Listen, just as many people that come on Sundays ought to be there. If you guys have a midweek prayer meeting, I think you used to have separate prayer meetings. Don't give up praying. Don't give up praying. Don't give up praying for souls in this city. Don't give up praying for a pastor. Don't give up praying for these things. Don't give up praying for one another. Don't give up praying for children if you want children. Don't give up praying for your children's souls if you want to see them saved. Don't give up. Keep pressing in. Keep pressing in. Keep pressing in. I'll tell you this. So much of what happens in the spiritual realm happens on our knees. Does that one work? So that's for the recording. This is for you folks right now. So, I think just about everybody, maybe this group of people here, I do have a history with this church. I hear you're coming up on your 10 years, right? 10 years. When is that? When is it? Oh, you don't know the exact date? Yeah, yeah. In those early days, I was driving here a lot. Because I was preaching for you. I was leading the midweek prayer meeting. We prayed for five years, probably. We had requests coming from people here, some of which are in this room right now, to start a church in Austin. And we prayed. And we met. Remember, there was a time when we all met together and we decided it wasn't time yet. And then we, in the course of time, we did start. Yes, we were in the real estate office. And I can remember making those drives. So, what's happened in 10 years? These folks came from elsewhere, Corpus. You know what, we should pray. We should pray for the Albrights. Let's do that right now. Father, please, as your Word is full of wonderful accounts of women becoming pregnant, we think of Rachel, we think of Elizabeth, we think of Mary, we think of Hannah, we think of these different ladies in Scripture that either They were barren. Some were old, some younger, but they couldn't have children. And suddenly there was a child. And we know that you open and close the womb. And we would just ask you, please, Father, protect this child. Allow it to grow there in Kendra's womb We ask that your hand would be upon that child for good, that you would bring it to full term and bring it forth healthy, and just may it be a blessing. And we want to commit that to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. So, 10 years. What's happened? I know you've, wow. I start to think about it. I think of the history. We sent John Dees here, and then, of course, your son-in-law. And then you had a stretch where, wow, you've had a tough history. I guess we don't need to recount everything. But it's, yeah, you've survived ten years. Anyway, I'm not just walking in here a total stranger to the work. In fact, I invested a lot of prayer for this church over the years. Decisions were made by me concerning Brandon, and decisions were made by me concerning Tawfiq. Our take in San Antonio was never to abandon the church here. You're autonomous, but you had our prayer support and our financial support through all these years, and we cared. We loved you folks and still do. I know that even though I'm not in the position that I used to have in San Antonio, I know those. I've communicated and I've watched what's happened just with regards to financial meetings and talk about Tawfiq over the years and just the desire to want to really be a help and a support to this church. Well, When I was getting ready to leave Manchester, I stuffed different sets of notes in my folder, and there was a message that I thought that I was going to bring here, and then I started toying with some other ones, and I come back to this. Just simply because I need to come back to this all the time. The message I want to bring to you this afternoon has to do with prayer. I want us to think for a moment about unanswered prayer. Now that might not at first sounding seem like an encouraging thing to think about, unanswered prayer. But my point in the end of this is to give us some biblical instruction so that unanswered prayers become answered prayers. If I were to ask you, why do you think our prayers don't get answered? Well, I know thoughts come to our mind like, well, I asked the Lord for something and I didn't get it because we can ask amiss, right? The Bible talks about asking amiss. We can ask to consume upon our lusts. We can ask for things that are not consistent with the glory of God, and perhaps not receive what we're asking for. Somebody might say, well, I could have sin in my life. Sometimes we get into this realm where there's just mysteries about prayer, and we just don't know what God's will is. I mean, perhaps I asked for it, and I don't know. It seemed like it would be according to God's will. It seemed like it would be for His glory. But the answer didn't come, and so we can imagine perhaps the defect is in us somehow, and we just give up. We give up asking. We can just think, there are mysteries about prayer that I just haven't figured out. And I'm not a George Mueller or a Hudson Taylor, and those guys knew how to pray. And when they prayed, it seems like they had a lot more answers than perhaps I do. And I don't know. I don't know what it is. I mean, I believe I'm a genuine Christian. Why God? seems to have an ear for George Mueller more than for me. I mean, I guess there's just mysteries about the kingdom and how God has designed us all. And I don't know, maybe God's got favorites and I'm not in that favorite status. I don't know. That can't happen where you basically look and you say, Oh, I kind of feel like a stepchild. I mean, there's these people over there. Do you feel like you ever felt, you know what can happen? You get somebody, they don't even have to pray. And it's like, they're having so many kids. It's like nine months after they had that child, another one's coming. And then you're there pleading with the Lord. And there's, it just seems like there's silence. I mean, we can get that way. You ever been that way as a Christian? And then you ask, why? Why? And then we're looking for answers. Well, maybe I need to be more holy. Maybe it's just God's will that we're not going to have children. And I mean, that can be. God's ways are true. We know that we have revelation. But we also know that there's many things about God's thoughts and God's ways that are not recorded in this book. This isn't comprehensive. And the fact is that this is just what God chose to reveal to us. There's much God has chosen not to reveal to us. And there is a place as a Christian where we need to be resigned to God saying yes and God saying no. We do know that Job could say God gave and God has taken away. And sometimes, sometimes, we're not