Matthew 6:5-8

Speaker 2: Hey, man, thank you for that good song for us this morning. And I am grateful for the testimony of the faithful women throughout the Bible. I always like to think back to the fact that when Jesus was on the cross, there was John, and then there was the ladies who had followed him. That was it. And everybody else had deserted him and left. All those men ran scared with their tails tucked between their legs. But. The women were there. And I appreciate that. And the service and the place that women have had in God's ministry since. As long as he's been working, which is, you know, long time. Okay. So I'd start off. I want to ask you to think about something with me. Ever noticed that sometimes people will choose an easier, quicker path to get results? When it would have been more beneficial to them to take a slower path that would have yielded longer lasting results as anybody dealt with that, maybe at your place of business, maybe in your personal health, maybe with your children. Those kind of things. Are you thinking of some examples? Do I need to think of some examples? Like. I mean, I can get my kids to listen to me if I yell and scream at them really loud. But is that really going to yield the long term results that I want? The answer is no. Okay. I didn't mean that confusing thing. I could starve myself and lose a whole bunch of weight really fast. But guess what's going to happen soon as I start eating again? I'm going to gain it back. Okay. So there's there's quick results that are not maintainable. But then there's a maybe we could say like a healthy change of lifestyle that yields longer lasting results. Are you with me now? Like. Yeah, but why? Why are we talking about this? Well. Because there's a spiritual application to this as well. There's a lot of pastors who want to really want to guilt you or develop some sort of fleshly loyalty in you to the church. So this meeting, this body, this organization, this assembly, and so they will present this time as the answer. All your spiritual needs. You get close to the Lord. Just come to church. You got sin you're trying to overcome. Just come to church. The temptation you're dealing with on a regular basis. Just come to church. You might see some short term. Results from that. I believe there is a more pressing issue that I need to be pointing you towards. There's there's a more healthy lifestyle that I should be commending to you, promoting to you that will yield maybe not as fast results, but longer lasting results. You see, my job is not to make you loyal to this body. My job is to promote to you loyalty to Jesus Christ. Not trying to make sure that your relationship with this church is strong and trying to make sure that your relationship with God is strong. When I when I talk to young married newly are about to be married couples we always talk about the priorities of life. Your number one priority is to God. Then your spouse, then your children, then everything else under that. You realize that if your relationship with God is right, your relationship with your spouse will fall in line. If your relationship with God is right, you will become the parent your kids need you to be. Too often we deal with the symptoms rather than the root. So this morning what I want to do is I want to attempt to deal with one of the root issues of our life. Not not me. I'm just going to take what Jesus said and tell you what Jesus said. But it's a matter of prayer. Prayer. Prayer, if we're not careful, can become like those other things. Something we do to be seen rather than something we do to become closer to God. I want you take your Bibles and turn to Matthew Chapter six. Matthew Chapter six. We're going to read beginning in verse number five. As you find your place. If you wouldn't mind standing one last time in honor of reading God's Word if you're physically able. Matthew. Chapter six, verse number five. Says they now pressed. Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. But they love to pray. Standing in the synagogues in the corner of the streets. They may be seen of men. Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward. But now when the pressed enter into the closet. When thou hast shut the door. Pray to thy father, which is in secret. And I father, which see it in secret, shall reward the openly. When you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, where they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not you therefore like unto them for your father? No. With what things you have need of. Before you ask him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity we have to gather together. I pray that you'd be with us now. As we look into your word that you would give me the words you would have me to say. We'd help the folks that are here to listen, apply here to their lives. Sports in Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Thank you, ABC. All right. By show of hands. How many of you have ever been in a school play or any kind of play? Oh, wow. That's a lot. So. All right, all right. Corporate hands down. How about a church drama? The church drama. Okay. All right. Very good. All right. Well, hey, we're going to have one. So all of you that raise your hands, you're invited to sign up. I'm just kidding. We're not. Maybe someday, but not. Not immediately. So you're familiar with having to memorize a script, right? And memorize your lines. And you practice your lines. And you go over them. And you go over them. And you go over them. And we've all sat we've watched the kids performances where the little kid gets up and you can tell they practiced a long time. And so they start to give their lines and they give it very robotically. And in that day, there were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch of their flocks by night. You know, and it's just like, do they even know what they just said? You know, are they even thinking about the words that they're communicating or are they just repeating a script that they have gone over and over and over and over so often that it just doesn't mean anything anymore to them. But hey, mom and Dad and grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles and cousins, everyone's out there and they're just like.

