Power of Prayer & Newday Testimonies

So, this morning,

we are going to tackle our next topic,

and it is the power of prayer.

Yeah, wow. So, that's what I said.

I I just

complete transparency in in Noah has

said this, and Matt has said it. Man, I

just felt so inadequate, and just so

overwhelmed by this topic. Like, who am

I?

Who are we to to even attempt to tackle

such a sacred and personal gift that is

prayer. And I kind of bounced all over

the place throughout the week. I went

from like, "Matt, prayer is awesome." to

"Man, I don't pray nearly enough. God,

help me in my faith." And it just was

all over the place. The enemy took a

couple shots for sure just of like guilt

and shame. And And you know what

actually worked was going to God in

prayer.

I was like, "God, I'm going to pray

about this prayer thing cuz I feel

attacked, and I feel all these different

things." And man, I'll tell you that God

met me. Would Would you Would you

believe that?

God met me in that moment of prayer when

I I put the books aside and the studying

and everything else, and I just said,

"God, I want to hear from you."

Man, tears were shed.

Just this intimacy with God and this

refreshing.

And I was just reminded that this whole

prayer thing is not about getting it

right. It's just coming into his

presence.

He's like, "I have you covered.

Actually, Christ is interceding for you

already. So, if you forget to pray or

something, don't worry about it. Would

you just come and be with me?"

And that is where the exchange happens.

And I was like,

"This is awesome." And so, I started to

think, "Man, I you know, I I can't give

a full dissertation, especially not in

30 minutes,

about prayer. You know, I I I haven't

gone to seminary. I take great

encouragement by the scriptures when it

talks about the first disciples that

they were unschooled, ordinary men. I'm

like, that's me. I'm just an ordinary

guy who loves Jesus. That's it. And I

want to follow the call on on my life

from him. And so, I thought, you know

what I can do

is I can testify how the power of prayer

has shown up in my life. And as I

thought about the different guys who

have shared, Matt and

Noah,

I I I also saw this recurring theme that

they were testifying about how these

powers have shown up. But I thought,

that's right. Because if these are

powers, if these are gifts and they're

operating right here and now, we should

have a testimony about those things and

how they're showing up in our life. And

so, I started to unpack, how has prayer

shown up in my life? And as I started to

reflect on it,

uh I was just drawn back to actually

some of my earliest and fondest memories

as as a child. And I remember my mom

praying over me every single night. Uh

there was a while where I was the only

child. It was a sweet run. And uh I had

all my parents' attention. And I was

about 5 years old. And I remember every

single night my mom would come, tuck me

into bed, she would kneel next to my

bed, and she would recite the Lord's

Prayer over me.

Every single night. And soon I learned

it and I would recite it with her.

And I remember just feeling so safe,

so much peace.

Um yeah, it it was I didn't have the

language for it then, but I was

encountering the presence of God

and and a mother's prayer over her

child.

And and as I started to reflect on that,

I thought, man, those seeds of faith,

they mattered.

Every single night my mom faithfully

coming to pray with me, it mattered. And

as I was thinking about that, you know,

my grandma used to used to jokingly say,

never waste an opportunity to quote a

country song. And so, uh I I was

thinking about this and I was reminded

of the Morgan Wallen song.

uh

You know, he's talking about his mom was

praying and her prayers weren't wasted

on him. That eventually it came through

in his life and I was thinking about

that because although my life started

like that, there was a long period of my

my life that I did not pray.

And it had not seek God.

And

about 24 years old, I encountered God's

goodness in a way that just wrecked my

heart. Before I get to that, I want to

talk about these different moments that

my faith journey were marked by prayer.

And so, like I said, my mom started with

prayer. And right after high school, I

joined the military. I joined the United

States Army. I shipped off to basic

training and I learned a lot of great

things in the military. I feel like my

character was shaped. I learned what

what core values were, what integrity

meant, all these other things.

But there's one thing that it lacked and

it's not what you go to the military for

and that's spiritual formation.

Yeah, that that wasn't happening for

sure.

It was almost the opposite when it came

to that regard. We we worked hard and we

played hard. I'll I'll put it that way.

And so,

yeah, there wasn't a lot of spiritual

formation. So, when I came home, I

actually went to the service with one of

my best friends. So, we come home

together and we're getting paid some

money to go to school. So, we're barely

taking enough classes to get our GI

money

to go out and and party and hang out and

that's what we did. We were just out

having it what we thought was a good

time and just living for ourselves. And

his name's Romel. He's still the my best

friend to this day. And most nights I

would just end up crashing on his couch.

And so, his his stepmom would usually

wake us up in the morning as she was

getting ready to go to work. And one day

me and Romel were out to to lunch and he

goes, "You know what my stepmom told me

the other day?

She said that she's praying for us."

And I was like, "Wow, how bad does it

have to be when when tells you that

they're praying for you?" Right? It's

like she was praying for a while

probably. She's like, I should tell them

that I'm praying for them. You know, and

she's like, man, these guys are wasting

their lives away. And so, I but it but

it struck me. I was like, man, this

woman is praying for us, praying for me.

