1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,440 I’d like to invite you to open your Bibles today at Psalm 123 and Psalm 124. 2 00:00:08,240 –> 00:00:14,640 Our series Moving in the Right Direction is all about experiencing more of the presence of God in 3 00:00:14,640 –> 00:00:20,959 our lives. And we’ve been seeing together that that journey begins when we move from delaying 4 00:00:20,959 –> 00:00:25,840 to deciding. You got to come to the place where you would say to yourself, 5 00:00:26,160 –> 00:00:32,720 I’ve lived long enough at a distance from God. I’ve been too long in Mícheg. I can’t stay at 6 00:00:32,720 –> 00:00:39,759 a distance from God any longer. And the journey begins, we saw, when a person moves from delaying 7 00:00:39,759 –> 00:00:48,799 to deciding. Then we saw last time that in this journey we need to move from seeing to believing. 8 00:00:48,799 –> 00:00:53,599 The reason for that of course is that we live in a fallen world, and what we see around us will 9 00:00:53,599 –> 00:01:01,919 therefore often be very discouraging. That is why we need to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. 10 00:01:02,560 –> 00:01:07,199 We move from seeing to believing. Now today we take the third step in our journey, 11 00:01:07,199 –> 00:01:12,239 and we’re thinking about moving from asking to receiving, and I hope you have your Bible open 12 00:01:12,239 –> 00:01:21,839 at Psalm 123 and 124, two psalms that open up these themes for us. Let us hear the Word of God. 13 00:01:22,160 –> 00:01:30,480 Psalm 123 – I lift up my eyes to you whose throne is in heaven, 14 00:01:32,080 –> 00:01:39,199 as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand 15 00:01:39,199 –> 00:01:47,040 of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God till he shows us his mercy. 16 00:01:48,000 –> 00:01:53,360 Have mercy on us, Oh Lord, have mercy on us, for we have endured 17 00:01:53,360 –> 00:02:01,680 much contempt, we have endured much ridicule from the proud, much contempt from the arrogant. 18 00:02:02,959 –> 00:02:09,119 If the Lord had not been on our side, let Israel say, if the Lord had not been on our 19 00:02:09,119 –> 00:02:14,800 side, when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us 20 00:02:14,800 –> 00:02:22,160 alive. The flood would have engulfed us. The torrent would have swept over us. The raging 21 00:02:22,160 –> 00:02:30,960 waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. 22 00:02:32,160 –> 00:02:37,199 We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare. 23 00:02:38,160 –> 00:02:50,160 The snare has been broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker 24 00:02:50,960 –> 00:03:00,880 of heaven and Earth. This is the word of God. Now I’m excited about the opportunity for us 25 00:03:01,039 –> 00:03:06,880 reflect together on these Psalms today because more than any other in this series, 26 00:03:07,600 –> 00:03:14,720 these Psalms teach us about the holy art of prayer. And if you’re to move in the right 27 00:03:14,720 –> 00:03:20,479 direction in your life, to move to the place where you will experience more of the presence of God, 28 00:03:20,479 –> 00:03:28,000 then a major part of that journey will be to learn to pray. Now the book of Psalms is not so much 29 00:03:28,000 –> 00:03:36,800 like a textbook as it is like a photograph album. What we have here very simply are snapshots 30 00:03:37,600 –> 00:03:45,679 of great men of God praying in the Holy Spirit. And just like you look through a photograph album, 31 00:03:45,679 –> 00:03:52,880 what we’re able to do here is to discover what praying in the Holy Spirit actually looks like. 32 00:03:52,880 –> 00:03:58,320 And when we know what it looks like, we will be able to go and to practice it ourselves. 33 00:03:59,360 –> 00:04:03,119 Now these two Psalms taken together, and I think that’s very important, 34 00:04:03,119 –> 00:04:08,960 really demonstrate two dimensions of prayer that will keep us moving in the right direction. 35 00:04:09,679 –> 00:04:15,919 The first is to ask for what you need and the second is to affirm what God has done. 36 00:04:16,720 –> 00:04:20,959 And I want us as we learn from these Psalms together, and want to be very practical as 37 00:04:20,959 –> 00:04:29,040 they are today, for us to see how we can do a better job of asking God for the things that 38 00:04:29,040 –> 00:04:35,600 we need and at the same time a better job of affirming the things that God has done. 39 00:04:36,160 –> 00:04:41,519 And if we’re able to grow on these twin tracks, we will move forward in the right direction and 40 00:04:41,519 –> 00:04:46,079 we will discover more of the presence and the blessing of God in our lives. 41 00:04:46,880 –> 00:04:51,760 So first ask for what you need, then second affirm what God has done, 42 00:04:51,760 –> 00:04:56,640 that’s where we’re headed today, ask for what you need. 43 00:04:58,799 –> 00:05:07,600 Now we begin with Psalm 123 which is a psalm full of asking. This is the prayer of a believer who 44 00:05:07,600 –> 00:05:14,640 is finding it difficult to sustain his faith in the pressure of an unbelieving world. People 45 00:05:14,640 –> 00:05:19,440 around him are treating him with contempt. You see that there at the end of the psalm? 46 00:05:19,440 –> 00:05:24,320 They’re patronising towards him. Verse 3, we have endured much contempt, 47 00:05:24,320 –> 00:05:29,600 we have endured much ridicule from the proud, much contempt from the arrogant. 