Speaker 1: So how do you pray the kind of prayer that
Speaker 1: God answers. In this passage, we're actually going to look
Speaker 1: at how to pray in a crisis. Now, I hope
Speaker 1: you're not in a crisis right now, but you will
Speaker 1: be someday.
Speaker 2: So you need to take notes because someday you're going
Speaker 2: to where are those notes?
Speaker 1: Or Rick told me how to pray in a crisis,
Speaker 1: and you're going to want to come back to this
Speaker 1: to do what God tells you to do. Let's get
Speaker 1: right into it. There's six steps we see modeled in
Speaker 1: Daniel's life and in the prayer in this chapter on
Speaker 1: how to pray a prayer that God answers. Number one,
Speaker 1: here's the first step. Let God speak to me before
Speaker 1: I speak to him. Let God speak to me before
Speaker 1: I speak to him. This is called the listening step.
Speaker 1: You listen to the voice of God. How do you
Speaker 1: do that? Well, I'm going to explain it, but there's
Speaker 1: a principle you need to understand first, and it's this.
Speaker 1: God always makes the first move in your life.
Speaker 2: You don't.
Speaker 1: God is Allah is the initiator of everything in your life,
Speaker 1: and you are the responder. God never expects you to
Speaker 1: make the first move. He always makes the first move.
Speaker 1: The Bible says that we love him. We love God
Speaker 1: because He first loved us. God loved you a whole
Speaker 1: long time before you ever loved him. The Bible says
Speaker 1: that we serve God because God first served us, and
Speaker 1: he knew we had a problem, and he sent Jesus
Speaker 1: Christ to die on the cross for us, long before
Speaker 1: we even knew we had a problem. He served us
Speaker 1: before we served him. The Bible says we give to
Speaker 1: God because God first gave to us. Everything you have
Speaker 1: in your life is a gift of God. The air
Speaker 1: you breathe, your life, your mind, your brain, everything you've
Speaker 1: got is a gift from God. God will never ask
Speaker 1: you to do something He hasn't already done for you.
Speaker 1: God never asked you to do something that he goes
Speaker 1: Now personally, I've never done this, but I'm expecting you
Speaker 1: to do it. God always initiates, We always respond. And
Speaker 1: that's even true with prayer. The reason we pray, the
Speaker 1: reason we talk to God is because God has first
Speaker 1: talked to us in this book. In this book the Bible,
Speaker 1: written over three five hundred plus years, sixty six different
Speaker 1: authors that God inspired to write these words down that
Speaker 1: he wanted written down. There are literally thousands and thousands
Speaker 1: of promises from God to you, to you, and what
Speaker 1: we do in prayer is we claim the promises that
Speaker 1: He has said to us. He said, God, you said this,
Speaker 1: so I'm asking you to do this. And God, you
Speaker 1: said that, so I'm asking you to do that. So
Speaker 1: the Bible says that prayer actually starts not with talking,
Speaker 1: but with listening. You listen to God. Now, how do
Speaker 1: you listen to God by reading this book or if
Speaker 1: you don't like to read, listening to the Bible on
Speaker 1: tape or MP three or whatever. Logically, you need to
Speaker 1: let God talk to you. Then you're going to know
Speaker 1: how to pray, what to pray, where to pray, when
Speaker 1: to pray, and all those things. Daniel did this. Now
Speaker 1: as we start this chapter nine, Daniel's an old guy. Now,
Speaker 1: he's eighty five years old. He started in the very
Speaker 1: first session on Daniel. He's fifteen years old, the prisoner
Speaker 1: of war. He's now gone through multiple changes in his life.
Speaker 1: Test after test after test after test. He keeps getting
Speaker 1: promoted higher in authority, higher in power. He's now served
Speaker 1: three different kings, and we know that the Babylonians defeated
Speaker 1: the Assyrians, and then the Persians defeated the Babylonians, and
Speaker 1: so now he's got a new boss. He survived every
Speaker 1: administration and no matter what the government was going on
Speaker 1: around him, he keeps getting promoted, but he wants to
Speaker 1: go home before he dies. He's eighty five years old,
Speaker 1: and he knows that God had said in the Book
Speaker 1: of Jeremiah that you'll be and drew in Babylon for
Speaker 1: sale many years, and then I'm going to bring my
Speaker 1: people back to Israel. And he knows times up, but
Speaker 1: he also knows that the people israel lights have not
Speaker 1: turned back to God. Seventy years later. They're still as
Speaker 1: messed up as they were before. And he goes, We're
Speaker 1: not any closer to God than we were seventy years ago.
Speaker 1: And I'm afraid God's just going to leave us here
Speaker 1: in Babylon and not bring us back to Israel. So
Speaker 1: this is his crisis, and here's how it starts. Daniel,
Speaker 1: Chapter nine, verse one. It was the first year the
Speaker 1: reign of Darius the Mead, who was made king of
Speaker 1: Babylon the Babylonians by.
Speaker 2: Cyrus, who was a Persian.
Speaker 1: You know, Babylon is Iraq, Persia is Iran today, And
Speaker 1: he says, during the first year of his reign, I
Speaker 1: Daniel was studying the scriptures, and I learned from the
Speaker 1: word of the Lord, as recorded by Jeremiah, the Prophet,
Speaker 1: that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. It was destroyed,
Speaker 1: and they said it won't be rebuilt until after seventy years.
Speaker 1: You guys get to go back home.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I want you to circle, if you're taking notes, circle
Speaker 1: the phrase studying the scripture, and circle the phrase learned
Speaker 1: from the word, study the scriptures, learn from the Word.
Speaker 1: You will never pray effectively until you study the scriptures
Speaker 1: and you learn from the Word. Until you get into
Speaker 1: this book every single day.
Speaker 2: Now, the more you know.
Speaker 1: This book the Bible, the more prayers you're going to
Speaker 1: have answered. If you're ignorant of this book, you don't
Speaker 1: know how to pray, you don't know what to pray,
Speaker 1: you don't know when to pray, you don't know the
Speaker 1: promises that God has.
Speaker 2: Made to you.
Speaker 1: And so you got to read a little bit of
Speaker 1: this book every single day of your life so you
Speaker 1: can learn those promises that God has made to you.
Speaker 1: Let me show you this. Here's what Jesus said up
Speaker 1: here on the screen. John chapter fifteen. Jesus said, if
Speaker 1: you stay connected me and my words remain in your heart.
Speaker 1: What's he talking about the Bible? He says, these words
Speaker 1: remain in your heart. He says, if you follow those
Speaker 1: two conditions, you may ask any request you want in
Speaker 1: prayer and it will be given to you. Jesus Christ, woah,
Speaker 1: that's pretty much a blank check right there. You can
Speaker 1: ask whatever you want in prayer and it'll be given
Speaker 1: to you. Now, he says, notice this verse. If I'm
Speaker 1: praying and I'm not getting an answer, the first thing
Speaker 1: I need to check is am I meeting these two conditions?
Speaker 1: Am I staying connected to God?
Speaker 2: God?
Speaker 1: Is there anything between me and you that's out a whack?
Speaker 1: Is there any fellowship broken? Is there something in my
Speaker 1: life that I know is wrong and you know it's wrong,
Speaker 1: And you said for me to get right and I
Speaker 1: haven't got it right yet. That is a break in
Speaker 1: the connection with God. But he said, if you stay
Speaker 1: connected to me, you're in harmony with me. He says,
Speaker 1: my words this book is in your mind, it's in
Speaker 1: your heart. You ask anything you want in prayer, and
Speaker 1: it will be done. So if I'm not getting the answer,
Speaker 1: that's one of the two problems, that's one of the
Speaker 1: two conditions that need to be met. So Daniel is saying,
Speaker 1: I'm going to study the Word. I'm going to have
Speaker 1: it in me. The more you fill your mind with
Speaker 1: this book, the more you memorize some Bible verses, the
Speaker 1: more answers you're going to have in your life. Now,
Speaker 1: this is so important to your life that I want
Speaker 1: to help you. I want to help you develop the
Speaker 1: habit of you never go to bed any day of
Speaker 1: your life without spending at least a little bit of time,
Speaker 1: even if it's a minute or two minutes, reading a
Speaker 1: little bit of the Bible and then talking to God
Speaker 1: for a minute or two or whatever. Now, last week
Speaker 1: we saw that Daniel did this three times a day.
