Join us for our Wednesday Evening Worship LIVE from Maryville, TN!
by Chad Erickson
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Psalm 42:1-2, Luke 11:1, Matthew 5:1, Matthew 5:3-10, Matthew 6:1, 1 John 2:16, Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:3-4, Matthew 6:16-18, Mark 9:29, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:6-8, Matthew 6:9-13, Genesis 1:28, Psalm 115:16, Matthew 28:18

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/chad-erickson--join-us-for-our-wednesday-evening-worship-live-from-maryville-tn
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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turn with me in your Bibles probably one of my very favorite Psalms Psalm 42 in verse one love love this Psalm matter of fact uh in my in my daily prayer this is one of those psalms that I that I read because it it means so much it it speaks to my life it speaks to my heart it simply says this as the deer as a heart as the deer panteth after the water Brooks so panteth my soul after the old God my soul thirsteth for God for the Living God does that does that minister to anybody else do you feel that same thing that I feel when I read that I I don't know maybe I can just Envision the deer as it as it makes its way through the forest looking searching for water knowing that water is its very Life Source I I want to experience God like I've never experienced them before and and in order to do that in order for that longing and that thirsting there's got to be a relationship that begins a relationship that maybe in some of your walks continues cultivated through prayer somebody say prayer pastor's been has been in a uh a series on the subject of prayer and I I want to continue that on look with me one more scripture before we before we're seated Luke 11 verse1 prayer prayer could be one of the hardest things even Jesus disciples and this is a great uh this is a great story about Jesus praying in the garden in a certain place Luke 11 verse1 and when he stopped when he ceased one of his disciples said unto himl teach us to pray so so my my my Bible topic tonight is simply this striving for Spiritual discipline I want to strive as a deer panteth as a as a deer longth for the water Brook I want that relationship with my God how many know that you cannot worship a God you don't pray to We Can't worship a my God we don't communicate with we got there has to be something there has to be an A and B conversation going on with the god that we worship and it all begins with disciplines in our lives let's pray over this message Father we love you Lord I'm so thankful tonight Wednesday night Lord midweek Lord I'm thankful for the opportunity to share this Bible Lesson Lord with the greatest people in the whole wide world I I'm thankful oh God for the opportunity Lord God to speak on a subject that I want to know more about and that I want to personally study more about Lord I want to be disciplined when it comes to serving you when it comes with my relationship with you God everything that I say tonight Lord God I personally Lord God want to ingest your word in a way Lord God that when I leave this place tomorrow morning Lord there's going to be a difference in my life I pray that every person listening Lord tomorrow morning Lord there'll be a difference in their life Lord they'll wake up they'll wake up ready Lord God to put you very first in their life Lord God I pray in Jesus name anoint me Lord your word is already anointed but anoint the hearers anoint the ears Lord that will hear this word tonight in Jesus name we pray and everyone said amen amen you may be seated in the house of the Lord amen tonight how many can agree with me that prayer can be a hard thing anybody else so about seven of us and it's it's not it's not a hard thing because it's difficult to do I mean we we have no problem talking and some of y'all talk to yourselves so I know you don't have a problem even talking to yourself got no problem talking to our spouse or or talking to our children or talking to family members friends co-workers so why why is it huh why is it that praying can be such a difficult task well I think it's obvious to everyone it's it's hard because it's spiritual warfare it's so hell fought hell absolutely hates the idea of us communicating with our God and so whether it's your time whe whether it's you run out of time or you don't have enough time or you don't make enough time or or or how many know that that whenever it's prayer time that's when every when when when everything breaks loose in the house is during prayer that's when you discover that your dog done messed on the front front room carpet prayer time but brother Harris I got to go get my my special little water vacuum and I got to I got to do something right here with the do somethings you know what I'm saying headed headed to prayer and realized that got to pick up after the kids the kids went to school and left the kitchen a wreck or or did this and that and and how many knows that the the very exact moment when you had determined in your mind I'm going to set my my alarm clock early and I'm going to get up and pray this morning at 6:00 a.m. I'm going to get up before the kids wake up I'm going to get up I'm going to have my personal devotion but wouldn't you know it you pick up your phone you turn your alarm off and all of a sudden you see alerts coming up and and you start remembering what you forgot to do yesterday and my my goals are laughing at me cuz you know you know what that feels like you you know what it feels like to to turn your alarm off and be reminded of five things that you forgot to do and and and it's so hell fought it's a it's a spiritual thing it's it's something that we cannot see with our own eyes it's it's not something that's that we can we can see someone standing before us that we're praying to so thoughts begin to enter into our mind thoughts such as I wonder if God even really hears what I pray I wonder if he really knows my needs if he really cares about my needs and what does it matter if I even pray anyways if I have a lack of faith in my prayers not even be answered anyways does it even matter that I pray and a lot of people go through this thought process and but here's the deal right here every Christian whether you're a new Christian or if you're a mature Christian you're going to face the very same thing you're going to face the daily disciplines are the hardest thing that you'll ever do everything else will come easy when it comes to spiritual daily disciplines can somebody say Amen so I I want to begin with prayer because prayer is is is our main topic and it's what the series that Pastor Carpenter started a little over a month ago but but but prayer should never be just some afterthought or some survivor's Lifeline if you will and and I know sometimes it's used as that but that's not what prayer is it's not any great wonder that that the closest followers of Jesus in the New Testament were called Disciples because the word disciple comes from the same root word as discipline it takes discipline to be a disciple and so it was the disciples that understood if we get anything right the one thing we have to get right is how in the world do we