Asking God & Receiving from Him | 1 John 3:22

ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church

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Go ahead and Turn with me to our text for today the first John chapter 3

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I'll go ahead and read the whole passage again for the context starting in verse 18 first John chapter 3 verse 18

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Before I start the reading I want to wish everybody a

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Happy Mother's Day a blessed Mother's Day. I was thinking about our church and I Noticed that all of our adult women our sisters adult sisters our mothers

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That's a blessing. That's a blessing to be a part of a church where motherhood is embraced and celebrated and It's not shunned or seen as lesser.

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So that's a blessing to to be a part of a church like that now Go ahead.

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Well, I'll start from verse 18 as I mentioned in 1st John chapter 3 Where God's Word says little children let us not love with word or with tongue, but indeed and truth and By this we will know that we are of the truth and will assure our heart before him in whatever our heart condemns us

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For God is greater than our heart and knows all things Beloved if our heart does not condemn us we have confidence before God and whatever we ask we receive from him because We keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight

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And this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he gave a commandment to us and The one who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him

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We know by this that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he gave us

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Amen so As I mentioned last week this entire passage is very tightly

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Connected it's very tightly connected. There's a very complete stream of thought that's being presented to us here and By way of review as well,

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I do want us to recall that what the heart is that the heart is

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Fundamentally what we think our mind our thoughts the inner man which is the scripture also also refers it as the inner man and the true man or Who you really are on the inside?

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okay, that is the heart fundamentally and Knowing Knowing God and who he is

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In our heart that is not only Not only that he is greater than our heart like the verse says

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That he has greater than us in other words But that he knows all things is also

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What gives us assurance before him and confidence? He knows all things because God is omniscient as as the

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Bible clearly teaches And By this we shall know that we are of the truth and before him we shall persuade our heart

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That even if our heart condemns us That God is nevertheless greater than our heart and he knows everything

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So that's a better way to understand that those verses that we covered last week this also means that This also shows us that understanding scripture is sometimes challenging and requires study and and work and We need to labor in plowing

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God's Word to be able to Dig from it the the truth and the substance that we need to get out of it.

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So Don't be a shallow crab Like Jack the crab right like my son's crab

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We should we should be deep divers and God's truth into God's truth, so Foot I want to I want us to focus now on verses 21 through 22

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Where God's Word says Beloved if our heart does not condemn us. We have confidence before God and whatever we ask we receive from him

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Because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight

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And I have to I'm gonna have to adjust the sermon title here again It's one of those it was one of those

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Days where I thought I was gonna finish all the way up to verse 24 and then I just kept plowing into this topic and I I didn't get past verse 22.

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So there yeah, but I think you'll see why there's a very important reason why

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I want us to focus on verse 22 and on the topic of prayer and It's amazing how once again we didn't plan this pastor

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David and I did not plan this but I was actually going to call the sermon today Take it to the

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Lord in prayer and sure enough. It's the very last time that we sang So that's just an amazing

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Confirmation from God's grace there, but That's really what

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I want to focus on. I want us to focus on today a primer on prayer Now To to as we lead into verse 22 from verse 21

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Beloved if our heart does not condemn us we have confidence before God You'll recall from last week as well that John's letter deals with very weighty doctrinal and big -picture matters in contrast and sometimes he assumes that the reader is

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Already familiar with large portions of Scripture and its doctrines But at the same time as in verse 21, he leaves us very simple reminders of truths that we should already know

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That we should already know Because it's it's it's it's a sort of it's sort of obvious It goes to without saying that if our heart does not condemn us we have confidence before God Assuming of course that we believe the gospel rightly and all of those things there is such a thing as a false assurance

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But the Bible clearly distinguishes that From true assurance so even in this very passage now

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And because sometimes we need to be reminded of These realities in our life

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Even sometimes as a wake -up call because Although our heart our inner man our minds primarily are

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Regenerated and renewed as believers We can nevertheless still be misled deceived and Tempted by the world the flesh and the devil our flesh in particular which can lead us to distort our

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Reality it can cause us to despair to lose hope and on and on Because we are still fallible

