Content + Condition + Cost of Prayer | Eld Peng Hoe

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Up your day.

So one day the disciples got up early.

And somehow they noticed the bait where Jesus usually slept

on was empty, and so they quickly put their clothes

on and they rushed out to go look for him.

And they found Jesus eventually talking to his heavenly father.

And they have never heard anybody pray a prayer like

that ever, and so they listened intently, and when he

had finished, one of the disciples went up to him

and said, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John

taught his disciples. So this was a group of disciples,

which you think about it, the disciples are not people

who are not aware or have no knowledge of how

to pray, because they are Jews themselves, brought up in

the synagogue, brought up with the Torah, and they probably

have recited certain prayers very meaningfully and very sincerely as

they were growing up. But somehow, as they were listening

to Jesus talk to his father, they were moved to

ask for teaching, and so Jesus taught them a little

prayer they could use.

And this prayer.

For the last two thousand years Christians have used it,

and I tell you what, to me, this is the

most wonderful prayer ever. Amen. It's the Lord's prayer, and

so Jesus taught them this wonderful little prayer. We call

it the Lord's prayer. But the Lord would never use

it because there are some things mentioned in it which

technically he had no need to use it or to ask.

He has never gone around praying forgive me for my sins,

because he's God and he has no sins in him

and no since therefore to be forget given. So it

is a prayer for us and should really be called

I don't know, maybe the Lord's people's prayer. Amen, the

Lord's people's prayer. So just let's let's analyze briefly. Okay,

I'm going to go straight into it because in the

interest of time as well, I don't want to take

this too long.

But let's analyze this prayer.

The first thing that you notice that I notice, especially

this version, is very brief. It's actually a short prayer,

the one that we see in the Book of Matthew.

In the Gospel of Matthew. It's a little bit longer.

But I want you to notice this. Really, what the

Lord is trying to teach us is this. It is

the depth, not the length of prayer that matters. Okay,

the Lord's prayer can easily be prayed sincerely. Even if

you speak really slowly and pray really slowly. I don't know,

You're probably done in thirty seconds. But it is the quality,

not the quantity, that matters. And Jesus warn his hearers

don't think that by heaping up long prayers you will

somehow get God to listen to you.

That's what Jesus tells us.

So it is a simple yet comprehensive prayer. And I

tell you what's even more beautiful. Even a child can

pray this prayer. And that's why we teach. I know,

Passsarah teaches the Lord's prayer in children's church, and I hope,

I hope this is not the case, but sometimes it is.

Our children memorize the Lord's prayer. So adults, if you

haven't had the Lord's prayer committed to memory, I pray

that you will commit it to memory. It is important.

That's one of the reasons why we teach them. You know, Passsara.

If you got any notes for the case to take,

they can take that the Lord's prayer today.

So I have pity, Halilujah, praise God. Okay.

So this prayer here in the Gospel of Luke is

even shorter than the one in Matthew. In Matthew, of course,

it was a prayer that Jesus thought. I think it's

in Matthew chapter five or six. Okay, part of the

very very probably to me, the most powerful sermon ever preached,

the Sermon on the Mound. But there were two different occasions.

So let's take notre a rea. It's two different occasions here.

Luke somehow is boiled down to the bare essentials of prayer.

Yeah, you have everything here that you need.

And so I just want to take the more succinct prayer,

boil it down for us to see what is it

bear essentials? What should and how should our prayer look like?

That's why I started off with the first see, which

is what content?

Okay.

And so here's the first thing I want you to

notice about this prayer. Pray about what God wants before

you pray about what you want, Okay. The first rule

of prayer. It's a very simple lesson in prayer. And

if I don't mind, ausk, I'm feeling quite hot. Up

here is stair away. Continue you can help me on

the fan.

Thank you.

I don't know, I don't know why am I having

hot flashes or yeah? But but it should be cool?

Right? Maybe? Maybe are you cold? Okay? Okay, yeah, Maybel.

Maybel is my thermost step and you didn't even look

at her. I know, yeah, but somehow it's not connecting.

But it's okay, one enough, one enough. I don't tend

to freeze. Thank you so much, Elisha. Okay, So pray

about what God wants before you pray about what you want.

