Persistent Prayer: Aligning with God's Will

### Bible Reading

1. **1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 (NIV)**
- "Be joyful always; pray continually."

2. **Luke 18:1-8 (NLT)**
- The Parable of the Persistent Widow

3. **Romans 8:26 (NIV)**
- "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."

### Observation Questions

1. What does 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 instruct believers to do continually? How does this align with the sermon’s emphasis on persistent prayer? [45:48]

2. In the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), what was the widow seeking from the unjust judge, and how did her persistence pay off? [01:04:12]

3. According to Romans 8:26, how does the Spirit assist us in our prayers, especially when we do not know what to say? [47:53]

4. How did Pastor Tom describe the relationship between prayer and communion with God? [49:37]

### Interpretation Questions

1. Why do you think Paul emphasizes the need to "pray continually" in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17? How might this practice impact a believer's daily life? [45:48]

2. What lesson does Jesus want us to learn from the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8? How does this parable encourage us to approach God with our requests? [01:04:12]

3. How does the concept of the Spirit interceding for us in Romans 8:26 provide comfort and assurance in our prayer life? [47:53]

4. Pastor Tom mentioned that prayer is not just about communication but about communion with God. How does this deeper understanding of prayer change the way we approach our relationship with God? [49:37]

### Application Questions

1. Reflect on your current prayer habits. Do you find it challenging to "pray continually" as instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17? What steps can you take to integrate more prayer into your daily routine? [45:48]

2. Think about a time when you were persistent in prayer like the widow in Luke 18:1-8. What was the outcome, and how did it affect your faith? How can you apply this persistence to a current prayer request? [01:04:12]

3. Romans 8:26 speaks of the Spirit interceding for us. Have you ever experienced a moment when you didn’t know what to pray for, and felt the Spirit’s guidance? How can you become more attuned to the Spirit’s intercession in your life? [47:53]

4. Pastor Tom emphasized the importance of starting your day with prayer. How can you make this a consistent practice? What specific prayer or routine can you implement to dedicate your day to God? [01:15:44]

5. The sermon highlighted the importance of sharing our prayer requests and testimonies. How can you create opportunities within your small group or community to share and support each other’s prayer needs? [01:24:47]

6. Pastor Tom mentioned praying for big, bold requests. What is one significant prayer request you have been hesitant to bring before God? How can you start praying for it persistently and boldly? [01:25:23]

7. Reflect on the idea of communion with God as described in the sermon. How can you cultivate a deeper sense of God’s presence in your daily life beyond just verbal prayer? What practices or habits can help you achieve this? [49:37]

Day 1: Faith in Persistent Prayer
Persistent prayer is not a mere repetition of requests but a profound expression of faith. It is the act of coming before God with consistency, not because He forgets our needs, but because it is in the continual seeking that one's faith is both demonstrated and deepened. Persistent prayer is an acknowledgment of dependence on God, recognizing that the outcomes are in His hands, and it is a practice that molds the heart to be more attuned to His will. It is in the persistence that believers find not only the answers they seek but also the strength to accept whatever answer comes, knowing it is given with divine wisdom.

In the Bible, the story of Hannah is a powerful example of persistent prayer. Despite years of barrenness and the accompanying sorrow, Hannah did not cease to pour out her soul before the Lord. Her faith was not passive; it was active and fervent, and it was rewarded not just with the birth of Samuel but with a deeper relationship with God.

[01:04:54]

Reflection: Reflect on an area of your life where you have been praying persistently. How has this persistence in prayer shaped your relationship with God, regardless of the outcome?

Day 2: Communion Beyond Communication
True communion with God transcends simple speech and enters into a realm of deep understanding and awareness of His presence. It is in the quiet moments of listening that one often hears the gentle whisper of the Spirit, guiding and comforting. This communion is a two-way relationship where the soul learns to be still and know that He is God. It is not about the quantity of words spoken but the quality of the heart's posture, open and receptive to divine influence. In this sacred exchange, the desires of the heart are refined, and the believer's will becomes increasingly aligned with God's.

The story of Elijah on Mount Horeb illustrates the profound nature of communion with God. After a powerful display of God's might on Mount Carmel, Elijah encountered God not in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a low whisper. This encounter reminds believers that God often speaks in the stillness, beyond the clamor of everyday life.

[51:19]

Reflection: When was the last time you experienced a sense of true communion with God, and how can you cultivate a lifestyle that fosters this deeper connection?

Day 3: Prayer as the Day's Foundation
Beginning the day with prayer is akin to setting the foundation for a building; it determines the strength and direction of everything that follows. When one dedicates their plans to God in the morning, it is an act of surrender and an invitation for divine intervention. This practice does not guarantee a day free of trouble, but it does promise the guidance and peace of God amidst daily challenges. It is a conscious choice to prioritize the spiritual over the temporal and to acknowledge God's sovereignty over every aspect of life.

Consider the words of David in Psalm 5:3, "O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." David's example shows the importance of seeking God at the start of the day, setting a watchful and expectant tone for all that is to come.

[01:15:44]

Reflection: How can you make morning prayer a non-negotiable part of your daily routine, and what difference do you expect it to make in your day-to-day life?

Day 4: The Comfort and Power of Scripture
The Word of God is a source of immeasurable comfort and strength, offering peace in the midst of turmoil and guidance in times of uncertainty. Scriptures like Psalm 23 serve as a reminder of God's constant presence and his unwavering care for His people. The power of God's Word lies not in its poetic resonance but in its truth and the promise that God is with His people, even in the darkest valleys. Engaging with Scripture is not a passive activity; it is an active pursuit of God's heart, a way to anchor the soul in the promises of God that have stood the test of time.

The words of Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever," emphasize the enduring nature of God's Word and its ability to provide stability and hope in an ever-changing world.

[56:09]

Reflection: What Scripture has brought you comfort recently, and how can you use it to encourage someone else who may be facing a difficult time?

