(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Morning church family, happy Lord's Day.

We will now begin our service. (soft music) (soft music) Let's sing as a dear. ♪ As the dear pitiful ♪ ♪ The waters of my soul ♪ ♪ Longeth after thee ♪ ♪ You alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ ♪ You alone are my strength, my shield ♪ ♪ To you alone may my spirit yield ♪ ♪ To you ♪ ♪ You alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ - You're my friend.

♪ You're my friend and you are my brother ♪ ♪ Even though you are a king ♪ ♪ I love you more than any other ♪ ♪ So much more than anything ♪ ♪ Even you ♪ ♪ You alone are my strength, my shield ♪ ♪ To you alone may my spirit yield ♪ ♪ You alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ - I want you.

♪ I want you more than gold or silver ♪ ♪ For you can satisfy ♪ ♪ You alone are the real joy forever ♪ ♪ And the apple of my eye ♪ ♪ You alone are my strength, my shield ♪ ♪ To you alone may my spirit yield ♪ ♪ You alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ - You alone.

♪ You alone are my strength, my shield ♪ ♪ To you alone may my spirit yield ♪ ♪ You alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ ♪ You alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Breen Community Church. First of all, our family ministry prayer meeting is happening this coming Saturday, right? Oh, the Saturday after, okay. Yeah, Saturday after, so on April 12th at 9.15. So if you're a part of the family ministry, they are having a, again, and this is open to anyone who wants to come.

That's happening at 9.15 at the Youth Chapel. On that same afternoon at 7 p.m. on April 12th, we have a cafe gospel night outreach. So they're gonna be having an intentional time of sharing the gospel and answering some questions. So if you have family and friends or people that you wanna bring to hear a formal presentation of the gospel, this is a time.

So please sign up for that, and that's happening on April 12th at 7 p.m. And then on April 27th, the new round of membership class is happening. So this is an eight-week course where we go over the various doctrines of our church and ministry philosophy. So if you are interested in becoming a doctor, this is a, doctor, member.

I need some more coffee, okay. That's easy to become a doctor here. All right, so sign up for that. That's happening at 9.30. It takes place during this time, so you would have to attend service in the first service or third service. So please sign up for that, and that's starting on April 27th, and it'll go all the way to June 15th.

If you're part of the Jubilee ministry, you're 50 and over. Our next lunch fellowship is happening on April 27th at 1 p.m. at the Youth Chapel. So the cost of the lunch is $10, and for children under 10 years old, it's $5. So that's happening on, at the end of April, 27th at 1 p.m.

And then finally, as you were coming in, you probably got this flyer or card basically with all the schedules that's happening on the Passion Week. And so in a couple weeks, we're going to be having the Passion Week devotionals that's starting from Monday through Thursday. And then Friday, we have the Passover, the Good Friday.

So if you haven't signed up for the Passover meal, we encourage you to do that. Again, the space is limited. So once we reach that space, we're going to have to close it. So even if you haven't taken it, we highly encourage you to come and participate and to hear what God has done in embedding the Passover in Jewish history.

And when Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me," there's so much of preparation that went through to get God's people ready for what he was going to do on the cross, and it is taught in the Passover meal. And so whether you've been in it before or you want to come and participate in it, we highly encourage you to sign up for that.

And then early rise service happening at 6 a.m. that Sunday, and also the Sunday fellowship where there will be lunch provided for each of the services that's going on. So they do need help. They said that they are in need of a lot more people to sign up. So even if you can't come and help with all of it, because we will need parking assistance and guide and food prep, and so all this stuff is needed.

So even if you can't do every day, if you sign up and tell them that you can only do Sunday, you can only do Friday, and they'll guide you to wherever you can serve. So if you're able to serve that week, any time during that week, and especially on Sunday and Saturday for food prep, please let them know, and then they'll, again, get that started.

I think that's it for all the announcements. So let me pray for us for the offering, and then if you have a physical offering, there is a physical box in the back on the way out to the right. Okay, let's pray. Father, we praise you for your goodness in our lives.

We thank you, Father God, for all the blessings that you give us, things that we are aware of, and many things that we're not aware of. Help us to have a heart and eyes that are lifted up to Christ, to know what it is that we have, that we may come to celebrate and to give you thanks.

