The Danger of Prayer as a Tool: Why God Does Not Change His Mind

• The Source of Spiritual Power 00:32:25 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that prayer, not church aesthetics or cultural relevance, is the source of spiritual potency.
• Jesus' Prayer Life as a Model 00:32:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses Jesus' habit of praying in the morning (Mark 1:35) and his disciples' request for prayer instruction to illustrate that prayer was the foundation of Jesus' power and ministry.
• The Difficulty of Prayer 00:37:28 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor admits his own struggle with prayer, noting it feels difficult and unnatural, requiring growth similar to physical fitness.
• Types of Prayer Engagement 00:40:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor categorizes different approaches to prayer, critiquing 'thoughts and prayers' as insufficient and highlighting the need for active, persistent engagement.
• Thoughts and Prayers 00:41:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor critiques the phrase 'thoughts and prayers' as a spiritual buzzphrase, arguing that many who say it do not actually pray, and distinguishes between mere thoughts and actual prayer.
• Prayer as Spiritual Exercise vs. Seeking 00:42:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts prayer as a self-help spiritual exercise (like meditation) with its true purpose: seeking, asking, and knocking to get something done in the spiritual realm.
• Hidden Knowledge/Gnosticism 00:44:21 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies 'hidden knowledge' as a form of Gnosticism, criticizing the belief that secret principles or cursed objects are required for effective prayer, citing biblical examples like meat sacrificed to idols.
• Don't Offend God 00:46:28 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor critiques the fear of offending God by using conditional language ('if it's your will') in prayer, arguing that Jesus prayed directly and specifically, not conditionally.
• Generalist Prayer 00:48:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor mocks vague prayers for people or countries (e.g., 'I pray for Jan') as meaningless, urging specific, direct requests instead.
• Functional Atheism 00:50:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines 'functional atheists' as those who claim to believe in God's intercession but live as if God is not active, lacking expectation for change through prayer.
• Revival and Prayer 00:51:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that prayer is being answered with a 'yes' regarding revival, citing increased church attendance in the US and Europe as evidence of God's active work.
• The nature of prayer and its efficacy 00:52:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that many believers do not pray because they hold incorrect beliefs about prayer, suggesting that God loves to hear from everyone regardless of their spiritual state.
• Divine Sovereignty vs. Human Prayer 00:57:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor addresses the tension between God's sovereignty and the idea that prayer changes outcomes, clarifying that while God's values don't change, his specific actions can be altered by prayer.
• Praying with Specific Reasons 01:02:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to state their reasons for prayer, citing Hezekiah and Moses as biblical examples of appealing to God's character and promises.
• Praying According to God's Identity 01:04:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that prayers are more effective when they align with who God is, using personal anecdotes of healing and a friend's workshop on healing prayer as evidence.
• Prayer for Healing 01:04:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses the mechanics of prayer, specifically connecting sperm to uterine tissue, and emphasizes stating reasons for prayer based on God's identity.
• Perseverance in Prayer 01:05:25 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal testimony of persevering in prayer for healing despite long periods without visible results, citing biblical conviction.
• Faith and Healing Statistics 01:06:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor reports on the efficacy of his healing ministry, noting a baseline of 50-60% significant healing that has recently increased to 75% in church settings.
• Mustard Seed Faith 01:07:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor teaches that perfect belief is not required for prayer, only a 'mustard seed of faith,' referencing Jesus' teaching.

• Sermon Illustration 00:31:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the high click-through rate of news about Venezuela or shootings with the low engagement for prayer, illustrating the cultural preference for immediate, sensational information over spiritual depth.
• Sermon Illustration 00:34:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Mark 1:35, describing Jesus rising early to pray before the crowds arrived, demonstrating that Jesus prioritized prayer over popular demand to maintain his spiritual focus.
• Sermon Illustration 00:37:28 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his own feelings of inadequacy in prayer, admitting he feels like a 'loser' when not in a group setting, to normalize the struggle for the congregation.
• Sermon Illustration 00:38:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses an analogy of orthodontic braces and teeth grinding, showing how his lead pastor Kyle Ranson's teeth were transformed through painful adjustment, to illustrate that prayer also requires enduring discomfort to achieve spiritual transformation.
• Sermon Illustration 00:42:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites atheist Nehemiah Vow, who embraces prayer as a tool for psychological well-being, to validate the practical benefits of prayer even from a non-religious perspective.
• Sermon Illustration 00:49:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about hiring a plumber and asking if he could pray for him. The plumber responded with 'be creative,' which the pastor interprets as a polite refusal or a challenge to be specific, highlighting the awkwardness of vague prayer offers.
• Sermon Illustration 00:53:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical account of King Hezekiah in 2 Kings chapter 20, noting that while King David has passed, his lineage continues with good and bad kings, setting the stage for a discussion on Hezekiah.
• Sermon Illustration 00:53:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of King Hezekiah, who was told by the prophet Isaiah that he would die. Hezekiah prayed and wept, causing God to reverse his decision and add 15 years to Hezekiah's life.
• Sermon Illustration 01:00:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his parenting style, describing how he used to be rigid with his children ('Daddy always wins') but now wishes he had been more like God, changing his mind based on their needs.
• Sermon Illustration 01:02:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Moses interceding for Israel when God threatened to wipe them out, arguing that Moses succeeded by appealing to God's reputation among the nations.
• Sermon Illustration 01:04:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes a specific prayer scenario involving the connection of sperm to uterine tissue and visualizing the process.
• Sermon Illustration 01:05:25 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts his personal experience of praying for healing for months without seeing results, feeling convicted by the Lord to persevere, and eventually experiencing breakthrough.
• Sermon Illustration 01:05:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor mentions a friend from England, Paul McConnachie, who is coming to Crossroads sites to lead workshops on healing prayer.

• Pastoral Charge 00:53:24 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to stop feeling guilty about their prayer life and instead approach the teaching with excitement.
• Pastoral Charge 00:52:45 ▶️ 📄
  > Stop approaching prayer with guilt or resignation; accept one's current spiritual state as a valid starting point.
• Pastoral Charge 00:59:12 ▶️ 📄
  > Actively and persistently pray for specific outcomes, understanding that prayer is a necessary condition for certain divine actions.
• Pastoral Charge 01:03:46 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray with specificity regarding the mechanism of the request and provide a theological or practical reason for the request.
• Pastoral Charge 01:07:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor leads a closing prayer asking God to grant 'yeses' (blessings/answers) to the congregation for the upcoming week.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:01:15] We don't come here today because we're bored. We don't come here today because we want to check a religious box.
[00:01:21] We come here today because we want to know if you're real. We want to know if you have anything for us.
[00:01:26] We come here today because we want something. We want to understand you.
[00:01:30] We have needs in our life and we want you to know that you're important to us, many of us.
[00:01:34] So God, would you use the rest of our time together to draw us closer to you by all that is sung here today.

