Developing a Lifestyle of Prayer

I would like to welcome all those that may be joining us today for the webcast, whether you're from northern Arizona or Utah, Nevada, parts of California, and or from beyond. We want to welcome you to the United Church of God, Los Angeles. I have a question for you as we now begin the last of this three-part series that I've been sharing with you over the months regarding the subject of prayer. I have a question for you to begin, and you might want to jot it down because we're going to build upon that the rest of the message. And that is simply this. Does God take notice of us praying? It's a very simple question, but perhaps one of the most important questions we can ascertain by reviewing the scriptures of the Bible. Does God take notice of us praying? And if He does, what does He see as He looks down from His sovereign heights? To answer that question, I would invite the congregation to join me by turning to Acts 9. In Acts 9, and let's pick up the thought in verse 10, and this is the story of Saul of Tarsus. Saul had been a persecutor of the church. He had had a direct encounter up close and personal with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, and he was struck blind. And then he remained in Damascus. And this is where we pick up the story because somebody had to reach out and to minister to him. And thus we look at Acts 9 and verse 10, where it says, now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him the Lord said in a vision, notice, Ananias. And he said, Here I am, Lord. And so the Lord said to him, Arise and go to the street called strait and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying. Now Ananias is seeing this in a vision, but the vision is true to God, and also is true to what the Apostle Paul is doing. And then Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard from many people about this man how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he goes on to tell the story that we all know about him. But what is very interesting is this, where does the story begin? It starts with God looking down from his sovereign heights and seeing one man. He's seeing one individual praying to him, which tells us then that as we pray that God can build upon our prayers, and God does notice the prayers of indeed a righteous man. Now, just to make it the vision has a little bit of humor in it, if I can share it for a moment, because what happens is simply this, is that in the vision, Ananias, he knows that the man that is coming is Ananias. He can't get out of it. No matter what he thinks about Paul or Saul of Tarsus, it's already been known that the man that's going to be calling on him is Ananias. So we look at this. Now, what we need to ask about this, and even why I'm giving this message or this series on prayer, is simply this. I'm looking to Christian folk. I'm looking to people that have been away of life for 15, 20, 25, 30, almost sounds like the auction tonight, 50 years of life. I am looking at a praying people.

Was Paul a praying individual? Indeed, he was. He was a Pharisee, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and Pharisees would pray seven times a day, but there was something that was happening here and now with this prayer, and that there was a breakthrough in his life that would forever change Saul to Paul, that would ever change the church in that day, that would ever change the extension and the expansion of the gospel around the known world of that day. Why? Why? Because here was an individual that was praying. And a man, a person, that God looked down and saw praying to him with a heart that is open. Thus, I ask you as we begin this message, does God look down and see our prayers? The evidence is here. It's in the Scripture. God does look upon the prayer, the effectual prayer of the righteous person. With that thought, we're going to now conclude the third part of the three-part series. Allow me just to rewind for a moment to where we've been for those that weren't here. It's on our webpage for those that are here today that would like to hear the rest of the series. We started with a message called prayers that move God. Prayers that move God. And we centered on the prayer of Daniel in Daniel 9. Not so much about the 70 weeks prophecy, but the prayer that brought the understanding to Daniel about the 70 weeks prophecy. Secondly, then, we talked about prayers that we are to pray continually to the God of heaven. And that was a message that was about Nehemiah. Because really, when you look at Nehemiah, it's basically a whole book about prayer in the Old Testament that is just utterly incredible. Now, why are we going through this today? And through this series, we're looking at Daniel, we're looking at Nehemiah. And today, we're going to be looking at individuals that are in the New Testament. And why is that? We're not just taking it, shall we say, in a theory sense or in a broken-down sense of the Lord's Prayer, which we will do another time, what is called the Lord's Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. Because this allows you and me to get very, very specific.

