A Simple Way to Pray

Welcome to the Dividing Line for today. My name is John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona.

It's a delight and privilege to be with you here on the show today in the absence of Dr. James White.

Rich is here also and there are some announcements and we want to make you aware of those regarding James and the current ministry opportunities taking place just now.

Right, I want to let folks know that right now they are doing the

Tuesday session in Johannesburg, South Africa. You know, there are so many hours, so many hours ahead of us, so it's kind of weird to think about that, but they're wrapping that session up here this evening and then tomorrow

Dr. White will be traveling to London and I want to remind folks that, and there's a link on the webpage,

I keep moving it to the top of the list there of his current, his appearances, his upcoming appearances in Europe as well as South Africa.

But Friday night, Dr. White will be debating Adnan Rashid on the topic of, is the

Trinity a divine revelation or man -made doctrine? And that is going to be an excellently attended debate that's going to be at the

Kensington Temple and all that information is on our website there.

There is a link for more information from the Kensington Temple website and then one that is last -minute, kind of shoehorned in.

The folks at Kensington Temple realized that Dr. White was not really involved or active on Sunday, and I guess they have a number of services on Sunday morning into the afternoon even, and they decided they wanted to set aside their 2 .30

service and have Dr. White do a special presentation for them and the public is welcome to come.

So if you are you're already done at your church, go on over to Kensington Temple and he's going to be discussing the same thing he did in South Africa in Cape Town, the session on Scripture and the

LGBT agenda. And given that they are going to be in London, I find that quite an interesting topic to be doing there, but really, really hoping

I'm not going to have to, you know, put ministry resources to get Dr. White out of a sticky wicket, maybe, is that what they'd say down there?

I don't know. But anyway, no, I think that's going to be an excellent time and it is a presentation that needs to be heard.

I'm not exactly sure how long they're planning on him being able to do the presentation.

He actually told me when I told him about it, he says, you realize, I can go on and on for hours on that topic, so that is something to keep in mind there if your schedule is open for Sunday afternoon in London.

And then on Monday, May 16th, 7 p .m., he will be at the Lodge Hotel in Colteraine, Northern Ireland.

I can't even begin to try to pronounce that. Don't you either. I know, you're tempted. If you're anything like James, he'll be over there, oh, let me do, yeah, no.

And the topic there will be the reliability and transmission of the Bible, and that is in Belfast, Ireland.

So that's Dr. White's schedule. Now regarding what we're doing here, okay, because that's also, we're trying to keep home fires burning, you know, as they say.

Thursday, this coming Thursday, I will be back behind the microphone trying to do a one -man show.

You're gonna be treated to a lot more of the techie stuff, because after our last, my last attempt at doing the show,

I realized people were telling me that there was all kinds of problems, and the recording of it that I had taken had little glitches and stuff in it.

And we discovered that the folks at Telestream, where we get our software code, that we use Wirecast version 6, just isn't up to snuff in comparison to what we're using with version 5, and have been using with version 5.

So we rolled back to version 5, and I told James before he left that all I gotta do is program into each of the different shots the numbers.

Well, version 5 doesn't do that. So I'm gonna have to be a little more active on the techie side.

Now, if you have, you saw what I did in January and you hated it, or if you liked it, you might want to go back and do a refresher, because there's going to be things as I pick up with the cross -examinations that followed each of the presentations.

And I'm gonna be pointing some things out along the way, because to me they're just screaming things that need to be pointed out, and so that's what

I'm gonna be doing. So if you're, but it will be built on the presentations and the things that I pointed out in my first two episodes as I as I presented my evaluation of it.

And to give you a little bit of a teaser here, one of the things that was objected to greatly that I said this at the tail end of the second session, that Mr.

Flowers, you know, he wants me to come on his show. He wants me, I have no interest. And my point,

I said this and I've said it on social media, Professor Flowers is not interested in listening.

He's not. And I'm going to show it and demonstrate from this debate that not only is he now not interested in listening, he certainly wasn't interested in listening in the debate.

And if you're looking for it, it is plain as the day is long. So with that, little teaser for Thursday, and then next

Tuesday follow -up, and I don't know how far I'll be able to get into it, but basically in this scenario

I'm gonna take the two rebuttals, or two cross -examinations, and just basically run them back -to -back.

And yes, this time in order. I'm not gonna remix it. I'm gonna put them in order, and point out some things along the way, and we'll see if I get into the rebuttals, and then the cross -examination that followed on that too, depending on how much time it is.

