Prayer for God

6 · Reads Acts 1:14 and announces the sermon's structure: three distinct prayer categories identifiable in this single verse

All these things All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers. So I see 3 different kinds or categories of prayer in this particular moment, and I want to talk about that with you this morning.

7 · Identifies the first prayer category: corporate prayer, emphasizing its prominence in the text and its biblical significance

The first thing to point out is that this is a corporate prayer. And that's probably the thing you'd notice right away because that's the emphasis of the text, that they were all gathered together together to pray. Corporate prayer is a big deal.

8 · Establishes a biblical pattern: major divine actions are typically preceded by corporate prayer rather than individual prayer

I said 2 weeks ago that big things come before— prayer comes before big things. You know, most of the time in the Bible when something big happens, prayer comes before that big thing. And most of the time that prayer is God's people praying together, not just a single individual, but a collective, a group of people praying together.

9 · Introduces the theological problem of faith in prayer and signals that corporate prayer will be explored further as the Acts series progresses

I would love to think and talk more about why that is. Why is it that corporate prayer is so important to the Scriptures? And I just want to throw one thing out to you, and we'll talk about it more as we work through the book of Acts. But, you know, James tells us that we really do need to pray without doubting, that we really do need to have faith to accompany our prayers.

10 · Illustrates the weakness of individual faith using the analogy of insulation being mostly air, with a humorous aside about the building work

So if I'm putting the biblical data together, one of the reasons why corporate prayer seems important to me is that any individual in this room is, on their best days, mostly doubt and some faith, right? Mostly doubt and some faith. We were working on the building yesterday, it was a great day, and I was pulling out insulation and I was telling the kids, you know, insulation is 90% air. And Ben Nichols said, "And 10% cancer."

11 · Extends the insulation analogy to characterize human faith as constituting only a small percentage of our spiritual makeup even on our best days

But, you know, on our best days we're about 10% faith, you know, I mean that's, that's We're really doing well for about 10% faith.

12 · Offers the first theological reason for corporate prayer's importance: individuals with weak faith can combine their small portions of faith into something stronger through corporate gathering, using the Proverbs imagery of braided cords

I think one of the great things God does in corporate prayer is we have the chance to gather together, and as the Proverbs say, we have a chance to braid our tiny little fibers of belief together. You have a little belief, I have a little belief, you have a little belief, and together we get together and we braid that into something surer and truer and bigger than just ourselves. So that's one of the things we see in this text, corporate prayer. We'll talk about this a lot as we progress through the book of Acts.

13 · Identifies the second prayer category in Acts 1:14: prayer for God Himself rather than for God's gifts, characterizing this as rare in contemporary practice

We also see another rare form of prayer here in this prayer, and that is prayer for God himself. This is one of the rarer forms of prayer that we see take place in our actual prayer lives, the prayer for more of God.

14 · Explains the contextual basis for identifying prayer-for-God in Acts 1:14: the disciples were specifically praying for the promised Holy Spirit

See, these guys and gals were praying for the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised that they would receive the Holy Spirit, and their response to that promise was to gather together and pray for it to be so.

15 · Applies the second prayer category to the church's monthly prayer meeting, explaining that it focuses on praying for more of God rather than specific requests, and commends this practice to the congregation

So in this particular prayer, we see a group of people gathered corporately to ask for more of God himself. Now, if you've never been to our corporate monthly prayer meeting, this is by and large what that prayer meeting is about. It's not that we don't pray for specific things, that comes up from time to time, But by and large, our corporate prayer gatherings on the 4th Wednesday of every month is— right, Seth?— is a corporate prayer gathering to pray for God Himself, to be blessed by the Lord Himself. And honestly, that's one of the rarer prayers that the average believer prays. Most people don't find themselves often praying for more of God. This is the kind of prayer that we see Paul using in the book of Ephesians, for instance. And it's a kind that I commend to you and will continue to commend to you.

16 · Introduces the third prayer category: praying for what God has already promised, framing it as the most practically significant of the three categories

So that's another category we see here. We see people gather together in corporate prayer. We see them seeking more of God. And thirdly, this is perhaps the most practical of the three, we see this category of prayer where they are praying for something that has already been promised.

