Text to Talk Part 4 | Close the Door on It with Chris Schlotterbeck

Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd

like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward

slash connect. If you feel called to give, go

to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at

any time you feel called to make a change in

your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the

message. Happy Memorial Day weekend. The start

of summer is here, even though it doesn't feel

like it. But we're going to work through it.

If you're joining us from home, thanks for welcoming

us into your space. So I do want to pause before

we jump in to our talk today and honor and recognize

all those that have served or are serving. And

especially those that have paid the ultimate

price in serving our country. Let's open in prayer

and just ask God's hand of blessing to be upon

them. God, we are grateful that we can gather

together in worship in freedom. And we're grateful,

God, for all those that are serving around the

world currently that have served. And God, I

just ask you're with those families, God, those

friends that have lost loved ones while serving,

that you would comfort them, give them peace.

And again, we are just grateful that we can live

in a country where we can worship and just declare

your name freely and openly. In Jesus' name,

amen. So we are in week four of our series text

to talk where we're learning a daily routine

of connecting to God through the Bible and being

led by him in every area of our life. We kicked

off week one of our series focusing on how to

read the Bible. Week two, we discussed how Jesus

desires that we abide in him or why we read the

Bible. And last week, we discussed being led

by the Holy Spirit or applying the truth. of

the Bible to our lives. Today, we're going to

tackle a subject that is sometimes very confusing,

often complicated, that everyone deals with.

How to have an effective and enjoyable prayer

life. How to have an effective and enjoyable

prayer life. And some of you are immediately

thinking, enjoyable? Really, Chris? Prayer? See,

there is nothing more crucial to us than to learn

as followers of Jesus How to pray. See, prayer

is how we communicate with God. How many of you

know by show of hands that communication is the

lifeline backbone of any relationship, right?

If you can't communicate, a relationship's gone

nowhere. One of the greatest joys in life is

having someone you can truly talk to. And not

just someone who hears your words, but someone

who actually listens, understands, and cares.

See, marriages will struggle without healthy

communication. How many of us know if you're

married, if your spouse says it's fine, that

in reality, it's not fine at all, right? It's

fine simply means that's not a good decision

you're about to make, right? Friendships drift

without communication. Families become disconnected

without... Here's the reality. You can live in

the same house with someone, not communicate

and feel miles apart. While at the same time,

this is true spiritually. See, many people see

prayer as a religious duty, a ritual, or dare

I say, a last resort when those crises come into

our lives. But prayer was never meant to be lifeless.

Prayer is simply communication with God. It's

a conversation with our creator. It's not about

the words. See, it's about building a real relationship,

a real connection. And just like any relationship,

when communication is healthy, that relationship

becomes effective and enjoyable. The reason many

followers of Jesus struggle in prayer isn't because

they don't love God. It's because communication

with God has become rushed, shallow, inconsistent,

or dare I say, one -sided. Give me, give me,

give me God. But when prayer becomes honest,

when we stop performing and start connecting,

when we stop treating prayer like a task and

start treating it like time spent with someone

we love, then prayer is no longer boring. It

doesn't feel forced. It actually becomes life

-giving. And today, I want us all to discover

that prayer is not an obligation. It's simply

communication with the Father, our Father in

heaven, who generally wants to hear from his

children. And that opening leads us to our first

thought today. See, when we pray, God moves and

things happen. God moves and things happen. James

James 5:16

5, verse 16. Confess your sins to each other

and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Now, hear this truth. The earnest prayer. of

a righteous person has great power, and notice,

produces wonderful results. See, I want us to

pray in a way that get things done. And nothing

has marked the lives of the people we read about

in the Bible more than prayer. It is when prayer,

right, comes into our life that we suddenly understand

that God is moving. Think about it. Prayer has

marked people from the very beginning. We see

it in the life of Abraham. He prayed and God

was willing to spare an entire city for the sake

of the righteous. Jacob, he wrestled with God

in prayer at night and walked away with a new

name and a new future. Moses prayed for a rebellious

nation and God relented from destroying Israel.

Church, prayer works. Joshua prayed in the middle

of a battle. God caused the sun to stand still

so that the victory could be won. Hannah prayed

with deep anguish and conviction. And God gave

her Samuel, one of the greatest prophets Israel

has ever known. Elijah prayed and the rain stopped

for three and a half years. Then he prayed again

and the rain returned. Prayer works. Daniel prayed

three times a day when it was illegal and everyone

told him to not do it. Then he was thrown into

a lion's den. He prayed again. God shut the mouths

of the lions. Nehemiah prayed before approaching

the king and God gave him favor to rebuild Jerusalem.

