The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 11: Prayer

Episode Date: June 28, 2020

The reason we can pray with such boldness is because God invites us to come into His presence, just as a good father invites their child in need. For more information and resources on this series, visit coe22.com/bestsermonever. For disciple group curriculum please visit coe22.com/disciplegroups.

Amen and amen and amen and amen. You may be seated. Church, so good to see you, to see faces looking back at me. It's very helpful to me. And I just want to use this kind of language because language matters. We did not reopen the church because the church can never shut down because the church is not a building. The church is not a program. This church is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Amen?

And so the movement has not stopped. And so, but I would like to welcome you to San Pablo and to Arlington and to Bay Meadows and to Mandarin and to Fleming Island. And I'd also like to welcome all of you that are worshiping with us online. That is a thing from now on. We'll be able to experience worship with 1122 online from now on. And I want to say to you, way to go, way to be leaning in for the last 15 weeks since we've been online only. we've got a couple hundred thousand people that are tuning in online to be a part of 1122 so praise God how many of you know that what the enemy intended for evil God intended for good so with that

in mind I also want to welcome pay attention 1122 every inmate both male and female in the state of Florida now has access to 1122 services online and so welcome welcome welcome And particularly to our brothers at Baker and Union, way to go, fellas. You paved the way for 1122 to be accessible to every inmate. And at Baker, Kish made that happen. You know who that is. So, good job, staying engaged. And if you're here in the room, welcome back.

And if you're not ready to come into a room yet, no problem, no problem. There's no shame. There's no guilt. That's not how this thing works, all right? because no matter when we opened, it was going to be three little bears. Everybody understands that, right? That's just leadership. Some of it's too hot, some's too cold.

Some people think it's just right. So, welcome to church. That's just how things are. Well, we are in the 11th week of this series that we never stopped teaching the best sermon ever out of the book of Matthew from the sermon on the Mount. And Jesus goes back to prayer. So how important is prayer? Well, in one sermon, he covered it with the Lord's prayer a few weeks ago. and now he's right back to prayer.

And it must be important for him to come back to it and cover it again. And I don't know about you, but I really believe our world needs the prayers of God's children right now, amen? Especially in our society. And in this secular age, people make fun of people that say that we're going to pray about major things in the world. I mean, it's commonly said, quote, thoughts and thoughts and prayers won't change anything. Well, you could not be more wrong because prayer changes everything. And in fact, without the power of praying people, nothing on this planet will ever get better. So if we ever needed to pray, it is right now. So Matthew chapter 7, verse 7, we'll dive right in.

Jesus says this, ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find knock, and it will be open. to you. Now, I don't typically get into like Greek grammar with you, but the verb tenses here matter a bunch. This is the present, second person, active, imperative. But you know what that means, so I could just keep going. Now, here's what this means. It is a command. It is a command. And because it is the second person active, what it means is this. It means like, so ask and ask and keep on asking. And seek and seek and keep on seeking and knock and knock and keep on knock. And keep on knock. And This is not just like say a prayer or say your prayers. This is continuously and desperately petition God over and over and over and over.

Don't stop praying and don't stop asking and don't stop seeking and don't stop knocking. That God, he's such a good, good father that he is glorified in the asking and in the seeking and in the knocking. I mean, what kind of dad is this? I've told you this before. In my house, if you say the words, ask me again. That is not an invitation to actually ask me again. It is a threat. But God, when we pray, he says, come on, keep coming, keep coming, keep coming, over and over and over.

Jesus shares two parables. I'm just going to read them real quick. And the point of these parables is this. he invites us to continuously ask, to continuously pray. In Luke 8, 1 through 8, Jesus says, and he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. So the Bible, Luke, is going to tell us the point of the parable. The point of this is that we ought always to pray and not lose heart.

And why would you lose heart in prayer? Because you ask and you didn't get yet. You're seeking and you hadn't found yet. You're knocking, but nobody. he's opening the door yet. And so when you find yourself in that moment, don't stop. This is the point of the parable.

In a certain city, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, give me justice against my adversary. And for a while, he, the judge, refused, but afterwards he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man,

yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. How many of you are reminded of your children when you hear that phrase? That your kids have this, our kids, not my kids, have this spiritual gift of beating me down with the same request over and over and over. So what do you do? Fine. Get another piece of candy or whatever.

ever, right? Everybody's been there before? All of us every day that have kids, all right? So the judge says, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming and the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the son of man comes, will he find faith on earth? What's the point of the parable?

