Marks of a Healthy Church 10: Prayer 03/20/22

Well good morning everyone good morning church it's good to see y'all here at first baptist church my name is cody I'm the pastor here it is so good to see each and every single one of you we are all about loving God loving each other and loving our community and our world amen all right hold on all right I know that's a big change for us being in like different times and everything we're gonna do that again we're all about our vision at first baptist church is to love God love each other and love our community and world amen and that's what we want to do and we've got a lot of different things that are happening next week we're going to be talking about missions as we are going through a series marks of a healthy church we believe in mission work we believe that's vital not just abroad okay we're gonna have Christian and betsy schmonga they're gonna be here gonna be sharing about what the Lord's calling them into and we're excited about that we're gonna pray over them we're gonna ask that the Lord does a tremendous work through them as they go and they serve the Lord but also we're gonna be talking about missions locally and we will be next week taking an offering for some of our missionaries that are serving in the ivory coast and as you guys know if you haven't been here this might be news to you but our missionaries josh and christie they are in desperate need of financial assistance to help get that hospital where it needs to be we can only make a small dent in their tremendous needs it was to the point where they couldn't even give people tylenol okay

And so as we as we give all right as a church you know we give generously we give prayerfully we give specifically we give hilariously we give joyfully that's how we are commanded to give as the Lord has instructed for us to and so next week that's gonna be a part of our service and so I invite you to be praying about that what is the Lord calling you to give and so who knows you know I expect for God to do a wonderful work we got a lot of things that are happening this upcoming friday night if you've got teens or you got grandchildren that are teens you need to get them up here to the church on friday night because we've got glow night the gym's going to be having black lights and string lights and they're going to be playing games and there's going to be a great music toilet paper dodge ball it's going to be awesome stupid fun and so and they're gonna share the Gospel it's gonna be a great thing for students in introducing them to Jesus and also to our ministry and so if you wanna help make that reality you can talk to austin he would be happy to get you plugged in I think that pretty much everything is all squared away so pretty much be in prayer for that also next sunday we're having a youth camp meeting the students are going down to sherman texas which is actually where two of my kids were born and they're gonna be doing a mission summer camp this summer and so the cost for that is 200 and so if you want some other information other than that and you want to sign your kids up or your grandchildren up you need to come to that meeting it's going to be take place right after service next week now sunday night service starts tonight at 6 pm hope that you can be there for that vacation Bible school is

July 11th through the 15th so you can sign up for that right out here at a table to get that all squared away also we got potluck on april 3rd we're really excited about that also last but not least if you've got children or grandchildren I got about 50 of these for free this is a easter story book that kevin deyoung put out and so they said hey you want 50 of them I said yes and so if you've got children or grandchildren and you want to walk them through this these are available to you at each one of the exits so as you are leaving either at the main exit sanctuary exit or the north exit grab one of these because we would love to equip your family with that if you read one every sunday you'll finish up with the resurrection on easter sunday so church I love you so much I'm excited that we're all here today in one service it was just I don't know sunday just felt different this morning so but before we move into our time of worship as has been our tradition over the past several months I want to encourage you to close your eyes bow your heads and just prepare your heart for worship this morning perhaps you're you're here and you just got the weight of the world on your shoulders and quite frankly you didn't want to be here this morning but you're here maybe ask the Lord to give you a renewed love in an anticipation of having an encounter with him this morning perhaps you're here and things did not go well this

Week and you just feel empty won't you just whisper a prayer to the Lord and ask him to rejuvenate your soul today perhaps there's a lingering sin that you just have been clinging to and the Lord's been calling you to deal with it but you've just shrugged it off a bit but you know that you need to ask the Lord for strength that you might have victory today Lord we come before you now together with our hearts and our minds set on you and Lord we ask that you would you would help us to keep our hearts and minds set on you not just for today but every day that we would we would wake up in the morning completely overwhelmed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Lord help us even now to die to self that we might live for you God let our testimonies ring out through the songs that we sing let us be enamored by your love and your grace God help us to worship you because it's only by the cross and the power of Jesus death and resurrection that we are even able to come before your throne and to worship you and it's in Jesus name that we pray today amen please stand and join me as we worship as we start here we're gonna read out of the book of Matthew chapter six you all know it starting in verse nine it says pray then like this our father in heaven hallowed be your name holy be your name let your name be holy and that's what we're going to sing holy is the Lord this morning [Music] we stand and lift up our hands