And dear friends here in Los Angeles, all of us are real people. We have flesh and blood, if not, just take the pinch test for a moment. We'll start hearing the ouch and going and hear a few screams. We're all human beings. We all have hopes. We all have dreams. We all have challenges. We all have disappointments. And sometimes those disappointments can lead to despair.

And that despair can even, even in a sense, touch on departure. Not from just simply this body that we're looking at around here today, but departure from God. When you look at the people that are in the Bible, they are very real flesh and blood people that had like passion, like you and I did. And they had very real problems in their day. And the most important and exciting part about this is that they did pray to a very real God above. And that's where we're going through the series. Here is what we have learned so far. If you want to jot this down to students and stay in it, because I'm up here today, brethren, to teach you and to preach to you and not to waste your time, but to give you a message that can truly change your life.

I presume that's why we're here in services today, not just to pass time, but to change our lives. That we might worship God every day, that we might glorify God every day, and that we might indeed be a blessing to those that are around us. So what have we learned so far? Number one, through this series, and that is simply this, is that we are to learn through Scripture to pray instantly. To pray instantly. Number two, to pray without ceasing. And number three, then, always keep praying. We saw that in the example of Nehemiah, that at the end of his life, when he came back for another tour of Jerusalem, he was still praying.

Let me share why that is so important, dear friends. It's simply this, that it's... and we've often used this phrase before. It's one thing, it's one thing to stand, but it's another thing to keep on standing, when you don't immediately have the answers that are coming in your life. Well, that's just like prayer. It's one thing to pray and to throw one up there to heaven to see if it sticks.

It's another thing to keep on praying, to be just as diligent as that, that widow that came before that judge, that... and he said, is there anybody out there that will save me from this woman?

Thus, that's the lesson that we're going to learn today, as I'm going to share this message with you that has a title, simply this, Developing a Lifestyle of Prayer. Developing a Lifestyle of Prayer. And now we begin to talk about it. One of the great admonitions that Jesus Christ gave to His disciples 2,000 years ago, as well as every disciple, even to this day in the 21st century, is just two words.

Follow Me. It's the first thing that He told Peter when He met Him on the shores of the Galilee, and it's the last thing that He mentioned to Peter in John 21. That's it. We are to be followers of Jesus Christ. It's very interesting that in John 14.6, let's take a peek at that for a moment in the Gospel of John. In John 14 in verse 6, if you come with me there, let's notice the description, the self-disclosure that Jesus gives of Himself. And Jesus said to Him, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. It's very interesting that Jesus used this self-disclosure, predicated on I Am, which speaks to the name of the family of God, I Am the way.

Now you say, well, Mr. Weber, why should I understand that? When you next come off the Gospels to the book of Acts, it's very interesting that the term the way is mentioned 10 different times in the book of Acts. It talks about those that are in the way. In other words, being a disciple of Jesus Christ was not just done in a minute. It wasn't just done in a moment. It was not just an event. It was an existence. It was an experience. And the way to follow was Him.

He was the leader to show how it would be done. With that stated, join me, if you would, in Acts 1. Let's go to Acts 1 and verse 2.

In Acts 1 and verse 2, it speaks of something very important. In verse 1, The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus noticed, both began to do and to teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen. This tells us everything about this way. Now listen, friends. Being a Christian, Christianity, is not a theory. It is not just a philosophy. It's not just bubblegum up here that makes the mind, the face, go up and down.

