WEBVTT 00:00:00.680 –> 00:00:02.480 Well, I hope you’ll have your Bible open 00:00:02.480 –> 00:00:05.180 at Isaiah chapter 64. 00:00:06.520 –> 00:00:10.040 The Bible records some marvelous prayers, 00:00:10.040 –> 00:00:14.960 and Isaiah 64 I think is one of the greatest of them all. 00:00:14.960 –> 00:00:17.200 It is a prayer for revival. 00:00:17.200 –> 00:00:18.740 And because it is in the scripture, 00:00:18.740 –> 00:00:23.360 we know that it is a prayer that was inspired 00:00:23.360 –> 00:00:27.920 in a special way by the Holy Spirit of God himself. 00:00:28.799 –> 00:00:32.959 It’s often said, and there’s some truth in this, 00:00:32.959 –> 00:00:35.799 that the best way to learn to pray 00:00:35.799 –> 00:00:39.119 is by praying with other people. 00:00:39.119 –> 00:00:40.520 But while there’s some truth in that, 00:00:40.520 –> 00:00:42.259 there’s also this limitation. 00:00:43.119 –> 00:00:47.099 That if you learn to pray only from other people, 00:00:47.099 –> 00:00:49.040 you will never learn to pray better 00:00:49.040 –> 00:00:51.360 than the other people from whom you learn. 00:00:52.099 –> 00:00:55.880 And that is what happens, frankly, to many Christians. 00:00:56.680 –> 00:01:00.880 We reach a certain level with regards to prayer, 00:01:00.880 –> 00:01:02.360 and then we get stuck there. 00:01:04.180 –> 00:01:06.760 Once in a while we encounter someone 00:01:06.760 –> 00:01:09.019 who seems to pray more effectively, 00:01:09.019 –> 00:01:11.459 more authentically, more perceptively, 00:01:11.459 –> 00:01:13.959 and when that happens, you begin to feel, 00:01:13.959 –> 00:01:18.239 boy, I would really like to pray better than I do. 00:01:18.239 –> 00:01:20.199 Now that, of course, is what happened classically 00:01:20.199 –> 00:01:22.599 with the disciples of the Lord Jesus. 00:01:22.599 –> 00:01:24.000 Remember that as Jewish men, 00:01:24.019 –> 00:01:28.139 they had been praying all their lives, brought up to pray, 00:01:28.139 –> 00:01:31.860 but when they heard and saw Jesus praying, 00:01:31.860 –> 00:01:34.959 they realized that his prayer was at a whole other level, 00:01:34.959 –> 00:01:37.000 and so they come to the Lord Jesus Christ 00:01:37.000 –> 00:01:39.080 and they say to him, teach us. 00:01:39.080 –> 00:01:41.779 Will you teach us to pray like you pray? 00:01:43.300 –> 00:01:46.820 And here’s the fascinating thing, Jesus taught them. 00:01:47.779 –> 00:01:49.120 Now what that means for us 00:01:49.120 –> 00:01:52.080 is that prayer is something that we can learn. 00:01:53.040 –> 00:01:56.139 You can, whatever your stage in the Christian life, 00:01:56.139 –> 00:01:59.480 you can grow in your ability to pray, 00:01:59.480 –> 00:02:01.639 in your language of prayer, 00:02:01.639 –> 00:02:04.099 you can grow in your faith, in your passion, 00:02:04.099 –> 00:02:07.500 your confidence, and your effectiveness in prayer. 00:02:08.600 –> 00:02:10.740 And I would suggest at the beginning of a new year 00:02:10.740 –> 00:02:15.080 that we need to grow in regard to prayer. 00:02:15.080 –> 00:02:16.039 Because honestly folks, 00:02:16.039 –> 00:02:18.820 when the history of the early part of the church 00:02:18.820 –> 00:02:20.440 in the 21st century, 00:02:20.520 –> 00:02:22.360 the church in America is written, 00:02:22.360 –> 00:02:27.360 they will probably say that we were very organized, 00:02:28.039 –> 00:02:31.039 that we had marvelous programs. 00:02:31.039 –> 00:02:33.119 But I doubt that any historian 00:02:33.119 –> 00:02:35.759 looking at the first part of the 20th century 00:02:35.759 –> 00:02:37.259 of the Christian church in America 00:02:37.259 –> 00:02:39.779 will say they were absolutely outstanding 00:02:39.779 –> 00:02:43.520 when it came to effectiveness in prayer. 00:02:43.520 –> 00:02:45.660 Now I think we know that. 00:02:45.660 –> 00:02:49.020 And so what I want to do this weekend 00:02:49.039 –> 00:02:51.539 is to encourage us, 00:02:51.539 –> 00:02:56.539 to show a path in which we can grow in prayer 00:02:56.639 –> 00:02:59.839 and to do that from Isaiah chapter 64 00:02:59.839 –> 00:03:02.279 that is open in front of us. 00:03:02.279 –> 00:03:05.580 I have to say to you that for all the opportunities 00:03:05.580 –> 00:03:06.619 that lie ahead of us, 00:03:06.619 –> 00:03:07.699 and I believe that there are many 00:03:07.699 –> 00:03:10.500 as a congregation in this new year, 00:03:10.500 –> 00:03:12.679 for all the people that we might seek to reach 00:03:12.679 –> 00:03:15.259 and for all the dreams that we have in that regard, 00:03:16.259 –> 00:03:19.580 if I could so settle for just one goal for this year, 00:03:20.460 –> 00:03:23.220 it would be that we grow in faith 00:03:23.220 –> 00:03:25.279 and that we grow in prayer. 00:03:25.279 –> 00:03:26.580 You say that sounds like two goals. 00:03:26.580 –> 00:03:27.699 It’s not two goals, 00:03:27.699 –> 00:03:30.820 it’s one goal because when faith increases, 00:03:30.820 –> 00:03:33.240 prayer will follow. 00:03:33.240 –> 00:03:37.160 the greater our confidence in God as a body of believers, 00:03:37.160 –> 00:03:39.800 the more we will ask of Him. 00:03:39.800 –> 00:03:41.539 I love the way John Newton puts this 00:03:41.539 –> 00:03:43.539 in an old hymn that he penned. 00:03:43.559 –> 00:03:45.899 It’s obviously old because he wrote it in his lifetime. 00:03:45.899 –> 00:03:47.119 He says this, 00:03:47.119 –> 00:03:49.899 You are coming to a King. 00:03:49.899 –> 00:03:53.240 Large petitions with you bring 00:03:53.240 –> 00:03:56.240 for His grace and power are such 00:03:56.240 –> 00:04:01.039 that none can ever ask too much. 00:04:01.039 –> 00:04:05.259 See what you pray 00:04:05.259 –> 00:04:08.520 tells you what you really think about God. 00:04:08.520 –> 00:04:11.960 If you don’t think your King is very great, 00:04:12.000 –> 00:04:15.240 you will not ask Him for very much. 00:04:15.240 –> 00:04:18.299 But as you come to know that you have a great King, 00:04:18.299 –> 00:04:23.839 you will find yourself asking more and more of Him. 00:04:23.839 –> 00:04:25.079 Now, just as we get into this, 00:04:25.079 –> 00:04:27.779 it’s actually worth taking a look at your own prayers. 00:04:27.779 –> 00:04:31.399 Just review your own prayers or lack of them. 00:04:31.399 –> 00:04:36.399 And looking at your own prayers will help you 00:04:36.399 –> 00:04:39.700 to discern what you’ve grasped well 00:04:39.700 –> 00:04:43.500 and what you have grasped poorly in regards to God. 00:04:43.500 –> 00:04:46.399 It will help you to know how well you know Him. 00:04:46.399 –> 00:04:48.279 Let me give you one or two classic examples, 00:04:48.279 –> 00:04:50.799 I’ll just put names on them that I’ve chosen at random 00:04:50.799 –> 00:04:52.420 so no connection intended. 