48 00:05:29,600 –> 00:05:35,119 He’s in an environment in which unbelieving people despise his faith 49 00:05:36,000 –> 00:05:43,920 and he’s feeling the pressure of living as a believer in an unbelieving world and feeling 50 00:05:43,920 –> 00:05:50,559 this pressure he knows that he needs the help of God. Now very simply then, 51 00:05:50,559 –> 00:05:54,559 the question is, how do you go about asking for God’s help? 52 00:05:56,320 –> 00:06:00,480 How do you, in a practical way when you’re feeling under pressure, 53 00:06:01,839 –> 00:06:07,760 how do you ask God for what you need? And it seems to me that there are four 54 00:06:07,760 –> 00:06:12,160 very practical things that we learn from this psalm I found all of them 55 00:06:12,160 –> 00:06:17,920 to be profoundly helpful in my own life. Two of them are negative and two of them are 56 00:06:17,920 –> 00:06:21,600 positive and I hope you have your bible open as we follow them together. 57 00:06:22,160 –> 00:06:26,079 How am I to go about this business of asking of God? 58 00:06:26,079 –> 00:06:32,880 Like the psalmist I find myself under many pressures, how am I to bring my needs to Him? 59 00:06:32,880 –> 00:06:34,239 Wasn’t asked of Him? 60 00:06:34,320 –> 00:06:40,959 Number one. Don’t stare at the mountains. 61 00:06:42,640 –> 00:06:45,839 Don’t stare at the mountains. 62 00:06:46,720 –> 00:06:51,119 First principle to learn if we’re to grow in asking of God. 63 00:06:51,839 –> 00:06:57,359 Now, I say this because there is an obvious contrast between the beginning of Psalm 123 64 00:06:57,359 –> 00:07:00,640 and Psalm 121, which we looked at the other week. 65 00:07:01,200 –> 00:07:08,000 Notice Psalm 121 begins by saying, I will lift up my eyes to the hills. 66 00:07:09,279 –> 00:07:14,640 Psalm 123 says, I will lift up my eyes to you. 67 00:07:14,640 –> 00:07:16,239 They’re so close together. 68 00:07:16,239 –> 00:07:20,320 And the difference is so small that you can hardly but notice it. 69 00:07:21,119 –> 00:07:24,799 When we were looking at Psalm 121, we suggested that when he says, 70 00:07:24,799 –> 00:07:26,880 I lift my eyes up to the hills. 71 00:07:27,440 –> 00:07:31,200 He was looking at the difficulties of the journey ahead. 72 00:07:31,200 –> 00:07:34,720 Remember, these are all songs of ascents. 73 00:07:34,720 –> 00:07:39,200 They are sung on a difficult journey that pilgrims made on the way up to Jerusalem. 74 00:07:39,839 –> 00:07:43,760 And we suggested that as this believer moved from delaying to deciding 75 00:07:43,760 –> 00:07:47,440 he stepped out on the journey to the place of God’s presence, 76 00:07:47,440 –> 00:07:50,480 he looked up and saw the hills that he had to climb 77 00:07:50,480 –> 00:07:52,640 and he said, where does my help come from? 78 00:07:52,640 –> 00:07:56,640 All he sees the mountains. 79 00:07:58,000 –> 00:08:00,640 That’s how Psalm 121 begins 80 00:08:02,000 –> 00:08:03,839 and eventually he comes to the answer. 81 00:08:03,839 –> 00:08:05,440 My help comes from the Lord. 82 00:08:06,640 –> 00:08:09,359 But in Psalm 123, it’s distinctly different. 83 00:08:09,359 –> 00:08:12,799 You see, he doesn’t begin here by looking at the problem, 84 00:08:12,799 –> 00:08:16,640 he doesn’t begin here by looking at all that lies ahead of him 85 00:08:16,640 –> 00:08:18,799 and how difficult it all is. 86 00:08:18,799 –> 00:08:22,239 Here, he says I lift up my eyes to you 87 00:08:23,040 –> 00:08:27,440 and he begins by fixing his mind and his heart on God. 88 00:08:28,320 –> 00:08:29,200 That’s progress. 89 00:08:30,720 –> 00:08:34,000 That’s part of his ascent in prayer. 90 00:08:36,080 –> 00:08:38,080 Don’t stare at the mountains. 91 00:08:39,520 –> 00:08:42,159 If you want to learn to ask of God, 92 00:08:42,159 –> 00:08:48,159 make sure that you don’t reduce prayer to a shopping list of items. 93 00:08:49,679 –> 00:08:51,760 See, there is a kind of prayer 94 00:08:51,760 –> 00:08:55,440 that amounts to nothing more than worrying on your knees. 95 00:08:55,440 –> 00:08:56,719 You ever done this? 96 00:08:58,239 –> 00:09:02,640 All you’re doing is adopting a posture of prayer 97 00:09:02,640 –> 00:09:04,479 and staring at the mountains. 98 00:09:05,760 –> 00:09:08,239 You said, Dear God at the beginning 99 00:09:08,960 –> 00:09:10,880 and you said Amen at the end 100 00:09:11,440 –> 00:09:14,320 and you spent five minutes worrying in the middle 101 00:09:15,200 –> 00:09:16,799 and that ain’t prayer. 102 00:09:17,760 –> 00:09:23,119 All it is, is an exercise in staring at your own problems 103 00:09:23,119 –> 00:09:25,760 and of course five minutes staring at your problems 104 00:09:25,760 –> 00:09:27,039 will only have the effect 105 00:09:27,039 –> 00:09:28,559 of making you feel worse 106 00:09:29,280 –> 00:09:32,239 even if you happen to do it on your knees 107 00:09:32,239 –> 00:09:33,520 saying dear God at the beginning 108 00:09:33,520 –> 00:09:34,479 and Amen in the end. 109 00:09:37,520 –> 00:09:40,559 So the psalmist is moving in the right direction here. 110 00:09:41,599 –> 00:09:43,760 He is facing great pressures 111 00:09:43,760 –> 00:09:45,520 but when he comes to God 112 00:09:45,679 –> 00:09:48,320 he begins by looking away from them 113 00:09:48,320 –> 00:09:51,760 and up to the throne and the face of God. 114 00:09:51,760 –> 00:09:52,880 So here’s the first step. 115 00:09:52,880 –> 00:09:53,760 It’s very important. 116 00:09:53,760 –> 00:09:56,159 Some of us don’t get started with prayer 117 00:09:56,159 –> 00:09:58,479 because we’ve got stuck in the middle of the mountains. 118 00:10:00,080 –> 00:10:02,400 If you want to grow in asking God for what you need 119 00:10:03,359 –> 00:10:04,640 don’t stare at the mountain. 120 00:10:04,640 –> 00:10:05,380 Second! 121 00:10:06,400 –> 00:10:09,039 Get your eyes off yourself. 