When it speaks of the way, and I remember this first, I remember the first time I heard this about 50 years ago in the church service as a kid, that we were involved in a way of life. It was not just theory. It was an action item. It was not just a precept. It was practice. And thus we know so often when things happen with our neighbors or our families say, you know, the thing that always comes up against a Christian is simply this, oh, you don't practice what you preach. The reason why this is stated at the very beginning of Acts, it is a segue between the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. And to bring them together, to wed them together, to recognize what you and I are doing. And in this particular subject about prayer is not just about theory. It's not just about a philosophy. It is an action item that literally draws God above to look down into our lives and to examine our hearts and to love us, to work with us, and to bring out His perfection in our life. And I'll tell you something, brethren, I am a firm believer in it. I have not yet practiced it perfectly, so I speak to myself in all of these messages. And just like the Apostle Paul would say, I have not yet obtained, but it is indeed my heart's desire to do so, to be able to pray like Jesus did and as the early apostles did. What we see in all of this is, let's remember something that's very important. We have the Gospels and we have the Gospel of Luke. We have the book of Acts. They were initially, it's thought in the commentaries that they were actually one piece of work in two volumes. It was called The History of Christian Origins. One, the Gospel of Luke, showed how salvation came through Jesus Christ. The book of Acts then showed how salvation was spread. Now, we look in your book, if you look at Acts 1, it says the Acts of the Apostles. And to a degree, that's true, until you recognize that it was really the Acts of the Holy Spirit that God and Christ imparted to them that made all of the difference. And I would suggest, I speak to myself, that that same spirit that brings us into this way that Christ spoke of himself about, that that spirit that the Father and Christ sent to us is to empower us and to prompt us to understand the need to pray. So let's talk about that a little bit. I want to share a few thoughts with you. I'm just going to spell something out. I'm going to give you some homework. You ready? So I'm the teacher for the moment. You've got your notebook out there. I'm going to list some scriptures very quickly. But here they go. And then I'll let you do the homework the rest of the week.

What you do with this homework, or if you do not do this homework, I'll make a thought with you. To the degree that you put yourself into this homework I'm about to give you, is to the degree that you can change your relationship with God Almighty, and even further understand His love and His intervention in your life. The one thing that Luke deals with, that he both began to do, remember this, it's what Jesus began to do both to do and to teach. Number one, please jot this down, Luke 3.1. You can go back and you can research this. And we see that Jesus prayed before He started His ministry. Jesus prayed before He started His ministry.

Emphasis on before He started His ministry. Luke 5 verse 15.

Before He began to move into the ministry of healing, it says that He prayed in Luke 5.15. Allow me, if we would, to build upon that. In Luke 6 and verse 12, it says that before, before, beginning to get it, before He chose the 12, it says that He prayed.

Again, in Luke 9 verse 28, before that transfiguration of seeing the glory of Christ, Peter, James, and John looking upon it, it says that they went up to the mountain, and what did they do? They prayed. So what is the key word in all of this that I've been using with all these tremendous examples that we know about? Does anything ring out to you that Jesus set the way to do? Is there a word? Bill, you're nodding. No? Close. It says that before He did all of these things. Before, before, and before, and before. I have a question for you. How often do we pray, but where do we put it? Is it before we move into action during the action, or is it only afterwards that we recognize that we've been doing it by all of our own human works, and ask God to be our partner at the end like a caboose, rather than allowing His purpose, His will, His pleasure, His love, and His power to motivate what you and I need to have done in our life? Now, you be honest with yourself, and I'll be honest with myself. We don't have to necessarily share our honesty all at once, but there are all hands going up with this or that. The key that Jesus shows as the way, I am the way. That which He both began to teach and to do, is before there was anything major in His life. He first went to His Heavenly Father and prayed. I will share something with you. I speak to myself. At times, I've done caboose prayers, rather than engine prayers. God wants to be the engine of our life, and He wants our prayer to be the fuel to bring Him into it. We notice the example of Jesus Christ. You know, it's very interesting. Let's just talk about today what we're experiencing on a day. Did you pray before you came to services today on God's Holy Sabbath day? Did you ask Him to allow His Word to impact you? Did you ask Him to mold and shape you to the degree that you needed to be molded and shaped today as you came to church? Or is this just a ritual? Is this just kind of a meeting? Is this just kind of things that we do? Is it just kind of a rhythm of life? We come, we go. Or do we, like Paul, praying from the heart on a street called Straight into Damascus, ask for the power and the love and the grace of God to mold and shape our life? And not only what we might give, but as Susan and I always do, we ask what we will receive from you, our dear brethren, because you are the instruments that God uses on us.

