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Mary and Martha Worship & Serve | Pr Matthew Chang

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  1. You're listening to a message to go from ex Church.

  2. We hope this message will light up your tea.

  3. To look chapter ten Oh yeah, oh yeah before I

  4. do as well. Uh just came back from missions last Sunday.

  5. Uh in the logs, no, I know that before me

  6. there was a team from Unpounded when as well, who

  7. you guys are? Whoo who was the one? Who? Oh

  8. yeah yeah yeah yeah, how was it? Enjoyed it so far? Liiktoba? Right?

  9. Yeah yeah yeah, so part fronts send their regards to

  10. you guys as well, some of you. You know, I'm

  11. sure it was a very interesting, interesting uh mission treat

  12. for you guys. The music, you know, it's like I

  13. struggled with the music because they don't need a sound

  14. crew one and know the because they only go one setting.

  15. Max and you guys were the lucky ones. Okay, I

  16. caused I was the invited guess you know. I had

  17. to sit right at the front end now beside the speaker,

  18. am I I was wearing my Apple Watch. My Apple

  19. watch keep ringing and unhealthy sound level. Unhealthy sound level,

  20. unhealthy sound level, you know, like oh my goodness is

  21. like ah, I had to like stuff a big tahoe

  22. just to just to number the tecourse it was getting

  23. to hurt, but it was really awesome. Uh, you know,

  24. I have fun with them. How many of you have

  25. you've been to Indonesian mission trip with ours team before?

  26. Only I know there's one group? How many ones? Okay? Great,

  27. so I may when before. I'm sure it was fun, right,

  28. very fascinating. I tell you these guys are on fire man,

  29. I really they they they are so I mean, they

  30. are very big heart. Their hearts of worship is so simple.

  31. I highly encourage you guys to go and join the

  32. mission treap. Really every year I always tell people, Uh,

  33. once a year, at least once a year, go for

  34. a mission trip local overseas. Go for one mission trip.

  35. It's gonna do wonders for your own half, for your

  36. own soul, for your own perspective of life as well. Okay,

  37. it's very fantastic. So past part front and part Jeffries

  38. and the regards to you guys. Okay, I had on

  39. that last day, I was I was okay for the

  40. four days except for the last day or I had diarrhea.

  41. Really it was so bad. But France, but they can now.

  42. On Thursday, I cannot. On the fourth day, I cannot

  43. before sermon, straight after the summon, then just before flight

  44. takeoff as well. So like I was like, oh, it

  45. was really hard. But anyway, let's go to the word

  46. right now, right, let's cleanse all this all right, turned

  47. with me to Luke chapter ten, and I'm gonna read

  48. here from verse thirty eight. Okay, I'm sure you you

  49. guys are quite familiar with this passage. Okay, Now, verse

  50. thirty eight. He has a title that says Mary and

  51. Martha worship and sir. Okay, you guys are quite familiar

  52. with this. Now that's read it says, now it happened

  53. as they went that that he, meaning Jesus, entered a

  54. certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcome him

  55. into the house. And she had a sister called Mary,

  56. who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.

  57. But Martha was this stricted with what with not the

  58. thought okay, with much serving, And she approached him Jesus

  59. and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister

  60. has left me to serve alone? Let me rephrase, let

  61. me read this again, I underlying this rainpart. Lord, do

  62. you not care that my sister has left me to

  63. serve alone. Therefore, tell her to help me. Very important, okay?

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

  65. are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing

  66. is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part which

  67. will not be taken away from her. All right? So

  68. I have some slightest as well, But before I do,

  69. I just want to ask one main question. Okay, which

  70. is the next light? What's the question? Who was Martha

  71. really upset with? Oh? You know how many of you

  72. get into domestic fights before, with your spouse, with your

  73. husband before. Sometimes you get confused. Now are you upset

  74. with me? Are you say? With the kids? I said,

  75. with your boss? Why does it feel like you're scolding me?

  76. You know how many of you know what I'm talking about?

  77. You know what I'm talking about. Right now, we have

  78. obviously a situation here. Right now I'm gonna ask a

  79. very clear question here. Who is Martha really upset with? Who?

  80. Says Mary? Okay? Why the rest? Are you all? Have?

  81. You have the Hall York? Your neighbors accountable? Like they

  82. don't raise their hand, you better raise their hand? Sid

  83. Who says Mary, who says someone else? Who Jesus who

  84. says Jesus, Ah, this all theological students are, All theological

  85. students are Bible seminary students. Or it must be Jesus,

  86. love can be married. Now, why do you say, Jesus, Martha?

  87. Mary is the one not putting her legs and her

  88. hands into the plow, isn't it? But why Jesus? Because

  89. the sentence reveals her frustration, isn't it? The sentence reveals

  90. the frustration. Let's look at what I know. You read

  91. it a few times. Let's read it again. What did

  92. you say? He says here in verse forty lord addressing

  93. she's talking to Jesus or not to marry Lord? And

  94. the first thing is not Mary is not doing anything?

  95. What did she say? Do you not care? Before she

  96. addresses Mary, she already came to the conclusion, or at

  97. least the presumption that do you not care? Because she

  98. felt like Jesus not Caresn't It initially starts with Mary

  99. not working? Then after this she feels like, Jesus, your damna.

