back to indexBerean Community Church - Praise and Prayer 10.20.23
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>> As we come before God, why don't we stand before him, 00:01:06.000 |
and we're going to go ahead and sing this first hymn, 00:01:08.000 |
"Come Thou Fount," that we can come and worship him in spirit and truth. 00:05:07.000 |
Father, we come before you with great anticipation. 00:05:14.000 |
What a privilege it is to gather your church to pray corporately together. 00:05:18.000 |
I pray, Lord God, that you give us humble hearts, 00:05:22.000 |
the realization of who we approach, that you are a holy, holy, holy God, 00:05:29.000 |
that we're so unworthy of your grace and love, 00:05:33.000 |
but because of your son's death, resurrection, 00:05:37.000 |
we can approach you, Lord God, with intimacy, 00:05:42.000 |
with our hearts really calling out for the things, Lord God, that are happening in our lives. 00:05:48.000 |
I pray, Lord God, that you focus our attention on what we're doing tonight, 00:05:53.000 |
that as we sing, that we may sing with joy-filled hearts, 00:05:58.000 |
in appreciation in response to your loving grace, 00:06:01.000 |
and that when we pray, Lord God, that we may intercede on behalf of people around us, 00:06:10.000 |
we pray, Lord God, that our personal time of prayer may be sweet. 00:06:13.000 |
It may be a time where we can be refreshed and really commune with you. 00:06:19.000 |
So I pray, Lord God, that you give us spiritual eyes to see 00:06:23.000 |
that what we do, Lord God, is so vitally important. 00:06:27.000 |
So we ask, Lord God, that you may bless this time of prayer and praise. 00:17:03.000 |
All right. We're going to change up a little bit the way we're going to pray today. 00:17:08.000 |
I wanted to give a brief encouragement and then after I do that, 00:17:13.000 |
we're going to have certain topics that we're going to pray over. 00:17:16.000 |
And then after, we're going to give like two minutes for each of the topics. 00:17:21.000 |
And then afterwards, one of the leaders are going to come up and wrap up for us. 00:17:24.000 |
And we're going to go over the various topics. 00:17:26.000 |
And then afterwards, we'll take some time to just individual prayer like we normally do. 00:17:32.000 |
And then those of you who want some prayer by the leadership, you guys can come up after that. 00:17:37.000 |
Okay. So, first thing that I wanted to go over just as an encouragement to us is to be devoted to prayer. 00:17:47.000 |
And this is something that we want to continue to follow up on. 00:17:50.000 |
And so that we're a church that is actually focused and we want to improve. 00:17:55.000 |
And I think that the attitude, at least a need for prayer, I think people understand this. 00:18:01.000 |
But the practice of this is something that we need to really focus on. Right. 00:18:05.000 |
So, there's several things that I want to go over. 00:18:13.000 |
If you just pray when you feel like praying or when it comes natural to pray, 00:18:26.000 |
So, I need to pray. I need to make time to pray. 00:18:30.000 |
And to be deliberately in prayer means that when are you going to pray? 00:18:34.000 |
How are you going to pray? How long are you going to pray? 00:18:38.000 |
And just as much as we are devoted to the Word of God, we need to be devoted to prayer. 00:18:42.000 |
So, if our prayer life is just something that comes and goes depending on how we feel, 00:18:47.000 |
most of the time you're not going to feel like praying. 00:18:50.000 |
So, one, to be devoted to prayer means to be deliberate about prayer. 00:19:04.000 |
I wanted to clarify something that was taught this summer 00:19:08.000 |
where Pastor Carlos shared about on this topic of praying unceasingly. 00:19:16.000 |
And the illustration that he gave was at times when he's walking or doing various things that he prays. 00:19:22.000 |
And I think a lot of people misunderstood that as a replacement of prayer. 00:19:29.000 |
That we should have an attitude of prayer so that we can pray when we're driving. 00:19:33.000 |
That we can pray when we're doing, happen to be doing other stuff. 00:19:38.000 |
But being deliberate in prayer requires more than that. 00:19:44.000 |
Again, we want to be biblical in our understanding of how we pray. 00:19:48.000 |
So, imagine if the Apostle's prayers were only prayed while he was doing something else. 00:19:57.000 |
Imagine having a relationship with somebody where every time I talk to you I'm reading a book. 00:20:02.000 |
Or I'm going through Facebook and then you're talking to me and I'm talking to you while I'm doing that. 00:20:10.000 |
You want to be in an attitude of prayer where we're unceasingly praying. 00:20:14.000 |
But that is, I don't think he meant that as a replacement. 00:20:18.000 |
Where your whole spiritual life, your whole prayer life with God is to be done in that manner. 00:20:30.000 |
You wouldn't talk to your boss, your co-worker that way. 00:20:33.000 |
If the only relationship you have with that person is just in the context of you being distracted and saying, 00:20:38.000 |
"Okay, I did my job. We communicated. I told you what I needed to say." 00:20:42.000 |
Right. But being devoted to prayer means that we are deliberate about our time with God. 00:20:47.000 |
And again, remember that we are approaching a holy God. 00:20:54.000 |
We're not just talking about just some casual person that we know. 00:20:57.000 |