Well, if you need some technical help, I'm always here for you. You know, I'm your guy, the tech guy, right?

You could sit over here and smile. Push that button!

Which button? No, that button, not that. No, Hank, yeah. That's right. What did you just press, John? Captain, you can't take much more of this!

Right. So I'm gonna let you get back on track here with today's show, and let you move forward. Well, thank you, and keep praying for Dr.

James White, everyone who's listening in, and tremendous material he's covering over there in South Africa and England.

I'm sure he's going to be blessed. I've been to Kensington Temple many times, so I can picture where he'll be, where he'll be ministering, and at some point they will interrupt, because they probably have another afternoon service.

They have so many there, but that's great that he's got that opportunity, and they have the opportunity of hearing him in person.

On today's show, we're going to talk about prayer, and I hope it's going to be a blessing. I want to just follow up on some of the things that I was talking about last time on evangelism, and I love how, in just a few short verses,

Jesus says so much. I mean, it's obvious. He's the master teacher, but he didn't have a problem in his mind regarding evangelism and divine election, and a lot of people do.

They think, if God has this elect people, why would there be a need for evangelism?

Of course, the answer to that is God not only ordains the ends, which are his elect coming to Christ in saving faith, but the means, and that is prayer and the preaching of the gospel.

And there was one section of Scripture that blessed me some years ago, just to see

Jesus have no issue with this. Matthew 11, let me just read these words, verse 25.

At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my

Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the

Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal them. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I'm gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

So often, we hear these words without any context at all. Come to me, all who labor and heavy laden.

This is the universal call of Jesus to all under the sound of his voice.

Come to me, all who labor. Jesus is teaching that God hides things from some and reveals them to others, and he's happy about it.

He's praising his Father for this. And I remember thinking, why would he be excited over the hiding of things?

It's as if there's something valuable, and he's hiding it, making sure they don't find it.

And then he says, come to me all in the same breath. There's no three -hour division between the one statement and the next.

I thank you, Father, you've hidden these things, and you've revealed them to others. And no one can get into this unless you choose to reveal it.

Come to me, everybody. Wow. So there's the God who hides, and then there is this evangelistic call of the gospel that goes to all.

Come to me, all. And for decades I read those words, but I think what

I'd done was see verses 25 through 27, which speaks of God's sovereign election, as unrelated to the following words, where he invites all to come.

And I just thought it'd be important to say that. I want to see what

Jesus said. I appreciate the theologians. I have a renewed love for some of them.

Not everything they said was true. No one person, nor all of them collectively, are infallible.

But it's Jesus. I want to see Jesus saying these things, and the Apostle John, and Paul, and Peter, and finding these truths in Scripture.

And I hope that's a blessing for you to hear Jesus on the matter. He had no issue with divine election and evangelism, and he put them together just as Paul did in Romans 8 and 9 on sovereign election, followed up with chapter 10.

How shall they hear without a preacher? Those things go together. I think most of us, when we turn to the issue of prayer, would say we could use some help, if we're honest anyway.

It would be very easy for a pastor to bring in someone who's known for their prayer life and make everybody feel a little or a lot condemned.

They could talk about what they do in their prayer life as they pray for India and China. And yesterday

I prayed four hours for the nation of India and we're thinking, wow, did

I say anything to God yesterday? When was the last time I spent 15 minutes in prayer?

But for some on the spectrum of prayer, they're doing very well. Others, their prayer life is atrocious.

They don't really feel they have one. But whatever our level of maturity as a Christian, most of us,

I think, would admit that we could use some help in the matter of prayer. And we're prone to be discouraged because of endless repetition.

We can get distracted so easily. The enemy of our souls would love it if every

Christian was someone who was not in prayer at all.

He fears the prayer life of the Christian because he knows God answers prayer.

So how do we go about shaping a life of prayer, carving out time in our day to be people of prayer?

Let me start with a few quotes from Charles Spurgeon. I find this when I find a quote of Spurgeon on a matter

I don't usually need to find anyone else because he usually nails it. And he had the concept that we've just been talking about of divine election, and yet he was very much wanting the people of God to be praying, and he was strong about it.

His famous quote is, if sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies.

If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.

That's certainly a strong statement. I believe it's born out of the biblical text.

He said this, I know of no better thermometer to your spiritual temperature than this, the measure of the intensity of your prayer.

