Luke 11:1-4

Prayer has a way of humbling us. The Lord, and He alone rules and reigns in our hearts. Prayer is our way to hear what He has to say and provides us with the chance to respond.

That prayer is sitting there.
Oh Father oh God, oh Lord, deliver me, help me, lead me, guide me and it’s sitting there and then in jesus’ name it’s there.
Father opens it up and it’s got Jesus from Jesus from Jesus.
Your son, father opens it up. Hey, dad, Jack needs this.
Jack needs help. Jack is dumb. Let’s give him some wisdom. He represents you.
And I before the very throne of God, he ever lives to represent you.
And I oh you’re not alone. You may feel alone.
But frankly, it doesn’t matter how you feel man. This is encouraging for me.
John 17 9, Jesus said, I pray for them. Father.
I do not pray for the world but for those who you’ve given me, they are yours and you’ve given them to me.
Jesus praise for us. First.
John chapter two verse one says my little Children, these things are right to you so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous.
You remember that little cylinder that you put the request in and you send it up, Jesus is that cylinder I’ve sinned.
I confess that to the Lord and the Lord takes my request before the father and because of Jesus Christ, the righteous, I’m forgiven.
Isn’t it amazing that when you go and ask God to forgive you, he forgives you?
Are we not spoiled people? Are we not blessed by God?
Listen, I have in my credenza in my office and I don’t know what it’s called in Arabic.
I don’t know what it’s called, but I’ve got one of those things that you flog yourself for your sins.
It’s got like fish hooks on the back of it.
You take your shirt off and you beat yourself until you’re bleeding to a pulp on your way to Mecca.
What for to be forgiven? Lord, I have sinned against you.
I have sinned against my brother or my sister. Please forgive me.
In Jesus name, Jesus was flogged at the cross for me.
Jesus paid it for me 2000 years ago.
That pain that suffering was dealt with at the cross and you come in faith and you ask him.
He said, that’s too easy. It’s pretty humbling, isn’t it?
Makes you not want to sin ever again? It’s amazing.
It’s a much needed union. Jesus brings us before the father who receives us. Also.
This, the spirit blesses us. The Holy spirit blesses us, our father, which is in Heaven Galatians four verse four says, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Because you are sons. God has sent forth His Holy Spirit of or excuse me, the spirit of his son into your hearts crying out as we read earlier, Abba Father, the Holy Spirit is that work in our lives in this much needed union point number three.
Also in verse two, when a Christian prays, it’s a sacred endeavor. When we pray, Holly would be your name.
What does that word?
Hollow mean the word means this to honor him, to adore him, to revere him, to be in awe of him.
We are in awe of your name. We are adoring your name, we revere your name.
It’s a, it’s an exclamation of awareness.
When you, when you think of Hollywood be your name.
This is an amazing thing that all true prayer, all true prayer begins first with worship.
That’s what that is. When you pray, pray like like this, pray, pray regarding this structure and in your prayer life, you are to be honoring the name of the Lord.
It doesn’t mean you say Holly would be thy name. You know what it means.
It means this Lord. I come to you father, papa. Your name.
Your name is holy to me. Lord. I love your name. I know that there’s no name.
There is no other name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved.
I know that it is your name and your name alone for you are the only God there is, you are the God of the Bible.
You are the God of my salvation. And Lord I’m in awe of you.
You to pray more like that than how would be thy name thy kingdom.
Do you understand? This is critical.
I wonder how much of our life as the believers engaged in prayer.
But it comes to this first. It’s worship. It’s amazing when we come and pray.
It is an act of worship. Not some mindless mantra that somebody recites over and over again.
Well, it’s a sacred endeavor and that we’re created for prayer and this is amazing.
We’ll spend just a second on this one created for prayer where to commune with God.
We’re to talk with him. The Bible says, and we’ll, we’ll spend more time on this next week.
But the Bible says to pray without ceasing you see, that’s impossible. No, it’s not.
You need to understand what it means to be in the attitude, in the mindset of prayer, to be, to be talking to God.
Do we get hung up on the word prayer? When we say the word prayer or read the word prayer?
Do we hear like like some chamber choir singing with?
