0:03 I've been thinking that one of the marks of a a good teacher in a school class that's something we can learn for those who speak from this pulpit as well is that >> [clears throat] 0:22 >> every child in the class should understand the subject and whatever is being taught. So if it's only a few 10% of the clever people who understand that's a very poor teacher. Or even if it's 50% who understand, still a bad teacher. 0:41 >> [clears throat] >> So that's been more on my heart that all of us here, some are new, some are young and some have just grown to the age where they can understand. >> [clears throat] >> So I want to share some things which 0:58 will benefit everyone. >> [clears throat] >> Let's turn to Matthew chapter 6. And I'm referring to I'm going to speak about 1:16 what Jesus taught about praying. He talked first talked about giving and he talked then he talked about praying in verse >> [clears throat] >> 5 onwards. And before he tells us how to pray and it's good for all of you children 1:35 also to understand because everyone must learn to pray even little children must learn to pray. We teach little children to pray. But sometimes it can be just a ritual. >> [clears throat] >> And many prayers are just a we say words that we think are right but 1:53 we don't doesn't come from the heart. So the [clears throat] first thing that Jesus said here was in verse five. When you pray, don't be like a hypocrite. >> [cough and clears throat] 2:11 >> And I think there he's referring to public prayer. And when we pray in private, we don't usually become hypocrites, but he says, "When >> [clears throat] >> these hypocrites, they love to stand and pray in the synagogues 2:24 to be seen by men." And when it says they've got their reward in full, they're wanting to pray in order to impress other people, and they got their reward. The people were impressed. That's all the reward they wanted. So, we have to be very careful 2:42 first of all in prayer that we are It is very difficult, I'll tell you, to pray in public. >> [clears throat] >> I It took me many years to be free from what people are thinking about my prayer. And I have to admit that in the early 3:02 years of my when I whenever I prayed in public, I wasn't praying to God. I was praying very conscious that people are listening. And >> [clears throat] >> and I would not have prayed like that if I was the only person in the room. 3:20 It's because there were others listening, I would say things in a certain way, and I had to >> [clears throat] >> I remember all those days when I was a young Christian, I'd go home and I'd repent. I said, "Lord, I didn't 3:31 pray properly today. I was very conscious about people listening, and >> [clears throat] >> I want to be free from that." And in my case, it took me many years to break free, and so so that >> [clears throat] >> when I pray in public, it's exactly the 3:47 same as if I'm in private, as if nobody's in the room. Recognizing people are there, but their their opinion of my prayer makes no difference. I want to encourage you, my brothers and sisters. Uh it's a battle, but fight it. 4:02 It'll bring you to a tremendous uh higher level. If you fight that battle and say, "Lord, I want to be able to pray in public completely free from trying to impress people. Where I recognize that Jesus Christ is here, 4:20 and I'm praying to my heavenly father." So, that's the first thing Jesus said, "Don't pray in order to impress others." We never do that in private. Somebody you're praying all alone in your room, you don't try to impress anybody. 4:35 And >> [clears throat and cough] >> if we can battle and say, "Lord, I want to come to that place where I'm going to pray in public just just the same way I pray when I'm alone." It won't be easy, but if you get there, it'll help you in many other areas of 4:50 your Christian life. Many areas in the Christian life, you know, >> [clears throat] >> it's like when we learn a new subject in a class, it takes time for us to understand. Somebody child learning multiplication for the first time, 5:03 he's not going to get it right the first time, probably 6 months before he learns to multiply something properly. And so, in the same way, if I battle something, I say, "Lord, there's a tremendous tendency in all areas of my Christian life to impress 5:17 others. Whether it's praying or whether it's sharing the word, or every little thing, we're such conceited creatures that we're always wanting to get some honor. And we have to break free from it. If you really want to follow the Lord, 5:33 that's one of the main [clears throat] areas where you have to fight a battle and say, "Lord, I want to break free." And it'll be wonderful if all of us can come to that place where we respect one another, value one another, 5:49 but we're not going to seek one another's honor. That's great. So, that's the first thing he says and so, he says, "When you pray, verse six, go into your inner room, close your door, pray to your father who's in secret." 