We're going to continue in our series tonight on prayer. And I invite you, in just a moment, we're going to take our Bibles to the book of Genesis. And it's, again, a real privilege to be with you, to have the Schwarz with us, and to have you here tonight. We are, I'm overwhelmed today with the study on prayer. I have been very blessed, and I trust that God will give me the grace to to be clear, to be cogent, so that you can be helped as well. We're gonna do some review here, but first, let's talk about the goal of the series on prayer. The goal is, the purpose of this series is for the Son of God to teach us to pray through his word, to understand God's definition and purpose of prayer as revealed in the scripture, to equip the saints to pray more biblically and consistently, and to receive regular answers to specific prayer. We have talked about the purpose of prayer, which is to commune with God. Prayer is not the center of prayer. God is the center of prayer. Getting to know God is the center of prayer. But man's fallen nature complicates prayer. And I could take a long time and talk about how it has made it difficult for me. My lack of understanding or my misunderstanding about prayer has hindered me from enjoying prayer and from praying. And that's because of the old nature. That's not because of Jesus, that's because of my old nature. But last week we looked at something so important, the definition of prayer, which is asking. The phrase, I pray thee, I pray you, used 170-something times in the scripture, and just that phrase alone, I pray, is used that many times, and it is always attached to a definite request. a request of a person or a request of God. It's important to know that. Why is that important? Because it is in the context of requests that we have fellowship with God and communion with Him and His Word. In other words, a person asks for something because he needs it. Therefore, a believer's prayer life is connected directly with their recognition of their need for God. You don't pray because you don't need God. You don't think you need God. That's the reason you don't pray. And how do I know that? Because prayer is asking. Why would I ask God? Let me tell you this. How many have been saved for a long time? Raise your hand. Okay. The reason why you don't pray is because you don't need God to do it. Again, I don't pray for God to help my car start. If my car doesn't start, I don't pray. God, please help my car to start. I may say that right away. Lord, please help it. Lord, please, please, please, please. But if it doesn't, what do I do? It's got to be the fill in the blank. It's the battery, it's the starter, it's the alternator, it's the piece of junk car that I never should have bought to begin with, whatever. Eventually, a mechanic or someone is going to help me get that car back. Now, should I pray for my car to start? I should not pray for my car to start expecting that God is going to fix all the problems that I never addressed. Can God fix it no matter what I've done? Yes, He can. But he doesn't always do it. And after a while, in our American culture, because we have insurance for our insurance, hello Aflac, we don't really need God. So we throw up prayers when we're at our wit's end, which could also just be that we didn't eat, and we need to get some more sleep, and we need some me time, we need to get some, you know, Prozac, we need something to chill. We don't ever really need God. And so prayer is, it's so essential that we understand that prayer is recognizing our need for God. When we recognize we need God, we will pray. Amen and amen. Now it's interesting that God does not need anything from us. If God needed us in order to be God, he wouldn't be God. what I'm saying? He's God. People say, why did God create man? He created man because God had a desire for fellowship. I don't know what God had. I just know this, God didn't have to do anything. If He had to do something, then He wasn't God. There was a law that was bigger than Him that was forcing Him. Everything God does is because God wants to do it. God doesn't have a need for me, but I have a need for God. That's why God doesn't pray to me. Amen? I pray to God. Now I know, I realize this is very basic, but I'm telling you, I have the ability to just keep on doing stuff. What are we doing? I don't know, but just keep doing it. Be faithful. be faithful to the nonsense you don't understand that we don't understand anything just keep going at some point we need to know why we're doing what we're doing and some and then come back around to remind ourselves of that okay so that's what we talked about last week we need god like we need the blood in our veins we need god like we need breath in our lungs and more than that So a little bit of prayer and a little prayer life is because we have a little recognition of our need for God. More prayer, people say, and I've heard this, I'll say this again, I'm not trying to critique it, but I'm going fast. See, people say, little prayer, little power. More prayer, more power. Much prayer, much power. I understand what you mean. Except it's really, that's the result. That's not where it starts. You don't pray because you want power from God. You pray because without God, you have nothing. And the more that you believe that you have nothing, the more that you will pray. When you really believe that you don't have anything but God, you will pray to Him. So that, we have to get that nailed down. Now, as we go into the next thing, we're going to talk about the desires of prayer, okay? But before we do, let me give you this little, whatever you want to call it, syllogism, formula, I don't know. To pray is to ask. To ask is to wait. To pray is to ask. To ask is to wait. Okay, so if your child comes to you and says, Mom, can I have a candy bar from the pantry? If