17 · Articulates the theological objection that creates prayerlessness: if God has already promised good things, prayer seems redundant and inefficient

Now this is going to give a little insight into prayer in general. They're praying for something that has already been promised. One of the most common objections to prayer of all kinds is simply, if I know God loves me and I already know that God will take care of me, why should I pray? If I know that God has promised to work everything to good, why should I pray? Why should I pray when God has already promised to take care of me? Why should I tell him my needs when he said he already knows his needs? Why should I ask for more of God when he's promised to draw me closer to himself? And so on and so forth.

18 · Diagnoses the root of the objection as pitting God's sovereignty against His commands, then confesses personal sin of using efficiency as a cover for pride

Whether we articulate this objection or not, a great reason for prayerlessness in the average believer's life is because we pit the sovereignty and good nature of God against his commands to pray. And we say, gosh, I mean, it seems like Prayer's redundant. I'm an efficiency addict. I love efficiency. And the main reason I love efficiency is because I'm a great sinner who takes pride in finding the quicker way to do stuff so I can look at all you people who do it so inefficiently.

19 · Identifies the congregation's engineer-mindset tendency to view prayer in the face of promises as wasteful redundancy, then positions this question as central to understanding Acts 1:14

I really do love efficiency, and many of you love efficiency. Many of you are engineers at heart, whether you are in profession or not. And you look at this idea and it seems kind of redundant, like a redundancy, like a loss of energy, right? Like a momentum suck. If God has already promised to do these things, why do I need to ask God to do what He's already promised to do? And I think that's really relevant for this particular passage, that question.

20 · Transitions to exegetical demonstration by returning to Acts 1 to prove that the disciples prayed for what was already promised

So look back at verse 4 of Acts chapter 1. Why do the disciples pray when God has already promised? Let's establish that that's what's happening here first of all.

21 · Exegetes Acts 1:4-8 to demonstrate that Jesus made an unconditional promise that the disciples would receive the Holy Spirit—no conditions attached except waiting

Verse 4, "And while staying with them, He ordered," Jesus, "ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, 'You heard from Me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' not many days from now. It's a promise, right? Jesus has promised they will receive the Holy Spirit, and there's no condition to that promise. They're not told they have to do anything for that except simply wait, right? Verse 8, again it's restated, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So Jesus is promising them the Holy Spirit. There's no condition. They will receive power.

22 · Reads Acts 1:12-14 to show that the disciples' response to Jesus's unconditional promise was to gather together and devote themselves to prayer

Now how do they respond to this promise? Verse 12: Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. And when they'd entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying— Peter and John and James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

23 · Draws the theological point from the exegesis: the disciples' behavior contradicts the objection that prayer is redundant in the face of promises

So you see what's happening here? You see the promise of Jesus, and how do they respond to the promise of Jesus? They engage in prayer, which is exactly the opposite of what that question, that hypothetical question I threw out, says, right? The hypothetical question being, if God has already promised to do X, Y, and Z, why do I need to ask him to do X, Y, and Z?

24 · Stakes out the sermon's central question and shows its implications for corporate prayer and praying for more of God, characterizing the question as the scoffer's trick of pitting God's attributes against His commands

Now, I want to help you see how that question is at the heart of a bunch of different issues real quickly before we answer it. First is this: most of God's promises in the scriptures pertain to God's people as a corporate entity. Most of God's promises are for God's collective people. So if we figure out why and how we should pray in the face of God's promises, that will affect our corporate prayer. Furthermore, praying for more of God really gets to the heart of this question. Doesn't that kind of feel weird to you? Have you ever asked God for more? More God? You know, more of the Holy Spirit? What does that mean? It just feels very theologically sketchy. What do we mean when we're asking for more of God? You know, well, and how does that fit into just our regular prayer life? What does it mean to do this? Well, if we can answer this larger question of why do I pray for what God has already promised, that will help inform this other issue of what do we mean and why should we pray and ask for more of God? So let's think through this question. Why should we pray when God has already promised? And I think it will affect the way we think of corporate prayer. I think it will affect the way we think about asking for more of God.

25 · First answer to the central question: we pray because God commanded it, and treating His sovereignty and commands as contradictory is the scoffer's error—the problem is with us, not God

So first reason why we should pray in the face of God's promises is because God said so. If we look back in Luke, during our time in Luke, one of the tricks of what we call the scoffer, what the Bible calls the scoffer, is to pit one of God's characteristics against something else that he said, right? It's the trick of the scoffer. The trick of the fool is to turn something God said against something else God said, assuming that there's most likely contradiction with God and not with us, right? So this question that I'm posing, why should we pray in the face of God's promises, is in and of itself a bit sketchy. The simple truth is God has promised things and he has told us to pray for those things.

