He is Good | Prayer Masterclass | Mark 7:24-30 | Coleton Segars

We're in a series and have been for a while titled He is Good.

The reason we titled it that is because we're going through the Gospel of Mark.

And in the Gospel of Mark, Mark begins his gospel by saying, This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus.

And so we've been looking at this idea that Mark constantly is pointing to Jesus and his actions and his person and saying, He is good.

Look at his goodness, wanting the people he's writing to to be reminded he is in fact good.

And I want that for us as well.

And so we've been going section by section through Mark.

And we are moving into a space in chapter 7 today, looking at a woman who is a Gentile woman and not a Jewish-born woman, and Jesus' interaction with her.

This is Mark 7, verses 24 through 30.

Mark 7:24–30

So Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.

He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, yet he could not keep his presence secret.

In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet.

The woman was a Greek born in Syrian Phoenicia.

She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

First let the children eat all they want, he told her.

Yes, Lord, she replied, and even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.

Then he told her, For such a reply, you may go.

The demon has left your daughter.

She went home and found her child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

This is the word of the Lord.

I want you to consider just for a moment what your personal expectation of prayer is.

Because this woman has an expectation of Jesus that is pretty strong.

She's like, I'm going to beg until I get my answer.

And so for us, like if you were to consider, like, I'm going to go pray for someone, I'm going to go pray for this thing, what is your expectation of that prayer?

Is it that God's going to say nothing?

I need direction and God's going to say nothing.

Is it I'm going to pray, but I'm probably not going to get exactly what I'm asking for.

I'm not going to get what I want.

When you pray, are you confident in your prayers?

Do you feel like oh he has heard me and he will respond?

Do you feel that way?

Or is it a lack of confidence and more questions rather than answers?

And the reason I think it's important for you to consider where you line up, whatever your expectation is, is because in the Bible, there are fewer than ten unanswered prayers in the scriptures.

Ten.

Fewer than ten.

Primarily, the experience in the scriptures is a confident expectation that God hears you and is going to respond.

There are really like eight spaces in there that we see.

We're like, there are eight unanswered prayers in the scriptures.

And then outside of those, just in those two of those eight, only two of those prayers are completely there, like there's no answer.

It's Jesus in the garden, and we hear nothing from the Father.

And then King Saul when he's praying for guidance and he's rejected the Lord, the Lord has rejected him, and so there's no answer.

But only two places in there where silence is the experience.

And so I say all that because I do think that for us, and there's a lot of factors that go into that.

But I think the primary expectation of prayer inside the church and for people who pray is out of line with what you see actually taking shape in the scriptures.

We see a very few number of prayers go unanswered, and fewer than that go where it's completely silent.

Our primary experience in the scriptures, of the scriptures as a whole, is you see people pray and God respond.

People pray and they get what they're asking God for.

People pray, he hears them and responds.

That's the primary thing.

And yet somehow in the life of the church, in the life of Christians, we have this space where our expectation is the exact opposite of the testimony of the scriptures.

And I think that's a problem because we would say, Oh, I prayed and nothing happened.

That's normal.

And I would say, actually, according to the scriptures, that's an anomaly.

That's not the way it's supposed to be.

There's supposed to be this space in prayer where we have this confident expectation that he hears us and is going to respond just based on the stats and the data and things like that.

So the reason I say all that is because this woman prays to Jesus.

She has a request, she prays, and she gets what she wants.

And in reality, have you ever seen the master classes of that thing that you can do where you can have Steve Martin teach you the banjo or something like this woman puts on a masterclass on how to pray and get what you want.

She is just, she is, there's there's three things about what she does that I think if we add those things or just see our prayer life in this way, it will lead us to praying better and receiving more of what we want.

Now, I want to caveat and say, I'm not giving you a formula to like get everything that you want.

I'm not a prosperity gospel preacher.

I'm not.

I am not that way.

Suffering is real, it's gonna happen.

Jesus suffered, and we follow a suffering king.

And so that's just normal.

But I do think that there's a space in this woman's life where she prays and receives what she wants, and there's three elements that lead us into her prayer where we see like there's a way to pray, to wind up with the expectation that's actually primarily seen in the scriptures and away from the one that we normally have, which is he's probably not gonna do anything, it's probably not gonna work.

And so I want us to look at the masterclass that she puts on, the three elements that are in her prayer, and then see how those things are supposed to shape our prayers and liven us to pray, to give us confidence as we pray, that not only that he hears us, but that he wants to respond and he wants to be a father who gives good gifts to his kids, um, according to the scriptures.

And so I want to look at three things.

The first, um, you see in her prayer, or all three, we see that she has an understanding of what Jesus has come to do.

Uh, she prays from Jesus' word, and then she prays based on who Jesus is and what he can do, and not who she is.

So these three things are part of her prayer, and we're gonna look at them one by one and how they connect to our lives.

So the first, this woman has an understanding of what Jesus has come to do.

You see this in verse 25 through 28.

It says, A woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet.

And the woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia, which is modern-day Lebanon, and she begged to drive the demon out of her daughter.

First, let the little children come and eat, he told her, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.

And she replied, Yes, Lord.

Like, yes, I understand that.

Yes, I know, I know what you're referencing here.

So, first, a couple of things.

It's important to understand, Jesus is not being derogatory to this woman by calling her a dog.

That's not what he's doing.

She would understand that in this culture.

There was a way of referring to Gentile people, non-Jewish people.

There was a way of doing that in a derogatory tone, and he doesn't do that.