Speaker 4: Oh.

Speaker 2: You're my baby. And they get the applause, you know, and afterwards they get in the car, and rightfully so. I'm not saying any of this is bad. I'm just we're just drawing a picture here in our minds. You know, they get in the car and they're like, Oh, sweetie, you just did such a wonderful job. Or if you're like, my grandma or sugar. That was so beautiful, honey. It was just amazing. Kids like? Yeah. Thanks. And could you do it again? You know, Uncle So-and-so wasn't there. Let's. Can I video you saying your lines and they don't even remember what their lines were. Why? Because it didn't really mean anything to them. It was just a script that they were regurgitating for other people to hear and apply. I think if we're not careful our prayers and become very similar to that. I mean, let's be honest. How many of us have knelt beside our children's beds at the end of the night and said, Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the food that we're about to enjoy. Kid says, Are we eating or are you going to bed? Oh, what am I doing? You know, we just get into this routine where we just repeat the same thing over and over until it loses meaning. We do it because we have to do it. We do it. So other people will look at us and say, Ah, they must be very godly. Listen to them. Pray. It's interesting in Matthew Chapter six, these are the first words that Jesus has spoken, at least in Matthew, regarding the topic of prayer. And I was not about to try and do the whole thing in one week. So next week we're going to look at the what many would call the Lord's Prayer. But in reality, it's the disciples prayer because he's telling his disciples how they are to pray. We'll look at that next week. But here what I want us to see is that Jesus, in his first words on prayer, he immediately goes after hypocritical prayer. Hypocritical prayer. It's sad to think if we if we stop for a moment and really meditate on it, it's sad to think that sin would even follow us into our devotions to God. That sin would follow us, even as as we go to God in prayer, into his presence. That is, we seek to commune with the Lord. Sin would be there with us and that we would pray for others to hear us. That we would pray. That others would think. That we were something that perhaps we are not. We see a warning here in verse number five that matches the warning we saw last week in the issue of Almsgiving. And he says in verse number five, when they'll praise, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. Goes down. He says that they may be seen of men. Remember in verse number one, he said, Do not your arms before men to be seen of them. We are not serving the Lord. We are not engaging in religious activity for men to see us and for men to approve or pats on the back and say, Good job, because if that's what we're after, that's all we're going to get. There's an interesting picture that Jesus draws here. He says not to be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray. Standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets. I was surprised by the fact that multiple authors all agreed that the picture Jesus is painting here is a very specific one. They said that the Pharisees and those that wanted to be seen as spiritual had this habit that they would engage in to where they would be on their way to present to the synagogue. And they would have to stop and pray on their way to the synagogue. And what they were trying to communicate was, I am so godly. You just don't even understand how godly I am. I am so God, I can't even make it to the synagogue. I just have to stop and pray right here. And they'd stop on the road. Now, I know all of you really appreciate it when someone slams on their brakes right in front of you for no apparent reason. Then what happened to you? Okay. Imagine how annoyed you would be. You're on on your way to the synagogue and the guy in front of you stops, throws his hands out and just starts praying. Like, What's wrong with that guy? That's what I think. But they're like, Oh. He cannot wait to talk to God. He had to stop in the middle of the road to pray to God. Oh, he's so spiritual. Isn't that ridiculous? But it's why. What was happening? Not only were they stopping in the street corners to pray because they couldn't wait. When they did reach the synagogue, they would make a habit out of standing in a conspicuous place to pray when it really wasn't like trying to pray. And so, you know. Very, very smart. Stand right in the doorway. You know, Brother Jerry Prater is coming in and and, you know, he's shaking the greeters hands and suddenly the urge just comes over and he stops right there. He's got Anabelle in one hand, Evelyn in the other, and he's just praying. Nobody can get past him because he's standing there praying and they're like, Wow, bro, the jury is really spiritual. Brian, right there in a place where everybody can see him, you know, could be could be a lot of different ways that this would manifest itself. But the whole point is, regardless how utterly ridiculous you think it sounds as they were trying to get people to see, look at me. Look at me. Look how religious I am. Look how much I love God. Look how spiritual I look at. How much better I am than you. Wait, not that one. Sorry. But I mean, that is kind of what it is. And so one one biographer that was following a famous Christian who if I said their name, you, most