It is this. Don't stop praying. Don't stop praying. Another parable, Luke 11, 5 through 8. Basically, it has the same point. Got different characters in it. Luke 11, 5 to 8, and he said to them, which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him,

friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine has arrived on. a journey and I have nothing to set before him and he will answer from within. Don't bother me. The door is now shut and my children are in bed with me. I cannot get up and give you anything. I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudent, some of your translations may say persistence.

This word means like boldness. He will rise and give him whatever he needs. So the two parables are this. This widow aggravates a judge to death to finally get what she wants. A neighbor won't leave this sleeping dad alone in his house and keeps knocking and knocking and knocking. And even though the guy doesn't want to give up, he has to get up because the guy on the outside won't quit. And Jesus says that's how you should pray. Now, some people are like, so you mean to tell me,

that God is like an unjust judge or a sleeping dad? No, no, no. You see, parable in Greek, it literally means to lay alongside of. And Jesus is not comparing God to the unjust judge and the sleeping neighbor. Jesus is contrasting God to the unjust judge and the sleeping neighbor. You see, in the first century, most of the people lived in one-room houses, and they didn't have a heater. and at night in the Middle East it gets real cold.

And so dad would usually lay in the middle, his wife would lay next to him, and you would just kind of like pile up kids all around you to keep you warm. And everybody's in there, in the bed, and the neighbor comes. Hospitality was super important. And the neighbor comes over and goes,

hey man, somebody just came by the house and they don't have the 24-hour late-night taco bell or flophil bell or whatever it would have been. So I need some help. You have what I need, and I can't meet my own needs, I need help from you. And if you could convince this guy who, I mean, he calls him a friend, but he doesn't even care about this friend that much,

and if you can convince him to wake up his entire family and do for you what he does not want to do for you, then how much more would your father in heaven who loves to give good gifts to his kids? who is, he wants to answer prayers. So don't stop praying. Don't stop praying. Why?

Because God is listening. This past week, Pastor Chris, campus pastor here at San Pablo, his dad passed away. And we did his dad's funeral. His dad was in ministry forever. His dad was the vice president of a seminary.

his dad used to sit right back there at the nine o'clock service, and I'm going to tell you one of the most intimidating things for me as a preacher would be to look up and see Dr. Jerry. And Chris showed me a picture of the inside of his dad's Bible. And it had prayer. Then there were seven things that he was praying for. He was praying for an opportunity to share his faith. He was praying that God would begin to woo the hearts of these people.

He was praying, all these kinds of things. And then he had a list of 50, it was over 50 people written down in the front of his Bible. I think it was 54. I counted. And then 22 of them had checks beside the names. And those 22 checks represented the people that he'd been praying for that had come to Christ over the years. And he was praying and praying and praying and praying. Don't stop praying.

Now, I looked at the beginning. it up in my Bible, I just got some, I need to do something different here, okay? Which led me to think about it like this, like, what are you praying for? His dad's praying that eternities would be changed. And oftentimes we're praying like the field gold is good, or I got a parking spot up front, or the weather changes. So let me ask you, church, have you given up? Have you been praying for somebody or something or some breakthrough, and it's not going

the way you thought it ought to go? and so you've given up. You see, I would say to you this, if your prayers are not intimidating to you, they may be insulting to God. God says, ask. But he doesn't say ask, ask, ask. He says, ask, and then seek.

You see, ask is kind of easy, right? You just ask. But what happens if you don't get what you're asking for? Well, then there's another thing to it. Seek. That means take action. That this means you don't just pray for a job, you pray for a job and you apply for a job. This doesn't mean you just pray for a date.

You pray for a date and you do the appropriate things. I'm not going to get into that, okay? You see, I think the image that Jesus is painting here is that, it's like, you've got to think about this like a little kid, man, if you're a little kid and you need help and your dad's right there, you just ask, hey, dad, can you help me? but if you need help and you look around and he's not in the room what do you do you don't just sit and wait for him to show up you seek you go looking around the house dad you're in here and then when you find him then you ask and then sometimes you know he's in his study and the door's closed and you

think he may be doing very important things in there but like a child you just walk in and you knock on the door hey dad i need your help so pray and pray and pray and pray and don't stop praying And then he says this, for everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds, and the one who knocks, it will be open. Do you believe that? Well, anybody ever prayed for something, and God didn't answer your prayer? And I'm not talking about dumb stuff, like your team would win, unless it's the Bulldogs, then it's pretty good, okay? But have you ever prayed for something, and God's, you know, he doesn't? He doesn't answer and you're seeking and you can't find and you're knocking and the door's not open.