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We are still capable of being deceived. We are not fully glorified yet Yet and Because of this we must understand that even though our justification our right standing before God is

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Fixed and final and unchangeable our assurance our personal assurance is not fixed because it can be shaken and died and and Shaken stirred and and intermitted

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I think it's how the confess our confession puts it, but we But God nevertheless assures us and never lets us to endure utter despair or utterly lose hope

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Those who belong to him will never never lose hope and That's very important to understand as well and these verses are

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Notice how these verses are also descriptive these verses are describing and indicating us a

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Reality here that whatever we ask we receive from him whatever we ask we receive from him

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Because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight and It also teaches us and reminds us that God is all powerful that he has omnipotent because How many millions of people call out to God in prayer and He answers and listens and gives to every single one of his children only a supremely sovereign and omnipotent

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God can do that No other person can do that Mother Mary can't do that for you

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Mother Mary is not omniscient and she's not all present. None of the Saints can do that That's a lie

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Only God can do that. Only God can hear us and give us What we need and Whatever we ask

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Only God can do that So Again, because we are creatures

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We are creatures clay sheep children these are the words that describe us as believers in the

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Bible and taught Which in large part means that we are entirely dependent

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Upon God our creator creature creator our potter clay potter

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Our shepherd sheep shepherd and our father as we are his children those of us who believe we are dependent upon him for his provision and He is loving and abundantly gracious in Giving us not only everything we need

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But also is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or even understand

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According to the power that works within us To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever

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Amen like Ephesians 3 20 and on says so we have

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We need to understand this more clearly. I hope today That he gives us far abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand

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Because that is a reality for every one of us for every one of us now now as I was introducing this sermon,

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I Mentioned that the reason I Need it.

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I wanted this sermon to be about prayer is because this very passage this verse also distills or captures

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For us the core essence of prayer and what it is It distills for us what prayer is from verse 22, especially because Prayer is what we ask

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God for As in whatever we ask we receive we ask us asking is prayer that is at the very core of What prayer is?

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Asking God and receiving from him that's part of how this relationship of prayer

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Works with us and God our Father and Primarily, of course we can pray to the

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Lord Jesus and like Stephen did and others and even to the Spirit as well but Christ taught us to pray our

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Father first and foremost and I love how the

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Baptist larger catechism defines prayer in question 175 That prayer is offering our desires to God It's asking him for things agreeable to his will

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In the name of Christ with the help of his spirit praising him confessing our sins and thankfully recognizing his mercies

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Amen, that is what prayer is Is in a fuller sense and You'll notice that this is also part of that guilt grace gratitude paradigm

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Walking itself out in prayer. Our prayer is a reflection of our guilt grace gratitude paradigm

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We acknowledge our guilt and we confess our sins to God in prayer Because we are guilty sinners

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We Receive the grace of God by believing the truth of his gospel which pardons all our sin and We thankfully recognize his mercies and in light of those mercies and Grace, we live out a life of gratitude

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Like Romans 12 and several other passages including this one in 1st John also teach us

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So And God himself also works in us

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Like the verse says in Philippians work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is

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God who works in you God works in us to pray stirs us to pray and in our weakness even guides our prayer and intercedes for us in our prayers

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Primarily through the work of the Spirit of God Turn with me now to Romans 8 26

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Where we will see what God says about this

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Romans chapter 8 verses 26 through 27 God's Word says and in the same way the

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Spirit Take note of this the Spirit Also helps our weakness

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Our Fallenness our unredeemed part of us the flesh

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For we do not know how to pray as we should at times but the

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Spirit himself Intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the

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Spirit is Because he intercedes for the Saints according to the will of God That is an amazing reality that we all have as Believers that God not only loves us and answers our prayers, but that the

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Spirit of God Intercedes for us for us

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Saints according to the will of God even when we Don't have the words to pray when we are struggling in weakness and in the

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The Slough of despond so to speak from pilgrims progress or the dungeon of despair

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The Spirit never stops interceding for us. That is an amazing privilege

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The omnipotent Spirit of God never leaves us nor forsakes us and God always hears us now in light of that precious truth and reality if As the verse says in 1st

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John 3 22 if God gives us whatever we ask for Then why do we not always get what we ask for?