For the joy of the Lord is our strength we bow down and worship him now how great how awesome is he and together we see everyone see holy is the Lord God Almighty the earth is filled with his glory holy is the Lord God Almighty the earth is filled with his glory we stand and lift up our hands for the joy of the Lord is our strength we bow down and worship him now how great how awesome is he together we sing everyone see Almighty the earth is filled with his glory holy Lord God Almighty the earth is filled with his glory [Music] holy is the Lord God Almighty the earth is filled with his glory holy Lord God Almighty the earth is filled with his glory [Music] the Lord is holy amen how good is it to be in the house of the Lord singing his praises with his people today you can be seated so that verse we just read hallowed be your name make your name holy is another way we could kind of translate that make your name holy here on earth and is it that his name isn't holy in and of itself no of course it is it by his very nature he is holy what we're asking is that his holiness would be known that it would be known among us and that we would make it known among the nations as we continue to sing we're kind of working through the Lord's prayer this morning if you didn't get that from the first part so I'm going to read you now out of Matthew chapter 6 again verses 10 and 11. It says your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in

Heaven give us this day our daily bread this next one we'll sing it's a Christian's daily prayer and really I mean this can serve as our daily prayer and I would I would challenge you to make that the case for you even just for this week that you would wake up and think of this song think of what we sing here today and even now I'd ask that you make this not just the song that we all are singing together but your personal prayer to our Lord and Savior [Music] as morning dawns and day awakes to you I bring my need o gracious God my source of strength in you I live and breathe each hour is yours by wisdom planned each deed empowered by sovereign hands renew my spirit help me stand be glorified today [Music] as day unfolds I seek your will in all of life's demonstrations [Music] of Christ make me a living sacrifice be glorified today [Music] as sun gives way to darkest night your spirit still is here and all my strength fades like the light new mercies will appear I rest in you abide with me until our trials and suffering give way to final victory be glorified today I rest in you abide with me until our trials and suffering give way victory be glorified

Today [Music] forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors now I assume I hope that we pray for forgiveness often because we need it daily hourly minutely sometimes but that verse comes with a kind of a dangerous caveat as we also have forgiven our debtors is your life marked by the grace of Christ and if not how can it not be you know that's what the life of the Christian we show grace because we have been shown grace greater than we could even hope to imagine amen our lives should reflect the grace of Christ and so even now we're going to sing Lord I need you and we do need him every hour we need him I want this to be our song of repentance this morning as we continue to worship the Lord through through song and also through the hearing of the preaching of his word let this be your song of repentance and also let it be your song of repentance for not showing the grace of Christ because we can't do it perfectly but we're called to anyway and it's only through his grace that we can show his grace please stand with me as we sing [Music] Lord I come I confess bowing here I find my rest and without you I fall apart [Music] you're the one that guides my heart sing that again Lord I come

[Music] Lord [Music] you're the one that guides my heart Lord I need oh [Music] oh God [Music] sin runs deep your grace [Applause] is found [Music] [Applause] is and where you are Lord I am free holiness is Christ in me Lord I need you [Music] every hour [Music] oh God how I need [Music] so teach my song to rise to you when temptation comes my way [Music] and I cannot [Music] Jesus you're my hope and stay [Music] Lord I need you [Music] every hour I need you my one defense my rise justness oh God how I feel Lord I need [Music] my one defense you're my one defense my righteousness oh God how I

Need you [Music] lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil [Music] [Applause] [Music] deliver us from evil Lord we sojourn [Music] remind us this is we look to you sovereign king of all the earth we look to [Music] in your strength we will [Music] deliver us from evil Lord our hearts so quickly run astray temptation crouching at the door to turn us we look to you Christ the conquering son of [Applause] look God you Lord complete what you've begun [Music] deliver us from evil Lord the devil seeking to devour [Music] we look to you come and end his earthly race [Music] you will come again look to you we look to you all the earth will bow in place [Music] deliver us from the evil Lord we sojourn in a broken world though evil hands give rise to war remind us this is not our home we look to you sovereign king of all the earth we look to you in your strength we will endure