So what does this mean? How can Jesus say for everyone who asks receives and to the one who seeks fines and to the one who knocks? It will be open. What do you do with unanswered prayer? When Jesus just said these things, everyone who asks receives. Well, I always love to use the Bible as commentary unto itself. before you ever wonder what I think, it's always most important to see what the Bible, God's word, has one author with a bunch of human authors, you understand?

And so, let's see what it says. So the Apostle Paul, he had an unanswered prayer request as a part of his experience. And can we just agree that the Apostle Ball is pretty legit in his sanctification and walk with Jesus? So apparently, it's not the amount of faith you have. that moves God to either say yes or no to your prayers. Can we agree on this? The Apostle Paul, the Bible says that people would pick up aprons that he had wore. I don't know why he's wearing an apron unless maybe he was in it like some kind of grilling contest.

But they would pick up a handkerchief that Paul had touched, and they would just touch people with it, and everybody would be healed. Anybody got that ministry at 1122? Okay? People come up to me all the time at the end of a service, and I pray for them. Dude, Jesus, please heal them. And people are just like, thanks, pal. You understand? This dude is somebody's got his handkerchief just walking through Mayo and just come get on up out of here.

Everybody's leaving. You understand? That's his ministry. And yet in 2nd Corinthiansthus chapter 12, Paul says these words, So, to keep me from becoming conceded because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, here's what he's talking about. In verses 1 through 6, Paul talks about these revelations of a Lord. that he got. I don't know how you met Jesus, but Paul was on his donkey heading to Damascus, and Jesus himself showed up in person as a bright light, thunked him off of his horse, and spoke to him out loud, and then apparently did this like three years supernatural Bible study with Paul. Paul also says that he's got a friend, he may be referring to himself, that had been caught up in the third heavens. I don't even know what that means, and Paul says he's not sure what

it means. So in other words, Paul's like, I've been to some legit worship experiences. And because of that, so to keep me from becoming conceited, thinking I'm all awesome, because my ministry's awesome, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from because of me. coming conceited. Think about this. So God is giving out demons to the apostles. It's what he says. Now, what was it? What was this thorn in the flesh? Some people say, poor eyesight. The reason they say that is at the end of the book of Galatians, he says, see, I've written this with my own hands. And they're saying that maybe he couldn't write it himself so he'd use scribes and his ministry

would have been better if he could see. People just make us, that's just conjecture. maybe it's what's at the root of Romans chapter 7 remember Romans 7 is where Paul basically just says what what is wrong with me like I've been a Christian a minute and yet I'm not nearly as far along as I thought I would be there are all these things that I don't want to do them these things I keep on doing then there's a whole book to good things I want to pull off and I can't pull that off what a wretched man am I by the way Anybody ever feel like that?

Here's the trap we fall into when it comes to our own sanctification. We all think 10 years from now we're going to have it together. You know what you're going to be, you know what you're going to think about you in 10 years? Disappointed. Do you know how I know? Some of you I've known for 10 years. And here we are. Ben, this is it.

Here we are. It's disappointing, isn't it? So maybe it was that. Maybe it was desires that he had and he was like, God, would you take these desires away? Maybe that's the thorn. Honestly, we don't know. And thank God we don't know what the thorn is. Because then everybody would have missed the point of what the thorn in the flesh was and everybody would have gone to the details and missed the heart behind it. So Paul has the messenger of Satan harassing him, and God is using that to keep him from being conceded. Verse 8, three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.

Now, that word there times can also mean seasons. I don't think, one, two, three times, Paul said, dear God, take the Satan thorn out. And he went, no, no, no. I think there are three particular seasons of his life where he didn't just say a prayer. He pleaded with God. He's asking and asking and asking and he's seeking and seeking and seeking and he's knocking and knocking. And he's not asking for dumb stuff.

He's not. Sometimes our prayers have like a good core and then there's a dumb part. Like honestly, most of you that are praying for a date, it's a good core right the Bible says it's not good for man to be alone but when you say but it has to be her don't you remember the 20th century theologian garth brooks taught us that thank god for honest man you're clapping because you've been to your high school reunion that's why you were like oh lord thank god okay so this isn't that man this is a messenger from the devil tormenting him that somehow is inhibiting him in his mind from doing the ministry that he thinks God has called him to do.

And three seasons in his life, he is on his face begging God, pleading with the Lord about this. Have you been there? You've got an addiction. And you're here, man. You love Jesus. You've surrendered your life to Jesus. And you don't want to do it. You don't want to drink it.