And so, um it it wasn't a huge change

right away. I don't know, maybe a month

or two later I wake up on this couch

again. And um I wake up, it's

mid-afternoon, and uh I get up and I'm

like, oh, I'm I'm going to go home. And

so, I get up and I can't find I was

wearing a a dress shirt that night. We

had gone to some nightclub in LA. You

had to like dress all nice. And so, but

I had like this this black tank top

underneath, like an undershirt, some

black slacks, and some black dress

shoes. And this is important later. Uh

and so, I I get up and I'm like, man, I

I'm just going to get my car and drive

home. So, I get my car, I'm driving

home, you know, it's like you come out,

you're like, man, it's bright out here.

And uh I'm driving home and uh I'm on my

way.

And I come to this red light and there's

a church off to my right side.

And I hear this quiet, small, still

voice that says, "Turn around and go to

that church."

And I'm like, I know that's not me.

Uh okay.

It for some reason, whatever reason, I

listen, and I turn around, make a

U-turn, I park in the parking lot, and I

I feel this sense to go into this

church.

And it it's they're they're done with

church. It's mid-afternoon. It's been

long over. And so, I'm like, I don't

even I don't think it's open. But I'll

get out. Man, look how I'm dressed

though. I'm like, this is embarrassing.

So, I I get out, there's no other

parking lot. I go, I'm like, okay, if

the door is open, I'll go in.

So, I I pull on the door kind of hoping

it's closed, and it opens up. And it's

it's a big Catholic church.

And I poke my head in there, and no

one's in there.

Not the priest, nobody. It's empty. And

I'm like, okay.

So, I walk in, I go to the very back

pew, and they have those little things

that you put down, little kneeling pads,

you know? So, I put that down,

and I get on my knees,

and I just start to weep

and sob

from a place that I didn't know was

there.

And I just started to pray with with

whatever I knew to pray.

And I thought about my mom.

How she used to pray over me.

And I just started to confess,

"God,

I'm not living the way you want me to

live.

I feel like there's a different call on

my life, and this is not it.

Would you help me?"

And I'm surprised the priest didn't come

out cuz that was like loud crying and

bawling. I thought someone was going to

come out and pray with me. No one came

out. Maybe he's on his lunch break or

whatever, but I I I left and I get in my

car, I go home,

and

again, there's just this stirring, and

I'm sitting with it. And I'm like, "Man,

this is

I don't know what this is, but there's a

stirring in my heart." And so, the very,

I don't know, maybe a month or two later

again,

I get invited to go to this wedding.

It's a Christian wedding. Some family

friends of ours. I've seen God move

through their life. Again, I didn't have

a language for that, but saw some

radical transformation in their life.

And so, I got invited to their wedding.

It's a Christian wedding. She's marrying

this great guy. I'm like, "Man, this is

a good dude." I met him for like the

first time, shook his hand. I'm like,

"Man, there's a light about this guy.

He's awesome. These are great people."

It's about 250 people at this church.

It's huge wedding. So, we go to the

reception. And probably the only three

people that weren't Christians were me,

the the bride's brother, who was a good

friend of mine, and then my best friend

Romel. He was with me there, too. And

so, I knew that because we were the only

guys at the bar drinking, like really

drinking at the back of the bar. And and

so, I don't know, an hour or two into

it, we're there, and I hear that small

still quiet voice again.

Comes back, and it says, "I want you to

stop drinking."

I was like, "Oh, man, here it is again."

Well, last time I listened, it it it

worked out pretty well. So,

uh I'm just going to sit here for a

little bit and it comes back again.

I want you to stop drinking.

I go, "Okay."

I stand up. I walk out the side door.

There's a top this little landing. I

lean over the rail and I pour out my

drink in the grass.

I can still see it in my mind's eye.

It was a blue colored drink. I remember

just seeing it come out of the cup.

And I said, "Okay, I quit."

And I'm telling you right now

supernaturally, God snatched any

addiction or craving for alcohol just

like that in the moment. Completely left

me.

And and

and not that there's anything wrong with

with enjoying an alcoholic beverage

responsibly. I'm not saying that that's

sinful or that's bad. For me though, if

you know my family history, you would

know why God did that. Because on my

dad's side of the family, addiction and

alcoholism has reaped absolute havoc.

Has taken lives, overdoses, cirrhosis of

the liver. Just completely shattered

their family. My dad at the time

struggling with alcoholism himself. That

is why God was like, "No more.

It ends with you. I'm snatching this out

of you." And I walk back into the into

the wedding and and I put the drink down

and and I'm like

sitting there and they're like, "Hey, do

you need another drink?" I said, "No, I

quit." And they just started laughing at

me.

Like you And I'm like, "Why are you

laughing? It was so serious to me. I

just had this like encounter and I'm

just like serious countenance." And

they're like, "What's wrong?" And I'm

like, "No, I I really quit drinking."

They're like, "Wow, that's funny. We'll

see tomorrow night." And so, uh but

tomorrow night came and I didn't drink.

And I had this stirring in me. And so,

the next time that prayer showed up,

that was a marker in my life, probably

another month or two later, my dad calls

us in the living room and says he wants

to quit drinking.

And I'm like, "Whoa, this is this is

amazing. What the heck? You've been

drinking his whole life." And he tells

us he's going to check into this rehab

facility and he's going to live there

and he has his bags packed and I'm like,

"Man, this is this is amazing." And so,

he takes off and about 2 weeks later he

calls and back then there were still

payphones. I pick up, he's at a payphone

and I can tell he's he's been drinking.