And you know, is that you see incense rising and robes and pray are girl or do you when you hear or read the word prayer that if you’re walking through the park or you, or driving or eating or working or you’re just in that attitude of prayer.
That’s the answer we’re created for that. Our, our first mom and dad enjoyed that.
Adam and Eve enjoyed it. The Bible says in Galatians three verse eight, that as they were in the garden is this, we can’t even imagine this.
But as they were in the garden, God would come and meet with them and talk to them in the cool of the day.
How did that happen? Well, first of all, they were, first of they were first in the Garden of Eden, though they were physical beings, but they were spirit first.
They talked with God. They were not yet fallen creatures.
Adam and Eve had not yet sinned and they spoke with the Lord prayer today takes us back to the pre fall as it were of the garden.
And we pray God wants that. Isn’t it amazing that He wants it in our lives? Church? Listen to this.
When you read the Bible, when you read the words of Jesus, he begs us almost to pray.
Ask in my name, seek me, call out to me. He wants you.
He wants us to be talking to him. But we’ve made it something miserable. We’ve made it something difficult.
We made it something almost sad or scary.
It’s a sacred endeavor and that we’re to be dependent upon prayer were to be dependent.
Now, listen, don’t answer out loud.
But how much and how often do you and I pray.
This is what stings the amount of prayer that you and I are engaged in reveals, you can’t hide it.
It reveals how dependent I am or not upon God church. Are you with me here?
Are you listening to this? I don’t want to be convicted by myself. Please suffer with me. Will you?
How important is prayer to you? It’s not so important. Then you are not dependent upon God.
Charles Spurgeon says in one of his books, I don’t remember which one it is.
He says the prayer meeting is the lungs of the church.
I wonder how big of lungs churches have?
Then you and I live in an age. Maybe you don’t think about this.
But in pastoral ministry frankly, I’ll say it publicly. It makes me sick when pastors get together.
They will often eventually get to this question. And I don’t play this game very well.
I just think it’s sick but they will some at some point in time, they will say.
So how big is your church? I believe the question is Colonel.
Look, unless you’re trying to buy seats, what do you want to buy us seats?
Do you wanna buy us? What do you wanna wanna buy us some chairs?
You’re asking how many people come? Are you? You wanna buy us some chairs?
What are you asking that for? This is my belief.
You can go look online, you can go visit places and ask people, hey, this church I’m visiting.
How big is it? Oh, we’ve got 40 bazillion people.
They count, listen, they count Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday’s men’s ministry, women’s ministry, dog, and cat ministry.
Uh, children’s over. They, they, they count and then after they’ve counted one person seven times, then they talk about it.
Evangelistic. They make that person who they’ve counted seven times during the course of the week.
They just throw in another extra 1000 or so.
Oh, we’ve got, we’ve got 10,000 people was really, I may be ugly but I’m not dumb.
I, I, I, I count that that doesn’t fit, you know why they’re evangelistic counting.
Why is that important?
It’s not important unless you’re colonel, you’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs.
You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series. Just go to Jack Hibbs dot com.
That’s Jack Hibbs dot com. And for now let’s get back to our teaching once again. Here’s pastor Jack.
Here’s the truth. This may offend some of you, but this is just the way they think.
I think the true size of a church is a spiritual thing that only God knows.
I cannot know it. We can only get seats and chairs to plan for people to come and visit the true church that attends this church are those whom God sees in secret, who praise you want to get more accurate to the number, call a prayer meeting.
That’s the number of the church. We don’t have thousands of people here call a prayer meeting.
It may be 1000 it may be 500. That’s more accurate, as painful as that is.
And I’m sure this is going to go out over the radio and people are going to hear this online.
They’re going to call and complain.
God knows in secret where your heart is and where my heart is.
Who are we in private? Do we pray? Are we praying people?
It’s a very critical thing. Are we dependent upon prayer?
Thirdly, under this point, we’re revived through prayer. We are revived through prayer.
In Psalm five verse one, the bible says, give ear to my words, oh Lord and consider my meditation.
God revives us when we pray is your life drying is your life kind of dead spiritually set, set time aside and pray.
Watch what God does. He will begin to rekindle that radical, dramatic, exciting life.
