1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,600 If you’d open your Bible at Luke and chapter 11 that’s been read to us. 2 00:00:04,600 –> 00:00:09,080 This is the beginning of a short series on the subject of prayer. 3 00:00:09,080 –> 00:00:15,360 And I want to speak to you about three gifts that have the power to transform your prayer 4 00:00:15,360 –> 00:00:16,360 life. 5 00:00:16,360 –> 00:00:24,120 Now for millions of people, prayer is nothing more than the most tedious business and anxious 6 00:00:24,340 –> 00:00:26,920 mother clutches a string of beads. 7 00:00:26,920 –> 00:00:32,220 A man who is sick lights a candle and wonders if it will do any good. 8 00:00:32,220 –> 00:00:38,580 A businessman asks a friend who he knows to be religious, will you say a prayer for me? 9 00:00:38,580 –> 00:00:41,279 I think I need it. 10 00:00:41,279 –> 00:00:47,400 And to each of these people prayer feels like an uncertain attempt to communicate with an 11 00:00:47,400 –> 00:00:49,700 unknown God. 12 00:00:49,700 –> 00:00:52,840 And so it’s not surprising that many people become discouraged. 13 00:00:52,840 –> 00:00:58,700 Some people have actually given up on attempting to speak to God altogether, what they have 14 00:00:58,700 –> 00:01:04,459 done is they have replaced prayer with turning in on themselves and instead of having communion 15 00:01:04,459 –> 00:01:08,300 with God they are really just having a kind of communion with themselves. 16 00:01:08,300 –> 00:01:10,040 You can tell by the language they use. 17 00:01:10,040 –> 00:01:12,220 It’s about centering down. 18 00:01:12,220 –> 00:01:16,379 It’s simply about being quiet or being still and so forth. 19 00:01:16,379 –> 00:01:20,160 Others have given up on prayer altogether. 20 00:01:20,739 –> 00:01:27,919 Now the disciples of Jesus were very familiar with the pretentious prayers of the Pharisees. 21 00:01:27,919 –> 00:01:32,040 There was nothing whatsoever attractive about that. 22 00:01:32,040 –> 00:01:38,279 They also knew that the Gentile nations, who did not know God, their prayer at best was 23 00:01:38,279 –> 00:01:44,300 a heaping up of empty phrases and who wants to have anything to do with that? 24 00:01:44,720 –> 00:01:51,220 But when the disciples saw how Jesus prayed, they saw something that they had not seen 25 00:01:51,220 –> 00:01:54,879 before and they found it compelling. 26 00:01:54,879 –> 00:02:00,220 They had seen the Lord Jesus rise early in the morning and go out into the hills to pray. 27 00:02:00,220 –> 00:02:05,699 And when He returned they could see that He had been refreshed and filled with this communion 28 00:02:05,699 –> 00:02:08,660 that He enjoyed with God. 29 00:02:08,660 –> 00:02:13,619 When He reached a point where He had to make a major decision, in His own life He would 30 00:02:13,660 –> 00:02:16,300 at times go out for a whole night and pray. 31 00:02:18,080 –> 00:02:20,759 And when He came back He seemed to know exactly what He should do. 32 00:02:20,779 –> 00:02:22,559 I mean how do you even do that? 33 00:02:22,559 –> 00:02:25,380 Pray for a whole night? 34 00:02:25,380 –> 00:02:30,619 The disciples had seen this in Jesus and they found it powerfully attractive. 35 00:02:30,619 –> 00:02:36,059 They knew that Jesus had something going for them in regards to prayer that was quite beyond 36 00:02:36,059 –> 00:02:39,759 their own experience and they wanted to find out about it. 37 00:02:39,759 –> 00:02:43,919 And so in Luke chapter 11 they come to Jesus and they say, 38 00:02:43,919 –> 00:02:47,679 teach us to pray. 39 00:02:47,679 –> 00:02:49,759 Notice what it says verse one. 40 00:02:49,759 –> 00:02:58,160 Now, Jesus was praying in a certain place and when He finished, so you see they were 41 00:02:58,160 –> 00:02:59,600 observing Jesus. 42 00:02:59,600 –> 00:03:05,199 And when he was done having looked at what Jesus was doing they’re coming to him and 43 00:03:05,199 –> 00:03:08,000 they’re saying, we really like what we see in what you are doing. 44 00:03:08,160 –> 00:03:11,320 Can you teach us to do the same thing? 45 00:03:11,360 –> 00:03:15,020 We wish that we could have the kind of communion that you have with God. 46 00:03:15,020 –> 00:03:18,839 We see it in you, but we don’t really experience it ourselves. 47 00:03:18,839 –> 00:03:21,320 Now, we want what you have. 48 00:03:21,320 –> 00:03:22,440 Can you give it to us? 49 00:03:22,440 –> 00:03:25,320 Can you teach us? 50 00:03:25,320 –> 00:03:32,559 Campbell Morgan, who was a great preacher of the last century, pointed out that the 51 00:03:32,559 –> 00:03:39,440 disciples did not say to Jesus, teach us how to pray. 52 00:03:39,440 –> 00:03:42,000 If they had said, teach us how to pray, they would have been 53 00:03:42,000 –> 00:03:48,279 asking a theoretical question about method or about technique. 54 00:03:48,279 –> 00:03:50,679 They don’t ask teach us how to pray. 55 00:03:50,679 –> 00:03:55,440 They say, teach us to pray, in other words, Jesus, can you get us to the place 56 00:03:55,440 –> 00:03:56,880 where we actually pray? 57 00:03:56,880 –> 00:03:58,880 That’s what we’re after. 58 00:03:58,880 –> 00:04:00,679 We’re not asking for a seminar on prayer. 59 00:04:00,759 –> 00:04:05,360 We’re not asking for method or technique and all of that stuff. 60 00:04:05,360 –> 00:04:11,960 Jesus, can you get us to the place where we actually do this? 61 00:04:11,960 –> 00:04:15,220 Because we know a lot of things about prayer, but we don’t seem to get to the 62 00:04:15,220 –> 00:04:16,760 place where we actually pray. 63 00:04:16,760 –> 00:04:18,359 Now, can you help us get there? 64 00:04:18,359 –> 00:04:22,679 Now, that of course is exactly the right question. 65 00:04:22,679 –> 00:04:27,839 And I would expect in many of our hearts in this congregation this 66 00:04:27,839 –> 00:04:30,519 morning, we would say, yeah, that’s where I’m at. 67 00:04:30,600 –> 00:04:35,359 I want to get beyond an endless discussion about methods of prayer and 68 00:04:35,359 –> 00:04:39,519 techniques of prayer and barriers to prayer and approaches to prayer and 69 00:04:39,519 –> 00:04:40,459 all the rest of it. 70 00:04:40,459 –> 00:04:43,600 What I want to do is get to the place where I actually pray. 71 00:04:46,040 –> 00:04:50,000 And that is the question that the disciples are asking of Jesus. 