I could always tell by his voice.

And so, man, I'm bummed. He's like,

"Come pick me up. I don't need this

place. I can do it on my own."

And man, I was just heartbroken and

shattered. And um

I go pick him up

and uh long story short, it doesn't end

well. We get home

and we just get in this huge huge fight,

this huge argument and we're just

letting each other have it.

And I go in my room, slam the door and

uh I'm sitting there.

And I look up at the bookshelf and and I

see there's a Bible on my bookshelf that

was given to me actually before I left

to the military uh by the father of the

bride actually, the wedding that I went

to. And uh so, I'm like, "I'm going to

try and read the Bible. I did this

prayer thing. I went to this church. I

think it's God telling me to stop

drinking, so I'm going to read the

Bible." And you guys may have heard this

part of my testimony before, but I

grabbed the Bible, it's got dust on it.

I opened it up to like Deuteronomy or

Numbers. I don't know. It's an Old

Testament book that makes no sense to

me. And I'm like, "What is this saying?

I have no idea, but it created like this

holy fear in me where I was like,

"Everyone has talked about this is the

the thing that has changed them and

given them peace and it's doing nothing

for me. What else is there?"

And so, I dropped down to my knees again

and I prayed.

And this time I said, "God,

I want to read your Bible.

Would you help me read your Bible? I

want to know who you are."

And so, I go to sleep. I wake up with

someone knocking on my window.

It's the guy who gave me the Bible, the

father of the bride from the wedding.

He's there at my front door. His name is

Ray. He's like an uncle to me. He's

knocking on the door. I go around. I

answer the door. I'll tell him anything

that I told you.

And he says, "Hey, I came to check on

your dad. I heard he came out of rehab

early." Took the day off work just being

a brother.

Coming to cover him. And uh

I said, "Okay, yeah, you know, come on

in." And then he goes, "Hey, uh by the

way, um I'm having a Bible study at my

house tonight. I was wondering if you'd

like to come."

I was like, "Dude, were you standing

outside my window all night? Who told

you this? Like, what? It First time I

had full body chills just head to toe."

And not the goosebumps or everything,

but man, they might be something because

it ran through my body. And I was like,

"Yes, I will go."

And he was like, "Really?"

"Yeah, I'll go." And so, I I go that

night and I figured, man, my best friend

Romel, we've we I've drug him every

place. We've indulged in revelry

together. I'm bringing him here, too.

And so, I drag him to the Bible study

with me. We show up to Ray's house, and

he has a couple guys our age. And we

dive into the Bible. They open up to

Acts 8 about the Ethiopian who's

traveling to Jerusalem, and he's trying

to read the Old Testament Isaiah. And he

says, "How can I understand this unless

someone explains it to me?" And I'm

like, "Who is talking to these people?"

That's me. That was me in my room

praying.

God saw me, and he heard me, and he sent

these men to love me and to show me what

it meant to follow him. And they

explained the gospel to me, and I

thought, man,

you're telling me

I can be forgiven.

That Jesus would wipe my slate clean.

That he came for me.

That he loves me.

Guys, the power of prayer

led me to the foot of the cross.

We cannot give up praying.

Parents, don't give up praying for your

kids.

Don't give up praying for your family.

Don't give up praying

for your friends, for your community.

The power of prayer

broke through into my life.

And it brought me to the foot of the

cross.

And so

again, I can't give you a full

dissertation on what prayer is.

But I can tell you that the power of

prayer

has absolutely changed my whole life.

Thank you.

I didn't plan on crying this much.

Um

well, praise you, God.

And so yeah, the power of prayer, my

mother's prayers, the prayers of my

friend's stepmom, of my family that were

praying for me, my own prayers, crying

out to God.

And I started thinking about this

pattern of prayer.

And at first, the thing that jumped out

to me is like, all these people that

were praying and even when I started

praying, there was one common theme is

that we all believed that he existed.

And the Bible says we can't approach him

unless we we understand and we believe

that he first exists.

And then when we believe and understand

that God exists, that he's the creator

of the universe, that he created the

stars and the mountains and he told the

ocean where to stop. And he created us

out of dust and he breathed life into

our lungs. That should create this

reverence and holy awe of who God is.

And that's how we approach him in

prayer.

And I know for so many of us, it's so

tempting to first go to God with the

list of things that we need and those

are all good.

God does want to hear what we need.

But as I reflected on this pattern of

prayer through my life, these approaches

to prayer were like, "God, you are

creator. You are holy. You are awesome.

You are able to save."

And it's that posture of prayer when we

enter with God

that opens up this gateway to prayer.

And so, as I was reflecting on how

prayer has shown up in my life, I

started to journal and just pour out of

my heart, like what what has prayer

meant to me?

And uh I just want to I want to share

that with you.

And uh if you don't if you don't

journal, uh man, you're missing out.

Just pouring out of your heart what what

God is doing in your life. And so,

yeah, I just started to write out, like

what's in my heart about prayer.

And I wrote uh prayer is a sacred

gathering place

between creation and God.

An ancient pathway, a language of the

heavens where the space between both

come thin.