You don't want to take it. You don't want to look at it. You don't. and yet there are these times in your life. You got people praying for you. You go to the meetings. You're running the steps. You're doing all of the things.

And you're pleading. God, would you please take this away from me? And you wake up the next day and it's still there. You ever been there? Or maybe it's your marriage? I mean, maybe it's your marriage. You just don't understand. You have been praying that your husband would come to Christ

for decades and decades. and decades. And when everything started opening back up, here you are. You came to church and he went to the bar. And you don't understand. God helped me understand. How would you not save him? I have been begging you.

Why would you not do this? One of the hardest ones, man, is a prodigal son or daughter. And you have pleaded. You're like, God, I know this is not how this works, but I feel like I did my part. I'm not a perfect parent at all, but I raised them in the church. We did VBS and we did put them in youth group and we prayed prayers and we did devos.

We did the stuff. And now they did one semester at college. And now they're gone. Just ruining their lives and you're begging God. God, I've read the prodigal son parable. Could my son, could my daughter please come to their senses and just come. home and I would love to be able to throw a party for my son or daughter that came back home. And yet, you've been praying and praying and praying and they're still running.

Maybe it's finances. You trusted God, you were so generous. We did the one initiative and you were like, here we go. You held your breath. You hear all these stories, these crazy stories. And honestly, you're sick of them. You're sick of hearing about the story of the person that was generous and then they didn't know how they were going to pay the bills. and then they open the mailbox and there's like a bazillion dollar check.

And every day you go out to the mailbox and you're like, oops, still hate it, okay? You're like, what is going on here? Because I'm telling you, quote, another 20th century theologian, Biggie Smalls, more money, more problems, okay? Because if you can get no money, it feels like you got one problem. And you look at your bank account and you look at your bills and you're like, God, help me.

Or maybe it's a sickness. Maybe it's you or somebody that you love. and you know God heals and you know he can heal and you're believing him to heal until you're like, come on Lord, listen, I have been in the hospital rooms with us begging God, come on Lord, everyone who asks receive. So God, I'm part of everyone and I am asking you,

would you heal her? Come on, just stand her up and let's walk out of here and give glory to God. And he doesn't? Or sometimes it's doubts. Like you want to believe or you want to want to believe. And you got all these doubts creeping in. You're like, all right, God, if you're really there, would you please take them away?

But at the end of the day, you feel like your prayers never make it out of your bedroom. They just hit the ceiling and come falling back down on you. So did Paul. He says, three times I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me. By the way, can we just give testimony? Anybody ever been there? Anybody ever been there? Okay?

I've been a Christian a minute. I get home from the camp, I get saved at, my parents are getting divorced. And I prayed, and I pray, God, could you just get them back together? Never happened. Why, God, that seems like something that lines up with here.

Why wouldn't you do it? Paul says three times, I, on my face, pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me. But he, that's God. But he said to me, in quotes, I don't know how God spoke to Paul, but he speaks to his people. He said, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Here's what Paul.

He's saying, God is saying to Paul, here's the thing, man. The thing that you were asking me to remove is the very thing that is perfecting my power in you. The only reason that you're pleading, I know from your perspective, it makes a ton of sense right now for you to plead that the thorn will be taken away. But what you don't see is you can't see the way I see it. And the thing that you were trying for me to remove out of your life is the very pruning that is going to grow you into the man that I dreamed up when I came up with the idea of Paul. the Bible in Hebrew says that God disciplines his son. John 15, Jesus says that to the branch that is bearing fruit, he prunes it. Pruning is a painful experience for the plant.

It is an ugly experience for the plant. And I'm sure if the plant could pray, the plant would pray, Gardner, would you just leave me alone right now? And the gardener is like, you don't understand. And so he keeps going, therefore. So since God's grace is sufficient for me, and since God's power is made perfect in my weakness, therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me for the sake of Christ, then I am content. And here's his list of things he's content with.

I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecution, calamities. In other words, because God's grace is sufficient for me, I am content in unanswered prayers. I am content in not getting what I ask for. For when I am weak, then I am strong. How do you have this kind of contentment? Because you know that Romans 828 is true, that God is at work in all things. Like in your cancer? Mm-hmm.

in your divorce? Yep. That God is at work even in your own addiction. That's right. Even in those self-inflicted wounds that God is at work in all things for the good of those that love him

and are called according to his purpose. So I think the point of what Jesus is saying is this. So whoever asks and seeks and knocks, they do receive and they do find and the door is open. But he doesn't say that you get what you asked for and you get what you're seeking,

I think what you get is God. Regardless of how he answers the prayer, you get God. Jesus says in John 1413, whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And what it means to ask in the name of Jesus

does not mean just at the end of the prayer you say in Jesus' name. But it means when I am aligned with the character and nature and will of God, He answers every single one of those prayers. For the glory of God. Jesus in the garden, remember this prayer? The Bible says that he feels the weight of the world upon him.