26 · Exposes the heart sin beneath theological objections to prayer: fatalism masquerading as faith is actually laziness and self-indulgence masquerading as theology

And at the heart of this, sometimes we disguise our fatalism as faith. We disguise our fatalism as faith. We say that the reason for our prayerlessness or our lack of zeal in general is because God has sovereignly orchestrated and ordained all things, and we believe in that. The truth is we're lazy and self-indulgent, and we don't want to do the hard thing, but we call it faith because we're hypocrites.

27 · Reiterates the first answer—obedience to God's clear commands—and positions it as the foundation before offering additional practical reasons

So one of the simple reasons why we should pray in the face of God's promises is because consistently God tells us to pray, and consistently God issues promises. We are making something a contradiction which God does not see as a contradiction. So I'm gonna give you a lot of good practical reasons why we should pray in the face of God's promises, but I think we should start with just deciding to choose to be obedient children who obey the God of the universe when he tells us to do something. And God has been very clear. He has told us to pray in response to his promises. His promises.

28 · Second answer: we pray because two millennia of Christian leaders modeled it, and resistance to their testimony reveals pride and autonomy rather than legitimate theological concern

The second reason why we should do this is because our leaders did it. Again, this is a test of pride, as pretty much all prayer is, by the way. It's a test of pride. My first reason for why we should pray in the face of God's promises is because He told us to. And my second reason is another test of pride because our leaders did it. Again, the opportunity to test where our hearts really are. Is the fact that those who came before us so consistently for 2 millennium have commended prayer as the source of their real power— does that hold sway on our autonomous, individualistic, too-big-for-our-britches view of Christianity?

29 · Presses the diagnostic: if apostolic example doesn't persuade us to pray, the problem is arrogant resistance to instruction requiring humbling

Are we persuaded to pray because we look back and see men like these apostles praying. That ought to have a persuasive weight on our souls. If the fact that other generations have consistently testified to the power of prayer in the life of the church doesn't have sway on us, then we can tell what the real issue is behind our prayerlessness. It's we're just a bit of the sassy pants. We think we know more than we do. We're above instruction. We need to be humbled.

30 · Compares the church's practices to Acts and identifies corporate prayer as the single missing ingredient despite otherwise having many biblical elements in place

The truth is, as you walk through the book of Acts, you could make a case that in every other area we are walking with these men and women. We do have a quite commendable— though plenty of room for growth— quite commendable safety net in the church. We care for one another's needs. We have the Word. I mean, you're not getting Peter and Paul level sermons, but you know, it's not bad. We have corporate gathering. We have times of gathering. You go through the recipe and we've got so many of the ingredients, but if you were to point to the one ingredient that is most consistently lacking in the modern church, it would be serious, urgent, frequent, committed corporate prayer.

31 · Steps outside the structured argument to name the core problem directly: prayerlessness is pride, and theological objections are smokescreens hiding heart rebellion

And the fact that we so often— we know this, I'm not telling anything new— but the fact that we are so stubborn when faced with this very clear testimony of God's work in history and resist committing to and exercising actively in corporate prayer tells us a lot about our hearts. And then a lot of our objections to prayer or our questions about prayer are just smoke screens meant to disguise from the larger heart issue. Friends, if just the shortcut fast-forward version of this sermon is simply this: we don't pray because we are prideful people. We don't ask God, we don't talk to God, we don't seek God because we are prideful people. And so many of these questions that seem legitimate are actually just smoke screens meant to throw up and hide What is genuinely a heart issue, we pray so little because we think so much of ourselves.

32 · Summarizes the first two reasons and introduces the third: the danger of the gap between promise and provision

So there's two reasons: God said so, our leaders did so. Number three, we pray in the face of God's promises because a lot of trouble comes in the waiting.

33 · Third answer: we pray in the gap because humans consistently make a mess during waiting periods between God's promise and provision

These guys were unified in prayer, and it's the first time I could think of where they were unified in anything. Think of all the trouble these disciples could have gotten into as they waited for this promise. Friends, there's always a gap. There's always a gap between what God says and what we see, right? There's always a gap between what God says and what we see. And here's the deal: we just don't do well in that gap.

