What Does The Bible Say About Prayer?

What does the Bible say about prayer_ Matt: [00:00:00] Well, good evening. Our welcome to Crowd Church. My name is Matt Edmundson. Beside me is the talented and all round beautiful person, which is Dan Orange. Dan, how are we doing today? Dan: I'm doing very good, thank you. Yes, Matt: very good. I see we've set the, uh, the light behind you as red in honor of. Uh, yes. The two red teams which are currently playing, yes. Yeah, yeah. The two red teams. The two red teams. Liverpool are playing forest, by the way, which is why Matt Crew is in the comments praying for forests. He's a bit anti Liverpool football club. Uh, but that's okay. Not everyone's perfect as Matt Crew is, as wildly demonstrated. Uh, but there we go. So he's, uh, he's cheering on forest, whereas I am definitely cheering on Liverpool. So come on Liverpool. Uh, we will no doubt be kept abreast in the game, especially for scores by Matt Crew, but that's the way it is. Anyway, you have not tuned [00:01:00] into a football commentary. Oh no. You have tuned into, uh, online church. Yes. Uh, it just so happens that online church happens, uh, at times when football games are being played. And so we do occasionally get these sort of crossover commentaries, uh, especially when Matt Crew is in the commentaries. But that's okay. That's okay. Uh, we, we, uh, we still enjoy church. And you're welcome here. Thank you for joining us. Now, Dan, the weekend saw in the UK a massive shift in what? Well, a shift in the weather. I mean, the sun actually came out the sky. I can see outside my window is still blue. Did you take advantage of the, uh, of the good weather? I did. Dan: I'm I, I'm actually surprised I'm not sporting a tam because it doesn't take much. I get myself a bit of a red fod. Um, yeah, I was out enjoying it. Get a bit of a red fod. Matt: It's, Dan: it's the ginger Matt: in me. Yeah, just when you look at the light. [00:02:00] Yeah. Yeah. I'm the same way. I, I get burnt really easily. So what did you do? Where did you go? Dan: Oh. Went for a few little walks, cold stones park, which was very nice. And round our, round our heath. Yeah. Oh, very good. It's just nice, isn't it? Isn't it nice? Just be. I mean, I was in a t-shirt and my mother-in-law said, shall I take my gloves off? Still have hat heated jacket and coat, but America gloves. Oh, wow. So it must be getting warm. Matt: Must be getting warm sticker gloves off. Uh, that's really funny. No, no, no. That's, that's phenomenal. Yesterday, uh, I dunno about you, but I, for the first time this year, I cut my grass. Uh, that's how I know that spring's on the way is we cut the grass. And so, uh, that's, um, that's usually a good sign, Matt Crew put in the comments here. By the way, if you are joining us on the live stream, your first time with us, do say hi in the comments. Uh, we know that people watch it on Facebook and we know that people watch it on YouTube. The comments do come through to us here. So do say hi. [00:03:00] Uh, it'd be great to hear from you. That's for sure. Uh, Matt's put here, I was in Sefton Park this morning. Um, at the Friends of Cesan Park, litter pick, uh, enjoying the sunshine. Picking up Lit. Very good. Well done Matt. Well Dan: done. I thought I saw that he went after the, um, had his night mess that was left and he did a load of picking up as well. Nice one, Matt. Matt: Well done. Well done. So, yes. Uh, be, be sure to say hi. Uh, that's, that was my thing. Uh, be sure to say hi. And I hope you had a good weekend wherever you are. Let me tell you, in fact, Dan, do you, why don't you tell the good folks what is coming up today? Do you, do you remember? Dan: I, I, well, I do remember, I'm with aid, my paper, I recall it. Uh, we got Sher on coming to talk to us about Prayer. Video: Mm-hmm. Dan: Um, which is gonna be, yeah, it's gonna be pretty cool. Um, and then we will have some worship and me and Matt will be talking about what's what Lon said. Um, and hopefully yeah. Answering some of your questions. What does [00:04:00] God say about Prayer? What is this Prayer thing about? Matt: Yep. What is this whole Prayer thing about? So you're entirely correct. Uh, if you are new to Prayer, lemme tell you what we are in the process of. We are going through what we call a series, which is basically, uh, talks with a common theme. And we've been going through this one for a little while. It's called What Does The Bible Say About? And we look at topics, um, and ask questions like, what does the Bible say about Prayer? Which is what we're gonna be talking about today. So we're gonna carry on with that. Without further ado, let's dive straight into the talk from the Good Man, which is, uh, did you ever live with Cheryl on Dan? Dan: No, he lived just around the corner. He used to live in my house, but that was before I owned it. Matt: That's true. 'cause I lived with him in that house. Yeah. Yes. Dan: Lots of people have lived in that house. Matt: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. A long old time ago, Sher and I used to be roommates. Yes. Before he got married. And I got married. Uh, Graham, welcome, uh, to the broadcaster. Should be good. Yes. Well, let's hope so. Sher is a top fella. Uh, so, um, [00:05:00] yeah, Sher, uh, and I have been friends for a very long time, so super chuffed. He, he agreed to do this talk because, uh, he is a man, we call him in the church, a man of Prayer. He loves Prayer and he's got an idea and a revelation and an understanding about Prayer that not many of us have. Yeah. So the fact that he's gonna do this talk is just fantastic. So, uh, here without further ado is the amazing She Atkins.