The Model Life: Adoration, Part 4

This morning as we continue our journey through the 5th chapter

of First Thessalonians, we once again look at the 17th verse

which says that we are to pray without ceasing.

The late Leonard Ravenhill was a British evangelist.

He died in 1994. But listen to his words as he

talks about prayer. He says no man is greater than

his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is

playing. The people who are not praying

are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window

to display one's talents. The prayer closet allows no

showing off. Poverty stricken as the church

is today and many things, she is most stricken here in the place

of prayer. We have many organizers, but few

agonizers, many players and payers, few prayers, many

singers, few clingers, lots of pastors, few wrestlers, many

fears, few tears, much fashion, little passion, many

interferers, few intercessors, many writers, but few fighters.

Failing here, we fail everywhere.

The ministry of preaching is open to a few.

The ministry of prayer, the highest ministry of all human

offices, is open to all. He had his finger on the pulse

of the modern church. He recognized that there were

very few people committed to prayer.

I don't know about you, but as you spend each day, there are

times throughout the day that you waste.

I think we'd all be have to be honest and say, yeah, there this

was a wasted hour, or this was a wasted few minutes, or this was

a wasted part of my day. I can guarantee you that there's

one part of your day that you could honestly say is never

wasted, and that's the time you spend in prayer.

That time is never wasted. That time was always used to the

highest degree. Yet the Bible says that we are

to have an unceasing kind of prayer life and uninterrupted

kind of prayer life. A life that's completely

conscious of God all throughout the day.

A life that's always in tune with the Spirit of God.

A prayer that or life of prayer that that never ends, that never

quits, that never gives up, that never gives in.

Pray without ceasing. Peter would say it this way

first. Peter 5 verse #7 Cast all your

anxiety upon him, for he cares for you.

Taken from Psalm 55 where the psalmist said cast your burdens

upon the Lord and he will sustain you.

I've come to realize that as I go through life, as it says in

Luke 18 verse #1 we talked about last week, men, not always to

pray and not to faint. You either pray or you faint.

If you're fainting, you're not praying.

Well, Peter says it this way. If you're not casting your

burdens upon the Lord, you're crashing under the burdens that

you bear you to cast all your anxiety, all your burdens upon

the Lord. But so many times, when those

fears arise, when those anxious thoughts come, when the

nervousness begins to envelope us, very rarely do we cast it

upon the Lord. Yet those who pray without

ceasing understand the the importance of living a God

conscious kind of life that they might be able to offer up a

prayer to their God knowing that he is the one who hears.

In fact, the psalmist said in Psalm 65 these words, You who

hear prayer to you, all men come to you who hears prayer to you

all men come. Psalm 65, verse #2 verse #4 He

says, how blessed is the one whom you choose to bring near to

you, to dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the

goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.

The blessed man is the one who who God chooses to bring near to

him. And the Bible says that that God

is near to all those who call upon him.

Psalm 145 But there's a qualifier to that.

The Lord is near to all those who call upon him.

And then it says to all who call upon him in truth, He's not near

to those who don't call upon him in truth, only to those who call

upon him according to his truth, because he is the God of truth.

And yet God who hears prayer brings men near to him.

And if we are near to God, then we ought to be able to commune

with him because the privilege of prayer is that we have access

to the throne room of God. When the veil was was torn in

two at count, when Christ was on the tree at Calvary in the

temple, the veil of the temple was torn in two.

Access to the presence of God. The holiest of holies was

granted to all men. That's why I love what it says

in the, in the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

verse #18 For through him that is Christ, we both have our

access in one spirit to the Father.

And then in chapter 3 verse #12 Paul says, because of Christ, in

whom we have boldness and confident access through faith

in him, we have this access. We had this opportunity to

always enter God's throne room and to call upon him.

I, I love what the the songwriter said.

Oh, oh, what peace we often forfeit.

Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer. Everything.

Cast all your burdens upon the Lord.

Not just some of them, all of them.

Prayer is the great privilege of the believer.

That is we, We can enter the throne room of God and we can

call upon our God to do great and mighty things.

So last week we, we began to talk to you about some of the,

the principles surrounding prayer, telling you that it that

it, that certifies my dependency upon God.

Nothing certifies your dependency more than your prayer

life. That's why Paul says pray

without ceasing. He gives these commands.

Be joyful, be prayerful, be thankful.