6:08 So, I see that also in public and I'm praying, there's a door I must close. I've got to close the door cuz all the people sitting here. So, in my mind, I want to close the door. 6:25 I pray to my father. One of the things that we need to ask the Holy Spirit to make more real to us, especially when we sing hymns, I've mentioned this before, is what Jesus said, "Where even two or three 6:43 are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst." And >> [clears throat] >> that's another thing which wasn't very real to me whenever I went to a church meeting. Especially when you're singing, I completely forgot about the fact that 6:58 Jesus is here. I just got taken up with the words of the song and uh and that happens again and again, you got to fight the battle and say, "Lord, I don't want to be taken up with the words of the song. I want to talk to you in my song. When 7:11 it's hymn, I sing a hymn, I want to be talking to you." So, please remind yourself about that every time you come here that Jesus is here when we come together in his name. And what we say, what we pray, what we sing must be to him. 7:30 And that's all, it's only his opinion that matters here. Nobody else's opinion is important. Whatever people think of us or think of our prayer is trash. Their opinion is trash. What the Lord Jesus thinks about us and it's you young children and all if you 7:47 can practice that from early, you'll come to that wonderful life very soon. So, there's a sense in which even in public prayer we go into our inner room as it were. And that's why we close our eyes, you know, we close our eyes. The main 8:03 purpose of closing our eyes is so that we don't have to close our eyes for God to hear. God can hear our prayer even when our eyes are open. But we close our eyes so that we can shut off the people around us. >> [clears throat] 8:19 >> Okay. And then he he said about uh some very a very interesting statement here that your father, verse 8, knows what you need before you ask him. Have you ever thought of that expression? 8:39 Verse 8, your father knows your need before you ask him. We all we our whole life is full of some need or the other. Sometimes the children are sick, sometimes some other problem, job situation or housing problem. Always remember your father knows your 8:58 need before you ask him. Then why doesn't he supply that need? Earthly fathers, they see a need in a child, they'll supply it for a little child even before the child asks. Most children don't come in the morning and say, "I want breakfast." The 9:16 parents have already prepared it. They don't even ask. And yet our heavenly father tells us to ask for what he already knows. Why is that? It's because he is so eager to have fellowship with us. 9:34 I feel that many believers haven't understood how eager God is to have fellowship with us. If you believe that, you'll find it very easy to come into God's presence. I want to tell you in Jesus' name that God is more eager to fellowship 9:50 with you than you are to fellowship with him. That's a great comfort for me to know that when I come to the Lord in prayer, he is much more eager to fellowship with me than I am to fellowship with him. Your father knows what you need before you 10:06 ask him. Then why does he want you to ask? Because he wants to have some fellowship with you. So, when I pray to God, I must remember I'm not informing him about something that I need. He knows it much better than I. He knows needs in my life which 10:21 I don't even know. For example, if there's some problem that's going to come to me tomorrow, God already knows it and he's preparing me for it. I may know it only tomorrow and pray to God about it. But he's he's prepared for it even 10:34 today. So, that's a great word. Your father knows what you need before you ask him. Before that event happens, your father knows your need. So, if you believe that, that's just that one simple statement 10:53 that your father knows your need before you ask him. It's one of the greatest things that will strengthen our faith. Faith is very important when we come to God in prayer. My heavenly father knows what I need before I even mention it. He knew it. He 11:11 knew it yesterday. He knew it last year that I'm going to have a need right now. And he's prepared for it. It's wonderful to come to God with that type of faith. It's tremendous. I don't know whether it brings the comfort into your heart that it brings 11:27 into mine. That takes away all fear and anxiety. We live in a world where there are so many uncertainties. In our job, house, children growing up, sickness, all types of things. Isn't it wonderful to know that if your child is going to get a sickness 11:46 next month, your father knows about it now? So, there's nothing the point is to see that there's absolutely nothing. When I say nothing, it means nothing that can take God by surprise. Oh, I didn't know that. Impossible. 