He is sorrowful even to the point of death. He is praying with such an intensity that he's sweating drops of blood. And he says, Father, if there be any other way Let this cup pass from me. This is what he is asking. God, is there another way to you?

He's talking about burying the punishment of all of humanity's sin upon the cross. And basically what he's saying is this. All right, God, if Oprah's right and all roads lead to the top of the mountain, then let's just pull off one road, me going to the cross, and let's take one of the other roads. Just good moral behavior, obeying the law, or lining your chakra, or get enough runs until you get your number. Ivana, if one of those works, let's go with that.

Then he prays this way, not my will, but your will be done. How about Jesus had unanswered prayers? This is what each prayer. You see, the point of prayer is not that you get what you want, or the point of prayer is not that you get what you ask for. The point of prayer is that you get him. And the reality is that God answers all prayer. Sometimes he says yes, sometimes he says no,

and sometimes he says not now. Tim Keller says it this way that God answers your prayers the same way you would if you knew all that he knows. And I know it doesn't make sense to you right now. And then Jesus shares a parable. Verse 9. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if you ask him for a fish, would give him a serpent. Or if you ask him for a dog, will give him a gator.

No, that's not in there. Okay, I added that, but just make sure you're awake. Then he says this. So you get it, your kid, if you ask for a piece of bread, who's going to get him a rock? If you ask for fish, who's going to give him a poison snake? And then he goes, if then you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? How many dads in the house?

Any dads here? Okay, here's what Jesus does. Jesus looks at you and goes, all right, man, if you a kid asked for a, a, bread, would you give him a rock? And then he says, and you're evil. Jesus understands humanity, does he not? See, the best dad in the room, you realize somebody at all of our location watching online, somebody's the best dad at 1122, which also means that somebody is the worst dad at 1122. Don't point. Even the best dad, though, is a wretched blackhearted center. Dads, you are evil. And here's what I mean. You're not like, I'm a good dad. I know you think you are.

But you know when you heard that Duval was only going to send high schoolers two days a week? And you went, what? They're going to be at my house? That's evil, man. You know that's evil. Or you know when you're laying there just taking a nap right in the middle of the golf is back on. So glory to God. And then your kid comes up and wakes you up.

And the thoughts you have about your child waking you up during a nap. Don't tell me they're not. They're in holy thoughts. Oh, bless you, my little offspring. Can we pray? That ain't what you think. You think evil stuff. or one of those dumb school events, they're cool school events,

but some of them are dumbest school events, and nobody checks the game schedule at all, and you've got to miss the game to go to one of these stupid things, your kids just like a tree or something. You know, that's stupid. Because you're evil. Or, you know, when your kids go out and trick-a-treat, and then you take all the Reese's cups out,

that's not even a problem. That's not a sin I checked. That's good. You earn that. That's yours. You take that. You put them in the freezer. But if...

imperfect dads like us know how to give good gifts to our children, then how much more will your father, who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask you. A.W. Tozer says, the most important thing about you is what you think about when you think about God. The most important thing about you is what you think about when you think about God. Now, this shows up in the way we pray. ultimately the reason I'm not doing tips and techniques on how to pray this week is because if we could just get our mind around the reality that God is our father, then we would know how to

pray because what kid doesn't know how to ask his dad for whatever. But if you think God is a judge, then you will always be defensive and fearful. You'll never be able to turn off the inner lawyer and you're always making a case for your innocence. If you see God as a boss, then you'll always try to earn your wage. You'll try to do enough to impress the boss so he'll be okay with you. If you see God as distant, then you'll do some religious rituals, but they'll have no heart to it. If you see God as only a king, he is a king, but he's like your dad king.

But if you just see him as a king, then you'll just get into this like legalistic citizenship. How far is the line for me to be kicked out of the kingdom? And if you see him as like a soft sky fairy, then you'll like save bugs and be a vegan and think he's impressed, okay? And if you see him as the old man upstairs, then we'll, you'll see him as the old man upstairs, then we'll, When you're at his house, you'll be on your best behavior. You'll say things like, shh, it's quiet. We're in church. All right?

Stop running. Apparently, God doesn't like running in church, all right? But when we know him as Father, everything changes. Everything changes. Now, the moment I say that, for some of us, it's helpful. It's helpful. We didn't go to church growing up, and yet I have a good dad. Coached all my stuff.