He he chooses to change the word in order for her to understand I'm not being derogatory, I'm not being hateful towards you, I'm not being a segregationist, I'm not being any of those things.

And so he changes the word on purpose from like a scavenger dog that's unclean and dirty, which is what many Jewish people call Gentile people.

He changes it to a little, a little dog, like a pet, domesticated dog that wouldn't live in Jewish homes, but would naturally live in our homes and in many Gentile homes at that time.

Just a pet that they would take care of and that kind of thing.

That didn't exist in Jewish homes, but it did exist here.

And so he changes the word to show that like I am making a separation between Jewish people and Gentile people, but I am not saying that we're better than you.

But I am making a space where like there are the children and then there are the pets in the house as well.

Both are in the house.

Notice, both are in the house.

It's just there are children who eat first, and then there are pets.

And so that's very important for you to understand.

Otherwise, if you think Jesus is a jerk here, you're not gonna understand any of this.

Okay.

Um, so what he's actually saying and seeking to say is the priority about why he's come.

This is what Jesus is trying to get out.

He's not trying to be derogatory, he's speaking about priority.

And so one commentator, James Edwards, says this Jesus saying, first let the little children eat all they want, is simply establishing a priority of mission.

It does not exclude other hungry mouths.

It only implies the priority of Jesus' ministry to Israel.

But the priority of Israel in Jesus' mission does not mean the exclusion of the Gentiles.

According to the prophet Isaiah, the Messiah must first restore the tribes of Jacob and then be a light to the nations, Isaiah 49 and 6.

So the woman's reply to Jesus in verse 28, yes, Lord, shows her understanding and acceptance of Israel's privilege.

Indeed, she appears to understand his purpose better than Israel does, and far more than the disciples actually do.

And so Edward says that she has an understanding of what Jesus has come to do.

Jesus says this thing, and hey, I, you know, children need to eat first, and then the pets can eat, and she recognizes you are establishing priority.

I know what you're what you've come to do, that Israel's supposed to be brought in first, and then you're going to bring me in as well, and my my people in as well.

And so it is from that understanding that leads her to ask for what she asks for.

She understands this is what you've come to do, and so that understanding goes like from that, I'm now asking for more for what I want.

And so what she's saying is she's like, I know what you've come to do.

I know that your priority right now is to the children of Israel, but I also know that me and my people are a part of your blessing.

It's coming.

Like I know that that's true in your mission.

That I'm not excluded outside of this thing.

I'm actually brought in.

Um, it's her understanding that leads her to ask, and basically, what she is praying, if you think about it, she is actually understanding why Jesus has come and what his will is, and she is just praying, your will be done.

She is actually praying in the exact same way that Jesus tells his people to pray.

You should pray, My kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, and my will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And so she is just saying, I know what your will is to first go to Israel and then come to my people, the Gentiles.

I'm asking for your will to be done.

And so that's what she's praying, your will be done.

She's saying, I know what it is, and I'm asking for it to be done.

The reason that's important to us is because when normally when we pray, your will be done, we normally end our prayers with your will be done.

And we normally say, like, I don't actually know God, what you want to do at all.

I have no idea if my prayers at all matter anything to you, but you know what, your will be done, and that's fine.

And that's normally how we tack it on at the end, going, if I said anything wrong, that's gonna disrupt and destroy my life and my family and my job and my career.

If I if I said anything wrong, just like your will be done, and it's like a catch-all for all the garbage we just tossed at him.

But she doesn't do it that way.

She flips it.

She goes, I know what your will is.

I know what you want to do in the world, and so I'm asking you to do it.

I know that you want to be a light to the nations.

I'm the nations, be a light to the nations.

I know that you want to give me food too.

Give me food too.

I know that you're gonna go to them first.

That's fine, yes, Lord.

But I also know that I'm included in this thing, and so she is praying, do your will.

God's will doesn't end her prayer, it gives life to her prayer.

It's what gives her confidence to pray boldly.

It's because she knows what he has come to do that she's able to actually ask for the thing that she wants.

I know that you want to do this, and so do the thing that you want to do.

This makes sense to us.

If you ever go to a restaurant like Kim and Fred and I and Ray went out Friday night, like I didn't ask the waitress for a back massage because I know why she's there.

When she's like, what do you want?

I wasn't like, I'd like my oil changed.

Like, that'd be great.

Like, I know why we're I know what you do, I know what you showed up to do.

I I don't feel bad asking for food and drinks and refills and refills and drinks and you know, like all these different things.

I don't feel bad asking for those things.

And it makes sense because I know exactly why you're here.

And so I wouldn't ask for those.

If I did ask for a back rub and an oil change and, you know, change a diaper or something like that of a kid or something like that.

I wouldn't ask with as good of confidence because I'm like, I don't know, she might do it.

Maybe she's a weird lady.

Like, I have no idea.

Maybe she wants to lean in and do some weird stuff and get a bigger tip.

I have no idea.

But I wouldn't ask with the confidence, right?

Like you wouldn't have that space with her where you would say that thing or to the waiter or whatever and be like, I need this.

Because you're like, that's not what you've come to do.

And so for us, I think many people pray, these shotgun, vague, your will be done prayers to God, because it's like, I don't, I have no idea what you want to do.

And so maybe you want to do this, but I don't know that you want to do this, so I pray without confidence.

And what makes her feel as bold as she can, as confident as she is, is she's like, I know what you've come to do.

I'm included in your plan, I'm included in your will.

Do your will.

And I just get to be a part of that.

Thank you that I get to be a part of that thing.

And so she has no uh issue being as bold as she is.