pray how do we talk to our creator how do we talk to God if we going to have a life lesson Jesus we need you to explain to us how we communicate with our God so today our our Bible our Bible story is going to come from a very familiar passage which begins in Matthew Chapter 5 matter of fact if you want to turn there it's a story of The Sermon on the Mount Jesus the Bible says he he sees the the multitudes in Matthew 5 And1 and so he goes up he went up into a mountain and when he was set his disciples came unto him let let me kind of paraphrase what this is talking about you see Jesus begins to see that his ministry is drawing these these massive crowds and and so he climbs up a Hillside and and his disciples he he expects his disciples his committed his faithful followers he expects them to climb up with him and please notice that the sermon of the mount is is not for the crowd it's it's not for those people it's not for those people the the Sinners or the Sadducees or the Pharisees he he's not preaching to those people right now he's preaching to his closest disciples when we read The Sermon on the Mount this was not just given to everyone this was not a topic that he preached to the 5,000 this was just for his closest committed he expected them to climb higher with him and how many know know that for the disciple there's more higher expectations than the rest of the world than the rest of the followers of Christ those closest to him his small group if you will he he wanted them on the mountain with him so he could help them to understand how to truly pray and how to truly be disciplined so he tells them he he tells them what he wants them to do not so much what they want to hear but what he wants them to do and The Sermon on the Mount begins with climbing Companions of Jesus and it begins in chapter 5 and it doesn't end there but it does begin there and we enjoy the blessings that Jesus opens up his sermon with and and and any any good communicator is going to start uh with a positive effect of their message and even it was Jesus who said blessed are the poor in spirit he said blessed are they that mourn blessed are the meek blessed are those which hunger and thirst after righteousness blessed are the merciful blessed are the pure in heart blessed are the peacemakers blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake but then and and any like I said any good speaker I I if if you're going to bring up a subject of Confrontation it's brother Justin it's always good if you start in the positive and if this has ever happened to you and it's only happened to me a couple times but but let me tell you something it it catches you so off guard when they start to Build You Up up for the great takedown have you ever been through that I I remember when I was in Bible School my my my last year of Bible School oh I can remember this like it was yesterday brother uh uh Pastor Paul money who was the who was at the time the president of of Indiana bab College he after one Chapel matter of fact it was the last Chapel of the year of the calendar year we were about to go on Christmas break and as brother Mooney had just preached a magnificent message he walks by me on the way out of the chapel and he says Chad he says I need to see you in my office he said but I don't have time today he said after Christmas break can you come to my office I need to talk to you about something and I was like yes sir now now you got to understand Paul Mooney now Paul Mooney stands about in my eyes he's about 9 foot4 he was big he kind of walked a little hunched over and and he he was the type in Bible school that when he would come walking down the hallway everybody would just kind of get to the side of the hall I mean you you didn't reach your hand out to brother Mooney you just didn't do that it wasn't it wasn't nothing that he told us to do or not to do it wasn't like that it was just like a reverence that when Paul D Money walked through the hallway we stood at attention it was respect he was the president he was he he was a legend man I remember when I was when I was 7even 8 10 years old I remember him coming to our camps and preaching our camps in Upstate New York he was a legend and he he would walk down the hallway and we would just kind of get out of the way so when he called me by name first of all let me tell you something I don't know if it was just Pride I don't know what it was but I feel really good that he even knew my name I think he called me Ericson that's what it was Ericson he said I I need you to come to my office he said but it could wait till after Christmas break and when he said it could wait now brother a bear if he would have called me to the office right then I would have been shaken in my shoes but when he said I it could wait till after Christmas that means it must not be bad because if it was bad it wouldn't wait till after Christmas so I said yes sir and thoughts started going through my mind I'm thinking to myself you know what I'm about to graduate he needs a director for his youth choir I mean he already knows my name I'm In Praise man I'm in corral he need obviously he needs me to help him with Calvary Tabernacle it's obvious this this has to be what it was brother Ben it had to be what it was because it can wait till after Christmas so after Christmas I confidently this was my first mistake I confidently come up to his office I knew he was there knocked on that big oak door I heard him say come in opened up that door and walked onto the car carpet if you know what I mean if you called on the carpet you know what I'm talking about I walked on he said have a seat I said yes sir well he began by like I said any good leader when they're going to when they're going to talk about a subject that's hard to talk about the a a subject of conflict he began to build me up and at the time I didn't really understand what this whole conflict subject was all about and so he began to talk about I now Chad how was how was how were your parents doing and he began to talk about my parents and how was you went home to North Carolina how was that he he goes through all of this and and he begins to talk about I I saw you singing In Praise last semester and are you GNA be in Praise again this year yes sir yes sir I am and and he he begins and he said no I got something I want to talk to you about and this is when it started to dawn on me that everything was not good I said yes yes sir well at that time and if you've got any age on you then then you kind of remember this at that time Steven Curtis Chapman he was I mean he was the top he was the going thing we were singing all his songs he he he was the worship artist of of the late 90s and and it was at the time when all these worship artists had long hair and so we being easily influenced as Bible School student students were some of us guys we thought it'd be cool if and what Stephen K Chapman did is he his hair began his bangs and was one length all the way back to his collar except his his kind of flowed you know what I'm saying and I never had flowing hair I wasn't born with flowing hair never had flowing hair but I had it long enough but but I knew I knew that that that Bible College we had to have it cut above the collar so it