I Want To Pray More… Like Jesus // Reset Sunday // Pastor Charles Metcalf

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All right?

Turning your bibles. Matthew Chapter six. Matthew Chapter six. Matthew

Chapter six is where we're gonna be.

Context of the scripture.

Jesus has been preaching for hours, legit, that's what the

Bible talks about, is his first sermon, Sermon on the

Mount and the story. The way this one closes out

is it says when the day began to wear away,

the disciples are like, hey, oh Jesus, so people are

tired and they're hungry. And really what they meant was,

we are tired and we are hungry.

But I'll jump up a little bit earlier.

We're gonna start in verse number five, Matthew, Chapter six,

Verse number five that says this, when you pray, don't

be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on

the street corner in the synagogue where everyone can see them.

I tell you the truth, that is all the reward

they will ever get. 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.

This is even my message is a little sidebar.

Jesus isn't talking against public prayer right here. He's talking

against prayer that needs attention.

There's a difference, okay, first number seven, When you pray,

don't babble on and on like the Gentiles do.

They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their

words again and again. Don't be like them, for your

father knows exactly what you need even before you ask it. Now,

the next portion of scripture right here is very popular.

It's the Lord's Prayer.

I'm gonna put it up on the back led so

you can see it together. We have to read together

because I apparently can't do that.

Y'all nailed it. We didn't even address this. This happened.

I appreciate it serious.

I was like, we're gonna read the Bible together out loud,

and we were terrible. Then Pastor Mica comes back to

her like, let's read it together, and y'all are.

Like one, two, three, four five, It's fine. I will

take it personal. I'll just read the Lord's prayer by

myself in this manner.

Therefore, pray our Father in heaven, How would be your name,

your Kingdom? Come, Your will be done on earth as

it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we forget our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us

from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and

the power and the glory forever.

Amen, title my sermon today.

For taking notes, write this down at the top of

your notes. I want to pray more. I want to

pray more. I want to pray more. Would you pray

with me? Lord, I'm trying to pray more, So help

me do it. And jeez, I prayed to everybody, said, Amen,

have you done your New Year's resolutions yet?

No? Me neither. No, I'm joking. I got a couple.

But I was thinking about New Year's resolutions. I was

have a conversation with my little brother and we were

talking about what do you.

Want to do for the New Year.

And we were sitting down with my family talking through

all our New Year's resolutions, and I was curious on

what are the top five most.

Common New Year's resolutions. Like what, no, I'm about to

tell you. Ain't got to tell me.

I'm about to I'm about to actually put it up

on the screen. That's a rhetorical question. I got the microphone,

so just wait a second.

This is my intro, so just wait. But I appreciate you.

H Top five New Year's resolutions. Okay, now this where

you participate? Can anybody guess what number one is?

Number one? Lose weight? There?

It is, number one, put it up there, lose weight.

Come on, how many y'all you like to?

Come on?

That's probably in there for me. Come on, rage your head. No,

nobody don't admit they want to lose weight. Okay, cool,

that's fine.

Number two. What y'all think? Number two is save money? Okay,

save money?

What's number two? Boy throwing up there for us? Make

more money? Come on, we ain't worried about saving money.

We just need to make more of it.

That's a bad don't do that, that's a bad idea.

But that's number two. People want to make more money.

Number three. What we got for number three? Top five

New Year's resolutions. Number three is be happier. Come on,

people just like, man, I'm just sad. It's kind of

depressing what you look at it, like, oh god, really

what people are wishing for? Okay, be happier at number four?

What do y'all think number four is?

What'd you say there? I put it up there? Okay, great?

Read more? Read more books? Anybody want to read more books? Anybody?

Come on?

They're like, yeah, well, y'all went to Barnes and Noble

went crazy.

Ain't gonna make it through that first book. I already know.

Bar I went to Barnes and Noble on New Year's

Eve and it was cracking up there. It was like

all these people really think about to buying like ten books?

Lying to yourself, Man, number five?

What's number five? I already forgot number five? What's number five?

Be more present? That's a good one.

That's a good one. I was going through my.

New Year's resolutions, and one of my New Year's resolutions

was just to not yell as much.

Don't be laughing, Hey, it was not yell as much.

I'm not gonna yell, just not as much.

One of them was get buff. You know what I'm saying,

Just pure vanity, just for my wife.

Not even like healthy. I'm just trying to get ripped

for my wife specifically.

Another one of mine was it was saved more money

than we did last year. So that's one of ours.

And my last one I was going through my list

was I want to pray more.

I want to I want to pray more. Now here's

the thing about New Year's resolutions.

I looked up some statistics on these, and it's tough.

The statistics are tough.

Because statistics say twenty five percent of people will be

done with their New Year's resolutions, meaning they quit by

the end of this week. No, lie, don't be laughing

because twenty five percent of us, it might one, two,

three four will is not gonna be doing any of

his New Year's resolutions by Wednesday.

Twenty five percent.

Fifty six percent of people are gonna quit by January,

the end of January. As a matter of fact, it

said the thing it says people who study this time

of year they call February second Quitter's Day. So if

you was planning to quit, why don't you make that

one of your New Year's resolutions. I'm gonna quit on

Quitter's Day.