And that is the most simple lesson in prayer and

the one that we need to learn often. You see,

the prayer begins with God, not ourselves, and too often

we rush into God's presence with our shopping list. We

will rush into God's presence with the whole petition the

things that we want. And then there are these three

things now that we should be thinking about when we pray,

because this is what the Lord has highlighted. And this

is a lot how the Lord has actually taught us

to pray. Okay, So the first thing of all that

should always be in the forefront of our mind.

Is this his fatherhood? Okay, his fatherhood?

You see, Jesus taught if you want to talk to

God like I talk to God, just come straight into

his presence, as a child would come into an earthly

father's presence. And that's why the word use here abah

father is actually translated very simply what Ariel will call

Roy daddy.

It's daddy. It's not a formal term.

No. Sometimes we think or abbah sounds like you know,

our Malay language. Sometimes we use abbah, which you think

is actually very formal, and no, actually it's a very

very casual, very endearing term for father. And so this

is how Jesus taught us. He says, come into my

presence like how you would approach your own earthly father.

So prayer is essentially climbing on Daddy's knees and then

sitting on his knees and having a conversation with him.

Isn't that the most reassuring thing ever?

It is?

I know, I know sometimes for some people. Not all

of us grew up knowing our fathers. Not all of

us grew up having a good close relationship with our fathers.

That's why the scripture says no.

And he reminds us, children, regardless you're thought to honor

your parents, respect your parents and fathers. Don't exasperate your

child and then bring them up in discipline and in

struct amen. And that is what we also reminded Roy

just now as a father to do that. And so

father's father's fathers, you have such an important role to

play only because you can actually help your children know God.

It's hard for us to know and identify heavenly Father

if earthly Father is not always there to help us,

not try to imagine so hard how it would be

the situation like and so all fathers, you have a

special mandate over your life to have a close relationship

with your children so that you can help guide them.

There is a point of time after they have grown

older and mature and start making their own decisions, then yes,

your job and your responsibility is in a way done.

But when they are young, it's so important for us

to instruct them in the ways of the lorne Amen.

And so his fatherhood, his fatherhood is the first thing

that we should realize, the first thing that we need

to focus on so that we don't lose sight of

the content of our prayer. The second thing is this,

you got to think not just of his fatherhood, you

have to think of his purity because you have never

known an earthly father whose name is holy.

And that is the truth.

None of us can claim to be holy holy that

if I make my children call me holy, they'll laugh

because like holy, that holy Father, I'm not even a pope. Okay,

but really, they've probably seen me in all sorts. They've

probably seen all my faults and all my shortcomings. And

so sometimes it's not easy for us to even use

the word holy. I mean, it's almost such a sacred word,

and it's not something that is normal. But yet when

we look to God, you have to acknowledge that he

is a holy God. You need to remember that this

is our father in heaven, which also means that he

is a father in holiness.

He's not like any earthly father.

He has no faults, no weakness, no sin, no blemish.

He is the heavenly Father who is holy and his

name is holy. And so God's name should actually be

held in awe. If you pray the Lord's prayer, don't

pray it, by the way, because right at the very start,

you are declaring God's name. But yet people, many people

in this world do. They continue to use the name

of God in vain. They use it as swear words,

they use it as casswords, they use it to express disgust,

and they make fun of it, they mock.

I think, as.

Believers, this should hurt us, and I think if you

ever see it happen, I believe the Lord will want

you to at least be able to in love tell

people that that is my Lord's name, and that's the

name that I use, the name that I pray to

every day and every morning. I don't see us this

and other religion's names. But yet Christians don't say anything.

They don't feel anything. I mean, you don't say it,

I can understand. But if it doesn't make you feel oh,

I want to be able to engage people and look

at this as a it may be a chance for

you to even engage in conversation if someone uses God's

name in vain.

Amen. So we pray that his name will always be revered.

May people never refer to it except with reverence and

respect his purity his name. The third thing is this,

when you think about God. Think about his power, Think

about his kingdom, which means his reign, his power to govern,

his power to control. It is actually obvious that this

world is not under his government yet think about it.

If you look around, you realize and.

The scriptures tell us that Jesus has not yet rule

and reigned sovereign over this entire world. In fact, the

prince of this world is none other than someone else

that we actually pray against in this particular prayer, especially

the one in Matthew.