12:03 It's a great comfort to know that. Please remember this, dear brothers and sisters and children especially. I want to speak to the children so that all the adults will also understand. God knows your problems, your difficulties 12:17 before you ask him. He knows it. He knows it better than you know it. There may be problems in your life that you don't even know, but God knows it. And he's working to help you. To remember one thing that God is always 12:32 on my side. Can you believe that? Always. And he always wants to be on our side. So, >> [clears throat] >> he's disappointed if I tell a lie or if I try to 12:50 speak evil about somebody else. In fact, God is disappointed even if I think evil about other people. He's not angry. I don't believe God's ever angry with his children, but he's disappointed. Why does my son behave like that? Why 13:07 does my daughter behave like that? And so, when I realize [clears throat] that, I say, "Lord, I don't want to disappoint you in anything that in my thought life and what I think about others. I never want to disappoint you. 13:22 I want you to be always happy with me." And since he knows all our thoughts, I had to be very careful there. It's not a discipline. I mean, I I must pray, "Lord, >> [clears throat] >> my natural tendency, being a child of 13:38 Adam, is to be suspicious of others and to judge others and to criticize and this comes naturally to all of us. And Lord, I want you to change me. I want you to give me the spirit of Jesus Christ that is was always that was always willing to 13:53 seek for the good of others who go all of his way to find people who he needed to help who was very sensitive to the >> [clears throat] >> voice of the Holy Spirit. Let me show you one example of that. I mentioned it before in Matthew 15. 14:16 >> [snorts] >> Jesus was [clears throat] in the area of Galilee. And it says this is one of the only times that he went away outside Israel. He rarely went outside Israel. Almost his entire ministry, 99% of it was within the borders of Israel. 14:35 But here's one occasion we read in Matthew 15:21 that he withdrew from there to the district of Tyre and Sidon. I give you a little bit of advice in Bible when you study the Bible that when you read something like that, 14:53 >> [clears throat] >> if you have a map at the end of your Bible, go there. And see where is Galilee? And where's this Sea of Galilee and where is Tyre and Sidon? And when I look at the map, I find that Tyre and Sidon is about 50 to 80 miles 15:12 away from Galilee. And Jesus didn't have a chariot or anything. He walked. He went away to Tyre and Sidon and I'll tell you I believe this is why he went. He had no idea why he was going. 15:30 Jesus lived by the daily prompting of the Holy Spirit. It's an amazing way. That's the way he lived and that's the way he wants us to live. It'll take It'll take time to get there. But that's the way he lived. And I mean by the time he was 30 he had 15:46 become so sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. And because he'd started listening to it from childhood. And if we develop this sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit it'll be amazing how the Lord will sometimes prompt us 16:01 to go somewhere and we don't even know what the Lord has in store for us there. It'll be something wonderful. But develop this habit. You remember what Jesus said? Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word 16:19 that proceeds, not preceded. Preceded means the Bible. But by every word, that's Matthew 4:4, proceeds from the mouth of God. So that means there's always a voice coming from God's voice, from God's throne all the time. 16:38 Now some people hear it. Some people are not bothered. But those who want to hear and say, "Lord, I want to hear what you're saying." They will hear. And I've often pointed you to that passage in Isaiah 50 16:56 and verse 4 which says, "The Lord God opens my ear every morning to listen as an obedient child." That's a lovely verse. And it's referring to Jesus there in Isaiah 50. 17:14 The Lord God opened my ear to listen every morning. Say, "What is the Lord saying to me?" So, you've often heard me repeat this that when you wake up before you get out of bed, remember that verse. The Lord has something to say to you. 17:32 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. There's something God wants to I believe this with all my heart that there's something that God wants to speak to you every single day. 17:46 Even if you were born again yesterday. It's not only for the mature saints. It may take time for you to develop the habit of listening, but if there's one habit I would encourage every believer to acquire is the habit of listening. 