He’ll revive us through prayer. I can’t think of any other way by the way in my own life.
And as I’ve read in history, I don’t see my life, your life being revived, church, being revived without prayer.
God does it when we pray. He meets us.
Point number four this morning is this when Christians pray, it’s a humbling process.
He says, pray, asking your kingdom come. It’s a humbling process. It brings about his reign in our lives.
It’s a humbling process to say your kingdom come.
Not my kingdom, not what I’m trying to do but your kingdom, it’s not my reign. That’s impossible.
It’s not what we want. It’s what God wants.
And when we’re praying this Lord, your kingdom come, we’re asking the Lord God almighty to reign in our lives.
When we pray this, we are asking the Lord, basically two things.
When we pray for him to have his kingdom in our lives, we’re asking for the Lord to be enthroned in the hearts of men, starting with us.
And number two, we’re asking God to return to this earth and establish His kingdom.
You can jot this down. I won’t read it. It’s, it’s too big.
But in second kings chapter 19, the king prays the leader of the nation prays and he says, oh God in heaven, the one who dwells between the chair of them, you alone hold the kingdoms of the earth together.
You have made heaven and earth incline your ear.
Oh Lord, and hear us and open your eyes and see that was the king of the nation of Israel which leads us to this.
It’s a humbling process to usher in his government.
There is no political party in the world that’s going to bring in righteousness.
God does that in the hearts of men.
Thirdly, under this point, it’s a humbling process to establish his lordship, to ask for his kingdom to come is for us to say, Lord deal with my life.
The Bible says in Hebrews 4 16, let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy in time of need.
Now, look, I know I’m over but I got to go. It’s, it’s the fifth point.
It will be done. Number five is, this is the last one. It’s a certain reality.
He says your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
When a Christian prays, you can look forward to a certain reality.
When you pray, pray believing, expect God to answer why? Because listen, when we pray, I know this sounds corny.
I can’t believe a man wrote that when we pray love comes down. Doesn’t that sound sweet?
I just came from the marriage retreat. I, you can tell God’s love comes down.
Jesus said, when you pray, pray that your will Father in heaven above be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God’s will is God’s heart. Don’t you want God’s heart? Don’t you want God’s will in your life?
Then you ask him, Lord, your will be done.
I saw a certain lunatic that’s on a certain Christian so called Christian TV program that is broadcast all around the world.
And this crazy person calls himself a Christian best selling author packs out stadiums around the world.
This lunatic gets on TV. And I have it on tape.
So don’t tell me I didn’t hear it.
I have the tape when I heard that, I said, I want the tape and I got the tape.
This guy said, when I’ll read that in the Bible, when Jesus said, Father, not my will, but thy will be done.
Listen to what he said, I look right up into heaven and I say my will be done.
And I, I let God right now right then and there my will be done.
No, thy will be done stuff. When I heard that I, I called that program.
I’ve never called that channel before. I called them. And I said, I want that tape. Oh great.
That is not that if anything could be beyond be beyond heresy, that was Jesus said the greatest thing in your life and in my life is for the will of the Father to be done in our world and in your home and in our thinking, it’s a certain reality.
When we determine to obey Him, your will be done is to say I will obey you, father.
This is serious. Jonah had to learn that he didn’t pray until he got swallowed by a whale or a great fish.
He wouldn’t talk to God. I’m not talking to you. I am not going to do that.
He gets on a boat runs away.
God has to prepare a fish, the fish swallows him then three, he was in the stomach of that giant fish for three days.
He’s a stubborn guy. He’s Jewish. I love my Jewish friends.
You can be talking to them and you’ll get in three arguments and it’s only one person you’re talking to.
I could just see Jonah right now. I’m not gonna, you know, there’s seaweed wrapped around.
He’s got some squid slapping him in the face. I’m not going to pray to you.
I am not gonna talk to you three days. I take him to take him to break down.
Then finally, oh God, I cried from the belly of the well, God heard him.
Oh Jonah, it’s great to hear from you obedience.
We can’t pray and then walk in disobedience.
I had somebody last week says they’re a Christian wants to know why their prayers aren’t getting answered while they’re sleeping with their girlfriend and having sex.
Well, what, what friend that’s fornication? Get away from that.
