The Prayer of Supplication

Last week I talked about Exodus 34 where the Israelites mess up.

!

What?

When you make a mistake, that's what God wants to tell you.

And then, of course, I'm thinking about Jesus and I'm thinking about how he acted.

He was gracious and compassionate.

I've been reflecting on just this unhurried Jesus as he walks around doing a million things,

being asked to do a million things, but yet he has this calm spirit.

But then there was one time that I can remember where he really lost it.

When was that time?

Where did Jesus really lose his will?

The temple.

This is Matthew 21.

This is one week before he goes and does the thing that saves mankind once and for all.

And he goes in the temple and then he gets so mad.

What does he see?

Bill, what does he see?

What happens in the temple that causes him to be like this?

The unbelievers weren't allowed to worship.

What did he see in the temple as well?

So that's one thing.

What else did he see in the temple that really?

They are doing business.

You see, it's actually hard to blame them because the thing about the temple at that time is people would travel from really far to worship.

And one of the ways to worship is to sacrifice and to bring an animal, a lamb.

So, of course, if you've traveled really far, okay, I actually, this is one of my things.

When I like to walk around and travel anywhere, this frustrates Christina, I like to travel with my hands in my pockets without a bag.

As few items as possible, I will do.

That's me.

So you can imagine if you've traveled from hundreds and hundreds of miles and there's no high-speed rail and there's no MTR and you hear, oh, actually, you don't need to bring your goat because right outside the temple, you can buy a goat.

And actually, you don't need to do currency exchange beforehand.

There's Alipay and WeChat at the temple door.

And so then you've got these entrepreneurs who are like, hey, we can make a business out of this.

And so that's how the business starts.

And then, of course, it becomes this whole thing.

And then people now go to the temple to do all these things.

And it becomes a different kind of place that is what it should be.

And so Jesus walks in.

This is one week before he ends up getting arrested and on the cross.

And he goes in and he sees us.

And what does he say?

Well, he just completely tears the place apart.

And then what does he say?

Who knows what he says?

Huh?

Well, he eventually will build it back up in three days.

But absolutely, that's something that he says.

What does he say, Johnny?

He says, guys, you've got it all wrong.

Well, this house was supposed to be a house of prayer.

And you've turned it into a den of thieves.

You're businessmen ripping people off.

And I realize the one thing that really gets to Jesus isn't us breaking rules necessarily.

It's when our relationship with God is threatened.

Because the whole point, everything, the end game is about us having a relationship with him.

In his final prayer in John 17, he says, pray that they would have eternal life, which is what?

Is to know you.

And now you're in this temple where people are supposed to know God.

But instead, our minds are completely distracted.

Why are we doing this?

Because I'm just, I want this.

My prayer is that this would be a house of prayer.

Paul prayed earlier in our pre-service meeting that we would be a people of prayer.

I don't know why you walked in here today.

But my hope it isn't to sing songs and to listen to someone speak.

It's that you would meet the living God.

And that you would speak to him.

And that you would hear from him.

That's why we're doing this.

If you're here for the first time, and this is all a little bit strange.

Apologies.

This is a little bit strange.

But this is why we're doing what we're doing.

And today, I hope, we'll have this chance where you can walk out of here going, man, I heard from God.

And I spoke to God.

This will be the last week.

And then we're going to take a pause and we're going to go into a more standard sermon series.

But I think we're going to keep revisiting this again.

Just constantly reminding ourselves of why we're here.

Because I need reminding.

Those mission statements are for me.

Every time I walk in, I'm like, what are we doing?

Just running through the motions?

No, this is us trying to connect with God.

May we be a house of prayer.

So we started a few weeks ago.

We did the Lectio Divina.

I hope some of the, has blessed some of you.

We did the Body Prayer.

And I had a friend tell me that they've been doing that every day.

And it's been really good just to kind of wake yourself up at least.

And then we did the ABC Prayer where we talked authentically.

And so we started saying, hey, just pray what you've got.