  100. But you're not intervening, you're not helping, you're not making

  101. things better, and you clearly know that I'm here, I'm hurting,

  102. I'm suffering, you know, so the prayer becomes all the

  103. conversation becomes Lord, do you not care? Actually, can just

  104. simplify it? You know, if you simplify the whole thing

  105. and just say, Lord, do you not care? Okay, do

  106. you not care? Then my sister has left me to

  107. serve alone, left me, you know, serf alone or victimizing

  108. herself in cal you know, you know, you know, had

  109. to remind Jesus you don't care. You look at me

  110. right now, I'm alone, I'm serving alone, I'm suffering. Yeah,

  111. we try to tell God how we feel and tell God, hey, God,

  112. you're not doing your job, you know? And then which

  113. part betrays her? Someone? What did she do next? Was

  114. it a question or an instruction? He was an instruction?

  115. You don't instruct the person in all that you don't bother,

  116. you know, you instruct the person that your attention and

  117. frustration and director towards. Isn't it Therefore? Why tell her? God?

  118. You need to tell her? Oh, that's the gist of

  119. the story, isn't it? Get me? Right? Therefore, God, you

  120. tell her? So what is this whole story about? How

  121. is it about prayer. How many of you know what

  122. I'm talking about? Sometimes we come before God, isn't it huh?

  123. Come before God? We come before God that God, I

  124. have a prayer in it. Sometimes our prayer needs are

  125. seems that prayer needs until you go a bit deeper,

  126. and then you start to realize what you are saying,

  127. what you are feeling. Then it betrays you to realize

  128. that you are not really having problems. You're having a

  129. problem with God because God doesn't answer, God not doing anything.

  130. And then you play God, I'm sore, I'm so, I'm sore.

  131. I'm sure heard, I'm so victimized. You're not answering anything.

  132. Nor then our prayer turns into what telling God what

  133. to do? Oh. So, the danger although we are entering

  134. into a time of fasting and praying, I'm afraid that

  135. many of us, including myself, that you know, the other

  136. danger is that, of course the first part is not praying. Now.

  137. The other danger is that we pray for the wrong things.

  138. There will approach prayer completely wrong. Then you realize that

  139. you get enter into prayer frustrated and come out even

  140. more frustrated. True or not true? Not, But we want

  141. to be able to also, of course, you know, Jesus

  142. comes and it's very comforting, you know, towards what they

  143. call it, towards our Martha as well. So what Jesus said,

  144. you said you are worried and troubled about many things.

  145. All these stems from one thing starts to be beginning

  146. of something being troubled. Okay, about many things troubled, and

  147. many things being vexed, and many things. It is being

  148. what do they call it? What do they call it? Annoying?

  149. But yet at the same time there is the problem

  150. of being having too many things at the same time.

  151. It's a quality and a quantity problem as well. Okay,

  152. sometimes you don't have quantity. Sometimes you can be frustrated

  153. with a very specific problem, and sometimes you have a

  154. very specific problem. But it's also overwhelming. So how many

  155. of you're not talking about? Sometimes the days can be

  156. just overwhelming. It's just like one after another after another

  157. after another. Sometimes I give you three problems in a row.

  158. You're like overwhelming? Ready, you know how many? You know

  159. what I'm talking about? No, no, no, you don't have

  160. an overwhelming day before. Sometimes you can have an overwhelming day,

  161. isn't it. So it's both the trouble and with many things.

  162. But Jesus specific said one thing. There's one thing, not

  163. just thing. One thing. So the goal that Jesus wants

  164. us to take us it's not just to remove the problem,

  165. but to singularize it into one thing. Do you know

  166. that one thing that matters that is needed? And then

  167. I eventually get us to choose that one thing. To choose.

  168. Her means is not telling God to do, but us

  169. to choose. It's not God's responsibility, but prayer results in

  170. my responsibility. Amazing, you know what I'm saying or not,

  171. it's amazing at this conversation now, it's not turning. It

  172. starts off with what they call it matha telling God

  173. what to do. But Jesus replies that choose one thing

  174. and you get to choose it. That's what prayer is

  175. meant to be. Okay, that's the whole massaturity kidding something

  176. there or not. You're caught something there or not. What

  177. I'm telling to you, I'm trying to unpack to you guys,

  178. is that prayer is very powerful. A prayer in fact,

  179. is actually one of our greatest warfarees is used in warfare,

  180. but it is actually itself is the warfare every day.

  181. Your biggest better is not getting here to k l

  182. getting there to your workplace, trying to get your family

  183. sorted yesterday is one of the better. You're better is

  184. trying to enter into prayer, into a prayer mode. Okay,

  185. So now let's go a bit deeper. Okay, let's go

  186. be let's go to the next slight. What do we

  187. have the next slight? Ah, Martha's problem. Martha's problem is

  188. that she's worried and troubled about many things. But it

  189. is not a problem. It's not a problem of the heart.

  190. She loves God. That's why Jesus is in the house.

  191. Many of you here are here because you love God.

  192. You say, yes, I want to love God. I love God.

  193. I want to be here on a surfing as well.

  194. But a lot of times we lack not heart, we

  195. lack wisdom. And Martha is the same thing as well.

  196. She lacks wisdom in the same case. Have you heard

  197. about the parable of the ten Foolish Virgins? That ten

  198. foolish virgins are is meant for who believers or non believers?

