Songs King Of Heaven Cherry Blossoms Generous God Breath Sermon Notes John 14:14 (CSB) If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. “To pray in Jesus name means that we enter into Jesus’ status in God’s favor and invoke Jesus’ standing before God." --Larry Hurtado Luke 11:5–10 (NLT) Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. 9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 1 John 5:14–15 (CSB) This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.15 And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him. James 4:2b (CSB) …You do not have because you do not ask. "God will always give you what you would have asked for if you knew everything he knows." --Tim Keller Exodus 32:9–14 (NLT) Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” 11 But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? 12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’” 14 So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people. Karl Barth: “The holy mutability of God.” Martin Luther: “Conquering God.” "To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." --Karl Barth "God has instituted prayer so as to confer upon his creatures the dignity of being causes." --Blaise Pascal "We are not merely passive set pieces in a prearranged cosmic drama, but we are active participants with God in the writing, directing, design, and action that unfolds. Prayer, therefore, is much more than asking God for this or that outcome. It is drawing into communion with him and there taking up our privileged role as his people. In prayer, we are invited to join him in directing the course of his world." --Skye Jethani "If you lack faith, it’s futile trying to stir it up from within. You can’t fake it or make it materialize by clenching your buttocks and trying to believe three impossible things before breakfast. Faith is found in the person of Christ. If you want to trust Jesus more, get to know him more. Look at him more, listen to him more, spend more time with him. It really is that simple. The more you see Jesus, the more you will trust him, because he’s the most reliable, loving, and powerful person you will ever meet. Fix your eyes on Jesus, urges the writer of Hebrews, because he is “the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” His job is to perfect your imperfect faith. Yours is just to stay focused on him." --Pete Greig