122 00:10:10,400 –> 00:10:12,719 One of the great teachers of the early church 123 00:10:12,719 –> 00:10:13,760 as many of you will know 124 00:10:13,760 –> 00:10:17,039 was an African bishop by the name of Augustine. 125 00:10:17,039 –> 00:10:21,280 Augustine wrote a wonderful commentary on the Book of Psalms 126 00:10:22,080 –> 00:10:26,400 and he makes the point here in his comments on Psalm 123 127 00:10:26,400 –> 00:10:29,599 that if we are to ascend in prayer 128 00:10:30,400 –> 00:10:33,280 we need to get our eyes off ourselves. 129 00:10:34,559 –> 00:10:37,520 You can think of prayer as being like a narrow path. 130 00:10:37,520 –> 00:10:40,000 It fits the image that we’re using of a journey. 131 00:10:40,640 –> 00:10:42,239 It’s like a narrow path 132 00:10:42,880 –> 00:10:45,280 with a ditch on either side. 133 00:10:46,640 –> 00:10:50,159 The ditch on one side is called pride. 134 00:10:51,200 –> 00:10:54,239 The ditch on the other side is called despair. 135 00:10:55,280 –> 00:10:57,599 All of us are in danger from both ditches 136 00:10:57,599 –> 00:11:00,239 but most of us will have a tendency to lean 137 00:11:00,239 –> 00:11:02,719 and to fall one way or the other. 138 00:11:03,919 –> 00:11:07,280 The interesting thing is that the answer to both problems, 139 00:11:07,280 –> 00:11:08,559 pride and despair, 140 00:11:08,559 –> 00:11:10,799 the ditches on either side of us, 141 00:11:10,799 –> 00:11:13,119 the answer to both these problems is 142 00:11:13,119 –> 00:11:16,880 to get your eyes off yourself. 143 00:11:17,679 –> 00:11:19,119 Here’s how Augustine puts it. 144 00:11:19,919 –> 00:11:24,799 We ascend to heaven he says if we think of God. 145 00:11:26,080 –> 00:11:28,799 If people take pride in their progress, 146 00:11:29,520 –> 00:11:34,159 their very ascent will bring them tumbling down again. 147 00:11:35,520 –> 00:11:39,119 How are they to conduct themselves in order to avoid pride? 148 00:11:39,119 –> 00:11:45,200 But let them lift their eyes to him who dwells in heaven 149 00:11:45,200 –> 00:11:47,760 and not focus on themselves. 150 00:11:47,760 –> 00:11:50,400 See he’s saying that’s how you keep out the ditch of pride. 151 00:11:51,200 –> 00:11:53,440 You get your eyes off yourself. 152 00:11:54,640 –> 00:11:57,039 And you see there is a subtle danger isn’t there 153 00:11:57,039 –> 00:12:01,039 in becoming preoccupied with our own spiritual progress 154 00:12:01,039 –> 00:12:04,320 or even preoccupied with our own lack of spiritual progress. 155 00:12:04,320 –> 00:12:08,239 Have you heard the story about the gardener who planted tulips. 156 00:12:09,599 –> 00:12:13,679 And after he planted them he wanted to be really sure that they were growing. 157 00:12:14,880 –> 00:12:18,799 So every week he dug them up in order to have a look at the roots. 158 00:12:20,640 –> 00:12:27,280 Now you see nothing will grow if every week you’re digging it up to look at the roots. 159 00:12:29,039 –> 00:12:35,520 And you see that is the danger with becoming preoccupied with our own selves. 160 00:12:35,520 –> 00:12:42,799 It’s the danger, quite honestly, of an overemphasis on analyzing the life and 161 00:12:42,799 –> 00:12:49,599 health of the church. We live in an age of surveys and assessments and they have some value. 162 00:12:51,280 –> 00:12:55,599 But you don’t make a church healthy by analyzing the health of the church. 163 00:12:56,880 –> 00:13:02,880 You make a church healthy by focusing the attention of the church on Jesus. 164 00:13:02,880 –> 00:13:08,479 Get your eyes off yourself. That’s how you avoid, on the one hand, the ditch of pride, 165 00:13:08,479 –> 00:13:14,479 and on the other hand, the ditch of despair. Augustine has a wonderfully pithy comment 166 00:13:14,479 –> 00:13:19,440 when it comes to despair. It’s talked about the danger of pride. And when he talks about despair, 167 00:13:20,640 –> 00:13:28,880 he says, if you find yourself unpleasant—it’s not a bad beginning for a sentence, isn’t it? 168 00:13:28,880 –> 00:13:31,200 I mean, some of us struggle with that—oh, yeah, I really don’t 169 00:13:31,200 –> 00:13:34,080 like the way I am, I don’t like the way I look, I don’t like the way I feel. 170 00:13:35,760 –> 00:13:41,280 If you find yourself unpleasant, take your eyes off yourself. 171 00:13:43,520 –> 00:13:45,440 Pretty good for the 5th century, isn’t it? 172 00:13:48,080 –> 00:13:53,520 If you find yourself unpleasant, take your eyes off yourself. Why do you focus there? He asks. 173 00:13:55,039 –> 00:14:00,719 This can be a liberating word for someone today. Your mind keeps going round and round on what 174 00:14:00,719 –> 00:14:07,119 you don’t like about yourself. If you find yourself unpleasant, take your eyes off yourself. 175 00:14:08,799 –> 00:14:13,039 You will find that it will free you to lift your eyes to God. 176 00:14:15,039 –> 00:14:19,840 So, if you want to grow in this whole ministry of prayer and what it means to ask and to bring 177 00:14:19,840 –> 00:14:24,719 your needs to God, number one, don’t stare at the mountains, number two, get your eyes 178 00:14:24,719 –> 00:14:28,400 off yourself. That’s the two negatives, here we now go positive. Number three, 179 00:14:29,039 –> 00:14:37,599 take the position of a servant. If you want to learn the art of prayer, this is the posture 180 00:14:37,599 –> 00:14:45,840 you must assume. Verse two, as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, 181 00:14:46,960 –> 00:14:53,440 as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God 182 00:14:53,440 –> 00:15:00,640 till he shows us his mercy. Now the Psalmist is not a slave of course, and he’s not