of you would probably know who it was. He noted that the man was prone to fall to his knees at random times, whether in the halls of his home, in the hallways of his church, or even in public. This guy would just stop. All those knees and start praying. Biographer was not a Christian man. He was just a good author. And so he was struck by this man's religious activity and came to the conclusion that this man must be more godly than all other Christians. I don't know if that's true or not. That was what this man came to believe through this man's show of his religion. One newspaper. Kind of ironically, was commenting on the Easter services of a church in Boston. This was many years ago in the early 1900s, and the headline said Greatest Prayer Ever Offered. To the church. But who do we offer our prayers to? Is it for? Are we praying to men? Are we praying to be seen of men? Or are we praying to God? You see, there can be a great disconnect not only in our charitable giving, but also in the manner in which we pray to where we cease to be doing this for the glory of our father. And we start to do it for the glory of ourselves. I've been told it's not good to make fun of the way people prey. But in Bible College. Not anyone you know. Maybe someone you know. And these guys would get asked to pray to be raining outside. I know I've said this before, but I just can't get over it. It's been 15 years and I still can't get over it. And they'd say stuff like this. Our father, godfather, godfather, father in heaven. We thank the for the moisture that you have brought to our dry land. Like, dude, you're a Bible college junior, not a farmer. And start using these words that they don't normally use. You know, and they they talk in a voice that is not their normal speaking voice. And they stopped calling him God and they start calling him God. Why? Maybe it's just because that's what they've seen other people do. Maybe it's because we're trying to put on a show that we're more spiritual than we actually are. As we saw last week. People who pray to be seen of men, they have their reward. Maybe some of the performance is why so many people have a bad taste in their mouth when it comes to Christianity. You invite your friend, your coworker, your relative, your neighbor, someone that you interact with on a regular basis and and they know who you are. They know the way you normally speak, but then they watch you when you come to church. And all of a sudden, you're like a different person. And they're thrown off. They're like, Who is this guy? As with everything, Jesus here describes a better approach to prayer for His disciples. Everything about Jesus is better. I mean, when he when he promotes or when he prescribes to us a different way of approaching things than what we naturally would approach them to, to do, it's always better. And sometimes we don't understand why Jesus would say, do things differently than what we would naturally do. But the more we get to know Jesus, the more we understand that He is good, he is holy, he does love us. And so if he tells us to do this this way, even if I don't agree with him, or even if I don't understand it, I can trust that his way is better. That applies to a lot of different situations. And so Jesus in verse number six, describes a better approach to prayer for His disciples, rather than the look at me prayer, he says. When? Now praise. Enter into the closet. Well, now I shut my door. Pray to thy father, which is in secret. And my father, which see it in secret, shall reward the openly. This is a trend that we're seeing. It happened last week with the charitable giving. Don't even let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. Don't keep an account. Don't keep a ledger of all the good that you've done for other people. Do it in secret. Do it anonymously. Do it without looking for a reward from in. The same here applies to our prayers. And what I want you to see here is that Christ is not necessarily prescribing the place where we pray, but rather the spirit in which we pray. You can tell the difference when someone prays, whether it's a script that they're repeating or if it's a conversation. With God. There have been times where I have not been the one praying. But due to the spirit of the person who was praying. We might as well have all had just entered into a prayer closet. Have you ever experienced this? And there was a silence. And even though it was corporate, there was a solitude that came with our approach to the Heavenly Father. So this doesn't mean that no one should ever pray in public, but it does mean that there is a proper motivation for our prayers. Silence and solitude, which are communicated here with the entering into the closet. Shutting the door. Praying in secret. Silence and solitude are vital characteristics of the spiritual life. Vital. Some of you don't get a whole lot of silence in solitude, do you? Kids. Constantly. And. Work. Constantly trying to get your attention. Your own mind won't leave you alone long enough to sit in silence and solitude in communion with God. Silence and solitude provide a unique offering to our prayers. You see, it is in solitude and secrecy where we find the greatest communion with God. The Men's advance talked about the pinball life that a man faces getting knocked around from one thing to the next, saying he feels like his life is out of control. When we can set aside time to be