72 00:04:50,000 –> 00:04:51,040 Can you get us going? 73 00:04:51,040 –> 00:04:52,859 Can you get us actually doing this? 74 00:04:52,859 –> 00:04:54,000 Teach us to pray. 75 00:04:55,779 –> 00:04:57,739 Can you get us beyond just knowing about it? 76 00:04:58,100 –> 00:05:01,700 Can you get us beyond just talking about it? 77 00:05:01,700 –> 00:05:08,459 Can you get us beyond beating ourselves up in regards to our failures over it? 78 00:05:10,260 –> 00:05:10,980 Teach us to pray. 79 00:05:12,760 –> 00:05:15,420 Now, when the disciples ask this marvelous question, 80 00:05:15,420 –> 00:05:20,820 I want you to notice the first word that Jesus says by way of answer. 81 00:05:22,980 –> 00:05:23,500 Father. 82 00:05:24,059 –> 00:05:25,700 Father. 83 00:05:25,700 –> 00:05:26,779 Verse 2. 84 00:05:26,779 –> 00:05:32,359 And he said to them, when you pray, say, Father. 85 00:05:33,859 –> 00:05:34,339 Father. 86 00:05:36,579 –> 00:05:40,859 Now here we are learning a very important principle and it’s just this. 87 00:05:41,899 –> 00:05:47,140 That knowing God is your father, is the key to getting 88 00:05:47,140 –> 00:05:48,619 started, in prayer. 89 00:05:48,839 –> 00:05:50,220 Prayer. 90 00:05:50,220 –> 00:05:53,059 There are for sure plenty of other things that you need to 91 00:05:53,059 –> 00:05:55,720 know about God in the Christian life. 92 00:05:55,720 –> 00:05:59,660 But what Jesus makes very clear here, is that if you want to 93 00:05:59,660 –> 00:06:04,619 get to the place where you actually pray, this is the first 94 00:06:04,619 –> 00:06:05,859 thing that you need to grasp. 95 00:06:05,859 –> 00:06:07,839 That God is your father. 96 00:06:07,839 –> 00:06:11,119 When they say, can you get us going in actually praying, he 97 00:06:11,119 –> 00:06:13,059 says, well no, here’s what you need to know. 98 00:06:13,059 –> 00:06:15,100 God is your Father. 99 00:06:15,100 –> 00:06:21,220 And it follows that the more you grasp that God is your 100 00:06:21,220 –> 00:06:26,179 Father, the more you will be inclined to draw near to him. 101 00:06:26,179 –> 00:06:29,420 The more you will have this desire to pray. 102 00:06:29,420 –> 00:06:34,100 And if you don’t know that God is your Father, the likelihood 103 00:06:34,100 –> 00:06:37,239 is that you won’t have much inclination or desire to pray, 104 00:06:37,239 –> 00:06:39,940 and you probably won’t actually pray very much at all. 105 00:06:40,940 –> 00:06:45,440 So, Jesus is speaking very practically to this honest 106 00:06:45,440 –> 00:06:49,260 question that he is asked by the disciples. 107 00:06:49,260 –> 00:06:52,339 And he’s saying more than anything else, what will get 108 00:06:52,339 –> 00:06:57,500 you going in prayer is a felt awareness that God is the 109 00:06:57,500 –> 00:07:01,140 Father who loves you. 110 00:07:01,140 –> 00:07:03,179 Now, just to underline the importance of this. 111 00:07:03,179 –> 00:07:06,779 I want you to notice that it is not only the first word that 112 00:07:06,779 –> 00:07:09,619 Jesus speaks in answer to the disciples question. 113 00:07:09,619 –> 00:07:14,359 It is also the last word that Jesus speaks in answer to this 114 00:07:14,359 –> 00:07:15,299 question. 115 00:07:15,299 –> 00:07:18,839 So, if you look at verse 11, which is the end of Jesus 116 00:07:18,839 –> 00:07:20,980 response to their question. 117 00:07:20,980 –> 00:07:24,980 Notice that he comes back to the theme of the father again. 118 00:07:24,980 –> 00:07:26,019 Verse 11. 119 00:07:26,019 –> 00:07:30,940 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will 120 00:07:30,940 –> 00:07:33,940 instead of a fish give him a serpent? 121 00:07:33,980 –> 00:07:37,160 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to 122 00:07:37,160 –> 00:07:42,019 your children, how much more will the heavenly father give 123 00:07:42,019 –> 00:07:45,100 the holy spirit to those who ask him? 124 00:07:46,239 –> 00:07:47,920 Do you see the significance of this? 125 00:07:47,920 –> 00:07:52,220 How can we get to the place where we actually pray? 126 00:07:52,220 –> 00:07:55,839 And the first word and the last word that Jesus speaks 127 00:07:55,839 –> 00:07:59,799 in answer to that question is father. 128 00:07:59,839 –> 00:08:04,019 The more you know that God is your father in heaven 129 00:08:04,019 –> 00:08:07,899 who loves you, the more you will have the desire 130 00:08:07,899 –> 00:08:10,239 and the inclination to pray. 131 00:08:11,980 –> 00:08:14,279 Now that’s the principle that is before us today 132 00:08:14,279 –> 00:08:17,980 and I want simply to ask and answer three questions 133 00:08:17,980 –> 00:08:21,640 that naturally arise from these words of Jesus 134 00:08:21,640 –> 00:08:23,720 here in Luke chapter 11. 135 00:08:23,720 –> 00:08:26,799 The first is who then is God to you. 136 00:08:26,920 –> 00:08:27,760 To you. 137 00:08:28,660 –> 00:08:31,559 Because who god is to you will shape 138 00:08:31,559 –> 00:08:33,200 whether you have a desire to pray 139 00:08:33,200 –> 00:08:37,739 or whether you do not have a desire to pray. 140 00:08:37,739 –> 00:08:39,859 So let me put it to you like this, 141 00:08:39,859 –> 00:08:41,940 is God a stranger to you? 142 00:08:44,520 –> 00:08:47,000 When I was a little boy, growing up in Scotland, 143 00:08:47,000 –> 00:08:48,659 my mother said to me, 144 00:08:50,119 –> 00:08:52,119 never talk to strangers. 145 00:08:53,479 –> 00:08:55,619 Anyone else have a mother say that to them? 146 00:08:55,739 –> 00:08:57,679 Never talk to strangers. 147 00:08:58,739 –> 00:09:01,400 And if God is a stranger to you, 148 00:09:01,400 –> 00:09:04,080 you will not want to talk to him. 149 00:09:05,200 –> 00:09:07,039 Now, of course, the one time 150 00:09:07,039 –> 00:09:09,679 when you might talk to a stranger 151 00:09:09,679 –> 00:09:11,760 is in an emergency. 