00:04:53.260 –> 00:04:54.299 Let’s take Cathy. 00:04:55.380 –> 00:04:58.500 Here’s Cathy who’s a lady who prays regularly 00:04:58.500 –> 00:05:01.980 and she always prays for all her family and all her friends. 00:05:03.140 –> 00:05:06.880 What that tells Cathy is that she knows well 00:05:06.980 –> 00:05:10.299 that God cares for the details of every individual life. 00:05:11.299 –> 00:05:13.279 But what Cathy has not yet learned well 00:05:13.279 –> 00:05:15.380 is that God cares for more than her family, 00:05:15.380 –> 00:05:17.679 God cares for the world. 00:05:17.679 –> 00:05:20.000 And when she gets to know that God cares for the world, 00:05:20.000 –> 00:05:21.600 her prayers will get broader. 00:05:23.220 –> 00:05:26.700 Here’s John, super organized, John. 00:05:26.700 –> 00:05:29.019 He’s got everything organized including his prayer life. 00:05:29.019 –> 00:05:29.859 He prays every day. 00:05:29.859 –> 00:05:31.579 He’s incredibly disciplined about it. 00:05:31.579 –> 00:05:34.179 He gathers all kinds of prayer letters and prayer requests 00:05:34.179 –> 00:05:36.179 and there’s a file for them. 00:05:36.179 –> 00:05:38.299 And he even keeps track of the answers 00:05:38.299 –> 00:05:39.820 that come to his prayers. 00:05:39.820 –> 00:05:42.899 He really has got it disciplined down to a fine art. 00:05:42.899 –> 00:05:44.359 What does John know about God? 00:05:44.359 –> 00:05:45.779 Well John knows that God is the giver 00:05:45.779 –> 00:05:47.920 of every good and perfect gift. 00:05:47.920 –> 00:05:49.799 And therefore he wants to bring to God 00:05:49.799 –> 00:05:53.480 the many needs and requests that he gathers and amasses. 00:05:55.140 –> 00:05:57.559 But what has John yet to discover about God? 00:05:57.559 –> 00:06:00.959 That he is the sovereign Lord who is to be worshiped 00:06:00.959 –> 00:06:02.380 not just to be asked. 00:06:03.519 –> 00:06:05.440 And when John discovers that about God, 00:06:05.440 –> 00:06:07.600 he will have communion with God 00:06:08.640 –> 00:06:10.880 so that his prayer will be more than asking. 00:06:11.980 –> 00:06:14.100 Or one more example, here’s Ben. 00:06:14.100 –> 00:06:15.500 Ben is a Christian. 00:06:15.500 –> 00:06:16.739 But like many Christians, 00:06:16.739 –> 00:06:20.920 he doesn’t often actually pray at all. 00:06:20.920 –> 00:06:22.619 He really doesn’t. 00:06:22.619 –> 00:06:23.940 What does Ben know about God? 00:06:23.940 –> 00:06:27.700 Well what Ben has grasped is that God saves 00:06:27.700 –> 00:06:29.200 those who have faith in him. 00:06:29.200 –> 00:06:31.899 Ben knows that and he believes that. 00:06:31.899 –> 00:06:33.859 But what Ben hasn’t really grasped 00:06:33.880 –> 00:06:37.459 is he doesn’t think that God really does anything 00:06:37.459 –> 00:06:40.279 very much in the life of a Christian believer. 00:06:40.279 –> 00:06:43.820 He thinks basically it’s faith and then we’re on our own. 00:06:43.820 –> 00:06:47.579 And when Ben grasps that God works and moves 00:06:47.579 –> 00:06:49.260 in the life of a Christian believer, 00:06:49.260 –> 00:06:51.260 then Ben will begin to pray. 00:06:52.779 –> 00:06:53.660 He’ll be more than a guy 00:06:53.660 –> 00:06:57.179 with a set of beliefs about Jesus. 00:06:58.260 –> 00:07:00.839 So what I want to do today 00:07:00.839 –> 00:07:04.220 is to try and encourage you in prayer 00:07:04.220 –> 00:07:07.239 to help you to grow in confidence 00:07:07.239 –> 00:07:11.579 and to grow in your ability to ask great things of God 00:07:11.579 –> 00:07:13.200 because we’re coming to know him better 00:07:13.200 –> 00:07:15.000 as our great and glorious King 00:07:15.000 –> 00:07:20.000 and therefore to expect great things from God. 00:07:20.019 –> 00:07:21.239 Now if you’re trying to follow, 00:07:21.239 –> 00:07:23.559 then there are just two simple divisions in the message 00:07:23.559 –> 00:07:25.239 and from the passage today. 00:07:25.239 –> 00:07:28.459 I want us to look at what we should pray 00:07:28.480 –> 00:07:30.959 and Isaiah gives us a wonderful glimpse 00:07:30.959 –> 00:07:32.940 of a way that I want to encourage us all 00:07:32.940 –> 00:07:35.619 to be praying in the church this year 00:07:35.619 –> 00:07:37.540 and then the second is gonna be very practically 00:07:37.540 –> 00:07:41.260 how we should go about praying. 00:07:41.260 –> 00:07:43.119 So first of all then, what should we pray 00:07:43.119 –> 00:07:45.079 and I want you to look at verse one 00:07:45.079 –> 00:07:49.660 where Isaiah launches into this marvelous request of God. 00:07:49.660 –> 00:07:53.459 He says, oh, there’s passion there, 00:07:53.459 –> 00:07:58.200 oh that you God would rend the heavens, 00:07:58.200 –> 00:08:02.179 tear the heavens open, and come down 00:08:02.179 –> 00:08:04.359 in such a way that the mountains, 00:08:04.359 –> 00:08:07.679 he says, would tremble before you. 00:08:09.279 –> 00:08:14.279 Now Isaiah’s prayer is flowing out of two things. 00:08:14.540 –> 00:08:16.399 The first is what he knows from the Bible 00:08:16.399 –> 00:08:18.880 and the second is his own experience. 00:08:19.839 –> 00:08:21.519 See, Isaiah knew from the Bible 00:08:21.519 –> 00:08:26.519 that God’s presence came down hundreds of years before 00:08:26.820 –> 00:08:28.679 onto the mountain called Sinai 00:08:28.679 –> 00:08:30.399 when God’s people had been brought out 00:08:30.399 –> 00:08:31.720 of the land of Egypt. 00:08:31.720 –> 00:08:35.099 You can read about it in Exodus chapter 19 00:08:35.099 –> 00:08:37.460 and there from verse 17, 00:08:37.460 –> 00:08:39.580 where it says that Moses led the people 00:08:39.580 –> 00:08:42.080 out of the camp to meet with God, 00:08:42.080 –> 00:08:43.859 and they stood at the foot of the mountain 00:08:43.859 –> 00:08:46.419 and Mount Sinai was covered with smoke 00:08:46.419 –> 00:08:48.780 because God descended on it in fire 00:08:48.780 –> 00:08:52.979 and the whole mountain trembled violently. 00:08:54.000 –> 00:08:55.299 So can you imagine standing 00:08:55.320 –> 00:08:57.320 at the bottom of Mount Sinai, 00:08:57.320 –> 00:08:59.039 it must have been like an earthquake, 00:08:59.039 –> 00:09:00.900 the whole mountains moving, 00:09:02.280 –> 00:09:04.280 and Isaiah knows that that physically, 00:09:04.280 –> 00:09:05.340 literally happened, 00:09:05.340 –> 00:09:07.859 hundreds of years before his own lifetime, 00:09:07.859 –> 00:09:10.640 and he’s thinking imagine the impact of that 00:09:10.640 –> 00:09:13.359 if God’s people today could see 00:09:13.359 –> 00:09:15.919 and experience the presence of God 00:09:15.919 –> 00:09:17.739 with that kind of power. 