Day 5: Expanding Our View of God
Understanding God should never be confined to the limits of human experience or perception. He is infinitely greater and more holy than the best of human understanding. As believers grow in their knowledge of God, it is crucial to allow their image of Him to be shaped by His self-revelation through Scripture, the life of Jesus, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This journey of discovery is one of humility and wonder, as one learns to embrace the mystery of God's nature and to trust in His character, even when it surpasses human comprehension.

Job's encounter with God, where he is reminded of the vastness of God's creation and wisdom, as seen in Job 38:4-7, serves as a powerful reminder that God's ways and thoughts are higher than human ways and thoughts.

[01:07:09]

Reflection: How can you challenge your current understanding of God to grow deeper, and what steps can you take to ensure your view of Him is being shaped by His revelation rather than your own experiences?

Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.

Welcome to Lake Point Church! It is a good day to be in church, isn't it?

Wait a minute, it's a good day to be in church, isn't it?

All right, that's what I thought. Because you guys should be more awake than the 9:15 service, and they were much louder than you. So it is a good day to be here. We're excited about everything that goes on here at our church, and thank you for being here. If you're a guest with us, if this is your first time, we're glad that you're here. Thank you for choosing to be at Lake Point.

Hopefully, you got one of these programs when you walked in, and in your program is a connection card. We'd love to have you fill that out, and you can drop that in one of the giving kiosks, or you can give it to Pastor Scott. He'll be just outside in the hallway, and he has a special gift for you just to say thank you for visiting with us here at Lake Point today.

As a church, we do so much, and oftentimes we just don't know everything that goes on here at our church. One of the things that your faithful giving allows us to do is to support ministries like we're going to recognize today.

So in your program, you have a flyer, and it talks about one of the ministries that we support. There are two of them: Pregnancy Centers Compassion and Crossroads. Both of these pregnancy centers are ways that our church, as you give each week, supports ministries that sometimes fly under the radar. We just don't know what happens or that we even support them.

This morning, we wanted to recognize them. Compassion and Crossroads are our missionary partners for the month, and we just wanted to take a minute to recognize them. Oftentimes, when we have missionaries that we recognize, they're overseas or in another state, but this morning, one of the representatives of Crossroads is actually here.

So Linda Blanchard is going to come up to the platform here, and Linda will have some things to say in just a minute. But we're going to turn our eyes to the screens, and she actually made a video for us to share some of the new things that are going on with Crossroads.

"I'm Linda, and I'm outside the offices of Crossroads Care Center. I just want to give you a little walkthrough of what we do here at Crossroads. Right here, this building that we're looking at is our main offices and our current medical portion of our services. It's a work in progress on the outside—no sign yet, but that'll be coming.

I'm going to take you on a little walkthrough of our medical clinic, so come on in. This is the waiting room of the medical clinic. So what is the medical clinic? Well, the medical clinic is our space where we're going to see our clients who currently do not have insurance. We'll be able to do prenatal care here. Also, this is the space where we'll be able to do our limited ultrasounds.

So this is the waiting room. Follow me, and we'll walk on through here. Pictures would not do this place justice. I decided to do this video. So this is the reception area. Follow me while we walk on back here and look in the first space right here.

First room, this would be the ultrasound room. And then as we tour on down the hall here, we go into this space right here. This is what we call our Options Counseling room. This is the place where the client will meet with an advocate and discuss her options.

For example, she comes in and finds herself in an unplanned pregnancy. She will sit down and talk with one of our advocates and discuss what her options can be. They'll discuss parenting options, which she would become a part of our program here, or options for adoption. We'll also explain abortion. We don't recommend abortion clinics, but we will tell her what she can expect should she decide to do that.

And then that's where we let the Holy Spirit take over to help her make her decision. This room that we're in right now is our lab. Take on down the hall here, and this would be a blood draw room.

All right, follow me as we walk on down the rest of this space, and we go into this room. Here we have an exam room for our clients for the prenatal care. And then to my left, there's another exam room.

I'm going to end the video right here. This is our nurses' station. I just want to say that this space that we're in right now is just a huge blessing. And where did all of this come from? Well, actually, it was supplied by God. What else can I say? It's through the local churches and individuals like you that have donated to Crossroads to make this possible. It's beyond anything that we could have done on our own.

So thank you, church, for all that you do for Crossroads—for the time that some of you spend volunteering, for the items that you donate, and for the money that you give. So God bless, and thank you for letting me take you on this little tour. Bye."

Well, hey, Lake Point Church! So as you can see, I was pretty excited to be able to share with you about the newest extension of Crossroads Care Center, and that is our prenatal clinic. We opened for business and started seeing women just this past Monday. The facility itself looks way different than it even did in the video that I made a few weeks ago, so it's a huge blessing.

I want to mention to you about our banquet that's coming up at the Park Place Hotel in downtown Rochester. If you are at all interested in that, that's our biggest fundraiser of the year. I have these cards at the back, and they have a handy little QR code at the bottom of it. If you'd like to scan that or take a card, and if you're just a non-techy part and just want to make the phone call, there's a phone number for you to call to be able to do that.

I had a few people ask me where we were located, but just right on the back of that handout that you had in your program is our location and just a little bit about our ministry itself. There are many facets to it, many opportunities for volunteering. It says on there we even train the volunteers, so you can call on that.

Alysa Blanchard and I are going to be back at our table to talk to you. We can tell you more about the items we need and what's needed—just more of the ministry of Crossroads, much more than what you've got a glimpse of right here.

I want to thank you so much, Lake Point, for the donations through the years. Hardly a week goes by that I don't get baby donations—used and new clothing. It's such a blessing to us. We thrive on that. This is how we're able to minister to the moms that enter our program.

So I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of Crossroads. I want to say to you that because of you, lives are changed and lives are saved.

You can see me at the back after the service. I just want to challenge you, both men and ladies, if you'd like to help with Crossroads, you can do that. Because for every lady that comes in, there's a man that's there as well. Those men need help.

