0:03

Well. Hello Everybody and welcome to the

0:05

John Mack Climate Teachings Podcast on Strong

0:07

Coleman your host and part of the

0:09

teaching team here at Practicing The Way

0:11

Each week on the show we share

0:13

teaching from John Mack or other trusted

0:15

voices in the formation space and it

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is great to have you with us.

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Today we continue our partnership series

0:23

with Bridgetown Church. Nine Practices for

0:26

a Rule of Life with another

0:28

teaching from Bridgetown Church Pastor and

0:30

Director of Twenty Four Seven Pray

0:33

Usa, Tyler State and. Today,

0:36

Tyler explores the practice

0:38

of career as a

0:40

vehicle of experiencing, receiving,

0:42

believing, and ultimately of

0:44

communing with God. It's

0:46

a vital, inspiring challenge

0:48

to move from theory

0:50

to reality. In the Kingdom

0:53

of Heaven as a listen you might

0:55

like to keep in the back of

0:57

your mind the Christian: Am I really

0:59

living like I believe God answers Perea.

1:03

His. Tyler. Seen

1:07

the movie past Lives. Wow.

1:11

What? A film. Anyway, there's this

1:14

one scene and past lives were

1:16

married couples lying in bed and

1:18

their Manhattan apartment and he's a

1:20

Jewish Gotham City. She is a

1:22

Korean War, an immigrant who's lived

1:24

in the States and she was

1:26

twelve years old and she speaks

1:28

English most of the time except

1:30

when she's talking to her mom

1:32

when she returns to the Korean

1:34

of her childhood. She's lived in

1:36

America now longer than South Korea,

1:38

and she's more western than she.

1:40

She is eastern in many ways,

1:42

but as her husband explains in

1:44

this scene, she sometimes toxin or

1:46

sleep and when she does it's

1:48

always in Korean. she dreams and

1:50

her first language when our mind

1:52

is most free, when it can

1:54

roam and imagine it's always and

1:56

her mother tongue. Eugene.

1:58

Peterson cause. Prayer The mother

2:01

tongue of the spiritual life. When

2:03

we are reborn into full life

2:05

by the grace of God, we

2:07

learn a new language. Prayer

2:09

a way of communication with god

2:11

assist as natural as breathing, it's

2:13

as unconscious is dreaming as we

2:15

walk by and Jesus and like

2:17

our mother tongue, no matter who

2:19

we but com or what twists

2:21

and turns are taken and are

2:23

spiritualized, we never move on from.

2:26

A C I A translator. His

2:28

wounds in a couple dozen languages

2:31

will never be as an find,

2:33

any language as natural or as

2:35

essential towards Lewinsky and all of

2:37

the others as she does her

2:39

mother tongue and I hope that

2:42

you mature into many other spiritual

2:44

practices and the narrow way behind

2:46

Jesus. But I hope that you

2:48

always think and I know that

2:50

you always dream and always process

2:53

and always filter every other spiritual

2:55

practice through the first. Language

2:57

of Prayer. Unforced

2:59

Rhythms of Grace stats are at

3:02

war with title. Our current teaching

3:04

series we started at last week

3:06

and over the coming nine Sunday's

3:08

as we gather together we'll be

3:11

looking at the nine for practices

3:13

that make up Jesus as easy

3:15

yolks. Nine embodied practices aimed at

3:17

making my bird and light and

3:20

my soul rested and up for

3:22

today is prayer. We.

3:24

Aim to become a community

3:26

of communion was God and

3:28

a culture of distraction and

3:30

escapism through prayer. Every

3:33

practice of Jesus is both for may

3:35

snow and as counter for me in

3:37

this lies in this world. We are

3:40

not treading water and a leg but

3:42

a river meaning that if all we

3:44

do a shred wander we don't stay

3:46

put. We are going somewhere. Where.

3:49

The cultural differences taking us a

3:51

spiritual practice as a way of

3:53

swimming upstream against the current so

3:55

that we get where we aim

3:57

to go, not where we are

3:59

passive. The Being Taken and we

4:01

start with Prayer because it's the

4:04

spiritual practice and holds all of

4:06

the others together. Prayer is the

4:08

relational center around which every other

4:10

spiritual practice orbits. Or if you

4:12

like prayers, the soil that every

4:15

other spiritual practices planted in and

4:17

grows was. In a life of

4:19

prayer, a life of spiritual practice

4:21

flourishes. But apart from prayer spears,

4:24

information becomes warped, distorted, and deforms.

4:26

Prayer is the first place that

4:28

we learned to be with Jesus.

4:30

Become like Jesus and do what

4:33

Jesus did and so that will

4:35

serve as a grid for our

4:37

of this first practice. First.

4:41

Prayer is being with

4:43

Jesus. Fallopian. Chapter

4:45

four. Do not be anxious

4:48

about anything but in every situation.

4:50

By prayer and petition with Thanksgiving

4:52

present your request to God and

4:54

the piece of God which transcends

4:56

all understanding will guard your hearts

4:58

and your minds in Christ Jesus.

5:01

This. Passage can be confusing, even disillusioning,

5:03

because most people read it in

5:05

a moment of heavy anxiety and

5:07

then attempt to use prayer as

5:09

a prescription to sue they're anxious

5:11

symptoms. A quick chat with Jesus

5:13

is meant to flood my anxious

5:15

mind within in comprehensible sense of

5:17

peace. right? Or.