00:09:19.419 –> 00:09:21.760 But it wasn’t just history for Isaiah 00:09:22.179 –> 00:09:25.440 because if you know the earlier part of the book, 00:09:25.440 –> 00:09:29.140 you’ll remember that Isaiah had actually seen 00:09:29.140 –> 00:09:33.359 the earth-shaking glory of God in a vision himself, 00:09:33.359 –> 00:09:37.719 and you can check that out in chapter six, 00:09:37.719 –> 00:09:40.580 in the year that king Uzziah died, 00:09:40.580 –> 00:09:43.000 Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, 00:09:43.000 –> 00:09:46.940 and his train, his robe, filled the temple, 00:09:46.940 –> 00:09:48.359 and above him were seraphs, 00:09:48.359 –> 00:09:49.840 these angelic figures, 00:09:49.840 –> 00:09:50.679 and they were singing 00:09:50.679 –> 00:09:52.979 holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. 00:09:52.979 –> 00:09:56.559 And Isaiah says at the sound of their voices, 00:09:56.559 –> 00:09:59.239 the door posts and the thresholds 00:09:59.239 –> 00:10:01.200 of the temple did what? 00:10:01.200 –> 00:10:02.880 They shook. 00:10:02.880 –> 00:10:03.979 They shook. 00:10:05.799 –> 00:10:09.919 So Isaiah has in his own experience 00:10:09.919 –> 00:10:11.400 felt the weight 00:10:11.400 –> 00:10:13.760 of the glory of God. 00:10:13.760 –> 00:10:15.760 He’s seen it in the Bible, 00:10:15.760 –> 00:10:18.280 but he’s also known it in his own life, 00:10:18.299 –> 00:10:19.260 and now he’s saying, 00:10:19.260 –> 00:10:23.880 Lord, I have seen your power and your glory. 00:10:25.239 –> 00:10:27.520 I’ve seen it in the Bible, 00:10:27.520 –> 00:10:31.799 but I’ve also known it in my own experience, 00:10:31.799 –> 00:10:34.979 but I live among a people who do not know you. 00:10:34.979 –> 00:10:37.280 Even the people who bear your name 00:10:37.280 –> 00:10:40.119 do not seem to feel the weight of your presence 00:10:40.119 –> 00:10:43.099 or to think you very great in their lives, 00:10:43.099 –> 00:10:44.239 Lord, you have done, 00:10:44.239 –> 00:10:47.919 you can do more than any of us have seen you do 00:10:47.960 –> 00:10:48.859 in our lifetime. 00:10:48.859 –> 00:10:51.619 So here Isaiah says is my prayer, 00:10:51.619 –> 00:10:53.979 I’m asking that you will tear the heavens open 00:10:53.979 –> 00:10:55.760 and come down, 00:10:55.760 –> 00:10:58.640 that you’ll make the kind of impact on us today 00:10:58.640 –> 00:11:00.380 that you made on ancient Israel 00:11:00.380 –> 00:11:02.099 and that you made in my life 00:11:02.099 –> 00:11:03.940 when you called me to be a prophet. 00:11:04.940 –> 00:11:07.859 I want you to visit your people today 00:11:07.859 –> 00:11:10.940 like you visited your people at Mount Sinai, 00:11:10.940 –> 00:11:15.760 all that you would give to us a glimpse of your glory. 00:11:16.460 –> 00:11:18.219 You get the feeling of his prayer. 00:11:20.979 –> 00:11:24.320 Now Isaiah’s prayer then is a passionate longing 00:11:25.500 –> 00:11:30.500 for a felt sense of the presence of God 00:11:30.580 –> 00:11:35.580 that will change things among God’s own people. 00:11:37.440 –> 00:11:39.500 Come among us, Lord, he’s praying. 00:11:41.039 –> 00:11:43.619 You’re the God who shakes mountains. 00:11:44.520 –> 00:11:47.460 Why can’t you change us? 00:11:47.460 –> 00:11:50.619 You will change us if you come down 00:11:50.619 –> 00:11:52.960 and presence yourself among us. 00:11:52.960 –> 00:11:55.619 So come, he says in this first verse, 00:11:55.619 –> 00:11:59.400 come like the fire that sets twigs ablaze. 00:11:59.400 –> 00:12:04.400 Come like the fire that causes water to boil. 00:12:05.020 –> 00:12:06.960 Come in a way that shakes us, Lord. 00:12:08.000 –> 00:12:12.020 Come in a way that boils up the lukewarm faith 00:12:12.020 –> 00:12:14.799 that so often characterizes us 00:12:15.979 –> 00:12:17.619 and fill us with a new and a fresh 00:12:17.619 –> 00:12:21.960 and a holy passion for your Gospel. 00:12:23.479 –> 00:12:24.679 Now that’s the prayer. 00:12:26.320 –> 00:12:28.960 What would this look like in a local church? 00:12:31.320 –> 00:12:32.859 There’s a fascinating passage 00:12:32.859 –> 00:12:36.119 at the end of 1 Corinthians in chapter 14 00:12:37.080 –> 00:12:42.080 where Paul talks about an unbeliever 00:12:43.580 –> 00:12:46.320 coming into the worship service 00:12:46.320 –> 00:12:48.520 of the local church in Corinth, 00:12:49.979 –> 00:12:52.479 and the sense of the presence of God 00:12:52.479 –> 00:12:55.580 is so evident to this unbelieving person, 00:12:56.679 –> 00:13:00.539 and the power of the Word of God is so present for him 00:13:01.840 –> 00:13:05.239 that in that service, He comes to experience God 00:13:05.859 –> 00:13:09.760 become aware of His own sin, and then to worship God 00:13:09.760 –> 00:13:13.919 and to say, truly God is among you. 00:13:15.940 –> 00:13:18.679 I think that’s what Isaiah is praying for. 00:13:20.719 –> 00:13:23.159 Lord, come among Your people 00:13:24.440 –> 00:13:29.440 in such a way that even someone who doesn’t yet know You 00:13:29.940 –> 00:13:32.760 may experience that You are here, 00:13:33.599 –> 00:13:35.820 and that something more is happening 00:13:35.820 –> 00:13:38.700 among the people of God than simply a gathering, 00:13:40.000 –> 00:13:43.260 simply a routine. 00:13:43.260 –> 00:13:46.580 See, this is what revival is and for any of you 00:13:46.580 –> 00:13:48.520 who have read the history of revival, 00:13:48.520 –> 00:13:50.280 you will know this well already. 00:13:50.280 –> 00:13:55.080 Revival is an intensification of the presence of God 00:13:55.080 –> 00:13:59.239 among His people, oh, that you would rend the heavens 00:14:00.559 –> 00:14:01.400 and come down. 00:14:03.559 –> 00:14:07.440 Now I want to suggest and to ask you 00:14:08.640 –> 00:14:12.400 that we make this our prayer 00:14:13.919 –> 00:14:18.320 that you would join with me in asking of God 00:14:19.159 –> 00:14:24.159 that we may know His presence among us in such a way 00:14:26.080 –> 00:14:30.239 that a year from now, the sorts of things people would say 00:14:30.239 –> 00:14:31.520 about this church are not, 00:14:31.520 –> 00:14:33.719 oh, that’s a church where they’ve got great programs 00:14:33.719 –> 00:14:35.599 or that’s a church where they’ve got good preaching 00:14:35.599 –> 00:14:37.479 or that’s a church where they’ve got good music 00:14:37.479 –> 00:14:38.719 or that’s a church where you can meet 00:14:38.719 –> 00:14:39.960 lots of great friends, 00:14:39.960 –> 00:14:44.960 but that’s a place where you meet with God. 00:14:46.960 –> 00:14:48.640 That’s what Isaiah is asking for. 00:14:49.719 –> 00:14:51.960 And it’s so far from the reality 00:14:51.960 –> 00:14:54.880 of what’s happening in the religious world of his time. 00:14:56.359 –> 00:14:58.880 It’s a faith stretching prayer. 