We're talking about coming to the presence of God. 00:21:00.000 |
Imagine in the Old Testament where God taught the nation of Israel that they had to go through every single ritual. 00:21:06.000 |
And every single part of it had to be obeyed perfectly. 00:21:13.000 |
All of that was to teach them that they are approaching a holy, holy, holy God. 00:21:18.000 |
Even though Christ died for us and he ripped the curtain so that we can have access, 00:21:23.000 |
the access that we have to God is not an access of just casually saying and doing and just kind of in our background, 00:21:31.000 |
we just have thoughts about Jesus and thoughts about God. 00:21:34.000 |
Our prayer life needs to reflect who it is that we're talking to, who it is that we are petitioning, 00:21:42.000 |
that he is not just some person, he is not just a casual acquaintance. 00:21:47.000 |
He is a thrice holy God, the creator of the universe. 00:21:50.000 |
And so when I say to pray unceasingly, it means, it doesn't mean to pray only that way. 00:21:59.000 |
That's something that we should do, pray unceasingly while we're driving, while we're walking. 00:22:04.000 |
But do not misunderstand that that must not be a replacement of devoted time of prayer before God. 00:22:12.000 |
And I know some of you guys say, wow, I was so relieved because now I know that I don't have to pray that way. 00:22:18.000 |
Right. Because it's difficult and the discipline is hard. 00:22:24.000 |
Just like anything else, coming to a holy God, it is difficult. It is hard. 00:22:29.000 |
Somebody who's never studied the Bible, it's difficult studying the Bible. 00:22:32.000 |
If you've never memorized scripture, it's difficult to memorize scripture. 00:22:35.000 |
Yet we're devoted to do it because the fruit that comes from it is worthwhile. 00:22:43.000 |
If you only pray when it is casual, when it is easy to pray, most likely you will not end up praying. 00:22:52.000 |
You'll just have thoughts of God and thinking that that's prayer. 00:22:56.000 |
So again, I wanted to, because I've heard that from so many people who misunderstood what was said, 00:23:03.000 |
Again, our prayer life should reflect the prayer life we see in the Bible. 00:23:12.000 |
And I know that even some of the passage people use, he quoted Nehemiah, how he prayed in the context of talking. 00:23:20.000 |
But if you look at Nehemiah 1, verse 4, Nehemiah was unceasingly praying constantly, 00:23:27.000 |
even in the context of having conversation he prayed. 00:23:30.000 |
But in the beginning, it actually points out to us he was mourning and he was crying out, fasting and praying. 00:23:36.000 |
So he was a man who was devoted to praying constantly. 00:23:39.000 |
He was so devoted that even in the context of talking, prayer would proceed out of his mouth. 00:23:45.000 |
But that was not the only context in which he prayed. 00:23:48.000 |
So I want to make that clear. OK, so I went a little bit more than I wanted to on that. 00:23:53.000 |
But I wanted to make that clear so we do not misunderstand that prayer needs to be devoted prayer, deliberate prayer, unceasing prayer, persistent prayer. 00:24:01.000 |
Right. Is there a topic that you've been praying for and that you're frustrated because it hasn't, it wasn't answered? 00:24:12.000 |
As you guys know, I prayed for my older brother's salvation for over 40 years. 00:24:18.000 |
And my brother, there were periods coming up and down thinking like he's going to come to Christ, he's going to come to Christ. 00:24:24.000 |
And then things would happen in his life. And, you know, they're all through that up and down. 00:24:29.000 |
You know, when God finally answered prayer and I was able to see him come to Christ and baptize him at our church. 00:24:36.000 |
I mean, that was 40 years of praying up and down. 00:24:39.000 |
You know, and I think God wants us to persistently pray because God wants to see how committed we are. Right. 00:24:49.000 |
And so there are some prayers that you pray and God answers immediately. 00:24:53.000 |
And then there are some prayers that God answers because you've been praying persistently for years and years and years. 00:24:59.000 |
And those answered prayers are so much more precious because you've devoted your heart, time and energy because you wanted this so bad. 00:25:08.000 |
So when we pray, we need to pray persistently. We need to pray privately. Right. 00:25:14.000 |
If the only time you pray is when you are with other people, you know, Jesus warns the Pharisees. 00:25:20.000 |
He said that the only reason why you pray is so that other people can see. 00:25:24.000 |
But you do not know how to pray in private. Right. 00:25:27.000 |
For them, their reward is to show other people that they pray. 00:25:31.000 |
So we need to learn to pray privately alone. Right. 00:25:35.000 |
Be devoted to prayer, persistent in prayer. We also need to pray corporately. 00:25:39.000 |
And this is why we're gathered here together. Right. 00:25:44.000 |
This is this is part of praying, but we need to pray corporately where the early church got gathered together constantly for prayer and then pray expectantly. 00:25:54.000 |
When I say this, I mean, one, obviously pray in faith, but to pray and watch. 00:26:01.000 |
Right. Sometimes we pray and then we forget that we prayed about it. 00:26:04.000 |