5:20

Sure that is possible no does

5:22

sometimes happen because after all Jesus

5:24

is a miracle worker. But it's

5:26

worth remembering that Paul offered this

5:29

council from a jail cell where

5:31

he was being held unjustly for

5:33

a bogus charges and unlike Seaters

5:35

miraculous release prayer did not deliver

5:37

a miracle for Paul and his

5:39

counsel as to place in every

5:42

situation not just when you're in

5:44

the midst of about with anxiety.

5:46

Prayer generally speaking does deliver peace

5:48

but it less like a prescription.

5:50

For the sake and more like

5:52

a daily vitamin. What I mean

5:54

is that peace is the in

5:57

forensics fruit not the extrinsic fruit

5:59

of prayer. Scientists at

6:01

That She and Richard Ryan coin these

6:03

two terms for the two types of

6:06

motivations for why any human being does

6:08

anything. For instance, let's say

6:10

that you jog in the morning three

6:12

times a week and you do that

6:14

because you love the way that it

6:16

makes you feel and the wind in

6:18

your hair and the energy that it

6:20

delivers in the pop of endorphins first

6:22

thing in the morning. That's and extrinsic.

6:24

or I'm sorry, there's an intrinsic motivation

6:26

for running, but if, on the other

6:29

hand, you begin jogging three times in

6:31

the morning every week because you've booked

6:33

a cruise and you wanna try to

6:35

impress someone with your poolside physique that

6:37

isn't as friends a motive for. Running

6:39

intrinsic motivation makes these act of

6:41

running the end in itself. Extrinsic

6:44

motivation makes running a means to

6:46

another desired and and both are

6:48

okay. They're even good, but the

6:51

research concludes that the activities that

6:53

we pursue was intrinsic motivation are

6:56

much more meaningful to us and

6:58

they're easier to stick with over

7:00

the long haul. Psychologists across the

7:03

board is the term negative rumination

7:05

to describe the magnetic pull of

7:07

the human imagination. Towards

7:09

Seer. When. You lay

7:12

down to sleep at night was the

7:14

last thought the buzzes through your head.

7:16

Or when you wake up in the

7:18

morning, what is the first thought that

7:20

pounces on you? For the vast majority

7:22

of people on the planet today, we

7:25

either end or begin our days or

7:27

boasts haunted by anxieties, resentments and wounds

7:29

Put simply, fear is more constance than

7:31

hope. Fear. Is the

7:33

low study home bunnies all

7:35

human experience. Hope is the

7:38

occasional interruption. our minds when

7:40

on occupied and on directed

7:42

dress towards seer. And anxious

7:44

fear of the future like a project I'm

7:46

behind on the conversation that I know I

7:48

need to have don't really want to have

7:50

or the event that I still don't have

7:52

a plus one for or a looming fear

7:54

of the past like us conversation I keep

7:56

rehashing a my head but as a didn't

7:58

sit quite right to refine. There's a

8:00

blunder them so making up

8:02

for or a moral decision

8:05

that I regret. For the

8:07

majority of the human race

8:09

alive today, the magnetic drifted

8:11

the imagination is toward anxieties,

8:13

regret, resentments, fear and all

8:15

of it's varieties and paralyzing

8:17

forms. Most people spend their

8:19

whole lives trying to treat

8:21

their negative ruminations through of

8:23

or their fears through self

8:25

perfection or circumstance perfection. The

8:27

endless proceed to get myself.

8:30

Together or the Homeless proceeds to get

8:32

my circumstances and owner or both would

8:34

convince ourselves again and again that this

8:36

one new life hack or habits or

8:39

promotions or self improvement as the key

8:41

that will unlock my break Through prayer

8:43

is not a way to magically remove

8:46

all the symptoms of anxiety once they

8:48

tend you to the grounds prayers. Way

8:50

of living daily in the presence of

8:52

the God who has love. A perfect

8:55

love who is stronger than our fear.

8:57

As a says and first John Perfect

8:59

love drives. Out fear. That.

9:02

Is the intrinsic fruit the first

9:04

and constant discovery be guaranteed multiplying

9:06

result of prayer that to slowly

9:09

for us to notice or measure

9:11

we learn the mechanics of living

9:14

constantly in the presence of God's

9:16

perfect love. The. Fruit of

9:18

prayer in this may surprise you at first.

9:21

But the fruit of Prayer isn't

9:23

only about miracles and inspiring stories

9:25

and divine action. Even more than

9:27

that, the fruit of Prayer is

9:29

about what happens when you're not

9:31

actively praying. It's the

9:34

way that's prayer. Slowly but surely crowds

9:36

out or negative ruminations until the last

9:38

thought in the evening, in the first

9:40

thought in the morning is no longer

9:43

about fear. But. It's to piece.

9:45

Of. These that slows your inner life

9:48

no matter what your obligations and

9:50

interruptions you might be carrying outwardly

9:52

a piece that route your identity

9:54

in a more far from place

9:56

and your most recent performances a

9:58

perception someone else. These the

10:00

com some the communion of God who

10:03

is perfect love the drives L Zero

10:05

piece that surpasses understanding. So

10:07

how do we become? people marked by

10:09

the perfect love? The breeds peace and

10:12

not the fear or the home of

10:14

fear that breeds anxiety. Pray. And.

10:16

Pray consistently. On. Good

10:19

days, On bad days, honor of

10:21

in the Monday morning grinds and

10:23

on a slow Saturday in the

10:25

midst of us pivotal decision and

10:27

in the monotony of another midwinter

10:29

week. Pray in every situation less

10:31

like a prescription. And. More like

10:33

a daily vitamin. A life

10:36

of Prayer starts of they

10:38

committed daily set aside time

10:40

to practice conversation with God.

