A Review of ‘Sunday Sermon’ by Will Kranz at The Cove Church

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
You have for me, oh I will see Your goodness and mercy following me All of my days You've been faithful, faithful Oh I believe that You go before me You take the lead, I'll follow You closely My destiny is safe in Your hands You are faithful
[00:02:26] All your promises are yes and amen.
[00:02:39] Yes and amen.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Yes and amen.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy,
[00:03:33] All these things

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
The Church is us.
[00:03:43] And what Jesus told the Church to do is pretty simple.
[00:03:46] Love Him, love each other, and share the Good News with everyone.
[00:03:51] 2025 has been a year focused on doing the simple things.
[00:03:55] You went all out.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We filled blessing bags for the homeless.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
We packed meals to go around the world.
[00:04:02] We collected food.
[00:04:04] We served food.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
And even created the All-Out Hub.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
A place where helping hands and real needs in the community meet.
[00:04:11] You showed up for the first responders, healthcare workers, schools, widows, and orphans.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
You gave baskets of hope, shared acts of kindness, and brought joy to nursing homes.
[00:04:23] Through the toy store at Christmas, you made sure every child was seen and felt God's love.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Jesus once said, I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me.
[00:04:37] You have served locally and globally.
[00:04:39] You have shown love to the young and the old.
[00:04:43] You have brought the gospel to all both in word and in action.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
We were the church.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
We are the church.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
And together we'll keep going all out for the glory of God and the good of people.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]:
There is no shadow That has ever overcome your light And there is no rival

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
Show me a mountain He can move He's the God of the breakthrough When anything is possible

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Let's advance and get this
[00:10:04] All of my fear I will turn into praise I'll shake off despair as I sing out your name Oh victory dance I will dance out in fear I will crush disappointment and break every chain Now all of my fear I will turn into praise I'll shake off despair as I sing out your name

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Anything is possible, anything is possible in Jesus' mighty name.
[00:12:06] Hallelujah.
[00:12:07] Come on, aren't we glad we serve a God of the impossible?
[00:12:13] A God who takes the things of this world, the things that seem impossible, the things that seem too hard, the things that seem like they have no answer, and He provides the answer.
[00:12:23] He provides the solution.
[00:12:24] He provides the healing.
[00:12:26] He provides everything we have need of because He is more than sufficient.
[00:12:33] Hey listen, we're going to sing a new song today.
[00:12:35] Taking the faithfulness of God into account and responding the only way we can by saying thank you.
[00:12:42] Come on, somebody say thank you to God today.
[00:12:45] Thank you for your faithfulness.
[00:12:46] Thank you for your goodness.
[00:12:48] Thank you for your mercy.
[00:12:51] Thank you for being consistent.
[00:12:53] Thank you for time and time again showing up when I had no way out, when I had no solution, when I did not have the answer to my problem.
[00:13:00] You showed up.
[00:13:01] and you made a way where there was no way so come on all across this room let's lift up our hands together and say God I'm just grateful for you I'm just grateful for you there was no way until you made one and grace upon grace hallelujah
[00:13:31] Even though I don't deserve it, you did it And even though I couldn't earn it, you give it Who am I that you keep me on your mind?

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
You've been right here by my side I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You And holy, holy, there's only one that's Your Lord I give You glory for all that You've done Even though I don't deserve it

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
God, I'm just grateful for you.

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
God, I'm just grateful for you.
[00:15:01] Yes, I am, Lord.
[00:15:01] In all my life, you've been right here by my side.
[00:15:02] God, I'm just grateful for you.
[00:15:03] Come on, there's somebody grateful today.
[00:15:04] Let's lift up our voices.

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
I'm just grateful for You In all my life You've been right here by my side I'm just grateful for You God I'm just grateful for You Oh I give You thanks Lord For everything You've done And everything You're doing
[00:15:53] I'm giving all that I am Cause you gave me chance after chance after chance
[00:16:22] You gave me chance after chance after chance I'm giving all that I am You gave me chance after chance after chance Who am I that You give me on Your mind?
[00:17:48] If they say I'm out of my mind God I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
We enter into your presence with thanksgiving, God, giving you all of ourselves, all of our worship, all of our praise, all of our adoration.
[00:18:13] We love you.
[00:18:14] We glorify and exalt you in this place as one body with one voice.
[00:18:19] We worship you.
[00:18:21] Holy are you, Lord.
[00:18:23] May you be glorified in your church.
[00:18:36] The Spirit and the Bride Together testify All things shall be made right Amen And the lost shall be restored And the grave shall be no more
[00:19:01] and all the church will roar Amen.
[00:19:07] We prepare the way.
[00:19:10] Prepare the way the King is coming
[00:19:18] and Thrones on praise the King is coming the last the first the last the first the living word and glory shall return we believe it and we prepare the way

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
For His return I will sing
[00:20:42] And we prepare the way Oh Jesus we prepare the way Prepare The trumpet soon shall sound

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
He'll ride upon the clouds and every knee will bow.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
Come on, let's sing this together.
[00:21:29] The honor and the fame, the glory, power, and praise be unto
[00:21:59] We exalt You
[00:22:37] Sing of Your glory.

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Boldly we sing of Your goodness and Your glory, God.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Repent.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
The way the King is coming In front on praise the King is coming The last of firsts, the living Word In glory shall return
[00:23:32] Jesus we prepare the way Jesus we prepare the way Jesus we prepare the way

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
God, as we gather here this morning, may we take a moment just to rest in your presence.
[00:24:06] God, as we spend time in prayer and fasting, can we be still and just hear your voice?
[00:24:16] Above all the chaos, above all the noise, God, may we be able to discern your voice.
[00:24:24] God, you speak to us.
[00:24:26] You speak to us all in different ways.
[00:24:30] Sometimes it's a loud roar and other times it's a quiet whisper.
[00:24:37] But may we give you an opportunity to speak.
[00:24:41] To speak life into this church.
[00:24:44] To speak truth into our hearts.
[00:24:47] as we pursue you and grow closer to you.
[00:24:52] God, we love you.
[00:24:54] We praise you.
[00:24:55] And in Jesus' mighty name, we all say amen.
[00:25:00] Amen.
[00:25:01] Well, church, why don't you take a moment and greet those around you and grab your seats.
[00:25:12] Well, good morning, church.
[00:25:13] My name is Josh, and welcome to The Cove.
[00:25:16] If you are joining us for the first time, we are so glad that you're here.
[00:25:20] Do not leave here today without letting somebody know.
[00:25:24] There's a few ways that you can get connected.
[00:25:26] You can scan that QR code on the seat in front of you.
[00:25:29] And you can hear all about who we are here at The Cove.
[00:25:46] One thing that we have is our five habits and these are environments that we put ourselves in on a weekly basis to encounter God.
[00:25:57] And the first of those is to attend a weekly service.
[00:26:01] So congratulations!
[00:26:02] There's one down for all of you right there.
[00:26:05] The second is to serve on a ministry team.
[00:26:09] From there it's to grow.
[00:26:11] In a daily, personal, quiet time with God.
[00:26:15] Then it's to connect in a Cove Church life group.
[00:26:19] And then finally, to give generously through tithes and offerings.
[00:26:24] And we're going to take a moment to break down a few of these today.
[00:26:28] First of all, Church, thank you for your generosity.
[00:26:31] It's your tithes, your offerings, they really enable all of this to be possible.
[00:26:36] And if you'd like to be a part of all we're doing here at the Cove,
[00:26:39] you can give online at covechurch.org slash give or in the silver boxes in the back of the room and then tomorrow we have our starting point event which is coming up and if you've never been to a starting point this is a dinner style event led by our lead pastor Will Kranz in which you can meet some of our campus staff
[00:27:00] you can meet other people that attend the church really learn all about who we are as a church how we got here and all the ways that you can get involved there are still spots available dinner is provided child care is provided and we would love to see you there you can sign up on our website or come find us at our next steps area and we would get you signed up today
[00:27:23] and then after our service we have our life group promotions going on in our atrium if you are not in a life group yet what these are is small groups of 10 to 12 people they gather weekly or bi-weekly in homes coffee shops they get to study God's word together and it's a amazing way to make a big church small there is a group out there for you
[00:27:47] and if you stop by our coffee shop style area in the atrium Michelle is out there our life group director as well as a ton of our current life group leaders that would love to help you find the perfect group for you so we'd love to see you there we'd love to see you tomorrow at starting point but for now why don't you guys check out this video all about life groups at the co