[00:06:00] Sherlon: Hi, I'm Sher, and today I wanna talk about a subject I'm really passionate about. What does a Bible say about Prayer? I hope by the end of this talk that you'll get excited about Prayer and that you'll start to pray more. Now, growing up I was surrounded by Prayer. My mom would pray about anything and everything. And I guess coming from a, a West Indian background, that was totally [00:07:00] natural because our Prayer was like the fabric Prayer and church were like the fabric of life. And in going to university, my Prayer life took off. It went, went ballistic. I'll go to early morning Prayer meetings. I'll go to late night Prayer meetings, I'll go to all night Prayer meetings. That term going on a night out for me wasn't just about going to clubs, so I got really excited about Prayer. Now, today, I wanna look at a few questions. First, I wanna look at a question that says, what does a Bible say about God answering the prayers of sinners? And when I mean sinners, I mean people who are not yet Christians. Now I'm a religious studies teacher in a secondary school, and sometimes my, my students will say, we're talking about Prayer, sir. Um, if I ask God for a new laptop or a new iPhone, or a new PlayStation, or if I ask [00:08:00] God for, um, oh, I don't know if, if I ask God to me in the lottery, would God ask my prayers? And I say to them that God is not Santa Claus. God is. Not a slot machine. It doesn't give away freebies. There's more to Prayer than just akin. God is more interested in us in a relationship with us than he is in just giving us what we ask for. Um, I've got two amazing daughters, Evie's Six and Hopes for during half term. We were in Cold Stones Park and it was freezing, but my daughters wanted ice cream. Hey, who knows? So I thought to myself, you know what? I'll buy them the ice cream. They asked, you know, Prayer is asking, they asked. So I bought them the ice cream and I bought one for myself as well. Why did I do that? Well, I did that because they're my children. They asked. [00:09:00] I love them. I've a relationship with them. Okay. Now the thing is, if they just. Wanted I scream or faced, asked me for things all the time, and never wanted to spend any time with me at all. That wouldn't be a very healthy relationship as a, as a parent. Okay? But God does want to answer our prayers. God does care about the prayers of people who are not yet Christians, people who may be seen, um, as sinners. In, in the Bible. In Romans five eight, it says that while we were sinners, while we are not yet Christians, Christ died for the ungodly. Christ died for the sinners. Now, if Jesus Christ died for your sins and for my sins, and he's more than willing to answer your prayers and my prayers, there's a story, um, in the New Testament in the first book, Matthew. Um, when. Uh, Caite woman [00:10:00] comes to Jesus. Now, the Calin Knights were outcast. They, uh, were seen as unclean. They were like gentiles. When Jesus came initially, um, he came to, to the people who were Jewish, didn't come to the Gentiles, to the Caan Knights, and she starts to, to pray to God. She, she has a conversation, you know, Prayer is a conversation and her son is sick. He's, it says in the Bible, he's demon possessed. She ask God to heal him. God says, I haven't come to the Canaanites, to the Gentiles. Only come to the Jews. And she pleads. She prays. He says that even, even the dogs eat the crumbs off the table. You know, even the people who aren't Jews are, are, are believing what you are saying. God, Jesus hass her Prayer. God has the prayers of sinners because we all. Made with the DNA. Every human being on this planet has a DNA of God [00:11:00] inside of them, whether they recognize that or not. But God is interested in more than just answering everything we ask for. God is interested in relationship. What does the Bible say about relationship? What does it say about communication? What does it say about friendship? In the Old Testament, there's a bloke, a guy called Abraham or Abraham, and the other day I was teaching, and one my students was doing a exam question. And the question said, why is Abraham significant important to Judaism and Christianity? And this student wrote down because he was the first one who spoke with God, and then God made a promise with him. And that word promise is called covenant. So. Prayer is a relationship God spoke with not to [00:12:00] Abraham. Prayer isn't a dictatorship, it's a relationship. It's a two way conversation. And the story of Abraham talks about how one day God wants to, uh, destroy a city, and Abraham prays, he pleads with, um, God. He has this conversation. If there are five people who are worthy, we destroy it for five people. And he pleads and he pleads. And God says this, and Abraham says that, and God listens to Abraham, and Abraham listens to God. They have a conversation. That's what Prayer is about. It's about a friendship. It's about relationship. It's about getting to know someone. Fran, in the Old Testament, there's a, there's a bloke called Moses. And Moses led 2000 Israelites out of Egypt in the Exodus. And it says of Moses that God would speak to Moses as a man, speaks [00:13:00] with his friend. That's relationship. You know, I'm married and if I just spoke to my wife all the time and I never let her speak or I never listened, that would mean much of a relationship. So Prayer that it's heart is a two way conversation. Right? So moving on. What does the Bible say that Jesus says about Prayer? Jesus says an awful lot about Prayer. Firstly says that we have become like little children. What does that mean? Little children? Well, my 4-year-old hope, she's not in it at the moment, but if she was, she might barge in the door and gimme a hug or ask for something. Little children, they always ask for things and they come to their parents and they think their parents can. Give them anything they ask for. They think their parents are all powerful. I'm not. But in the same way [00:14:00] we are God's children. God is not heaven. Any father. He wants us to come to him with that kind of reckless abandon, that kind of boldness that kids have. They haven't got any heirs and graces. They don't think, should I ask my daddy for that? When they're four years old? They just ask. God wants us to come to him with that type of boldness that we can't do it. But God's so much bigger than us, he possibly could. Okay. Um, what does Jesus say about Prayer? Well, the Lord's Prayer is an amazing template for Prayer, and it starts off with our father who ought in heaven. Hallowed be your name. So Jesus says that we should recognize who God is. How great he's, how big he is, that he's the God who created the heavens and the earth. He can answer prayers, but also we should give him adoration. We should give him [00:15:00] worship. We should thank him for who he is and for what he can do. It goes on to say about, um, your kingdom come. So when we pray, we can pray God's kingdom. And what's that mean? Well, it means that we can pray for, for good things to come into our communities, into our homes, into our schools, places where we live, places where we work, the places where we socialize. We can pray