Talked me how to fish and hunt and tie my shoes and ride a bike. I mean, he's just there. He was always present, not the best with his words, but he was there. And so when I hear that God is my father, it helps me. For some of you, it is very unhelpful. Because you're like, I did ask, and I did seek, and I did knock. But my dad didn't open the door, he knocked back, or he abandoned me. So just hear this, that God is not a reflection of your earthly father.

God is the perfection of what it means to be father. And he is a good, good dad, and he loves to give good gifts. He loves to get good gifts. You see, good dads don't give harmful gifts to their kids. Like, I think the implication in Jesus' parable is not only if your kid asked for a fish, who would give him a serpent. But it also implies, what would a good dad do when the kid asked for? for a serpent. Because you realize sometimes we pray, dear God, give me something that would kill me.

It's like money or a new job or that girl. And God's like, no, no, no, no, no. I would never give you a thing that would drive a wedge in between me and you because he's a good dad. Man, when I was in the first grade, I begged my daddy for a 30-30. That's a rifle, like a lever action rifle, like the, you know, cowboys. I begged him for a 30-30 and a horse. Come on, Daddy. We lived in downtown Dillon.

There's not really a downtown. It's about 5,000 people, but that's what I asked for, okay? And my dad loved me. And that year for Christmas, I got a red rider and a puppy. Because he loved me too much to let me be riding around in Dillon with a 30-30 on my stallion, okay? Because many of us would die. But we need, I know I've told you this a bazillion times, man, like when I was growing up, when I was with my dad, I loved, I just love to do stuff with him. I love to do stuff with him.

Part of the reason we'd go to church, because we went fishing all the time. In the Little P.D. River, we had this John boat that my daddy, Joseph Perry Martin Jr., and his daddy, Joseph Perry Martin, Sr., I'm the third, J.P. is the fourth. We're into us at my house. And so he, they hand, they built this John boat, a little Mercury 20 on the back, and I'd be in the front seat. Russ, my brother would sit on the Coca-Cola cooler in between and my daddy would be in the back telling all those dad jokes you know like daddy how fast we're going wide open you know those kind of he's like the dad joke guy we'd get up early in the morning we'd go get in our 73 Chevy with three on the column um no AC daddy smoked like a freight train we opened that

little triangle windows we didn't die on the way there just tried to get some oxygen told you this no seat belts you know no seat belts russ my brother who's a cop now in st john's county he would just stand, stand on the seat. Daddy wasn't worried about seatbelts, because if we hit the brakes fast, he had that dad arm, bam, he felt like he could stop him. Reach around behind me one time, found a seatbelt. Hey, Daddy, what's this? He goes, boy took that thing back in there. That's going to fly around hurt somebody. Okay, Daddy, don't go, okay? What you worry about? Nothing. Then when we got there, he had the bait. I wasn't worried about fishing license. I'm not convinced he was either, but I wasn't worried

about it. We'd catch one. We'd catch that one, Daddy, right in the mouth. You know, those kind of dad jokes. And then right around lunchtime, every single time made it break out a can of vina sausage. Boy, crack those things open. Flip that little gelatin stuff on the top. And this very inappropriate joke that he would tell every time. Every time. That's it.

And whatever I needed, I'd ask him, if my brother would hook me, he'd get the hook out. If I'd hook a fish, it'd get down there too deep, he could get it out. That was it. you just ask because he's right there and he's a good dad who's willing and he provides and he protects and if we can begin to see God

as the ultimate good dad then it would just change the way we relate to it it would be a relationship instead of an interview it'd be a relationship instead of an audition you see the ultimate point is just this the reason that we can pray

with such boldness is because God invites us to come into his presence, just as a good, good father invites their child in need. Tim Keller says the only person who dares wake up a king at 3 a.m. for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access. You know that, right? You've had that feeling like you're just dreaming. You're like, I have this dream that somebody is staring at me

and you wake up and your little crazy child is just like, look, in you. And what do you do? is I was some water. Now, if it was any of you, one of us is going to prison, all right? That's just happening. But when it's your child, you're like, Daddy, if you get me some water, of course you can get some water. Hey, baby, get to, no, I'm just kidding. You get up getting water. And what they don't do is they don't come in and say, Father Abasici, therefore, no, man, they're not doing that. They just ask why, because they're a son, they're a daughter. Paul's going to say it this way in the book of Galatians. In Galatians chapter 4, verses 3 through 7, the way he ends chapter 3 is this. He says that we,