Why? Because this is the will of God

in Christ Jesus concerning you. These three commands are the

will of God for your life. You need to be joyful, prayerful

and thankful in all things. And as believers in Christ, we

we we hasten to obey the commands of God.

Listen to what the psalmist said in in Psalm 119, verse #60 I

hastened and did not delay to keep your commandments.

That's the, that's the heartbeat of the believer.

I hastened and did not delay to be joyful.

I hastened and did not delay to be prayerful.

I hasten and did not delay to be thankful.

In fact, he goes over and says this in verse #112 of Psalm 119.

I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever

until the very end. I've determined in my heart that

I perform Your commandments, Your statutes forever.

So I will be joyful forever. I will be prayerful forever.

I will be thankful forever, even until the very end.

That's the heartbeat of the believer.

So Paul rattles off his commands.

Be joyful, prayerful, and thankful.

I love what Leon Moore said in his book Heart Cry for Revival.

He said it is not possible for us to spend all our time with

the words of prayer on our lips, but it is possible for us to be

all our days in the spirit of prayer, realizing our dependence

upon God for all that we have in our, realizing something of His

presence with us wherever we may be, and yielding ourselves

continually for the doing of His will.

Where there is such an inward state, it will find outward

expression in verbal prayer. And in this connection we should

notice the frequent ejaculatory prayers throughout Paul's

letters. Prayer was so natural and so

continual with the great apostle that it found its way inevitably

into his correspondence. That's the way it should be for

us. Praying without ceasing it

certifies our dependency upon God.

Turn turn back with me, if you would, to to the book of Second

Chronicles, a book that you probably read every day in your

devotions. But Second Chronicles chapter 20

2 Chronicles 20 · chapter mention

and I want to show you how how prayer certifies our dependency

upon the Lord. This is so important.

Now it came about verse one after this that the sons of Moab

and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Edomites came

to make war against Jehoshaphat. Then some came and reported to

Jehoshaphat saying, a great multitude is coming against you

from beyond the sea out of Iran. And behold therein in Getty.

For those of you who've been to Israel, you know where in Getty

is. It's in the, the, the wilderness

of, of the Judean, the Judean wilderness.

It's there. And that's where David will hide

from the apostle, not from the apostle, but from Saul himself.

Excuse me. And and it's a good place to to

enter into Jerusalem because of all the mountain ranges that

hide you. And they say, King Jehoshaphat,

they've come against us. Verse 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid

and turned his attention to seek the Lord.

That's good. When you're afraid, what do you

do? What do you turn your attention

to? Jehoshaphat turned his attention

to to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast sweat all

Judah. So Judah gathered together to

seek help from the Lord. They even came from all the

cities of Judah to seek the Lord.

Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem

in the House of the Lord before the new court.

And this is what he said. Oh Lord, the God of our fathers,

are you not God in the heavens? He appeals to the preeminency of

God, does he not? Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name. Here is Jehoshaphat appealing to

the God of the heavens, and he says, are you not ruler over all

the kingdoms of the nations? Don't you rule over everyone?

It speaks not only of his preeminence, but it speaks of

his Providence that he is in complete control of everything.

It says power and might are in your hand so that no one can

stand against you. So he appeals to God based on

his preeminence, based on his Providence, and based on his

power as the Lord God of Israel. And then it says, did you not,

oh our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before

your people Israel, and give it to the descendants of Abraham,

your friend forever? They have lived in it and have

built you a sanctuary there for your name.

Now he appeals to the promises of God, got me to promise to

Israel, got me to promise to Abraham, and God has fulfilled

that promise. So he's appealing to God based

on his character and based on his nature.

You are preeminent, you are providential, you're powerful,

and you're God who keeps his promises.

So he says, verse 9, should evil come upon us, the sword or

judgment or pestilence or famine, we will stand before

this house and before you, for your name is in this house, and

cry to you in our distress, and you will hear, and you will

deliver us. They appeal to the presence of

God, that we will come to you. We will come to Your temple,

where Your glory dwells, where You are, and we will appeal to

You and You will deliver us. Now behold the sons of Ammon and

Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade.

When they came out of the land of Egypt, they turned aside from

them and did not destroy them. See how they are rewarding us by

coming to drive us out from Your possession, which You have given

us as an inheritance. Oh our God, You will not judge

them, for we are powerless before this great multitude who

are coming against us. Nor do we know what to do.