You said Bible studies and things that you do with them?

Yes, we have advocates to meet with a man when a woman comes in for an ultrasound or pregnancy test. We have a male advocate there to meet with him as well.

So if you're interested, maybe God's stirring something in your heart, and you'd like to find out more information, go see her at the back table there in the lobby, and she'd love to answer any questions. They're also collecting things throughout the month for that pregnancy center, and if you'd like to donate, you can find out what they're looking for and donate that stuff there as well.

But we get to pray for them today. Sometimes when we pray, our missionaries are here, our mission partners are here; sometimes they're not. We're fortunate that not only are we praying for somebody that's here today, but in our local community, our church is not just sending money away. We're doing stuff right here in our community and reaching people in desperate need at times.

So we're just going to have a word of prayer over them and pray that God continues to bless their ministry.

Father, we're grateful today that we can, as a church, partner with ministries like Crossroads and Compassion. Lord, we pray that you would use the men and women that are serving in these capacities to minister to the people that walk in. Lord, that you would just fill them with the Holy Spirit and use them to speak truth into the hearts and lives of these ladies.

Lord, I pray that you'll help them to calm their fears and give them tools that they might be able to walk out of those buildings with confidence, knowing that they can do this.

Father, we pray that you would provide monetary needs for the things that they need for their building and their facilities. Lord, we thank you for the doctors who give of their time to come in and minister to ladies who are looking for answers.

So, Father, we pray that you'll just have your hand on these ministries. Lord, we pray that their fundraising efforts would be effective and that you would just send in the money that they need, the people that they need, the resources that they need, so they can continue to minister in this area as it's so desperately needed.

Lord, we pray that you'll just guide and direct them in all the decisions that they make.

Lord, for us here today, I pray that you'll help us to see that we need to be faithful in giving to you because it's through your giving that ministries like this can go on.

Lord, we need to rest in you, and as we hear the message today, we pray that you'll fill Pastor Tom with your power and use him to speak to our hearts and encourage us to live a life wholly devoted to you.

We pray these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

Well, thank you, my friends. I could probably just listen to Linda give tours all day. Could you guys?

She has such a sweet spirit about her.

My name is Tom, and I'm one of the pastors here. I'm the worship pastor here, and there's a lot of gunk happening in my face right now, so I apologize that it's going to be a little raspy today. But my wife told me that I sound like Phoebe from Friends when she had her sexy voice, so I'm going to close this morning's service with a great rendition of "Smelly Cat."

If you don't know what I'm referencing, I don't know what you were doing in the '90s if you weren't watching musty TV, man. I'm telling you.

Well, if you're a guest here, just thank you so much for being here. I always tell you that if I say anything weird up here, Pastor Scott will fix it next week. It'll be fine.

But we have been in a series of prayer, and as a church, many of us have been praying and fasting. The reason that we're doing that is just because we want to see God move, and we want to open up our hearts to whatever He would have. We just think that that's the way that we're supposed to be walking out our faith.

Lake Point, we say that we're here to help people take their next step with Christ and with God. As a church, this is our next step—in prayer, careful obedience to Him.

You know, I grew up going to a Christian private school. I was in a Christian private school from preschool all the way through high school. The first one that I was a part of was connected to a church, and I was there every day. There was a comedian who once said that if the window washer came on a Thursday, our family would fill our pew and watch them do it. We were just always there at church.

I probably had the halls of that place memorized so well that I could have gotten around with my eyes closed. I knew it so incredibly well. I also grew up around some pretty incredible men and women of God. I got to talk to them and ask them questions and annoy them pretty frequently because I thought that the steps in the church were definitely meant for Superman to take dives off of.

I just would have my fun, and it was right outside the pastor's office, which he wasn't crazy about, but I got to know that guy really, really well because I was always around playing around him. Because I was always around incredible guys and incredible orators too—they were great speakers. We were a televangelist-type church. If that doesn't explain any of my baggage, I don't know what does.

But they were awesome in front of the camera, and when those dudes would preach or pray or read the announcements, all of it was captivating and engaging. Other than church, we had basic cable in my house, so I was on Comedy Central nonstop just watching stand-ups. I only had great guys speaking.

So by the time it was like the second or third grade when my teacher said, "Tommy, would you pray today?" Well, that was the last time she asked because I went for eight minutes or so just talking like I was praying for every blue jay that flew by. "Lord, I know that you care for even the sparrow." And they're like, "We have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat. Wrap it up, kid!"

And that's just what I grew up around. I grew up really believing—not to anyone's fault, it's just we get understandings the way we get understandings—that I thought prayer was just talking to God.

One of my concerns that I have right now is just one of your pastors. There's probably a lot of folks where you could have been following Jesus for better than a decade, but if I asked you to pray for us in a circle—certainly not here, but maybe here—there are a lot of folks who would just say, "No way." Like, you would want no part of that.

Part of it is because you wouldn't know what to say. What I'm hoping I can do for you this morning, if I could give a gift to you this morning, is how to pray when you do not know what to say and how to never stop praying.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17. Paul is this guy with a wild backstory. He was a murderer at one point. He liked to track down people that he disagreed with and killed them. But you know what changes your life? It's when you meet Jesus.

We find out in the book of Acts that Jesus actually met him and said, "Saul, why are you persecuting me? Why are you persecuting our people?" The Tom translation would read, "What's the deal with you, man? Why are you doing this?"

This is how the verse reads in an easier-to-read version called the NIV. It says in verse 16, "Be joyful always." In verse 17, it says, "Pray continually."

But I grew up with the King James Version, so I didn't read "continually." Any of my King James friends? "Pray without ceasing." Yeah, ner, should you cease, I guess. Like, never ever stop.

Well, man, if prayer is talking, does that mean we're supposed to be talking to God nonstop? I'm not feeling like 100%. I apologize. Probably would be nonsense if you never stopped talking. Eventually, when I talk to people, they tell me really sweet things.