00:14:59.400 –> 00:15:03.479 Lord, make this place a place 00:15:03.479 –> 00:15:07.599 of life-changing encounters with you 00:15:07.599 –> 00:15:10.080 for many people. 00:15:10.080 –> 00:15:13.799 Rend the heavens and come down. 00:15:15.320 –> 00:15:18.359 Now, you say, what kind of things could we expect 00:15:18.359 –> 00:15:22.840 to happen if this prayer were answered? 00:15:24.000 –> 00:15:26.159 Problems in the foundations of the building? 00:15:26.520 –> 00:15:31.440 No, but let’s think through together 00:15:31.440 –> 00:15:34.799 what this could mean in your life 00:15:34.799 –> 00:15:39.640 if God’s presence were in fresh measure 00:15:39.640 –> 00:15:44.640 to be poured out by the Holy Spirit among us. 00:15:46.640 –> 00:15:50.119 See, Isaiah explains what he’s getting at here, 00:15:50.119 –> 00:15:51.440 in verse two, 00:15:51.440 –> 00:15:53.919 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, 00:15:54.520 –> 00:15:55.640 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, 00:15:55.640 –> 00:15:56.960 and then he explains it, 00:15:56.960 –> 00:16:01.219 he says, come down to make your name known, 00:16:04.619 –> 00:16:07.320 to make your name known, verse two. 00:16:07.320 –> 00:16:09.599 Now, as soon as you read about God’s name 00:16:09.599 –> 00:16:12.099 being made known and it’s in a prayer, 00:16:12.099 –> 00:16:14.520 we’re obviously on the ground of the first petition 00:16:14.520 –> 00:16:15.820 in the Lord’s prayer. 00:16:15.820 –> 00:16:16.659 What is that? 00:16:16.659 –> 00:16:20.520 Hallowed be your name. 00:16:20.599 –> 00:16:24.580 In other words, Lord, what Isaiah is longing for 00:16:24.580 –> 00:16:27.119 is that God’s people would know who he is. 00:16:27.119 –> 00:16:30.239 Lord, so many of the people who gather for worship 00:16:30.239 –> 00:16:34.099 don’t really have a felt experience of who you are. 00:16:35.739 –> 00:16:38.359 Now Lord, make your character known, 00:16:38.359 –> 00:16:40.619 make who you are clear. 00:16:41.799 –> 00:16:43.299 And he says, you’ll notice there, 00:16:43.299 –> 00:16:45.539 that he is praying for this to extend 00:16:45.539 –> 00:16:48.159 even to those who do not yet know the Lord, 00:16:48.159 –> 00:16:50.580 even to God’s enemies. 00:16:50.580 –> 00:16:53.219 Let your name be known to your enemies, he says, 00:16:53.219 –> 00:16:56.400 but God’s name becomes known to his enemies 00:16:56.400 –> 00:16:59.059 when it is known to his friends. 00:16:59.960 –> 00:17:02.520 Which is why revival happens, you see, 00:17:02.520 –> 00:17:04.819 not outside the church and the culture, 00:17:04.819 –> 00:17:07.920 but it begins with an intensification of God’s presence 00:17:07.920 –> 00:17:11.180 among those who know and love him and call upon his name. 00:17:12.420 –> 00:17:17.280 Come down, and make your name known. 00:17:17.300 –> 00:17:22.300 Let us who bear your name know who you really are. 00:17:24.300 –> 00:17:25.959 Let me try and boil that down a little more 00:17:25.959 –> 00:17:27.540 so that we have a clear sense 00:17:27.540 –> 00:17:29.180 of what we’re talking about here. 00:17:30.859 –> 00:17:32.880 Knowing who God is. 00:17:34.140 –> 00:17:36.300 That would include, for example, 00:17:36.300 –> 00:17:40.739 God coming down and making his love known. 00:17:42.420 –> 00:17:44.040 See here we are a group of people, 00:17:44.040 –> 00:17:46.979 vast majority of us believe in God. 00:17:47.000 –> 00:17:49.300 We confess the Gospel 00:17:49.300 –> 00:17:54.160 and some of us after years do not feel that God loves us. 00:17:55.459 –> 00:17:58.699 You honestly feel that God looks down on you with a frown, 00:17:58.699 –> 00:18:00.839 that he tolerates you at best, 00:18:00.839 –> 00:18:02.180 and that is why you do not find 00:18:02.180 –> 00:18:04.520 very great joy in him at all. 00:18:06.180 –> 00:18:08.260 Do you know that even in the early church 00:18:08.260 –> 00:18:09.900 Paul was praying? 00:18:09.900 –> 00:18:13.900 Paul, praying, that Christians would have 00:18:14.140 –> 00:18:19.140 a more intense experience of the love of God. 00:18:20.060 –> 00:18:23.300 You find it in Ephesians chapter three in verse 17. 00:18:23.300 –> 00:18:25.900 If you want to check that out in the New Testament, 00:18:25.900 –> 00:18:28.699 Ephesians and chapter three and verse 17, 00:18:28.699 –> 00:18:31.420 Paul says, I pray that you will grasp 00:18:31.420 –> 00:18:33.219 how wide and high and long and deep 00:18:33.219 –> 00:18:34.380 is the love of Christ. 00:18:34.380 –> 00:18:36.640 I’m praying that you’ll know this love. 00:18:36.640 –> 00:18:38.479 And he’s praying for Christians. 00:18:39.339 –> 00:18:41.140 Because the reality is that there are many 00:18:41.180 –> 00:18:42.420 who bear the name of Christ 00:18:42.420 –> 00:18:45.839 who do not feel the love of Christ. 00:18:45.839 –> 00:18:47.819 It all seems distant from you. 00:18:47.819 –> 00:18:49.739 It seems cool to you. 00:18:51.020 –> 00:18:52.540 Paul was praying Isaiah’s prayer. 00:18:52.540 –> 00:18:55.060 Lord, come down and make your name known 00:18:55.060 –> 00:18:58.300 because your name and your nature is love. 00:19:00.500 –> 00:19:04.500 Oh God, bring people here into a felt 00:19:04.500 –> 00:19:07.319 experience of your love. 00:19:07.640 –> 00:19:10.880 What is the value of a religion 00:19:10.880 –> 00:19:12.400 in which you worship week by week 00:19:12.400 –> 00:19:14.420 and do not yet know that God loves you? 00:19:16.380 –> 00:19:19.040 For God to come among us and move my the spirit 00:19:19.040 –> 00:19:22.160 to make his name or his nature known 00:19:22.160 –> 00:19:23.920 would mean not only that he would come 00:19:23.920 –> 00:19:27.119 to make clear his love to us, 00:19:27.119 –> 00:19:31.060 but that he would make known his power to us. 00:19:31.920 –> 00:19:34.199 Now think about this. 00:19:34.520 –> 00:19:39.520 Many Christians are persuaded in their minds 00:19:40.000 –> 00:19:42.560 that God can resurrect them from the dead 00:19:42.560 –> 00:19:46.119 and bring them into everlasting heaven after they’ve died. 00:19:47.660 –> 00:19:49.760 But, they’re not convinced that God is able 00:19:49.760 –> 00:19:51.500 to give them victory over what they call 00:19:51.500 –> 00:19:53.619 a besetting sin while they’re still alive. 00:19:54.760 –> 00:19:55.640 Think about that. 00:19:57.199 –> 00:19:59.239 We talk about our besetting sins, 00:19:59.239 –> 00:20:01.280 our pride, our laziness, our indiscipline, 00:20:01.280 –> 00:20:02.739 our lust, our greed. 