still and quiet, then we have time to commune with God, to focus on Him, and to get to know him better. We ought to be alone, that we may feel more fully and thrillingly feel that we are with God. Silence offers us this, solitude offers us this, and this needs to be a goal of many of our lives. If we desire to know God better, that we will have times that we develop or protect or make the most of. To where we turn the radio off in the car. So where we spend some time in our room. Not looking at the phone, not watching TV, not listening to anything, but communing with God. I feel like my life is pretty busy. But I know there are times in my life where I can enjoy silence and solitude with God. Sometimes it's in my office. Sometimes it's in my car. Sometimes it's at home. Sometimes it's on the lawnmower. If you want times of silence and solitude with God, you will find a way to enjoy those times. It could be anywhere. It could. It doesn't have to be in a literal closet in your house. But you need that time. Our religion and religion is not a bad word. This is what this is talking about is religion is the outworking of our relationship with Jesus. But our religion has to do with the unseen, the solemn, the profound, and the remote. Your bullets and has a nice scene on it. Don't some of you wish you could just be in the mountains right now? Some of you wish you could be on the beach right now. Okay, Miss Nancy says beach. Vote for mountains. Vote for Beach. They're allowed to handle this from Colorado. So. Aren't those fun places to visit? Let's go and see the scenery. Just soak it in. You just look at it, it leaves you speechless. You don't even know what to say. Wow. Wow. These are not scenes that are to be fully felt in a hasty way. You stand there and you look at the mountains or you're sitting there at the beach looking out on the waves. That's not a scene that you just want to say. All right, we saw it. Okay, let's go. You know, I mean, you get all the stuff, you go pack and you get everything ready to take the kids to the beach or to go hiking in the mountains. And you've got all the equipment and you load it out and you look like a pack mule, you know, carrying everything. And you've got kids hanging off of you. And you get out there and you set everything up, you put the blanket out, you've got the umbrella, you got the snacks, you got your favorite book, and you sit down. Okay. Let's go. That's not what you do. Why? Because this is too pleasurable of an experience to just do it quick. You want to linger here? You want to stay here as long as possible. That's my brother, Jason. Well, Jason, you get everything ready to go fishing and you are excited. The boys are excited. You're about to get out there. You get on the boat, you start up the engine. You put your back straight back in. You're like, All right, guys, let's go home. That's not what you want to do. When you have something that you really enjoy and you get a lot of you want to stay there as long as possible. Didn't you ever do when you were a kid with your family? Something fun and you're there for hours, maybe all day. And then Dad says, All right, it's time to go. No. Do we really have to go? Been there all day. You know, Dad's, like, about to fall over asleep. Knows he still has to drive back. But when we found something that really speaks to us and is beautiful and is enjoyable and does our spirit and soul good, we don't just want to leave. That's the way communion with God and prayer with God needs to be. You see, prayer cannot be fully felt hastily. Prayer is like the mountains that grow on us as we gaze. Prayer is like a fair scene that we must be alone in rightly to feel. Prayer is the type of activity that has to be allowed to saturate our soul. When you first move from a dark room to a bright room. The older you get, the longer it takes for your eyes to adjust. Doesn't it? That light shines in your face and you're like. You know. And at first you're like, Oh, I can't. Can't make anything out so bright. Then after a while, you start to see detail. You start to notice things that you didn't notice at first, and you see more clearly the space into which you have just entered. We come before the Lord in prayer. It's not something. You can just do it and be done. It's something that requires time. For us to more fully see and commune with God. The longer we remain in the presence of God, the more clearly we will see him. The longer we remain in a time of solitude and silence, the more we will be free to focus on him. You see on the street corner praying out loud for everyone to see. That's not the moment where God's going to commune with you. And as much as we we pray here together as a as a family, can we be honest? The prayers for the offering and the prayers for the for the service are not times where we're going to stop and sit and be quiet. And soak in all that God has for us. They're not wrong. We need to ask God to bless the time together. But if we're talking about your relationship with Jesus. This doesn't replace your time at home. And the 3 minutes that we spend on Wednesday night doesn't replace the time you spend at home alone with God. In these moments of communion. We open ourselves up to God accomplishing several things. Silence and solitude in our prayer closet with the Lord or in our Her prayer car seat with the Lord. Or in your prayer cubicle with the Lord. As an intellectual. Product. That