18:02 That's what has changed my life as I look back over my life. And that habit enabled me to see amazing things from scripture. How God specifically led me so clearly when in different [clears throat] situations in life what I was supposed 18:21 to do. When I was supposed to quit my job, even whom I'm supposed to marry. It's amazing how God led in all of this. So, from a very young age, if you can say, "Lord, help me to hear your voice." It's one of the most important prayers 18:37 to pray. Lord, help me to be sensitive to your voice to hear what you're saying to me. And especially from uh if you don't know that verse, let me just turn back and tell you that. Please remember this reference. Isaiah 50 18:54 and verse four. The Lord has given me the tongue of a disciple. In the middle of that verse, he wakens me morning by morning. Isaiah 50 verse four the middle. And wakens my ear in a year to listen as a disciple. 19:13 That means he was wanting to why willing to obey. I'm listening as one who's wanting to obey and follow. And he wakens me morning by morning. So, isn't it a good thing when you wake up to think of that verse? That God woke me up today. 19:30 I wish somebody had told me that when I was first converted. It took me a long time to get to that verse. But now I live by that verse. Whenever I wake up in the morning, I say, "Lord, you've woken me up. And you woke me up, 19:44 not only woke me up, but says he he wakens my ear, my inner ear, to listen." So, he woke me up in order that I might listen to him right from the very first moment. And that's why I've often said, before you get out of bed, 20:00 look up to heaven and say, "Heavenly Father, I want to hear what you have to say to me." It's a very good habit. You don't have to say it audibly. There may be others sleeping in the room. Don't disturb them. God hears what you say in your heart. I 20:14 want to hear. That's what I've tried to do for long time now, and it's been amazing what God speaks to you to sometimes, something that you need to do that day. Develop that habit to be sensitive is the most important lesson you need to 20:30 learn. To hear God's voice. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that is constantly proceeding from God's mouth every day. And then it says, "Man shall live." 20:48 Capital L. Man shall live with a capital L by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Most people's life is with a small L. I don't want to live like that. I want to live with a capital L. Live, really live. Okay, coming back to Matthew 15. 21:07 So, here the Lord heard that morning. He didn't know why. Go down to Tyre and Sidon. Now, it's amazing how >> [clears throat] >> specific the was the leading of the Lord. You remember I'll come back to this. You remember that time when he was walking 21:26 down the street and uh Zacchaeus was sitting up there. Now, the Lord had never met Zacchaeus on Earth anytime. And Zacchaeus was that crooked, cheating tax collector who was very short and so, he climbed up a tree 21:46 to see Jesus. Now, >> [clears throat] >> who prompted Jesus to take that street? The Holy Spirit. I believe that the Holy Spirit prompted Jesus when he was going down, "Take this street now because there's a man who I need you you 22:05 have you got to go and spend your day this tonight in his house." And he went there. And as he came under that tree, the Holy Spirit said, "Look up. There's a man sitting there. His name is Zacchaeus." It's amazing how the Lord 22:19 was prompted by the Holy Spirit. And I believe >> [clears throat] >> what we sing like we sing in the song, what he did for Jesus, he will do for you. And the more sensitive we become to the Lord's voice, it's amazing how he will 22:32 lead us even to go somewhere or speak to someone. I'm always encouraged by that and that resulted in Zacchaeus' salvation. It resulted in Zacchaeus making restitution for all the people he 22:51 had cheated. What a lot of things happened just because Jesus listened to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to take this street and not that one. So much is dependent on listening to the Holy Spirit. Anyway, here >> [clears throat] 23:06 >> he was led to go to Tyre and Sidon and walk 80 miles. And when he got there, he met this Canaanite woman, not even an Israelite. Matthew 15:22 who cried out saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David." She had She had obviously heard about 23:25 Jesus. That's why she called him son of David. "My daughter is cruelly demon possessed." And why did the father send Jesus there? Because there was one woman, not even an Israelite. One heathen woman whose daughter was demon possessed and 23:43 uh God was so