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:01:43] I pray these things according to your name. Amen.

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:12:23] these songs we sing are prayers set to a melody. They're prayers. I don't know about you, but my prayers don't really sound like this. You know, like these are some big, old, loud prayers. Like
[00:12:38] I don't have Chris back on the drums with me when I'm praying at home. You know what I mean? I did.
[00:12:44] I think that'd be sweet. If you said, dear God, and then Maurice started playing the organ, your prayer just got better, right? That's not how my prayers sound. Man, some prayers are big and loud. It's as small as a whisper. Some prayers are filled with joy at the top of a mountaintop.
[00:13:15] And some prayers are drenched in pain. They all can be sincere. And so what we're going to do, my prayers often have space in them, a little time to breathe. We're going to take this next prayer

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:13:32] and make it sound like that together. I pray to the Savior. I pray to the Father, Protector and provider

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:14:12] He has power to heal when we start to pray That's who my God is And I believe he has power My God While trusting the process He's faithful to his promise My God will do

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:15:09] Yes he will My God will do it only empowered. That's who my God and I be. He has power to move from all of the pain. That's who my God and my God. What you from? I trust you have all. Prayers of confirm moments where it seems like I

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:18:38] don't know what to pray or I'm not good at it or I'm doing it wrong or the moments where I stand here and wonder. I love this space because I know God that we don't all agree or see life the exact
[00:19:02] same. I think that's the beauty of this room. I think it's beautiful that we could say we're going to pray this prayer softly and instantly a couple thousand voices fill the room with those words. It reminds me that I'm in a space where I'm not alone. And I'm also reminded that everyone
[00:19:24] came here for a reason today, to take a step towards something more, something that seems beyond us. And I believe that's you. I found that to be true and it's changed my life forever.
[00:19:42] the fact you want relationship and conversation. Thank you for being a God who's with us and all powerful. And I pray all this in you, Jesus. Amen. Hey, everyone. My name's Eric. If we haven't

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:20:02] met, thank you for joining us online. Really, it's a blessing. You might not be in a room full of people. So why don't you text somebody right now? Text your mom or high five your dog. I don't
[00:20:13] know uh tell them tell them hey hey um this week is the start of a new season we have our senior pastor brian tome here he's talking about praying wild prayers so i hope you get something out of

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[00:20:26] it today we're glad you're here you could stay but maybe you weren't made to in south africa kids are stepping into a brighter future in nepal hope is protecting girls before the darkness can reach them. Freedom is finding its voice through aftercare and restoration. In Nicaragua,
[00:21:09] clean water brings life that never runs dry. In Guatemala, education is changing the story for the next generation. In Alabama, empathy is building bridges where walls once stood.
[00:21:23] In Appalachia, communities are rising from the weight of poverty. In Puerto Rico, Neighborhoods are thriving again, one house at a time.
[00:21:32] All across the world, people are moving because there's no plan B for what God wants to do.
[00:21:39] We are his plan A.
[00:21:41] He's not waiting for someone else.
[00:21:43] He's inviting you, your hands, your story, your yes.
[00:21:49] You can't stay here.
[00:21:51] Go, because the world, the world is waiting.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:22:05] I mean, I love that video.
[00:22:08] This is about the 19th time I've seen that video this weekend.
[00:22:10] And every time, something stands out to me a little bit more.
[00:22:13] That opening line, I don't know if you heard it, but it said, you don't have to stay in the same place.
[00:22:18] I believe that God wants us to go to a new place this year.
[00:22:22] And, man, I want you to experience that.
[00:22:24] That line of the world is waiting, that could be a slogan for, like, a cruise line or, like, a really great all-inclusive.
[00:22:30] But the difference is that would, like, change your waistline and your cholesterol levels.
[00:22:34] not your heart, not your life, not the way you see God, not the way you see yourself.
[00:22:39] That's what's on the line with these go trips. Would love for you to consider them.
[00:22:43] I've gotten to go to South Africa, to India, to Alabama, to Nicaragua, and every one of those trips I saw God move. I saw God move in our church, I saw God move in our partners, and I saw God move
[00:22:54] in me. If you're interested in putting something on your calendar that could change the spiritual trajectory of your year and of your life, check out a go trip. Crossroads.net slash go trips for all the details. We actually have an online info session if you're watching this right now,
[00:23:08] immediately after the service that I'll be helping lead, or our Oakley crew, you guys can just head straight out to the atrium and chat with folks at the info center. Now, I didn't introduce myself.
[00:23:19] My name is Andy Ryder. I lead our Crossroads Anywhere and online communities, but this is my home site, so it's really great to be with our Oakley family here, but I just want to say I've
[00:23:27] been a little reflective and introspective the last couple weeks because I just celebrated 15 years on staff here at Crossroads. Thank you. But what that has me reflecting on is like how God has changed me through this place. Like I'm not the same husband. I'm not the same
[00:23:47] follower of Jesus. I'm not the same man that I would have been. And that's because this community helped me grow. And not just the community in the broad general sense, but like the people in these
[00:23:59] seats. I see familiar faces. You guys are a part of helping me look more like Jesus. Because growth doesn't just happen on a go trip and far off places it happens here in communities and i know
[00:24:09] it gets it gets harder to make friends the older that you get but we want to help you make some friends who will help you grow this year we have all kinds of community that's starting right now
[00:24:19] small groups we've got online hosted groups we've got hosted groups that meet here at oakley we've also got cohorts like we've got a fitness cohort that starts today already has like eight or nine hundred people signed up all the details for you to experience and level up in the
[00:24:33] relationships in your life at crossroads.net slash groups. Now, as I mentioned, I'm a different guy because of this place, because people invested in me and invested in this place where I could meet God. If you are one of the people who give around here, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for
[00:24:49] your generosity. I'm different because of it. If you're new or you're just wondering, hey, what does this place believe about money or how do they see money? You can get all the details or join the
[00:24:58] team at crossroads.net slash give. Now, I said I'm not the only person whose life has been changed around here, and I want you to hear the story of some friends of mine whose lives were 10x'd

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:25:07] through Crossroads Uptown. In November 2024, God called Crossroads to a moonshot. He wanted us to grow four territories, digital, sites, camps, and reach out, 10x in 10 years. Our community pushed themselves and faithfully committed $211 million above and beyond regular giving. As soon as money
[00:25:33] comes in, we release it into the life-changing work that God has invited us into. This month, we relaunch weekly services at Crossroads Uptown to create more space for students and young people to hear about God.
[00:25:45] We're praying for a revival in college students.
[00:25:47] We want to 10X what we saw 10 years ago.
[00:25:50] The foundation for this is being laid by those who are faithfully fulfilling their 10X commitments and some of the very people who met Jesus here at Crossroads Uptown.

