Why God Asks Questions

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast, brought to you by a Fresh Wind Church. Each week, our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined as always with Pastor Tim, and we are in week two of our series, Miked Up. And in the previous series that we were in in the month of September, uh, Hard Questions, we brought our questions to God, and we talked about some pretty tough questions that we have and about what it means to follow Jesus and trust the Bible and those sorts of things. And now in October, God's mic'd up. It's his turn to ask some questions to us. And uh kind of the the big idea we're saying in this series is that God already knows the answer. Uh He doesn't ask because he's you know confused or lost or searching for information. Uh He is all knowing. And so there's nothing we're gonna tell him that's gonna surprise him or teach him something new. And so why does he ask? Uh for a God who knows everything, he asks a lot of questions. Yeah. And so uh in this series, we're saying, well, man, if he's if he's asking them, there's a reason. And it reveals something about who he is and it and also something about who we are and and our relationship with him. And so in week one, he asked Adam and Eve, where are you? And then this week uh he asked blind Bartimaeus, what do you want me to do for you? And uh pretty strange question uh to ask a guy who was uh born blind.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

I think uh it happens uh happens a lot in the New Testament with Jesus, uh, when the lepers came. Um there's two different words for healing, and one is made whole, and the guy who came back to thank him, he made whole. Then he went to the guy um who was uh by the pool of Bethesda. Uh remember him. And so there's hundreds of people there, and he walks to this one guy and he says, Do you want to be made whole? And the guy reacts like we would. Duh. What do you think I'm sending here for? Everybody got a better spot than me. And if the angel shows up, uh everybody else will get healed instead of me. But Jesus said, did not ask him, Do you want to be made well? Um, healed. He said, Do you want to be made whole? Which is a different question. Yeah. And I think that um what this brings out is God's questions focuses on something in us, um, and uh we might know our needs, and we might uh and he knows what our need is, he also knows what our wants are, and he also knows um what we think we need and how it's supposed to be done, which is a lot of my prayer life. I don't know about you, but it's like Lord, I I want you to be with my son. So give him a better job, give him a, you know, give him a better car, give him a, you know, I wanted you to do it this way, and you know, and I want him to um, you know, be able to take some pride in it, but I also want him to know that you did it, but you know, uh feels like his self-image is a little down, so I want to bring him up and you know, we got this idea, God, here's the here's the need, fix it the way I say to fix it. Right. And um, and then he usually fixes it, but not in the way we want, and we're disappointed. Isn't that crazy? So when God asks you a question,

Preaching Toward A Decision

SPEAKER_02 4:05

and uh and let me tell you something. Um we teach and preach here, but on Sundays we like to preach. And uh so my dad said the difference between teaching and preaching is that teaching is giving people information, and that's important. But preaching, you preach to a decision. You know, you have to make a decision at the end. So we we are preaching every Sunday for every Christian and well, just every person who comes in the door, that there's gonna be a yes or a no at the end. You you we're trying not to let you get out with a mental assent, which is oh yeah, hmm, that was good, you know, or I agree. It's uh God, what are you asking me? And uh so we're using this mic'd up to talk about the questions God asks people. Well, every Sunday we're we're expecting the Holy Spirit to ask you a question. And it might not, it might not even apply to uh the sermon. Uh I had uh Reed tells the story of um his pastor got up and the church was behind on bills, and his pastor got up and he preached a rip-roaring stewardship sermon about you know uh giving and being giving consistently and and all this kind of stuff, and and uh who's gonna make the commitment, you know, to take this church on their shoulders and uh and uh and give and and all that kind of stuff. So it gets to the end, and the question was, what are you gonna do for this church? And some guy just come wailing down the middle aisle and said, I need to be saved. So I'm not saying that the Holy Spirit's gonna ask the same question that um we ask you in a sermon, but he's gonna ask you a question.