10:42

You cannot create intimacy. You.

10:44

Can only make room for. It. And

10:46

add holds whether you're talking about

10:49

a marriage or friendship or about

10:51

god, pray or can happen any

10:53

time anywhere can avenue oil commuting

10:55

or grocery shopping or at the

10:57

gym or cooking dinner? Prayer can

10:59

happen any time anywhere, but multi

11:01

also tends to kill intimacy. Is

11:04

the only time a husband or was ever

11:06

spoke as while they were. It's quickly passing

11:08

or in the midst of doing something else.

11:10

The ceiling on their intimacy would be kept

11:13

pretty low. You can't know the God who

11:15

is perfect love on the fly. So.

11:17

Starts with a daily set aside,

11:20

time and place for prayer. For

11:23

most people would happen first thing in the

11:25

morning but there's nothing magic about first thing

11:27

in the morning except that we tend to

11:29

be able to put things in the don't

11:31

get crowded out by other circumstances or interruptions

11:33

of the day first thing in the morning.

11:36

So every morning I make a cup of

11:38

coffee and I said in a chair on

11:40

my front porch and a set a timer

11:42

on my phone for ten minutes and that

11:44

a hold open my hands. And

11:47

up for a com Holy Spirit. And

11:52

then I wait. And

11:55

usually first the many distractions and to do

11:57

is and worked has all the dust part

11:59

of. My busy imagination need time

12:02

to settle. And. Then

12:04

sometimes a memory comes into my

12:06

mind, or a word or phrase,

12:08

or a passage from scripture. sometimes

12:10

a picture. Oftentimes nothing at all.

12:13

And after quieting my mind and are

12:16

offering God the first word, I opened

12:18

the scriptures and I began to read,

12:20

jotting down whatever speaks more poignantly and

12:23

personally to me from that days passage.

12:25

And then finally I pray. And

12:27

when I do pray, it always starts the same

12:30

way. Jesus. Today I

12:32

hear you talking to me about. See

12:35

most people, they get their start in

12:37

prayer by talking at God Monologue aimed

12:39

at the God who patiently and attentively

12:41

lists as and that's just fine. That's

12:43

a very good place to start. but

12:46

it's also important that we mature beyond

12:48

talking at dawn to eventually talking with

12:50

God, a dialogue or we learned to

12:52

perceive the spirit still small voice in

12:55

the quiet of son that reflect sense

12:57

and in God's written word in the

12:59

activities of our day and the people

13:01

that were we spend our day was

13:03

so when I. Pray the first words

13:06

of my prayer. Always the same.

13:08

Jesus Today I hear you talking

13:10

to me about. And

13:12

I pray while I'm walking in

13:14

the park across the street from

13:16

my house. Some always sound it

13:18

must natural to pray while walking

13:20

for other people. that would be

13:22

distracting for me. It just works.

13:24

Psychologists call this kinetic processing and

13:27

it actually has the same or

13:29

similar effect on the brain To

13:31

the the common are becoming increasingly

13:33

popular as form of therapy. easy

13:35

t locking for me as well.

13:37

My thinking sharpens and my prayer

13:39

gets deeper and more honest. So

13:41

that's my. Daily Vitamin as you can

13:43

bear the or on earth you can

13:46

take the unbearably cheesy illustrious. It's the

13:48

way that I set aside time for

13:50

communion with the God who is perfect

13:52

love that drives out all of my

13:54

fear. And that's where prayer begins. Being.

13:57

With Jesus. That's.

14:00

Are all prayers. Prayers. Both

14:02

the place of intimate communion

14:04

and it is the furnace.

14:06

Information or I cooperate with

14:08

God's transformation within me from

14:10

the inside out. So prayer

14:12

is also becoming like Jesus.

14:15

Keepers. Five says during the days

14:17

of Jesus his life on Earth,

14:19

he offered up prayers and petitions

14:21

with fervent cries to the one

14:23

who could save him from does.

14:25

And he was heard because reverent

14:27

submission. So here's the way to

14:29

pray. Like Jesus: petitions and submission.

14:32

Now petition is a very particular

14:34

type of prayer means asking God

14:36

for what I need and what

14:38

I want. Jesus.

14:40

Taught us to pray our father

14:43

in heaven which means something about

14:45

God for sure, but also means

14:47

something about me Jesus cause godfather

14:50

and then goes on talking about

14:52

himself dependent Li as dependably on

14:54

his father as a small child

14:56

is on a. Jones.

14:59

After five, Very truly, I tell you

15:01

the sun can do nothing by himself.

15:03

He can only do what he sees

15:05

his father doing. A few verses later,

15:07

by myself, I can do nothing. Jon

15:09

Eight, I do nothing on my own,

15:11

but speak just what the father has

15:13

taught me. John Twelve For I did

15:15

not speak to my own, but the

15:18

Father recently commanded me to say all

15:20

that I have spoken. and on the

15:22

last night of his life, and John

15:24

Chapter fifteen, Jesus takes this helplessly dependent

15:26

way that he's been living and talking

15:28

about his entire life. And then

15:30

applies to every one of his

15:32

disciples apart from me. You can

15:34

do nothing. In. The

15:36

Modern was more than any other

15:39

societies. As any other time in

15:41

human history, we value independence. right?

15:43

Move out of the house, Make away

15:45

for yourself. Go find yourself. These are

15:47

the ideas and the narrative that have

15:49

served as the bedrock of America and

15:51

increasing of inner of of the globalizing

15:53

west. And that's all well and good

15:55

but also means that for people who

15:57

have been steeped in certain air and.