But our eyes are upon you. That that's, that's, that's a

dependent king. We don't know what to do, but

our eyes are upon you. That was the the verse that that

that Sandy, my first wife and I decided to put on a gravestone

before she died. Many of you know that she had

cancer and she suffered for 15 months and then she went home to

be with the Lord. But we didn't know what to do.

They had no idea. And so we cry out the Lord Lord,

we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

And when you live in fear or anxiety or uncertainty, what do

you do? Do as Jehoshaphat did.

He lived in dependency upon God and sought the Lord of the

universe, whose presence was with Him, whose preeminence was

seen, because He's the God of the heavens, who providentially

works in the hearts of man, who's the all powerful God of

the universe, who keeps His promises.

Prayer certifies our dependency. Prayer challenges our

spirituality. It challenges our spirituality.

You know that nothing will challenge your spiritual walk

with the Lord than your prayer life or lack thereof.

Just ask yourself, how much time did you spend in prayer this

morning before you came to church, or yesterday, or the day

before that? Your spirituality will always be

challenged. Remember, on the eve of the

crucifixion, Christ took Peter, James and John into the into the

depths of the Garden of Gethsemane.

Keep watch, pray. I'm going to go over here for a

while. And he went over to pray.

He came back and Peter, James and John were asleep.

He says, could you not keep watch with me for one hour, just

one hour? The Bible says that he was in

great torment, our Lord was. And all he did was ask them to

keep watching, pray lest they enter into temptation.

So he went away, came back again, and they were asleep

again. You see, they were being

challenged spiritually and the Lord knew that the the challenge

before them was going to be so great that if they didn't spend

time in prayer, they would not be able to handle the

temptation. And guess what?

They failed miserably when they were tempted, especially Peter

when he denied the Christ. Nothing would challenge your

spirituality more than your prayer life.

And then #3 we left off this last week.

It will confirm your loyalty. It confirms your loyalty, that

is, to the Lord God Himself, that you are loyal to keep the

commands of God. The Bible says in First Timothy

2 verse #1 that first of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers

and petitions and Thanksgiving be made on behalf of all men.

Paul is writing to Timothy. It's a pastoral epistle telling

him how to set things in order in the church.

He says in chapter 2 verse #1 First things first, that you

should be in prayer for all men. You should be petitioning all

men because the the ministry of the church is the ministry of

prayer and that needs to be offered first.

That's why over in Colossians 19 it says we have not ceased to

pray for you. In Colossians 4/2 devote

yourselves unto prayer, says in Second Timothy 13.

Paul's prayers were night and day.

Romans 1212 be devoted to prayer.

Listen, when you pray it confirms one thing, that you are

loyal to your God, to obey the commands of God.

So it certifies your dependency, it challenges your spirituality,

it confirms your loyalty. And then note this, it catapults

your productivity. It catapults your productivity.

In other words, without prayer, nothing is accomplished, but

with prayer, everything can be accomplished.

Turn back to me, if you would, to the book of Exodus, Exodus

Exodus 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17, another book that you read every day in your

devotions. Second Chronicles, the book of

Exodus. In the book of Exodus, you have

Israel's first conflict, first war.

It's the first mention of Joshua.

Joshua will be mentioned some 200 more times in the Bible, but

the first mention is in Exodus chapter 17 because Joshua is

Exodus 17 · chapter mention

being prepared to take on Moses's responsibility.

Doesn't know that yet, but but that's what God's doing in the

life of Joshua. And so they come to fight

against the Amalekites, and this is their first conflict as a

nation where they go to war. It says this in verse #8 Then

Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rafidum.

So Moses said to Joshua, choose men for us and go out fight

against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself

on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.

Joshua did as Moses told him and fought against Amalek.

And Moses, Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill.

So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel

prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed.

But Moses's hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put

it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and her supported his

hands on one side, one-on-one side, and 1:00 on the other.

Thus his hands were steady until the sunset.

So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the

sword. Now you read that and you're

thinking, OK, what does all that mean?

Well, all throughout the Old Testament, you realize that when

when Israel prayed, they would always pray, lifting their hands

to God. The staff was a symbol of the

power and presence of God. So Moses went up into a hill

with Aaron and her, and he was going to beseech the Lord.

He was going to pray to the Lord.