If we don't have this, if we don't understand what God has come to do, our prayers normally turn into like wishful thinking prayers, like just wishing prayers, like, God, I hope you do this, but I don't know if you even want to do that.

So your will be done just in case I ruined everything.

Like, uh and that's we we normally do that.

So this type of prayer, no knowledge of what God wants to do in the world, leads us to no confidence in prayer, no real trust that he will give us anything we ask for, no idea what to even expect.

Like I prayed for this thing.

Should I expect something?

So there's no expectation.

We have no idea what he's capable of because we don't know what he's done, and we don't know if he wants to do it.

So we end up praying like really wishful prayers and all those different things.

And so I think God delights in anything that we have to say to him.

There's a lot of shame around prayer.

I think he likes to hear your voice.

He made it, he loves to hear it the way that I would love to hear my son's voice.

But I do think there's a confidence in something that can bolster your prayers when you recognize here is what he's come to do, here's what he wants to do.

And so I'm praying based on what you've come to do, what you've said you've come to do, and what you want to do.

I know you want to do this, and so I'm praying for that thing as well.

And if you have no idea, then you do not have that space, you do not have that guidance on what to pray for.

You're not able to see your life in the in line of his will and go, I know you want to do this in my life, so do that thing.

And that's what she does.

Her prayer is strong and confident and bold, and it's something that Jesus says, because of this reply, you have what you want.

And there's something here that Jesus sees in this woman's prayer and is like, you understand why I'm here, and you know that you're included in that thing, and all you're asking for is your will be done.

And so for us, it doesn't need to end our prayers.

That needs to be the starting point for those things, the the launching pad of like, what does he want to do?

I want to do that.

It's like great, then I want to be a part of that thing, and so pray that way.

So that's the first thing that this woman does.

She had an understanding of what Jesus had come to do, and she prays, do what you've come to do and do it in my life.

That's the first thing.

Number two, she prays Jesus with Jesus' word.

She actually praised Jesus' word back to him.

So in verse 27, he says, Jesus says, First let the little children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the little dogs, the pet dogs.

And then she says, Yes, Lord.

And the even, the dogs under the table, eat the children's crumbs.

It's important for us to see and remember, Jesus changes dog, like scavenger dog outside, to little pet dog that lives inside the house.

It's important to remember that because she leans on that.

She hears Jesus call her something else, and she leans on that, on that thing that he just said.

It's like you called me a little dog that really sits under the table.

If y'all have a dog, you know, I hate this.

My dog, I'll have food, and he won't, he knows not to beg, but he'll just sit there and stare at you.

And it's forever.

And I'm like, stop looking at me.

Like I don't want, I don't want to share my food.

I don't want, I don't want anybody staring at me while I eat.

I mean, it's like right here.

And if you turn away, he just takes a step closer and gets a little closer, and then he's he's right.

Anyway, it's annoying.

But y'all know that dogs do that.

And so when Jesus, when Jesus is referencing this, she's maybe expecting to hear him say a scavenger dog outside, but he doesn't, and so she snags it.

She's like, wait, wait, wait, he just brought me in from a scavenger dog to a dog that sits under the table while the children eat.

And so she uses that thing.

James Edwards, again, in his commentary, I spent a lot of time with Spurgeon, James Edwards, and those two people this week, and so you're gonna get a bunch of them.

All right, Edwards in his commentary says uh that this woman uses what Jesus says to her advantage.

And so he says, Jesus said, it isn't right for the dogs to take the children's bread from the table.

And then she said, Yes.

But when the dogs eat crumbs from the table, they don't rob children of their food.

Like that's not what they're doing.

And so she sees what he says and then prays back to him what he says, like, hey, you said that they're supposed to eat first.

Absolutely, don't disagree, totally understand that.

And also, when the dogs eat, they're not snagging uh food from the table.

They're not doing that thing.

And so give me what's mine.

And so she has this boldness.

She grabs Jesus' words and uses them in order to get what she said.

And so, to paraphrase, if we can look at it this way, she says, uh she says basically to Jesus, you have said, the little dogs that live in the house are not the priority.

Totally get it.

But the little dogs still get to eat.

And so, based on your words, please may I have something to eat.

Like that is that's what leads her into this space.

You have changed the word on purpose to include me into this thing.

And so, because you changed the word and called me a dog that sits under the table, I still get to eat because I'm sitting on the table eating the crumbs from the from the children's table.

And so she doesn't get offended that she's called this.

She doesn't be like, I'm better, like you, I don't call me that, like whatever.

It's like it's not.

She hears his words and uses his words to actually pray.

Spurgeon says the woman's argument was based on Jesus' own premise.

She does not proceed to lay down a new premise or dispute him.

She accepts his statement and then uses it to gain her desire.

Jesus was so delighted with the wise, prudent, humble, but courageous manner in which she answered that he said, You may go.

The demon has left your daughter.

She prays using Jesus' own words.

And for us, one of the best ways that you want to bolster your prayer life, you want to enliven your prayers, you want to feel confident that you're praying for something that you're actually going to get, is to pray what he has already said to you and to pray his promises back to him.

And just pray, just own those things, lean on those things, and you're not leaning on yourself, you're not leaning on anything else, you're just leaning on a faithful God who has said things that he will be faithful to.

And so praying those promises, and that is what she is looking at.

She is looking at, here is what you've said, I'm just praying it back to you.

And so, because you said this and you are true to what you said, this is also something that I can bank on, and that's going to be true as well, because you've said it.

We need to pray the promises.

Now, I have three quotes.

One is from the 1600s, 1700s, and then 1800s, okay?