  199. It's she meant for believers. Actually, so why is it

  200. taking said you can follow Jesus, but yet because of

  201. the lack of wisdom, you make poor choices. I don't

  202. have to remind you if you look through the Bible,

  203. how many characters in the Bible have made poor choices.

  204. I mean that doesn't mean that you're a Christian, that

  205. you're exempted and or known. There is the need to

  206. meet wise and good choices in life as well. So

  207. it's not a heart problem. A lot of us what

  208. we're going through, it's not a heart problem. It is

  209. a wisdom problem. And a lot of times is the

  210. problem of differentiating what is important versus immediate. Aw sometimes

  211. you do a lot of things that are immediate like

  212. a factor. Oh, you keep doing doing doing, But sometimes

  213. because of that, you get when you have more than

  214. one thing to do, you learn are you able to

  215. priority times or see through what it's really really really important? Yes,

  216. serving is important, But yet are you gonna have Jesus

  217. all the time? No? Isn't it? Sometimes listening is more

  218. important than talking. Okay, and spiritual versus pragmatism as well. Okay,

  219. let's go to the next line. Okay, how many times

  220. have we said this prayer is a luxury, praise a

  221. luxury here. We've gotta find time to find to pray.

  222. You don't have time to pray and energy to pray.

  223. Busy and actually, to be honest, you guys have big responsibilities.

  224. I understand. I'm totally understanding. And a lot of times

  225. you don't have the time, you don't have the energy.

  226. But also you don't find a fulfillment in prayer, and

  227. because of that, you find prayer to high a cost

  228. to pay. There is a saying you know that when

  229. you know that without a clear vision, okay, everything becomes

  230. a cost too high to pay. Okay, without a clear vision,

  231. everything becomes a cost too high to pay. If I

  232. tell you that you need to lose weight, but you know, no,

  233. I know, I'm saying a lot of different things. You know.

  234. We just had our ex business community devotion two days

  235. ago or three days ago on Thursday, and I was

  236. teaching about sharing about from the Book of Problems. You

  237. always hear these four keywords, isn't it always hear Number

  238. one knowledge, You hear about the word understanding, You hear

  239. the word about wisdom, and you hear the word discernment

  240. Karna in the Book of Proverbs, get understanding, get wisdom,

  241. get get get you read a book or keep talking

  242. about that. But what's the difference between these four knowledge, understanding,

  243. wisdom and discernment. A lot of us know that we

  244. need to honor our parents, Troy, not you know you're

  245. told to honor your parents. Okay, maybe maybe use another example.

  246. This one is better. You know that you need to

  247. come to office in time. This is not even more.

  248. And actually we had someone in the devotion share that

  249. you know, this person knows that she needs to come

  250. on time. They start work at nine, but they need

  251. to show up at eight thirty. We know that, but

  252. then they don't have an understanding. They come up, they

  253. come in late, and they didn't come in at eight thirty.

  254. They came at nine, and she and the person notices

  255. that her colleagues are treating her not so nice. And

  256. the reason why she found out later is when she

  257. comes in late, everybody has to cover for her. Sheep.

  258. She impacts everybody's other people's responsibility, things, and everything else

  259. as well. Perceptions happens. So from her knowledge and because

  260. of her consequences affecting other people, she begins to understand.

  261. Understanding is more than no way. Understanding is understanding consequences,

  262. implications and impact you. Now she begins to understand why

  263. she needs to come in time. Then, but does she

  264. do it? She still didn't do it. There is the

  265. lack of wisdom. You know you understand, but are you

  266. skillfully managing your time? Because wisdom is not just showing

  267. up on time and all wisdom is making sure the

  268. night before you don't watch your Netflix ahanging. So you

  269. look at a person. Why you don't you don't watch

  270. it so late? No, I just need to answer my life.

  271. So you live. You look at the person. The person

  272. is living skillfully correct or not leaving skillful living whit.

  273. Wisdom is not like well, I go around talk some

  274. deep deep stuff. You know. Real wisdom is live or

  275. the person that is wise making wise choices. You don't

  276. drink coffee at nine o'clock at night, you know you don't.

  277. You know. Make sure that you know that your surrounding

  278. is prime for sleep. You eat healthier foods, You manage yourself,

  279. you wake up earlier as well. You realize that you

  280. don't do quiet time railwad at night, you do it

  281. in the morning. You may continually make wise decisions. You

  282. know what I'm saying, so from knowledge, you get into

  283. understanding because but then you begin finally you realize that

  284. understanding heaps down enough, it hits so deep until you

  285. realize it it's gonna affect your survival, your success and survival

  286. in life. Then you begin to make wise choices in

  287. your life. You eat wisely right now, eat healthier food.

  288. You start to go for a longer walks. Already you

  289. don't don't do what you you don't smoke, you do

  290. whatever it is, ready living wisely. The fourth onest one discernment.

  291. Discernment means you know where, you know how to measure something. No,

  292. if a person tells you something, you know how to

  293. measure and you ask where is it coming from? And

  294. where is it going? And That's what I'm saying. So,

  295. if a person tells me and quotes me scripture, this

  296. person is doing something wrong and stuff like that. You

  297. know he telling me or a quoting me scripture of

  298. what this person is doing wrong. And I listen, and

  299. I listen, and I measure is this really in accordance

  300. to the world of God? Then I begin to ask,

  301. why is this person telling me this thing? And he

  302. could be quoting scripture, He could be telling me things.