the kid says, mom, can I have a candy bar, while he goes over and gets the candy bar, he's not asking, he's informing. I'm going to get a candy bar, right? So to pray is to wait. Can I? If I am not willing to wait, I'm not really asking. Okay? I'm telling, and then, When you tell God, you're going to end up being frustrated, more than likely. More than likely. So to pray is to wait on God to supply my need. It's to ask and to wait. It's to wait on God to supply my need. When I don't pray, it's because I don't believe that I have a need or that I don't believe that God will supply my need. Or in some extreme cases, I don't believe that God can supply my need. So that's why I don't pray. All right. So the question is, if prayer is a need, and I don't want to, prayer is having a need and asking God and waiting on God to supply that need, then why don't we pray and why don't we wait on God? What is hindering us? We know that God is all that we need, but we don't live like God's all that we need. Why? Okay, thank you for asking that question. That's a great question. Are you ready? We gotta get into this thing. I told you, I'm psyched out of my mind. I'm excited about it. Lord, help us. I really need you tonight because this could be crazy. Okay, so here's phase one. This is phase one, this is where mankind started. Phase one is God is all we need. Okay, that's how man was created. That's where we're gonna look at Genesis chapter two. Genesis chapter 2. So we all have a need. You have a need tonight. I don't know what your need is, but if you're human, you have a need. It's either a real need or it's an imagined need. Whatever, it's a need. Mankind was created with needs. He was created with desires. And all of those desires were designed to be fulfilled by God Himself. Okay? In other words, either by God Himself or by something that God provided. So, when you look at Genesis chapter 2, what do you see? Verse 8. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Verse 15. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him. Verse 25, And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now we look at these things in verses 8 and 9 and so forth, and these are all things, first God created man, put him there, and then God provided for him all of the things. And in these provisions we can retroactively or engineer it, what do they call that? Reverse engineer it and see what the needs were that God had provided for. You follow what I'm saying? So God gave all these provisions because God knows what a man needs. God has desires and He knows that He created man in His image and man has desires. And so I'm going to provide for those. What are those? Well, let's list a few here. There's physical or material desires. The Bible says there that every tree was good for food. Verse 9. That includes a desire for satisfaction, a desire for food, enjoyment, entertainment. That may also include desires for peace. for protection, for serenity, for rest. I don't know what you desire, but a lot of us just desire peace. Just chill out a little bit. A lot of junk going on. A lot of this and a lot of that. We just want to rest. Right? Don't tell my wife. You know my favorite part of our house is the basement. Why? Because there's peace down there. Not that my wife drives me up a wall or anything. She drives me down into the basement. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. But you understand what I mean? Just peace. When's the last time you were able to just have a big inhalation and an exhalation cycle and relax? Right? Another area of desire or need would be in the area of aesthetic or sensual desires. It says it was pleasant to the sight, verse 9. We have a desire for beauty. Transcending purpose. A sense of design. Something that goes beyond grayscale. Something that goes beyond bland and dull and boring. A desire for beauty. A desire, I would think, that goes along with that could be companionship. A lot of these things overlap. But maybe in this thing, some of it would be, for instance, the sex drive would certainly be included in the area of the sensual needs, right? And by the way, where do these desires come from? Where do these drives for food, for sex, for satisfaction, fulfillment, for beauty, where do they come from? They come from God. God created them. And then you have intellectual desires. intellectual desires, a desire for wisdom, for respect, for honor, for glory, for acceptance. You know what a lot of people are looking for? They're looking for someone, they just want R-E-S-P-E-C-T, just a little bit. That's all they're looking for. They just want someone to show them a little bit of respect. Maybe they've always felt like no one respected them. Maybe they were the runt of the litter, or maybe they were the youngest. Typically the youngest are not the ones that get beat up, it's the ones in the middle that start to feel, you know, lack of self-esteem or whatever. The little ones get away with murder, amen? But maybe that's you. Maybe you feel like you didn't measure up to your sister, your brother, maybe your dad, you know, was abusive. Maybe you're just used to, you know, tucking your tail between your legs and all you want is somebody to show you some respect, some honor. And by the way, isn't it interesting that in the marriage, God told the husband to love. What's the number one thing a wife wants from her husband? Love. What's the number one thing a man wants from his wife? Respect. Honor. The Lord put it a little bit more bluntly, obedience. Right? Submission. And why? Because we all have this need. You could put under this, you could also put companionship and acceptance under the area of the intellect. Because they overlap. Why? Man is spirit and soul and body, and so he has needs that overlap the different parts of his being. Right? And it's interesting