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:25:59] I did not grow up going to church.
[00:26:02] And so once I got to college, actually at UC, I was invited by a guy who was in one of my classes Bogarts was opening and I was

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:26:14] at UC at the time and I was like church in a bar that's hilarious let's do it and it was gross sticky floors but it was fun and it was something new and I'm a drummer so I like loud things and Crossroads was this big booming loud
[00:26:27] church that really didn't care what everybody else thought and I was like

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:26:31] great I'll go there and I remember just thinking I don't know what the pastor is even talking about but I want whatever these people have and then they opened

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:26:42] old st. George you know still going and then try it out for the band and then you know have been kind of serving on the band ever since I came back and

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:26:51] started going to church and actually ended up being baptized there we didn't necessarily meet at Uptown but that's where a lot of our church life happened in college and we got married shortly after. I think like it initially started

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:27:08] at least in my brain I was like yeah we can give above and beyond and still be comfortable yeah we could do that. I was working a job that I had been at for five years I loved it I was like I'm never leaving this place. Fast forward I
[00:27:21] got a raise what if like we start gave my raise away for the next couple years like that that could work we're like it was so good we don't have to change the way we're living like and we can give you all this money middle of November
[00:27:36] hits and the company goes under and I lose my job and we're just kind of sitting there like all right well my last paycheck was on December 30th and

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:27:45] then our push commitment started coming out what January 1st we were like are we

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:27:50] gonna have to sell our house I guess we can move in my with my parents or like

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:27:53] my sister I guess we can make that work I wasn't worried I knew I was like this is too perfect of a storm to not be God there was just something about it that felt so beautiful in the fact of we really get to practice faith now that I

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:28:14] I was like, all right, God, time to show up.
[00:28:17] Like, I have no other choice but to trust you because I have nothing.
[00:28:24] We did like tactical things.
[00:28:26] Like, I mean, stopped subscriptions, did things that, you know, we didn't need.
[00:28:31] Fast forward a couple months and we're like, our bank account went up through all of this.
[00:28:37] Like I freelanced a little bit, but it was like not even close to how much I was making previously.
[00:28:44] Okay, so God's got me in the place that He wants me right now.

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:28:49] You had no job for the full 12-week maternity leave.

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:28:52] One of my best friends, his sister-in-law, they were randomly at the dinner table one day, and she was like, you happen to know any graphic designers that need a job?
[00:29:02] And he was like, actually, yeah, I do.
[00:29:04] And within like two weeks from meeting her, I was hired.
[00:29:09] Like I went, I got a job and started like two days after.
[00:29:13] She went back to work for at least me wanting to do the push is I'm like the less material things that I can hold on to tightly, the better my life is.

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:23] It forced us to come together and be like, are we actually starting what we've been given?
[00:29:30] Well, and ultimately we weren't.

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:29:33] I just have so much proof to trust him that I'm like, you know, better, you know, better than I do.