  303. He could be putting online things about things, and I

  304. realize this guy has been hurt before I can tell you.

  305. Because of that, I realized that you can be quoting scripture,

  306. but if you're coming from a place of bitterness and hurt,

  307. I have to reject it because I know whatever did

  308. you say is taking me to a bad place. Ah.

  309. So you have discernment. So that's why you discern the

  310. people that come into your life as well. A discerning

  311. person is not just they don't all the times, they

  312. know the people around them as well. That's why you've

  313. got to be careful who you allow in your life.

  314. You're going to take care in your in your life,

  315. your children, whether they associate with good people and bad

  316. friends as well, because you know where they come from

  317. and likely where they are going as well. So you

  318. need discernment as parents, makes sense or now so we

  319. need what knowledge? Understanding, wisdom and discernment makes sense. It's

  320. a good framework. So when you read the Book of Proverbs,

  321. it's always around these areas. Why I know, okay, you

  322. always so the Bible always say what get knowledge? You

  323. don't nor Meally they say yes knowledge, but always get understanding, understanding,

  324. get understanding, get wisdom, you know, get don't you saying

  325. all this comes from the Lord? Now a lot of

  326. times when we come into prayer, we have knowledge, but

  327. we like understanding. We like understanding. We don't have the understanding,

  328. we don't have the wisdom, we don't have the discernment

  329. as well. Pray, pray, prayer, and then you just simply

  330. apply the Bible verse, you know, when to a tree,

  331. I get the God hear my prayer, and then just

  332. simply claim money you got. I mean right, we are,

  333. we are knowledgeable in the spirit, but like understanding that

  334. you know, sheep like sheep that know they're hungry they

  335. need to eat, but they don't know where to get

  336. their food from, like understanding, which is very very very

  337. sad as well. But we don't want to be like that, okay.

  338. And so what happens when you lack understanding? How many

  339. of you when you pray you find it unfulfilling? You know,

  340. I say, you find filling when you get into prayer.

  341. And I said, okay, I'm gonna pray right I'm gonna

  342. pray right now. Maybe you pray in your car and

  343. you're like, oh, how do I prayer? Then you start

  344. to it's gonna even listen to me. It's the day

  345. I didn't even leave my right very well. Last night

  346. I spent like two three hours talking bad about someone

  347. and ah, talking about my boss, talking about this. I

  348. don't know even not gonna listen. Maybe God sees all

  349. my problems readily. I know I pray. I feel even

  350. more guilty right now. You know, I pray for this

  351. for so long already. Maybe how do I even know

  352. that God is going to respond to me as well?

  353. How many of you know what I'm talking about? No, oh,

  354. you have great prayer life. Oh yeah, great prayer lives.

  355. You know. The funny thing is a lot of you

  356. think that a great people are pray for one hour

  357. to three hours five hours. I've been reading books on

  358. prayer well or recently, like people from George Miller. Even

  359. know George Miller's from Bristol, if you know, Okay, also

  360. books from C. S. Lewis, you know, screw Tail Leapters,

  361. Letters of Malcolm and some other books. I've been curious.

  362. I'm like, I do these great people how their prayer

  363. life is? And you know what I found They struggle

  364. with the same things like you and I. They struggle

  365. with doubt that George Miller's, Oh don't they sometimes they

  366. have on that day itself because they have George Miller

  367. has an orphanage, about three hundred plus student kids, no

  368. food and all three hundred plus. Oh we prayed last night,

  369. So no prayer then walk time in the money, He wrote,

  370. not yet. I don't know what I should pray right now.

  371. Maybe I should just go out for a walk right now.

  372. He just got out for a walk. Then somebody, somebody

  373. will handed him some money, and thank you God. That's

  374. his prayer, Thank you God. Simple. And I realized his

  375. prayers are just simple, stop simple, stop, simple stock, very

  376. simple prayers and a lot of simple a lot of simple,

  377. common struggles like you and I, not some deep theological

  378. Oh I pray, pray, prayer as if like you're gonna

  379. unlock some mystery and or some reward coming out when

  380. you pray properly. No, no, no, no, no, it's very simple God,

  381. He's just prayer. God, help me God. I need this,

  382. Oh God, if you'll be very good, if you can

  383. take a baby? Is knee pain right now? Oh God?

  384. This person is hungry? How how you know, just like

  385. a simple compensation. That's the prayer, simple one and a

  386. it's not something Oh no, no, very simple? What this?

  387. To my surprise? WHOA? Then I realized the key is

  388. not so much about lung. It's just the belief I

  389. need to pray. I just need to pray because my

  390. help comes from nowhere else about God. I mean, right,

  391. I got nowhere else to go. I just pray on it,

  392. and I just talk talk talk. Okay. So a lot

  393. of times we get into all this problem. You don't

  394. know what to expect during prayer. You don't know what

  395. to expect, you don't know how to pray, you don't understand,

  396. and you don't even know what to expect after prayer,

  397. after prayer, okay, how you come out like? Okay, I

  398. did my ritual, I did my things, but how does

  399. it actually impact me or not? Okay? So I hope

  400. to give you to give us some tools today that

  401. will help us to pray a bit better. Okay, that's

  402. been very, very very practical. Okay, let's go to the

  403. next line. Let's go to some to give you some tools.