He was going to intercede on behalf of Israel as they went to

war. Joshua would carry the sword,

Moses would carry the staff, and he would begin to communicate

with his God by holding his hands up and appealing to God

for his strength, for the power. But when his hands began to

fall, Amalek prevailed. But when his hands went up

again, Israel prevailed. And it went through this over

and over again and lost. The text says, it says that

Moses hands were heavy. Moses was becoming weary.

This is very important. Why?

Because listen to the book of Deuteronomy, the 34th chapter,

right before Moses dies in Deuteronomy 34, he's 120 years

old. And it says although Moses was

120 years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor

abated, in other words, nor was his strength gone.

So go back now to exit 17 and say, why were his hands heavy?

Was he, was he getting old? Was he weak?

Oh no, his vigor never abated. He was strong even to the day he

died, but that emphasized the fact that Moses was interceding

on behalf of Israel as he would appeal to the power and the

protection and the presence of God on behalf of the nation of

Israel. And intercessory prayer is not

light work, it's hard work. The effort is intense.

That's why it says of Epaphras in the Colossians 4 verse #12

that he labored fervently in prayer.

Because prayer is hard work. Satan would do all he can to

keep you off your knees. He'll do all he can to keep you

from communing with your God. He wants you to do everything in

the energy of the flesh. He doesn't want you to live in

dependency upon God. Why?

Because he knows that if you do, the power of God will be

displayed, and great things will take place, and knows it.

Says this verse 14. Then the Lord said to Moses,

write this in a book as a memorial, and recite it to

Joshua. Write it down, recite it #3 and

remember it. He says that I will utterly blot

out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

Remember this. Why?

See, you have to realize that Amalek was was a nation that

came against Israel. But Amalek also is a symbol of

the flesh and a symbol of sin and a symbol of all those things

that take us away from God. And that's why prayer is so

hard, because when you're praying, you're moving away from

those things. When you're not, you tend to

move toward those things. And therefore we need to always

be in the fervent spirit of prayer, beseeching the presence

and power of Almighty God. Then it says this Moses built an

altar, named it. The Lord is my banner, yave

nisi. The Lord is my protector.

The Lord is my victorious warrior.

The Lord is my satisfier. The Lord's presence gave us

victory. The Lord is my banner.

And he said the Lord has sworn the Lord will have war with

Amalek from generation to generation.

The Lord is your inspiration. He's your banner, He's your

flag, He's your protector. He's your inspiration.

That's why there's so much perspiration.

Why? Because he's the one who

inspires us. Look at what the psalmist said

in in Psalm 20, Psalm 20 verse #4 or let me read the whole

thing to you. First one, may the Lord answer

you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob

set you securely on high. May He send you help from the

sanctuary and support you from Zion.

May you remember all your meal offerings and find your burnt

offerings acceptable. May grant you your hearts desire

and fulfill all your counsel. We will sing for joy over your

victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners.

We will set up our inspiration because we will trust in God,

the God who provides the power and His presence to give us the

victory that we need. May the Lord fulfill your

petitions. Now I know that the Lord saves

his anointed. He will answer him from His holy

heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

Some boasts and Chariots and some of horses, but we will

boast in the name of the Lord our God.

They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stood

upright. Save, O Lord, may the King

answer us in the day we call. Wow.

Talk about your dependency. Talk about, talk about your

productivity. It happens because you live in

dependence upon God and not in the flesh.

You're trusting God to save your spouse.

You're trusting God to bring the rebellious child home.

You're trusting God for the salvation of your work mates and

your classmates. You're trusting God for the for

the for doing a a work in in your family with your friends.

You're you're dependent upon God for everything.

Why? Because that's the only way

you'll ever be productive in the Kingdom of God is when you lie

upon the King himself and trust in Him.

Every one of us has to examine our own lives and realize there

are so many things we want to see happen.

We we want our family members saved.

You can't save them. Only God does that.

God does that. Listen to EM Bounds, if you've

never read a work on prayer, read the multitude of volumes

that EM Bounds has written on prayer.

It will convict you so much that you'll want to stop reading.

But you need not stop reading. You need to continue on.

But this is what he says. Talking to men for God is a

great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.

Think about that. Talking to men about God's a

great thing, but what's greater than that?

Talking to God about that man, they says this, he will never

talk well and with real success to men.

For God who has not learned well how to talk to God for man, that

is just so good. That's because we think we can

convince men. We think we can persuade men.

We think we can. We can convince our husband or

wife to be saved or our kids. You can't, just can't.

So talk to God about that person.