34 · Explains the mechanism: indwelling sin actively sabotages God's coming blessings during waiting periods, making the gap dangerous

We will come up with all sorts of ways to make a mess in the gap between what God says and and what we see. Indwelling sin is always seeking a way to sabotage the coming blessing of God. We don't do well with waiting periods. So when God makes a promise to us, there will be some sort of gap between when he makes the promise and when the promise actually comes to pass. And in between when he makes the promise and when the promise comes to pass, we can make so many messes.

35 · Illustrates the danger of the gap with Abraham and Sarah's failure during the waiting period between God's promise of offspring and Isaac's birth

And I think the disciples understood this. Certainly they understood the story of Abraham and Sarah, right? The story of Abraham and Sarah is an example of this very principle. There's God's promise that they will have an offspring, you know, just abundant offspring, an abundant legacy. There's the promise of that, and then there's the delivery of that. There's a gap between those two things. Well, what do they do with that gap? They make a mess of things, don't they?

36 · Applies the third reason: prayer during waiting keeps wandering hearts stable and centered on God rather than sabotaging His promises

Friends, one of the reasons why we pray in the face of God's promises is because it's about the best thing we can do while we wait. We should be active and alert in prayer in between God's promises and his provision of that promise, because we need to understand that our hearts are so prone to linger, so prone to wander, that we need to pray as we wait that God would care for our hearts and keep them stable and secure and centered on him. So that's number 3. The number 3 reason why we should pray while we wait for God's promises, provision, is because we get into a lot of trouble while we're waiting. I hope you see that about yourself.

37 · Fourth answer: the gap exists to give the gift of anticipation itself, and prayer during waiting builds anticipation while sensitizing believers to recognize provision when it arrives, illustrated from Luke's gospel opening

Number 4, because anticipation is part of the enjoyment. Anticipation is part of the enjoyment. Why would God allow there to be such a gap between his promise and his provision? He doesn't need there to be a gap. It's not like he has to go find the funds, right? It's not like he has to go like figure out how he's gonna fulfill these promises. There doesn't need to be any gap between God's promise and his provision. So why is there so often a gap? Sometimes a very big gap of time. Why? Well, I mean, that's way above my pay grade. It's way above my status as a human being. But one thing I can tell you that I've seen in my life is that part of enjoyment is anticipation. Part of enjoyment is anticipation. Any kind of promise that has a firm date set to it spawns an eve of that date. So Christmas Eve exists because Christmas exists. Anticipation exists because the promise exists. Part of the joy that God is giving you and I is He's giving us the joy of anticipation. Not only the joy of fulfillment, but the joy of anticipating that fulfillment. This is the joy of anticipation in engagement. Or the joy of anticipation as you're on a diet and you're just looking forward to that celebratory or that cheat meal. This is the idea of anticipation as an enjoyment of itself. God is so good to us, so generous, that he not only wants to give us the gift, but he wants to give us the gift of anticipation. And prayer builds up that sense of anticipation as we rehearse God's promises, as we lean into God's promises, as we pray God's promises. We build up a sense of anticipation for His provision. And anticipation is part of the enjoyment. Anticipation also creates sensitization. It stirs up within us an expectancy so that we know God's provision has come when it does indeed come. The beginning of Luke is really a great place to go back and study the role of anticipation in preparation. Because the way Luke begins his gospel is by showing us all these people who have been leaning in and praying for God's promise to come to pass. And all these people who've been leaning in are the ones who are sensitive to God's promise when it is fulfilled.

38 · Illustrates sensitization through anticipation with a personal story of Wes jumping into a fountain because anticipation of swimming made him recognize any water as the fulfillment

So number 5: anticipation creates sensitization. I think I've told you this story before, but years ago we were on a road trip to see my brother in Omaha, and we told Wes— he was probably 6 or 7 years old. We told him along the way, you know, trying to keep him encouraged as he made this long drive, "Hey man, when you get there, you're gonna get to go swimming. When you get there, you're gonna get to go swimming." And that was just his thing, that was his mantra for every hour as we drove. "When I get there, I'm gonna get to go swimming." Well, before we got to the hotel, we stopped on the campus of the college there to meet my brother. He was a student at school at that time. And he and I are talking and everybody's kind of looking behind me and I realized, well, I don't know where my 7-year-old kid is. And I turn around and he's stripped down and he's in the fountain, swimming in the fountain. So he actually got to go swimming twice that day. Anticipation sensitizes us to the fulfillment. It makes us sensitive to the fulfillment of God's promise.