When God Works Off Script

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Uh so uh we want you to listen. And these are examples of what happens when God asks you a question.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yeah, just this past week, um you know, one, we're we're talking about he's a God of compassion, and and then I I think after the second service, you know, I just took a second to celebrate. Um you know, we're talking about God's a compassionate God, He He He'll listen to you, cry out for mercy, and you know, seven, eight, nine people raise their hand to to give their lives to Jesus this week. And so um He's moving in that way, right? And man, I I was fired up at the end of that second service just watching how God had used that message. And then I go out and I'm standing by the door, and I have a lady come up, and God was working on something completely different with her. She had grown up in kind of this kind of fear-based uh religion where you know, felt like you could lose your salvation. And if I mean, even to the point like if she didn't go to church, um people in the church would call her and be like, hey, you know if you don't start coming back to church, you're going to hell. Um, and just the fear she lived in in that. And and she's a she's an older woman now, and is like, I'm just now like it, it's not supposed to be like that. And I'm like, I don't remember talking about that today. But just how the Lord will use something, and he starts asking these questions, hey, what does it really look like to follow me? Um, and you know, similar to that situation Reed did, I remember back at the old building we were preaching on something, and it was, you know, I think just being a good steward of the planet, not not giving, but like the resources God has given us. Right. And again, in that sermon, all these people started raising their hands to accept Jesus. I'm like, what in the world's going on here? And so God's gonna do whatever he's gonna do, right? And he we we're trusting him to ask these questions um to you. And I I don't think he's done asking people these questions.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

No, I questions are the gateway to intimacy. And um I think I'm gonna I'm making a decision now, even though I I got it all set up. Now Teresa's gonna be furious with me. I'm gonna change the sermon. We're gonna talk Sunday about um a guy who gets a question asked to him, and it makes him have to face up to who he really is and uh and everything that he's done. And you know, sometimes God'll ask you a question like that. Sometimes he'll ask you who you gonna trust? You know? Or like that lady this week. Do you really think I'm that way? Do you really think that's what I feel about you? That I would um you know, hang a sword over your head by a thread. Who is that again? I can't remember. Some Greek god or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

I know exactly what your story you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Yeah, we're so smart. Sometimes we outsmart ourselves. We'll tell a story that we don't know nothing about. But um we you know, those questions are, you know, hey, um, do you think I'm like that? Or uh what makes you believe I would do something like that?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Yeah. And I had a chance, uh again, we're just standing by the front door. And and I believe she she was she was saved. She believed in Jesus. Um, but she had wrestled with that, and I said, Well, let's just settle it right now. Let's pray again. And so I prayed with her right by the door, and we walked right through the prayer and said, now you never have to wonder if you know that decision you made when you were a kid, if it was real, if it was based in fear, whatever. Now you can know.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

I'm in, I'm his. And if you ever question it, give me a call and I'll tell you, I was there. I was there. So, but a lot of times uh as we as we pray, um we get

Bartimaeus And Specific Requests

SPEAKER_02 10:30

kind of vague. You know?

SPEAKER_01 10:33

That's one of the things I was you know, you don't you have limited time in sermons. So that's that's one of the great things about the midweek podcast to get to jump on and and flesh these things out a little bit. Because Jesus asked a pretty wide open question there, right? What do you want me to do for you?

SPEAKER_02 10:51

Do you hear that? No. I feel like my headphone is walking up my head and I hear it taking steps. Okay, your pastor might be a little crazy, but it's well never had this situation before.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Yeah, I'm a little concerned. Yeah. Okay. Um but Jesus asked a pretty wide open question. What do you want me to do for you? And again, everybody knows what Bartimaeus needs. He's been sitting by that gate for who knows how long. Years, most likely, begging, collecting whatever scraps people throw his way. And so it's a it is. Uh Charles Spurgeon said, That's an odd question to ask uh a blind man. What do you want me to do for you? But it forces him to kind of okay, I gotta say this out loud. I gotta say it out loud in front of all these people. And what if he says no? What if it doesn't happen? The disappointment that could come with that, the embarrassment, the shame. Um, he's probably seen doctors before. There's probably been other, you know, people coming through town and claiming healing ministries and all this kind of stuff, and it didn't work the last time. I don't know. But I mean, to to the crowd is huge. I mean, Luke takes time to point that out. There's a lot of people around here. Now there's crowds following Jesus, and he takes time to point that out, and then to make this guy in front of all those people say what he really wants. I want to see. And I think sometimes we we pray these vague prayers um I don't know, risk management's the right word, but like we don't want to be disappointed.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