And it's said only eight to nine percent of.

People will actually make it the whole.

Year doing their New Year's resolutions. So I'm thinking about

this and I'm like, dang, this is tough. This is

because I said New Year's resolutions.

I'm excited about them. I feel hopeful about them. I

feel like I can do it.

One of them is I want.

To pray more, And I'm trying to figure out which

percentage I'm gonna be in.

Am I gonna be done by the end of the week.

Hopefully I'll make it through twenty one days of praying fasting,

so maybe I'll.

Be in the Quitter's Day group.

But I'm thinking about it and no, lie because I'm

getting all this data and going back and forth on chatgybt.

So I'm like asking like deep questions and here's my

hot take on chatgibt. Chatgybt can either make you dumber

or smarter. It just depends on you. So chatgibt is neutral.

Some people use it and you are getting dumber as

you use it because you're not learning nothing.

Me.

I be up in the thing, just freaking finding out

all the information. I'm like, give me everything that's ever

been known at all. So I'm going back and forth,

and I'm like, okay, I go and what I say

literally back to the chattabut thing. I'm like, okay, So,

based upon these statistics, it seems like people's goals are

too high, people are too weak, or both. Could you

please tell me what's the combination. What's happening here based

upon these statistics? And Joji but T hit me back

and said, neither one.

Of those are true. Okay, what you have to say, Robot?

He said, here, based upon statistics, this is what you

can get from this information.

And here's where people go wrong. The first thing that.

Goes wrong is people set goals for outcomes.

Not systems and strategies.

The second thing that goes wrong is people overestimate how

much motivation they have and they underestimate how much opposition

they're gonna face.

I mean, ja Jip was preaching. I was like, hey, okay, shit,

and the.

Last one, let me make sure I say right, because

I don't want to miss with the last thing.

It said that the people go wrong. It says people.

This one was gonna said people try to change, behave

yours was without addressing identity.

It's JGBT really, So I started looking at this okayo.

People try to go for an outcome.

So they just say I'm gonna lose twenty pounds, and you.

Can do that a lot of ways. Twenty twenty six,

you can go get a shot.

You lose forty pounds in a day. We don't know

if they how you should do it, but that's an outcome.

It's not a system or a strategy though, to keep

the way off live a healthy life and get fit

and get strong.

It's just an outcome. So when you shoot for the outcome,

you can either achieve it.

Or not, but you don't have a strategy behind it

to continue to live that way, says People overestimate their motivation,

meaning January one, you're like, absolutely, I'm about to do it.

This is gonna be incredible, and you underestimate how much

life does not want you to do it. You underestimate

your ability of how difficult this is gonna be and

what it's gonna take to actually do this. You just

set the outcome. You have no strategy for it, or

if you do, you have a really bad strategy. Can

I tell you this is I'm literally just thinking about this.

This is hilarious. It's kind of bad, but it's hilarious.

When I was like sixteen or seventeen, I'll never forget,

and this is a real thing. I was trying to

quit watching pornography. My strategy was, no, lie, this is

a real strategy.

I came up with my mind.

I put two rubber bands on my wrist, and when

I went to go think about looking about pornography, I would.

Snap the rubber band and just like bam, don't do that.

It didn't work.

Just let me tell you that. But needed much more

than snapping my wrisk with rubber bands. But the last

thing is behavior. You try to change your behavior, but

you don't address your identity. Now this got me thinking,

where can you go to achieve all of these things?

Where do you go to get wisdom and a strategy

in a system that goes beyond a fleeting moment? Where

do you go to get clear motivation into face opposition.

Where do you go to find.

Your real identity not just something you want to do?

This brings us to prayer.

I am submitting to you today that all of your

New Year's resolutions, all the goals you have for this year,

they are all summed up and can be found and

and and achieved through the place of prayer.

Now, prayer, we have.

To talk about it for a second, because we have

to first address as Christians. Prayer is not unique to us.

So idy like what, Yes, everybody prays. Certain religions they

pray five times a day with a rug on.

The ground facing a certain direction. Wan, someone's like dang

five times a day? Really? Yes, Certain people pray.

They write on pieces of paper and put it in

the whaling wall. Certain people pray and they sit there

and they silence themselves, trying to empty themselves to achieve

a certain disposition.

Prayer is not unique to believers.

What is unique to believe is who we pray to,

what we believe happens when we pray, and the fact

that he hears us when we pray. What's unique to

me and you is I don't have to pray a

certain number of times before he turns his ear to me.

I don't have to face a certain direction for him

to hear me. I don't have to have a certain

tone of voice for him to answer my prayer. I

don't have to be a good person for him to

hear my prayer. What's different about our prayer is everybody

else that's praying to.

People who are dead and gone.

The person we are praying to is alive, standing up,

interceding for.

Us in heaven.

Prayer is not unique to us, but who we pray

to and how we pray is different. And what we

believe happens when we pray. Something happens when you pray.

You need to know this. Don't let anybody downplay your prayer.