When I ask about their prayer life, they're like, "No, it's pretty good. It's just, you know, I sometimes fall asleep when I'm praying." You guys ever have that? Where you just kind of pass out in the middle of it?

Yeah, or maybe things that you had to do that day or you've got coming up, and you've got like, "Oh, can't forget to do that. Can't forget to do that."

Pro tip: I keep two columns if I'm going to spend a great deal of time in prayer. One of them is just things that I'm trying to pray through—things that I'm trying to bring before the Lord as they come to me. The other one is that stuff that just randomly pops into my head of the stuff that I can do.

I just know my brain, and I give permission. It's not like God's like, "What is he writing down?" It's nothing like that for Him. I just kind of give myself permission to do that.

And if I do fall asleep, I just have peace that God will kind of just be like, "Hey, you didn't finish your thought earlier, and I'm kind of lost." No, it's none of that. It's none of that.

Prayer is not always about what you say. Sometimes prayer is, though, talking to God. If you're taking notes, that's our first point. Sometimes prayer is talking to God.

We get lots of examples of this in Scripture. A couple of them—we were in Philippians chapter 4, I believe it was last week—says, "Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

Do you know why God told you He wanted to hear your requests? It's because He wants to hear your requests. That's part of it. It's a mind-blowing exposition there. He actually really does want to hear from you.

Romans 8:26 is one of the most comforting prayers that I have and verses that I have in my life. It says, "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."

I just love it that even when I don't know what to say, He knows what I'm trying to say. I love it that when I don't know what to say, the Holy Spirit takes over and starts praying too. I love that. I love that part of the relationship that's happening in there.

So sometimes prayer is communication. Sometimes prayer is talking. But if prayer is only talking, and I asked you, "Did you pray today?" the most that many of us could say in our prayer life is we talked to God.

I just want to ask you, do you have any relationships in your life, or have you ever had any relationships in your life where you knew somebody and they did all the talking? Was it a healthy relationship? That probably depends on the situation. But all the talking—all of it?

Well, that's a one-way road, and everybody in here knows that a relationship is always two ways. There's always two people talking to each other.

So the idea that I want to come to is that, yeah, sometimes prayer is communication, but what prayer can always be—and it's what I believe that God's goal for us today is—our second point: God's goal is that we would be in lifelong communion with Him.

See, communion is so much deeper than communication. In fact, I would say that if I was doing math—which I'm not great at—but I would say that communion would belong over communication.

So what's communion, you ask? Well, when I hear communion, I'm sure I picture the same thing that many of you picture, where you picture communion as the thing that we do together where we are remembering God's broken body and that His blood was spilled for us.

Then we do an act where we actually ingest bread or a cracker—which we also allow gluten-free crackers here, we supply those—and juice to remember His blood. And that's communion.

But what's really happening is what's communion? Communion is an awareness of someone else. And by awareness, I don't just mean I'm vaguely aware that this other person is in the room. Like, I'm vaguely aware of many of you being here today.

But what I would actually say is I'm not just aware; I understand, and I'm taking on that person's thoughts and their priorities. I'm with them, and I know them well.

Communion—now I know my wife Jenna knows me. She knows me very well. Jenna basically always knows the answer to "How was your day?" often before I answer. And I know if her day was okay too because if she's not in a good mood, I can tell by the vibe.

I can tell by the vibe if it's family, if it's me, if it's my mother-in-law, who we call Nonna, or which kid it is. I can generally tell by the vibe. We've been together a long time. We've talked a lot, and I've listened a lot too.

I can also tell if she's had a frustrating day at work, whether or not it was somebody who was in leadership because they're the ones who really mess with your day, or your peers who just don't get it right. Not that any of you have jobs or understand that. That's exactly how it is for my job. My job is great with an awesome boss. I've never frustrated him.

Okay, now how do I know the answer to that question? And how is it? Because I've done a lot of life with her. I've had a lot of good days. I've had a lot of bad days, and we've seen it. We've seen that together, and I know her so well.

I've become so familiar with her. I have heard her words. I have seen her deeds, and I have seen her responses. And with the Lord, I know His word, and I have seen His deeds, and I have seen His gracious responses and His mighty conviction. I've seen those things in Him.

I've had experience. I got a history with the Lord. It takes time. It takes communion.

And I guess I gotta tell you one of the best parts about it in my relationship with my wife is that if she asks me how my day was, I also know that she's also saying that I'm ready to receive the truth about how your day was because I love you.

And gosh, what a hard place to get to, right? Those of you who have been in some long-term relationships or those of you who are craving to find them, it takes a long, long road with a lot of activity. You can make vows and promises, but isn't it so sweet to be with somebody who doesn't just have a vow but has had vows that have been cashed in many, many, many, many, many times?

That's communion, where I know by way of history and remembering how good they are.

See, companionship means something so much deeper than what I ever vowed for it to be when we got married. I used words, but I did not understand how wonderful they were.

In sickness and in health—my wife would say, "In sickness." And in sickness is what it feels like half the time. My goodness.

In sickness and health is great till death do us part. I'm promising to stay with somebody for the rest of my life when I have barely lived any life at that point.

At some point, it's promises, but then when you start having a history of promise-keeping, oh, the wonderful companionship that you can find in that.

You see, by way that I believe that that happens in your walk with Jesus is that you become aware because communion is awareness. When you're in the word—and the word being the holy word of God and in His scripture and in His Bible—and you're actually reading it and you're taking it in, and to tell you just like how my vows meant one thing in my youth, so do the scriptures.

Psalm 23 tells you that I have read the 23rd Psalm in so many different emotionally dynamic situations. Sweet mercy, what an understatement.

I realized the verse was both never vague but never so specific that it brings healing to every variety of broken hearts. Psalm 23 is, I think, the most amazing written work of all mankind. It's my hot take on art. I think it's beyond beautiful phrasing with beautiful imagery. I think it's holy.