A holy exchange on our behalf, one of

love, adoration, praise, confession,

repentance, petitions for wisdom,

discernment, wholeness, and restoration,

healing and reconciliation,

prayers for forgiveness and protection,

and utterances manufactured deep within

the inner recesses of our very being

where there are no words that mortals

can neither pen nor understand.

In exchange, God communicates back his

love for us, his affection.

He communicates truth and identity. He

gives revelation and direction,

wisdom. He provides a holy covering, a

table set

with double portions of mercy and grace,

cuffs that overflow

with life and peace.

He sets upon on an armor that protects

all those who are called by the name

above all names, Jesus, to whom every

knee will bow and every mouth confess.

All of this can be distilled down to

prayer as a phone call

that pierces the cosmos and resets the

rhythm of our spiritual heart.

It reframes the condition of our

thoughts and reshapes our desires

so they align with the will of God and

mirror the heavenly realities of God's

eternal kingdom.

And I thought, man, that's what prayer

means to me now.

After 24 years of walking

with God,

this is what prayer means to me.

As I was I was writing this down, 24

years, it dawned on me that this year

I will have been a Christian for as long

as I was not a Christian.

Yeah, that is so I just thought about

that. I was thinking, wow, God. I was 24

when I surrendered my life to you. And

this year I'll be 48. And and I've

walked with you as long as I have not,

and God willing, it will be even more.

And I just I just love that.

And so,

as I started to

Yeah, just this week meditate and soak

in what it meant to prayer, and I

started to to look through the Bible,

and and I understood that, man,

prayer is a gift.

It's It's one that we love. It's one

that we cherish. It's one that's so

personal to us.

But it is also a reminder

of the fall.

Because at one time prayer wasn't

needed.

Adam and Eve, they walked with God in

the cool of the day through the garden.

They were face-to-face, and they could

talk with God.

And then the fall happens, and they're

banished from the garden, and there's a

separation.

And the Bible says that Adam and Eve

then had children.

And we see the first innocent blood

spilled on the fallen soil of the earth.

Cain and Abel, you know the story.

And so

uh Adam and Eve they they have another

son. And his name is Seth.

And the Bible says that Seth had a son

and his name was Enosh.

Not to be confused with Enoch, Enosh,

very similar.

But in Genesis chapter 4 it says that

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

Enosh and the people cried out to God.

It's the first recorded prayer.

Because they're outside the garden.

There's this disconnect from God and so

now the only way to communicate to him

is to cry out to him. And from Genesis

to Revelation, we see prayer after

prayer after prayer.

The Psalms are prayers.

And they and they fall somewhere on the

spectrum between help me God and

hallelujah.

And it's like somewhere it falls

somewhere in that spectrum. Even within

one Psalm, it's like God help me. I'm

surrounded by my enemies. And at the end

it's praise you creator of the heavens

and the earth. Thank you that you

rescued me. Have you seen that?

Sometimes I just skip to the end. I'm

like, I just want to read the good part.

Um but yeah, somewhere between help and

hallelujah, this is prayer.

And we find ourselves somewhere along

that spectrum.

And so I started to to look at different

passages about prayer. And then I

started noticing that there was also

some warnings

about prayer.

And

again,

I'm charged to bring the whole word of

God, right? The the the hard truths as

well that God tells in truth and in

love.

And the Bible actually says that not

every prayer would be heard. And I and I

was like, "Whoa."

That's kind of not what I always

thought. I thought, "Well, God would

hear everyone's prayers.

But there are things that can hinder our

prayers. God can listen to whatever

prayer he wants to. Let me just say

that.

But But the Bible also says that there's

things that can hinder our prayers, that

can be obstacles to our prayer life.

And one of those is doubt.

It says if we come to him and we doubt,

we're tossed back and forth like the

waves. And that person should not expect

that they would receive anything from

God.

Again, we must first believe that he

exists and that he hears us. And if

we're doubting

and we're and we're and we're coming to

God with doubt,

that can be a hindrance to our prayer.

And so we must fight against the spirit

of doubt. We must break up with doubt

and unbelief. It has no place in our

life and I'm not saying that we won't

wrestle and struggle. We definitely

will.

Because we know one thing that Satan

loves to attack, our communication with

God. And this makes sense because it's

true in the secular world. Before our

military engages in any sort of war,

campaign, or conflict, they run air

missions. And the first thing they do is

they target communication centers,

satellites, radars, anything that will

communicate information or messages.

Why?

Because they want to break off

communication between command and

control because that creates chaos.

Creates chaos.

You know what else it does? It creates

isolation.

These units are isolated, scattered

throughout the country, and they cannot

talk to one another.

And once your enemy is silenced and

isolated, you can have your way.

The battlefield's wide open.

This happens in the spiritual. If Satan

can get you to stop communicating with

God, if he can get you to doubt that he

hears your prayers, if he can isolate

you from the flock, he can have his way.

Prayer is our lifeline to God. It's our

phone call. And I love that it was the

theme of camp.

Was calling. And we talked about how we

could miss calls, how calls go to

voicemail, and we're trying to speak to

God, and he's trying to speak to us. And

sometimes we miss it, but thanks be to

God for his grace and his mercy that

meets us.

I I got a a kind of a funny story,

another testimony about doubt and

prayer. So, we moved from from the city

up to Central California 6 years ago,

and we we bought a ranch property out in

Exeter and

abandoned the city life and fully

embraced country living.