00:20:04.199 –> 00:20:06.239 What happens is that, because we know 00:20:06.239 –> 00:20:08.560 so little of the power of God in our lives, 00:20:08.560 –> 00:20:11.920 we find a way of accommodating to live with our sins. 00:20:11.920 –> 00:20:13.400 We say, that’s just the way I am, 00:20:13.400 –> 00:20:15.319 I can’t change at least in this area, 00:20:15.319 –> 00:20:17.219 and therefore we quickly lose hope. 00:20:18.180 –> 00:20:21.180 When Isaiah says, oh Lord come down. 00:20:22.119 –> 00:20:24.280 Come down and make your name known. 00:20:24.280 –> 00:20:27.060 Come like the fire that sets twigs ablaze 00:20:27.060 –> 00:20:29.640 and causes water to boil. 00:20:29.640 –> 00:20:31.479 He is saying, Lord come in a way 00:20:31.479 –> 00:20:34.119 that causes us to experience your power. 00:20:34.880 –> 00:20:36.760 In our lives. 00:20:36.760 –> 00:20:38.959 And again, you find in the New Testament, 00:20:38.959 –> 00:20:41.640 that this is precisely how Paul prayed 00:20:41.640 –> 00:20:45.400 for ordinary Christians, like us in Ephesus. 00:20:45.400 –> 00:20:49.199 Ephesians and chapter one in verses 18 through 20 there. 00:20:49.199 –> 00:20:51.239 Ephesians 1, 18 through 20. 00:20:51.239 –> 00:20:53.760 I pray that the eyes of your heart 00:20:53.760 –> 00:20:56.420 will be enlightened, so that you may know 00:20:56.420 –> 00:20:58.020 the hope to which he’s called you, 00:20:58.020 –> 00:20:59.199 and so that you will know 00:20:59.199 –> 00:21:02.160 the incomparably great power of God 00:21:02.160 –> 00:21:03.800 for us who believe. 00:21:04.560 –> 00:21:07.439 Because the power of God for us who believe, Paul says, 00:21:07.439 –> 00:21:09.739 is like the mighty power he exercised 00:21:09.739 –> 00:21:11.319 when he raised Jesus from the dead 00:21:11.319 –> 00:21:13.560 and caused him to ascend into Heaven. 00:21:15.400 –> 00:21:17.380 Now Isaiah knows from his own experience 00:21:17.380 –> 00:21:19.900 that the vast majority of quote believing people 00:21:19.900 –> 00:21:22.560 have no sense of that power of God 00:21:22.560 –> 00:21:24.160 being at work in their lives. 00:21:25.099 –> 00:21:26.300 Which is why they’re always complaining 00:21:26.300 –> 00:21:29.739 about being so weak and incapable of victory. 00:21:30.380 –> 00:21:33.680 So, I’m wanting to stretch your vision 00:21:34.780 –> 00:21:39.260 to pray bigger prayers. 00:21:42.000 –> 00:21:44.579 I’m wanting to ask you that alongside 00:21:44.579 –> 00:21:46.739 praying for your family and praying for your friends 00:21:46.739 –> 00:21:48.979 and all the details of personal life 00:21:48.979 –> 00:21:52.579 that are absolutely appropriate to bring before God, 00:21:53.780 –> 00:21:56.060 I wanted to ask you to pray with me 00:21:56.060 –> 00:22:00.979 for a movement of God in our lives 00:22:00.979 –> 00:22:03.280 and among our people and through our ministry 00:22:03.280 –> 00:22:08.260 that would cause his felt presence 00:22:08.260 –> 00:22:10.900 to change our lives 00:22:10.900 –> 00:22:15.319 and to change the lives of other people as well. 00:22:15.319 –> 00:22:19.339 Oh that you would render heaven and come down. 00:22:20.439 –> 00:22:22.359 Oh that you would make your name known. 00:22:23.180 –> 00:22:25.060 Oh that you would be among us in a way 00:22:25.060 –> 00:22:27.819 that’s like fire, that causes twigs to blaze 00:22:27.819 –> 00:22:29.540 and causes water to boil. 00:22:29.540 –> 00:22:33.380 Oh that you’d be here in a way that changes lives. 00:22:35.239 –> 00:22:38.420 I’m asking if you would pray that with me yourself. 00:22:40.119 –> 00:22:42.520 I’m asking you to pray that in your family 00:22:43.420 –> 00:22:45.839 to get a bigger horizon of what we can ask 00:22:45.839 –> 00:22:48.040 from such a great king. 00:22:48.040 –> 00:22:49.920 It’s great to pray for all the folks 00:22:49.920 –> 00:22:50.760 who are in hospital. 00:22:50.760 –> 00:22:51.599 Let’s do that. 00:22:51.599 –> 00:22:53.359 But let’s do more than that. 00:22:54.199 –> 00:22:57.199 Let’s learn to pray at another level 00:22:57.199 –> 00:22:59.140 from Isaiah the prophet 00:22:59.859 –> 00:23:01.099 who cried out to God, 00:23:01.099 –> 00:23:05.040 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down. 00:23:05.040 –> 00:23:09.719 Make your name and your nature known. 00:23:11.219 –> 00:23:12.140 What to pray? 00:23:13.239 –> 00:23:14.819 You’re coming to a great king. 00:23:16.060 –> 00:23:19.780 Large petitions with you, 00:23:20.780 –> 00:23:21.599 bring. 00:23:24.000 –> 00:23:25.000 Now here’s the second thing, 00:23:25.000 –> 00:23:26.640 said there would just be two parts here, 00:23:26.640 –> 00:23:30.420 the second we talked about what we should pray, 00:23:30.420 –> 00:23:31.739 I want in the second part 00:23:31.739 –> 00:23:36.380 to look briefly at how we should pray. 00:23:36.380 –> 00:23:37.959 You wanna be really practical here 00:23:37.959 –> 00:23:40.540 because there are some wonderful things to learn 00:23:40.540 –> 00:23:44.599 from the model prayer that Isaiah has here for us. 00:23:44.599 –> 00:23:48.800 And I can summarize the point perhaps best this way, 00:23:48.800 –> 00:23:53.680 that affective prayer rises from confidence 00:23:53.680 –> 00:23:58.040 in the goodness of God and confidence in the relationship 00:23:58.040 –> 00:23:59.319 that we have with God. 00:23:59.319 –> 00:24:02.319 In other words, if you’re going to pray like Isaiah prayed, 00:24:02.319 –> 00:24:05.900 it will come from these things, it will flow from them. 00:24:05.900 –> 00:24:09.140 Got to know and grasp and see the goodness of God. 00:24:09.140 –> 00:24:11.560 And you got to know and grasp and see the relationship 00:24:11.560 –> 00:24:16.560 that by God’s grace through Jesus Christ is yours with Him. 00:24:17.239 –> 00:24:19.619 How to pray. 00:24:20.780 –> 00:24:24.020 Here you are, you’re sitting sometime next week 00:24:24.020 –> 00:24:26.560 and you’re saying, I want to spend some time in prayer. 00:24:26.560 –> 00:24:28.920 How do I get started? 00:24:28.920 –> 00:24:31.459 Where do I get going? 00:24:31.459 –> 00:24:34.959 Well, I want to suggest that you begin by filling 00:24:34.959 –> 00:24:39.959 your mind with the goodness of God. 00:24:40.619 –> 00:24:42.579 In fact, that’s one of the reasons why reading the Bible 00:24:42.579 –> 00:24:46.040 is such a helpful way of getting us moving 00:24:46.280 –> 00:24:48.180 in this whole business of prayer. 00:24:48.180 –> 00:24:51.459 because in order to pray effectively on any given day, 00:24:51.459 –> 00:24:56.459 I have to fill my mind with a fresh sense and knowledge 00:24:56.680 –> 00:24:59.119 of the abundant goodness of God. 00:24:59.119 –> 00:25:01.300 Now I want you to notice how Isaiah does this, 00:25:01.300 –> 00:25:03.040 it’s very striking. 