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Oh There's a bit of a dilemma here, right

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What what is what is this saying Why is it that we do not always get what we ask for and I'm sure we've all had that experience where we ask for something and we don't receive it

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Why might that be? you know and we have to be careful with false teachers and Teaching that you know for prosperity preachers and stuff.

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They love to they love to erect Mountains of false doctrine from verses like these because they take them and rip them out of context

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This is why we must never interpret verses in isolation Like I've been repeatedly saying

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Because this frequently results in misinterpreting them and because there are many other passages that speak to this issue

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That we cannot ignore It's not just a matter. Oh, well

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You know God tells me whatever I ask I receive so there we go

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It's like no, that's that's foolish and that's immature That is immature

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We need to exercise the analogies of Scripture and a faith to have a full whole counsel of God understanding of prayer but Even so even with that said verse 22 itself tells us

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Something very important Why does God give us whatever we ask for because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight?

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So That itself already qualifies that statement

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That whatever we ask we receive and take note of this as well.

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We have to be careful not to misunderstand this and Take proper care not to overextend the law or our obligation to God at the expense of the gospel and of his grace and Lose our balance

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We can't turn this into a legalistic Impulse to think that oh if our prayer is not perfect, then we're gonna be all screwed up and nothing

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And God won't bless us or guide us This brings me to a very important public service announcement that about prayer

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There are certain characteristics of prayer that we need to know One very fundamental one is a prayer is relational prayer is relational

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It is a reflection of how we relate to God Not the other way around Prayer is a reflection of how we relate to God In that direction

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Because God does not pray to us God doesn't pray to us

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We pray to him and He takes our prayers into consideration and answers them according to his sovereign decree or his will his decrees

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His will in the works of creation and providence

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According to his infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of his own

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Will his own will ultimately Which includes his most holy wise and powerful preserving and governing of all his creatures and All their actions to his own glory

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Amen That's from the Baptist larger catechism on God's decrees that is how

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God Incorporates our prayers He predestined our prayers

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That's something to think about and meditate on God predestined all our prayers. Just like he did all our other actions and Prayer another important characteristic of prayer

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Is a prayer is also a means of God's grace prayer is a means of God's grace and God answers our prayers and gives us what we ask for through various means through various means

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Especially though through God's people and Church God's people and church which in turn

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The church administers the means of God's grace

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That he has given all of us to receive all of us. It's there for everyone who believes and Receives them by faith particularly the word especially the preached word baptism the

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Lord's Supper and prayer again from the

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Baptist larger catechism from the reformed confessions These are the means of grace and they are primarily administered to us through the church and That is why the church is the pillar and buttress of the truth that is why we need to fellowship in a church with like -minded believers a

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True church That does these things that is how we know what a true church is.

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Do they administer God's means of grace? faithfully according to the word

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So on to our next public service announcement now

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This is so important to understand our theology of prayer and Our prayer life

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Okay, so our prayer in doctrine and in practice

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Or how we prioritize prayer in light of our other duties and responsibilities

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Our prayer habits Our prayer habits how we pray what we pray

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Not just how often or how long we pray are a reflection of our relationship with God and of our own spiritual condition and maturity

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It's a reflection of our relationship with God The health of that relationship with God and of our own spiritual condition and maturity because prayer is a very important part of the

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Christian life right and However Just as I said before That you cannot love a right without sound doctrine

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So likewise you cannot pray a right without sound doctrine without the truth of sound doctrine and Many many people get this backwards today and that's what pietism fundamentally is

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It over emphasizes prayer above just about everything else at the expense of everything else

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But we have to realize that You can have a very pious pagan who prays fervently to a false

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God to an idol But does that prayer avail

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Anything for him or her at all?