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
If you could tell the whole church one thing about life groups, what would it be?

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We've all become so disconnected.

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
People are living in a bubble and they're only interacting with people that they feel comfortable with and they're not taking risks of, I need to get out of that silo.

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I would just tell people to try it.
[00:28:39] You're going to be greeted with open arms and you're going to make lasting friendships.
[00:28:46] Right.
[00:28:46] Because we go to a really big church.
[00:28:48] Yes.
[00:28:48] That's why this is so important.

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Mike, do you remember back when you first went to life group what it felt like walking into life group for the first time?

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Yeah, the first one that my wife and I attended we went together and then after that we started having kids and we started doing different life groups where we had one with kids and then we had a basketball life group and then my men's group is now meeting and
[00:29:11] You know, Paige helps with the cookout.
[00:29:13] There's more than just attending the life group.
[00:29:16] There's so many other options to meet and serve and get connected with other people.

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
What's something in your group that makes everybody feel like family?

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I enjoy when we go and do things.
[00:29:27] I know y'all are more mission-based, but we go and do things together, so it makes it feel more like a family.

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
And they're going to be the ones that are going to get you through that season, and you're moving together versus trying to just do it by yourself.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
I love our life groups here at the Cove Church.
[00:29:48] How are you guys doing this morning?
[00:29:51] Hey, can we give it up for all of our life group leaders who pour so much into making the church smaller?
[00:29:58] You know, it's a huge part of what we do.
[00:30:00] If you're not yet in a life group, like you've already heard, really, that's a huge next step.
[00:30:05] That's how the church gets smaller.
[00:30:07] I'm thankful for you life group leaders for helping make sure that we're doing life with one another, because it's a great church, but we've always had a vision for as the church gets bigger.
[00:30:18] Make sure it's getting smaller.
[00:30:20] Make sure we're connecting people with one another.
[00:30:23] So I'm excited to see us continue to grow our life groups.
[00:30:28] Hey, I'm gonna jump right into the message because we've got a lot to cover today.
[00:30:33] We've been in this series on prayer and fasting, and if you missed last week, I do wanna encourage you
[00:30:40] Jump back and catch the message, the service as a whole, really, last week, because we talked about fasting and what does fasting look like, what Jesus taught fasting to be.
[00:30:54] And so we have a challenge and encouragement for our entire church to choose one day a week that you're gonna practice the fast.
[00:31:03] Where you're just focused on having a hunger for God and we talked about why fasting is a thing biblically and how Jesus instructed us to do it.
[00:31:14] And so I heard many people were trying out fasting this week and one of the things I didn't expect to hear back was a lot of people were like really nervous about it.
[00:31:23] And...
[00:31:24] At first I thought, well, that's no good.
[00:31:26] You know, I don't want people to feel nervous about it.
[00:31:28] But after thinking about it and praying about it more, it makes sense that many were nervous.
[00:31:33] You know, what if I don't do it right?
[00:31:34] What if I don't, you know, hear anything or sense God in any way?
[00:31:37] What if I don't have a profound revelation?
[00:31:40] And it makes sense that people were nervous because really you're putting skin in the game, like we talked about in the message.
[00:31:46] When you fast and when you invest in something, when you pour yourself into something, you care about the outcome of that.
[00:31:53] Can I get an amen?
[00:31:55] And so I want to encourage you to, if you didn't get a chance to try it this week, to try out the fast, the investment of really seeking after God's presence.
[00:32:08] One of the things we talked about was that really we fast because food takes up a lot of our time.
[00:32:15] Takes up, you know, for the average person, anywhere from two to five hours between all the preparation, the grocery shopping, the driving out to a restaurant, the actually sitting down
[00:32:27] It takes up a lot of time.
[00:32:30] And so the fast is simply the principle of slowing everything down, of taking another thing to worry about off the plate to really focus on our prayer time.
[00:32:41] And so maybe what you discovered was, well, with all this extra time, what am I supposed to be praying for?
[00:32:47] You know, I felt like I was just praying the same thing over and over again.
[00:32:51] And so today, we're really diving deeper into what Jesus taught us about how to pray.
[00:32:59] And let me just tell you guys, as a lifelong Bears fan, I am prayer tested after yesterday, all right?
[00:33:07] Let me just tell you.
[00:33:08] You know, I can tell you with confidence, the Lord answers prayers.
[00:33:12] And so today, I want to communicate to you how to get the Lord to answer your prayers.
[00:33:18] Specifically, I want to talk to you Packer fans about how to get the Lord to hear your prayers, you know?
[00:33:24] Some of you might be saying, well, where were the Panther prayers?
[00:33:26] Man, we used all our prayer powers to get the Panthers into the playoffs, all right?
[00:33:30] I thought it was pretty good to get them there.
[00:33:35] In all seriousness, please don't send me emails.
[00:33:37] I didn't really pray over the Bears game or anything.
[00:33:39] Someone's gonna be like, I can't believe you'd do that.
[00:33:42] It's just a joke.
[00:33:43] Just settle down.
[00:33:44] But I remember as a kid trying to figure out this prayer thing.
[00:33:49] And probably for many of you, you're trying to figure, I remember feeling like, you know, when God didn't answer a prayer, maybe he was mad at me, you know?
[00:33:58] Even in something as silly or stupid as my sports team losing, you know?
[00:34:03] I'd be like, well, is that because God's mad at me?
[00:34:05] And then if my team wins, it's like, well, I must be clean living right now, you know?
[00:34:09] God's happy with me right now, you know?
[00:34:12] And I didn't know, it's confusing.
[00:34:16] How do we pray?
[00:34:17] I heard different things from different people.
[00:34:19] Some people talked about certain recited prayers.
[00:34:22] Others said, well, you just talk to God.
[00:34:24] You can just say whatever and God hears you.
[00:34:28] And I didn't know which of those to take.
[00:34:31] So I remember by the time I was like eight or nine years old, I had a whole prayer routine before I went to bed that incorporated a little bit of everything so I could check all the boxes, you know?
[00:34:41] I'd freelance for a few minutes of prayers where I'd just talk to God and then I'd get to my recited prayers and you know as a eight nine-year-old I thought the game was try to see how fast you could get your recited prayers out so I'd I'd close my eyes I go our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven and give us
[00:35:02] Now I lay me down to sleep.
[00:35:15] I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
[00:35:27] If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to think.
[00:35:30] That was my prayer time!
[00:35:32] Thank you.
[00:35:35] You can tell that was real because, you know, it's still in there, rattling around in there.
[00:35:40] Can we talk about that last prayer for a minute?
[00:35:43] Why are we having our kids pray?
[00:35:46] If I should die before I wake as like a nine-year-old, you know, the Lord is gonna take my soul is what's gonna happen.
[00:35:58] But, you know,
[00:36:00] The truth is, maybe you've tried growing in your prayer life, and at times you feel like you're just talking to yourself, you know?
[00:36:06] And it's like, what does effective prayer really look like?
[00:36:11] And you know, the truth is, none of those advices are bad.
[00:36:15] I don't think any of the remembered prayers are bad.
[00:36:18] I don't think the idea of freelancing your prayers is bad.
[00:36:20] But when Jesus was asked about prayer, and when Jesus taught about a healthy prayer life, He actually had an answer for that.
[00:36:29] And he actually did give us some advice on how to have a more thriving prayer life.
[00:36:36] And so what we're gonna be looking at today is Matthew chapter six, if you've got your Bibles open, and we're gonna look at when Jesus specifically taught about how to pray.
[00:36:46] And I think you're gonna be surprised to see how little that we actually focus on what Jesus' teaching was around this.
[00:36:54] So open your Bibles up to Matthew chapter six, check this out.
[00:36:58] Jesus said plainly when you pray you must not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners and that they may be seen by others truly i say to you they've already received their reward
[00:37:15] But when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret.
[00:37:22] And your Father who sees in secret will, what church?
[00:37:28] Reward you.
[00:37:29] All right, if this sounds familiar,
[00:37:31] It's because it is verbatim the passage we talked about last week with the fast, except now Jesus is talking about prayer.
[00:37:38] It's a different passage, but he uses almost identical language.