endorsing 183 00:15:00,640 –> 00:15:08,640 slavery either, what he’s doing is very simply using a picture. And he’s saying as I come to ask 184 00:15:08,640 –> 00:15:15,440 Lord this is how I’m coming to you, I’m approaching you in the same way 185 00:15:15,440 –> 00:15:22,880 as a slave comes to his master or a maid to her mistress. In other words, I’m looking to you to 186 00:15:22,880 –> 00:15:29,919 direct me, I’m looking to you to provide for me because the slave can’t provide for his or herself, 187 00:15:31,200 –> 00:15:37,520 I’m looking to you to protect me. That’s how a slave comes to his master, how a maid comes 188 00:15:37,520 –> 00:15:43,359 to her mistress. Now the point here that’s important is that I am in the position of the 189 00:15:43,359 –> 00:15:50,159 slave and God is in the position of the master. And the difficulty for many of us in prayer 190 00:15:50,239 –> 00:15:57,760 of course is that we get it precisely the wrong way around. When we pray it’s as if it said as 191 00:15:57,760 –> 00:16:05,280 the eyes of a master look to a slave, so our eyes are looking to you oh God, and then we begin our 192 00:16:05,280 –> 00:16:12,479 prayer. Lord do this and why haven’t you done that and how long is it going to take you to do the 193 00:16:12,520 –> 00:16:22,679 other. We come as if we were trying to give direction to God. That’s how a master speaks 194 00:16:22,679 –> 00:16:30,200 to a slave. No, no, no says the psalmist, when I come to ask it’s entirely the other way around, 195 00:16:30,200 –> 00:16:39,520 I come in the position of the slave coming to the master. That’s why he says, I lift my eyes up to 196 00:16:39,520 –> 00:16:47,200 you. Did you notice that? Up not down. You’re gonna come to God in prayer, you look up to him. 197 00:16:47,200 –> 00:16:57,479 You don’t look down on him. Prayer can never be a way of manipulating God. So if we want to 198 00:16:57,479 –> 00:17:08,280 cultivate the art of asking, let’s humble ourselves and take the position of a servant. Don’t stare at 199 00:17:08,380 –> 00:17:18,400 the mountains. Get your eyes of yourself. Adopt the position of a servant. And fourth, fix your 200 00:17:18,400 –> 00:17:31,599 eyes on the throne and the hands of God. I lift my eyes to you whose throne is in heaven. Do you 201 00:17:31,599 –> 00:17:37,939 notice the parallel between the opening of this Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer? Remember that the 202 00:17:37,939 –> 00:17:44,020 disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, as this Psalm is also teaching us how to pray. And 203 00:17:44,020 –> 00:17:52,319 Jesus said, well here’s how you pray, and he began this way, our Father is in heaven. Psalm 204 00:17:52,319 –> 00:18:01,500 123 is beginning in the same way. I lift my eyes to you whose throne is in heaven. I found it 205 00:18:01,500 –> 00:18:08,359 especially helpful that this Psalm directs our attention to the throne and then to the hands of 206 00:18:08,359 –> 00:18:18,400 God. I lift up my eyes to you whose throne is in heaven. The throne, of course, speaks of God’s 207 00:18:18,400 –> 00:18:26,020 power and his authority. The best way to get your mind off the mountains, you’re saying, how am I 208 00:18:26,699 –> 00:18:34,339 seem so big. The best way to get your mind off the mountains is to get it onto the throne of God, his 209 00:18:34,339 –> 00:18:44,020 power, his authority, his eternity. We had family here for Christmas and they enjoyed some great 210 00:18:44,020 –> 00:18:51,339 time in Chicago. Usual routine, we’ve got it down to a fine art now. Started at Navy Pier, looking 211 00:18:51,380 –> 00:19:00,020 up at the Ferris wheel. That Ferris wheel looks enormous standing at the bottom on Navy Pier. 212 00:19:00,020 –> 00:19:09,619 Then we go for lunch to the top of the Hancock Tower, the Ferris wheel looks rather ordinary 213 00:19:09,619 –> 00:19:20,619 from the 95th floor, right? My problems sometimes look so enormous towering above me but they must 214 00:19:20,619 –> 00:19:28,540 look very different from the throne of God. I lift my mind I lift my eyes to your throne 215 00:19:28,540 –> 00:19:39,199 oh God and that’s where Jesus is. Think about that but it’s not just the throne of God in his 216 00:19:39,199 –> 00:19:45,219 awesome power, it is the hand of God. Look at verse 2 as the eyes of the slave looked 217 00:19:45,219 –> 00:19:51,459 at the hand of the master, or the eyes of the maid look to the hand of the mistress. 218 00:19:51,459 –> 00:19:59,160 Look at God’s throne he says but not just that look at God’s hand. And I cannot think 219 00:19:59,160 –> 00:20:05,099 about the hands of God without remembering that when he came to us in Jesus his hands 220 00:20:05,099 –> 00:20:14,079 were pierced. I look at the hands of Jesus I see the wounds as the disciples did even 221 00:20:14,199 –> 00:20:24,199 after the Resurrection. God’s throne speaks to me of his awesome power. His hands speak 222 00:20:24,300 –> 00:20:32,300 to me of his amazing love. Look at his throne, look at his hands, you will find that your 223 00:20:32,300 –> 00:20:39,300 faith begins to grow. And as your faith grows you will find a freedom within you to begin 224 00:20:39,959 –> 00:20:54,439 to ask for what you need. See, faith grows by looking at Christ. Fix your eyes on the 225 00:20:54,439 –> 00:21:03,839 mountains and you’ll grow in worry. Fix your eyes on yourself and you’ll either grow in 226 00:21:04,319 –> 00:21:13,420 pride or else you’ll grow in despair. Fix your eyes on Jesus and you will grow in faith. 