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:29:40] I love how she said, practice faith.
[00:29:50] Giving is a way to practice your faith and grow your faith.
[00:29:53] And so is prayer.
[00:29:55] That's what we're going to talk about today.
[00:29:56] Praying.
[00:29:57] And we're going to talk about that for the next four weeks.
[00:29:59] I'm going to push you.
[00:30:00] I'm going to push you today.
[00:30:02] I'm going to kind of say some things that's going to go against the grain of American spirituality.
[00:30:08] And I'm doing it because I want you to get to a new place, all of us do.
[00:30:11] And let's pray that God meets us here.
[00:30:13] God, I ask you to help me anticipate the questions people have, the objections, anticipate where we are so that we can get to a place that is filled with more spiritual potency, filled with more of your presence.
[00:30:29] Thank you, God, for the honor of speaking of transcendent things.
[00:30:34] And I pray these things according to the character and identity of Jesus.
[00:30:38] Amen.
[00:30:41] Well, as you may know, a lot of interesting things happened this last week. Venezuela, Social Security, another shooting. And you need to hear me that I'm not going to talk about any of those things
[00:30:56] today. Now, I know some of us are struggling and I am praying for you. And when I say that, I actually mean that. I'm going to talk about that in a moment. But I think that we come
[00:31:13] here not to just have another commentary on what's going on in the world, though I reserve the right to do that at any time if I want to. But we come here today because we want God. We want God and
[00:31:23] not just another talking voice of what's happening out there in the world. And let's be honest, in your social feed right now, if it shows up information, like a headline, the latest on Venezuela, and then another headline, the latest on prayer, which one are you going to click?
[00:31:42] Venezuela.
[00:31:43] You want to pray?
[00:31:44] No, you wouldn't.
[00:31:45] You can't click Venezuela.
[00:31:46] I would.
[00:31:47] That's more of an intriguing topic.
[00:31:49] If there's some new thing that comes across talking about the thing that weighs, that deals with the weightiness of the shooting incident in Minnesota versus the weightiness of prayer, we're going to go to the shooting incident.
[00:32:04] I am anyway, probably, because it's more of a sugar high.
[00:32:07] It's an immediate thing.
[00:32:08] I feel like I'm informed.
[00:32:09] I get a little bit of a buzz.
[00:32:12] What moves me to pray, though, are the things that I know I need, and that is I need God and I need things that I can't manufacture and muster on my own.
[00:32:25] The secret to your potency will be your prayer life.
[00:32:30] That's it. That's it.
[00:32:31] How you talk to God, how you sense from Him, and how He moves through your prayers.
[00:32:37] That's it.
[00:32:38] It's not the cool church you go to.
[00:32:41] It might not be the glitzy church you go to, which, by the way, is kind of crossroads.
[00:32:44] That's not going to make a powerful spiritual life for you.
[00:32:49] It's going to be your prayer life.
[00:32:51] And this is why Jesus talks about this repeatedly.
[00:32:55] This was the secret behind the life of Jesus, was his prayer life.
[00:32:59] I'm convinced of that.
[00:33:00] We looked at that verse last week that Jesus grew in stature and wisdom and wisdom and stature.
[00:33:05] And how did he grow in wisdom?
[00:33:06] How did he grow in his spiritual potency? Potency he grew in part through his prayer life.
[00:33:13] And the disciples would look at him, and so they realized this is it. Like, this guy has a power that nobody else has, and he's doing something no one else does. He actually prays, like, all the
[00:33:26] time. The reason we date time after Jesus, and he inarguably is the most potent people ever walked the planet of earth is because of his prayer life. That's what his source of power was. His disciples
[00:33:42] knew this. They said, Jesus, teach us how to pray. And then we have the Lord's Prayer, which actually wasn't a prayer that Jesus prayed. It's okay for you and I to recite the Lord's Prayer, but it's
[00:33:51] actually an outline for teaching on prayer. He did it all the time. John 17, he's coming down to his final hours on the world, and he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he doesn't want to deal with
[00:34:02] what he's dealing with. And he prays, and his disciples overhear him, and they write the prayer down. It's an entire chapter. He goes where he goes and does what he does because he's equipped by prayer, by having a potency that's beyond his normal human capacity. And Mark chapter 1,
[00:34:19] verse 35, it's one of these amazing, amazing stories. Let's just look at it. And here we see the character of who he was and maybe why he got used the way he did. Mark chapter 1, verse 30.
[00:34:32] wherever Jesus went, there was always big crowds because the presence of God was around, because there were miracles that were happening. And because even if you didn't believe in the presence of God and miracles, it was a big event, so everybody would come. Like, what is going on here?
[00:34:49] So same thing. He's in a situation where people are flocking around him. He gets a good night's sleep, and then it says this, he prayed. And there it is. He goes and he prays. Before it's dark, he prays. While it's dark,
[00:35:14] because he gives God the best part of his day. He starts off every day with prayer. That's what he's doing right here. And now for you, no guilt to you. We have night owls in here. I don't
[00:35:23] understand you. Some of you night owls. Best part of your day is after Jimmy Kimmel. I don't understand how that'd be. But God bless you. Wonderful. Maybe for you, the best part of your day is midnight. Whatever the best part of your day is, I don't know. But I think for Jesus,
[00:35:39] it was the morning because that's when he would meet with God and have very extended times of prayer. So he's praying in the morning. And then people are wondering where he is. And here's where
[00:35:47] it keeps going. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him. And they found him. And they said to him, everybody is looking for you. They searched for him. They like, this happens every
[00:35:58] freaking day. We know where he is. He's out praying someplace. Don't know where he is, but maybe a place by a tree, maybe a place with a view. This is just what he does. They go out and
[00:36:08] they search for him. They finally find him. And they say, everyone's looking for you. What are you doing, man? Come on. You got to make hay. We got to start bearing some fruit. Seize the day.
[00:36:18] People are here. Let's go. And he said to them, Jesus said to them, oh, everyone wants to see me.
[00:36:25] No, let us go on to the next town that I may preach there also for that is why I came out.
[00:36:32] And he went throughout all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
[00:36:38] Just normal stuff like that, like casting out demons.
[00:36:40] Something all of us do every day.
[00:36:42] No big deal.
[00:36:43] Jesus says, oh, you mean everybody wants me?
[00:36:45] Over there?
[00:36:46] Oh, okay.
[00:36:48] I'm going to go over here because I've been praying about over here.
[00:36:51] I'm going to come over this way.
[00:36:52] Jesus wasn't trying to win a popularity contest Jesus wasn't trying to please everybody he was trying to please his God he's trying to tap into spiritual power I don't understand why he would need to pray God never made any mistakes God never had any sins never had to tell God sorry
[00:37:10] the guy is God himself he has power I don't know how's he getting more power I don't know he's gone there's a lot of things I don't understand but what I do understand is if I call myself
[00:37:21] a follower of Jesus.
[00:37:22] I must follow Him, which means following Him into a deeper life of prayer.
[00:37:28] And this is hard for me.
[00:37:29] It's difficult for me.
[00:37:31] I don't do it naturally.
[00:37:33] Most days I feel like a loser as it relates to my prayers, prayer life.
[00:37:36] Unless I'm coming away from a prayer meeting, I feel like a loser.
[00:37:39] Like the minute I come away from a prayer meeting, well, I'm pretty good at prayer.
[00:37:42] Pretty good.
[00:37:42] The rest of the time I'm going, I'm such a loser.
[00:37:44] I don't do it enough.
[00:37:45] I don't do whatever went up.
[00:37:46] I have some growth to do in this area and I've grown a lot in this area, But I want you to get closer to where Jesus is because that is the place where potency is.
[00:37:57] And it's hard and it's difficult.
[00:38:00] Some of us look at it like it's like hygiene.
[00:38:02] Well, it's like brush your teeth.
[00:38:05] You just got to do it, I guess.
[00:38:06] Brush your teeth.
[00:38:07] Speaking of teeth, here's some teeth for you.
[00:38:08] Ever see these teeth?
[00:38:10] These teeth.
[00:38:12] Right.
[00:38:13] You know whose teeth these are?
[00:38:15] These are our lead pastor's teeth, Kyle Ranson.
[00:38:17] That's his teeth.
[00:38:18] Yeah, yeah.
[00:38:21] Kyle shared these pictures.
[00:38:22] I'm just reminding us.
[00:38:24] Now, he's talked about his teeth and how disgusting they are.
[00:38:27] We have a Grace Kerr, orthodontist in our midst, said, let me help you.
[00:38:31] See, Kyle got a raise and he became a lead pastor.
[00:38:33] So I guess he took his entire raise and gave to her for her to start grinding down his teeth.
[00:38:37] Here's his teeth right now.
[00:38:38] Look at that.
[00:38:38] That's amazing.
[00:38:40] That is honestly amazing.
[00:38:42] Now, his transformation in his mouth is the same as happens with your transformation in prayer.
[00:38:48] Have you ever had braces?
[00:38:49] They hurt.
[00:38:51] it's not comfortable. You feel the pressure. It's not natural. And then eventually things start to change. It becomes natural and becomes normal for you. That's the way prayer is. And many of us just don't know how to get to the uncomfortability phase. You might have had a physical goal for this
[00:39:07] year. Gain muscle, lose fat. Guess what? What's happened so far? Nothing. Nothing's happened.
[00:39:14] If you worked out, your muscles haven't changed at all after 10 days. It takes a while. Your metabolism changed all after 10 days either you got to trick your metabolism your metabolism if you're trying to lose weight is saying everything no we need this weight it's not going to lose
[00:39:28] weight for a while until you realize there's a new norm this is just physically the way things were and spiritually this is the way your growth and prayer life will work Jesus says in Matthew
[00:39:38] 7 verse 7 to 8 ask and it will be given to you seek and that you will find knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks, finds. And the one who knocks,
[00:39:51] it will be opened. These are all synonyms for prayer. Asking, seeking, knocking. God, can I?
[00:40:00] God, can you? God, will you? Asking, seeking. God, what are you doing here? Help me understand this.
[00:40:07] How do I understand what's happening here and there? Knocking. God, God, please, please, Will you let me in?
[00:40:13] God, God, will you please open this door and let some stuff out?
[00:40:17] Knocking.
[00:40:18] These are all continually keep on going again and again and again.
[00:40:22] Now, all of us know something about prayer because all of us use prayer language or prayer sort of phrases.
[00:40:31] Let me just call out the different types of prayer people we are because they say something about our incomplete understanding of prayer.
[00:40:37] These are prayer people types.
[00:40:39] First is the thoughts and prayers.
[00:40:41] Thoughts and prayers, right?
[00:40:42] thoughts and prayers go out whenever there's something horrible happen our thoughts and prayers have gone out and you know kyle's thoughts would never change his teeth wouldn't that wouldn't wouldn't change his teeth prayer can change things i've never heard of prayer changing teeth i guess
[00:41:00] it could happen but i know a lot of things have changed through prayer i like i like thoughts and prayers thoughts and prayers is good because everyone in our country should be able to be
[00:41:09] engaged with horrible things that happen. And for atheists and agnostics who don't believe in prayer, thoughts are a way for them to be engaged. I think it's awesome to say thoughts and prayers.
[00:41:19] Here's what I think is not so awesome. When many of us say thoughts and prayers, those of us who believe in prayers, I don't really believe that you pray that much. I don't believe you're actually