  404. I need to identify your that dialer mathers your problems.

  405. The common practices that we do that helps us to

  406. have a very poor prayer set up. Okay, and a

  407. lot of people, all of us do that. I also

  408. reguilty of it. First of all, inconsistent timing, very port

  409. uh consistency in timing. How many of you plan your

  410. prayers every day? Some yes, great? Tell me of you

  411. like you tried to plan but then it didn't work out.

  412. You get and you pray when you pray when you're

  413. there's an urgency and there's alarming, you know, and then

  414. when someone tells you to pray, like, how dare you

  415. ask me to pray? Right? You'll be praying right now? Okay,

  416. So we don't we don't plan our prayers. Okay, we

  417. try to most of the time go by feelings and

  418. then and that's the problem. That's one of the mag

  419. major major problems you need. If I can give you

  420. a very important tape, is that you've got to plan

  421. your prayer. Consistency trumps and far outweighs all the quality. Prayer.

  422. Consistency is far more important, and that is what most

  423. of the people, the great people Josh Muller as the

  424. ways that consistency is far in a way great better

  425. benefits consistency. You know why consistency is more powerful because

  426. the battle into prayer is not during the prayer. It's

  427. always before a prayer. The worship of Abraham is not

  428. when he was trying to you know, the challenge for

  429. Abraham when God asked him to offer Isaac. It's not

  430. just at the point where he needs to offer Isaac

  431. and then you know he took the knife and hold

  432. it up there. The challenge for Ibraham was the journey

  433. of bringing Isaac. Yeah, that was the challenge. Did you

  434. know if you read the books I've been read. I've

  435. been doing studies on the Book of Kings, first Kings

  436. and second Kings. Some of you like to read the

  437. Book of Second King, First King, Second Kings. No, don't

  438. like that. When you read that, you realize that there's

  439. so many kings, you know, and then go after we

  440. go to the second Kings that you're like, wow, suddenly

  441. you got Samaria, God Judah got Israel. God Judah is

  442. like what happened in the world. But basically the separation

  443. between Judah and Israel happened for because of one guy,

  444. this king called Jerald Boem. You know what did he do?

  445. Because when they're separated, what did he do? He put

  446. two golden calfs, one in the North and one in

  447. the south. Because at the south, where Judah is right,

  448. their capital was Jerusalem, and in Jerusalem was the appointed

  449. place of worship for everyone. But the North and the

  450. South are fighting, then the Northern Kingdom have a problem.

  451. Every time they have to go to worship, they have

  452. to go to enemy territory to worship. So it becomes

  453. a political problem, you know. So instead, I don't want

  454. my people to go there. So one day they're gonna

  455. backstap me, you know. So what they do, Let me

  456. introduce to you a new place of worship maybe instead

  457. of you know, amang, you know, we multiply somewhere convenient

  458. beside them. You know. You know, they put two golden

  459. calves and tell people you don't have to come all

  460. the way down to Jerusalem to worship anymore, and put

  461. one calf there. I want to put there, you can go. Convenience.

  462. It's like you know, having grab ready, you know, so

  463. people stop going down there to worship at the enemy territory.

  464. You get me right. It was a political convenience. But

  465. when he did that, all the kings sin, you know,

  466. the not not not not, the nation, all the kings.

  467. I think it was about twenty plus kings. All of

  468. them sin and failed because of this two idolatry for

  469. so many years, and because of the convenience. But you

  470. don't realize that worship and prayer is actually fighting through

  471. the convenience. The flash in all that. You know, if

  472. this mean this main thing that I've been reading about.

  473. You know this book by C. S. Lewis, He wrote

  474. about the screw Tech letters. You can read in the

  475. first chapter, and he has this guy. This is a

  476. conversation between a senior devil okay and a junior devil.

  477. Senior devil and junior devil. The junior devil in name

  478. is Wood okay, worm Wood Okay. So the junior devil

  479. has assignment this older guy. And this older guy has

  480. not been going to church. It's an unbeliever. But one

  481. day he has I'm paraphrasing or adding a building. He's

  482. saying that situationally, this guy, it's having a crisis. He

  483. started he was sitting in the park. You start to

  484. think that, hey, maybe there is more to life than this,

  485. and where am I going? He start to ponder is

  486. their heaven and the hell, and the junior devil who's

  487. been assigned to him starts to get very scared. Oh no, no, no,

  488. this guy is having a moment of spirituality, you know.

  489. Oh no, he's going to go to the enemy side,

  490. going to seek God. And so what does the junior

  491. devil's plan was maybe to give argument and say that

  492. God does not exive, God does not care. But then

  493. the senior devil comes and say that, oh, you are

  494. such an amateur, amateur devil, amateure, junior devil. No, you

  495. never get humans to think and to reason. If what

  496. I mean right, If you get them to think and

  497. to reason deeper and to try to buy into your argument,

  498. they will even lean even further. But you must understand

  499. humans never equate thinking and doing. But it's very theological brave.

  500. They think in terms of not right and wrong. They

  501. think in terms of labeling. People don't think about right

  502. and around. They think that about who and they I

  503. belong to this group and belong this group. So what

  504. he's saying, instead, your best attack to this man who

  505. is at the verge of having a moment of spirituality.