ever given it to be taken away. At other times, some people, they wait for a child, and then the child comes, and then God takes the child away. And we can look at all these things, and we often are in positions where we're looking for answers. You know what I find very interesting, is when the disciples one day, and you've got your Bibles there. I am a Bible preacher. I'm not just going to give you this whole thing off the cuff. There's Scripture behind what I want to tell you today, and it's found in Luke chapter 11. It's very familiar. You're well aware with this portion of Scripture. You can turn in your Bibles to Luke 11. Can I tell you something? You guys can process this however you will, but do you know what I have become convinced is one of the greatest prayer killers, and at times evangelism killers, in churches like ours, it's hyper-Calvinism. I hate Hyper-Calvinism worse than Arminianism. I love John Wesley. And you can curse me for that, but I love him. Why? Because I love men that prayed and evangelized and they sought to lift Christ up and lift the cross up. They were hungry for souls. And I would take John Wesley over football fields full of hyper-Calvinists that go around touting their election, but they don't understand that God uses means and that we actually don't have sometimes because we haven't asked. Not because God's sovereign, And in God's sovereignty, while He just determined we weren't going to get it, you know the Bible doesn't talk that way. You know how the Bible talks? The Bible talks this way. Jesus said in John 5, I say these things to you that you might be saved. Ever read that? What things? Well, He was arguing with them about the fact that John the Baptist bore witness. And He said, not that I need the witness of men, But I say these things so that you might be saved." Do you know what Jesus is saying there? Do you know what Jesus said to His disciples when He was getting ready to go to the cross in John 16? He says, I say these things to you so that you won't fall away. Wow. You know what Jesus is implying in statements like that? Well, if I didn't speak this way, you wouldn't be saved. I say this to you to convince you so that you might be saved. He doesn't just chalk it up to God's sovereign and you're going to get saved regardless of whether I say these things or don't say these things. He doesn't say to those disciples, well, I'm just going to basically give the Word that your faith not fail. And because I'm sovereign and because I'm altogether powerful, therefore, disciples, you're not going to fall away. No. He gave truth to them that they processed in their heads that would result in their faith clinging to the things that He said, and therefore they don't fall away. You don't have because you don't ask. Listen, God is sovereign altogether. But God is sovereign in the means that He uses. with regards to evangelism, with regards to saving souls, with regards to prayer, with regards to answered prayer. You know the thing that I find very interesting about Luke chapter 11, is that the disciples, they knew. If there was ever anybody who was a man of prayer, it was the man, Jesus Christ. They saw Him pray. They knew. I've often thought through the years about not just the empty tomb, but the empty bed. See, what do you mean? I mean, there were times they woke up in the middle of the night, Jesus' bed was empty. The place his mat or his whatever, as these guys traveled around, where was he? He was out under the stars. He was praying to his Father. He was a man of prayer. He depended on his Father. He loved his Father. He needed his Father. He communed with his Father. And he had great needs. And you'll just not read your New Testament right unless you see that all the works that he did, he did by way of the Spirit of God, by way of His Father empowering Him to do these things. He was a man who lived by faith. And you know, His disciples looked and they recognized, this one right here, He knows how to pray. And so what did they say? Lord, teach us to pray. And you know what? He didn't fault them. He didn't say, guys, how could you ask such a stupid question? None of that. He doesn't berate them or belittle them because they would ask a question. You know what? They'd come to the right person to ask about prayer. And you know what I find very interesting? Just the tone of what He said. You know what? He doesn't say to them. It's like, think about this. Blank slate. Jesus, tell us, what are the most important things that we ought to know about prayer? And you know what I don't find? I don't find that He's going to tell these guys, well, your biggest problem is, you just don't know what to ask for. He doesn't say that. The parable that he gives is a guy wanted three loaves of bread, and Jesus never says, well, he didn't know even what the right thing to ask for was. No, if a child asks for bread, there's nothing here about, well, the child was ridiculous and shouldn't have been asking for bread. He should have been asking for What, a rock? I know that's not from this account specifically, but this one has to do with, what, a fish and serpent? Or an egg and scorpion? But Jesus never alluded to the fact that, well, asking for the egg was wrong, or asking for the fish was wrong. No. Not any more than asking for the three loaves. You know, there's nothing in this that seems to indicate that what we're asking for is necessarily wrong. Now look, we can't ask for wrong things. Don't get me wrong with that. But look, as these guys come to Him, Jesus doesn't say, you know, the thing that's hindering your prayer lives more than anything else is you guys just run around all the time asking for things you ought not to ask for. That's not what He says. You know what also He doesn't say? He doesn't say, well, your sin. Your sin's the problem. Now look, again, I know we can grieve the Spirit. But that's not what He says. You know what He actually teaches? That we are to pray, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. If you then bean, what? If you then bean, Evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more? You see, the point of this is this isn't for perfect people. He doesn't say your primary problem is that little adjective evil. Now look, he wasn't condoning unholy lives as Christians there. But certainly, don't we need to pray, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those? I mean, we do want to keep short accounts. But again, the primary thing was not, well, you just have too much sin in your life. That's not the issue. Let's actually look. I want you to hear God's Word. Luke 11.1, now Jesus was praying in a certain place. And when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray. And