So for three centuries, people have been saying these things.

And so allow them to like make you feel good about praying the promises of God.

They basically all say the same thing with different words, but I like all three of them because I'm a quote guy.

And so I'm going to read them to you about why we should pray the promises of God.

So this is John Trapp, uh, he's a theologian, Puritan guy.

This is what he says.

And lack of what to say in their prayers, let Christians urge with repetition, Lord, you have promised, you have promised, you have promised.

Put the promises into suit, for God cannot deny himself.

I love that.

He cannot deny.

If he has said this is going to happen for you, I lean on this all the time.

I'm like, Jesus, you said that if I preach Jesus, if I preach the gospel, if I build, if I if I elevate the sun, if I elevate Jesus the Christ in the church, then that you would turn that church and build it into a church that the gates of hell will not prevail against.

Like I claim that every single day for this thing.

I'm like, build our church into a church that the gates of hell will not prevail against.

Because everything is prevailing.

Churches are closing all the time and dealing with all kinds of just issues and compromise on the inside and stuff like that.

I'm like, Jesus, do what you've said.

Build a church that the gates of hell will not prevail against.

John Wesley in the 1700s says, the best we can say to God in prayer is what he has said to us.

God's promises furnish us with the best petitions.

They are the firmest ground of our hopes and furnish us with the best please.

Lord, you said I will do you good.

Lord, do me good in this matter.

It furnishes us with the best, like what should I ask for?

What he has promised you.

He is a he is a he's a friend and God is a father that will not lie to us.

He's not gonna do that.

And again, if you have kids, especially if you have my kid, if I tell him, like, hey, if you do your chores, you can play video games.

He is going to hold me to that thing.

Even if, like, I could chop my leg off and got to go to the hospital.

He's like, could I get those video games now?

I did my chores.

I'm like, actually, someone's dying, and we need to go to the hospital, like, but you said.

He would say it right then, but you said.

You said I could do a video game.

Okay, you play video games, I'm gonna go to the hospital and lose my leg.

Like, he just hold, but like a child, like Jesus says, like, become childlike.

Hold me to what I've said.

I've promised.

I will be faithful to those things.

And then Spurgeon again says, it glorifies God to use his promises.

God sent his promises on purpose to be used.

If I see a banknote, it is a promise for a certain amount of money, and I take it and I use it.

But oh my friend, do try and use God's promises.

Nothing pleases God better than to see his promises put into circulation.

He loves to see his children bring them up to him and say, Lord, do as you have said.

Plead the promises of God.

Open your Bible, put your finger on the passage and say, Lord, this is your word, fulfill it to me.

Plead with God his own promise directly and say to him, Do as you have said.

This is the kind of praying that has never yet been met with repulse.

There is No prayer like the prayer of a person who gets a grip of a divine promise, answers a peace will surely come.

Just beautiful.

I love those.

I just couldn't leave them out.

They're so good.

And so those, and those things bolster my faith just to be reminded of like throughout the centuries, people have been like, hey, seriously, don't forget to pray the promises.

They have worked before.

They will be they he was faithful before, he will be faithful again.

And so it's a space where this woman just understands, like, I know what you've said.

I'm praying based on what you said.

And I think for us, God cannot deny himself.

He will fulfill what he has said.

And so you can have confidence to pray.

And confidence comes not from how good our prayer is or how righteous we have been or whatever.

Our confidence comes from you said that you would do it, and you're faithful to do what you've said every time, even if it takes a while.

So I'm asking based on what you've said.

What I'm going through, there's a promise in the scriptures that references what I'm going through, and I'm asking you to fulfill your promise on my behalf.

So to pray the promises.

That's the second thing that she does.

She prays God's word back to him.

Third, she prays based on who he is and what he has done and not who she is.

This woman does not dispute the little dog reference.

She doesn't get offended.

She doesn't say she deserves better.

She recognizes her low position, and at the end of the day, she's like, You owe me nothing.

I'm owed nothing.

And she doesn't pray based on that.

She prays from his word.

She's not sitting there going, like, well, you know, I'm a pretty good dog.

Like I was a very obedient dog.

She doesn't do that.

And she doesn't say I'm better than a dog.

Like those Gentiles out there, like there's something worse, but like not me.

And she doesn't say, Don't call me that.

How dare you call me?

Like we're Americans.

We'd be like, oh, don't call me a dog.

Like, nah.

But she doesn't.

She's like, you owe me nothing.

But I'm not praying based on what you owe me.

I'm praying based on how generous you are, how kind you are, the fact that the master is at the table and the master is generous and has so much abundance on the table that crumbs are just spilling off left and right and the dogs are eating them.

I'm not asking based on me.

I'm asking based on who you are and how great you are and what you're capable of.

Again, Spurgeon says the Syrophoenician woman did not expect to win the blessing she sought on account of any merit of her own.

She depended on the goodness of Jesus.

She believed Jesus was able to heal all manner of diseases, and she meant to beg him until he yielded, to bend that arm until it finally was like, okay, okay, uncle, I'll do it.

I'll do this thing.

But it's because she's like, I have I have confidence to pray because I'm not basing it on how good I've been or what you owe me.

You owe me nothing, but you want to do things for me.

I haven't been that great, but you don't give me stuff based on how great I am.

You give me stuff based on grace, and your grace is overexceeding my sin and my worthiness.

And so she doesn't ask that way.

To me, if we focus on in our prayers, if the focus is on who we are, it normally leads each of us in three one of three terrible directions, okay?