Speaker 2: He had the habit. And I said, do.
Speaker 1: You think your life would be any different if you
Speaker 1: had a conversation with God three times a day your
Speaker 1: entire life, which he did for over seventy years. Well,
Speaker 1: no wonder he missed a lot of problem. No wonder
Speaker 1: he knew how to be wise. No wonder he get
Speaker 1: kept gotten promoted. He's talking to God every day. I
Speaker 1: do this all the time as I go through my day.
Speaker 1: I don't talk to God once a day. I talk
Speaker 1: to God all the time. And as I'm getting ready
Speaker 1: to go into meeting, I go, Okay, God, I'm going
Speaker 1: to need your guidance in here. I don't know what
Speaker 1: you want to say to these people. I don't know
Speaker 1: what they want to say to me. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the problem is. Help me to know the right thing.
Speaker 1: I'm depending on you to give me the wisdom, the
Speaker 1: guidance and the power to do what it is. And
Speaker 1: I got out of that meeting a little The next thing,
Speaker 1: and the whole day. One of my prayers is often
Speaker 1: two words, what's next?
Speaker 2: What's the next? Lord? What do you want to do?
Speaker 1: And I'm always seeking God, checking in with him. In
Speaker 1: chapter one, Daniel is worried about the crisis in his life,
Speaker 1: and so he starts reading this book by Jared Now
Speaker 1: here's the thing. Daniel and Jeremiah are contemporaries. They lived
Speaker 1: at the same time when Babylon crushed Israel. Daniel's taking
Speaker 1: a captive for prisoner a ward at to Babylon. Jeremiah
Speaker 1: is left behind in a defeated, broken city called Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: And in Jeremiah's book, God tells him those guys are
Speaker 1: going to be there for seventy years. And Daniel reads
Speaker 1: this and he starts getting hope. Here's what you want
Speaker 1: to know what Daniel read. It's the next verse Jeremiah
Speaker 1: chapter twenty nine, when he said I was studying the scripture.
Speaker 1: Here's what he was studying. God says this to you.
Speaker 1: You will be kept in Babylon for seventy years, but
Speaker 1: then I'll keep my gracious promise to bring you back
Speaker 1: to your home again. For I know the plans I
Speaker 1: have for you, says the Lord. I have good plans
Speaker 1: for you, not plans for your disaster. My plans will
Speaker 1: give you hope and a future. And in those days
Speaker 1: when you pray, I will listen. Now, if you've been
Speaker 1: around church for an length time, you know that verse.
Speaker 1: In fact, we even got a song about it. I
Speaker 1: know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
Speaker 1: Plans to prosper for you, not to harm you. God says,
Speaker 1: I have a plan.
Speaker 2: For your life.
Speaker 1: It's a plan for your success. It's not a plan
Speaker 1: for your defeat. It's a good plan. It'll give you hope,
Speaker 1: it'll give you a future. God says this to you.
Speaker 1: We know that verse, but we often leave off the
Speaker 1: last phrase, which says, in those days when you pray,
Speaker 1: I will listen.
Speaker 2: Now I want you to.
Speaker 1: Listen very carefully. God says this to you this weekend.
Speaker 1: I made you for a purpose. I have a plan
Speaker 1: for your life. But it's not automatic. You can miss it.
Speaker 1: You can miss my plan and purpose for your life.
Speaker 1: In fact, most people miss God's plan and purpose for
Speaker 1: their life. He said, there are two factors. I've promised
Speaker 1: to rescue you. I'm going to bring you back home.
Speaker 1: I'm going to do the things you need done in
Speaker 1: your life. But he says, there are two factors involved
Speaker 1: in you fulfilling your purpose in life. Write these down.
Speaker 1: God's timing and my praying. God's timing and my praying,
Speaker 1: and both of these have an important role in what
Speaker 1: God wants to do in your life. God's timing when
Speaker 1: he's going to do it, and you're praying when you
Speaker 1: ask him to do it. Both of these extremely important.
Speaker 1: So let me explain what that verse just said. In Jeremiah,
Speaker 1: God says this, I got a plan for you.
Speaker 2: Your life. I didn't make you without a purpose.
Speaker 1: I created you for a purpose and plan, and my
Speaker 1: plan for you is good. But it has a time table,
Speaker 1: and he says to these guys specifically, he says, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to cut short my plan. You're going to
Speaker 1: be in Babylon for seventy years, he said. But and
Speaker 1: I'm not going to cut it short one day short.
Speaker 1: You're not coming home one day sooner. You're going to
Speaker 1: be there for seventy years. So that's my plan and
Speaker 1: that's my attention. But don't worry. It's a good plan.
Speaker 1: But he says, when when the time is right for
Speaker 1: me to fulfill your plan, you're all going to go
Speaker 1: back home.
Speaker 2: Then you're going to have to do something.
Speaker 1: You're going to have to pray, And he says, and
Speaker 1: when you pray, I will listen. Now, I want you
Speaker 1: to notice this. This is a very important verse in
Speaker 1: the Bible. Here we see God's sovereignty, He's in control
Speaker 1: and your responsibility. You got something to do. God determines
Speaker 1: the timing of his plan and purpose for your life.
Speaker 1: But when the timing is right, you're still going to
Speaker 1: have to play it. Pray, because he's not going to
Speaker 1: do it until you ask. He's not going to force
Speaker 1: his plan on you. Ever, you have to ask. Notice
Speaker 1: this verse on the screen James, Chapter four, verse two.
Speaker 1: You do not have what you need because you do not.
Speaker 2: Ask God for it.
Speaker 1: So you're telling me that God has some things he
Speaker 1: wants to do in my life that are cool and
Speaker 1: good and great, but they're going to happen unless I
Speaker 1: ask for it. That's exactly what I'm telling you. God
Speaker 1: has timing, but you have praying, and some things have
Speaker 1: not happened in your life because you've never asked God
Speaker 1: for them. You've never asked God to do them in
Speaker 1: your life. He says, I intend to do it when
Speaker 1: I'm ready. That's timing, but you've got to pray for
Speaker 1: it to happen. You have not because you asked not.
Speaker 1: Now this leaves a little quandary in your life. You've
Speaker 1: gone through this before. How do I know when I'm
Speaker 1: waiting on God? And how do I know when God's
Speaker 1: waiting on me? Here's a good question. Okay, you know,
Speaker 1: I really have this big dream for my life, and
Speaker 1: I really think this is what God wants me to
Speaker 1: do with my life, but I don't know it hadn't
Speaker 1: happened yet. So am I waiting on God? Or is
Speaker 1: God waiting on me? Well, this explains it right here.
Speaker 1: What it means is this. If I've asked for God
Speaker 1: to do something really great in my life, and I've
Speaker 1: prayed about it and I've asked, and there's nothing between
Speaker 1: me and God as far as I know, I'm doing
Speaker 1: what he wants me to do. There's no big sin
Speaker 1: that's over here in this corner that I'm going. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know God wants me to do this, but I
Speaker 1: haven't done it. And if I've asked God, and like
Speaker 1: Jesus said, I'm connected to God, we're all copasetic, we're
Speaker 1: all we're in harmony. Me with God and I'm in
Speaker 1: the Bible. I'm reading the Bible every day. His words
Speaker 1: in me. If I pray and I ask and that's
Speaker 1: all true and I haven't had the answer yet, then
Speaker 1: I'm waiting on God. It has all to do with
Speaker 1: his timing. I'm just waiting for God. God says I'll
Speaker 1: do it, but I'm just going to do it in
Speaker 1: my timing, and I just need to be patient. On
Speaker 1: the other hand, if I have something really great that
Speaker 1: I would.