[00:41:28] praying all that much more than people who just have thoughts. Well, there's these like spiritual buzz phrases we use that I'm not going to tell you I'm going to pray for you unless I'm actually
[00:41:39] going to pray for you. No brownie points for saying, oh, I'll pray for you unless I pray for you. Now, if I tell you a prayer, I'm going to pray for you. I may pray for you for a minute
[00:41:49] after you leave me because I may forget, but I promise I will pray for you. Because when we say prayer, very few of us actually pray. For many of us, it's a spiritual exercise. Good people pray.
[00:42:03] It's what we do to kind of get ourselves in spiritually fit and spiritually in shape.
[00:42:06] Even atheists are understanding this.
[00:42:11] Nehemiah Vow says this, As a free thinker, I've come to embrace prayer, not as submission to religious dogma, but as a practical tool for psychological well-being.
[00:42:21] Simply put, I pray because it makes my life better.
[00:42:26] It's an atheist saying this.
[00:42:27] Pray for it makes my life better.
[00:42:28] Meditation.
[00:42:30] We meditate.
[00:42:31] You might meditate, which is wonderful.
[00:42:32] Meditation is wonderful.
[00:42:34] Just shut down all the distractions.
[00:42:36] Stop.
[00:42:37] listening to things, fixating about things, hone your focus, be quiet, cause your blood pressure to go down, your heart to go.
[00:42:45] That is wonderful.
[00:42:46] It's a good spiritual exercise.
[00:42:47] Prayer is a good spiritual exercise, but that's not what prayer is.
[00:42:51] Prayer is about seeking.
[00:42:53] It's about asking.
[00:42:54] It's about knocking.
[00:42:55] It's trying to get something done in the spiritual realm, in the physical realm.
[00:42:59] Not just, it's good for me.
[00:43:01] It may be, but that's not the ultimate heart of it.
[00:43:04] Or the prayer, people, is the, I'm good.
[00:43:06] I'm good. I'm good. Someone will come and ask me, say, hey, can I pray for you? Anything I can pray for you? And I might initially think, do a brief look at my life, take about a half a second, and
[00:43:17] I go, I think to myself, no, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. I've actually asked people if I could pray for them before, and I hear regularly, no, I'm good. I'm good. Meaning, I'm not starving.
[00:43:28] I'm not like one of the oppressed people in third world developing countries. There's no stage 16 cancer diagnosis with me or anything like that. I'm good. And I realized now when someone asked me, and I almost want to say I'm good instinctually, I go, wait a minute, I am not
[00:43:42] good. I have needs. I have problems. I've got an Achilles heel thing, Achilles tendon that I swear I feel is going to snap at any moment. Take some prayer for that. I've got tennis elbow for two
[00:43:55] years. It's been bothering me. I can't, it's hard for me to grip things. I've got, I've got, I could, i can always identify something but when we think that we're good or the prayer is only for
[00:44:05] catastrophic stuff not good i could use better communication with my family i could whatever the other another one is uh the hidden knowledge the hidden knowledge this one's gonna step on some toes so hang in there with me some of us are like yeah yeah prayer prayer god i'm a big
[00:44:21] prayer person great wonderful hidden knowledge is this belief that i can't just pray and talk to God. There's like hidden principles, hidden systems. I have to go to a seminar, read books on spiritual warfare, go to different programs that oftentimes are out of alignment with the
[00:44:43] Bible. Hidden knowledge is a form of Gnosticism. Gnosticism was a heresy in the very first century.
[00:44:49] In Gnosticism, some early followers of Christ believed there was a super secret knowledge of following Jesus. Unless you didn't have the super secret knowledge of things that are past gone, you couldn't be there. It was Gnosticism. And there is this, I've been bumping into people who
[00:45:04] give me prayer philosophies and prayer stuff. I go, where do you get this? This is like secret knowledge that makes you sound enlightened, but also makes you sound very unbiblical.
[00:45:14] Where is this coming from? Like, example, I heard somebody recently, they were getting prayed for, they didn't get healed, which by the way, that's why it's called a miracle when you get healed.
[00:45:24] It's not called an entitlement. It's called a miracle. But like, oh, you're not getting healed.
[00:45:28] maybe you have a cursed object in your home.
[00:45:31] I need to come over to your house and just see if there's any cursed objects in your home.
[00:45:34] Ask us something about cursed objects in the home.
[00:45:37] Where do you see this in the Bible?
[00:45:38] In fact, maybe the most cursed object in the Bible was meat sacrificed to idols in the first century, foreign pagan deities.
[00:45:47] And the Apostle Paul wrote about this on more than one occasion.
[00:45:50] These foreign pagan deities would have sacrifices and then they go, what are we going to do with this meat?
[00:45:54] I know, we'll chop it up and sell it in the marketplace and it'll be sold at a discount.
[00:45:57] And so early followers of Christ were like, can I buy this meat that's cheaper when it's been sacrificed to a pagan foreign deity?
[00:46:03] Sounds to me like a cursed object.
[00:46:07] And Paul said very clearly, yes, eat it.
[00:46:09] Great, fine, no problem.
[00:46:10] False god, fine, eat it.
[00:46:11] So if I can eat meat that's sacrificed to a foreigner, now I've got to figure out if there's some object in my house that's cursed that's keeping me from...
[00:46:19] Weird, weird, weird, unbiblical.
[00:46:23] That's called hidden knowledge.
[00:46:24] Or the don't offend God is another prayer type.
[00:46:28] The don't offend God is afraid to ask, afraid to seek, afraid to knock too loudly.
[00:46:36] It's like everything's got to be soft.
[00:46:37] I don't want to offend God.
[00:46:38] And the way that works is this.
[00:46:40] Lord, if it's your will, I pray that bloom.
[00:46:43] God, if it's your will, I pray boom.
[00:46:46] Why are you praying if it's your will?
[00:46:47] Just ask God.
[00:46:49] It's like we're afraid.
[00:46:51] Some of you who know your Bibles would say, well, didn't Jesus say that though when he was in the garden of Gethsemane?
[00:46:55] he said man let this cut pass from me i don't want to go through this crucifixion thing but not my will but your will doesn't he say out there no it's not the same thing
[00:47:04] he's very clearly asking to not die on a cross and he's saying if you want this because you've told me i'm going to do that that's not the same as if it's your will he never goes to somebody
[00:47:16] who has blindness and prays to say god if it's your will held this person of blindness never does that always assumes god doesn't want somebody to be blind never goes god if it's your will
[00:47:25] heal this person of herpes even even I don't they have herpes back then I don't I don't know this crowd brings it out in me I didn't say it in any other service I don't know why it was
[00:47:37] maybe someone in here has that condition can I heal pray for anybody without the don't offend God I can't ask real clearly I can't really be direct it's God if it's your will if it's your
[00:47:52] will then there's also the general very close cousin of don't offend God the generalist we just pray for things by saying, God, I pray for Jan. Pray for our country. Pray for Jim. What does
[00:48:12] that mean? That's like saying, talk to Jan. Talk about God. What are you asking? God, I am praying that Jan gets a date. She's a good woman. She's lonely. I pray that you would get her. God, I pray
[00:48:29] for our country, that we would come together and you would start solving the crippling national crisis that's coming our way.
[00:48:37] And we're just talking about one, which is the national debt.
[00:48:40] It can't, God, I pray you've helped politicians stop spending money.
[00:48:44] God, I pray for Jim.
[00:48:46] Jim, I pray that acne is horrible.
[00:48:48] I know he feels bad about it.
[00:48:50] God, would you please clear his face, rid him of acne, and then maybe Jan will notice Jim and you can connect them together.
[00:49:04] The general moves and generalities.
[00:49:06] I had a guy come over to the house recently.
[00:49:09] I had a plumbing problem I couldn't figure out.
[00:49:10] I finally gave up figuring it out.
[00:49:12] So I hired a plumber, came over, and I just felt when he was over the house that I should pray for this guy.
[00:49:17] And I was, man, I don't want to seem weird.
[00:49:20] Okay, I will.
[00:49:21] So he's leaving.
[00:49:22] I said, hey, man, I don't know if he knows who I am or what I do for a living or not, but I said, hey, man, you mind if I pray for you?
[00:49:30] Is there anything I can pray for you for?
[00:49:32] And he stopped and he thought, and I thought he was going to say, no, I'm good, I'm good, because that's the normal thing, I'm good, right?
[00:49:39] He didn't say that. He thought, and he went, be creative.
[00:49:46] And he turned around and got in his truck and left.
[00:49:47] I was like, be creative. I like that, be creative.
[00:49:52] Why did he say creative? Is he an atheist?
[00:49:55] And he felt it was a waste of time to tell me, but he's trying to be honoring to me, I don't know. Was it like he was a little shameful, but he thought, well, if this guy
[00:50:05] actually hears from God, then he'll find out as he talks to God. I don't know. But I thought, oh, interesting. I like that. I like that. He knew that just the I'm good probably wasn't
[00:50:15] going to be good enough. And then the final type I'll mention real quickly is the functional atheist. The functional atheist is the person who actually could be a believer, could be a Christian, who checks the box when they go in the hospital of Christian,
[00:50:31] who believes in prayer, who says thoughts and prayers, who might even chuckle and joke at cracking on people who have only thoughts only.
[00:50:40] The functional atheist is the person who's perhaps been baptized, goes to church, but really doesn't believe that God's going to intercede.
[00:50:50] Really, God's not going to do anything just because I ask him.
[00:50:54] Really, God is not active in my world and in this life.
[00:51:00] It's a functional way.
[00:51:01] We have the right beliefs, but we're not planning and expecting things to actually change.
[00:51:08] I am praying, we are praying, we are working, we're doing everything towards seeing an awakening, a revival inside of our land.
[00:51:16] And by the way, that prayer is being answered with a yes.
[00:51:19] Church attendance, where I talk to is up.
[00:51:21] It's up.
[00:51:22] It's good. Crossroads church attendance is up.
[00:51:24] We're seeing people in Europe and England and countries where there just hasn't been any spiritual fervor at all.
[00:51:33] There is crazy, beautiful things that are happening.
[00:51:36] And it's because there have been people who've been in those in our environments who for a long time have been praying for this to happen and for a long time giving generously for it to happen.
[00:51:49] My Christian faith isn't I'm just a good guy who's not trying to do horrible things.
[00:51:53] It is God has invited me on an adventure and it is a wild adventure where I actually believe that your life presence and my life presence, if engaged in the right directions, it actually changes things.
[00:52:08] That sometimes prayer is not only the only thing we can do, but it is the best thing we can do because things ultimately shift.
[00:52:17] Now, I'm going to spend the rest of our time, boom, boom, boom, finally like three points.
[00:52:22] Got three points for you.
[00:52:23] But I just needed to set the stage here that much of what we practice or believe about prayer is not prayer at all.
[00:52:31] And it's no wonder that we don't pray very often.
[00:52:34] It's no wonder that our prayer life is dull and lifeless because we've just got some beliefs and some practices that just don't encourage being there.
[00:52:44] And let me just say this.
[00:52:45] if you're a generalist if you're a functional atheist if you're if you don't want to find god no matter where you are to understand no matter where you are in any of those things god loves
[00:52:55] to hear your voice and he does seriously he loves to hear your voice for any reason even if you say god if it be your will would you for any reason even if you say god i pray for jan and whatever
[00:53:08] it is he loves to hear your voice so do not enter this the rest of our time together with any sense of guilt or oh i'm just not good at this or or or resignation go hey man you're you're where you
