hong Kongers

is they just have no social awareness

when they're walking.

And then I read Hong Kong forums

and they say the problem with mainlanders

is they're just rude.

And then I read mainland forums

and they say the problem with Westerners

is they're just arrogant

and think they can tell everyone else what to do.

Everyone else is the problem is.

Right?

And then what we do

is we bring that down into the church.

And I look at another church

and I say,

well the problem is

they just don't teach the Bible properly.

And then the problem is,

someone else will say,

the problem is they just are not filled with the spirit enough.

And then someone else will say,

the problem is they just don't reach out enough.

And then if you don't want to,

if you want to go even a bit lower into our CGs,

you go then,

the problem with that person in my CG

is they're just not committed enough.

And then you go to the problem with that person

is they're just a gossip.

And then if you put all of this ingredients in together,

every person in every CG,

in every workplace,

in every family,

in every city,

in every part of the world,

thinks that everybody else is the problem.

Have you noticed that?

Which is why we're so divided

in so many ways.

But C.S. Lewis says,

you know,

the real challenge of this

is do you know

that you are somebody's ex?

The problem with Chris is

that he's just thoughtless at times.

The problem with Chris is

he just doesn't say what he thinks at times.

The problem,

do you see?

This is what Daniel is going.

Daniel,

a person more than anyone else

in the whole of God's people

who could pray like the Pharisee,

I thank God that I'm not like other men,

especially like that tax collector over there.

He doesn't say that.

He says,

we have sinned.

We have rebelled.

We.

He identifies himself

as a fellow sinner

with everybody else.

He's not minimizing

the real sins and flaws

of everyone else,

but he's just being honest.

He's saying this is us,

not just this is them.

Does that make sense?

This is actually

really profoundly affected

the way I pray.

I was on the MTR.

Everyone was rushing off the MTR

like we do in Hong Kong.

And one lady decided

halfway along

that she wanted to turn left

when everyone else

was going straight ahead.

And so a guy in front

just bumped into her

and as he was trying

to get his way,

the lady turned around

and said,

are you crazy?

The guy kind of started

walking off going,

don't you know the exit's that way?

And so everyone

was feeling kind of like

angry.

And normally I'd be judging them

for being so impatient.

But as I'd been thinking about this,

I stopped and I thought,

God, forgive us

that we live in a city

where we are so impatient

that actually

we only care

for getting our own way.

And I know that

even though I might not

react exactly the same,

I know that same root

of impatience

is in my heart too.

It just comes out

in different ways.

And but for the grace of God,

but for a different

education system,

but for my parents,

that would be me.

So let me ask you,

when you see,

when you see issues

in the church,

when you see issues

in the church,

often I find people

come up to me

and they'll say things like,

the church isn't doing this.

Or the church isn't doing

this properly.

And it's great to hear

people spotting issues.

issues.

But I wonder,

before you ever complain,

do you ever go,

Father,

not the church

is like this,

but we are like this.

This is us.

We are maybe

too living for our comfort.

We need to change.

We need you

to work in our lives.

Forgive us.

us.

Because that

is what God says.

We are his people.

And Daniel

is saying

that when he sees

Jerusalem broken down,

and when you see

the brokenness

around you,

when you see

sin around you,

when you see

the things which

make you just want to go,

ah,

I can't stand that.

That is a window

for you to stop

and reflect

and to go,

instead of going,

I can't believe

people are like that,

to actually go,

I'm part of this culture.

I'm part of this church.

I'm part of this family.

My heart is capable

of the same things.

Forgive me.

Forgive us.

And when you do that,

do you know what happens?

In your heart,

your heart begins to melt.

And you begin to break down

those segregating walls

between us

because we see

that we are all

broken sinners

in need of a savior

to show us mercy

and grace,

to restore the broken

areas of our lives

just like the walls

of Jerusalem.

The problem with X

is sin,

which is also

a problem with me.

And that is devastating

for your pride.

It's devastating

for your self-righteousness,

which is all at the root

of all the division,

all the animosity

in our society,

in our world.

So we pray,

we identify ourselves

with others

and their sin.

That's a hard thing

to get for us,

I think,

because we're so individual.

But then I want to move on.

We identify with the sin

in our world,

but then we move on

to talk about

the righteous God.