you know He's going to teach us just as well as these guys. Teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. And He said to them, when you pray, say, Father hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Verse 4. Forgive us our sins. For we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. And he said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him, and he will answer from within. Do not bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything, I tell you. Though he will not get up and give him anything, because he is his friend. Yet because of his impudence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 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 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 Him?" Now let me just say this. Jesus is asked, teach us about prayer. Can you think of anywhere in Scripture that we have a more extensive instruction from Christ concerning prayer? There are other places He talks about prayer. But if you want to learn about prayer, you want to learn what the Master Himself has to say, this is it. His disciples watched Him and they knew. I don't doubt they saw, they heard this Jesus Christ pray. And they realized that His Heavenly Father gave Jesus what He asked for over and over and over again. They recognized He was successful in His prayer life. He connected with God. Thus the request. And Jesus doesn't at all, at all despise their ignorance here in this. Not even a little. He doesn't make them feel like fools for asking. He gladly is going to teach them. And the primary thing that I want to focus on right now is this parable that he tells. Because I find myself, I need to come back to this over and over, and I think you do too. Just notice the parable. That's in verse 5 through 8. Let's kind of dissect this thing. Notice it again. Sometimes you can miss these things when we first read it. You're feeling like you're going to fall asleep, or you were just thinking about work tomorrow, or I don't know what. He said to them, hopefully you're not, hopefully you're all in tune. You all locked in? Just think. Think. You're one of these disciples and Jesus says, okay guys, you've asked about prayer, here we go. This is a parable about prayer that I want you guys to pack away and never forget. Here it is. Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves. So you get the picture. Now, we all recognize a parable, right? A parable is basically a teaching instrument. It's something that is familiar. It's common. Oh, somebody going and borrowing eggs from the neighbor. I mean, it's kind of a proverbial reality. None of us have a problem about borrowing food when we're in need. It's night, HEB's not open. Today, we don't have, I mean, we've got some things 24-7 out there that we can go get food at. But the picture here, it's familiar. Parables are meant to take something familiar that we can all identify with and proclaim a spiritual truth. That's what it's all about. So, what we have to start asking is what is meant by the things that are portrayed for us in the parable. And as I read through it, notice how many characters there are. How many different people do we have here? That's what I want you to recognize as I read this. Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves. Okay, how many different actors do we have on the stage right here? Just after that verse. You, you're there. You have a friend. Now just here, somebody said three. Where do you get three? What's that? That's the next verse. But yes. So we have us, which of you, you can put yourself there, has a friend. So you've got you, you've got the friend. The friend that you go to at midnight, you say to him, friend, lend me three loaves for a friend. Now this is another person. A friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him. And he will answer from within, do not bother me, the door is now shut. And my children, okay, there's some more people. brought in. You've got your friend who's come at midnight. This guy has his children who are with him in bed. I can't get up and give you anything. I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence. Anybody know what the KJV says right there? Importunity. It can be the word persistence. Let me ask you something. When you hear impudence, like the ESV says, what do you think? Do you think just persistent? It kind of carries a note of what? What was that? Rudeness. Yeah, it's almost, it's almost, impudence carries just, there are some tones of not exactly humble or gentle or, I mean, it's like there's a, there is a, there's a perseverance in this that is just, Kind of like the child that isn't going to take no for an answer. They want to keep pressing it. We say impudent. And that's bad. That's a characteristic we want to try to drive out of our children. And yet, when it comes to prayer, this is precisely the kind of thing that Jesus is saying is behind successful prayer. So, I would just say this, we've got the actors now on the stage. This parable, there are some things that are very obvious about it right off, and maybe some things that are yet not so obvious. It's plain, I think, to all of us that this is a parable about prayer. Why? Because it came after these disciples asked him about prayer. And the thing is, I don't think any of us are going to miss it, somebody in the parables asking for something and somebody is being asked. So the friend that came at midnight, he's not really important to the parable, other than he produced the need. The children, they're not really so important to the parable. only in the fact that they produce the apparent reluctance on the part of the giver to want to give. The two primary people that we have here is the guy that's outside the door asking the guy, his friend, who's on the inside of the door. So you've got one guy asking, one guy being asked. They're the primary players here. Two primary characters. And we don't want to rush past that. Because I think we just have to say, okay, who are these two characters? Who does Jesus mean to represent by them? Who are they? Who is the guy on the outside of the door doing the asking? That's me and you. Who's the guy on the inside of the door? Who? Let me ask you this, in these 13 verses of Luke 11, verses 1-13, who is the one being asked? And I would just say, look before the parable, and look after the parable, who is it that's being prayed to? He said, when you pray, say what? Father. And when you go after the parable, verse 13, 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 who? Those who what? Ask who? Ask Him. Who is this guy that's already in bed with his children? Jesus is telling us about prayer. He is clearly