And it's not just the Old Testament. Fast forward

to the New Testament. When people prayed, God

moved on their behalf. Jesus' life was defined

by prayer. He regularly withdrew to lonely places

to pray. Before he chose his disciples, he prayed.

Before practicing miracles, he prayed. Before

going to the cross, Jesus prayed. The book of

Acts shows us that the early church started from

a prayer meeting. They were gathered in the upper

room, praying. The Holy Spirit fell. The church

was born, and the gospel spread throughout the

known world. Because there was a church that

prayed. And if prayer marked the lives of people

that changed the world, we need to do it today.

Because God has called us to change the tri -state

area. Because when we pray, God moves on our

behalf. I want to remind you again, prayer works.

And I want you to think about it this way. We

are one prayer away from a totally different

life. We're one prayer away from a healthy marriage.

You are one prayer away from healing in your

body. You are one prayer away from victory over

anxiety. You are one prayer away from an addiction

being broken. You are one prayer away from victory

over stress. Prayer has the power to move us

past what our potential can do, what we can do

in our own strength, and into the power of God.

You are one prayer away. And if we can learn

to step out in prayer, we can literally see the

hand of God move in our lives more than we could

ever imagine. So if prayer has so much power,

then why don't we do it? Right? Why don't we

pray? Well, I believe it's because many of us

don't actually believe that prayer has the power

to change things in our lives. Because if we

believed it, we would pray a whole lot more.

The prayer stats that are currently out there

are absolutely shocking. I just want to share

a few of them with you as we set the tone for

our discussion. These numbers are from Barna

Research Group. 68 % of Christians say their

prayer life is inconsistent or ineffective at

best. 68%. 55 % say they don't know what to say

when they pray. 71 % say they pray the less than

10 minutes a day. And 80 % of those polled admit

to being distracted within the first two minutes

of prayer. And some of you are already judging

those Christians that are distracted, and you've

been distracted in the first five minutes of

this talk. So don't go out judging. We all get

distracted. We all have those moments where we

don't make prayer as effective as it can be.

And here's the fact that absolutely blew my mind.

The average Christian spends more time on their

phones before breakfast in one day than in prayer

all week long. Houston, we have a problem. Church,

that's a big problem. And that is why Jesus'

followers are so ineffective and weak. They're

not prioritizing prayer. We have not tapped into

the power and possibilities of prayer. So let's

now look at a story that gives us such a good

breakdown of prayer. This story is about two

women named Mary and Martha. Luke chapter 10,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

starting in verse 38. As Jesus and the disciples

continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came

to a certain village where a woman named Martha

welcomed him into her home. What was her name

again? Martha, that is correct. Her sister Mary,

what's her sister's name? Sat at the Lord's feet

listening to what he taught. So let's pause and

just look at this breakdown real quick of these

two ladies. Martha opens up her home to Jesus.

This is an incredible example of what it means

to abide. She wanted to welcome Jesus into her

home. She was hosting him. However, Mary, when

Jesus was welcomed into the home, went over and

sat at his feet. See, Martha had the right intentions

of inviting Jesus in, and Martha always has been

given a bad rap in this story, but she actually

had good intentions. Can we all agree on that?

Jesus, you are welcome into my home. However,

I want to be a good host. But then suddenly,

as the story goes on, we see a big difference

between the two women. Let's continue. But Martha

was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.

She came to Jesus and said, Lord, doesn't it

seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here

while I do all the work? Now, many of you know

I have six children, and I often hear at dinnertime

while the cleanup is happening, they're just

discussing, they're not arguing, of course, how

one of them are not carrying their weight and

cleaning as they should be. Do you connect with

that? There's always someone that is distracted

doing something else. Let's continue with our

story. Tell her to come and help me. So Martha

goes to Jesus and she's probably thinking, I

got it. I'm going to say something to Jesus.

He's going to look at Mary and say, how dare

you sit there at my feet? How dare you do nothing?

Get up and do some work. You need to get busy

and help. Don't you know all the things that

I need to get done in this house? So let's continue.