for love, for joy, for peace, for gentleness, for kindness, for forgiveness, for honesty, for truth, for love. We can pray for God's kingdom, for Christian values, to just purate our society. Your kingdom come. Then it goes on to say, give us this day our daily bread, our needs. A few years back I was unemployed [00:16:00] out of work, um, and we were struggling financially. The church that I go to, we've got community, a group of Christians, we meet together on a regular basis and we prayed. We prayed that God would give me, my daily bread, would give us as a family our daily bread. He'd meet our needs. And over the course of those six weeks, we saw over two and a half thousand pounds come in. And then after those six weeks, I, I was able to get another teaching job, a new job, and know God wants to meet our needs, not always what we want. He's not Santa, he's not slot machine, but he wants to meet our needs. And if we don't express that in Prayer, then they won't get met. So does the Bible say about je Jesus? Does the Bible say, say that? Jesus says about Prayer. He says that we should arc for what we need. It goes on to say that we should forgive those who sin against us because God forgave [00:17:00] us. I'm always moved when I, um, read the story of, uh, Dee Walker. Now, Dee Walker, um, is the mother of Anthony Walker, who was, uh, murdered in a, a racist attack, um, in Noseley, in Heighten in 2005. And, uh, she forgave the two, the two men who murdered her son. And she said that she forgave them because God forgave her, her, her daughter Dominique, um, Anthony's sister. Said that the Bible said you should forgive someone 70 times seven times. The Bible says 70 times seven. You'd always forgive people. And I think Dee and Dominique did that because they know that when you forgive, it doesn't mean that you forget, but it means that you don't allow bitterness to rob you of the rest of your [00:18:00] life. You know, you forgive because yes, it makes you feel better, you know, and it makes the person who did what they did, you know, whatever they do, if they don't change, it doesn't matter. But if you forgive, you're doing what Jesus told you to do, and you forgive because Jesus forgave you. We died in the cross. He forgave all our sins so we forgive. So Jesus says in Prayer, we should forgive others. Let go, let loose of bitterness. Then it goes on to say about how it ends when basically saying that, um, we should still clear evil. Deliver us from evil. God can help us to stay away from evil and dig with evil if we pray. Finally, I wanna talk about what does a Bible say about guidance? Now I am a fervent, uh, Liverpool fan. Um, I love Liverpool, I love the team, and uh, I was intrigued to [00:19:00] read story of Fabia. Fabia is a midfield player from Brazil. He joined Liverpool in 2019, and he basically joined Liverpool because God said that he could. So I just wanna read a bit of the story. Fino is a Christian Fino decided to join Liverpool because he consulted God over the decision according to his friends. The article goes on to say, Fino only made the move to Liverpool because a man upstairs. Said it was the right thing to do. Before agreeing to a 40 million transfer for bna, sent a message to a WhatsApp group of childhood friends to pray for God's guidance about joining the Reds. The article ends, the move to Liverpool was a no brainer. It's everything he ever wanted, but even [00:20:00] so, he wouldn't have signed if God did not want him to. When we ask and pray for guidance, like for Bino, God will give us a sense of peace that this is the right thing to do. A sense of unease may mean that it's the wrong thing to do. When we pray to God for guidance, we're saying that we're we're interdependent on God. You know. When you are young, when you're a baby, you're dependent upon your parents for everything, and as you grow older, you become more independent. But as Christians, when we pray, we show God that we are dependent, interdependent upon him. Prayer is about living with and walking with God. In relationship, [00:21:00] Prayer is a sign that we are not number one. Prayer is a sign that our ego is not in control. It says in Jeremiah 29, I know the plans I have for you. Plans give you hope and the future plans not to harm you. God has plans for us. God has plans for our life. Our life can be adventure if we invite God into our lives through Prayer. If we see Prayer as something we habitually do all the time, every day, then life will be an adventure and we'll walk through it with God by our side. Thank you. Dan: Wow. Thanks Sheila. That was great. Um, so coming up, we are gonna be talking about what Shelan said, answering [00:22:00] your questions about Prayer. But first we're going to put that into practice. We're gonna pray for Ukraine. So something's gonna come up on the screen. The words are gonna come out. So if you wanna take part, that'd be awesome. And then we're gonna sing song, God be our guide. Well, we're gonna listen to a song. Please feel free to join in at home. So let's pray. Matt: Father God, king of all nations, we cry out to you. Now, for the people of Ukraine, we ask you to rescue those who are vulnerable from the hands of their enemies. That they may live life without fear before you all of their days. Lord have mercy.[00:23:00] Lord of lords and prince of peace. Our politicians are predict. In the biggest war in Europe since 1945, and we simply cry out to you urgently to write another story in our time. For the dark machinations of evil men give wisdom beyond human wisdom to peacemakers seek in an equitable and less violent way. May politicians exercise the wisdom from above, which is peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, and full of mercy. Lord have mercy. Holy spirit, we pray for the church in Ukraine, a nation in which 70% of the population call themselves Christian. Give our many brothers and sisters in that nation courage in this crisis that they may proclaim the good news of your kingdom. Bind up. Broken hearts and bring comfort to all who mourn. Lord have mercy. [00:24:00] You Lord, make war cease to the end of the earth. You break bows, shatter spears, and burn shields with fire. And so we ask you now to save the lives of many people in Ukraine. Make a peace that is strong and not weak. Deescalate this crisis. We hear of wars and rumors of wars, but you Lord are our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer. Our hope is in you. And so we address the nations now in the name of Jesus. We say, be still and know God. He is exalted among the nations. He shall be exalted in the earth. Lord have mercy.