if you believe in Jesus, you are a son of Abraham and therefore an heir. In other words, everything that God promised Abraham is ours through what Christ did for us on the cross. And then by the time you get to verse 3 of chapter 4 in the book of Galatians, Paul says this, in the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the Bible. And then by the time you get to the elementary principles of this world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. The God has only one begotten son, but for anybody who has put their faith in Jesus Christ, we are all sons. Some translations will translate it to son and daughters,

but it loses a lot of meaning because in the first century what was happening is that only the firstborn son was the full heir of all that the dad had. And, you know, in the first century, men and women didn't have equal rights. And so when the gospel comes along, it elevates everybody to the level ground at the foot of the cross. So whether you're firstborn or last born or male or female, whatever, you have the standing of the firstborn son. And that you were adopted. That means God chose you. And I don't know if you know this. I don't know if you're if you've ever adopted anybody, there's not like tryouts. You don't go to the adoption agency

and you get six of them, bring them to house and then have like a little adoptive bachelor show. I'll be like, all right, sorry, your flames out. Send this one back. Now we're down to five. That's not how it works. The about God's grace, you choose. God chose us.

And then you pay the full price. God paid the full price for us. Then you change your name and we were changed from enemy of God to son of God. And then all that is the parents is one day ours. We are adopted as sons, as children. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying, Abba, it's an airmanet word for like daddy or father. Abba, father. So you were no longer a doulos.

That's the Greek word, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. The reason I want to tell you the Greek word there for slave is this. Don't think transatlantic race-based slavery. That's not what was happening here. First Timothy says that slave traders do not inherit the kingdom of heaven. It is a list of sinners and a whole list of sin. Now, anybody can be saved that puts their faith in Jesus. So in America, we get all hung up on this word, rightfully so,

but any race could be a slave. Bond servant is a better translation. because you could earn your way out of it. If you owe to debt, you could say, I'll tell you what, I'll be your due loss for three or four years, and then that's how I will pay it back. But once you got to that point, then you could be freed. And so what he's saying is you are no longer a bond servant,

but a son. But the reality is a lot of us still relate to God, like we're bond servants. Like we're still trying to earn our way. Like we're still trying to pay him back. And it reveals itself in prayer. You see, the way a bond servant prays is regret and resolve. Like when we sin, not if we sin, when we sin, if you see yourself as a bond servant,

then it is just this constant remorse and resolution. I did it again. I'm going to try harder. And it just leads to utter exhaustion. But when you know that you're a son, that's repentance. That is the Spirit of God convicts you of your sin and comforts you that that sin has been paid for. And then you turn away from that and you run to the loving arms of your Heavenly Father. That when we see ourselves as a bond servant, we work for approval.

Like you think if I give a little here, then God will maybe give me a promotion or if I serve, then he'll be pleased with me. But when you're a son, you work from approval. You understand that God dances over us, that God sings like. loudly over his children. When you see yourself as a bond servant, when you sin, you run from God like Adam and Eve did, and you try to handle it on your own. So fig leaves to cover up your sin and shame. But when you know that you're a son and you sin, you run to God because of what Christ did on the cross. We can boldly enter into his presence. When you see yourself as a bond servant, you're unsure of God's attitude towards you.

You are. And part of the reason that you think that God is frustrated with you is because you remember your parents were frustrated with you. Do you know why? Because you're frustrating. I mean, there's nothing more aggravating than a human child. At all ages, the terrible twos, so far I've gone to 14 at our house, okay? There are just things, and I'm like,

why do you act like a 14-year-old and not like the 34-year-old that I'm expecting you to act like right now? And so there's always this bit of frustration that we have. But when you know that you're a son, the Bible says that this is love. Not that we love him, but he loved us and sent his son as the propitiation for our sin. Propeciation means the payment that satisfies. And if you are in Christ, this means that God cannot be dissatisfied in you. That changes everything. And when you think you're a bond servant,

you just focus on behavior and the rules, but when you know you're a son, then you're focused on the relationship. And so Jesus says, so pray. So ask and ask and keep on asking. And then get to work and seek and seek and keep on seeking. And knock and knock and keep on knocking. And don't stop asking and don't stop seeking.

And don't stop knocking. because what you get is you get God. And when you have an unanswered prayer, you understand that his grace is sufficient for you. And even though his grace is sufficient for you in that unanswered prayer, you continue to ask and you continue to seek and you continue to not,

just like a little kid that keeps talking and asking and seeking because his audience is his dad. I got saved when I was 16 at a summer camp. Like I said before, when I got home, my parents were splitting up, and I started praying that summer. The one thing I've prayed about more than anything in my entire life, God seemingly has not answered it. 30 years. Tuesday, I'm doing the sermon.