Speaker 2: Like for God to do in my life.
Speaker 1: And I've always wanted God to do it, but I've
Speaker 1: never asked. I've never asked God to do it. Never
Speaker 1: ask for God's help, never ask for God's guidance in
Speaker 1: my dream. Then God's waiting on you if you haven't
Speaker 1: prayed about it. God is waiting on you. You have not
Speaker 1: because you ask not. So let me just start with
Speaker 1: this first point by asking a very person question, what
Speaker 1: do you really want in life? What do you really
Speaker 1: really want in life? But you've never asked God for it?
Speaker 1: Did you know that the Bible says you can ask
Speaker 1: God for anything? You can ask God for anything. First step,
Speaker 1: listen to God. I read a little bit word. I
Speaker 1: let God speak to me. Then I talk to him.
Speaker 1: Now here's step two. Step two is focus my attention
Speaker 1: on God. This is the second step in the kind
Speaker 1: of prayer that God gets answered. So focus my attention
Speaker 1: on God. And in Daniel chapter nine, verse three, it
Speaker 1: says this, so I turned my face to the Lord
Speaker 1: seeking him. All right, circle the phrase turned my face.
Speaker 1: I turned my face to the Lord seeking him. Husbands,
Speaker 1: let me talk to you for just a minute. I'm
Speaker 1: going to give you a marriage tip that will pay
Speaker 1: great dividends.
Speaker 2: In your life the rest of your life.
Speaker 1: You're listening to a guy who has been married forty
Speaker 1: one years. Here's a big tip for every husband. I've noticed,
Speaker 1: and I've developed this habit that whenever Kay.
Speaker 2: Talks to me, I turn my face toward her.
Speaker 1: Physically, whenever she starts talking, I literally turn my face
Speaker 1: toward her.
Speaker 2: And you know what I've learned. She likes it.
Speaker 1: In fact, she loves it that because when you turn
Speaker 1: your face to somebody, it's a you have my undivided attention.
Speaker 1: I'm totally focused on you. You like this? Yeah, all the
Speaker 1: wives are clapping right now. Okay, great, great, Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: everybody likes this. When you talk, you want people to
Speaker 1: turn their focus to you. Pity the poor substitute teacher
Speaker 1: who stands up in class and she's trying to teach
Speaker 1: and nobody's looking at her, and it's like in the
Speaker 1: old Peanuts cartoons.
Speaker 2: Wow wow wha whay wow whah.
Speaker 1: And Jesus blathering on. Nobody's tuned in, nobody's listening. Turning
Speaker 1: your face shows attention. When my kids were little, they
Speaker 1: used to grab me by the face, look at me, daddy,
Speaker 1: you're not paying attention.
Speaker 2: Look at me, daddy.
Speaker 1: They wanted eye to eye contact. That is the highest
Speaker 1: gift you give anybody is your attention. It's more important
Speaker 1: than chocolate, roses or money, giving your kids, your wife.
Speaker 1: Your attention is the highest gift because your attention is
Speaker 1: your life. Now, did you know that you can actually
Speaker 1: do this with God? You can turn your face to
Speaker 1: God in prayer. How physically? Just look up God, I'm here,
Speaker 1: I'm ready to talk. I'm checking in for my three
Speaker 1: times a day conversation. You can go outside and look
Speaker 1: up at the heavens.
Speaker 2: You stare up. You just look up. There's nothing in the.
Speaker 1: Bible says you have to close your eyes to pray.
Speaker 1: Nothing in the Bible says you have to bow your
Speaker 1: head to pray. That's one of the ways to pray.
Speaker 1: It's a good way. But many times in the Bible
Speaker 1: people didn't close their eyes. They actually looked up and
Speaker 1: they talked aloud. I like to pray aloud to God.
Speaker 1: When I close my eyes and think I go to sleep.
Speaker 1: I don't pray with my eyes closed, and I don't
Speaker 1: pray in my mind. When I'm praying, I'm praying aloud,
Speaker 1: and I'm driving the car, or I'm looking.
Speaker 2: Up or whatever.
Speaker 1: You could get in your lazy boy chair and lean back,
Speaker 1: look up.
Speaker 2: God, I'm turning my face to you. Okay, let me stay.
Speaker 1: But it's a physical reminder that I'm refocusing my attention. Okay,
Speaker 1: this is what Daniel did. He physically noticed Verse three.
Speaker 1: In the New American Standard version, it says this, so
Speaker 1: I gave my attention to the Lord to seek him
Speaker 1: by prayer circle the word seek. This is the second
Speaker 1: step of prayer. The first is listening. The second step
Speaker 1: of prayer is seeking. Let me just show you some
Speaker 1: of the benefits. If you'll learn how to do this,
Speaker 1: it'll change your life. Your whole life's just gonna get
Speaker 1: a whole lot better. Let me just show you three
Speaker 1: or four or five promises. How about this one up
Speaker 1: here on the screen Amos five to four. God says this,
Speaker 1: seek me and you will live. In others, You're not
Speaker 1: going to just exist. You're gonna really live. You're not
Speaker 1: living life to the fullest. Some of you just existing,
Speaker 1: He says, Seek me and you will live. You're gonna
Speaker 1: learn how to really live. Proverbs eight, Verse seventeen. God
Speaker 1: says this, I love those who love me, and those
Speaker 1: who seek me. Will what find me find me? He said,
Speaker 1: I can't find God. You're not seeking. You got to
Speaker 1: seek in the right way. Those who seek me will
Speaker 1: find me. Let me show you another one. Jeremiah twenty nine,
Speaker 1: verse thirteen says this God says, you will find me
Speaker 1: when you seek me, what with all your heart. That's serious,
Speaker 1: that's emotional seeking. We'll talk about that in a minute.
Speaker 2: You're going to.
Speaker 1: Find me when you really want to know me, not
Speaker 1: like I kind of like to know God in my
Speaker 1: spare time between the football game and work.
Speaker 2: Maybe.
Speaker 1: No, when you seek Me with all your heart, then
Speaker 1: you're going to know me now. Hebrews eleven, verse six
Speaker 1: says this God rewards those who earnestly seek him. Would
Speaker 1: you like God to reward your business?
Speaker 2: Seek him?
Speaker 1: Would you like God to reward your finances?
Speaker 2: Seek him?
Speaker 1: Would you like God to reward your marriage? Would you,
Speaker 1: guys like God to reward your children? Would you like
Speaker 1: God to reward your relationships, your boyfriend, your girlfriend? Would
Speaker 1: you like God to reward your future? Wherever you seek God,
Speaker 1: God is going to reward Wherever you don't seek God.
Speaker 2: God says, you're.
Speaker 1: On your own. You're on your own. Let me show
Speaker 1: you another verse. This is a very familiar one.
Speaker 2: Luke.
Speaker 1: Chapter twelve, Jesus says this seek. There's that word again.
Speaker 1: Seek first Godd's kingdom before everything else. God's came as
Speaker 1: his priorities, not your priorities, His priorities before everything else,
Speaker 1: And all the other things you will need you need
Speaker 1: will be given to you. Another one of those blanket promises.
Speaker 1: He says, don't seek wealth, Seek God. He'll take care
Speaker 1: what you need. Don't seek fame, Seek God. He'll take
Speaker 1: care of what you need. Don't seek pleasure, don't seek
Speaker 1: a husband, don't seek all these other things you're seeking.