16:00

Jesus is teaching to know myself as

16:02

helpless and dependence on God might be

16:04

an even greater leave. The Jesus as

16:06

teaching to know got his father. In.

16:09

My family of origin. I've been

16:12

implicitly taught. To admire my grandmother

16:14

who's fingers are banned from severe

16:16

arthritis amplify but the daily grind

16:18

of a textile factory for over

16:20

forty years, and my grandfather who

16:22

literally broke his back working construction

16:25

all of his life and my

16:27

dad who started as an accountant

16:29

of the bottom rung of a

16:31

car dealerships and as ground is

16:33

way up from there, the list

16:35

goes on. Since the day I

16:38

was born, I have been told

16:40

an implicit stories. Independence is admirable,

16:42

needs. To be eliminated, hard work is

16:44

what gets you there. And

16:46

I do think. That. Each one

16:48

of those family stories is worth admire.

16:51

But. I'll just get to leave my family

16:53

of origin behind when I class my

16:55

hands and say dear God and that

16:57

presents a problem for my prayer allies.

16:59

Not a new problem. An

17:02

Ancient Problems. The. Law

17:04

that unwound Biblical paradise all the

17:06

way back and eat and was.

17:08

You will be like God. You

17:10

will be without need, independent on

17:12

reliant. You will not be held

17:15

less, You will be helpful. You

17:17

will be a child anymore. But

17:19

just like your father. That was

17:21

the serpent's deception. Helplessness

17:24

fuels prayer. Independent.

17:26

And silences. I

17:29

remember when hang our oldest son was born.

17:32

I. Just become a dad. But.

17:34

I kept on praying exactly the way

17:36

that I did before. With.

17:38

The church that I pastors first and most

17:41

constantly on my web. I. Didn't

17:43

for a much for my relationship to my children

17:45

in the early years of their lives. And that

17:47

wasn't because I didn't care about them. I cared so

17:49

much. It's just that As a

17:51

dad, I thought I mostly knew what to do.

17:54

I. Didn't need help. I.

17:56

Didn't play much for my own children. So

17:58

that snowy March morning in Brooklyn. I realize

18:00

just how helpless are really was. I.

18:03

Was on the ferry commuting home from

18:05

playing soccer with hangs on a Saturday

18:07

morning. Thank Sat next to me, Simon

18:09

was in the stroller and the I'll

18:11

I couldn't get hang to stop fooling

18:13

around and then eventually he spilled his

18:15

launch all over the floor of the

18:17

ferries and I lost my temper. Again,

18:22

It. Was Saturday. I

18:24

was supposed to be enjoying my boys in.

18:26

I didn't have the patience to hold it

18:28

together. This. Wasn't the

18:30

first episode. like says, it was a pattern.

18:33

This. Moment been particulars frozen a my mind

18:36

because it was the straw that finally broke

18:38

the camel's back. The moment that I realize

18:40

that that the role that I just assumed

18:42

my whole life I would be good at.

18:46

Nuts. The moment and I realized I was

18:48

hopeless. And. That's when I

18:50

saw our town solar and it's when I

18:52

found my children's names became the first in

18:55

my imagination and the first off my lips

18:57

each time that I prayed. That.

18:59

Impatience and anger saying is not in me

19:01

today like it was back then by the

19:04

Grace of God but the helplessness it it

19:06

uncovered that still and me in the very

19:08

same way By the Grace of God. Helplessness,

19:11

feals, prayer, So if

19:13

you want to find out where your believing the serpent's

19:15

deception just looked so the part of your last you

19:17

tend not to pray much about. For.

19:20

The first ten years of our marriage

19:22

honestly didn't pray a whole lot about

19:24

mine and customs union. Other couples prayed

19:26

together, but K and I've just always

19:28

done around saying that's is not how

19:30

it works for us. Why not. Because.

19:33

We're not helpless. We know what

19:35

to do in problems arise. A

19:38

communicate clearly and listen and pathetically

19:40

him and make adjustments until you're

19:42

thirteen. When. We realize

19:44

that resentments had built up so

19:46

subtly, but they calcified so solidly

19:48

that our adjustments. Weren't.

19:51

Working anymore. That.

19:53

A pattern of being in built up a debt

19:55

and a things had gone on said the next

19:57

day grace was not the lens through which we

19:59

viewed. Related to one another. That's when I

20:01

began to pray about my marriage as much

20:04

as my parenting is, when we found ourselves

20:06

kneeling together, the foot of our bed, spraying

20:08

together to begin each new day. And

20:11

I never find a whole lot about friendship. Work

20:14

needed prayer mission needed for your friendship

20:16

was just fun. That.

20:18

Is until ten? Help me put that

20:21

copper that topper. On my car a

20:23

couple of years ago and I realize that

20:25

are constructed a life that had no room

20:27

for real true friendship that if I keep

20:29

on going the way that I'm already going

20:31

I might see the kingdom here and there.

20:33

But I would miss out on the greatest

20:36

love of all to lie down one's life

20:38

for one friends. So.

20:40

As you are finding prayer in

20:42

essential on the whole or in

20:44

this or that part of your

20:46

allies, I would offer the simple

20:48

reflection to you for my years

20:50

of walking with the father. So

20:52

far, helplessness fuels prayer. It will

20:54

either fuel prayer in fits and

20:56

starts as you ping between situations

20:58

that make prayer essential and then

21:00

business as usual when the prayers

21:02

forgotten or or fuel prayer constantly

21:04

as you keep front of mines

21:06

in the pigs valleys and long

21:08

stretches and between. That the

21:10

truth is, you are helpless. Helplessly

21:13

out of control, helplessly unable to thrive

21:16

helplessly and need no matter how it

21:18

seems to be going to day. you

21:20

are helpless and you can either live

21:22

in the illusion of being occasionally helpless

21:25

or the clarity of been constantly helpless.