indicating that prayer has to do with asking our Heavenly Father. Nothing in here has to do with asking Christ, and I'm not saying asking Christ is wrong, or speaking to the Holy Spirit, but you can't get away from this reality. When Jesus teaches about prayer, He's telling us to ask our Heavenly Father. That is the primary way that we are instructed in Scripture to pray. So when Jesus tells the parable, I think we're kind of all seeing it, a friend asks a friend to borrow bread. That's the familiar picture here. One person in the parable asks, another person in the parable is being asked. We see that. But I think we have to be honest with who's being represented by the characters. And Jesus is the one who's painting the picture for us. Because look, I look at this and I say, okay, if I was creating a parable, especially a parable, think with me here. If you then, fathers, you being evil, I mean, you're not perfect, you've still got sin in your life. If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more? You see what's being taught here? He's teaching that God is not reluctant to give to His children. He is more willing to give to His children than you are to give to your children as much as you are willing to give to your children. You see what he's teaching? God is not reluctant. You say, Lord, if what you're really wanting to emphasize is that God isn't reluctant, why in the world would you paint a picture with a parable like this? Doesn't it seem a little bit inconsistent? I mean, if you really want to show how willing God is, then why paint a picture that makes him sound so reluctant? Don't you love the way Jesus taught? I love the fact that he constantly was saying things I wouldn't say. And you wouldn't say. The only reason we say them is because he said them. But if it was left to us, we wouldn't say it. Why? Because he surprises us all the time. He says things that we don't expect. The reality is this. We would say, this... I mean, being a picture of prayer? Seriously? Jesus wants to paint a picture, and he gets out the paintbrush, and he starts painting this parable for us. I think we would all have to kind of recognize, this isn't a terribly attractive image of getting an answer to my prayers. Wouldn't you all agree? A guy behind the door that's saying, don't bother me? Don't you love that? Jesus paints a picture of his Father like a guy behind a door that says, don't bother me. I think we just have to love that. I mean, how does that make God look? And yet if there's anybody that wanted to honor God the Father, it's this Lord Jesus Christ. It makes it sound, I think we have to be honest, it makes it sound like God is reluctant to give. If you just took the parable, He will give me something if I just irritate Him enough. Isn't that the picture? I think we have to be honest, it is. Not because He cares for me, not because of His friendship. Remember this guy said, this guy goes to a friend. And Jesus is very specific. He's not because he's appealing to his friendship that the guy's willing to get up. But just because of his importunity, his persistence, his impudence even, that he just bothers the guy enough. Doesn't it feel like that's what's happening here? It's just sometimes we have to stop and really look at these things and say, But look, obviously Jesus is not teaching in this portion of Scripture that God's reluctant to give because, as I have already said and pointed out, He's more willing to give to us than we are to our children. And I know how willing I am to give to my children. I'd give them everything. And so would you. And so, God, how much more Is He willing to give? Wow, there's a willingness. And that's crucial for us to hear. When we come to our Heavenly Father in prayer, you just realize this. We are approaching our Father in Heaven, and He is so willing. Much more inclined. to give to you and me than we are to our grandchild. Well, I'm saying grandchild because I'm thinking, I know I have a grandchild. He's not reluctant. So the question is this, if Jesus really wants us to know that our Heavenly Father is indeed the most caring, the most giving, the most generous Father imaginable, Then why portray prayer like we find in verses 5-8 as a friend who's unwilling to get out of bed for the sake of his friendship with us, yet he is willing to get out of bed simply because he wants to put an end to my knocking on the door. That's what the parable says. Is God tired? Does He have to go to bed? Is He stingy? Is He irritable? Annoyed? Can I annoy God enough so that He gives me answers to prayer? Look, I would just say this. The Lord Jesus chose to portray prayer like this. I don't think you would have. Or I would have. Why? Because it would have made the Father seem that way. But you know what? Jesus isn't concerned to protect His Father in the giving of a parable like that. Because here's the reality. If we're all honest, if we are all honest, prayer from our perspective often feels exactly like that. Because you've been in the place where you've asked. And there was silence. And it felt like God was communicating to you. From our perspective, often, brethren, can't you say, yes, this is exactly right. I've asked for something. And it seems exactly like this, exactly like a friend who doesn't want to get out of bed, but then does. They've been asking for a child for six years? Six years! Did it feel like, don't bother me? It didn't feel like that. And then after six years, he does. You see, from our perspective, but here's the thing. At first, he doesn't help. But then, afterwards, he does. But what is Jesus teaching in the midst of all of it? He does only if what? You see this, only if what? The guy's going to get up out of bed and come answer the door and give me the three loaves, only if what? If the guy would have knocked, and heard, don't bother me, and gone home." Would he have got his three loaves? No three loaves. You only get the three loaves if what? You keep knocking until he comes to the door. I mean, that's what Jesus is teaching here. If we keep knocking. Don't miss the point of the parable. And you know what happens? After the parable, Jesus drives this truth home. Look at verses 9 and 10. I tell you. And here, he's going to be very direct. I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. And then, you've got to love this. Everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks finds. The one who knocks, it will be opened. You know what he's saying? Persistence. I mean, grit and determination. Do you know what often happens? People ask, there's silence, and what's the conclusion? God doesn't want to give to me. And so we give up. And you know what? out of all the things