And we loved it. What I didn't

understand is how much work it takes

to maintain a property of that size. And

so, I'm out there, I got my farmer hat

on, and and it really actually was very

like therapeutic for me that first year

just coming out of law enforcement and

putting my hands in the soil, learn so

much, another another story for another

time.

But, I'm pulling weeds this one season,

and they're just popping up where I

can't get a hold of them. And I'm

actually pulling them up by my hands cuz

I'm like, I got to get the roots out.

And so, these huge weeds, and I'm out

there pulling. Lucy comes out, she's

bringing me water and stuff, and the

girls are helping for like 5 minutes.

You know, I'm like, I'll pay you 10

cents a weed. And they're like, it's not

worth it, you know, the bucket's like

half empty. I'm out there again pulling

weeds.

Lucy brings water, and she goes, "Babe,

I'm going to pray that God sends you

help."

And I said, "Thanks, babe.

You pray, I'm going to pull weeds."

That's what I said.

Oh, me of a little tiny faith, okay? A

little bit of faith.

And so, she goes in, day goes by, wake

up next morning, get my coffee, I'm

looking out the window staring at the

weeds.

All right, go out there, round two.

And I see something moving in that back

area of the property. And so, we had a

German Shepherd at the time, and she was

in heat, and I was like, "Man, these

dogs, sometimes they drop off dogs out

in the country, so it can be from my

dog."

So, I grab a baseball bat, whatever, and

I go out there. I was just going to

scare it, okay? Grab a baseball bat and

I walk out there and I'm like, "Hey, get

out of here, you know, blah blah blah."

And I get to the thing and I'm like,

dude, those aren't dogs.

They're sheep.

A herd of sheep showed up and were

eating the weeds that I was mowing.

And I thought, God, YOU ARE FUNNY. WOW.

WOW. Me of little faith. I run back

inside. I'm like, "Babe, babe, you'll

never believe this. Come outside." And

she's like, "I know. I prayed that God

would send you help."

And I have a picture. Kenny, is a is a

picture up there?

>> Don't mess with Lucy's spray.

>> No. No. There they are.

Right there. Little flock of sheep. I

don't know where they came from,

but they came, we corralled them, and

they stayed until the work was done. The

German Shepherd tried to keep them a

couple times and she took a nap and they

like tiptoed out of there and they took

off. So,

yes, divine-appointed sheep. Do not

doubt, okay? Do not doubt God. A mustard

seed is all it takes. All right, what

else can hinder our prayers? Doubt can

hinder our prayers. James tells us that

selfish ambition

can hinder our prayers. If we're just

praying for our own selfish desires,

it's so tempting to look at God as like

this vending machine in the sky, right?

I put in my code and it falls from the

cloud onto my lap.

But the Bible says that we should

examine our motives. We should examine

our motives. Why am I praying for this?

Is it because of what I'm going to get

out of it?

Or would this extend the kingdom of God

here on earth? Does this line up with

God's will?

1 Peter 3:7

1 Peter 3:7

tells us that how we treat one another,

our one-another relationships will

impact our prayers.

This one talks about specifically

relationship you know, a husband and a

wife and it says like the man being the

stronger in the relationship, the

bigger, stronger person just naturally,

if you use that to like to leverage

against your wife and to lord it over

her, and then you turn to God who's much

bigger and stronger than you, and you

want to be treated fairly,

he's saying, check yourself on that.

How do you treat one another?

What else can hinder our prayers?

1 Peter 4:7 says, "Be alert and

1 Peter 4:7

sober-minded

so that you can pray."

Man, if we're using

uh alcohol or any other substance that's

going to alter our mind in the ways that

we uh were made to function, man, that's

going to hinder our prayers.

We should be alert and sober-minded. And

speaking of being sober, one of the most

sobering passages I came across actually

was in Isaiah 1:15 when it comes to

Isaiah 1:15

prayers.

God speaking says, "When you spread out

your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes

from you. Even when you offer many

prayers, I'm not listening.

Your hands are full of blood."

Unrepented sin

is the biggest hindrance to our prayers.

We cannot approach God with unrepented

sin. We all sin. We all fall short of

the nature of God, but we cannot

approach him with wanton disregard for

him and just um um rebellious spirit

that I'm not repenting of my sin, but I

need something from you. We can't

approach God that way.

We must come to God

understanding who he is. And we read

about this in Exodus that he is

faithful, that he is merciful, that he's

abounding in love to a thousand

generations, but what else did it say?

He does not tolerate sin.

And so, he holds justice and mercy

perfectly, uncorrupted.

And that is what makes us

approach God with reverence and a holy

fear. All right, we're going to land

this thing. We're going to invite our

kids up here in a minute.

Um

I just want to leave you with this. Man,

if you're struggling in your prayer life

right now,

I've been in those seasons, trust me. I

think we're probably all somewhere on

that spectrum between help and

hallelujah. Amen.

But I just want to encourage you

that prayer is not about getting it

right. It's not about a formula or um

you know, it's it's it's there's no

magic in it.

Again, it's coming before God.

Understanding who he is and who we are

before him and meeting him in that

place. And there's this uh passage in

Matthew where

um the disciples they they come up to

Jesus and they they're like, "I don't

know what we've been doing, but we heard

you pray. Would you teach us how to

pray?