[00:37:43] He talks about the fast just a few verses later.
[00:37:47] And his main point here is,
[00:37:49] For starters, don't pray like the hypocrites.
[00:37:52] You'll have people who come out and they pray out in front of everybody and pray loudly and they pray in a way that they want others to look at them.
[00:38:00] And Jesus says they've already received their reward.
[00:38:04] You know what their reward is?
[00:38:05] People will applaud them.
[00:38:07] People will talk about how spiritual they are and how much they've got, how advanced they are and how deep they are.
[00:38:13] And Jesus said plainly, that's their reward.
[00:38:16] And it doesn't go any further than that.
[00:38:19] Then he says, instead, learn to pray for God, not for others, not to impress others.
[00:38:29] I want to be clear.
[00:38:31] Jesus wasn't saying we should never pray around other people.
[00:38:34] In fact, there's many places in Scripture that talk about the importance of praying with your brothers and sisters.
[00:38:39] Jesus himself prayed with other people and in front of other people.
[00:38:44] We know that's not what he was getting at.
[00:38:46] But what he's saying is it's the heart of the matter that really matters.
[00:38:50] And the Lord knows our heart.
[00:38:52] That whether you're praying in front of people or also hopefully praying behind closed doors when nobody is watching, and the Lord rewards that kind of faithfulness.
[00:39:06] It may not be with exactly the answer you're looking for in the prayer, but the Lord replies to that kind of faithfulness.
[00:39:15] Look at what Jesus says next.
[00:39:16] And when you pray, don't heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.
[00:39:25] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
[00:39:31] So he says, look, the prayer is not about the length.
[00:39:36] It's not about eloquent words.
[00:39:38] It's not about how deep the words are, which I think we all can resonate that.
[00:39:42] Like, have you ever been at life group and you're like, don't call on me for the prayer out loud portion, you know?
[00:39:48] Call on Johnny.
[00:39:49] Johnny prays really good.
[00:39:50] Sounds really good.
[00:39:52] It's pretty when Johnny prays.
[00:39:54] Don't come asking over here for prayers, you know?
[00:39:58] And look, I'm not saying Johnny's not praying authentically.
[00:40:01] Maybe Johnny really does just sound really good.
[00:40:03] So I'm not ripping on you, Johnny.
[00:40:07] But the point is, the Lord doesn't measure our prayers by how eloquent they are, or whether they're the right words, or how long even the prayer is.
[00:40:19] In fact, Jesus says, God already knows what you need.
[00:40:24] That's not really even the point of the prayer, is that God's like, oh, that's news to me, you know?
[00:40:31] It's not like that.
[00:40:33] So what is the point of prayer?
[00:40:34] If God already knows, what's the point?
[00:40:37] Well, let's look at what Jesus does say about the prayer.
[00:40:40] And we're gonna actually do this together.
[00:40:42] Jesus then says, pray then like this.
[00:40:46] And I don't want you to miss this.
[00:40:49] Just pray then how, church?
[00:40:51] How does he say?
[00:40:53] Like this, okay?
[00:40:55] We're gonna go through the Lord's Prayer, because that is what Jesus says next, what we have taken to mean the Lord's Prayer.
[00:41:02] But I think it's important to note, he's not talking about the idea of memorizing these words as if these words have some sort of magical power when said together.
[00:41:12] He's saying pray like this, with this heart.
[00:41:18] These words actually have meaning.
[00:41:19] It's not about reciting exact words.
[00:41:22] It's about the heart of what he's about to say.
[00:41:26] Let's read this together nice and slow.
[00:41:28] He said, pray then like this.
[00:41:31] Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
[00:41:35] Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:41:41] give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil now i want you to see that what jesus is teaching is much more than
[00:42:04] That God like needs to hear our prayer requests.
[00:42:08] What he's really teaching us is how to line up our heart with God's heart through this passage.
[00:42:14] And this instruction of here's how you pray.
[00:42:17] You pray like this.
[00:42:19] He's pointing to heart matters.
[00:42:22] And what he's really pointing to is that really our prayer life is about lining up our hearts with God's hearts.
[00:42:31] and so if you are taking notes and in fact let me let me backtrack i usually say if you're taking notes i don't want to make you feel pressure i want to really encourage you to write these six things down we're going to talk about six areas jesus is specifically talking about lining up our hearts with god's heart and so whether that's in a journal or you have your phone don't check your email don't go to you know check out the scores of the game last night the bears won it was great you know
[00:42:58] Listen, just open up the notes section in your Bible or use your Bible app.
[00:43:04] There's a notes section.
[00:43:05] But I do want you to jot down these six things because it's really practical what Jesus is saying as far as how we line up our heart with God's heart.
[00:43:16] So let's go through this nice and slow.
[00:43:18] The first thing Jesus says, let's read this together right here.
[00:43:24] Oh, sorry, I might've jumped the gun there.
[00:43:26] Let's try it again.
[00:43:27] Our Father.
[00:43:28] I think the key here is he says, our Father, not my Father.
[00:43:35] He's not just talking about himself here.
[00:43:37] He said, our Father.
[00:43:39] And this is an alignment of identity.
[00:43:43] You know, I think it's interesting.
[00:43:45] Of all, there's so many different character traits you could focus in on when you go to talk to God.
[00:43:51] You could address God as the perfect judge, the prince of peace, he calls us friend.
[00:43:58] You could address him as a healer, a provider, our creator.
[00:44:03] But it's important to note that of all the ways Jesus says to start our prayer, he says start our prayer with the mentality of Father.
[00:44:12] And you know, so often when we go to pray, we just say Father and jump right into the prayer.
[00:44:17] Father, here's what's going on in my day.
[00:44:19] Father, I need your help.
[00:44:20] Father, we just say the phrase and jump right into it.
[00:44:24] But I want us to realize that actually slowing down and aligning the identity of God also reveals our identity.
[00:44:36] You know, John said it this way, plainly.
[00:44:38] This isn't just about Jesus.
[00:44:40] John, who was one of Jesus' disciples, says, see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.
[00:44:50] And so we are.
[00:44:53] This is an acknowledgement of His identity as our Father, but in turn, it's an acknowledgement of our identity as His children.
[00:45:03] And this sets the tone for everything else in your prayer life.
[00:45:07] That God is not just the God of justice, not just a great creator, He's our Father, a loving Father, a protector.
[00:45:18] It reminds me of when I come home.
[00:45:20] It's one of my favorite moments of every day.
[00:45:23] I come home from a workday and I have three kids that are all already home.
[00:45:27] They're three, seven, and eight.
[00:45:28] And they, as long as the TV's not on, the TV sometimes takes away my greeting, I'll be honest with you.
[00:45:34] But if the TV's not, they come running to meet me at the door and all they say is, Dad.
[00:45:41] That's it, just daddy, dad.
[00:45:44] They're so excited and there's more of them than I can carry at a time.
[00:45:47] So they just hug my legs and I kind of try to like, you know, corral them all.
[00:45:52] And I love it.
[00:45:54] because you know it I don't need them to to tell me what they accomplished today I don't need them to impress me with what tell me what you've done today you know before I'm gonna give you a hug they don't need to bring a gift to me simply that they call me dad and come running to me is plenty can I get an amen dads in the house I don't need anything else from them
[00:46:18] you know because it's amazing to know that they feel safe they they know that dad's gonna take care of them that dad's gonna protect them and they they know that they have a place in my heart and they just want to be near me they're just excited i'm home that means the world to me but you know it's not just good for me it's also good for them as kids to know that they have a dad who protects them who would do anything for them who loves them you know
[00:46:46] I want to let you know a study I came across that did you know actually something as simple as pictures of your family around your house have an impact on your kids?
[00:46:58] That when you hang pictures in your house,
[00:47:01] of your family, or put pictures up on display for your kids to see pictures of themselves as part of the family.
[00:47:09] It actually has a tremendous psychological impact on kids.
[00:47:12] It gives them more self-assuredness, more self-confidence, and lets them have a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves.
[00:47:22] There you go, all you photographers out there, I just gave you a sales pitch just now, you know?
[00:47:27] This actually has a psychological impact of self-confidence because you have a deeper sense as a kid, even a little kid, of knowing who you are.
[00:47:39] Now, as much as I love pictures like this, this is actually me as a kid right here.
[00:47:44] I'm this middle guy.
[00:47:46] I'm with my little brother and my dad.
[00:47:48] You know, I also...
[00:47:52] I want us to realize that obviously we don't get any pictures with God, right?
[00:47:57] That would be really cool.
[00:47:58] Hey God, let's get this picture together.
[00:48:00] I'm gonna hang that one for sure.