00:25:03.040 –> 00:25:07.359 If you look at the context of Isaiah 64, 00:25:07.359 –> 00:25:09.079 you will see it clearly. 00:25:09.079 –> 00:25:13.140 It’s almost like watching an athlete in the long jump 00:25:13.140 –> 00:25:15.699 and there’s this long run up 00:25:16.479 –> 00:25:18.959 and you see this athlete and he’s gathering pace 00:25:18.959 –> 00:25:20.239 as he goes along the run up 00:25:20.239 –> 00:25:23.099 and then finally hits the board and then he’s off 00:25:23.099 –> 00:25:27.280 and he’s airborne as he takes into the air. 00:25:27.280 –> 00:25:29.079 Well, look at the run up 00:25:29.079 –> 00:25:32.119 to this great prayer in Chapter 64. 00:25:32.119 –> 00:25:35.300 It begins as far back as Chapter 63 in verse 7 00:25:36.319 –> 00:25:40.040 and the run up is all about Isaiah filling his mind 00:25:40.040 –> 00:25:41.979 with the goodness of God. 00:25:41.979 –> 00:25:44.079 Verse 7 of Chapter 63, 00:25:44.079 –> 00:25:47.500 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, 00:25:47.500 –> 00:25:50.739 the deeds for which He is to be praised 00:25:50.739 –> 00:25:53.680 according to all that the Lord has done for us. 00:25:53.680 –> 00:25:55.520 Yes, the many good things He has done 00:25:55.520 –> 00:25:56.719 for the house of Israel, 00:25:56.719 –> 00:26:00.819 according to His compassion and His many kindnesses. 00:26:01.839 –> 00:26:04.199 And he goes on to list all the works 00:26:04.199 –> 00:26:07.599 for which God is to be praised. 00:26:07.599 –> 00:26:09.079 Now, here’s the interesting thing. 00:26:09.079 –> 00:26:12.900 Isaiah is not actually praying at this point. 00:26:12.900 –> 00:26:14.479 He’s not speaking to God. 00:26:15.300 –> 00:26:17.180 He doesn’t begin speaking to God 00:26:17.180 –> 00:26:20.540 until the middle of verse 14. 00:26:20.540 –> 00:26:22.540 Suddenly in the middle of verse 14 00:26:22.540 –> 00:26:25.140 he starts speaking you language 00:26:25.140 –> 00:26:27.099 and his eyes are up towards the Lord. 00:26:27.099 –> 00:26:30.119 He says, this is how you guided your people 00:26:30.119 –> 00:26:32.900 to make for yourself a glorious name. 00:26:32.900 –> 00:26:35.540 But he takes off in verse 14. 00:26:35.540 –> 00:26:40.540 His run up is in verses 7 to 13. 00:26:40.560 –> 00:26:42.060 What’s he doing in these verses? 00:26:42.060 –> 00:26:45.400 He’s preparing his mind to pray. 00:26:46.420 –> 00:26:50.500 And you prepare to pray by filling your mind 00:26:50.500 –> 00:26:53.239 with the goodness of the Lord. 00:26:53.239 –> 00:26:56.680 Effective prayer arises from seeing 00:26:56.680 –> 00:26:58.000 how good God is. 00:26:58.000 –> 00:27:00.640 Faith, we learned this a few weeks ago, 00:27:00.640 –> 00:27:04.119 is the conviction that God is always up to something good. 00:27:05.319 –> 00:27:08.640 And so if you want to pray with faith, 00:27:08.640 –> 00:27:11.359 you must begin by filling your mind 00:27:11.400 –> 00:27:14.459 with the great truths of the gospel, 00:27:14.459 –> 00:27:16.119 that this God to whom you’re coming 00:27:16.119 –> 00:27:17.760 is the God who loves you. 00:27:18.780 –> 00:27:20.939 This God of whom I’m going to ask great things 00:27:20.939 –> 00:27:24.300 has already sent his son into the world for me. 00:27:24.300 –> 00:27:27.719 And so if he would send his son into the world for me, 00:27:27.719 –> 00:27:30.619 then why would he withhold from me any good thing? 00:27:31.619 –> 00:27:35.020 This God knew me before I was ever born into the world 00:27:35.020 –> 00:27:37.260 and planned in love for every moment 00:27:37.260 –> 00:27:39.260 of my life and my eternity, 00:27:39.260 –> 00:27:41.020 and it’s to him that I’m coming. 00:27:41.599 –> 00:27:44.300 Now, you fill your mind with the goodness of God, 00:27:44.300 –> 00:27:46.760 you will find that things begin to move 00:27:46.760 –> 00:27:48.920 and you have a greater liberty 00:27:48.920 –> 00:27:52.239 as you launch yourself into prayer. 00:27:52.239 –> 00:27:57.239 It’s almost as if chapter 64 bursts out 00:27:57.239 –> 00:28:01.640 of Isaiah’s mind being filled 00:28:01.640 –> 00:28:04.540 with this catalog of the goodness of God. 00:28:05.900 –> 00:28:09.479 Anyone who comes to God, 00:28:10.479 –> 00:28:11.880 anyone who seeks him, 00:28:11.880 –> 00:28:14.540 the book of Hebrews says, chapter 11 and verse six, 00:28:14.540 –> 00:28:17.839 must believe that he exists 00:28:17.839 –> 00:28:22.839 and that he rewards those who diligently seek him. 00:28:25.280 –> 00:28:26.839 Fill your mind with the goodness of God. 00:28:26.839 –> 00:28:28.479 That will launch you into prayer. 00:28:29.760 –> 00:28:31.800 That’s how to get started. 00:28:31.800 –> 00:28:33.640 That’s why it’s good to read something from the Bible 00:28:33.640 –> 00:28:35.760 that will help stoke your mind 00:28:36.800 –> 00:28:38.819 with just how good and great God is 00:28:39.199 –> 00:28:41.939 and fill your mind with who he is 00:28:41.939 –> 00:28:44.540 and all that is yours in him 00:28:44.540 –> 00:28:47.040 and you’ll find yourself moving 00:28:48.540 –> 00:28:50.939 and you’ll find that prayer is birthed from it. 00:28:52.619 –> 00:28:54.099 Then here’s the second thing. 00:28:55.260 –> 00:28:59.839 The how of prayer plead the relationship 00:28:59.839 –> 00:29:02.560 that you have with God. 00:29:03.500 –> 00:29:04.819 This is very important. 00:29:07.140 –> 00:29:08.579 Let me tell you straight up 00:29:09.540 –> 00:29:11.199 and this is from my own experience 00:29:11.199 –> 00:29:14.479 but it is honestly universal Christian experience. 00:29:16.040 –> 00:29:21.040 When you pray, if you begin praying this year 00:29:21.260 –> 00:29:22.780 in a serious way, 00:29:24.579 –> 00:29:29.119 you will very quickly feel your unworthiness 00:29:30.959 –> 00:29:32.500 and that’s precisely where people 00:29:32.500 –> 00:29:35.459 get discouraged and quit and give up and don’t come back. 00:29:36.780 –> 00:29:38.239 I want you to know that if you feel 00:29:38.239 –> 00:29:40.900 your unworthiness when you pray, we all do. 00:29:42.280 –> 00:29:47.280 Coming into a holy place makes you aware 00:29:47.599 –> 00:29:50.459 that you are an unholy person 00:29:51.979 –> 00:29:53.479 and Isaiah felt the same way, 00:29:53.479 –> 00:29:56.219 you see it in verse six of chapter 64. 00:29:57.119 –> 00:30:00.560 All of us have become like one who is unclean 00:30:01.880 –> 00:30:05.400 and all our righteousness, he’s including himself here, 00:30:05.439 –> 00:30:08.819 all our righteous acts, rather, are like filthy rags. 00:30:09.660 –> 00:30:11.859 We all shrivel up like a leaf 00:30:13.060 –> 00:30:17.300 and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 00:30:19.920 –> 00:30:24.459 It’s very quickly, four pictures of our human condition. 