We pray, Father God, that you would search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us, that we may come before your throne with clean hands, that we may receive forgiveness of sins, restoration, and intimate fellowship with you, Father God, through this time. And so we pray, Father God, that you would help us to give you worship in spirit and in truth, both in singing, both in learning, and also, Father God, in our giving, that we may give with joyful hearts as an act of worship and may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Let us all rise and spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us. (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Sing you're holy ♪ ♪ You are mighty ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ Worthy of praise ♪ ♪ Worthy of praise ♪ ♪ I will follow ♪ ♪ I will follow ♪ ♪ I will listen ♪ ♪ I will listen ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ All of my days ♪ ♪ All of my days ♪ ♪ I will sing your song ♪ ♪ I will sing your song ♪ ♪ And worship the king ♪ ♪ And worship the king ♪ ♪ There's worthy ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ Adore you ♪ ♪ I will bow down before you ♪ ♪ I will sing your song ♪ ♪ And I'll worship the king ♪ ♪ There's worthy ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ Adore you ♪ ♪ I will bow down before you ♪ ♪ You're my man ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ I will live my life for you ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Sing you're holy ♪ ♪ You are holy ♪ ♪ You are mighty ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ Worthy of praise ♪ ♪ Worthy of praise ♪ ♪ I will follow ♪ ♪ I will follow ♪ ♪ I will listen ♪ ♪ I will listen ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ All of my days ♪ ♪ All of my days ♪ ♪ I will sing your song ♪ ♪ And I'll worship the king ♪ ♪ There's worthy ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ Adore you ♪ ♪ I will bow down before you ♪ ♪ I will sing your song ♪ ♪ And I'll worship the king ♪ ♪ There's worthy ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ Adore you ♪ ♪ I will bow down before you ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ I will live my life for you ♪ ♪ With my voice you are Lord ♪ ♪ You are Lord of Lords ♪ ♪ You are King of Kings ♪ ♪ You are mighty God ♪ ♪ Lord of everything ♪ ♪ You're Emmanuel ♪ ♪ You're the great I Am ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ Who is the Lamb ♪ ♪ You're my living God ♪ ♪ You're my saving grace ♪ ♪ You will reign forever ♪ ♪ You are ancient of days ♪ ♪ You are Alpha Omega ♪ ♪ Beginning and end ♪ ♪ You're my Savior Messiah ♪ ♪ Redeemer and friend ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ I will live my life for you ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ I will live my life for you ♪ ♪♪ ♪ My worth ♪ ♪ My worth is not in what I own ♪ ♪ Not in the strength of flesh and bone ♪ ♪ But in the costly wounds of life ♪ ♪ At the cross ♪ ♪♪ ♪ My worth is not in skill or knee ♪ ♪ In win or lose in pride or shame ♪ ♪ But in the blood of Christ I flow ♪ ♪ At the cross ♪ ♪♪ ♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure ♪ ♪ Wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him no other ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him alone ♪ ♪♪ ♪ As summer flowers we fade and die ♪ ♪ Fame, youth, and beauty hurry by ♪ ♪ But life eternal calls to us ♪ ♪ At the cross ♪ ♪♪ ♪ I will not boast in wealth or might ♪ ♪ Or human wisdom's fading light ♪ ♪ But I will boast in knowing Christ ♪ ♪ At the cross ♪ ♪♪ ♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure ♪ ♪ Wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him no other ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him alone ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Two wonders here that I confess ♪ ♪ My worth and my unworthiness ♪ ♪ My value fixed, my ransom paid ♪ ♪ At the cross ♪ ♪♪ ♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure ♪ ♪ Wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him no other ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him alone ♪ I rejoice!

♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure ♪ ♪ Wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him no other ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him alone ♪ ♪♪ Amen. You may be seated. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 11, I'll be reading from verse 5 all the way down to verse 13.

Luke chapter 5, 11, verses 5 through 13. Okay, reading out of the NASB. "Then he said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend "'and goes to him at midnight and says to him, "'Friend, lend me three loaves. "'For a friend of mine has come to me from a journey "'and I have nothing to set before him.' "'And from inside he answers and says, "'Do not bother me, the door has already been shut "'and my children and I are in bed.

"'I cannot get up and give you anything.' "'I tell you, even though he will not get up "'and give him anything because he is his friend, "'yet because of his persistence, "'he will get up and give him as much as he needs. "'So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you, "'seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.

"'For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, "'and to him who knocks it will be opened. "'Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish, "'he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? "'Or if he asks for an egg, "'he will not give him a scorpion, will he?

"'If you then, being evil, "'know how to give good gifts to your children, "'how much more will your heavenly Father "'give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?'" Let's pray. Gracious Father, we pray that the voice of Christ would be made clear to us, that we would not simply hear the words that has been written in history, but that we would hear your very living word, Lord God, that it may judge the thoughts and intentions of our own heart.