You know, the first time that I ever heard Psalm 23 that I remember is when I had to memorize it. I had to memorize it in elementary class. I was actually a kindergartener the first time I memorized it, and I just loved the picture of "He maketh me lie down in green pastures" because as a little boy, that sounds safe.

That sounds safe. You know, Mr. Rogers said the reason that he was so successful was that he knew how to make a kid feel safe, and that's what Psalm 23 did for me as a child. It made me feel so safe.

As I grew up, it started meaning different things. I had a tough childhood. There were some things that happened that were just really, really painful. One thing that happened—and some of you will understand this—is when my biological father moved out of the house.

I'm sitting in front of a man of God, and I'm telling him what happened, and my mom is telling him what happened. The first thing that he does is he does not respond. What to do? What to say? What's the right thing to say that this kid is falling apart?

It's when he stood up from his desk and he turned around and he grabbed the Bible off the shelf and he opened it up to Psalm 23. Knowing that the Lord was with me and that He was walking with me, and he was willing to be talking with me, and he was doing it right then and there and saying a new word to me out of an ancient text like Psalm 23—it was beautiful.

I remember Psalm 23 is what I said the first time that I was with somebody when they were passing away. She was an amazing, amazing, amazing woman. I love her so much. She was a pillar of our church, and the senior pastor was gone, and the youth pastor, worship pastor was there.

When I went into her room, I didn't know what to say, so I got up my U-Verse Bible app, and I whispered Psalm 23 into her ear. The countenance of her body—because she could not respond—changed because she knew the Lord was with her, and she died in peace that day because that scripture is holy.

It was His word. You know, you spend enough time in prayer, and you spend enough time in the word—not just in your own thoughts and your own conclusions about what He may be saying—but just sitting in Him.

You start to pick up on the vibe of God. You start to recognize His ways and His tendencies, and they are outside of your own.

The real problem that I have if prayer is just always just talking and talking and talking and talking is that prayer is going to be limited by the creativity of the dialogue that you can create, and you will run out of things to say.

But He will never run out of things to say back to you. But He doesn't always speak just saying words into your head, but He is always ready to talk to you through His word. It is holy. It is amazing.

As your life continues to provide—which are just new levels of feces to hit the fan—aren't you glad to hear it? Man, I don't know. Little worship pastor, at least he's fun. At least I get to hear words like feces from the church that didn't grow up here.

Isn't that good for you? I gotta tell you, your life was never built to be easy, and the greatest blessing that you can have in your life is not necessarily one of ease, but it is one of purpose. It can mean something.

But if you're just constantly trying to figure it out, figure it out, figure it out, then the real problem that I see with a lot of Christians with prayer is that we think that there is an economy that's taking place.

I say or do the right things; it will reveal God to give me the right results. Do not ever put the Lord Almighty in your debt.

What happens is we think if we pray the right prayer and structure is good—structure is important. Structure helps teach you something. I mean, if you really want to know how to be good at a sport, you have to learn inside of structure first, right?

If you want to learn how to do something well, you start with structure. You want to become amazing at it, you start understanding the structure. Remember, I love what Mark Twain said. He said, "The English language and all of its rules are useful to those who can break it as long as you understand what they mean."

Meaning you can leave the structure behind, and he created some of the greatest works that have stood tall in America for so many years because he understood what the purpose was.

Prayer is not about you unlocking God to give you what you want Him to give you. Prayer is about you being in communion with Him.

When you are in His ways, you are in His will. I just really believe that if you think in your head, "If I just pray the right prayer, dear God, You are holy. Thank you for this day."

Okay, now I've called Him holy. I've thanked Him for the day. I've shown gratitude, and then you start listing out your requests, which again, the scripture tells us to do. But if you think He owes you based on it, you've missed it.

And then because we really want Him to answer that prayer, then we say, "In Jesus' name." And if we really want to close some deal, "In Jesus' mighty, precious, and holy name."

Before that, you probably prayed over your dinner and asked Him to do some sort of miracle to your dinner to make sure that that pizza was going to give you some kale calories instead.

And it just doesn't happen that way. There is no economy except for His judgment and then His offering of grace by way of His Son.

Then you and I either surrender to it or we do not. That's the end of the economy. The rest is relationship. The rest is relationship, and it's communion, and it's waiting for you and I.

As far as asking the Lord for things, I see no problem with it whatsoever because Jesus actually told us to do it.

This is a point that I want to make to you in your fourth point in your notes: You cannot over-pray or over-request.

I know you'd love to kind of make you land in one place. Do I ask for a lot of things? Do I not ask for a lot of things? The answer is yes—all of it at once. It's a relationship.

God is not some genie that you're trying to rub on the side of the lamp in order to get to the right thing, and then He's limited you to three wishes. No, no, no, no. He's inviting you into a relationship.

When you have a relationship with somebody like Him, who is only Him—there is no one like Him—you cannot over-request.

This is in Luke 18, verses 1-8, and this is going to be out of the New Living Translation of the Bible. I love the New Living Translation. It's one of the translations that I read when I'm just in kind of devotional mode, like, "Go, God! I just need to get you. I need to understand what the point of this passage is."

I love the New Living Translation for that. I like the English Standard Version when I want to study one word at a time when all of doctrine hangs on one word.

But for this, I love the way that they have Jesus's tone captured in this. This is the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18, verse 1.

"One day, Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. There was a judge in a certain city," He said, "who neither feared God nor cared about people."

Jesus is trying to get right to the crux of who this judge is. He wants you to understand his character completely, so he's made a very simple character out of him. He neither feared God nor cared about people. He has no faith, and people are nonsense to him, so he has no moral compass.

These people in the crowd are familiar with him. He's saying this guy is nothing but a judge, and a widow. Verse 3: "Of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, 'Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.'"

The judge ignored her for a while, but finally said to himself, "I don't fear God or care about people." Really trying to drive this point home, Jesus. I like it.