it got accomplished is in our mind to which you rise intellectually. In the perception of God. You're thinking about him? Intentionally listening to him. Maybe you've just finished reading your Bible. And you're meditating. On what you just read. Helps our minds to be clear. It allows the Holy Spirit that lives inside you to teach you. To help you understand and grasp. And he illuminates the truths of the Bible to you. A meditative gaze on him. We'll also have a petitioner element. In which we asked for the communication of His grace according to our needs. As we all have needs. Health needs, physical needs, financial needs, relationship needs. Let's just boil it all down. We've all got spiritual needs. That. No amount of struggle, no amount of strength. Will help us overcome. There are certain things in your life that will only be addressed by God. Will it be fixed? If I could say that by God. Struggle with your anger. You need God. You struggle with your your speech, you need God. You struggle with lust. You need God. Listen, if you struggle with something, I might be able to say, Hey, you just need to come to church more. And you might get some quick. Noticeable results. If you don't get your relationship with the Lord right. That it's going to be temporary. So we have to have this time of communion with the Lord. Through prayer. Not for other people to see us. Not from what we hope to gain from others. But for what we hope to gain from God. This leads us to verse number seven. Jesus says. But when you pray. Use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Think I've said this before, but my mom grew up Catholic, went to a Catholic girls school. Good Italian. You know, her mom was Catholic. Her grandmother was Catholic. As far back as you know, they went back to Sicily. We're all Catholic. My grandmother went one day to a Bible study that was being put on by a Bible church in the area, I believe it was. And for the first time in her life, somebody took a Bible, showed her what God's word actually said. She got saved. My grandmother did. Of course, she she want to find a church. She found a Baptist church, began taking my mom and her brother and her sisters. And before long, my my mom got saved. And she said she said the first time someone asked her to pray, she began to go through the script, the repetitions that she'd heard over and over and over. And the teacher said, You don't have to just say those words. You can just talk to God like you would talk to a friend. She said. You mean I can say whatever I want. It was like, yeah. God is not interested in vain repetitions. He says that these are the prayers of the heathen. Although what you think of when you think of a heathen, I think of me and my brothers running around in the mud with like no shirts on and, you know, just getting absolutely dirty. Mom says a bunch of heathens. Get in here. But a heathen is just in this context. Anyone that wasn't a Jew, you weren't a Jew, you were a heathen. So good morning, you heathens. For most of you. The hope of the heathen was that with enough repetition, the heathen could break through to the uncaring deities that they believed in. Maybe if I say the same thing enough times, then I'll be heard. Good night. That sounds like a lot of Christian prayer. I just say the same thing enough times. Maybe it'll get through to God. Our God is not like that. We need to speak to him with a sincerity and if I could say this, a rawness that comes with the comfort of speaking to a beloved friend. A caring father. See, we are not to be like them in prayer because our God is not like their little gods. Jesus said, Be not you, therefore like unto them. For your father know with what things you have need of before you ask him. This is where that communion comes in. So important. We have to know who God is. We have to have the right view of God. If he's an ogre, that will that will impact your relationship with him. If he is an angry, old, crusty man, then that will impact your relationship with him. He is other. That changes everything. If we can come to his throne of. Mercy. That changes things. We come to him in faith. Without faith is impossible to please. Do you believe that God is sovereign? Is he in control? We talk on Sunday nights about David and the storms that he faces. David felt like his life was just raging out of control. Is God ever out of control? No. Does he love you? You as an individual, not like you as a group, but you specifically, Roy Dickey. He loves you in particular. I know if you've heard the song Me on Your Mind. Not Willie Nelson, but somebody else that's different. I know it's not really a Willie Nelson song. The song goes through the Bible. It talks about different parts of the redemptive story. And the singer says, when you said that it was me on your mind when you did that, it was me on your mind when you died on the cross. It was me that was on your mind. God loves you as an individual. You say God doesn't know what my life's been like. Yes, he does. God doesn't know what I've done. Yes, he does. And he loves you. You are his special creation. There's got to have a plan for you. He does. Does he know what we need before we even ask him? Yes. More time we spend in communion with him, the more we will be convinced of these things. The more time we spend in the presence of God through prayer and reading, our Bibles in silence and solitude focused on Him and