227 00:21:13,420 –> 00:21:20,420 And you will discover what it is, as the psalmist did, to be able to ask for what you need. 228 00:21:20,420 –> 00:21:26,280 As your mind is fixed on him. By the way, that’s why we need to nourish 229 00:21:26,280 –> 00:21:31,939 ourselves in the word, isn’t it? Because that’s where we find Christ. He is the bread of life. 230 00:21:32,020 –> 00:21:36,800 That’s why Christ needs to be always the center of our worship, because we don’t come here 231 00:21:36,800 –> 00:21:40,300 to congratulate ourselves or commiserate ourselves, we come here 232 00:21:40,300 –> 00:21:46,959 to celebrate Christ. We’re strengthened as we come to him. 233 00:21:46,959 –> 00:21:52,739 So here’s the first dimension of prayer, asking for what you need. 234 00:21:52,739 –> 00:21:58,260 Don’t stare at the mountains. Get your eyes off yourself. 235 00:21:58,260 –> 00:22:03,619 Adopt a position of a servant and fix your mind on the throne 236 00:22:03,619 –> 00:22:10,380 and on the hand of God. 237 00:22:10,380 –> 00:22:15,160 But there’s a second dimension to authentic prayer that I think is every bit as important, 238 00:22:15,160 –> 00:22:19,060 and we find it in Psalm 124. 239 00:22:19,060 –> 00:22:26,640 Ask for what you need, affirm what God has done. 240 00:22:26,739 –> 00:22:33,839 And if there is to be a balance of poise and a progress an ascending in your prayer life, 241 00:22:33,839 –> 00:22:38,699 you need not one track, but you need both of these together. 242 00:22:38,699 –> 00:22:40,000 Ask for what you need. 243 00:22:40,000 –> 00:22:43,359 Secondly, affirm what God has done. 244 00:22:43,359 –> 00:22:46,239 Notice the contrast between these two Psalms. 245 00:22:46,239 –> 00:22:48,920 Psalm 123 is all about asking. 246 00:22:48,920 –> 00:22:52,260 Psalm 124 is all about affirming. 247 00:22:52,260 –> 00:22:54,520 And it’s important to keep these together. 248 00:22:54,520 –> 00:22:57,880 Now notice just in brief, what’s happening in this Psalm. 249 00:22:57,880 –> 00:23:03,239 It begins with Him saying, if God had not been on our side, we would have been swept 250 00:23:03,239 –> 00:23:04,239 away. 251 00:23:04,239 –> 00:23:05,780 We would have been destroyed. 252 00:23:05,780 –> 00:23:06,839 We would have been torn. 253 00:23:06,839 –> 00:23:10,020 But praise God, He has been on our side. 254 00:23:10,020 –> 00:23:13,760 He’s not let us be torn by their teeth, the teeth of the enemies. 255 00:23:13,760 –> 00:23:18,000 We have escaped like a bird out the fowler’s snare. 256 00:23:18,000 –> 00:23:22,119 The snare has been broken, and we have escaped. 257 00:23:22,239 –> 00:23:26,160 He is affirming what God has done. 258 00:23:26,160 –> 00:23:33,560 Now again, I want to try and encourage us with some practical pointers as to how you 259 00:23:33,560 –> 00:23:39,119 can grow, ascend in affirming what God has done. 260 00:23:39,119 –> 00:23:46,560 Now I want just to give two here from this 124th Psalm. 261 00:23:47,000 –> 00:23:54,319 Namely, practice the what ifs of faith. 262 00:23:54,319 –> 00:23:58,640 Practice the what ifs of faith. 263 00:23:58,640 –> 00:24:00,719 And notice how the Psalm begins. 264 00:24:00,719 –> 00:24:04,780 If the Lord had not been on our side. 265 00:24:04,780 –> 00:24:06,939 Then he says it again. 266 00:24:06,939 –> 00:24:08,000 Let Israel say. 267 00:24:08,000 –> 00:24:11,079 So he wants the whole community to practice saying this. 268 00:24:11,079 –> 00:24:16,099 If the Lord had not been on our side. 269 00:24:16,119 –> 00:24:20,400 Now, some of us have a natural tendency 270 00:24:20,400 –> 00:24:23,739 to the what ifs of worry. 271 00:24:23,739 –> 00:24:26,520 What if my husband dies? 272 00:24:26,520 –> 00:24:29,160 What if I lose my job? 273 00:24:29,160 –> 00:24:31,579 What if the test is positive. 274 00:24:31,579 –> 00:24:33,839 And the list goes on, and on, and on. 275 00:24:33,839 –> 00:24:36,439 Some of us are more prone to worry than others. 276 00:24:36,439 –> 00:24:40,880 It’s an area of particular struggle for some. 277 00:24:40,880 –> 00:24:44,119 When I was growing up, we had a thing 278 00:24:44,180 –> 00:24:46,660 that was called a promise box. 279 00:24:46,660 –> 00:24:50,660 Folks know what a promise box was, familiar with that? 280 00:24:50,660 –> 00:24:54,579 A little box, and inside, there were little pieces 281 00:24:54,579 –> 00:24:57,859 of paper rolled up, like a scroll, 282 00:24:57,859 –> 00:25:01,859 and placed on end in the box and all bunched together. 283 00:25:01,859 –> 00:25:04,560 You probably have a hundred of these in the box. 284 00:25:04,560 –> 00:25:07,800 And on each little bit of paper was one of the promises 285 00:25:07,800 –> 00:25:09,500 of God from the Bible. 286 00:25:09,500 –> 00:25:12,540 Then in the top of the box was a pair of tweezers, 287 00:25:12,579 –> 00:25:15,020 and the idea was that when you had a family prayer time 288 00:25:15,020 –> 00:25:17,099 in the evening, you see you’d bring out the box 289 00:25:17,099 –> 00:25:20,540 and you give it to the kids, and they’d take the tweezers 290 00:25:20,540 –> 00:25:23,459 and they’d pull one of these scrolls and you’d read it 291 00:25:23,459 –> 00:25:25,380 and take in one of the promises of God. 292 00:25:25,380 –> 00:25:27,160 Of course we developed the art of always choosing 293 00:25:27,160 –> 00:25:29,219 the same one because it was dog-eared at the top 294 00:25:29,219 –> 00:25:30,939 and we liked it and so forth, 295 00:25:30,939 –> 00:25:33,300 but that was how a promise box worked. 