Is that what Jesus said? But the Lord said to

her, my dear Martha. You are worried and upset

over all these details. And I want to pause there

again for a second because that phrase from Jesus

points to a direct correlation between how worried

and upset we are by what is happening in the

world around us and our lack of prayer. See,

the more we pray, the less worried and concerned

we are about what is happening in the world because

we now believe that we are going before the God

of the universe who has everything under his

control. And if I am sitting at his feet, it

doesn't matter what is happening all around me

because he's got it under control. So if you

find yourself worried and stressed out today

about all the things that are happening in this

world, it's probably because you are more distracted

than you are praying. We need to get back to

sitting at Jesus' feet because when we do, we're

going to find peace. We're going to find rest.

We're going to find comfort and we're going to

discover wisdom that he has for us. Aren't we

grateful that at his feet we can experience breakthrough

in our lives? That's where it all happens. Let's

continue. There is only one thing worth being

concerned about. Mary has discovered it and it

will not be taken from her. So I want to challenge

you today. You have a lot of things on your schedule,

in your mind that is consuming your life. But

very few things are needed. Prioritize what is

important and learn to pray. And here is the

question of the day. When it comes to prayer,

reflect, who are you? Who are you in this story?

And let's look at the breakdown. We have two

people who could not have more opposite approaches

to prayer. Notice, Martha, she's stressed out.

She has a lot to do. She has a lot of worries

and concerns. Mary? Mary's not stressed. She

has surrendered. She is not focused on what is

happening around her. She is focused on surrendering

to the master. Martha, she's very distracted.

She's thinking about everything else happening

around her. But Mary, what is she? She's focused.

She's focused on Jesus. Martha, she's hustling.

She's busy. She's getting everything done. But

we have Mary. Mary is sitting and listening.

Martha is judging. She's judging her sister.

She's judging Mary. You better get to work. You

better get better. You need to step up and do

something while Mary, Mary's secure in what Jesus

told her to do. Martha is overwhelmed while Mary

is sitting there receiving patiently from Jesus.

So reflect. When it comes to your prayer time,

who are you in this story? Are you living a Martha

life? Or are you focusing on abiding in the vine

and connecting with Jesus like Mary did? Of course,

we know that Mary chose what is better. And we

can learn to have a Mary outlook on life in a

very Martha world. I mean, be honest. We're bombarded

with busyness. But when we focus on and allow

our prayer time to be like Mary's, we will experience

victory in this life. And how do we do it? Well,

that leads us to our four action steps, how to

experience an effective and enjoyable prayer

life. And the first one is this. It all starts

with surrender. We need to first fix our posture.

If we want an effective prayer life, we need

to fix our posture. We're so easily distracted

and focused on other things going on. But Mary,

notice, decided to do something different, Luke

10. Her sister Mary sat down. At the Lord's feet,

listening to what he taught. Now please understand,

this would have been the norm for a rabbi or

a teacher in this culture. They were not living

in a world of constant busyness where we're cleaning

dishes and then looking up every 20 seconds and

say, oh yeah, Jesus, yeah, I'm listening, really.

But I'm getting this done at the same time. Right?

But this isn't how to have an effective prayer

life. We have so many other things going on in

our life that we try to squeeze in our prayer

time between everything else while we're really

focusing on everything else. I mean, we live

in a world fighting for our attention. Every

single second, we're bombarded with notifications,

worry, schedules, stress. Oh, I got to get my

entertainment to relax. Listen, if the enemy

can't destroy our relationship with God, he'll

settle for distracting it, and he'll distract

you. Because distracted prayer eventually becomes

distant prayer. Distant prayer becomes separation

from God. We have to learn how to surrender,

to release control, to release our agendas. And

it's difficult, but we have to learn to sit at

the master's feet. What does surrender look like?

Simple. It's undivided focus. It's time alone

that belongs to Jesus. In other words, when he's

in the room, when his presence is there, we're

going to meet with him. And I'm going to meet

with him. And Jesus tells us in Matthew 6, 6

how to do this. But when you pray, go away by

yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray

to your Father in private. Then your Father,

who sees everything, will reward you. See, there

are things keeping us from focusing our attention

on Jesus. And in this passage, Jesus tells us

that when we pray, we what? We go into our room,

right? And then what do we do? We close the door

behind ourselves. Some of you, let's be honest,

this is what your prayer life looks like. You're

praying with the door wide open. You're letting

all the distractions, all the entertainment,

all the news bombard your time with God instead

of making a choice to close the door and prioritizing

our relationship with Jesus. So what do we need

to remove from our lives that could be a distraction

that's keeping us from connecting with God? Well,

I have a few that I feel pull us away. And the

first one is this. We all know what this is,

right? For some of you, this is your lifeline.