[00:53:24] are right now and there's a new place you can get to this is pretty exciting to me second kings chapter 20 king david has passed he's died he's now he's got his lineage different sons they're
[00:53:35] taking over the kingdom. Some are good, some are really bad. And one of the really good ones on his downline is King Hezekiah. Now this is a talk, if you've been going to church your entire
[00:53:45] life, it's very possible you've never heard this story because this story scares the heebie-jeebies out of a lot of pastors because we're afraid of saying something that would be heretical.
[00:53:56] And yet I'm going to say it anyway. Here we go. Verse one.
[00:54:06] prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, thus says the Lord, set your house in order for you shall die. You shall not recover. Have a good day. You know, there's a lot of things that
[00:54:22] we have in our culture, sayings that we forget or come from the Bible. This is one of them, you know, setting your affairs in order, getting your house in order. This comes from the Bible.
[00:54:31] It comes from the prophet Isaiah, who while he's praying with God, God gives a message, hey man tell the king he's really sick just may as well tell him to stop worrying because it's it's done he's gonna die anyways just go and tell him that he goes tell him hey man get ready for
[00:54:48] your however you hand off the kingdom and whatever has to happen with the treasury just get your affairs in order now here's where it goes then hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed
[00:55:00] to the lord saying now oh lord please remember me how i've walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart and I have done what's good in your sight and Hezekiah wept bitterly he wept bitterly because he's really hurting emotionally and he's bitterly because he doesn't
[00:55:18] like this and he doesn't agree with it so his prayer is telling God God really really that's it I'm done did you look at how I've lived my life I've tried to be a faithful king I've been
[00:55:30] a pretty faithful king. God, is this really the end? Is this all there is? He's praying to God.
[00:55:36] He doesn't just resign himself like, oh, well, I don't want to offend God. If God said that, I'm not going to push. He prays. Now, Isaiah says to him, hey, dude, sorry, get your house in order.
[00:55:49] And he walks out of the room. He's walking through the different kind of courtyards of the palace. And before he gets off the complex, here's what it says. And before Isaiah had gone out of
[00:56:00] the middle court the word of the Lord came to him turn back and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people thus says the Lord the God of David your father I've heard your prayer I've seen your tears
[00:56:13] behold I will heal you on the third day you should go up from the house of the Lord and I will add 15 years to your life I will deliver you and the city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and I
[00:56:24] will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant david's sake says man so he hezekiah prays hezekiah prays and here here's here's the thing here's this is why people don't want to
[00:56:36] preach this or if they do talk about the story they don't say this you know what happens here god changes his mind hezekiah's prayer causes god to do something that he wasn't planning on doing
[00:56:54] You want to talk about like, you know, blow your mind.
[00:56:59] My prayers could actually change what God does.
[00:57:13] What?
[00:57:15] This is mind-blowing.
[00:57:18] If the Bible wanted to teach us this, it couldn't be any more clear than hearing this story and many, many others.
[00:57:26] And this is why this is so offensive to many of us.
[00:57:29] We believe in the sovereignty of God.
[00:57:31] I believe in the sovereignty of God.
[00:57:33] It means that God is never surprised.
[00:57:35] He's always in control.
[00:57:37] He's working a plan.
[00:57:39] But many of us take that to a degree where we think that there is a specific blueprint and God has decided everything.
[00:57:45] Everything.
[00:57:46] He's decided what socks I should wear today.
[00:57:48] He's decided who I'm supposed to marry.
[00:57:50] That's where we get this whole heresy called the soulmate.
[00:57:53] Like I'm not married because I haven't found my soulmate.
[00:57:55] I haven't found the one.
[00:57:56] Sorry, dude, there's no one.
[00:57:58] There's a bunch of ones that could be great and there's a bunch of ones that could be horrible.
[00:58:03] But when we think that the sovereignty of God means like there is a thing, a thing, and that's just the way it is, why would we ever pray?
[00:58:12] Why would we pray if it's all set in stone?
[00:58:14] And that's why many of us don't pray.
[00:58:16] We don't feel it makes any difference whatsoever.
[00:58:20] God changes his mind.
[00:58:22] Now, let me be real, real clear.
[00:58:24] Some of you are getting really excited about this.
[00:58:26] Let me hold your horses.
[00:58:28] God doesn't change his values.
[00:58:31] God doesn't change his understanding of right and wrong.
[00:58:34] God doesn't change his commandments.
[00:58:37] God doesn't change ultimate things he's planning on doing in the world, like Judgment Day and so on.
[00:58:44] Doesn't change those things.
[00:58:45] But how he gets there, apparently, he's very, very flexible.
[00:58:50] When Jesus says, ask, seek, knock, it reminds me of a quote that I quote all the time because it's one of the most insightful prayer things I've ever heard that sums up the Bible on prayer
[00:59:00] in ways that I couldn't sum it up.
[00:59:03] It comes from Billy Graham.
[00:59:05] Billy Graham said, Heaven is full of answers to prayers to which nobody ever bothered to ask.
[00:59:12] Now, there are things that God is going to do only if he's asked.
[00:59:19] There's things that you could have only if you ask.
[00:59:23] There's things that people who are important to you will have only if someone asks.
[00:59:28] There are things in the world that will change only, only if someone asks.
[00:59:35] There's a massive revival happening in our country with young people.
[00:59:40] Our churches are growing.
[00:59:42] It's mainly young people and young men.
[00:59:45] This is what's happening over in England as well.
[00:59:47] It's crazy.
[00:59:48] It's always older people that are trending more to God.
[00:59:51] This is a weird one where it's younger people.
[00:59:54] Yeah, you know why it is?
[00:59:56] Younger men, you know why?
[00:59:57] Because I've been praying for it.
[00:59:59] That's why I'm praying for it.
[01:00:01] You're like, oh, yeah, yeah, I have.
[01:00:03] I've been praying that for years, years.
[01:00:05] By the way, not just me, a lot of people, a lot of people have been praying that.
[01:00:10] That is crazy.
[01:00:12] That is astounding that the most passionate followers of Jesus in the new growth that's happening in churches is young, unchurched males.
[01:00:24] This is what's happening.
[01:00:25] We're seeing it.
[01:00:26] And it's because prayer changes things.
[01:00:33] Hezekiah changes things because of this prayer.
[01:00:40] Things are different.
[01:00:42] And I wish I would have heard this sermon when I was younger.
[01:00:45] But God will change his mind on things.
[01:00:47] Again, not values.
[01:00:48] He'll change my things.
[01:00:50] Like, my kids, I saw a lot of kids that were just annoying when I did student ministry.
[01:00:56] And a lot of those kids, they had a problem with authority and they had a problem because parents never helped their kids understand that they were the authority.
[01:01:05] And if your kids don't see that you're the authority, they're just not going to fit in.
[01:01:08] They're just going to be squeaky wheels all the time.
[01:01:10] They're going to be whining, sniveling.
[01:01:13] It's really weird.
[01:01:14] So I thought, okay, I don't want those kids.
[01:01:16] I don't want the ones over here.
[01:01:17] I do want, and they seem like their parents are authorities and all that stuff.
[01:01:20] So I worked on that really hard with my kids at the right ages.
[01:01:23] I have a great relationship with my kids.
[01:01:27] Awesome relationship with my kids.
[01:01:28] All my kids are walking with Christ.
[01:01:30] They're phenomenal.
[01:01:31] And something I would have changed.
[01:01:35] Once I said something, I wouldn't change.
[01:01:37] I wouldn't change.
[01:01:38] Because I thought, I'm going to open up the door for them whining and sniveling and begging every single time, and I'm going to stand my ground.
[01:01:45] And my kids would tell you the thing I said, more than anything else in the family, probably wasn't Jesus, Lord.
[01:01:50] It was actually, Daddy always wins.
[01:01:53] Meaning, meaning, don't try to talk me out of this.
[01:01:57] I just said it.
[01:01:58] I said it.
[01:01:59] That settles it.
[01:02:00] I'll tuck him in in bed and I'll pray for him, read him a book and I'd leave, I'd leave, leave the room and I'd whisper in their ear and I would leave just like trying.
[01:02:11] Ask them that.
[01:02:11] They'll tell you that.
[01:02:12] They'll tell you.
[01:02:13] And now I look back, I wish I was more like Jesus and I wish they had more stories of how I changed my mind.
[01:02:21] I wish, I wish there were times when I heard him, I just said, yeah, I was planning on doing that, but man, I love this kid and that seems reasonable enough.
[01:02:29] Okay, I wish there was a few of those incidences, but there weren't.
[01:02:34] And why would I wish that?
[01:02:36] Not because I would have wanted to be nicer to my kids, but because I want to be like God, that's why.
[01:02:40] And that's what God does.
[01:02:42] How much more clear could God possibly be that he changed his mind based on prayers than he is right here?
[01:02:50] It's astounding.
[01:02:51] Second, state your reason.
[01:02:53] State your reason.
[01:02:54] Hezekiah is stating the reason why he wants this to be.
[01:02:57] This is also the way it is with Moses and God in the Old Testament, where God said, I'm going to wipe out the nation of Israel.
[01:03:05] I'm sick of them. And Moses goes, hold on, don't, don't, don't.
[01:03:07] You don't want to do that. No, you don't want to do that.
[01:03:09] The reason? You don't want to be like all those other foreign deities who do these kind of things.
[01:03:13] You don't want to be known as the capricious God.
[01:03:14] You're the God of the patriarchs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
[01:03:18] That's how you want to be remembered. That's who you are, God.
[01:03:21] God goes, hmm, good point.
[01:03:24] Exodus 32, 13, the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of during his people.
[01:03:32] He relented, he changed his mind because he gives him a reason.
[01:03:35] Whenever you can pray and state the reason, I want Jan to be, whatever it is, I'm praying for some people right now who want another kid badly.
[01:03:46] And my reason is that I pray for them, God, you know this couple follows you and they want you, and you know that if there's a child in this family, they're going to be raised the right way.
[01:03:56] And we need more people who are brought up in great homes to impact our world.
[01:04:01] God, would you please have that sperm connected to that uterine tissue?
[01:04:05] God, would you please?
[01:04:06] And then I picture it and I'm specific on how the whole thing happens.
[01:04:08] But there's a reason behind it.
[01:04:10] And if you can state a reason, that's basically being in the name of Jesus, according to the identity of Jesus, the closer it's pinned to something He would like, the higher likelihood, higher likelihood that actually might happen.
[01:04:22] State your reason.
[01:04:23] Three, pit it to God's identity.
[01:04:26] This is who you are, God.
[01:04:27] It's not just what I want.
[01:04:29] I believe this is who you are.
[01:04:33] I've been seeing more and more healings.
[01:04:36] It's been crazy.
[01:04:37] They're miraculous.
[01:04:37] They don't happen all the time, but I've seen more of them in the last, gosh, five years, especially the last two years.
[01:04:44] I never thought I would see my entire life.
[01:04:46] It's real.
[01:04:47] It still happens.
[01:04:47] God still equips people to see people healed through prayers.
[01:04:53] I have a friend of mine from England who's going to be coming to Crossroads, all of our sites, from Lexington all the way up to Columbus, to actually help and give a workshop on how to experience healing prayer
[01:05:06] and pray for somebody else.
[01:05:09] He's been a close friend of mine for 15 years.
[01:05:11] I had him on my podcast.
[01:05:13] This is my friend Paul McConnachie.