Help us, Lord God, to hear from him, that we may follow him and him alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Continuing our series here in the devotion to prayer, where the disciples see Jesus praying and they see something about Jesus' ministry, his life, his intimacy with Christ, and ask Jesus, "Teach us how to pray." They were given the power of the Spirit to cast out demons, to heal the sick, so they've seen many miracles.

They've seen Jesus do many, many miracles, but above everything that he has done was recorded for us here in Matthew, where the disciples saw clearly there's something about his prayer life, there's something about his relationship with God that they wanted access to, and they asked Jesus, "Teach us how to pray." And in response to that, we know the Lord's Prayer, where he tells them to pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." So he teaches them a pattern of prayer, not a prayer, but a pattern of prayer, and above and beyond that, the Scripture is filled with instructions and commandments and encouragement that we ought to pray. We ought to be devoted to prayer.

This is our theme this year. Devotion to prayer isn't just something that happens, just like anything else. If you're devoted to something, it means you make time. You make that your priority. You don't just naturally drift or pray. You don't just wait until you're inspired to pray. You are devoted to prayer because you know it's important, whether it is hard in the morning or at night, you commit to do that.

Just like if you commit to go run, if you commit to go to the gym, if you commit to losing weight, whatever it is that you're committed to, you're making that your priority. And so that's why he says that we need to devote ourselves to prayer. So if you're waiting for your natural inclination to kind of inspire you to pray, you'll find out that that doesn't come.

We're told to pray privately, not just so that other people can see. So if your prayer life only exists when we are gathered together corporately, you're missing the whole point, the whole point of prayer. He says to come before the Lord. Come before the Lord, and there's a personal connection with God.

It is not for other people to see. Not that we are not commanded to pray together, but we are instructed to make sure that we pray privately. Pray consistently, he tells us. That you don't only pray for certain circumstances, but that prayer has to be the very breath of our life.

To continue to pray, no matter what circumstance that you're in. So whether you are having turmoil, whether you're living in peace, he says pray for all situations. He says to pray in faith. Pray believing that you will receive, that it is not just some chart that you say the right things, and some miraculous things are going to happen.

We come to him in faith because we know that only he can answer us. We are to pray persistently, even if you don't get the answer right away. He said continue to pray. Persist in your prayer. He said to be bold in your prayer. Know that the throne of grace has been opened to us, that we are to pray boldly when we come before the Lord.

And we are to pray passionately. That things that matter to us, to seek him with all of our hearts. And so these are just some of the things that we can summarize the Bible tells us to pray. Just how important it is for an individual and for the church to pray.

If I told you this morning, if I came up here and said, "You know, I didn't have much time to look at my Bible, I'm just going to wing it this morning." How many of you would sit here and pay attention? You would probably say, "Well, this guy didn't even study his Bible, how am I going to pay attention to him?" I told you, "You know, I didn't have much time, I was busy this week, so I'm just going to see what the Lord has for us today." And I just started speaking whatever I wanted to speak.

How many of you would take me seriously? We should have equal concern when there's lack of prayer, whether it is up in the pulpit or in the pews. This is how important it is that we need to be a church that prays. Pray passionately, devotedly, persistently, consistently, privately, devotedly.

So the natural question that we have is, when do you pray that way? When do you pray that way? Can you remember a time when you could say, maybe not all of it, but you prayed consistently, you prayed passionately, you prayed urgently? Most likely it was when you were desperate for something.

Maybe something happened in your life and you found that you have no other resource but to come to God, and you start crying out desperately. Usually, when we get prayer requests from the church, it's usually because you are desperate. Something has happened. Somebody in your family is sick. Somebody just received...

they have cancer, and they're trying their best, but it doesn't look good. And so, by the time we get your prayer request, it's probably because there's something urgent happening in your life. And you don't have to be a mature Christian to pray that way when your circumstances lead you to that.

When there's fire in your feet that causes you to pray. Or, maybe there's something that is very, very important to you. It's urgent, but it's very important. And so, you pray persistently. And maybe you've been praying for the salvation of somebody that you love for 10, 15, 20, 30 years.

And you've been persisting in that prayer because this is a prayer that must happen. And it is important to us. But the natural question is, what if there isn't a fire? What if there isn't something that you're not that concerned about? How do you pray passionately? How do you pray with urgency?

When that may not be the case. If the content of our prayer is mostly about safety, protection, and freedom from turmoil in our life, it's very difficult to pray with urgency and passion. Because what we're bringing to Him isn't urgent. We just cover, you know. We're going out to missions and give us safety.