00:30:26.380 –> 00:30:29.380 Isaiah says, here’s what we’re like when we come before God. 00:30:30.660 –> 00:30:35.040 When I come before God, I come as a leper. 00:30:35.040 –> 00:30:39.400 As one who is unclean, as someone who, in and of myself, 00:30:39.400 –> 00:30:42.800 I have no right to enter the presence of God. 00:30:42.800 –> 00:30:44.839 That’s the first picture. 00:30:44.839 –> 00:30:46.239 Second picture is rags. 00:30:46.239 –> 00:30:49.839 All our righteous acts are like filthy rags. 00:30:49.839 –> 00:30:53.560 In other words, the best things that we do, 00:30:53.560 –> 00:30:56.680 like preaching, serving, worship leading, 00:30:56.680 –> 00:30:59.760 the best things we do are never as good as they appear 00:31:01.160 –> 00:31:04.760 because our own hearts are so mixed up in so many ways. 00:31:05.599 –> 00:31:08.420 All our righteousness is like filthy rags. 00:31:08.420 –> 00:31:10.560 Augustine said, I dare not. 00:31:10.560 –> 00:31:12.800 He said to God, I dare not commend to you 00:31:12.800 –> 00:31:15.000 the work of my hands because if I did, 00:31:15.000 –> 00:31:17.739 you’d probably see more sins in them than merits. 00:31:19.400 –> 00:31:24.400 The best things I do are mixed with that which is unworthy. 00:31:26.439 –> 00:31:28.319 So Isaiah is aware of this, 00:31:28.319 –> 00:31:30.520 then he uses a third picture, like the leaf. 00:31:30.520 –> 00:31:33.040 We all shrivel up like a leaf. 00:31:33.040 –> 00:31:34.839 Boy, that’s so helpful. 00:31:34.839 –> 00:31:36.760 I think it means this, 00:31:36.760 –> 00:31:40.260 Isaiah felt worn out when he came to God, exhausted. 00:31:40.260 –> 00:31:41.680 I’m like a dry leaf. 00:31:41.680 –> 00:31:43.380 I lack energy, I lack life. 00:31:43.380 –> 00:31:45.900 I don’t feel I’ve got anything to give in prayer. 00:31:47.560 –> 00:31:49.500 And then the fourth image is like the wind. 00:31:49.500 –> 00:31:52.380 Like the wind, our sins sweep us away. 00:31:53.939 –> 00:31:56.619 What a picture that is of the power of sin. 00:31:57.839 –> 00:32:00.099 Here we are struggling with the same sins 00:32:00.099 –> 00:32:01.479 we struggled with before. 00:32:01.479 –> 00:32:06.300 And we are not prevailing against the world, 00:32:06.300 –> 00:32:08.859 but the world is prevailing against us. 00:32:08.859 –> 00:32:10.319 So Isaiah comes to God 00:32:10.319 –> 00:32:14.739 and he feels this fourfold unworthiness. 00:32:14.739 –> 00:32:16.540 He says, oh God, I come to you 00:32:16.540 –> 00:32:19.520 and this is what I feel this is the reality that I see. 00:32:19.520 –> 00:32:20.339 I’m unclean. 00:32:20.339 –> 00:32:21.260 I’m unrighteous. 00:32:21.260 –> 00:32:23.280 I’m dried out and I’m unstable. 00:32:25.500 –> 00:32:27.300 You say, well, why in all the world 00:32:27.359 –> 00:32:32.359 would Almighty God listen to a guy 00:32:34.859 –> 00:32:37.439 or a woman who is unclean, unrighteous, 00:32:37.439 –> 00:32:39.319 dried out and unstable. 00:32:41.479 –> 00:32:46.479 Why in all the world would God listen to you or to me? 00:32:50.579 –> 00:32:52.560 That’s why I’m saying 00:32:52.560 –> 00:32:54.439 when you come into the presence of God, 00:32:55.219 –> 00:32:58.739 you not only fill your mind with the goodness of God, 00:32:58.739 –> 00:33:03.339 but you plead your relationship with God 00:33:03.339 –> 00:33:05.959 in and through Jesus Christ. 00:33:07.160 –> 00:33:09.260 I just want you to see how Isaiah does this 00:33:09.260 –> 00:33:10.479 in these moments. 00:33:11.459 –> 00:33:16.459 Verse eight, he pleads the relationship he has with God 00:33:16.579 –> 00:33:19.040 as Father, 00:33:19.040 –> 00:33:23.619 yet O Lord, you are our Father. 00:33:25.119 –> 00:33:28.540 That supremely is the relationship that we have with God 00:33:28.540 –> 00:33:31.819 through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:33:31.819 –> 00:33:33.459 So you see what he’s saying. 00:33:33.459 –> 00:33:35.319 Lord, I come to you. 00:33:35.319 –> 00:33:39.359 I come to you as an unclean, unrighteous, 00:33:39.359 –> 00:33:42.260 dried out unstable person 00:33:44.300 –> 00:33:47.719 and yet I’m asking you to hear me today 00:33:47.719 –> 00:33:49.079 and here’s the reason 00:33:50.760 –> 00:33:53.680 because you are my Father. 00:33:55.400 –> 00:33:58.979 In Jesus Christ, you have adopted me 00:33:58.979 –> 00:34:01.079 to be your son and your daughter. 00:34:01.079 –> 00:34:04.739 For his sake, listen to my prayer. 00:34:06.660 –> 00:34:11.659 Don’t let guilt kill your prayer life. 00:34:13.919 –> 00:34:16.760 The only sinless prayers that were ever made 00:34:16.760 –> 00:34:18.939 were the prayers of our Lord Jesus Christ 00:34:18.939 –> 00:34:20.780 and all other prayers 00:34:21.620 –> 00:34:24.679 that hang on the mercy of God. 00:34:26.379 –> 00:34:30.020 We plead the relationship that we have with God 00:34:30.020 –> 00:34:34.020 in Jesus Christ, I come to him and I say, 00:34:34.020 –> 00:34:39.020 the reason I’m asking you to listen to my prayer 00:34:39.179 –> 00:34:44.159 is simply that in Jesus’ name you are, 00:34:44.159 –> 00:34:46.179 oh God, my father. 00:34:46.300 –> 00:34:49.479 I’m your father, you come to him like that 00:34:49.479 –> 00:34:51.060 in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:34:51.060 –> 00:34:52.459 he will never turn you away. 00:34:54.179 –> 00:34:55.959 He will hear your prayer, 00:34:58.080 –> 00:34:59.479 and here’s the very last thing. 00:34:59.479 –> 00:35:01.219 I want you to notice that there’s a second 00:35:01.219 –> 00:35:04.840 marvelous description that Isaiah has 00:35:04.840 –> 00:35:06.760 of our relationship with God 00:35:06.760 –> 00:35:09.979 and the two must always be kept together. 00:35:11.280 –> 00:35:13.840 He describes his relationship with God 00:35:13.879 –> 00:35:18.600 not only as our father, but as the potter. 00:35:18.600 –> 00:35:19.439 Verse eight. 00:35:20.419 –> 00:35:22.060 We are the clay, 00:35:23.540 –> 00:35:26.399 you are the potter, 00:35:27.340 –> 00:35:31.459 we are all the work of your hands. 00:35:32.699 –> 00:35:35.600 Now, when Isaiah entering the presence 00:35:35.600 –> 00:35:38.659 of God says you’re the potter, 00:35:39.580 –> 00:35:44.580 he is inviting God to make whatever God chooses 00:35:45.379 –> 00:35:47.219 of Isaiah’s life. 00:35:48.899 –> 00:35:52.239 He’s coming to God and he’s saying, here I am. 00:35:53.280 –> 00:35:55.360 Now you’re not only my father, 00:35:55.360 –> 00:35:58.100 by grace through the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:35:58.100 –> 00:36:01.500 but because I am his and therefore I am yours, 00:36:01.500 –> 00:36:03.939 my life is surrendered for you to do 00:36:03.939 –> 00:36:08.179 in this life, with this life and through this life 00:36:08.379 –> 00:36:11.260 whatever you choose. 