Another quote, it is a good rule never to look into the face of a man in the morning till you've looked into the face of God.

There he's talking about a life of prayer. It is well said that neglected prayer is the birthplace of all evil.

Someone with an intimate prayer life with the Lord is less prone to consistently live a life of sin.

It's not always the case because we are all prone to sin, but it's a safeguard.

The one who has no intimacy with God and spends no time with God has very little in terms of a resistance against sin.

So that's a very, very important point. Prayer can never be in excess.

A lot of things can, prayer can't. Prayer meetings are the throbbing machinery of the church.

Another quote of his, Christ scholars must study upon their knees.

True prayer, I love this quote, is measured by weight not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.

We shall never see much change for the better in our churches in general till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians.

So it is. Prayer is so vital that Jesus taught much about it.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

So how do we go about praying? Well I'd like us to turn in our Bibles, if you have one, to the book of Leviticus.

I'd like us to see what is said there. There's an important point

I want to get to but along the way I want to just highlight some of the truths of Scripture that I believe will be really helpful to us.

I think many Christians are embarrassed about their prayer life. They don't take time to pray because they do feel it's just repetitive when they do actually take time to pray or else they feel bored or else their thoughts become so distracted.

And I remember just years ago having this little help given to me which was this. You're praying and you're spending time reading the

Scripture and suddenly a thought comes to you, I've got to get milk at the store. Totally unrelated.

And you think, I've got to get milk at the store. And then it becomes this consuming thing and you're trying to read your

Bible and all you can think about is the thing you have to do when you finish your prayer. I've got to get milk at the store.

And you're so distracted you're not involved mentally in the process at all, the process of prayer.

Well just get a pad and a pen and write down simply milk at store.

And you know what you've done when you've done that? You can now forget about it. You know that when you leave the time of prayer that won't be something you'll miss doing because you've written it down, you'll get to it.

And that allows you to read your Bible and be praying with your mind focused.

And there might be something else that comes along. Get Johnny his medication. Write that down.

Whatever it is you that comes to your mind so that it's not a distraction in the time of prayer.

Leviticus chapter 25 verse 1. The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai saying, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you've come into the land that I give you the land shall keep a

Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits.

But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.

You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest or gather the grapes of your undressed vine.

It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired servant and the

Sojourner who lives with you and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land.

All its yield shall be for food. Then on to the 26th chapter here of Leviticus verse 34.

Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate while you are in your enemy's land.

Then the land shall rest and enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate. It shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your

Sabbath when you were dwelling in it. And as for those who are left I will send faintness into the hearts in their lands of their enemies.

The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight. In other words they're going to be scared of just about nothing. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight and they shall flee as one flees from the sword and they shall fall when none pursues.

They shall stumble over one another as if to escape a sword though none pursues.

And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies and you shall perish among the nations and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

Goes on. And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies lands because of their iniquity and also because of the iniquity of their fathers they shall rot away like them.

If you keep reading you'll see this. Israel was given this command by God to allow for the land to have rest every seven years.

There would be no seeding of the land, no crops that would be the result of it every seventh year.

Israel hadn't done this. There had not been a Sabbath for the land for which no crops would be planted.

I think it was fueled no doubt because of economic uncertainty but mainly lack of trust in God.

And it seemed like a logical need to produce food to survive and Israel had failed here to trust

God in this. And then in giving this command to the people of God it's as if God says

OK I've seen what you've been doing. I've seen what you've not been doing.

And it's been four hundred and ninety years and every seventh year

I ordered you to trust me and give a Sabbath rest to the land so it might be replenished.

Seven goes into four hundred and ninety. Seventy times. So that's 70 years totaled up.

Then OK it's as if God said this you won't rest the land so I'll give it the 70 years of Sabbath rest that I commanded you to have with this land for you to give this land and I'm going to have you removed from the land for 70 years.

And that's where we start reading in the book of Jeremiah chapter 25. That's the background here.

The land was not given rest from the people. The people did not give the land rest.

So God says I'm going to give the land rest from you the people. I'm taking you out of here. I'm taking you into exile.

This is my doing. Let's read of this in Jeremiah. Genesis Exodus Jeremiah chapter 25.

Look with me in verse 11 if you have a Bible with you. This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years.

Then after 70 years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation the land of the

Chaldeans for their iniquity declares the Lord making the land an everlasting waste.

Chapter 29. Even when God was saying this to the people of Israel he had not finished with them in any way at all.