concerned about that one person that he made his son walk 80 miles or 50 miles, whatever the distance is. And Jesus did not answer her. And disciples said, "Send her away. She's pestering us." And then Jesus was testing her. 24:03 See, I can't You're not one of the sheep of the house of Israel and God has not sent me to you. Testing her humility. And she said, "Lord, okay, I'm not one of the children, but can't the dogs No, uh Lord help me." And she He said to her in 24:23 verse 26, "I can't take the Israelites' food, children's bread, and give it to the dogs." Now, many people ask that question. Isn't it surprising that Jesus would call her a dog? I don't believe Jesus called her a dog. 24:42 He was using an illustration that there's certain foods that are reserved for children. He was testing her humility. I believe he was just testing her humility. I wouldn't talk like that. I'm not the Lord Jesus, so I can't talk like that, 24:57 but he was testing her humility. And she passed the test. Because when he said, "I can't take this special food that's meant for Israel and give it to the Gentiles." That's what he meant. And then he she used the example of the 25:14 dogs and said, "Lord, that's fine. But the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table." And you see her faith there. That one crumb. Yeah, I don't need a whole slice of bread. I don't deserve it. One crumb is enough to drive the demon out of my 25:33 daughter. She had more faith than a lot of people in Israel who didn't have faith that Jesus could cast out demons. She said, "I don't need a whole slice of bread for the demon to be thrown out of my daughter. One crumb that falls on it is 25:46 enough enough if it falls from your hand, Lord, the demon will go." And Jesus said, "Woman, your faith is great. It'll be done for you as you wish." And immediately the daughter was healed. I don't know where she the daughter was, in the house 26:02 somewhere far away, was healed. These stories are written for our encouragement and instruction. And remember, whenever you read the Gospels, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I hope you'll have faith in that. 26:18 Now, the next thing I want you to see is verse 29. Departing from there, he went along to the Sea of Galilee. Another Okay, 50-60 miles. So, he walked 100 miles. 26:36 How long does it take to walk 100 miles? I think about 20 hours perhaps. Or more. 100 miles you walk at about 3 miles an hour or 3 or 4 miles an 25 hours. Or more. Just to Um 26:55 30 40 hours perhaps up and down. 40 hours of walking to help one woman or let's say today one non-Christian person. 27:10 To help one non-Christian walk 40 miles. I say Lord make me like that. When I read things like this I say Lord make me like that too. Willing to face any inconvenience to help one person to help one person's child to be free. 27:30 I want to say dear brothers and sisters that if you have that attitude I believe God will do amazing things through you. Not to do spectacular things for thousands of people but to one person here and one person there, one Zacchaeus here and one 27:46 Syrophoenician woman over there to help them. And that is the way God wants every single person among his family to live. It's a wonderful way. This is how It was not possible in the old covenant. In the old covenant only a few people 28:04 like Moses or Elijah or somebody could hear what God is saying. But today the Holy Spirit has come and we can hear what God is saying. Every single one of us. Okay. Let's turn back to Matthew 6. We were looking at what Jesus was saying about listening. 28:22 So coming back to what Jesus is telling his disciples how to pray. And I want to just look at this very familiar prayer which is known as the Lord's Prayer. Matthew 6 and verse 9. When you pray, pray in this way. Now what I want you to 28:41 see here is this is a prayer. Is it something we should pray every day? I believe it is. Because there's one word in it in one's prayer which says in verse 11, "Give us this day our daily bread." 29:01 So, obviously that's a prayer. A daily prayer and not to be meaninglessly repeated. Jesus didn't say repeat this prayer. He said very clearly verse 9, "Pray in this way." That means the pattern of my prayers. I 29:20 don't have to repeat those words. But the pattern of my prayer must be in this way. So, I try to understand what does it mean in this way? It means when I pray my primary requests must not be like most Christians pray, "Give me this, 29:38 give me that, heal this sickness in my home, and solve this problem that I'm facing in my office." No. There's a place for that, it comes later. Our Father that your name be glorified. Now, 29:58 >> [clears throat] >> I can say that now because I heard it. But to change my whole way of thinking in my inner life that I say, "Lord, when I think of praying, my primary desire must not be my child is sick or I'm having a problem in my job or 30:17 Lord, I got to vacate this house, I got to find another house." No. These things can all wait, Lord. I want your name to be glorified. That is how the Lord wants to change our way of thinking to make us spiritually minded. 