Sitting down, I'm going over this. I got to the part in the sermon where I just said that my dad is a good example. Even though we didn't go to church, we've never read the Bible together. We didn't do that kind of stuff. but in regards to like provision and protection and being there and speaking words of life into us, he's a good dad. And so I just felt compelled of the spirit to send him a text. You guys, if you've been here at all,

you know I've prayed for his salvation for 30 years. And on Tuesday I send him this, because every time I try to talk to him about it on the phone, it just doesn't go good. Y'all know I do this for a living. So I just decided, well, if I send a text, you can't, I mean, you just have to say. something. So I said, hey, Daddy, can I ask you something? And I call him Daddy, not Daddy, but you'd probably spell it like D-I-D-D-D-I. All right, hey, Daddy. Can I ask you something?

Have you ever put your faith in Jesus as your Savior? I know you grew up in church, and we're going with Mert. That's my grandma, his mom. And you were going for Mert for a while, but I don't think I've ever asked you this directly. Are you ready to surrender your life to Christ? and I waited and I waited and he replied, I am. My one prayer into one initiative is that my one more, my dad would come to Christ. And we have prayed a bunch of us. I might call my brother.

I'm like, probably you're not going to believe this. And he's like, I don't believe this, okay? And so we have prayed for 30 years, the same prayer over and over and over and over. And look, man, my dad said, he said, I made a profession of faith. He used those words, you know, he was like a teenager and marrying Baptist church because every Baptist boy does at that time. All right. It's like a bar mitzvah.

okay but you just get baptized instead but then he goes but i think i need to re-up so he that's those are his words praise god for the re-up all right and i just sat there sitting at this little outdoor table thing and just just cried and cried and cried and cried okay because i've been asking and i've been seeking and i've been knocking and here's what's crazy i think if god had answered my prayers 30 years ago there would have been a lot less desperation from me towards god to please, please, please, won't you answer this prayer and save my dad? And so, by God's grace, I got 30 years now of dependence on God to do what I can't do. I could never talk him into it.

Every single time he would be here, I'd make him sit right there, and I don't care. Who else was at the church? I changed my whole sermon. I preach right there, and then be like, if you want to be Christian, raise your hand. Nope. Okay? But in prayer on Tuesday, the Spirit of God, just let me, reach out, talk to them directly. And so I did, and he did.

And glory to God. When I'm dead and none, God is in heaven with us forever and ever and ever. So I implore you, don't stop praying, don't stop asking, don't stop seeking, don't stop knocking. Because you will receive, and what you will receive is him. Would you please stand? Let me pray for us. Our good and gracious heavenly father, you are a good, good father. That's just who you are.

You can't be anything other than who you are. And you would never do anything that is outside of your character and your nature because your character and your integrity is perfect. And so, God, we know that you give good gifts to your children. God, they don't feel like good gifts sometimes. So right now, would you comfort those by the power of the Holy Spirit that can't quite, we can't get our minds around what you're doing? But we can believe the why is because you love us. And if you didn't spare your son, then surely, surely you have proven your love once and for all. So God, I pray by the power of the Holy Spirit and every believer here that we would boldly approach your throne as a child approaches their father.

God, for the men and women, for the students, for the children, whose dads are evil in an abusive way, Lord, I pray that they would know that you. have a special place in your heart for the orphan. In Spirit of God, I pray that you would heal some stuff where the enemy tried to get in there and mar our view of you. God, I pray that scales would fall off of eyes and that men and women would see you as a good, good dad. That's just who you are. And Lord, I pray that we supernaturally would know, and we are loved by you.

That's who we are. And when we know that, not just know about it, but when we know it in our souls, it would change everything about us. We prayed in Jesus' name. Amen. So folks, we respond to the gospel. It's what we do. We're going to pray. Please, no matter what it is. The Bible says you just pray about everything. So if there's something that makes you anxious, if you've kind of given up on your one more, whatever it is, would you just pray? Would you just pray? You could pray right where you are. You could come down to the altar and pray. We respond to the gospel by bringing back. our first and our best to God, because he first loved us by giving us his son, Jesus Christ.

And we join our voices together to sing. One of the things Ben Williams taught me is this. He's like, when the church sings, it's like the only time in the service where all of us are basically praying the same thing. So let us sing about our good, good father. We're going to pray, we're going to bring, we're going to sing. Let's respond.