It's in the hands of Satan. So my hope is

that God's kingdom will come on earth as it is

in heaven, just like every believer's hope. When we pray

the Lord's prayer, we are saying, Lord, I want your

kingdom to come here. I want your power.

To be manifest in every department of my life. First

and foremost, I want your kingdom to come. We want

to see it on earth. We want you to be

in charge of every situation. Because God is still in

charge and he is still God. He has not just

created this world, wind it all up and let it

flow like clock. No, he is in control, which tells

me that he can change things. He can do things,

and we've got to keep acknowledging that. And so he

wants firstly his parenthood to be enjoyed by his sons

and daughters. Next, he wants his purity to be revered

by people here on earth, and finally he wants his

kingdom to be entered into so that we can become

his subjects. In other words, you must always think of

God as father, judge and King.

Amen.

And this is how you should approach God first and

foremost in your prayer before you are then ready to

bring your needs to him. Does that mean sense come

to God first, acknowledge him? And isn't it wonderful that

it starts off as father first, not straight away as king?

Because he wants you to know that there is an

intimate personal relationship father, judge and King. That is who

God is in our lives. And so that is the

first tree that we need to remember the content of

our prayer. And when you're ready with that, then you

can move on to the next tree. Needs that you have.

And these are our needs, and these are the tree

needs that we need every day, and they are not

always the.

Things that we pray for.

Do you realize that here is not mentioned like physical safety,

it's not mentioned. Like health, it's not mentioned wealth. I mean,

we pray for all those things all the time, health, wealth,

physical safety, keep us secure when we travel journymus is

you know, we always pray all those things. But the

tree that are highlighted here that everybody needs every single

day in this model prayer is actually food forgiveness and freedom.

Okay, I will explain what this means. You see, we

all need food, right.

I know it's hard for us to pray the Lord's

prayer because all of us have got a freezer filled

with food, food to the bream sometimes, like my mother

in law, not one, not two, three freezers in her house.

I don't know why she needs so many freezers, but

that's the reality of it. A lot of us have got. Yeah,

we can easily go to the grocers and pick up

anything we want, and so we are so well stung.

It is when things really start to run out, maybe

we will pray this prayer with a lot more meaning

and a lot more fervor. And you know what, I

wouldn't be ever surprised that this ever comes to pass

some a situation where there is scarcity of food. You know,

today all of us need to really, really be grateful

that we are blessed.

Amen.

And so the prayer is telling us to live one

day at a time. Lord, give us day by day

the food that we need day by day, because back

then they used to get.

A daily wage.

A daily wage means that on the day they receive

their pay is what they need to go and buy

food for that day. Don't work, that they don't get paid,

that they don't eat that day. And so day by day,

the Lord is reminding us to depend on him on

for our provision and for the food. And that's why

the scripture that says man shall not live by bread alone.

I know, I know a lot of times are huh,

but the one thought about something else. Well, man should

not live by bread alone. I know Jesus was emphasizing,

but by every word that proceeds from my mouth. But

just that statement man shall not live by bread alone,

means that the least we need to live by is

to have pray. And in many countries in the world

today a lot of them are praying this prayer fervently

because even bread, one slice of bread, is not made

available to them. Many in this world still live in poverty. Okay,

So we need to be able to pray this prayer.

That's why we always tell us be grateful for the

food that you eat and partake. Amen. Second thing is

this I need. We need forgiveness every day. And I

know that when you become a Christian, your sins we're

all forgiven and taken away. Hallelujah, Praise God. But subsequent

sins also requires repentance and God's forgiveness to Sometimes we think, God,

you cover it. Oh, yes, he covered our past. But

we continue to live, we continue to walk, we continue

to depend and rely on God in our lives. We

need the sanctifying work, the work of consecration. That's why

we continue to desire the Holy Spirit in us. Because

unless you tell me, the minute you become a Christian,

you go into a cave, you sit down there and

you don't ever sing against anyone, which none of us do. Okay,

as long as we continue to remain walking around, mingling,

meeting people, which is what we are called to do.

None of us were called to go into the caves,

but that's what some of the early believers did. That's

why you have all the monks and even the Jesuits,

they actually isolate themselves because they don't want to expose

themselves to the wrongs of this world. Thinking that I'm

now a Christian, My sins are all forgiven in the past.