And that's the context of this very famous verse in verse 11. For I know the plans

I have for you. Verse 10 the verse before for this says the

Lord when 70 years are completed for Babylon I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

This place is obviously the land of Israel. For I know the plans I have for you declares the

Lord plans for wholeness and not for evil to give you a future and a hope then you'll call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart

I'll be found by you declares the Lord and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I've driven you declares the

Lord and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. That's the prophetic promise of God.

Now in Daniel if we go to the book of Daniel we have Daniel reading of this promise we've just read in the book of Jeremiah.

So Ezekiel on our Bibles here we go and Daniel chapter 9

Daniel's reading the book of Jeremiah. Let's start in verse 1.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus by descent Amid who was made king of the realm of the

Chaldeans in the first year of his reign I Daniel perceived in the books the number of years that according to the word of the

Lord to Jeremiah which was the passages we've just been reading according to the word of the

Lord to Jeremiah the prophet must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem namely 70 years.

So picture the scene Daniel's reading Jeremiah he's in exile and he's reading the promise of God that the exile would last 70 years.

Verse 3 then I turned my face to the Lord God seeking him by prayer and please for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes

I pray to the Lord my God and made confession saying oh Lord the great and awesome

God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love in him keep his commandments we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled.

Here was not just a confession of personal sin but of national sin. We he says we we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled and turning aside from your commandments and rules we have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings our princes and our fathers and to all the people of the land.

To you oh Lord belongs righteousness but to us open shame as at this day to the men of Judah to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all

Israel those who are near and those who are far away in all the lands to which you have driven them because of the treachery that they have committed against you.

To us oh Lord belongs open shame to our kings to our princes and to our fathers because we have sinned against you.

To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness for we have rebelled against him and we have not obeyed the voice of the

Lord our God by walking in his laws which he set before us by servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside refusing to obey your voice and the curse and oaths that are written in the law of Moses a servant of God have been poured out upon us because we have sinned against him he has confirmed his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us by bringing upon us a great calamity for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.

As it is written in the law of Moses all this calamity has come upon us yet we have not entreated the favor of the

Lord our God turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth therefore the Lord has kept ready for the calamity and brought it upon us for the

Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done and we have not obeyed his voice and now

O Lord our God who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for yourself as at this day we have sinned we have done wickedly.

O Lord according to all your righteous acts let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city

Jerusalem your holy hill because of our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers

Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us now therefore

O our God listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy and for your own sake

O Lord make your face to shine upon your sanctuary which is desolate. O my

God incline your ear and hear open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that is called by your name for we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness but because of your great mercy

O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord pay attention and act delay not for your own sake

O my God because your city and your people are called by your name.

I don't know where to stop it there's just so much in all that we're reading in fact I just want to read a few more verses verse 20 here comes the answer from Gabriel while I was speaking verse 20 and praying confessing my sin and the sin of my people

Israel and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my

God while I was speaking a prayer the man Gabriel whom I'd seen in the vision at the first came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice he made me understand speaking with me and saying

Oh Daniel I have now come out to give you insight and understanding at the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out and I've come to tell it to you for you are greatly loved therefore consider the word and understand the vision and so it goes on there's much more that could be said about this but just wanting to make some points about the prayer life of Daniel what strikes me as very obvious is after finding the promise of God of deliverance and of a return from exile after 70 years he realized it's just a very short time it's almost the 70 years being fulfilled as I'm reading this

Daniel was thinking what do I do now what he didn't do was passivity he did not just sit in a chair and say well

God you're a God who just promised it I know you'll fulfill it amen no he went to pray what he read as the promise of God drove him to prayer and in seeing the sovereignty of God over the nation of Israel and of all the nations rather than being passive about it it drove him to pray because he was praying to the

God who ruled the nations some people say if God is sovereign why pray my answer is if he isn't sovereign there's no need to pray it's because he's sovereign we pray we pray to a sovereign

God who will accomplish all his will and Daniel in reading of the promise of God did not become passive he found the promise of restoration in the scripture and he started praying as never before with renewed hope with renewed vigor hear his words hear the oaths of the heart oh

Lord hear our prayer oh Lord hear me oh Lord forgive oh Lord pay attention oh my

God he poured out his heart to God excitement welled up in his heart and this was a prayer that God was pleased to answer the moment he started praying and God in his word has shown us his will