Because if we left it

just there,

we'd feel kind of like

on a big downer.

But there's two things

we need to see here.

What Daniel admits

is that there is

this massive gap

between a holy,

awesome God

and a people

who are wicked

and rebellious

in everything that we do.

Which is why

throughout this passage,

do you notice,

what's the repeated

character trait

that God talks about here?

Does anyone know?

He repeats again

and again

about God's righteousness.

You see that?

He says,

to you, O Lord,

belong righteousness,

but to us,

open shame.

He says,

the Lord our God

is righteous

in the works he's done.

He says,

O Lord,

according to your

righteous acts.

Do you know what?

The word righteous

doesn't mean

just a kind of

morally good person.

The word righteous

means you act

rightly in relationship.

So,

all relationships

are not the same,

though.

So,

for example,

if you are a parent

and you act righteously

towards your children,

you might snuggle up

to them at night

and read them

bedtime stories.

That's being righteous

with your children,

acting rightly.

If you are an employer

or a boss

and you snuggle up

and start reading

bedtime stories

to your employees,

that probably isn't

being righteous.

being righteous

is there

treating your

colleagues fairly,

giving them

good job descriptions,

clear guidelines,

creating a culture

where people can

flourish and grow.

That is a righteous

boss.

If you are

a righteous judge

and a triad

goes and steals

somebody's car,

the righteous judge

doesn't say,

well,

it doesn't matter,

it's fine,

it's only a car.

No,

no,

a righteous judge

will punish

fairly and rightly

because that is

what is righteous.

It's the right thing

to do.

When it says

that God is righteous,

it means

that he has always

done what is right

according to his character,

according to his promises.

It says,

God is a righteous judge

and you and I

deserve to be in a mess

because of what we're like.

That's why he says

God should punish us.

He's righteous.

He punishes us

for our wickedness.

All of us.

He should leave us

like the city of Jerusalem

in a broken mess.

You know,

some people say,

why can God

not just forgive people?

You know,

like a good father

will forgive

like their children

when they're a bit wayward.

But they don't realize

that God

is a righteous father

who longs

to bring justice

and love

and forgiveness

and mercy

and restoring

his children.

But he's also

a righteous judge

who must punish

wickedness

and injustice.

And how do you

get those two together?

The end of the passage,

which we actually

didn't read,

tells that actually

an angel comes to Daniel

and says,

I've heard your prayer.

I've heard what you're saying.

And I will show mercy.

I will listen

to your prayer.

But there's only

going to be

full restoration

for this sinful people

when a Messiah comes.

When someone

who is more righteous

even than you,

Daniel,

is going to come.

We need a greater

Daniel for us.

You know,

in the book of Ezekiel

it says,

I looked for a man

to stand in the gap

before me

in the land

that I shouldn't

destroy it.

God is looking

for someone

who is totally righteous.

So that he can

represent the rest

of us.

But he found none.

And so then,

500 years later,

John the Baptist

comes.

And he's preaching.

And he's calling

people to repent

and he's baptizing them.

And so somebody

comes along,

they confess their sin

and he baptizes them.

Next person

comes along

and they confess

all the stuff,

all the wickedness

they've done

and he baptizes them.

And he looks around

and the next person

who comes there

and he sees it's Jesus.

And he goes,

you're not supposed

to be getting baptized

because you are not a sinner.

Like,

I should be baptizing you.

And Jesus says,

I've come,

I need to be baptized

to fulfill

all righteousness.

To fulfill the fact

that God

is a righteous father

who wants to restore us

into relationship

with himself

but he's also

a righteous judge

and I'm going to be

that person

who's going to make it

so that my mercy

can come upon you.

You know,

this is a little tricky

for us to understand

sometimes

but I heard a story

about a medical student.

I know we've got

a lot of medical students here.

A medical student

who was researching

into sexually transmitted diseases,

STDs.

And so he went down

to the hospital

to try and find

a particular doctor

and as he goes down there

to this doctor,

to find the doctor,

he sees the long line

of all the patients there

who were suffering

from the STDs.

It was kind of like

the line of shame.

And as he looked over there

he saw the nurse

and he said to the nurse,

hey, I'm wanting

to find the doctor.

And she just said to him,

yeah, yeah,

just get in the line.

And he said,

no, no, no,

you don't understand.