So if we focus on us and like here's what we deserve, or how good we are or how bad we are, or stuff that you know, how capable we are, or something like that, we end up in a terrible direction in our prayers, and I think it's a trap that we can fall to.

So the first, if we think too highly of ourselves, and we're like, you owe me God, we we have entitled prayers.

So this is the type of prayer in person that believes God owes them because I've been a good person.

I stopped sinning.

I've been a good person.

You need to do as I ask.

And what this leads to is confused, angry, disillusioned people with a God who is not a bank that you can buy from or a store that you can transactionally get something from.

That is not how he functions.

I had a friend years ago in a different state, they're not in this room, and hopefully not listening to the podcast.

Um, but that she had this idea that she was gonna get married and uh she was gonna do the wedding outside, and she just believed.

She was like, she'd been sleeping with her boyfriend, they're living together, or whatever.

And um, she was like, if we just stop having sex, then God will give me a um sunny day for my wedding.

Like, that's how you get it.

You guys want to know how to change the weather?

Sorry, fellas.

Um but like there's this space where she just believed, like, uh, this is this is gonna happen.

She told us that, like, in our small group, and I was like, I didn't know that that was biblical.

I had no idea.

Don't tell Rainy.

Um my wife.

Um, but that's what she believed.

And so the wedding day comes.

I'm the best man in this wedding, and y'all, it's a downpour.

It is raining, cats and dogs, and we're outside with mics, like everything, you know, there's like there's stuff going down, and the whole thing, it's not funny because it was, she wept.

She believed with all of her heart.

She had so much faith.

She just had this faith, and then she she had this space with God that she was like, I don't even know if I believe in him anymore based on my wedding.

And I was like, I what I want, I didn't say this because she wasn't asking, but I'm like, you had so much faith in a God that doesn't exist.

That's not who he is.

I don't have faith in that God either.

You can't barter with him in a way that's like, hey, uh, if I do this for you, if maybe you do something quit pro, I don't even know how to say that, but like, I, you know, maybe there's something I can do, can I buy something from you and then you give me something in return as there are way?

And it's like, the reason you have a struggle believing in a God like that is he does not exist.

That's a fake God, that's a pagan God.

That's not a real God.

And it was so hard for her.

Um, and maybe even still to this day, it's still one of the worst days in her life, but she believed, based on how good I am, I stopped sinning.

Give me what I want.

He's like, I it does not work that way.

And the reason it doesn't work that way is because God cannot, he doesn't want to give you what you actually deserve, because the scriptures say what you actually deserve is wrath, and that's it.

What you deserve, and from Ephesians 2, is like, you deserve wrath.

That's the answer.

And so God's never gonna give you what you deserve, not because he doesn't love you, but because he actually loves you a lot.

He's like, I don't want to give you wrath.

And so Spurgeon says again, he's like, it's unwise to begin to ask God for things on the grounds of our merit.

He's like, if you could only ask Christ for what you deserve, it wouldn't take you very long because you deserve nothing.

But wrath, like there's just nothing there.

But the and the good news of that is it's like I deserve nothing, but he wants to pour out gracious blessings upon people who deserve nothing.

And so if we ever think that it's like, you owe me because how good I am, you owe me because I stopped sinning, or if you think I had a good week this week of not sinning, so God's gonna hear my prayers today, it doesn't work like that.

And so be set free from that thing.

He blesses us not based on our own merit, he blesses us based on Christ's merit, and he pours out grace on us because of who he is, not who we are.

And thank God that he does that, that he loves us enough to not give us what we deserve.

So that's the first.

If we think too highly of ourselves, we will ask based on entitlement, like, give me that thing because I deserve it, and it won't work.

Second way, if we think too lowly, if we focus on ourselves and how sinful we are and those types of things, what that leads to, it sounds humble, but what it actually leads to is prayerlessness.

It will make us not pray.

And so if we focus on our sin, these are the type of people who are just, I'm overwhelmed by my sin.

They think they can't ask for anything based on how sinful they are.

Look at how much I already have, look at how much you've already given me, like I'm I'm so undeserving, I don't even and so it leads that type of person to go, like, I don't deserve anything, I don't even deserve to ask you.

And again, it it comes from, in many ways, it comes from a seeking to be humble type of thing, and it sounds very humble, but actually what it does is it elevates who you are over who God actually is.

And so if you believe, well, my sin has outsinned his grace, then you're not believing the scriptures.

And so the idea that he wants to give you something better than you deserve, you're undermining that by going, I don't deserve it, therefore I shouldn't have it.

It's the exact same thing of the entitled prayer, it's just flipped on its head.

And so you're never supposed to look at yourself and be like, Well, here's what I deserve, here's what I don't deserve, and then ask and use your prayers based on those things.

That will never work because it doesn't work that way, and that's for your good.

But if you believe that, you just won't pray because you're like, I've sinned a lot, I've done terrible, I'm not gonna ask because he's not gonna answer.

And it's like, man, you're not believing the scriptures.

You're not allowing those things to be the space that actually allows you to go, like, look at who he actually is.

Base your prayer on who he is, not who you are.

And then the third, if we focus on ourselves, we begin praying for things that make sense to us, things that we're capable of doing.

If our if our focus is on like, I'm just I'm so inward focused on like what I can do, we end up praying for things that we could do without God.

I don't actually need your help for this.

I'm supposed to pray for it, but I don't actually need your help for this.

So most people are like, Lord, give me a good day.

I just need a good day.

And you're like, that's a that's a big prayer, like that's a very small prayer, like a good day.

Like, just don't be an idiot and you'll be fine.

I'm pretty sure if you'll just, you know, just do that thing.