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No contrary to what Soren Kierkegaard says and if you don't know who he is do yourself a favor and keep it that way

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Because he is a mess Who says that it's not the outward what that matters but the inward how

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It's how you pray that matters not so much what or who you're praying to that's a

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That is a total Sinful utter contradiction to the words of Christ himself

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Because we who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth and when he told us to pray

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He told us to pray our father Not our mother

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Not our fellow believer in heaven not anything else, but God himself

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Right so very important We have to balance out these duties that God has given us in the word properly and so even though we should strive to pray daily and frequently we should

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After -all, what did Jesus say give us this day our what our daily bread?

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we should ask him daily for our needs and our wants and so on in our cares and pray without ceasing like first Thessalonians 5 17 says this nevertheless however

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Does not mean that we should spend most of our time in long hours of prayer

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Like monks do or something like that That's a false piety. That's where we lose our balance.

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That's where the pietism loses balance and These are very often religious traps of legalism and pietism because oh, well, you know if you pray fervently for hours

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God will surely intervene It's like well not necessarily

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Because what is it that you're praying? How is it that you're praying what motives do you have

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No, because the Pharisees they got the people that Jesus expressed the most the most

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Hatred for and I use that word without qualification Jesus despised the

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Pharisees more than just about anybody else When he was on the earth Free doing his ministry and The Pharisees were they would look to heaven and pray on the open

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They would look so pious, you know, they were they were so pietistic and they would even trip over Sheeps and goats they would they people

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I mean it was a it's it's just such a joke in God's eyes And he and Christ himself warns us not to pray

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Vain repetitions as if God hears and appreciates our many words

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As if you you know you saying so much somehow gives you more more of an ear with God that's that's an incredibly simplistic and a legalistic way of trying to manipulate

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God That's not That's a that that's descriptive of a very

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Unstable relationship with God and Probably one that of one that's not a believer may very well be the case or of a hypocrite which is worse

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So There now there may be times

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There may be times that call for dedicated periods of prayer and fasting

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Like Jesus said and if you know you can go back to the series I preached on fasting and self -denial where I covered a lot of those passages

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Where there are times there is a time to feast and there's a time to fast and pray

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Right. There are times where we need to do that But this is not the norm.

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This is rather the exception rather than the norm and It may also depend on our stage of life on our stage of life

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Some of us may be less bound or unencumbered by other earthly responsibilities right

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If you happen to have five six kids That might be a little bit more difficult for you to pray for hours on end

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And God understands that that's foolish to try to Because now you you don't want to neglect your family your household for for a

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Misguided view of how we relate to God but however, if you are older in the faith and your kids have moved out of your home and You're on your own with your wife or on your own

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Then you yes, you may have more time to pray for longer periods and that's a good thing to do

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It's good to do those things if you can I'm not saying not to do them but we have to still prioritize and Understand how to pray rightly and praying

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God's Word and will and that requires for us to continually study to continue to study sound doctrine

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Right, so those are all good things If we can do them and in just because We can't doesn't make us any less of a believer or child of God because raising children

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Having a family or having to work a lot of hours or time putting having to work a lot to make ends meet

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That honors God as well All of those things honor God right

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So we have to carefully balance out these things and some of it depends on our own circumstances

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Okay now and Another thing another important characteristic of prayer is that it is also a command

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Prayer is a command pray at all times with all prayer and petition in the spirit

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That's Ephesians 6 18 Pray without ceasing like I read back in first Thessalonians While that is the case that we are commanded to pray it is still nevertheless one of several other duties

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That we have to balance and appropriately Prioritize we have to prioritize our prayer in light of these other things and Because Prayer is primarily an outworking and outworking and ortho praxis or practice of the soundness of our doctrine our

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Orthodoxy Orthodoxy so our orthodoxy our doctrine informs and guides our prayer our practice and that is what prayer is prayer is a practice of Us relating with God and asking him things and talking to him

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So grow therefore Growing in sound doctrine should be the priority always because growing in truth is growing in holiness and Holiness is how we live

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How we practice what we believe? Including prayer and everything else remember what

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Jesus said sanctify them in Your truth Your word is truth

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And our prayer is sanctified by knowing understanding studying

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Internalizing God's truth God's doctrine So that is

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I hope that's very very clear in our minds There's so many

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Movements in the church the past and present that have lost and distorted the balance the biblical balance of prayer in light of all these other things