Speaker 2: He says, seek first me.
Speaker 1: And if I'm in first place, he goes, I'm going
Speaker 1: to take everything else into considerations. You put me first.
Speaker 1: I bless the people who put me first. You have
Speaker 1: probably never realized this, but with a lot of the
Speaker 1: pain you're in right now, the difficulties, the stress, the
Speaker 1: pressure you feel, the troubles you're facing, the mess that's
Speaker 1: all tangled up in relationships, almost all of that stuff
Speaker 1: that you're facing right now now is the result of
Speaker 1: you not seeking God. Because You didn't ask God first.
Speaker 1: You didn't seek his guidance, You didn't seek his wisdom,
Speaker 1: you didn't seek his help, you didn't seek his permission.
Speaker 2: You just made a decision.
Speaker 1: And so you went out and you bought something without
Speaker 1: even asking God, God, should I buy this house, Should
Speaker 1: I do this job? Should I do this car? Should
Speaker 1: I get in this relationship? You didn't even ask God,
Speaker 1: you didn't seek God.
Speaker 2: You just did it.
Speaker 1: And now you're reaping the consequences of it. And that
Speaker 1: causes so much of the problem in your life because
Speaker 1: you made a decision without talking to God first. You
Speaker 1: weren't having that daily conversation with God. God, I'm getting
Speaker 1: ready to Costco. Go to Costco, help because I don't
Speaker 1: want to come home with four giant jars of pickles
Speaker 1: that I really don't need.
Speaker 2: In every area.
Speaker 1: You ask God, you see God, he'll help even blessed,
Speaker 1: He'll bless your shopping. Now here's a very important point.
Speaker 1: Anytime we ignore God, we don't ask for his help.
Speaker 1: We don't ask for his guidance, we don't ask for
Speaker 1: his blessing, we don't ask for his permission, we don't
Speaker 1: ask for his wisdom. You know what, God does when
Speaker 1: we don't ask for those things, don't ask for his direction.
Speaker 2: God just backs off in your life.
Speaker 1: Fine, I only go where I'm invited, So God says
Speaker 1: to you, burger king, have it your way, Go right ahead. Okay,
Speaker 1: you didn't ask me if you should buy that. You
Speaker 1: didn't ask me if you should date her. You didn't
Speaker 1: ask me if you should accept that job. You didn't
Speaker 1: ask me if that was a good goal. You just
Speaker 1: did it. So fine, have it your way, and God
Speaker 1: just backs off. I'll just go back to heaven, hang
Speaker 1: out there and let you reap the results of your
Speaker 1: dumb decisions. And then you got all kinds of chaos
Speaker 1: and problems and trials and troubles in your life. And
Speaker 1: then you cry out to God, said God, I'm seeking you.
Speaker 1: He goes, Okay, I'm coming back. And that's what happens
Speaker 1: when we reap the consequences of our sin. Let me
Speaker 1: show you this on screen. HOSEI, chapter five. God says this,
Speaker 1: when I don't seek God in everyar of my life.
Speaker 1: He says this, Okay, I will return to my place
Speaker 1: on high and I'll just wait and I'll just wait
Speaker 1: until they that's you and me acknowledge our offenses. We
Speaker 1: didn't seek God, we didn't ask his opinion and this decision,
Speaker 1: and they feel their guilt and then they seek my face.
Speaker 2: And then in their troubles and.
Speaker 1: Distress, which is always getting our attention, they will earnestly
Speaker 1: seek me, saying, let us return to the.
Speaker 2: Lord so that he may heal us.
Speaker 1: Friends, that is a description of what's happening in America
Speaker 1: and in the world right now.
Speaker 2: Because we have not sought God.
Speaker 1: We didn't ask God's permission, We didn't ask God's wisdom,
Speaker 1: we didn't ask God's help, we didn't ask God's guidance.
Speaker 1: We just did whatever we wanted to do. And we're
Speaker 1: in trouble and distress. And that's in our lives and
Speaker 1: our marriages and our families, in our work, and finally
Speaker 1: gets so bad. You know, we don't change when we
Speaker 1: see the light. We change when we feel the heat.
Speaker 1: And we say, let us return to the Lord so
Speaker 1: he may heal us what needs healing in your life. God,
Speaker 1: I need you to heal me of my depression. I
Speaker 1: need you to heal me of my anxiety. I need
Speaker 1: you to heal me of my secret fears that scare
Speaker 1: me to death that.
Speaker 2: I'm panicked about. God. I need you to heal my body. God.
Speaker 1: I need you to heal the finances that I messed
Speaker 1: up because of my own decisions.
Speaker 2: God. I need you to heal my marriage. I need
Speaker 2: you to heal my relationship. God.
Speaker 1: I need you to heal my nation. America needs healing.
Speaker 1: I need healing. My job, my career needs healing. I
Speaker 1: don't know where you need it, but he says it
Speaker 1: starts with focusing my attention on God and seeking him.
Speaker 1: So let me ask you a couple questions here. Is
Speaker 1: it possible that the pain you're going through right now
Speaker 1: is because you did not seek God, but you just
Speaker 1: went ahead and made a decision without checking in with him.
Speaker 1: Highly probable, And now God said, I could have saved
Speaker 1: you a lot of effort.
Speaker 2: If you just sought me.
Speaker 1: Just have a conversation with you two or three times
Speaker 1: a day, and I'll go red light danger read Will Robinson,
Speaker 1: that's danger, don't go that direction. Is it possible, Yes,
Speaker 1: that pain is because you did not seek God in
Speaker 1: the past. You made a bunch of dumb decisions, and
Speaker 1: now you're paying the results of it. The third step
Speaker 1: in prayers that get answered is express my desires with emotion.
Speaker 1: Express my desires. When I want to ask God for something,
Speaker 1: I'm praying about, God, I need this, whether it's a
Speaker 1: physical need, a material need, a spiritual need, and emotionally,
Speaker 1: whatever you're asking for God, in prayer, you express my emotion,
Speaker 1: my desire with emotion. So many of our prayers are
Speaker 1: just cut and dried. We just say these words. We
Speaker 1: don't even know what we're talking about. We have these
Speaker 1: little you know, things we've memorized. Now I lay me
Speaker 1: down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to
Speaker 1: keep you know, And if I should die before I wake,
Speaker 1: I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Speaker 2: That means nothing, it's just little thing.
Speaker 1: Or you sit down, freez it bless this food to
Speaker 1: the nourishment of our bodies. The bless the gift and
Speaker 1: the giver. And it does. And it's it's not there's
Speaker 1: no emotion, there's no authenticity. It's just things you've learned.
Speaker 1: God doesn't care how beautiful your prayer sounds. In fact,
Speaker 1: God doesn't even care as much about the words as
Speaker 1: he cares much about the emotions. Have you learned that
Speaker 1: you can say the right words and the wrong emotion,
Speaker 1: and your spouse doesn't get it. Yes, you can say
Speaker 1: all the right things, but you didn't what do you
Speaker 1: mean by that because of the tone of your voice.
Speaker 1: And so he's saying, God is an emotional god. The
Speaker 1: only reason you have emotions, the good ones and the
Speaker 1: bad ones, is because you're made in God's image. Human
Speaker 1: beings have emotions that none of the animals have. We
Speaker 1: have a whole pentopley of emotions because God is an
Speaker 1: emotional god. The Bible says God gets happy. The Bible
Speaker 1: says God gets sad. He's sad when he sees a rape,
Speaker 1: when he sees a molestation, when he sees a war.