And when God does answer prayer, you don't even remember that you prayed for that. Right. 00:26:08.000 |
If you keep record of the things that you prayed for and you consistently pray for, you will be surprised how much of answer prayer that you will see in your life. 00:26:17.000 |
But oftentimes we don't keep track of it. Right. So when you pray, pray expectantly. 00:26:22.000 |
Maybe even have a journal where you say, I prayed for this. 00:26:25.000 |
And when God answers prayer, golden say jot down how he answered prayer and get in the habit of sharing. 00:26:32.000 |
When God answers prayer, God answer prayer and praise God and thank God and worship God for that. 00:26:37.000 |
So when you pray, pray expectantly and then and then finally pray biblically. 00:26:43.000 |
Right. God is not a holy vending machine that we make a list of things that we want and we give it to him and he's supposed to answer us. 00:26:52.000 |
You know, the requirement for prayer is if you abide in me, my words abide in you. 00:26:56.000 |
Ask whatever you wish it shall be done for you, meaning that our prayers need to be biblically sound, that we are confident salvation of people. 00:27:05.000 |
We know that that's what God desires. Our holiness. We know that God, that's what God desires. 00:27:09.000 |
Spreading of the gospel, building up of the church, his glory, his name. Right. 00:27:15.000 |
To be able to live peaceful lives so that we can live our Christian lives in a world where where we have peace. 00:27:22.000 |
All these things are biblical prayer. Right. Asking for Lamborghini. Right. 00:27:28.000 |
Asking for the greatest job. Right. Again, not to say that God doesn't want to provide for you. 00:27:34.000 |
But when you pray biblically, knowing and being confident that this is what God desires of us, you can pray boldly. 00:27:41.000 |
Right. We're not praying that God, you know, please answer this is that we know he wants to answer this. 00:27:46.000 |
And so praying biblically is what causes us to pray boldly, consistently and expectantly. 00:27:53.000 |
OK, so those are things that I want you to have in mind as we pray tonight. 00:27:59.000 |
If we can move out the chairs and we're going to spend the rest of the time and I'm going to give you some time to pray. 00:28:04.000 |
So those of you guys who are on your stay in your chairs and then for the rest of us, if you're in a white chair. 00:28:09.000 |
OK, you chose correctly. OK, you're here because you wanted to be on the floor. 00:28:16.000 |
We've spread a nice carpet around. OK, let's give them a minute. 00:28:50.000 |
Some of you guys, if you have bad backs, right, you need to go to the doctor. 00:28:57.000 |
It's too early for you to have bad backs. OK, so some of the older people, you have an excuse. 00:29:05.000 |
I want to explain as we are moving these chairs around, why we're giving you opportunities to be on the ground and pray, 00:29:13.000 |
because it helps us to concentrate. You know, I learned how to pray the ministry that I belong to, 00:29:20.000 |
where every time we pray, we have to be on our knees. Right. And I'm not saying that we have to do that. 00:29:26.000 |
The Bible doesn't say that if you're not on your knees, you're not praying. 00:29:29.000 |
But oftentimes the posture of our prayer helps us to focus, just like if you're studying. 00:29:34.000 |
Right. And it's kind of hard to study when you're distracted by other things. 00:29:38.000 |
And sometimes, again, I'm not saying that this is a requirement, but the posture of our prayer helps us to focus our attention, 00:29:45.000 |
our mind not to wander. And that's why we give an opportunity for you guys to do that. 00:29:49.000 |
Again, if you feel that you want to do that while we're praying, you're more than welcome to come. 00:29:53.000 |
There's more than enough space here. So I want to go over the first topic that we're going to pray for. 00:29:58.000 |
If you can go to the first topic. Can you put the clock up without. 00:30:10.000 |
So I'm going to give you exactly two minutes to pray for each topic. OK. 00:30:14.000 |
So I want you to pray. Pray intensely. Intensely meaning like really focus. 00:30:19.000 |
So if your mind is wandering somewhere, you only have two minutes to pray for this. 00:30:23.000 |
So if you wander for 30 seconds, you're not going to be able to pray. OK. 00:30:26.000 |
So I made it to two minutes, just long enough for you to really devote yourself to prayer 00:30:32.000 |
and hopefully to fight against distraction while you're praying. 00:30:37.000 |
The first topic I want to pray for to overcome sexual sins privately and corporately. 00:30:43.000 |
This is something that is universal. I mean, it's always been an issue, 00:30:47.000 |
especially with a young church where sexual sin is prominent. 00:30:53.000 |
But especially in this generation where we have the access to pornography is so easy 00:30:59.000 |
that we hear more and more people struggling with that. 00:31:02.000 |
Not only that, but because of the culture that we live in, sexual promiscuity is almost, 00:31:08.000 |
not almost, it is celebrated. It's almost weird for you not to engage in these things. 00:31:13.000 |
So as a result of that, I think the boundaries of breaking certain things and doing certain things, 00:31:26.000 |
"The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him." 00:31:31.000 |
Because oftentimes we think sexual sin, it doesn't hurt anybody else, it's just me. 00:31:36.000 |