If you're angry, if you're frustrated, if you're confused, whatever it is, just pray what you've got.

You don't have to be worried.

Psalm 22, you have this psalm which is like, God, why have you forsaken me?

Why have you turned your back on me?

You can pray that kind of prayer.

You know you can pray that kind of prayer because Jesus quoted that prayer.

And so after that, it's just a simple, whatever you've got.

And then it's a prayer of surrender.

Whatever building projects you have.

You're like, God, I've been trying.

I've been straining, striving, stressing.

Ultimately, if you don't build the house, it'll be me building in vain.

Last week, we came and said, God, sorry.

Sorry, we've messed up.

The art of confession that the modern church is guilty of losing.

Of us saying, sorry, that we've drifted away, that we've made it about ourselves.

Now, finally, we get to the one where we get to talk about asking.

Now, if you are honest with yourself, if I'm honest with myself, most of our prayers are us asking for things.

As soon as I jump into it, God, thank you.

I'm praying for this.

Can you do this?

Can you do that?

Can you do this?

Can you do that?

And actually, it's okay to get there.

It's okay to be there.

And our prayer is that our asks, our requests won't be childish ones, but they will be childlike ones.

So God does want us to ask.

Of course, when you reflect on your own prayer life, and if all you do is ask and you have no surrender,

you have no sorry, you have no bigger picture,

then, of course, that's where the problem is.

But we are allowed to ask.

Paul Miller described, if you look at the Gospels and how Jesus teaches prayer,

if you were to summarize it all in one word, it is to ask.

Matthew 7, ask and it will be given to you.

Seek and you will find.

Knock and the door will be opened up to you.

Whatever you ask to the Father in my name, you will get.

Now, of course, when you ask in his name,

you're invoking your status as a co-heir with Christ,

you're not asking for selfish things,

things that you want.

If you're asking in his name, on his behalf,

you're asking for things that you know that Jesus would want.

That's where the psalmist in Psalm 37 says,

delight in the Lord and he will grant you the desires of your heart,

which sounds great if you take the second statement,

the second half, that he will grant you the desires of your heart.

That would be so good.

But the first half is delight in the Lord.

So prayer really is just this reorienting of our hearts.

It's formation prayer where you're saying,

actually, you're bending your will to his.

That's what you're doing.

You're not giving him requests and commands.

What you're actually doing is, God,

it's what Jesus prayed in the garden.

This is what I want.

I would quite fancy not being hung on a tree.

So if you can remove this suffering, please do.

But not my will, but yours be done.

But we can ask.

Charles Spurgeon said,

actually, if you were to summarize the whole rule of the kingdom,

it is to ask.

And so we reach this final prayer that we're going to go through today,

which is the prayer of supplication to ask.

But before we do that,

I'm actually going to invite my dear wife, Christina, up

because I'm going to ask her to share a little bit about what it is,

what her relationship is like with asking.

So can we give her a gentle round of applause as MJ is sleeping on that?

Don't wake him up.

Just in the spirit of confession,

I actually asked my wife to do this this morning.

So anyway,

she has a fascinating testimony

and a story of her relationship with God.

Because when I talk about asking,

I wonder how you relate to that.

I think some of us have grown up with lots of blessings

and we're a little bit spoiled

and we're a little bit entitled.

So everything about God is,

God, I need this.

I need that.

But some of us,

maybe our relationships with our parents

is influential in this.

because we don't even dare ask him at all.

That actually God is just so far.

We are so sinful.

We don't deserve to ask him anything.

I don't know where you fall in this,

but Christina has a wonderful testimony to share with you

that really encourages me.

Hi.

Gosh.

I hope this doesn't wake him up.

Yeah.

So,

no,

I guess just to give you a bit of context,

I'm the eldest of three girls.

And at a very young age,

I was needed to help around in the house.

My parents were very, very busy.

And at one point,

my dad worked for three years straight

without one day off,

not even in the weekends,

working at multiple locations.

And so my relationship with my parents

was very much like,

I am almost a co-parent.