152 00:09:11,760 –> 00:09:13,159 I mean, if you’re having a heart attack 153 00:09:13,159 –> 00:09:15,179 and there’s no one around you who you know, 154 00:09:15,179 –> 00:09:17,400 you’ll call out for help to anyone, 155 00:09:17,400 –> 00:09:20,359 even a stranger, but you would only do that 156 00:09:20,359 –> 00:09:23,940 if you found yourself in an emergency. 157 00:09:24,000 –> 00:09:26,359 And if God is a stranger to you, 158 00:09:26,359 –> 00:09:29,099 that is exactly what prayer will be like for you. 159 00:09:29,099 –> 00:09:31,099 You will perhaps call out to him 160 00:09:31,099 –> 00:09:34,119 when you are in desperate straights and you need help, 161 00:09:34,119 –> 00:09:36,580 but at any other time you will not talk to him 162 00:09:36,580 –> 00:09:38,580 because he’s a stranger. 163 00:09:40,419 –> 00:09:43,080 Or could it be that for some here, 164 00:09:43,080 –> 00:09:45,919 that God is simply a higher power? 165 00:09:48,280 –> 00:09:50,219 You know, some people refer to God 166 00:09:50,219 –> 00:09:53,140 simply as a higher power, 167 00:09:53,159 –> 00:09:55,619 but there is obviously a huge difference 168 00:09:55,619 –> 00:09:58,619 between a power and a person. 169 00:09:58,619 –> 00:10:02,200 And if God is simply a higher power to you, 170 00:10:02,200 –> 00:10:04,500 then you may want to use him, 171 00:10:04,500 –> 00:10:08,080 but you will not want to speak to him. 172 00:10:08,080 –> 00:10:11,000 You see, power is basically energy 173 00:10:12,099 –> 00:10:15,340 that is deployed for our own use. 174 00:10:15,340 –> 00:10:17,659 The power of electricity can be used 175 00:10:17,659 –> 00:10:20,419 to make your house warmer or colder. 176 00:10:20,419 –> 00:10:22,320 The power of dynamite can be used 177 00:10:22,479 –> 00:10:24,320 to blast rock and make a path 178 00:10:24,320 –> 00:10:26,440 for a railway or for a road. 179 00:10:28,840 –> 00:10:31,239 Power is energy that you use, 180 00:10:31,239 –> 00:10:34,479 but it is only a means to an end 181 00:10:34,479 –> 00:10:37,520 and it is never an end in itself. 182 00:10:38,880 –> 00:10:41,640 Now, if you simply see God 183 00:10:41,640 –> 00:10:44,679 in terms of being a higher power, 184 00:10:44,679 –> 00:10:47,119 then why would you speak to him? 185 00:10:47,119 –> 00:10:49,859 You may want to tap into something 186 00:10:49,859 –> 00:10:50,960 that he can do from you, 187 00:10:51,739 –> 00:10:53,539 but a relationship with him 188 00:10:53,539 –> 00:10:56,539 is something that will be quite foreign to you. 189 00:10:56,539 –> 00:10:59,219 And it is not possible to understand the Bible 190 00:10:59,219 –> 00:11:01,940 on the basis that God is simply a higher power. 191 00:11:01,940 –> 00:11:04,260 How could a higher power love the world? 192 00:11:04,260 –> 00:11:08,659 How could a higher power give his Son for the world? 193 00:11:10,059 –> 00:11:10,900 So I’m saying to you 194 00:11:10,900 –> 00:11:14,179 if you have only understood God as a higher power, 195 00:11:14,179 –> 00:11:17,140 you’re not yet in the world of the Bible. 196 00:11:18,140 –> 00:11:19,900 The word father makes clear 197 00:11:19,979 –> 00:11:22,780 that God is not a power to be used. 198 00:11:22,780 –> 00:11:25,059 He is a person to be loved. 199 00:11:25,059 –> 00:11:26,799 He’s not something, 200 00:11:27,820 –> 00:11:29,219 he is someone. 201 00:11:30,260 –> 00:11:31,640 He is the father 202 00:11:31,640 –> 00:11:34,020 and he wants to have the closest 203 00:11:34,020 –> 00:11:36,559 possible relationship with you. 204 00:11:36,559 –> 00:11:37,500 And Jesus is saying, 205 00:11:37,500 –> 00:11:40,200 that’s the thing that you really need to grasp 206 00:11:40,200 –> 00:11:41,859 if you’re ever going to get to the place 207 00:11:41,859 –> 00:11:43,760 where you actually pray. 208 00:11:45,780 –> 00:11:47,520 Or could it be that for someone here 209 00:11:47,520 –> 00:11:50,260 God is like a tyrant to you? 210 00:11:51,760 –> 00:11:55,159 Well a tyrant of course needs to be resisted. 211 00:11:56,440 –> 00:11:58,679 A tyrant is someone who lays claim 212 00:11:58,679 –> 00:12:00,799 to what properly is yours 213 00:12:00,799 –> 00:12:02,419 as if it were his. 214 00:12:03,479 –> 00:12:06,039 And if you think of God as a tyrant 215 00:12:06,039 –> 00:12:07,840 you will never want to come near to him. 216 00:12:07,840 –> 00:12:10,400 You want to stay as far away from him as possible 217 00:12:10,400 –> 00:12:12,479 because you will say no this is my life 218 00:12:12,479 –> 00:12:14,140 these are my rights, 219 00:12:14,140 –> 00:12:15,719 these are my choices 220 00:12:15,739 –> 00:12:18,739 and you will see God’s claim upon your life 221 00:12:18,739 –> 00:12:20,559 as nothing more than an imposition. 222 00:12:22,000 –> 00:12:24,260 You never come to want to talk to him 223 00:12:24,260 –> 00:12:25,880 on that kind of a basis. 224 00:12:27,520 –> 00:12:30,559 Now the answer to all of these 225 00:12:30,559 –> 00:12:33,219 mistaken notions about God 226 00:12:33,219 –> 00:12:35,700 lies in the Lord Jesus Christ. 