00:36:12.320 –> 00:36:16.219 You’re the potter, I am the clay. 00:36:17.379 –> 00:36:19.540 We begin as a church praying like this. 00:36:19.540 –> 00:36:23.699 What it means is we’re saying, Lord, this is your church. 00:36:23.699 –> 00:36:27.699 And as best we know how, with all our hopes and dreams, 00:36:27.699 –> 00:36:30.320 we want to be wholly available to you 00:36:30.320 –> 00:36:32.540 to do whatever is your purpose, 00:36:32.540 –> 00:36:34.899 whatever you desire to do through us 00:36:34.899 –> 00:36:36.500 here and around the world, 00:36:36.520 –> 00:36:38.639 because you are not only the gracious savior, 00:36:38.639 –> 00:36:40.540 you are our sovereign lord. 00:36:42.620 –> 00:36:46.199 In other words, prayer that seeks the presence 00:36:46.199 –> 00:36:51.060 of God recognizes that prayer’s not about you 00:36:51.060 –> 00:36:54.399 trying to bend God to your desires. 00:36:55.979 –> 00:36:59.179 It’s not you and me trying to get hold of God 00:36:59.179 –> 00:37:00.780 to get what we want done, 00:37:02.260 –> 00:37:05.500 it is in the last analysis as coming before 00:37:05.500 –> 00:37:09.100 this gracious Father, who is also our sovereign Lord 00:37:10.040 –> 00:37:13.100 and saying to him, Lord, you are the one 00:37:13.100 –> 00:37:15.780 who must shape and mold my life 00:37:15.780 –> 00:37:19.459 and make of this life, not what I think it should be 00:37:21.100 –> 00:37:25.159 but what you plan for it to be. 00:37:26.939 –> 00:37:28.300 You start praying like that, 00:37:29.540 –> 00:37:32.379 you’ll be a different person a year from now, 00:37:32.379 –> 00:37:33.219 you really will. 00:37:34.219 –> 00:37:36.379 We start praying like that. 00:37:37.500 –> 00:37:39.620 Lord, this is your church 00:37:39.620 –> 00:37:41.699 and you are to shape us, we ask 00:37:41.699 –> 00:37:44.300 and mold us and make us whatever 00:37:44.300 –> 00:37:48.219 you want us to be here and around the world. 00:37:50.419 –> 00:37:53.000 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down. 00:37:54.540 –> 00:37:55.860 That’s a different church. 00:37:58.159 –> 00:37:59.620 Boy, this is very simple, 00:37:59.659 –> 00:38:00.620 it’s very simple, 00:38:01.479 –> 00:38:05.320 but it is earth-shakingly profound. 00:38:07.179 –> 00:38:09.100 Oh, that you would rend the heavens, 00:38:09.100 –> 00:38:10.439 oh, God, and come down. 00:38:11.760 –> 00:38:14.159 Oh, that you would come down among us 00:38:14.159 –> 00:38:17.679 in such a way that lives are changed 00:38:17.679 –> 00:38:20.520 by a felt knowledge of your love 00:38:20.520 –> 00:38:23.719 and an experience of your power. 00:38:26.040 –> 00:38:27.560 And oh, God, we come to you, 00:38:27.560 –> 00:38:31.239 filling our minds with your awesome goodness in the gospel. 00:38:33.840 –> 00:38:37.679 We come to you, recognizing our own unworthiness. 00:38:39.379 –> 00:38:41.620 But we’re pleading the relationship 00:38:41.620 –> 00:38:43.300 you’ve formed with us yourself. 00:38:43.300 –> 00:38:45.560 You’re our Father in Jesus Christ. 00:38:47.860 –> 00:38:49.199 And you are the potter. 00:38:51.280 –> 00:38:53.659 And our greatest desire is that you would make 00:38:53.659 –> 00:38:55.860 of this life and make of this church 00:38:56.620 –> 00:38:57.459 what you will. 00:39:00.659 –> 00:39:02.020 I guess I’ve just got two questions. 00:39:02.020 –> 00:39:05.580 One is are you ready to pray Isaiah’s prayer? 00:39:08.659 –> 00:39:12.139 The second is do you think you’re ready 00:39:12.139 –> 00:39:13.939 for Isaiah’s prayer to be answered? 00:39:15.760 –> 00:39:17.439 Of course it was answered, 00:39:17.439 –> 00:39:20.439 wonderfully answered when God’s people came back from exile, 00:39:21.399 –> 00:39:23.560 wonderfully answered at a much greater level 00:39:24.199 –> 00:39:26.280 when God rent the heavens and came down 00:39:26.280 –> 00:39:28.260 in the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:39:29.679 –> 00:39:34.000 And we are living in anticipation of the day 00:39:34.000 –> 00:39:37.159 when its ultimate fulfillment will be complete. 00:39:38.379 –> 00:39:42.360 And the trumpet will sound, and he will rent the heavens, 00:39:43.300 –> 00:39:46.879 and he will come down, and every eye will behold him 00:39:47.979 –> 00:39:52.979 and on that day may it be that we are already prepared 00:39:53.120 –> 00:39:56.419 to rise and to meet him with joy, 00:39:57.760 –> 00:40:00.399 seeing face to face the one we have loved, 00:40:01.939 –> 00:40:06.939 worshipped, and known heart to heart. 00:40:10.800 –> 00:40:12.560 I think there’s only one way to end this message, 00:40:12.560 –> 00:40:14.060 and that’s for us to pray. 00:40:14.060 –> 00:40:16.800 Let’s bow our heads and our hearts together, shall we? 00:40:19.120 –> 00:40:22.459 Oh that you would rent the heavens and come down. 00:40:23.899 –> 00:40:27.159 Come down and make your name known. 00:40:29.739 –> 00:40:31.939 Even among your people, oh God, 00:40:31.939 –> 00:40:36.419 so many have only a vague grasp of your glory, 00:40:37.679 –> 00:40:40.679 and too many you seem still so distant. 00:40:42.780 –> 00:40:45.820 Let us see with fresh clarity who you really are. 00:40:47.739 –> 00:40:50.939 By your Holy Spirit, show us your love, 00:40:51.219 –> 00:40:56.219 by which your Son gave himself for us, 00:40:56.219 –> 00:41:00.379 and by your Spirit, manifest your power in our lives, 00:41:01.219 –> 00:41:04.080 the power by which you raised your Son from the dead. 00:41:05.600 –> 00:41:07.780 Come cleanse us from our sins, 00:41:08.840 –> 00:41:11.679 break our self righteousness and cause us 00:41:11.679 –> 00:41:14.379 to find in Christ our life, our hope, 00:41:14.379 –> 00:41:16.679 our righteousness and our redemption. 00:41:17.340 –> 00:41:20.860 Make us, Oh God, people who pray. 00:41:22.419 –> 00:41:25.320 Reshape us as a community of people 00:41:25.320 –> 00:41:28.179 who strive to lay hold of you. 00:41:30.239 –> 00:41:33.679 Come down and move among us because you are our Father. 00:41:35.179 –> 00:41:38.120 Come down and move among us like the potter 00:41:38.120 –> 00:41:41.800 and shape what pleases you in my life 00:41:43.280 –> 00:41:44.679 and in this church. 00:41:47.679 –> 00:41:49.919 Make us ready for the day when you will rend 00:41:49.919 –> 00:41:54.919 the heavens and come down that we may rise to meet you 00:41:55.560 –> 00:42:00.560 in fullness of joy through Jesus Christ, our Lord 00:42:01.040 –> 00:42:04.719 and all of God’s people, together said, amen.