that the flesh sometimes will say that all I want is, you know, for instance, all I want is fornication, just physical need, but it overlaps, doesn't it? And it can really mess you up spiritually, and it will mess you up spiritually, and it can mess you up mentally. There's a lot of stuff that overlaps. Like, I just want to eat one gallon of ice cream, that's all. But it's going to overlap, literally, into a lot of other areas, right? And so we have these needs, they overlap, and they were designed originally to be fulfilled and satisfied by God himself. Okay, let's look now at phase number two. This is where it gets real. Genesis chapter 3. Genesis 3, it says, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. He said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." What is that? She saw what God had made, but she saw it in a light that was different than what God said about it. So she went from, God is all that I need, to phase two, which is, Satan tempts our flesh to believe that God is not enough. You say, we're gonna get to how this covers or works into our prayer life. But remember, if prayer is asking God because I have a need, then the devil wants to keep me from believing that God can fulfill that need. So I won't talk to him. Because if God can't fulfill my need, why should I talk to Him? If He can't satisfy me, then why have a relationship with Him? So I'm going to move away. So that's what Satan's doing. He's tempting Eve and Adam to say, God doth know. What does that mean? To pray is to ask, to ask is to wait. What am I waiting on? What am I waiting on when I pray? I mean, is it good or bad? If it's good, let's get it done. Hey, if Chick-fil-A can get me through the line in three minutes, the God of heaven can't? He can't fulfill my prayer request? What is going on? See what I'm saying? To pray is to ask, to ask is to wait. But why should I wait? Why? You know what? I'll bet it's going on up in heaven. God's got something against me. Or I'll bet maybe God is inscrutable. Maybe we can't really know God. Who do we think we are to be able to understand God? The devil doesn't care what line of reasoning you take as long as it moves you away from believing that only God can provide your need. That is the key to your relationship with God is recognizing how much you need Him. God does not have sons that he sends out and says, go on with you, I don't need to see you ever again. He has sons that he sends out, like his own son, on a satellite mission, and he communed with him all of the time. And Jesus said, the doctrine I have is not my doctrine, it's my father's. He sends it down the pipe every day. We're talking all the time. That's, even when he was separate from his father, Right? Isn't that amazing? That's what God wants for us. He wants us to constantly be receiving His information, His love, His communication, and sharing that with people around us. But here's what the devil does. The devil comes along and says, no, God's got a different thing and He's not telling you about it. But just keep trusting Him if you want. Just keep hanging around him and, you know, he's got a separate little gig on the side that he's not going to tell you about, and you're an idiot if you keep going back and asking the same, same, same, same, same. That's what the devil is good at. God doth know. Human desires have always been the same. Since the fall, however, mankind no longer finds his desires fulfilled exclusively in God. He no longer thinks that God is the exclusive source for supplying his needs. May I remind you, Psalm 1611, thou wilt show me the path of life, in thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. I just, I wanna pause just for a moment and say his presence, P-R-E-S-E-N-C-E, is not the same as his presence, P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S. I'm not trying to be cute with that. I'm just saying maybe to help you remember it. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore in thy presence. It's still in the presence of God. I understand that. But he said, seek ye my face. The average Christian seeks his hand. What's he going to do? What's he going to do for me? Why hasn't he done for me? What God wants us to do is seek his face. He wants us to talk to Him, to know Him. But how can I talk to a God that doesn't care? How can I talk to a God that let that happen in my life? How can I talk to a God who hasn't answered the biggest question that I have? It doesn't make any sense. I'm not saying I don't love Him. I just don't understand Him. And maybe when I'm feeling Bold, I might say, I don't like him. You say, what are you talking about? I'm trying to be real, guys, instead of pretending. And like, we all just blow through our lives and make sure you get to that church building. And we don't pray. We don't even think about praying. And yet it is the purpose for which we were designed by God, to commune with him. And he's gone to a lot of trouble to give us instructions on how to get back to him so we can commune with him. But meanwhile, we've got our own side gig going. Satan tempts us to believe that God is enough. He's not enough. So here's a little thing I guess maybe you could say. Number one, through the world, our flesh, or the devil, we sense a need or desire that God hasn't given us yet. And I say Satan, and this is insane. Why? Because Satan is the one that tempted Eve, enticed her, and brought her away, and then threw that at him, and then wherefore is by one man's sin entered into the world, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So here's how it goes. It goes, if you draw a triangle, the world, the flesh, and the devil, okay? I've got enemies on all camps. The biggest enemy they have a problem with is my flesh because it has the receiver, the radio receiver, that picks up the transmission that Satan