We're endeavoring on new business, and so cover us. Protect us. So the comfort and the safety that we're already enjoying, that nothing that's going to happen is going to disturb any of that. If that's the content of our prayer, it's very difficult to pray with urgency because we don't feel urgent about that, especially in a rich country.

Our needs are taken care of. How many of us are struggling that after this service, you don't know what you're going to eat? So what do we pray urgently for? Again, some of you are in a situation where there is urgency. There is something desperate that God is causing you to pray and get on your knees and cry out to Him.

But urgency and passion typically comes when we are aligned with His will. When we are aligned with His will. John 15, 7, "If you abide in me, my words abide in you. Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Urgency tends to come, not from us, but from Him.

Because He said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." He came to seek and save the lost. So when our will is aligned with His will, the urgency and passion is given to us by Him.

When we are praying for things that we're not confident if this is ultimately His will or not. It's just our desire. We want this. This is how I want my life to be. This is how I want my children to be. And so we may pray, but we're not exactly sure.

Is this Your will? But when your life is in line with His will, and the content of your prayer is consistent with a sense of urgency in the Scripture, God gives you the urgency to be able to pray. He says in Luke 11, 9-10, "I ask you, ask, and it will be given to you.

Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. He who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened." The imperatives in this text is in present imperative. Meaning, the way we have to understand it is keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking.

That's the way we have to understand it in the English. This is not a one-time seek, ask, and knock. It's that this is a pattern of a life that He is telling us, that if you're going to pray, that you need to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, so that He may keep on answering, keep on revealing Himself, and keep on opening the door.

Jeremiah 33, 3, it says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know." It said, "Ask of Me." Every single one of us, we're constantly seeking counsel. If you are trying to buy a house, you may talk to a realtor and ask them, "Is this a good time to buy?" If you're planning to buy a car, you may ask somebody else who may be good, you know, know all the information, you may ask them.

Or if you're raising your children, you may ask people who've gone before you and ask them, like, "What's the best way to raise children?" We're constantly seeking for counsel. But He says, "Ask of Me. Call Me, and I will give you things. I will reveal to you things that no one else can tell you." 1 John 5, 14-15, this is the confidence which we have before Him that if we ask according to His will, He hears us.

And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from Him. Do we recognize who it is that we have access to? If somebody told you that the President of the United States is asking you, he's coming into town, and he requested you, and he said, "Whatever it is that you desire, whatever request you have, bring it to me, and I will answer you." I have a feeling that you're going to sit there and you're not going to be asking for free tickets to Disneyland.

You're not going to be asking for the latest clothes. You're going to be asking Him based on who it is that you're asking. Something that only He can do. No other person has that power. Maybe you have somebody that you know, that you love, that's sitting in prison, and He has the authority to pardon that person.

He has the power to do things that other people cannot do. So, knowing who He is, the request that we will make will be different. He says, "Ask of Me." If you ask according to My will, He has the power, the One who created us from dust. All the universe was created in six days.

He said, "We have access to Him." He says, "Ask of Me." You're constantly asking for counsel and help and direction from everybody else, but are you asking Me? Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Isaiah 55, "Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near." When is it that He can't be found?

At what point is He not near? Does He just kind of come, draw near sometimes, and then when He's tired He just kind of disappears? Is He playing hide-and-seek with us? What does He mean when He says, "While He may be found"? While you are convicted, while the Word of God is bearing fruit in you, while you hear Him calling you, and you say, "Maybe not today.

I need to get married. I have children to raise. I have bills to pay. Maybe not today. Of course I love the Lord, but maybe not today." Typically, Christians don't disobey God. They just delay obedience. Then you find out as years go by, as you continue to ignore His calling, your heart begins to get hardened.

And you no longer even have a desire to call upon Him and to seek Him. Because you've hardened your heart. You've kept on closing the door and no longer do you see any need. You can function without Him. You can pay your bills without Him. When a professing Christian feels perfectly safe, without coming to Him in prayer, you know that your heart has been hardened.

You know you have been deceived. If you're a professing Christian and you can't remember the last time you came to the Lord, seeking Him and praying to Him, and you feel perfectly fine today, tomorrow, and the next day, your heart has become hardened. You have been deceived and you don't even know it.

He says, "Seek me while I may be found." Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." In the NIV it says, "He who earnestly, diligently seek Him." It is impossible to please God unless you really have faith.

And how is that faith seen? He says. That faith is seen when you diligently seek Him. You can profess to have faith if you believe that He's the answer. If you believe He's the answer, but you never ask Him. If you believe all that you need is with Him, and you believe that, then you will naturally seek Him.