Would you teach us how to pray?" And

Jesus actually teaches them how to pray.

And so, we see this model of prayer and

how Jesus approached prayer. And I just

want to look at that here in Matthew

Matthew 6:9

chapter 6 verse 9.

The Bible says, I'll put this up on the

screen for you.

It says, "This then is how you should

pray.

Our Father

in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done on

earth as it is in heaven. Give us today

our daily bread

and forgive us our debts as we have also

forgiven our debtors. Some translations

say sins. Forgive us our sins as we have

forgiven those who have sinned against

us. And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one."

Here's the two more verses. We often

leave this one out. For if you forgive

other people when they sin against you,

your heavenly Father will also forgive

you. But if you do not forgive others

your sin their sins, your Father will

not forgive you your sins.

Again, our one another relationships,

they matter.

And they can hinder our prayers. And so,

this model, you may have heard this

before, this this model that Jesus laid

out before us.

Um I want to give you just some handles,

some framework, if this is helpful for

you. And maybe you can apply this to

your prayer life even this week. If

you're in this maybe rut or lull of

like, man, I'm kind of struggling

through my prayers. Maybe you've been

praying the same prayer over and over

again and haven't seen breakthrough. Or

maybe your mind wanders when you start

to pray and you start thinking about

your grocery list. This These are all

normal things. This happens to us in

different seasons. But there's this

phrase, an acronym, acts.

And it's easy to remember, it's the book

in the Bible, and it can kind of just

give you some handles. Again, it's not a

formula, it's not a magic trick, but it

can help shape your prayer and and keep

you

moving along if if you tend to wander in

your mind. I know that I do from time to

time. And so, acts. The first one, A,

adoration. This starts with adoration.

Think about approaching God first with

complete adoration.

Like we have our to-do list, we have the

things that we want to ask him for. And

a lot of times we get that in reverse

order. We lead with those things, right?

It's just natural, it's human nature.

But think about if if this week you

shape your prayer life and you started

your prayers with adoration of God.

And one of the things I can help you

with the adoration portion is like a

contemplative

focus on God's goodness, an intentional

one. And so, for me,

something that helps is I I picture in

my mind's eye something that's true

about God.

So, something that stands out in the

Bible. So, for example, Jesus ascending

back into heaven

after he gives the Great Commission at

the end of Matthew 28.

And I In my mind's eye, I picture what

it would look like, Jesus ascending back

into heaven in all of his glory.

Picture that.

The finished work of the cross, the

perfect obedient son returning to the

Father and seated at the right hand of

God.

And then I see the Holy Spirit

descending, this great exchange, the

Holy Spirit descending

and resting on the believers in the

upper room as wind and fire hovering

over them.

Man, that kick-starts my adoration for

God. Wow, God, thank you for sending

Jesus. Who are we that you would

bankrupt heaven and send your one and

only son?

And that Jesus, you showed us who you

were after you died, they touched you.

They talked with you. You showed

yourself to hundreds of people.

And then you sent the Holy Spirit cuz

you wouldn't leave us as orphans.

You see how entering prayer in this

posture changes everything?

It's like I almost forgot what I was

going to ask for.

And that's okay cuz God knows what you

need. But guys, if we're entering prayer

with adoration first, not because God is

thirsty or needs our our praise, but it

should be an overflow because of who he

is in our lives.

It should be a natural response when we

reflect his goodness and his

faithfulness. So, adoration, if we lead

with adoration, naturally next will

become confession.

And I put a little asterisk there,

should be also repentance. We see that

in the Lord's Prayer, forgive us our

sins, and then the acknowledgement of

our sinful fallen nature.

A confession before God.

T, thanksgiving.

Man,

gratitude will change your attitude. I

know that cheesy thing that parents say,

but it is so true.

When we start listing off the things

that we're grateful for in prayer.

Ah, thank you for my family. Thank you

for my children. Thank you for the

church. Thank you for my faith

community. Man, these things start to

stir up our heart and then we get to

supplication because God does want to

hear what we have to say.

It says that he, like even us, want to

give good gifts to our children though

we are evil. How much more God?

Being perfect and pure.

And so I hope something that I shared

was helpful this morning.

I hope that the power of prayer that

that was you think about and reflect

this week that you can remember how it

showed up in your life. And I'm getting

ready to invite up our kiddos here that

went to camp. And I love this and I feel

like it's so fitting because this is

actually the fruit of prayer.

How many parents prayed for our kids to

go up into encounter God this week? And

guess what? That's exactly what he did.

And I know it just wasn't this week. I

know like my mom prayed. Many of you

have prayed over your children and

continue to cover your children in

prayer. And so we get to see a portion

of that. If you guys can start joining

me on stage.

>> So

we have Danielle who's going to share

first about her experience on camp. I

just want to say

I'm so proud of all of our kids.

They just like went for it.

With Jesus and I got to witness

them um

really pressing into that and from yeah,

so proud of you guys.

Uh woo.

Um

So I just thought one night like God the

possibilities are endless. Like kingdom

builders in this room loving Jesus.

Assured of the gospel, the saving grace

of Christ and it was just beautiful. So

yeah. Okay, we're going to start with

Danielle and then what will you you'll

just pass the mic on. Yeah, no. It's

okay. Take your time.