I get that.

We say this all the time, and I get it,

and I'll be feeling that way. Sometimes we'll be like, man,

all we can do now is pray. Yes, Okay, Hey,

what you're trying.

To say is you've exhausted all your options. You went

through all your plans, and you have no idea what

you're gonna do.

Yes, and please do not downplay talking to the person

who created the galaxies and put the fish in the

sea and it's causing all our hearts.

To beat at the same time. Please do not downplay

that to like, Okay, well, I guess we can just

ask him prayer. It's it's it matters, it's important. And

here's the thing about prayer. We all pray differently.

We have different types of prayer, and the way you pray.

And I'm not even gonna get into all of that all.

I'm just submitting this morning to you. It's in twenty

twenty six. What if this one is one of the

best years of your life because you discovered something new

and beautiful about prayer. Now Jesus is talking about prayer.

He's actually talking about a lot of things.

In Matthew chapter six.

He talks about He starts off early in the chapter

and he says, when you give, don't do it this

way and do it this way, and do it this way.

Then he says when.

You pray, and he uses these two kind of ideals

to compare and contrast.

He says, first, don't pray like the hypocrites. And what he's.

Saying is, these are the Pharisees at the time who

don't pray like these people who they're not really praying

to God. They're praying for the people who are hearing

them pray. They're not even really they don't even really

know what they're saying. They're praying so that when you

hear me pray, you think, dang, they.

Can really pray. They be praying really good. And they're

thinking about this in the moment he said, don't be

like those people, and also.

Don't be like the gentiles or the people who think

that because they pray over and over and over and

over again, that it's gonna do something. I want to

read it to you in the message version because it's

so powerful. Listen to what it says. It says, here's

what I want you to do. Find a quiet, secluded

place so you won't be tempted to role play before God.

This is an interesting thing we do with God.

God knows us, created us, all knowing everywhere at the

same time. Yeah, we get into the place of prayer,

and then we start thinking like, okay, what should I say?

What should hey? Hey, hey, hey God? So everything's fine,

you know now that's going wrong?

Meanwhile, like your life is falling apart and you're like.

So just wondering maybe you could.

This happens all the time and there's no I want

you to hear the tone of my voice.

There is no shame or pressure.

I'm just trying to acknowledge some things that we do

that maybe aren't serving us the best way.

We have prayer at the.

End of every single one of our services, and there'll

be times when people will come up and I'll be like, hey,

what can I pray with you about? And they're like, yo,

just pray. You know, I just got some stuff going on.

I'm like, okay, yeah, what type of stuff? A lot

of stuff?

Okay, like what what specifically is the stuff?

Just some things, some relational things, Okay, relational things.

And here's the thing. I have gotten to a point.

You don't want to come ask me for.

Prayer because I'll be like, what relate? Tell me what

is happening. I'll sit there at the altar. I'm interrogating people.

What is actually what's really going on? Here's why, because

sometimes for some reason, we feel like we can't be honest,

not even to another person, but to God, who already knows.

Some reason, we feel like God doesn't know.

And I'll do this, I'll do We'll be eight minutes

up here, having prayed once for him.

I'm still asking.

And what they mean is I cheated on my spouse,

they left me try I'm going to court for this.

I got okay, let's talk about.

That, but let's not go over here with the general

just I got it unspoken and you know, some general

money things. Oh you mean you've been stealing from your

company for thirty years. Okay, let's talk. Let's pray about that.

I'm just saying, why do you feel? And just let's

just take that question and go home with it.

Why do I feel the need to role play before God?

What is it about? What I learned from prayer? What

I observed from other people? And here's what happens. This

is how they impact other people. Many people feel this

way because they heard someone pray who is not praying

to God but praying for your impression and how you

would feel about them. And you heard them pray so

eloquently and so fancy, and they use big words, and

so you get into prayer and you're broken and you

don't know what to say, and you're just hopeless, and

you feel like, I can't pray like that, so I

might as well.

Not pray at all.

Scripture says, get by yourself so you don't feel this pressure.

Look what it goes on to say.

It says, just be there as simply and as honest

as you can manage. Says the focus will slowly shift

from you to God and you will begin to sense

his grace.

Now this part is dangerous, right, here.

The world is full of so called prayer warriors who

are prayer ignorant.

The Bible said it.

They are full of formulas and programs and advice and

techniques forgetting you what you want from God.

Oh yes, sir, come on now.

Some of us we go to pray, and really we think,

if I pray this many times, do this many things,

speak this loud, scream.

At this point in the song, then God will give

me what I want.

And what you don't realize is is you have turned

God into a slot machine and you have lowered God

apparently in your world where you can control him. And

if you can control your God, I don't want to

serve that God because he's then submitted to you and

what you think and what you know. And you and

I both know you don't know that much. It says,

you do these things and you think, if I do

it this way and I say it this way, then

God will give me what I want. He's saying, that's

not how it works. Now, here's what I'm not saying.

I'm not saying you can't pray loud if you loud, because.

People pray loud. I'm loud.