That's what He says. It is impossible to please Him. He who comes to God must first believe that He is. He is. Not through Him, but He is. And because you believe that He is, you diligently seek Him. It says, "Keep on knocking." Revelations 3, 19-20, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.

Therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with me." This is not a text for evangelism. Some of you guys who may have memorized this in the context of evangelism, he's talking to the church.

He's talking to the Laodicean church who has become lukewarm, saying, "You're neither hot nor cold." And then he says, "I will spit you out of my mouth." It's detestable to him to come to him week after week and sing empty songs with cold hearts. You're just coming and putting your time in, but you're not really seeking Him.

And he says, "I will spit you out of my mouth." I mean, it's the harshest judgment that he has toward any church is this lukewarm church. "You're neither hot nor cold." And then he follows up at the end of that calling them, warning them to repent. And then he says, "I'm standing at the door knocking." Knocking.

He's knocking at the lukewarm church to open your door, not to simply put in your time, not to simply come in and say, "You know, on Sunday, I checked off. I went to church." He's knocking at the door to cause a lukewarm church to wake up and decide for himself that, "I will ask, and I will seek, and I will knock." If Christ is at the door of a lukewarm church hoping that we will open the door to Him, and then He says, "If you open it up, you will sit with me and you will dine with me.

We will have a banquet together," He says. Imagine if that God, who is patiently waiting and knocking on the door, waiting for us to open the door, imagine if we started knocking. Imagine if we knocked on the door, how eagerly He would be waiting for us to open that door.

So He says, "Keep seeking. Keep asking. Keep knocking." And He who asks, He will answer. He who seeks, He will be found. He who knocks, the door will be opened to Him. That's us. We need to make up our mind. We need to make up our mind. In order for us to pray, you cannot live a life independent of Christ Monday through Saturday and have a passionate prayer life.

You're just not going to have that. You can say the words. You can check off the list. You can make a list of things that you desire before God, like you're taking it to Santa Claus. But a passionate, persistent, urgent prayer, you will not have until our lives are aligned and the urgency comes from Him.

But the natural question that we have is, why does He even ask us to pray this way? Look at what He says, Luke 11, 5 through 8. The example that He gives, "Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves.

For a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and have nothing to set before him.' And from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me. The door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed.'" Let me stop right there. Think how trivial this request is.

I know this is an Asian church, right? And this is an Asian context. And so a friend comes and he doesn't have anything to present to him. So is he going to die if he waits until next morning? This is not a situation where he got in an accident and his leg is cut off and if he doesn't get urgent care he's going to die tonight.

No, he doesn't have enough bread. He doesn't have enough bread. So he's trying to save face. I have a friend who came over and I want to be a good host. And I want to make sure that he's going to sleep with food in his stomach. So he's bothering him at midnight with children who are sleeping.

So Jesus, the example that he gives is very trivial. And he's knocking at the door and then he says, "I cannot get up and give you anything." I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

So again, I want you to think, right? Why does Jesus give this trivial example of why we need to persistently pray? Imagine if you were in that situation, that you were the guy who got woken up at 12 at night and your friend comes over and he's knocking on your door and you say, "What is it?" He said, "Hey, you got some bread?" How would you react?

I don't think you'd be as patient as this guy. Are you kidding me? It's 12 o'clock at night. You couldn't wait six, seven hours and wake up in the morning and ask me? He's going to die because he doesn't have bread? And I say, "Go back to sleep." And he waits a little bit and he gets comfortable and I say, "What is it?" "Man, I really need some bread.

I have a friend who came out of town. He's got nothing. I'm trying to feed him. Can you give me some bread?" Every single one of us in this room is like, "Okay, I'm going to erase this guy from my phone list." There's no way I'm going to be friends with this guy again.

If this guy comes to my house and he's just so selfish that he's not only waking me up, he's going to wake up all my children in the middle of the night. For what purpose? To save face. Goes back to sleep and he's like... And he just wouldn't let him sleep.

And he says, happens to be his friend and that's why he's there. But because of his persistence, you know what another word for persistence is? Annoyance. Because he was annoyed to death. If I don't give him some bread, he's not going to leave me alone. So he gets up and gives it to him.

That's the example that Jesus gives. So what is the application of this? Annoy God. If you annoy God enough, if you keep coming to him enough, if you keep banging on the door enough to save face, he's going to be so annoyed with you that he's just going to give in.

Let's pray. Is that what he's saying? Is that what he's saying? Can you think of a circumstance where death's man's behavior would be welcomed? That this persistence is knocking on the door. Can you think of a circumstance, even one circumstance, where his behavior is actually welcomed? Because that's what God is saying here, right?