Um, and yet many people get stuck and like, I don't know what to ask for because I and then they end up praying for things, and it leads us to boringly small prayers because we end up praying, and I'm not trying to be critical or condemnatory or anything like that.

I'm just saying this is this is the nature of where, if we focus on ourselves and ask based on ourselves, this is where it leads us.

The boringly small prayers, and people are like, I get bored in prayer.

I'm like, because you're praying boring prayers.

You're not asking for anything big, you're asking for stuff that you could do.

And then people are like, I just feel like while I'm praying, I need to be doing this, this, this, this, and this.

What I'm praying for, maybe I should begin doing it.

It's like, then you're praying too small.

Pray for things that you can't do on your own.

Look at any of the prayers in the scriptures, and then they're asking for like red seas to be split and like, you know, plagues to come through and like save the people of Israel out of out of ex uh out of Egypt in the Exodus.

Like you see, like Paul praying for like hearts to be opened and split open so that God's love will fit in there, and he's just going, I can't do any of those things.

And what makes their prayers so strong and so beautiful isn't that they're praying for things that make a bunch of sense.

They're just praying for things that are so big that, like, God, if you don't come through, then this is not going to happen.

And their prayers are interesting and exciting because of how big and substantial they are, because they're dependent on a God who does impossible things versus someone who can just do possible things.

And so for us, if we focus on ourselves and we pray that way, we'll pray entitled prayers.

We won't pray at all.

And we'll pray for stuff that's like, y'all, you don't even need to pray for that.

Just go be nice to her and it'll be fine.

Like, you don't even need God for that.

Just go do that thing.

And yet we could be praying for huge, I mean, just life-altering, world-shaping things.

And again, I think the Lord loves to hear anything that we have to say.

He loves our voice.

I love to, my kid doesn't always talk to me about profound, substantial, humongous things.

Sometimes he does, and that's fun.

Most of the time it's really small stuff, and I delight in those conversations that we have about Oreos and that kind of stuff too.

Like I love that because I'm his father and I love those things.

God does too.

But when we pray and you want to enliven your prayer, make your prayer the basis, the thing that you're praying from.

It's not who you are.

But it's like I have seen who you are, God.

I've seen what you can do, God.

I want to see those things again.

I haven't been able to split C's and fire from heaven.

Never been able to do that.

It's pretty cool that you did.

I haven't been able to like transform someone's heart who is a Christian killer and a murderer into someone who ultimately dies for Jesus and writes most of the New Testament.

I've never done any of that stuff, but you have done those things.

And so, based on what you've done in the past and the hugness and the majesty of the stuff that you're able to accomplish, I'm praying based on you do impossible things every day.

I need you to do one for me today.

And so it leads us to this space where nothing is impossible for him.

Uh I sent this to a couple of you, but um JD Greer in his book uh tells this story about how we should pray.

Uh he's referencing Alexander the Great, but he says, the story is told that Alexander the Great had a general who approached him after his many years of service to ask if he would pay for the wedding of his daughter.

The general asked for an exorbitant amount of money, enough to host the largest wedding Greece had ever seen.

And Alexander agreed and told him to obtain the funds needed from the treasurer.

Soon the treasurer came to Alexander, complaining that this general was taking advantage of Alexander's generosity.

And Alexander waved his hand dismissively and said, Grant him his full request.

The treasurer looked bewildered, and Alexander continued, My general pays me two compliments.

He believes that I am rich enough to afford his request, and he believes that I am generous enough to grant it.

And in assuming these two things, he honors me.

Then he goes on, and he says, Our God is so good, our God is so gracious and so powerful that we can never ask or believe too much of him.

We don't offend him with large requests, we offend him with the small ones.

And it's a beautiful story, and I think there's something there for us, it's like, oh, that's super offensive that you would ask for so much.

You already have so much, why would you ever ask for so much?

Like, because I believe he is more generous than I can possibly understand.

I'm gonna keep asking for more, not because I feel like I deserve it, not because I I need it, otherwise I won't believe in him, because I think more is just available with him.

If there is, if there's infinite possibilities, there's infinite blessing, there's infinite grace, if there's infinite things that he can pour in, then I'm not experiencing all that's available to me, and I want to keep asking and have that hunger available in my heart so that, hey, if you're looking for a heart that's hungry and wanting more of you, it's right here, it lives in my chest.

Please do more than what I'm experiencing.

Not because you're doing, you're not doing enough, but because I believe in you that you have more available for me.

And I think we get locked into this space where we're looking at like, it's fine, it's good, and it's like, I don't think the scriptures testify to that type of life.

I think we should constantly be going before the throne of grace to receive mercy and help, boldly to receive those things in our time of need.

Paul said he can do exceedingly abundantly more than we ask.

He can do exceedingly abundantly more than we imagine.

So we can't even, there's no way to even out-imagine him.

Like you, I mean, my kid has a great imagination about dinosaurs chasing us in our jeep and eat any time it bumps on the road.

Like, he's got a great imagination.

But like, if he if he asked for that thing, like that's a weird illustration.

But like, there's this space where it's like God can do more than we even have the ability to ask.

We don't even know how to ask for the right things, which is why the Spirit has to help us in our weakness in those spaces.

And my point is there's just this life that exists with him, where he is filled with generosity.

He is he's the most generous one, he's the most abundant one, and he loves to pour out his blessings on his kids in the same way that good parents want to do that on their kids.

And so we need to pray based on who he is and what he is capable of.