But he highlights, he said, "Flee immorality. 00:31:39.000 |
Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." 00:31:45.000 |
So here when he says he's against his own body, he's not talking about just you, right? 00:31:51.000 |
Again, I've heard Christian leaders, some Christian leaders say that God whispers about sexual immorality, 00:32:00.000 |
I don't know which Bible they're reading, but I hear exactly the opposite. 00:32:05.000 |
When he says, "All other sins, you sin outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." 00:32:10.000 |
When he says his own body, he says this after he says that your body has been joined with the Lord. 00:32:17.000 |
And then he says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, 00:32:22.000 |
whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 00:32:25.000 |
For you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body." 00:32:29.000 |
So he's not talking about just, hey, everything else you do outside, but you're sinning against your own flesh. 00:32:35.000 |
When he says that, he's saying you're actually sinning directly against God because you've joined yourself with God. 00:32:42.000 |
So this sexual sin, above all the other sins, is extra grievous, because it's not just something that you do outside. 00:32:50.000 |
It's something that you're inviting where God has come in. 00:32:55.000 |
So the Bible highlights the grievousness of sexual sin. 00:33:02.000 |
We have a tendency to think that if other people don't know, it doesn't hurt other people and it doesn't spread, 00:33:07.000 |
but it's a private sin, but it is not a private sin. 00:33:10.000 |
That's what he's saying. This is not a private sin. 00:33:13.000 |
This is a sin directly against the Holy Spirit. 00:33:17.000 |
So we want to pray. If you are struggling with this, to pray. 00:33:25.000 |
Seek out ways where you're going to find accountability. 00:33:28.000 |
Confess your sins to your small group leaders, to the brothers and sisters that are around you, 00:33:43.000 |
Struggling? And what they mean by struggling is just they're in sin. 00:33:47.000 |
Right? And I don't like it. That's not struggling. You've accepted it. 00:33:51.000 |
Struggling means that you're doing everything in your power to overcome this sin. 00:33:56.000 |
So if it means to get rid of the Internet, if it means to just embarrass yourself and share it with other people, 00:34:07.000 |
We cannot have a church that desires to glorify God and worship God and to be a light in the world 00:34:13.000 |
while we accept this as normal sin in our church. We cannot. Right? 00:34:19.000 |
You cannot be a light in this dark world if you accept this. 00:34:24.000 |
So again, I know many of us struggle with that, but really struggle. 00:34:28.000 |
When you say you're struggling, struggle. Right? 00:34:33.000 |
Come beating your chest before God, "I need to conquer this sin." 00:34:38.000 |
At whatever the cost. Ask for prayer. Ask for accountability. Memorize Scripture. 00:34:44.000 |
Secondly, in 1 Corinthians 3, 16, 17, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 00:34:49.000 |
If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are." 00:34:55.000 |
The first passage in 1 Corinthians is the "you" as in singular, and he's talking about you as an individual. 00:35:01.000 |
In 1 Corinthians 3, 16, 17, the "you" as in plural is referring to the church. 00:35:06.000 |
So when we sin individually, we end up bringing that to church because we are in a covenant relationship, 00:35:16.000 |
No matter how welcoming we are, no matter how devoted we are to Bible study and building up the church 00:35:22.000 |
and being generous and serving, if sin is a regular pattern of your life, 00:35:27.000 |
there's no way that that is not defiling the church. 00:35:30.000 |
Because the health of the church is not simply one person preaching the Bible correctly. 00:35:37.000 |
I'm just one piece, and you guys are the rest of the pieces. 00:35:40.000 |
And so if you have a pattern of sinning, that means that church is defiled, and God takes that sin very seriously. 00:35:47.000 |
So again, especially for a young church, we understand how difficult this is. 00:35:58.000 |
Come before the Lord in confession, in prayer, not just for yourselves. 00:36:03.000 |
If you are succeeding in this and you've been doing well, pray for the people around you. 00:36:06.000 |
Pray for the brothers and sisters around you. 00:36:10.000 |
If you see some people who are in a compromised situation, get in the habit of speaking the truth in love. 00:36:19.000 |
Speaking the truth in love, just ignoring that, brushing that aside, doesn't make you gracious. 00:36:26.000 |
If we really want to build a church that honors God and be a light in this dark world, we have to take this seriously. 00:36:33.000 |
So we're going to give you two minutes to pray. 00:36:36.000 |
I know that's not a lot of time, but we're going to give you two minutes for yourselves to pray corporately. 00:36:41.000 |
And then after that, Pastor Mark is going to come up and pray for us, and then we'll move on to the next topic. 00:54:56.000 |
to be able to pray to you for all of these people 00:55:38.000 |
for them to come to know the God that we know, 00:55:41.000 |
the God who loved us, who sent his son to die for us. 00:55:45.000 |
And we pray for renewed passion in this church, 00:55:55.000 |