296 00:25:34,260 –> 00:25:38,859 Now, my grandmother, now wonderfully with the Lord, 297 00:25:38,859 –> 00:25:43,260 had throughout her years a natural tendency to worry, 298 00:25:43,260 –> 00:25:47,339 and so in the spirit of good family fun, 299 00:25:47,339 –> 00:25:51,540 my folks years ago made for her a worry box. 300 00:25:52,540 –> 00:25:55,040 It was just like a promise box, 301 00:25:55,040 –> 00:25:57,699 except that each of the little scrolls of paper 302 00:25:57,699 –> 00:25:59,939 had something that you could worry about, 303 00:25:59,939 –> 00:26:02,319 one for each day. 304 00:26:02,319 –> 00:26:05,780 It had things like, what if the roof falls in, 305 00:26:05,780 –> 00:26:08,040 what if the car breaks down, 306 00:26:08,040 –> 00:26:11,800 what if the rent doubles, and so forth and so on. 307 00:26:11,800 –> 00:26:14,180 Now, my grandmother thoroughly enjoyed this joke. 308 00:26:14,180 –> 00:26:16,459 We all laughed about it for a very long time, 309 00:26:16,459 –> 00:26:18,500 which, by the way, is a terrific thing to do, 310 00:26:18,500 –> 00:26:21,339 to be able to learn to laugh at yourself 311 00:26:21,339 –> 00:26:23,859 and your own idiosyncrasies. 312 00:26:24,699 –> 00:26:27,680 But some of us are natural worriers. 313 00:26:27,680 –> 00:26:31,859 We live in the what ifs of life. 314 00:26:32,859 –> 00:26:34,859 Well, if you’re a natural worrier 315 00:26:34,900 –> 00:26:38,219 and you do a lot of what if-ing, 316 00:26:38,219 –> 00:26:42,680 Psalm 124 shows you how you can use 317 00:26:42,680 –> 00:26:45,579 this tendency to your advantage. 318 00:26:46,800 –> 00:26:49,260 Next time you find yourself going over 319 00:26:49,260 –> 00:26:51,400 the what ifs of worry, 320 00:26:52,359 –> 00:26:57,359 try switching to the what ifs of faith. 321 00:26:59,219 –> 00:27:00,739 That’s what David does here. 322 00:27:01,579 –> 00:27:06,380 What if the Lord had not been on our side? 323 00:27:07,800 –> 00:27:11,199 Now I found that there are many believers 324 00:27:11,199 –> 00:27:12,819 who seem instinctively to do this. 325 00:27:12,819 –> 00:27:14,719 I’ll tell you when I’ve heard it most. 326 00:27:15,859 –> 00:27:17,959 When I’ve had the privilege of walking 327 00:27:17,959 –> 00:27:20,079 closely with someone who has gone 328 00:27:20,079 –> 00:27:22,839 through deep trouble, perhaps a bereavement, 329 00:27:22,839 –> 00:27:27,839 a loss, a great tragedy, a very serious operation. 330 00:27:28,540 –> 00:27:30,040 I’ve earned the privilege as a pastor 331 00:27:30,160 –> 00:27:32,439 of sitting beside them perhaps in a hospital 332 00:27:32,439 –> 00:27:33,800 in their home or whatever. 333 00:27:35,099 –> 00:27:38,160 I’ll tell you the phrase that seems 334 00:27:38,160 –> 00:27:41,160 to have occurred time and time again. 335 00:27:43,099 –> 00:27:48,099 Pastor, I don’t know how folks could get through 336 00:27:48,959 –> 00:27:53,000 this if they didn’t know the Lord. 337 00:27:54,479 –> 00:27:56,579 Now you see, that’s the what ifs of faith. 338 00:27:57,459 –> 00:27:59,000 That’s a person saying, you know, 339 00:27:59,000 –> 00:28:01,359 this is unbelievably difficult. 340 00:28:04,079 –> 00:28:05,479 But what if I didn’t have the Lord? 341 00:28:05,479 –> 00:28:07,239 If I didn’t have the Lord, I have no idea 342 00:28:07,239 –> 00:28:09,479 how I’d manage, but I do have the Lord, 343 00:28:09,479 –> 00:28:12,239 and it’s that that is holding me on in this. 344 00:28:13,420 –> 00:28:15,640 I don’t know how folks would get by 345 00:28:15,640 –> 00:28:17,640 if they didn’t have the Lord. 346 00:28:19,599 –> 00:28:20,959 Now you see, that is precisely 347 00:28:20,959 –> 00:28:23,079 what David is doing here in the psalm. 348 00:28:23,079 –> 00:28:25,160 That is the what if of faith, 349 00:28:25,819 –> 00:28:30,599 the ability to say, what if God wasn’t with me? 350 00:28:30,599 –> 00:28:33,780 What if Christ hadn’t died for me? 351 00:28:34,880 –> 00:28:38,599 What if my eternal future was hanging in the balance? 352 00:28:39,560 –> 00:28:41,819 What if my faith were only a human decision 353 00:28:41,819 –> 00:28:44,439 and it all depended on me to give it up? 354 00:28:44,439 –> 00:28:47,359 For a Christian, the what if of faith 355 00:28:47,359 –> 00:28:50,979 builds confidence because it focuses attention 356 00:28:50,979 –> 00:28:53,199 on the reality of your situation. 357 00:28:54,160 –> 00:28:57,439 You see, this is David’s way of reminding his heart 358 00:28:57,439 –> 00:28:59,520 and his mind that God is with him. 359 00:29:00,520 –> 00:29:03,800 This is our way of saying, Christ has died for us. 360 00:29:03,800 –> 00:29:05,800 This is our way of calling to mind 361 00:29:05,800 –> 00:29:08,959 that I am a new creation in Jesus Christ. 362 00:29:08,959 –> 00:29:13,479 If these things were not true, I would be overwhelmed. 363 00:29:13,479 –> 00:29:15,959 But these are the realities of my life 364 00:29:15,959 –> 00:29:19,060 and in times of trouble, I need to affirm them. 365 00:29:19,219 –> 00:29:23,300 Now, if you think this is building a lot on a little 366 00:29:23,300 –> 00:29:26,160 let me suggest you just read the New Testament. 367 00:29:27,540 –> 00:29:30,239 Because as you go through the letters of the New Testament 368 00:29:30,239 –> 00:29:33,300 you will find this pattern again and again and again. 369 00:29:33,300 –> 00:29:36,920 Paul says to the Corinthians, think of what you once were. 370 00:29:37,939 –> 00:29:40,780 Why does he say that, to make them feel bad? 371 00:29:40,780 –> 00:29:44,540 No, to remind them of what Christ has done for them. 372 00:29:45,739 –> 00:29:48,500 Ephesians he says, you were darkness 373 00:29:48,500 –> 00:29:51,619 but now you are light in the Lord. 374 00:29:51,619 –> 00:29:54,260 You were dead in your trespasses and sins 375 00:29:54,260 –> 00:29:58,260 but you have been made alive in Jesus Christ. 