God is saying, using that as an example, to come to me this way. Can you think of a realistic example of where this type of persistence would be welcomed? Think about it. Can you think of one? No, nobody? You don't have to say it, okay, because I know you're Asian.

Raise your hand if you can think of one. Oh, not a single hand. Oh, maybe one or two, okay? All right. Let me ask you, what is that circumstance? At midnight? Okay, you're too godly. All right. That could be. That could be, but you'd still be-- If somebody knocked on your door twice, like, "Hey, I'm going to share the gospel with you." Anybody else?

Somebody else, raise your hand. I promise you, I won't embarrass you like I did with-- Yes, the house was on fire, but that's not the situation here. If it was urgent, yes, for sure, but this is bread. I can think of one. When they're my kids. Yeah, when they're my kids.

Because I have adult children who live outside the house, and they said, "If you need anything, if you need anything, if you need it, here's my key. I want you to have the key." Usually, the children don't give kids to the parents, because that's their space, but the parents will give you the key, because I want this to be your home at all times, whether you are 20 or 40 or 60.

If it's my home, it is your home. And whether it's 12 o'clock or 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock, if you need me, I will be there. The only context where this would be welcome is if a loving father is telling his children, "If you need me, I will come." In every other context, this is unacceptable.

In any other context, this is just annoying. You don't have enough sense. But why would God give us this example and said, "Even this guy who's annoyed will open the door." How much more your Heavenly Father will open the door? Because He desires to give you. The only context that this would make any sense is if the recipient of that, who is telling you to do that, loves you and wants to open.

Just ask me, whether it's 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock, if you need me, just keep asking, and I will come. That's the example that He's giving us. But if even who hears evil knows how to give good gifts, how much more your Heavenly Father, if you ask Him, if you seek Him, if you knock, how eagerly that even through a lukewarm church that He's so frustrated, you need to repent, and then He's at the door knocking, hoping that you will recognize where you are and just open the door.

How much more, if we knock the door, if we come to Him, if we ask Him, it only makes sense, because this is an expression of His love. Our Heavenly Father, our Abba Father, where He made us co-heirs with Christ. As my Son, Jesus, can enter the throne of grace with confidence, you also, as co-heirs, have the ability to come to me that way.

It's not because He doesn't care. Luke, in Matthew 6:26, "And look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" Look at all the evidence of God's care.

If God cares for even the birds of the air, how much more would your Heavenly Father be eager to receive you into His home if you come and ask, seek, and knock? It says in Psalm 2.8, "Ask of me, and I will surely give you nations as your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession." Things that you can't possibly imagine.

Things that you can't possibly do on your own. It says, "Ask of me, and I will give you nations as your inheritance." Jeremiah 29.13, "You will seek me and find me when you search me with," what? "All your heart." All your heart. He's waiting for us to make up our mind.

He's waiting for us to make up our mind. Like sometimes the way we live our Christian life is like we have these pursuits and desires, and all we did was add Jesus to the life that we previously had. And so our prayers are weak because we haven't surrendered yet.

We haven't really exchanged our life with His new life. We're still holding on to our old life, and we're trying to have Jesus help me with my old life. He said, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." When you have made up your mind that I am the one that you want.

When you have made up your mind that this is the most important thing in your life, and you pray passionately, urgently, diligently, and you ask me, and you seek, and knock, and it will be open to you. This is why the house is called the house of prayer. You know, it's interesting.

You know Jacob's life, right? Jacob and Esau. And Jacob is favored by God, and God had this plan that He planned from the beginning. That He was going to use Jacob to establish His nation, and He's going to use them to bless all the other nations. He's going to give them the law.

So this was ordained way before Jacob was ever born. Jacob comes, and his life basically means, his name Jacob means usurper. Slippery one. The one who's constantly maneuvering, right? He would have been a good businessman, a salesman. He's always making these maneuvers to get ahead in life. And he gets into all kinds of trouble.

And finally he matures, he grows, becomes a very wealthy man, and he's going to meet his brother Esau. And last time he saw Esau, Esau wanted to kill him. But he knew that he needed to reconcile with his brother. And so he encounters God. He encounters an angel, which most theologians believe that he was a theophany of Christ.

And he wrestles, and he recognizes that this is from God. And he says, "You need to bless me, "or I cannot go see my brother. "I might die." And the angel is trying to fight against him. And guess what? Jacob wins. Jacob beats God. And so he said, "Okay, I give in." And the angel of God, right?