To look after my sisters,

my younger sisters,

was the thing that I was expected to do.

And so,

when it comes to asking,

I would,

I think initially when I was young,

I would ask my mom or dad,

it's like,

oh,

I want to go out to play.

This was in the summer holidays.

And then they would say,

why do you want to go out to play?

What's the point of that?

As if it was something

that was a terrible thing to do.

Because what was important

was for me to

do the chores

or make sure I do the homework

and academia

and things like that.

And so,

I then realized

that there was a really good thing

to get some things

that I wanted,

which was to ask my younger siblings

to ask my parents.

I was like,

oh,

my mommy,

just ask mom

if we can go out to play

for a little bit

or can we go and have a,

can we have a snack

or go to the ice cream van

to get an ice cream.

Now,

I think growing up,

what happened was

I grew a lot of fear

in asking for anything.

And eventually,

I stopped asking at all.

And,

you know,

as I grew to know God,

and who he was for me,

I had a reverence awe

towards him.

And that wasn't a problem.

I recognized his majesty,

his power.

But it wasn't until

later on,

I realized that in my prayers,

I would not ask him for anything.

Um,

which is really interesting

because

when I'm walking with people,

I was like,

oh,

just ask,

just ask.

Um,

until,

um,

yeah,

I didn't really realize

the extent

of my lack of asking

until I went on a journey

of going through,

um,

an adoption process

because I wanted,

I felt the Lord

place on my heart,

um,

when I was 15,

um,

that I should adopt.

And I was like,

oh,

I really want to adopt.

To my parents,

um,

disagreement and horror.

Like,

if you can have your own,

why would you adopt?

Anyway.

Um,

so,

I started the process

of adoption

just after Ruben

was born,

my first son.

And,

uh,

after that,

uh,

sadly,

that didn't,

um,

happen.

Um,

which I was frustrated about.

I was like,

oh,

why,

why,

you know,

why did that not work out?

Um,

and then I had Alicia,

um,

my second one,

which was great.

Came over here

and then we thought,

okay,

um,

I'll try again.

Let's,

uh,

try the adoption route.

Um,

and sadly,

that didn't happen

the second time around.

And so,

actually,

about two years ago,

um,

I felt the Lord

asking me to

spend time with him.

So,

at the beginning of the,

of each year,

I would always,

always ask God,

it's like,

oh,

is there anything

that you want me to do?

Is there anything

you want me to do?

Um,

now,

doing things

is not my problem.

In fact,

Paul,

um,

told me

to calm down,

to take a chill pill

earlier today.

As I came in

and saw the chairs

went,

um,

lay down,

I was like,

okay,

let's go,

go,

go,

go,

go.

I need to do this

before I feed.

Um,

and he was like,

Chris,

Chris,

take,

take a chill pill.

Okay,

okay,

just tell us what to do

and we'll do it.

Okay,

oh,

yeah,

okay.

Um,

anyway,

so doing is not my problem.

Sitting still is my problem.

Um,

and also asking.

Um,

now,

asking God,

what do you want me to do?

Became,

turned into God

impressing on my heart

a heavy burden

of him saying,

I just want you

to spend time with me.

And I was like,

but God,

I do.

I spend time with you

all the time.

So I would talk to him,

pray with him

in the most random places.

Um,

and,

he would give me visions

and signs

and I love that.

But at the beginning

of,

um,

that year,

he was like,

no,

just want you to spend time

with me.

And I told James that,

I'm like,

oh,

I don't know what

that means.

I mean,

that's,

that's hard.

I felt convicted

to share it

because I knew

what he was asking.

What he was asking

was,

don't do anything.

Don't do anything.

Just be with me.

And so,

I felt so convicted

that I took 40 days

out

of my

usual schedule

to spend time

with God

in prayer.

and I messaged

all the leaders

and said,

oh,

I feel like the Lord

is asking me to do this

and I think it's something

to do with adoption.

And this was in the middle

of our

second adoption process.