21:27

And the only reason that the latter

21:29

is lies and lies to the full

21:31

is because you have unrestricted access to

21:34

gone insane it in power and love

21:36

Who will stop at nothing to help

21:38

someone twenty one I list Mas up

21:40

to the mountains. Where does my help

21:42

come from? My help comes from the

21:44

Lord, the maker of heaven on Earth. Vincent.

21:49

Van Gogh as one of the most influential

21:51

artists and recorded history. He

21:53

also spent his short thirty seven your

21:55

life apprenticing under Jesus of Nazareth. After.

21:58

An early for a and to the. In our

22:00

world, he chose instead to become a

22:02

christian missionary, devoting his life to serving

22:04

the poor working and coal mines and

22:07

southern Belgium. And want

22:09

to. My personal favorite works event goes

22:11

is this charcoal sketch that he did

22:13

and Eighteen Eighty Two during his missionary

22:15

service. It depicts an old peasant coal

22:17

miner from one of the villages were

22:20

Van Gogh served. But it's really hard

22:22

to tell us this man is exhausted

22:24

or breathing or what's going on exactly.

22:27

And. Sell eight years later when Vincent

22:29

chose to turn this out of all

22:32

have as many survive and sketches and

22:34

to an oil painting. A.

22:36

Painted this men's clothing blue from

22:39

head to toe. His. Shirt

22:41

and pants even as songs. And.

22:43

Van Gogh and all of his work spencer

22:46

use blue to represent the incident. He

22:48

went on to title the painting

22:50

an Eternity Gate revealing that this

22:52

man was not breathing or exhausted.

22:54

He was praying. The

22:57

peasant man on a humble wooden chair

22:59

warming himself by the evening fire head

23:01

buried in his hands and prayer is

23:03

accessing the internet. He is approaching the

23:05

gates of heaven. Is

23:07

he then goes. Discovery was that in

23:10

the ornate walls of his upbringing he

23:12

had learned the mechanics of prayer and

23:14

the vocabulary of prayer and a that

23:16

these coal miners couldn't comprehend. But among

23:18

those miners he sound a wholly helplessness.

23:21

Lacking. In the ornate walls of his

23:24

upbringing. Prayer. Comes

23:26

by many expressions carrying a range of

23:28

meanings. The names but as simplest and

23:30

most straightforward prayer is asking God for

23:32

help. During the days

23:34

of Jesus life on Earth he offered

23:36

a prayers and petitions with fervent prize

23:39

and two years Jesus trade asked and

23:41

he prayed emotionally and he prayed about

23:43

anything and everything Strange as it sounds

23:45

the to God himself living helplessly to

23:48

show us how to stop trying to

23:50

be godlike. So. The

23:52

way to pray like Jesus is

23:54

petition. And. Submissions:

23:57

And he was heard because of his reverend.

24:00

Submission. One. Distinguishing

24:02

markers of Prayer in the name of

24:04

Jesus compared to the function of prayer

24:07

and all other religions, is that within

24:09

the Jesus movement, prayer is primarily relational,

24:11

not a sessions. Jesus'

24:14

Followers are people who will pray

24:16

and not get the desired result

24:18

back from their prayer, but then

24:20

keep on praying. Which. Is

24:22

fundamentally any sessions Buddhist prayer as

24:25

an exercise to achieve a state

24:27

of enlightenment. Muslim prayer is a

24:29

ritual to remain within the favor

24:32

of God. Christian prayer is a

24:34

relationship aimed at developing intimacy with

24:36

God. If you commit yourself

24:39

to a workout routine or a diet or professional

24:41

development plans and fun, you're not getting the results

24:43

that you want at the pace you thought you'd

24:45

be getting them. What Do you do? You.

24:48

Drop the routine, go looking

24:50

for a more efficient plan

24:52

or relationships don't work. That

24:54

was. Friendship. As the

24:56

embrace of a person, strengths and weaknesses in

24:58

their embrace of my own. If I drop

25:01

a friend every single time a friend disappoints

25:03

me. started be obviously dysfunctional and I would

25:05

be pretty lonely. Marriage.

25:07

Is fundamentally in

25:09

existence. Of people across

25:11

time and culture of pursue it even

25:14

today all over the globe. Job,

25:16

The Psalms, the New Testament Church, even

25:18

Jesus all have moments on the pages

25:21

of scripture when prayer does not achieve

25:23

the desired results there were after and

25:25

yet they all keep on praying to

25:27

the father. See. The Human

25:30

Heart Lungs for relationship. And

25:32

prayer. the Jesus Way is

25:34

distinctly relational. meaning the reward

25:36

of prayer is not in the

25:38

results, but the relationship. Scripture.

25:41

Tells us from beginning and end to seek gone

25:43

sake. Never once a week told to seek his

25:45

hand. Relationships. Definitely come

25:48

with or or But the greatest

25:50

award, of course is the relationship

25:52

itself. And so Jesus Christ submissive

25:54

was staring bluntly on at least

25:56

one occasion. Yet not as I

25:58

will, but as you will. The.

26:01

Thing that keeps us praying in the

26:03

wake of the disappointment a prayer sometimes

26:05

leaves us with is not face. It's

26:07

trust. Faces. Assurance of

26:09

what you hope for, trust and confidence

26:11

and the character of God. And.