And we don't want to um embarrass God.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Yeah, there's there's another side. Not only do I want not want to be disappointed, I don't want you to look stupid.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Right? Like I there's some people here that might not believe in you yet. And if you don't do it, like the like we're asking you to do it, you know, like you think about when we we bring up people to for prayer, send them down in the chair, you know, and they got cancer treatments coming up or whatever. Um, we anoint them with oil, we bring the elders of the church to prayer team up, we pray for them. What happens if it doesn't? They don't get healed, you know, like what are people gonna think about God then? And so, yeah, not only like I gotta protect myself in this, but then we also kind of become God's PR firm. We're like, listen, we'll we'll help protect your image out here, don't worry. Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

I think uh, you know, these questions have been going on in our minds for 2,000 years now. The the same um protecting me, protecting God. Or even here's here's the other, so this is a triangle, right? You know, are you going to reveal something about yourself, what you truly need? Are you going to uh try to protect God in this prayer? Or are you gonna try to influence God's decision by showing how humble you are or Lord, I know I'm blind and I'm crippled and you know, I but you know, if I if if I ask for you to save my family, then maybe he'll save me at the same time. Because if I ask something just for myself, I don't think God would I don't think God would like that. He would he would want me to be more like Jesus who didn't worry about himself but worried about everybody else. So I'm gonna say I'm not gonna say what I need, I'm gonna say, you know, what my family needs or what someone else who's sicker than me needs, you know. And uh

Stop Protecting Yourself And God

SPEAKER_02 14:40

just to kind of impress God, so that maybe he'll just heal everybody, you know. Um and you think I know you're thinking now, oh now you're getting off the board, Tim, but I no, I'm I'm telling you guys, this is something in us that um a lot of people will not ask God for what they need because they think it's selfish, and that God would not react in a positive way towards your I need more money, or um, I want to be healed uh when there's other sick people, you know, or I got this nagging ache in my leg, uh, like Paul. You know, Paul had something going on and and he asked three times, and then God told him, My grace is sufficient for you, suck it up, it's not happening. You know, I I don't think he said it that way. Um but uh uh we we need to learn uh number one that God is God over everyone, not just those who believe in him, and not just those with a lot of faith. God is God over everyone, and the only reason you have any position to ask whatsoever is because he poured out his blood for you. You are under his blood. So he's that's that's it. It's all about him, and we shouldn't be afraid of asking God for all of those things.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Well, it's one of the things I said in the sermon is it it became very personal when when he asked the question, he didn't say, What do you want me to do for this these people? Uh what would you like me to do for the nation of Israel? Um He said, What do you want me to do for you? And the way I kind of you know I try to get everybody in in the room on Sunday to kind of see it is just just Jesus and Bartimaeus standing there. The crowds kind of all fade into the background, they disappear for a moment, and there's just these two guys. And Jesus says, What do you want me to do for you? And we do. I I I think we we wrestle with that because it feels selfish. Um and not only that, like we know all of our junk, you know, and I don't really deserve this anyways. Right. And so we that's one of the big things, we bring all of this with us, and so when he's like, What do you want me to do for you? It's like well, just just take care of my kids. Yeah. What about you? What do you want me to do for you? Scriptures he is a good father, he wants to give good gifts to his children. And if you ask for bread, he's not gonna give you a stone. That's not who he is. But so many times, and I said this on Sunday, and scripture says you have not because you asked not. And how foolish it would be for us to not have simply because we refuse to ask. Now, might God say no? Certainly. I told Paul no. My grace is sufficient, Paul. And that was enough. Yeah, that was enough for Paul. He doesn't talk about it again after that. I prayed three times. God said no, no, and no. So, okay, my his grace is sufficient, and Paul learned to rest in that. But even when he says no, you talked about how questions lead to intimacy. So I'm praying about this thing, and I and I'm I'm being specific. God, this is what I need. Um, I've had this weird nerve pain in my hip going on, I don't know, month and a half. I told Joy last night, you don't pray for me enough. This this should go away by now. Every time I stand up, it's like you get on my nerves a lot too. I know. The whole my whole leg locks up. It takes me, you know, five, ten steps to kind of get things loosened up and moving again. And I'm like, what is going on here? Um, and so you you bring these things, but then even when when God says no, it's again revealing something about him and about us and our relationship to him. And so it's then saying, Okay, well, God, what is what are you teaching me here? Um for Paul, it was my grace is sufficient. Right. Paul, that's what I want you to know. My grace is sufficient. Could I do it? Yeah, I could. Just like I healed that kid who fell asleep in your sermon, I brought him back up. This is not a little thing. I could do it.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