what we believe, God, that this world is on fire, 00:56:05.000 |
And Father, that we would not just live knowing 00:56:08.000 |
that we have salvation ourselves and still be self-centered in that. 00:56:11.000 |
Or worse than that, God, on this sinking ship, 00:56:23.000 |
and to point to Christ and to be urgently preaching, 00:56:29.000 |
Father, urging and pleading with people, God, to come to you. 00:56:39.000 |
Father, help us to do what Christ wants, what you want. 00:56:43.000 |
Help us not to pray, "Let your kingdom come and will be done," 00:56:49.000 |
God, as Christ came to seek and save the lost, 00:56:52.000 |
Father, that we would have that same statement in us, 00:56:55.000 |
that that would be the purpose for all of us, 00:56:58.000 |
not just for some, but every single believer in this room, 00:57:01.000 |
that we would have the same goal, that we would go, therefore, 00:57:07.000 |
Father, that we want people to be made complete in Christ, 00:57:10.000 |
that we wouldn't just share the gospel here and there and hope it works, 00:57:13.000 |
but, Lord, that we devote ourselves to people, 00:57:16.000 |
that we would love them with all of our hearts. 00:57:19.000 |
Father, that we'd be willing even to sacrifice the whole of our lives 00:57:25.000 |
Father, thank you that Jesus set that example for us, 00:57:28.000 |
that he laid down his life, and we pray, God, 00:57:31.000 |
that Berean Community Church and every believer in this room, 00:57:37.000 |
God, not however we desire to shape it, but, Father, 00:57:43.000 |
You are a compassionate God, abounding in steadfast love and kindness towards us. 00:57:46.000 |
So, Lord, thank you, and we pray that we would pray more of the same. 00:57:58.000 |
You know, there's a tendency when a church grows 00:58:13.000 |
And so when the church is smaller, we're motivated by saying, 00:58:16.000 |
"Hey, we need to preach the gospel. We need to bring more people to Christ." 00:58:19.000 |
And then when the church grows, we have a tendency to think, 00:58:22.000 |
"How do we manage this?" And then we become managers 00:58:28.000 |
And then you kind of lose the church-planting spirit. 00:58:34.000 |
because the purpose of why we're here is to continue to share the gospel 00:58:43.000 |
"Seeing the people, he felt compassion for them 00:58:46.000 |
because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." 00:58:58.000 |
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." 00:59:04.000 |
but the short period that I've been a Christian, 00:59:13.000 |
No matter how big of a church or small of a church, 00:59:25.000 |
If you notice here, he's moved with compassion. 00:59:28.000 |
He tells the disciples that there's so much work to do. 00:59:34.000 |
And then verse 38, it doesn't turn to them and say, 00:59:40.000 |
Find people that you can disciple and raise them up quickly 00:59:46.000 |
The Bible tells us to disciple, teach them to observe all that I've commanded you. 00:59:49.000 |
And I remember early on when I was learning discipleship, 00:59:55.000 |
and in the book it says, "Disciples are not born, but they're made." 01:00:04.000 |
That you find somebody, and if you teach them, if you guide them, 01:00:07.000 |
if you set examples that they're going to grow up 01:00:19.000 |
workers for the harvest is sent more than made. 01:00:25.000 |
and we do everything that God tells us to do, 01:00:31.000 |
don't come because we put them through some program, 01:00:34.000 |
but because I love them or set a good example for them. 01:00:37.000 |
Unless the Lord directs them, unless the Lord convicts them, 01:00:43.000 |
that no amount of disciple-making makes true disciples. 01:00:49.000 |
"Beseech the Lord of the harvest first and foremost." 01:01:04.000 |
and all the bad news that we see in the world, 01:01:07.000 |
that we shouldn't be like the world, it's like, "Oh, my gosh, 01:01:10.000 |
only if we had better politicians, only if we had more work, 01:01:16.000 |
He says, "Look at the harvest and the suffering around us 01:01:28.000 |
So if you can pray with me, and then Elder Philip 01:01:31.000 |
is going to wrap us up in prayer for the next 2 minutes, 01:01:34.000 |
that we would pray for the harvest first and foremost, 01:01:40.000 |
and that's a danger that we're in when we're home, 01:01:43.000 |
that we're at home and then we go out to do missions, 01:01:46.000 |
but we're in the mission field, we're in the midst of darkness. 01:01:52.000 |
our coworkers, our family, that if they do not know Christ, 01:01:56.000 |
they're under the domination of the God of this world. 01:02:00.000 |
And so that we would look at them with compassion and to pray, 01:02:04.000 |
and first and foremost to beseech the Lord of the harvest. 01:02:16.000 |
and then Elder Philip is going to come and wrap us up. 01:04:24.120 |
Father, we want to thank you for this evening to come before you, 01:04:32.120 |
such an important topic of raising workers, Father. 01:04:48.120 |
we probably know where they're going, most of them, 01:04:53.120 |
But as we see that, Lord, do we have compassion, Lord? 01:04:58.120 |
So first of all, Lord, I pray that you would give us a heart of compassion, 01:05:02.120 |
that, Lord, that we would really seek inside, Lord, 01:05:09.120 |
Lord God, Scripture says that you desire no one-- 01:05:12.120 |
you desire everyone to be saved and no one to go to hell, Father God. 01:05:17.120 |
