Pastor Matthew | Goal in Prayer

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Te We mean to Luke.

Chapter ten, I'm going to read a very very familiar

passage here from verse thirty eight to verse forty two,

and the title it reads Mary and Martha worship and Sir,

you'll be wondering, how does this have to do with prayer? Okay,

Mary and Math I thought this one is about serving,

but I can tell you it's a lot about prayer

as well. Okay, now let's read this, okain, verse thirty eight,

I'm reading for the NKJV version. He says, Now, it

happened as they went that he entered a certain village

and a certain woman named Martha welcome him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, who also set

at Jesus's feet and heard his word. By the way,

when you sit at a person's feet, normally it's how

typically how students know at that time they sit, you know,

and then they hear from the teachers. So when Mary

said under the feet that it's marking or it's a

symbolism of her being a student, being a disciple of someone. Okay, nowadays.

You know, we sit in the classroom. By that time,

the people just sit, literally sit around the feed.

Okay.

Now interestingly in verse forty, but Martha was distracted with

much serving. Okay, she was not distracted with tik tok,

but with much serving.

Okay. She approached him and said, and I underline it.

Lord, do you not care that my sister has left

me to serve alone?

Therefore tell her to help me?

And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you

are worried and troubled about me any things?

I sound like it's to THISBA production, you know.

Okay, but one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen

that good part which will not be taken away from her.

So to kick it off, I've got a question for

you all. Okay, since you are how many have you

read this passage before?

Yeah? So I can ask you a question. Sure you

can answer. What's the question? Next?

Turn your next light? What's the next light? Who was

Martha really upset with?

How many? Said? Mary? Hands up? Everybody? My hands up? Someone?

Can you witness them? Who says Jesus, the rest of them? Are?

You didn't raise your handser? Okay, I'm gonna ask you, so,

who was Matha really upset with herself? Or that's mind blowing, man,

I never thought of that anger before.

You know.

That's like the meaning behind the meaning. You know, I've

never thought of that before. She was upset with herself?

I think, go back and reflect on this again. Very good,

very good? Who says Jesus? Well now I'm already it's

like you not waiting for CHGPT to reply. You know

it takes a while.

Who says Mary? Okay? Good?

I need I need your conviction. So which one do

you think actually? Is is it Mary? Or is it

actually Jesus?

Mm hmm? And what how?

How do we know? Let's look at that verse again.

Let's look at that verse. Can you go to the

first slight? The answer when you read the Bible is

to never presuppose, but to always go back to the scripture.

The answer is always in the scripture. Look at what

Mary says? Who did she talk to? Why didn't she

talk to Mary?

Right?

If you have a sibling and your sibling is annoying

you when you talk to your mother and your father,

not to your brother and sister alone, ah, you'd be wondering, right,

that's the deeper question. She said, Lord, do you not

care that my sister has left me to serve alone.

It's a lot in there, isn't it? Because she said

to Jesus, do you not care? When the person said

you don't care? What does that mean? That person is

what labeling you? Ready, isn't it you don't care? Not

that you saw, not that you saw? Ready, you don't care?

She jumped straight into it. You were there, you saw Mary,

you don't care. I pray you don't answer you don't care?

Wow? True or not?

Mary is already jumping to conclusion straight ready, you don't

care that my sister you don't care? And I'm telling

you what is happening. The detail is you left my

sister to serve alone. And say you don't care that

my sister has left me. You saw all this accident happening,

this car knocking, this car, ah, and I am the

victim right now, I'm supporting. I'm alone, but I have

received no help.

You don't care.

You actually read it backwards. Now my sister has left

me to serve all alone. That's why you don't care.

You read it backwards as well?

True not? Its sure?

Not and then we know there's a confirmation because in

the next sentence she tells Jesus what to do. When

we don't get what we want, we tell God what

to do. Oh, therefore tell her to help me. Ah,

so quicker. You know what does that tellus about human hearts?

Are?

The first thing we do is that we like to

invite Jesus into our hearts. Oh, Jesus, come and have

a face. You know, I want to celebrate you there

in just a split moment. Now we turn to blame

in Jesus. Ready, things can change very faster growing on.

And the most innocent thing is that it's using what

they call it service and God are to turn Matha around,

isn't it to turn Martha around? And Jesus answered said

to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled.

About many things. So nice, Jesus.

You know, after being blamed, after being told what to do,

Jesus still forgave it.

Being gentle and all was so nice. Hew.

Many of you like people label you early and tell

you what to do. You still got patience with them,

and not huh. You go to work your boss to

tell you, hey, you didn't do this. You better do that.

You're like, can you send a text message right now?

Going to pray for my boss? I need he needs

a spiritual re bible. Okay, you're like, ah, but Jesus

still respond so nicely, you know. But he reveals the truth.

He said that you are worried. You are worried, okay,

and trouble about many things. She can he can clearly

see that she is being vexed and troubled by many things.

But he reveals what He says that what he's doing

is that he is separating. And that's what God always does.

God comes into your life not just give you an answer.