227 00:12:36,659 –> 00:12:37,880 Now I want you to know today 228 00:12:37,880 –> 00:12:39,760 that when you come to believe 229 00:12:39,760 –> 00:12:42,419 in the Lord Jesus Christ if you do 230 00:12:43,299 –> 00:12:45,340 God will no longer be a stranger to you. 231 00:12:46,900 –> 00:12:49,739 And if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 232 00:12:49,739 –> 00:12:52,320 God will be much more than a higher power to you. 233 00:12:53,739 –> 00:12:56,820 And when you come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 234 00:12:56,820 –> 00:12:58,820 he will not seem like a tyrant to you. 235 00:12:58,820 –> 00:13:00,580 You will come to understand 236 00:13:00,580 –> 00:13:03,140 that he is the giver of every good gift to you. 237 00:13:03,140 –> 00:13:04,780 That everything you have in your life 238 00:13:04,780 –> 00:13:06,380 has come from his hands 239 00:13:08,280 –> 00:13:09,659 and that he is supremely good. 240 00:13:10,440 –> 00:13:15,440 When you see that he has given his Son for you 241 00:13:15,880 –> 00:13:18,200 you will no longer have anything to do with the idea 242 00:13:18,200 –> 00:13:21,679 that he is a tyrant claiming what does not belong to him. 243 00:13:23,140 –> 00:13:26,080 He is a loving Father reclaiming his own. 244 00:13:27,919 –> 00:13:30,059 And how else would the Father and the Son 245 00:13:30,059 –> 00:13:32,659 conspire together in perfect love 246 00:13:32,659 –> 00:13:34,559 and at such great cost 247 00:13:34,559 –> 00:13:35,979 to redeem you 248 00:13:36,739 –> 00:13:40,260 and to hold out grace to everyone who will receive it? 249 00:13:42,020 –> 00:13:43,780 Now what we’re being told here then 250 00:13:43,780 –> 00:13:46,859 is how you think about God 251 00:13:46,859 –> 00:13:51,840 is the key to whether you will actually pray or not. 252 00:13:52,059 –> 00:13:54,500 And I’m just asking you to be honest here today. 253 00:13:54,500 –> 00:13:57,260 If the reality is that you rarely pray 254 00:13:58,179 –> 00:13:59,919 that you don’t really have much desire 255 00:13:59,919 –> 00:14:01,340 to come and to speak to God 256 00:14:01,340 –> 00:14:03,979 could it be that behind that 257 00:14:04,020 –> 00:14:06,780 God is actually a stranger to you? 258 00:14:06,780 –> 00:14:10,000 Or that he’s simply some kind of remote impersonal power 259 00:14:10,000 –> 00:14:11,780 as you’ve conceived of him? 260 00:14:11,780 –> 00:14:15,400 Or even worse, that secretly you think of him as a tyrant 261 00:14:15,400 –> 00:14:18,400 who’s laying claim to what does not belong to him? 262 00:14:19,380 –> 00:14:21,380 And Jesus is telling you that 263 00:14:21,380 –> 00:14:23,419 if you come through faith in him 264 00:14:23,419 –> 00:14:26,580 to know God as your own Father 265 00:14:27,640 –> 00:14:30,280 then in the degree to which you know this 266 00:14:30,280 –> 00:14:33,280 you will have the desire to pray. 267 00:14:33,299 –> 00:14:36,780 The more you know that God is the Father 268 00:14:36,780 –> 00:14:38,799 who loves you this week, 269 00:14:39,859 –> 00:14:42,419 the more you will have a desire 270 00:14:42,419 –> 00:14:45,179 coming from in your own heart 271 00:14:45,179 –> 00:14:48,039 to draw near to Him in prayer. 272 00:14:48,039 –> 00:14:51,239 That’s the teaching that’s before us today. 273 00:14:52,340 –> 00:14:54,419 Now, the second question that I want to raise 274 00:14:54,419 –> 00:14:55,599 is simply this. 275 00:14:55,599 –> 00:15:00,260 What does it then mean for God to be your Father? 276 00:15:00,979 –> 00:15:04,260 Now, clearly this is an analogy. 277 00:15:04,260 –> 00:15:08,960 And analogies work by comparing or contrasting 278 00:15:08,960 –> 00:15:11,760 something that is very hard to grasp, 279 00:15:11,760 –> 00:15:15,239 the nature of the eternal God. 280 00:15:15,239 –> 00:15:17,179 And comparing that with something 281 00:15:17,179 –> 00:15:19,059 that is very familiar to us 282 00:15:19,059 –> 00:15:21,140 and easy to understand, 283 00:15:21,140 –> 00:15:22,780 the relationships of love 284 00:15:22,780 –> 00:15:26,179 that exist within a human family. 285 00:15:26,179 –> 00:15:29,159 And, God here uses this marvelous analogy 286 00:15:29,799 –> 00:15:31,200 in which he compares 287 00:15:31,200 –> 00:15:34,640 the relationship that he seeks with us 288 00:15:34,640 –> 00:15:37,320 to the relationship of a Father 289 00:15:37,320 –> 00:15:40,340 with his own son or his own daughter. 290 00:15:41,380 –> 00:15:42,960 Now, this wonderful analogy works 291 00:15:42,960 –> 00:15:45,500 in two ways in the Bible, 292 00:15:45,500 –> 00:15:48,080 and both of them are very important. 293 00:15:48,080 –> 00:15:49,400 The first is that you learn 294 00:15:49,400 –> 00:15:50,880 about what it means to be a father 295 00:15:50,880 –> 00:15:52,500 by looking at God. 296 00:15:52,500 –> 00:15:56,000 You have that in Ephesians 3 in verse 14, 297 00:15:56,039 –> 00:15:59,599 where Paul says that I bow before the Father 298 00:15:59,599 –> 00:16:03,080 from whom all fatherhood derives its name. 299 00:16:04,080 –> 00:16:05,960 In other words, if you want to learn 300 00:16:05,960 –> 00:16:07,659 what being a father looks like, 301 00:16:07,659 –> 00:16:08,880 look at God. 302 00:16:08,880 –> 00:16:10,840 If you did not have a good father, 303 00:16:10,840 –> 00:16:13,039 and you say, how can I frame 304 00:16:13,039 –> 00:16:16,020 even a conception of what fatherhood is like, 305 00:16:16,020 –> 00:16:17,320 then here’s where you find it. 306 00:16:17,320 –> 00:16:19,719 You look at the acts and the character 307 00:16:19,719 –> 00:16:21,400 and the nature of God 308 00:16:21,400 –> 00:16:24,260 who is your loving Heavenly Father. 309 00:16:24,940 –> 00:16:28,780 But what I want you to notice here in Luke chapter 11 310 00:16:28,780 –> 00:16:30,859 is that the analogy is being used 311 00:16:30,859 –> 00:16:33,580 in the opposite direction. 312 00:16:33,580 –> 00:16:34,919 Because not only is it true 313 00:16:34,919 –> 00:16:36,340 that you learn about being a father 314 00:16:36,340 –> 00:16:37,919 by looking at God, 315 00:16:38,859 –> 00:16:40,559 but Jesus is telling us here 316 00:16:40,559 –> 00:16:43,780 that you also learn about God 317 00:16:43,780 –> 00:16:47,260 by looking at what it means to be a father. 318 00:16:47,260 –> 00:16:48,979 Look at verse 11. 319 00:16:48,979 –> 00:16:52,460 What father among you? 320 00:16:53,460 –> 00:16:55,960 So Jesus is very clearly here 321 00:16:55,960 –> 00:17:00,719 asking us to consider our own experience of love 322 00:17:00,719 –> 00:17:03,640 between a father or a mother, 323 00:17:03,640 –> 00:17:06,000 a son and a daughter. 324 00:17:06,000 –> 00:17:10,119 He’s saying, look at your own experience of fatherhood. 325 00:17:11,160 –> 00:17:15,619 Now we live in a world of very imperfect fathers. 