started in the Garden of Eden. And now it's like I'm not only receiving it, I'm broadcasting it since I started sinning. And so I've got me, I'm submitting to the devil, right? He tempted me away from God, okay, I did. Okay, then there's a bunch of people, and all those people have been tempted by the devil. And that's called the world, the culture. So I either get hit with my own desires and my own flesh, or a bunch of people who are also listening to the same satanic radio station, And it's all a result of Satan, the wicked one. And that is in the nature of a human being, even so much so that those who are not born again, those who are not the children of God, they live for a millennia, a thousand years on this earth, and then when Satan starts broadcasting again, they just go right back. It's crazy, isn't it? So that's what I'm dealing with, that's what you're dealing with. Because I have God, okay God, I wanna pray, I wanna read my Bible, I wanna do right, and then there's this need, right, it's a need for beauty, a need to be respected, a need for acceptance, a need for money, a need for protection, for peace, that I start sensing, and I don't, here's the crazy thing, I don't always even go to God and ask for it. I just kind of assume that I have to do it myself. And in our culture, we don't even really think about it, we just pick up our phone. Like we have a need, but we don't even think about God. See what I'm saying? And so, number two then, we believe that God can't or won't answer our request if we pray about it, if we do. Okay, God, give me peace in my home. And it's like the worst week ever. Okay, so does God answer prayer or not? Well, God doesn't know that in the day. He's got something else going on. Like, I don't know what it is. I'm sure it works because He said it works, but it doesn't work for us. It works for somebody else, I'm sure. So what do I do? We start looking elsewhere, attempting to fulfill the desire on our own. Okay, so I need my husband to pay attention to me. If he doesn't, I'm gonna have to read a novel or watch a movie somewhere that gives me that emotional fulfillment that he's not capable or not willing to give me. Right, so I'm not gonna pray about it because God just, he's not very quick. He's got a lot of things going, I love him, but he's really busy. Okay, so what we're saying is, I can't wait. But what we really mean is, I won't wait. To pray is to ask. To ask is to wait. Why don't I pray? Because I got stuff I need now. And prayer doesn't work for me. Prayer works. I'm not saying it doesn't work. What we're really saying is, I don't get what I want immediately when I ask God. I have a need, and God is not the source of the one, He's not the source of fulfilling immediately my needs. I think He would have been, I think He would have been, could have been, but I probably messed it up way back when. I messed it up. And so he doesn't, like, I haven't really prayed for a long time, and I don't know that maybe, I mean, I would never say that. But I don't really believe that God answers prayer. And I'm sure it's me, it's me, it's me. What you're really not willing to admit is that you won't wait on God because you don't really think He's the only one that is the source of fulfilling your need. So, number three kicks in, our fellowship with God is broken, and we sense an underlying void in our hearts. And just keep making the bricks without any straw, just keep moving forward, keep pressing forward, keep singing in church, keep putting on a smile, but we don't have a relationship with God. Now, understand, I'm speaking very plainly and clearly, I'm not saying every person, I don't believe that about every person here. You follow what I'm saying, though? This is a general truth that will strike every person in here at one point or another. Take your Bibles, if you would, to James chapter 4. James chapter 4. Here's how our desires, or as Scripture calls them, our lusts, lead us away from God. James chapter 4. The word lust is not inherently evil. It's a strong desire. It's used of the Spirit of God. It's not an evil word. Most of the time it is used in a wrong direction. Because most of the time our strong desires are towards the flesh. James chapter 4 verse 1. What's a lust? Let's see. Ye lust and have not. Ye kill and desire to have. There it is. Desire and cannot obtain. Ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not. Ah, that's what we need to do. I need to ask. I need to get a prayer list and I need to put down some very specific requests. Well, unfortunately, I wish I could tell you that's all it is. If you're newly saved, that's what you need to do. But God's gonna take you from grade one to grade two to grade three. Because look at the very next verse. Ye ask, wait a second, you just said ye ask not. You don't have stuff because you don't ask God for it. No, he goes a little further, takes us to the next grade, he says, ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss. What does that mean? You're off the mark. Miss. You're shooting at the wrench? Too high. You know, low left, whatever it might be. He said, you're not dialed into the bullseye. What's the bullseye? We'll see that in a moment. He said, here's why you're missing. Because when you shoot, you're asking that you may consume it upon your lusts. Consume it upon your lust. What? Your prayer request, you're praying in order to satisfy your lusts. Okay, notice he said, consume upon your lusts. So it's almost like your lusts are a burning fire, an altar, and you're asking God to put a sacrifice or to receive something from him, and you're gonna consume it upon your lusts. You've got a good grill going, you're going, hey Lord, throw me another steak. You're gonna grill it up and eat it for yourself. The whole purpose of asking is for you. That you can consume