[00:48:04] But that's all the more reason we need to spend time actually meditating on and thinking on this thought that God is a Father to us.
[00:48:13] A Father who loves us, who protects us, and we have an identity with Him.
[00:48:19] And I know when we talk about this topic of Father, let me just acknowledge this.
[00:48:23] Some maybe are in this room, I know there are some in this room who don't have a great relationship with their dad.
[00:48:29] Who maybe your dad wasn't very present, or maybe your dad was overly harsh, or maybe your dad was altogether absent.
[00:48:37] And so when this idea of God is a father comes up, that doesn't portray warm emotions for you.
[00:48:45] But I just wanna say this plainly.
[00:48:48] It's really clear all throughout Scripture.
[00:48:51] Scripture says God is a father to the fatherless.
[00:48:55] I want you to hear this.
[00:48:56] God is not a reflection of a broken father.
[00:49:00] He's the redemption of it.
[00:49:02] Can I get an amen?
[00:49:04] He is not a reflection of a broken father.
[00:49:06] He's a redemption of it.
[00:49:08] Maybe you're here today and you're saying, I didn't have a good dad.
[00:49:11] Yes, you did.
[00:49:12] You have a good Heavenly Father that has always loved you, protected you, cares for you, and knows you deeply.
[00:49:21] Church, I want you to understand this.
[00:49:23] When we take time to prayer and fast before God, we're not doing it so that God will love us anymore or so that God will notice us or so that we can get God's attention.
[00:49:36] God already loves you whether you pray and fast or not.
[00:49:41] God is already a protector for you.
[00:49:44] He already knows you better than you could even know yourself.
[00:49:48] And I want you to know whether or not you pray and fast, we don't do this to earn God's love, but we do these things because of God's love and because of our desire to grow closer to Him.
[00:49:59] Can I get an amen that we have a good Father, church?
[00:50:03] Oh, come on, church, can I get an amen that we have a good Father?
[00:50:11] It's good news.
[00:50:12] I want us to encourage you to open your prayer life with a focus on God's role as our Father.
[00:50:21] The second thing we see, Jesus says,
[00:50:25] This is alignment in worship, or think of it as simply purpose.
[00:50:29] And this is the truth we see throughout scripture.
[00:50:33] Maybe you struggle with this question of, why did God create me?
[00:50:38] And oftentimes, when we ask that question, we begin to think of purposes that, oh, I must be meant to do this, or I must be meant to do that.
[00:50:48] But when you step back and really look at it, why did God create all of humanity?
[00:50:52] It doesn't make sense that the whole idea,
[00:50:55] Purpose of our life is that we would accomplish something or do something.
[00:51:00] I mean, think about it.
[00:51:02] Why do you have kids?
[00:51:03] Just as earthly parents, you don't have kids because you're looking around going, this house needs to be cleaner.
[00:51:08] If we invest in some kids and can get them a few years old, they'll keep this place clean.
[00:51:14] A, they won't do that.
[00:51:17] And B, it's a ridiculous premise, right?
[00:51:19] You have kids simply out of love.
[00:51:24] And in the same way, God created you not because he needed you to accomplish something that only you could do.
[00:51:30] God's hands were tied until you graced the earth to fix it.
[00:51:36] He created you out of love.
[00:51:39] And where you're gonna feel closest to him is when you are walking with him and worshiping with him.
[00:51:46] You were created, simply put, to worship God, not to accomplish anything.
[00:51:53] Look at this.
[00:51:54] The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed.
[00:52:06] Why?
[00:52:07] I formed them for myself, that they might declare my praise.
[00:52:12] No other reason other than to walk with one another, that they would praise me and know me.
[00:52:20] And church, can I just tell you, our souls hunger for this.
[00:52:24] You know, we're always looking for purpose, but the simplest purpose we have is simply to bring praise to God.
[00:52:33] When this month started with the idea of us doing a once a week fast, we also began a Thursday morning worship.
[00:52:43] Many people are doing their fast Wednesday night at six till
[00:52:47] We're doing a 7 a.m. time of worship where anyone's invited here at the Mooresville campus, and that's meant to get your day going.
[00:52:57] It's 30, 40 minutes, and we didn't really know what that was gonna look like.
[00:53:02] It's gonna look different.
[00:53:03] Many of you guys actually came to it, but Leslie,
[00:53:08] and so on and so forth.
[00:53:37] and I was like, thank you, you know, I was fully intending on coming and maybe giving a thought or praying over our church and when I got there and started engaging in the worship and in the midst of my fast as well, I began to realize like, you know what, God, I could just sense God was like, just shh, shh, you're good, you know?
[00:54:04] And so, you know, I got a little bit into this, you know, a few minutes in and I realized I just am not gonna talk, you know, it's going great and it's fine, you know, I'm just going to enjoy worshiping.
[00:54:17] and the more I really kind of cleared the mind and got silent and got still and just enjoyed worshiping I just could sense God's presence and and it was really like one of the best worship sets I've gotten to be a part of and it was just a simple little thing and by the end of of our time together one of the last things Leslie said was she said now now guys I you know I'm gonna stop singing for a moment I'm just gonna keep playing a little keys and I want you to make up a song yourself and sing it to
[00:54:47] And I thought that's the weirdest thing you could possibly ask a group of people to do, you know?
[00:54:54] She's like, don't sing a song you know, just make up a song.
[00:54:57] I was like, that's not a thing, you know?
[00:54:58] Like, you don't just make up a song, you know?
[00:55:01] I don't know if you caught my musical talents earlier in this service, but they're not great, okay?
[00:55:08] Let me just, I don't have a musical bone in my body.
[00:55:12] and so I was sitting there thinking that's the weirdest thing ever and I just had this sense from the Lord of where's my song bro you know I mean let's go make it and she said you know you don't have to sing really loud you don't have to make this a big show but just just sing it out loud just even in a whisper out loud to God
[00:55:30] And so I came up with a little song and I put some notes together that have never been put together before, nor will they since.
[00:55:40] This song will not get picked up by any record labels.
[00:55:43] I'm not gonna sing it for you.
[00:55:44] I don't even know how to sing that song again, you know, if I'm being honest.
[00:55:48] But I just began to kind of sing of my thankfulness for God and just sing of His goodness and His provision.
[00:55:56] And as I was just began whisper singing this song, you know, it sounded terrible.
[00:56:01] Let me just be honest with you.
[00:56:03] But there was this overwhelming rush of the Holy Spirit.
[00:56:08] Just, I mean, that tingly feeling from my toes to my forehead of just peace.
[00:56:15] And just knowing this, it was like God was just saying to me like, this is all you need to do.
[00:56:22] You are not here to be the greatest teacher or build the best church.
[00:56:26] You are here before anything else to worship me.
[00:56:33] And church, that changes everything.
[00:56:36] I wanna encourage you in your prayer time, when's the last time you just worshiped God?
[00:56:41] I'm not saying turned on music or played something or turned on a playlist.
[00:56:49] I'm just talking just you worshiped God.
[00:56:53] Whether that's in song, I mean, I would encourage you, write your own song.
[00:56:56] Go ahead, do it.
[00:56:56] You can do it in the privacy of your own home.
[00:56:59] Just sing a song to God.
[00:57:02] Just worship God.
[00:57:03] Just acknowledge His provision, His power, how good He is.
[00:57:09] Not just talk about God.
[00:57:12] Worship Him.
[00:57:13] Celebrate Him.
[00:57:16] That's what we're made to do.
[00:57:19] And so Jesus says, first we have to have clarity on our identity and his identity.
[00:57:24] Align our hearts with God's identity.
[00:57:27] Align our hearts with the need to worship.
[00:57:30] And then he says, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:57:36] And this is an alignment of surrender.
[00:57:39] This is the ability to say, you know what, God?
[00:57:41] Before my kingdom, your kingdom.
[00:57:44] You know, the truth is, when we come to God in prayer, for most of us, we come to God and we begin with just asking God to bless our situations.
[00:57:55] We'll say, God, I need you to bless my situation at work.
[00:57:59] It's a mess.
[00:58:01] Now, I already know the answer.
[00:58:02] I just need you to do it.
[00:58:05] You know?
[00:58:05] Or God, I need you to bless my marriage.
[00:58:07] I already know the problem.
[00:58:09] It's her.
[00:58:09] I just need you to fix her.
[00:58:12] You know?
[00:58:12] Or I need you to bless this situation.
[00:58:15] And what we're really saying is, God, I've already got it all figured out.
[00:58:19] I just don't have the power to make it happen.
[00:58:21] So if you could use your God powers to make my plans come true.
[00:58:25] And what the kingdom we're really working for is our own, trying to get God to bless our kingdom.
[00:58:32] And what Jesus says is, and I'm not even saying that you, let me be clear, I'm not even saying you shouldn't pray about those things or ask for those things.
[00:58:40] I think there's power in asking for God to show up in specific ways.
[00:58:45] But before that, we need to take on a heart of surrender.