For some of you, this is your life, just being

honest, because this is how you connect to everyone

rather than face -to -face. This has become our

schedule. This has become our notification. This

has become our entertainment. I mean, people

are sitting everywhere, and they're constantly

bombarded with their what? Their cell phones.

This cell phone is going to distract you and

pull you away from Jesus. So in order... To not

be distracted with our phones, what did Jesus

tell us to do? He said to go into your room,

get rid of it, and close the door on it. Right?

For some of you, you need to shut it off, you

need to silence it, and you need to prioritize

your relationship with Jesus. And if it's not

your cell phones, then it's your schedules. Right?

Because chances are you have your schedule in

your phone. It's telling you everywhere to go,

who you need to meet, where you need to be. And

you're allowing your schedules to prioritize

your time rather than prioritizing time with

Jesus. Again, you need to take your schedules

and you need to close the door behind them. If

it's not your schedules, then this is coming

at you. It's your bills. Right? We're always

getting bills. Bills are coming. You got to pay

the bills. And in your mind, you're thinking

gas is outrageous. Food is outrageous. How am

I going to pay my bills? And we get overwhelmed

and worried because we can't pay our bills. When

you're praying, don't focus on your bills. Get

rid of them and close the door behind them. You

know why? You know why? Because the creditor's

coming knocking anyway. You might as well not

focus on them in your prayer time. For some of

you, it's sports. You're so focused on your professional

sports teams that they are distracting you from

your time with God. Guys, get off a bleacher

report. Turn off the notifications. It's not

even football season. Get rid of them. Check

them at the door and close the door behind them.

Ladies, I'm not going to let you out, right?

Let's be honest. We live in a world that's all

about... Self -care. You got to take care of

yourself. You got to look good. You got to look

right. And for many of you like, oh, that's my

prayer time. I'm pampering. I look good. I want

to make myself look good. No, you're not. You're

distracted. You want to take care of yourself.

You're more worried about the mirror than you

are worried about connecting with the master.

What do you have to do with your self -care?

You got to check it at the door. And then if

that... It's not the worst one. This is. Some

of you have some of these at home, right? And

they can be all ages, and they can even wear

a unicorn outfit, right? And you know the best

thing to do with these things, right? Just check

them at the door. It's a baby doll, man. Calm

down. I would never tell you to check your kids

at the door, okay? But what I am telling you

are, if you're distracted, If you're distracted

by your kids, you need to get up an hour earlier.

Yeah, go to bed a little earlier. And you need

to make a priority. You need to make a priority

that prayer is effective and passionate in your

life. You need to close the door behind what

is happening all around you. James chapter four,

verses seven through eight. So humble yourselves

before God. Resist your iPhone. Isn't that what

it says? Resist your iPhone. Oh, I'm sorry. Resist

the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close

to God, and God will come close to you. Now,

did everyone hear that promise? The God of the

universe, when you draw close to him, he draws

close to you. I mean, what a better reason to

surrender all these positions in my life to truly

connect to God. Some of you are just simply too

distracted with all the other stuff in your life.

And I want to challenge you with this. Surrender.

And then suddenly you'll find your prayer life

will become enjoyable and effective, which leads

us to our next step. You need to slow down. We

need to slow down because it's now within our

culture today that we celebrate busyness. True

or false? True, true. Ask anybody how they're

doing. Hey, how are you doing? How's life going?

Busy, right? How are your kids? Busy. I'm going

to and fro. How's your job? Busy. They got me

doing more than ever. How's school going? Busy.

I'm taking advanced classes. How's business?

Busy, busy. That's become the natural reaction

to people's responses when you ask them how they're

doing. It's a badge of honor in our society to

say that we are busy. And busyness, unfortunately,

is becoming our identity. That word is destroying

your prayer life. That word is destroying your

prayer life. So I want to challenge you, remove

it from your vocabulary. Busyness is the enemy

of our prayer time. It has been said this way,

if the devil can't make you bad, if the devil

can't make you sin, he's going to make you busy.