39 · Sixth answer: the gap exists because while God's provision is certain, human stewardship of that provision is profoundly uncertain

Number 6, because stewardship isn't simple. Stewardship isn't simple. Anticipation should also lead to a kind of equipping. Here's, here's the basic formula: God's delivery of the goods is never in doubt, but my stewardship of those goods is really in doubt. God's delivery of the, of the promise is never in doubt, but my stewardship of that promise once it arrives is profoundly in doubt. God will provide. I will probably screw it up.

40 · Explains that prayer during the gap equips hearts for stewardship, reframing the central question from God's provision (certain) to human stewardship (uncertain)

So prayer has this way of equipping my heart, conforming my heart to God's will in general. And I should spend as much time— I should be thankful. I should— should is operative here. I don't want to paint myself as being super spiritual, but here's how this should work. I should be thankful for the gap between God's promise and his provision because it gives me time to prepare to be a good steward of the gift he gives me. Because that's the real central question. The central question is not, will God be good to me in the future? Will God provide what, what I need in the future? Those aren't the questions. The question is, will I be a good steward when that gift comes? Will I hold that gift well? Will I use it to bless others? Will I allow it to have its full effect in my own life?

41 · Presses the stewardship point with vivid examples of squandered blessings (time, relationships, money), arguing that awareness of past waste should make believers beg for the gap to prepare for future stewardship

You know, they say that youth is wasted on the young, and I think that's true. I think that's just true with most good gifts. I think, again, another thing about God's mercy, I think if we understood how much of His goodness we squandered already in our lives. How much free time we've frittered away, how many date nights we've allowed to turn into fight nights, how many bonuses or unexpected financial windfalls we've wasted, how many kindnesses of God we've just trampled and squandered. I think if we understood how wasteful we are with God's goodness, and how high the standard of stewardship really is, I think if we understand that, we would almost say to God, "Please wait. I don't want to mess this one up. I don't want to squander this anymore. I don't want to waste this. Please just do a work in my heart that lets me fully steward Your goodness. I don't want to be a full-time squanderer of your many blessings and gifts. I want to be a good steward. God is going to deliver his blessings because that's who God is. The question is, who am I? What kind of steward will I be when those gifts arrive?

42 · Escalates the stewardship argument to eschatological stakes: final judgment will assess stewardship of blessings, making the gap between promise and provision a necessary preparation for eternal accountability

Friends, are you conscious— I mean, are you conscious of the sheer weight of stewardship that comes from being as blessed as you are blessed. In order for this whole eternal justice thing to make sense, in order for the weak to be made strong and the last to be first, in order for this kind of final moment of cosmic justice to make sense, the haves and the have-nots need to be held to some standard. The question that Jesus issues repeatedly in the parables is, "What have you done with what I've given you? What have you done with what I've given you? Have you been faithful in the small things? Have you understood the wealth that I've brought your way?" And then the question becomes, "Lord, my heart is so prone to wander." I am so apt to make life about myself. And I look at the treasury of goodness you've deposited in my life, the friends, the opportunities, the time, the days, the health. I look at all of this deposited and I ask myself, Lord, how can I be a better steward of what you've already given me? To spend time in prayer in that gap between God's promise and His provision is never a wasted thing because God's goodness isn't in question, but my goodness as a steward of His goodness is a massive question.

43 · Illustrates the stewardship principle with life observation: the determining factor is not the volume of gifts but the internal work God does to make someone a faithful steward

I think as you get to a certain age, you realize it really at some point isn't about how much And it's really about what you do with what you got. And you begin through life— this is an insight for younger people here— at some point when you're like in your 40s or whatever, you begin to meet really smart people who have done nothing with it, right? And you begin to meet really intelligent people who have done nothing— or really wealthy people who have done nothing with it, really healthy people who have done nothing with it. And then you meet these people who have not very much intelligence and they've maxed it out. And you meet people who have not very much help and they've maxed it out. And you begin to see, oh my goodness, it's really not about the volume of the gifts. It's about the work that God has done inside someone that's made them either a great steward or not.