The person that does this the best, it is not shocking, is Jesus.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, right before he goes to the cross, Jesus prays that the cup of suffering that he was about to endure would pass from him.

But notice what he says.

He says, Abba Father, everything is possible for you.

And so now I'm about to pray off script a bit.

I'm gonna pray for something that if you answer this, all of salvific history changes in the direction towards like it's not gonna work.

But he's praying, not even based on who he is, which actually would be the thing to do.

You're Jesus.

You should pray based on who you are, but he doesn't.

He's like, anything is possible for you.

You can do whatever you want, everything is possible for you.

And so I'm gonna pray this crazy off-covenant thing that this cup would pass for me.

I'm gonna pray for something and I trust that like you're not gonna give me something that I that I prayed for.

Sorry, you asked for it.

You're gonna get it.

I trust that you're not gonna do that.

But his basis for praying something that he knows at the end of the day, he knows why he's there, he knows the cross is supposed to be where he's supposed to go, he knows all these things, and yet he still has this understanding of who God is and who his father is, is like everything is possible for you.

Is there any other way that we can do this thing?

And it leads to this crazy bold prayer, thankfully that God didn't answer.

Um because uh obviously we wouldn't have a church and be doing this thing.

But it's from his understanding of who God actually is, and then obviously Jesus prays the same way this woman prays.

But I want your will, your thing's better than mine.

And so I want that.

So for us, we need to pray with an understanding of what God wants to do.

If you want to learn how to pray better and experience, in my opinion, and I think according to the scriptures, more answers to your prayer, more confidence when you see those things.

It's not a formula, but these things have to be a part of it.

I'm not saying you're gonna get everything you want.

We just looked at Jesus, he just prayed similar to this formula and didn't get what he wanted.

And actually, I would say at the end of the day, he actually does get what he wants.

But there has to be this space for us where we pray with an understanding of what God actually wants to do so that we know what to ask for.

And then we have to pray the promises of God's word because he is faithful to those things, and we need to pray based on who he is and what he is capable of.

Praying those things.

All right, what time is it?

All right, I'm gonna do this real fast, okay?

All right, uh, I wanted to give you some prayers in line with some of these things just so you can see how this actually works.

I'm gonna roll through these very quickly.

If you want to take screenshots, that's fine.

Um, but pray with an understanding of what God wants to do.

We know what he wants to do, he wants to redeem people and save them.

And so you have people in your life that you want to see redeemed and saved.

You can be very confident in saying, uh, Lord, you want this too.

Do your will.

He wants to take what the enemy meant for evil in your life and turn it for good.

That's what he wants to do.

He wants people to consider everything else as loss in comparison to knowing Jesus.

He wants people to know who he actually is.

He wants people who are estranged from him, uh, excuse me, people who are estranged from him to be reconciled and people who are estranged from you to be reconciled.

He wants us to be free from our anxieties and worries.

And so when you are struggling with anxiety and worry, you're like, God, I want you to take away these things.

You want this too.

You said it in your word.

You said this thing.

So I can pray this confidently.

You want this.

He wants to provide for you.

So provide.

He doesn't want the pain in your past to define your entire life.

He wants, uh, sorry for the typo, he wants your marriage to be healthy.

Uh he wants kids to grow up in healthy families, being brought up in the instruction of the Lord.

He wants you to be rid of the old self and put on the new self.

He wants people who are living in sin to be led to repentance by his loving kindness and not the fear of hell.

He wants you to hear his voice.

He wants to guide and direct your steps.

He wants to give you wisdom, wants you to understand your gifts and step into who he's made you to be.

He wants us to walk in the spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh.

He wants you to live at peace with everyone as much as it concerns you, and he wants us to be a community that is completely different but very, very unified.

He wants those.

And that's just a handful of me just thinking about things over the week of like stuff that we could do that fit on one screen.

But he wants a number of things.

And when you realize what he wants, it can shape what you pray for.

Second.

Pray the promises.

These are just a handful of promises.

I didn't have time to put this the scripture references there.

But Lord, you say that my marriage, this is Ephesians 5, my marriage is supposed to be an example to the world about your love that you have for the church.

But if my marriage is struggling, we're struggling to love each other, so I need you to do a miracle.

You have said, You want my marriage to be this, my marriage is not that.

Do that miracle.

Make my marriage what you created it to be.

There is a promise in Scripture that your marriage was supposed to be strong.

It is supposed to testify Jesus loves the church this much, and your marriage is supposed to be an element to the world that they look at and be like, I think I see how Jesus loves the church through those two people who are married together.

Pray that promise over your marriage.

I do.

Lord, you have said that the prayers of a righteous person avail much.

You have made me righteous by your sacrifice on the cross.

Let my prayers do much in the lives of those around me and in my life.

Not because I'm righteous based on my own righteousness, but you have done a thing.

Your promises that now I'm filled with the righteousness of Christ.

And if the prayers of a righteous person avail much, do that work through my prayers.

You have said, truly, truly, whoever believes in me will do the works that I've been doing, and they will do greater things than these.

Lord, you heal people, you set people free from bondage, you show people who God really is.

Lord, do those things through me in my life, in our church.

You said that if I turn my anxious thoughts and prayers into petitions with thanksgiving, then the peace of God would guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

So do as you've said.

Here are all my anxieties.

Give me that peace you promised.

Lord, you said if we won't get weary and doing good, that we'll reap a harvest.

Lord, we're still going.

Give us the harvest we're praying for, give us the harvest we're working for.

You say if we seek you, then all the things that we actually need will be added to me.

Provide for my needs.

Lord, you said that people can taste and see that you are good.