30:34 You'll be a spiritually minded person if you learn to pray in this way. The way not not that we are to do it, but that spontaneously I um changed my whole way of thinking from this Adamic self-centered way that I've grown up in 30:53 to the God-centered way God wants me to live my life. That spontaneously my first desire is not heal my sickness or solve my problem, but Lord, let your name be glorified in my life. Hallowed be thy name, our Father 31:10 who art in heaven. And so it begins with two things that I have to think about when I pray. One is I'm praying to my Father, which is a unique thing. No, you know, in the entire Bible until you come to this place you never read about God about anybody 31:29 calling God Father. Three quarters of the Bible is the Old Testament, and nobody calls God Father. And all of a sudden Jesus says, "When you pray, talk to your Father." Recognize that you're talking to your 31:45 Father, one who loves you intensely. So that's the first thing I need to think about whenever I pray. That I'm talking to someone who's intensely interested in me. Whatever problem I'm facing, whatever difficulty I'm facing, he's very much 32:03 interested in me. And that's the first thing I must think of. I'm talking to my heavenly dad. And I think only someone who didn't have a father would value that enough. An orphan. To have a father who cares for me. Our Father 32:23 who loves me, who knows my needs before I even express it. And not just that, a father who is in heaven. That's the second thing, to recognize that it's one who controls everything on the face of this earth, 32:41 has a complete control of all those difficult people you're dealing with, and who has a complete control of all the circumstances in your life, your home problems, your children's problems, your office problems. From heaven, he runs this 32:57 world and this universe. And he says, "Don't even begin to pray before you believe these two things, that you're talking to your loving father who runs this universe." In In the beginning, we have to [clears throat] consciously 33:13 remind ourselves of this when we pray, but gradually over a period of time, it'll become automatic. We'll approach God with the absolute assurance we're talking to one who loves us so much and who knows every detail of our 33:28 life. He knows every detail of what is happening to me. And if you don't begin there, it's pointless praying. Our Father who art in heaven. Even if you don't say those words, I believe that 33:47 every time we pray, if I don't have that foundation, I'm talking to one who loves me intensely, I'm talking to one who runs the whole universe and can solve any problem. If I don't start there, I can't have faith. Faith is not such a 34:01 difficult thing. If I pray, "Our Father who art in heaven," then faith is easy. Otherwise, faith is not. So, you children especially, please learn that at a very young age. Learn to pray to your father who can solve every problem, big or 34:19 small. And the other thing I want you to notice here is is not my father. Every word is important. Our Father. I'm part of a body. I want to value my fellow believers as well. 34:39 So, in that very word our teaches me not to be selfish. A selfish person would say my dad. No, he's not my dad. He's our dad. So, I think not only of my problem, but problems of others when I pray. It's in the back of my mind. 34:59 When I think of our father, I'm part of a family that also brings me security. I'm not just a lone wandering person. I'm part of a family and I'm concerned about other people in my family 35:15 who also may be facing problems like me. I don't want to forget about them. And so, I say our father. There's so much, you know, in the words of scripture. I'm also trying to teach you children here how to read God's word. 35:32 Don't quickly go through it. If you meditate on our not my father, not God in heaven. Every word has got some tremendous value. And if you meditate on it, >> [cough and clears throat] >> you get all the benefit of it. Our father who 35:49 art in heaven and you know how [clears throat] when we pray, we rush to immediately mention my need. Lord, this is my problem. No, no, no. Hang on. Hang on. We'll come to your problems. The Lord says the most important thing 36:02 is that God's name is glorified on earth. Hallowed be thy name on earth as it is in heaven. Like God's name is respected and glorified in heaven. Lord, I want your name to be glorified on earth and in my life. 36:19 So, that should be the