[00:25:00] Video: When you speak, it's a lump into my feet and in peace. You spirit me. You go before me to prepare what I can't see. You search me, you. Oh God. Be our guide. Be our lives. Oh, C Christ, be our.[00:26:00] When you speak, it is a lamp and your spirit. Me? You go before me to prepare what? I can't see. You search me, me in, oh God. Be oh Christ.[00:27:00] Surrender. May we, oh Christ.[00:28:00] Matt: Well, there we go. So God be our guide. Great worship song to sing along to, especially when you need God's guidance, which indeed, as Sher said, we all pretty much do. Right? So, um, thank you Sher, for doing that talk. Always a pleasure to listen to you talk about ice cream stories with your kids. Uh, and, uh, I just, I, I dunno about you, Dan. As I was listening to that story, I can remember 20,000 times all my kids saying, dad, can we have some ice cream? And me going, yeah, sure, no problem. Let's get some ice cream. Yeah. 'cause why, why would I say no? Right? Uh, so it's one of those, isn't it? It's a great analogy. Uh, oh. Sharon's putting the comments. I forgot to say hi before, so hi. Uh, better late than never. Thanks babe. Um, question [00:29:00] something non-Christian believers ask me all the time, why does God sometimes not answer people's prayers straight away? Well, let's jump straight into that then, Dan. Yes. Well, we won't warm up. Let's just go straight into the deep end. Uh, any thoughts on that question in the comments? Dan: Well, that's a great question. Um, yeah, Matt, why? Um, I don't, yeah, I honestly don't know. Why does he answer some prayers instantly? Why does some take. What we feel is just an age why to come. Some come right in the last moment when it you think, well, wouldn't that have been easier to be an answered when I prayed, not just, you know, when it came down to the wire. Um, I don't have an answer for that. Matt: I think it's a really interesting one, isn't it? Because I don't think it's as black and white. Personally, I don't think it's as black and white as saying, well, God's not [00:30:00] interested if he's not entered your prayers. No. Um, because there are some, there are some tenants that we hold to be true and dear in the Christian faith. One is that God loves us each individually uniquely and without limitations. Um, that God has no favorites. So he treats us all equally, um, and that God is in fact good. Uh, and the very definition of goods. So it's, it is quite a tricky one, isn't it? Because, um, with those tenants in place, it is easy to go, well, hang on a minute, why did this not happen? And so Sharon's put in the comments here, and quite rightly so, miss Sharon. Yeah. Uh, as parents, we don't always say yes to our kids. Uh, and we don't always say yes straight away either. And there are reasons, um, unless it's me and the kids want ice cream. Um, but there are reasons aren't there, why? It's not as straightforward as just saying yes or no. And I think, um, I, if I think back over my Christian life, there are times, there are stories, which I dare say will get in some of them, of [00:31:00] where I go, yes, God answered that Prayer. There are times where I go, yes, God answered that Prayer, but it took a while. Uh, there are times where I go, God answered that Prayer. In a way that was completely not what I was expecting. Uh, which is probably more accurate to say most of the time. Yeah. That's normally how God answers my Prayer. Yeah. Uh, and quite often, um, because when I'm praying about something in my very limited human capacity and not my, you know, I'm not God, I don't see everything from beginning to end. Uh, there's a very unique perspective I have on it. And, um, quite often it's not maybe the situation that needs to change, it's maybe me that needs to change in that situation. Uh, and so, you know, God not answering that Prayer, uh, is, is maybe the better solution because perhaps it's me that gets changed in that. And then there are just some times where actually, um, you know, you pray for say sick ones, uh, and [00:32:00] they, and they do pass and they, and, and it, and it is hard and it is complicated. Um, so. Yeah, that's a very long answer to the question. Sorry to wrap it on there, but I think, I think there's a whole bunch of things that we have to think about, isn't there really? Dan: Yeah, absolutely. I was just thinking about an example. So, um, this house that we bought, that I'm, that I'm in now with the nice wallpaper behind me and the red light. Yeah, the red light. Um, that was tricky getting, getting a mortgage. Um, I worked for myself and at the time I worked for Matt as well. Um, so we had all our paperwork and everything ready to get this mortgage thing. It was gonna be all tricky and spoke with the financial advisor and it was all going through, filled in the forms and we had all this stuff ready to, to email off and send off. And, um, he came back to us and just said, well, your bank's just fast, fast tracked you, you don't need to do anything. You've got the mortgage. Like, yay, that's amazing. And then, [00:33:00] um, brilliant. And then we get to the move in day. And we're sat in a house, which is empty 'cause everything's been taken out into a van. The mortgage hasn't come through because we've got to wait for, I don't know, something with a lease. So we were praying and we were sat in an empty house thinking, well, people are gonna try, you know, people have bought the house, they got to move in, we needed to get out. Um, and yeah, things move. God answered that Prayer. But yeah, why didn't that all happen together? But we got the chance to pray. You know, me and my wife sat in an empty house and prayed and something happened. Yeah. Matt: It's funny, isn't it? Yeah. It is funny how there are just occasions like that where you just think it would've been easier if dot, dot, dot. But the reality of it is, it's not always like that. It's like God has got some. Big plan, and I only know a [00:34:00] fraction of it. Uh, and for some reason the fraction that I know is not enough. Uh, Do you know what I mean? And you kind of like, well, I go, I go, you know, I, I guess, you know, God ultimately knows what he's doing. Um, uh, hi Lucy, by the way, Lucy Lucy's put in the comments first