He can't make you sin, so he'll make you sit

down and embrace what culture tells you to do

and buy into busyness. We are so busy and distracted,

just like who? Martha. And listen, some of those

are good things. They're not bad things. They're

good things. But when we miss out and prioritize

good things, then God can do great things in

our life. great things happen through our connection

with him. We cannot hear from God in a hurry,

right? God wants to speak to us, but our lives

are moving at such a rapid pace that we miss

out of his voice speaking to us every single

day. Right? I deal every single day with this

little guy named Phoenix. Right? He's always

moving to the next thing. Inside, outside, doors

open, upstairs, downstairs. There's a mess everywhere

he goes. And sometimes I need to sit him on the

couch. I need to take my two hands, put them

on his cheeks and say, stop. Clean up your toys

and clean up your room. And he looks back at

me and goes, okay. And then he's gone again.

Some of you simply need to slow down. You need

to give God the attention he deserves. Because

when we give God the attention he deserves, you

know what we're going to hear? Hey, Chris, you

need to forgive that person. Hey, Chris, you

need to release that bitterness. Hey, Chris,

you need to let go of that control. Hey, Chris,

you know that friend you haven't heard of in

weeks? You need to pray for them and reach out.

Hey, Chris, you're questioning your future? Trust

me. See, that's what we hear in prayer time because

God has a plan and agenda for our lives. But

we are moving so quick, so fast that we miss

out on hearing from God because prayer has become

a distraction. Our prayer life is being distracted.

And my greatest prayer moments with God is when

I slow down, I release my agenda, and I create

space for God to speak to me. For me, that looks

like taking a walk with my poodles. I got two

standard poodles and they literally walk me.

I hook them to my hips and I just go along for

the ride. My mind is free, right? And I'm able

to focus on and hear from God. However it works

for you, you need to figure that out, right?

Psalm 37, seven, be still in the presence of

the Lord. Wait patiently for him to act. Don't

worry about evil people who prosper or fret about

their wicked schemes. Waiting patiently is when

we experience victory. So I want to challenge

you. Wake up a little earlier. Set your alarm

for earlier. Shut off the iPhone. Don't go to

the computer, the streaming devices. Turn off

the TV two hours before bed. Why? So you can

connect with the master. Isaiah 30. This is what

the sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says.

Only in returning to me and resting in me will

you be saved. Notice, in quietness and confidence

is your strength. But you would have none of

it. See, we find strength when we quiet our lives.

Psalm 46 .10 reminds us, be still and know that

I am God. I'll be honored in every nation. I'll

be honored throughout the world. How do we know

he is God? Well, we know he's God when we slow

down, when we're still. And listen, it's hard

for me to be still. I'll be honest with you.

But hurry is the enemy of connecting to God.

and it's hard for you to be still, then you need

to figure out how to make your prayer time effective.

Because our prayer time is crucial to any good

relationship with God. If you're hurrying on

to the next thing and believe that's prayer,

it's not. You need to figure out how to connect

with God, which leads us to our third step. You

need to then share your heart. So how do we have

an effective prayer life? We surrender, we slow

down, and now we share our heart. It's important

to be honest with God because that's when real

friendship happens. When we are transparent before

our creator, life change happens. And this is

difficult because we actually believe that if

we use this special language that we could communicate

to God more effectively. And that language sounds

something like this. I beseech thee, heavenly

Lord of hosts, my majestic Father. And God's

thinking, who's talking to me? Who is that person?

You don't talk like that in any of your other

relationships. Church, we don't have to speak

in Christianese, okay? We don't have to change

the tone of our voice for God to hear us. How

do I know that? Well, if my kids walk into the

kitchen, they look at me and say, I beseech thee,

Father. I immediately look back at them and think,

what do you want? I know you want something,

and chances are it involves a lot of money. Because

you don't talk that way. You're trying to butter

me up. We have to learn how to communicate with

God in a way where a relationship is built. Church,

take your masks off. He already knows what's

in your heart. He already knows what you're struggling

with. Prayer becomes enjoyable when it becomes

honest. When we get transparent before Jesus,

that is when real connection and intimacy grows.

That is where prayer becomes enjoyable because

we're letting go of that stress and that anxiety.

Psalm 62, 8. Oh, my people, trust in him at all

times. Pour out your heart to him for God is

our refuge. God wants to know what we're dealing

with. And if we're struggling with sin, be honest.