[00:58:50] We need to take on a heart of acknowledging that, God, your ways are better than my ways.
[00:58:55] Your thoughts are better than my thoughts.
[00:58:58] you know we almost get this sense like if God answers my prayers and and does what I asked then then he must be pleased with me and that must have been a good prayer and if he doesn't he must be upset with me or that must not have been a good prayer but we know that can't be true because Jesus himself asked for things from God that he got a no to did you know that
[00:59:21] Jesus, just before he went to the cross, actually asked the Father if there was any other way he'd like to go a different way than the cross.
[00:59:30] Look at what he said in Luke 22, verse 42, saying, Father, if you're willing, remove this cup from me.
[00:59:37] That's Jesus saying, hey, my plan would be something other than the cross, is what he's asking for.
[00:59:45] Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.
[00:59:50] He practices what he preaches.
[00:59:51] Isn't it good to serve a God who practices what he preaches?
[00:59:54] Jesus said, look, I'd love for this cup to be removed from me, but not my will be done, but yours.
[01:00:01] You know, there's a great quote from
[01:00:03] The House of David, that TV show, Samuel says at one point, who's a prophet, he says, you know, a great war leader comes before the Lord and he asks the Lord, Lord, are you on my side or my enemy's side?
[01:00:19] And you know what the Lord says to him?
[01:00:21] Neither.
[01:00:23] The correct question is, are you on my side?
[01:00:28] And church, this would change our prayer life, not just to ask God to bless what we're trying to do, but to learn to begin to pray, God, open my eyes to what you're doing so I can get on your side.
[01:00:43] Open my eyes to the thing you're doing at my workplace.
[01:00:46] It is a stressful situation right now.
[01:00:48] It is a stressful environment.
[01:00:50] Open my eyes to see the work that you're doing so I can align myself to your will and your plans.
[01:00:57] God, open my eyes.
[01:00:58] God open my eyes to what you're doing in my marriage and how to honor you in my marriage so that I can align myself with your will God open my eyes to what you're doing with my children with the finances in these situations all around me learn to pray God open my eyes to see what you're doing so I can align myself with you rather than simply asking God for the results that we're looking for
[01:01:27] And so you can see before Jesus even gets into any requests from God, he's talked about just facts and meditating on those facts and praying through those facts.
[01:01:40] Why?
[01:01:40] Because it's aligning our heart with God's heart.
[01:01:44] Start with aligning your heart on God's identity and your identity.
[01:01:50] Align your heart with the need for worship and the desire to do so.
[01:01:56] Align your heart with God's will to be done and not your own.
[01:02:01] And so before we even ask for anything, it's all about aligning our hearts and that'll change the way we ask.
[01:02:11] Look what's next.
[01:02:12] Now we begin to get some of these asks.
[01:02:14] Give us this day our daily bread.
[01:02:16] This is an alignment of dependence.
[01:02:19] You know, this is that desire that God would provide.
[01:02:24] This is alignment of dependence.
[01:02:26] And if you're a highlighter, I want to encourage you.
[01:02:29] It says our daily bread.
[01:02:31] This is a daily dependence on God.
[01:02:34] That's actually sometimes hard for us to pull off.
[01:02:37] We don't really have a daily dependence on God.
[01:02:40] It goes back to what was happening in
[01:02:43] In Exodus, when Israel was traveling through the desert to the promised land, God provided for them daily food.
[01:02:50] Look at this.
[01:02:51] Behold, I'm about to rain bread from heaven for you.
[01:02:54] Then the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not.
[01:03:05] So God says, I'm gonna give you daily bread.
[01:03:09] Every day I'll make it rain bread from heaven and you are to collect only what you need for that day and come back and trust me again the next day.
[01:03:18] That would be tempting to store up some bread.
[01:03:20] Can I get an amen?
[01:03:22] They did that.
[01:03:24] You know, it's easy for us to think like, you know, there are some people that literally have to rely on God every single day.
[01:03:32] You know, they wake up and they go, I don't know where my next meal is coming from.
[01:03:37] Lord, I'm asking you to provide, because I don't know where it's going to come from.
[01:03:42] And that's where God, Jesus even said, you're blessed.
[01:03:45] You learn to rely on God daily.
[01:03:48] You know what the opposite of that is?
[01:03:50] You're not as blessed when you don't need to rely on God daily.
[01:03:55] And for many of us, that's a problem.
[01:03:58] We've got, I mean, it would almost seem disingenuous to ask the Lord to provide for our daily food, to say, God, you know, provide for me my daily bread when, you know, I need a meal, when we've got a fridge full of food and a pantry full of food and a $40 gift card to Chick-fil-A, you know?
[01:04:17] I mean, we could, God, provide for me this meal, but in our heart, we know we've already got it.
[01:04:22] We already know where it's coming from.
[01:04:24] The principle is not,
[01:04:26] You know, hey, you shouldn't store up more than one day's groceries.
[01:04:29] We already talked about that with the fast.
[01:04:31] It's not about taking more time for that.
[01:04:33] It's this idea of seeking God's daily provision.
[01:04:36] You know, there are so many things God does for us every day that he provides for us, and we don't even realize it.
[01:04:44] Can I get an amen?
[01:04:45] I mean, I think about as a parent, my kids, they could probably be fooled into thinking, you know, we got a pantry full of food and we don't even really need mom and dad, you know?
[01:04:55] I mean, we'd survive on our own.
[01:04:57] They'd survive like three hours, you know?
[01:04:59] I mean, that's about as far as they'd make it.
[01:05:02] But in their mind, I'm sure they're like, we could figure it out.
[01:05:04] We can make it happen.
[01:05:05] There are so many things they're not even aware are happening for them to be taken care of, right?
[01:05:10] They don't even know to stop and say thank you for them.
[01:05:14] And in the same way, there are so many things every day that God provides for us that we don't even realize.
[01:05:22] Look it, this goes beyond food.
[01:05:24] The principle is a deeper one than just trust him for your food.
[01:05:28] My God will supply every need.
[01:05:30] Come on, let's say that together, church.
[01:05:32] My God will supply every need.
[01:05:35] Do you know what the Greek word for that is?
[01:05:36] Every need.
[01:05:39] Every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
[01:05:44] Need is the word that we see here.
[01:05:46] God provides my every need.
[01:05:50] And we need to learn to trust on him for our every need.
[01:05:56] You know, it's so easy to lose sight of just stopping and asking for God's provision.
[01:06:02] When's the last time you really asked God to provide?
[01:06:05] You know, we can get so self-reliant.
[01:06:08] But even in the little things, you know, maybe you just need a little wisdom for a meeting that's coming up that you know is not gonna go well.
[01:06:16] And you're going, my wisdom's not gonna work.
[01:06:18] God, I need your wisdom.
[01:06:20] Or you're raising kids.
[01:06:22] God, I need your patience.
[01:06:25] I need that.
[01:06:27] Seriously, I need that.
[01:06:28] Or even in little things, I've got three torn ACLs and two knees.
[01:06:32] You can do the math on that, all right?
[01:06:35] I wake up some days and I'm really sore and I have to learn to rely on God every day.
[01:06:40] It's unbelievable.
[01:06:42] I'm so thankful every time I get to be on stage and stand up here and preach because these knees aren't very good.
[01:06:49] God, you provide.
[01:06:51] God, you take care of it.
[01:06:53] Has he taken care of a pain in your life?
[01:06:57] You know, maybe you've got that cough.
[01:06:58] I've got that cough right now.
[01:07:00] Anyone else got that cough?
[01:07:01] Don't raise your hand, because someone next to you is gonna be freaking out.
[01:07:04] Everyone's got that cough.
[01:07:05] You're having a hard time catching your breath.
[01:07:07] My every breath, God, thank you.
[01:07:11] Provide it.
[01:07:13] God, I'm trusting you.
[01:07:14] You know, it's easy for us to trust God with the big things when we have no other answers.
[01:07:19] I wanna give you an update on Jennifer.
[01:07:20] Jennifer's one of our worship leaders here at The Cove, and I've been asking you guys to pray for her because Jennifer had tongue cancer, which already felt spiritual right out of the gates, right?
[01:07:30] Because a worship leader, tongue cancer, had to have a portion of her tongue removed
[01:07:34] and and the surgery actually went quite well but then she ended up with an infection and it was an unexpected infection it got really bad and um she ended up in the hospital she ended up in septic shock and i mean we were praying like crazy asking the lord to show up believing things were going to turn but things just kept getting worse in fact the doctors said to her husband look it's a um
[01:08:02] It's not a 0% chance that she'll live.
[01:08:05] As in, it's whatever's next to that, you know?
[01:08:10] They said, we've done everything we can.
[01:08:12] We don't really have any answers on why her body's not responding the way we think it should.
[01:08:17] But, you know, she's, it's not changing.
[01:08:22] This infection is spreading.
[01:08:25] She's in septic shock.
[01:08:27] And they were basically saying, she's probably not gonna wake up again.
[01:08:33] And man, when you get to that place, it's easy to turn that one to God because no one has any answers, you know?