And,

um,

what happened was

I began

just spending time

with the Lord

as soon as the kids

went to school.

I would just pray

and it was,

I would read

and before I know it,

the day would

be gone.

um,

and it was about

seven days in.

Um,

God just

overwhelmed me

with this

conviction

that I

did not know

how to be

a child of God.

And I just,

I just remember

I just wept

because I was like,

what do you mean?

I do know,

I know that you are

my father.

I know that you are

my God.

I know

that I am your child,

your beloved child.

And then

he kept saying,

he's like,

no,

you don't.

No,

you don't.

And I was like,

what do you mean?

And

what happened

was,

as I

spent more

and more time

just with God,

the message

was,

you do not

know that you

are my child

even though you

proclaim it,

even though you

share it,

even though you

encourage others

that they are

a child

of God

because you

do not ask.

And I think

on a reflection

I thought,

well,

I always ask.

I was like,

I ask for your will

to be done in my life

every single day.

And

what the spirit

was

reminding me

was like,

no,

that's not asking

me.

that's just

submitting

under my

authority,

which is good.

But your

problem is

that you

don't come

to me

as

a child

who can

just simply

ask.

And so

I then

yeah,

I then

just

stopped

and I

complained

I said,

God,

but I

have,

you know,

dedicated

these 40

days and

all you're

telling me

is that I

don't know

that I

am your

child.

And

that's it.

So I

was quite

frustrated.

But then

what he

kept telling

me was

true.

And I

looked back

and I

was like,

oh yeah,

I can't.

I don't,

I find it

so difficult

to ask.

In fact,

if you

ask those

who know

me a

little

better,

I find

it very

ask to

ask for

help in

any way.

It takes

a lot

for me to

get to a

point where

I should

just ask.

And what

happened after

that was

when I

went to

James after

the 40

days,

actually before

I went to

James,

God put

this desire

on my

heart to

have more

children.

And I

went to

God and

said,

Lord,

you know

my desire

is to

have more

children,

hence why

I went

through the

adoption

process.

Now I'm

not going

to have

more

children

with

James

because

James

has

said,

no,

he does

not want

to need

more

children.

And you

know that

story.

He's like,

I'm done.

I feel

complete.

I don't

need any

more

tiredness

in my

life.

And so

anyway,

you know

my desire,

God.

So I

just bowed

on my

knees and

actually

asked.

And it

wasn't just

asking,

oh God,

can I

have this?

It was

bowing

before him

with

confidence

that not

only do

I know

who he

is,

that I

know who

I am

because of

him and

because he

calls me

beloved.

And I

can confidently

come to

him as

his child

and ask.

And so

you know

the

passage

seek and

you will

find,

knock and

the door

will be

open and

ask and

it shall

be given

to you

was

resonating

in me.

And of

course the

other

part was

to ask

in confidence

to know

who he

is and

then in

accordance to

knowing who

he is,

then also

in accordance

to his

will,

you will

receive.

and then

afterwards

when James

said,

oh so what

did you do

in those

40 days?

I was like,

yeah,

God was

teaching me

about how

I should be

a child

of God.

And that

was it.

I didn't

tell him

what I

asked for.

I didn't

tell him

the challenge

of what

I asked

for.

So yeah.

And so

God's a

troll and

so is my

wife.

Now just

to reiterate,

you couldn't

find anyone

more against

having children

than me.

Of course,

I love them,

they're in

there.

But I was

like,

I'm so done.

I'm so done

with this.

John knows,

I'm so done

with this.

And so

I was so

happy.

My tank

was so

full.

And we

hadn't

fought over

this issue,

but this

was the

sensitive

point of

contention

that husbands

and wives

find themselves

in.

So then

unbeknownst

to me,

a month

later,

I'm in

Singapore

for a

conference.

And I,

okay,

this is a

bit,

okay,

the place

this happens

is a little

bit weird,

but you

should have

to bear

with me.

So we

were in

the night

safari.