As you talk to God about that person, watch what God does in

the life of that person. Because you see, your priorities

are set in order. You're trusting God to catapult

all productivity. So God gets all the glory.

See, we want to want to get the glory.

Yeah. I LED my son or daughter to the

Lord, or I LED my friend to the Lord.

No, you didn't. You didn't lead them anywhere,

God sought them. God saved them.

God just used you as a vehicle, probably 1 of many vehicles over

their lives to show them the direction of the Kingdom of God.

God saves trust in Him to accomplish His great work.

Prayer is that which certifies my dependency, challenges my

spirituality, clarifies my loyalty, catapults my

productivity. Prayer is that which

characterizes my ministry. Prayer is the ministry prayer.

Without prayer, there really is no ministry.

It's just work done in the flesh.

The prayer is that which characterizes the ministry of of

the pastor, of the people. It characterizes your ministry

at home. I mean, think about it.

It's just gathering your family around.

Hey, let's pray. Let's bring this before the

Lord. Let's just trust the Lord here.

Let's see what God's going to do.

You got conflict at school, Let's give it to the Lord.

You got conflict with relationships?

Let's talk to the Lord about it. Let's just cast our burden upon

the Lord you, you have situations that you're you're in

need of. Lord, we need you to take care

of this. We need you, Lord, to deal with

these things. It characterizes our ministry.

That's why a couple of weeks ago we took you to Acts chapter 4,

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Where, when, when the city of Jerusalem or the leaders of

Jerusalem came against the apostle said you cannot speak

anymore in his name. What do they do?

They went right to prayer as a community of believers and the

whole place was shaken and they continue to speak the word

boldness. Why?

Because prayer catapults our productivity and characterizes

our ministry. Prayer is the mainstay of every

ministry. Your ministry to your wife, to

your children, your ministry at church.

It's all about prayer and commit committing everything to the

Lord. Prayer is that which cultivates

our maturity. Prayer cultivates our maturity.

Prayer is a discipline like, like, like Bible study is a

discipline, like meditation is a discipline.

So prayer is, is a discipline. We discipline ourselves unto

unto goddiness. And it's a hard work.

It's a strenuous work because Satan will always bring

interruptions to you, always take you away from spending time

in prayer. So Paul knows that.

So he says, pray without ceasing, always be prayerful,

always be communing with the Lord as you go through the day.

Why? Because this is what cultivates

your maturity. This is what Paul says in

Colossians chapter 1. For this reason also verse 9.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

Since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you,

and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His

will within all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you

will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all

respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the

knowledge of God. Strengthen with all power

according to His glorious might, for the attain of all

steadfastness and patience. Joyously give me thanks to the

Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the

Saints. This is so beautiful.

Paul knows that in order for them to be filled with the

spirit of knowledge and and the spirit of his will, he's to pray

that God does that. Over in Colossians 4 verse #12

it says that Paul tapas labourly interceded for them earnestly so

that they may stand perfect in the Lord.

He prayed for his people. Paphos was the pastor in the

Church of Colossae, so he prayed for his people.

They would stand fast, stand perfect, stand mature in the

Lord. Prayer is that which cultivates

our maturity. Prayer is that which conquers

our infirmity. You have an infirmity today.

It might be a physical infirmity, It might be a

spiritual infirmity, but prayer is that which conquers that

infirmity. So we give it to the Lord, we

bring it before the Lord. We commune with the Lord all

throughout the day. The Bible says in in James

James 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, these beautiful words, Is anyone among you

suffering? Then they must pray.

Let's pray. That's what you got to do.

And then he says, is anyone cheerful?

He's singing praises. Is anyone among you sick?

That's not physical illness. It's a word that means weary,

worn out, tired, that he must call for the elders of the

church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with the oil

in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offering in faith

will restore the one who is weary, and the Lord will raise

him up. If he's committed sin, they will

be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to

one another and pray for one another so he may be healed.

The effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.

What is your infirmity today? Paul had a physical infirmity.

Second Corinthians chapter 12. So what did he do?

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

He prayed, He prayed about this three times that the Lord would

remove it. And God said, no, I'm not

removing your infirmity. In fact, my grace is sufficient

for you. In fact, you will be made

perfect through your infirmity. Whatever that infirmity was.

None of us knows, and it's good that we don't know because we by

nature would compare our infirmity with Paul's infirmity.