[01:08:41] All along the way, you're asking for percentages.
[01:08:43] You're asking, you know, how effective do we think this is?
[01:08:45] But when you get to a point where the doctors are like, there are no other, there's no new answers that are gonna suddenly flip this.
[01:08:52] Then it gets easy to go, God, we're gonna need you to show up, you know?
[01:08:56] There's no other answers here.
[01:08:58] There's nowhere else to turn.
[01:08:59] When we were praying just desperately, we had our worship team was out in the parking lot and people were waking up every hour throughout the night to wake up and pray over Jennifer.
[01:09:10] And, you know, we were just, there was nowhere else to turn.
[01:09:14] There was nowhere else to put hope.
[01:09:15] We were just saying, God, we're desperate for you to show up.
[01:09:19] You know, you are the only one that can provide.
[01:09:21] And then suddenly Jennifer started to take a turn.
[01:09:24] and suddenly her body started to fight this infection.
[01:09:27] They were saying, we don't know exactly what triggered it, but she's fighting now.
[01:09:32] And as she slowly started to, her numbers started to get better, her blood pressure started to get better, her body started to fight the infection.
[01:09:40] They kept saying, we're not out of the woods yet, but we're getting closer to a little bit of hope.
[01:09:46] And next thing you know, Jennifer was out of septic shock.
[01:09:49] Jennifer's awake.
[01:09:50] Tomorrow, Jennifer gets to come home.
[01:09:52] Can I say, God?
[01:09:54] God provides miracles still.
[01:09:57] God still answers prayers.
[01:10:02] And I say that saying, A, how good our God is, that He really does provide miracles still.
[01:10:08] You know, we get asked, why doesn't God still do miracles?
[01:10:10] He does still do miracles.
[01:10:13] But also, I mean, I could sense it in my own heart.
[01:10:17] You know, there's a moment where you turn to God and you go, God, we have no other answers.
[01:10:20] We have nothing else we can do.
[01:10:21] We are just trusting in you because that's the only place we can turn.
[01:10:24] And then once everything starts to get better, you start going right back to the same things.
[01:10:29] You know, I found myself saying, what are the numbers now?
[01:10:31] You know, what's it looking like now?
[01:10:33] You know, I mean, don't we do that, right?
[01:10:35] Like, as soon as we can get back control of it, you know, okay, it's back under control under humans' hands.
[01:10:42] That's where we want to get to.
[01:10:44] but learn to trust God daily whether it's a big thing completely out of our control or the little things that we come across every single day.
[01:10:56] Jesus next says, forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
[01:11:05] And this is an alignment in grace.
[01:11:07] This is powerful.
[01:11:09] You know, we,
[01:11:13] I don't think we like to pray like this because what Jesus says is we have to acknowledge our sin.
[01:11:19] and we don't like to do that very much because we serve a God of grace and God's forgiven us of all of our sins and he's made it so that no matter what sins we've committed, when we surrender them to him, that the cross is enough, that Jesus' death and resurrection is enough to cover the weight and the shame of my sin.
[01:11:41] Can I get an amen that that's good news?
[01:11:44] Thank you.
[01:11:46] But, you know, so we don't like to think about our sin, but the problem is that we can just kind of breeze past our sin because of that, you know?
[01:11:54] Grace can be abused, you know that?
[01:11:58] And so we don't like to think too much about our sin, we're like, that's just gonna make me feel bad about myself, and God sent his son Jesus, I'm already forgiven, you know, I don't wanna think too much about it.
[01:12:08] But if we don't ever stop to reflect on our sin, we're never gonna stop long enough to reflect on our need for a savior either.
[01:12:16] If you don't understand your sin, you don't understand your need for a Savior.
[01:12:22] And that's how grace gets abused.
[01:12:25] We get to a point where we don't even really take seriously our sin.
[01:12:28] We start going, well, you know, everyone's got sins.
[01:12:31] These ones are just mine.
[01:12:32] You know, with no effort to actually transform and become more Christ-like.
[01:12:38] We get comfortable in our sin.
[01:12:41] Jesus says part of our prayer life should be to acknowledge our need for a Savior, to acknowledge our sin, forgive us our sins.
[01:12:50] And he says, and here's the ultimate kind of tip off of if you are really receiving this grace or abusing this grace.
[01:12:59] He says, it's based on the way that you treat others when they wrong you.
[01:13:04] Because if what you do is then hold a grudge against somebody else, you don't really understand grace.
[01:13:10] You don't really understand how much you've been forgiven.
[01:13:14] And I know this is where I'm treading on some sensitive topics because you might be sitting here going, Willie, you don't understand.
[01:13:19] That person really wronged me.
[01:13:21] That person really hurt me.
[01:13:22] They did some really real things that messed with my life.
[01:13:26] And that might be totally true.
[01:13:29] But the goal isn't, you know, try harder to forgive them.
[01:13:32] I would say if you're having a hard time with forgiveness, to take more time to reflect on the grace that God has poured out on you.
[01:13:39] Because when you understand, man, I was desperate.
[01:13:43] I could not fix my sin situation, and yet God saw me and sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for me.
[01:13:51] God sent his perfect son Jesus and traded his life for mine.
[01:14:01] Who am I to turn around and hold that against somebody else and say someone else hurt me too much to be forgiven?
[01:14:12] And so I wanna encourage you in our prayer life to really come to a place of acknowledging our need for a savior.
[01:14:20] That'll also drive us to be more forgiving ourselves.
[01:14:25] We're aligning our heart with what really is grace.
[01:14:29] The last thing, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[01:14:34] This is alignment for guidance.
[01:14:37] You know what?
[01:14:39] Jesus is pointing to is that in our everyday lives, there are pitfalls, there are traps, there are side roads that take us away from God.
[01:14:47] And, you know, if we're not careful, I don't say this to strike fear in anyone, but it's just a very real reality.
[01:14:52] The decisions you make, decisions that maybe you don't even think are that big a deal, if we're not wise about them, we don't see the spiritual consequences of them.
[01:15:01] We don't see the deeper thing that's going on.
[01:15:05] And so Jesus is saying this should be at the forefront of our daily prayer, the forefront of our mind.
[01:15:10] Lord, reveal to us the temptations and deliver us from evil.
[01:15:17] Lead us not into temptation.
[01:15:19] Scripture says that God will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear with him and that God will always reveal to us a way out of our temptation.
[01:15:29] And so make part of your prayer life, God, reveal to me the temptation.
[01:15:33] Sometimes we know exactly what the temptations are.
[01:15:36] Ask God to reveal the way out.
[01:15:38] You're looking in your workplace and you're going, I don't see a way where I don't have to make some ethically questionable decisions.
[01:15:46] Ask God, Lord, reveal to me the ways that are honoring to you.
[01:15:52] God, reveal to me in my marriage how to honor you.
[01:15:57] Reveal to me the ways out of the temptations that would damage and destroy my marriage or my family.
[01:16:03] God, reveal to me there's temptations with my finances.
[01:16:07] God, reveal to me the ways out of these temptations, taking seriously that each path we decide on
[01:16:15] either brings us closer to God and allows us to keep walking with God or begins to drift away.
[01:16:21] And so he says, look, take seriously.
[01:16:23] Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[01:16:26] Open our eyes to the spiritual decisions around us that we don't even necessarily think twice about.
[01:16:34] And so this is all about aligning our heart.
[01:16:36] And this is what my hope is for your prayer life.
[01:16:38] We're gonna put up these six things right here.
[01:16:40] If you missed any of them, make sure you can grab one of them right now.
[01:16:45] This is where I want us to get as a church.
[01:16:47] I want us to learn to enjoy growing in our prayer life, to enjoy growing in our time of fasting.
[01:16:55] Why?
[01:16:56] Because it's aligning our heart with God's.
[01:16:59] It's aligning our desires with God.
[01:17:02] It's learning to have a hunger for God.
[01:17:04] I wanna be clear, you're probably not just gonna pray through this once and instantly have this feeling that rushes upon, like, now I'm getting it, you know?
[01:17:12] It's a learned practice.
[01:17:14] So I wanna encourage you.
[01:17:15] I've been enjoying this just during the fast, praying through the Lord's Prayer, slowing down and really thinking about each element of what we're praying through here, not just rushing through the Lord's Prayer.
[01:17:29] And in fact, I wanna give us a chance to stop now and pray through the Lord's Prayer.
[01:17:34] We'll take a moment, and if you missed it, you can grab it at the Next Steps area.
[01:17:40] But let's stop now and just pray through the Lord's Prayer.
[01:17:43] And I'm gonna leave some space
[01:17:45] For you to get real with God around some of these things as well.
[01:17:51] So you'll notice we're not putting the music up, nothing like that.
[01:17:53] We're just going to be simple and be still.
[01:17:57] Let's pray through the Lord's Prayer.
[01:17:58] Would you pray with me, church?