>> I just want to go quick. I don't want to

take your time.

>> Okay.

wow.

I never speak into my guys.

Um, anyways,

I got the privilege of going to the New

Day Camp this week and it was honestly

really

eventful, I think. I had lost my voice

within the second day.

And I think that just proves like I was

praising Jesus from the start and it was

just a great opportunity.

And I think when I before we went, I had

struggled a lot with like knowing I am

loved by people around me, surrounding

me. And I had prayed over and over many

times for like just a hug from someone

important to me and I got it answered

that so many times like with several

different people, even people I didn't

know. And I think that's always been one

of my biggest prayers and I got so many

hugs during camp. And it was such a

great opportunity.

Um, and I think God had just called me

to be his daughter. Probably the most

that's what I heard from him is just I'm

his daughter and I am his beloved and he

will love me no matter what happens with

me.

And so I just want to read a passage

that was on my heart like all camp um,

and I just kept reading it over. It was

um, Matthew 11:28

Matthew 11:28–30

through 30 and it's then Jesus said,

"Come to me all of you who are weary and

carry heavy burdens and I will give you

rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let it

teach you

because because I am humble and gentle

at heart and you will find rest for your

souls. For my yoke is easy to bear and

the burden I give you is light." And I

think that just spoke to me cuz there

was a night where we just talked about

giving my burdens to God and just um,

speaking he spoke to me through my

imagination and what was happening in my

heart and just speaking to me uh, and I

got an image of like just a sunflower

just like it needs to like it follows

the light in whatever way it goes and

just God being the light for me this

weekend and any weekend and just it's

brought me so much peace and I was able

to

fall down on my knees and just be like

thank you God. And I think one of my

other things that was on my heart was

just like I adore you God. Like

everything you've done for me I adore.

Through my whole life um, through like

being adopted and everything I know I am

loved and I'm adopted by God. And just

this week really just proved that and it

gave me time away from my phone and away

from doing all this stuff that keeps me

busy and just like

now I know what my good portion is from

God and he knows what I desire in my

heart and I can just use him in whatever

ways possible. So, it was just really a

blessing to go.

>> You got it.

Hey you, look at me.

>> Okay, um, yeah. So, I can't believe that

was this week. That did not feel like it

was this week. It felt like a while ago.

Um,

Sorry.

Okay. So, I'm just going to talk about

like before camp

and what God really showed me and healed

me from.

So, before camp

towards like the end of the school year

I was struggling with anxiety

and feeling like I didn't have a place.

I felt really alone and I felt like I

didn't belong in like

friend groups or like um,

and like the school or like sometimes

with my family.

Um, and I was kind of like why am I

feeling like this? Like I'm a Christian,

I shouldn't be feeling like this. Like,

is this what we're supposed to be

thinking sometimes?

Um.

Um, sorry.

Um, so when I went to camp, I was kind

of like still struggling with that and I

was kind of like, okay, maybe God will

help me with this.

Um.

The first night I didn't hear anything

and I was kind of worried like, oh,

maybe I'm doing something wrong or

I don't know.

Um.

But on the Father's Blessing night, I

got prayer from Mark Condy and I just

broke down in tears.

Um.

And I didn't know why.

Then the next night I got prayer from my

two counselors, Mercedes and Sadie.

Um.

Thank you, Sydney. Oh my gosh, I'm

sorry. Um.

And

I just told them what was happening and

I just broke down in tears like a good

hour. And I prayed out to God like,

can you please help me in this? Like, I

don't know what I'm supposed to do.

And I know it's just like the high

school feeling and I know a lot of other

people feel like this, too, when they're

going into high school and as a

teenager.

So it was um

And then the next morning we were told

to go outside, just walk around and find

a quiet spot. And I did and I was just

in the middle of this my surroundings

like underneath the trees.

And I heard God say,

close your eyes, face up, and just

listen.

And

the book of John really did come up to

me throughout camp.

Um John 4:14,

John 4:14

"But whoever drinks the water I give

them will never thirst. Indeed, the

water I give them

will become in them a spring of water

welling up to eternal life."

And I felt God just saying like

"Drink my water and I will be with you

forever. Like you belong in my heart. If

no one else here accepts you, I do."

Um John 21:19,

John 21:19

one word really stuck out to me, which

was follow me.

Because I feel like in that

journey I was going through, I had to

depend on myself. And I had to find my

own way through this.

Um

So, I feel like God really did like go

after me through camp.

And he really did tell me like I'm here

for you.

Like come to me

and drink my water and you'll never

thirst.

>> Um good morning. I just found out I was

going to share like, I don't know, 30

minutes ago. But, um yeah, camp was just

amazing. It never like God never fails

to surprise me and just show up in every

way I need him.

Um just before camp, like every day I

had been feeling like attacked with

these lies that I was faking my faith

and that I never really chose God or

that I never really loved him.

And I started to believe them because I

feel like I could never think of a time

where I didn't know God. Like growing up

in church and being Christian my whole

life like I never didn't never didn't

know God.

But I was just like really wanted

breakthrough from that. And I remember

on the first night when we had to get a

piece of chalk and go and draw a circle

around us and just like cry out to God

and pray to him. I remember feeling like

kind of scared like if I wasn't going to

hear anything.