  506. Maybe he's going to a church and going to ask

  507. a pastor for advice. Your best attack is what to

  508. appear out, and it's the devil. Ah scare you. What's

  509. the best attack of the devil? Lunch? Get him hungry

  510. and as he sees and he's get hungry and he eats,

  511. get a bit more tastes of the practical, the pragmatism

  512. of the world. It's already gets him that maybe have

  513. a newspaper, a job, maybe someone waking, having a nice

  514. lady across the table winking, and he you know, they

  515. don't feel good about himself anymore. Enjoy a bit of lifeline,

  516. you know, or maybe giveing hi. Maybe a problem and

  517. all he's not. Children called him he gonna be a problem,

  518. or they did. Now comes there and become a rescue ready,

  519. then you've won the trick. Nii I would say, even

  520. my hommation. Most of the time, that enemy's greatest tool

  521. is the world. Always the world. It doesn't kind to

  522. scare you. It's always the virtue of pragmatism and materialism.

  523. Materialism isn't just about you wanting money, you're wanting more carties.

  524. There is a big problem that materialism is also believing

  525. that the physical world is true, and it's the only

  526. thing that matters. I only believe when it's going to

  527. be happening now. I only believe when I can see

  528. it happening tomorrow. You only live life based on what

  529. you can understand. See, there is no such thing as

  530. the spiritual that is the true heart of materialism. You

  531. know what I'm saying? No, why go to see this

  532. pastor right now? And what is What can be more

  533. fulfilling than a nice subway lunch and a nice mechademia

  534. COOKI or maybe some of you like you know, Oh,

  535. maybe I want to eat my favor of one time

  536. me right now? What can be more for feeling than

  537. seeing a guy who might not understand me? Then to

  538. go and watch Fantastic for right now? What can be

  539. more for feeling than waking half an hour early than

  540. you know? Binging? You know the next I know? I

  541. know tonight and not watching you know that? What's the

  542. latest new Netflix? Wednesday? And know whatever they when I

  543. don't know what is the people are watching you know

  544. Wednesday or all kinds of things are watching. Oh, it's

  545. the tools of pragmatism and immediate gratification to take you

  546. away to sweep you away. You don't see what I'm saying.

  547. And I say this because all of us go through

  548. it true or not. All of us. It's if I

  549. can read through last night what you did, it's true

  550. or not. All of us go through. All of us

  551. are having these invasive thoughts without you knowing it. That's

  552. the number one two of the devil. While he is

  553. slipping away, and he gives you enough, and he just

  554. watches you flowing, flowing, do do do do do do do,

  555. and you can't. And he realized that you can't help yourself.

  556. You can't saying, en, you can't help yourself. That's why

  557. I say you have to plan. And you must understand

  558. that you are not just a physical being. You are

  559. a spiritual being. Turn to your neighbor and say that

  560. wake up. You are a spiritual being. Can turn to

  561. the other neighbor saying no, no, get a wake up. Now,

  562. you are a spiritual being. You get mean? Right? Am

  563. I making sense? Am I going too fast? You're all

  564. making sense? Or no? This is very important because if

  565. I tell you another forty day fast and pray you okay,

  566. I drag your feet, you know. But the first part

  567. about making room for God is believing that we are

  568. all spiritual beings. And to make room for God, we

  569. have to take awate space from the physical. Yeah, take

  570. away space on the physical. And you have to be

  571. spiritually practical, not physically factical, spiritually practical. But first of all,

  572. you gotta set time because if you don't set time,

  573. everything else will flood in. Now, so you understand the

  574. wisdom right now now I'm telling you, and now I

  575. give you the knowledge, but not I give you the

  576. understanding why you need to set the time. But now

  577. will you have the wisdom to do it or not?

  578. You know what I'm saying. Now, you know you need

  579. to have set time. But do you understand now? But

  580. will you have the wisdom to do it or not?

  581. It's another thing, makes sense, okay? Next one we venues ware?

  582. Do you pray most of us prayer when they're sleeping

  583. after you scroll through it Flix? I mean, I honestly

  584. tell you I have a very bad heavy of scrolling

  585. as well. My son knows. Okay, you know what, we

  586. watch a lot sometimes it's next thing, watch a lot

  587. of Cily Cat videos. You know, my son that he

  588. enjoys it as well. We watch a lot of Cily

  589. Cat videos. Know it's like all these nonsense are very bad,

  590. very very very bad. Okay, and sometimes watch all these things,

  591. you know, okay, and then you pray when you're lying down,

  592. you're in your very nice orthopedic in a pillow, you know,

  593. and you're like, and thank you God, such peaceful and

  594. you sleep ready before you even pray a single thing. Ready,

  595. the peace of God just came over me. You know,

  596. I was still, and I would be still and know

  597. God and know it's the wrong kind of steal. You know,

  598. you're laughing. How many times you did it? Maybe? Is

  599. it just me? Or you guys did it before? You

  600. don't have come out and repent right now? How many?

  601. You know? You know what I'm talking about, right, okay?

  602. So we are we are. We have venue's awkward postures,

  603. you know, like some of us like to pray in

  604. the toilet, you know, Noah or some of you are marry,

  605. are like whyondering why am my husband or not? People

  606. like to spend so much time in the toilet one

  607. you know, it's supposed to be a holy century becomes

  608. a holy century for them right now? You know, spend

  609. so much time there you know, and it's I need

  610. strength right now. I pray, you know, but as well

  611. I pray physically, I pray for other things. Suddenly you

  612. hear something. No, you're laughing. I tell you. There's so

  613. many reported people men pray in the toilet. I tell you, women,

  614. I don't know. I don't know, but maybe you confess. Okay,

  615. we pray for them. Okay, anyway, we have venues, Okay,

  616. awkward postures, you know. Please Okay, Uh, pick a place,

  617. pick a place, desonated place. I try to do it

  618. at night when my kids are sleeping. I'll do my

  619. place in the dark or close major they can see me.