Speaker 1: God is sad when he sees what people do to
Speaker 1: each other out of selfishness. And the Bible says God
Speaker 1: gets angry. That's why you can get angry. You're made
Speaker 1: in God's image. The Bible says, God gets jealous. Why
Speaker 1: and that's why you get jealous, because when God sees
Speaker 1: you giving your love to something else instead of him
Speaker 1: that belongs to him, he gets jealous. The Bible says,
Speaker 1: God gets frustrated. He looks down and he sees all
Speaker 1: of the stuff we're doing. He goes, I told you
Speaker 1: not to do that, and you're doing it anyway. It's
Speaker 1: going to mess you up. He gets frustrated. Now, could
Speaker 1: God change it? Of course, he could turn us all
Speaker 1: into puppets. But God's going to just of your life,
Speaker 1: have it your way.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to force you to love me. I'm
Speaker 2: not going to force you to do the right thing.
Speaker 1: So you and I make selfish decisions every day, and
Speaker 1: people get hurt. That's why there's sin, that's why there's
Speaker 1: evil in the world. Because God gives us the freedom
Speaker 1: to choose. And so God just says, okay, I'll just
Speaker 1: back off. Let you reap the results of your own
Speaker 1: own decision. But God says, I'm an emotional God. Jesus
Speaker 1: dying on the cross was an emotional scene, highly emotional.
Speaker 1: Jesus dying the cross was emotionally agonizing to him. It
Speaker 1: was agonizing to God the father watching his son die
Speaker 1: that way, but doing it for your benefit. It was
Speaker 1: agonizing with the people who are watching. It's an emotional thing,
Speaker 1: and God is very emotional about you. Do you realize this,
Speaker 1: God just go O, I love you now. God loves
Speaker 1: you passionately emotionally. God has deep, deep, deep feelings for you.
Speaker 1: How much he loves you. If you don't know w
Speaker 1: how much you lled you look at the cross. I'm
Speaker 1: willing to die. I'm willing to die for you. That's
Speaker 1: how much God has emotion for you. And so God says,
Speaker 1: I want you. When I have such emotion for you,
Speaker 1: I want you to talk to me emotionally. Don't just
Speaker 1: do these little prayer things where you read a prayer
Speaker 1: and there's no emotion in it.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you.
Speaker 1: Does tone make a difference when you make a request.
Speaker 2: Of course it does, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, how about guys, if you had said to
Speaker 1: your future spouse on.
Speaker 2: A date, you go, huh, exc you to marry me? Oh? Please,
Speaker 2: I want you to marry me. She go, buddy.
Speaker 1: If you can't say it with a little bit more
Speaker 1: passion than that, forget it.
Speaker 2: That ain't going to happen.
Speaker 1: Do any of you remember when you were little and
Speaker 1: somebody was tickling you, and it was fun at the start,
Speaker 1: and then it got too much, okay, And when you
Speaker 1: wanted to stop taking you go you stop tickling me.
Speaker 2: No, please stop taking me. I can't handle it anymore.
Speaker 1: And you are passionate of passion, intensity shows house up much.
Speaker 2: Something matters to you.
Speaker 1: Now, if you ask God about something, God, I really
Speaker 1: like this, but you're not passionate about it. God goes, Wow,
Speaker 1: do I know it's just a if you only pray
Speaker 1: about it once, you're not willing to pray about it
Speaker 1: more than once, and you never talked to God about God,
Speaker 1: I really need this. I gotta have this. You know
Speaker 1: I've got to have it. Then God goes, what is
Speaker 1: this a wish or a whim? Or is it really
Speaker 1: a true desire? And so the Bible says this. Here's
Speaker 1: the third thing Daniel did. Verse three, the second part
Speaker 1: of it. He says, I begin pleading with God earnestly
Speaker 1: in prayer circle. The word pleading pleading means to ask
Speaker 1: with emotion. It's not cut and dry. It's more than
Speaker 1: a mundane request. I'm asking with emotion. I'm pleading. The
Speaker 1: hebrewhere there is bakasha. It means an emotional request. It's
Speaker 1: a serious seeking. It's searching with all your heart. It's
Speaker 1: earnestly begging. It's I'm begging you. I'm begging you. I'm
Speaker 1: begging you please, please please. I'm begging you please. I'm
Speaker 1: down on my knees. I gotta have this. That's pleading.
Speaker 1: God listens to pleading. Makes me think about a story
Speaker 1: I heard a while back where as a kid, a
Speaker 1: young kid who at Christmas time he wanted a Star
Speaker 1: Wars watch and it was a really cool watch. I
Speaker 1: had Yoda on it, and he just and so he
Speaker 1: was bugging his parents, Mom, I want this Star Wars
Speaker 1: watch for Christmas, Dad, I want this Star Wars watch
Speaker 1: for Christmas. He just keeps on and on and on,
Speaker 1: every conversation, every meal, he's mentioning the Star Wars watch,
Speaker 1: and finally his dad goes, Johnny, we got it. If
Speaker 1: you mentioned this one more time, you're not gonna get
Speaker 1: the watch. Smart kid backs off, doesn't doesn't do anything.
Speaker 1: About a week later, they're having this whole family sitting
Speaker 1: at dinner and the dad says, Hey, you know what,
Speaker 1: it's good for us to talk about the Bible. So
Speaker 1: everybody just share your your favorite Bible verse, anything or
Speaker 1: Bible verse that you know.
Speaker 2: You could say.
Speaker 1: And so one of the kids goes John three sixteen
Speaker 1: because everybody knows that one for.
Speaker 2: God so loved the world.
Speaker 1: And the teenager goes John eleven thirty five. Jesus wept.
Speaker 1: Shortest verse in the Bible. Anybody can memorize that two words,
Speaker 1: Jesus wept. So okay, john John love the third right,
Speaker 1: Jesus wept.
Speaker 2: That's his verse.
Speaker 1: So they're going around the room and they come to
Speaker 1: Johnny and Johnny goes. So they said, Johnny, what's your
Speaker 1: favorite verse? He said, well, my favorite verse would be
Speaker 1: Mark thirteen thirty seven, where Jesus said I told you
Speaker 1: once and I sand to you again.
Speaker 2: Watch. Yeah, yeah, smart kid.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's what you get for going putting your kids
Speaker 1: in Siddleback Kids ministry. They're gonna learn Bible verses like that.
Speaker 1: Watch And so you know he was. He was already
Speaker 1: look at this verse in the sage paraphrase, Daniel nine
Speaker 1: three says, I poured out my heart to God, bearing
Speaker 1: my soul to God. Have you ever done that? Have
Speaker 1: you ever poured out your heart to God? Have you
Speaker 1: ever bared your soul to God? This is not wimpy
Speaker 1: week praying. This is got ceased praying. This is got
Speaker 1: wrenching praying. I'm pouring out my soul to God.
Speaker 2: God.
Speaker 1: I gotta have your help in this business. I gotta
Speaker 1: have your help in this marriage. I've got to God.
Speaker 1: I am telling you, I'm pouring out my heart. I
Speaker 1: am being authentic. I'm burying my soul. It's kind of
Speaker 1: like Jacob wrestling with the Angel. I'm not gonna let
Speaker 1: go until you bless me God. Now, when was the
Speaker 1: last time you ever prayed like that, pouring out your
Speaker 1: soul to God emotionally? I can tell you You may
Speaker 1: have forgotten, but I can tell you the last time
Speaker 1: you prayed like that as your pastor, friend, spiritual coach.
Speaker 1: The last time you prayed like that is when you
Speaker 1: were in deep, deep pain. Because we don't pour out
Speaker 1: our hearts to God like that when we're things are
Speaker 1: going great and we're skipping the hills of Jerusalem picking
Speaker 1: flowers and talking about peace, love and Bobby Sherman, you know,
Speaker 1: just to have a happy day, smiling faith. No, you
Speaker 1: pour out your God when you are in deep pain?
Speaker 1: Is that the only time you pour out your heart
Speaker 1: to God when you're in deep pain?