"But this woman is driving me crazy! I don't know why you're giggling. I don't want to get in trouble. I'm going to see that she gets justice because she is wearing me out with her constant requests."

Verse 6: "Then the Lord said, 'Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? He will keep putting them off. I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly. But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?'"

It's fascinating to me that Jesus, our Lord, says right then and there, pestering in faith—when you're pestering the Lord—is the same thing. The demonstration of faith was to not stop praying.

Why would the Lord tell you to pester Him? I love how blunt Jesus is with the character. He wants to make sure that we got His audience that they could quickly understand.

Doesn't love God, doesn't love people. She's a woman. It's just scripture. Don't email me.

You know the reason that it seems ridiculous to us is because God has limits. God does not have limits, and you and I do. Our God does not have limits. He does not get annoyed with your requests.

In fact, He's telling you to bring it on. You got a concern in your life? Do not stop bringing it to God. You got a dream that you thought was supposed to come true by now, and you really felt like it was from the Lord, and now you're looking around, and you're like, "Where is it?"

Don't stop talking to Him. Don't evaluate His timeline because He is good, and His ways are perfect. But what you can do is you can trust enough to continue to ask.

If I asked you what you thought about God and I pushed for a very specific opinion, what kind of answer would I get from you? Beyond, you know, "He loves me," but what He really thinks specifically about you?

I'm talking about like the four-paragraph Amazon review of you. What would He really say about you? You know, I asked somebody—she's one of my heroes in this life—and I asked her a few years ago, "What do you think that God really thinks about you?"

She gave a good answer in the sense that it was the truth. I like honest answers. I long for authenticity in my life. She said, "You know, I think He thinks I'm doing a pretty good job, but He's probably a little disappointed."

I asked, "Well, why are you disappointed?" The crux of the answer was, with much pulling, was because she was disappointed in herself.

You see, when God is just the imaginary perfect version of you, He is small. When God is—when I call Him God your Father—and the only thing that you can imagine is the perfect version of your dad, that's not who He is.

Certainly, if you have kids and they're looking to you and saying, "God's the perfect version of you," how shy is their picture of the Lord? Pretty shy.

Because He's not just perfect; He's so holy that He cannot tolerate sin in His presence. He's so holy and wonderful and powerful that no lie can stand true before Him.

He's so holy and powerful that when Moses came and wanted to see Him, the only thing that God would let him see is He put him in the cliff of the rock and said, "I will allow you to see my back and where it has been."

That's all you can see. He's not the perfect version of any man you've ever met or one that you could possibly fathom or imagine.

My kids—we went on this awesome, awesome, awesome vacation, and we were really excited about going on this vacation. You know, like I said earlier, structure is a good thing, and we were so excited to go to Disney.

Our family had a little dance. We did it up over here. You guys remember that dance? "We're going to Disney!" See, my kids are doing it over there.

We were so excited about going to that. It was just, oh man, we were just so pumped the whole time we were on our way to get over there.

Now, the way that that car ride—the road trip—and I wanted a road trip because I'd never been on a road trip. The only thing I'd ever gone on as a kid, besides visiting family in Kentucky, was I went to Jellystone Camp and parked.

You guys remember Jellystone with Yogi Bear and Boo Boo? Those guys terrified me! Those dirty bear costumes coming at you—like, do you know what bears do? They eat you!

Like, Pooh Bear thought that guy steals. But I never got to go on any kind of real vacation in my life, so I was just so excited because I was giving my kids something that I didn't get to experience. I was so pumped about it.

Now, the day started really good, and it ended well too. There's no dark turn coming, but it started with, "Good morning! Are you guys excited? I'm so glad that we're going on this trip today."

But what if throughout the day I kept giving it that same structure? "Children, I love you. I'm so glad to be on this trip with you today. Does anybody need to go to the rest stop? Amen. It was good talking to you."

And then we just shut down in silence for the rest of the day. What an awkward, awkward road trip that would be, especially in Ohio. Amen!

That would have just gotten so weird. No, I mean, it starts with the day. The day started—it had some structure to the beginning of the day for sure.

You know, we had all those standard things, but then it was like as the day went on, it was as we saw things that were beautiful, we would talk to each other and be like, "Oh my goodness, look! Isn't it great?"

By the time we were getting there, we were talking about the future. We were excited about the things we were going to do over the next coming days. We were just talking about how excited we were for the future that was in front of us.

What if I told you that praying is sometimes talking? Prayer can always be communion, and the structure doesn't guarantee you anything.

But what you can have is a relationship where it flows and moves nonstop throughout your day.

So I'm a nerd. I like Star Wars, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I have a Millennium Falcon guitar, and if you don't know what the Millennium Falcon guitar is, we have a discipleship process we would love to plug you into because it is the coolest guitar out of the movie Star Wars.

It's the best one that they made. I don't care, and I won't hear anything otherwise. I'm so excited. I'm a giant nerd.

When I am watching my nerdy movies and occasionally playing my nerdy video games, I talk to God while I'm doing it. You know why? Because He likes me.

I guarantee if He made this mess, He can handle me talking to Him about it. My favorite—and another thing—video games are good for me because they let you shoot people in video games, and at church, I just get to pray for them.

So I got to the end of this game last year. I'm 42 years old. I should be over this stuff. I'm not. Whatever.

I get to the end of the game last year, and it was so good, and I stood up, and I realized I can't tell my family about any of this without their eyes rolling back into their head.

So I turned to God, and I was like, "Father, did you see that? It was awesome!" And you know what I felt in that moment? Not alone.

And actually, I felt loved and seen. I love this relationship with Him because there is no codependency. He needs nothing from me but has offered Himself to me through Jesus.

Yeah, I invite Him into the whole thing. Part of it is just because I love it that my God is in my day.

What if I told you that when you're in His word and you're on your knees, you'll know He's there, and you'll know His vibe? You'll see His consistency. You'll know that He has not left you.