And I just like looked up to the sky and

I remember just almost seeing him and

hearing his voice. And he just said

like, "Will you trust me to be your

everything? Like would you be okay if I

was all that you had?" And that really

scared me because I feel like I'm the

kind of person who wants to have a plan

and like know what's going to happen and

know like have a exit plan or have a

plan B and just like kind of like I

don't know, be prepared. And I feel like

that was really scary just to step out

and say like if you're my everything

like I'll trust you.

So I was kind of just like taking that

in and I really wanted not to just be

like, "Oh yeah, you are my everything."

Like I really wanted to say yes and

believe it. And

on the Father's blessing night I got

prayer from Ronnie Briscoe and I just

told him that and I just like I don't

really cry when people pray for me, but

I just broke down in tears and I can

feel like a burning on my heart. And I

could just like

feel like the invitation so strongly and

I was so sure that if God is my

everything I'll have everything I'll

ever need.

And that was just like my breakthrough

at camp and during one of our quiet

times

I just really wanted to feel his love

cuz I I still struggling like just

relying on like feeling if I felt him

and his love for me and um journaling

really does help. So, I was just like

journaling like all that I was feeling

and then like I took a moment and I

stopped and I can't even remember really

what happened, but I just remember it

was just a breakthrough in my heart like

I could breathe again and I could just

feel his love come in so strongly like a

wave like almost knocking me down and it

was like it was never gone like it was

always there.

And I feel like he really showed me that

his love is steadfast that it doesn't

matter if I feel it or not that it's

always there.

And um I actually got a picture when it

was one of the nights um of renewing our

minds and I was getting prayer from my

mom and I got just like this um picture

of like a brain and I feel like it was

my brain and it was the blood of Jesus

like coming over it and it was seeping

into it and even if I don't always feel

like what he did was real or if I

don't always feel his love like what

he's doing is permanent and I can trust

him.

Hi, I'm Avery Plyman. I recognize most

of you, but there's some I don't know.

Um so, I went to New Day obviously and I

went with my brother Andrew Plyman.

So, uh

you know like everybody has like

their siblings always argue like we

always like head budding.

And you know like when I was like I'm

going to camp and then I found out like

a week before we were going that Andrew

also signed up.

And I was like okay like this is like

going to be our week like we're away

from everyone

like we're going to it's just going to

be us two I want us to be able to like

find comfort in each other, find peace

to where we wouldn't have to like argue

all the time. And so that all week I was

praying and like nothing had happened.

And it was the last night. And it was

the last night at chapel.

I was like

God, like please just show me show me

your love for me. Show me that you're

here. And he did.

Cuz um Asher Beebe grasped my hand for

me. And I told him about like what I'd

been struggling with. And I just went

after I went to my brother and he just

hugged me and I felt comfort. And I felt

love and then

And

it was it was amazing.

And then I after like we me and Andrew

both calmed down a bit, I told him that

I'd been praying for that.

And

it was yeah. And then I went to um Eric

and I was like I want to share what

happened.

And after I shared, so many people just

prayed for us.

It was wow.

Like I'm my answers my prayers were

answered. And the whole week I had a

verse that I kept on reading Psalm 66

16 to 20 says come and come and hear all

who fear God. Let me tell you what he

has done for me. I cried out with my

mouth his praise on my tongue. If I had

cherished sin in my heart

in my heart, the Lord would not have

listened. But God has surely listened

and has heard my prayer. Praise be to

God who has not rejected my prayer or

withheld his love for me.

And like I didn't realize this until a

little bit after camp that like he was

showing me that he was going to answer

my prayers and that I'm not forgotten

and that like everyone's love and

everyone has his love in us and we're

all equal.

I just yeah.

Like he answered my prayers. I didn't

think like he could

I don't know. Like I've been a Christian

all my life, right? Like I go to church

every Sunday, but it's like

is God really there for me? Is he really

like in me? Is he with me? Is he by my

side? In that camp he showed me that I

he is with me and that he does love me.

So when they announced that

New Day was happening

I was like, "Yeah, no.

I hate camp. I'm feeling miserable and

lonely the whole time.

Nobody wants to hang out with me."

But then later I felt like God was

saying, "Go do this."

I was like, "Well, okay."

And then

like I just started making more friends

even before we went.

And

and I got like leading up to it I just

started getting like anxious and like,

"Why am I doing this? I'm not going to

like it." And like getting attacked.

And then I got there and like the first

time like, "Why did I do this?"

And just like

just getting attacked non-stop with all

sorts of

things. Just feeling lonely and

confused and

then it was the father's blessing night.

Like I just

my dad was there and he got to pray for

me.

And I went over to him.

I like I just been crying out for help

to God and

I just encountered him there. Like I

walked over and my heart literally was

physically aching.

Like as my dad's praying for me, I'm

just like, "Ah."

And then I

I just felt it he

it was broken and he put it back

together.

I just felt him like

I felt the Holy Spirit like it started

down at my feet and it just rose up and

up and I'm like,

"What's going to happen when it reaches

all the way?"

And I was just like,

"Wow, God.

Just you're amazing."

And just

like after that day things got better

and I

I just

like I'm I was

I'm changed, God.

I just want to say, "Thank you, God."