God's word is his will and so we have to clear away foggy thinking because the battle is often won or lost in the mind most of the spiritual warfare you and I will ever do happens between our ears in fact when we look at the

New Testament it tells us that the enemies we face are certainly hostile but our job is to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ the weapons of our warfare 2nd

Corinthians 10 are not carnal Paul wrote but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds what are those strongholds these are strongholds in the minds these are world views these are views of the world that are in absolute hostility against God and with the

Word of God we can penetrate these fortresses in people's minds bringing them captive with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of scripture but we have as Christians to clear away our foggy thinking why pray if God is sovereign the answer is we pray because he's sovereign we're not praying to some lieutenant who might get a job done if he gets certain things in his favor he rules the nations he decrees something and brings it to pass

Isaiah 46 he decrees the end from the beginning and says all my purposes shall be achieved that's the

God of scripture and that's why we can pray to him with confidence I believe a problem in our prayer life is not with the quality of the

Christian but with the method of their prayer there are many very well motivated

Christians but they're distracted or else they're discouraged they think if God is this sovereign

God why would I need to pray I hope I can just with this passage in the Leviticus and Jeremiah and Daniel passages show you the promise of God should drive us to prayer

I believe pressure be meaningful but it cannot be meaningful to the spiritually dead there's no desire whatsoever to have a life of prayer but it's different for those who are alive spiritually they're born again they're regenerated they're born from above they've got new dispositions they want what they didn't want before they want

God the unregenerate man wants the benefits of God without God they want to sleep at night without any guilty conscience they want heaven if it means the absence of pain they just want don't want

God when they get there they don't want to see Jesus and be in worship they don't want to bow the knee to him but the spirit who has possessed our hearts cries out

Abba father and there's this declaration of I want to tell him how I love him I want to talk to him

I want to have an intimate relationship with with him there's a God would orientation in the human heart now because of the work of the

Holy Spirit in the Christian's life someone without the Holy Spirit is not a Christian at all every

Christian has received the Holy Spirit according Romans 8 verse 9 so in dwelt by the

Holy Spirit there's a desire to pray and if someone wants to live for Christ and has no specific sin issue that he or she refuses to confess and fight against then the basic problem in prayer is not with sin or failure but with oftentimes method how are we going about it so I want to address that and hopefully this can be intensely practical and really that's my heart as as a pastor

I want to help people to pray and not just say you need to do it and say we need to do it we all do but here's some tips along the way that I've learned that I hope can be of a blessing in your own life as well for many prayer is like a duty rather than a delight how do we go about praying then

Martin Luther was obviously greatly used by God and was looked to by many at the time of the

Reformation for leadership and I'm thankful that some people really looked out for him one was his barber man by the name of Peter and in the many many in a real sense

Luther trusted this man because he had the sharp knife in his hand to shave him and could have cut his throat because as you remember at the time

Luther was a very wanted man there was a price on his head but a relationship developed between this barber

Peter and Luther and in one of the sessions while the barber was cutting his hair he said how do

I pray and Luther left the barbershop and in haste according to all the records and started writing a letter to the barber and it became a simple way to pray the title of a book that has gone around the world and it's still being sold today in fact you can look it up get it very easily on the internet just look up a simple way to pray by Martin Luther you can get in a free format on the internet

Archie Parrish has helped put some of the background to the book into a booklet it's about 34 pages originally maybe a little bit more with what

Archie Parrish adds to it it's available from Ligonier Ministries but it's available in many different places and I encourage you to get hold of it a simple way to pray and what

Martin Luther did was pray the Word of God back to God knowing that God had inspired the promises of Scripture and the words of Scripture pray those

Scriptures back to God and we're going to talk about how to do that in just a moment he would pray through the

Ten Commandments he would pray through the Apostles Creed and he would pray through Scripture how do we avoid praying about the same things well go to different passages of Scripture and start praying them like us to go to Psalm 23 and I want to go here because it is so familiar it is familiar we could almost quote it all of us every word of this passage

Luther would pray through the Ten Commandments and as you're finding Psalm 23 want to talk about how he prayed through the

Lord's prayer he would take each phrase and he would pray it to God of God being our father our

Father in heaven misery stands like a great wall between us how shall we your children on earth so separated from you ever come to you in our homeland amen a son honors his father and servants their master if then

I am a father where is the honor do if I'm a master where is the respect do me and he would be praying for the name of God to be hallowed our father which are in heaven hallowed be your name that being the first petition of the