was all one length and I would just keep it just just right oh right to the collar and so he pulled me and he said I I just feel like you're going the wrong direction I I feel like there's a charismatic Spirit upon you and let me tell you something he was right he he was right on he he was 100% on but he starts to tell me this and he says I want you to know ericon if you don't straighten up if you don't walk out of this office get that haircut off your collar get your haircut look like a are you want to be a a Pentecostal preacher or you trying to be a a charismatic singer tail between the legs I turned around I said yes sir got out of Dodge and I got a haircut and I decided you know what he I believe it it was actually at that moment that I decided you know what that is what I'm going to become I'm not I'm not going to look any more to Nashville and in in the way they want to lead the generation the current generation you know this is who I want to be and this is not really what my story is even about my story was simply about him propping me up so he could take me down but but the fact of the matter is this I'm so thankful for people in my life who say you know what you need to wake up and you need to become what God has called you to be and stop trying to be what others are calling you to be that had nothing to do with my subject except I see what Jesus was doing here because he started off his sermon by blessing everybody he said blessed blessed are blessed are you oh blessed are you blessed is this blessed is that he starts his sermon off like this but then he gets to the point he gets to the place and and and and turn with me over into chapter six because now he's got to start talking about certain things that are concerning him he says this he says take heed that you do not your arms before men to be seen of them otherwise you have no reward of your father which is in heaven another translation says be especially careful when you're trying to be so good that you don't make a performance out of it uh-huh it might be good theater but the God who made you won't be applauding oh that's pretty good right there m matter of fact that that was the message Bible and it's very accurate in the paraphrasing of the verse because Jesus uses the Greek word theoi theoi is the original root word that we say theater and so that's what Jesus was saying Jesus is saying don't make theater out of your good you can have spiritual disciplines but don't try to make a performance out of what you're doing because obviously Jesus was taking notice that there was a whole lot of ritual going on and there wasn't a lot of relationship going on a lot of people were given to be seen a lot of people were fasting to be seen a lot of people were praying to be seen but there was no relationship behind it so I I like how the message talked about the theater because they were theatrics and Jesus is identifying the most common Temptation in the area of spiritual disciplines the temptation to craft a Public Image listen to me that is very different than your private reality crafting a Public Image that's totally the opposite of private reality I don't want to be that person and I fight not to be that person I don't want to come to church on Sundays and on Wednesdays and throw my hands up in worship and not have a place in my home where I Throw My Hands Up In Worship I got convicted I think I preached about years ago I preached about this but I got convicted one time that I could dance in the spirit on the front row but I had never danced in the spirit in my prayer closet I got convicted about that because I thought what's the difference God hasn't changed if I'm worshiping here just because they're singing my favorite choir song with a with a BPM at 1:20 that's easy to worship and dance to that's that's no excuse why I can't go in my prayer closet and so I remember I was in my prayer closet and I began to weep before the Lord and I began kind of like David did with all my might I just started dancing before the Lord and in the back of my mind I'm thinking if my wife opens this door right now she is gonna be like what are you doing but I thought you know what is he not worthy of this behind closed doors I don't want to make it look like and this this is what Jesus was talking about right here he's saying don't don't come out in front of everybody and show how much you praise in worship and and how you you're such a Pious worshipper and don't be doing that and then going behind closed doors and you don't even know how to praise he's saying make sure because that's what religion is oh yeah religion is based upon outward performance and not inward relationship religion if you want to join a religion you go and whether they have beads or or whether they have Idols or statues or or whatever it is you you you go and and you perform rituals that that's what religion is all about that's why this is not we don't call this this is not a denomination Pentecost Pentecost is an experience Apostolic is a belief when we come into this place and somebody says what denomination are you you don't say Pentecostal you're we're not a denomination well denominations are made by men this is an experience the apostles gave us this Jesus gave it to the apostles and the apostles allowed us to understand this great Doctrine amen Pious Pious is simply devoutly religious making a hypocrisy to display virtue so Jesus opens his he opens his sermon I'm going to move quickly he opens his sermon with blessings but then quickly he starts talking about motive what is your motive we're we're going to study about the right motive when it comes to spiritual discipline I want the right motive do you want the right motive because everything everything in the word is based off a motive why do you do what you do why do you say what you say what's your motive why do you listen to what you listen to Why do you watch what you watch all this is based off of motive what are you trying to do with the information you're either giving or receiving so let's talk about this there's three areas of spiritual discipline that Jesus covers here in Matthew chapter 6 so let's let's let's let's talk about it these three areas need our attention the first one is is found all actually all three of these are found in one verse in 1 John 2:16 go go there with me real quick quick keep your place in Matthew 6 but go to go to 1 John chapter 2 in verse 16 I I want you to see this cuz we're going to we're going to kind of parallel between between first John and Matthew Bible says for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world let read that again three things all that's in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not not of the father but it is of the world so go back with me now to Matthew 6 let's go to verse two let's kind of execute this therefore when thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee as the Hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may have Glory of men verily I say unto you they have their reward then the second one we go to verse five and when thou prayest so we first we talked about giving arms or giving offerings or helping the poor helping those in need second one is praying verse five and when thou