That that is a rough you don't know what he's talking about. Paul was preaching, he preached all night, and some guy was up in the window still listening to his sermon and fell asleep and fell down, fell out of the window and killed himself. And then Paul ran over and threw himself on his body and said, God, you can't let this happen. My ministry's over. Start falling out of windows and dying. I'm never getting invited to preach. Um, but that's what he's talking about. I think the important thing is um that you're afraid God's gonna say, You're not worthy. You know, a no means you don't have enough faith, or you're not the type of person I would heal. But you gotta understand nobody's the type of person God would heal. Nobody is the type of person God would save. There is no one righteous, no, not one. No, not one. Jesus came and gave his life for you so that you could be right with God.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Um, so when we go to God in prayer, um we're we ask in Jesus' name. And uh we do that specifically because God treats us as Jesus. And I know you're thinking, well, Jesus never prayed a prayer that wasn't answered. Oh God, if it it's possible. If it's possible, let this cup pass.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

So listen, we are uh in a family now with a good good father. And uh when he says no, he doesn't say it for his benefit or to punish us. In some way, it's good for us. All things work together for good to them who love God.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Well, at the

When The Answer Is No

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Moore Pathway uh class, uh, Forrest was teaching this past week on our new life in Christ, and he used that image of you know, this block of marble or granite, and inside of that is a statue. But God's got to chisel these things away to get down to that statue. What's the statue? He's conforming us into the image of Christ. When he's done, we're gonna look like Jesus. And so, in this, when God says no to some things, it's not God punishing you. It's not, you know, you're I I never heal someone like I never answer prayers for someone like you. That's not what's going on there. In in some way, he's he's chipping away at that granite, getting rid of those things in our life, and and conforming us into the image of Christ, teaching us what it means to live and look like Jesus. Um and and I know you're thinking there's too much to this, man. Right. I didn't realize when I come and I'm praying, I there's all this, but man, if And maybe it takes the longtime Christian listening to really feel this. Because I think if you've been following Jesus a long time, you feel what we're talking about right now. If you just got saved, you know, this past Sunday, we celebrate that, right? And we're glad you're listening to the podcast. And you're thinking, whoa, right? There's a lot going on here. I was not expecting. But when you've been walking with Jesus for a while, you feel this. And when I come to prayer, I got this whole self-protection thing going on. I got God's PR firm running in the background. You know, all this stuff. And you're like, how have we made it so complicated?

SPEAKER_02 22:42

And that's what when God asks you a question, that's what he's breaking through, right? Let's get down to it. You know, and sometimes this is not a fault of us individually. It's the way we've learned to pray. And uh God be with you. You know, God be with that person. God, I pray for a fresh win. Okay, pray for a fresh win. No, I I didn't just said I pray for a fresh one, church. And so that's the way we've been taught to pray. You know, in um Ministry 101, there's a section called the Ministry of Protection. It's talking about rebuking a demon. And now I see uh online and in books that people say in the name of Jesus, I rebuke you talking to a demon. And the demon's like, okay. You're not being specific. You got to tell them to do something. That's the rebuke. When we just say rebuke, it just means you're naughty.

unknown 23:50

You know?