Lord's prayer may your name not be trampled in the street may it be that your name is recognized as holy may it be set apart your holy name you've given to us this wonderful name a father our father which are in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come may your kingdom purposes be established in my life in my family's life in this nation and so he went on and you can read of it as we come to the

Apostles Creed he would pray through the Apostles Creed and he would take each phrase and pray it as a prayer to God Psalm 23 for the sake of time we'll go to the scripture here

Psalm of David the Lord is my shepherd I just want to tell you some of the things

I do in my prayer time with God I just personalize it and we're looking at this passage but we could look at a hundred different passages 200 300 but I wanted to go here again because it's familiar to us the

Lord is my shepherd and so I just encourage you if your prayer life needs a little ramp up today pray through Psalm 23 and personalize it oh

God I thank you that you're my shepherd you're not just a shepherd of your people in general but I as a sheep of God have a relationship with you that you are concerned about me

Lord I thank you that you are my shepherd I shall not want

God I don't even know all the things I need but I thank you that you as my shepherd know what

I need before I even ask and I'm asking that you'd be my shepherd that there be this relationship between me and you that is real and that you would meet my needs the needs of my family

I'm aware of these needs but I'm also aware of needs that are down the road that I'll need three days from now that I don't even know

I need yet Lord would you be my shepherd would you prove provide for me would you provide food for me as my shepherd there's two he makes me lie down in green pastures he leaves me beside still waters

I like that phrase he makes me in the sense of we all have our plans but God's purposes prevail and he leads and guides often by opening doors and also by closing doors and when a door is closed that also is guidance that's encouraging because oftentimes we think

God is against me because the door is closed no it's actually his guidance some doors you have to knock on repeatedly and some doors you have to almost burst through but when you cannot get through certain doors take it as God's favor towards you he's leading you there must be other pastures he wants to lead you into father

I thank you that you're my shepherd and yet you're making me lie down in green pastures your plans for me are good not everything that happens to me is good but you say that you'll work everything for the good of those who love you and accord according to your purpose and that that I'm at peace you make me lie down in green pastures you're not going to lead me to a desert place where I can never be nourished

Lord lead me as a family lead me as a family to a church that's a biblical thing that is biblical that will take your word with seriousness and will proclaim it accurately if it means driving a little distance or a long distance help me find a place lead me lead us as a family it's the most important thing for my spiritual health finding a local body of believers help me lead me lead me beside still waters

Lord this world is racked with pain and sadness and it's a veil of tears there are storms all around but Lord would you lead me to a place that is beside still waters where I can find rest can

I find it in your presence Lord verse 3 says he restores my soul

Lord I'm not even aware of all the things that need to be changed in my own heart and life my soul is in constant need we're born into this world in need my soul needs certain things and I first of all need you my soul knows this would you restore me where I'm out of kilter with your plan would you bring me into alignment restore my soul lead me in paths of righteousness for your namesake not so that I or we or our particular company might get recognition but for your namesake may your name be hallowed in this community relating it to the prayer of the

Lord's prayer that he's given us lead me in paths of righteousness for your namesake

Lord as I make decisions would you show me what's right would you make it clear to me

Lord I am like a sheep that so often is prone to wonder and I feel it remember that him prone to wonder

Lord I feel it prone to leave the God I love I need you God I need to be led in the path of righteousness because my flesh always has a tendency to go in a different direction lead me very clearly

I want to do your will for your namesake may you get glory with my life now we just spent a few minutes working through first three verses but already my heart is thrilled to be praying this because I know it's a prayer that God wants to answer it's as specific as a prayer like Daniel prayed when he knew captivity is about to end this is a prayer

God always answers verse four even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death as I start my day it's oftentimes the best time to pray is at the beginning of the day even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I don't know what faces me today in my life do you realize we're so dependent on God that one phone call the news of one phone call could devastate our family forever we need

God we don't know what we're gonna face and Lord whatever I face though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I'm gonna be trusting you I will fear no evil nothing comes through your impenetrable defense around me unless it is your will

I trust your sovereignty I'll fear no evil why not because of my ability to fight through pain but because you're with me

Oh God I need you as my shepherd if you're with me I know we can go through this for your rod and your staff they comfort me the rod and the staff the rod to keep me in line when

I go away bring me back but also the rod and the staff the the instrument to deal with the wolf