Speaker 2: Can you do it any other time?
Speaker 1: This is called praying with emotion, called quote crying out
Speaker 1: to God. Someday you might want to do a study
Speaker 1: of this in the Bible about all the times God
Speaker 1: talks about, quote crying out to God. There are many
Speaker 1: many examples of people of all sorts who cried out
Speaker 1: to God and God heard their prayer. There are many
Speaker 1: many promises in the Bible about crying out. God does
Speaker 1: not listen to just complaints. He listens to crying out
Speaker 1: in emotion to God saying God, I really need your help.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: It says he said he was pleading. He's crying. What
Speaker 1: is he pleading? What is Daniel pleading with God about?
Speaker 1: He's going God, I want to go back home. I'm
Speaker 1: an old man. I'm eighty five years old. I spent
Speaker 1: my entire life serving pagan kings. I've done good. I
Speaker 1: stay true, kept my integrity in a pagan world. I
Speaker 1: didn't deny my faith, and I kept getting promoted. I'm
Speaker 1: pretty influential guy in the whole kingdom here. But God,
Speaker 1: I want to go back home. I really I'm going
Speaker 1: to go. I'm going to die in my home country now. Jeremiah,
Speaker 1: the other guy at the same time, had predicted that
Speaker 1: after seventy years, Babylon would fall, and that then the
Speaker 1: people of God in Babylon would start praying and pleading
Speaker 1: God let us go back home. Here's what it says
Speaker 1: Jeremiah chapter fifty. This was his prediction. He says, then
Speaker 1: my people will join together in tears. That's emotional praying.
Speaker 1: They'll join together in tears to seek the Lord. And
Speaker 1: they will ask the way to Jerusalem. Why, because it
Speaker 1: had been seventy years. They didn't even know how to
Speaker 1: get back home. They will ask the way to Jerusalem
Speaker 1: and they will start back home again. That's one of
Speaker 1: the most touching and hopeful verses in the Bible. They
Speaker 1: don't know the way to get back home, but they're
Speaker 1: going to ask God in tears, and they will start
Speaker 1: back home again. America needs to pray that prayer. We
Speaker 1: have gotten so far off from where we started. We
Speaker 1: need to go back home again. You need to pray
Speaker 1: that prayer. You need to pray that prayer for your
Speaker 1: own life. God, I've gotten so detached from you, I've
Speaker 1: gotten so busy, I've gotten so distracted.
Speaker 2: I don't even know the way to find my way
Speaker 2: back home to you.
Speaker 1: I haven't the slightest idea how to get back home
Speaker 1: to you. I don't know how to get home to Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: But I want to come back home. You need to
Speaker 1: pray that prayer for your life. Some of you need
Speaker 1: to pray that for your family. Our family's so out
Speaker 1: of whack. We need to come back home to you.
Speaker 1: Some of your parents need to pray that for your kids.
Speaker 1: I got kids who are out there on the limb.
Speaker 1: I need to pray they'll come back home. Some of
Speaker 1: you need to pray it for your business. All of
Speaker 1: us need to pray it for our nation. It's a
Speaker 1: message of hope. Now when does God answer that kind
Speaker 1: of prayer? Well, notice that verse It said when my
Speaker 1: people join together in tears. You might circle that, when
Speaker 1: my people join together in tears, God says, then I'm
Speaker 1: going to answer. Let me ask you a question. You
Speaker 1: see everything that I see. You read the newspapers, you
Speaker 1: watch TV, you see what's going on in our nation,
Speaker 1: You see what's going on in our world. Does anything
Speaker 1: break your heart? The stuff that's going on around does
Speaker 1: it break your heart? What you see happening in our society,
Speaker 1: in our system, in our politics, does anything break your heart?
Speaker 1: You see all the stuff going on all around the world.
Speaker 1: Is there anything ever bring tears to your eyes? If
Speaker 1: that means you've really pulled away from the heart of God.
Speaker 1: It's not something we just gossip about and tweet about.
Speaker 1: It's something that breaks the heart. And in tears he said, God,
Speaker 1: we need help in this area. All right, there are
Speaker 1: a couple more number four. The first the fourth key
Speaker 1: is this, demonstrate my seriousness. Demonstrate my seriousness in prayer.
Speaker 1: How do you let God see how important the prayers
Speaker 1: to you.
Speaker 2: Tom is going to come.
Speaker 1: And teach the next couple of points, and he's going
Speaker 1: to talk to you about how do you do that?
Speaker 1: How do you show to God God, I'm really serious
Speaker 1: about this prayer.
Speaker 3: So when you're praying, is it like just checking a
Speaker 3: box or just covering.
Speaker 2: The bases, or are you really serious about it?
Speaker 3: There's some things that we can do to demonstrate to
Speaker 3: ourselves and to God that we're serious about this prayer.
Speaker 3: Daniel show some of these as we read this next verse.
Speaker 3: A couple things that he does here are actually cultural
Speaker 3: things that they did in their day, but one of
Speaker 3: them is a spiritual discipline, spiritual habit all throughout the
Speaker 3: Bible that people did to demonstrate the seriousness of their prayer,
Speaker 3: of their commitment their trust in God. Look at this
Speaker 3: Daniel ninety three, and I started fasting, and I went
Speaker 3: without food to show my sadness. I put on rough
Speaker 3: clothes and I sat in ashes. Now those last two
Speaker 3: were the cultural ones, sackcloth and ashes. They would sew
Speaker 3: grain sacks together and they'd wear that. They put ashes
Speaker 3: on their face as a way of saying, I'm in grief.
Speaker 2: I'm serious.
Speaker 3: In our culture, there was a time when people would
Speaker 3: wear black for an entire year if they were in grief.
Speaker 3: It was a cultural way of saying I'm seriously in grief.
Speaker 3: So that's the cultural part, But there's also this spiritual discipline.
Speaker 3: I started fasting. All throughout the Bible, people went without food.
Speaker 3: They fasted to say God, I'm really serious about this
Speaker 3: before you. Moses fasted when he received the Ten Commandments.
Speaker 3: The Israelites fasted before a miraculous victory that they got
Speaker 3: from God. Daniel fasted when he needed wisdom from God.
Speaker 3: Neamiah fasted before he started a huge project. Jesus fasted
Speaker 3: as a part of the vic true that God gave
Speaker 3: him over temptation out in the wilderness. The first Christians
Speaker 3: fasted when they wanted to know God's wisdom for the
Speaker 3: New Church. It's all throughout the Bible. It's just a
Speaker 3: way of saying God, I'm serious about this. Fasting, the
Speaker 3: Bible says, demonstrates the depth of desire that you have
Speaker 3: when you're praying. It's a way of saying God, this
Speaker 3: emotion that Rick was just talking about. I want you
Speaker 3: to see this emotion. Fasting gives you just literally more
Speaker 3: time to pray. The time you prepare and eat and
Speaker 3: clean up from a meal, you take that time to
Speaker 3: focus on God. Sometimes we get too busy to pray,
Speaker 3: so you do a break an intentional fast to say God,
Speaker 3: I want to focus on you. And Jesus taught us
Speaker 3: it actually releases God's supernatural power in our lives. I
Speaker 3: don't understand the mystery of this, but he said there's
Speaker 3: some things in life that only by prayer and fasting
Speaker 3: can those things happen. There's something about depending on.
Speaker 2: God in that way.
Speaker 3: So, whether it's through fasting, through journaling, whatever way you
Speaker 3: do this, you say God, I am serious about this.