[Music] I'd like to close out this portion of our service by reading together out of Matthew chapter 6. So read with me pray then like this our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven 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 amen well church I hope that your hearts are engaged and ready for the preaching of God's word if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12 we're going to be in verses 1 through 1-17 we're going to be learning about strategies for prayer and we've talked a lot about prayer and our church has reached history everything from a full-on series on the Lord's prayer like what we just recited to habitually talking about it because prayer it needs it must be a central focus in the local church I once heard I think it was maybe leonard ravenhill I don't know if you've never read leonard ravenhill I would highly highly recommend that you pick up his book why revival terry's anybody ever read that book before okay there's like three of us okay awesome it's a fantastic book in there he said if you want to know how popular the church is go there on sunday mornings yeah if you want to find out how popular the preacher is go on sunday nights

If you want to find out how popular God is go to their prayer service and if you can't say amen you better say ouch we're going to be talking today about about prayer it's our seventh guiding principle for our church and we're going to look at some of the ways that Christians can pray and sometimes even with it so if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read acts chapter 12 verses 1 through 17. God's word says this about that time herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church he killed James the brother of John with the sword when he saw that it pleased the jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also this was during the days of unleavened bread when he and when he had seized him he put him in prison delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him intending after the passover to bring him out to the people so Peter was kept in prison but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church now when herod was about to bring him out on that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with chains and centuries before the ju before the door were guarding the prison and behold an angel of the Lord stood next to him and a light shone in the cell he struck Peter on the side and woke him up saying get up quickly and the chains fell off of his hands an angel said to him dress yourself and put on your sandals and he did so and he said to him wrap your cloak around you and follow me and he went out and followed him he did not know that this was being done by the but that what was being done by the

Angel was real but thought he was seeing a vision when he had passed the first and the second guard they came to the iron gate leading into the city it opened for them of its own accord and they went out and went along one street and immediately the angel left him when Peter came to himself he said now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of herod and from all that the jewish people were expecting when he realized this he went to the house of Mary the mother of John whose other name was Mark where many were gathered together and were praying and when he knocked on at the door of the gateway a servant girl named rhoda came to answer recognizing Peter's voice and her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate they said to her you are out of your mind but she kept insisting that was so and they kept saying it is his angel but Peter continued knocking and when they opened they saw him and were amazed but motioning to them with his hand to be silent he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and he said to and he said tell these things to James and to the brothers then he departed and went to another place and so God as we discover a little bit more about your word we pray that above everything else that you would be glorified and that we would rightly understand your word God help this not to just be a nice sermon

But Lord move us to move us to prayer God you have called us you have equipped us with your very Holy Spirit to make intercession for those who are in need God help us to treat prayer with the as the tremendous resource amazing privilege that it truly is God we love you and we thank you for what you're doing in Jesus name amen well our text begins with herod beheading James the apostle this is a different James than James the brother of the Lord this is one of the sons of thunder when the first disciples that Jesus called but come and follow me these guys they're James the son of zebedee and he is beheaded by this guy named herod this is herod agrippa the first and he beheads him and he goes hey these these jewish people they really like that I wonder what would happen if I did that to all the churches leaders maybe maybe I can get Peter this guy Peter and maybe that will make them happy now remember that Peter he was always out and about in the city of jerusalem and you know what he was doing is he was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ he would do it every day he gathered together with Christians every day at this point in time in the city of jerusalem we're talking about 14 years maybe after the time when Christ was crucified so a long time at this point he's been preaching day in and day out ministering to the people of God now Peter he was always very easy to find and so he is surrounded by guards 16 guards to be