Lord I I know you're protecting me from wolves I don't even see when

I don't see the shepherd and I think all is well what I don't understand is the shepherd and maybe it is out dealing with the wolf that's about to plunder and ravage the flock

God has actually kept us from things we have no idea about because of his protective hand over us that's our shepherd so I pray this to God Lord I don't know what

I'm gonna face I don't know what my family will face but I thank you that death itself is only a shadow someone said this the shadow of a dog never bit anyone

I like that a lot of dogs can bite but shadows of dogs can't and for the

Christian death is a shadow I don't want that to become a trite phrase but Christ has taken the sting out of death for the

Christian absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and that is an amazing marvelous hope biblical hope is not just a

I guess I hope it happens you never know if it's gonna happen or not biblical hope is their absolute knowledge of what will 100 % take place you're with me you're rod and your staff they comfort me

Oh God I thank you when I'm out of line you'll bring me into line

God has the ability as our shepherd to do it by himself but he also uses means and the shepherding ministry of the local elders is a place where we are to be pastored and shepherded fact that the the word pastor it's not oftentimes used in the

New Testament but it's the the Greek word pomano and other related words talk about the shepherding ministry of elders and you and I need that you know every leader every pastor needs to be shepherded

I think every pastor should be able to say this man is my pastor and he can speak into my life we all need help we all need accountability at times when

I've been the recipient of a call and some that the pastor in my life would call me and say what what's this

I hear you're teaching and it doesn't happen often but it's happened once or twice and I said well I've been teaching this what's your biblical basis for this and I said this this this and this and I said oh okay and can you send me a

CD of it and I said yes and I send it and they say okay we understand you're good other times they say you know what

John I don't see that I need I think you need to research that more and I've been grateful for their insight even if I don't change my my doctrine in that area at least

I would teach it with the nuance of people speaking into my life and say you need to be clear that when you're saying this people understand you're not saying that the person who thinks they're immune from deception is going to be very deceived and truth is a corporate action of the church

God never intended that any single Christian would live by himself for himself and listen only to himself in the scriptures we have

God speaking to us but we also have gifts given to us according to Ephesians chapter 4 apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers these are the men of God through the centuries who've labored over the

Word of God and if you and I come up with a doctrine or an idea that no one else has heard of in church history it could be that God was waiting for you all this time to reveal truth to you that he's never revealed to anyone else but it's actually more likely you're a deceived puppy because the

Holy Spirit has been given to the church and he's given gifts to the people of God and they've poured their entire lives over the scripture and we're foolish if we don't at least go and find out what they've discovered about this verse we think we've got insight on we've got a new view of the

Trinity really I don't think so the Holy Spirit has been leading and guiding his church into the truth through the centuries and though church history and what men of God have written are in no way infallible it's in no way negligible of no value it's actually of great value to find out what the greats in church history have found out about a verse or a specific subject that we're studying so arm yourself with the knowledge that God has a shepherding ministry not only by himself but through the means of others verse 5 you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

I love this verse because some people think this is referring to a heavenly feast a heavenly psalm that will be fulfilled in heaven but you know we'll have no enemies there verse 5 says you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies while there's hostility around here you give me a safe place

I can't help but think of the Lord's Supper a table spread before the people of God where Jesus has come and come and dine feed on me have intimacy with me remember my covenant what

I've achieved for you by my body broken for you my my blood poured out for you

I prepare a table father I thank you you're preparing a table before me in the middle of hostility and stress people against me you anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows how

I need the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life the presence of the Holy Spirit is not just for ministers on a

Sunday morning or evening or Wednesday night it's for all of us all the time oh God anoint me anoint me with your presence make people sense that I'm yours and would you give me favor would you give me favor as I go out to sell today or I go out to teach today

I'm a school teacher whatever it is I'm a mom I'm a I'm a father would you anoint me I can't do this without you the anointing of God represents

God's ability God's help preachers are very often aware of this and that's why they should be people of prayer oh

God I need I need you if I show up and you are not with me I'm gonna fall flat on my face the man who says as he's preparing and oftentimes his wife will ask you had you feel ready for Sunday there's a sense in which you should feel prepared by means of I've got some content but unless the

Holy Spirit breathes on this this is going to be as dry as dry can be oh

God I need you I need my head to be anointed with your all I want my cup to overflow

I need you the people of God are going to be bored by this truth even though it's truth unless the

Holy Spirit comes alongside and helps me and them it should be a constant prayer of the people of God as they pray for their past oh