time watching. This is Boss, uh, which is very kind of you to say Thank you, Lucy. It's always lovely to see you. Uh, Sharon's put here, I think one of the most difficult things is when we pray for people we love who are really ill and they don't get better or they even die, and it can be hard to understand why God wouldn't answer our prayers on that. And I think actually when you get right down to brass tacks, that's probably one of the big questions, isn't it? Why does that happen? Um, I was chatting with a guy on Instagram, um, this week on Crowd Church, and he was, um, and if you don't follow us on Instagram, head on over to instagram.com/ Crowd Church and follow us there. Just shameless plug there. Um, we put a reel. Um, from Sharon's talk, um, you know, uh, there was this where she talked about how she found God [00:35:00] or how she sees God in language and how there's language in DNA and we, and he and this guy was commenting on the feed about, you know, how can you, how can you serve a God or worshiper God when there's suffering in the world? And it all come? It's a similar same thing. Why is there suffering? Why did, why did, why was their pain? Why was this Prayer not answered? Why were they not healed like we think they should be. Like we see Jesus doing in the New Testament and they are very hard because I don't, I don't know if there's a clear cut answer is a reality, but I, I do know that in that, um, like I said, there are some tenets that God is good, God is faithful, and I don't see the end from the beginning like he does. And so we have to trust him in it as hard and as painful as it is. Um, but that's often easier said than done. Yes. Uh, so yeah, I, I appreciate that's a very, I'm with you, babe. I think that's one of the most difficult things to, to sort of, I don't know, explain away is the right phrase, but I think it's one [00:36:00] of the hardest things to get your head around. Um, but to be honest with you, even if there was no God, you've still gotta get your head around it somehow. You've still got to deal with it. Do you know what I mean? And I'd rather deal with it in the face of God rather than in the absence of God, if that makes sense. Yeah. Dan: Yeah. I'm with you. I, even when it's hard, I love that I can come before God and ask him why he's not gonna slap me down for asking him why did that happen in my prayers? It doesn't have to be an all, um, perfect Prayer. When we're praying. My prayers aren't perfect. They're just real. God, help me with this. Yeah, God, it's great to be here. God, why did that happen? Yeah. And some of my best Prayer times, I'm not saying anything. I'm not praying anything. It's just being there with, with God. Matt: Yeah. Dan: Right. Matt: That's really interesting. So, okay, set Fs [00:37:00] in the comments now. What is your understanding of Romans 8 26? So, so do you know that verse off the top of your head? The top of my head? No. Yeah, no. Romans 8 26. It says this, likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself into seeds for us with groanings too deep for words. Uh, love Sadaf and Sadaf questions. So likewise the spirit. So this is talking about the Holy Spirit, uh, likewise, uh, is how the verse starts. So we kind of have to understand what went on beforehand. Um, and it talks a lot in the previous verses. Paul talks about suffering and he, it's interesting here. I appreciate this is a slight diversion. Uh, on the topic of Prayer, uh, we'll blame macro 'cause he started us on this whole Jenny, uh, for, I consider, uh, in verse 18, Romans eight. Verse 18 says, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to [00:38:00] be revealed to us. In other words, Paul recognized our sufferings this time, but he also recognized, actually it's not worth comparing what this is to the glory that awaits IE heaven, you know, eternity with God. Uh, and then he goes on to talk about how creation waits, um, eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. Uh, and we know that the whole of creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. In other words, it's not just us that are suffering. Creation itself feels this pain feels this suffering. Uh, and not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption of sons. The redemption of our bodies basically means Paul is saying, we cannot wait to get to heaven. Basically, if I translate that into. Modern day vernacular for this is the hope, uh, sorry for in this hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen as not hope for who hopes for what [00:39:00] he does see, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patients, I think it's a really interesting verse. So he's talking about hope and he's talking about patience. So in that context, likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness or suffering. It's interesting, isn't it? How when you put that verse in that kind of context, it, it's really fascinating, um, that we dunno what to hope for, we dunno what to pray for. Uh, we don't because we don't see it. Um, and so the Holy Spirit helps us himself. He intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, and he searches hearts, uh, knows what is the mind of the spirit because, and, and it goes on and on and on. Okay. Can I just say Sadaf? That's a great question. Uh, good theological question to get into here. Uh oh. Sharon's answer. Uh, in answer to Sadaf question, I think I've experienced this when praying for people. On many occasions, I'll be praying for someone and then a [00:40:00] sense of God's spirit hits me and I end up in tears praying for a complete stranger and praying, praying prayers. I had no plan to pray. Any experience of that, Dan? Dan: Yeah, I, um, like, like that just so I can be thinking about what to pray for and I can just see someone and, and whether God's told me something about them or not, but there's that, there is that yearning. You think, I need to pray for that person now. I need to pray for their heart, for their mind. It might, it might be just something that God said about them praying to that and it just, yeah, it just comes upon you and just think, yeah, I'm praying for you. Now. It could be, uh, friends, friends from work. People have just seen on the street. People don't come. I never, ever see again. Something about them goes, Matt: oh Dan: yeah, pray for you now. Matt: Mm. It's really fascinating, isn't it? Really Dan: good thing. Matt: Yeah. And have you ever