The Bible says those who do those things are not the end of the Kingdom of Heaven.
You listen your prayer, getting your, your prayer not getting answers. At least of your troubles.
You are in direct disobedience to God and in trouble. God will not hear you.
God will not be listening.
No, no, no, your will father be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Finally, we end with this. It’s a certain reality when man sees his return.
When we pray your will be done on earth as it is in heaven friend.
Ultimately, when we pray that we are asking the Lord to take back your universe and he’ll do that someday.
Not now, he’ll do that. So why pray it? Because it starts in the heart.
First kingdom is available to your heart.
Do you know that my friend this morning as we end?
If your heart, if you do not have the Kingdom of God alive in your heart, I beg of you make that decision today.
This service will end in a moment and you’ll have a chance to come forward at the end of the song and to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
You do that. Are you driven to pray? Are you passionate and hungry to pray?
Do you sense this incredible sense of burden as it were of desperate praying before God?
Oh God, help me. Are you troubled like I am that I don’t pray enough.
I’ve never heard someone say, I’ve prayed too much. You know what happened?
You know why that didn’t work out? I over prayed. We never pray enough.
I understand that. I find myself. You can stand. We’re all, we’re all done. I find myself.
No, really? You can stand. We’re all done.
I, I find myself so often um talking to the Lord Lord. I’m so sorry. I don’t pray more.
I wind up talking to more like that. I, I need to pray more.
I’m, I’m praying to him, talking to him about how you don’t pray more.
I just need to understand. He’s always listening. Oh church. Let’s get this down.
Let’s go from here today and let’s worship him. Heavenly father in jesus’ name.
We give you our lives, we give you our hearts.
We ask you Lord that in every way, shape and form, you would possess our hearts and souls. Father.
We are giving ourselves to not to be people of prayer.
And if this morning friend, you don’t know this, you come forward today at the end and receive the Lord Jesus father.
We thank you for these things. We ask you now in Jesus name and all God’s people said amen.
Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on real life radio with his message called when a Christian praise, thanks for spending some time with us today.
You know, when a Christian praise part one is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Gospel of Luke.
It’s a series on the book of Luke and the unveiling of Jesus Christ to this world.
And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
Pastor Jack years ago, there was a great book to come out that demands a verdict, made a big difference in my life and I’m sure millions of lives.
Tell me more about this new one.
Yeah, Josh mcdowell who really rocked the atheistic when he put out his first, his first print of evidence that demands a verdict because he came from the area of being an atheist.
He wanted to disprove the existence of God.
So he went about to on an intellectual, scientific uh pursuit, almost like a forensic dive into debunking the Bible.
And what that did to him was that when he couldn’t debunk it, he wound up having gone through a tremendous faith struggle.
And then Josh mcdowell later on became one of the great apologists in the 20th and 21st century.
Uh Now, with this uh evidence that demands a verdict, he’s included his fantastic, wonderful son, Sean mcdowell.
So together they give us now an updated version over 750 pages long Davy.
This is not a sit down uh cuddle up book. This is a reference book.
You go to it when you need it and you peruse it and you let it, you let it challenge you.
But by all means, every Christian should have this book in their library.
I remember seeing him years ago on an interview Josh mcdowell and I was so convinced with how convinced he was.
Wow, that’s really great observation because uh and that should be true.
You know, George Whitfield was preaching the gospel and Benjamin Franklin was there listening and uh David Hume came and everybody was saying that’s, that’s the great atheist.
Why is he here? Why is he here? Why is he here?
And somebody asked him, why are you here, Mr hume. You don’t believe in what Whitfield’s preaching.
And he said, I don’t to believe, but I’m here because he believes it.
Isn’t that great what a witness that maybe people, you know, will come and take a listen to what we believe because they can tell we believe it isn’t that great evidence that demands a verdict.
Life changing truth for a skeptical world by Josh mcdowell and Sean mcdowell.
It’s yours for a gift of any amount. And it’s available at our website Jack Hibbs dot com.
One more time. Jack Hibbs dot com.
This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you.
Our listeners visit us at Jack Hibbs dot com. That’s Jack Hibbs dot com.
Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio.
Wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in his word, we’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.