Exact just to make sure that Peter does not escape and I want you to notice this as we as we start to understand a little bit about prayer if you're taking notes write this down note the shared abuse that Christians were going through we saw Paul he stated last week that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God Paul he wrote to Timothy in second Timothy chapter 3 verse 12 that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted Jesus himself said if the world hates you know that has hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love you at it as its own but because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you so Christian take heart take heart when you experience things like persecution if you're taking notes write that down I want you to notice the persecution you know that in our world today there are 245 million Christians that live under severe persecution I mean like I'm talking about destitution I'm not talking about you know different world views because that exists everywhere but I'm talking about Christians that are imprisoned Christians that are set on fire Christians that are disemboweled Christians that are beheaded Christians that are in internment camps there's over a million in north korea alone that are you know literally hunched over doubled over by working so hard 245 million that are severely persecuted and herod he was beginning to persecute Christians persecution is not new to Christianity we should not be surprised

When we are hated for the sake of Jesus Christ so people just hate you because you're a jerk you need to pray about that right but if you're hated for the sake of Christ like you say true and godly things with a spirit of love and grace when you minister in that way and people despise you count that all joy in acts chapter 4 the high council they were they were threatening Peter and John saying don't preach Christ anymore shall we obey God or shall we obey man in acts chapter 5 the apostles they were arrested and they were beaten in acts chapter 6 Stephen he is preaching and he is arrested and he's dragged out and he is stoned and he dies in chapter seven in acts chapter eight Saul is ravaging the church capturing men and women and dragging them in to be tried with all these false accusations in acts chapter nine there's a plot to kill Saul because he had converted to Christianity in acts chapter 12 we see here that James one of the apostles is killed and millions of Christians have died for their faith throughout history in modern times we look at afghanistan and india and malaysia and cuba and southern mexico we think well those are places that are hostile to the Gospel but we must remember that the Gospel it is not a message of defeat it is a message of victory through the cross of Jesus Christ amen the promise of the Gospel it's not rapture it's redemption it's Christians like until Jesus returns we've got a job to do and it's not just to look forward to the rapture

It's not looking it's not just looking forward to Christ bringing his kingdom to earth God did not save you to just simply escape the world but that we might be ministers and ambassadors of Jesus Christ to a world that desperately needs him as Christians as we look forward to the return of Christ we must not look at that as a means of escape but as the purpose of fulfilling what God has promised and if we if we start to view all these things that are happening in our world through the lens of the Gospel our churches every local church will be empowered for victory and not defeat because remember that we are not to be given to despair and to fear we are to be given over to Jesus Christ and we talked about persecution here but also think about the punishment I mean James is beheaded Peter he is put into prison and these punishments they're they are not uncommon to Christianity you look at Hebrews chapter 11 at the very end of the chapter they call that the hall of faith chapter in Hebrews chapter 11 verses 35 through 40 it says this that some were tortured refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment they were stoned they were sawn in two they were killed with a sword they went about in skins and sheep skins of sheep and goats destitute afflicted mistreated of whom the world was not worthy wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth and all these

Though commended through their faith did not receive what was promised since God has provided something better for us that apart from us they should not be made perfect we should never be surprised when we suffer persecution for the sake of Jesus Christ in fact we should expect it if you follow Jesus to gain more of this world then you're out of luck okay I don't know who shared the Gospel with you but in order to obtain Christ we must die to ourselves we must die to the world Jesus said that whosoever gains his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it Jesus he never taught that we can have it both ways secondly I want you to notice the strategy of prayer in this passage in verse five it says that Peter's fate is pretty well sealed the day before his he's gonna bring the bring Peter out to the jews what should I do with this guy herod he had already publicly killed James and his popularity was at an all-time high I wonder what would happen if he publicly killed Peter I bet you that you know he'd be irreplaceable he'd be a legend people would be like celebrating him man I mean his popularity would be sealed forever Peter he is in prison he is surrounded by guards but look at the last part in verse 5 it says but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church earnest prayer was made to him to God for him by the church