376 00:29:58,260 –> 00:30:00,439 Look at where you were, look at what you would be 377 00:30:00,439 –> 00:30:04,140 if it was not for Jesus Christ, do the what ifing of faith 378 00:30:04,140 –> 00:30:08,119 and it will help you to see just what you have in Jesus 379 00:30:08,119 –> 00:30:11,420 and that’s precisely what you need to affirm. 380 00:30:13,859 –> 00:30:15,540 If the Lord had not been on our side 381 00:30:15,540 –> 00:30:17,400 we would have been swept away. 382 00:30:18,719 –> 00:30:22,520 The Lord is on our side, God is with me 383 00:30:23,859 –> 00:30:28,060 and neither death nor life, not anything in Heaven 384 00:30:28,060 –> 00:30:30,780 or hell or Earth could ever separate you 385 00:30:30,780 –> 00:30:34,880 from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 386 00:30:37,479 –> 00:30:39,199 Practice the what ifs of faith 387 00:30:41,280 –> 00:30:46,280 and second, major on the perfect tense of salvation. 388 00:30:48,579 –> 00:30:52,920 Major on the perfect tense of salvation. 389 00:30:52,920 –> 00:30:54,339 You’re saying it’s too long since I was 390 00:30:54,339 –> 00:30:55,439 at school doing grammar. 391 00:30:55,439 –> 00:30:57,939 I can’t remember which one the perfect tense is. 392 00:30:57,939 –> 00:31:02,020 The perfect tense is the one that has already happened 393 00:31:03,540 –> 00:31:04,900 and the Bible’s full of it. 394 00:31:05,959 –> 00:31:08,780 Remember of course that the scriptures speak 395 00:31:08,780 –> 00:31:12,800 of our salvation as a completed transaction 396 00:31:13,760 –> 00:31:18,760 and an ongoing process and a future hope. 397 00:31:19,160 –> 00:31:20,140 It’s all three. 398 00:31:21,099 –> 00:31:24,560 The reality is that you have been saved, 399 00:31:24,560 –> 00:31:27,280 that you are being saved, 400 00:31:27,280 –> 00:31:29,439 and that one day you will be saved, 401 00:31:29,439 –> 00:31:33,500 and the New Testament speaks in all of these tenses. 402 00:31:33,500 –> 00:31:37,400 Looking back you have been saved from since penalty. 403 00:31:37,400 –> 00:31:39,079 It’s a completed transaction. 404 00:31:39,079 –> 00:31:41,920 It is by grace you have been saved. 405 00:31:41,920 –> 00:31:43,900 Ephesians chapter two in verse eight, 406 00:31:43,900 –> 00:31:46,160 a transaction took place, it’s a done deal, 407 00:31:46,160 –> 00:31:49,439 it’s finished, you are in Jesus Christ. 408 00:31:50,380 –> 00:31:53,160 At the same time, Peter talks about a future salvation, 409 00:31:53,160 –> 00:31:55,859 a salvation that’s ready to be revealed, 410 00:31:55,859 –> 00:31:57,680 but it belongs to the last time, 411 00:31:57,680 –> 00:31:59,439 when Jesus Christ comes again. 412 00:31:59,439 –> 00:32:01,300 You’ll be brought out of sin’s presence 413 00:32:01,300 –> 00:32:02,459 and into his home. 414 00:32:03,500 –> 00:32:05,739 And until that day, you are in the present tense 415 00:32:05,739 –> 00:32:07,680 process of being saved. 416 00:32:08,599 –> 00:32:13,160 1 Corinthians 1.18, to us who are being saved, 417 00:32:13,160 –> 00:32:16,640 the cross is the power of God. 418 00:32:16,640 –> 00:32:18,859 Now, all of these are, of course, important, 419 00:32:19,800 –> 00:32:23,119 but the way to grow in affirming what God has done 420 00:32:23,119 –> 00:32:28,119 is to focus on the perfect tense of salvation. 421 00:32:29,300 –> 00:32:31,459 Notice how David does that in verse seven. 422 00:32:32,420 –> 00:32:37,420 We have escaped, like a bird from the fold, 423 00:32:37,680 –> 00:32:38,579 Faulor snare. 424 00:32:39,420 –> 00:32:42,859 The snare has been broken. 425 00:32:43,819 –> 00:32:47,180 We have escaped. 426 00:32:48,359 –> 00:32:49,540 If you want to grow in faith, 427 00:32:49,540 –> 00:32:51,140 if you want to ascend in prayer, 428 00:32:51,140 –> 00:32:53,959 you need to learn the language of affirmation 429 00:32:53,959 –> 00:32:55,839 to declare what God has done. 430 00:32:55,839 –> 00:33:00,839 And that means learning the perfect tense of salvation. 431 00:33:02,599 –> 00:33:04,540 The New Testament is full of it. 432 00:33:05,459 –> 00:33:08,199 Get your eyes opened, and your minds tuned 433 00:33:08,199 –> 00:33:09,479 wherever you see it. 434 00:33:11,079 –> 00:33:14,439 We have been justified by faith, 435 00:33:14,439 –> 00:33:15,920 and so we have peace with God. 436 00:33:15,920 –> 00:33:16,959 Romans Five One. 437 00:33:17,920 –> 00:33:21,520 Your sins have been forgiven on account of Jesus’ name. 438 00:33:21,520 –> 00:33:23,640 1 John 2 12. 439 00:33:23,640 –> 00:33:26,020 You have been born again. 440 00:33:26,020 –> 00:33:27,180 Not of perishable seed, 441 00:33:27,180 –> 00:33:28,180 but of imperishable through the 442 00:33:28,180 –> 00:33:30,000 living and enduring Word of God. 443 00:33:30,000 –> 00:33:31,780 That’s why you’re not going to quit the Christian life, 444 00:33:31,780 –> 00:33:33,800 because God’s life is within you. 445 00:33:33,800 –> 00:33:35,719 Tht’s 1 Peter 1 23. 446 00:33:35,719 –> 00:33:38,780 I have been crucified with Christ, 447 00:33:38,780 –> 00:33:41,239 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 448 00:33:41,239 –> 00:33:43,380 The life that I live in the body I live by faith 449 00:33:43,380 –> 00:33:47,339 in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 450 00:33:47,339 –> 00:33:50,520 Now you see it’s confidence in what Christ has done 451 00:33:51,540 –> 00:33:54,900 that will build confidence in what he will do, 452 00:33:54,900 –> 00:33:57,140 and that’s the point of verse eight. 