Father, we pray, Lord, that your heart is for the harvest 01:05:20.120 |
and for people to come to know you, Lord God. 01:05:23.120 |
So I pray, Heavenly Father, that you would cause us, Lord, 01:05:30.120 |
that maybe you are calling us, Lord God, to go. 01:05:34.120 |
Maybe, Lord, you are calling us to pray, Lord, even deeply. 01:05:48.120 |
Even around us, Father God, people that we see, 01:05:51.120 |
Lord, that they probably don't know you, Lord. 01:05:54.120 |
And, Lord, maybe sometimes we're deceived to think that in America, 01:06:06.120 |
so that wherever we go, wherever we are, Father, 01:06:12.120 |
and see, Father God, people as you see them, Lord, 01:06:23.120 |
that you would raise up workers so that you might send them, Father. 01:06:26.120 |
And I pray that for our church, Lord God, that you would move us. 01:06:30.120 |
Lord, from our church, there will be many who will be sent, Father. 01:06:36.120 |
that you would give us a heart of compassion, a desire, Lord God, 01:06:40.120 |
to give all for the sake of Christ as Christ has given for us, Lord. 01:06:45.120 |
So, Lord God, tonight we ask you, Heavenly Father, 01:06:48.120 |
we beseech you, Father, that you would raise up workers 01:06:52.120 |
and that you would send, Lord, so many who are needed right now 01:06:56.120 |
to preach your word, to preach it, to share the gospel that is life, Father God. 01:07:02.120 |
So I thank you, Lord, and I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. 01:07:06.120 |
The fifth prayer that we have is pray for those who are sick 01:07:12.120 |
and going through difficult trials in our church. 01:07:15.120 |
James 5, 14-16, it says, "If anyone among you is sick, 01:07:19.120 |
then he must call for the elders of the church, 01:07:22.120 |
and they are to pray for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 01:07:25.120 |
And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, 01:07:30.120 |
And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 01:07:33.120 |
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another 01:07:38.120 |
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." 01:07:41.120 |
In this context, God, it sometimes gives sickness 01:07:50.120 |
whether it's for that person or the people around it. 01:07:53.120 |
That is not the cause of sickness at all times, 01:08:00.120 |
And it says to pray and call the elders of the church, 01:08:03.120 |
and again, it's not saying that we shouldn't call anybody else, 01:08:06.120 |
but the point that he's trying to make is the effectiveness of prayer. 01:08:10.120 |
So there is effectiveness of prayer of people who are in the habit of praying, 01:08:15.120 |
but there's also effectiveness of prayer when we pray corporately. 01:08:24.120 |
There's been so many people, especially in the last two months, 01:08:27.120 |
who have either contracted cancer, very serious diseases, 01:08:37.120 |
but for whatever the reason, we've seen a concentration of this 01:08:42.120 |
Some of you guys may be aware, some of you guys may not be aware, 01:08:45.120 |
but if you can pray for those that you are aware of, pray for healing. 01:08:49.120 |
Pray for not just physical, but spiritual healing. 01:08:51.120 |
Sometimes the people who are sick may not be Christians, 01:08:54.120 |
and so there's more desperateness in prayer to bring them to Christ. 01:09:02.120 |
Along with that, I just got an email from Korea, 01:09:07.120 |
This Horim pastor, he's the main guy that we were working with, 01:09:13.120 |
and she's going in to get operation, I think in about three days. 01:09:19.120 |
I told him because we have corporate prayer time that we would pray for her. 01:09:25.120 |
So some of you guys went to Korea know who I'm talking about. 01:09:28.120 |
So if we can take some time to pray for the sick, 01:09:30.120 |
and not just for the sick, people who are suffering and struggling in our church 01:09:33.120 |
that you are aware of, to take some time to really intercede on their behalf. 01:09:38.120 |
And then after that, Elder James is going to wrap us up in prayer. 01:11:55.120 |
We are able to pray to You for the things that we have no power over. 01:12:04.120 |
we are reminded of the very few things we actually do seem to have control over. 01:12:11.120 |
And it just seems that all the more, more and more people are just having to deal with great sickness and death. 01:12:24.120 |
We know that more and more people are having to deal with different illnesses, Lord. 01:12:33.120 |
It reminds us, Lord God, that death is always imminent. 01:12:38.120 |
And even without this, death is always imminent. 01:12:44.120 |
And so, Father, we pray that during these times, 01:12:49.120 |
even if it's not us that are the ones dealing with it, 01:12:54.120 |
that we would have a sense in which it were us, Lord, 01:12:57.120 |
so that we could really hurt with these people who are going through these things, 01:13:02.120 |
that we could pray for them as if they were heading home. 01:13:07.120 |
And Lord, that these prayers would be used in a way to not only aim at physical healing, 01:13:17.120 |
but that in tragedy, Lord, that Your Gospel would be shared, 01:13:21.120 |
that it would be received, that many would repent and believe, 01:13:27.120 |
that they would see the reality that Christ is King, 01:13:31.120 |
and that it would cause them, Lord God, to give You glory. 01:13:36.120 |