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Hey, that's not nice. Yeah. And the one thing about the spirit world, they are very legalistic in their language. So um you you need to tell them what to do, not just say, I rebuke you. You know, because that's just and that's that's kind of how we pray too when we pray, Lord, be with this person, help this person. Um and we do that, and it's not because of all those uh reasons we just said, we do that for two reasons, I think. Number one, that's what we've learned. Number two, we just we mentioned it, questions is a gateway to intimacy. And if we really want to play pray specifically for someone, we're gonna have to get in the mud with them. You know? Um, Lord, I pray for their marriage. You know, Lord, I pray that you'll bring them back together and and well, what's separating them? I don't want to know. You know, don't get don't get me involved. You know, I I don't know. Lord, uh, give him a new job. Why'd you get fired from your old one? You know, those questions we don't want to ask. And uh so uh even when we pray, Lord, you know, take his fear away, give him peace. Well, why are you afraid? What's the reason? Do you do you not trust God? Did uh you feel like he um it fell through for you when you trust God at one time, or have you never trusted God? What you know, what is this it? What is what what am I trying to pray for here? And unfortunately, um we we don't want to get in the mess. And so we just pray for them. In Ministry 101, I teach everybody if you're gonna encourage somebody and if you're gonna pray for somebody, um, you're gonna have to know something about them, you know? And uh a lot of times the Holy Spirit will tell you what to pray for. And if you're listening, um you'll be afraid to pray that out loud, I guarantee you. But at the same time, uh when we don't know anything, He prays for us. And I don't want to, you know, we talk about praying, praying specifically, and sometimes we just don't know what God wants to do in a situation, and we want to pray in his will. And sometimes we just, God, do your will in this situation. If it's um breaking somebody, if it's lifting

Vague Prayers Versus Real Compassion

SPEAKER_02 26:35

somebody up, if it's encouraging somebody, I don't know what needs to be done, I have no idea what would fix this situation. And the Holy Spirit says, I do. I'll pray that for you.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Which I think is a completely different situation than the vague prayers, right? Right. The vague prayer thing that we're talking about is that self-protection, whatever, risk management. The the other side is, man, I'm down in the mud, and I I feel, you know, I talked about uh splock nizzle may that compassion that's in your gut, in your bowels. You know, I've God, I feel it. The weight of this is crushing them. It's crushing me. You know, I just don't know what to do. I don't know how it's gonna get fixed. I don't, I don't even know where to begin to pray. And scripture says when we don't know, the Holy Spirit will pray and intercede on our behalf. Sometimes with this inexpressible groanings, you know. Right. Um that that's who your God is. He's he's not left you here to try to figure it out. And if you don't get the right magic words, that's not what we're talking about. Um when you don't know what to pray, he'll pray on your behalf. And and I think that's that is different than the vague prayers that we often, you know, try to to get a offer up so that we don't get disappointed or we try to protect whatever our reason is there. And both of these things are true. Um and you know, I I think some of us, it's not that not even that we don't want to get down in the mud, and I there's plenty of that. Like I just got enough of my own stuff. I think a lot of it is man, we're just busy. You know, like Lord, I don't have time for that. I can't feel that in my bowels, down in my guts. You know, I how am I gonna function? I I got responsibilities, I got a job to go to and kids to take care of and bills pay. I I don't I don't have time for that. And then to get you, we're talking about okay, well, let's pray specifically. When am I gonna build in time in my day to do that? Like it's just easier. Pray for a fresh win. Well, that's easy. Pray what? You know, uh, now I gotta sit here and I gotta think. What is what does my church need? What's going on over there? I'll help you. More money, more people.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

And here's the big one: more surrender. Yeah, that's what we needed a fresh win. More surrender. Yeah. And um, so but I man, I think God uh I think he makes us pray specifically, made this guy pray specifically. What do you want me to do? And uh, and he said he was honest. You know, uh James and John were honest too. Yeah, right? They were honest. Oh, we want to be most important in heaven. I know you like all these other guys, but come on, you like us the best, right? Just we want to be raised up and uh and and Jesus said um the first will become last, and the last will become first. And how do you prepare for that? And because he says that now we're like, oh, okay, I can't really ask for myself. I have to ask for Peter, and I'm a faster runner than Peter, you know. Um that's a inside patch. That's a Bible joke.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