The earnest that word earnest it means without ceasing this is exactly what Peter tells us how we ought to pray when he writes it in first Thessalonians he says pray without ceasing don't stop praying unceasing prayer is a strategy that he gives to you and I and this is how we are to pray to remain in an attitude of prayer which we will never get perfect when we say amen it's kind of like the end of our book right when we say amen put that away and now I'm going to go live my life but what if we started treating amen not as like the end of a book but maybe like the period to a sentence where it's still going and we remain in an attitude of prayer where we're still just having conversations with the Lord throughout the day what would that look like for you to remain in a constant unceasing state of prayer there's also here we understand that it's unfainting prayer unfainting prayer that means that we don't lose heart there's a cardiac term it's called cardiac syncope it's where your heart flutters and it can actually cause you to faint suddenly and no one really knows quite what causes it can happen to almost any time and anyone at any time without any kind of preconditions it just causes people to faint and Luke when he when he summarizes Jesus's teaching on prayer in Luke chapter 18 verse 1 this is how he summarizes it he says and he told them to he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always pray and not lose heart unfainting prayer with all of your heart

Never stop never give up never throw in the towel for that person that you're praying for my daughter lily every time that she prays she will pray for my family my sister right she prays for joe biden to get saved she prays for you know one of my best friends to know Jesus it's something that she is always doing always remembering these people in prayer never stop never give up even when you don't see any hope to that answer of prayer keep praying keep praying with a faith-filled heart and third notice this that there's also unlimited power when we approach the throne of grace I mean God is the sovereign king of the universe he can take chains and make them just fall off he can take an iron gate that is locked and shut and he can make it open of its own accord because he's God and so when you have these situations that seem to be insurmountable you can always come to God because God he can change situations he can change people when you pray it changes your attitude one of my habits when I come in here on sunday mornings is aside from turning on all the lights is I pray over each entrance in each community group I stopped by and I pray for those people I pray for the leaders one of the things I pray is that when people come into our church they would sense the Holy Spirit that's huge to just sense the Holy Spirit

To send him in worship to send some through the preaching of his word to sense him just in the ambience I don't know I don't know how to describe it other than that I mean I get it God is omnipresent but there's something to be said about inviting God into the situation it's why we prepare our hearts for worship it's why we calm our minds it's why we take time and say God I want you to speak to me today yet we also can't do it apart from God's grace it's not like just because I pray that's the source of it because God we God's not a person that we can manipulate God is God and so there's kind of this dependence upon his power in his grace alongside of our prayers and so we pray we plead we petition for God to move mightily among us but I want to point out Peter's faith here what is Peter doing the night before he's going to go and probably be killed he's asleep he's sleep you know he's learned something from Jesus about sleeping in the midst of storms and there he is that word sleep it's actually can be also translated as dead so I mean he's in a deep sleep I mean he is dead to the world at this point he's having the best sleep that he's ever had in the middle of this jail cell in jerusalem sandwiched between two guards and what does this has this teaches us something here about safety in trouble safety and trouble if you're taking notes write that down safety in trouble here's Peter he's chained between two guards he's asleep God sends this angel to deliver him light fills the cell and the angel strikes him now that word strike

It doesn't just mean like to gently like hey it's time to get up sweetheart it can actually be translated as to like punch or even to strike down to death so you get the idea that this that this angel is literally smacking him and in order to awake him that's how asleep Peter is at this point of course Peter doesn't die but God he provides in this situation notice the provision of the Lord through the prayers of the saints and he provides how he sends this angel the chains are loose and he's free you know what the number one thing is when Christian missionaries or Christian pastors in these heavily persecuted countries you know what the number one thing they ask for is it's not our money it's for our prayers and yet I'm convinced that the american church as a whole is far more comfortable given a dollar than they are in spending 10 minutes in prayer God he provides in this situation I mean from between the two guards he was sleeping between he went past two other sets of guards all the way through the jail no one sees him out into the streets of jerusalem and he's completely delivered he thinks that he is so fantastic that he just thinks that's a dream sometimes when God works we feel like it's a dream when God delivers us from sickness when God delivers us from the hands of enemies when God when God saves souls and we get to see God's hand at work it's an amazing thing to behold we're like is this real pinch me this is awesome and Peter he's delivered while the church was praying was it the church's