So when I start praying. At some point it's gonna

get loud. I repeat myself, because I repeat myself up here,

I'm gonna it's not I'm not saying you can't be

natural to your personality. But if you think the way

you are praying is changing God and maneuvering him around,

and now he's gonna do something that he wasn't gonna

do before because you prayed a certain way, what you

have done is canceled out the cross, and you've brought

back religion and you are peddling religion to people, saying,

do these certain rituals and you get this.

I'm not mad at you for that, but that makes

us the.

Same as Buddha, the same as Islam, the says of Confucianism.

We can go back to that if that's what we

want to do, but what separates us is the grace

of God. So if you go back to this side

where you gotta pray a certain way and a certain

amount of times and say a certain things, and you

can't say certain things in your prayer, then you're just bring.

Us back to And that's fine, but now you got

to take the whole law all.

See, this is where you want some parts of it,

but not Alla, No play that out. If you're gonna

go back to you pray a certain way. God does

certain things. Let's bring back the whole thing. Start raising

your goats.

I need three.

Sacrifices a day and we can get this thing popping.

Charles, that's ridiculous. No, you're ridiculous. You got If you're

gonna commit to it, you gotta go all the way.

No, God, here's your prayer, no matter how you pray,

no matter if it's God help me. He says absolutely,

because he's wise enough to know what they really are

saying is they are beyond their jurisdiction as a parent,

and they have no idea how to raise these kids,

specifically this one, because they have specific issues and they

don't know how to relate to them, and they're different

than them, and they sense the divorce. They can't really

do it, and they're trying to co parent they can't,

So I know what they're asking for is wisdom in

this situation. They're also asking me to mend the relationship

as they co parent, because they don't want to scar

this kid more than has already happened outside of their control.

So Holy Spirit, I think you send peace to them

right now, give them wisdom, mender.

He knows all of that. And if you have to

wherewithal to pray that all in your prayer. Great. But

you don't have to do certain things to get God's attention.

It's just I can just talk to him.

And here's what I've learned about my own relationship with God.

It's kind of kind of funny. I was thinking about

me and Abby have been together for how long? Already

together of twenties, thirteen years, twelve thirteen years. And I

remember when I met Abby, and early on in dating,

I remember I would I would before I would we

would go on a date or do something. I'll be

thinking about, like, all right, what we're gonna talk about?

You know, I got a couple just queued up questions,

some good jokes, just I was ready, and I would

think of And the truth is, when we were earlier

in our relationship, we didn't do well.

And somebody'll relate this.

You don't do well with a word silence because you

feel the need to feel the space. You're like, oh,

this is weird, and so we got to talk. And

when you early in a relationship, you talk all the

time NonStop. That's the stage when you got the.

Phone on you're going to sleep with No, you hang up, No,

you hang up. I was like, you hang up. It

was like a boob. Okay, I'm going to bed. But

here's what I found.

The more your relationship matures with somebody, you're actually really.

Good with the awkward silence.

It's actually an indicator of a mature relationship.

That you ain't got to say all that stuff.

At the same time, Abby Rose Metcalf could walk around

that corner, and she could come around that corner and

walk and sit in a seat, and I could.

Tell you exactly how her morning morning went, no words spoken,

not yelling, not interviewing.

Her, because the time spent creates a place of communication

that words just can't feel that space.

What am I trying to say to you?

There is a place you can get to your relationship

with God where your prayer doesn't feel like awkward silence anymore.

You know you're just sitting there with God and he

knows everything that's going on, and you say, God, I'm

going through so much. I don't even have the words

to say it right now, but I need your peace,

I need your clarity.

I need you. I want to pray more.

Now, this was my original submission on my New Year's resolutions.

I want to pray more.

But the truth is it's a dangerous It's a dangerous

one because I want to pray more?

Okay more? How much? And this is what we do.

We do this in church. Sometimes you just need to

pray more. You read your Bible more, you need to

go to church more. My question is, okay, how much

more I need to pray more? Okay, like like an hour.

More a day? All that feels good? Why? Well, because

you made it up? Because the hour feels like no,

ten hours a day? Oh okay, now we're really talking.

That's I mean, where does the where is more? You

need to read your Bible more?

Okay?

How much would you have to read your Bible for

us to know it was enough and it was substantial

and good? Here here's what I really meant when I

wrote that down is I don't want to just pray more.

I want to pray more, like Jesus, I just I

don't this year. I don't want to just be yelling

into the air. I don't want to just be screaming

trying to get God to do something for me, or

trying to control situation, or trying to take over something,

or trying to change somebody else through my prayer, or

trying to control an outcome through my prayer.

No, I don't want to pray more. I want to

pray more like Jesus prayed. I want to pray how

he prayed. I want to do what he did. I

want to I want to go in his way.

This is why as a church we do prayer and fasting,

because Jesus does not do a miracle on.

The earth before this moment.

He goes into the desert and he is fasting, he's

not eating, and you can see it.

Matthew four before he gets baptized. And then the Bible

says the.

Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by

the devil, which is a quick little thing. I always

throw this out there, which means that everything is not

the enemy and the devil. Sometimes God's using stuff to

show you stronger than you think. This model we get

this from Jesus. I want to pray more like Jesus.