had, I mean, that's sort of being, [00:41:00] um, I guess that's sort of being instructed by God to pray for somebody or something at that particular point in time being led by the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been in a situation where you've gone, God, I know I need to pray, I just don't know what to pray. Can you help me know what to pray in this situation? Dan: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think probably with the Ukraine it's like, where, where, where do you start? Mm. Um, and that's where, that's where I hope and pray that the Holy Spirit is groaning on my behalf and growing on people around the world that are praying. We don't know what to pray, whether it's just, um, for particular person, I mean, a lot of. A lot of you would've seen on the news that little boy that just walked across the board into Poland about eight years old, no one with him. Mm-hmm. Man, I was praying for him, but that was a, like a, an obvious thing, if [00:42:00] you like. Mm-hmm. But, but whether it was, I dunno what's happened to him, but for that cameraman captures him, we were able to pray. But then there's other times when we don't know about those hundreds, thousands of others there in that same situation. And just, yeah. Hope holding onto that verse that Holy Spirit's grown in and praying in that conversation with, with the father. Yeah. Matt: And I think that's, that's the whole point of this verse, isn't it, is actually the prayers that you pray, the prayers that sher on prays the prayers that I pray. You, you said earlier, they don't have to be perfect. We don't have to be perfect in Prayer. No. And actually in Prayer, God helps us pray for things when we dunno how to pray, he leads us and directors into what to pray. Uh, and, and that I find quite remarkable that it's not, I've, I've not gotta to sit here and figure it [00:43:00] all out myself. It's not like God's, God's kind of sitting there waiting, going, well, I'm not gonna do anything lads until you ask me to do it. Uh, and, and best of luck figuring out what you should ask me to do. Mm-hmm. Do you know what I mean? I just, I, I, that's not the impression I get of God. I think God's very active in this whole of thing. Um, Christina's put here in the comments for me. I say everything happens for a reason. And even when we pray for something, it doesn't mean he will give us what we want. Uh, Sherly said the same thing. Actually, I remember praying for my mum. Oh, I remember praying before my mom died, asking God not to take her away and after she passed away, I really resented him for a while. Um, but later I realized why he had done what he did and my relation, my relationship with him took, uh, a whole new level. Um, well, thank you Christina. Thank you for sharing that. Um, the hardest thing ever, isn't it? And um, and yet in the midst of that pain, and I, you know, that's, uh, very kind of you to share in the midst of that [00:44:00] pain. You, you found God and you understood God to a whole new level. And I think that's probably something to say that whilst we don't get the suffering, whilst we don't understand why some things are happening and some things don't, God is there with us and our relationship and understanding of him can grow in that position. As odd as that sounds. And, and the guy I was chatting with on Instagram couldn't get his head around that kind of idea. It's like, no. It's like, surely I don't want have anything to do with you. And I. It's very hard to get your head around this idea that actually in the midst of that pain, actually you can grow in your relationship with God and your relationship with other people and the world and so on and so forth. And, um, it's a remarkable thing. Dan: Yeah. So I think it comes though just to, but, and I think comes back to what Sher Long was saying about, it's a conversation. Video: Mm-hmm. Dan: If you, if you are in a, um, in a marriage and you're talking with your wife and your husband and, and you don't listen well, they don't listen. That's not, you're not gonna learn anything. You would [00:45:00] never do that, would you, Dan? No. Oh no. Of course not. I'm just waiting for Lisa's comment to pop up. But my, my marriage has grown because I've learned to listen. Mm-hmm. And I've learned to talk and talk about the tricky things. And if we're doing that with God, it's the same. We're learning, aren't we? Learning about his heart. Yeah. His heart for us and what he wants, um, and what we can do about it. If we just didn't say anything or we didn't listen. Yeah. How can we grow? Matt: Yeah, very, very true. Let's get into this whole, uh, Lisa's put in there a crying, crying, laughing emoji. So I, uh, Lisa is Dan's wife, by the way, if you don't know that. Um, yeah. Yeah. That's why I was, I was, I was waiting to see what Lisa put in there. What do you think to this whole idea then of, of, um, God guiding you through Prayer? So for Bino, um, felt like he needed to ask his friends to [00:46:00] pray before going to, or before coming to Liverpool. Thank God, God said yes. Uh, if that's the situation. Um, what do you think to that whole idea and have you, have you kind of had that experience yourself? Not necessarily for Liverpool Football Club, but you know, no, Dan: um, I think it's a great idea. I think. I think sometimes God just opens a door and we're just walking forward and we, we fall into it. Into it. I know that's with my first job. That's basically what happened. The interview was rubbish. The, um, the interviewer answered my questions and gave me the job, and I do think that was God. Um, but I also think, yeah, definitely clarify things. It might be, it might look the most obvious thing to do, you know, come and play for the, possibly the best team in the world. Can we get 40 million pounds? However, however that works. Yeah. Still ask God because he's got the, there's no good, no good [00:47:00] doing something that God doesn't want you to do. That's the worst place to be in. Yeah. Yeah. Matt: No. Very good. Yeah. Has written here. Sometimes we think we need to pray, elaborate and eloquent prayers to be heard. Uh, but God hear and answers our prayers because he is God, not because our prayers are good. I think that'll preach right there. Yeah. Um, there's a story isn't there in the gospels of, uh, of the religious leaders of the day doing all these big fancy, eloquent prayers and Jesus was having none of it, wasn't