prayest Thou shalt not be that the Hypocrites are how the Hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men verily I say unto you Jesus is speaking they have their reward and then skip down to verse 16 because here's the third one moreover when you fast so we're talking about prayer we're talking about giving we're talking about prayer now we're talking about fasting moreover when you fast be not as the Hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast verily I say unto you they have their reward so did you catch this we got three things we got giving praying and fasting they were not tempted to talk I I I don't want I don't want to be tempted to talk more than I walk for for when we playak these spiritual matters we become like the Hypocrites they already have their reward they already have their reward when Jesus said that they have their reward he was simply saying their wages they've already received their wages they they've already been given what it was that they needed they needed attention and guess what sister MSA they got their attention by the way they looked by the way they acted how loud they were they got the attention they need they received their wages for how they acted Jesus is not saying listen let me clear this up right here he's not all he's not saying that that when we give when we pray when we fast we got to do it in secret some people say you know um I I give online I don't give the offering because the the Bible says not to give in public and I I I I want to give in in secret where nobody can see me give or um when I pray I I never tell anyone that I'm praying and and I don't want people to see me praying because they might think I'm a hypocrite and I it's not saying that or even fasting and fasting is is one of those ones that that's kind of a lot of people you know people say well if you tell someone you're fasting that's your public reward that's not true because it's about the motive it's about your motive of fasting uh remember we anoun announced a a churchwide fast on social media it was something that we had been announcing and we had been planning for and some misinformed person they they comment they say congratulations you Pious Pentecostals you just received your reward no a a churchwide fast post was definitely not motivated by the desire to impress people that we were fasting that was not the idea of that right it was just a reminder to the church that we agreed to fast together I'm thankful for churchwide fasting you don't get your reward when we get up here and say hey on Wednesdays we're going to fast on Wednesdays that that's not well you just got your reward because you told everybody you're fast that that's not F it's the motive for why you fast are you fasting because you want people to think you're spiritual there's your reward you just received your wages for what you did however that's something was talking about it's all about it's based off of motive everyone say motive so three things giving praying fasting so here we go when you give let's start off with giving when you give let's continue verse three but when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth that thine arms may be in secret I'm we're going to explain this and thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly when you do someone this is what this is simply saying when you do something for someone else don't call attention to yourself now let's talk about social media I do have a problem with this and I think this is what Jesus is talking about when you have somebody following you around with a camera when you go do charity work you're like here here come come get me on this angle right here as I hand this this this this Thanksgiving dinner to this family you just got your reward right there right there is a difference but what this is simply saying is it's saying don't don't even don't even don't even let don't you let your left hand know what the right hand's doing what he simply saying is don't look into it so much to where you count the cost for the gift if God inspires you if he lays upon your heart to bless someone don't go back and say now God you told you told me to give $500 that missionary but if I give $500 let's see that means I'm going to have to take this out of this budget and I'm going have to move this over here it's simply saying if you felt led to give if you feel led to give just do it do it quietly do it un obstructively this is the way our God who conceived Us in love working behind the scene this is how he helps us out God is Not Looking for publicity when he blesses us he just blesses us it's it's what God does God is a giving God for God so loved the world that he gave it's just what he does he's he's not looking for Fanfare so giving is an important discipline because it helps us watch this conquer the lust of the Eyes giving causes us to conquer it doesn't the lust of the eyes well the lust of the eyes says I want give me what's owed to me the lust of the eyes it's the spirit of entitlement if there's ever been a spirit on a generation today it's the spirit of entitlement it's the lust of the eyes it's owed to me I deserve it Mom and Dad have money that means that I'm supposed to have money who was it somebody's talking about an NBA player LeBron James who was it that told he always talks about he says I've got money but he tells his kids he says you don't got money Shaq oh Shaq he tells his kids all the time he says hey Daddy Rich you ain't Rich Daddy's Rich he said you have to make your own money I had to make my own money you got to make your own money don't don't go around telling people you're rich you you're not entitled to Daddy's money is what Shaq's saying and the same thing because why because there is a spirit of entitlement that if we let it get a hold of our children cuz we're blessed we're we're more blessed now than we've ever been before come on I remember when I was growing up H when I was growing up Salvation Army we went to Salvation Army not because it was a cool place to find vintage clothing we went because we couldn't afford nothing else we had we had Sears and robu I think they had suits back then I don't even know we we didn't have much to go with but let me tell you something I couldn't afford whatever it was brother F whatever it was I couldn't afford it and so we found we actually had now I'm preaching the choir now but if the young people were here ID tell them we had patches before patches were cool we didn't put patches on our clothes of cool designs and what have you and peace symbols and what have oh no no no we we had patches on our jeans because there was a hole in the jeans and there needed to be a patch to fill the hole right but all of a sudden now I'm looking around me and we're doing pretty good God's blessed us I'm looking at business owners I I'm looking at very successful leaders I I'm looking at people that God has blessed and if we're not careful the Next Generation can just assume that because God blesses us it blesses them just just because Mom and Dad have worked until they ain't got no fingernails left and work themselves the B just because that's how automatically they're entitled and that is the lust of the eye sometimes we we think of lust being a