So today I want to give you three simple ideas.

There's a million, but three simple ideas from the Lord's

prayer of how can we pray more like Jesus?

All right, here we go number one, how do I

pray more like Jesus?

First thing you got to realize is prayer starts with God,

not us, our father who aren't in heaven.

This is important. This is the context of this. Again.

Jesus does this also in the Book of Luke, they

ask him Jesus, how should I pray? And he gives

them the same teaching.

First off, you start off our father, who are in heaven,

how it would be done.

Now, what he's saying is is when.

You go to pray, the first position you're trying to

get into is realizing God is bigger than you are,

and he's the thing you should be focusing on. Our father,

who prayers starts with God, not us. What does that

mean We start coming in acknowledging who he is, not

what we want.

It's like going in a conversation.

You pick up the phone and they're like, yeah, could

you just go to the store and give me this?

And also I need that, and can I get fifty bucks?

And also could I get all right, appreciate your bye?

Hey God, how you doing?

Yeah?

Yeah, so I was wondering could you change my husband

because he is crazy, literally crazy, and I'm.

About to hit him in the face.

Actually I did hit him in the face, so I

just want to apologize for that. So if you could

change him, that'd be great. And also kids, if you

get to him, appreciate it.

Bye. This is how prayers be God this year twenty

twenty six.

You know, if you could just do everything that I

want you to do last year this year, great, thanks.

And if you could just stop for a moment and think, like,

let me take two seconds to forget about myself and

when I come into the place of prayishs. First off, God,

I just want to say thank you.

Man.

I last year was really difficult and you brought me

through and there were times I didn't think I was

gonna make it.

And I just want to say.

You're good and I appreciate you continue to being patient

with me. I see, I am not patient with my kids,

but you're still patient with me. And that's inspired and

it helps me and it reminds me that you're a

good father and inspires me to be a better father.

And thank you God for my friend getting to work.

With my friends. God, thank you for my friends. God,

thank you that for this church man, what an aunt like?

And you just spend the first however long, focusing on him.

And what I found is sometimes.

This has been the mos beautiful times of prayer in

my life. Is I forget what I went in there

praying about, cause.

You get in there for a second and you realize,

oh dang.

When I start to remember all the stuff he's already done,

and how big he is and how great he is

and how kind he is, it kind of helps me remember. Like, Man,

I was mad about that person at my job. They

ain't getting none of my prayer time. I ain't bringing

them up in here. It's a beautiful thing. Prayer starts

with God, not us. Next one number two, prayer changes us,

not God. So we going into prayer not to change God.

And I'll add this not to change other people. Come on, man,

we gotta stop doing this. We going there like bringing

other people. God, if you could just help them see

what I see, that's not none of your business.

I'm going to prayer to change me.

If I get to argue with my wife, it's probably

because I didn't see something I needed to see. I'm

going into prayer if I'm frustrating with somebody, I'm going

to prayer.

To change me. That's what it says.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What it's saying is God, change my will to your will,

change what I want to what you want. And this

is why prayer can be so frustrating for so many

people is because you're in their wrestling wills. You're in

there trying to force God's hand to do something. He

said he never what's gonna do. And I'm not mad

at you. I'm not saying you can't have desires. I'm

just saying it's gonna be really frustrating in there if

you're fighting him. And let me just tell you this

spoil alert, he gonna win. Their story In the Old Testament,

a god's wrestling God in prayer and he keeps going

and he's like, man, he couldn't get away, he couldn't

get away. Then it says the guy just touched his

hip and it's like, damn, his hip was out of socket.

He was wrestling God, that brother limp for the rest

of his life.

They're like, what happened is like, oh, I was talking

to God and uh, that's how we know. Sometimes I'd

be wishing they could bring back some of them old

testing stories.

If you walking with a limp, we are like, yeah,

you was wrestling with God. Very very funny. Prayer changes us,

not God.

It's important to address this and really what I'm trying

to get at today and listen, this is a.

Very simple message.

I got one more point and were about to be

out of here. But here's the thing what I've really

I was talking to a friend on time. We were

watching a sermon, and I told him, you can tell

how God's voice sounds to people when they pray. I

can hear I hear people's theology when they pray. It's

easy money because you start praying and the way you

kind of sequence your prayer is God.

I know I.

Haven't done this, but if you could just help me

with this, and God, I'll do this if you do that.

And I would like to say, Oh, you think God

is mad at you and so you have to do

certain things. So oh you think God. You hear God

as a yelling, angry God. That's why you yell and

you're angry when you pray, because that's how God sounds

to you when you pray.

Oh goodness, now y'all looking at me crazy. Just think

about it when you hear somebody prayer.

That's why one of the most things I love so

much about my friend Bree Davis.

When you hear Brie.

Davis pray, you've like she know him her, She known

him since she was two years old.

That is her friend. And I want to know that.

God because you can hear the intimacy in her prayer.

You can hear that he is a friend that is

stuck by her through times that nobody was there. You

can hear that there's been shared tears and pain, but

he's also restored.