Is that the prayer that we prayed today? Before, before, before we came to church and not afterwards?

Let's understand something about Jesus Christ and why prayer was so very important to Him. Jesus knew that His time was short, because after all, He was God in the flesh. He began His ministry at age 30. He recognized that ministry was going to be cut in half, that He'd have three and a half years. Here's the important part. Sometimes we say, but I don't have the time to do it. Time is short. Time is pounding down on me. Time is like a tsunami. It's taking me up. It's flooding me. Here's the most important thing, because sometimes we use excuses because we don't realize the value of prayer. Even though Jesus' life was so very, very short, and as it says in the Scripture, He was cut off in the midst of life, He never missed an opportunity to pray. Jesus never missed an opportunity to pray. Why? Because it was a lifestyle, and He set the way for us to understand. Is it any wonder then, as the disciples saw the beginning of His ministry, chosen His disciples, the healing of the sick, James, John, and Peter seeing the transfiguration, is it any wonder that they asked Jesus in Luke, Lord, teach us, teach us how to pray. So with that stated, we're going to now move from Jesus Christ, His example, and into the book of Acts for a few minutes, and understand how prayer was so essential to Christians back then as it is now. Join me if you would in Acts 1.14. Acts 1.14. In Acts 1.14, we find that the book of Acts, remember what people were acting out. That's why it's called what? The book of Acts. This is what they were acting out. And we notice in Acts 1, in verse 14, what the early church is doing. It says, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplications with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Here we find the beginning of the book of Acts, which sounds like, well, if it's the book of Acts, there's got to be a lot of action and the church has got to be on a roll. But let's notice what they did and where it's positioned in the book of Acts to go back to that before thought. Remember before thought? Remember how your parents or grandparents taught you, think before you speak? Or am I the only one out here? I think they still do that.

Think before you speak. This whole message is in similarity to that. I'm just imploring all of us to think, pray before we act. Pray before we act. Here Jesus had said, you will go therefore into all of the world to preach the gospel, teach people to repent, baptize them, Holy Spirit will come, etc., etc. All of this grand commission, you would think that they would just be out there and running, but they came to a dead stop in an upper room in Jerusalem. And they had to stop and pause and pray before they would go on. You might say, well, they don't, you know, you would thought, we don't have time. We've got to get this job done right away, right away, right away. Got to get into action because Jesus said, well, you know, you're going to, the angel came down and said, just as you have seen him go up, he's about, you know, to them, it was like he's about to come down. So let's go out and do the job. Let's go do God's work. Let's keep on going. Let's have all of this activity.

The most important activity that is shown here as the very foundation of the book of Acts is stop and pray. Before you go working for God as Jesus Christ was God's instrument on earth, as the apostles now were the instrument of God, the Father and Jesus Christ on earth, stop, pray before you move into the day. Notice what it says. They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. And it's very interesting that they prayed together. These were people that had not necessarily gotten along together too well up to this point. There were the apostles. There was what we call, are you ready? The family. Some of you work for family businesses, right? You know the family and the family business. There is the family. And then there are the late comers. And here, what had been a Jewish community, here are men and women in that room, and there is prayer being offered. And what happens? It is the prayer that unites them. Unites them. There is a blessing that the more that we pray, the more we understand it's not about our will, but God's will to be done. The key again is this, dear brethren, is simply this. This concept of before is so powerful. If you want real results to happen in your life, the life of your family, the life of this congregation, the life of the church at large, the life of the body of Christ, things that might be going wrong on the job, things that might be happening at school, things that might be happening in your neighborhood, matters that are occurring that you alone know that you're wrestling with between these two ears and with this heart, we pray as we get up and before, before things come our way. This is the great lesson. Join me if you would for a moment as we consider how the early church put first things first. Matthew 7 and verse 7. Join me if you would there for a moment. Matthew 7 verse 7. And notice what it says. These are the words of Jesus Christ. It says, Ask and it will be given to you. Seek.