Again, he already knows. Two men, Luke 18, went

to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee. The

other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee

stood by himself and prayed this prayer. I thank

you, God, that I am not like other people, cheaters,

sinners, adulterers. I'm certainly not like that

tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give you

a tenth of my income. But the tax collector stood

at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes

to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his

chest in sorrow, saying, O God, be merciful to

me, for I am a sinner. I tell you, this sinner,

not the church folk, not the Pharisee, returned

home justified before God. So listen, I want

to remind you, if it's on our mind, it belongs

in our prayers. If it's on our mind, it belongs

in our prayers. God wants to know and hear what

you're struggling with. Give it to him. Don't

feel guilty about what sharing is on your mind.

Like if something's on your mind and it's challenging

you, you don't have to worry about praying for

the war in the Middle East. You don't have to

worry about praying for gas prices or our government.

If something is on your mind and it's causing

you stress and anxiety, give it to God. Talk

to God about it. How do I know this? Again, back

to that Phoenix guy. Right? Phoenix is constantly

wanting to interact with me about facts of the

world and what he's learning. His newest craze

that he's focusing on, Dad, what's the biggest

building in the world? Dad, what's the biggest

plane? Which dinosaur is the biggest ever? And

immediately, what do I have to do? I got to Google

it. I got to figure out what it is. I got to

show him pictures. I got to talk about it and

explain to him why it's big, why it's the biggest,

right? And then he's got to argue with me. No,

I know dinosaurs. They're wrong. I know that

Megalodon's bigger than this guy. And I'm just

like, Phoenix, these are professionals. They

know which dinosaur was the biggest. Please listen,

right? And why do I do all that? Because I want

a relationship with Phoenix. I could care less

about the facts, right? I don't care about what

is the biggest, but he does. So I need to engage

for the relationship to what? Thrive. Does that

make sense? When we come before God and we're

struggling, give it to him. Talk to him. Because

he cares. He wants to intervene. He wants your

relationship to grow. So no matter what is going

on in your life, if you will pray about it, God

will work it out. So if you're here today and

you're stressed, pray about it and God will work

it out. If you're here today and you're struggling,

you're overwhelmed, pray about it and God will

move in your life. If you have pain in your body,

pray about it and receive healing. If your finances

are tight, read the Bible, start practicing finances

as you should. Chances are they won't be tight

anymore, and then thank God for it. If your marriage

is not great, pray about it and watch God move.

Humble yourself. If you're worried about your

future, pray about it and let God move in your

life. Don't keep the burden to yourself. Pray

about it. Give it to God. Remember, the God of

the universe, and watch how he will move. Because

when God moves on our behalf, then suddenly other

people are going to take notice. So during your

prayer times, if your mind wanders, don't feel

guilty. Whatever your mind wanders to, pray about

it and give it to God, which leads us to our

final step. Seek out an assignment. And this

is huge for our relationship with Jesus. Church,

listen to this truth. God has an assignment for

your life. Every single day. Not just this call

for the rest of your life. Every single day.

And every day that we surrender, that we slow

down, that we're honest before him, then we can

hear the assignment that he has for us. Because

God has a plan for us to walk in every single

day. And that is why prayer is so important.

See, prayer isn't just a connection with the

creator. It's a commissioning. It's a challenge

to go and do. It's hearing God's agenda for our

life that day so we can move forward and make

a difference in the lives of others. God has

an assignment for you to walk in every single

day. There's people in your sphere of influence

that need impacted. There are ministries that

need to be started. There are lives that need

to be changed. Luke chapter 10 verse 2. These

Luke 10:2

were his instructions to them. The harvest is

great. but the workers are few. So notice what

he told them to do. Pray to the Lord who is in

charge of the harvest. Ask him more prayer to

send more workers into his fields. See, when

we seek God's assignment for our lives, then

suddenly we're living on mission and we're allowing

our prayer time to become a commissioning. So

I want to challenge you. Three questions that

you can ask during your prayer time. The first

is this. What is God asking me to change? Hey,

God, what do you want me to change today? Because

I believe he will reveal it to you, right? He

will show you areas of your life that need changed.

Number two, who is God leading me to pray for?