You can hear I'm thinking the prayer.

And all I'm trying to help you with is maybe

there's a thread in your prayer theology that doesn't line up.

And all I'm saying is there's some stuff you might

be doing in prayer that you ain't got to do.

You ain't got to do that. You could just talk

to him. Hey, God, I am mad. As a matter

of fact, I am so mad. I am so I'm

about the wool God. I am about God. I will

I promise you if they walk over here one more time,

I will hit them so hard they will wake up

at the Last Supper and they will have to ask.

You for help when they come back on.

This side as a real prayer.

But some of us, for some reason, we think we

can't say that to God.

God, if you could just help me know the truth is,

you are angry, you are living, you are irate, you

are in rage right now. And all I'm trying to

help you is to connect whatever extreme motion you find

yourself in from that emotion, you can immediately.

Talk to God. Tell me you feel like you got

to calm down before you talk to God.

You gotta calm down before you talk to your wife.

But now before you talk to God.

Some of y'all feel like some of y'all are like, oh,

I can't And here's another thing that'll happen.

This is part of our bad theology.

Will make a mistake, and then you punish yourself and

don't talk to God for a week. Why because that's

what happened to you when you were a kid, when

you got in trouble.

Parents kind of shaded you for a week, and then

you kind of slowly, you know, you mope around the corner.

You're like, hey, mom, a clean the kitchen. Hey Mama,

I clean my room.

Here's what Hey God, I gave you some money and

I read my Bible. I did twenty one days of

paying fast, and you think I could come back in Now?

Hey God, I did you think I could? Maybe if

you could kind of No, that's not how this works.

The moment you make a mistake, you can be in

the middle of that mistake and turn and say, God,

I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that.

I don't know who I am because you remind me

who I am. I'm ordering this uber to leave this

person's house. But I've just helped me. God, right in

this moment, that is when we need to pray.

Now, when you clean yourself up, and now, when you.

Get it all together, right in the middle of that mistake,

you can call out to a holy and sovereign God

and he will shut down, Holy, holy, Holy in heaven

and say, hey, y'all.

Quit praising me for just one second. My child needs me.

I don't know.

Where you heard that. God is not ready to listen

to you. But it's a lie. No matter what you've done,

no matter how dark it feels, no matter the pain

you're in. You can talk to God in that place

with frustration, with tears in your eyes, with cuss words

in your mouth, whatever it is, you can.

Talk to God.

Because where else you're gonna go. Who else has the

words of life? Who else can give you the wisdom?

Who else can God your life? Who else knows the

identity of who you actually are? This prayer, this is

the answer. I am convinced that half the stuff we

are frustrated about is because we haven't figured out how

to pray.

Let me tell you a real conversation I have with

my friend.

How much time is left? I can't see these TVs?

What the things say? Fifteen minutes?

Okay? Perfect, I got an hour, uh.

Fifteen minutes to me, I can do a lot fifteen minutes, okay.

So here's the thing. I was talking to my friend and.

I was like, Yo, this is weird and I don't

even know if you can say this, but thank God,

this friend is like the save the place in the world.

And I was like, I feel like ever since I

got like my mental clarity and structure, Like I've got

some routines, some things I do every single morning, some

check ins I do, some stuff that's just got me

really really sharp. That's helped with just a bad attitude

and just being dumb.

Ever since I got that order, my prayer has changed

a lot.

And it's like, what I really want to say is

I feel like I'm not praying as much as I

should be, and my feels like, oh no, this is incredible,

this is perfect. And what I learned is I had

spent so much time praying about stuff that was really

just the result of bad habits. But when I got

good habits, it freed out a lot of my prayer

time to pray about stuff that only God can do.

I'm trying to help you.

Some of y'all spend a lot of time on prayer

on stuff you could do.

You just in a bad mood.

Because you just went to sleep late and you be

eating bad food late at night, so you wake up

in a bad mood.

Thats just you need to star meant pizza at midnight.

You wake up, and you ain't got to say that

morning prayer Instead of God, Oh help me Lord with

this headache, you can say, God, give me wisdom for

the day. I'm telling you, y'all, and as excited about

that as I am, But call me.

You know that is crazy. What could happen.

In your prayer time with God if you didn't feel

a need to perform, you didn't feel a need to

say certain things, and you were honest with him. Some

of you, I'm gonna tell you to prayer a prayer

that maybe seem a little crazy, but some of you

need to tell God how frustrated you really are at

how things have gone, and maybe even at him. He

can handle that. If you're in a healthy relationship. I

can say to my wife, I'm mad at you. I'm

not going nowhere, but I'm mad at you. I'm frustrated.

Just give me a second. Some of you you need

to say that to God. I prayed and you did

not save them, and I'm mad at you for it,

and I'm frustrated, and I'm not going anywhere, but I

am frustrated, and I need you to help me see

what you are trying to do, because I do not

see it right now.

I trust you.

I know you say you got a plan. I know

we just sang the song on time. God, you never

make a mistake or whatever the song said. I don't know,

but I frustrated.

Sorry, that's shut up. I'm not a worship leader.