Notice, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you.

Ask, seek, and knock. We're going to build on that in a few minutes. John 14.13. Join me if you would there for a moment. John 14.13. Bring this asking, seeking, and knocking. We're going to couple it with another verse in John 14 verses 13 where it says, in Matthew, pardon me, John 14.

Matthew, just scripture bombed by turning to the book of John. John 14. Notice what it says here. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do that the Father might be glorified in the Son.

The early disciples had heard this. Ask, seek, and knock. They had heard their master, the rabbis say, whatever you ask in my name, I will do it. Now, what God had promised them was a gift.

They'd been promised a gift, and they had been given a job to do, and they needed to understand it. And they were expectant, and they were open as we turn to and open up the book of Acts. And they had a very, very big job. You say at this time, and sometimes we can take the air out of our tires because we say, well, you know, those were the original 12.

Those were the big folk of the Bible. They were given this job to evangelize the scriptures and the gospel around the known world of that time. We're just here, you know, they were in the Mercedes, and we're just kind of on a unicycle in the 21st century to, is God noticing? You know, they had such a major work. No wonder they prayed before they stopped in that upper room before they needed to because of what God was going to put on them. Yes, those original 12 and those that joined them in the cause, yes, they had to preach the gospel. But God has given us just as important a job as even as we do continue to preach and teach and spread the net as fishermen men. You and I have the greatest job that is given to any human being that God has bequeathed upon us, and that is simply this. Be holy as I am holy. Be holy as I am holy. We hear that echo coming down through the Old Testament into the New Testament, Leviticus 11 44 45 to where it spills over into 1 Peter 16 through 17. We have been called to be holy. We are in training to be the priest of God in a kingdom of priests in the world tomorrow. We have been given an incredible gift, an incredible calling, and thus it is so important to absorb the importance of what prayer is all about. Now, even as they were willing and even as they were open, there would be challenge.

But they had this fellowship in prayer. Join me if you would in Acts 2 42. I want to show you something here. Acts 2 42. As the story develops from the upper room, there's Pentecost. It's after Pentecost. I want to show you something very interesting that we're going to build upon as this message continues. It is simply this. Speaking of the church, those that are with me were in the way. And they continued steadfastly, notice, in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and notice, and in prayer.

None of these are alone. None of these are an island to themselves. The importance of doctrine, fellowship with the saints, and prayer. You see, understanding the Scriptures, understanding doctrine, informed their prayers.

The fellowship of those that are like-minded and like-hearted informed their prayers. It gave air to their prayer life. For indeed, no man is an island.

And this is a very, very powerful Scripture.

Jesus Himself, quoting from Isaiah, had said that, my Father's house shall be a house of prayer.

And therefore, we are to pray instantly. We are to pray constantly, both collectively and individually.

And we are to keep on praying even when we do not see the answers immediately. For it's one thing to pray, but it's another thing to keep on praying.

It's just a little bit like what we're going to be doing tonight with Ukraine. How many of you have been thinking about the Ukraine recently, other than Oley? I was going to say. He's got cousins over there. All of us were focused on the Ukraine a year and a half ago, with the tragedy that incurred with that invasion.

How much has it been on our mind since? How often do we hear somebody that has a need for prayer? And do we pray in our mind? Sometimes we do pray from the pulpit here for people that are sick. I'm not talking about three days of flu. That's kind of biblical. Three days and three nights. It'll be over if you have flu. Normally, but where there are very, very serious kind of situations. I gave a message, one of these messages down in San Diego. I don't know if I mentioned it here last time. I had not taken the note up with me. I think Bill and the crozas were there. And we had Sandy Beatty, the deacon. He was up there leading songs. And this prayer request came up and was extremely serious about an individual, if I remember correct, that was riddled with cancer. So it was given to them. So what do you do at the end? What do you do at the end? Do you say, oh, brother, and now let's sing number 33, rejoice and go home. So that you look at it, you'd have to know the individual. He's got a fun face. And he looked at me and I just simply said, well, Sandy, what are you going to do?