he? It was just like, no, no, you think you're gonna be heard because of all these fancy, eloquent prayers, how wrong you are my friends. Mm-hmm. Uh, and so I think Sadaf, that's very, very true. Sharon's put here, I confess, I find Prayer difficult at times. Does this resonate? Uh, I have great intentions, but sometimes the distractions went out. What do you think, Dan? Yep. That's my, [00:48:00] I think you're exactly right, Shane. Yes. I think that's true of all of us, isn't it? Um, actually, yeah. It's funny, isn't it? We, I think prayer's a bit like healthy eating. Do you know what I mean? You know, it's good for you, you know, you should do it. Exercise, same thing. But for whatever reason, we just don't, and we find other things to do in its place. And I find that very, very illogical. But it is something that we all do, right? Yeah. So how have you, have you found, um, I guess what, what methods do you use, Dan, that work for you to help you pray more? Dan: Um, different things. And I was thinking about this recently actually. So I, um, I sometimes spend some time in the morning praying and I might just be quiet. Uh, perhaps I read my Bible, perhaps I just have my eyes closed and I'm praying. Um. I, when I go to the gym, I always, [00:49:00] well, 90, 99% of the time I'm listening to worship music to drown out the do, do, do, do you know that's going on in the gym. Um, and I pray then and sometimes really great times praying then. And, um, I had a bit of a odd revelation in the gym last last week that it's helping my body get in a better place has helped me to be able to pray, which seems strange and also for me, seems in the wrong order because I'd always say, well, prayer's the most important thing, which it is, but the actual discipline of, of training and looking after my body, that same discipline has come into Prayer as well. Mm-hmm. And it's made me alert and it's made me think, wow. No, I'm going to do this and I will do five minutes on this machine, or whatever it is. [00:50:00] It's that, that discipline has, has rolled onto into other parts of my, of my life and helped my That's really interesting. Helped my Prayer life. Matt: Yeah. That's really interesting. If you are watching this, just write it down in the comments, what you do, what's helped you pray to share those out? Because I'd, I'd be curious to hear them. I'm sure other people would as well. When you pray, then, Dan, do you just sort of do that thing, you know, where we at primary school where we had to sort of heads bow, hands together kind of thing? Or how, I mean, um, if, if no one has ever sort of done that before, you know, the sort of tried to talk to God before, what do you do? Yeah. Dan: Um, it's normally this room and I go back like this and my, my, my feet go up and I just, I just get quiet. Video: Mm-hmm. I Dan: think that's the hardest, hardest thing is we have so many distractions. We have so many things going around in our head. Yeah. That perhaps the first Prayer might be, God just quiet my heart so I can. So I can actually listen to you. Yeah. So I'm not listening. I'm not thinking about what I've [00:51:00] got to do that day or what's gonna go, uh, you know, what's happening, what I need to sometimes have a piece of paper so you can write down those things. So get them out the way so you can just spend time with God. And for me it is, it is normally eyes closed. Just praying those things in my head that I'm wanting to ask God for. Just so you pray Matt: quietly in your head, you're not sort of verbose verbing as own word. Don't Dan: I don't normally speak out sometimes if I'm, if I'm getting, yeah, sometimes I do. And it may be if I speak in tongues that that's more comes, I make a noise with that. Um, that's quite hard sometimes when Matt: you're now gonna have to explain that for those who dunno what you're talking about. You brought it up man. I'm just saying you brought it up. Dan: You have to explain it now. Yeah. Sometimes. God gives me just a, a different language, and I think that's part of what we're talking [00:52:00] about with the Holy Spirit happiness to pray. Mm-hmm. I, I, I, I'm praying, but I don't know what I'm, I'm praying and just these, this language comes out of my mouth and I just know he's, he's put that language in. It comes out and I'm praying for something. Um, I'm doing the action. I'm asking. I'm God said, pray. I'm praying. I don't quite know how to pray. I think there's some sort of translation going on there that God's hearing my heart and Yeah. And turn that. Mm-hmm. Turn it around. And that's a Prayer. Yeah. That's, if that makes any sense. Matt: No, that's good. I'm just going down the comments here. Um. Graham, uh, in fact, Graham says, make send Dan, uh, makes sense, Dan. Thanks. Um, Matt's put, I pray for my enemies, which is hard because sometimes they've been nasty, uh, undeservedly. Well, even if they des deserve. Do you know what I mean? The Bible will just tell us we have to pray for our enemies. Uh, and so it's put here. Imagine you are shooting arrows [00:53:00] filled with love when praying for others, especially those that have wronged you. That's a good visualization. Uh, Matt Weldon. Um, Christina says, I pray in bed before I go. I love, I I need to read this with a SCS accent. I pray in bed before I go asleep. Uh, I sit quietly with my eyes closed and just pray. There's no distractions for me. Actually, I pray, uh, before I go to sleep as well. And, um, it's, it's good. I find actually for me, just going for a walk around the park, uh, is, is a great way to pray. Just say sort of general prayers and journaling. Journaling, praying on paper. Sadaf put here in the questions and Sadaf, you understand the time, right? It's, we've got five minutes. So what does James five 16 mean in terms of an effective Prayer? It says, therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The Prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Thoughts on that, Dan? Dan: Hmm? Matt: You're a righteous man. [00:54:00] Dan: Thank you. I'm a righteous 'cause God's made me righteous. Otherwise, I'm a rightness. Just put that out there without God. Yeah. It just isn't even bear thinking about, um, yeah. I love that verse that he's, the Prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, and God's made us righteous. God's made that Prayer. It is powerful. Things happen when we pray. It's not just a. It is not a magic spell and it's not