You can't do that. But the Lord said, my grace is

sufficient for you. My power will be made perfect in

your weakness. You ever notice that sometimes

God allows an infirmity to come our way and never leaves us, so

that we can depend upon Him for everything and learn to trust

Him all the while? And Paul did.

Paul was a dependent man. But but prayer certainly is that

which conquers our infirmity. Prayer also combats our

adversary. Prayer is the combat against

your adversary. That's why over in Ephesians

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, Paul says these words in verse 18 as he concludes this

whole series on the armor of God.

He says with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in

the Spirit. And with this in view, be on the

alert with all perseverance and petition for all the Saints, And

pray on my behalf that the utterance may be given to me in

the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the majesty

of the Gospel. Prayer is is not a part of the

armor. Prayer is woven in and around

each and every piece of the armor.

As you put on the helmet of salvation, as you take up the

sword of the Spirit, as you, as you put on the the breastplate

of righteousness, you do it in the spirit and attitude of

prayer with all petitions. Why?

Because prayer combats the adversary.

Prayer is that one Ave. we have by which we are able to overcome

our enemy. And so Paul says, pray

unceasingly, pray, always pray without ceasing, be in the

spirit of prayer all day long. Never give up, never give in.

Just keep communing with your God because you are conscious of

His presence and His power as you walk through the every

single day prayer to give you another one.

I'm not sure how many I've given you calms your anxiety calms

your anxiety. That's good because at times we

all can become anxious, but it calms your anxiety.

That's why Paul says over in the book of Philippians.

The 4th chapter of those very familiar words, but I'll start

in verse #4 because it says rejoice in the Lord always.

So He's saying be joyful. Be joyful before you're

prayerful. Be joyful.

Why? He says, let your gentle spirit

be known to all men. The Lord is at hand, the Lord is

present. You can rejoice in the Lord

because the Lord is near. You can rejoice in the Lord

because the Lord is present. And then he says this.

Be anxious for nothing. Why?

Because the Lord is near. Do you know why we become

anxious? It's because we don't perceive

that the Lord is near. Listen, when I walk with my

children when they were younger, they were never afraid why?

Their father was with them. They had No Fear of anyone else.

And if a dog came out and started barking, they would just

cling to my leg because I was near.

They weren't afraid because their father was near.

When you're afraid, it's because you don't perceive the nearness

of God. He is near to all those who call

upon him, to all those who call upon him.

In truth to you, O Lord, who hear prayer, all men come, and

you draw them near to you the Lord is near.

Therefore be anxious for nothing but everything by prayer and

supplication with Thanksgiving. Be joyful, be prayerful, be

thankful with Thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known

to God because He's near and the peace of God where it surpasses

all human comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds

in Christ Jesus. So God does someone that Paul

says you got to pray without ceasing.

It's so important. Back in 17 71, James Montgomery

wrote these words. Prayer is the soul's sincere

desire, uttered or expressed, the motion of a hidden fire that

trembles in the breast. Prayer is the simplest form of

speech that infant lips can try. Prayer, the sublime of strains

that reach the majesty on high. Prayer is the contrite sinner's

voice returning from his ways, while angels in the songs, in

their songs rejoice and cry. Behold, he prays, O thou by whom

we come to God, the life, the truth, the way, the path of

prayer, Thyself has trod. Lord, teach us how to pray.

I would trust that you are learning to rejoice always and

to pray without ceasing. And next week we'll look at what

it means to give thanks in everything.

Let's pray together. Lord.

We are grateful for today, for the time that we could spend

together as a church, as a church family.

Pray that, Lord, the word of the Lord would seep deep into our

hearts and that we would be men and women of unceasing prayer.

Forgive us, Lord, for for not coming to you or communing with

You as we should. Forgive us, Lord, for not

recognizing that you are near, You are here, You are present

with us. We cling to You because you are

a banner. You are inspiration, You're our

strength. Maybe live in the light of that.

So many people here are going through things that Lord, they

wish they were not involved in, they wish they didn't have to

handle today or tomorrow, this week.

But the pressures of of everyday life, the pressures of family,

the difficulties that arise, they're insurmountable at times.

Help us Lord to learn dependency upon you.

Help us to learn as as King Jehoshaphat learned.

Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes they are upon you.

Why? Because Lord you know what to

do. And we just leave it all in the

hands of the all powerful God of the universe, who is the creator

of heaven and earth and all things in it in Jesus name,

Amen.