26:14

In my experience, trying to will say

26:16

into the equation does not make the

26:19

possibility of my disappointment any less terrifying.

26:21

But trusting the character of the listener

26:23

definitely does. Trust. Allows

26:25

us to say i don't understand what God

26:27

is doing right now. But. I trust

26:29

the goddess. Good. What? if

26:32

I'm friend the tumor still gross or

26:34

the rejection letter so cancer the weddings

26:36

called off. The. Stories, God

26:38

rights and our lives will involve as

26:40

much glory and as much suffering as

26:42

they did and priceless. We will inherit

26:44

miracles and cross bearing a light and

26:46

we can submit a request to the

26:48

Father that we trust because we trust

26:50

the end to which he is bending

26:52

the whole of human history, collecting every

26:54

prayer that are praying every tier that

26:56

I said along the way as key

26:58

ingredients to redemption. Prayer is not the

27:00

place where I understand God's will and

27:03

his was perfectly prayers, The place where

27:05

I learned to trust perfectly. The character

27:07

of. God that I'm praying to. And

27:10

concession is a practice of

27:12

prayer that join together petitions

27:14

and submission. Confession

27:16

is where we both ask boldly and

27:19

bow humbly at the same time. So.

27:22

I got on the ferry and I push

27:24

some and stroller back to our apartments. or

27:26

Hank wrote a scooter next to me. I

27:29

told person that I needed a

27:31

minute after dropping the boys all

27:34

sigh drug my feet down the

27:36

sidewalk and are pray that defeated

27:38

helpless words as concession while tears

27:40

glossed my tired eyes. I.

27:42

Can't seem to be the father that

27:45

I just always thought I would naturally

27:47

become. I know that these are the

27:49

glory days that ten or twenty years

27:51

from now. I would trade anything from

27:54

one more Saturday morning playing soccer was

27:56

anchor, one more ferry ride was my

27:58

little boys are right. Now all I'm

28:00

actually living those moments, I can't seem

28:03

to enjoy them to the full or

28:05

even allow these little boys to enjoy

28:07

them. Oh God, I'm so sorry. I'm.

28:10

So desperate. Or

28:12

need your help. I. Need

28:14

your grace? And

28:17

that prayer of concession. Does.

28:19

Not deceit, Victory.

28:24

Why? Because. It

28:26

would confess or sends his face one just to

28:28

forgive us our sons and purifies them all

28:30

and righteousness as first John. Word.

28:33

Spoken first to God is a drug.

28:35

Marcy down the sidewalk, weeping and conversation

28:37

with God became conversation with both God

28:39

and a therapist and too slowly to

28:42

calculate in the moment. but plane to

28:44

me now in hindsight, those words were

28:46

the raw material from which God recession

28:48

me from the inside out. And today

28:51

I am not the perfect father. But.

28:53

I am a much more helpless father.

28:56

Helplessly. Reliant on the very God

28:58

who really is helping me enjoy the

29:00

Mom said I will forever wish to

29:02

return to here today while I'm actually

29:04

living them. And

29:07

then finally. Prayer. Is

29:09

doing what Jesus did. Prayer.

29:12

Is the depth of intimacy? Was

29:14

God as the furnace of formation

29:16

and it is the hidden practice

29:18

of power. The power of God's

29:21

kingdom comes through all through as

29:23

just as it did through Jesus

29:25

in two different forms, incarnated prayers

29:27

and answered prayers. When.

29:29

Jesus taught us to pray and

29:32

the Sermon on the Mound. He

29:34

gave a six distinct movements that

29:36

make up what we commonly called

29:38

the Lord's Prayer. Today, the first

29:40

half of the Lord's Prayer gets

29:42

us and on God's world the

29:44

second has gets God And on

29:47

our world your name, your kingdom,

29:49

your will and then give us

29:51

forgive us, rescue us it's your

29:53

your your and then us us

29:55

us We inhale dogs reality into

29:57

our lives and then we x.

30:00

Oh Gods reality into our surrounding

30:02

world. And that tells us a

30:04

whole lot about how God answers

30:06

prayer that sometimes God will move

30:09

heaven and earth, bending space and

30:11

time to weave a supernatural response

30:13

to our prayers simply by the

30:15

power of his right hand in

30:18

response to our humble mumbling. but

30:20

more often. Seemingly.

30:22

His preferred method. Is.

30:24

To reform the heart of the

30:26

praying person them and send them

30:29

out in answer to their own

30:31

prayers. The most powerful prayer is

30:33

the incarnated prayer. Meaning. Not

30:35

only fair that you speak, but the

30:37

prayer that you be calm. And

30:40

Jesus lived by this rhythm. He withdrew

30:42

into the wilderness to pray and the

30:44

he returned to the city to preach

30:46

the good news, heal the sick, and

30:48

welcome the stranger. This is the rhythm

30:51

that we see in the Gospels as

30:53

inhaling and exhale. And it's also the

30:55

rhythm that marks on the order that

30:57

every monastic order in church history has

31:00

been shaped around. Starter Juri sister says

31:02

the months prayed for their work and

31:04

then they worked out their prayers. To.

31:07

Think of your workplace. Whether.

31:10

That's. An. Office. Or.

31:12

A restaurant or classroom home

31:14

with the kids. Without.

31:18

Were. Without. An

31:20

environment to incarnate our prayers. Prayer

31:22

becomes a ritual of separation when

31:24

in reality prayers a ritual as

31:27

invasion summarize in Jesus as phrase

31:29

your kingdom, come on Earth as

31:32

it is in Heaven. With.