not all other distractions. The more we will know who he is, the more we will trust him. If he already knows. Does this mean we don't have to pray? No. But if he already knows that, I believe it further defines the motivation of the disciples prayer. If God knows everything about me, then I don't have to pray. In order for men to think I'm spiritual. If God already knows everything about me, then it doesn't matter what other people think of me. Because me and God, He understands me. You don't. Let's be honest. You probably don't really know me. You know. You may think you know me, but you don't. You see me a very small percentage of the time throughout the week. But God knows me. And his his his. His consideration to me is more important than your consideration. Me? I'm not trying to make you think I'm spiritual. I want my relationship with God to be right. As you know, prayer is also not an attempt to convince God. Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It's not like God is our Heavenly Father and he's got all these good gifts and he's like, You can't have it unless you ask me 50 times. If you asked me 50 times, then I might let you take a peek. Yes. Me 50 more times than I'll give it to you. That is not the way God works. Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. Prayer is being willing to accept his will in our lives. Nevertheless. Not my will. But dying be done. This cannot be empty verbiage. It should be genuine acceptance of God's will. When it is the prayer expresses our desire or our concerns about what God's will means for us. Prayer is about our relationship with God, not about what we can get from him. Prayer is about our relationship with God, not about what men think about us. So this morning, we all need to. Look at our lives. Would anybody here say, hey, you know what? My prayer life. Is exactly where it needs to be. I spend a sufficient amount of time in prayer with God. I have no room for improvement in this part of my life. Nobody. And even a kid. Maybe a kid with at least. We all know this is an area that we need to. Focus on. Give attention to. Do you pray to be seen? I mean, with your family. Or in a restaurant. Or at church. That restaurant. One that really got me. You really pray at the restaurant to give thanks to God or you praying at the restaurant to make a point? Look at us. We're a happy family. We pray. Our Father. God. No. I mean the restaurant, like. Don't pray so loud. You pray to be seen. Do you pray in silence and solitude? I hope I made the point. But silence and solitude doesn't have to be at home in silence and solitude. It can be wherever you find it. Are you open with God? Do you pray with sincerity? And then do you pray to God as if you're trying to get something from a genie? Or do you pray that God would help you? To respond to his will. Or we ask that you would help. Brother So-and-so. He's really sick. Lord, if it be your will, would you heal him? God if it is not your will. You help us to have the right response? Anybody here ever prayed for somebody? God would heal them. God chose not to heal them on this side. We need his help in that moment. Lord, I'm asking you. My child is wayward. They want nothing to do with you. Lord, would you please get a hold of their heart? But God, even if you don't. Help me to keep loving them. Help me to keep being the light in their life. Lord So-and-so and I, we've really had a hard time and there's been some conflict between us. And I feel like the bridge is burned. I don't know if we'll ever be on the same page as we used to be. Or would you help me? To forgive them. There was a a quote that was said at the men's events. Most of our problems don't come from the things that we can't control. Also, the problems that you and I deal with are from the things that we don't do in our lives. This is something. But God is made available to us. It's not an avenue for men to think we're spiritual. It's an avenue for us to get to know God more truly and for God to then work on our hearts. Temptations you face. Prayer. You want to know, God better spend time in prayer. You want God to change. You spend time in prayer. It's an important, vital aspect of our lives. Or thank you for this time that we've been able to spend looking into your word. Thank you, God, for giving us access to you. What? I pray that you'd help. Me. Have a better perspective on what prayer is and. What prayer does. What I ask that you would. Working my heart. Or that I would give more attention more, more time. To speaking to you. Allowing you to speak to me. You know that there are many people in this room that have different. Paths in front of them that you have allowed to characterize their life. Or there are concerns and hurts. Burdens. That your people are dealing with. God, I pray that we would not. Ignore. This direct line of communication that we have to you. God that we would commune with you. We get to know you better by spending time in your presence. Or that we would be open and transparent with you. But the things that we're dealing with. Lord, that we would trust you even when we don't understand you. We would be confident in what we know to be true. That you love us. You're in control. Or We do love you and thank you for all that you do for us, as it should be at work now during this time of invitation. It's in Jesus name that I pray. Amen.

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