  620. Just pray, Okay. I want to be honest with you.

  621. I'm not the most consistent prayer. I have my flesh

  622. and I battle with it. I honestly I do. I do,

  623. uh and uh. And I want to say to encourage myself,

  624. and I want to say it to also the encourage

  625. material because actually getting to prayer is the battle. Actually,

  626. the most imperment is to get into the prayer. It's real,

  627. it is a struggle. So many things that will stop

  628. you just believing that prayer will make a difference. That's

  629. the battle. Okay, find find a player. I would highly

  630. encourage at the very least sit, don't lie down, sit

  631. with a table or not just sit. Put your hands together.

  632. If there's something magical, but putting your hands together. You

  633. know your chuck cra comes in together. No, okay, you

  634. know why you put your hands together in all the

  635. times or now they have they Actually you used to

  636. have the sanctuary and the monks that you have prayer beats.

  637. You know what that prayer beats? Okay, what do they

  638. do with the prayer beats? Go power? No. The idea

  639. of the prayer baits or putting their hands is that

  640. so that your whole be center into one part, which

  641. is your prayer. Because as much as you like to

  642. think it, you pray with your body as well. You mean,

  643. right with your heart. You believe if your mouth you'll confess.

  644. Which gets me to the next point is that I

  645. know I'm jumping A few things are when you pray,

  646. I want you to verbalize it as much as possible.

  647. I know it's very hard to verbalize hundred percent of

  648. the time because sometimes it's just it's so deep and

  649. it comes out with her. But I encourage you to

  650. verbalize at least fifty percent of your prayer. You know

  651. why because a lot of times you don't know what

  652. you ought to pray. Sometimes you like you know, but

  653. when you have to say, when you have to articulate

  654. your mind and your body converges into an agreement, you

  655. can't mean right, you have to say it. That's what

  656. A lot of times when when it comes to people,

  657. so I'll tell them pray, I want you to verbalize it.

  658. And you realize that you when you say struggling all

  659. you like a lot of people struggle and not because

  660. lack of war, cap it not the struggle because of

  661. the integrity of your prayer. Is it true in my

  662. heart that what I'm saying now it almost feels like

  663. your body and your words are holding you accountable and all.

  664. And you say it, and there's more fear when you

  665. verbalize it. And you have to get into that place

  666. to verbalize it and say what I'm saying, it's important

  667. to do. To do that, the enemy wants you to

  668. stop using it. He read that you use your mouth

  669. to complain about someone rather than to pray. Verbalize it.

  670. There's a difference even in even when you complain about

  671. someone you know, theree the difference when you put in

  672. your heart when you say out, there's a difference in it.

  673. There is a difference. It's another level of sin and

  674. wickedness gives me from your heart is one thing. But

  675. when you say in the same in prayer as well,

  676. you have sincerity. But confession is even more powerful. There's

  677. a discipline of prayer and the same why I'm saying, okay,

  678. so maybe it can go to the next light. You know,

  679. next light, plan your prayer, set a time, remove distraction. Verbalized, really,

  680. really learn to verbalize everything that you have. I know

  681. sometimes you feel like some of your words you don't have.

  682. It's okay, it's okay. God, help me to verbalize. And

  683. you realize that when you start to verbalize, your prayer

  684. start because you are not just feeling, you are saying

  685. and you're witnessing. It takes you to a place that

  686. you didn't imagine. I need to confess this or I

  687. need to declare this. Some of you you hardly give

  688. thanks to anything. When you're like, well, I need to

  689. give thanks. When you say it, something changes. All know

  690. what I'm talking about here, You guys, okay to pray

  691. it Okay, what else is there consistency over your feelings? Okay,

  692. I mentioned before. I want to emphasize on that last part,

  693. pushing through in prayer. Okay, Now it sounds legalistic, but

  694. it applies. I do it for myself that when you pray,

  695. set a time for prayer. I know it sounds counterintuitive,

  696. but at this one I came for myself and that

  697. because I just want to go in deeper into prayer.

  698. I just put a clock there. I say at least

  699. ten to fifteen minutes, ten fifteen minutes, and I begin

  700. to just close my eyes and begin to pray. And

  701. sometime I tell my son, so I pray at thisat

  702. ten minutes because I want to not just prayer, I

  703. want to enter into prayer. You see, this is a

  704. very important part about prayer. A lot of times we

  705. don't know what we ought to pray. We don't know

  706. what we ought to pray. You don't even know what

  707. you want. It's even pleasing to God. I want to

  708. pray for job. I want to pray for this. Then

  709. the very flash immediately it's like Martha asking God. You know,

  710. but you don't know what you ought to ask. You

  711. ask for the wrong things. And God is a good God.

  712. He loves you, but he will not give you bad things.

  713. You can mean right when God, When someone loves you,

  714. there's only one thing they care about. You're good, not

  715. your feelings. You're good. Okay. When you say you love someone,

  716. you care about their good. When someone truly loves you,

  717. they are willing to give their life for your ultimate good.