[01:05:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:05:15] for me well the healing ministry is one of those things i knew there was a period in my life where the lord's saying i want you to persevere in praying for people for healing even though i
[01:05:25] never saw anybody get healed for like for months and months and months i prayed for people never seeing anyone get healed but i felt convicted that the lord was saying i want you to persevere
[01:05:36] and not give up because that's what the bible says and that's what i'm telling you to do and my experience is if you do that and you persevere in that there comes a point of breakthrough
[01:05:45] where what you want begins to shift.
[01:05:49] I've pretty much had a consistent baseline experience of praying, of seeing what God does when I pray for healing, of maybe, on average, 50% to 60% of the people that I pray for, not necessarily seeing absolute 100% breakthrough,
[01:06:09] but definitely seeing some significant healing in about 50% to 60% of the people that I'm praying for.
[01:06:15] There's been a very bizarre thing that's gone on in the last maybe four or five months, which is that in those settings where I'm going out to churches and praying for people, it's gone up to more like 75%.
[01:06:29] Wow.
[01:06:30] And it's been, I don't know what God's doing.
[01:06:32] I don't know why that is.
[01:06:33] I don't feel like I've changed anything I'm doing.
[01:06:36] It's not like I'm going to different churches.
[01:06:37] A lot of these churches have never seen people get healed before.
[01:06:40] They're asking me to go for the first time.