44 · Transitions to the seventh and climactic reason: prayer keeps the gift and the giver united, preventing the idolatrous separation that leads to judgment

So we pray in the face of God's promises because— not because we're wondering whether those promises will come true, we're wondering if we'll be true with those promises. We also pray— this is number 7, and this is the main point of the text— we pray because the gift and the giver are not supposed to diverge from one another. The gift and the giver must not diverge.

45 · Introduces the biblical framework from Romans: God's gifts lead either to joy or judgment, with detectable mile markers showing which road a person is on

I was listening to Romans the other day and was struck by the contrast that Paul makes in the book of Romans. There are certain mile markers on the road to judgment. So God's gifts come into a person's life and they either lead to eternal joy or eternal judgment. And the Bible says that for the most part, for most people, God's gifts will wind up leading to judgment and not joy. But there are certain mile markers along the way that you can kind of see, well, which way am I headed?

46 · Exegetes Romans' pattern: judgment-bound responses to gifts include presumption, ingratitude, jealousy, and pride, while joy-bound responses include gratitude, dependence, generosity, and humility—the fundamental difference being whether the gift and giver remain united or separate

So for a lot of people, God's gifts lead to presumption. When God is blessing, when He is giving, we are not thankful, we are not even mindful of God's gifts. We're just presuming upon God. It's like, well, it's here, I don't even take time. So it's presumption and ingratitude. For people who are headed to judgment for the way they've stewarded God's gifts, there's a great deal of jealousy and covetousness and comparison. There's always a looking around for what someone else has that I don't have, and I get fixed on what God hasn't given me, what He's given everybody else. For those that are heading toward judgment, this presumption, this ingratitude, A jealousy, a pride takes position in response to God's gifts. God's gifts for some people, for many people, stir up these responses: ingratitude, presumption, covetousness, pride. But there are other people for whom God's gifts lead to joy. And what you see as mile markers in these people's lives, things like gratitude— thank you, God— Dependence. Lord, I don't want to allow this gift to take place for my dependence on you. I don't want to allow your financial blessings in my life to take the place of my dependence on you. Generosity. There's a turning around and a giving, and a glad giving at that. And there's a humility and a holy fear that comes from people that are blessed with God's gifts. But the biggest difference is this: The biggest difference between those who take God's gifts and wind up being judged for them and those who take God's gifts and wind up finding eternal joy, the biggest difference is this: the way of joy involves the gift and the giver staying together, and the way of judgment involves the gift and the giver being pitted against each other. This is the basic way we interact with God's gifts. The way of judgment is a pitting against, a separation of the gift and the giver. The way of joy is that somehow in God's sovereign saving grace, He does a work in our hearts that allows the gift, the good gifts of God, to be on-ramps to a relationship with God not a frontage road away from God.

47 · Identifies gift-giver separation as the central problem of the human heart and the mechanism of judgment described in Romans 1

So those who receive God's gifts that wind up being filled with joy, eternal joy, are those who find the gift and the giver converging. And those who wind up in judgment, though they've been blessed, are those who see the separation occur where the gift and the giver are pitted against one another. That's the basic issue when we're talking about God's provision in our lives. That's the basic issue. That's the, that's the central problem of the human heart. Romans 1 says that we pit the gift and the giver apart from each other. We, we would rather worship and serve the creation, God's gifts, rather than the Creator who is forever blessed. And that this tendency sends us down the road of judgment.

48 · Explains the practical mechanism: prayer during the gap before provision unites the believer with God, preventing the post-provision separation that leads to judgment

So that all the times I mentioned previously about this tendency of like, what is categories of prayer? Friends, the truth is, is that one of the most easy, one of the easiest ways to pray is when we are desperate. And one of the hardest times to pray is when we're satisfied. Which tells you what? The gift is not driving us toward the giver. The gift is taking place of the giver. So this difference is really what prayer's for, because in prayer, as I'm speaking to God about his future provision, I am uniting with the giver before the gift comes, and I'm tying these two things together before his provision so that hopefully after his provision they stay tied together. This is basically not work. This is basically prayer before provision is our way of keeping the gift and the giver connected.