This is something I do effectively every single

day. I'm not bragging about it. I just open my

ears and say, God, give me names. And there's

chances there's people sitting in these seats

today that have received a text from me or a

call from me randomly during a week, and then

suddenly I get this response back. You have no

idea how perfect timing that was. And I just

respond back, yes, I do. God told me. It's not

perfect timing. Does everyone hear? It's not

perfect timing. It's God telling me to reach

out to you and connect to you right then. And

then suddenly, God is impacting and changing

lives. And you can do the same. Imagine if every

single person in these seats today opened their

ears to hear from God to reach out to people

that need help. The tri -state area would be

turned upside down and transformed. Unplug your

ears, silence the distractions, and get close

to God. And the last question is, What step of

faith is God asking me to take? Who do you want

me to serve today, God? Who do you want me to

forgive today? See, it's all about making yourself

available to God. It's my prayer that every single

one of us is praying Isaiah 6, 8, which is our

year life verse that our entire church is walking

out. Then I heard the Lord asking, whom should

I send as a messenger to people? Who will go

for us? I said, here I am, God. Send me. See,

this should be our response in our times of prayer.

Not once a year. At the beginning of the year.

Every single day. Here I am, God. Send me. Hudson

Taylor says it this way. Don't start your day

with tasks of the world. Begin with God and you

will receive your task from him. Why do we pray?

Why do we connect? So that we can be empowered

by God to make a difference in the lives of others.

Church, I want to look at you and remind you.

Prayer works. Prioritize and make that an important

part of your life. Not just today, but tomorrow

and every day this coming week. Amen? Will you

stand with me? So as I was praying how to close

this gathering, I have several words of knowledge

I want to share with you because I feel like

God wants to heal some of your physical bodies

that you've brought into this room. I felt like

as I was identifying this door and these distractions

that we need to close the door on, all of us

have them. Could be your job. Could be your hobby.

Could be your school. Could be your relationships.

maybe they need changed. Because if those distractions

are keeping you from praying and connecting with

God in a real way, then you need to lay them

down and give them back to him. Amen? So I'm

going to pray for the Holy Spirit to come real

simple. And I'm going to ask him to reveal your

distraction. One distraction. Because some of

you have like six. But you're not going to overcome

six distractions if you don't overcome one. And

I want him to highlight one that's pulling you

away from God. and not allowing you to effectively

pray. And then I'm going to walk you through

a simple prayer where you lay it down, give it

back to him, and believe you can be free. Amen?

All right, so Holy Spirit, come. Speak to us,

God. Silence distractions in Jesus' name. Open

our ears, our minds, and more importantly, our

hearts to receive your truth. What is it, God,

that's distracting your people? Reveal that truth

to us today. You may see a picture. You may feel

a nudge in your spirit. You may have something

going through your mind that God is highlighting

that's pulling you away. Could hear a name. Whatever

it is, whatever God highlighted, you just pray

this simple prayer. I choose as an act of my

will to lay it down and give it back to the master.

In Jesus' name. Now, when you lay it down, here's

my challenge to you. Let it be there. Don't go

back to it tomorrow. Don't allow it to distract

you and pull you away from an effective prayer

time. Let it there. In other words, what? Close

the door. Don't open it back up. Close the door

and let it there. And before I share the words

of knowledge, if you are here today, whether

it's your first time, your 100th time, and you're

sensing the Holy Spirit whispering in your ear

that you aren't in a relationship with God, you

don't know him as Jesus, your master. You're

not following him. We pray a simple prayer every

single gathering here at HCV, and we all pray

it together because we want to welcome you home.

We're not going to point you out. We're not going

to ask you to raise your hand. We will all pray

with you because we believe. God wants you in

his family. Amen? Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken.

I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin. Change

me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's son. I

believe you died for me. I believe you're alive

today. Make me new. Set me free. Fill me with

your spirit. Help me, God. To serve others. In

Jesus' name. Amen. So if you prayed that prayer,

see me, text me, hug me, tell Rudy, tell the

Welcome Hub. I want to reach out to you. Now

don't run out of here. Come on now, you guys

could be missing a miracle. Don't let him leave,

Frank. There's several words of knowledge and

chances are if you left, it's for you. You have

pain in the lower part of your stomach. You have

left knee pain. It makes it hard to walk. You

are struggling with migraines. You have nerve

issues. It's making it hard to see behind your

eyes. You have a knot of pain in your right calf

muscle that's not allowing you to walk. Cut off

my lifetime I was stuck up in that grind Not

knowing you gave your life for mine You're the

one turning water into wine Please fix my heart

and the things inside