But you gotta be honest with God.

All Right, I'm gonna go to point three. Here we go.

I lost y'all on the lyrics.

Songs just be funny sometimes to me, it's like all

the time, God, you I don't even know what's the

next lyric? You love the impossible? He loves impossible? Man,

what does that even mean? Okay, he loves impossible?

I don't know what that means.

Okay, this is what happens to me on the front row.

I'm like in it, and I'm like, God, what does

that lyric even mean? You love impossible? It's like an object.

You can't love an inadamant. Okay, anyways, love impossible?

What? Okay?

It's true though, so y'all believe it. Keep singing the song, Christian,

all right, no shade on the song. The problem is

with me, just to be clear. Number three, everybody be serious.

Come on, we're in church. Prayer is daily dependence. Give

us this day our daily bread. Something I love. I

love studying history and it's great because I created another

human to do that with, which is my son. And

we will sit and listen literally anytime, me and Arlow

are in the car together by ourselves. We just listen

to history podcast and it's just ridiculous.

Stuff, but it's like our favorite thing.

And one of the things I was studying one time

was about monks in a monastic way. Somebody are like,

oh my gosh, monks show of no calm down, be quiet,

just give me a second. And the Christian monks and

all that means is they're just more secluded and they pray.

There's a lot of silence and solitude, and they still

love Jesus, so they're just different. But one of the

things that I read about this monk and when you

become like a I don't know what the actual term is,

I want to butcher this, but like a head monk

whatever that would be on their desk. They would keep

a skull, like a human head skull, and that sounds

super They would keep that. And then there was a

pathway in between two buildings and pretty much where they

would go to like have church, and then where they

would go to sleep.

Eat all this stuff.

And on that pathway, right next to it was a

massive dugout grave and a part of their belief system

was it is healthy for me to be reminded I'm

not gonna live forever. The imagery of like skulls and

like all that stuff.

I know we make it like all witchcraft.

But there's an early part something called Martyrs where people

were actively dying because they believed in Jesus the Colosseum

that was us in there getting eaten by them lions.

In that movie Gladiator Christians, there was something about the

early Church that related to I'm not gonna be here forever,

and life is not eternal, and tomorrow is not promised,

and so give me this day what I need for today,

give me my daily bread. And this isn't a morbid thought,

it's a sobering thought to realize I don't have until

tomorrow to forgive them, so.

I'm gonna go ahead and forgive them today. I am not.

Promised tomorrow to do the thing God asked me to do.

I'm not doing that out of fear, but I am

very aware I need wisdom for today because tomorrow is

not promised.

Prayer's daily dependence.

It's every day I come before God are saying, hey,

it's another day, thank you for waking me up. I

need you to give me wisdom for today. I just

need to raise these and.

This has changed specifically how And I'm very very very

early on.

Some of y'all has raised fool kids who love Jesus,

which is like the ultimate feet of a lifetime. Now

that I have kids, I'm like to raise a full

human to full size and they still love God. Brother,

you know something we all need to know. Mine are

still in the small stage, you know. But every day

I wake up, I'm thinking, Okay, I have no idea

what these kids are gonna do tomorrow or how I'm

gonna deal with them tomorrow. But God, just help me

be patient and present today. That's my prayer every single

day with my kids. God help me be patient and

present today. I want to encourage you if you are.

Maybe you feel overwhelmed by twenty twenty six.

How's everything gonna go? What's gonna happen in the summer?

Oh?

I got the thing coming up on my job, the.

Lord's prayers, because it brings you back to Hey, just

daily bread. Don't worry about Jesus said, don't worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow has enough worries by itself.

Give us our daily bread.

The scripture is said our Father who are in heaven,

help us control when our kids go to college. God,

our god Father, who are in heaven, help us when

we get to know our Father Wiu in heaven. Today.

I need wisdom for today. I need peace for today.

And what you will realize is if you get peace

every single day, days turned into months, months turned into years,

We're go'll close out.

I'm gonna give you this. This is a bonus extra

credit point. Prayer is not getting God's attention. You already

have it.

If you feel like you go into prayer trying to

do some dance to get him to see you, let

me tell you some friend.

He already sees you. He's ready to listen to you,

and he's ready to hear you.

We're gonna close out this service, and tomorrow we start

twenty one days of prayer.

Fasting and I spent.

The majority of my sermon talking about prayer fasting short

and short is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Now,

the way I would break down fasting is there is

a difference between definition and principles. And I'm trying to

bring like clarity and education, not any like pressure or

anything wonky, but definition, specifically in biblical times when they

would fast, it was I'm not eating certain foods or

any food so that I can get closer to God and.

What happens through that.

There is there is a connection that you cannot deny

between actually not.

Eating food and what it does to your body. There's

just you can't argue with it.

My point I always throw out, is it food wasn't

that big of a deal. Then explain to me why

the thing that wrecked God's plan was man inability to

not eat an apple. We could not eat an apple,

So food clearly has something to do with us on

the inside.

I can't explain all of it. What I am saying

is there is something.