God himself gives in to him. Did Jacob really win God? Did he win God? Then he pops his hip out, and he's like, every time he's limping. The rest of his life he's limping, reminding him. Like his wrestling match with God. Can you imagine? He lived his life, and he said, "Hey, why are you limping?" "Oh, this is when I beat God in wrestling." Can you imagine that?

All his life, like, "Oh, why are you limping?" "Oh, yeah, I beat God." "What did you do? "What are you known for?" That's what Jacob was known for. He wrestled with God. And then God changes his name. You know what his name is? Israel. You know what Israel means?

Wrestles with God. Wrestles with God. That's what his name literally means. Contends with God. He names the children that he had ordained all this time. And then through the wrestling of Jacob, he names them, "My people will be called "people who wrestles with God." That's the name of Israel.

And then so, he says, the temple is what? A house of prayer. Where people who wrestle with God come to wrestle with God at church. To meet God. Knowing that he's our answer. Knowing that this is what he wants. We come to church. We were looking for community. We're looking for good Sunday school.

We're looking for good teaching. We're looking for all kinds of stuff. But the primary thing that the church is to be is a place where people come to wrestle with God. That's why he calls it a house of prayer. Not simply a house of learning, house of community. It's a house of prayer.

Now, was that because Jacob somehow beat God in wrestling? No, that's what God intended all along. He was waiting. He was waiting for Jacob to recognize that. He was waiting for Jacob to make up his mind. Am I the God that you want? He says to ask, seek, and knock.

Because he wants us to make up our mind. Is it God that we want? Or is it just the bread that he gives? Is he the bread? Or are we just asking for bread? This is mind-blowing. Only a God who loves us would even present this to us and say, "Come.

Annoy me. Knock at 12 o'clock at night. Knock and persist. Don't give up. Keep coming to me if you know that I'm the answer." And then, look at the way he answers. Luke 11, 11-13, "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish. He will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

Or if he asks for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" First of all, ouch, right?

If you, being evil, know how to be a good father, how much more your heavenly Father? Now, obviously, he's not talking to anything specific that they're doing. He's just talking about mankind, right? Every single one of us has been affected by sin, selfishness, anger. I mean, we all struggle.

There's not a single person that doesn't struggle with some kind of sin. If you, who've been affected by sin and selfishness, even if your children are selfish, it's hard when they're being selfish and they say hurtful things. It's hard. And you, who've been affected by sin, if even you know how to give good gifts, how much your perfect Father, who's never sinned, who's perfectly holy, knows all things, all powerful, how much more that loving heavenly Father know how to give good gifts?

If a friend who is annoyed in the middle of the night, if you can bother him enough to get him because he's annoyed that he will give you good gifts, how much more your heavenly Father, who is inviting you to come, desiring for you to come, commanding you to come, how much more will He give you good gifts?

But look at what He says about good gifts. How much more is your heavenly Father will give you what? What is He going to give? The Holy Spirit. How much will He give the Holy Spirit? It says clearly in Ezekiel 36, 26-27. In the New Covenant, the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is the Holy Spirit.

He said the whole gift of the New Covenant is the Holy Spirit. You know why you and I needed to be sanctified? Covered by the blood of Christ? Not simply so that we don't go to hell. In order for the Holy Spirit to make an indwelling in us, we need to have been cleansed because if the Holy Spirit indwells us in our sinful state, what will happen to us?

What will happen to us? We'll die. We cannot, a sinful man, cannot be in the presence of a Holy God and live. So in order for us to have the Holy Spirit, we needed to be sanctified and washed in the blood of Christ. And that's why He says new wine cannot be poured into old wineskin.

New wine has to be poured into new wineskin. Guess what the new wineskin is? It's us, washed in the blood of Christ. Guess what the new wine is? The Holy Spirit. So the whole difference between the new and the old is the Holy Spirit. The whole gift of the new covenant is the Holy Spirit.

The purpose of the cross is to give us the Holy Spirit. And it's the Holy Spirit that works as an advocate for us. He's the one who stands. He says in John 14, 6-7, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper." And the word helper is parakletes.

Some of your translations, it'll say helper. But the literal translation is advocate. The one who advocates for us, who stands up for us. If you've ever had an older brother, you know, I had an older brother. I have an older brother. My earliest memory of my older brother, because he's three years older than me, he's not in this service today.

He was my parakletes. No matter what trouble I got into the neighborhood, everybody knew I had an older brother. And he hit puberty early. So he was bigger than normal human beings at that time. I can walk into the neighborhood with confidence, and all the bullies would come out and do whatever they want, but I got an older brother.

You know? He said the Holy Spirit, He's your advocate. John 14, 26, "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and remind you of all, everything that you need." He said He will teach you. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.