He begins to cause separation. There are many things, but

there is one thing. Care turn to your neighbor and say,

there are many things, but there are one thing.

Do so right now?

Many things, it's like, you know, it's like taich you.

It's like I don't know what movie that many things,

but there is one thing. And many things, there's one

thing I do a dance move. Okay, many things, but

there is one thing. There's only one thing. So powerful,

isn't it sometimes that your life is just so many

things overwhelm everything bundled together such a bundle of emotions.

Oh, you don't know how to do that.

But God comes in and gives you a truth, one

thing that is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part,

that one thing that is good which will not be

taken away from it, one thing that is good and eternal.

Isn't that what we want? We don't just want to

pray many things. We don't want to tell God every

single thing. What we really want is that one thing

that is good, that is eternal and that will never

be taken away from us, true or not?

Isn't there what you want? A lot of times you

prays all many things.

We go answer this and another that, But deep down inside,

there's only one thing. You want happiness. You just want happiness, happiness.

You think you deserve happiness. You want happiness, But there

is one happiness that will never be taken away. It

is not the happiness of this world. It is the

happiness out of this world.

With God. You can't say you know the happiness there

is of this world.

Now, when I talk about this, it highlights a lot

not just about serving, but it's actually about our interaction

with God. This whole passage is about our interaction with God.

It is about truth, It's about our child, it says,

and it has do everything to do with our interaction

with God, which is our prayer. Okay, which is our prayer. Now,

how many of you struggle with prayer?

Hands up? I do so. Some of you need to

teach me how to pray? Man? How many you've got

no problem in prayer? Go ahead, good for you, okay.

But a lot of times I realized that myself included

and quite number of people. And especially nowadays, when we

are so busy with so many tasks, so many distractions,

so many responsibilities, people are so tired and wear it

out by prayer. And more importantly, it's like it's more said,

is that when you pray, people lose faith in prayer,

They lose purpose in prayer.

Why pray? God should know everything, isn't it? Why pray?

Maybe when I pray, I don't even know why prayer

God even wants to hear. Maybe God is not even

pleased with what I pray. You know I'm talking about.

Now you've got a problem, I don't know, are scared

of prayer? Maybe God will think I'm a very selfish

person for wanting these, So I better not pray like

it's the same thing. Not children now, sometimes they want something,

but they don't ask their parents. Why not, because they're

scared their parents would judge them true or not. No, well,

all students are great students. Men, parents, do you agree

you realize that? How come your children don't always approach

you with what is very obvious? They're always skirt around GIRs, GIRs, GIRs, kirtskirts,

then eventually steady, mommy, cannot you know? But is that?

That's the our problem with prayer. So now let's go

to the next slight, next one. Oh, by the way,

all my pictures are meant to move on it doesn't move.

So if you see the picture, doesn't make sense that

project is supposed to be moving.

It's the chief Okay.

So Mary's problem was being worried and troubled about many things.

It's a problem of wisdom. It's not just that the

heart she loves God, she invites Jesus into a house,

she served him.

But because of.

The lack of wisdom, she began to perceive Jesus as

someone who doesn't care.

And that's what happened with a lot of Christians as well.

So sometimes a lot of times, it's about us differentiating

between what is important versus the immediate, differentiating between what

is spiritual and pragmatism. Are pragmatic or what we call pragmatism? Okay,

the last few is a big lot. Have you I'm

going to expound on it a bit more. Let's go

to the next line. Okay, don't have you noticed that

now they say these things that prayer is a luxury.

Prayer is a luxury. We say that we don't have

time and energy to pray? Who got time and energy

to pray? When you pray?

As I mentioned before, you question, am I even asking

the right thing? Don't Scala? Don't know? Maybe if I pray,

I think I condemn myself.

You know, maybe what if I pray and God give

me what I don't want?

You know, I pray for.

Love, but God give me very difficult people to love.

I pray for courage. Cord give me a very difficult

problem to solve, you know. Oh I pray for money.

God give me a job, you know, to work hard

and all. Oh no, you see him? And I were like,

why God misunderstands me, you know, and grant me a prayer?

Not exactly how I want.

You know, God hears, but you see, if he please

with my prayer? What if I don't get a response

from God? I scared to prayer. But if I don't

get a response, I scared of be more heartbroken and all.

I can't deal with rejection. I can't deal with God

not being happy with me. And you know, how do

I deal with not knowing what to expect during prayer?

And when I pray, I don't know what to say,

what to pray? Oh, I'm so nervous. And even if

I pray, Ready, what's next I come out from prayer?

How should I feel? What should I do? Yeah? Everybody

is lost. You know, nobody talks about prayer.

And because of all things, we have a false assumption

about God's will form my life.

I praiority. Oh there is this piece.

After ah, you feel like after you got toilet relief. Ready,

this must be the will of God in my life. Ready,

this must be the will of God. Oh, I pray

and I go out. I saw a cloud that has

a shape of my name. That must be God's will

for my life. Ready, we are so desperate just to

see every single thing is a sign to confirm our

biases true not. The Bible says that we can even

cause ourselves to dream dreams. We want you know, did

you know that we can cause ourselves to have dream dreams?