that teaches me that the uppermost desire in my life whether I get an answer to the prayer answer I want, whether I get this problem solved or not, whether this sick child of mine is healed or not, 36:37 whether my office problem is healed or is solved or not, our father, let your name be glorified. These things can are secondary. You know, only a really spiritually minded man can pray this prayer. And God wants us to make us spiritually 36:54 minded and tell you another thing that I have discovered in my life that when I pray like this, my earthly problems get solved much quicker than when I concentrate on them and keep praying for them. I can tell you that in my life as I 37:08 sought to glorify God and I proved in my 60 years amazing answers to prayer by saying, "Lord, I want your name to be glorified in my life." And whether this problem is solved in the way I want it to be solved or not, never mind. Our father who art in 37:24 heaven, glorify your name. Let your name be respected and glorified. That's my number one desire. And and my number two desire is >> [clears throat] >> that your your kingdom must come on this earth. This wretched earth where so much 37:42 of sin is abounding and people are doing so much evil, I want your kingdom to come, Lord. I want Christ to come back and establish his kingdom on earth. That's my uppermost desire. So that one day, so that your will can be done 38:00 on this earth, verse 10, exactly as it is done in heaven. Those are three tremendous requests. Your name should be glorified and your kingdom must come. Christ must come back and set up his kingdom on earth and exactly like your will is done 38:18 in heaven, it must be done on earth. And then we come to our need. Solve my problem, Lord. I have a problem here. Even a simple thing like food. Give me my day daily bread. Forgive me my sins. And there again, 38:36 when you forgive me my sins, verse 12, exactly like I have forgiven others. I don't have time to go into all detail here. But my point is this. Personal requests come after 38:55 seeking God's kingdom. Jesus said, "Seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness." And then what will happen? What's the promise? All the other things will be added to you. That's exactly what you see here. Pray seeking God's name should be glorified. 39:14 God's name should be hallowed and his kingdom has come and his will must be done on earth. The other things will be added to you. No, it's not the world's a seek for those other things. Ah, keep on asking God for those other things. 39:31 Well, I'll tell you in my life I've experienced some amazing answers to prayer through these 60 years or more by saying, "Lord, the interests of your kingdom are going to be primary in my thinking. I want to pray for that and I find the 39:47 other things sort of get added on sometimes even without even asking. God solves a problem. So, let me come to this matter of forgiveness. We will be forgiven, verse 12, exactly like 40:05 we have forgiven others. It's very important for you children and younger believers to recognize. How have you forgiven somebody who has hurt you. Is your inner attitude, even though you don't say it, is your inner attitude 40:22 I'll forgive you, but I'll never forget what you did. Uh-huh. Okay, then you're saying, "Lord, forgive me, but never forget the wretched things I did against you." Forgive me exactly like I have forgiven others. Think right now before we proceed to the 40:40 next sentence. Think of somebody who has hurt you. Anyone. And you I'm sure you've forgiven him as a Christian. But how have you forgiven? Have you forgiven in such a way say, 40:58 "I remove it. I I've no grudge against him." I've forgiven him completely. It's a terrible thing that he did, especially if he did some terrible thing to your children or your family. Boy, do that's not easy to forgive. 41:12 But I'm asking the Lord to forgive me exactly like I have forgiven others. It's a very serious prayer. Forgive me, Father, exactly like I have forgiven You know, sin is a debt. 41:29 When it says forgive our debtors, it means that when that person hurt me, he >> [clears throat] >> he owed me a debt. Because he hurt me. He had no right to hurt me. I'm a child of God. 41:46 But I want to forgive him. And Father, I want you to forgive me because I don't deserve This guy may not deserve my forgiveness. He may be such a wretched person, but I don't deserve God's forgiveness, either. If some crooked man cheated me and 42:02 deceived me, I say, "That's exactly what I did to God, as well." I don't deserve God's forgiveness, but he still forgives. And I say, "Lord, please help me to forgive others in the same way and I ask you to forgive me in exactly the same 42:19 way." And then here is an expression of my weakness. Lord, I don't want to think that I'm so strong that I can