Because normally I'm up the one that offers a prayer of somebody who's very sick, or Mr. Garnett, who's ever here, budge, fresh algae. And Sandy just led us in prayer for the moment.

We've got to practice what is preached. And the best way of learning is to put it immediately into action.

And I know that there was a blessing upon that individual afterwards.

Brethren, Jesus himself said that our Father's house is to be a house of prayer. Join me if you would in Acts 4 verse 23. Let's see how this works for a moment. Because as they were open, as they were willing, as they knew that God had not only promised a gift, but it came.

That they went to evangelize, they went up to stand and to witness for Jesus Christ and this way of life. And they were taken by the authorities, Peter and John. And then notice what happens after their release. Notice verse 23. Peter and John are released. And being let go, Peter and John being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priest and the elders had said to them. So when they heard that they raised their voice to God, notice they raised their voice. They prayed to God and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. Who by the mouth of your servant, David, has said, Why did the nations rage? And the people plot vain things. The kings of the earth took their stand. The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anoint it, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. Now, notice verse 29. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness that they may speak your word and by stretching out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they prayed, the place there assembled was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, I don't think we're going to have an earthquake here today unless God provides one. That's not what I'm talking about. But what did we learn from this? Let me give you some very simple, quick points. If you want to be like Jesus Christ, the living head of this church, be in this way and follow in the example and the footsteps of the early disciples. We see it right here spelled out. Number one. Are you ready? Number one, they praised God. They praised God. That was the first thing that came out of their mouth. They spoke of Him as being the Creator God, the one that is in charge. Number two. Their prayers were founded on Scripture and awareness of the great truths of the Bible. Their reading, their study of the Scriptures, their quoting of the Scriptures, it informed their faith and filled their prayers. No, sometimes, and I've done that before, where I'm down on my knees and words aren't simply coming. Maybe you've done this as well as I have. I just opened up the Psalms. This has come from the Psalms. I just begin reading the words of God. You know, by the way, the Psalms are prayers. That's why we sing them to God, right? They're praise.

The words of God, the promises of God, the blessings of God. To inform us, to encourage us in a world that's growing ever darker and darker. So, number one, they praise God. Number two, their prayers were informed by Scripture. Number three, they were specific. They told God what had happened. The apostles had been seized and they based it upon prophecy. They got somewhat into detail about what had occurred. They told them about it. Now, verse 29. Let's take a look at this from what? Very specific points. People want to have things fleshed out. Mr. Weber, please move from theory to practicality. Give us something to do. The example is in the Bible. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants with all boldness that they may speak your word. Two very specific things. They asked for God's attention in their life.

Lord, look down.

Look down.

We've given our life to you.

Just as he would later with Saul of Tarsus. Number two, notice out of this verse 29. And grant to your servants. So, Lord, look down and grant your presence. Give us your perfection.

Give me, Father, your perfection in my marriage, in my child-rearing, in my relationship with my neighbors, with the challenges that I might even be having in this congregation with somebody that also calls himself a Christian. Help me at school.

Help me with those internal problems that I have.

Lord, look down.

Call God's attention.

It works. Remember Abraham before Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lord, look down and grant.

There is the childlike quality in these early disciples.

That there was a loving Father that wanted to give them a gift.

I have a question for you.

Will you do that this week with me as you have challenges in your life?

In my roles and in my responsibilities, that God has granted me at this time in my life, I don't have all the answers.

I need to be reminded of that.

I need to practice what I preach. If I just based upon what Robin does, my human works, they will falter. They will fail. They will neither serve you. They will not serve me. They will not serve the other people that I'm involved with in the church worldwide.