I'm a student.

I'm a student here.

And she said,

that's fine.

Just get in the line.

And he said,

no, no, no,

you don't understand.

I'm a student.

I'm researching

kind of STDs.

I'd love you to just

kind of help me

to get to see the doctor.

And she says,

like, everyone's got

their story.

Just get in the line.

And as he's standing

there in the line,

then his classmate

walks past,

looks at him,

and is kind of shocked

and kind of walks on

very quickly.

A few minutes later,

one of his professors

walks past,

sees him there

in the line,

and carries on.

You see,

when Jesus,

at the heart

of the gospel message,

is a great

and awesome God

who came down

to identify with us

and to stand

in the line,

though he was righteous

and he had no sin,

he got in the line

for you and for me,

though we are rebelled,

though we are wicked,

though we are sinful.

He was at his baptism,

he got in the line

for you and for me.

At Calvary,

when he went to the cross,

he identified,

not just with your success

to kind of get the glory,

but he identified

with our shame

and our sin

for you and for me.

He had every right

to say,

it wasn't me,

it was them.

But he didn't.

And he didn't just

identify with us,

he took

the righteous judgment

of God

upon himself,

so he took

your place in the line,

so you didn't have

to be in the line,

so that you could

actually experience

the righteous

Father's mercy,

love,

and grace

to restore you

to himself.

No matter what

you've done,

he bridged

the gap

between us

and God.

He was the one

who was shamed

so that you never

have to be

in his eyes.

No matter what

you've done,

his grace

is there

and it's the only

way for God

to be truly righteous.

You know,

Romans says,

who is to

condemn us?

Jesus Christ

is the one

who died,

more than that

who was raised,

who is at the

right hand of God

interceding for us.

Do you know

what that means?

That means

when you see

all the stuff

that I have done,

when you see

all the stuff

that everyone else

has done,

it means

that we have

somebody

who has done

what it takes

for us to be

restored so that

we don't have

to face

God's judgment.

Doesn't have to

face our judgment

of others either.

And because

Jesus stood

in the line

and identified

with us,

it means you

are not beyond

God's redemptive

restoring power.

Because he

stood in the line,

your family

is not beyond

the redemptive

restoring power

of God.

Because he

stood in the line

and identified

with us,

it means that

your workplace

is not beyond

the redemptive

restoring power

of God.

This city

is not beyond

his redemptive

power,

because Jesus

stood in the line

so that we

don't have to

live in that

mess.

He's able

to save

to the uttermost

those who

draw near to

God through

him,

since he

always lives

to make

intercession

for them.

He is always

pleading with

our Father

for mercy

for us

because he

has died.

Now how

does that

change the

way you

pray?

pray?

It changes

the way

we pray.

It transforms

our prayer

when we

realize that

though we

should be

under God's

judgment,

we are no

longer,

because it

humbles us

to own the

sin of our

church as

ours,

to own

the sins

of our city

as ours,

because we

live in this

culture,

we're part of

this culture.

Culture is not

formed by just

general people,

it's formed

by individuals

like you

and me.

But it

also changes

us to

plead for

God's mercy,

but also to

pray for

God's favor

upon those

that we

would never

normally pray

for,

upon those

who all

you can see

in their

life is

their

brokenness.

Here's what

verse 17

says.

It says,

Do you

know what?

The sanctuary

is the

temple of

God,

the place

where the

presence of

God was

to dwell.

And Daniel

is asking

that God,

like in the

language of

the book

of Numbers,

that God's

face would

shine upon

this place

and restore.

How does

your face

shine?

Unless you

put lotion

on, you

know.

You know,

your face

shines when

you smile.

Your face

shines when

you smile.

And so what

Daniel is

asking for

is for God

to replace

the brokenness

around us

with a

God's own

smiling

presence,

the beaming

radiance of

an awesome,

glorious,

sovereign God

who wants

to restore

sinful,

broken people

like you

and like me

and like

people around

us.

No matter

what you've

done,

no matter

how far

away,

he wants

to call

you back

because when

God smiles,

restoration

comes.

Do you know,

you can have

a terrible

day and

then someone

you love,

you meet

them and

they just

smile at you

and your

day is

fine.

It just

brings healing.

When God

smiles,

he restores

us.