it upon your lusts. And that concept of consuming literally is to destroy by separating into parts which cannot be reunited. As by burning or eating. You go through the scripture and look at the word consume. Most of the time it's talking about God consuming something with fire. It was there, and now it's not there. God consumed things throughout the Old Testament to destroy the substance of. Isn't it interesting that the Bible says that the love of money is the what? The root of all evil. Now listen, I think capitalism is better than communism, no question about it. But I don't think it's a good thing to be turned into a consumer. I don't think that originally, what is that? One who uses up goods or articles, one who destroys the exchangeable value of a commodity by using it to consume. Now, believe me, I'm gonna consume the hamburger. I'm gonna consume it. It's gonna be gone. It's gonna be completely unusable after I get done with it. There are certain things that we are going to use. It's gonna change it completely, right? But isn't it interesting that the consuming part is a consuming element to our lusts. There's a burning in our lusts. In fact, Romans 1.27 talks about the men who leave the natural use of the woman and burned in their lust one toward another. There's something about my lusts that wants to consume this stuff. You know, you think about it. These kids that eat trash, junk all the time, and maybe you do too, I don't know, eat junk. You're just eating trash in your body. And you know what, it's interesting, when I was a kid, I remember I used to think, well, it disappeared into my body, I'm fine. Right? It's like, if you can pour it in, It's fine, if you can chew it up and dissolve it in your mouth and it goes in, you're fine. I don't even realize now, remember the old you are what you eat thing? And you realize, wow, I ate, maybe still do, a lot of junk that is not healthy. Just because I consumed it doesn't mean it was good for me. And my lusts, I have a desire. What is it for? I just want it. I want it now. I want to eat it. You watch Teenage Boy. Sit down. It's like the food. Right? Look at verse number four. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? Do you see how he calls these people, followers of God, adulterers or adulteresses? What is that? An adulterer or an adulteress is someone who seeks fulfillment of a desire outside of God-given boundaries. I have a need for emotional fulfillment. I have a need for respect. I have a need for sex. And the arrangement that I'm in is not meeting those needs. And so what am I going to do? I'm going to go outside the boundaries that God has given me, and I'm going to fulfill. Now, were they actually adulterers in a physical sense? I don't know. But I know this. The people who ask for things to consume them on their lusts are called adulterers and adulteresses. Guys, here's our prayer life if we're not careful. Lord, I need peace in my heart. But you know what I really need? is this. Now here's what we'll do as Christians. We're not going to do anything sinful. Of course not. But we certainly are going to do something outside of the boundaries of God is supplying all of my needs. God hasn't given me this, so you know what, I'm going to get a second job or I'm going to work on the weekends. Why? It's not that I don't like church, and church has its place. Church is good, don't get me wrong. But I have a need that God cannot fulfill. He either cannot or he won't. I don't know what it is. Let me ask you a question. What do you think about God? How has your mind been corrupted about the God of heaven? to think that, A, he cannot provide for your need, or he will not provide for your need. And by the way, that's the reason that you don't pray about what you're doing. Because you kind of know that you think you know what God's going to tell you. So, you know, it's not that you want to sin against God, but those novels, I mean, they just scratch an itch that you can't get in your marriage. You know, scrolling that Facebook, it's like, you know, at some point we know, but when I go back to it every day, all day long, at some point, I'm looking to fulfill a need. I don't even know what the need is, but I know my flesh really needs it. Why? Because if I didn't have that, I don't know what I would do. Now again, I'm not saying that reading novels is wicked, I'm not saying that scrolling Facebook is evil and wicked, I'm just saying that there comes a point when we know, you know, individually and I know, when I step outside of the boundaries that God has given me in order to fulfill a need that God will not supply. And what happens is that I become an adulterer. With an adulterer, the lust becomes more important than the law. Adultery is not even considered a crime anymore. You ever think about that? In Ohio, it's literally not a crime. In Michigan, it technically is a crime. We live in Michigan. We're a little bit godlier. Very few people commit adultery in Michigan, I can tell you that. No, it's actually classified as a felony under Michigan compiled law section 750.30. Prosecutions are extremely rare, which is the reason why people don't mind doing it. But you know the reason why they do it? Even if it was against the law and it was continually, it certainly wouldn't happen as often if people were getting fined for it or thrown in prison for committing adultery. Isn't it weird that we would laugh about someone getting thrown in prison for committing adultery? Why? It's not really a law. I mean, you look at this woman, she's miserable. She's supposed to be married to this og, the caveman, and she can't ever be happy the rest of her life. You see how we do God? I'm not talking about God. Whose idea was it that adultery and fornication was wrong? Certainly wasn't man's idea. Man gives adultery and fornication two