[01:06:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:06:42] So we had this basically seminar that I'm inviting you to at all of our sites and we'll put it up there again.
[01:06:52] We did this with our staff several months ago and we saw some significant breakthrough with a number of individuals.
[01:06:59] You don't have to have perfect belief in prayer.
[01:07:03] You just have to have a mustard seed of faith.
[01:07:04] That's how Jesus put it.
[01:07:05] Just a mustard seed.
[01:07:07] Just to get started.
[01:07:10] And God wants to hear from you.
[01:07:11] This isn't a new commandment.
[01:07:15] that's a burdensome thing, your heavenly father, he just wants to hear from you. He wants to talk to you. And he just might do some things he wouldn't do otherwise if he did. That's pretty
[01:07:27] exciting. God, thank you for being a God who's patient with imperfect people like me who struggle with prayer, yet believe in it. God, I pray that this has been a course correction, that we just
[01:07:42] leave a little bit more motivated and encouraged to talk to you. God, would you say yes to the people in here, would you just give some more yeses this week? Amen. See you next week.

[01:07:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:07:55] Hey, I hope you heard tonight that there's a God who wants to meet you wherever you are in the midst of your prayers, that God wants to connect with you, and that there's things that we can do
[01:08:04] to lean in and experience more of His voice, more of His presence in our lives. And if we can pray for you about that, we'd actually love to. You can just go to crossroads.net connect card. You can
[01:08:15] fill that out in myself or somebody on my team. We'll reach out to you, encourage you, pray for you, help you take your next step with God any way that we can. Now, as Brian mentioned, we have
[01:08:24] these nights of healing prayer coming up where you can come and ask God to show up for you and experience a miracle. We're so excited for it alongside our mentor and coach, Paul McConnachie, who will be leading that for us. Now, lastly, as I mentioned earlier, we actually have a GoTrip
[01:08:40] info session. So like right now, I'm going to get off of this stream and I'm going to run up to another room to help lead that call where a bunch of us are just going to be together hearing about
[01:08:48] hey what would it look like for us to go to and go to a new place spiritually and literally this year it'll just be like 15 minutes or so would love for you to join us and imagine what it would
[01:08:58] be like for you to go somewhere else in the world and see what god does in you and through you in that time again you can just scan the qr code or click the link we'd love to see you over in that
[01:09:09] info session right now thanks so much for watching see you next week