a, a wish. Mm. I think sometimes we can have prayers and wishes linked next to each other. Uh, a wish doesn't have anything to hang on. It's not got substance. Prayer's, got substance, prayer's got, um, someone we're talking to prayer's. Got God the creator of the will behind it and, um, yeah. That's effective. Matt: Yeah. No, I'd agree. I think, here's the thing, right? When you pray for me, a lot of my Prayer time, [00:55:00] I guess, um, if I was to describe it, a lot of my Prayer time is, is me talking to God about exactly what I should pray for rather than assuming that I know what to pray for. Does that make sense? Dan: Yeah. Matt: And then when I know I am praying according to his will, which is what Jesus is talking about when he, when he, when he is talking about the, the, the, you know, the Lord's Prayer, if we pray anything according to his will, we know that he hears us. And if we, if we know that he hears us, we know that we have the answers that we desire of him. And that's when prayers become powerful and effective is when we as, as righteous men and women, stand before God. And we understand the responsibility, I suppose, of Prayer and the, the power of Prayer that actually we pray prayers that are in line with God's will. And somehow God in all his wonder and miraculous creation has gone. I'm on it. And then God answers those prayers. That's when we know, uh, that they're powerful and they're affected because we take [00:56:00] time to hear God, uh, on how to pray. Uh, Paul's put here in the comments, I find a Prayer can simply be a reason to start the talk with God. Yeah. Which is very true. Absolutely. Video: Yeah. Matt: Yeah, absolutely. And there are some that I think that, you know, we've not got time to get into it. The Bible talks about all the different types of prayers. So there can be just this general chat with God, you know, this sort of conversation like Dan and I are having now. And then there are some prayers where actually we're praying for very specific things, and we call those I accessory prayers. There's a Prayer of Thanksgiving, uh, where we're just full of praise and gratitude, listening to worship music and all that sort of stuff. There's all these different types of things, but fundamentally, like Shelan said. Prayer is about a relationship with God. It is a conversation. Uh, and Prayer isn't a slot machine. Uh, but it is a wonderful way to get to know God. Uh, so Dan, thank you so much, bud. I think we'll, we will end it there because frankly, I'm looking at the clock just underneath my [00:57:00] camera here and it's telling me, uh, I need to end it there. It's sharing. Uh, thank you so much for joining us in that conversation, Dan. Appreciate that as always, always enjoy. Thank you. Enjoy hosting with you, Bruce, again. Nah, you're a legend. Legend. Absolute legend. Uh, so next week, uh, do make sure you join us, like, and subscribe because next week we will be carrying on the conversation. What does the Bible say about, um, Dan's just gonna fill in while I quickly go to the website and find out what next week is gonna be about Dan in. Dan: Yeah, that was good. I have no idea what next week's gonna be about, but I better be good. Matt: It's always good. It is. Well, I think it's always good. So next week we have John Sloan, uh, who is James Sloan, James Sloan's dad, if you've been around Crowd for a little while, you'll know who James Sloan is. So next Sunday is John Sloan, his dad, uh, who is also a doctor, and Jo John is gonna be talking to us. What does the Bible say about [00:58:00] poverty and wealth? And this is gonna be a fascinating conversation, especially 'cause John is the driving force behind the stuff in the Congo, uh, which is part of the if trust, the hospital that's been built over there and all that sort of stuff. So you are gonna want to come and hear the stories, uh, and be challenged. So make sure you like and subscribe to all things Crowd. And if you, uh, if you haven't done say yet, just head on over to the website here. Fill out the little contact form, subscribe to the email, and we will also email you when all the live streams go out. If there is anything you would like us as a church to pray for for you, uh, you can get in touch with us via our WhatsApp, which is also on the, actually the website site. I don't, I'm on point the wrong way. Yeah, yeah. Got that wrong. If you go to Crowd Church, there you go. Try it then they, that's it. Well done. It's because the screen. Oh. Anyway, um, if you go there, there's a WhatsApp number you can send in your Prayer request by WhatsApp, which I know many of you [00:59:00] do. Uh, we what we pray for every single one of you on a Wednesday night. Um, we have our little Prayer meeting. Um, and, uh, if you would like to come pray with us, uh, on a Wednesday night, you'd be more than welcome. We have a little Prayer meeting and we go through all the Prayer requests that have been sent through to us, and we do pray for you guys, um, because. Prayer of a righteous man is both powerful and effective. Uh, and so, you know, we believe that God answers Prayer might not be always how we want him to answer the Prayer, but somehow in the middle of it, God will shine through with his goodness. And that is a remarkable thing. So, um, yeah, do let us know if there's anything you'd like to pray for. Thank you so much everyone that's joined in on the comments. It's been great to hear your thoughts on this whole topic, uh, of Prayer. Uh, I will be back next week, I think. I think I'm hosting next week. I'm just checking. Yes, I'm backed with the delightful Phil Watson, uh, next week. So do come and join us as we talk with John about poverty and wealth. Uh, we're gonna close the live stream with another worship song. Feel free to hang around, hang around in the [01:00:00] comments, say um, hi to a few people joining the conversation where once this song is finished, the live stream will end automatically. Uh, so, uh, from myself, have a very good evening and Dan, Dan: uh, good evening. Thanks very much for letting me. Be a part of this. Let me be a part of this. Matt: Yeah, you're gonna have to go back into your cage now, Dan, we've let you out long enough or were you talking, were you talking to me or were you talking to Lisa then? I dunno. Dan: Talking to Matt: you. That's awesome. Bless you guys. Have a fantastic week. Uh, God bless you. We'll see you next week. Bye for now.[01:01:00]