There's also a deeply powerful principle behind fasting, which is

giving up something you love for something you love even

more So, there's a definition of fasting which is, okay,

this is about food and fasting and not do food.

But I want to take this beyond that too. For

some of you, it's both ways. Even the food thing.

Some people they live they do intermittent fasting every single day.

It's their life. They just that's how they live. So

it's like, oh, this isn't maybe the same thing but

there's a principle behind that. There's maybe some other stuff

you need to do that you love, that you haven't

given up, that you feel like you can't give up

for some reason you can't.

That's a powerful thing to dig into. The Bible's clear,

this combination of prayer and fasting. It changes things. It

sharpens you, It clears out the noise. It gets us

to hear.

It's not that God's not speaking. God is speaking. We

just have a lot of stuff in the way. Prayer

and fasting it clears that pathway. If you've never done

it before, if you have, I want to encourage everybody.

Tomorrow is a fresh start.

A new day, beautiful opportunity to start a new habit

with God and even enter into a new place of

prayer with everybodys staying with me. I want to read

to you the end. I read the end of this scripture,

but it says, this.

Says, this is your father you are dealing with, and

he knows better than you what you need. With a

God like this loving you, you can pray very simply,

my hope and prayer for everybody that twenty twenty six

would be a year where you could pray simple and

honest prayers, Simple and honest prayers. You don't have to

be complicated. You ain't got to impress God, you ain't

got to say nothing fancy, simple and honest prayers. Would

you pray with me? Everybody, boy your head and close

your eyes. Lord God, we love you, we need you,

and right now God, we're asking, and you would.

Help us to pray more like you.

Honest, simple, clear, not trying to impress, not trying to prove,

not trying to control, but simply to be with you.

Pray for every person in this room who wants to

pray more from an honest place, from a genuine place.

God.

Would you allow us, Lord Jesus, to find ourselves in

your presence talking to you more, honestly, more than we

ever have this year for people who are on the

fence of twenty one day is a prayer and fast thing.

I pray you would give them the courage and the

boldness to try something new with a real dedication and

an expectation of.

You wanting to speak to them. Every head bound, every

eye close. The truth is, if you're in this room.

You can pray, you can fast, but the power of

those things is held in who you're praying to and

who you're fasting for. The truth is the Gospel of

Jesus is that humans are sinful.

All that means is we're broken.

We make mistakes, and those mistakes lead to other mistakes,

and those mistakes lead to pain and hurt and heartache,

and it leaves us broken. And if you're honest with yourself,

you can look around in the world and see that

there is something clearly wrong. And Jesus is the person

who came to set everything right. And the way that

that happens through the Gospel of Jesus is he lived

at perfect and sinless life, and the Bible says he

died on a cross for you and for me so

that the sin that rips us upon art, that he

could cover that sin, and that we could live a

life the Bible says we could only dream of. All

you gotta do is you gotta say, I surrender and

I give my life to him. You don't have to perform,

you don't have to stop doing a bunch of stuff.

All that is religion and it's not the gospel. The

gospel is.

Right where you are, as broken as you are, as

hurt as you are as confused as you are, you

can throw up both of your hands and say, God,

I don't know what to do, but I need your help.

If you're in this room or watching online and you

want to accept Jesus as your savior, you want to say,

I give.

Up control of my life and I lay my life.

Down to Jesus. I want a fresh start. I'm gonna

count the three and on the counter. Three, you're gonna

raise your hand boldly. You're not gonna apologize. You're not

gonna worry about nobody else beside you. This is about you,

God and eternity, and today is the day of salvation.

One.

He loves you. Two, this is your moment.

Three, lift your hand right now, all over this room

and online. I see your hand, brother, right here on

the front row. I got you, sister, so many hands.

Come on, y'all, people making a decision on the first

the year.

I got you, brother.

Proud of you, sister, I see you, ma'am. Oh, come on, y'all,

keep celebrating the whole crew of people up here. I

see you dog, so many people online. Hey, listen together

as a family, let's all.

Pray this prayer out loud.

Everybody say, Dear God, I admit I've made mistakes. I

need you save me, change me, make me new, and

Jesus name I pray.

Amen.

Come on, can we celebrate those who just made that decision?

Hey, listen, If you just made that choice.

We're so proud of you, and we would love to

know about it so we can help you and kind

of help guide you so you can.

Figure out what's next.

If you text the word saved to a two eight

two eight two, our team would love to give you

some resources to pray with you, to help you.

And man, we're just so grateful. Hey, listen, Tomorrow we

start twenty one.

Days of prayer, fasting six am online, join us six

thirty pm online and.

Here locally in Tulsa. We love y'all so much. Hey, listen,

if you need.

Prayer for anything, we're gonna have prayer up here at

the front, prayer people at the back, and they have

been instructed to interrogate you on what you actually know.

They haven't been but they might do that. Well.

We love you so much. I want to pray for you. God,

bless these people. I thank you that twenty twenty six

is going to be the best year as we continue

to surrender our life to you Lord, we love you.

It's in a beautiful name of Jesus. We prayer and

everybody said Amen, we love you. Friends,