I need to ask God, number one, to look down and know that He is watching me. And number two, as a child in a petition, simply say to Grant, they didn't ask to be removed from the problem, but they asked for God's strength to deal with the situation and the revolts jolts followed. I want to share one other thought with you. If you join me over here in Acts 9. In Acts 9, just want to share a beautiful thought with you. That is simply this, that being involved in a lifestyle, developing a lifestyle of prayer, opens doors and windows that we could never imagine. I just want to simply allude to this out of the book of Acts. We know the story here where it speaks of in Acts 10 and verse 1. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what is called the Italian regiment, a devout man and one who feared God and with all his household who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always.

It was a lifestyle. And about a year ago, it was a lifestyle. And about the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius, and when he observed him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord? And he said, Your prayers, your prayers and your alms have come up. Notice, they've come up for a memorial before God. God was about to awaken the church in a way that it had never experienced, never had dreamed of, even though all the verses were in the Old Testament, that Jesus Christ the Messiah would be a light to the Gentiles, but they didn't know how it was going to work. And then all of a sudden, God looked down, just as he looked down on Saul, as he looked down on Saul, he saw this Gentile, this Roman legionnaire praying. And he said, Here's a man that I can do business with.

And he took that man, and that man then had to get up, follow the instructions of that vision, and go down and meet Peter and his servants and followers in Jaffa. Now, let's take another step further. Join me, if you would, then, in 10 verse 9. The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up to the household to pray about the sixth hour. And then he became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens open, and an object came down. And I don't mean to go through the entire story, but here was like a picnic basket going up and down. Up and down.

It was a vision.

And it was a vision of understanding that ultimately that we should call no man unclean.

Now, let's follow the story. Stay with me.

Where did God begin with Cornelius?

And what brought God's attention to Cornelius, that that was a man that would be able to do what needed to be done? As society forever would change with the covenant people.

He was praying.

Now with the Jew.

Now with Peter. What was Peter doing? What was Peter doing? He was praying.

And then, both of those men, after they prayed, they had to get up.

They had to get up, and they had to go meet their prayers. And then, they had to get up, and they had to go meet their prayers.

Susan and I talk about this all the time. Susan said it today. We prayed and we said, well, okay, let's go meet our prayers.

If we're just in a room and we're praying, and we do not have openness, willingness, and expectation, expectation. Just like a bat that bounces radar off of a cave wall. Where does that go?

You know the incredible story found in Luke 18 about the Pharisee and the publican.

The publican was praying his heart out. It says about the Pharisee in Luke 18, he was praying unto himself. You might want to go read that. He was praying unto himself. Have you and I ever had the experience where we don't think our prayers go above the ceiling? And just like that Pharisee, we're praying unto ourself.

Do we want to move out of that mode and pray like Jesus Christ did before matters rather than afterwards? Do we want to be like the early disciples and pray that way? Do we want to see results occur in our life? Do we want to see the blessings and the gifts and the dynamism and the enthusiasm that occurred in the first century in the United Church of God Los Angeles today? That's how we need to pray. And then we need to go out and meet our prayers. Lord, look down. Lord, grant. And then get up and meet our prayers as they happen. I want to share one other point. I'm going to skip over two points. One point we're going to conclude here. Acts 1622.

And Acts 1622.

This is where Paul and Sylvanus are taken prisoner. And when they laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. And having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened at their feet in the stocks. But at midnight, Paul and Sylvanus were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake. And there was, when it was all said and done, an angelic angel break. What I want to pinpoint here is verse 25, if you'll look at it with me. But at midnight, remember, it's one thing to pray instantly. It's another thing to pray without ceasing. It's another thing to keep on praying even when it's getting dark in the prison jail. And they were praying and they were singing hymns. That's why, as Christians, in a way of life, we pray. That's why we sing. That's why we even have our hymns sing after church from time to time. Because wherever you find a covenant people, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, a covenant people pray and a covenant people sing. And what were they singing? Now, they were most likely as Jews, they were most likely singing Jewish Christians, they were most likely singing the Psalms. They knew the Psalms. They were perhaps also singing hymns that had already come out of church. I just want to show you one thing. 1 Timothy 3.16, real quickly. We'll see if it's in your Bible the way it is mine. 1 Timothy 3.16.