  718. So love must come with the clear separation of good

  719. and evil. Man, they cannot be love without a separation

  720. of good and evil. Light versus darkness. You can I'm

  721. saying that ultimately for your good. Okay now, and so

  722. when we pray call it, we must be able to

  723. what they call it. Uh. Okay, let me let me

  724. rephrase this again. We don't know what we ought to pray. Okay,

  725. let me get this on. When you go to the gym,

  726. I mean, if you go to a gym, Okay, what's

  727. your go go go to the gym. I want to

  728. get healthy, isn't it? But Jim, you've got different goals

  729. or so I also go to the gym. Okay, No,

  730. it's consistently it seems nice. You can tell my body shape, man, ha,

  731. just kidding, just kidding, Yeah, but you know, like there's

  732. one thing that you learn and most of you will

  733. know that if you want to build strength, okay, you know,

  734. let's say, for example, you're aiming for you can do

  735. you do all the way until six and the seven

  736. you're struggling, you truly build your strength and your muscle

  737. on the last one, Corona, when you struggle, when you're

  738. like when you're like when you're when you're like, well

  739. halfway and you're like you cannot really, then you're like

  740. that last how many? Do you know what I'm talking about? Ah?

  741. Your coach will always tell you that that last one.

  742. If that's the case, what's the purpose for rep? Number

  743. one until six to get to the last one? Always? Always?

  744. You know, you don't why I'm getting it ready? Life

  745. is like that. I want to know you think that

  746. one to six is the main cause? Is the goal? No.

  747. One to six is to get you to empty yourself

  748. and to make room for God. That's why you got

  749. to make time. That's why you got to set the

  750. time and push you. You think when you come before

  751. the pray God, it's like God, this is why I

  752. want to pray, pray paper and you pray papay, and

  753. I was like, oh, I don't even know what I

  754. want to pray. I don't know you're going to hear this.

  755. That's when you stay in prayer, not you give up

  756. in prayer. That's where you stay because maybe, just maybe

  757. God says that all right, now there's finally room. There's

  758. finally room. All your plans, all your hopes, all your desires,

  759. all the things that you've been telling God, Martha, you know,

  760. complaining telling God what to do and not complaining about Marry,

  761. complaining about everything and know how the world should run.

  762. And now she turned to the seasons as well, you're

  763. done tired ready. You don't even know we have they

  764. can last push. There's where faith matters. Oh no, no.

  765. And you stay there and you begin to be silent

  766. and your prayer ten minutes past fifteen, money passed, all

  767. the things, all all the people you need to prayer.

  768. Then you start to pray, God, what is your will?

  769. What am I really really afraid of? You know what

  770. really really matters God? You know what I mean? Right? That's

  771. when you get there, not set one to six seven,

  772. eight night. That's when you're like, oh no, okay, God,

  773. I'm scared. And then you start to realize if you're

  774. real scared, I'm scared that where you take me may

  775. cost me too much. Then you begin to say, then

  776. you start to then you start to wrestle again. Oh never.

  777. Then I realize, God, I can't plan out of this,

  778. I can't manage all this, But I know that you

  779. love me. So I'm praying that God, you will have mercy.

  780. And if it comes and come, this thing comes, you know, Adi,

  781. I want to let you know whatever that you pray for,

  782. and you'll ask whatever that comes into your life. God

  783. cares for you. Yeah, I don't know why it comes,

  784. but you gotta be ready. And then when God plays

  785. something before you, you go in boldness and you say, God,

  786. all you will be done. I know one thing about

  787. the God, that God is always good. The last day

  788. of your breath as well, you will also say that

  789. God is good. God is good. God is good. He

  790. is love and those who and He who loves me

  791. seeks my good gives me a hope and a future.

  792. And when you gave out everything, ready you surrender yourself

  793. to the mercy of God. Ready you come out of

  794. prayer realizing that you changed that it's not telling God,

  795. but I have changed. I'm beginning to choose faith. Sometimes

  796. now when you go you go to work, instead of

  797. saying something or not bickering or you know, watching a

  798. bit more Netflix and stuff like, you realize that I

  799. just prayed, I just I just encountered faith and connection

  800. with God. So there's not just knowledge, there's an understanding

  801. deep inside my soul. Now I want to be wise.

  802. So coming out of prayer, you become a wiser person,

  803. and you want more of that. You want more of that.

  804. I don't want to make choices just based on the physical,

  805. but on the spiritual. And you become and you become

  806. get you, and your life becomes changed by it. Maybe

  807. you have health problems and everything as well, your prayers

  808. all long, but then eventually you just not whatever it is,

  809. your will be done, My pain, my suffering, my last

  810. pay you. But help me to see you before me

  811. and live life according to what you have given me.

  812. Everything in life is according to the mercy of God. Really,

  813. really according to the mercy of God. Amen. That's why

  814. you got to post true set a time When I

  815. said a set of time in the duration. Sometimes you

  816. don't realize how you said eight ten minutes, ready, have

  817. you finish a prayer? Then I say, at another ten minutes,

  818. prayer again, But then you say, hey, I finished everything

  819. but still got five minutes. That's where I tell you

  820. stay in your prayer. You'll be surprised how much it

  821. would do for you. These practical tips and this prayer

  822. practical tips come, let's stand together.

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

  824. information on our church, please visit as church dot org.

  825. We are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing

  826. that this week is going to be a good week

  827. ahead for you. God bless