We want to have our own desires, thinking that it's

God's desires as well. So I hope today that we

can learn how to steer away and navigate from that

next night. So what are some of the common prayer dilimmas? Okay,

this face is supposed to move, It's supposed to look

left and right, left and right. What are some of

the common dilemmas? First of all, we have very inconsistent timing.

For most people. Prayer is the last result.

Is the last thing you pray when you you feel

like I think I need to pray before I close

my eyes after I watch Netflix on my bed. Ah,

last time, you want to watch a lot of What

Capo Demon Hunter?

You'll laugh They're now watching What Wednesday is it? Huh?

I went to somewhere pyramid.

Oh, nowadays our young people are flocking to all these things.

Oh, it's fun.

I like to talk, you know, in opposite syllables, you know,

with the world. You know you're laughing, but it's true.

You know that like to talk in opposite syllables, isn't it?

Yeah?

When I like light, I like that, you know, so

it makes me sound cool. You know a lot of

people who were at venues or workplaces. How many of

you like to pray in a toilet?

Ah? Some rules.

Someone you spend more time, more holy time in day

inside the toilet day.

Okay, I cannot and.

Holy time you're doing there, you know, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling.

You may be like, oh, give me straight right now.

This abomination needs to be purchase my body, give me stress,

and you pray. You never pray before. Oh my goodness,

you have awkward postures.

I don't know.

I know when you pray when you're lying down, you know,

maybe you're sometimes I see my children melting on the

sofa and auditorily, you know, like cats are, like really

are when they're gone, Like no, you pick up their

tail and drop. But that's how they look like they're

melting and sliding and melting off the chair that they're.

You're all luck.

Yeah, distractions, so many distractions, and any distraction. I'm not

talking about just TikTok and everything you like to I

know this. I see a trend that people just love

to fill their lives with so many things. Okay, and

these are good things. These are good things, not bad things.

You know.

It's like it's like a working a downt you want

to work. I got no problem. But suddenly because they

are trying to make an earn living, they rush.

They're rushing too things.

Maybe I'll take up another course, maybe I tuck up

another job. Maybe so I know people who take up two, three,

four or five not part time jobs and initiatives. You know,

you get mean, right, And it's that on their on

their own. I wouldn't say they're bad. You know everything,

But when you look at the totality of your life,

where is it coming from? Where are you going with it?

And I see people burdening themselves like crazy?

And what do you?

And you must understand whatever you try to add in

your life, something you must give up as well?

What did you give up? And what are the course

that you actually give up? As well? The lack of faith.

Sometimes when you pray, I may ask you this question.

When you pray, when you do your quiet time, do

you believe that God will actually show up? A lot

of times we do quiet time and devotion. We believe

because we ought to. But do you actually really sincerely

in your heart believe that God wants to speak to

me and He will speak to me?

You know I'm saying.

You know, it's like asking someone, Hey, you want to

meet up for a mama or not. But you go

there but you're not even expecting the person to show up.

You know, how may your life the tout friends, Hey

on my mind? Yeah, but then they say they're not

expending you to show up on. That's how we go up,

That's how we pray and then do quiet time. You're

going on, hey, I'll see you attendity yea, the fella

never show up on because the fella doesn't even have

faith that you will show up. A lot of you

are also dealing with a lot of shame sin in

your life as well, things that you continue to fail

and you're using all of your own strength. You try

and try, and you feel shame that is driving you

away from prayer as well. And the last one, which

is a lack of biblical truth in their lives. Now,

this is the part I want to share a story.

How many of you have read how this guy called C. S.

Lewis before. Yeah, how many of you has read his

book called The Screw Tap Letters.

Nah, The Screwtap.

Letters is a book about he's having an imaginary conversation.

The screw Tap Letters is about Screwtape. Basically is the

name of her junior devil, junior devil, junior devil, and

then there is a senior devil. So every junior devil

has been given assignment to go out into the world

and to make sure that Christians never go from the

light and go from the world into the light or

from the enemy's camp into God's camp.

Okay. So he's having this conversation.

So the completion is very powerful because it talks about

the inner struggles and the combat or the warfare that's

happening in the modern day in humanity. Okay, this was

written in the early nineteen hundreds. Okay, So he has

this first part which is very interesting. So Screwtape, the

junior devil was given an assignment of I'm paraphrasing here

an older man. And this older man was sitting in

the park, sitting there, he's all probably like seventy plus yozho,

and he has this moment, this moment of aware and spirituality.

He's not a believer, and she said there He's like,

I'm all, I'm not getting any younger anymore. I can

die anytime. I've seen friends and families passing by, so

I can die anytime.

Uh, you know.

And I never really thought about it. But where am

I going? Is there something more to life? It has

something beyond this line. And he started to realize that, Hey,

maybe all the things that, all the invitations that my

friend has been asking me for decades and years to

go to a church, what's the harm. Maybe I should

just go and talk and see where it goes. And Screwtape,

the junior never sees all that is happening inside these guys.