that Jesus is indicating. Think with me. Disciples come, teach us to pray. He could have said anything about prayer. He's going to tell them the things that they most need to hear. You know what this tells me? The greatest reason that God's people do not get what they ask for It's not primarily because they let sin in their life, or primarily because they don't know what to ask for as they ought. It's just simply they become practical hyper-Calvinists. They say, well, God's sovereign. I asked for this. Prayer doesn't really matter anyways. God is sovereign, and God's going to do what God wants to do, and well, I asked for that thing. You ever hear how people pray oftentimes, especially in Reformed circles? Oh, Father, if it be Your will. And it's like, well, then there's silence. Well, it's not His will, and we just go on. You know, there's nothing here about, there's nothing like that. Do you know what he's saying? He's saying, Doesn't God teach this? Like through the prophet Isaiah? Give me no rest. And you don't take any rest. That's how God wants. You see, don't ever think it's presumption to keep coming to the Lord for the same thing over and over. In fact, you know what? We often think a guy's like Mueller. But if you know the stories about Mueller, he often prayed. It was said he prayed for 50 years concerning the salvation of some of the people he was praying to see saved. 50 years. He didn't take no for an answer. See, if we just imagine Mueller as this guy, well, he prayed and he threw a prayer out there and God answered it. He threw another prayer out there. You know what you would have found? If you've read his autobiography, he was a man that came back to God again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. You know what Jesus is teaching us? You see it. You see it right here. That tenacity, endurance, diligence, even if you think about that word, the impudence, It's a stubbornness. There is a stubbornness. And I've been asked before, how do you know when it's not God's will? And I would just say this. It's only presumption to keep asking for something if God makes it plain. It's not His will. But I would tell you this, until God makes it plain, don't give up. Why? Because of a parable just like this. And because of teaching just like this. Give God no rest. Brethren, we underestimate. Because what Jesus is saying here is, look, if you will keep asking, and you will keep seeking, and you will keep knocking, everyone who does that gets What they receive, it'll be opened unto them. They will find what they're looking for. Do you see that? Everyone. He's not even putting any qualifiers there. Just massive, massive truths. You have a stubbornness in prayer like that, you know what he's teaching? You will prevail with God where giving up will not prevail with God. And you know, if we look at this parable, look at it. It says, verse 7, He will answer from within. Do not bother me. The door is now shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give anything to you. You know what? A lot of us, we stop in prayer at verse 7. That's where we live. We pray, but then we give up. We stop praying. If you stop in verse 7, you will never have the prayer life Jesus is describing here. Never. What's He saying? Persistence in prayer prevails with God, where giving up will not prevail with God. Clearly, that's what's being taught here. You all see it. You can see it with your own eyes. You can look at this and say, wow. Yep. Jesus, teach us to pray. Okay, boys. Prayer 101. Do not accept a denial. Even though it seems there's a reluctance because of the initial silence. Don't bother me. Seems to be ringing in your ears because obviously you didn't get what you asked for. Jesus says, school is in session guys. I'm going to teach you the real art to prayer. Don't fall for hyper-Calvinism. Prayer matters. And those who will continue to pray, and those who will press into that inner place, and those who will not give God any rest, Scripture doesn't say that's presumption. No. That is a sign of faith, folks. And God is very pleased with it. Obviously. Don't accept a denial. Refuse to take no for an answer. And again, I stress to you, if God says no. You say, how will I know if God says no? Look, I'll tell you this. God knows you. God knows how to communicate with you. God knows how you're wired. If you're in doubt as to whether God has said no, then clearly God has not made it plain to you that He said no. And so keep after it. If you want it. I mean, look, if you ask and you give up because it's just not that important to you, and by the way, that is one of the reasons why God doesn't answer immediately. It really does test what's most important to us. Jesus is teaching that if you live your life up to the end of verse 7, and that's it, if you do accept no as an answer, don't be surprised, if you end up not getting what you ask for. Now, here's the thing. God does have reasons for making us wait. And one of the reasons is to test us to whether we really want what we're asking for. I found this somewhere, I don't know where, but Thomas Watson. He gave some reasons that he felt were behind God making us wait. for waiting to answer our prayers that God has. Not a reluctance to give, but good reasons, loving reasons. And Watson says this, one, because he loves to hear the voice of prayer. Don't you like that? You let the musician play a great while before you throw him down money, because you love to hear his music. Anybody like that? Have you ever read Song of Solomon? He wants to see your face. He wants to hear your voice. And you know what? When we're desperate, it causes us to go to him over and over and over. How many times have you gone to the Lord asking him for a child? Over and over and over. But he loves that. He wants to commune with us. There's one reason. Watson gives a second one. That he may humble us. We may too easily assume we merit some ready answer, or that he is at our beck and call like a butler, not a sovereign Lord and loving Father. And that's a good answer too. Number three, because he sees we are not yet fit or ready for the mercy we seek. Maybe he has things to put in place in us or in our church or in the world. There are a million pieces to the puzzle. Some things go first to make a place for others. You know what? I got saved when I was 25 years old. In those first 25 years of my life, I never thought about marriage. The moment God saved me, then I wanted to be married. And God left me as a Christian, single, for three years. And I prayed to Him for a godly wife. And I look back and I recognize, I mean, my wife might doubt I was even ready to be married after three years. But we probably weren't ready