thumbs up. They say, we like it. Keep it going. God said it's sin. I don't care if Michigan or Ohio or the whole world says it's OK. God says it's not OK. Why? God says sex inside of marriage, period. No pornography, no flirting, no physical contact. No, affection. No, marriage. Well, God is just... See how you do, God? See what you think about God? God is a tyrant. He doesn't really care about you. Can I tell you this? The reason why you are distant from God is not because God's so evil. It's because you have a desire that you are not willing to wait on God to supply. That's why you don't talk to him. Because you talked to him before and nothing happened. Like a fire. A fire seeks fuel to burn. Our lusts, our drives, look for something to consume. Something to consume. James chapter 1. Look at verse number 14. It says, But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Death. Wow. What does entice mean? It means to incite, to instigate. I couldn't believe this one, this is crazy. Old French, how do you say that word? Entassier or something, I don't know. Entissier, something like that. I know there's one person in here who knows. Did I do good? Okay, pretty close. What does it mean? To stir up, as in literally to stir up a fire. To incite. That's by the way, mobs always have fires. you know, torches and they always want to destroy things. Because they're trying to stir up something that will consume. They're trying to knock it down to destroy something. And that's what enticing is. He said, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Drawn away from who? Drawn away from God. Just like Delilah enticed Samson. The lords of the Philistines came up unto her and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth. Entice him. Stir him up. Find out what's underneath all that. You know what Samson knew? Samson knew that his power came from God. He knew that. And this is what he said. He said, There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go for me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man." Samson had a need for God, but Delilah enticed him away from his recognition of his need for God. See, our lusts entice us away from the recognition of our need for God. Why don't I spend time praying? And again, I'm not trying to just be negative. I'm really trying to get to the bottom of prayer. Like, let's pray. But why don't we? And sometimes people are like, you know what's wrong with America? We're not praying. And that's true. But you know, it's like saying the car on the side of the road, you know what's wrong with that car? It's not moving. Well, yeah, that's a very accurate description. My question is, why? Why aren't people praying? Why aren't you praying? Why am I not praying? Here's why. I don't want to. And I don't want to because I don't think I have to in order to get what I want for my life. And the reason why I'm not praying is not because I don't have food. I'm not avoiding prayer because I don't have any relationships. I don't have any friends. I don't have anything. I've got no house. I've got nothing to eat. I've got no job. I've got nothing. That's not why I'm not praying. I have all those things. But when I don't recognize them as gifts from God, and that if I didn't have God, I wouldn't have any of those things, then I'm not going to want to spend time with them. Are you staying with me tonight? OK. We're moving forward. Are we going too fast? OK. I know it's a lot. You know where Samson ended up after he told her all that was in her heart, all in his heart? He ended up, you're never gonna believe it, in Gaza. And he's down there and he's bound with fetters of brass. They put out his eyes and he had to grind. Does that describe your life at all? No vision, feel like you're chained, and all you're doing is just grinding every day. Why? Somebody enticed you away from your need for God. Probably your flesh. Your flesh lied to you and said, God can't provide the specific needs. And maybe you're like me. When a preacher tries to give a list, I'm always the exception to the list. So maybe you're the exception. Whatever need I did not mention, your flesh is going, see, God can't provide it. Okay. See what I'm saying? Your flesh is constantly looking for some way to say that God doesn't really care when what it's really saying is, I don't want to wait on God to provide for me. It's not gonna do it. Okay, so we gotta move on. Four. Let's take our Bibles to Mark chapter 10. And we're gonna see in this passage, amazingly, two contrasting approaches to prayer. Mark chapter 10, 35. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldst do for us. You've got to get there. You've got to get there. This is the best. I doff my cap to James and John. I say, may your tribe increase. If I were around, you would be my best friends. Because notice how they come to the Lord. Master, we would that thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall desire. They just said it. Lord, we wish you'd give us three wishes. Just make it happen for us, God. You're the Son of God. You're Messiah. We get it. Now help us. And he said unto them, here's the Lord. Look at the graciousness of the Lord. If it were me, I would be like, na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. I'm not talking to you right now. Go away. I would just say something. I could not believe the hubris, the arrogance of the people to do that. But what did the Lord say? He said, what would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Lord, we have a very simple request. Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. You say, what's wrong with that? Well, I don't, somehow or other, I just don't think it was about the Lord. It was about their proximity. You know, sometimes we have, we call spiritual desires, isn't talking, isn't asking Jesus prayer? It is. They're asking Jesus something. They're praying. And what is their prayer? Lord, please make us both amazing. We're not asking to be the son of God. But whatever is right after the Son of God, that's what we want to be. I just want some respect. I just want some glory. When are the people around here going to realize how much I give? When are the people that are important going to understand how important I am? Lord, I'm just asking you to just put us in a place where people finally realize how important we are. Isn't it? You ever prayed a prayer like that? I have. It's amazing. And somebody says, I knew that you would pray that way. Oh, get off your high horse. We all pray selfish prayers that really, at the end of the day, would make us look good. And give our family, just make our family amazing. When people walk by, just see my profile and say, there's a godly man. Now, it's not about what's wrong with being godly. Nothing. What's wrong with having an amazing family? Nothing. But can I just tell you, when you're talking to God and asking for those things, you're not really talking to God for God. You're trying to use God. And like, I put the quarter in. I'm trying to get the claw down right where I need it. Thank you, Lord. Right? That's what these guys are doing. You know what? Who else had that idea? Satan. He had a desire for the throne because of his dissatisfaction with God. Now here's the thing that's really scary about your request. If you don't get your request and it turns into dissatisfaction with God, here's what happens. You can begin to get bitter with God because He doesn't give you what is rightfully yours. Maybe back in the beginning it was a request, but after a while it kind of like, this is a really, really good request, and I think it's customized for me, and I think I really should have it, and when God doesn't, I'm ticked off. Because you could do it, but you're not doing it. Why would you be mad at that? I think it's because you believe that you have a right to having that prayer request answered. So at this point, it's not so much about you have a need from God. God has something that He is holding back from you that is rightfully yours. The Bible says, come bold and before the throne. I understand what you mean by that, but it's not what Scripture means by that. Because what you're basically saying is, God, let's go. Let's move it. Let's move it. What's going on? We've been praying for this for years. Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Listen, I don't know where they are. I ordered that food half an hour ago. And on the app it said 15 minutes. Can I tell you who's in charge in that? You're in charge in that. When you pray to God, if that's your prayer request, no wonder you don't have a prayer life. If that's your attitude, now, none of us would be that disrespectful to God. But our flesh is. And maybe we have a mindset that's leaning that way. Can I show you the opposite, the contrast? Look at verse number 46. And I have, I think, a blank there for you. When our requests are based on our desires rather than our need for God, our prayers look more like demands instead of requests. All right, 46. And they come to Jericho. And as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side. What's the next word? Begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, what? Have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace. But he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? Almost identical question that he asked them in verse 36. What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. I'm not saying it's going to happen. I'm asking that I might receive thy sight. Jesus said unto him, Go thy way. Thy faith have made thee whole." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. Have mercy. See the difference? Now take your Bibles back to James chapter 4. We've got to close. James chapter 4. Let's retrace our steps to the garden of prayer, if you will. Back to where man walked with God in the garden. James chapter 4. And let's look at number one. You need to recognize the lusts of your flesh that have driven you away from God. You can look at the list that I put on there. It was just my best attempt at trying to synthesize some desires. I don't know. What is it you want most? What is it you want most? Has that desire or those desires driven you away from God because God won't answer it? Or are you still waiting humbly and patiently before God to say, Lord, I believe that you and only you can provide this for me? So what you need to do is you need to recognize the lusts of your flesh that have driven you away from God. Remember, every man is tempted and he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed than when lust hath conceived, right? I'm beginning to get the secondary power station going because apparently God's not going to get his going. What lust specifically? Is it a desire for acceptance? Is it love, affection? Is it money? Is it security? Is it peace? You figure it out. Every man is tempted. We have his own lust. My lusts are not the same as yours, although they're all under the three basic categories, right? Lust of the eyes, pride of life, lust of the flesh. But which one? Okay, guys, I'm really burdened about this. The reason we don't pray is because we have a secondary power source. So we don't need God. What is it that's caused you to say, God won't provide for me? And so I need to have this thing going. You got to diagnose that. You got to know what that is. Is it your mom never said she loved you? I'm not criticizing. I'm saying these are the things we're looking for. You always felt poor. You always felt stupid. You always felt inadequate. Or, maybe it's not a lack of a need, it's the desire for something more. You always wanted to be more important. You always wanted to have the nicest