Speaker 3: It's a part of the prayer that God answers. And
Speaker 3: then the next one is number five. You thank God
Speaker 3: for his promises. Say God, I am thankful for the
Speaker 3: promises that you've given. You've reminded yourself at the very
Speaker 3: beginning that the only reason this prayer is going to
Speaker 3: be answered is because God is gracious. And God is gracious,
Speaker 3: he wants to answer your prayer. He's given promises that
Speaker 3: say he's going to answer your prayer. You're not forcing
Speaker 3: him to answer it. He is a loving and promising,
Speaker 3: gracious God, Daniel nine, verse four. And then I prayed
Speaker 3: to the Lord, and I said, Lord, you are a
Speaker 3: great and awesome God. You always fulfill your promises of
Speaker 3: constant love to those who love you and keep your commands.
Speaker 3: This is the attitude of thanksgiving that needs to be
Speaker 3: a part of our lives year round. God, I'm thankful
Speaker 3: that you're answering this because you want to, because you
Speaker 3: love me. You're not going to God saying God, I
Speaker 3: hope you'll answer it.
Speaker 2: I'm thankful, but you will answer it.
Speaker 3: You're not going to God saying God, I know you'll
Speaker 3: answer because I'm such a good man, such a good woman,
Speaker 3: who could pray that.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 3: I know you'll answer it because you're such a good God.
Speaker 3: I'm thankful for who you are. In any circumstances, we
Speaker 3: can depend on God in that Daniel nine to nine.
Speaker 3: Daniel said, even though we have rebelled against you, you
Speaker 3: Lord are merciful and forgiving. So you go to him
Speaker 3: based on that, you depend on him based on that.
Speaker 3: All right, Rick's gonna come back and share number six,
Speaker 3: which is number six is right? In this, I humbly
Speaker 3: confess my sins.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is the last step. I humbly confess my sin.
Speaker 1: God doesn't listen to prideful complaining, but he does listen
Speaker 1: to humble confessing. God responds to humility, he says. God
Speaker 1: resists a probe, but he gives grace.
Speaker 2: To the humble.
Speaker 1: Now, some of you think, you know, if I admit
Speaker 1: my sins to God, I'm gonna get punished. Oh, hang
Speaker 1: on a minute. First place, God already knows them all.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna say, God, I did this?
Speaker 2: You go? Oh really?
Speaker 1: How did I miss that one? Didn't see that one coming.
Speaker 1: God already knows every stupid thing you've done in your
Speaker 1: entire life. He just wants you to admit it. It's
Speaker 1: for your own humility. How does God respond when I
Speaker 1: humbly admit I blew it with punishment? Never when God
Speaker 1: hears you be humble. He responds, not with punishment, but
Speaker 1: with blessing. Confess, with forgiving, with mercy, with grace. It's
Speaker 1: not like I come and I admit it, then God's
Speaker 1: going to take me down. No, no, You're gonna get
Speaker 1: taken down by your own pride. God says, you come
Speaker 1: to me humbly. You just admit. Hey, I blew it.
Speaker 1: You know that stuff I said yesterday, it wasn't right.
Speaker 1: That stuff I did to the way I talked to
Speaker 1: my kids, that was not right the way I did this,
Speaker 1: And they just admitted to God. He keep short accounts.
Speaker 1: This is the sixth thing you do. I humbly confess.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: The word confess in the Bible, the Greek word is
Speaker 1: the word homo Logeoh Homo means same homosexual, homo sapian,
Speaker 1: homogenized milk means it's all the same. Same Logeo means
Speaker 1: to speak, and so to confess himply means to speak
Speaker 1: the same thing about God. You're right, that was the sin.
Speaker 1: I don't excuse it. I don't make excuses for it.
Speaker 1: I don't say God that was a little faux pas
Speaker 1: is a little weakness.
Speaker 2: No, it was wrong. It was sin. It was rebellion
Speaker 2: against you.
Speaker 1: I did it. You told me not to do it,
Speaker 1: but I did it anyway. And that kind of.
Speaker 2: Thing God responds to with grace.
Speaker 1: Now in Daniel, chapter five, nine, verse five, he says, this,
Speaker 1: we've sinned and we've done wrong. Okay, this is the
Speaker 1: sixth part of the prayer. I humbly confess, but I've
Speaker 1: done wrong. We send it none wrong. But he doesn't
Speaker 1: stop there. He gets very very specific, and you need
Speaker 1: to too. You don't need to go, Oh, God, forgive
Speaker 1: all the sins I did yesterday, but I'm too busy
Speaker 1: to name them. God wants you to be specific because
Speaker 1: then he wants you to be able to know what
Speaker 1: not to do again. And so I want you to circle.
Speaker 1: I'm just going to read these verses real quick. I'm
Speaker 1: not even going to comment on them, and I want
Speaker 1: you to circle the verbs which are the sins. Okay,
Speaker 1: he says, we've sinned none wrong. That he says, we've
Speaker 1: rebelled against you. That's one rebelled circle. That we've rebelled
Speaker 1: against you. He says, we've ignored your commands. Circle ignored.
Speaker 1: He says, we've rejected your laws. We made up our
Speaker 1: own morality. We rejected your loss. He says, we have
Speaker 1: refused to listen to your servants. The prophets refused who
Speaker 1: spoke the message to our kings and our leaders, and
Speaker 1: our parents and everybody else in our nation. He says,
Speaker 1: this is very specific. We're all at fault here, every generation.
Speaker 1: It's not like one generation in America. Every generation's got
Speaker 1: part of the blame. And then in verse seven and eight,
Speaker 1: he says this, we've brought disgrace and shame on ourselves
Speaker 1: as a nation because we've been unfaithful to you. He said,
Speaker 1: you know what, God, we've committed spiritual adultery. We gave
Speaker 1: our love to somebody else when we're supposed to give
Speaker 1: our love to you. We've been unfaithful to you. And
Speaker 1: he said this is true of all of us, including
Speaker 1: our kings, our leaders, and our parents. He said, we
Speaker 1: next verse verse ten, we paid no attention to you
Speaker 1: when you told us how to live, told us what's
Speaker 1: right and wrong, what's morally good, not He said, this
Speaker 1: clear teaching came through your promise verse thirteen.
Speaker 2: But we kept on sinning. We never gave you a
Speaker 2: second thought. We were oblivious to you. The clear warnings.
Speaker 1: So God, he says, you had no choice but to
Speaker 1: let disaster loose in our nation on us, since we
Speaker 1: persistently and defiantly ignored you. And then he sums it
Speaker 1: all up in verse sixteen, and he says, and now
Speaker 1: all the other nations mock us. Does any of this
Speaker 1: sound vaguely familiar to you? I just read you a
Speaker 1: laundry list of America. I just read you the last
Speaker 1: fifty years of America right there. Now, Daniel knows we
Speaker 1: don't deserve God's blessing, but he casts himself on the
Speaker 1: grace of God. He goes, God, we could never earn this,
Speaker 1: we could never deserve this. We don't deserve to get
Speaker 1: back to home, get back to you. We don't deserve
Speaker 1: your blessing. But I'm going to cast myself on your mercy.
Speaker 1: And in the next verse he says, this, Oh God,
Speaker 1: oh God, listen to me. Hear my request. We don't
Speaker 1: ask because we deserve out, We don't. We don't ask
Speaker 1: because we deserve, but because you are so merciful. You
Speaker 1: are a You're a good, good father, and you are merciful.
Speaker 1: Now how does God respond to this kind of prayer?
Speaker 2: The sixth that we just taught you. Well.
Speaker 1: In verse twenty, here's how God responds. Daniel says, well,
Speaker 1: I kept on praying. Let me stop right there. Circle
Speaker 1: The phrase kept on. Daniel didn't pray this prayer one time.
Speaker 1: He's praying it over and over and over and over. God,
Speaker 1: I need your help. He's praying this over and over.
Speaker 1: He said, I kept on praying. Don't you pray about
Speaker 1: something one time? You don't care about it, he says,
Speaker 1: while I kept on praying and confessing my sins and
Speaker 1: confessing the sins of my people and pleading with the Lord.