49 · Direct pastoral address to those struggling with long gaps: the gap exists for their good, and the only forbidden response is silence—they must maintain relationship with God through the waiting

Now, just practically speaking, you, some of you, are just really— you love God to death, but you're, you're really not okay with the gap. You're not okay with the gap. Friends, that gap is there for your own good, to make you closer to him and so that when He provides, the separation that leads to judgment will not occur. That's His goodness to you. And I would just tell you this: you can talk to Him, you can yell at Him, you can lament before Him. You do what you need to do to talk to Him, because you and He need to grow together. Just don't ignore Him. Ignoring Him is judgment. It will. It's the one thing you cannot do. You will be tempted to allow your heart just grow numb to God because you're waiting so long for the provision. Don't do that. Don't do that. Do whatever you need to do, but don't do that. Talk to God, talk to others. Understand that the gap between his promise and his provision is meant to keep the gift and the giver United. That's the goal of every one of God's good gifts, is to drive you to Him. Every one of God's gifts is meant to drive you to Him.

50 · Applies the gift-giver union principle to the gospel itself: even salvation's purpose is not forgiveness or experiences but being called to God Himself

Even the gospel itself is meant to drive you to God. The gospel itself is God's greatest gift, but it's meant to drive you toward Him. Later on in the next chapter of Acts, Peter says to the people, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Friends, this is what most of us think the gospel is about. It's about being forgiven. No, he says you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Some of us think that the gospel is about, you know, having these worship experiences, having these experiences. Nope, that's not what it's about. For the promise is for you and for your children, for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. That's the point of the gospel. That's the point of every one of God's gifts. The Lord is calling you to himself. Every one of his blessings, every one of his gifts is an on-ramp to walking with him. That's why they exist. That's why they're there. And that's why they'll be there when it's the right time.

51 · Establishes the biblical algorithm: if God gives Himself (the greatest gift), He will give all lesser things, citing both Romans 8 (Son) and Luke 11 (Holy Spirit) as expressions of the same principle

So whatever God has done for you or is doing for you, he will do it for you if it makes you happy in him. That's God's goodness. That's all we should ever want. If a gift brings you closer to Him, it's good. If withholding a gift brings you closer to Him, it's good. Now, God's deposit, His promise of His goodness, involves a certain algorithm. I just want to walk you through this as we conclude. The basic formula of God's promised goodness is this: if God has given himself, will he not also give us X, Y, and Z? Right? That's Romans 8. If God freely gave us his Son, how will he not also give us all things? This is the basic way I approach God with my needs. God's given me himself, therefore I can trust that he will give me whatever I need. That's the basic math, right? Well, we think of that in Romans 8 related to Jesus, but the truth is it's just God giving Himself. Because in Luke chapter 11, the very same math is expressed with the Holy Spirit this time. Listen to this: What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, we'll give him a scorpion. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask of Him? Here's the basic math: if God is willing to give you Himself, then you can trust Him with all other provision.

52 · Exposes the condition: the promise that God giving Himself guarantees lesser gifts only comforts those who want God more than His gifts and are actively experiencing His goodness

Now, is that a good promise for someone who wants the provision but not the provider? No, not at all. It's not encouraging to someone who would rather ignore God as soon as God gave him what they wanted, right? That's not an encouragement. The only encouragement that is, is for people who want God more than the gifts. And who believe that God is the ultimate gift. So the math of this constant reassurance in Scripture is, if God gives you Himself, He will give you every lesser thing. In order for that to bring any comfort to you, you must believe that Himself, God, is the greatest gift. And you must not only believe that, you must be experiencing that.

53 · Concludes by tying prayer to experiential knowledge of God's goodness: prayer maintains connection to God Himself so that when lesser gifts arrive, believers recognize them as extensions of the greatest gift and maintain proper scale

And this is what prayer is. This promise is great at an intellectual level. The math adds up. If God gives me the most precious thing, Himself, then He'll give me all the lesser things. This only brings comfort to someone who's actually experiencing the ongoing goodness of God. Romans 8, Luke 11, these bring actual real-life encouragement to those people who are experiencing the actual real-life goodness of God. Once you feel and sense and experience the treasure of Jesus, the treasure of the Holy Spirit, and you understand it is this unbelievably wonderful gift, then you're able to join with Jesus in Luke 11 or with Paul in Romans 8 and say, well, if God's given me this great treasure, how will He not also give me whatever else I need? Prayer keeps your heart in tune with the touchstone of God's treasury, the best piece of God's treasury. And it allows you from there to keep the gift and the giver united and to keep your sense of scale intact as you wait for God's provision in other areas of your life. Let me pray for us.