for each other before that. God had to do things in us. And he's done many things in us after that. But I think Watson's right here. Four, finally, that the mercy we pray for may be the more prized and may be sweeter when it comes. Yeah, I think all that's right. And maybe you can think of some more reasons why God might cause us to wait. Certainly it tests our faith. But let me just tell you this. You don't want to miss this. He says, I tell you, my brothers and sisters, let this sink deep. This is a promise of God, and God will not break His promises. I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks, finds. The one who knocks, it will be opened. And you know His meaning. Based on that parable, you know exactly what he's driving home there. Don't give up. Don't give up. Keep at it. Listen, just as many people that come on Sundays ought to be there. If you guys have a midweek prayer meeting, I think you used to have separate prayer meetings, don't give up praying. Don't give up praying. Don't give up praying for souls in this city. Don't give up praying for a pastor. Don't give up praying for these things. Don't give up praying for one another. Don't give up praying for children if you want children. Don't give up praying for your children's souls if you want to see them saved. Don't give up. Keep pressing in. Keep pressing in. Keep pressing in. I'll tell you this. So much of what happens in the spiritual realm happens on our knees. You know what? Some of you know Andy and Rebecca who are laboring off in Asia, and they are absolutely convinced that so much of what they accomplish in other places, the battle is won here in America, in the prayer meetings, God's people on their knees. praying for them. I believe that's absolutely right. So many of the triumphs, so many of the advances, so much of the successes of the gospel, so much of what happens in our families, so much of what happens in our own personal lives, in our sanctification, in our usefulness, in our fruitfulness. Brethren, this has to do with prayer. Those who pray, receive. Those who don't pray, I'll tell you this, They're not taking this whole thing serious. And often in the end, they're proud people. Proud people are independent. They don't need God. We need God. And look, if there are things in your life, things that you need, we've got to cling to Him. And we don't want to give up. Persistence, brethren, persistence. We have not run this race to the end yet. We haven't got there. We're not at the finish line. And there's all sorts of things we need. We're a needy people. We're just, oh, we are weak. We have so much that we need. And I'll tell you this, you show me a church that prays, and I'll show you, you can be small, you can be a small church like this one, and you can turn the world upside down. You can see miracles, you can see God do things that he's not doing in other churches. Listen, San Antonio may have three, 400 people right now, but you know what, we started with 10, and we were in some dilapidated old German house in the inner city running around with the prostitutes and the drug addicts. And we prayed, and we prayed, and we sought the Lord, we prayed. And God answered those prayers. And I'll tell you, this whole thing ends with this. How much more will He give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? Wow. You should be asking for that all the time. You know what? He's teaching His disciples to pray. This isn't about how to be converted. When you tell Christians to pray for the Holy Spirit, you're obviously not teaching them to pray for something they're totally devoid of. The idea here would be the influences of the Spirit. What happens when the Spirit moves? Revival. What's that? Life. What's that? What does the Spirit do? Causes men and women to be born again, boys and girls. What's the Spirit do? He intercedes for us. Groanings we read about. He gives assurance. He bears witness with our spirits that we're children of God. You just start thinking about all the ministries of the Holy Spirit. He makes the Word of God alive. He empowers preachers when they stand up or whoever in the church is opening up the Word of God. He's come to glorify Christ. He's come to bring conviction. You want conviction in the church? Conviction of sin? Purity? The fruit of the Spirit? Love? The Spirit is operative. Christ is going to be magnified. We need this. So anyway, Brethren, an exhortation on prayer. I fear hyper-Calvinism. I come back to this. It's just, bottom line, there are a lot of Reformed churches that don't have prayer meetings. There are a lot of Reformed churches that don't put stock in prayer as those promises indicate they ought to. Because we can so easily Take our doctrine of the sovereignty of God and we can spin it so that prayer doesn't matter. But that is not what Jesus is teaching. And I find it remarkable because He is clearly saying, guys, if there's any hindrance to prayer, you need to see that it's people who give up praying. You can't get away from it in these passages. Keep on your knees. Keep pleading with the Lord. Don't give up. Be unified. Be in the prayer meetings. Pray in your families. Pray. Don't deny the impulses. If you're doing something and you're feeling God is pressing you to pray, go pray. Don't resist that. Be a church of prayer. Everyone who asks will receive. You keep going. You keep pressing in. Until God tells you no, don't take no for an answer. Don't assume the answer is no until God lets you know the answer is no. Okay. Let's pray. Father, I pray that these promises that you give to us, Jesus' teaching, I pray that the brethren here would be affected by this, that their faith would be encouraged by this. I want my faith encouraged by this. Lord, make us people of prayer. And we would ask, I would ask, Father, you've given a promise. How much more are you willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask. I pray for this church. I pray that they would have greater infusions, greater manifestations, just a greater sense of the work of the Spirit of God in their midst. That Spirit, who when He comes into the world is going to glorify Christ. Oh, I pray. I pray that this church would be such a burning and shining light through the power of the Spirit of God in this dark, perverse generation in which we find ourselves living. May they be a bright and shining light in this dark place of Austin. Please, Lord, I pray for this church. May the spirit of prayer and supplication fill this people. I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Okay. We are going to observe the Lord's Supper. It's like Raymond gave me perfect instruction in how all of this is to happen. And I probably