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So many Distortions of this and we have to make sure we understand this biblically

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Now our

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Heavenly Father And and the Lord Jesus himself Instructs us on what a healthy prayer relationship looks like with our

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Heavenly Father as well as Some of the things that we are called to do which are pleasing in his sight like first John 3 22 says

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So turn with me to Matthew chapter 7 verse 7 Let's dig into God's word here and inform our prayer life one of these

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One of the takeaways from all of this Should should go without saying that We can never divorce

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We can never divorce our piety and our practice from our doctrine because Doctrine grounds everything else that we do including our and especially our prayer

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And so, you know, I I've I've found Even churches that some of us have attended and Popular men like Leonard Ravenhill who talks about oh you can have a head full of knowledge and Bible knowledge

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But if unless you are in prayer and all these things You know, it doesn't really matter

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Like the like the quotes I read from Paul Washer a few weeks back It's a fundamental misunderstanding of How we are to prioritize our duties and the relationship of the one to the other doctrine to prayer and so on so The Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 7 verse 7 says ask and keep asking and It will be given to you

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Seek and Keep seeking and you will find knock and keep

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Knocking and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives everyone who asks receives just like first John said and he who seeks finds and To him who knocks it will be open

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Or what man is there among you who when his son asked for a loaf will give him a stone

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Or if he asked for a fish, he will not give him a snake and will will he? If you then being evil

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Know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your father in heaven? Give what is good to those who ask him?

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Therefore in all things Whatever you want people to do for you so do for them for this is the law and the prophets

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This is God's Word, amen This is the last part is the golden rule of loving your neighbor that Jesus is teaching us and Notice how this relates

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Jesus says therefore and we'll get to that shortly But this is the same substance that first John 3 22 teaches us because of the analogy of Scripture because we understand

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Scripture with Scripture and just as verse 22 says

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Whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight

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It's describing a relationship of how we live and how we pray and the result that comes from that and So so then

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We must recognize our own reality through God's eyes

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Not through any other lens but through God's eyes revealed in his word

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How he sees us How he sees us and That is the reality that we are needy children

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Who should regularly ask our loving father for good things?

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Regularly Because we are clay and we need to be molded.

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We are children and we need to be cared for and provided for by our father in heaven we are sheep and we need to be tended to with love and care and discipline because we stray and We are utterly dependent on God So what is the therefore therefore then where the

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Lord says therefore in all things? Therefore in all things whatever you want people to do for you

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So do for them for this is the law and the prophet so this is with describing a relationship ask

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Keep asking keep knocking keep seeking and the Lord will answer you and provide for you and give you the good things that you ask for Therefore in all things love your neighbor

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So our horizontal relationships with our neighbors With our friends family neighbors and even our enemies is

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Driven by our relationship our vertical relationship with God ask

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God seek God Knock on his door and he will provide and that will give you the boldness and the confidence and Love the sanctifying holiness to Love your neighbor

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And to love him with the world's goods like first John says Love your brother with the world's goods because you know that God is going to take care of you.

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So if you give somebody something You know that God will still provide for you that gives you more freedom to give and love to give what others need and lack

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That you may have to give and it's also like first John 3 16 for first John 3 16 beautifully says

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By this we have known love That he laid down his life for us and we therefore

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Ought to lay down our own lives for the brothers Because God has given us everything this is the same

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So God is calling us to live in light of this guilt grace gratitude paradigm

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Guilt grace Gratitude, it's a beautiful beautiful system of Doctrinal checks of doctrine and checks and balances that God provides for us

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Notice how it all fits together when it's understood properly and lived out accordingly and Since your guilt has been pardoned by the gospel of grace already

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Received by faith alone apart from works Now you can live a life of gratitude that is pleasing is a pleasing soothing aroma to God like 2nd

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Corinthians 2 15 very very beautifully and Metaphorically says so then love your neighbor in light of these things in light of these truths internalize them and Be emboldened and encouraged to love your neighbor

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Be generous in your giving of in the giving of your time of your money your attention because your heavenly father

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Protects you provides for you preserves you guides you and get answers the door

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Gives you what you find and what you ask for everything you need and more and More Because how much more?