Me and

my colleagues

and we

were just

kind of

sitting on

those,

who's been

to the

night

safari in

Singapore?

Where you're

kind of on

that little

tram,

that cart

thing,

and you're

just walking

and we go

past and we

see the

flamingos.

And in

that moment,

the most

random

thought,

it was,

James,

if you had

a third,

you'd be

okay.

Just the

most random

thought.

I don't know

why it was

the flamingos.

I've committed

to never

seeing them

ever again.

And it

was,

James,

if you had

a third,

you'd be

okay.

I said,

no,

I won't

be okay.

You know

I won't

be okay,

God.

And then

it was just,

of course,

we're looking

at other

animals and

it just

starts swirling

in my head.

What would

it look like

to have a

third?

That would

be so crazy.

I mean,

I'm getting

pretty old.

This is not,

let's leave it.

And anyway,

our two kids

are already

very happy

and also

getting older

as well,

so the gap

would be

pretty big.

And then

I turned,

and actually,

one thing I've

always said is,

actually,

my puzzle

is complete.

I am so happy

in every way.

I'm not needing

anything.

And so I turned

to my colleague

who I'd just

met,

who'd come

from the US,

and I said,

hey,

so how many

kids do you

have?

He said,

we have

three.

But the

third one

was a surprise

and it was a

gift that we

didn't know

that we were

going to

receive.

And it was

a medically

impossible

gift.

He'd done

something to

make sure

that that

wouldn't

happen,

and it

happened.

Right?

He went

back to

that doctor

and the

doctor had

already

tucked a lot

close down.

But he

said this

one thing.

He said,

oh,

but it

was a

missing

piece of

the puzzle

I never

knew I

needed.

I was

like,

whew,

that's a

good line.

And then I

said,

how old

were your

kids when

the surprise

happened?

He was

like,

11 and

7.

I was

like,

oh,

shoot,

my kids

are 11

and 7.

And none

of,

she didn't

tell me

any of

this.

And I

was having

my own

little moment

freaking

out.

But anyway,

as the

good,

honest

husband,

after my

conference,

I went

back home,

I said,

hey,

let's talk

about

something.

I just

had the

most weird

experience

of encounter

in the

night safari

with the

flamingos.

And I

think God's

telling me

that I

need to

surrender

my fear

and

control

of having

another

kid.

And can

you just

imagine from

her

perspective,

the wrestling

that she

went on

on these

40 days,

she just

broke down

into his.

And I

was like,

yeah,

I'm

crying too.

Oh,

he's

awake.

And then,

so then it

was a

wrestling

match.

It was

like,

okay,

look,

we'll

try,

but we

can't

try for

long.

Just a

little try,

just a

little knock,

and then

we'll

run at

if the

door opens.

And I

was like,

hey,

look,

we're just

going to

try for

a very

short period.

She's

like,

oh,

but that's

too short

a period.

Then I'm

like,

well,

if your

God wants

this to

happen,

then he

will make

it happen.

And

anyway,

of course,

it happened

fairly quickly.

And then I

was just

like,

man,

God loves

Christina so

much.

And he

really doesn't

like me

very much.

And just

to watch

that journey

where I

know that

she doesn't

like asking

for help.

She doesn't

like asking

for anything.

But to

watch her

go through

this journey

and learn

what asking

means was

inspiring to

me.

And of

course,

we're

blessed with

this cute

little

baldy right

here.

But I'll

tell you

this,

and I want

to be

sensitive

because,

actually,

I know that

there are

people also

in the room

who have

asked for

children.

Actually,

you've asked

for different

things over

the years,

and you've

not got

them yet.

And I

tell this

story not

just to

say,

oh,

man,

this is,

God is so

good,

and he

blessed

with this.

It's,

what I do

know is

that,

actually,

God is

good.

He does

know what

you want.

But,

yes,

there are

some times

where you

don't get

what it

is.

And,

actually,

I'm here

to tell you,

I'm not

here to tell

you why,

like,

why.

I don't

know why.

I don't

know.

