First Things First: Prayer and Fasting for Renewal

the fruit of the spirit, the love, joy, peace, patience. I love to make the joke about if you've gone and you spent time praying and you come out grumpy, you might want to find out who you were talking to because maybe it wasn't God. Or perhaps you were doing a lot of talking, and perhaps it was time to do some listening. [00:31:07] (21 seconds)  #PrayListen

Because of things like prayer and solitude of service or in community, I've been able to recognize god at work in my life and provide comfort and peace in deeper ways. It's not the discipline that has changed God. It's the discipline that has allowed me to grow closer to God and to allow him to change me. Because the spiritual discipline does not transform you. It grows the depth of your relationship with God, the one who transforms you. [00:33:12] (31 seconds)  #SpiritualDisciplinesGrow

I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is is that we're to model the life of Christ. And everywhere he went, he brought the kingdom of God. Everywhere. That's our purpose. We get to follow in those footsteps. We're not here in our relationship with Jesus holding on until he returns. That's not our purpose here. [00:41:32] (23 seconds)  #BringTheKingdom

But we're gonna focus in the month of January on prayer and on fasting. Two spiritual disciplines, one I love and one that I need a reunderstanding of because I get hangry way too quick. However, in my understanding of the fruit of fasting, I find that actually that's the real thing that Jesus is trying to work on in my life, is will I trust him more than I will trust my appetite? [00:29:46] (32 seconds)  #FastToTrust

So let me tell you a little bit about what a spiritual discipline is not. It's not a mark of spiritual maturity. You see, they are a means to a different end. The goal is not doing. It's actually growing closer to God to allow him to transform you, much like we talk about the fruit of the spirit. Well, the fruit of the spirit is the indicator that you have spent life with Jesus, that you have spent life being transformed by him by allowing him to mold, shape, and move your life. [00:30:31] (35 seconds)  #DisciplinesAreMeans

And if you start to see what Jesus is requiring of us, it seems a little bit overwhelming, perhaps impossible to fulfill. And there is a reason for that. It's because we need him. There's no way we can do it. But in this, he shows us what the kingdom of heaven looks like or the kingdom of God. Matthew often, as you read through it, he refers to it as the kingdom of heaven. It's the same thing that he's talking about. And how we get to truly follow God, and it is our purpose and privilege to continue to expand upon what Jesus started. [00:37:36] (35 seconds)  #WeNeedHim

and then we have the sermon on the mount, and then we come to this point that we're talking about today where he introduces us to what we call the Lord's Prayer. See, prayer is really just simple, but often we overcomplicate it. And I think sometimes we do that so that we feel like we can be in control, That somehow, if we do this, that means God will do that. [00:38:40] (26 seconds)  #PrayerIsSimple

I cannot tell you of a single instance where I have prayed and not seen something happen. Sometimes I don't get the answer that I want, but sometimes, most of the time, it's better than what I prayed for. But anything I have prayed to God with, I have seen something happen. Because as I come to him as his child, as I pray and I surrender myself to him, he transforms me. I grow closer to him, and hopefully, we see some fruit in my life as well. We need God. We need to recognize that each and every day. [00:44:06] (46 seconds)  #PrayerTransformsMe