That's a Bible joke.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Uh but we have to uh it all this stuff circles around in our head, but I think God wants us to be uh as specific as we can, especially when we're uh encouraging somebody. And that's why one of the greatest questions you'll learn uh in Ministry 101 or when we talk about praying for someone is to just put your hand on their shoulder and said, I want to pray for you. How can I pray for you? Because they will know.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Well, there's you know, a lot of times during the weeks, Lord will put someone on my heart and and I'll shoot them a text. Hey, I'm praying for you. What specifically should I pray about? If you don't text me back, I'm praying for you anyways. But I want to know what specifically, how specifically can I can I pray for you? And usually the guy will text me back, hey, this is what's going on, or I got this thing going on this week, I got an interview coming up, or you know, I gotta go get some tests, or I got an appointment um that I'm I'm pretty nervous about. And now I know how to pray specifically for those things. Um and and then you get down in the mud a little bit with these people, you know, and well now I gotta check up on him because he's got an appointment coming up, and I know he's afraid about that. So I better put that on my calendar so I can follow up with that guy. Um, or man, he had an interview last week. I wonder how that interview went. And if it went good, man, we're celebrating with him. If it didn't go good, well, now what am I gonna do to encourage him? You know, all this stuff. And and here's one of the other things that I think we're nervous about when it comes to praying specifically, is all of a sudden now it like now we're responsible and it kind of holds us accountable to those things. You know, gotta I'm praying for my marriage that you would just fix it and okay. Um

Specific Prayer Creates Responsibility

SPEAKER_01 31:35

I think a lot of times what we mean is fix her, fix him, you know, uh they're the problem. But it's like, okay, you're praying for a better marriage. Okay, well, what are you gonna do to bring reconciliation to your marriage? What what are you gonna do to ease the burden and the load on your spouse? What are you doing in this? You're praying for it, but what are you gonna now? I'm responsible for that. And now I'm accountable, and and we want to just you know, cast all of our cares and worries and anxieties upon God because he cares for us, and then you know, I preached I want something, hurl it at him, just throw it at him. But then we want to go on and live however we want, you know. Man, we we gotta pray like it depends on God, work like it depends on us, and I think that tension freezes us because we're like, God, I know if I pray about this, you're gonna ask me to do something. And I don't want to do anything, I just want it fixed. Yeah. Why pray?

SPEAKER_02 32:40

Just easier not to it's just um God give the you know, make the universe send good vibes. Um here's here's why we pray. Because it all these things that we talked about, it causes intimacy with Him. God, I want to see. I want to see. And and uh I think what God is getting us down to is not just what our specific prayer is, but what do we want in that prayer? We have not because we ask not. And uh we we we're not honest with God. And I yeah, I'm even talking about when we're praying with someone else, you know. Um so let's try to be specific. But understand that when we're vague, we have the Holy Spirit backing us up in prayer. Just because of what? Because prayer's tough. Prayer's tough, and the Holy Spirit backs us up. And uh we need to I don't I'm I'm with uh Charles Spurgeon. Uh God doesn't do anything until someone prays. I don't know why. I you know, proving that in scripture is difficult, but Jesus says, What do you want? And just tell me, and I'll give you an answer. Yes, no, or later. I you know, you don't know what it's gonna be. Uh but we need to get used to that. And you know, when I was a kid and I wanted a candy bar, Dad, can I go in there and get a candy bar? No. Dad, can I go in there and get a candy bar? Okay.

unknown 34:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Um that's that's the relationship God wants us to have, you know. And when I can't go in to get a candy bar, I'm like, Well, why can't I go in to get a candy bar? Well, I I told you to clean your plate, you didn't do it. If I clean my plate, can I have a candy bar? Yes. You know, that's the relationship God is looking for you. And as we ask, uh, we learn something about God. We learn something about his grace, we learn something about his love for us. And uh so prayer is so important to the Christian. It's growth. You know, God said no, now I gotta deal with the consequences. God said yes, now I gotta deal with the consequences. So we we have yeah. So um I want us to pray specifically, but if you can't pray specifically, pray anyways. God will fill in the gaps. The Holy Spirit will pray for you. I think uh I think when we pray, getting honest about it and um fearful that we're gonna have to get into somebody else's situation or or whatever. Um I think that's a selfishness even more than asking something for yourself. You know, God, I want a new car. Teresa wants a new car. Uh so everybody pray that Teresa gets a new car and I won't have to pay for it. So we we have this um we've been trained to pray in I don't think it's a great way. So I'm just uh as your pastor, try to pray specifically. And if you don't know specifically, ask a question. Jesus does.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

And remember this, uh in all of it. Yes, no later. He's teaching us something about him and

Yes No Or Later Changes Us

SPEAKER_01 36:35

something about us. And I mean, what a great thing. Either way you went. Right? We are a church that exists to lead you to discover more in Christ, which means that when God says no, you can discover more in him by leaning in and saying, How come? Why not now? And allow the the Holy Spirit to teach and reveal to you the deep things of God in that situation. And and you'll begin to learn, oh man, I'm praying for a better job, but even if he gave it to me, I'm not ready. Right. I'm not the kind of person who can handle that kind of responsibility, or I'm not the kind of person who can handle that kind of money. And so, what am I gonna do so that I can be that kind of person?