And,

as a

pastor,

I'm

learning over

and over

again.

Why,

God,

won't you

answer the

prayers that

we've had

for all

these years?

And,

maybe,

a final

thing I

wanted

Christina

to share

in all

this is,

actually,

this is

one prayer,

but you

have tons

of prayers

that you've

not had

answered.

There are

long-standing

prayers right

now about

your family

that are

still not

answered.

What's

your process

when it

comes to

unanswered

prayer?

I think,

first of

all,

is admitting

that I'm

angry and

frustrated.

But,

going to

him with

that,

just as

raw as

it can

be,

and being

honest with

God,

and being

reminded that

he is

faithful,

being reminded

that he is

good,

and being

reminded that

it's not

about the

things in

this world.

God,

this whole

time that

we have

on earth

is just

God chasing

us,

and us

alone,

that he

wants us

to really,

really know

that we are

his child,

his child,

his precious,

beloved child,

and there's

nothing that we

can do,

wrong or

right,

that would

make him

love us

any more

or less.

And just

reminding of

that truth

then puts

everything into

perspective,

that even

if he

gave me

what I

wanted,

that that

isn't what

he wants

from us,

that we

just go

and ask,

but we

go and

ask in

acknowledgement

of who

we are,

that we

are beloved,

and that's

all that

matters,

that's

what God

cares about

most,

not to

just

fulfill

our

desires,

but for

us to

desire

him as

our

father.

Thank you.

Can we

give her a

round of

applause?

If you

join me in

just praying

these words

with me,

Psalm

121.

I lift

up my

eyes to

the hills,

from where

does my

help come

from?

My help

comes from

the Lord,

who made

heaven and

earth.

He will

not let

your foot

be moved.

He who

keeps you

will not

slumber.

Behold,

he who

keeps Israel

will neither

slumber nor

sleep.

The Lord

is your

keeper.

The Lord

is your

shade on

your right

hand.

The sun

shall not

strike you

by day

nor the

moon

by night.

The Lord

will keep

you from

all evil.

He will

keep your

life.

the Lord

will keep

your going

out and

your coming

in from

this time

forth and

forevermore.

These are

the words

of the

psalmist in

Psalm

121.

This is our

final song of

ascent in

this series.

This is a

very well-known

one.

In fact,

actually,

if you talk

about the

well-known

psalms that

people use

to memorize,

it's probably

Psalm 23,

Psalm 46,

and then

Psalm 121.

You've heard

this before.

I lift up

my eyes to

the hills.

From where

does my

help come

from?

My help

comes from

the Lord

who made

heaven and

earth.

Some people

call this

Psalm the

Psalm of

the sojourner,

the Psalm of

the person

who just

journeys in

life.

Life is

hard, and

there's an

anxiety that

comes of

this as

they're

walking and

they're

seeing the

hills.

Now, just

a reminder,

walking in

the hills

those days

was not like

walking in

Dragon's Back

for hiking or

Lion Rock.

here in

Hong Kong,

when you're

walking the

hills back

in those

days, there

was danger.

There were

thieves.

That's where

even the

parable of

the Good

Samaritan

comes, because

someone is

walking through

and ends

up getting

jumped.

So I

lift my

eyes up to

the hills.

Where does

my help

come from?

God, I

do not

go to

God, this

journey, this

journey is

hard, it's

long, I

can't even

see around

the corners,

I don't even

know if

there's something

that's going

to be out

there for

me.

And the

psalmist is

reminding

himself, I

lift up my

eyes to the

hills, from

where does my

help come

from?

And then he

answers

himself, my

help comes

from the

Lord, who

made heaven

and earth.

I'll tell you

what that

means, that

means there

is no hill I

need to be

afraid of.

This guy

made heaven

and earth, I

don't have to

be afraid of

storms because

he can stop

the storm just

like that.

It's that

person.

Do you have

anxiety as

you walk this

life and this

journey that

you're on?

You're like,

where is my

help going to

come from?