But we are called to still mingle with people. We

are called to still fellowship with one another, which means

that we will still step on each other's toes, which

means that we will sometimes step on our own toes,

which means that we need God to consecrate power. That

is the work of sanctification that is ongoing in each

and every one of our lives.

Amen.

So there is this one clause in the Bible that

has a condition to it. As you confess that you

have seen today in using this prayer, you also confess

that you have forgiven others today. And it is obvious

that you cannot be forgiven unless you forgive others. Can

I put it this way? Think of it like an

electrical circuit. And I'm not okay, I don't like physics,

I don't like all these things.

Okay, electrical circuit.

But I can understand this if it is only completed.

A circuit can only be completed if it's close. Okay,

So if your hand is in the hand of God.

Your hand must also then be in someone else's hand

for the current of forgiveness to flow into your life

on this day basis and then flow out of your

life at the other end.

You see that.

You cannot have God's forgiveness if you're holding grudges or

resentment against others. So the circuit must be complete, and

then your daily need for forgiveness can be met by

your heavenly father.

It's a simple, simple.

Some people ask me, oh, why God so himself with

his forgiveness, nor why can't he just give it freely?

You know you're learning prayer as well. God doesn't just

answer us gives us everything that we want. Every good

parent here knows that. I don't know if there's any

parent who just gives your children everything that they ask for,

everything they desire.

You just give it to them, because that is not

how it is done.

And there are days when you know, I'm I'm thinking

I'm looking at God. You know, use this illustration before

you know if if you know that your child is

not going to share, would you give your child a

lot of say sweets?

Okay, say I want to give my child sweets?

And the child comes up to me, and the child says, no,

I'm going to take all the sweets that you give me,

but I'm going to give none of it to my

sibling because I can stand her face. If your child

says that, you think you'd be willing to give your

child a sweet, you will hold back. And that's why

I believe that this prayer makes a lot of sense,

because the Lord does not ever want you to mistreat others.

He wants you to be kind to others. If you

are kind to others, he will definitely not hold back.

So you cannot have God's forgiveness if you're holding grudges,

if you're holding resentment. It is something so important for

us to be able to do in life, to complete

this circuit of forgiveness, in forgiveness out amen.

Third thing is this you need to have is freedom.

This is a daily need that all of us need.

Not freedom politically, but freedom spiritually and freedom morally. Freedom

from temptation, freedom from the evil one, freedom from the

worst slave.

Master of all, which is ourselves. That's the reality.

You need. Freedom from all this. So you pray, don't

let me be tempted. Above what I can don't let

me be pushed too far. I want to be free

from shame, free from guilt, free from fear.

Amen.

So these are the three things that every person needs

every day. Food, forgiveness, freedom.

Amen.

In the other version of the Lord's Prayer, especially the

one in Matthew, it finishes off by saying, deliver us

from the evil One.

And I believe here is the reminder.

If you begin your prayer thinking about God, you got

to sort of end it by thinking about Satan. It's

quite a thought, right. Basically, we are to pray against

Satan as you leave God's presence. Because we can be

perpetually praying all the time, we have to step into

the world as well. And because you are going from

God's presence into where the world and whose realm is

the world is actually Satan's realm. So as you are

walking into Satan's realm, you are to ask God, God,

deliver me from the evil one.

You are going into this world.

You need to be delivered from Me to be in

the world year not off it.

Amen.

And another thought to consider you see, one disciple asked

for this prayer, and one disciple was given it by

Yet he was taught to use the pronoun our ever

thought about it, just didn't say, okay, this is how

you should pray. Are my father in heaven? Hello be

your name didn't start off, but it starts with our.

I think it's an amazing revolution in any of our

private prayers, our personal prayers, because most of our private

and personal prayer is also very personalized to ourselves. We

pray more eyes sometimes then we pray them. We pray

more ours, more, we me, more me than other people.

But if you think about it, sometimes we think we

are very unique on our own, and so God we

need to make sure that our uniqueness requires a special

from myself only because no one else is thinking, no, cannot.

You've got to realize this are.

Yes, we are all special, we all have our identity,

but we are not just existing alone.

Think about it.