Man, he starts to panic.

And this guy is going from this camp into God's camp.

You know, this sudden need for spirituality and eternal perspective

is shifting this guy into this man. And screw Tape

was very worried that he's gonna get scolded and he's

gonna get punished. So he turns to his uncle. His

uncle is mister Wormwood. Okay, his uncle.

I hope I got the correctly.

Hey, the one word comes to, you know, to his

junior and say that, what are you gonna do about

this guy?

And he said, I don't know.

Maybe I will get him to maybe our reason with

him and do things. Let me ask you a question here.

A lot of times when we think about the devil

or the enemies came out, how do they discourage someone

from pursuing God?

They scare you.

Watch all the scary movies, like you know, all these

not so many horror movies are low budget but very

effective in sales and tickets. You know, that's what they do.

That's why they are lot budget. That's why they get

a lot of screen time.

You know.

So even kids when they God, they see all these

horror movies. You know it's very very evil. Okay, but

do you think that now the devil works by scaring you,

maybe they possess you.

No, no, no no.

Worm Wood reminds Screwtape, the junior devil that these are

what the world thinks is the tools of the enemy.

No, no, no, no no.

We use instead the most successful and most powerful tool

against the humans. And what is that tool? You see

an old man thinking about eternal perspective, what do you do.

Use lunch? Use his stomach.

Let him think that if he goes to the church,

maybe he cannot find food to eat there. Get him

to think that nothing going there can compare with the

satisfaction of eating a lunch that is according to your

taste and pallid and comfort. Right now, make him think

that you're taking one more bus to go there is

not worth it?

And all the thing who is going to send him back?

What if it rains? You know? And all these things.

By pulling the world closer to him, he will step

away further from God.

It's called pragmatism.

Understand now, By pulling the world to the man, he

will step away from God. The never doesn't need to

scare you. He just used lunch. He just you the

practical things. Why you know you come to this morning?

What is what is the greatest challenge the greatest challenge

to come to this morning?

Is you wake up on time?

Yet?

I mean right? How may you know? Why is worship actually?

What does why it's actually worship? You know?

In the Second Temptation, Jesus was taken to a very

high place, isn't it? I mean a very high place?

What did the devil showed Jesus? Look at all the

kingdoms of the world and their glory. I will give

them to you if you will bow down and worship.

Mean So, what did he mean by worship? Did he

need the extreme to come and play a band for some?

For him? Now? Did he need he he need Jesus

to give him money? Time?

What is worship your heart? A lot of people confuse

what worship really is. You know, you think there's a

song that what the devil one? No, this confused. All

the externals. You can tell you this why because you

can do all these things and yet miss the main point.

What's your heart? What consumes your mind? You think out

the moment you step out, What you think about the

moment when you're on your own last night, when you're

on your own. What do you think the most about

when you're driving your car? What do you think the

most about, whether you make your first million, whether you

meet this guy, this guy, whether that person.

Think about me positively?

What consumes your mind in and out?

That's worship.

Get That's what I'm saying now. So at the end

of the day, when you know what is what is

our wash? It is this morning when you wake up

you choose to come. That's worship this morning when your

kid is making the heck of annoyance, puking the food

in the car.

Didn't give you enough sleep, but yet you.

Still choose to come. That was worship more powerful than

the band singing. You choosing to sleep early, even though

there's a new series on netflace.

That was worship. That was worship. You don't that is

the real meaning of worship.

All the battles are fought before that and all you're here,

it's just there was It's just showing ready, And that's

that's what it really is.

What it's worship.

And it's during the it's during when you cannot be

seen what you do that leads up to this church

when you come here before before you come here, do

you really believe? I wonder who is speaking? Is he

pasted the matter him before? Why is he talking like

that way? He dries like that.

I don't like his tie, and you already dismiss me ready,

you know what I mean? Right? And before anything in

this room.

I why sow why they use like no brightful lesson

why feels very clinical and all all the things that

can get you closer to the world and away from God.

That's the that's the trick of the devil. His favorite tool.

Has always been pragmatism. We know what's pragmatism, and I

hope I have time to share. Okay, pragmatism what's born

in us? Okay, Pragmatism is the obsess is the belief

that we can never know God. We can never know God.

God's to why nomah? So it's not profitable, don't bother

so much. What matters is this world?

Okay? So what does it mean by what matters is

this world?

What it means that I need to step into this

world and figure out my life by looking at all

around me and see what works. If this works, this works,

this work, this works, this works. Then also around my

life being practical coming to church. Yeah, I know there's

God's truth, but then it's not gonna fit my timeline

because in half an hour I need to go and

plick play Pickable already you're laughing.

I come.

I come to Summit ready, Okay, to hear God's work

After service? Do I need to hang out with church

people again? Because I scared you'all five finished the Chicken Rise,

you know, or I miss my mess movie.

You know.

These are the things you But I tell you it's not.

I'm not putting personal. You are not the only person

having these thoughts. Every one of us, as serving a

why must stress a certain kind one.

These are all the things that.