sexual word no lust of the eye means if I see it I got to have it but it's oh but it's giving it's the giver who defeats and conquers the lust of the eyes because you say God has blessed me and I don't have to have this bank account up to a certain number to feel like I'm successful I would rather give oh I would rather do with something do without something I see in order to give to someone else it defeats and conquers the spirit of entitlement and the lust of the eyes let's talk about the second area discipline when you fast verse 16 look at this moreover when you fast be not as the Hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast verily I say unto you they have their reward but thou when you fast anoint thine head wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast but unto thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly he's saying don't go around looking all distraught walking around with a sad I fasted now for 36 hours he he said he said wash your face he said he said go find sister Masa and get you some good smelling stuff and make yourself look good that's what Jesus said right there said anoint yourself with o he's saying make go out in public and look professional and don't try to make everybody think that you're something you're not Jesus said when you fast it ought be something that's done in secret because then God can reward you openly God doesn't require any kind of attention getting devices and and that might be what they were doing it might it might only been the attention of man but somehow they thought maybe if God sees me looking like this he'll notice that I'm fasting as if God needs an intention getting device but God said if you can Fasto fasting is as important to discipline because it helps us conquer the lust of the flesh it says to your flesh I don't need you you you you're telling your flesh you can't rule me any longer it's a very it's a very power you give to the spirit of God inside of you this says no longer will my flesh tell my spirit where to go when to go how to go why to go but we're going to allow the spirit to direct us and the only way you can get your spirit to direct you is to tell your flesh flesh you don't have control and what is that control I'll tell you A lot of that control I know that control of me is food and I guarantee in the word of God in the Bible in the day of Jesus the main I guarantee the main thing that controlled people was food yeah that doesn't surprise anyone does it food if I could get my body under control now now today in this day and age there might be other things that control people if I if I was preaching to our young people I might say hey you got to get off the gaming systems get off social media put your phone away can can you go without your phone for 24 hours some of your parents are like ain't never going to happen sh my my kids would rather not eat for a week than go without their phone for 24 hours it's the Next Generation they rely they rely so strongly on other people's opinion I got to get on social media and make sure I got enough likes and I got to see who's reposting my stuff right and and that's what drives their brain and and and Pastor Hammond he preaches about it all the time it's something we've got to fight in this new generation not to allow those things that control us because you know what that is controlling you it's your flesh and so fasting whether it's a device whether it's food whatever controls you the most I let me just give you just just give you some friendly advice fast whatever controls you the most because that's what's going to hurt the most man that's what's that's what's going to be the most painful fast that because then you're proven to yourself Listen My Flesh don't have to rule me I've got I've got a spirit inside that's so much greater and that Spirit can rule it is defeating the lust of the flesh when we begin to fast Mark 9:29 said says and he said unto them this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting there are certain things there are certain issues that you're going to face there there's certain problems in life there there's certain questions you're going to have that you're not going to get an answer for you're not going to receive an answer to your prayer until you go to God in prayer and you begin to go to God in fasting some things it has to drive you have to crucify that flesh in order for the spirit to take over deny the flesh the third spiritual discipline that Jesus covers we begin in verse number five he says and when thou prayest Thou shalt not be as the Hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets they that they may be seen of men verily I say unto you they have their reward verse six but thou H when thou prayest Jesus said when you guys now he's talking to his disciples he's not talking to the crowd he's he's not talking to the other Temple worshippers he's talking to his closest followers he says but when you pray enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door pray to the Father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly but when you pray use not vain repetitions as the Heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking but be not ye therefore like unto them for your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask of him prayer is important it's such an important discipline because it helps us conquer the pride of life the pride of life says I'm in charge right the pride of life says I don't want anybody telling me what to do I don't want anybody telling me how to do it and that's really when we don't pray when we don't have a prayer life that's what we're really saying to God we're saying I don't really care about your opinion what your will is for my life really doesn't matter because I don't even I don't even take stuff before you when I have big decisions in life I don't even I don't even consult you and we're simply saying to God oo this is this is of the world right here we're simply saying to God I don't want your opinion of my life I I don't need you to to speak into my life I I don't need your help I've got everything under control but when we truly get into a closet and begin to pray to God in secret we begin to tell God God I've got to have you making decisions for my life I I don't want to do this by myself there's things that are way bigger than me that I don't want to try to tackle on my own but we get into our prayer closet it conquers the pride of love life the pride of life that says I've got it all under control I do things my own way I'm the Lord of my own life and we simply say God you Reign Over every aspect in every part of my life prayer the lust of the eyes is conquered by giving the lust of the flesh is conquered by fasting the lust or the pride of life is conquered through prayer but I do want to know I want you to notice two things about Jesus's instructions when he's teaching his his disciples to pray he says he says we are taught how not to pray before we're taught how to pray do you see that all what we've read so far he's teaching us how not to pray this is what I don't want you to we need to have the right attitude in prayer and we need to have the right motive in prayer and I love this I love the advice that I