Every need you have, every sorrow, every burden, every frustration,

there are others of God's children in this world who

have exactly the same thing and are going through something

that is similar. So when you pray the Lord's prayer,

pray our because it is then a collective prayer for

each other to stand firm, it's not just an individual prayer.

When you are praying the Lord's prayer. You are linking

your prayer with so many others, as a family, as brothers,

as sisters, all climbing on Daddy God's needs together. That

is the power of the Lord's prayer. It's not an

isolated prayer. And so the Lord's prayer is a beautiful

prayer that puts the language of humility on our lips

and teaches us to come before God and to acknowledge

his name. And I want you to also notice that

all of that prayer is asking for something. I'm teaching her.

I'm teaching so think about it. Every one of the

prayer is asking for something. Some people think that asking

for things it's a very childish form of prayer. I

don't think so, because if you study Jesus prayers, that

means that you read the Gospels.

You study Jesus prayers.

He was always asking for things, right, not let the

cup pass me by asking for something or let the

church be one. He's asking for something. He's asking for

Peter's faith to not fail. He's asking for the Father

to forgive us. He's asking for the Father to send

the Holy Spirit. Is all asking for something. Prayer is

asking and that is the heart of it. That's why

we should always say please, thank you, and sorry when

we are praying.

It's important.

You see, a child's relationship to his parents includes asking

for things the child can't do for himself or herself.

And this is the relationship is asking. You know when

ariel okay, Ariel doesn't need to be able to talk,

she can already ask for things. She can indicate, she

can point, she can stand, she can look intently. It

is a normal relationship, is normal to us. So never

let people say that asking is a very low form

of prayer. Come to God and ask, but ask for

the right things, okay, Which brings us now to the

second part of this lesson on prayer. If you ask,

then you should expect an answer.

Right.

It is vital right to have answers to prayer because

it is a two way thing.

We are asking God.

We are not just trying to condition ourselves to accept

anything as it is. Sometimes we are like that, oh,

whatever our God, everything is in your hands. That's very

faithal list in nature. We are not like that. That

means we know we can ask God. He can do things,

He can change his mind. We see all the time

in scripture, when the people are talking to himpleating, Lord,

have mercy, have mercy, he says, okay, I will have mercy.

I will have mercy, and he kept on exercise because

people kept on asking. You see, prayer changes things. It

changes what God wants to do. He can undo it,

he cannot do it. And so we are asking them.

We should expect things to happen. We should expect results.

We should look to God to give us food and

forgiveness and freedom and thank him when they come. Hey, man,

we should look to God to send his kingdom on

earth and to answer prayers. When we are ask God

to demonstrate his power, we should expect him to do

something about it. In other words, an answered prayers is

a problem. Isn't that a problem to a believer? It

is because all of you feel red frustrated why God

never answered my prayers. It is a problem because the

point of praying is to get an answer, because we're asking.

It's a request, it's a petition.

And so we are now going to look at the

reasons why some answers don't come. And here we will

discover Jesus gives us the conditions. So at the start

Jesus talk about the content of our asking prayer, what

you should be asking for, and then subsequently, now in

the following verses, he's going to speak of the conditions

for God answering our prayer. Amen, let's look at verses

five to eleven the same chapter. Then teaching them more

about prayer, he used this story. Suppose you went to

a friends house at midnight wanting to borrow tree loads

of break You say to him, a friend of mine

has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing

for him to eat. And suppose he calls out from

his bedroom, don't bother me. The door is locked for

the night, and my family and I are all in bit.

I can't help you. But I tell you this, though

he won't do it for friendship's sake, if you keep

knocking long enough, he will get up and give you

whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. And so

I tell you, keep on asking and you will receive

what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you're fine.

Keep on knocking and the door will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks fines, and

to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

You fathers.

If your children ask for a fish, do you give

them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an age,

do you give them a scorpion? Of course not so.

If you sinful people know how to give good gifts

to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

So?

One condition is on our side, the human side. One

other condition is on God's side. I want you to

see that I'm going to try to go as fast

as I can right now in the interest of time.

The condition on our side, very clear is persistence.

And we read of this story.