I want the people in my life to taste and see that you are good.

I'm gonna just go through okay.

Jesus said, Truly I tell you, anyone who has left home or brothers and mothers and sisters and all these different things and possessions for me in the sake of the gospel, that those people would receive a hundred times as much in the present age, here and now.

Lord, I'm giving up things for your sake, believing this promise.

Please give me what you promise.

You've said that certain evils and struggles only come out by prayer and fasting.

I'm gonna pray and fast.

Give me the victory that you've promised.

Lord, you say that the reward you reward those who earnestly seek you.

I'm earnestly seeking you in prayer and fasting.

Give me the reward you promised.

You've said that if I'm tempted that you provide a way out, show me the way out.

You said that from the mouths of infants, we prayed this this morning, uh, that you tear down strongholds when they sing praises to you.

Tear down strongholds in our lives as we sing.

You said that if the foundation of the church is Jesus, I already said that one earlier, then you'll make a church that the gates of hell will not prevail against.

Give me that church, God.

All right, and then the last, those are praying in the promises.

Pray based on who God is.

And in this way, what you're doing is you're just looking at what who he is and what he's done, looking at his strength and not yours, looking at his worthiness and not yours.

So this is Lord, you split the Red Sea and made a way where there wasn't a way.

That is my life right now.

There seems to be no way forward.

Make that way.

Do the thing that you did before, do it again.

Lord, you did the impossible and changed Saul's heart from someone who hated Christians and rejected Jesus.

Into someone who gave his life to serve you.

Change the hearts of my family and my friends.

They're just like him.

They hate him and they hate us.

Would you please change their heart?

You've done it before, you can do it again.

That's who you are.

Do that thing.

Lord, you reconcile the most difficult relationships we had, God and us, and now we are not enemies, but friends and at peace with God.

Reconcile the relationships in my family and my life the way that you did those things.

Lord, you raised up a 16-year-old kid who sought the Lord and it changed.

I pray this for our youth.

Would you raise up the youth in our church like this that changed nations because they seek the Lord?

Lord, you fought the battles of your people while they worshiped you.

Will you fight my battles for me as I worship you today?

Lord, Jonah preached your word.

This is, I pray this too.

Lord, you preached your word and the whole city repented and turned to you.

Do that in Memphis.

Lord, you healed every person who came to you in the gospels for healing.

You never denied a single person who came to you asking for healing.

Would you please heal me?

Would you please heal people in our church?

Just looking at who he is and what he's done and allowing those things to guide and direct and fuse your prayer with life, going, I know you want this.

I know that you've promised this, and you are bigger and greater and grander than anything I could possibly imagine.

And so I'm just asking, based on all of those things, not based on anything that's coming from me, but everything that I see about you, I'm asking for those things.

To me, if we will pray this way, I promise your prayers, it'll be a lot more fun.

You'll enjoy it a lot more.

But then two, I do believe he wants you and has told you, pray, my will be done.

Because he's looking for a space and he's not going to force his way in, but he is looking for a space to go.

Like, do you want my will there?

And if we're like, absolutely, do that thing that you promised, then I think he's desperate to respond in those spaces because he's looking for hearts that are open.

And so I want that in our church.

I want our church, and I didn't include this one in there, but like you say that your house should be a house of prayer, that it will be a house of prayer.

Make our church a house of prayer for all people.

I want that so badly.

And I think prayer is this space that the enemy has stolen from his people.

This conversation.

Imagine if you had a kid and you never got to talk to that kid, and they just never wanted to talk to you.

And I've, I mean, I've obviously I've dealt with some of those things just with Teddy growing up, and I know some of you have walked through some of those things as well, which is like you're estranged from your kids, or they can't speak, and you want to hear their voice so badly.

The father is desperate to hear the voices of his kids.

And the enemy has just stolen that.

And so, this very, very powerful thing that Jesus has given us, it's the most simple thing in history.

You don't you don't have to close your eyes, you don't have to bow your head, you can drive, you can be wherever, and you can talk to him.

And it's the simplest thing that he's made that we think is powerless because it's simple, but it's not.

He's made the most powerful thing that we have with him, this access to him.

He's made the most powerful thing, the easiest thing that we can possibly do, and he did that by Jesus, crucified on the cross, so that now, because of Jesus, not based on us, because of him now, therefore, because of Jesus, go boldly before the throne of grace because of what he's done.

And so for us, I want your prayers to be infused with life.

I want you to actually be filled with faith when you see your prayers being answered.

And I think these ways, what this woman does, is a masterclass on how to pray in Jesus' name, in God's will, his promises, and based on him and not based on us.

Okay, I love you.

Let me pray.

Lord, that was long.

Um, Lord, you want us to pray.

You made a way for us to come to you whenever you want.

You want us to grow in our trust in you and faith that prayer is powerful and effective.

You said that your house would be a house of prayer.

Um, you promised that that would be true, of the space where you dwell.

And so, God, I'm just asking you to fulfill that promise.

Would you make us uh even more so than we are today?

Make us people who desire to spend this time with you.

Give us a vision of prayer and how beautiful it's supposed to be.

Lord, would you uh do a mighty work among uh the hearts and minds of our people who just need to be encouraged again to press into this ancient practice, this beautiful thing that you have for us.

And God, would you just increase our faith and our unbelief in spaces where we struggle to believe that it will do anything?

Your father who likes to hear the voices of his sons and his and his daughters.

And so, God, I pray that we would honor you and then take you up on your promise.

You are faithful and you have been faithful, and you'll do it again.

I pray that in Jesus' name.

Amen.