You'll know that His passion for you does not dim like our passion for Him can. He is an immovable, unmovable force of love and affection for you.

And wouldn't you love to learn more about His day plans instead of just asking Him to bless yours?

What would happen if we prayed, "Lord, this life is Yours. Let me see Your plans today."

I've prayed so many times, "God, what is Your will for my life?" and I just felt a switch happen. It was a great exchange of priorities when I said, "What is Your will for Your life?"

Not just because this life is Yours, but because Your life is grand, and I want to be a part of Your story.

Pastor Scott described us as being extras in His grand tale, and to me, that's exciting to know that I could be anywhere near His heart and His mind.

The Bible says that His ways are perfect, and I will tell you that when you are in His ways, you are inside of His will, which would just give me the simplest way that I would know to tie all of this together for you.

Whether it's communing with Him or talking with Him, it's to point number five: Start your day in prayer the way that you hope to end it.

You know, you lay there in bed, and can you just imagine what would happen before you even get up? Because once I finally get out of bed—which is always a thing—just convincing myself that, "No, you do have to actually get up, and you have to wash the whole situation by way of shower."

Then you have to choose clothing to walk out of there, and then you've got things that need to happen today. You've got a schedule. You've got a to-do list. You've got things that have to happen today.

But before you even get rolling into that, before feet touch the ground, you start with this: "Lord, today I present this body to You, a living sacrifice. Lord, I give You the whole kitten caboodle from head to toe. I give You these hands for Your service. I give You these feet, these legs to go, Lord, wherever You want them to go.

Lord, I give You these eyes. Lord, I give You this mouth—oh, this mouth—and I offer it to You, Lord, just a living sacrifice.

Now, God, I know I've got plans for today. I've got a to-do list, but I also know that before the foundation of the world, You already had a schedule.

So God, I submit to You today, and Lord, would You give me an awareness of Your presence today? And Lord, if You're moving in an unusual way, I don't want to miss it.

I mean, if He's going to make the natural supernatural, don't you want to be aware of it too? I do!

If He's going to be speaking, I don't want to miss a word that He has to say. And you will be amazed if you pray that way at the beginning of the day how much natural stuff you will see with your spiritual eyes are really supernatural.

You know what grace and compassion is for people who are acting like lunatics? Not that any of you have driven on Van Dyke today.

You start to see them as God's creation, and it's wild what happens. You know, at a certain point, it was the sweetest gift I feel like the Lord gave me as a pastor is that as soon as the worship service starts, I start—I kind of let go of who I'm looking at.

I'm not looking at you and your story. It's just in that moment, it's just child of God, just child of God. I just see you as a child of God when I'm prayed up, when I'm in His word.

When I'm not, it's, "Why didn't she respond to my email yet?" You know, it can just be so quickly to be taken out of it.

And then when that person that you deal with and frustrates you—when you finally manage to go to the grocery store, for crying out loud—and you finally manage to find all of the things, and then you get in line, and then that lady runs into you with her cart.

Then you do the gracious, "That's okay," but then what if she actually spilled something on you? And then that coffee gets spilled on you, and it burns.

You know, it's not a big deal, but in your head now you're thinking about how your day just got impacted.

Well, if you started that day with, "Give me eyes to see, and if there is anything unusual that You might be up to today, I want to see it," then the Lord will start to show you His activity in everything.

And it occurs to you that you might be the only Bible that they get to read that day.

If I could just give you something, if I could download it into you and just hand it to you, it would be relationships that you couldn't shake. You couldn't shake it because He's so built into your rhythm that you knowing God is a part of you that surpasses all understanding because it's in every corner of who you are.

Now, as a worship leader, I got asked this question by one of our folks at our church, I think about a year ago. He said, "Tom, you move around on stage more often than what I'm used to."

He was kind of telling me about loud music and guitars and stuff like that, and that had been tricky for him, but he was really loving it. You know, worshiping now, like he kind of gotten over it.

I was like, "Do you want to know why we move around on stage?" So I'm going to give you a little inside baseball. I wear headphones that have a metronome that's inside my ear, and it helps me stay on time.

Now, part of it is because it solves every argument I've ever had with the drummer when they're like, "It's too fast! It's too slow!" It's what the metronome clicky thing said. We're doing so that's what we're doing.

It just makes my life a lot less stressful. But the reason that I move is something that I learned from a vocal teacher once.

She was trying to help as my daughter Anna was doing a Zoom meeting where we bought a Groupon for a free voice lesson. It was so cool. It was really cheap to get it, and we were talking to a lady in Canada who was giving my daughter a voice lesson.

Anna was trying to sing along, and as she was trying to sing along, the voice teacher stopped her and she said, "Anna, move your body like you're singing music."

I was like, "I like this lady." There was a little bit of snark in that, and Anna started to move.

See, she got in the ways of the song, and then she naturally fell into rhythm. I sway so I don't have to think about the song. It's so I can think about you.

I sway so I'm not lost in the music, but I can put my heart into worshiping Jesus with my church.

We move not because we look cool. I can't help it if it happens occasionally, but we move because when our bodies are in the activity of what the song is trying to do, we're in the music.

We're in the vibe. We're in what the songwriter made the song to do.

So we get in His ways. We get in His movement. We use a little structure. "Thank You for this day. You are great and holy. I got some stuff I would really love You to see too."

I don't know why You haven't done it yet. Maybe You won't, but I trust You enough not to just answer me, but I trust You enough to obey Your word.

So I'm going to pester You because You sent Jesus to tell me to do it.

So healing—take the cancer away. Healing—bring my kid back to You. Healing—solve my mental illness. Healing—help the sin that keeps creeping up in my life. I need Your help and deliverance from it.

Help it go away. Healing—loneliness. Trust—take it all to Him.

Don't make it all just communication because you'll miss out on what I believe is the best part of following Him—the joy that I have in Jesus to know that He loves talking about Super Mario with me and all of my fears and all of my hurts and all of my hang-ups.