Prayers that saved him was it God's sovereign power the answer is it was both we pray because God is sovereign and he can change situations and since he is sovereign we know that we can come to him with any of our needs and we can say God can you please help me out in this situation and he listens to us but it may not be to take us out of the hopeless situation although it might be a part of his will oftentimes what God does is he changes our hearts and he shows us that the situation isn't hopeless because Jesus Christ is the hope that we have what does the baptist catechism say what is our only hope in life and death that we are not our own but we belong to God the this deliverance is so surreal and so we notice God's provision but also notice his power in delivering him from death look at this we ought to be in awe of God's power and yet we must also realize that God's power abides within us by the Holy Spirit of God not that we're powerful by any means or anything like that I'm not talking about intellectual or metaphorical power I'm talking about Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1 verses 18 through 21 here's what it says it says know what is the hope to which he has called you what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come that is the power that saves that's the

Power that delivers that's the power that is available to you in Jesus Christ and it's accessible to us through prayer so pray and we believe that this power comes from the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit because prayer it changes things if we look at Daniel chapter 10 you guys know that we're going to be going into Daniel right after easter I'm really excited about that you know so obviously I'm reading a lot of Daniel but in Daniel chapter 10 we read about how Daniel he has received a word from God which is true and it's accurate and yet it also drives Daniel to a place where he needs to pray and he's asking the Lord God help me I just need some comfort in this situation I need you to work I need you to deliver and he's in despair and he's mourning and so for three weeks he prays and so for those three weeks an angel and a demon they fight this demon is referred to as the prince of persia but the archangel michael he comes and he assists this angel so that Daniel could receive a message in Daniel chapter 10 verse 19 here's what it says and he said to Daniel o man greatly loved fear not peace be with you be strong and of good courage and as he spoke to me I was strengthened and that was it that was the answer to prayer and right where you're at maybe you need safety maybe you're not in immediate danger and maybe with you know we thank the Lord for that we're not in immediate danger but maybe the Lord he's allowed some type of spiritual battle in your life there there's something going on spiritually where you're just in despair maybe you've got some sort of physical

Issue my prayer is that you will be able to say with Peter in verse 11 here now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me the last point here is strength in prayer strength and prayer while Peter is being delivered guess what the church is doing the church is praying Peter he is he is free and he goes over to John Mark's house John Mark's mom's house and there there were many people that were gathered together they were praying it's it's past time for everyone to go to bed and they're up late and they're praying they were praying that he would be saved from herod or maybe they were praying for strength for him to endure maybe they were praying for God's will to be done but notice this that there wasn't a whole a whole lot of faith in their prayers a servant girl wrote us she hears this knock at the gate she hears Peter's voice she realizes that's Peter because she recognizes his voice this probably means that Peter was her pastor and she un like she heard her pastor preach he could identify his voice she runs in tells Peter tells everyone hey guys Peter's outside and they got their responses and wow God thank you so much for answering our prayers are like you're crazy there's no way that Peter's outside you're out of your mind I'll be honest okay this is me just being totally honest I probably relate a little too well with that's why I pray so often I believe Lord help my unbelief maybe you're like me and you know someone tells you about how God answered their prayers or something you just kind of try to twist it well maybe it's not what you really think if we're all honest we probably all have

Been there before and these believers they thought well maybe it's Peter's angel which is kind of confusing what does that even mean like you know it there's nowhere in Scripture that teaches that you have a personal guardian angel it's just not there the Bible does say that angels do protect God's people but not that you're assigned one who has each their own if that were the case then many of our guardian angels should be fired I'm joking but they are called to protect God's people the point is this is that the people that were at this prayer meeting they were wrong God he had answered their prayers in a wonderfully marvelous fashion and Peter he was delivered he was right outside he's knocking at the gate they're at this prayer meeting God please be with Peter hey let me in guys it's like I can hear him if you could just please deliver him save him God would someone would someone go see what's knocking at the gate send that person away we're trying to pray God he chose to save Peter by miraculous means but listen that was not God's plan for everyone wasn't God's plan for James here it wasn't God's plan for John the baptist and after Peter was delivered he goes into hiding so guys sometimes we may not realize it but God he is calling us to pray with great faith and to look for answers and even to look for ways that God might be calling us to be an answer to those prayer requests I was at mcdonald's earlier this week I admit it I went there