[01:18:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Our Father, our Father, thank you, God, that you are our Father.
[01:18:08] Thank you, God, that you love me, that you protect me,
[01:18:15] that you care for me.
[01:18:16] Thank you, God, that there is nothing I could do to earn your love.
[01:18:25] Thank you that you, powerful creator, creator of the universe, still call me your child.
[01:18:36] You're a good father.
[01:18:43] Thank you that you know me.

[01:18:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Even better than I know myself, thank you that you call me child.
[01:18:50] Thank you that I have a Father, that I can turn to you in any situation.

[01:18:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
You're wise beyond me.
[01:19:02] You love me and want good things for me.
[01:19:05] God, I didn't earn that, thank you.
[01:19:09] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

[01:19:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Holy, God, you are holy.
[01:19:18] God, you are holy.
[01:19:19] You are completely set apart.
[01:19:21] There is no one like you.
[01:19:26] We praise you for it.
[01:19:29] We thank you that you've created.
[01:19:33] We thank you that you've extended grace.
[01:19:35] We thank you that you've sent Jesus.
[01:19:37] We thank you for your many blessings.
[01:19:39] But before any of those things, we're just in awe of you, God.
[01:19:45] You are holy.
[01:19:48] You are worthy.
[01:19:51] God, we sing to you.
[01:19:53] We praise you.
[01:19:56] We worship you.
[01:19:57] I pray that we go through our day and just be able to live out this thing.
[01:20:02] We're called to worship you before anything else.
[01:20:04] We make it about all of our accomplishments and what we want to get done.
[01:20:07] God, we worship you.
[01:20:09] Thank you, God, for your holiness, your glory.
[01:20:14] You are above all else.
[01:20:17] Thy kingdom come.
[01:20:19] I will be done.
[01:20:21] Lord, we surrender to your will.
[01:20:24] Open my spiritual eyes to see what you're doing, what you're doing in my workplace, what you're doing in my neighborhood, what you're doing in my school.
[01:20:35] God, instead of constantly trying to pull you to my side of what I wanna see, God, reveal to me what you're doing so I can align myself with your plans.
[01:20:46] I'm willing to go.
[01:20:47] Go, Lord, send me.
[01:20:50] Open my eyes, open my heart to see the things that you're doing around me.
[01:20:55] Help me to slow down throughout my day and see the ways that you're moving and be willing to move with you rather than get so focused on what I've got going on.
[01:21:06] Surrender your will.
[01:21:07] Your ways are higher than my ways.
[01:21:09] Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts.