And then He invites me into His life. Wow, what a good God! Pray to Him. Pastor Him. Trust Him.

So here's your takeaway: Before I get out of bed, I said I'll give Him my day and look with new eyes at what your day was really meant for.

God, I love You so much. I just ask You, God, that for any person who is struggling with their faith today in You, that You would help them with their unbelief.

I ask You, God, that You would give them some healing today. You'd give direction. Holy Spirit, we just invite You to own us because we love You and we trust You, our good and just Father. Amen.

Thank you, Pastor Tom. And man, what a message right there about prayer—prayer, constant communion with God.

I pray that you will apply that to your life today and this week. And, you know, just like Mary in the Bible, right? Sister of Martha—busy Martha, busy Martha, busy trying to get everything ready for Jesus.

Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. I challenge you this week to sit at the feet of Jesus. When you wake up this morning, say, "God, how can I give my day to You?"

Make that your next step and listen. Just listen to Him. Sure, talk to Him, but take time to listen.

Take time to listen. And, you know, as we wrap up this week, this is today, day 14. That's Sunday.

Day 21, we're going to break the fast after the service. So we have seven more days. I encourage you to keep pressing in, pressing in on your fast.

Everyone's different. Everyone has their different fast zone. I want to encourage you to stay with it and whatever that looks like.

And I know that after church on Sunday, when we break the fast, there could be a nice donut waiting for me. Looking forward to it, right?

But man, I'm looking forward to that. But I want you to be praying this week. Pray hard. You know, when we're fasting, we're desperate. It's a humbling thing. We're desperate for God to do something.

So this week, you know, I've been praying during the fast for a church and specific things. I've been praying for three financial goals. I'm going to give it to you really—you know, I'm not going to give you those specific numbers, but I'm going to tell you one.

I've been praying—I love what Tom said, you know, kind of pestering God a little bit, kind of push, you know. And I said, "God, I got a five-figure miracle, financial miracle that I'm praying for."

Five figures—that's not the same as two numbers, the comma, and three digits or five. And then I said, "God, I hate to bother You, but I have another five-digit miracle that I'm praying for the church, and I'm pressing in on it."

So I gave God two, and I said, "God, I know I hate to ask You for much more. I've already asked for two five-figure miracles, but God, there's a—I'm going to go a little bit bigger on this one. God, there's a seven-figure miracle that I'm a financial miracle that I'm praying for, God. And if it's Your will, I know that You will provide."

Let pressing in, press in, and press in. And if it's God's will, I believe that God will make it happen. I don't know when it'll make it happen, but I believe He will at some point.

And if God said no, then that's okay. God, understand Your will be done. I don't know what it is that you're praying, but I want you to pray big. Pray big, bold prayers.

Don't give God the softball stuff. God said, "Man, give me the good stuff. Give me the heavy stuff." Because when God answers those prayers, that God shows up and shows out in your life, and to all be the glory to Him.

And so this next Sunday, it's going to be awesome. We're going to have a great service. We close the service out with baptism. We have a number of people getting baptized next Sunday.

Perhaps you're in this room and say, "You know what? I need to take that next step." And if you're not sure about it but you're interested in what that is, let us know.

You can go on this website, or you can put it on the back of your connection card, and someone this week will reach out to you and talk to you about baptism.

Next Sunday will be a special, special service. You do not want to miss it as we celebrate what God has done.

And I'd love to hear this week from you. Share me your story. Some of you have, and maybe you have another story to add. You won't be bothering me. I'd love to hear the stories.

Go to lakepointprayer.org. There's a way for you to submit your stories right on that website—prayer@lakepointprayer.org.

And I hope to hear from you this week. So much your prayer requests as well.

Let's all stand to our feet again. Thank you for being here. If you're a guest, I'll be out here in the hallways. I'd love to meet you, and I got a free gift for you.

We have a prayer team. They're going to be coming down to the front, and if you want to need some to pray with you about anything as we dismiss in just a second, you can come down here and pray with one of our prayer team members.

God, we thank You for all You're doing in our lives. God, we pray that You will help us this week to pray without ceasing, to be in constant communion, awareness of Your presence in our lives.

So God, we ask You to help us this week as we close out the 21 days of prayer. And God, I pray that we're being challenged to press in and seek You and draw closer to You.

In Your heavenly, precious name, amen.

1) "Prayer is not always about what you say; sometimes prayer is talking to God. [...] He actually really does want to hear from you." [47:53 ] (Download)

2) "Sometimes prayer is communication, but what prayer can always be, and what I believe that God's goal for us today is, is communion." [49:37 ] (Download)

3) "Communion is awareness when you're in the word and the word being the holy word of God and in his scripture and in his Bible, and you're actually reading it." [55:29 ] (Download)

4) "If he's going to make the natural supernatural, don't you want to be aware of it too? [...] You will be amazed if you pray that way at the beginning of the day how much natural stuff you will see with your spiritual eyes as really supernatural." [01:16:57 ] (Download)

5) "When God is just the imaginary perfect version of you, he is small. [...] He's so holy and wonderful and powerful that no lie can stand true before him." [01:07:09 ] (Download)

6) "You cannot over pray or over request. [...] God is not some genie that you're trying to rub on the side of the lamp in order to get to the right thing." [01:02:29 ] (Download)

7) "Prayer is about you being in communion with him, and when you are in his ways, you are in his will, and you want to be completely locked in with him." [01:00:55 ] (Download)

8) "Start your day in prayer the way that you hope to end it. [...] Before feet touch the ground, you start with this prayer: 'Lord, today I present this body to you, a living sacrifice.'" [01:15:44 ] (Download)

9) "The real problem that I have, if prayer is just always just talking and talking, then prayer is going to be limited by the creativity of the dialogue that you can create." [58:40 ] (Download)

10) "The greatest blessing that you can have in your life is not necessarily one of ease but it is one of purpose. It can mean something." [59:15 ] (Download)