God anoint him anoint him with oil let his cup overflow and as they pray that prayer it's amazing how their receptivity to the man of God opens up their hearts are opened up and there's this divine connection as the father speaks now through the

Word of God in the preacher's mouth and oftentimes people come up and say you know what that I really needed to hear that they're hearing

Christ through the preacher rather than simply the truth as a concept but they're hearing

God the Holy Spirit speaking in and through the preaching of the Word because the man of God is anointed by God and you and I need the anointing of the

Holy Spirit we speak so little of this but our day would be a much better day if a mother is anointed in the right sense of oh the

Holy Spirit is helping me with my child I see my child is not learning or is having some things finding hard to grasp

Oh God help me to share your love help me share this wonderful gospel with my child at this young age my cup overflows here's the picture of a cup being poured into to the point where it didn't just reach the top but it overflows and spills out to others and here's the blessing of God flowing out to others verse 6 surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life oh

God I need your goodness and mercy to follow me thank you for this promise why is this promise true back to verse 1 because the

Lord is my shepherd because he's my shepherd I know surely goodness which means assuredly without doubt with certainty goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

I remember hearing a preacher once say that he has at least two angels follow following him he said the ones called goodness ones called mercy

I'm not sure you can get that from this text I don't see that at all but I like the humor of that he said when

I'm driving down the road goodness and mercy are following me they've got to keep up because I drive fast

I don't know about that but I do know this goodness and mercy whether they be angels

I'm not sure they are but the the beauty of God's goodness in your life the beauty of God's mercy on your life is going to follow you where you could have justice there'll be mercy instead where you could have evil there'll be goodness instead all the days of your life oh

God how I need your goodness today how I need your mercy don't give me what I deserve I deserve hell the very fact that I'm breathing is a mercy

I remember as a young child breathing was an issue between the ages of three and eight where six to eight months of every year

I spent my nights with in basically an oxygen tent in my own bedroom with a steam kettle fighting for breath every night

God was so good in bringing me through that time but I can still remember gasping coughing for hours and hours and hours every night and how my mother and father got through all that without much sleep at all

I don't know what a blessing it is to have life all the days of my life oh

God may your goodness and mercy flow to me to my family Lord I pray for and then name the children name the family name the people that are friends to you name the people that are on your heart and then lastly it says and I shall dwell in the house of the

Lord forever that's all I want I want to be where God is

I don't want heaven if God is not there I I want God wouldn't that be terrible if we get to heaven and there's an announcement saying well

Jesus is off creating other galaxies and universes for the next 8 ,000 years but we've got some great entertainment from Gabriel and he's got a band together we're gonna have some amazing music all right let's go for it there'll be this sadness because the joy of every

Christian is to see him face to face that's the beatific vision seeing

God seeing him as he really is and I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever one of the reasons we can know that that hope is real in our hearts is that we want to dwell in his house even this week it should be something calamitous that would stop us from getting to the church service it should be something that's a part of our life it's the first thing on our calendar because that's where God says

I'll meet with you he meets with us there in a sense that he doesn't meet with us individually that's this corporate setting where he says there

I'll command the blessing there I'll meet with you because that's according to my divine plan my divine order as Hebrews 10 talks about not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some but all the more as you see the day approaching so it is

I want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever and one of the reasons and the fruits of that is seen and the fact

I want to be where his people are I want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever I remember hearing the story of a little a little boy

I think it was age four he'd come back from time at church and had been ministered to and the parent the mother asked what did you learn today and the child said the

Lord is my shepherd that's all I want and the mother was about to correct the child when she just paused and realized you know he may have got the word slightly wrong but the concept is actually very well understood by this child if the

Lord is my shepherd that's all I want why there will be provision there will be deliverance there will be this protection they'll be this impenetrable defense because the

Lord is my shepherd so in the things we're talking about here read the passage slowly pray about all that comes to mind as you read and then just go to the next song and the next passage and Ephesians 1 there's a prayer you can pray

Ephesians 3 there's a prayer you can pray all through the New Testament there are prayers that are inspired by the

Holy Spirit pray them back to God and pray them for yourself pray them for your family for your friends I trust this little excursion into talking about a simple way to pray would encourage you in your prayer life

I just want to encourage you be a person of prayer to be a Christian is to be a person who prays let's learn this and let's be good at it and be people of prayer for our own life and for those around us again it's been a privilege to be here on the dividing line today please be praying for Dr.