We thank You, Lord, because we know that in times of great weakness, 01:13:42.120 |
in times of great despair, there always seems to be a tide that is turned to You. 01:13:50.120 |
And so, Father, in these sicknesses, we pray, Lord, that You will cause much revival. 01:13:56.120 |
May all glory go to You. We pray this in Your name. Amen. 01:14:00.120 |
All right. Finally, we're going to pray for the growing church. 01:14:04.120 |
As you guys know, that our church is growing by the grace of God. 01:14:10.120 |
But with the growing church, there's a lot of needs that come along with that. 01:14:16.120 |
"That all those who had believed were together and all things in common." 01:14:20.120 |
So immediately, when they came to Christ, there was a community that was built. 01:14:24.120 |
It was not because of game nights. It was not because they spent a lot of time together. 01:14:28.120 |
But because the single thing that bound them together happened instantaneously. 01:14:34.120 |
As soon as they became Christian, as soon as they were devoted to Christ, a community happened. 01:14:38.120 |
And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. 01:14:44.120 |
So as our church continues to grow, the danger of that is you find four or five or ten or fifteen friends, 01:14:50.120 |
and that's your community, and we become unaware of what's going on around us. Right? 01:14:55.120 |
And so, one, if we can pray for community to continue to happen, 01:15:00.120 |
and I know that at this size, you're not going to get to know everybody. 01:15:04.120 |
But at least in our attitude, that we don't have an attitude that it's like, "Too many people. I can't get to know everybody." 01:15:09.120 |
So you're just going to find fifteen close friends, and then those are the people I'm going to interact with. Right? 01:15:15.120 |
The early church instantaneously had three thousand people that came to Christ. 01:15:20.120 |
And then after that, thousands more came to Christ. 01:15:23.120 |
And so in the midst, it says they were sharing, taking care of each other, looking out for each other. 01:15:28.120 |
And they had their challenges, but they met together, enjoyed each other's company. 01:15:32.120 |
So if you can pray that as our church grows, that we would fight against cliquishness, that we would become welcoming. 01:15:41.120 |
There's a lot of people coming through the doors, really hungry to know God, and the door to enter the church is you. Right? 01:15:49.120 |
So if you stiff-arm them, or if you say, "I'm comfortable, and I don't have that kind of personality," 01:15:54.120 |
and to them, it's going to look like a shut door. 01:15:57.120 |
So first and foremost, that we would commit to be welcoming, that we would be concerned when people are sick, 01:16:04.120 |
and things are going on, that we would genuinely come around them. 01:16:08.120 |
And it says, "Praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord was adding to their number day by day, those who were being saved." 01:16:14.120 |
We work on what God wants us to work on, right? Our own righteousness. 01:16:19.120 |
Studying the Bible, praying, and what God tells us to do, we want to obey. 01:16:25.120 |
What God does with the numbers, that's up to Him. Only He can save. Only He's the one who convicts. 01:16:31.120 |
So I want to ask you guys to take some time to pray with us, with our growing church, and the needs that we have. 01:16:37.120 |
All the pastors, the elders, and so many people who are serving in the church. 01:16:42.120 |
And I know that those of you who are serving, many of you are serving in so many capacities, 01:16:47.120 |
that we kind of have to tell you to calm down a little bit, because we don't want you getting burned out. 01:16:52.120 |
But along with that, if we can pray again, that the community aspect of our church would not suffer, because the church grows, 01:16:59.120 |
and that we would grow in a way that honors God, that people are coming in, not just adding number, 01:17:04.120 |
but that people are genuinely who wants to know God and love God are being added to the number. 01:17:10.120 |
And why is this so important? Right? Because ultimately it's not for us. It's not just for us. 01:17:17.120 |
It's because we want to be a light. And so when the church grows, we become a brighter light in this dark world. 01:17:23.120 |
And we want to be a bright light in our generation that exalts the glory of God, exalts the word of God, 01:17:31.120 |
and that men and women are known for also praying, as much as we're committed to the word of God, to pray. 01:17:37.120 |
So if you can pray for that, and then have something very specific, along with raising up workers, 01:17:42.120 |
we are in need of more space. We did not predict that we were going to be in need of space this quick. 01:17:51.120 |
We thought when we bought that building, it would be good for a while. 01:17:54.120 |
So we're praying, and we're meeting, and we're thinking, we're looking for avenues, and switching up certain things. 01:18:01.120 |
So if you can join us in prayer, along with the growth, that God would provide even the physical things that we need to accommodate the growth. 01:18:09.120 |
If you can take some time to pray, and then Elder Joe is going to come up, and then he's going to wrap us up in prayer. 01:20:09.120 |
Father, we thank you for this time to come before you to pray. 01:20:22.120 |