1 Timothy 3.16. Notice in your Bible if it's mine, you see where it is indented. Where it says, In God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. Commentaries will often tell you that these were most likely very early hymns of those that were in the way. Those that asked God to look down and to grant them what their needs were. We see that they were praying, and then we see that they were released. Do we want God to work dynamically in our life? The examples are here in the book of Acts. Here's one thing I want to share with you as we conclude. Prayer is not just the entrance to life or into the entrance of day. Prayer is not just simply a hello to God. It can also be a goodbye. We find that in Acts 20, verse 36. You might just jot that down where Paul is no longer going to see the Ephesian elders, and they pray. But here's what I want to share with you of the importance of prayer. Recognizing who we're praying to and recognizing that God really does look down on us, loves us, wants the very best for us, so much so that he gave his son. That we could, whatever we ask in his name, we would know that our Father would hear us. It's very interesting that when you think about it here, that in Luke 23 46, very simply, go to Luke 23 46. Luke 23 46. What is the last thing that Jesus does when he is on earth? Verse 46. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Prayer is a lifestyle from beginning to end, from the beginning of our day to the end of our day, from the beginning of our life to God through Christ to our last breath. We find that with Jesus Christ. Prayer is not just a hello, it's also a goodbye as we commit our lives into God's hand. Stephen, here we have the God-man, Jesus the Christ. In the book of Acts, in Acts 7 and verse 59, we have the man of God, Stephen, as he is being killed, as he is being martyred, he does the last thing. His last breath is a prayer. Father, forgive them, and into your hands I commit my spirit. Join me at the very end of the book, Revelation 22. Revelation 22. Something that maybe you've never noticed before.

And we'll pick up the thought in verse 17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him who hears say, Come, and let him who thirst, Come, and whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. We know that the bride is the body of Christ, what is called the church, those that are called out. And we know that those that are called out, those that are the bride of Christ, have been bequeathed the gift of the Holy Spirit. So we see these coming together. And then it says here, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. And he goes on to speak about it. Now here's the important part as we wind up at the end of Revelation with everything that has been spoken. The mountaintop experiences, the tribulation, the persecution of the saints. Right? All in all, with all of that stated, with that revelation and those scrolls broken, with those seals broken so they could see the scroll, here is the end of the Bible. He who testifies to these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Have you ever noticed, friends, here in Los Angeles, that Scripture concludes with a prayer? It sees the thick and the thin of life, the tribulation, the intervention of God, the challenges that we will have until Jesus Christ comes back. But when it is all said and done, it says, Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The key to all of this, brethren, is simply this. You and I have, as priests, in training. That's what we are. I'm speaking very seriously to all of you right now. We have not just simply been called to sit in a chair here at four o'clock or four ten, for those that haven't seen the watch yet. I'll let you know what time it is. We have not been called just to take up a space in a chair here this afternoon. Take time. You and I have been given an incredible privilege by God above to be called ones out of season to be a holy people. You and I are being trained as a kingdom of priests to be with God forever and ever and ever. There can be no higher calling. That is why I've spent this time in bringing you three messages to encourage you to keep up that lifeline. All of us can grow in it. None of us have mastered it. It is only Jesus himself that mastered it completely. But he gives us the example. As he says, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the way, and I am the life. I'm here to remind you that there is life in prayer. And your life, my life, depends upon it. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad that he who is greater and preeminent above all, our Heavenly Father, allows us to speak to him and to come boldly before him through the name of Jesus Christ. What an incredible opportunity. Look forward to seeing you after church.