hear and I've heard pastors say it many times he says we don't pray to be seen but we ought to be seen praying right that goes along with what Jesus is saying saying Jesus is saying don't come don't come early to prayer meetings so everybody looks and says oh he's a man of God oh yeah look at him he he really oh he has a way in the altar praying if that's your motive to come to early to prayer you you you've wasted your time those three simple thinking people have now put you on a pedestal and now you have received your reward but God is saying but if you come and if you come with the right motive and the right spirit and you give God praise and you worship God and you pray to God with a heart Ju Just Like I began the message I'm going to end the message with the same verse but if you're like that deer that is panting that is Desiring the water the brook Desiring the life the new treant that are in that water if you're like that deer and you come in the presence of God he can see that it's not talking about getting in an actual closet it's not talking about getting an actual small room where your clothes are it's simply saying it's a mind frame that simply says God I'm all I might be in a sanctuary with a thousand people but I'm all alone with you when I begin to pray and I begin to give you praise it's the attitude it's the motive of praying it's all about motive but then the second of Jesus's instructions about prayer Jesus is not condemning repeated requests and this is something we got to understand he talks about repetition but this is not because the Bible always talks about to ask to seek to knock there's there's probably about 15 good scriptures and if I had time I to read them all there's probably about 15 really good scriptures where it talks about us asking for things it's okay to repeatedly ask for something that's not what Jesus is saying right here he simply say with vain repetitions the Greek wording means to speak without thinking and and and I'm thankful that that I don't hear that brother siner I don't hear that in our prayer meetings I really don't but I but I remember growing up being in prayer rooms where I heard people just repeat the same word over and over and over again the same phrase over and over and over again over and over and over again they would fill up they would fill up an hours worth of time with just probably five or six different phrases of just over and over and it was it was repetition and that's different because that's when you have other things on your mind and you're giving God lip service you you're praying in a prayer closet but you're not thinking about what you're saying and Jesus is simply saying listen When you pray there ought to be clear communication going on between you and the father between you and your god there ought to be clear communication going on not just lip service not just words being spoken not just repetition in vain repetitions but please whatever you do pray to your God as if he's standing right there before you have a conversation with him so many times I I I've heard new converts as as as they tried to pray and all they've ever ever heard was like what I call King James praying right and I think to myself you you haven't even been around Pentecost but you're trying to pray thy will be done and thou servants life and just pray to God like he's your best friend just speak to he wants you to listen I say this all the time Jesus was not an American Jesus didn't gr up speaking English he's not going to care if you use the King's English or if you use American English do you follow me that wasn't his original language anyways he doesn't care just like just like our songs we we we get all worked up about I don't know if that genre is the kind that Jesus likes he doesn't like any of our genres or maybe I should say he likes them all but that's not what he grew up with have you ever heard the true Jewish genre it doesn't sound anything like what we saying well there might be a couple songs we do when the of that's what it sounds like don't laugh that's what it sounds like right so so so but the same thing with our praying when we pray to him we don't have to get all King's English man just tell him what you need tell him how good he is just bless him like like you would compliment a friend like you would compliment some if you had a coworker that just gave a good speech and you walked up and said hey man now don't call God man but but you say you know you did such a you did such a good job man I just I just enjoy what you said and and and that really ministered to me what you said in that meeting and same thing with God just just talk to him like you would talk to a friend so let's go into the Lord's Prayer and I'm going to end with this I've got about 10 minutes but then when we go into to the Lord's Prayer which really should be called the disciples prayer because it it's not given to be repeated although I know I know a lot of times you'll hear it repeated as if it's a prayer they'll they'll repeat it like they're praying but it's not to be repeated it was just an example it was an outline of prayer but Jesus said in in verse number nine after this manner therefore pray ye Our Father which is in heaven start that over again after this manner therefore pray ye Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Our Father which art in heaven we praise God recognizing and admitting that he reigns over us do you see that right there he reigns over our lives Hallowed be thy name that's to honor that he's holy that he's greatly respected We Begin we ought to begin every prayer with praise and just tell God what he is and who he is and and how we feel about him that's that's a beautiful thing it's kind of like my conversation with with with brother Mooney you you start the conversation off we we're not going to start off with telling them all our needs the the last thing I'm going to do is walk into my prayer closet and just start giving him a a grocery list of all the stuff that I need oh no the first thing I want to do is just tell him I'm coming to you because you reign in heaven and you're Lord over all but then he goes on in verse 10 thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven and I I know that this scripture might seem a little confusing but here here's here's where we see the necessity of prayer right here because in Genesis I want you to see this in Genesis 1 and 128 I may not even be able to finish through the prayer but in Genesis 1:28 the Bible says and God said let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the foul of the air over the cattle over all the Earth you see that right there he's saying I'm going to create mankind to have dominion over all of the Earth in Psalm 115 and 16 it says the heaven and even the heavens are the Lords but the Earth hath he given to the children of men so men we we have Humanity human kind we have full dominion over Earth everything in the Earth although God we know God's all powerful he's Lord over everything however he has given man he's given flesh he's given mankind dominion over the Earth Adam and Eve they sinned and and God could have taken the Dominion back from man but that would have gone against what he created and the rule that he