We want to lift up our church specifically to you. 01:20:27.120 |
Lord, you said in your word, "Unless the Lord builds, the labor is built in vain." 01:20:33.120 |
Lord, from the time that we've been 20 people meeting together in homes, to the current state of our church, with over a thousand. 01:20:47.120 |
Lord, we're just thankful, Lord. We're thankful, Lord God, that you've brought so many people, Lord God, to this body, to this local body, to worship together, to grow together. 01:21:03.120 |
But we still need you, Lord. We need your spirit to guide us, to empower us, Lord God, as we continue to build this community. 01:21:14.120 |
As more and more people come to seek community, to seek fellowship, I pray, Lord God, that our times together, even just participating in various things happening in the church, that it may be fruitful. 01:21:32.120 |
That we may continue to spur one another on towards loving good deeds, that we may engage in each other's lives, finding encouragement, finding challenge, and even rebuke. 01:21:46.120 |
So we ask, Lord God, that you continue to build what you started so many years ago, that as we see the needs that are right in front of us, Lord, we pray that you provide. 01:22:04.120 |
We ask, Lord God, that the community here at Berean may be a true light unto the world, that as people come and participate in our worship services, in our Bible studies, and all the new people that you bring, help them see the true love of Christ among your people. 01:22:25.120 |
We pray, Lord God, not only for the spiritual aspects of our community, but even the physical things, Lord God, that we're in need of. 01:22:35.120 |
Lord, as we think through and try to anticipate how to deal with and handle the growth of the people, I pray, Lord, that you provide. 01:22:50.120 |
Lord, we are grateful, Lord, even in the midst of our recent building purchase, that was you providing. 01:22:59.120 |
So we ask, Lord God, again, that you provide for the growth of this church, that above all things, that we may grow in light of who you are and what you desire for our church. 01:23:18.120 |
I pray, Lord God, that we may strive to worship you in spirit and in truth, and we know, Lord God, that you will accomplish what you will according to what you desire and how you see fit our church and its needs and how we will grow. 01:23:36.120 |
So we are so thankful, Lord God, that you continue to be with us. 01:23:40.120 |
We need you. We desire, Lord God, for you to fulfill just the growth of this church and that you may be glorified through it. 01:23:51.120 |
So we entrust it to you in Christ's name we pray. Amen. 01:23:54.120 |
I know a lot of time has gone by, but I do want to give you guys some time to pray. 01:24:00.120 |
OK, so for the next 10 minutes, we're going to give you some time to pray on your own. 01:24:05.120 |
And then those of you who desire for us to pray for you, you can come up to the front and then and then we'll take some time to pray with you. 01:24:14.120 |
And then in 9, 10, our worship team will come up and they'll wrap us up. 01:24:18.120 |
OK, so if we can turn the music on and then we're going to take some time for personal prayer. 01:24:24.120 |
And then the other people who want to come up and receive prayer or prayer requests that you want to give us, the leaders will be up in the front waiting for you to pray for you. 01:41:11.120 |
We thank you for persevering with us. We thank you, Father God, for your Holy Spirit that continues to guide us and lead us and at times rebukes us. 01:41:23.120 |
That we may truly live lives worthy of the gospel that you've given us. Help us, Lord God, as you warned us that as the world becomes more and more wicked, that many people's love for you will grow cold. 01:41:39.120 |
Help us, Lord God, that we would not be one of those. Help us, Lord God, to fight against fatigue, fight against discouragement, fight against complacency, Father God, knowing that our life here is temporary, that we are just sojourners passing through. 01:42:01.120 |
That every year that goes by, that it would be a reminder to us that we are one year closer, Lord God, to you coming or us going to you. Help us to see the temporariness of all that is around us, that we would not be tempted by things that rot, but that we would covet the things that are eternal. 01:42:25.120 |
So I pray that the prayers that we lifted up tonight, that you would answer these prayers, that as you send more and more people, that we would do our best to be obedient, that we would get rid of ignoble things in our lives, that you would use us for the sake of your glory and your name. 01:42:46.120 |
Lord, we have so many more, so many more who do not know you, Father God, in our area. Help us, Lord, to be a brighter light, Lord, in our generation. We have so many brothers and sisters who are hungry, who desire simply to meet you, Father God, and to be fed. 01:43:05.120 |
Help us, Lord God, to be a greater community for that cause, asking, Father, Lord, not knowing where you will take us, but that we would cling to you, abide in you, that whatever you do, Father God, that we would be confident that we are at the center of your will. 01:43:24.120 |
So I pray for your blessing. I pray for your grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 01:43:36.120 |
Some of you guys can help us put the... roll up the carpet and put the chairs back.