453 00:33:57,140 –> 00:33:59,119 He affirms in verse seven, 454 00:33:59,119 –> 00:34:00,619 and that leads him to the place 455 00:34:00,619 –> 00:34:02,260 where he’s able to get up from his prayer 456 00:34:02,260 –> 00:34:03,640 in verse eight and say, 457 00:34:03,640 –> 00:34:07,380 Our help is in the name of the Lord, 458 00:34:07,380 –> 00:34:10,379 the maker of heaven and earth. 459 00:34:12,939 –> 00:34:14,580 So here are the twin tracks. 460 00:34:16,580 –> 00:34:20,379 If we are to ascend in the life of prayer, 461 00:34:22,459 –> 00:34:25,120 if we’re to move in the right direction, 462 00:34:26,239 –> 00:34:28,379 I need to grow in asking, 463 00:34:29,580 –> 00:34:31,179 and I need to grow in affirming, 464 00:34:32,260 –> 00:34:34,080 not in one or the other, 465 00:34:35,320 –> 00:34:36,560 but in both together, 466 00:34:38,260 –> 00:34:40,659 and it is important to keep these two together, you know, 467 00:34:40,659 –> 00:34:45,199 because asking without affirming 468 00:34:45,199 –> 00:34:46,560 leads to defeat, 469 00:34:48,159 –> 00:34:49,300 and there are some Christians 470 00:34:49,300 –> 00:34:51,060 who really tend in that direction. 471 00:34:53,340 –> 00:34:56,360 We talk, and talk, and talk, and talk 472 00:34:56,360 –> 00:34:57,959 about your problems, 473 00:34:57,959 –> 00:35:02,739 but you very, very, very rarely ever affirm 474 00:35:02,739 –> 00:35:05,620 what Jesus Christ has done for you, 475 00:35:06,820 –> 00:35:08,379 and that leads to defeat. 476 00:35:11,120 –> 00:35:14,060 Affirming without asking leads to denial. 477 00:35:17,040 –> 00:35:19,000 Of course, there are some Christians like that too. 478 00:35:19,000 –> 00:35:20,280 Oh, the Lord’s done this for me, 479 00:35:20,280 –> 00:35:23,040 oh, the Lord’s done that for me, 480 00:35:23,040 –> 00:35:24,360 hallelujah, hallelujah, 481 00:35:24,399 –> 00:35:28,100 and there becomes an unreality about it. 482 00:35:29,280 –> 00:35:30,679 It’s become a coating 483 00:35:31,659 –> 00:35:34,320 over a life whose fundamental issues 484 00:35:34,320 –> 00:35:36,139 are not really addressed. 485 00:35:38,479 –> 00:35:43,340 So we gotta put Psalm 123 and Psalm 124 together 486 00:35:43,340 –> 00:35:45,560 because asking with affirming 487 00:35:46,800 –> 00:35:48,219 leads to deliverance. 488 00:35:49,459 –> 00:35:52,620 Now most of us will tend to major in the one 489 00:35:53,139 –> 00:35:55,540 and minor in the other, 490 00:35:55,540 –> 00:35:56,919 one or the other way around. 491 00:35:58,820 –> 00:36:03,399 What we need to do is to go for the double major, right? 492 00:36:03,399 –> 00:36:07,620 The double major, a major in asking 493 00:36:09,219 –> 00:36:12,780 and a major in affirming. 494 00:36:15,080 –> 00:36:16,379 So let’s put that into practice 495 00:36:16,379 –> 00:36:19,020 as we come to God in prayer together now, shall we? 496 00:36:19,979 –> 00:36:22,459 Some of us feel we’ve hardly started on this path 497 00:36:22,459 –> 00:36:25,139 and so here is a prayer that you can particularly 498 00:36:25,139 –> 00:36:27,060 make your own in this moment. 499 00:36:31,899 –> 00:36:36,139 Lord, I, right now, feel just the great distance 500 00:36:36,139 –> 00:36:38,340 that I am from you and so now 501 00:36:38,340 –> 00:36:41,459 I am moving from delaying to deciding. 502 00:36:44,540 –> 00:36:47,739 I want to believe that there is a way 503 00:36:48,100 –> 00:36:50,860 and want to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 504 00:36:50,860 –> 00:36:55,860 and as I affirm faith to ask for your help. 505 00:37:00,040 –> 00:37:04,280 I believe that Jesus is your Son, the savior of the world. 506 00:37:07,379 –> 00:37:09,580 That he died for me and that he rose again 507 00:37:12,979 –> 00:37:15,739 and as I affirm these things, I want to ask 508 00:37:15,739 –> 00:37:17,419 that he will be my savior. 509 00:37:20,399 –> 00:37:22,979 That he will cause me to be born again, 510 00:37:25,659 –> 00:37:28,739 that your life from above will come into me 511 00:37:28,739 –> 00:37:33,419 through his name, that I will be forgiven 512 00:37:36,000 –> 00:37:39,540 and that right now, affirming and asking, 513 00:37:41,139 –> 00:37:43,580 I may enter newness of life. 514 00:37:46,620 –> 00:37:49,260 And you know if you will come to him in this way, 515 00:37:51,439 –> 00:37:53,719 his promise is yours, 516 00:37:55,620 –> 00:37:59,560 and what you ask as you affirm, you will receive. 517 00:38:05,300 –> 00:38:09,659 Some of us have walked the path of faith 518 00:38:11,139 –> 00:38:13,040 yet we’ve fallen in the ditch. 519 00:38:13,820 –> 00:38:16,939 Here’s a prayer that we can make our own also. 520 00:38:20,620 –> 00:38:25,620 Father, you know the distance that I feel from you, 521 00:38:29,280 –> 00:38:32,540 you know the hopelessness that I have experienced 522 00:38:32,540 –> 00:38:36,179 in contemplating real change in my life. 523 00:38:36,860 –> 00:38:41,860 Lord, I lift my mind to your awesome throne. 524 00:38:44,899 –> 00:38:47,000 You have the power to change me. 525 00:38:50,560 –> 00:38:52,300 I lift my mind to your loving hand. 526 00:38:54,080 –> 00:38:56,340 I can run from you no longer. 527 00:38:59,879 –> 00:39:04,879 Lord Jesus Christ, I put my trust in you. 528 00:39:06,739 –> 00:39:11,639 To be my deliverer, lead me forward, 529 00:39:12,760 –> 00:39:15,580 gracious Lord, in this pathway of faith. 530 00:39:17,179 –> 00:39:19,100 Move me in the right direction. 531 00:39:20,580 –> 00:39:23,040 Lead me into a deeper ministry of prayer, 532 00:39:23,040 –> 00:39:25,379 asking for what is needed 533 00:39:26,500 –> 00:39:28,300 and affirming what you have done. 534 00:39:29,840 –> 00:39:33,320 Gladly, I place my hope and my confidence in you. 535 00:39:33,320 –> 00:39:36,120 In Jesus’ name, amen.