Get you to think impractical, impractical, impractical, And so you're

surround with all the things that are there are what works,

what works?

About works?

You start to pick church, you start to pick someone,

You pick your time to pray, you pick the time,

whatever you want to.

Do, spirituality.

You think you can surround when when everything starts to fail,

where are you at?

When all the things that used to work for you fail?

Where are you at?

And you realize you are devoid of any truth in

your life? You got nothing to fall And I don't

know why I'm so depressed. You keep sinking because there

was no truth to hold you all this while that's

why we happen in our generation.

You know, I'm saying, no, there was there was surrounded

with everything.

They work, but there is no foundation, or they keep sinking, sinking, sinking, sinking, sinking,

and your and the parents and your friends feel so helpless.

But that's not who you are. You are love. But

there's all I cannot but.

My feeling thinking they cannot there was no truth holding them.

They feel helpless and we around them feel helpless as well.

Am I making sense? You know what I'm saying? So

we live our lives thinking from truth, from eternal perspective

into pragmatic the things that are short term, things that works,

and everything as well, lunch instead of the old men

thinking about I can do without lunch. So what if

I start a bit? Am I gonna die? I'm gonna

die anyway?

You know what I mean? Right? Maybe?

Or maybe the doesn't speak your language? Can of connect?

What have I got to lose? You know what I'm saying. No,

So the battle shifts from you being pragmatic and stops

to hey, hey, but maybe it's worth while to have

a bit of courage and a bit of faith to

pursue something more eternal, something true, something that will always

remain with me.

You know what I'm saying. That's the battle in prayer?

Makes sense? Everybody learning something here? All right?

So next slide, please, So what can we do? First

of all, this is my last life ready, by the way,

First of all, plan your prayer, Plan your prayers. Ideally

you should pray twice a day at least in the morning,

in the in the before you.

Sleep as well. This is what because it's what Jesus did.

Early in the morning he wakes up and the night,

when ministry is done, when you're tired, when you just

want to just feed your flesh, and you, oh, I had.

A long day, the long meetings.

My boss just drained and sucked every energy mean ah,

drier than you an empty ice bottle. Oh, and I

just want to sink. And you fall back to your

old routine. You know, it's like, you know, really just

scrolling death, scrolling TikTok ah, and you sleep on it

because that's what entertains you. But you confuse entertainment with rasta.

You confuse it, You really confuse You think that's trend,

but it's not.

It's just entertaining.

Because for once, entertainments about you smiling, you feel like

you're in control, but you're not resting.

But plan your prayer.

Set a time, Okay, set a time, and I say it,

set a time and a place and the duration. What

I mean is, and I do this with my children

as well. I'm not telling you, I'm trying to do it.

Find a place where nobody.

Can see you.

Your phone cannot find you, your children cannot find you,

your wife cannot find you, and you are on your own.

Just pray. Turn everything off.

Actually I will say I'm not saying. I know this

is a big controversial, but I always put a clock

there and I started to prayer. I put a clock there,

and someone clowdre because I always tellt that I pray

real long. When I started, I put a clod there

and I pray. How come only five minutes?

You know?

Oh but I don't know what to pray already, and

I got stuck there. You know, my prayer life, it's

just two minutes, three minutes, you know. I pray everything.

Then I realized that, hey, my prayer, how can people

pray for hours?

You know?

And I started reading and because I started reading prayer

book from people like people like George Miller, you know,

I said, all these people who pray for everything, and

I realized, what when they pray, they are not like,

oh they are when they we think that these prayerful

people are all They've got so many words that they

can say.

They can read the whole Bible for you.

No, no, no, they struggle with the same doubt.

They struggle with the same thing.

He said, Oh today we don't have food and all

today not in two hours, it's lunch. We haven no

money for one hundred and fifty oftens how and then

he just woke out and there, God, I don't know

how I'm gonna trust in you. I'm just gonna take

a walk here. I trusted you. Believe you know, even

even if there's nothing, I still believe that you are good.

He just keeps saying the same thing and does this

every single day.

And if you read Josh Miller's uh his orphanage is

in Bristol.

There.

He has never asked and did one single fund raising

in his life for his orphanage ever true or notough

or you know, go to Bristol want to be He

has never asked. I think he raised millions, you know,

but without fund raising. He God just dropped popping out nowhere.

There's milk in front of the door. There's someone, there's

a truck and all that that that dropped their bread,

and then they got bread. All their life they have

never but God has always answered their prayers.

Okay, so set a time and the place. Okay, please

don't pray in the toilet. Okay.

Don't pray in the toilet is honoring. Don't pray when

you're lying, okay, get a find find a chair. I'm

going down to as practical as possible. Get a chair

or if you want, actually, I encourage you, get on

your knees, pull your hands together. The first prayer starts

with your body, not with your words. It starts with

your body. A lot of people think it starts with

your heart. No starts with your body. It starts with

your body. If I talk to someone here, okay, I

don't know. Say I talk to maibor Hey, you like

if I talk to you sitting like that?

Hi? You don't like it? Even with good friends are

I'll talk to you like that. You wouldn't like it.