created but instead God had to become a man we understand this we celebrate Easter because God had to become a man so he could retake the Dominion of Earth Matthew 28:18 Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and in Earth this is this is Jesus speaking Jesus Christ the son of God he had all power of heaven and his son of man all the sudden now he has all power on Earth but that's why the son had to be born that's why the Bible talks about a begotten woo begotten of the father there had to be Flesh and Blood born on Earth so that Jesus so God could take Dominion of the earth and so when we begin to pray Lord let your will be done in heaven we want it done on Earth as it is in heaven we're simply saying you've given us dominion over Earth and we want your will to be done here just like it's there because he's not going to force himself on us we understand that he's given us he's given us the ability to make choices he he's given us the ability that's why if you're here tonight thank you for being here you made a decision to be here here nobody forced you to be here all the kids that were forced to be here they're not in here you guys came cuz you wanted to come you're here because you made a conscious decision I'm going to church I want to hear the word of God I want to be taught the word of God I'm going to midweek University because I want to hear something that's going to empower me and make me a better person and add value to my life and God said that's the kind of people that I want to be the creator of people that want me to be their God people that want to serve me willingly want to serve me and so he gave us dominion over Earth but it's our job to return that and say God I know you gave us Dominion but we want your will to be done down here just like it's done up in heaven somebody said amen so we go down to verse 11 it says give us this day our daily bread we understand I'm moving quickly we understand this is our provision oh what we ask God God for God meet our needs this is the time when we begin to pray and say God you know that I have legitimate needs Lord God you know things have to happen in my life today this week this month or the rest of my life is going to be affected God I need provision I need you to give me today the bread that I need to make it through to tomorrow we can't automatically expect it we got to pray for it again we're giving dominion over the Earth so God he wants to provide but he's not going to force himself he wants us to request he wants us to make petitions before him verse 12 and forgive this is so important forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and I know there's two parts of this verse some claim the first part but skip the second part right God I want you to forgive me of my deaths God I want you to forgive me of the things that I've done wrong I want you to forgive me of my ignorance but I'm sure not going to forgive my brother of his ignorance God surely you saw what he he did to me what she said about me but this is listen oh there's two parts of this we can't we can't we can't go with the first and skip over the second the the the words as we do you see that right there in the very center of verse 12 it's separated by two words as we you see that that's a continual process now I don't know about you but I'm brother Johnstone I'm thankful that the only that there was not a one time forgiveness that went on in my my life I mean can you imagine if if if the day of our Salvation when we follow the Plan of Salvation and we repented and we're water baptized can can you imagine if everything up to that point was forgiven but then we're on our own from that point forward what none of us be making it y'all and so what this is simply saying Jesus is trying to teach them listen it's a process I'm forgiving you every day and Jesus says and if I'm forgiving you every day I'm expecting you to forgive your brother and your sister every day continue not just one time now God I forgave them 30 years ago when they said it but it's a different day today oh no no no no no as we that that that's continual we're just going to keep on forgiving we're going to keep on being offended brother Hammond I believe you Pastor no one one and two just preached recently talking about uh the offense that comes and every one of us Jesus himself said every no body's going to get offended but it's all about how we respond to that and are we truly going to forgive woo and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors I'm moving fast verse 13 and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil Jesus taught us to pray God deliver me from the triggers that tempt me listen everybody's got triggers Trigg fers are are things in your past that that that you messed up on that you tripped up on and those things that you see that that make you remember those things that you did that cause Temptation and lust or whatever it is to happen all over again you're simply praying in your prayer class you're saying Lord please lead me not into temptation Lord help me Lord God if it's a billboard I don't want to see that billboard if it's something coming across my phone I don't want to see that coming across my phone Lord please help me Lord God it's not that God is tempting us it's not that he's trying to make us trip up you're just simply saying Lord let me bypass those triggers that trigger me into temptation and then it says Deliver us from evil evil can be addictions evil can be harmful things that we might do ourselves or might be done to us evil harms us physically and spiritually and we're simply saying God I need you to deliver us uh from the evil one verse 13 here we go for thy is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen this verse teaches us right here to make sure we understand we open with it and now we're going to close with it that Jesus is Lord over our life it's your kingdom it's not my kingdom it's your house it's not my house it's your family it's not my family Lord It's Your Kingdom it's your power it's the glory it's all yours forever and ever for all eternity what I'm simply saying is you are Lord of everything in my life we say it all the time where the spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty but the correct translation is when the spirit is Lord then there is Liberty because if he's not Lord there is no Liberty the spirit of God can be in a room but if everybody in the room doesn't have him Lord over their life you don't have freedom Oh no you're not liberated just because you're in the house just because God's spirit is here you're not liberated but when you make the Lord the Lord of your life uh when he becomes everything to you all of a sudden there's a spirit of Liberty there's a spirit of Freedom it doesn't matter what drug you're addicted to if you'll say God it's your kingdom you are Lord you have all power I'm simply here I'm your servant I am under you you are over me less of me and more of you if we get into that Spirit oh my God all the sudden it's like the verse I open up with as the deer panteth after the water Brooks so my soul after thee Oh God my soul thirsteth for God for the Living God it's water to my soul I wonder if you can just lift up your hands I feel