car. You always wanted to be the coolest person and wear the nicest... I don't know what it might be. But some lust pulled you away. You allowed it to pull you away. Okay? So you've got to find out what that lust is. And what that will do is it will help you realize why you don't depend on God in prayer. Okay? Number two. This is where we look at James. But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. He giveth more grace. More grace to who? To adulterers and adulteresses, people who are enemies with God. He giveth more grace. So here's what you need to do. You need to recognize, first, the lust of your flesh. Number two, humble yourself and submit yourself to the giver of all good gifts. He said in verse 6, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. So humble yourself and submit yourself to the giver of all good gifts. Lord, I am not going to sin in order to get my desire fulfilled. I'm not going to be an adulterer and go outside the bounds of your law in order to satisfy my lust. I'm not going to do it. Humble yourself and submit yourself. Number three, resist the devil when he tempts you to satisfy yourself apart from God. He says in verse number seven, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Notice though, it doesn't start with resisting the devil. Can I tell you, if you cheated on your husband or your wife, and then you lost your job, and then things just start unraveling, don't talk about how the devil's fighting you, please. And stop saying, I rebuke you, Satan. And stop putting your bumper sticker that says, not today, Satan. You know the problem you have? Your problem is with God. Stop acting like you're big stuff and you can tell Satan to get away. Get back to God and get on your face before God and humble yourself and say, Lord, I blew it. I left you. I went away. I'm coming back and I'm sorry. Here's where I am. This is where I am. Submit yourself. And then when the devil says, hey, you want to come back to the wasteland? Well, he never says that. He says, playland. And you say, no. Remember last time I went with you and it ruined my life. I'm not doing that. I'm staying with God, even if I have to wait. Yes, even if I have to wait. Stay away from me. You know, God doesn't know that. Shut up. I'm not listening to you. This is my God. and he's going to be my God for the rest of my life. Even if I'm childless, even if I'm husbandless, jobless, I have nothing in my life that works, it's okay. I don't want to follow you. Stay away from me. I'm following God. I'm just telling you, you say that, God's going to be like, hmm. Why? You're coming to God as a beggar instead of a negotiator. You're saying, God, without you, I got nothing. That is prayer. That's where prayer starts, with recognizing our need for God. That's number four. Approach God on the basis of your absolute need for him and listen for his voice. He said, cleanse your hands, verse eight, draw nigh to God, and he will scan you from afar to determine whether you are worthy. It's not what he says. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Why? The father of the prodigal? What did he do? When his son was yet a great while off, he ran to him. God is looking to fellowship with you, but you've got to draw nigh to God. Come back this way. Draw an eye to God, He will draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Can I just remind you of something? Of course God wants you to be clean. But how do you know where and when and how much to clean yourself? God's going to have to guide you on that. If you're like this, if you're like, well, I want to get cleaned up before I go back to God, you're messing up the sequence. He said, draw an eye to God, and He will draw an eye to you. Then it says, cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts. You see, it's based not on your cleanliness. It's based on the forgiveness that's found in Jesus Christ. And if you're a child of God, you have that as an inheritance. It's a gift that God's given you. So when you walk back to God, you're not saying, God, and I hope you can give me that peace. And God, I hope you can give me that forgiveness again that you promised. You already have it. You're the one that left it. But it's still there waiting for you. Draw an eye to God. Then cleanse your hands. He says, be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laugh to be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. You know, when you're going to be really sad about, you think you were sad in the hog pen. about how your life was ruined. Wait till you get to the father's house and you start thinking about what life was like in the hog pen. That's when you're gonna be afflicted and mourn. You're gonna say, God, how could I ever left such a wonderful father? How could I ever forsaken you when you truly are the one that meets my needs? Verse 10, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up. You want exaltation, you want to be noticed, you want people to appreciate you. Listen, that's not a wrong desire. We all have that desire. It doesn't say humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and you lose your identity in Him. It says He shall lift you up. You want opportunities to preach? You want opportunities to minister? You want opportunities to be a blessing, to be able to give? You want your family to be happy, to see your kids raised? Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and let Him lift you up. You know what you'll know at that point? You'll know two things. It's better serving God than serving my flesh. And I'll know this like the turtle on the fence post. I didn't do this for myself. Somebody else did it for me. God can supply your need. We all have desires. We all have needs. The question is, where will you get your desires satisfied? We're going to go to prayer in just a moment.