You know why because I may be talking to you

and I really like you as a friend, but my

body tells you I'm gonna leave anytime soon. I can

be good friends, but I'm not present, and so as

a friend, I honor our friendship firstly with my body.

I turn around, and I speak louder with my presence.

You pray louder with your body than with your heart.

You think of you with your body? Anything else That

is why when we worsh we tell people, raise your

hands as loud as the band can be, as nice

as there's nothing more powerful than your hands raised. The

devil doesn't mind er people singing ten songs now, but

he has a problem when people raise their hands. He

has a problem with that because they knows they're onto

something that your body always lead you to some place.

Get on the find a place, get on your knees,

put your hands together.

There's a reason why.

And all the times are in monasteriesa whether you know

orthodogs and they have prayer beats. You know, you know,

not his prayer beat. It's not like when you put

your hands together and pray. BASc got some chakra or

coming out. Okay, it's not there, you know. It's just

that they realize that their minds can go off. But

if I can tune my body to do one single thing,

I can subject my mind and to what I'm doing

and be focused on prayer and not be distructed by food, outside,

noise and everything else. I discipline my body for the spiritual.

You can't say no. There's why some of you when

you pray your verse. I want to pray, but your

mind is thrown off by a thousand and one. Is

my boss holding me, not my dog and everything?

No, lead with your body, Live with your body.

Okay, Get on your knees, put your hands together, put

your phone away, and begin to pray.

You know what I'm saying. You know it's very very

very very important.

Remove the distractions, phones, netflix, and set your time to pray.

Now.

I want to mention it because I think about a

month ago I was doing our ex business community devotion

and we were going through the Book of Proverbs.

And.

Then you always see these forwards coming out in the

book of problems. Knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and discernment. Okay, knowledge, understanding,

wisdom and discernment. How many times is there you read

a book of Proverbs? Says son, get wisdom, Son, get understanding,

some choose discernment a lot of times many passage. But

what is the distinction between this four? And this will

help in your prayer as well?

This fall. Now, let me explain.

Understanding is knowing something It's a fact.

Okay, I will put it in illustration.

Knowing something I understand service is eight o'clock tomorrow. Understanding

it's not just knowledge, it's knowing the effect and the.

Impact it has around it. Do you understand? Means that

do you know what you know has an impact?

How you make choices. It's always to do with effect

and consequences. Okay, after you burn your hand because you

put your hand into the micro into the oven, what

is still hot?

Now you understand? You don't know?

You just oh, now I understand hurt. You understand because

of pain. Wisdom is because you choose wisely, applying what

you know, what you understand, and you begin to choose wisely.

Discernment is knowing when to perceive something, where it comes from,

and knowing where it goes. Okay, it's not just knowing

where it comes and knowing where it's where it's going

or headed. Now, let me give you an example. It's

a very good example. This lady works nine o'clock and

the company requires her to show up at eight forty

five because they are briefing and stuff like that.

But she always comes late, ten minutes late, five minutes late.

Okay, so it clears. She knows she needs to be

there by eight forty five. She knows, raised it, she knows,

But did she do it? She didn't do it? But

does She understands, sure not. Then she notices that all

her colleagues and her friends in the world treat her differently.

They avoid her.

That feels like there's some passive aggressive thing happening there

and all like not happy that. Then she realizes, because

she comes late, it affects everybody's responsibility, everybody's uh what

they call it a workshief as well. Everybody has to

cover for her and it affected them. And when she realizes,

she begins to understands why she needs to come early,

makes it ends, It hits. It hits you because you

realize it affects people. Consequences hits you hard. Now it's

just knowledge. If it goes into your feelings because you are,

you affect people. Now, the question is she needs to

make wise decisions. What is a wise decision? The wise

decision is to sleep early and don't watch K pop

Demon the night before, or don't watch Wednesday and sleep

at one o'clock or two o'clock when you need to

wake up early. There's nothing spiritual about no too spiritual

about sleeping earlier, and it's just the wise thing to do.

True or not, it's the wise thing to do. But yeah,

we don't do it, and we justify why go early,

because now we bring pragmatic My boss briefing also doesn't

make sense one you tell. So, yeah, we shift the

responsibility from us into blaming other people. When we are

supposed to be rove, to be responsible and to be

wiseer we've got. We start to blame so that we

draw closer to the world and blame everybody else.

Isn't it now?

But the good news is she begins to make good choices,

make good choices. She begins to sleep earlier, wake up earlier,

show up earlier, and she notices everyone starts to ay

well done. And it's not for young people. Actually, a

lot of people who are much older to do the

same thing again and again, again and again. And then

when she's and then and then she goes to work,

she starts to hear people whispering and talking bad about management,

talking about people. And then she didn't just take everything

in and because when she hears them, she realized that, hey,

a lot of things they say makes a lot of sense.

But when she asks a bit deeper, she realizes they

are coming from a place of hurt. And even if

she listens to them, where is this going to take

them to It's going to affect them. It's gonna make

them feel like it's not worth sleeping early, and it's

gonna make me show up late for all the other

reasons as well, because now it's not about me, it's

because my management is not worth it game, and I'm

using my offense as a reason. And so discernment is

knowing when to pick up where things are coming from.