Well, in the Middle East, they go debit early, and

then if someone comes knocking at the door shamelessly asking

for bread, what would your respond be? Of course we

know when we read this it sounded like the homeowner

was quite reluctant. It's not about that. The focus is

not on how reluctant the person. I mean, if you're

fall asleep with you, you're not going to go down

and like happily, how can I entertain you? Even though

hospitality is a big thing in the Middle is.

But still this.

Guy kept on knocking, kept on knocking, kept on knocking,

and so Jesus is not trying to highlight how reluctant

God is as a giver. What he's trying to dish

is that the human side of this story is very

true to prayer prayer. If you really mean business with God,

you will go on until you get it, go on

until you get it. So what is it? It is persistence.

Of course, you may be asking for the wrong thing.

Sometimes we do ask for the wrong thing, and then

you have to has what you are asking for with

the Lord's prayer. If you are praying for the right thing,

it will come under one of those six heads of

what we just studied just now, fatherhood, purity, power, food, forgiveness, freedom.

I believe in that with all my heart. So you

can always check whether you are praying for the right thing.

And thank God he doesn't spoil us as children. God

doesn't just always give us what we want. But if

your prayer checks with the Lord's prayer or the Lord's

prayer for his people, you just go on knocking at

God's door until.

You get it.

That's what the scripture is telling you to do. And

that's one of the greatest promises of prayer in the Bible.

Keep on asking and you'll received. Keep on knocking and

the door will be open.

Amen. Keep on.

That means not just once. A lot of time we pray.

One time Jesus didn't hear me. That's it. And a

story he's death or he's ignoring me. No, not just once.

Keep on persistent in prayer is a vital part of

prayer on the human side. Then, to balance up the

story so that people don't think God is reluctant to give.

Jesus now talks about he talks about divine providence. He's

actually willing to provide you with good things.

And you know, one of.

The things that stops people praying and asking God for

something is that they're afraid sometimes or what he might give. Really,

and I've known, I've known some people who are afraid

to ask for the Holy Spirit, to ask Jesus to

baptize them and fill them with the Holy Spirit, because

sometimes we don't know what we are getting. Oh, why

are we getting right or not right? You think Holy

Spirit right or not right? Jesus says, even you evil fathers,

you are sinners, you are evil people, and yet you

wouldn't give your child something harmful to them, would you.

If they ask for an ag will you give them

a scopy in He was trying to tell them something.

When you pray, think of this tree wards? Then how

much more? How much more.

Will your heavenly Father give you something good and something helpful?

Do you think that God would give you something harmful?

I don't think so, but I know there are days

sometimes when we are desiring and we wanting the Holy

Spirit in our lives, there is always that doubt. There

is always that I don't know what to expect. There

may be persistence in our prayer, but sometimes there's a

reluctance to receive, and we sometimes are afraid of what

might happen. You know, Sometimes we pray prayer, Lord, send

me out to the world. You know, I shed last

week with that one to the service. No, I'm sure

quantine when he prayed, Lord, I'm willing to go wherever.

He didn't realize you're now in Africa for four years.

Sometimes we are like, Lord, send me anywhere, but bring

me anywhere. You know, more often than not, you know

he will bring you to Africa just to let you

experience nice one right, think about it that Chinese learn

in Africa continus took out like a saw thumb there

for four years. But our Lord is teaching us something.

He's teaching us about prayer on for the Holy Spirit.

It is a prayer that the Father loves to answer,

because that is the greatest gift he could give you,

next to the gift.

Of his only son.

To give you Jesus to die for you is a

great gift, and that's why in a few weeks time

we will celebrate Good Friday. But to give you the

spirit to live in you is as great a gift,

and it is a gift that we should pray for.

That's why it says, go on asking, go on knocking,

go on seeking. God is looking around for those who

can become the temples of his Holy Spirit and whom

he can use for the glory of his kingdom. I

want us to start with that, start with realizing that

when we ask God for something, ask him for more

of his Holy Spirit first and foremost, because we need

the Holy Spirit in our lives to live in accordance

to God's plan and purpose. Jesus told us all about

the Holy Spirit right from the Verius that he says,

you cannot have me all the time. I'm not able

to fulfill the demands of this world being there for

every single person, because I will always be in this

human form, and that is why I have to go,

because when I go.

I will live with you.