326 00:17:15,619 –> 00:17:18,520 We live in a world of fallen fathers. 327 00:17:18,520 –> 00:17:22,140 And some are clearly much better than others. 328 00:17:22,140 –> 00:17:24,420 But our Lord Jesus is saying to us now, look, 329 00:17:24,420 –> 00:17:28,000 even in this world of fallen fathers 330 00:17:29,000 –> 00:17:32,140 who come up so short in so many ways, 331 00:17:33,020 –> 00:17:36,380 reflecting on what a son or a daughter means 332 00:17:36,380 –> 00:17:39,439 to a father or a mother will give you some window 333 00:17:39,439 –> 00:17:44,439 into what you mean to God himself. 334 00:17:44,520 –> 00:17:47,260 Think about what your children mean to you. 335 00:17:47,260 –> 00:17:49,479 Jesus is saying. 336 00:17:49,520 –> 00:17:52,880 And you will begin to get some sense 337 00:17:52,880 –> 00:17:54,459 of what you mean to God. 338 00:17:55,900 –> 00:17:57,400 Now I’ve just taken that 339 00:17:57,400 –> 00:18:00,939 and spend some time reflecting on that. 340 00:18:00,939 –> 00:18:05,939 Jesus is inviting us to reflect on our own experience 341 00:18:06,180 –> 00:18:09,199 of love in a human family 342 00:18:09,199 –> 00:18:11,640 in order to get a better handle 343 00:18:11,640 –> 00:18:16,640 on what we mean to our own father in heaven. 344 00:18:19,560 –> 00:18:23,579 God has given to Karin and to me 345 00:18:23,579 –> 00:18:28,579 the marvelous gift of two sons Andrew and David. 346 00:18:30,699 –> 00:18:34,839 There are a few hundred people in the world 347 00:18:35,859 –> 00:18:37,359 who call me pastor. 348 00:18:38,500 –> 00:18:40,459 Most people call me Colin. 349 00:18:41,339 –> 00:18:45,380 There are two men in all the world who call me Dad. 350 00:18:46,180 –> 00:18:49,599 They have a unique relationship with me 351 00:18:50,660 –> 00:18:52,920 and I have a unique relationship with them. 352 00:18:54,859 –> 00:18:58,380 My two sons are a joy and a delight to me. 353 00:18:59,579 –> 00:19:01,459 If I’m in a meeting that’s gone on 354 00:19:01,459 –> 00:19:05,420 for a bit and after a few hours I come out 355 00:19:05,420 –> 00:19:07,540 and there are a number of people have texted me 356 00:19:07,540 –> 00:19:10,780 or left a voicemail and one is from my son. 357 00:19:10,780 –> 00:19:13,459 There is no question about which I’ll respond to first. 358 00:19:13,459 –> 00:19:14,920 My son called me. 359 00:19:16,859 –> 00:19:19,380 There is a delight, there is a bond, 360 00:19:19,380 –> 00:19:21,859 there is an affinity. 361 00:19:21,859 –> 00:19:23,800 Fathers, mothers, think about what your 362 00:19:23,800 –> 00:19:26,739 children mean to you, Jesus is tapping into this 363 00:19:26,739 –> 00:19:28,739 and he is saying, you know about this 364 00:19:28,739 –> 00:19:31,819 even among you in this fallen world. 365 00:19:31,819 –> 00:19:35,079 You can understand something of what 366 00:19:35,079 –> 00:19:38,280 God’s children mean to him when you think about 367 00:19:38,280 –> 00:19:40,579 what your own children mean to you. 368 00:19:40,579 –> 00:19:42,260 So use that. 369 00:19:42,260 –> 00:19:45,180 The sense of delight, the sense of joy 370 00:19:45,180 –> 00:19:48,119 that is in your own heart in regards to your children 371 00:19:48,119 –> 00:19:52,040 and you will have some insight into the heart of God. 372 00:19:53,520 –> 00:19:56,979 If we go back to an earlier stage of life 373 00:19:56,979 –> 00:20:00,160 and think about children when they are younger 374 00:20:00,160 –> 00:20:04,439 and what a young child means to a father or to a mother, 375 00:20:05,939 –> 00:20:10,680 a daughter comes with a painting that she has done 376 00:20:10,699 –> 00:20:13,260 and gives it to her mother. 377 00:20:13,260 –> 00:20:15,099 It’s a horse, she says, 378 00:20:16,459 –> 00:20:19,040 and the mother is very glad that she told her it was a horse 379 00:20:19,040 –> 00:20:21,500 because all she can see is a few squiggly lines 380 00:20:21,500 –> 00:20:22,939 and she would not have been able to make 381 00:20:22,939 –> 00:20:24,699 that remarkable interpretation 382 00:20:24,699 –> 00:20:27,380 or to know that it was in fact a horse. 383 00:20:27,380 –> 00:20:31,540 When the mother receives this painting what does she say? 384 00:20:31,540 –> 00:20:32,920 She does not say to the daughter, 385 00:20:32,920 –> 00:20:35,180 well that really isn’t a very good horse, 386 00:20:35,180 –> 00:20:37,400 it’s not much like a horse at all. 387 00:20:37,400 –> 00:20:39,180 She didn’t do that. 388 00:20:39,180 –> 00:20:40,140 What does she do? 389 00:20:40,140 –> 00:20:44,500 She receives it with joy and she sticks it on the fridge. 390 00:20:44,500 –> 00:20:46,260 Why did she stick it on the fridge? 391 00:20:46,260 –> 00:20:50,000 Not because of it’s inherent artistic value. 392 00:20:51,439 –> 00:20:53,880 But because her daughter drew it 393 00:20:53,880 –> 00:20:55,959 and it was drawn for her. 394 00:20:58,260 –> 00:20:59,380 Now just think about this, 395 00:20:59,380 –> 00:21:01,300 so Jesus is saying you think about these things 396 00:21:01,300 –> 00:21:03,880 in your own experience 397 00:21:03,880 –> 00:21:08,219 and you will have some window into the heart of God. 398 00:21:08,459 –> 00:21:11,239 But some of us you see struggle with a question like this, 399 00:21:11,239 –> 00:21:15,420 well have I ever done anything that was of any value for God 400 00:21:17,020 –> 00:21:20,439 but remember this, if you were His child, 401 00:21:20,439 –> 00:21:23,479 he views you and all that you do 402 00:21:23,479 –> 00:21:26,719 through the lens of his own great love 403 00:21:27,939 –> 00:21:29,699 for his own children. 404 00:21:31,739 –> 00:21:35,859 And the Father finds joy in his children. 405 00:21:35,900 –> 00:21:40,079 Then Jesus tells us this marvelous truth in verse 13 406 00:21:41,619 –> 00:21:44,660 that our Father God gives generously to His children. 407 00:21:44,660 –> 00:21:46,859 Look at it, if you then who are evil 408 00:21:46,859 –> 00:21:50,540 know how to give good gifts to your children, 409 00:21:51,540 –> 00:21:54,040 how much more will your Heavenly Father 410 00:21:54,040 –> 00:21:57,540 give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. 