It's not just whether it's whether it makes sense, It's like,

are you coming from a place or hurt?

Bitterness? Is your life okay or not?

You see it can be quoting verses to me, but

I discern where you're coming from, and it's wrong and

it's evil. And I know whatever you tell me, it's

going to take me to a bad place. It's not

gonna lead me closer to God. And my discernment steps

away from that that you pass. I'm not going to

be part of that road, makes sense or not. So

I hope that all of us will not just be knowledgeable,

will be also be understanding, make good choices and be wise,

and use a discernment to step away when things are

not looking right, makes sense or not. That is why

this is what the Book of Proper Talks talks about.

Knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and discernment.

Turn to your neighbor right now and say that I

want Are you feel with knowledge? Turn to your other

neighbor and ask them, right now, do you want understanding?

Turn to your same neighbor again, are you wise? Then

the neighbor saying do you want discernment?

Ah?

Everybody caught something here? Huh okay, ah, okay, that's good.

That's good. But let me draw it to a close here.

Okay, so now go to the last like, okay, remove distractions.

So be wise and discerning and remove distractions. Different one

of us have different things that we fall pray to,

we get we are weak at.

Some of you don't even watch Netflix. That's great. Some

of you you look at your phone, you sage hour.

You're like, oh, it's like how many like I spend

eighteen hours? Oh you mean the only time I don't

use my phone is when I sleep on You say, oh, no,

that's quite scary. Okay, then that's where you got to cray.

That's why it's good to go into fasting.

People.

Fast thing is to know also when something controls you

or not yeah, I mean right, when something controls you

or not, it's very you keep saying that I'm not

control then faster if something doesn't control you, fast, Okay.

Then the fourth one verbalized when you pray. I highly

encourage you to speak it. I know it's very rare

that you can pray verbalize one hundred percent if you

pray a bit longer because it can get you a

tiring But verbalizing is powerful. Just as you where you

lead into prayer and into worship with your body, you

also lead yourself in prayer with by speaking out. You

notice that a lot of people are good at thinking,

but not good at expressing. A lot of people are

good at feeling inside, but when they pray, they struggle.

Because when you speak, you need to witness to your

thought that is true, it's agreeable, that's why you say it.

And secondly, you need to order your thoughts in your

heart and your mind that you can articulate what you feel.

And you think. Two things are required there, and so

when you.

Speak, a lot of people, when people speak, the struggle

I really know how to pray or not how and

when they stry to pray, and then you realize that

I struggle because I'm a mess.

I'm a mess. You're not saying what I'm saying.

That. That's why sometimes when you're broken and you are you,

when you're completely crumbled, or you're finding hard to pray

because your whole life is a mess.

It's a chaos, whole chaos. You cannot word it up.

But at the very level, I want you to speak

it because as you speak, you bear witness to what

you say, your bare witness want no that makes that

is good the bare witness because now you're starting to

have a sprinkle more fear of God in your life.

You start to have a fear of God because you

scare what to say.

But but if you are fearful, but you choose to

say the right thing what you ought to hear, you

are ministering to yourself as well. So your prayer goes

another deep, another level deeper, instead of just waiting here, God,

you know how I feel, You know how I feel,

You know how I feel. How many of you like

to meet friends and who just let I think you

know how I feel. That's how marriage just get into trouble.

You know, I don't tell my husband because I expect.

Him to know.

Oh, I don't tell my wife because I expect her

to know. This is my meantime right now. I expect her.

We don't talk, but we gotta talk. Your bare witness yourself,

and what you say becomes very powerful, your witness to yourself.

What are you saying?

What they What is it that you dare not say that?

It's revealing about who you are, isn't it? When you

pray you want something very much, but when you're like

in your heart, you keep it hidden. But I said, God,

I really want this, but I'm not even sure this

is from you. See how your prayer is getting answer

eighty because you realize it's always been inside you, but

you never confronted it.

So Lord, I don't know even what to pray.

To pray to ask for the thing, or to pray

the Lord that you will reveal my heart. You start

to preach to yourself when you start to verbalize it

by faith. I'm not asking to blurt up nonsensically. You know,

I'm asking you to to pray in the.

Fear of God.

And you realize that you realize the truth and your

feelings are wrestling.

You know, you start to realize it's wrestling. Ah, why

why a My praying is something that I don't want,

but it's to cause it the truth? Ah oh no,

but it's true.

Pray out. It's very very, very very powerful. We you

are a great to pre verbalize. Okay, huh. I hope

that you will, Guys actually practice it a verbalized consistency.

It's more powerful than your feelings.

Even there will be days when you feel like your

prayer is not hurt, you feel like your prayer is ineffective.

You don't know what you're praying about. There will be

days like that.

People, you still do it, You still go through it

because sometimes just showing up is the worship you God men.

Right, that's the battle. That's the battle for today.