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Will your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him like Jesus said in the

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Sermon on the Mount? Turn with me to 2nd 2nd

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Peter here as we as we wrap up Chapter 2 verse 1. I mean,

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I'm sorry 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 2 God's Word says for grace

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Remember guilt grace gratitude for grace and peace be multiplied to you in the full knowledge of God The father and of Jesus our

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Lord seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness and Prayer that includes prayer

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Through what? through the full knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence

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What do God's people have to say to that? Amen That is why

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I said what I said before Everything is given through us to us through the full knowledge of him through our

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Lord and his Word including prayer That is our priority and from the bright priorities

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The right ordering of our priorities follows a right practice of these things

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Because God our Heavenly Father loves to bless us with gifts and good things

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Every good and perfect gift comes from above from the father of lights

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Right. Amen He every gift that is good

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Everyone he loves us and wants us to talk to him to pray to him to Ask him for good things.

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He wants us to Ask him every day For this is pleasing in his sight like 1st

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John 3 22 says It is pleasing in his sight And with that beloved

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I want us to I want to leave you with this precious promise and truth of the gospel and to be of good cheer

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Beloved of God Even that even that word beloved that you are loved by God and Not be discouraged that if and when you fail to pray

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Or to pray rightly or if God does not give you what you asked for Or if the answer is no

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Or not yet consider these things carefully all of these things and More there's more to come here

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But I want to touch on next week next Lord's Day as well There are other things that we must consider

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But know that father our father knows best He knows best and we should be

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We should trust in our Heavenly Father when the answer is no It's for good reason

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The problem is usually with us.

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It's never with God. It's never with God It's with us and Yet in light of that Our father knows best and he has give he has proven this and given us everything already

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He has already given us everything What how why do

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I say that Why why what he has given us everything already?

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He who indeed did not spare his own son But delivered him over for us all for all of us

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How will he not also then with him? graciously graciously

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Give us all Things and God's people said once again, amen

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Precious promise from God's Word in Romans 8 32 so then beloved

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I Hope this message blesses you and encourages you in light of This Lord's Day and every other every day

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This is something that should guide our daily walk with the Lord our prayer life

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Our understanding of prayer and of God and Especially for you mothers who and wives that God works

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Through mothers of the prayer of a mother in very special ways Because mothers are called to submit to God and to their husbands and so one of the ways the means of grace that God has given women and mothers and Wives is prayer

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Like the precious hymn goes take it to the Lord in prayer

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Amen That goes for all of us but in light of Mother's Day that's a special application for our

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Beautiful and precious mothers here That belonged to God God's daughters

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So with that beloved let us now bow our heads with a word of prayer Heavenly Father we thank you so much

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Lord for your precious means of grace In In particular of prayer

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Lord This awesome ability that you've given us to To connect to you father to relate to you to relate with you

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And to ask you for whatever we need and want Knowing of course that we have to consider

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Other priorities and other things in our life But nevertheless you still always hear us

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You will never leave us nor forsake us and you always hear us Lord help us father to live in light of these realities

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Help it to energize and empower our life of gratitude

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Knowing that you always hear us and you always provide for us you always take care of us as our loving father and That in turn

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Encourages us to ask And keep asking and keep seeking and keep knocking

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Knowing that you will answer us and risk and we will receive from you Lord, we thank you for those precious truths

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For the beauty of how your law and gospel work together To bless us edify us sanctify us and equip us

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We thank you father and we ask these things in Jesus precious Almighty all powerful name.

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Amen Thank you for listening to the sermons of thorn crown covenant

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Baptist Church where the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety Has applied to all of faith and life.

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We strive to be biblical reformed historic confessional loving discerning

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Christians who evangelize Stand firm in and earnestly contend for the Christian faith

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If you're looking for a church in the El Paso, Texas area or for more information about our church Sermons and ministries such as Semper Ephraim on the radio and thorn crown network podcast

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Please contact us at thorn crown ministries calm and may the mercy peace and love of our triune