31:34

Our Prayer: a greater and broader

31:36

perspective stem what I've got going

31:38

on today are work inevitably becomes

31:40

an idol. It's the environment that's

31:43

gonna hold the weight of my

31:45

identity and my hope. Inevitably crossing,

31:47

both prayer and action are both

31:49

made a whole by one another.

31:51

Prayers: Risky business because as an

31:53

invitation for God to act within

31:55

me, to bring about his kingdoms

31:57

through me. There's a hard.

32:00

they did prayers but got also

32:02

response to as vice answered prayers.

32:04

It's. Worth stating just really bluntly

32:06

that the Bible from cover to

32:09

Cover is a book that insists

32:11

on the miraculous. From. Genesis

32:13

Revelation scripture describes God breaking

32:15

in, invading space and times,

32:17

interrupting and disrupting the laws

32:19

of nature, his healing the

32:21

sick and providing for the

32:23

needy and delivering the oppressed.

32:25

His parting sees: opening jail

32:28

cells and pushing back tombstones.

32:30

The Philosopher New Family once

32:32

he coined the term continual

32:34

Reality tracking for the way

32:36

that children knowingly suspend their

32:38

disbelief. Summarizing whole series

32:40

of studies, he explains that a child may

32:42

make plate of cookies and pretend to

32:44

eat them and even asked you to sit

32:47

down to a tea party with them. But

32:49

as an adult sitting at a tea party

32:51

with that child were to actually take a

32:53

bite out of one of those plate

32:55

of cookies, it was startled. the child. Not.

32:58

Pleased them. and many

33:00

of us troop prayer like says. As

33:03

a conversation with God we enjoy, but

33:05

it's also a conversation we hold is

33:07

low enough expectation that as our prayer

33:09

words you really invade our world with

33:12

heavenly fruit It would start of us.

33:15

For a search like hours of

33:17

the whole lot of young adults

33:19

and a city like ours which

33:21

is emotionally cold and sophisticated we

33:23

cynical There may be no form

33:25

of prayer that has more essential

33:27

than bold, straightforward asking. Apart

33:30

from given got a chance to startle

33:32

us away. were like those little kids

33:34

with plate of cookies, suspending disbelief to

33:36

a degree but never really believing at

33:38

the same time. We run the

33:41

risk of diluting Jesus to sit our time

33:43

and place rather than being formed by Jesus

33:45

within our time and place. For.

33:47

The most frequent prayers on my

33:50

lips or request that hold before

33:52

God very regularly is that he

33:54

would walk me right in to

33:56

Power Encounters which is language between

33:58

me and Guy. Or encounters

34:01

with his presence and power through

34:03

the Holy spirit. Not in the

34:05

safe confines of the church gathering

34:07

butts out in the city where

34:09

most of the experiences with the

34:11

spirit happen In the life of

34:14

Jesus in the early Church, I've

34:16

prayed for power encounters for years

34:18

and then every once in awhile.

34:21

In late December, I took a lift ride

34:24

home from the lunch meeting. I got under

34:26

the car and said hey brother, how you

34:28

doin. And then me

34:30

in. The driver just sat in silence for a

34:32

couple of minutes as he took me home. And

34:35

then out of nowhere. He

34:37

just says. For. Months I smoked

34:39

marijuana every day. I

34:42

couldn't stop. I. Really wanted to. I

34:44

tried to all the time but I just

34:46

couldn't and then this guy gone into my

34:48

car and I told him about and he

34:51

didn't say anything back to me. He just

34:53

listens and when he was getting out of

34:55

the car he looked at me and says

34:57

i am sure you will not smoke today.

35:00

The Nose two months ago. And

35:02

I have assaults ever since. Sense and

35:05

even the smell of weed is detestable

35:07

to me. And then he just starts.

35:10

As abruptly is he had started telling me

35:12

this. As I said

35:14

okay. That's great man.

35:17

Oh why. Do you think you were

35:19

able to make a change after talking to

35:21

that guy? Saying

35:23

he prayed for me. I

35:27

think your room. What's. Your

35:29

name. Muhammad. Where.

35:32

You from mama's. Afghanistan.

35:36

Do. You practice Islam, The Holman. Yeah.

35:38

Do. And asked him

35:40

about his own rare rhythms as he

35:43

observed us. Five frail says as he

35:45

carried a prayer rug around and strong

35:47

boy drove his car at school. and

35:49

then eventually I said muhammad, who do

35:51

you think that guy in your car

35:53

parade to. A

35:55

Sikh, you pray to Jesus. The

35:59

I think you're right. Let.

36:01

Me as your question. Why?

36:04

Are you telling me all this. And.

36:07

He says. When. You got into

36:09

my car. Somehow.

36:11

I just knew. That

36:14

you know the same god

36:16

does that guy prayed to.

36:19

And. As I do know that goes. By

36:21

the time we got to my house I was

36:23

laying hands on my list driver and I was

36:26

praying that the kingdom would commoner is in your

36:28

life and as a god behind these birds be

36:30

revealed to am a nurse and hold on I

36:32

get a give for you and I ran into

36:34

my house and I got my bible and a

36:36

copy of the book that I wrote on prayer

36:38

and I gave him my bible and I told

36:40

him I didn't tell my wrote the book I

36:42

just this is a book that has been really

36:44

helpful to me and he promised read both of

36:46

them and are blessed him and he was off.

36:48

I tell you that story just so that you

36:50

know that the greatest adventures. Of your Allies

36:52

will begin with simple bold requests

36:55

uttered in prayer. Do not treat

36:57

prayer like a child for his

36:59

Plato cookies. Pray to the God

37:01

who hears and who loves to

37:04

give good guess to his children.