411 00:21:59,199 –> 00:22:02,680 And Jesus is speaking to fallen fathers, fallen mothers, 412 00:22:02,680 –> 00:22:04,839 and he is saying, now what would you not give 413 00:22:05,040 –> 00:22:06,140 to your own children? 414 00:22:07,079 –> 00:22:09,319 The only limits on what you would give 415 00:22:09,319 –> 00:22:10,839 to your own children are, 416 00:22:10,839 –> 00:22:13,680 you would not give them that which would spoil them, 417 00:22:13,680 –> 00:22:18,680 and you cannot give them that which is beyond your capacity. 418 00:22:18,859 –> 00:22:21,560 But there is no limit to the capacity of God. 419 00:22:22,880 –> 00:22:26,199 You understand this, that you are always for your children, 420 00:22:26,199 –> 00:22:27,819 you are always in their corner, 421 00:22:27,819 –> 00:22:29,260 even when they’re at their worst, 422 00:22:29,260 –> 00:22:32,339 and especially when they’re at their worst. 423 00:22:33,380 –> 00:22:34,420 They’re your children. 424 00:22:35,780 –> 00:22:38,500 So Jesus says, if you’ve fallen fathers 425 00:22:38,500 –> 00:22:41,540 know how to give good gifts to your children, 426 00:22:41,540 –> 00:22:44,680 how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts 427 00:22:44,680 –> 00:22:47,180 and especially the supreme gift, 428 00:22:47,180 –> 00:22:49,239 which is the gift of the Holy Spirit, 429 00:22:49,239 –> 00:22:51,439 the presence of God in your life. 430 00:22:51,439 –> 00:22:52,859 He’s gonna give that to you. 431 00:22:55,000 –> 00:22:57,859 Then our Father God lavishes His love 432 00:22:57,859 –> 00:22:59,219 over His own children. 433 00:23:00,380 –> 00:23:02,680 How great, says the Apostle John, 434 00:23:02,719 –> 00:23:05,880 is the love that the father has lavished on us 435 00:23:05,880 –> 00:23:08,780 that we should be called the children of God. 436 00:23:11,079 –> 00:23:13,619 How much does a son or daughter mean 437 00:23:13,619 –> 00:23:15,219 to a father or a mother? 438 00:23:17,400 –> 00:23:20,579 Ask a parent who has lost a child, 439 00:23:21,939 –> 00:23:23,819 you can’t put it into words. 440 00:23:25,400 –> 00:23:28,319 In our series on grief earlier this year, 441 00:23:29,319 –> 00:23:32,099 we spoke about the pain of families 442 00:23:32,099 –> 00:23:35,319 who have lost a son or a daughter, 443 00:23:35,319 –> 00:23:36,920 indescribable pain. 444 00:23:39,119 –> 00:23:41,380 If you have lost a child, 445 00:23:42,680 –> 00:23:46,199 you have a unique insight 446 00:23:46,199 –> 00:23:49,199 into the depth of the love of God for you. 447 00:23:49,199 –> 00:23:51,119 Think about this. 448 00:23:51,119 –> 00:23:53,040 The depth of your pain 449 00:23:53,959 –> 00:23:57,479 is a reflection of the strength of your love. 450 00:23:58,979 –> 00:24:02,479 If the love of a fallen father or a fallen mother 451 00:24:02,479 –> 00:24:04,119 can be so strong, 452 00:24:04,119 –> 00:24:08,760 how strong is the love of your perfect Father 453 00:24:08,760 –> 00:24:09,640 who is in heaven? 454 00:24:11,459 –> 00:24:13,040 Now, that leads us, naturally, 455 00:24:13,040 –> 00:24:16,680 to the third question, which is so important here, 456 00:24:16,680 –> 00:24:20,079 and that is how then does God become your Father? 457 00:24:20,079 –> 00:24:22,560 How do you enter this relationship? 458 00:24:22,560 –> 00:24:23,619 If you come here today 459 00:24:23,619 –> 00:24:26,599 and God was essentially a stranger to you, 460 00:24:26,619 –> 00:24:28,699 or just a kind of vague power 461 00:24:28,699 –> 00:24:31,540 that’s unknowable, really, in your mind, 462 00:24:31,540 –> 00:24:35,680 or if God’s like a tyrant to you and seems far from you, 463 00:24:35,680 –> 00:24:38,920 how could you come into a relationship 464 00:24:38,920 –> 00:24:42,359 in which you know God as your own Father 465 00:24:42,359 –> 00:24:45,459 and experience his love lavished upon you 466 00:24:45,459 –> 00:24:47,640 and poured out into your life? 467 00:24:49,560 –> 00:24:51,800 Well, let me try and illustrate it this way. 468 00:24:52,739 –> 00:24:57,739 I said earlier that there are two men in all the world 469 00:24:59,520 –> 00:25:00,979 who call me dad. 470 00:25:03,380 –> 00:25:08,180 There are also two women who call me by the same name. 471 00:25:09,939 –> 00:25:12,920 I’m referring, of course, to my two daughters-in-law, 472 00:25:12,920 –> 00:25:14,319 Emily and Katie. 473 00:25:16,339 –> 00:25:18,579 Now there may be a certain strangeness 474 00:25:19,099 –> 00:25:22,800 about a new wife calling her husband’s father dad 475 00:25:22,800 –> 00:25:25,780 or a new husband calling his wife’s father dad 476 00:25:25,780 –> 00:25:29,880 and I know that it doesn’t happen in all families, 477 00:25:29,880 –> 00:25:31,439 I’m not suggesting that it should, 478 00:25:31,439 –> 00:25:33,619 but it does happen in our family 479 00:25:33,619 –> 00:25:38,280 and it means a great deal to me that it does. 480 00:25:38,280 –> 00:25:42,459 Katie, my younger daughter-in-law, is from Indianapolis. 481 00:25:43,239 –> 00:25:47,280 If it were not for my son, David, I would never have met her 482 00:25:48,160 –> 00:25:51,380 The only relationship I would have had with Katie, 483 00:25:51,380 –> 00:25:53,160 if it were not for my son, 484 00:25:54,099 –> 00:25:56,599 would be that we’re both members of the human race 485 00:25:56,599 –> 00:25:58,920 and we’re both citizens of the United States of America. 486 00:25:58,920 –> 00:26:01,619 We hold that in common with millions of other people 487 00:26:01,619 –> 00:26:02,859 and apart from that, 488 00:26:02,859 –> 00:26:05,500 I would have had no further relationship with her. 489 00:26:06,760 –> 00:26:10,239 But my son set his love on her 490 00:26:10,239 –> 00:26:12,959 and she came to love him 491 00:26:13,780 –> 00:26:18,780 and through my son, she has entered my family 492 00:26:19,760 –> 00:26:22,619 and my son, of course, has entered her family. 