And I was on the phone with amber and they were repeating their the order back to me I mean they were like lightning fast and get up there and they're like you know don't you ever fired him in my mind I'm like okay and then I'll get up there and pay my money and thank you bye you know and it's done and I often times wonder if that's more or less our prayer life where we just want to get through it to get on to the next thing like do we hurry that time of prayer or are we more like these saints right here where you know they make prayer a priority what would happen if our church actually like took prayer seriously I mean one of these days people are going to start believing this book and put us all to shame and let it be so of us you ever do that in your prayer life where you don't spend time with the Lord move on to that's not the way that's supposed to be so what does all this means it means that we should pray it's what it means not these half-hearted emotionless unengaged prayers but where we actually just take our time with hope-filled desperate hearts just asking the Lord God please move please we need to see your hand we are desperate for you God we want to see your hand to do a mighty work not just in our church but in church is around our community you ever pray for revival in the church and God does it at another church glory to God amen like I want that too no lie

But when God's hand is at work it makes me excited to see his hand at work and I hope that makes you excited as well I mean if we had more prayer I guarantee that we would shake the very gates of hell we would see God do amazing things and but how on earth are we going to tear down strongholds when many of us don't even have the strength to put down our phones one day God is going to do a wonderful work in this church and I believe that's going to start with prayer and so in your seats you see that there's a 28-day prayer guide for our church it just follows our vision loving God loving each other loving our community in our world grant's been 28 days praying through it starts tomorrow okay there's a little question thing at the very beginning tonight today take it use it find some other people to go through it with you that way you guys are praying praying together through it and we'll finish up on easter sunday and we're gonna see what God does and we're going to pray for God to show up and say God we believe your word we believe that you are calling us to this we believe that you're calling us to prayer so we're going to take it seriously and I can't wait to see how God works head hand heart head write this down I want you to know that prayer changes things we don't just pray just to pray we pray with faith because God tells us to God tells us that he can handle it we can take everything to him he might not change a situation but he might change your heart towards the circumstances that he has

You in God he's our hope and he doesn't promise he's he doesn't promise us ease in this life and I want you to commit to doing the 28 day prayer guide so it begins tomorrow we'll finish up resurrection sunday and I'm excited to see what God does and heart I want you to believe that God he desires to hear your prayers you think that God didn't enjoy seeing like this is going to make a good chapter in the Bible one day I think that thrilled his heart that the church took him seriously even with their little bit of faith look at what God did and I believe with all my heart that God he can do amazingly more than that when we take him seriously and invite him into the situation and so God we do thank you for this day we thank you for your word we thank you that we can apply it to our lives and as we talked about prayer Lord let that begin with me [Music] let that begin in our brothers and our sisters God how quick we are to condemn the world when in fact we've got so many planks in our own eyes God we pray that you would lovingly remove those things conform us into the image of Jesus Christ that we might be able to see your hand at work in this church and around the world we love you and we're so thankful for what you are doing and what you will do in Jesus name amen let's stand and let's worship together [Music] as morning dawns and day awakes

To you I bring my need o gracious God my source of strength in you I live and breathe each hour is yours my wisdom plant each deed empowered by sovereign hands renew my spirits help me stand be glorified today as day unfolds I seek your will in all of life's demonstrations [Music] Christ make me a living sacrifice be glorified today [Music] as sun gives way to the darkest night your spirit still is here and though my strength fades like the light new mercies will appear I rest in you abide with me until our trials and suffering give way to final victory be glorified today I rest in you abide with me until I try and suffering give way to final victory be glorified today [Music] and so God we do thank you for what you are doing and what you have done and Lord I pray that today as we leave from here don't let us go that was that was nice music that was a nice song that was a nice sermon or a nice facility

God those all those things are worthless unless we go with your spirit so we pray that you would help us God empower us to go out and make disciples God we leave as the church equipped equipped knowing that we need to go before you in prayer pleading the blood of Jesus Christ over everyone that we will come in contact with God help us father we love you and we thank you for what you are doing and what you have done and we just ask that you would work in us in Jesus name amen