the Holy Ghost I wonder if you can just lift up your hands and be a receiver let them be receptacles and tenness that you can lift up to heaven and just say God I want your spirit Lord to overflow me right now now why don't you just give him praise I I believe we can walk through this outline stand to your feet I believe we can walk to this through this outline right here lifting up hands right here let's begin to praise God we got about two minutes let's begin to praise God come on with your voice lift up your voice and give him praise as if he's done something in your life as if he's been good to you as if he's changed you and rearranged you as if he brought you out of a myy clay and set you up on a rock to stay why don't you give him praise like he's your lord like he's your God like he's your savior that died for your sins and and shed his blood for you come on somebody praise him like you really love him uh praise him like you really desire him uh like you can't live without him uh like if he doesn't show up uh if he doesn't show out if he doesn't show himself strong you might not even make it to tomorrow but I love you Lord I want you I need you I desire you I can't live without you oh come on somebody Our Father which are in heaven Hallowed be thy name uh your name is GRE uh your name is wonderful your name is glorious uh your name is Anointed uh your name oh God is a very is a very flag Lord God that we stand under in Jesus your name is applied to our life uh thy kingdom come uh thy will be done Lord we need your help here in maraville we need your help here in America we need your help in Israel we need your help in pal Palestine Lord we need your help Lord in China in North Korea in Russia Lord we need protection in Taiwan Lord we need protection Lord in the Ukraine Lord in Jesus name let your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven let there be peace oh God let wickedness be destroyed and let peace continue in Jesus name uh and then we pray give us this day our daily bread come on somebody say God I have needs oh god oh oh come on somebody needs a financial blessing you ought to call that out before the Lord right now somebody in this place needs healing in your body you ought to say right now Jesus I Need Your Daily Bread I need you Lord God to nourish my body I've got cancer in my body or I've got diabetes in my body oh Lord God I've got arthritis it could be anything in your body that you say God I need your nurseman of healing power to flow through me right now Lord I need the daily bread uh forgive us of our trespasses come on pray this right here Lord forgive me of my sins uh Lord forgive me for I fall short uh forgive me when I miss the mark in Jesus name uh and as you're forgiving me God I'm going to give forgive those who trustpass against me I'm going to forgive those that offend me I'm going to forgive those that do me wrong and lead us not into temptation God we want to be holy God we want to be righteous uh God we want to be your servants your children we want to be set apart God lead me not into temptation oh God that would make me miss the mark but oh God I want to live a holy and a righteous and a Sanctified life uh oh God Deliver Us from Evil uh Lord Deliver Us from the evil ones uh Lord Deliver Us from the terrorists oh God uh Deliver Us from those that want to shed innocent blood uh Deliver Us oh God from Evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever come on let's just end this service come on it's 8:58 let's just let two minutes worth of praise and worship right here come on lift up our voices loud enough to make sure that God knows we're serious about this we're not putting on a show come on hey we're not Hypocrites this is what we do at home this is what we do in our prayer closet we give God praise and we give God worship uh for thine is the kingdom and the glory and the power forever forever and ever and ever come on you ought to let your holy language come out of your mouth woo you ought to let a holy language come out of your mouth I believe in a Pentecostal Church uh where Pentecostal people are filled with the Holy Ghost uh it's never out of order to let a holy language come out of your mouth I'm thankful for the young lady that got the Holy Ghost last night that's here tonight oh let that tongue out of your mouth shut oh we bless you in Jesus name we praise you oh God now clap your hands come on give the Lord a shout of Praise Give the Lord a shout of Praise he's in this place uh he's going to go home with us today he's going to go home with us today he's going to bless our families and bless our homes you believe that W if we could just get tomorrow morning set your clock early don't read your emails don't read the news I'm preaching to myself I told our leadership class I said I I'm a I'm a News Junkie I love I I just get on local news national news forign I I just there's something about I just enjoy news but listen tomorrow morning before any of that stuff just find your way into the prayer closet do do what Pastor said I don't know if you remember this but the very first message that he taught on this in this series he said you don't have to pray for an hour to be successful at praying if you could just get 10 minutes by yourself without your child screaming or without taking care of doing something for somebody else your your needy husband if you just get just 10 minutes by yourself listen that's all it takes to get in the throne room of God please please please I'm GNA do it do it go home tomorrow Friday morning Saturday morning get up Sunday morning ready to praise God again listen if we have discipline if we have discipline in our life spiritual discipline displine it will change our futures amen let me tell you this before we're dismissed pastor and sister Carpenter we we pretty much forced them we said you're you're leaving you're leaving town you're going to get some rest matter of fact right now they're supposed to be they're supposed to be in Jerusalem right now they're supposed to be in the Holy Land right now they're supposed to fly out on Monday and so they had already cleared their schedule to be out to be out of the country and so we said you know what if your schedule's cleared get out of town and so they're resting they're relaxing please pray for them pray that God would just give them a great week just give them rest of Mind rest of body can we do that can we pray for them right now can we do that let's pray for them Father we love our senior pastor and our first lady so much God I pray right now Lord God give them rest in their bodies God I pray give them rest of their mind oh God I I pray Lord God as they're getting away Lord God that Lord anything that troubles them they can just put it on the side burner Lord God and I pray that you just just encourage them Lord build them up strengthen them up Lord I pray that your Holy Ghost would just minister to them move through them bless them in Jesus name Lord help them to get back here safe Lord rejuvenated ready Lord God for Revival like we've never seen before we ask all this in Jesus name and the church said amen God bless you you're dismissing the fear of God Amen we'll see you Sunday morning if not before and if I can get our