Sometimes you go all the way, sometimes you go halfway,

but you still got to show up.

You can. I'm saying now, you still got to show up.

That's the battle. And on nothing else.

It's not like, oh, I have a deep prayer and

I have some deep you know inspiration, that's my most

powerful way. You probably have one every two years, But

then the rest you don't pray.

What's the point.

It's the showing up to prayer at night when nobody

is watching you show up the prayer.

That's the bad, that's the hardest back.

That is where the devil wants to meet you and

discourage you. You get I mean right, that's where it's

not here. He's in your room. That's where he described.

That is where he makes his stand. That's where he

says he defended his position. No, you know I'm saying no.

He bat those in your mind. He battles like crazy

to you not to get to the rest. Stop, think

about everything else in your life that you have to

put on hotels to pray. He makes you think like that, everybody, Okay, okay,

and push through in prayer.

Push through in prayer. What I mean I pushed through

in prayer.

I'm not asking you to like, ah, you know ah.

You know, the more I feel, the more I clutch

my feet, I got feeled.

You know, That's not why I'm man.

When you pray and then say, for example, you pray,

you got this, okay, fine, pray and then you're done, ready,

and he ten minutes on me. There is when I

want you to pause for a while and continue for

another ten minutes, when you have nothing to praierly, that

is where I want you to pray. You pray already,

got nothing prayer. I don't know what to pray.

Ready, I pray everything already and you stay there.

You know what happens, you know when you go to

the gym, if you go to a gym, Yeah, I

have jingoles who don't want to tell them they go to.

When you go to gym, right, you know?

Sometimes you you train maybe up to six to seven

repetitions per sex.

Isn't it one to A three, four, five, six and

then seven? Seven? Is the one?

And that when you lift up your Hannah you start

to have your doubt. You know, I do it's going

to go through. That is where you have a moment

of self awareness reflection. I can they really went through?

Let me ask you at which set, at which rep

does the muscle starts to grow? Is it a the

one or is it when you are almost failing at

six and seven? Any doctors here, huh? You watch a

lot of youtubes about health, you will know that it's

at the sixth and the seven when you grow your muscle.

So what is the point of one and five? Then

one and five is to get you to growth? You mean,

is to get you to six to seven. A lot

of times when we think when we pray, that's the prayer.

It's when you have nothing left to pray. That's when

you begin to grow. That's the beginning of prayer. When

you have nothing else. When you talk too much, ready,

when you give God, treat God like jpt you prompt God,

I want this in this fashion. Can you talk like

this at this time, at this place, you know, but

be gentle with me. But if you can't give me

a double portion as well, you know, press enter way

for good, come out. You think God like like that,

but God just continues waiting and waiting and are you done?

Are you done talking? Are you done prompting? And you

start to pray, and I start to write down my thoughts.

You know, I wrote down someth my thoughts when I

pray and roll here. When you empty yourself, when you spend,

and you are spent, you begin to realize that prayer

is not solving your worries, but it's more about offering

your worries. You begin to realize that your prayers are

not prayer is just blurting out. You start to develop

a clearer awareness. Have you been doing things out of

your own strength. Have you been wise in your own eyes?

Have you even acknowledged God? Have you been so flesh

and worldly minded? Are you very canal? And you begin

to realize that actually, when you come to prayer, your

prayers are very very basic, so basic, and you realize

that what you pray is so weak, so frail, so flesh.

You begin to ask God for mercy. You begin to

ask God for forgiveness. You begin to ask God to

examine you. But Lord, be gentle, I'm starting to see

some things, but it's painful. I am no longer just

a pastor, a student, a father, or anyone who all

the decorations surround me.

I'm nobody. I'm empty, I'm naked.

I'm just one human being kneeling and asking for mercy.

And instead of talking right now, what I deeply desire

more than anything else is that I want to know you.

I want to know you because talking and just venting

it doesn't.

I want to know you.

I begin to realize they are in my life. There

are so many things that are conflicting between my world

and your will. I begin to ask a lot of

times if God is angry with me, if God loves me,

and as I press on in there I begin to thirst.

I begin to hunger not what I feel, but what

is true and eternal. And I begin to realize that

what I want is happiness. I want peace. I want

to be free from this thing, this worldly hunger, to constantly.

Be checked off.

And because I'm so confused, I begin to ask God

to teach me how to pray, a prayer that I

ought to pray to desire how I ought to desire.

But I look at my own bottle, and I realize

that my faith is so empty and so little left.

But in this moment I can choose.

I choose to give God every little bit of faith

that I have in this moment, and I say, Lord,

I believe you can, you will feel me, and that

you can work with one with two and make a

million out of it. And as I do exercise believe,

I begin to feel the hand and the tenderness and

the mercy of God. And as I experience God's grace

in my life, I start to see things beginning to

separate my desires, whether they are true or are they

from the world, They are selfish or are they giving,

just as God's lights separates the world from light and darkness,

And so my life begins to order, Like the sea

against the land. I begin to see that my way

is not the right way, that His way is higher.

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

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this week is going to be a good week. I

hit for you. God bless