Speaker 1: He's emotional in this. Suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared in
Speaker 1: my vision. Now you guys know who Gabriel is. There
Speaker 1: are three archangels. There was Lucifer, he fell, he became Satan.
Speaker 1: There's Michael, and there's Gabriel. Gabriel's the guy who shows.
Speaker 2: Up at Christmas. Hello.
Speaker 1: Okay, So we actually know the names of these guys.
Speaker 1: And this is so important that God. God sends the
Speaker 1: angel Gabriel in a vision to Daniel, and he says, suddenly,
Speaker 1: while I'm doing all his praying, the angel Gabriel period
Speaker 1: in my vision and said this Daniel, I've been sent,
Speaker 1: obviously by God. I've been sent to help you understand
Speaker 1: God's plan. Now, the moment you began praying, the answer
Speaker 1: was given, and I'm here to tell it to you,
Speaker 1: for God loves you very much. Now, God doesn't have
Speaker 1: to send Gabriel to me, and he doesn't have to
Speaker 1: send Gabriel to you because we have the second half
Speaker 1: of the Bible that was written that tells us all
Speaker 1: about Jesus. And so I can tell you right now
Speaker 1: what God will say to you.
Speaker 2: I love you very very very very very very much.
Speaker 1: I feel, very very deeply have deep feelings for you.
Speaker 1: God says, I saw you born, I saw you grow,
Speaker 1: I've saw all the hurts, I've saw the happy times.
Speaker 1: I've seen everything in your life. And I have a
Speaker 1: plan for your life, and I have a timetable for
Speaker 1: your life. And when you start praying, I heard that prayer,
Speaker 1: and I want to help you understand my plan for
Speaker 1: your life because I love you very very much. Now
Speaker 1: you say, well, wait a minute, Rick, this is God
Speaker 1: talking to Daniel.
Speaker 2: I'm not Daniel.
Speaker 1: No, you're not neither am I. But I know this
Speaker 1: prayer will work for you. And the reason I know
Speaker 1: it will work for you. Is because the exact same
Speaker 1: formula is given in another part of the Bible to anybody.
Speaker 2: It's to all of God's people.
Speaker 1: It's called Second Chronicle seven fourteen, one of the most
Speaker 1: famous promises in the entire Bible. Now, before I read
Speaker 1: this promise, I want you to understand it's one of
Speaker 1: the most misused, misquoted versus in the Bible. I've actually
Speaker 1: heard politicians quote this verse as a promise to America.
Speaker 1: It is not a promise to America. It is not
Speaker 1: a promise to any nation. It is a promise to
Speaker 1: God's people. And God's people are in every nation. So
Speaker 1: this is not a promise for America. This is a
Speaker 1: promise for you and me and believers anywhere else in
Speaker 1: any other nation of the world. And it is for us,
Speaker 1: it's not for everybody. Second Chronicle seven fourteen. God says,
Speaker 1: I got four conditions. If you'll do these four things,
Speaker 1: I'll do three things. If my people, if my people
Speaker 1: who are called by my name, are you called my name?
Speaker 1: Are you called a Christian? That's being called by the
Speaker 1: name of Christ. So if you're a Christian, you call
Speaker 1: yourself a Christian. If my people who are called by
Speaker 1: my name, and here are the four things.
Speaker 2: Will humble themselves.
Speaker 1: That's confession, and pray, that's pleading, and seek my face.
Speaker 2: We're going to do that for thirty four days. And
Speaker 2: turn from.
Speaker 1: Their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven. I
Speaker 1: will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land.
Speaker 1: God says that I don't.
Speaker 2: Know what you need.
Speaker 1: Healing in healing in your mind, healing in your heart,
Speaker 1: healing in your body, healing in your business, healing in
Speaker 1: your finances, healing in your relationships, healing of your fears.
Speaker 1: Your business needs healing, your family needs healing, your marriage
Speaker 1: needs healing.
Speaker 2: Your nation needs healing. If my people.
Speaker 1: Who are called by my name, God says, will humble themselves.
Speaker 2: I blew it, Lord, I just blew it and pray.
Speaker 2: I am pleading God.
Speaker 1: I did not seek you, and I made a bunch
Speaker 1: of dumb decisions, and now I'm paying for it. Well,
Speaker 1: humble themselves and pray and seek my face. You got
Speaker 1: my attention. God, I'm looking at you, and turn from
Speaker 1: their ways. They're wicked ways. Then will hear from heaven.
Speaker 1: I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land.
Speaker 2: Period done. That's it.
Speaker 1: We need a revival in America. Dear God, I thank
Speaker 1: you that you're a good and gracious God. And as
Speaker 1: we get ready to together as a family to claim
Speaker 1: second Chronicle seven fourteen, that we will make a habit
Speaker 1: out of having conversations with you.
Speaker 2: And reading your word every day.
Speaker 1: You've promised that if we stay connected to you, and
Speaker 1: that if we have your word in our hearts, that
Speaker 1: we can ask what we will and it will be done.
Speaker 1: I thank you for these people who are here. They
Speaker 1: love you, They're good people. They want to do what's right.
Speaker 1: If they weren't interested in doing it's right, they're going
Speaker 1: to stay home TV today. But they're here and it
Speaker 1: says that their heart is in the right direction. So
Speaker 1: I ask you on their behalf to hear their prayers
Speaker 1: for Jesus sake, Now you pray, say God, I want
Speaker 1: to learn to seek you.
Speaker 2: I want to build a.
Speaker 1: Habit that I don't ever go to bed at night,
Speaker 1: even if I've only read the Bible for one minute
Speaker 1: and prayed for one minute, I don't put my head
Speaker 1: on the pillow without at.
Speaker 2: Least one conversation with You.
Speaker 1: Help me to see that your plan for my life
Speaker 1: involves your timing and my praying, and that many times
Speaker 1: I have not because I asked not. Teach me how
Speaker 1: to focus my attention on you. God, it's so easy
Speaker 1: to get distracted in this world. I want to turn
Speaker 1: my face to you, and Lord, teach me how to
Speaker 1: talk to you with emotion, to be authentic and real,
Speaker 1: not phony and fate. I'm going to realize that my
Speaker 1: tone and my heart are more important than the words.
Speaker 1: Thank You, that my prayer doesn't have to be beautiful
Speaker 1: and sound great. It just has to be honest and real. Lord,
Speaker 1: break my heart over the things that break your heart.
Speaker 1: Teach me to pour out my heart to you. And yes,
Speaker 1: even if tears come, so be it.
Speaker 2: God.
Speaker 1: I've wandered away and I'm not as close to you
Speaker 1: as I've been in the past. I want to start
Speaker 1: back home again today. Help me to demonstrate my seriousness
Speaker 1: by even willing to be willing to go without food
Speaker 1: to show as a symbol as a sign that I'm serious.
Speaker 2: About what I'm praying about.
Speaker 1: Thank you for loving me, God, Thank you for your promises.
Speaker 1: Thank you that you are faithful when I'm unfaithful. You're
Speaker 1: consistent when I'm inconsistent. Thank you that when I come
Speaker 1: and I humble myself to you and I admit what
Speaker 1: I've done wrong, and I admit my rebellion, you don't
Speaker 1: punish me, but you forgive me, and you wrap me
Speaker 1: in your embrace. God, we ask you to work in
Speaker 1: our hearts and lives. If you've never invited Christ to
Speaker 1: your life, said Jesus Christ, I ask you to come
Speaker 1: into my heart and life right now. Make yourself real
Speaker 1: to me. I want to learn to trust you, and
Speaker 1: I want you to be the manager, Dear Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: a manager of my life. And I pray this humbly
Speaker 1: in your name.
Speaker 2: Amen,