[01:21:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Give us this day our daily bread.
[01:21:18] God, teach us to rely on you every day.

[01:21:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Thank you, God, for the ways that you provide.
[01:21:25] Thank you for the food we had for breakfast already, the lunch we're gonna have.
[01:21:31] Thank you, God, for health.
[01:21:34] I pray that you'd provide health.
[01:21:35] Maybe you're here today and need him to provide health.
[01:21:40] God, help me with these pains in my body, this cough I'm trying to clear up.
[01:21:47] God, thank you for the ways that you've provided.
[01:21:50] I pray that you give me patience where I need patience, wisdom.
[01:21:54] Fill me with the fruit of the Spirit for every season, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, gentleness.
[01:22:09] I need these things.
[01:22:10] They only come from you, really.
[01:22:12] The lasting only comes from you.
[01:22:17] And so God, we trust you as our provider.

[01:22:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Thank you for providing for me.
[01:22:23] Sorry for the times I've taken that for granted.

[01:22:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
[01:22:32] God, I'm sorry for the times that I've gotten comfortable in sin.
[01:22:37] Haven't even really taken seriously the weight of the cross.
[01:22:42] God, my sin's a big deal.
[01:22:45] You sent your son Jesus to die for it.
[01:22:47] That's how big a deal it is.
[01:22:49] So thank you.
[01:22:50] Thank you for saving me.
[01:22:52] I'm sorry for the times I've been arrogant, prideful, lazy.
[01:22:58] I've thought of myself above others.
[01:23:02] I've been set on doing things my own way.
[01:23:05] I've been dishonest.

[01:23:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
I've been unfaithful.
[01:23:17] Father, forgive me my sins.

[01:23:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Thank you so much for the grace that you've poured out for me.
[01:23:25] I pray that as I deeper understand that grace, that that would be translated to others, that I wouldn't hold grudges, wouldn't get so caught up on the ways I've been wronged.
[01:23:37] I've been forgiven so much.
[01:23:40] I'm thankful.
[01:23:42] I'm not owed another thing.
[01:23:44] You've been so good.
[01:23:45] You've been so faithful.
[01:23:46] You've offered so much grace.
[01:23:48] And I just pray that I can follow Jesus' example.
[01:23:52] The grace that you've poured out on me, I pray that I'd be someone who pours out grace on others, even when then it's really hard.
[01:24:03] Lead us not into temptation.
[01:24:06] Father, reveal to us the paths that are honoring to you and the things that are not.
[01:24:12] I pray that it would be so clear when there are decisions that maybe we don't even think too much about that just don't honor you that you'd convict me that you'd speak you'd be clear that that's not of you there'd be a red flag that pops up God because at the end of the day it's not about me being perfect I just want to walk with you and so lead us not into temptation deliver us from

[01:24:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Yours is the kingdom forever, Lord.
[01:24:48] Your kingdom first.
[01:24:50] We love you.

[01:24:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Maybe you're here today, and as we've talked about grace, you haven't received that grace.
[01:24:58] You can receive that grace right now.
[01:25:00] It starts with just, God, thank you for sending your son Jesus to die on the cross for me.
[01:25:05] Thank you for saving me.

[01:25:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
I wanna walk with you.
[01:25:08] I wanna know you.
[01:25:11] I believe Jesus is my Lord and my Savior.
[01:25:14] God, I give you my life.
[01:25:15] I wanna know you.
[01:25:15] I wanna walk with you.

[01:25:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
God, we love you.
[01:25:21] We thank you for Jesus.
[01:25:22] We thank you, Jesus, that you've taught us these things.
[01:25:25] We come to you in the name of Jesus.
[01:25:29] Amen.
[01:25:31] Amen.
[01:25:31] Hey, if you pray to receive Jesus, thanks.
[01:25:35] I'm so excited for you.
[01:25:36] Let somebody know about that.
[01:25:37] You can let us know at the Next Steps area.
[01:25:39] I love you guys.
[01:25:40] Reminder, we've got our time of worship Thursday morning, 7 a.m. You are welcome to come, drop in.
[01:25:48] We'll do it for about 40 minutes.
[01:25:50] You can leave early if you gotta leave early, and you can come late if you gotta come late.
[01:25:54] I love you guys.
[01:25:55] I'll see you around this week, and let's continue to have that hunger for the Lord.
[01:25:59] Love you guys.

[01:27:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Our God is...