SPEAKER_02 37:22

I'm praying for a wife, but you're not worth marrying.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Yeah, yep. Lord, send me a a a good Christian woman. I wouldn't do that to her. Right. That's that no, that's my daughter, and uh, you ain't getting anywhere near her right now. Um, and so that's what I like. Allow the the spirit to lead you in those moments, and no matter what his answer is, you win. Right. Because if you take a step closer to Jesus, you discover more in Christ. You God takes that chisel and knocks off a little an extra rough piece, and you come out looking more like Jesus, it's a win. Even if you don't get the promotion, even if you don't get the car that Tim didn't have to pay for, it's still a win, right? I look more like Jesus. And then it's learning to live, like you said, with the consequences of yes or no. Right. Bartimaeus, when he said I want to see, and the Lord healed him, all of a sudden now he becomes responsible for a life where he has his sight, which means I can't sit beside this road and beg no more.

SPEAKER_02 38:25

I gotta get a job. I gotta get a job. I gotta take care of my family. Yep. I gotta do all this stuff.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

And it's like, well, hold on. Did I really want all of that? Because now, now he's responsible for that. And thankfully, scripture says he stood up and followed Jesus. He just walked on the road with them. And that's what it looks like to, okay, Lord, this is what you said in that situation. I'm gonna follow you. And if that means I gotta follow you to Jerusalem and up a hill to a cross, let's go die with Jesus. That's what Thomas said. You know, um, let's do it. Yeah, if that's what you're asking me to do, I'll I'll pick up my cross daily and follow you because I want to see. And it and that means I I want to go where you go, I want to be with you. So teach me more about you.

SPEAKER_02 39:11

And I know nobody here thought that prayer was you know, how you pray is that important, but I'm telling you, it is the power in the Christian life. That's right. When you pray, things change. Yep. Prayer still changes things, and um, so pray. Pray. And when God says that's not what you really want, that's not what you really are asking for, there'll be a time in your life that okay, just give me what I need then. You know, just give me what I need. I don't know what I need, obviously I don't know, so just give me something. And he will. Um, he's faithful, he loves you. And the reason he makes us ask him, the reason he asks you is because questions are the gateway to intimacy, and he wants you to know him.

SPEAKER_01 40:06

That's right. And um, well, what a great God we have.

unknown 40:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:12

If you're struggling with all this and it it it does, I know it feels heavier. The honest truth is we've made it a whole lot more complicated than it needs to be. That's right, because we're pastors. Well, I met Christians in general, but also us. I'm sure we didn't do this topic justice. Um, it's not about the magic words or phrases. Um you don't have to be God's PR firm or protect his image. You don't have to be afraid of of him disappointing you. He's he's never gonna let you down. Um, even those nose are for your good. Um, and if they lead you to closer to them, you win anyways. And so there's nothing to worry about. Bring it to him. Come boldly before the throne

Closing Prayer And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 41:00

of your gracious God. Um, he's inviting you in. And and then if you're like, man, there's still some here and I don't understand it, I'd encourage you next time the powerful prayer discovery class comes around, take it. We'll walk you through the the five steps to leading a powerful prayer life. Um, and you'll begin to see God move in your life and do some some amazing things.

SPEAKER_02 41:25

I was young and now I'm old. And I've never seen God forsake the righteous. That's right. Will you pray for us? Father, I want to thank you for what kind of God you are asking us questions that you already know the answers to. Um, thank you for that, for being a God who wants us to know. And God, thank you. That we can ask you questions too, and we can ask you four things in our life, and that you're interested, that you hear us. And when we're not praying the right thing, your Holy Spirit prays the right thing for us. You're so, so good. Thank you, Jesus. And Lord, I pray that you'll convict everybody out there listening to pray for a fresh win, specifically. And uh, Father, we want to be uh a point in this county, in this state, where people can come and discover more of you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at a freshwind.org. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering new resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.