37:06

Asking is the simple way of

37:08

prayer that invites gods deep formation,

37:10

was inmates and releases his supernatural

37:12

power into the world around me.

37:15

So. Is there a practice from the

37:18

way of Jesus that mold our

37:20

brain laws and the image of

37:22

our Rabbis? Yes there's a whole

37:24

catalog of prayer process found in

37:26

the biblical and in Biblical on

37:28

church history but at Bridge Town

37:30

we have simplified it to to

37:33

committed practice practices, a prayer room,

37:35

a radical memory making way affair

37:37

and a daily prayer of which

37:39

is a day in day out

37:41

sustained way of ordering. are praying

37:43

lives through various forms of prayer

37:45

since. Think of a daily prayer of

37:48

them like our food Guide Pyramid which

37:50

offers general guidance for spiritual health and

37:52

feeds us a balanced diet and a

37:54

bridge sounds her to daily prayer of

37:57

them as a simple commitment to pause

37:59

and praised. The times a day

38:01

just like most of us, pause to

38:03

eat three times a day, and the

38:05

morning to pray the Lord's Prayer at

38:07

midday to pray for the last and

38:10

than the evening to pray gratitude. And

38:12

this is a way of prayer that

38:14

holds together all of the practices that

38:16

I've been naming in this teaching. Because

38:19

our prayer room is currently open to

38:21

anyone and everyone this week in our

38:23

bridge some communities, we're going to engage

38:25

the practice of the daily prayer of

38:28

them working in into our lives. Experience

38:30

the intimacy, the formation and the

38:32

power of praying the Jesus Long.

38:35

Prayers the central spiritual practice because

38:38

unlike the others, it doesn't expire.

38:41

First. Transients Thirteen says that one day

38:43

prophecy with will see small meet Jesus

38:45

face to face. One day

38:47

we want fast anymore because we will

38:50

always and forever be ceasing with the

38:52

bridegroom. and we won't need solitude. One

38:54

Piece is not the exception in a

38:56

world of chaos, but as the water

38:59

that we're forever swimming and will need

39:01

to witness to Jesus is lord whenever

39:03

knee is bound and every tongue confessed.

39:06

and we won't need Sabbath once a

39:08

week when eternal rest. As every day

39:10

prior though our first language, our mother

39:13

tongue is the language that we will

39:15

never stop speaking. Prayers.

39:17

The practice of communing with the father

39:19

face to face. it is rehearsal for

39:22

eternity. It is paradise now. We

39:24

hold our a covenant as a staff

39:27

that we were side every week. Voice

39:29

A Prayer is not the way it

39:31

is the destination For maybe an even

39:33

better way of putting it is prayer

39:36

is both the way. And

39:38

it's the destination. Prayer.

39:41

Is the soil where every other spiritual

39:44

practice grows? Say is the see that

39:46

is hidden away and on seen that

39:48

grows fearful fruit. And as it is

39:50

the practice or the place that we

39:53

inherit stores that we will never stop

39:55

telling. When I took my children to

39:57

bed at night, almost always pray. God

40:00

let my ceiling and prayer

40:03

become their floor. And

40:05

that's my prayer for you Bridge

40:07

some church says it is. There's

40:09

one thing that I have gathered

40:11

up in my years of walking

40:13

by Jesus that I could offer.

40:15

Use this to make prayer the

40:17

center that you life orbits around.

40:19

and then to live out of

40:21

discipline. and so that discipline becomes

40:23

desire. There's nothing more important, nothing

40:25

more eternal, nothing more healing and

40:27

loving, Nothing more wild an adventurous

40:29

than the conversation that we begin

40:31

with. God that will never and.

40:40

Taught. Us and is today by encouraging

40:43

us to not treat prayer like

40:45

a child treats plato cookies but

40:47

to pray to the God who

40:49

he is and who loves to

40:51

give good gifts to his choosing.

40:53

So. I thought it would be

40:56

nice as we always do to

40:58

make some space before we switch

41:00

off and go on to the

41:03

next thing to actually do just

41:05

that to recognize our own helplessness

41:07

and prayed just like Tyler did

41:09

for close relationships, circumstances. Or

41:12

needs that we have right now

41:14

that only God can heal and

41:16

answer. Sophie. Like

41:18

take a few deep breaths. was

41:20

me. And become aware of

41:23

God's presence. Then

41:25

if you're in the kind of environment,

41:27

you can pray out loud, but if

41:29

you can't, just internally from the very

41:31

depths of your heart. Ask

41:33

God to meet your helplessness in the area

41:35

that you're thinking about. I'll

41:38

leave about half a minute and and will close this

41:40

time with an arm in. Let's

41:43

pray. I'm

42:14

in. This

42:22

podcast is from Practicing the Way

42:24

We develop resources to help churches

42:27

in small groups apprentice in the

42:29

way of Jesus and all we

42:31

make is completely free because it's

42:33

already being paid for by the

42:35

Circle, a community of monthly give

42:38

us who partner with us to

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see spiritual formation integrated into the

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church at large. Special thanks for

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today's episode goes to Gilliam from

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Forest Hills, South Africa, Jeff from

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Ann Arbor, Michigan even from Olympia,

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Washington, Krista and. Jim from Goodyear,

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Arizona and Andrew from Woodstock, Ontario.

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Thank you all very much to

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join the circle or to learn

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more about running a practice in

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your church or community As a

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Practicing The way.org. Until

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next time may the grace of the

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Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of

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God and the Fellowship of the Holy

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Spirit be with the wall.