Then this is

the prayer that

you remind

yourself with,

I lift up my

eyes to the

hills, from

where does my

help come from?

My help

comes from the

Lord, who

made heaven

and earth

and he

will not let

my foot be

moved.

Ken and I

will know this

through our

injury that we

had in the

early days when

we had the

crutches.

Actually, there

was danger,

there was

slipping,

especially in

the rainy

season,

right?

But there's

someone who

actually won't

let me slip,

who won't let

me fall and

he won't slumber

nor sleep.

And one of the

things the

doctors told us

was when you

sleep in the

early days,

you have to

lift your

foot.

Right up.

You have to

lift it up

because all

the blood

cannot clot

up in the

leg area.

So I put a

couple pillows

under my

feet as I

sleep.

But of

course, the

moment I

fall asleep,

I'm a

martial arts

expert during

my sleeping

time.

So by the

time I'm

done, the

cushion's

completely

somewhere else.

Well, actually

no, my

wife's kicked

me out of

bed by then.

So I'm in

the other

room anyway.

But the

one who

keeps my

foot, the

one who

looks after

me, does

not slumber

nor sleep.

It's 24-7.

He's

always there.

And the

Lord is your

keeper.

He is your

shade on your

right hand.

So the

sun won't

strike you,

nor the

moon by

night.

Do you

believe that?

That there

is a God

who is

with you

every step

of the way

that is

sovereign over

everything that

you're going

through, even

the pain, even

the uncertainty,

even if you

don't know what

is just around

the corner on

that hill, he

is there with

you.

Now, there's

an equivalent

prayer in the

New Testament

that is very

quite similar.

It's probably

one of the

most well-known

passages in the

New Testament, and

that's Philippians

Philippians 4:4–7

4, verse 4-7.

And it is,

Do not be

anxious about

anything, but

in everything, by

prayer and

supplication, with

thanksgiving, let

your requests be

made known to

God.

Do not be

anxious about

anything, but in

prayer and

supplication,

supplication means

to ask for

things, earnestly,

sincerely,

persistently.

John Calvin

says, keep

asking, two

times, three

times, a

hundred times.

That is the

nature of

prayer, to

keep going, just

like the

persistent widow

that Jesus

talks about, just

keep asking.

Now, yes, some

of those prayers

you don't think

get answered.

And I don't

want to say

this in a

cliche, cheap

kind of way, but

I can tell you

by my own

testimony that

actually some

of the Lord's

greatest refusals

of my prayer

actually ended up

being the things

that I really

needed.

God doesn't

give you what

you want, he

gives you what

you need and

what you need

the most is

to be with

him.

And I don't

say this

cheaply.

I say this as

someone who has

lost loved

ones.

I say this as

someone who

has seen

their children

in ICU.

And the Lord

doesn't seem to

be quick to

answer.

So I know, and

I don't say

this without a

sensitivity of

that, but what

I do, so I

don't know why

sometimes he

doesn't answer,

but I do know

who he is.

And he is

the one that

keeps us, who

does not

slumber nor

sleep.

And so we

go to him and

we pray and

we ask, mostly

saying that we

trust you, God,

that you are

sovereign over

us.

That whether

you are my

keeper, even in

my going out and

in my coming

in, that you

are just always

with us.

So then the

question becomes

how do we

pray or what

do we pray

for?

There's two

kinds of prayer

of supplication

that I want to

briefly talk about

and one is

petition.

Petition is

basically you

going to God

and asking for

things for you.

Okay, so that

could be, God, I've

just got all this

anxiety, I've got

all this pain, I've

got all this hurt,

can you free me of

these things?

I want to be a

better person, but

I know I can't

get there without

you.

It's, God, I

really need a

parking space

right now because

I'm running late

and I think, God,

would you give me

a parking space?

God, I really,

that thing I could

really do with that

project coming

through.

Now, of course,

we've got to

search our hearts

and go, is that

for me or is that

for his glory?

But we're allowed

to ask these

questions to him

and that is

petition.

And then there

is intercession,