remember almost none of it. So, we're going to do what you all do. I'm going to bring an exhortation here in just a moment. Thank you. Does it all get passed to you or do you file by? Okay. Is that a COVID injunction or is that the way you've always done it? Yeah, so if you'll all sit there very calmly, patiently and hold it. I know you may think that this is an odd exhortation for the Lord's Supper. You probably have not had this thought before the Lord's Supper before, but I actually was this morning reading Psalm 22, which is one of my favorites. But as we were driving here, and my wife and I were talking about the fact that our daughter said, I want to go see what's happening at Asbury University up in Kentucky. Some of you heard about what's happening there. You heard? No. Reports are going all over the internet about revival breaking out. And apparently Asbury is not unaccustomed to movements of the Spirit of God in the past. I understand in 1970 something happened that the fruit of which is still evident today in people's lives who were college age and there in those years. And you can go back even further. I guess 1950, twice in the first decade of the 1900s. So my daughter wants to go. She was going to drive up there by herself. No. We have a rental car. that I drove over from Houston, so I thought, well, unlimited miles, and it gets better gas mileage than my daughter's vehicle. Plus, Ruby and I are very interested to see what God's doing too. So, we all, what was it, Tuesday, we piled in and we drove, I think it took about 18 hours to get there. We did our eating in the vehicle and we basically just stopped for bathroom and gasoline and that was about it. We arrived there at 1.30 a.m. Wednesday morning and went straight into the chapel, the auditorium there, because this thing had been going for almost a week. What had happened was they had a chapel service on the 8th, and the man was speaking from Romans chapter 12, the last 13 verses. And I didn't go through and count, but they were saying that there's 30 commandments, 30 different commandments, just rapid fire. And he was exhorting the students, and when he was done, They didn't leave, and they felt convicted, and they began praying. And then word got out around the campus, and the students began gathering. And you know what? The very fact that what was happening was based on the Word of God being preached, and then prayer, and brokenness, repentance, and tears, that all sounded pretty good. By the time we got there almost a week later, what had happened was this thing had gone viral enough. People were literally coming from every state in the country, including people like us, and from other countries. And so we get there, and there's 1,500 people in the auditorium, another 1,500 out on the lawn outside. And then they had two overflow buildings that we don't know how many people were in. And so we got there, and we I'm trying to get a sense of what's happening. If God's moving, I want to be broken. I want God to deal with me in areas that I still need to be dealt with. But you can't hardly be a good biblical Christian if you're not discerning. I've thought often about the Ephesians. You know what happened when they tested apostles? You know how Jesus commended the Ephesian church in Revelation 2? The thing is, when the guy walked in and said he's an apostle, they didn't know that he wasn't. So when we show up at this place, we don't know what's going on. Is this of the Spirit? Is this not of the Spirit? Do you know that one of the things that I I took note of. I was just praying and I don't want to do anything to grieve the Spirit. But I'm looking for the Word to be preached. I'm looking for brokenness that comes out of that. I'm looking for prayer. And what happened was it seems like the faculty there at Asbury kind of delegated They were wanting to not have men lead. They wanted the Spirit to lead. But I think that's nice to say, but I think In the end, it doesn't happen. Why? Because somebody's got to make decisions about what's happening. And you know what they did? They delegated so much of what was happening to these student worship teams. And so you got young men and women up on the platform who are making decisions about what songs to sing, and then sometimes literally singing the same song for 45 minutes. sometimes singing the same one line over and over, and people standing with their arms lifted up, and just trying to evaluate what's going on here, what's happening. And one of the things that just, it just resonated with me as I was listening and watching what's going on, is I thought, do you know in the entire time I've been here, I've never heard Jesus called Lord or Christ that I could think of. And maybe that doesn't resonate so much with you, but there's something about just saying Jesus all the time and actually calling Him the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, as we were driving here today, Ruby was reading something to me or playing something to me, and it got me thinking all over again about 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And let's just turn there before we take the Lord's Supper. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. A chapter very well known to us is one of the most extensive in our Bibles concerning spiritual gifts. I mean the spiritual gift chapters. There's two that are twelves and there's two that are fours. What are the two chapter twelves in our Bible that deal with spiritual gifts? One obviously is here, 1 Corinthians. Where's the other one? Where is it? Chapter 12. What other chapter 12 in our Bible deals with spiritual gifts? Romans. Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12. Then you have two chapter 4s. Do you know where they come from? Ephesians. Where else? 1 Peter. Okay. Concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols however you were led." Now, let's just stop and think. Now concerning spiritual gifts. Isn't that an interesting way to start chapter 12? Now concerning spiritual gifts. as though this is not just coming out of the blue. Paul talks this way repeated times. Chapter 7 a couple times. Chapter 8. Chapter 16 a couple times. Why? Because Paul is responding to things that they have written to him about. Or that he knows they have questions about. You understand some interaction has happened. Chloe's people went to Paul when he's over in Ephesus, and they're telling him things. It seems like they also brought questions from the Corinthians that they wanted answers to. And this is one of them. Concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagan, so he takes them back to their days when they were involved in false religion, the pagan religions. You were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. That's an interesting statement. You were led astray. In other words, the idea here is you have leading spirits. They were led. Back in 1019, he says, what do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything? No. I imply that what pagan sacrifice they offered to demons, not to God. It's kind of the same flavor here. They were led astray. There was idolatry. There's demons behind all of this. however you were led." You see that? He uses the term led twice. There's leading spirits. And this is key. Just because something is supernatural, it doesn't mean that it's from God. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, Jesus is accursed. And no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit. Now, probably when you first become a Christian and you read this, you kind of scratch your head. In fact, if you know your Bibles well enough and you know, say, Matthew 7, many are going to say to me in that day, what? Lord, Lord. Apparently lost people can call Him Lord. So we look at this and we say, wait, Paul's talking in pretty dogmatic terms here. No one can call Jesus Lord except by the Spirit. Nobody can say he's accursed. I mean, we kind of read that and we say, seriously? We find even in the Scriptures that people were calling him Lord, and apparently it wasn't by way of the Spirit of God. Well, I think the thing that we have to recognize is he says, now concerning. They were asking Him something. And they weren't just asking Him some generic question about people running around saying Jesus is Lord or Jesus is accursed. This whole thing has to do with what? What is the main topic on the table here in this chapter? Spiritual gifts. Undoubtedly, the Corinthians were experiencing spiritual gifts being used. and they had certain accounts that it seems like they were sharing with Paul. You see what he's saying? He's not simply talking about whether somebody can mouth the words, Jesus is Lord. But what I find is very interesting is this, where the Spirit of God is moving, where the Spirit of God is imparting genuine spiritual gifts, where the gift is really God imparted, What's the Spirit going to do? Well, it's much like Jesus said, when He comes, He's going to exalt me. Calling Jesus Lord is a very exalting term for Christ. You see, we're just talking right now about praying that our Heavenly Father would give the Holy Spirit to them that ask. Do you know what the indication is of the Spirit genuinely working? He will move our eyes off of Him onto Christ. He will show Christ to be glorious. I think it's telling. Now somebody can come along and say, well, I was at Asbury and I heard Jesus called Lord. Okay, I'm not going to deny that. Everybody has their own experience who went there, and they were exposed to certain things. But I'm just saying this. It came to my attention, and I was paying attention, and I just never heard Him called Lord. And it was so prevalent to me that I became aware of it. It struck me. And so somebody could say, well, what are you saying here? Whether there's ultimately any good fruit from Asbury, I mean, I think it started and I think that something is happening there. I just could have really wished in the midst, it all seemed like you had people that are searching. People came from all these states and all these countries because there's a hunger. I think if there's anything you can see, there is a hunger. People are wanting to experience God. I just thought, wow, what a tinderbox. If you could just thrown a preacher in the midst of that, like I would have gladly seen John Wesley resurrected. And yes, if I was going to choose between Wesley and Whitfield, I'd rather hear Whitfield probably. But they needed a preacher there. They needed somebody to lift up Christ in the midst of that. But my emphasis here is, Jesus is Lord. I mean, we just want to think, we're doing this in remembrance of Him. Brethren, I think you can, when God saves us, if there's one thing that resonates with us, with anybody where the Spirit of God has taken up residency, and we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, He suddenly opens our eyes to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. If there's anything, you remember what Paul said? He said, there was a day when I regarded Christ according to the flesh. You remember him saying that? What does that mean? That means there was a day, you know what gets compared to flesh in Scripture? You're in the flesh, you're in the Spirit. That kind of thing is a comparison. What he's saying is, there was a day when I evaluated Christ the best a man can do who lacks the Spirit. There was a day like that. But oh, we're not in that day. Not those of us in this place that know the Lord. We now evaluate Christ not the best we could in the flesh. Now our eyes have been opened by the Spirit of God. And He is Lord. And we love to say it. We want Him to rule. We want Him to reign. We want Him as Master. Have you found such a good Master? The devil wasn't a good one. Sin wasn't a good one. We've found We've found a master who is lover of our soul. And he means to make us his bride. Don't you want to do this in remembrance of him? I do. Let's do it. Lord, in remembrance of you, thinking about what you've done for us on that cross. Thank you, lover of our souls. We delight to call you the Lord Jesus, our Lord Jesus Christ. The King of glory. The Lion of the tribe of Judah. Oh. Thank you for shedding your precious blood on our behalf, washing away every sin, every defilement in the work of removing the wrinkles, the defects, beautifying us, beautifying a bride for yourself. Thank you. Thank you that we have this soul-cleansing blood. Sin-cleansing blood. And a work done there at Calvary. Powerful. That we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Oh, come Lord Jesus. Come into our presence. Manifest yourself as you've promised. Take us. Take us. Sweep us away. We want to know those everlasting arms wrapped around us. Father, I pray for these brothers and sisters in this place. That they would know that everlasting love. That they would know deeper manifestations. The sweetness, if any of the brethren here, their faith has grown cold. Their prayers feel somewhat stale. They've lost the excitement to some degree. Lord, may you restore it. May the first love just sweep upon these brethren. May there be a revitalization, just a fresh communion. and fellowship, the life of God and the soul of man. May you help us to experience the depths of it, the freshness of it, the newness of it, the glory of it. We ask it all in Christ's name. Amen. Well, brethren, are we dismissed? You are dismissed.