The greatest gift ever, the Holy Spirit, is the greatest

gift to mankind other than Jesus himself. But if we

don't receive this give then we are not ever going

to experience or enjoy what this gift has to offer.

So believers start off by asking for more of the

Holy Spirit daily because we need our daily feel It's

not just a one of okay, God, one time. No

daily ask Holy Spirit feel me so that I know

what to say, I know what to do, Teach me,

guide me. Amen. Now we come to the third part.

Basically I look at it as how can you make

our prayers effective? And so we look at firstly the

content of the asking prayer, then the conditions for prayer

to be answered. And now we come to the third part.

And here's a reminder, never think quantitatively about prayer. But

you always got to think qualitatively. See sometimes we think

the longer I pray for this person, the more effective

it will be. But Jesus said, you will not be

hurt for your much praying or for your many words.

It's it Mathew, chapter six. It is not true that

the longer you pray for someone, the more effective your

intercession is. And so don't be pressured. Sometimes when you

hear people praying long prayers, it's really not about that.

And forgive us if we have ever done it. Sometimes

we are also so into it, but it's to put

anyone now. We are not trying to tell you that

this is a model or a benchmark of prayer. Is

not thing quantitatively is to think the more people I

can get to pray this prayer, the better. I don't

think that's how prayer works as well, because we as

humans always think quantitatively. We are thinking that the more

names there are to a petition than God will see. No,

it's like trying to get more people to sign a

petition and then you think, or more names on that piece.

Maybe got more way.

But I tell you what, God the Father, in every

petition that comes along his way, only looks for one name.

Whose name do you think that is? It's the name

of Jesus. That's why we pray in the name of Jesus.

For our petitions to be submitted andto God a man,

not many other names, but only one name. And so

the more people that you can get to pray deeply,

the better. This is what I want to get at.

It is not more people pray, but you want to

look at the depth of prayer.

This is the quality of prayer. And it would be.

More effective to have ten people praying in depth than

to have one hundred people just mentioning prayers. So what

is deep prayer is the question that we all be like, Hey, eh,

you talk so much, So what's a deep prayer? I

actually believe it's a prayer that casts a person something.

Does that make sense?

A deep prayer is a prayer that costs the person something.

You see, the effectiveness of your prayer for someone else

is indirect ratio to the cost to yourself. And I

believe that is why when Jesus came down and he

found his disciples in the valley after they had been

on the mountain, and he found them unable to help

a child in need, he say, don't you realize that

this kind of situation can only be dealt with by

prayer and fasting?

Matthew Chapter seventeen.

You know, I know some some were highlight Oh, but

the word fast thing omitted in some manuscripts. Some say

it's just prayer. I believe prayer and fasting are the

same thing. They always go hand in hand. And if

you read the Old Testament you will see that fasting

hand amounts to prayer. So if you read books like Nahimaya,

Ezra Esther Joel to Samuel, you will see sometimes instead

of saying pray, they will say I fast. So for me,

fasting is actually also a form of prayer. And so

if we miss out on fasting, we essentially miss out

on prayer.

Fasting is the price of prayer.

In other words, you miss out on fasting, you miss

out on the cost of it.

It did not cost you anything to pray for this boy.

And that is the place of fasting when we are

talking about prayer, because it is costing you something.

It is costing you your meal.

The only marriage in spending a long time praying for

someone is that it costs you time. Right, if you

take time to pray for someone, it costs you time,

and time is precious.

So the question now is what did it cause you

to pray?

You see, the deepest cause is this when a woman

touched the hand of Jesus's garment and was healed.

Goodness went out of him. That's what the scripture says.

And if you have really prayed for someone, some of

your resources have left you and traveled the other person.

Power has gone from God, but goodness has gone from you,

and they have now they omitting in this person that

you are praying for both the power of God and

your goodness and your kindness.

If you have really prayed.

For someone, that is why, if you really pray, you

will be drained, you will be tired, you will be exhausted.

That's why it says we labor in prayer, because we

keep pushing and we keep going. And ultimately, I tell

you what it is God that will always replenish our

supplies those who have exhausted every ounce of what you

have in prayer.

Did prayer cause you anything? That is why prayer and

fasting go hand in hand.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit Axchurch dot org. We

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this week is going to be a good week, a

hit for you.

God bless