John 15, 26, "When the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, namely the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father, He will testify about me." How often do we get lost and looking for counsel because we don't know which way to go, what decisions to make.

He said the Holy Spirit, He's the one who will teach you. John 16, 13, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will disclose to you what is to come." When you're coming, seeking, asking, and knocking for direction, for counsel because you're lost, He said the Holy Spirit is the one who's going to guide you.

Holy Spirit is the one who convicts of sin. John 16, 8, "And when He comes, He will convict the world regarding sin and righteousness and judgment." There's people that you've been praying for and you're thinking of, maybe if I can share this, maybe if I can put them in front of a great apologist or a great preacher or a gifted pastor that maybe they can come to Christ.

He said, "No, it's the Holy Spirit." Holy Spirit is the one who's going to convict of sin. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives new birth. In John 3, 5-6, Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." It's the Holy Spirit that gives us new life.

And then, finally, it is the Spirit that is the source of the living water. In John 7, 37-39, "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' But this He said in reference to the Spirit." So when He talked about the living water, He's talking about the Holy Spirit.

He's talking about the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "If you eat the bread that you can get from this world, you will eat and be satisfied for a minute, then you're going to have to keep getting it over and over again." But He said, "I am the bread of life.

If you eat of My bread, you will never go hungry again." He told the Samaritan woman who was looking for peace because she is wrought in sin, "You're going to keep drinking of this water, but the water that I give you will well up into eternal life. And if you drink of it, you will never thirst again." And He says all of that in reference to the Holy Spirit.

We ask for comfort, and He gives the comforter. We ask for help, He gives the helper. We ask for power and courage, and He gives us the source of power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. We ask for guidance, and the Spirit of truth is given to us.

We're constantly praying to be more loving and patient and kind and gentle. And He said, "When you have the Holy Spirit, those are just the fruit of the Holy Spirit." In other words, you know what He's saying? If you come and ask, seek, and knock, the ultimate gift is Himself.

The ultimate gift of salvation isn't heaven. It isn't salvation from hell. Heaven is heaven because that's where Jesus is. Hell is hell because that's where separation happens, the secret separation happens. The gift of salvation is Jesus Himself. All that we long for and desire and that we covet in this world, Jesus is not simply an avenue to get bread.

He's not just an avenue for peace. He's not just a place that we go through to get to a refuge. Jesus says, "I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. I have come to give life and to give this life abundantly." He came to give Himself.

Only people who recognize that and believe that will seek Him diligently. Him diligently. Not the circumstance. Not friendship. Not comfort. Not peace. But Him. Because along with Him comes everything else. I pray that our church would recognize the treasure of what we have in Christ. What we already have in Christ.

That we would stop looking to the world to fill our emptiness. Stop coming to the Lord and asking, being frustrated because He's not giving us what we covet in this world. But that you and I would come to recognize the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is Christ Himself.

That we would long for Him. That we would wrestle with Him. That we would ask Him. We would seek Him and knock for Him. That we may have Him more and more. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us to hear Your voice. Lord, if our vision for You had been muddied and clouded, because we've allowed ourselves, Lord God, to be so entangled with the civilian affairs of this world.

Open our eyes and soften our heart, Lord God, that we may see the glory that You've shown us. Open our eyes and soften our heart, Lord God, that we may see the glory that You've shown us. That we may remember the height from which we had fallen. That we would repent and we would do the things that You called us to do.

Help us, Lord God, to not to simply profess our love for You, but that we would deeply fall in love with You. That You would be our treasure. You would be our refuge. That You would be our home. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise.

Before the throne, before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea A great high priest whose name is love Whoever lives and pleads for me My name is graven on His hands My name is printed on His heart I know that while in heaven He stands No tongue can bend me this deep, Lord No tongue can bend me this deep, Lord When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within What would I lack and see in Him Who made an end to all my sin Because I said let us stand your ground My sinful soul is counted free For God the just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me To look on Him and pardon me He holds it in there He holds it in there The reason why My perfect spotless righteousness The great unchangeable I am The King of glory and of grace For with Himself I cannot die My soul is purchased by His blood My life is given Christ on earth Because my Savior and my God Because my Savior and my God For with Himself I cannot die My soul is purchased by His blood My life is given Christ on earth Because my Savior and my God Because my Savior and my God Let's pray.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.

God sends His Son the golden Jesus He came to the earth He left no man He lived and died to buy my heart and He gave His life to my Savior and His Because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives all fear is gone Because I know He holds the future and life is worth the living Just because He lives