493 00:26:23,819 –> 00:26:26,359 If my son had chosen a different wife, 494 00:26:26,359 –> 00:26:31,020 my love would have been set on a different daughter-in-law 495 00:26:32,239 –> 00:26:35,219 but he chose her and I am so glad he did 496 00:26:36,599 –> 00:26:40,420 and now she shares in the same love 497 00:26:40,420 –> 00:26:41,920 that I have for my son. 498 00:26:42,959 –> 00:26:43,979 She’s in it. 499 00:26:46,300 –> 00:26:48,640 My older son, Andrew, married Emily 500 00:26:48,640 –> 00:26:52,339 who I knew a long time before she came into her family 501 00:26:52,339 –> 00:26:55,719 because she grew up here in this church. 502 00:26:55,719 –> 00:26:58,500 I was her pastor while she was growing up. 503 00:26:58,500 –> 00:27:00,020 There would have been times 504 00:27:00,020 –> 00:27:02,219 when she would have called me, pastor. 505 00:27:02,219 –> 00:27:05,619 If she said to me now, pastor, 506 00:27:05,619 –> 00:27:08,219 I would say what the world are you talking about? 507 00:27:08,439 –> 00:27:09,380 Don’t start. 508 00:27:11,020 –> 00:27:13,680 My son set his love on her 509 00:27:14,660 –> 00:27:16,739 and she has come to love my son. 510 00:27:17,959 –> 00:27:22,359 And being brought into the holy union of marriage, 511 00:27:22,359 –> 00:27:26,880 she now shares in the same love 512 00:27:26,880 –> 00:27:28,459 that I have for my son. 513 00:27:29,859 –> 00:27:31,859 Now, we are asking the question here. 514 00:27:31,859 –> 00:27:35,219 How can you become a child of God 515 00:27:35,219 –> 00:27:37,939 so that you know Him as your father 516 00:27:38,180 –> 00:27:41,819 and the answer is that you enter the family of God 517 00:27:41,819 –> 00:27:44,939 by union with his Son. 518 00:27:44,939 –> 00:27:49,780 God has one Son, his one and only Son is Jesus Christ 519 00:27:49,780 –> 00:27:51,500 and the Bible puts it like this, 520 00:27:51,500 –> 00:27:56,400 in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. 521 00:27:57,239 –> 00:27:59,300 This is how you enter the family of God, 522 00:27:59,300 –> 00:28:02,500 it’s in Christ Jesus and it’s through faith. 523 00:28:03,500 –> 00:28:05,319 And if you say, why is it just sons 524 00:28:05,319 –> 00:28:07,380 and why there’s not a reference to daughters, 525 00:28:07,540 –> 00:28:09,219 let me explain that very simply, 526 00:28:09,219 –> 00:28:13,579 that in the ancient world, it was only sons who inherited, 527 00:28:13,579 –> 00:28:15,579 daughters didn’t get a thing. 528 00:28:15,579 –> 00:28:17,359 And the point that Paul is making 529 00:28:17,359 –> 00:28:20,119 in this verse of scripture in the book of Galatians 530 00:28:20,119 –> 00:28:24,680 is that in this regard, the distinction of male and female 531 00:28:24,680 –> 00:28:27,400is abolished completely because all of God’s daughters 532 00:28:27,400 –> 00:28:30,020 inherit as much as his sons. 533 00:28:30,020 –> 00:28:33,900 We’re all brought into that same status of relationship 534 00:28:33,920 –> 00:28:37,560 in Jesus Christ when we come to faith through him. 535 00:28:37,560 –> 00:28:40,060 That’s what overcomes the issues of race 536 00:28:40,060 –> 00:28:42,459 that are so tormenting our nation, 537 00:28:42,459 –> 00:28:46,280 there’s something bigger when we are in Jesus Christ. 538 00:28:46,280 –> 00:28:48,939 And all of that’s torn away 539 00:28:48,939 –> 00:28:51,719 because the distinctions that are observed within the world 540 00:28:51,719 –> 00:28:53,880 are overcome in Jesus Christ 541 00:28:53,880 –> 00:28:57,260 as we become the children in Christ by faith 542 00:28:58,660 –> 00:29:00,119 who know him as Father 543 00:29:00,119 –> 00:29:02,939 and call upon Him as our Father in Heaven. 544 00:29:02,979 –> 00:29:06,020 So, here’s how we become children of God. 545 00:29:06,020 –> 00:29:08,500 Here’s how you would come to know God as your Father. 546 00:29:08,500 –> 00:29:11,339 If you came in here and he was a stranger to you 547 00:29:11,339 –> 00:29:12,939 or you felt like he was a tyrant 548 00:29:12,939 –> 00:29:15,420 just demanding things of you 549 00:29:15,420 –> 00:29:17,699 through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 550 00:29:17,699 –> 00:29:21,020 faith unites you to Jesus Christ. 551 00:29:22,079 –> 00:29:25,140 And when you are united to the one and only Son of God 552 00:29:25,140 –> 00:29:28,739 by definition you are part of the family of God. 553 00:29:28,739 –> 00:29:32,140 And think of this, you share in the same love 554 00:29:32,140 –> 00:29:34,660 that the father has for his own son. 555 00:29:36,180 –> 00:29:37,180 That’s amazing. 556 00:29:38,699 –> 00:29:42,540 But that is what God does for us in Jesus Christ. 557 00:29:42,540 –> 00:29:47,540 In Christ God becomes the father who delights in you, 558 00:29:48,280 –> 00:29:50,459 the father who loves to give good gifts 559 00:29:50,459 –> 00:29:54,319 and knows exactly what gifts to give and when to give them. 560 00:29:55,660 –> 00:29:59,420 And he is the father who in his great mercy 561 00:29:59,959 –> 00:30:03,199 lavishes his love upon you. 562 00:30:03,199 –> 00:30:07,219 God has one son and it is in union with Jesus Christ 563 00:30:07,219 –> 00:30:10,339 through faith that we become members 564 00:30:10,339 –> 00:30:12,640 of the family of God and know him as father. 565 00:30:12,640 –> 00:30:15,119 That’s why John in the Gospel puts it this way, 566 00:30:15,119 –> 00:30:18,140 it’s to all who receive Jesus, 567 00:30:18,140 –> 00:30:19,939 to those who believe in his name, 568 00:30:19,939 –> 00:30:24,939 he gives them the right to be called children of God. 569 00:30:25,579 –> 00:30:27,339 And I’m saying to you today 570 00:30:28,319 –> 00:30:30,959 that in as much as you will believe 571 00:30:30,959 –> 00:30:33,079 in the Lord Jesus Christ 572 00:30:33,079 –> 00:30:38,079 you will come to find that God truly loves you. 573 00:30:40,180 –> 00:30:42,800 And as you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 574 00:30:42,800 –> 00:30:44,439 if you will believe in the son 575 00:30:44,439 –> 00:30:47,319 who came into the world and died and rose for you, 576 00:30:47,319 –> 00:30:49,119 if you will put your trust in him 577 00:30:49,119 –> 00:30:50,719 you’ll discover something else. 578 00:30:50,719 –> 00:30:52,239 You’ll discover there was never 579 00:30:52,239 –> 00:30:53,959 the time when God didn’t love you 580 00:30:54,920 –> 00:30:57,979 because you’ll discover that in Christ 581 00:30:57,979 –> 00:31:01,380 he set his love on you before the creation of the world, 582 00:31:01,380 –> 00:31:02,979 before anything existed, 583 00:31:02,979 –> 00:31:05,800 he willed that you would be 584 00:31:05,800 –> 00:31:09,599 and he willed that you would be redeemed. 