And when

because of

Christ we

turn back

to him,

no matter

where we've

been,

you will

experience

his smile

upon you,

radiating,

showing his

favor and

his love

upon you.

I don't

know if you

really realize

how much

God smiles

upon you

as his

child.

Most of

us think

he's just

the righteous

judge.

We don't

see that

because of

Christ he's

the righteous

father who

wants to

smile upon

you.

He wants

to call

you back

to himself.

But here's

what this

does and I'm

going to

close with

this.

When you

see that

God smiles

upon you

in spite of

the fact that

you belong to

a whole group

of people who

are messed

up and

broken and

you can see

it every day

because you

see it in

everybody else

and then you

can see that

in yourself

but you see

that he is

gracious to

you.

What that

means is you

will then begin

to pray and

intercede for

the people that

annoy you and

you dislike the

most.

For the people

around you that

all you can see

is the problem

is with them.

I've shared

this before

but I had

a boss

who I

hated

like really

hated.

She would

hire and

fire people

without any

concern for

them at all.

She was the

kind of person

she would lie

to us.

She didn't

pay us for

a couple of

months.

She tried to

cheat us out

of wages.

She embezzled

a whole year's

funds so none

of us could get

a pay increase.

All the

prophets went.

I loved her

greatly.

No I

didn't.

And if you

would ask me

the problem

with her

is I would

have given

you a list

about as long

from this

ceiling down

to here.

And it was

justified

totally.

my heart

was so hard

though towards

her

because it

didn't even

cross my

mind to

pray for

her.

Why would

I pray for

someone like

that?

And then

one day

God convicted

me.

He said

you know

when you

pray

you pray

that even

though you

know that

you're a

sinner

you pray

that God

would shine

his smile

upon you

that you

would experience

his grace

and his mercy

in your own

life.

That you

would know

his presence

in your own

life.

And you

know what

you do

experience

that.

But you

don't want

that for

anybody else.

Because

actually

you are

more like

her than

you realize.

Because you're

actually totally

self-centered.

It's all

about you.

And at

that point

I actually

got on my

knees and

started

repenting.

I asked

God to

change my

heart.

And what

happened was

I then

began to

pray for

her.

I began

to pray

that God's

smile would

shine upon

her and

restore the

brokenness

in her

life.

I asked

that God's

presence would

come to

her.

I repented

of my

own

self-centeredness

that I saw

reflected in

her.

And you

know what

happens?

what happens

is that my

heart begins

to change.

You know

someone said

there's a

difference between

someone who

intercedes for

someone and

someone who

prays for

someone.

Someone who

prays for

someone they

just pray.

Someone who

intercedes is

willing to be

part of the

answer to

their prayer.

And so what

God did in

me he actually

showed me I

need to go and

bless her.

I need to

actually go and

be a

demonstration of

God's smile in

her life.

And so I'd

go and it was

Easter I went

and bought her

Easter X.

Before I would

avoid her.

But actually from

that I would be

asking how are

you doing?

I'd be trying to

reach out to

her.

I couldn't do

that in my

strength.

That is only

what the grace

of God can do

in your heart.

I began to be

more gracious,

more patient.

patient.

Some of us, we

make the excuse

I'm not good at

praying.

Some of us say I

don't have time to

pray.

But all of us have

the time to

complain.

All of us have

the time to say

the problem with

X is, in fact, we

spend a lot of time

doing that, mentally

and verbally.

And so God

wants every time

you start doing

that, you start

seeing yourself, that

is God wanting to

tap you on the

shoulder to say,

first of all, do

you see actually the

problem with X is a

problem that's

reflected in me?

Father, would you

forgive me?

Would you forgive us

that we're people who

are actually selfish

and self-centered?

It's then God

tapping you on the

shoulder.

To say, would you

now, being someone

who has received

grace, be someone

who can be an

instrument to pray

that God's smiling

presence would come

upon this church,

upon this city,

upon your workplace,

upon whoever it is?

Because that, in a

world which is broken

and divided and

segregated, is power

to change this

culture, to bring

revival in your

heart and to be a

different kind of

people, all because

Christ got in the

line for us.

We can know him as

our righteous,

gracious father.

God bless you who

would call him the

song in company or

God.

We can know him

as if we

have until

people

have

competed

over the

plans when

husband comes to

oblivion.