handle anything. I'm not. I'm extremely weak. You feel that way? Easily tempted? Easily. I raise my hand. 42:38 Even after being a believer 67 years, easily tempted, but I will not fall. Because I recognize that I can I'm easily tempted, so I cling to the Lord and say, "Lord, please don't let me get into some temptation that is too strong for me. 42:53 Deliver me. I can't deliver myself. Deliver us from all evil." It's an expression of a helpless person. Please deliver us. I'm not strong enough. A humble confession that without Christ I can do zero. 43:11 Without Christ I can do nothing. I always like to use the example of the branch in the tree. Even if it's been there 50 years, it cannot produce any fruit if it's detached. Deliver us, Lord. 43:30 And when I when you do deliver me, I'll give you the glory. For you the glory is yours forever. And having said that, finally the Lord out of all these requests mentioned in the prayer, you know, there are a number of requests 43:47 in that prayer, about six of them. He takes one request and emphasizes that. It's as if the Lord's saying, "Well, out of all this request six requests, I want to emphasize one. That when you ask for forgiveness, make sure 44:04 you have forgiven everybody else. Otherwise, verse 15, your heavenly father will not forgive you. He's your father. He's not God, some distant God. He's your father. He purchased you with his blood, but even though you're his son, 44:24 even though you're his daughter, his precious daughter, precious son, for whom he shed his blood on the cross, he will not forgive you if you don't forgive others. You say, "But Lord, that was a terrible thing that person did against me." And the Lord 44:42 will say, "It's a terrible thing what you have done in your sinful life, also." You want me to forgive you? Forgive that person. Forgive all those people. There should be a not a single person whom you have not forgiven. I seek to 44:59 live like that now for some years now, that at any time I want to be able to say there's not a single human being anywhere in the world whom I've not forgiven. And one last word. Matthew chapter 12. 45:20 The Pharisees committed a terrible crime in saying that Jesus was the devil when he cast out a demon. The Pharisees said, Matthew 12:24, "He's casting out demons because he's the devil himself. Beelzebub means 45:40 he's the devil, and so he's telling his junior demons to get out of that man." What a terrible sin that is. You know, in the Old Testament once when uh Miriam, Moses' sister, criticized him, 45:57 "Why did you marry this woman?" You know what Miriam got? Leprosy. How dare you speak against a prophet of God like that? And that was the case for just for questioning, why did you marry somebody? What should the Pharisees get 46:15 for calling Jesus Beelzebub, devil? You know what they got? Forgiveness. Verse 32, whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. This is new covenant theology. 46:35 You don't get leprosy like Miriam got. You get forgiveness. And this is the we we don't follow Moses. We don't ask for God's judgment on people who harmed us. We ask for God to forgive them. And what came to me as a revelation was, 46:53 how do you understand this English here? Verse 34, 32. Whoever not spoke, not past tense, but speaks. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it'll be forgiven. And I understand it like this in plain English, 47:11 that the Lord is saying, "The next 2,000 years, if anybody speaks against me, I'm forgiving him right now." That's the meaning as I understand it. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it's forgiven. So, what the Lord showed me from that is 47:26 future forgiveness. Now, if you have the faith for it, accept it. I've accepted it. I said to the Lord, "Lord, if anybody speaks against me or does anything against me from the rest of my life, I've forgiven him right now." 47:43 So, that if somebody does some harm to me next week, I can tell him, "Hey, I forgave you last week, man, for what you're doing now." What a wonderful way to live. Your life will be supremely happy, I'll tell you that. You'll sleep 47:54 peacefully at night, and you will not live in worry and anxiety. If you have forgiven everybody in future, I mean future forgiveness for everyone who's ever harmed us. Let's pray. There are a number of things you heard today and the Holy ask the Holy Spirit 48:13 to remind you of whatever is important for you, even children. So that whatever you need to remember will come back to you at the time of need. God stores up something in our mind in the time of need, it'll come back to 48:26 you. Heavenly Father, please help that to happen in the life of everyone here that whatever they have heard will come back to them in the coming days in the time of their need. Help us each one in Jesus' name. Amen.