585 00:31:09,599 –> 00:31:10,920 It’s amazing. 586 00:31:10,920 –> 00:31:13,520 And as you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 587 00:31:13,520 –> 00:31:14,939 you’ll discover something else 588 00:31:14,939 –> 00:31:17,939 that there never will be a time when God will not love you. 589 00:31:18,979 –> 00:31:20,880 God says this in the Bible, 590 00:31:21,079 –> 00:31:24,579 I have loved you with an everlasting love, 591 00:31:25,400 –> 00:31:27,880 that means a love that never had a beginning 592 00:31:27,880 –> 00:31:29,780 and will never have an end, 593 00:31:29,780 –> 00:31:32,939 but it has been poured out and made known to us 594 00:31:32,939 –> 00:31:34,959 in Jesus Christ, 595 00:31:34,959 –> 00:31:37,479 who loved us and gave himself for us 596 00:31:37,479 –> 00:31:39,359 when we were still rebels, 597 00:31:39,359 –> 00:31:41,040 still strangers, 598 00:31:41,040 –> 00:31:44,079 still resisting God as if He were a tyrant 599 00:31:44,079 –> 00:31:48,160 who had no right to rule over our lives. 600 00:31:48,199 –> 00:31:51,719 God demonstrates his love for us in this. 601 00:31:51,719 –> 00:31:56,719 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 602 00:31:57,040 –> 00:31:58,479 Now here’s the principle I want us 603 00:31:58,479 –> 00:32:00,760 to take with us into this new week. 604 00:32:02,540 –> 00:32:06,479 In the degree to which you have the conscious awareness 605 00:32:06,479 –> 00:32:08,540 that God is your loving Heavenly Father, 606 00:32:08,540 –> 00:32:12,800 you will have from that the desire to pray. 607 00:32:12,800 –> 00:32:14,959 This is the wellspring 608 00:32:14,959 –> 00:32:18,560 from which that wonderful desire actually flows. 609 00:32:19,400 –> 00:32:22,119 If you know that God loves you just a little, 610 00:32:22,119 –> 00:32:23,920 you will pray just a little. 611 00:32:25,280 –> 00:32:28,760 If you come to know as a result of this morning 612 00:32:28,760 –> 00:32:31,119 that God loves you more, you will pray more. 613 00:32:31,119 –> 00:32:33,439 If you come to see that God loves you much, 614 00:32:33,439 –> 00:32:35,239 you will pray much. 615 00:32:35,239 –> 00:32:37,119 That’s what Jesus is teaching us. 616 00:32:37,119 –> 00:32:39,079 Can you get us going and prayer, Jesus? 617 00:32:39,079 –> 00:32:40,979 Here’s what you need to know, Father. 618 00:32:42,140 –> 00:32:43,680 You need to know him as Father. 619 00:32:45,040 –> 00:32:48,699 To everyone who has faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, today, 620 00:32:49,640 –> 00:32:53,699 I say you have a perfect Father. 621 00:32:54,880 –> 00:32:57,619 A Father who delights to give good gifts. 622 00:32:58,819 –> 00:33:02,160 You have an infinitely wise Father 623 00:33:03,140 –> 00:33:08,079 who knows exactly what you need and when you will need it 624 00:33:08,079 –> 00:33:11,780 and gives to you out of his infinite wisdom 625 00:33:12,599 –> 00:33:15,459 so that all his ultimate purposes 626 00:33:15,459 –> 00:33:17,500 will be accomplished in your life. 627 00:33:19,160 –> 00:33:21,979 You have a Father who not only is perfect 628 00:33:21,979 –> 00:33:25,119 and infinitely wise, a Father who loves you 629 00:33:25,119 –> 00:33:28,420 in a way that is far deeper than you could ever describe. 630 00:33:28,420 –> 00:33:30,520 But if you just look through the window 631 00:33:30,520 –> 00:33:33,180 of what your own children mean to you, 632 00:33:33,180 –> 00:33:35,699 you’ll get the beginning of a glimpse of it. 633 00:33:37,880 –> 00:33:39,640 And you have a Father 634 00:33:40,640 –> 00:33:42,719 who will never die 635 00:33:43,979 –> 00:33:46,920 because God alone can say to you 636 00:33:46,920 –> 00:33:48,880 I will never leave you 637 00:33:49,959 –> 00:33:52,219 and I will never forsake you. 638 00:33:53,439 –> 00:33:57,160 Your Father in Heaven delights when you draw near to Him, 639 00:33:58,000 –> 00:34:00,959 and the more you know Him through faith 640 00:34:00,959 –> 00:34:03,699 in the Lord Jesus Christ, 641 00:34:03,699 –> 00:34:08,199 the more you will have the desire to pray. 642 00:34:10,639 –> 00:34:11,479 Father, 643 00:34:13,979 –> 00:34:16,219 we are with the disciples in saying 644 00:34:16,219 –> 00:34:17,780 teach us to pray. 645 00:34:19,820 –> 00:34:22,399 And we ask that we may this week 646 00:34:22,399 –> 00:34:25,239 live in an ever-increasing knowledge 647 00:34:25,239 –> 00:34:27,760 of your fatherly love to us, 648 00:34:29,100 –> 00:34:31,239 that we may know it through faith 649 00:34:31,239 –> 00:34:33,020 in the Lord Jesus Christ 650 00:34:33,020 –> 00:34:36,080 by whom you have made yourself known to us, 651 00:34:36,840 –> 00:34:39,760 and that from it we will have the desire 652 00:34:39,760 –> 00:34:42,800 not to draw back from you 653 00:34:42,800 –> 00:34:44,719 but to draw near to you 654 00:34:45,979 –> 00:34:47,699 and to be nourished in the knowledge 655 00:34:47,699 –> 00:34:50,719 of your great and infinite love, 656 00:34:50,719 –> 00:34:53,439 your everlasting goodness 657 00:34:53,439 –> 00:34:55,639 and your relentless grace. 658 00:34:55,639 –> 00:34:58,360 Hear our prayers where we ask these things 659 00:34:58,360 –> 00:35:01,040 in the name of our saviour Jesus 660 00:35:01,040 –> 00:35:04,239 and all who believe together said amen.